Warmoth Webpage

 

Warmath, Warmeth, Warmoth, Warmouth, Wormuth

The variant spellings of this surname have been found in US records as early as 1600's in New York, and 1700's in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Making the connection from a family in New York to Pennsylvania to Virginia has not been done, although it remains a tantalizing possibility. The variants of the name have also been found in North & South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Idaha, Oregon and California.

Ethnic origins appear to be at from at least two backgrounds, Dutch and British Isles. based in part on DNA studies done on the variant Warmath. A definitive link from Warmoth/Warmouth in Franklin Co NC to Warmath in Davidson Co TN failed a recent DNA marker match, which means only that they do not share a common ancestor. For more DNA information Family Tree DNA/Warmath

 

A historical side note - prior to sailing to the New World, the Pilgrims had migrated to Holland for religious freedom. Some of the Pilgrims returned to England prior to sailing for America, but others remained in Holland and migrated a few years later. One possible explanation linking the Dutch / British origins.


The New York and Pennsylvania Warmouth would appear to be Dutch in background (although not proven) and an English background is possible in the Virginia and North Carolina Warmoths. None of this is proven fact at this point but the DNA seems to indicate British Isle origins for Franklin County North Carolina Warmoth and the Tennessee Warmath. The South Carolina Warmoths also seem to have a British Isle origin but do not share the necessary markers to match with Warmath in NC and TN.


Those of us tracing our line back to Thaddeus & Winnie Warmoth of Virginia then Garrard Co KY begin with two basic questions - Who was the father of Thaddeus Hardwidge Warmoth and what was the maiden name of Winnie (Winifred?) ?


We know that Warmoths were present in Colonial Virginia as early as 1746 when a Thomas Warmoth appears in rental records. Thomas Warmoth is found as witness to various land transactions from 1741 thru 1948. The early connections to REMY are based on info found in the 1737 Will of William Remy of Westmoreland County, when he refers to his daughter "Cathrin Wormeth". The will of Thomas Warmoth in 1782 names wife Cattron and administrator is Thomas Warmoth.

It is thought that Thaddeus was a son of either Thomas or John, most likely sons of Thomas and Cathrin Wormeth, both names found in early land transactions as witnesses in Richmond County. They did not own land themselves, but witnessed sales, testified in civil matters and their names are found in various land descriptions (ie - north from the creek of John Warmoth). Thomas Warmoth with his family is listed in the 1780 census. The name middle name of Hardwidge may indicate an earlier surname, possibly his mothers maiden name, and there are Hardwicks/Hardwiges found in the area. Nothing found to prove or disprove a connection.

Winnie - shortened from Winifred perhaps. In the parish registers of North Farnham and Northumberland, we find several females born/baptised with the name Winifred or Winnie, which seems to attest to it popularity. None of the Winnie/Winifreds found in these registers can be connected to our Winnie.

Many researchers believe Winnie was from the Gathings family, also from the Northern Neck of VA. An indicator seems to be the name of their son Gathings/Gathing - it was not all that uncommon for families to use the maiden name of the wife as a first name in the next generation. This could even be a grandparent surname used to show respect. If, Thad and Winnie did have another son named Phillip, that could be another weak circumstantial link to Gathing, since Phillip is a known Gathing first name and doesn't seem to be found in the Warmoth line at this point, other than speculation. Whether or not a son Phillip even exisited is a matter of dispute. What we do know, is that a Gathings family was living next door to the Warmoths during the time frame when its assumed, Thaddeus and Winnie were growing up.

So we don't know when or where Winnie was born. Our best assumption is she was born in the same Northen Neck area as Thaddeus, their famillies likely lived near each other, and they were probably close in age.

Since Thaddeus served in the Continental Army, there is a chance they met during the war and then married following the war. If that is the case, she could have been from the New Jersey area or anywhere between the Northern Neck of VA and White Plains NY. I think this would have been very rare, its more likely she was a neighbor either while he was growing up or perhaps after he apprenticed prior to the war.

We do not know for certain how many children she bore, nor how many she buried. From historical excepts, we know her life would have been hard. Living on the frontier, the dangers of Indian attack, disease, lack of food, lack of medical care - all these would have contributed to a life we cannot even imagine.

She is almost a non entity for us, simply a name linking Thaddeus to children. Thats a sad statement on her life.

