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Chapter XI: Sisters of James Thomas, II

James Thomas II had four sisters. They were: Selah, Laodicea, Sarah and Lydia. Only Selah was married at the time of their father’s death in 1780.

Selah (or Ceely) who was mentioned in James I’s will as the wife of Charles Dement, was the oldest sister of James Thomas II. The 1790 census of North Carolina listed “Charles Damont” as head of household in Bertie County, with three boys under 16, wife and three daughters and four slaves. This spelling apparently is in error, not an uncommon occurrence in those days, and the Charles Damont listed most likely was the Charles Dement who married Selah Thomas.

About 1803 or 1804, the family moved to Rutherford County, Tenn.1 Apparently Charles Dement was quite well off financially as he was carried in the 1809-1813 tax lists as owning 1,000 acres of land. Rutherford County deed books and marriage records between the years 1804-1835 indicate that Charles and Selah (Thomas) Dement, had at least 10 children, most of whom married and owned property there.

The children, listed in order of their marriage dates, were:

  1. Charles, married Sarah H. Tarpley, March 1, 1820.
  2. John, married Cecelia W. Lowe, Sept. 28, 1820.
  3. Abraham, married Mary Nance, March 28, 1821.
  4. Cader, married Mary M. Andrews, Oct. 31, 1821.
  5. Charlotte, married James A. Tarpley, Dec. 8, 1821.
  6. Allen, married Catherine Robertson, Feb. 18, 1824.
  7. Sarah, married Zachariah Hall, Feb. 17, 1825.
  8. Sereany, married Samuel Murry, Dec. 18, 1829.
  9. Elizabeth, married (1) James Murry, May 25, 1830. (2) James Fuller, Oct. 30, 1833.
  10. James, married Roseanna Posey, June 5, 1835.

Laodicea, (also spelled Lundill, Luridill, Lundice, and called Uredicy2 in Perry’s sketch) married Benjamin Sholar, son of William and Elizabeth Sholar, January 25, 1791, while both still lived in Bertie County North Carolina. Her brother, Ezekiel Thomas, was their security. They had two children: Allen and Sarah, both of whom apparently were born in Bertie County. Laodicea was born in North Carolina about 1764. She died in Kentucky in 1806.

Very little is known about her husband, Benjamin Sholar, other than he was a native of Bertie County, and undoubtedly was the same Benjamin Sholar whose first wife was Elizabeth Barnes, daughter of and named in the will of John Barnes, who died in 1784, and by whom he had one son, Benjamin, Jr. Benjamin Sholar Sr., had four brothers: James, Isaac, Jacob and Thomas, also three sisters: Sarah, Rachael and Anna. His father’s will was probated in May 1776.3 There is no record to that effect, but it is assumed that Benjamin never reached Kentucky. The fact that his son Allen acquired 200 acres of land on Donaldson Creek in 18044 lends credence to this assumption. There are two possibilities — one is that Benjamin Sholar died shortly before the family was to leave for Kentucky, probably intestate as there is no will on record; or, two — he died en route and was buried somewhere along the way. It is on record that the first death in the Donaldson Creek community was “Dicey Showler, sister of James Thomas, in 1806.”5 Note that the writer did not say “wife of Benjamin Showler” as likely would have been the case had her husband been living, an indication that he never reached Kentucky at all. (See Note, page 110.)

Allen Sholar, oldest child of Laodicea (Thomas) and Benjamin Sholar, was born May 26, 1793, in Bertie County, North Carolina. He died January 29, 1853 in Trigg County, Kentucky. He married Jemima Bridges, first child of Drury and Charity (Cohoon) Bridges (see Chapter 13). In addition to his original 200 acre land acquisition he also paid $20 for another 100-acre tract obtained by two land warrants in 1823-24.

