Thomas East of Henry Co VA

The Ancestors Of Thomas East of
Henry County Virginia

 

      John East of Halifax Co VA, was possibly a son of John East (he a son of Thomas East Jr) and Sarah Madox. Either John (the subject of this biography) or his son was living in Lunenburg Co on the Little Roanoke in 1750. There is a 1748 Lunenburg Co land patent (in the part which became Halifax Co in 1752) which "ordered that Abram Shelton, Joseph Payne, John East, Thom Munsten, and Charles Lewis, do procession patented lands from mouth of Stinking River up Banister to mouth of White Thom Creek." John left a will dated 16 January 1758 in Halifax Co, in which he named his wife Jane _____, and two sons. From a 1 August 1772 deed of trust record in Pittsylvania Co, indications are that John may have also had a son named Thomas whom he did not name in his will. The sons named were John and William. These three probable sons were-

1.    John East [E1], b abt 1735

2.    William East [E2]

3.    Thomas East [E4b2] (? born 1730?) (M81,EP,JY,VJ,JA, RC)


      John East [E1], son of John East and Jane _____ of Halifax Co VA, was born in Lunenburg Co or in Brunswick Co VA about 1735. On 17 May 1764 he took out a land grant of 400 acres on Stinking River.

      Sometime before 16 August 1764 John married Frances _____ (Harston or Hairston? See the biographies of sons Thomas and Joseph.), probably in Halifax Co. On that date John sold 50 acres on Stinking River to Richard Kezee, and Frances was listed as John's wife (Book 5, Page 157-159). She would likely be of a neighboring family since the courting distance of young men of over two centuries ago was quite limited. The 1764 land sale was part of a 340 acre tract he bought on Stinking River in Halifax Co from Thomas Faris on 21 July 1763. John and his family lived on a 300 acre plantation along Panther Creek in Pittsylvania Co where he was a farmer. On 26 June 1777 John East "and Frances, his wife, of Pittsylvania Co" sold 300 acres on Panther Creek, "the plantation on which the said John East now lives," for £190 to Thomas Clark of Amelia. This land was next door to Crispen Shelton, Joshua Hudson, John Payne, and Lightfoot's property.

      In 1767 John was listed on John Donelson's tithe list in Pittsylvania Co. There is a 29 March 1770 Pittsylvania Co deed record where a John East bought 400 acres on Straight Stone Creek from William Thomas. John also sold 100 acres on Stinking River to William East on 16 August 1764, and in 1771 sold 190 more Stinking River acres to James Bruce. On 25 May 1772 John East of Pittsylvania Co bought 250 acres on Panther Creek from William Perry. Three days later John bought 35 acres from Hall Hudson and Hall's wife Frances. On 23 May 1775 John East of Pittsylvania Co sold 140 acres on Straight Stone Creek to Francis Luck for £35.

      Some indication of the names of his children are in the Pittsylvania Co deed records. There is a 1 August 1772 deed of trust in which John East Sr of Pittsylvania Co is indebted to John Smith of Halifax Co for £48. Witnesses were Thomas East (a brother?, Thomas East [E4b2]?) and Joel Hunt. Very often witnesses to legal transactions were the children who were of legal age or close to it, and in this case John is called John Sr, implying there was a John Jr nearby. And on 21 April 1778 John East of Pittsylvania Co sold 200 acres on Straight Stone Creek to John Fitzpatrick of Bedford Co; witnesses were Francis Luck, Joseph East, and Major Childress.

      There is an 11 March 1781 record of John as a soldier in Lanier Company from Henry Co, and there is also a 1782 record of John being paid for providing corn to Revolutionary War Soldiers. In 1787 he was named on a Henry Co Personal Property tax list owning five slaves (two above age 16 and three below 16), five horses, and nine cattle; there was also a white male (indentured servant?) between the ages of 16 and 21. On 18 January 1803 John granted to his son William a Negro boy named Starling; John's wife Frances witnessed this deed. He left an 1803 will in Henry Co which was inventoried on 28 March. (Lunenburg Co was formed from Brunswick Co in 1746, Halifax Co from Lunenburg Co in 1752, Pittsylvania Co from Halifax Co in 1766, and Henry Co was formed from Pittsylvania Co in 1776) Therefore he died in the first quarter of the year. At least two of the children moved west: Joseph moved to KY and Thomas moved to Giles Co TN. The seven known children of John and Frances were-

a.    Mary East was born in the 1764 in Pittsylvania Co VA. She married Joel Pace in Henry Co soon after 20 November 1780 (Henry Co was formed from Pittsylvania Co in 1776) and remained in the area at least until October 1814 when her husband appeared in the Henry Co court concerning the division of the estate of Mary's father, She and Joel moved to central KY, then to Jefferson Co IL by the summer of 1820. (M94,JA,RC).

b.    Thomas East, b 1765, moved to Giles Co TN; see his biography below, in the alphabetical section. See below.

