Saturday, March 27, 2010

Status of our Patterson Research

Just this week I sent an email to a fellow researcher (Janice Rosenthal) regarding the status of our oldest known Pattersons and the research / documentation we have to date. Harald Reksten and I have been going through many records of New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North and South Carolina, etc over the last several months (years).

Janice on the other hand specializes in researching the oldest Patterson immigrants in order to better delineate between the various branches, and also to correct many errors being propagated across the Internet. So, I thought perhaps a third perspective (Janice's) would be good concerning our Patterson family. So, I sent her an email as presented the following information to her, which will serve as a "status" for our family, as of March 2010.
~~~~~
Janice,

I was reading some of your comments / corrections posted on another researcher's website, and I must say thank you for working tirelessly to get the info right, and then to attempt to set the record straight at so many other errant sources. I'm not sure which is the more difficult task!!!

We've spoken before, but I just wanted to pick your brain for a bit. I, too, used to think I may have a connection to those various Pattersons of PA and so I'm "vaguely" familiar with them. I recognize them when I see 'em, but I have no expertise on them at all. What I've learned over the years is to focus on "my" Pattersons and follow the trail. Mine apparently came over before most of those PA Pattersons.

In the course of your research, have your ever run across any particular line of Pattersons that the following group might "fit in"? Harald Reksten (and others) and I have worked very hard for many years going through the records of MD, DE, NJ, PA, etc (still more to cover though) trying to find our group. Harald's done most of the heavy lifting, ordering books, microfilm rolls, you name it. But we both do a lot of research and we both share everything we get with each other.

We do know that our Robert Patterson was in Sussex Co DE in 1732 and 1738. That we're 100% certain of. He bought 106 acres in 1732 from Matthew Ozbun Jr, and then sold it in 1738 (along with his wife, Sarah), apparently preparing to move to the Linville Creek part of Orange Co Va along with the Harrisons, Stewarts, Cravens, Blacks, and many other families.

We have not conclusively found any record of this family prior to 1732. I believe Robert to have been born ca 1711 (1710-1715). He died in 1775 in Craven / York Co SC. His wife Sarah died there in 1790. We know for certain that his father was William Patterson. We know his mother was Mary Margaret. Many people have tagged her with the maiden name of Donnell, but I have determined in the last couple weeks (conclusively) where that assumption came from (Dellmann O. Hood in his book The Tunis Hood Family), and the assumption made was based on faulty data to begin with. So scratch the Donnell name. There may have been a connection to the Donnell / Donaldson / Donelson / McDonald family, but I say prove it!!!

She went by the name of Margaret, but one time the name Mary was erroneously used in a land patent. Her name was Margaret _____ Patterson Adams. She first married William Patterson, and they had at least two children, but no more than two are known. The oldest child (presumed oldest) was Elizabeth, first wife of Jeremiah Harrison. He was born about 1707, and they were married by 1730 or so, at the latest, probably more like 1727 or 28. I think she was born roughly 1709 ish. Next, was Robert Patterson. He obtained his first tract of land in 1732. He appears to have married after that, and certainly before 1738. I suspect he was born around 1711, but approx 1710-1715.

The Harrisons were in Long Island NY for many years, as early as 1680's, but the Pattersons are not found in any of those records, to my knowledge. The Harrisons were in Sussex Co DE by 1721, and began leaving there in 1737 and later for the Shenandoah. If Elizabeth Patterson married Jeremiah around 1727-30, then my Pattersons were certainly here in America no later than that time, obviously.

I think William Patterson must have died no later than 1715 or so. Margaret remarried by 1720 approximately, to John Adams. She was known most of her life as Margaret Adams or widow Adams. She got her Orange Co Va land patent under the name of Mary Adams, that based on later probate records of her grandson Samuel Adams, making that link. John and Margaret Adams had at least three children, but that's all we know about. The oldest daughter's name is not even known, but we know she must have been born 1720-25, and she married Andrew Donelson (b 1722), who was from Somerset co MD. I don't know where they were when they married, nor exactly when they married. They had 3 children by 1744, and she must have been dead by then which was when Margaret Adams wrote her will, naming Margaret "Dollinson" (actually Donelson) in the will. This was the oldest child of her dec'd daughter and Andrew Donelson. They also had sons Robert and Humphrey Donelson by 1744. Andrew died in 1755 leaving them as orphans.

John and Margaret Adams also had a son Samuel Adams, and a daughter Jane Adams, who married Daniel Love around 1743 or 44. Samuel must have been married by 1744 or soon thereafter, as he died by 1748, but later we see his heir, also named Samuel Adams, inheriting Margaret Adams' plantation in Va after she died in 1769/1770. Apparently John Adams died by 1725-1730 after these 3 children were born.

I don't know when this family immigrated to America. Depending on whether it was in the 1730s, or 1720s, or before 1720, you can see there would be many possible scenarios for how this family could have been recorded. Could have been a Patterson couple with 2 kids, or a Patterson widow w/ 2 kids, or an Adams family with 2 Patterson kids and some Adams kids, or even an Adams family with 2 to 5 "Adams" children listed. "Patterson" may not have even been in the names of their immigration record (I'm hoping one still exists for them).

Of course, the Patterson clan may have come a generation or two earlier for that matter.

The oldest record we know of for sure is 1732 when Robert Patterson bought land in DE. We "know" other events had to have happened a few years earlier in DE, such as his sister marrying Jeremiah Harrison. There may have even been a John Adams and Margaret Patterson wedding to find in some old church record somewhere. And of course, an Adams girl marrying Andrew Donelson, possibly in PA, around 1740 or so.

I'm shooting in the dark here. But Robert Patterson, who made his mark "R", had sons Thomas, Peter, Robert, and William. He had daughters Abigail, Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Lydia. There may have been others, but these we know about, from the late 1730s to the late 1750s. They all were probably born in Augusta Co Va, before they moved south to what is now York Co SC.

Thanks, Janice.

Wes
~~~
Wes Patterson's Research Blog
Wes Patterson's Website

