DAR Ancestor A111309 Confuses THREE Separate Men Named James Sutton

 

An entry in the Daughters of the American Revolution patriot index gives the following information for DAR Patriot Ancestor #A111309:

SUTTON, JAMES
Service: NORTH CAROLINA    
Rank(s): SECOND LIEUTENANT
Birth: 1747 GUILFORD CO NORTH CAROLINA
Death: 1815 SMITH CO TENNESSEE
Service Description: 1) 2ND REGT

The entry also names his wife as "Martha Elizabeth Brown" and lists children named Dempsey Sutton and James Sutton whom descendants have joined the DAR through. It's important to note that this is not the James Sutton of Lincoln County, North Carolina (1834) who served as a drummer in the 5th regiment in Halifax County, North Carolina c.1780. More on him later.

There was indeed a James Sutton who served in the 2nd North Carolina regiment which was mustered in 1775 in Salisbury, Edenton and New Bern, North Carolina. Salisbury is northeast of Charlotte, while the other two cities are on the eastern shoreline. This James Sutton received a pay voucher for his service in Edenton dated July 24, 1784 and appears in the records of Chowan County (in which Edenton sits) from 1785 until his death in 1826. Without a doubt, he did not die in Tennessee in 1815 as the DAR entry suggests.

So where did this DAR information come from?

Looking at Smith County, Tennessee records, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of a James Sutton who died in 1815; there is however one who died in 1835. This James Sutton was from North Carolina and first patented land in Smith County, Tennessee on April 27, 1814. He bought more land in 1817, 1818, 1827 and 1830. The 1814 patent was actually awarded to Joseph Randolph for military service in 1797, but Randolph declared James Sutton "assignee."

This James Sutton sealed his will on January 6, 1835, naming wife Alsey Sutton and children George Sutton, Edmund Sutton, James Sutton, Dempsey Sutton and Milly Williams. Note that the name Dempsey among his children is consistent with DAR records, so this appears to be the James Sutton the DAR is referring to.

Some more light is shed on this James Sutton by a family legend as told in a letter in 1940, transcribed below.

Transcribed By Vada Sutton

March 9, 1950
 
The Sutton Family

Below is a letter we write to Mrs. H. A. Russell, wife of Elder Henry A. Russell, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, about ten years ago.  Since it is already written and as time is limited, we are taking the liberty of publishing it as it was written, for the benefit of others who might be interested in the history of the family, even though there are several personal matters contained in the letter, which is as follows:

Lafayette, Tenn., Aug. 3, 1940

Mrs. H. A. Russell

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Dear Mrs. Russell:

At last I have found that record I made from information given me by your late father James M. Sutton, relative to the history of his family.  I put down what he told me largely in the form of a diagram and from it, I will give you most of the information I received from him.  If any part of it is not plain, please write me and I will do my best to make it all clear.  He told me that the first James Sutton of whom he had any knowledge was a native of Wales, coming to North Carolina about 1650.  Four brothers, names unknown, came with him.  

This James Sutton had a son, named James, a grandson bearing the same name, a great-grandson named James and a great-great-grandson, James, all in a direct line of descent from the first James Sutton.  With this great-great-grandson the record becomes a little more detailed.  

The great-great-grandson, born in 1736, was a second Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War, married Elizabeth Brown, weighed 550 pounds when last weighed and died on Defeated Creek in Smith County in 1836.  Three of his brothers are mentioned, although the name of one of them is unknown.  He left Tennessee for Scottsville, later moving to Indiana where one of his sons became Governor of that State. Another brother, Will Sutton, settled in Putnam County, Tennessee. The fourth brother, John Sutton, had two children, George Sutton and Ann, who married a Cooper.  

This is the entire record I have of the family up to this point except the family record of the large man, James Sutton, whose date of birth was in 1736.  He married Elizabeth Brown, and the record shows that he was twice married; but the name of the other wife is not given, nor is the order of his marriage.  However, the children of his first marriage appear to have been: Colby, George, Abner, Logan Jonathan, Joel and Oneida.  His children by the second marriage were: Edmund Sutton, James Sutton, Demps Sutton, Mellie and Nellie Sutton.

