The Parents of William Splawn (1806-1884) of Rutherford County, North Carolina

William Splawn (May 27, 1806 - July 10, 1884) was a farmer in Rutherford and (after 1855) Polk County, North Carolina, where he lived on White Oak Creek. Marriage bonds show he married Jane Waldrop in December 1850, but census records show he had numerous children before then; death certificates of two of his older children show their mother was named Polly Capshaw.

William Splawn was granted a 125-acre tract in Rutherford County on June 20, 1829 on the head waters of Nancy Wilson's fork, adjoining an older woman, Margaret "Peggy" Splawn. Peggy had herself bought land in the county in November 1815. William and Peggy Splawn appeared in court together when they were sued for trespass along with an Anna Mase in July 1833. The close association and significant age difference suggests that Peggy was likely his mother.

Peggy appeared in Rutherford County the 1810 census and had one male in her household, a boy under 10 who was exactly the right age to be William. She is no longer a head of household in the 1830 census and is likely the woman in William Splawn's household who was born in the 1760s. Peggy Splawn appears to have died before the 1840 census.

So its clear that Peggy was William's mother, and we know she was widowed at some point before 1810. Knowing her origins can help us identify her late husband. Peggy came from Fairfield District, South Carolina, where she was named in a court case of 1791 as "Margaret Splawn" and was clearly related to the Splawn family there, as some of them are known to have co-migrated to Rutherford County and there is only one other Splawn family in the entire South at this time, that of Thomas Splawn who came from Prince William County, Virginia and shows no relation to North Carolina.

Peggy and William Splawn's deeds both name an adjoining neighbor as Aspasio Earle (1785-1874). Aspasio Earle's father, Baylis Earle (1734-1823) a prominent judge, was next door neighbor to John Splawn of Spartanburg District, South Carolina in the 1800 US census. Splawn also witnessed a deed for Earle in October 1800. John Splawn appears in no further records in either North or South Carolina and Peggy begins showing up as a head of household in the very next census. This shows sufficient connection to suggest that John Splawn of Spartanburg District who evidently died before 1810 was the father of William.

The 1800, 1810 and 1820 census shows John and Peggy seem to have had several daughters in the 1790s but only one son, evidently William Splawn of Rutherford County. William had children named John and Margaret but none named Moses, James, Stephen or others that would imply he was a son of one of the other sons of John Splawn Sr. (c.1740-1794) of Fairfield County, South Carolina. The evidence is circumstantial, but points firmly toward John and Margaret Splawn being his parents.

Note: The above photo of William Splawn's gravestone appears to show his birth date as May 27, 1800. However, the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census as well as his 1884 obituary all agree that he was born in 1806. I think its more likely that the gravestone was incorrectly carved than that every record from his lifetime was consistently wrong by six years, so I'll be referring to his birth date as May 27, 1806 in my blog posts.

 

Research by Jason M. Farrell