52 Ancestors 2020 – 5 – Far Away – Thomas Elder Patton

Thomas Elder Patton 1783 – 1840

Photo added to Find A Grave by Karen Winters

Thomas Elder Patton was born far away from me here in Oregon in 2020 in space and in time. He was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia on 29 Jan 1783, the son of John and Martha (Sharp) Patton. Thomas was one of eight children, all born in Rockbridge County. They all eventually moved west to Adams County, Ohio. All but Jane, who was listed as idiotic on the 1860 census, were married in Rockbridge County.

Thomas married Jenny or Jane Glasgow 18 Apr 1805. On her memorial page on Find A Grave, it is stated that they moved to Adams County by covered wagon in Oct 1806. I believe that it is this Thomas who was listed on the “Male Enumeration List” in 1807 in Wayne Township. He is also found on the lists there for 1811 and 1815. Scott Township was formed from the north part of Wayne in 1818, so it is reasonable that it is our Thomas who is listed in Scott Township on the lists for 1819, 1823 and 1827. I have always been thankful to the Adams County Genealogical Society for publishing these lists since Ohio does not have surviving census records until 1820. They also published voter lists for 1810, 1811 and 1812. There is a Thomas Patton for each of those years in Wayne Township.

A history of Adams County was published in 1900. I was able to obtain a reprint which had added an index. Thomas Patton has three entries in the index. In the Pioneer Character Sketches there is an entry for Thomas' father John and it says “Thomas Patton, a son, lived and died on West Fork.” (Page 608) In the Biographical Sketches there are two for Thomas' son-in-laws, which mention Thomas: “Thomas Patton, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia, who settled on the West Fork of Brush Creek.” (Page 682) and “Thomas Patton, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia, though he emigrated to Ohio, settled on West Fork and died there.” (Page 754) So I checked my reprint of the 1868 Atlas of Ohio and found that the West Fork of Brush Creek was in Scott Township not far from Meigs Township.

I believe that Thomas and his family are on the 1820 census in Meigs Township, as it is an adjoining county to Scott. Since no names other than the head of household are shown on these early censuses I used the children and their ages as shown on Find A Grave and they all match, Thomas and Jenny and the older 6 of their children (3 boys and 3 girls.) In 1830 they are listed in Scott Township with 4 of the older children plus 3 who had been born between 1820 and 1830. The 2 oldest were married and in households of their own by this time.

June 1^st was the official enumeration date for the 1840 census. Find A Grave lists Thomas' death date as 4 Jun 1840. I have not been able to find a census entry for Thomas in 1840, so I suspect the census taker came after his death so did not list him. The household was probably in a state of disorganization at that time so it may be that none of those still living there were counted. Without having the names listed, it would be hard to find them if they were counted.

As I previously stated, there is a memorial page for Thomas on Find A Grave which gives his death date as 4 Jun 1840. It shows his burial place as Tranquility Cemetery but there is no photo of a gravestone. I checked my cemetery booklets from the Adams County Genealogical Society and found that Tranquility Cemetery is located in Scott Township. But neither Thomas or his wife are listed in their book. However my ancestor, Elizabeth (Milligan) Hemphill Hamilton, is shown as buried in Tranquility Cemetery. She was the daughter of Thomas' sister Nancy. So it is likely that Thomas was buried at Tranquility and there was either no stone or it has not survived.

Ancestor Birthday - Oct 5 - William Milligan 1787 - 1845

My father, Lester Albertson, shared a birthday with his 2nd gt-grandfather, William Milligan, just 120 years apart. My father had his birthday post on the 5th and my 3rd gt-grandfather, William had to wait until today, October 6th.

I believe that William was born in Virginia 5 Oct 1787. A family history of the Gordon Family mentions him because 2 of his daughters married Gordon brothers. William married Nancy Patton 2 Oct 1812 in Rockbridge County Virginia. They were married by Daniel Blain, a Presbyterian minister.

They moved to Adams County, Ohio and lived in Wayne Township. He was probably the William Milligan listed in Wayne Township in 1823 and 1831 on the "male enumeration lists."