I have nothing as to the wives or husbands of any of the children of the first marriage except George Sutton, who married a Cartwright, an aunt of Clark Cartwright, a Confederate soldier who died on the head of Defeated Creek about 25 years ago.  George went to Dade County, Georgia, where he died as a very old man in 1878.  He had one son, Leroy Sutton, who married an aunt of Judge Sam Young, for many years a prominent citizen of Dixon Springs.  Leroy's children were, Howard Sutton, a Christian Preacher; James Sutton, another son whose name is believed to have been Will, and a daughter, Harriet.

Logan Sutton never married, but was a bachelor farmer on Peyton's Creek, owning six slaves and 1,000 acres of land.  He left home with a drove of horses and was never heard from again.  Colby is the only one whose descendants were given to me by your father.  He had two children.  Wilkerson and Bernettie Sutton.  Wilkerson married Barbara Wix, and Bernettie married the father of Aunt Bide Russell.  Wilkerson's children were: James, married a daughter of Levi Shoulder; David Colby Sutton, married Celia J. Austin; Jane Sutton, married Sherd Bailey; Mary Sutton, married Sam Shoulders; and one daughter whose name I do not have.  The offspring of James Sutton and the Shoulders woman, if any, is unknown to me.  David Colby and Celia J. Austin were the parents of Christian, Sallie, Eveline, James D., Clark, Philander and Cora Sutton.   Jane became the mother of two sons, Joe and Thomas Bailey.  Mary became the mother of one son, Matthew Shoulders.

***

There is a second source, possibly written around the same time, as follows:

The fifth family to settle on Defeated Creek was that of James Sutton, who was a soldier of the Revolution. He was a very large man, his vest being large enough to button around two average sized men. We have seen the big vest and know about its size from our own observation. He settled on a tract of land now a part of the old Lon Knight farm, and built a house toward the creek from the present Knight home. James moved to Smith County Tennessee with much of his family probably between 1800 and 1811. He settled on Defeated Creek. Defeated Creek was named after a battle where Indian Warrior, Hanging Maw, attacked and defeated a survey party in 1786. We are not sure how the town of Difficult was named.

***

Given that it names him as father of several of the children who appear in his 1835 will, the above letter appears to refer to the documented James Sutton of Smith County who died in 1835, a supposed Revolutionary War veteran. However, census records indicate he could not have fought in the Revolution. In the 1830 US Census of Smith County, Tennessee, James Sutton is listed as age 60-69 (b.1770s), as is his wife. Since the 1820 census shows he was born before 1775, we can place his birth between 1770 and 1775. He was not born in 1747 as the DAR states, nor was he 100 years old as family lore stated, and several of the older children attributed to him in the above letter are probably not his. Since his son George (named in his will) was born in 1790 per both family tradition and census accounts, James Sutton was likely born right around 1770.

This makes him too young to be the father of Colby Sutton, who was married in 1805 in Rutherford County, North Carolina (with James Sutton as bondsman, per county marriage bonds) before moving to Smith County, Tennessee. And of course, it makes him far too young to have fought in the Revolutionary War, calling his "patriot ancestor" status into question.

The evidence suggests that the above family lore confused James Sutton of Tennessee (c.1770-1835) with his likely father, James Sutton (1751-aft.1834) of Lincoln County, North Carolina.

This senior James Sutton evidently served in the Revolution, and gave an affidavit to that end as an 83-year-old man living in Lincoln County, North Carolina in 1834. This may be where the lore about James Sutton in the Revolution came from in the above letter.

In his Revolutionary War pension application, James Sutton of Lincoln County, North Carolina gave his birth as occurring in April 1751 in Granville County, North Carolina. He self-reported living in Halifax County, North Carolina from before 1776 to 1780 and Rutherford County, North Carolina from 1780 to 1805, when he finally settled in Lincoln County.

