William MaGill and Margaret Gass
In-laws of James and William Berry
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Another source of data allowing a further bracketing of William MaGill, Sr.'s emigration timeline is the 1742 Augusta County Militia List (Table V). Scotch-Irish settlers were pouring into the Beverley and Borden Grants and surrounding areas in Virginia, and by 1742 a local militia was formed, presumably to protect the settlers from attacks from the native Americans. Membership in the militia was defined by being an able bodied male, capable of participating in defensive and occasional offensive actions. Both families had several young males that would be expected to appear on any list of people defending their homes and families on the frontier. The fact that neither Berry nor MaGill family members are noted as being militia members suggests that these families had not yet immigrated to this area by 1742. |
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Timeline of William MaGill/McGill, Sr., Margaret Gass and John Gass
10 Mar. 1730359 |
History of Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, 1883
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25 Feb. 1734424 |
Blunston Licenses
1733/34, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
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25 Feb. 1734424 |
Blunston Licenses
1733/34, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
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11 Mar. 1734424 |
Blunston Licenses
1733/34, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
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28 June 1734366 |
Will Book A, Vol.
1, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, page 19
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Warrant Register,
No. 68, Vol. 11, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, p. 73
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12 Aug. 174521 |
Land Entry Book,
Augusta County, Virginia
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Land
Grant for Charles Campbell, Land Office Patents No. 25, 1745-1747, p. 258 (Reel
23) |
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11 February 1745/46861 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Road Orders 1745 - 1769, Book I, page 8
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1746 - 174721 |
Fee Books of Augusta,
page 110
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20 Nov. 174621 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Order Book No. I, page 133
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03 Sept. 174721 |
Augusta Parish Vestry
Records, page 4
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Augusta County,
Virginia Will Book No. 1, page 202
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29 Nov. 174921 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Order Book No. 2, page 292
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29 Nov. 1749204 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Will Book 1, page 203
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28 Dec. 174921 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Will Book No. 1, page 222
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28 Dec. 1749204 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Will Book 1, pages 222 - 225
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22 May 175121 |
Original Petitions
and Papers Filed in the County Court
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28 May 175121 |
Order Book No. 2,
page 574
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31May 175121 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Order Book No. 2, page 597
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12 Feb. 17551182 |
Land
Grant for Hugh Campbell, Virginia
Land Office Patents No. 32, 1752-1756 (v.1 & 2 p.1-715), p. 457, (Reel 30) |
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15 Nov. 175821 |
Augusta County,
Virginia Will Book No. 2, page 280
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Land
Grant for James MaGill, Land Office Patents No. 35, 1762-1764 (v.1 & 2 p.1-556),
p. 34 (Reel 35) |
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Land
Grant for James MaGill, Land Office Patents No. 35, 1762-1764 (v.1 & 2 p.1-556),
p. 157 (Reel 35) |
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180421 |
Circuit Court Causes
Ended
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Analysis of the Timeline
The oldest source record for either William MaGill, Sr. or John Gass, the two known husbands of Margaret (Cowan ?) Gass MaGill, is indirect evidence chronicling a land purchase made by John Gass in the spring of 1730 in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. While the amount of acreage was not noted, the location was described as being just south of land owned by the Church of England and near the Donegal meetinghouse. Figure 29 shows the overall area and the location of the Donegal meetinghouse, which was well within an established Scotch-Irish pioneer community on the east side of the Susquehanna River. |
