The following article was published in The Virginia Genealogist in March, 2004. I had submitted the article to the editor the previous October. The title of the article was:

Elizabeth Patterson, First Wife of 'Old Jeremiah' Harrison, from Sussex County, Delaware to Linville Creek, Augusta County, Virginia

It has been widely accepted as a "proven fact" that "Old Jeremiah" Harrison's wife was named Catherine Adams. And why not? After all, there are many clues that point to that conclusion. There are many references in the Augusta Co VA records that identify Catherine Harrison as Jeremiah's wife. This cannot be refuted. It is also common knowledge that Jeremiah Harrison's daughter, Esther Harrison, was identified as a grand daughter of Margaret Adams when said Adams wrote her Will¹ in 1744. These facts lead to a logical conclusion that Esther's mother was Catherine, and since Esther's maternal grand mother was an Adams, then Catherine _____ Harrison must have been Catherine Adams Harrison.

Furthermore, many articles, Internet postings, and books (many books) have documented the Adams connection, and even given many references to the Adams pedigree. This writer has the utmost respect for the authors of those books, such as J. Houston Harrison,² D. O. Hood,³ and others. These authors devoted pages (even chapters) to the Jeremiah Harrison family, and therefore their connections to the Margaret Donnell Patterson Adams family. The information that both authors shared in those books is invaluable, and they are highly recommended as sources for information pertaining to the pioneer families of the Shenandoah Valley.

To set the stage appropriately, remember that Jeremiah Harrison was born circa (ca.) 1707 in Smithtown, Long Island, NY. He was the son of Isaiah Harrison, Sr. and Abigail Smith (Harrison). About 1721 the Harrisons moved from NY to Sussex Co DE, specifically to the "1,000 acre" Maiden Plantation (later deemed to be 907 acres). About 1727-30, Jeremiah Harrison married. It has always been accepted that he married Catherine "Adams" at that time. This topic will be covered in greater detail shortly.

About 1737 the Harrisons began selling their Sussex Co DE lands leading to their migration to the Shenandoah Valley of VA to what was then Orange County. By the mid 1740's it was under the newly organized Augusta County. In 1780 Rockingham County was formed and thereby included the lands in and around modern day Harrisonburg, VA. Jeremiah Harrison specifically owned several tracts of land west of Harrisonburg, including land that was described as being on or near "Linville Creek".

Jeremiah Harrison had many children over a period of approximately 30 years. The list of his children and their birth years have long been confused, distorted, and even disputed. However, the best documentation this writer has seen very accurately lists 17 children, the births beginning about 1731-32.

The oldest of Jeremiah's children appears to have been Esther Harrison, born ca. 1731-32 in Sussex Co DE. This was the daughter (of Jeremiah) who was named in the 1744 Will of Margaret Adams, as a grand daughter. Obviously, Esther would have been about 12 or 13 years old at the time. This same Esther Harrison later married her first cousin Robert Cravens Jr., around the mid 1750's. Careful attention needs to be paid to the 1744 Will of "widow Adams". But first, it should be mentioned the first account of "Catherine Harrison" as the wife of Jeremiah Harrison was in 1757 when she was baptized into the local Linville Creek Church. This is important to remember. It is also important to remember that there are no records in existance that show Catherine's maiden name as "Adams".

In closer examination of Margaret Adams' 1744 Will, please note that the original Will still exists in the Augusta Co VA records at Staunton. In early 2003, this writer obtained copies of the 1744 Will and its various probates. There were two documents from 1744, plus two more in 1770 after she died. The copies obtained were of 1) the original AND 2) the transcription in the Will Book. The transcription was made by the clerk of court (from the original) into the Will Book. The following list shows the items contained in this set of documents related to the Will:

Margaret's Will identified four of her children, one son-in-law, and three grand daughters, plus it stated there were more grandchildren. She named her son Robert Patterson, his daughter Mary Patterson, and stated that Robert Patterson had "children". She also named a grand daughter Margaret Dollinson. Nothing else is known of her nor who her mother was, but it is assumed her mother would have been another daughter of Margaret Adams. Margaret named another grand daughter, Esther Harrison. Margaret also named her daughter Elizabeth, but in this Will, she only refers to this daughter as "Elizabeth". Margaret also identified another daughter, Jane Love. In addition, she names her son-in-law Daniel Love, and it's clear this is the husband of Jane. Lastly, Margaret identified her youngest son, Samuel Addams.