He testified that between 1778 and 1780 he served in the Granville County regiment under Capt. William Gill. Evidently, there was indeed a James Sutton who appears in Capt. Gill's muster during this period, but he was listed as a deserter shortly after his service began; James claimed he did not desert but was taken prisoner by loyalists. Regardless, the government was unimpressed by his application and he was not approved for a pension.

The crucial link between James Sutton of Lincoln County, North Carolina and the one in Smith County, Tennessee is Colby Sutton (c.1785-c.1838), who is likely son of the former and brother of the latter, given that he married in Rutherford County in 1805, which is where the senior James Sutton lived at the time, and later appears in the 1820 and 1830 US census in Smith County, Tennessee. Colby also appears with Abner Sutton (1770s-1848) in the 1820 US census of Smith County, who is likewise named as a son of James Sutton "by his first marriage" in the above family letter.

The DAR seems to have accepted flawed information that genealogists sourced from this letter of 1940, naming a Revolutionary War ancestor James Sutton with wife Elizabeth Brown (having evolved into Martha Elizabeth Brown by the time the DAR application was made) and a son named Dempsey Sutton. We know the DAR record of his death (1815) is false because James Sutton named a son Dempsey in his will 20 years later, and there is no evidence of a second Dempsey Sutton in Tennessee (there was a Dempsey Sutton in Lincoln County, North Carolina, but he was a whole generation older). Rather than one 100-year-old, 550-pound beast of a man with two wives and two sets of children born over thirty or more years, the above family lore likely refers to father-and-son James Suttons from North Carolina.

It is clear that the Lt. James Sutton of the 2nd NC regiment is not the ancestor of the Smith County, Tennessee Suttons, although descendants may still qualify for the DAR given that they probably do still descend from a James Sutton who served during the war. In any case, they should take a second look at patriot ancestor A111309.

=JMF

The Ashleys of Albemarle County, North Carolina

The surname Ashley was relatively common in colonial America, making untangling lines difficult. Fortunately DNA testing has shed light on the various Ashley lines of Virginia and North Carolina and has been an enormous aid in determining who is related and who isn't.

Within the borders of old Albemarle County, North Carolina, which now encompasses Perquimans and Chowan counties, three early Ashley progenitors begin appearing in records in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

They are:

Joseph Ashley (d. after 1741) transported to North Carolina in 1693; married Mary __, lived in Chowan County, North Carolina. Had children Joseph and probably Sarah Ashley of Perquimans County; others possible.

Thomas Ashley (d.1760-61) first appears in Chowan County, North Carolina in 1708, died in Bertie County. Married Ann Hicks, had children John and Thomas, others possible.

William Ashley Sr. (d. after 1733) married Eleanor Tyner, daughter of Nicholas Tyner (c.1650-c.1708) by 1711; settled in Chowan County, North Carolina. Had children William and Margaret; others possible.

Despite earlier theories to the contrary, a combination of the Ashley DNA project and documentation has shown us that all three of these colonial lines are very likely unrelated to each other. 

We'll go through the documentation for their origins one by one.

***

JOSEPH ASHLEY (c.1670-aft.1741)

Joseph Ashley's origins are affirmed by a headright grant to Francis Tomes (1633-1712) of Perquimans County, North Carolina on Jan. 5, 1693: Albemarle Co., NC, Francis Tomes granted headright of 510 acres for transport of Mary Tomes, Mary Fitzgarrett, a servant, Joseph Ashley, Charles, two Indians, three negroes, Elizabeth, a servant.

Since Joseph and these others were imported to live in North Carolina in 1693, they must have been from outside the colony. So where were they from?

The key to the identity of these people is the above Mary Tomes, who is the third wife of Francis Tomes.

The first big clue comes from the will of Francis Tomes, Sr. in Perquimans County, 6 day, 10 month, 1709; it names wife Mary, sons Francis and Joshua, daughter Priscilla Nicholson; daughter Mary married Gabriel Newby, grandson Francis Newby. Witness, Wm. Boyd, Matthew Alberson, John Stepney, and father-in-law John Nicholson.

The second clue is from his wife Mary's will, sealed in March 1713, making bequests to Vesty Lewis, Rachel Laurence, and Elizabeth "daughter of my brother William Nicholson."

