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Lots of new research is coming to light.
Elayne: Proof that Joshua Scrugg Pair
is the son of Mial Pair apparently does not exist. In July
2001, I went to Giles Co., Tennessee seeking final probate records, or any
records regarding the identification of Mial's children. There are no
additional records there, as I and the 2 ladies working there went over
everything available. That courthouse burned twice before the Civil War,
and then was occupied by Federal troops who destroyed everything left there.
A few records had been removed, but they are very limited. What I did
receive there was the inspiration that Joshua was indeed the son of Mial.
For your information, I am including here all the data I have explaining why I
am now including Joshua as one of Mial's children.
I had a letter from Mary Green, 3125 Fox Hill
Rd., St. Charles, Mo. 63301. She said her husband descended from the Robert Pair
who lived near Joshua in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger Co., Mo. She said she
thought Joshua and Robert were probably brothers. After searching for Joshua's
parents for 25 years with no luck, I decided to try to find Robert's parents and
see if Joshua was there. Robert's parents were Mial Pair (1780-1821) and Sarah
Hubard (born 1782). In Giles Co., Tenn. in 1830, next door to Joshua Parr was
Henry Parr. He does not appear old enough to be Joshua's father. With him was an
older woman and a lot of children from 10-30. There were no small children. It
looks like a widow and her children, Henry being the oldest son at home. If
Joshua and Robert and Henry were brothers, the family would have to be in North
Carolina when Joshua S. Pair was born in 1803, and in South Carolina in 1815
when Robert was born, and then in Tennessee when Joshua's son, John Murray Pair was born in
1831. I found Mial (Micel) Pair in York Co., SC in 1820, and Miol Pear in
Mecklenburg Co., NC in 1810. I lined up the ages and sexes of these two families
and Henry Parr's family, and they all fit like a glove. Additional
circumstantial evidence - Catherine's family was also in Giles Co., Tenn.; one
of Joshua's sons is named Joseph Miles (for both his grandfathers?); one of
Joshua's daughters is named Sarah Elizabeth (for both her grandmothers?).
Mial Pair died in 1821 in York Co., SC. I checked and there are tons of early
records from York Co., however Mial Pair's will
does not list his children’s names.
The following 3 families are now proven to be the same
family.
Record:
1810 Census
1820 Census
1830 Census
County, State:
Mecklenburg, N.C. York, S.C.
Giles, Tenn.
Head of household: Miol Pear Mial Pair
Henry Parr
boarder or relative F 1784-1794
boarder or relative
M pre-1775
Mial Pair (1780-1821) M 1766-1784
M 1775-1794
Sarah (1782)
F 1766-1784
F 1775-1794
F 1780-1790
Henry J. 1800
M 1800-1810
M 1794-1802
M 1790-1800
Joshua S. 1803
M 1800-1810
M 1802-1804
(living next door)
(unknown)
M 1800-1810
M 1804-1810
M 1800-1810
John D. 1809
M 1800-1810
M 1804-1810
M 1800-1810
Susan 1812
F 1810-1820
F 1810-1815
Edith T. 1814
F 1810-1820
F 1810-1815
Robert W. 1815 M 1810-1820
M 1810-1815
Sarah F 1810-1820
F 1815-1820
(unknown)
M 1815-1820
Susannah C. 1821
F 1820-1825
Henry, John, Susan, and Robert all went to Claiborne Parish, La. Robert
later went to Cape Girardeau Co., Mo.
A May 1828 document gives guardianship of John D., Edith T., Robert, and
Susannah C. to Paul Chiles, a justice of the peace in Giles Co., Tennessee.
A power-of attorney registered 22 December 1834 from William E. Kersey, husband of Susan
of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, gives her brother, Henry Pair of Giles
Co., Tennessee, the right to receive her inheritance for her.
Also, it was passed down in my own family that Joshua had family in Louisiana,
but I didn't know till now who that was.
Monte Jones [email protected]
: I had often wondered what happened to
my Henry Pair, formerly of Giles County, Tn and Claiborne Parish, La. Then I
noticed a brief posting by you indicating that a Henry J. Pair, very roughly the
same age range as my Henry Pair, had died in Robertson's Colony, Texas. I found
quite a bit of information on Robertson's Colony at The Texas Handbook Online,
which is an excellent source of information about Texas and which provides some
fascinating details of the history of Robertson's Colony. Through the Texas
Handbook Online I discovered that Dr. Malcolm McLean had authored a 21 volume
history of Robertson's Colony. I contacted him by email requesting any
information on Henry J. Pair and he wrote back telling me I would find
references to Henry J. Pair in Volumes III, V, VII, VIII, and XVI. (Each volume
is indexed.) The entire collection on Robertson's Colony is on file at the UTA
Library in Arlington, Texas as well as several other libraries throughout the
US. It is in the Special Collections Department of the library. The best thing
about the UTA Library is that it also has many ORIGINAL documents pertaining to
the early settlers of Robertson's Colony. I made a copy of the most important
one to me, which is the one where Henry J. Pair signed up on July 19, 1830 to
become a Robertson colonist. Most of the Robertson colonists, including our
Pairs, were living in Giles County, Tn at the time. During my trip to Giles
County last summer, a few days after you were there, I obtained copies of two
documents on file there. One was appointing Henry J. Pair as a power of attorney
to receive funds from the estate of Miel Pair for William Kersey for his wife
Susan Pair. This document was witnessed by Qinton (sic) Dines, Isaac M. Mahon,
and William Kersey. The other document I obtained from Giles County was one by
which Henry J. Pair was appointed curator to Robert W. Pair, the minor child of
Miel Pair, deceased. This document stated: "Qinton Dines and Sally Dines,
William Kersey, Robert W. Pair, John D. Pair, Susan Kersey relations of Miel
Pair deceased...formed a family meeting according to law for the purpose of
advising the appointment of a curator to the said minor child (Robert W. Pair) of
said Miel Pair..." I infer from this document that Quinton Dines is the
brother-in-law of Henry J. Pair. Both of these documents are dated in Nov and
Dec 1834 and were both notarized in Claiborne Parish, La. Qinton or Quinton
Dines, is a rather unusual name and it is the name by which I can show that the
Henry J. Pair in Robertson's Colony is the same as the one in Giles County and
Claiborne Parish.