Friday, March 26, 2010

Richard Morrow's ironic connection with the Pattersons and Chastains

Richard Morrow was a man of means in the late 1700's and early 1800's. He bought and sold a large quantity of acreage over the years, in multiple locations. As far as I can tell, I am not related to him at all. However, I am connected to him by association in what seems to be an unusual way.

Richard received a NC grant (#800) for 100 acres in 1800 on a stream called Jenkins Branch, which is about 8 miles NW of Asheville, NC in Buncombe County. This was recorded in Buncombe Deed Book S1-6 on page 267, dated 1 Sept 1800. This was near lands already being lived on by my Pattersons, Blacks, Ponders, Harrisons, et al.

Then in January of 1802, Richard Morrow bought 790 acres from William Bryson (bk A pg 383) on the Tuckaseigee River (recorded 18 Sept 1807). This location is in modern day Jackson Co, but was Buncombe at the time, and very shortly thereafter, it was Haywood Co. Over the next few years, Richard Morrow obtained 5 more tracts on the same river, all land grants from NC totaling 650 more acres.

Having purchased land on the Tuckaseigee River in January 1802, Richard then sold his 100 acres on Jenkins Branch to my gggg-grandfather, John Patterson, on 2 August 1802 (Bk 4, pg 657). The witnesses for this sale were Daniel Ponder, James Morrow, and Andrew Patterson. Ponder was John's uncle; James Morrow is believed to have married John's daughter Elizabeth before 1810, but this is not yet proven; and Andrew Patterson's relation to John is yet unknown, but Andrew "may have been" John's nephew.

More importantly for the purposes of this paper, it should be noted that John Patterson's son, George Patterson, was born in 1800 in this general vicinity of Jenkins Branch. The relevance of this notation will be more apparent momentarily. This is where George grew up. George was my ggg-grandfather.

Back to Richard, we now see that he has made his move to what would soon become Haywood Co NC, along the Tuckaseigee River. We begin to learn that this land is on both sides of Caney Fork of Tuckaseigee River in 1807, when Richard began selling parts of it to various people, particularly members of the Chastain family. In March 1807, he sold 144 acres to Benjamin Chestine; then in September 1807 he sold 100 acres to Edward Chestain, and another tract (acreage unknown) to Elijah Chestain. In January 1810 he sold another tract to Eligah Chastain, and lastly he sold 50 acres to Abner Chastain in October 1815.

Both tracts he sold to Elijah Chastain were on Caney Fork. It should be noted that Elijah had a daughter named Rebecca Chastain who was born in 1799, making her eight years old when her dad bought his first tract of land from Richard Morrow. There is a Chastine Creek, a branch of Caney Fork, which is a branch of Tuckasegee River. Use this link for google maps, then switch to Terrain view. You can zoom out for perspective.