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Margaret's undocumented birth date has been cited as occurring in 1694 in several sources, and a comparison of that birth date with her husband yields two interpretation options. If Margaret and John were about the same age, then the later birth date (1690) for her husband is probably correct, and he died somewhat early in life. His will does state that he was "sick in body", which suggests that his death may have been caused by an illness. If the older birth date is correct, then Margaret married a man 20 years her senior, which is certainly not impossible, although somewhat unlikely. In his will, John Gass requested that he be buried in the Donegal churchyard, which is quite understandable, since he is known to have been of Scottish ancestry and owned property adjacent to the church at the time. He also indicated that if his widow should remarry within eight to ten years, the farm would go to the male children. He further noted that his children were not to receive their share of the estate until four years after they had become of age, suggesting that they none of them is old enough to be on their own in 1734. He also identified several people who were to be tutors for his family, further suggesting that his children were still quite young. This possible occurrence of underage children seems to support the 1690 birth date for John Gass. On the other hand, of the six people specifically named in his will, only one, Archibald Woods, can be identified with certainty. An Archibald Woods married John Gass' only daughter, Isabella, which may suggest that the earlier birth date for John Gass (1670) is correct. However, this could also be the father of that Archibald Woods. At the present time no definitive statement can be made in regard to the birth date of John Gass other than the later date of 1690 seems more plausible than the earlier date.341,353,354,356,357,366 |
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The earliest direct record of William MaGill in Augusta County, Virginia consists of a county government record dated February 1745, where he was identified as being responsible for overseeing the construction and/or maintenance of a road in that county, which brings up several points: land ownership, an upper limit on the timing of William MaGill’s arrival in Virginia, his property location, and a major change in the calendar for England and the English colonies that occurred in the 1750s. First to be considered is the land ownership and the upper limit of William MaGill’s arrival time in the area. Virginia colonial laws imposed a requirement for the construction and maintenance of public roads upon all landowners living on or near a particular road under consideration or maintenance. The fact that William MaGill was included in an Augusta County, Virginia road order means that he was living somewhere along that road in that colony and county at the time the order was issued, so this record documents his presence in Virginia at least by February 1745. A land record from a neighbor establishes the date as August 1745, but that will be examined more fully after a critical calendar detail is explained.
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Secondly, the road order noted that William MaGill was assigned a section of road that was located between John Anderson's property and the North River. Figure 120 is a property map derived from metes and bounds descriptions in Virginia colonial patent records, showing the location of property owners along the south side of the North River of the Shenandoah between Goose Creek/Long Glade Creek and Naked Creek, including William MaGill and John Anderson. The location of William MaGill's property within Augusta County, Virginia can, thus, be accurately pinpointed to a location on the south side of the North River of the Shenandoah. It should also be noted that the section of road that William MaGill had responsibility for was only about a mile in length, extending from the river to John Anderson's property.
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Next, there is the issue of the actual date as represented by the February 1745 road order, which brings into play the Gregorian calendar. Until 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted, the first day of the new year was considered to be the 25th of March, which means, until 1752, any document containing a date between the present day New Year start of January first and the old start of the New Year on March 25th, would have been counted as being part of the previous year rather than the new year. In this context, the first documentation of William MaGill in Virginia, the February 1745 date, would actually be from February 1746. Since he was already recognized as a land owner in early February of 1746, it seems quite likely that he had already established a presence in Augusta County at least by the previous fall. A winter overland journey by wagon from central Pennsylvania does not seem very likely, so, in all likelihood, the earliest documentation of William MaGill in Virginia most likely indicates an arrival in the area at least by the fall of 1745 rather than early 1746.
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As noted
above, Figure 120 shows the property boundaries for a number of land owners on
the south side of the North River of the Shenandoah in Augusta County based on
land patents issued by the Virginia colonial government to original land
purchasers. Although William MaGill was not issued a patent from the colonial
government, survey notes of metes and bounds descriptions from several land
owners who did receive government patents (Charles Campbell 1746 land patent for
example) indicate that their properties adjoined his land. Quite clearly, then,
at an early date, William MaGill purchased his land from someone who had already
acquired a patent for the property. Unfortunately, the identity of the original
owner has not yet been determined. In addition, although the metes and bounds
description for a son in law, Robert Fowler, do not mention William MaGill as
being a neighbor in Fowler’s 1746 patent, an earlier land entry notation for the
same property (from August of 1745) did identify William MaGill as an adjacent
property owner. Consequently, this document more concretely establishes William
MaGill’s presence in Augusta County by the summer of 1745. The same record also
noted that Robert Foyle (actually Robert Fowler) owned land on the North River