c.    John East Jr was born in the late 1760s in Pittsylvania Co VA. He died after 1793, but before 28 March 1803 when the inventory of his father's estate was made. A 23 October 1790 petition was signed by John East and his son John East Jr to form Patrick Co out of Henry Co; this establishes that John Jr was age 21 at the time. In the 1793 Henry Co court John Jr was paid to appear and give witness that he did see his father supply corn for the Revolutionary Army in 1782. There is no indication that John had any living children by the time he died. (JA,RC)

d.    Joseph East, was born about 1770 in Pittsylvania Co VA, in the section which became Henry Co in 1777. On 15 June 1795 in Henry Co he married Jane "Jinney" Rea, daughter of James Rea of Henry Co. (See Joseph East [E1b3].) She was born in either Henry Co or in Pittsylvania Co VA. Joseph and Jinney, with four or five of their children, moved to KY about 1800, settling on "Duck River" (Dicks River? in southeast KY?). There is a January 1805 deed of trust to Joseph from George Harston (spelled "Hairston") and Gilbert Rowland in Henry Co; Joseph's brother William was a witness. Perhaps Joseph sold his property in Henry Co after he and his family decided they liked KY. Then about 1820 they moved south to Franklin Co AL where Joseph died in 1832. Jinney gave her son Thomas her power of attorney on 10 November 1835. Jinney also died in Franklin Co. Joseph's children and the children of his brother Thomas East [E1b] visited each other and kept up the family ties for some time, according to Elizabeth Gorman Cross [E1d9d1f], (Mrs William D Brotherton) in 1932. Mrs Brotherton was a great granddaughter of Joseph's son Thomas. Joseph and Jinney had 11 children-

      1.    John East, b abt 1796

      2.    Mary East

      3.    Jane East

      4.    Jemima East

      5.    Joseph East

      6.    Frances East

      7.    James East

      8.    Sarah East

      9.    Thomas East, b 23 Dec 1810

      10.  Robert East

      11.  Elizabeth East (VJ,EP,JA,RC,EE,28z)

e.    Milley East, was born in the 1770s in Pittsylvania Co or in Henry Co VA (Henry Co was formed from Pittsylvania Co in 1776). She married John Mattox before 1800, for in that year John & Milley Mattox and William East testified in court in Henry Co. Also, in an 11 October 1814 court record Milley's mother Frances, and heirs Joel Pace, John Mattox, Joseph East, David Rea and Thomas East were named in matters concerning the division of the estate of the late John East (Book 2, Pages 67, 109, 236, 259). Since John Mattox, David Rea and Joel Pace were named as heirs, this established that they were spouses of the daughters of John and Frances. If Milley and John had any children, it is not known. (M92,RC)

f.    William East, was born in Halifax Co VA on 24 February 1776, in the section of the county which became Henry Co in the following year. He married Elizabeth Thurston on or soon after 26 January 1802 (the marriage bond date) in Henry Co; the surety was David Rea (husband of Frances East, William’s sister). In 1808, William and Elizabeth moved to Middle TN, stayed for a short time, and in 1809 moved on to AL where he patented about 160 acres on 16 November 1810. William lived in Madison Co, and apparently outlived Elizabeth. A Madison Co Newspaper obituary reported the 9 October 1841 death of a "Mrs Sally East consort of William East Esq, long a resident of this county." Sally was born 12 May 1781 and was from Halifax Co VA. The obituary indicated that she may have been the wife who moved with William to TN, then to AL.

William died at home on 21 August 1847 and was buried in the East family cemetery, one mile east of the (1988) McCrary home in Madison Co. Sally was buried in the same graveyard. He had seven children-

      1.    Mary C East, b abt 1802

      2.    Elizabeth H East, b abt 1803

      3.    Yancy Thomas East, b 5 May 1804

      4.    Eliza P East

      5.    Susanna Withers East, b abt 1813

      6.    Priscilla W East, b 11 Sep 1813

      7.    Alexander Hamilton East, b abt 1815 (M89,M92,M94,DJ,VJ, JA,JF,RC)

g.    Frances East, was born in Henry Co VA in 1776 and may be a twin to her brother William. She married David Rea about 22 July 1794 (marriage bond date) in Henry Co. David was born in the 1760s. He left an 1837 Henry Co will, and was dead by 1840. He and Frances had at least four children, and probably more-

      1.    girl Rea, b 1800s

      2.    boy (Renard, b 1799 ?) Rea, b 1800s

      3.    boy (John P, b 1815 ?) Rea, b 1816-1820

      4.    Mildred Rea, b 1816 (90,94,VJ,EP,MT,RC,28jkn)  (M81,M92, VJ,EP, NL,MT, RC, JA,JF,28jknzm)





The East Families Of Giles Co TN, Wayne Co TN, and Hardin Co TN
(In Alphabetical Order)


In order to make it easier to do updates, all East biographies are now contained within one master set of East files at The East Families of the Southeast USA.

Those descendants of the Herny Co VA East familes who first settled in Giles Co TN when they moved from VA will have an ID # starting with [E1b... These people are descendants of Thomas East [E1b] who was born in 1765. To find only the descendants of this Thomas East, do a search for [E1b once you open the Biography section of the above web address.