William Long (1755 - 1814)

Born 4 Mar 1755 in Augusta County, Virginia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Penn) Long — married 23 Sep 1794 in Amherst, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 26 Aug 1814 at age 59 in Cumberland, Kentucky, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Gerry McGlamery [send private message], Tucker Tucker [send private message], and Keith Long [send private message]

Biography

Captain William Long served with 2nd Virginia State Regiment, Virginia State Troops during the American Revolution.

William Long is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A201120.

William Long was born on March 4, 1755, in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the son of William Long and Margaret Lynn Lewis.^[1]

His father died in May 1760, and his will named Thomas Lewis and Charles Lewis, his brothers-in-law, as executors.^[2] Sometime in 1761, his mother married William Crow, a Staunton merchant. In 1770, William chose his uncles Thomas Lewis and Charles Lewis as his guardians.^[3]

During the Revolutionary War, William served as a captain in the 2nd Virginia State Regiment under the command of Colonel William Brent.^[4][5] In December 1783, he was provided with a warrant for 1000 cares of land in recognition of his service as a captain during the war, which in March 1784, he assigned to Andrew Sutlington.^[6]

On September 23, 1794, William married Elizabeth Penn, the widow of David Shepherd and James Calloway,in Amherst County, Virginia.^{[7][8][9][10]} They are thought to have had nine children - William, Thomas, Arthur, Lewis, George W., Strother, John Crow, Margaret Louise, and Polly. (This wedding date, if correct, poses some difficulty for the list of children, since the oldest two children were purportedly born in 1786 and 1788. Whether the marriage date is wrong, or these two children were born into an earlier (unknown) marriage for William or (known) for Elizabeth is unclear).

In 1786, William appointed John Atkinson as attorney to sell all the lands which William held as heir of his father.^[11]

According to subsequent Kentucky court proceedings, the family moved in 1803 to Cumberland County, Kentucky, where William had received 4000 bounty acres. (See below). In 1810, the couple was living in Burksville, Cumberland, Kentucky, with 9 males and 2 females in addition to themselves.^[12]

William died in Cumberland County, Kentucky, on August 26, 1814, at the age of 59, as documented in Find a Grave and the court proceedings.^[13]

Kentucky Court Proceedings

The most useful source of information on William and his children comes from court testimony provide at a Kentucky court in 1833, where William's Revolutionary War service was verified, a timetable provided for his move to Kentucky, and a list of surviving children (and in some cases, spouses) was provided. [One of the neighbors and witnesses, James Cowan, was the father of Thomas Cowan, who married William's daughter Margaret.]

"State of Kentucky, Woodford County Sch At a County Court held for said County the Court house in the Town of Versailles on Monday the 7th day of January 1833 It was proved to the satisfaction of the Court before Samuel Berry, John Steele, William Woolridge, Thomas McAshford and Barnet Gildner, Justices Sitting as a Court, by the testimony of William B. Wallace the credibility of whom is duly certified who was himself an officer in the Revolutionary War that William Long entered the service of the Revolution in the Second Virginia Regiment, a State establishment in the year 1776 as Captain thereof and continued as such therein until the end of the war and was a supernumerary officer, and entitled to commutation as half pay for life and that said William Long resided in Greenbriar County State of Virginia at the time of the aforesaid service and up to 1786 the last time that said Wallace saw him, and that the said Wallace had been informed and believed said Long moved to Cumberland County Kentucky. And it was also proved to the satisfaction of the Court, by the testimony of John Beard and James Cowan, the credibility of both of whom are duly certified, that said Long did move from the State of Virginia Greenbriar County in the year 1803 to Cumberland County Kentucky and that the said Long was a neighbor and acquaintance of them the said Beard and Cowan and that Long continued to reside in said county until the 26th day of August 1814 on which day he died and always bore the name of Captain Long, and was universally believed to have served as such in the Revolution, that said Beard and Cowan had both lived ever since 1800 in said County of Cumberland as had said Long, and that said Long if he had been living in 1832 he would have been seventy seven years of age, that they were both sixty years old in 1832 and that said Long died intestate and left the following children and heirs at law. Names of the males now living Strother Long, John Long, Thomas Long, George Long, Arthur Long. That there was his daughter named Polly Long who intermarried with Saunder Brown and that they still live together in matrimony, Peggy Long who intermarried with Thomas Cowan and are still living together in matrimony and that there are two more males, William Long who married in his lifetime and left a wife and children living in Mercer County Kentucky at his death, also Lewis Long who intermarried and left at his death three children now living in Cumberland County Kentucky, named Patsy Long, Betsey Long and William Long of whom Polly Frogge is the guardian, that George, Arthur, and Thomas Long are now living in the State of Alabama Jackson County, the said John Long in the Territory of Arkansas, that all the others accept said William’s children live in Cumberland County Kentucky, and that said William Long’s widow died in a few years after he died. Which ordered to be certified to all whom it may concern."