John Patterson, still in Buncombe, began selling the larger pieces of his land in 1815, the last 100 acres being sold in 1820 to James Black. An 1818 deed described John Patterson as "of Buncombe"; however, this 1820 deed showed he was then "of Haywood", thus having moved sometime between 1818 and 1820. John bought a tract of land on the Pigeon River in 1824, but nothing else is known as to where he lived in the meantime (perhaps on the land he bought?). The Pigeon River flows north through Waynesville, NC and up into Tennessee. West of there and over the next mountain range, is the Tuckasegee River, which flows north through Sylva, NC and up into Tennessee. At this time, I'm not sure how the Chastains and Pattersons met up, but apparently they did.

Around this time, perhaps no later than 1825 but as early as 1822 possibly, love was in the air, leading to a marriage between George Patterson and Rebecca Chastain. Obviously, they met each other in Haywood County (both locations were then in Haywood), they fell in love, got married, and perhaps their oldest child (or two) were born in Haywood. By 1827 or so they moved south into Georgia, where they were enumerated on the 1830 census (Rabun Co). By 1834 they were in Union County Ga, just north of modern day Blairsville, on the east bank of Nottley Lake (which didn't exist then).

So, what is the ironic connection? Most people would never care, but for those of us who descend from George and Rebecca, it is interesting to note that George grew up on Jenkins Branch in Buncombe Co on land his father bought in 1802 from Richard Morrow. Likewise, Rebecca grew up on Caney Fork in Buncombe / Haywood Co on land her father bought in 1807 from the same man - Richard Morrow.

Thanks, Richard! Thanks for providing the land for the childhood homes of my ggg-grandparents! That's pretty ironic to me - some 200 years later.

Wes Patterson
26 March 2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Burke Co NC Records

I need to get to Burke county and go through their records. So many of the families who ended up in Buncombe county around my Pattersons on Jenkins Branch were families who had spent the last decade or two in Burke Co.

Also, there was a Benjamin Patterson who received a land grant in Burke in 1792. I need to find out more about him. Was he a brother of my John?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Margaret Patterson Adams - Not Donnell

Margaret _____ Patterson Adams - She Never was a Donnell

Bio | Why Not Donnell | 1744 Will | Timeline | Sussex DE | Augusta VA 

By Wes Patterson (Last Revised: 15 August 2018)

Who was Margaret Adams?

Answer: She was the mother of Robert "R" Patterson who died in York Co SC in 1775.

She has been hailed as Margaret Donnell Patterson Adams in certain published works, and especially on the Internet. I have also perpetuated that name Donnell, but with a "?" in front of it. I have always said that I didn't know where the name Donnell came from, but I couldn't prove OR disprove it.

That has now changed (in 2010), in my opinion. I believe I can disprove it. In other words, I believe I can prove that her maiden name was not Donnell, at least not for the reasons previously assumed.

D.O. Hood and his theory about Donnell


You see, it begins with Dellmann O. Hood's book, The Tunis Hood Family. On page 465 Mr. Hood takes a stab at why he thinks her maiden name would have been "Donnell". Quote:
"...As a general rule in those times middle Christian names were not bestowed on children, but were given occasionally to honor the mother or grandmother. The only middle Christian name accounted for in the immediate family of Jeremiah Harrison and Catherine Adams was in the case of their daughter, Lydia Donnell Harrison.... Hence it seems likely that the maiden name of Margaret Patterson-Adams was Donnell..."

Jeremiah Harrison and his wives


Jeremiah Harrison married his first wife in or around Sussex Co DE about 1730, give or take a year. Mr. Hood believed Harrison's only wife was Catherine, but he had missed the fact that Harrison's first wife was Elizabeth Patterson.

The "daughter" Mr. Hood names as Lydia Donnell Harrison, was born in the early to mid 1730's. We know that Jeremiah's wife Elizabeth was still alive in 1744 when her mother (Margaret Adams) wrote her will. Elizabeth later died, and Jeremiah remarried to a Catherine, last name unknown.

People have always assumed Catherine was an Adams since her "daughter" Esther Harrison was named in Margaret Adams' 1744 will. However, that is another wrong assumption, as Esther was Catherine's step daughter, and the connection was a Patterson connection. In fact, none of Jeremiah Harrison's children (16) descend from the Adams lineage.