Information on Benjamin Jr., is fragmentary. He probably settled in Madison County, Alabama, of which Huntsville is the county seat. According to official records, on Feb. 12, 1825, “Willie Bridger, of Bertie County, North Carolina, agent of Benjamin Sholar of Madison County, Alabama, sold Asa Barnes a tract of 69 acres of land in Bertie County, North Carolina for $69.” The property adjoined that of a Mr. Martin and Asa Barnes. The deed was witnessed by G. Driver and J. W. Peterson.6 Likely this was Benjamin Sholar Sr’s., property that had been inherited by Benjamin Jr., who may have started west with the family when they left North Carolina in the early 1800’s. If that is true, he apparently left the family and settled in Northern Alabama. This was not unusual; both sons of Ezekiel Thomas migrated first to Trigg County, then later, moved to Carroll County, Tennessee, to take advantage of public lands that had been made available by the State of Tennessee.

Sarah Sholar, also known as Sally, was the only daughter of Laodicea (Thomas) and Benjamin Sholar. She came to Kentucky on horseback when the family migrated from North Carolina in the early 1800’s. She was married twice. Her first marriage was to James Sikes of Christian County. Her brother Allen signed the application for the marriage license issued May 9, 1812.

Record of issuance of the license is in the court house at Hopkinsville, Ky.,7 and reads, with original spelling intact:

“Know all men by these presents that we James Sikes and Allen Shoulders are held and firmly bound unto the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the final sum of 50 pounds which payment will and truly be made we bind ourselves our heirs be firmly by these presents sealed with our seals and dated this 9th day of May 1812.

“These condition of this above obligation in such that a license hath this day issued for marriage shortly intended between the above bound James Sikes and Sally Shoulders. Now if there is no lawful excuse to obstruct said marriage then the obligation to be void.”

James Sikes (seal) Jon. Clarke. Allen Sholar (seal)

Sally Sholar and James Sikes were married the following day by Thomas Woods, justice of the peace, who attested the fact in the following note found in the clerk’s office:

“I do hereby certify that I this day joined in mirage (marriage) James Sikes and Salley Shoulders agreeably to a licens from the County Court Clerk of Christian Count. 10th May 1812. Dates 9th May 1812. Thomas Woods, J.P.”

Sarah (Sholar) Sikes married her second husband, Joel Nance, May 28, 1829. He was the son of William Nance and his second wife, Mary Thorpe Hoard (Howard), widow whom he married in 1784. Joel was one of six children: Thomas, Paschal, Mary M. (Ryan), Elizabeth (Bocock) and John. Prior to 1812 all children except John moved to Kentucky from Virginia, and settled in the Roaring Springs section of what is now Trigg County. Joel’s grandparents were Richard and Mary Nance.

Sarah was Joel Nance’s second wife. His first was Elizabeth Frith, whom he married May 28, 1817, and by whom he had four children: William T., Marshall T., Thaddeus T., and Lilbon L. W.

Sarah and Joel had three children: one son, Benjamin Bedford Nance who married (1) Jane Giles; (2) Victoria Usher; (3) Josephine Usher, (sister of Victoria); and two daughters, Mary T. Nance, and Lucy Ann Nance who died in infancy.

Joel Nance, at 17, was a soldier in the War of 1812. He also was one of the original members of the Little River Baptist Church. He and Sarah lived and died on the farm which was later owned by their son, Benjamin Bedford Nance.

The Nance cemetery is located on the Roaring Springs-Pee Dee Road in Trigg County and in addition to Joel and Sarah’s graves, it also contains several others, all unmarked. Sarah’s tombstone reads: “SARAH, wife of Joel Nance, Aug. 13, 1796—Feb. 3, 1881. She was a tender mother and an affectionate wife.” Her husband’s marker reads: “JOEL NANCE, June 8, 1795—September 11, 1879.”

Birth dates in the family bible owned by Miss Elizabeth Nance, a descendant (now deceased) differ from those on the tombstones. The bible, published by Hogan and Thompson in Philadelphia in 1839, contains these notations: “Joel Nance, born 6 August 1795. 2nd marriage: Joel Nance and Sarah Sholar 28 May 1829. Sarah Sholar born 20 Aug. 1795. Joel Nance, Sr., died 11 Sept. 1879. Sarah Nance, died 3 Feb. 1881.”

Descendants of Laodicea (Thomas) and Benjamin Sholar, through their son, Allen, in Trigg County, married into the Thomas, Lawrence, Lancaster, Vinson, Hutt and Rogers families.