Wills and Probate

There are several different court records associated with William Long, related to his father's will and estate, his guardianship under his uncles. There is also a record of the court case involving his possible wife, Mary Blair. and her siblings.

• Chalkley Page 378.--16th April, 1760. William Long's will, of Staunton--Wife, Margaret; son, William, lands and lots in and about Staunton and Jackson's River; brothers, Thomas Lewis and Charles Lewis, to be executors. Teste: William Lewis, William Stewart. Proved, 20th May, 1760. Executors qualify, with Andrew and William Lewis. ^[14][15]

• Chalkley Page 432.--19th November, 1760. William Long's appraisement, by David Stewart, Robt. Breckinridge, Felix Gilbert.^[16]

• Chalkley Page 353.--21st November, 1770. Thomas and Charles Lewis' bond (with John Bowyer, John Madison) as guardian to William Long, orphan of William Long. ^[17]

• Chalkley Page 143.--19th August, 1773. Recorded, viz: 1761--The estate of the late William Long, of Staunton, Dr.; paid Barnibas Hughes, Doctor Lyn, clothing Wm. Long nine years. 1760--Contra. ^[18]

• Vol. 1 - COUNTY COURT. ORIGINAL PETITIONS AND ORDERS. - Arbitration bond between Joseph Byers, William Long, and Jane Blair, dated 1796. Report of Commissioners dividing land sold by Robert McCutchan to John Blair, and by him devised to his three sisters, Elizabeth, Mary and Jane. Elizabeth married Joseph Byers, Mary married William Long.