Lydia Donnell's Baptism Record


So what? you might say. Well, here's where it gets interesting. Rev Craig baptized this Lydia Donnell girl on 17 May 1743 near the Halfway House, which is where Jeremiah Harrison was baptized in 1740. Here's the entry in Craig's diary:
"Jeremiah Herison, stood sponsor for a child baptized named Lidea Donnel at Halfway House."
The key phrase to notice is where it says "stood sponsor". In all other baptism records for children in Rev Craig's diaries, it names the father then the child's name, but no such phrase like "stood sponsor". To me, this proves that Lydia Donnell was named just that - and not Harrison. She may have been raised by the Harrisons. Perhaps Jeremiah became her guardian, but she wasn't a Harrison by birth.

With that in mind, I'm afraid it renders Mr Hood's assumption utterly baseless. Remember, his declaration of Margaret Patterson-Adams' maiden name being Donnell was based on this girl being named Lydia Donnell Harrison and her being the daughter of Jeremiah Harrison and his wife, which we know now to have been Elizabeth Patterson.

So what WAS the full name of Margaret Adams? We know that she entered a land patent in old Orange Co Va under the name of Mary Adams. This we learn from the following record in Augusta Co Va following her death in 1769/1770:

"15th May, 1770. Samuel Adams, of North Carolina, to Joseph Dictum, power of attorney to convey 340 acres on Linvel's Creek, devised by Margaret Adams and from him descended to Samuel as eldest son and heir, having been patented in the name of Mary Adams. Title yet to be made to Samuel."
However, we have learned in 2018 according to Thomas Jefferson's Memorandum Books that there was a court case involving Margaret Adams' land that cleared up the fact that the name "Mary" was in error. Her name truly was Margaret Adams - not Mary Adams. Therefore, we believe that her name was Margaret ______ Patterson Adams. I can no longer record her maiden name as "?Donnell". I have that info in many places and this is my first attempt at explaining what I consider to be an error. Things like this happen. We all try to uncover hidden clues. But this is a great example of an assumption gone awry.

Hope this makes sense, and perhaps helps clarify some of the mystery surrounding this lady. Margaret Adams (as she was known most of her life) was my 7x-Great-grandmother.

Wes

P.S. Jeremiah Harrison, and the Pattersons and Adams families, all came from Sussex Co DE to the Shenandoah Valley of Va in the late 1730's. What many researchers did not know until the last few years is that Jeremiah Harrison was first married to Elizabeth Patterson, daughter of Margaret Adams. Margaret was first married to William Patterson, and they were the parents of Elizabeth and Robert (d. 1775 SC). Thereafter, William died and his widow then remarried to John Adams, who likewise died in the 1720's.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Robert Patterson 1775 Will

While at the SC Archives Saturday (13 March 2010), I took quite a few pictures of Robert Patterson's 1775 will. Robert was my gggggg-grandfather, who died in York Co SC in 1775. I descend from Robert's oldest son, Thomas Patterson. Harald Reksten descends from Robert's son, Robert Patterson Jr. I personally think that Robert (Sr) was born circa 1711, give or take a couple years perhaps. This is based in part on the fact that his first land purchase was in 1732 in Sussex Co DE.

There is a possibility that I may also descend from Robert a second way, via his daughter Sarah who married Joseph Black. I am about 75% sure that one of their children was named Margaret Black, who later married (what would have been) her 1st cousin, John Patterson, son of Thomas. I know what you're thinking... Don't ask! At any rate, this last link has not been proven thus far. This John Patterson is the same John who is named in the will, and his signature is one of the faint ones on the will, probably not visible on these images.

Here are a few pictures taken Saturday. I have more and will be adding them to my website soon.

But for now, I wanted to go ahead and post these, starting with a picture of Harald Reksten and me holding the will, courtesy of Diane Reksten (Harald's wife). Harald is on the right, while yours truly (Wes Patterson) is on the left. Enjoy... (by the way, you may click on each image to view a larger version of it.)



The following pages are Page 1 and Page 4:



The following page is the first visible page, but it is actually Page 2 of the will. Notice that Robert made his mark with an "R" at the bottom right. His witnesses were Nathaniel Harrison and James Dickie.



And the next page is Page 3. Notice all the various signatures, added between 1775 and 1791 when the final probate occurred.


June 2017 Addendum


Here is the text of the will itself.