So we know she was a daughter of John Nicholson and sister to William Nicholson, the latter of whom died in Currituck, Albemarle County, North Carolina in 1723.

If we can find the origin for John and William Nicholson, then we have a place of origin for Mary Tomes and by extension, Joseph Ashley.

As it turns out, John and William Nicholson were from right over the border in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia, and are found in records there between at least 1694 and 1705.

Apr. 20, 1694: William Nicholson witnessed the will of Henry Nicklis (Lower Norfolk Co., VA wills)

May 12, 1696: Theodore Taylor sold a 1686 patent to John Nicholson (Lower Norfolk Co., VA deeds)

[c.1700]: John Nicholson bequeathed land in will of Theodore Taylor, Lower Norfolk Co., VA

Jan. 5, 1705: William Nicholson witnessed the will of Richard Church (Lower Norfolk Co., VA wills)

According to some great research I found online, this is evidently the same Taylor/Nicholson family that appears in Currituck County, North Carolina:

Thomas Taylor was probably living in Currituck Co. by the late 1690s. He was probably the same Thomas Taylor who was granted 1000 acres in Norfolk Co. by Richford Swamp with Thomas Edwards on 20 Oct. 1689... Currituck Co. records show in 1716 "one levie paid for Luke Whit by Mr. Tayler." A Currituck Co. tax list from 1720 whose location was given as Currituck Shoar lists, among others, Thomas Vince, Luke White, William Nicholson, William Bell, and Thomas Taylor, Sr. The facts that Thomas Taylor evidently had owned land on Richford Swamp in Norfolk. Co., and that the White, Taylor and Nicholson names occurred at both Richford Swamp and Currituck Shore seem to show a connection of these families. Also, the fact that Luke White was listed as a headright on a grant to John Manning suppports the idea that the Whites living in Norfolk and Currituck Counties in the 1700's were related to the earlier family of Thomas White.

So it is clear that Mary Nicholson Tomes and Joseph Ashley were from Lower Norfolk County, Virginia. There is an Ashley family there, evidently descended from Dennis Ashley, a transportee to Maryland by 1664 who was granted land in Lower Norfolk with Edward Outlaw in 1677. This makes Dennis the likely father of Joseph Ashley of Perquimans County, North Carolina.

***

THOMAS ASHLEY (1682-1760)

Thomas Ashley of Chowan County, North Carolina gave his age in affidavit of 1739 as fifty years:

13 February 1739/40: Thomas Ashley, aged 50 ... deposed that William West possessed land in the fork of Casshoke Creek since 1718 until his decease; left by will to Robert West, son of Col. Robert West. signed by Cullen Pollock. (Source: NCGSJ xii -162 abstract by William Doub Bennett from Land Grant Record Book 9)

This would place his birth as 1689 or thereabouts. However, because nothing in colonial southern genealogy can ever be simple, there is solid evidence that he was actually born seven years earlier, in 1682.

Thomas is very likely to be the Thomas Ashley who was born on December 3, 1682 in Boston, Massachusetts. The "Book of Eastern Claims" (which contains claims for lands in Maine that had been abandoned decades earlier due to Indian wars) contains a claim by "Mary Spikes of Boston in behalf of her Selfe and Brother Thomas Ashley now of North Carolina and Sister Anna Mansfield of Marblehead" for land on the eastern shore of the Kennebec River in Maine. 

Since the claims in the "The Book of Eastern Claims" were filed during 1714-1720, this record definitively places Thomas Ashley, son of Thomas Ashley of Boston, in North Carolina in 1714-1720. In those early days, North Carolina consisted of just seven coastal counties with no other Thomas Ashleys having been recorded, so the Thomas in Chowan County must be the same man.

***

WILLIAM ASHLEY (1674?-aft.1733)

It's already well-established that Thomas Ashley came from Boston right around 1708.

William Ashley may have come from Boston as well. 