Reference Notes

• There has been substantial confusion between this William Long [Long-2216] and another William Long [Long-30228]. As a result of recent mergers and cleanup of children, it may be possible to sort out the issues.
• THIS William Long [Long-2216] was born on March 4, 1755, in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the son of William Lewis and Margaret Lynn Lewis. He married Elizabeth Penn (and possibly Mary Blair), and had nine known children. He died in Cumberland County, Kentucky, in 1814.
• The OTHER William Long [Long-30228] was also born in 1755 in Augusta County, Virginia, in a part which was to eventually become Grayson County (hence some of the confusion). His parents are not known with certainty. He married Catherine (Caty) Surface, and they are believed to have had eleven children. He died in December 1821 in Grayson County, Virginia.
• An additional reason for the confusion between the two would appear to be the inadvertent promulgation of some incorrect data from DAR records, as posted on Ancestry by a veteran researcher:
• "It is unfortunate that some erroneous information was entered into DAR records in the 1940's that has our William Long [Long-30228] the same man as a Captain William Long [Long-2216] who was the son of Margaret Lewis and another William Long of Augusta County, Virginia. That William Long was born 4 Mar 1755, and married a Miss Mary Blair. He died 26 Aug 1814 in Cumberland County, Kentucky at age 59. He did serve in the 2nd Virginia regiment of the Continental Army. I regret having used that information in my writings of our ancestor, and it has taken me years to sort through all of this and make the correction. For my updated story go to 'William Long of Longs Gap, Virginia' here on my page."
• The "page" referred to (with 6 pages of information on the "other" William Long) is available on Ancestry at Link
• The picture is further confused by uncertainty over the spouse(s) for THIS William Long. There is substantial evidence that he was married to Elizabeth Penn, and that the couple had numerous children. Three official Virginia sources indicate that this wedding to the widow Elizabeth Penn Gallaway occurred on Sept 23, 1794. This wedding date, if correct, poses some difficulty for the list of children, since the oldest two children were purportedly born in 1786 and 1788. Whether the marriage date is wrong, or these two children were born into an earlier (unknown) marriage for William or (known) for Elizabeth is unclear.
• There is some inconclusive evidence for the earlier marriage possibility. According to Frazier et al (1985), in 1793 or 1794, William married Mary Blair, member of the Blair family associated with William & Mary college.^[1] But if the marriage dates are right, this does not help with the children born in 1786 and 1788, and the Mary Blair that was part of that family around this time did not marry William Long.
• There is a 1796 record of a William Lewis involved in a legal dispute over property willed to Mary Blair and her sisters by their brother. However, given the timing of the marriage to Elizabeth Penn, this case would seem to be for a different [third] William Long, as it comes after his marriage to Elizabeth Penn in 1794, with a succession of nine (or at least 7) children, and the family's move to Kentucky, where many of their children were born.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Frazier, Irvin; Cowell, Mark W. Jr.; and Fisher, Lewis F. (1985). The Family of John Lewis, Pioneer. Fisher Publications, Inc., San Antonio, TX (1985). Page 237.
2. ↑ Chalkley, Lyman (1912). Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: 1745 to 1800. Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company. Vol. 3. Page 58. Link
3. ↑ Chalkley, Lyman (1912). Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: 1745 to 1800. Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company. Vol. 1. Page 162.
4. ↑ Wikipedia - 2nd Virginia State Regiment Link
5. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/), "Record of LONG, WILLIAM", Ancestor # A201120.
6. ↑ Chalkley, Lyman (1912). Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: 1745 to 1800. Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company. Vol. 1. Page 508.
7. ↑ Dodd, Jordan, Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1660-1800 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.) Ancestry Record 3002 #103354
8. ↑ Dodd, Jordan R., Et Al.; Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850; Publication Place: Bountiful, UT, USA; Publisher: Precision Indexing Publishers. Ancestry Record 3723 #103354
9. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014. Ancestry Record 60214 #2635514
10. ↑ Chalkley, Lyman (1912). Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: 1745 to 1800. Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company. Vol. 2. Page 208.
11. ↑ Chalkley, Lyman (1912). Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: 1745 to 1800. Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company. Vol. 3. Page 578. Link
12. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census. Year: 1810; Census Place: Burksville, Cumberland, Kentucky; Roll: 9; Page: 180; Image: 00189; Family History Library Film: 0181354. Image
13. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #57877320
14. ↑ "Virginia, U.S., Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850". Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800. Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1965. Originally published in 1912. Ancestry Record 7832 #74580 (accessed 16 November 2021). William Long probate. William Long 16 Apr 1760 Staunton, Augusta Co., VA WB2-378 Prove date: 20 May 1760
15. ↑ Virginia. County Court (Augusta County). Will Books. Will book, v. 2A, 1831-1871. p. 378 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VB-XP2?i=287&cat=279443
16. ↑ Virginia. County Court (Augusta County). Will Books. Will book, v. 2A, 1831-1871. p. 432 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VB-XTY?i=314&cat=279443
17. ↑ Virginia. County Court (Augusta County). Will Books. Will book, v. 5 p. 357 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P7-35J?i=185&cat=279443
18. ↑ Virginia. County Court (Augusta County). Will Books. Will book, v. 5 p. 143 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P7-3YX?i=78&cat=279443

• WikiTree profile Long-2216 created through the import of Gerald McGlamery Family Tree.ged on Jul 15, 2011 by Gerry McGlamery.