William and Nancy had 8 children. According to the Gordon book, they all had middle names. The children were Elizabeth Hawkins (my 2nd gt-grandmother), John Patton, James Campbell, Martha Barton, Rachel Amanda, Mary Jane, Phebe Elmira and William Steele.

The Gordon book lists his death date as 1849. However Adams County has an inventory of the estate of a William Milligan who died in 1845. I believe this was probably my William, although there were other William Milligans living in Adams County, with at least 2 still alive by 1847 in other townships. One item in the estate sale papers from 1845 state that 1 mans saddle went to Wm. S. Milligan "under the will." Most of the wills from Adams County were destroyed by a courthouse fire in the early 1900's, but since William and Nancy's youngest son was William Steele Milligan this helps my belief that my 3rd gt-grandfather was the William who died in 1845.

Ancestor Birthday - July 9th - Elizabeth Milligan 1813-1885

This is supposed to be a photo of Elizabeth Hawkins Milligan, my 3rd great-grandmother. It was shared with me by my cousin, Lauren "Bob" Smalley in 1994 at a family reunion.

Elizabeth was born 9 Jul 1813. Some sources give her birthplace as Virginia and other show Adams County Ohio. She was the daughter of William Milligan and Nancy Patton. The Rockbridge County Virginia marriage records show they were married 2 Oct 1812. Apparently they moved to Adams County Ohio within a few years after their marriage. Elizabeth was their oldest child and had 7 younger brothers and sisters. Two of her sisters married Gordon brothers and so family information is included in a Gordon family history.

Elizabeth married John Hemphill about 1836 in Adams County. He was married previously, so she had at step children. They had 6 children together before John died in 1847. She remained a widow until 14 Jan 1851 when she married William Hamilton. He also had been married before, so again she became a step-mother of at least 5. In fact in 1855 her oldest daughter, Nancy Hemphill, married one of William's sons, John C. Hamilton. Elizabeth and William had 3 children, so now Elizabeth had 9 children, plus Hemphill and Hamilton step-children.

William died in 1877, so Elizabeth was again a widow. On the 1880 census she was living with her 24 year old son Thomas. Elizabeth died at age 72 on 28 Nov 1885 and was buried at Tranquility Cemetery, Adams County Ohio.

Ancestor Birthday - February 17 - Nancy Patton - 1791-1866

On 17 Feb 1791 or 1792 my 4th great-grandmother, Nancy Patton, was born to John Patton and Martha (Sharp) Patton in Rockbridge County, Virginia. She was their eighth and youngest child.

Nancy was named as an heir in her father's will written in 1809. A special bequest to her stated "I bequeath to my daughter Nancy such quantity of property so as to be equal in value to what any of my other daughters has received of my estate." Nancy had three older sisters. Jane never married and also had a special bequest along with her mother as apparently Jane had special needs. The other two: Martha "Patsy" and Mary "Polly" had married before 1809. Did Nancy's bequest indicate they had something like a dowery when they had married? I don't know, but maybe.

Nancy did get married 2 Oct 1812 to William Milligan in Rockbridge by Daniel Blaine, a Presbyterian minister. Soon Nancy and William moved to Adams County, Ohio as their first child may have been born there (reports are conflicting) and certainly their second child in 1815. Nancy's siblings as well as her mother moved to Adams County before 1820.

Her mother's will written in 1819, named Nancy as an heir. Nancy got a share of her mother's books, household effects and wearing apparel. I wonder if the books had originally belonged to John since Martha signed with her mark. Maybe she could read and not write.

William, Nancy's husband, died in the 1840's. She was enumerated on the 1850 US census in Wayne Township, Adams County, as the head of household, with real estate valued at $1200. Also living with her were her youngest son, William Steele Milligan, and her sister Jane Patton.

By the 1860 census, Nancy was living with her son William his wife and 3 children in Oliver Township, Adams County. Nancy was shown as a housekeeper. Her sister Jane, who was marked idiotic, was also living there. This listing helps explain the special bequest from their father. I was glad to see that Nancy appears to be taking care of her sister.

Nancy (Patton) Milligan died 19 Jun 1866 and was buried in Unity Cemetery, Unity, Adams County, Ohio. I was glad to find an entry on Find A Grave website which shows a photo of her "old" barely readable gravestone.