Early DeBusk History
The first DeBusk to arrive in the New World
still remains a mystery, but we know
that
there were DeBusk’s in the American
Revolution. That is if someone in the past didnt make
a mistake in the spelling. A Jacob
DeBusk
served with the North Carolina Continental
Line. He enlisted 15 April 1781 for 12 months. Dempster DeBusk also served in the North
Carolina Continental Line. In South Carolina there was a Continental
Soldier named Peter Du Busk.
The first documentation of a DeBusk in Washington
County, Virginia was found in the court
records:
"At a court held in Washington
County,
17 April 1782 ........... On motion of Col. William Edmondson
in behalf of Elisha DeBusk and William
Moore
it is the opinion of the court that
they
be cleared of their poll taxes."
"At a court held for Washington
County
May the 20th 1783 ......................
Ordered that the orphan child of Elisha
DeBusk
named Isaac DeBusk be now bound to
Samuel
Kincart according to law he being seven
years
of age the 13th day of November next
who
is to learn him the hatter trade."
"Ordered that Elisha DeBusk orphan
child
of Elisha DeBusk be bound to Thos.
Edmondson,
Sr., According to law he being nine
years
of age the twenty third day of April
last."
The documentation above can be found
in "Annals of Southwest Virginia" by L. P. Summers on pages 1089 and 1142.
In the Washington County Will Book 1 1777-1792
there is the following entry:
Indenture 16 November 1784 John Campbell
doth put a boy named Elihu DeBusk (age
10
April last) as apprentice to Thomas
Edmondson
until he arrives at 21 --------- to learn art and mystery of weaver.
So far it has not been determined what happened
to the three boys mentioned above. Some researchers think that Elisha born 3
April 1774 is the Elisha that died
in 1816. This is unlikely since the 1810 census lists
him as being over 45 years old. The orphan Elisha was too young to be the
Elisha that married Esther.
The Washington County, Virginia Personal
Property Tax records show that Elijah
and
Elisha were the only DeBusk’s paying
taxes
in 1785. There was no record of any DeBusk or similar
name prior to 1785. The next DeBusk to appear in the tax records
was Elias DeBusk in 1789 through 1796. It appears that this Elias DeBusk moved to
Blount County, Tennessee and appears
there
in the 1830 census. From the tax records there appears to be
three DeBusk families living in the
Washington
County area before 1800. No additional DeBusk names appear until John
DeBusk in 1809 and Daniel DeBusk in
1810. The deed records also confirm most of these
names. A deed record has not been found for Daniel. According to the 1830 census Elijah and Elisha
were over 45 years old and Daniel and
John
were 16-25 years old. John was the son of Elijah and Daniel was
probably the son of Elisha. In 1813 Elijah DeBusk, Jr. son of Elijah
and Elijah son of Elisha appeared in
the
tax list.
Much research by DeBusk descendants has failed
to uncover whether this Elisha is the
first
DeBusk to come to Washington County
or whether
he is the father of the two orphan
boys or
Elihu. The fact that the orphan children were not
left with a DeBusk family makes you
wonder
if there were any nearby. I am sure there could be a good argument
for or against this. Some researchers have put forward the theory
that Elisha and his two boys came from
France
to this area because relatives lived
there,
possibly one of the three brothers.
So far it is not possible to prove any information
prior to Washington County, Virginia. I believe
that all people named DeBusk are related
somewhere in the dark recesses of time.
To this day there are still DeBusk's living
in the Washington County and Lee County area
of Virginia. My DeBusk ancestors migrated
to Brown County, Texas following the close
of the the Civil War.
|