John Mikell (1716 - abt. 1782)

Born 18 Feb 1716 in Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Ball) Mikell — married before 1744 in Cheraw, Chesterfield, South Carolina

Descendants

Died about 1782 at about age 65 in Cheraws District, South Carolina, United States

Biography

John was born in 1716 in Virginia and died in 1782. ^[1]

He moved with his brother William and sister Ursula to South Carolina. The Mikells were of German or Dutch descent. John's grandson lists John's siblings as: ^[2]

• Barnette, m. cousin Jane McCall
• James, never married
• Ursula, m1. John McIntosh (the brother of Gud & Alex McIntosh), m2. John O'Neil
• Mercy, m. Nathan Saunders
• Mary, m1. ____ Ham, m2. John Blasinggim and moved to Kentucky
• Jane, never married
• Catherine, m. ____ Knight

John was credited with patriotic service for furnishing supplies to the Revolution, and is known to have married Ann Ball. ^[3] Their their children were: ^[4]

1. Ann, m. John Lucas
2. Elizabeth, m. Alexander McIntosh (cousin)
3. Mary, m. John McIntosh (cousin)
4. Sarah, m. John McIntosh (son of Gud)
5. Catherine, m. Moss Murphy
6. Frances "Fannie," m1. William McIntosh (cousin), m2. _____ Watson
7. John, m1. Sarah Lucas, m2. Elizabeth Thompson (cousin)
8. William, d. a young man ^[5]
9. James, m. Margaret Thompson (cousin)
10. Edward, m. Elizabeth Mikell (cousin)
11. Sampson, d. at age eight

MIKELL-BALL GENEALOGICAL IMPASSE ^[6]

These families were becoming closely linked by marriage as much as a generation before the American Revolution. They were neighbors and were among the earliest settlers of the South Carolina region variously defined as the Cheraws, the Pee Dee, Darlington district, the Welsh Neck, St. David's Parish, and Society Hill.

They were fervent Whigs, active in the colonists' cause against England and the local Tories. Before the war was fought and after it was won, they were citizens listed in the election rolls, and as serving on grand juries. They were involved in getting the Pee Dee River opened to navigation, and roads built, connecting to the river highways where ferries were chartered.

Several were founders and early members of St. David's Society, with an early goal of assuring proper education for the children of the settlers. That aim had to wait out the Revolution, but the Society came to be identified too with the Parish and with local government.

GENEALOGICAL ISSUES

But here we have a set of ancestors who will not answer a call for order issued by their numerous descendants. Call "John" and too many answer; likewise with Mary, Alexander, James and others. For the earliest generation in each of these families, not a single date of birth or death serves to identify. Of the next generation, names again are repetitious and only one shows a death date.

"Don't even try to figure them out! More experienced folks than you have tried and given up," was the admonition in 1994 of Horace Rudesill, the wise old wonder of Darlington County Historical Commission. Records were minimal, and too many lost to history through fire and war. They knew who they were, and were fully engaged in creating homes, government, business, and families.

The "problem" in this line of Mikells and Balls began with confusion over whether William and the Ursula who married John McIntosh were this John's siblings or his children. Some genealogies show the former, some the latter.

There is further confusion in the descendants of John Mikell and Ann Ball:

• Their daughter Ann Mikell married John Lucas
• A generation later, John Lucas and Ann Mikell's daughter Margaret Lucas married her cousin James McIntosh, son of John McIntosh and Mary Mikell, which is the first time we have solid dates for James McIntosh (1769-1804) and his wife Margaret Lucas (1783-1862).
• Complications multiply as three McIntosh brothers (Alexander, John & William) married three Mikell sisters (Elizabeth, Mary & Frances, resp.). One of those sisters (Mary), and a fourth sister (Sarah), each married a John McIntosh, who were almost certainly cousins. And of course the children and grandchildren of these marriages continued the repetition of several common names.

Yet another cross-over of families occurred when John Lucas married Ann Mikell (as indicated above), and John's sister Sarah Lucas married Ann's brother John Mikell.

Research Note

The children William and Ursula (and maybe even John) that is connected to Ephraim Mikell Jr were not listed in the will of Ephraim Mikell Jr,^[7] or listed with the other grandchildren in the will of Ephraim's father, Ephraim Mickele Sr. Why did Ephraim not include these children in his will? Were they children by his first wife and already had an inheritance? But why were they not in the Will of Ephraim Sr. with the other grandchildren?^[8] Do they actually belong to different parents?

Sources

1. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 17 February 2023), memorial page for MAJ John Mikell (18 Feb 1716–1782), Find A Grave: Memorial #215404175, citing Old Saint Davids Episcopal Church Cemetery, Cheraw, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA; maintained by Robert Abney (contributor 48473675), Burial Details Unknown.
2. ↑ Notes on the Lucas and Mikell Families of the PeeDee Country by William Lucas (1778-1851), contributed by A. S. Salley, Jr., South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 4, Oct., 1926, South Carolina Historical Society, pp. 212-214.
3. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/), "Record of John Mikell", Ancestor # A078780.
4. ↑ ibid. Salley
5. ↑ Possibly the William Mikell killed by Tories, from Alexander Gregg's History of the Old Cheraws
6. ↑ Sarah Jouett (Taylor) Prisley family history and genealogy papers
7. ↑ Wills and miscellaneous probate records, 1671-1868: "South Carolina Probate Re... Bound Volumes, 1671-1977"
   Catalog: Wills and miscellaneous probate records, 1671-1868 Wills v. 5 1740-1747
   Image path: South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes, 1671-1977 > Charleston > Wills, 1740-1747, Vol. 005 > image 195 of 715; citing Department of Archives and History, Columbia.
   FamilySearch Image: 939L-VZRR-Q (accessed 14 February 2023)
   • will of Ephraim Mikell Jr.
8. ↑ Wills and miscellaneous probate records, 1671-1868: "South Carolina Probate Re... Bound Volumes, 1671-1977"
   Catalog: Wills and miscellaneous probate records, 1671-1868 Wills v. 1-2 1671-1731
   Image path: South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes, 1671-1977 > Charleston > Wills, 1722-1731, Vol. 002 > image 304 of 507; citing Department of Archives and History, Columbia.
   FamilySearch Image: 939L-NH9W-B3 (accessed 16 February 2023)
   • will of Ephram Mickele Sr., BK 2 p.82

• Ancestry Message Boards: Lucas Family of Peedee SC 1770-1820, by Ed Mikell, 23 Jun 2001
• Genealogy.com: Descendants of John Mikell, by Eddie H. Mikell, undated
• USGenNet: Descendants of William Ball, Sr., by James T. Dunnam, ©2000
• History of the Old Cheraws, by Right Rev. Alexander Gregg, D.D., Richardson and Company, New York, 1867