Sarah, (Also called Sally) sixth child and third daughter of James Thomas I and Sarah (Barnes) Thomas, was born August 15, 1775.8 in Bertie County, North Carolina. In a sketch written in 1885 by Perry Thomas, her nephew, he said: “Sally was first married to a Mr. Edwards, afterwards James Foreman, then an old Mr. Greer.”

Sarah Thomas married Benjamin Edwards February 5, 1787 with his younger brother, John, as security.9 He was the son of William Edwards, Sr., and wife Tabitha.10 I have found no record of what happened to Benjamin Edwards. Nor have I found the date of Sarah’s marriage to James Foreman, her second husband, or what happened to him. They had at least one son however. He apparently was living with his mother and step-father Andrew Greer II in Tennessee about 1814. One of his letters still extant, written to James Thomas III, in Kentucky, reads:

“Dear Cousin: It is with pleasure I take hand and pen to write you a few lines and informing you that I am well at present and hoping that these lines will find you in the same health and all the rest of my cousins & relations & that I would be very glad to see you and all the rest and. want to have the same opportunity that you have. I would be glad to see you here in this part of the country. NB and I will inform you that my mother and her family are all well and that Robert E. C. Daugherty’s family is in good health NB and another thing that I have not mentioned before that there are many girls in this part of the world and they do all say that they would be glad to see you in it too. I have nothing more at present only remains, your friend, James T. Foreman, to cousin James Thomas.”

Sarah’s third and last husband, “old Mr. Greer,” as Perry put it, was Andrew Greer II, son of Andrew Greer Sr., the earliest settler in the Watauga valley of eastern Tennessee.11 He was born March 4, 1763. He and Sarah may have been married in the Watauga settlement of Tennessee, but they later moved to Goose Creek, Smith County, Tenn., where they settled and raised their family. He died February 17, 1819, apparently intestate.12

His widow, Sarah (Thomas) Greer was appointed executrix and the settlement of his affairs required a period of about three years. When all items had been accounted for the estate amounted to over $8,000 in cash.13 Among expenses listed in the settlement were: $100 for tombstone; $10 for preaching the sermon at funeral, and $20 for whiskey at the deceased’s sale.14

On May 1, 1822, the legatees — widow and 12 children — divided among them, 35 slaves valued at $12,120.15 The children included: Matilda G., married Wilson; Marjorie W. Greer; Joseph A. Greer; Archibald O. Greer; Mary V., married Prickett; Ruth T., married McNeill; Andrew W. Greer; Amy B., married McNeill; Jane G. Greer; Elihu H. Greer; Sarah Greer; David B. Greer, and Sarah Greer, the widow.

Little is known about the family. Son Andrew W. (Wiley) Greer was born Nov. 29, 1805 and died Sept. 15, 1852. Daughter Sarah married William L. Martin. She died in 1842. They had two sons, Thomas L., and Hal Greer Martin.16

Andrew Greer Sr., father of Sarah’s husband, patented land in the Watauga area in 1776. His sons Andrew II (Sarah’s husband), Alexander and Joseph, were given land grants in Tennessee after 1790. They were veterans of the Watauga settlements and aided John Sevier in the defense of the fort there. Joseph who participated in the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780, staked out land for military service in Lincoln County, Tennessee in 1814.17

Sarah (Thomas) Greer died March 15, 1851, and was buried beside her third husband, Andrew Greer II, in the family burying ground near where they lived on Goose Creek in Smith County, Tenn.

