Analysis of the parents of Robert Via who married Frances Parker
Was Robert Via who married Frances Parker the son of Robert Via and ____
Lane?
--This analysis provided by Jeff
Via
The material that names
his Robert Via's parents
as Robert Viar and Bettie Lane was obtained from the Guion
Miller rolls of Eastern Cherokees. Andrew Jackson Viar, applied to
participate in the settlement the Cherokees won against the Federal Government
in 1907. He had to give an account of his connection to the Cherokees.
In it, he names his parents as Robert Viar and Frances Parker, and grandparents
as Robert Viar and Bettie Lane. He claimed that Bettie Lane was a full
blood Cherokee.
I have found
no marriage record of a Robert Via(r) marrying a Bettie Lane. The closest
I've come is where Robert Via married Patsey Lane. I believe Robert &
Patsey were the grandparents of Andrew Jackson Viar.
Why I believe
this is because we know that Robert Via(r), who married Frances Parker,
was orphaned when quite young. So any information Andrew Jackson Viar knew
about his grandparents was second hand knowledge. When Andrew Jackson Viar
had to recall that information in 1907, it had been several years since
his parents were deceased. I think by relying on his memory, he got his
wires crossed. You see, Frances Parker's mother was named Bettie. And Andrew
Jackson Viar had two sisters named Bettie and Patsey. Bettie being the
older of the two. According to colonial tradition of naming
children after relatives, the first daughter was to be named after
the mother's mother (Frances Parker's mother) and the second daughter was
to be named after the father's mother (Robert Via(r)'s mother). So with
this, I believe, it is entirely possible, if not probable, that Andrew
Jackson Viar's paternal grandmother was Patsey rather than Bettie.
Looking at your 1850 census of Floyd
Co., Va. naming Robert Via,63, and Frankie, 47, I found to be Robert
Via and Fanny, Fanny being a nickname for Frances.
The marriage
date of 1804 for Robert Via & Patsey Lane being too late to be
the parents of Robert Via(r), who married Frances Parker, has given me
some reason for doubt too. But after going over the circumstantial information
I"ve found, I can't help but feel that Robert Via & Patsey Lane are,
indeed, the parents of Robert Via(r) who married Frances Parker. Let me
share with you what I've come to believe.
First of all, Robert Via(r) who married Frances Parker wasn't as old as
he sometimes professed to be. I believe he was born around 1797or 98 rather
than 1787 or 1790. What I'm basing this on comes from the 1820
Federal Census of Franklin County, Va. (white male 16-26), 1830
Federal Census of Patrick County, Va. (white male 30-40), and the biography
of my great-grandfather, Andrew Jackson Viar, from Goodspeeds History of
Dyer County, Tennessee that was published in 1886. In
it's entirety, here's that biography on page 1066:
"Andrew J. Viar, son of Robert and Frances (Parker) Viar, was born in Floyd
County, Virginia in 1832. The family consisted of nine children, five now
living. The father was born in North Carolina about 1790. He was left an
orphan when quite young and was raised by a Mr. Hastin, receiving a very
limited education. He was in the War of 1812. When 21 he married Miss Frances
Parker. He was living in Virginia, where he remained farming as a tenant,
until 1846, when he moved to Rome County, Tennessee, and spent the rest
of his life there, except a short time in Monroe County. Mrs. Viar was
born in Pennsylvania in 1795, and died in 1863 in Monroe County. In 1866
he married Mrs. Akin, who died in 1878. Mr. Viar died
in 1877, at the advanced age of eighty-seven. Our subject remained
at home until his majority. In 1862, he enlisted in the Confederate Army,
under Captain Blair, of east Tennessee, and Colonel Rounds. He engaged
in the siege of Vicksburg, was captured, and soon after returned home after
twelve months active service. In December, 1863, he married Miss Delila,
daughter of Nathan and Nancy Ragains, of Monroe County. They had ten children,
six living: Ellen V., wife of Nathan Bizzle; Amanda E., Nathan A., Nancy
F., Walter O. and Amy J. After his marriage, he moved to Virginia, and
two years later returned to East Tennessee. In January, 1871, he moved
to Orange County, Indiana and the October following moved to
Fayette County, Tennessee, and the next year to Dyer County. In 1883,
he bought 200 acres of land in the seventh district, five miles east of
Dyersburg, and has since engaged in farming. Mrs Viar was born in Blount
County, Tennessee, in 1845, and is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Viar is a self made man, and is conservative in politics."
There are a few inaccuracies discovered in this biography, but the only
one I want to refer to right now is where it said that Robert was born
about 1790 while saying that he married Frances Parker at age 21. We know
that Robert Via(r) and Frances Parker married in 1819. Well, 21 from 1819
gives us 1798. So which is more apt to be correct? 1790 or 1798? Taking
into consideration the 1820 and 1830Federal Census records, I'm more inclined
to believe 1798 is more accurate. Besides, if someone were inclined to
exaggerate their age, I'd think they would be more liable to do it when
they are older rather than when they were younger. That could explain Robert
Via(r)'s difference in age from 1820 (age 16-26) and
1850 (age 63) census records.
I realize there is still problem of Robert Via & Patsey Lane being
the parents of Robert Via(r) who married Frances Parker even if he
were born in 1798 rather than 1790. 1804 is still too late. Unless he were
born out of wedlock like Andrew Jackson Viar's first two daughters were.
Goodspeed's article says that Andrew Jackson Viar married Delila Ragains
in December of 1863. Well, I got a copy of their original marriage certificate
from Jefferson County, Tennessee. They married on 18 Apr. 1868. Their first
two daughters were born in 1864 and 1866. So, I don't think it's too far
out of the question to believe that Robert Via(r) who married Frances Parker
was born out of wedlock too. To support this idea, I want to point to the
Personal Property Tax Lists (PPTL) of both Amherst
and Franklin Counties, Va.
Robert Via appears in the Amherst County PPTL's from 1795 to 1804. I find
it interesting that he disappears from there after the year he marries
Patsey Lane. In Franklin County, Va. PPTL's a Robert Vie shows up once
in 1807 and not again until 1818 as Robert Viar. Why is there such a long
interval of time between the two appearances there? I feel that they are
two different individuals. Moreover, I think that the Robert Vie listed
in 1807 was the father of the one in 1818; having died shortly after the
1807 PPTL was made. This agrees with my supposition that Robert Via(r)
who married Frances Parker was born in 1798 rather than 1790. After all,
if Robert, who married Frances Parker, was born about 1790, he wouldn't
need to be raised by anyone in 1807 at the age of 17. However, if he were
born about 1798, he most definitely would need some
raising at age 9 or 10 in 1807.