We know she was alive in 1818 when Thad applied for his pension. We know she was still alive in 1829 as proven by their appearance in county court, signing an agreement to give their property to sons Thaddeus Jr and Thomas, after Thad Sr died. This must have been their form of retirement, the sons agreeing to care for them in their older years in exchange for the land and personal property. We know she must have been deceased when Thaddeus married Mary Polly Bonner in 1839.

The lives of Thaddeus and Winnie after their marriage.

We know parts of the following from the pension application of Thaddeus Warmoth. He was born about 1761 (age 57 in 1818 when he made the application) probably in the area of Virginia known as the Northern Neck (modern day counties Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland). Thaddeus enlisted in the Continental Army in Westmoreland County and served from 1778 to 1779. During this time, he was present at the following locations/battles: Middlebrook, Monmouth and White Plains. He was at Valley Forge and his name can be found on the list of soldiers known to the Valley Forge Society.

Again according to the pension application, when Thaddeus was discharged he used those papers for a shoe pattern. (hurts just to think about it). (During a research trip to Garrard Co KY, I learned that Thaddeus likely possessed a Revolutionary era sword which was sold at the estate auction of his widow)

We do not know when or where Thaddeus and Winnie were married, but Westmoreland County seems the most probable. Their oldest known son John was born about 1780 in Virginia. We know from a land lease, that Thaddeus, Winnie and John were in Culpeper Co VA in 1787 to at least 1791 and their next appearance in the paper trail is in the early history of Garrard Co., KY where he is listed as "living on the waters of the Paint Lick" before 1800. They are found on the 1800 Tax list of Garrard County.

In 1818 Thaddeus applied for and received a pension of $8.00 montly from the government for his service in the Revolutionary War. He received this pension until his death in 1847.

They remained in the Garrard County area until their deaths. The death date of Winnie is unknown, but she was alive in 1829 when she and Thaddeus signed their property over to sons Thaddeus Jr and Thomas. We know Thaddeus married Mary Polly Bonner on 13 Oct 1839 so presumably Winnie was deceased by that date. She was probably buried on the home place as was the custom.

Thaddeus married in 1839 to Mary Polly Bonner, a lady many years his junior , and in 1843 he and Polly went to court to rescind the agreement that all property went to sons Thaddeus Jr and Thomas upon the death of Thaddeus Sr. Thaddeus signed his will on 31 May 1843 and said will was proven in Jan 1848 court term, so he was deceased by the end of 1847. All property was left to his wife Polly. (In the list of items auctioned is found the sword). The burial place of Thaddeus is also unknown, but again thought to be on the home place.

Known children of Thaddeus and Winnie are John, Thaddeus Jr, Gathing, Henry, Thomas, Anna & possibly a son Phillip. Considering the times, there were likely other children born that did not survive infancy. Again, infant deaths were would have been buried on the home place.


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Today, each known child of Thaddeus and Winnie has at least one researcher working on his or her descendents.

Disclaimer - The searchable database found linked to this website is comprised of my own research plus the data given to me by other researchers of the Warmoth, Pruett or other connected surnames. Connecting the Virginia to North Carolina and to Kentucky and Tennessee is in many cases, speculation, and should NOT be taken as fact in any way. If you have questions, corrections or would like to add data, it will all be very welcome. The link below will take you to the World Connect database.


Warmoth Searchable Database


My Warmoth Photos


Warmoth Photos


Donna


LINKS


Cy Warmoth the baseball player


Darcis Place - Wormuth in Mohawk Valley of New York



Leann McClain - Warmoth and Nicholson


James F Warmoth and Gayle Marie Smith Fam History


Warmoth resources at Rootsweb includes the Warmoth and Warmouth Message Boards


Patricia Warmoth Chambers - Warmoth & White pages


Warmath Family Tree DNA project


Short Bio on Gov Henry Clay Warmoth of Louisiana with photo


Whats My Line - Homepage of Bill Warmouth with
Excerpts from War, Politics and Reconstruction by
Henry Clay Warmoth - former Gov of Louisiana


The Wagon Train Letters of Warmoth and Clark

Warmoth Maillist is now available thanks to our friends at Rootsweb -

instructions for subscribing to the maillist -

email warmoth-l for individual postings or warmoth-d for digest mode (recommended) 

put single word "subscribe" in body of email, no subject and turn off all automatic signatures!-


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