Lydia, (Also spelled Liddy, Lidda, and Lidday), seventh child, fourth daughter of James Thomas I and Sarah (Barnes) Thomas, married James Lawrence in Bertie County about 1792. They had seven children. They were:

  1. Sally (Sarah F.) b. Sept. 9, 1790, N. C.; m. Reuben Radford, June 21, 1820, Christian Co., Ky.;
  2. Mary (Polly), b. Jan. 19, 1793, N. C., m. James Tart, b. 1789, N. C., Mar. 16, 1821, Trigg Co.;
  3. Seley, b. July 13, 1795, N. C., m. James Barnes, Apr. 17, 1817, Christian Co. He died before 1850;
  4. Umphora (Humphrey) b. Aug. 5, 1798, N. C., m. (1) Harriett Mitchell, b. 1800, about 1825; m. (2) Mrs. Mary Futrell, b. 1824, Trigg Co., Aug. 22, 1869;
  5. Elizabeth, b. May 21, 1802, N. C., m. Richard Tart, b. 1795, N. C., Jan. 1, 1822;
  6. Alfred, b. Nov. 27, 1807, m. Nancy Pritchard, b. 1810, N. C., Aug. 17, 1829.
  7. Matilda, b. Aug. 25, 1812, Ky., m. John Dixon, b. 1807, Ky., March 11, 1833.18

The family migrated to Kentucky, some sources say as early as 1802, in that portion of Christian County that is now Trigg County. There is no record of land grant or land warrant to James Lawrence prior to 1835, so he may have rented during the early years in Kentucky.

Three children of Humphrey and Harriett (Mitchell) Lawrence, married into the family of Laodicea (Thomas) and Benjamin Sholar.

Other descendants married into the Malone, and Futrell families in Trigg County.

James Lawrence was a descendant of Robert Lawrence whose headright was used in James City County, Va., in 1642.19

REPRODUCTION of actual card in files of National Archives, Washington, D. C. shows the Revolutionary War service of JAMES THOMAS, ancestor of the Trigg County line. For other information, see account on page 14.

NOTE: (See page 108)—The James and Lydia (Thomas) Lawrence family bible, found in 1974, contains this dimly-written notation: “Benjamin Sholar departed this life 3 day of March 1803.” It is presumed that he died in North Carolina. Birth dates of the Lawrence children listed on page 109 are also from this bible.—Author.

  1. Index to Rutherford County, Tenn.. Deed Book I, 1804, State Archives, Nashville, Tenn.↩︎

  2. The sixth item in James Thomas I’s will, dated Nov. 1780, reads: “I give and bequeath unto my loving daughter Luridill Thomas one featherbed and what belongs to it, one spinning wheel, one puter dish and two puter plates, one cow and calf, one eowe and lamb, one chist, to her and her heirs forever. . .” Worth S. Ray, in his book “Old Albemarle,” lists both Lundill and Laodicea as members of the family of James and Sarah (Barnes) Thomas, with the latter being indicated as mentioned “in family records.” Nowhere else in my research have I found a family record that lists them both. It is my opinion that Lundill, Luridill, Laodicea, Uredicy and Dicey, are all the same person.↩︎

  3. Hathaway, Vol. 2, No. 3, page 356. Will was dated Feb. 24, 1773.↩︎

  4. Kentucky land office records, Book 19, page 148; Book M, page 38; Book P, page 352.↩︎

  5. Perrin, page 111.↩︎

  6. Bertie County Deed Book BB, page 349.↩︎

  7. This information was found by Miss Mary Hamilton , in 1961.↩︎

  8. Date of birth from gravestone, “Tennessee Cousins,” Ray.↩︎

  9. Hathaway, Vol. 2, No. 2, page 320.↩︎

  10. Ibid, Vol. 2, No. 3, page 3 3 3 .↩︎

  11. “Tennessee Cousins,” page 650; Tennessee Historical Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 1916, page 40. Andrew Greer, Sr., who came from Ireland about 1750, married Ruth Kincade.↩︎

  12. Smith County, Tenn., Will Book 4, page 134.↩︎

  13. Ibid, page 137.↩︎

  14. Ibid, page 138-139.↩︎

  15. Ibid, pages 210-12.↩︎

  16. Note, reference 9.↩︎

  17. Tennessee Historical Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1, pages 40, 41. Joseph Greer, brother of Andrew Greer, was described as being seven feet tall. He married Ann Harman, Jan. 17, 1811. They had 11 children, five girls and six boys. He died Feb. 23, 1831 in Lincoln County, Tenn.↩︎

  18. Birth dates are from family bible, others from 1850 Trigg County census, and Trigg and Christian County marriage records.↩︎

  19. Nugent; page 131.↩︎