As noted above, on July 19, 1830 Henry J. Pair signed
on to be a Robertson Colonist. On August 5, 1830, Quinton Dines also signed on
to be a Robertson Colonist. (At the time this part of the colony where Henry and
Quinton signed on was called the Nashville Company, Nashville, Tn being
the home of Sterling Robertson, the founder of the colony,
who was also a rival of Stephen F. Austin. ) Both Henry and Quinton were to
receive a 1000 acres of land in return for settling in and erecting permanent
structures in Robertson's Colony. Henry Pair and Quinton Dines both signed
documents renewing and confirming their contracts in Texas on Dec 2, 1830. In
the 1840's Quinton and Henry both obtained land in Louisiana also. I also found
a reference to John D. Pair witnessing documents for Robertson Colonists. I
believe that Henry and Quinton traveled rather extensively for the times between
Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas.
For reference, Robertson's Colony consisted of all or
part of the following mostly central Texas counties: Eastland, Palo Pinto,
Parker, Comanche, Erath, Hood, Johnson, Somervell, Bosque, Hamilton, Mills,
Lampasas, Coryell, McLennan, Hill, Limestone, Falls, Bell, Burnet, Williamson,
Milam, Robertson, Lee, Burleson, and a tiny piece of Bastrop. At the bottom of
the colony was the old Bexar-Nacogdoches road, which was a primary connection to
Nacogdoches, Texas, Natchitoches, Louisiana and the rest of the South.
Quinton Dines and Henry J. Pair were listed as the
heads of the first nine families in Robertson's Colony. At that time, family
ties were close and I believe they were the reason so many Pairs came to this
general area, including John Murray Pair, whose grave I have visited and whose
tombstone bears the inscription: "God is Love". These words are Truth and they
inspire me to keep my connection with those of the past, whose Love I still
value.
Did you also note that John D. Pair also was a
Robertson's colonist? As you know, his son, John H. Pair later settled in
Eastland County, which was part of Robertson's Colony. I believe this early
"pioneering" by Henry and Quinton is the reason so many Pairs wound up there in
the general area, including your John Murray Pair, who I believe is Henry's
nephew.
I believe Henry and Quinton were brothers-in-law based
on an educated guess. My main basis for guessing this is the document whereby
Henry Pair, Quinton and Sally Dines, and others appointed Henry Pair guardian of
the minor child, Robert W. Pair, son of the deceased Mial Pair. I believe Sally
Dines was a Pair girl--that is why she had a right to be in a family meeting to
decide who would be the guardian of Robert W. Pair. If Henry Pair had married a
Dines girl and that was his only relation to Quinton, then Quinton and Sally
would not have had a say in what happened to Robert W. Pair. At that time, women
had to have their husband's permission in almost all legal matters, even those
where husbands would not normally have an interest except through their wives.
Do you have a copy of the document appointing Henry to be the curator for
Robert? I can scan it and send it to you by email if you do not already have
this document. I can also send you a copy of the document where Henry is
applying for the 1000 areas in Robertson's Colony if you want it. Just let me
know if you do.
I hope this helps. There is still so much to learn and
I believe we will do so one little gold nugget at a time. I am thinking of
sending a mass mailing to every Pair in the 11 Southern states as well as
Kentucky and Missouri. Somewhere there is an old letter or a family bible record
that will tie up our loose ends.
Elayne: And now Monte has located Quinton and
Sarah (Pair) Dines in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, in the 1850 Census.
They were living very close to the Robert and Joshua Pair families.
Ginny Youmans: I did notice on the web version of the 1830 Census
in Giles County that Joshua S. Parr shows up twice, with the same statistics.
Once on p. 209, and once on p. 149. On 149 it looks like he lives next to
his brother Henry and the rest of his family (this would account for the old
widowed mother, plus all the younger siblings). On 209 it looks like he
lives next to a Dempsy Hubard, who could have been the mother Sarah Hubard's
brother, and the reason she moved her family to Pulaski (Tennessee) after her
husband Mial died.
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~tngiles/census/1830/p209.htm
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~tngiles/census/1830/p149.htm
Also, John Frazier shows up, too, as Jno. Fraizear, on p. 204:
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~tngiles/census/1830/p204.htm
If his daughter Susan was born in 1816 or 1818, though, she would be 12 or 14 at
this census, and there isn't a female of that age in the census. Of
course, someone could have gotten her age wrong. My husband was a
census-taker in the 1990 census, including among the Amish of Lancaster County,
PA, and lots of times the father would give an age, and the mother would speak
up and correct him. Maybe Susan's mother wasn't there to correct her
husband!
Email your hostess
Elayne Pair Gibbons
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