Capt. Edward Ashley of Boston, a mariner, made repeated appearances in Chowan and Perquimans County, North Carolina in the late 17th century. He is known to have been present in the late 1670s and again in the mid-1690s, when he appears in the following court record: 

A true and just account of what Vessels has been cleared ye Honble Dep. Govr. has given Richard Plater a Commission for Compr & Drur which was in Novr., 1695, as will be made appearing, Dan'l Johnston, Capt. Ranking, John Truett, Mounr Rathe, Edward Ashley, Xathn Bell, Ross Bell. In 1696 Abram Dill, Ross Bell, John Blount, Edward Ashley, James P Kilbrooks, John Triuett, John Gilbert, Rich'd Bently, Abra Lewis, John Oowley. (Chowan Co., NC Court)

After Edward died around 1698, his widow hired a lawyer in North Carolina, evidently to deal with his affairs in the colony. 

Boston records show that Edward Ashley had a son named William on June 24, 1674, who never appears in records in Massachusetts. So it is a strong possibility that William Ashley of Chowan was a son of Capt. Edward Ashley.

Joseph and William Ashley appeared in Chowan County court as witnesses together in a deed of 1719 (Chowan County Colonial Records., Vol. 2 p.364). So naturally absent information to the contrary, genealogists have assumed they were related; being the same generation, likely brothers. However, as we'll see below, DNA suggests they are probably not related at all.

 ***

DNA EVIDENCE

We have Y-DNA tests done for descendants of Benbury Ashley of Chowan County and John Ashley of Anson County, North Carolina that could shed light on who these families are.

John Ashley of Anson is almost certainly from one of these Albemarle County, North Carolina lines. We know from Anson County records he had a (likely) brother named Robert Ashley, who petitioned Anson County court in 1761 that he was aged and infirm and should be exempted from paying taxes. Probably the same Robert Ashley appeared much further east in a 1754 militia roll of Granville County, North Carolina, indicating the Anson Ashleys had likely been part of the Perquimans/Chowan Ashley clans. According to his will, John Ashley's daughter Eleanor married a Sutton, another family from Perquimans that had migrated to Granville County.

John Ashley cannot be a son of Thomas, who had a son named John who was still in Bertie County in 1761. A theory that can be found online claims he is "John Plowman Ashley" the above son of Thomas, suggesting that in the will of John Ashley of Anson County there is named a daughter Mary Ann Franks, with this daughter suggested as the wife of a Joseph Franks who appeared in records with John Plowman Ashley -- this is false. The name in the will is not Franks but Francis, with the long letter after the N clearly being a medial S rather than a K. Someone unfortunately put this erroneous theory on a tombstone, ensuring confusion will carry on innumerable generations.

John Ashley also cannot be a son of William Ashley Sr. William is proven to be a son-in-law of Nicholas Tyner via a deed in Isle of Wight County, VA in February 1711 which his wife "Elinor" signed and the will of Nicholas Tyner in 1709 which names a daughter Elinor. William had a son named William (c.1712-1782) and spinster granddaughters named Mary and Eleanor via his daughter Margaret. Mary's will was sealed in 1759 and William Jr. was executor; John Jordan provided bond. John Ashley of Anson County named children William, Eleanor and Jordan, possibly for these family members. However, he doesn't really fit into this family chronologically -- it seems that Elinor and William were married between her father's will in 1708 and a deed of 1711; given that John's son John Jr. was already buying land in 1749, and so was born 1728 or earlier, it's quite a squeeze to fit him in here. Furthermore, Y-DNA testing has shown that Jordan Ashley (1737-1817), son of John (d.1759) and Benbury Ashley of Chowan (b.1814), great grandson of William Ashley Jr. (1712-1782), are unrelated.

John Ashley of Anson County, North Carolina's son, Jordan Ashley's descendants appear in GROUP 4 (R-M269), so this is where all John Ashley descendants belong. According to Chase Ashley, the DNA test administrator:

Common ancestry of Group 4 members established; relationship with other members of the project highly unlikely - The results for the members of Group 4 indicate that they all probably share a common male ancestor within the genealogical time frame; however, further genealogical research will be needed to determine the the relationship between the group's members. The results also indicate that it is highly unlikely that any member of Group 4 is has a common male ancestor with any project member outside of Group 4 within the genealogical time frame (15 generations). The closest any kit in Group 4 comes to any kit in the project outside of Group 4 is a genetic distance of 13 on a comparison of 37, while a genetic distance of 6 on a comparison of 37 is enough to make it highly unlikely that test takers share a common ancestor within the genealogical time frame.