In the name of God Amen the Twenty First day of July 1775 I Robert Patterson of Craven County farmer being very sick and weake in body but of perfect mind and memory thanks be unto God, therefore calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do maeke and ordain this my last will and testament, that is to say Principally and first of all I give and recommend my Soul into the hands of almighty God that gave it and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but at the General Resurrection I shal receive the same again by the mighty power of God: and as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this life I give demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form

And first of all I constituet make and ordain my beloved wife Sarah and my beloved sons Robert and Peter to be my whole and sole Executors of this my last Will and testament all and singular my lands messuages and tenements whith all household goods dets and moveable affects by them to be executed according to law and for them said Executors to take care and see that all and every one of my beloved family shall have there full share as I shall appoint 

Imprimise I give and bequeath to Sarah my dearly beloved wife her full thirds of all my moveable affects and the homestead place till my son William comes of age and half afterwards while she lives and her hors and saddle.  

Item I give and bequeath unto my son Thomas fifty pounds lawfull mony of South Carolina to be leveed out of my estate and all my cloathes except my fir hat and one gray three year old mare and colt to his son John.  

I likewise give and bequeath unto my daughter  Sarah one cow and calf, and what is between Joseph and me.

I likewise give unto my son William the homestead place after his mother's decease all only from where the line crosses the road that goes to Peter's old place and straight & cors to the old saw pit below the muddy branch and straight on to the outside line and from that said line down to Peter.  

I likewise give and bequeath unto my sons Peter and Robert each of them an equal part of my land and clams in the province of Virginia.  

I likewis give and bequeath unto my children all and every one of them is now single with my daughter's Elisebeth and Lydia each of them an equal part of the remainder of my movable affects by all and every one of them freely to be possesed and enjoyed: and I do hereby utterly disallow revoke and disannul all and every other formal testaments wills legacies and bequeaths and Executors by me in any wise before named willed and bequeathed ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written
Signed sealed published pronounced and declared by the said Robert Patterson as his last will and testament in the presence of us the Subscribers Nathaniel Harrison, James Dickie

Robrt (R) Patterson

Personally appered James Dickey and Nathaneal Harreson before me and maketh oath as the Law Dericts that the order Presant and Seen Robt. Petterson Dezed  Sinc the within will as it now stands as his last will and that he was in his proper Senses and that the other witnesses to the same.   Sworn by me this ---- third day of November 1775.  
Signed: James Dickie, Nathaniel Harryn.  Sam Swann, J.P.  

Matthew Black's Wife?

I thought I would send this post to you all (the Black research group) since it involves the BLACK family as well. Follow the link to the actual post so you can see the images of the marriages and baptisms mentioned in my post. It's titled "Thomas Patterson's Wife?" as that was the focus of my post. However, the same question applies to Matthew Black.

One marriage to look at closely is the first one on the second page. A Matthew Black married a Margaret Ponder on 7 Jan 1762 there in Augusta Co Va.

I can only wonder if this was the same Matthew Black who moved to Clarks Fork at York Co SC just a few years later (mid 1760s), as so many others on this list did.

Was this the same Matthew Black who later moved to Burke Co NC? I would venture to say, Yes, I think it was the same.

If he was, then he was a few years older than I previously thought. Perhaps the Daniel Black of Burke NC who got a land grant in 1827 was a son of Matthew Black, and perhaps he was named after old Daniel Ponder Sr? This might also mean that Matthew Black of Clarks Fork who moved to Burke, perhaps he was NOT the son of Robert and Magy Cravens Black, but rather a brother or cousin of said Robert Black? I believe Robert and Majy/Magy Cravens Black were both born in the early 1730s, and this Matthew Black who married Margt Ponder must have been born around 1740-42, I would guess.

Wes Patterson
http://rootdiggin.blogspot.com/2010/03/thomas-pattersons-wife.html

Thomas Patterson was never in Charleston District, SC

My Thomas Patterson was not the man by the same name in Charleston District, St Bartholomew's Parish, SC in the 1790 census.

Yesterday, while at the SC archives with Harald Reksten, I was able to PROVE completely that this Thomas was NOT my Thomas. He wrote his will in 1797 (Charleston Wills, Vol 27, pg 827), and it was proved in 1799 (Will Book C, pg 554). This Thomas only had one son, Thomas Patterson Jr. The William Patterson living with him was his nephew.

His will identifies nephews William and Henry Patterson, and then identifies Charles and James Patterson, sons of Henry, and then also identifies a John Cornelius Patterson, son of William.

This location was in Colleton District / County in 1800 and 1810 census years. Again, this was NOT my Thomas Patterson.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Thomas Patterson's Wife?