Lyman Chalkley's transcription was of the recorded version in the Will Book, not the original. The following is a transcription of the ORIGINAL Will, not the version in the Will Book:

Obtaining the original Will was very enlightening. Spellings of names were different than what was transcribed into the Will Book, but nothing major. The main difference was that ALL references to the "Adams" name were actually spelled "Addams" in the original.

However, a fundamental ERROR was discovered on the second document, the "acceptance of the will" by the children of Margaret Adams, which was written just 12 days after the Will was written. The Will Book contains the transcription of this document. The original, however, appears to be in the handwriting of Daniel Love, a son-in-law of Margaret Adams. The following was extracted from the transcribed version in the Will Book:

It is evident why anyone who has ever written about this family has simply accepted that there wasn't enough information to explain why a grand daughter would be signing this document under the premise of "we, the children of .". It is not uncommon to see things which don't make sense; but too often it is simply accepted and set aside.

Now it will be shown how the original reads. Remember, the original was written and signed by Daniel Love, but the other two signers made their marks. Here is the extract, followed by a scanned image of this original document:

Figure 1 - The "Children" of Margaret Addams: Daniel Love (son-in-law), Jan Love (sic), and Elessabeth Harrason (sic)

The original document is in many little pieces (rectangles). They were laid together in order to be scanned. The above scanned image obviously contains two of the pieces. The lower piece is a little off-center from the upper piece. It should have been a little to the left in order for the marks to match up evenly, but the keen eye should be able to compensate adequately.

From this original version, it is evident that the third signer was NOT Esther Harrison, but her mother, Elizabeth Harrison. Elizabeth was the daughter of Margaret Adams, thus she could be included in the "we, the children of ." statement. Furthermore, Daniel Love would have known what his sister-in-law's name was. This single document is the only existing proof this writer knows of which shows that Elizabeth, the daughter of Margaret Adams, was in fact the mother of Esther Harrison. It also means Elizabeth was the wife of Jeremiah Harrison!

It is clear this changes the relationships of many of these individuals from what has been accepted for most of the last century to something entirely different. All this writer was trying to do was find every possible detail about these families in order to clarify the identity of the Robert Patterson who was named in the Will. The discoveries which were made regarding the rest of the family were unexpected, however.

Perhaps this still isn't enough to prove anything for some people. Or, perhaps this isn't enough information to fully explain who we're really talking about. Consider the identity of Margaret "Addams" and her children further.

Based on all the research done by this writer and several other researchers, including Harald Reksten,⁴ it seems evident that Margaret had at least five children. She may have had more, but probably didn't. Many believe Margaret's maiden name was DONNELL. That is entirely possible, and there are good reasons to accept that, but this question will not be explored here other than to simply mention it.

Margaret first married William Patterson, probably around 1705-10, location yet unknown. This writer believes they had three children, viz. Robert Patterson (who always made his mark as "R"), and two daughters. The older daughter (assumed) must have been the mother of the Margaret Dollinson named in the 1744 Will. The younger daughter was Elizabeth, mother of Esther Harrison. These three children of Margaret were most likely born between 1710-15, perhaps a couple of years earlier, considering certain possibilities. Their father William Patterson appears to have died around 1715, give or take a couple of years.

By 1720, Margaret ?Donnell Patterson remarried, this time to a John Adams. It is shown that Margaret's two husbands were named William Patterson and John Adams based on the 2-1-1770 document (#3 in the above set) where Robert Patterson disclaimed any rights to the Linville Creek lands his mother Margaret Adams had owned. In that document he states he was the son of William Patterson, dec'd, and that his mother had married John Adams, also dec'd by the time she took up the Linville Creek land.

Figure 2 - Robert Patterson's 1770 Disclaimer of Rights to Margaret Addams' Linville Creek VA land

Margaret Adams had two children by her second husband John Adams, both being born in the early to mid 1720's. Evidence was discovered in August 2003 by Harald Reksten that suggests John Adams was already deceased by 1727. There was a clear "gap" in the ages of the three older children of Margaret, and these two younger children of Margaret. One evidence of this theory is shown in Margaret's 1744 Will in that she had at least one grand child by each of her three older children, but none by her two younger children. Other evidence exists, but this is the most obvious. Based on this age "gap", plus other lesser details, it seems clear to this writer that Elizabeth, the daughter of Margaret Adams, was actually a Patterson, and therefore Elizabeth Patterson (Harrison).