GROUP 4 is unrelated to:

John Ashley of Mecklenburg Co., NC b. 1755
"Papa John" Ashley of Coffee Co., TN, b.1752
Thomas Ashley of Lancaster Co., VA b.1660
"James Jordan Ashley" of SC b. 1780 (fake middle name suspected)
Joseph Ashley (c.1675-1757) of Rochester, MA
Robert Ashley b.1797 SC
Thomas Atchley (1695-1775) of UK
Phillip Ashley of Shropshire, UK
Edward Ashley b.1652 of Somerset, UK
John Astley of Wellington, Shropshire, UK
Benbury Ashley b.1814 of Chowan Co., NC
Moses Ashley b.1801 of Abbeville Co. SC (Kent, MD line)
All Ashleys of Kent, MD
Robert Ashley of Orange Co., NC

This basically eliminates John's potential descent from almost every other Ashley family during the colonial period, including the Kent County, Maryland, Lancaster County, Virginia and Orange County, North Carolina families.

Benbury Ashley of Chowan County, North Carolina b. 1814 is haplogroup R-BY73511 and matches only to a descendant of Thomas Atchley (1695-1775). (Group 9).

This means Benbury Ashley of Chowan cannot be related to John Ashley of Anson County, North Carolina.

Benbury Ashley appears in Edenton, North Carolina in the 1850 census near Baker Ashley, Anna Ashley, Delia Ashley, Elizabeth Ashley, Mary Ashley, Mead Ashley, Miles Ashley, Richard Ashley and Sarah Ashley.

More specifically, in 1850 Baker Ashley, who is next door to Benbury Ashley, has a "Nancy Deverson" in his household, age 64 (b.1786) -- this is Nancy Bacchus, widow of Mead Ashley Jr. (m.1808), who remarried to Isaac Daverson Feb. 26, 1835 (per Chowan County marriage bonds). Mead's father, also named Mead Ashley (bef.1757-1814), was named in the will of William Ashley Jr. (c.1712-1782) finalizing that Benbury is a descendant of William Ashley and Elinor Tyner. Because of the Y-DNA discrepancy, this eliminates the possibility that John Ashley of Anson is a descendant of William Ashley Sr. (1674?-aft.1733) of Chowan.

Mead Ashley's children were according to his 1818 estate papers: William Ashley, Mead Ashley, Sarah Stacey, Elizabeth Stacey (m. Wm. Stacy 1791), Margaret Stacey, Mary Stacey, Deborah Stacey, John Stacey, Jonathan Ashley, Milley Ashley, Sally Ashley, Edy Ashley and John Davison.

***

CONCLUSION

John Ashley of Anson County, North Carolina cannot be a son of William Ashley of Chowan County, because William's descendants are haplogroup R-BY73511 and John's are R-M269.

John Ashley can't be a son of Thomas Ashley, because he had a son named John Ashley who administered his estate in 1761 in Bertie County, North Carolina, more than a decade after John Ashley of Anson had left the North Carolina shore and moved hundreds of miles to the western part of the state.

By elimination, he has to be a son of Joseph Ashley of Chowan County.

This places Joseph in haplogroup R-M269, William in R-BY73511 and Thomas, unknown.

So it appears that William and Joseph Ashley of Chowan County are unrelated, despite appearing in a document together.

This also means John Ashley is a likely descendant of the immigrant Dennis Ashley of Virginia.

Special thanks to the research of Chase Ashley, Kevin Ashley and Mike Ashley, who have spent countless years documenting and analyzing volumes of colonial evidence. Though I have drawn heavily on their research, this conclusion about John Ashley is my own. I am always open to discussion and debate.

=JMF