I want to thank Harald Reksten for finding the recently published book (2005) titled Chasing the Frontier Scotch-Irish in America by Larry Hoefling. In this book the author shares information from the early days of a frontier church in Augusta Co Va, near modern day Harrisonburg, in the Shenandoah Valley. The church was Peaked Mountain Church, and "the list" presented by Hoefling shows baptisms and marriages from 1759 to 1764.

My gggg-grandfather was John Patterson, born in 1765 in SC. He married Margaret Black in the 1780's. Around 2000 or 2001 we were able to connect John Patterson to his father, Thomas, who in turn was the son of Robert and Sarah Patterson of DE, VA and York Co SC. That said, we had never found a name for the wife of Thomas Patterson, who should have gotten married circa 1760-64, theoretically.

This list contains the transcribed name of "Thomas Peterson". It is not uncommon to find our Thomas Patterson's last name spelled in various ways, such as Patterson, Paterson, Pattison, Petterson, Peterson, etc. Harald and I both scoured the other names throughout this document, and while there ARE names for the "other" Pattersons who were in Augusta Co Va at the time, the family associations were pretty distinct for the two apparently unrelated Patterson clans.

"Our" Thomas Patterson is overwhelmingly documented in records with Harrisons, Cravens, Blacks, and other families, too, but primarily these three families. Furthermore, as you will see on the attached lists, many of those names mentioned above and others, are well documented to have moved to York Co SC and the surrounding area at the same time our Pattersons did, during the mid 1760's. Also, the Cravens names in this list were transcribed as "Crevens", not unlike Patterson being transcribed as "Peterson".

I'm saying all that to say this... I am 100% convinced that Harald Reksten has just found the name of Thomas Patterson's wife, and my ggggg-grandmother. Her name was Margaret Harrison, and they married on 24 December 1761. You'll remember that in 1752 England and it's colonies officially transitioned from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar - in theory, but not so quickly in practice. New Years Day was changed from March 25 to January 1, and a few other changes were made. But in practice, many people still thought of March as the 1st month, instead of the 3rd month.

I mention that for this purpose. You'll see on this list below (the first one shows Thomas "Peterson" at the bottom right) that Thomas' marriage occurred on "10br. 24th" 1761. Huh? That was the writer's way of abbreviating December (10br), since in his mind December was the 10th month, and January and February were the 11th and 12th months.

Here are the images of the 4 pages of marriages and baptisms:






So the obvious question is, Who was Margaret Harrison? The quick answer is, I don't know. Long answer... there were many Harrisons in that region in 1761, but they were all from the Isaiah Harrison clan, so that narrows it down a lot. Isaiah Harrison (b 1666) died during the winter of 1737/38 when the family was migrating from Sussex Co DE to the Shenandoah Valley. He had seven sons and several daughters. The oldest son was Isaiah Jr. Another son Gideon, died in DE, but with issue, albeit not well documented. The other five sons were the ones who migrated to Va during 1737/38. They were Thomas, John, Jeremiah, Daniel and Samuel, the latter being the youngest, born circa 1712.

The families of Thomas, John, Jeremiah and Daniel are fairly well documented. A few years ago I discovered that Jeremiah Harrison's first wife was actually Elizabeth Patterson, the aunt of Thomas Patterson. Isaiah Jr's family and Samuel's family are not so well documented. However, as the years have passed and the Internet has grown, more has been learned about both of these branches. It seems that Isaiah Jr and his family moved to Va during the 1740s and then promptly moved to the Yadkin River region of NC around 1750.

Samuel on the other hand didn't move to the Carolinas until the early 1760s. It seems pretty certain now that Samuel Harrison and his family settled on the Lynches River region of what is now Lancaster Co SC. Samuel supposedly died there in 1790.

The fact that Samuel and his family moved to SC in the early 1760s is a key fact to remember, in my opinion. Samuel Harrison lived near the Robert Patterson clan in Va, so Thomas Patterson and Samuel Harrison's children would have grown up around each other. More research is being done on the Samuel and Isaiah Harrison Jr families, but for now, it is safe to assume that Margaret Harrison Patterson was either a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of Isaiah Harrison Sr. The Harrisons are very well documented, even before Isaiah. More on this to come later.

Again, thank you Harald Reksten for finding this information and passing it along. Us Thomas Patterson descendants are forever indebted to you for this.

Wes

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