An important reminder is that Margaret Adams lived most of her adult life as an "Adams". She lived until 1769-70, which was about 50 years from the approximate time she married John Adams. This is mentioned because several descendants of Esther Harrison Cravens, and other Harrison descendants as well, passed the name "Adams" down through their families. That's entirely understandable, in that they loved Margaret Adams and passed her name down through the family. They all knew her as "Adams". That doesn't weaken the evidence which strongly suggests Margaret's daughter Elizabeth was born as a Patterson, and then married Jeremiah Harrison thus establishing the family connections.

Elizabeth Patterson Harrison was still alive in 1744. She and Jeremiah Harrison would have been married at least 14 years by then, and probably had at least four or five of their children by then as well, perhaps more. No reference to Jeremiah's (second) marriage to Catherine _____ has been found prior to 1757. Elizabeth obviously died between 1744 and 1757, but the specific date is currently unknown. How many of Jeremiah's children were born to him by Elizabeth? That is unclear as well. More research should be done regarding the 17 children of Jeremiah to determine (if possible) the most likely time that he would have married Catherine _____.

More compelling evidence that Esther Harrison (Cravens)'s mother was Elizabeth Patterson, and not Catherine "Adams", is shown in the names of her children. Esther married Robert Cravens Jr by the mid 1750's, or by 1760 at the latest. Their children were named Jeremiah, Elizabeth, William, Nehemiah, Margaret, Robert III, Eleanor, and Abigail, all Cravens, of course. The first two look as though they were named after Esther's parents - Jeremiah and Elizabeth Patterson Harrison. William was probably named after his uncle William Cravens. Nehemiah, probably after his uncle Nehemiah Harrison. Margaret, either after her aunt or even her great grandmother, Margaret Adams. Robert III, obviously after his father. Eleanor and Abigail were most likely named after their aunts, Eleanor and Abigail Harrison.

What is more compelling than anything else is the recently confirmed fact (by Harald Reksten) that the Patterson/Addams family DID live very near the Harrisons and Cravens in Sussex Co DE in the 1720's and 1730's. Remember that Jeremiah Harrison married the mother of Esther Harrison about 1730. Deeds from the Sussex Co DE Land Books from 1727-40 provide several clues.

When Robert Patterson sold his Sussex Co DE land in 1738, he made his mark with an "R". When Robert made his disclaimer of rights to his mother's Linville Creek VA land in 1770, he made his mark with an "R". He was living on Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek in what was Tryon Co NC, in 1770. When he wrote his Will in 1775, he made his mark on the Will with an "R". It was probated in York Co SC court, which was the county his Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek property was governed by at the time. Perhaps Robert Patterson learned this way of signing his mark from Robert Cravens (Sr), who signed his mark in the same manner.

The above deeds from Sussex Co DE from 1727-38 establish the proximity of the Harrisons, Addams, Pattersons, Cravens, and other key families who also lived on or near Linville Creek in Augusta Co VA during the 1740's - 1760's, and even later in some cases.

There is no doubt that this Robert and Sarah Patterson were the same ones who lived on Linville Creek VA and later on Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek in what is now York Co SC. During the 1760's and 1770's this latter location was under the jurisdiction of Craven Co SC, then Anson Co NC, then Mecklenburg Co NC, then Tryon Co NC, and finally York Co SC. Additionally, Robert and Esther Harrison Cravens owned land next to Robert Patterson on Clarks Fork of Bullocks Creek (NC/SC) from 1767-74, although they never actually moved there to live.

There are many more records in each location which further establish the relationships of these Pattersons to the Harrisons and Cravens and the other families, but the main emphasis of this article is to establish the identity of Jeremiah Harrison's first wife, thereby establishing the identity of Esther Harrison's mother. The evidence speaks for itself. She was ELIZABETH PATTERSON, daughter of William and Margaret Donnell Patterson.

The ramifications of this discovery point out that Jeremiah's children by Elizabeth Patterson were not descendants of the Adams family, but were descendants of the Pattersons instead. This also means that Jeremiah's children by his second wife Catherine _____ were not descendants of the Adams family either, but rather of a family that is currently unknown to us.