between William MaGill, Sr. and someone named Wilkins, probably the Samuel
Wilkins mentioned in Augusta County 1747 processioning records, which will be
examined in more detail in the following section. Samuel Wilkins apparently
owned land on the north side of the North River of the Shenandoah – just across
the river from both Robert Fowler and William MaGill. It should be noted that
several nearby property acquisitions mentioning William MaGill were recorded
after his death, and most likely document William MaGill’s original land since
William MaGill’s son, who was also named William MaGill, inherited some of the
land after the death of his father. James MaGill, a brother of the younger
William MaGill, inherited the rest of the property.222,861 |
In the fall of 1746, a William MaGill was appointed as a constable. This, along with several other entries, may actually represent William MaGill, Sr.’s son of the same name. In this instance, however, the two men cannot be differentiated, so the entry is assigned to the father. Other than his will, the last entry generated for William MaGill, Sr. during his lifetime is a listing of the Augusta County parish processioners for 1747. A close reading of the entry shows that the county was divided into segments and two landowners were assigned the task of processioning the properties (walking the property boundaries) of each land owner within the segment. William MaGill, Sr. and Edward Erwin were assigned a triangular shaped area formed by the properties of Alexander Blair, Samuel Wilkins and Henry Smith. Unfortunately, none of the properties can be precisely located, although two can be generally defined. Augusta County court records show that Edward Erwin lived on Long Glade Creek, which lies just to the west of William MaGill’s property on the south side of the North River of the Shenandoah, and Samuel Wilkins lived somewhere on Cook’s Creek, which lies on the north side of the North River of the Shenandoah – just across the river from William MaGill’s property. Both creeks are tributaries of North River, and can be identified on Figure 35.21
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Before William MaGill, Sr.’s will and the associated documents are examined, it would be useful to evaluate several other records out of sequence in the timeline in order to confirm the geographic framework of William MaGill’s neighborhood. The first two entries under consideration are orders for road construction and maintenance from John Davis’ Mill to a mountain gap, referred to as Wood’s Gap. The Davis Mill is probably along Mossy Creek, and, although Wood’s Gap has not yet been identified, it clearly represents one of the breaks in the mountain front lying to the west. Since these two entries were recorded in 1751, two years after his death, the William MaGill mentioned in both records represents the elder William MaGill, Sr.’s son of the same name, who had inherited his father’s land. Most of the names in both entries are the same, and probably represent William MaGill, Sr.’s neighbors. Two of the men, Hugh Campbell and Robert Fowler, are sons-in-law of William MaGill, Sr. Andrew, Edward, Francis, John and Benjamin Erwin represent two Erwin families. Edward and Francis lived on Long Glade Creek (see Figure 120), while Benjamin Erwin appears to have lived on Cook’s Creek. Charles Campbell lived near the North River (see Figure 120) and both John Campbell and William Frame lived near the Stone Meeting House (also known as the Augusta Stone Meeting House), which can be located west of North River on Figure 35. William Frame’s father, John Frame, lived along Naked Creek, which can also be located on Figure 35. Gabriel Pickens lived on Howell’s Branch near possibly near Middle River. Unfortunately, Howell’s Branch has not yet been located. Henry Smith can be documented as living on the east branch of Cook’s Creek, while Daniel Smith lived at the head of Linville’s Creek, both, of which, can be found on Figure 35. Hugh Diver lived somewhere around the Dry River bottoms and Beaver Creek and Spring Creek. Dry River and Beaver Creek can be located on Figure 35, but not Spring Creek. There is, however, a small community by the name of Spring Creek in this area, so a smaller scale map may, indeed, show a Spring Creek. It should also be noted that another son of William MaGill, Sr., John, is also identified in one of these entries.21
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The 1760 processioning district identifies many of these same individuals,
including James MaGill, another son of William MaGill, Sr. It should be noted
that Robert Cravens, Hugh Campbell, Andrew Erwin and Charles Campbell were all
listed as witnesses to William MaGill, Sr.’s will, and, although Robert Cravens
does not appear on these Augusta County entries, he can be documented as owning
land on Cook’s Creek before 1745. An old historical atlas shows the Robert
Cravens property near the confluence of Christian Creek and the North River
(Figure 25), which is not far from Cook’s Creek. All of these streams can be
identified on Figure 35. Of further interest is the fact that eight of the 31
men on the 1751 road lists and 1760 processioning list (Andrew Erwin, Benjamin
Erwin, John Erwin, Benjamin Erwin, John Francis, Gabriel Pickens, Michael Dickey
and William Brown) were already living in Augusta County by 1742, since they
appear on the militia list. Furthermore, Michael Dickey, Andrew Erwin and Robert
Brown’s properties are shown on
Figure 120. In addition, five more individuals
with surnames appearing on these lists also appear on the militia list. All of
this data serves to illustrate the fact that William MaGill, Sr. lived near
these men within the drainage basin of the North River of the Shenandoah and
many of the neighbors, as well as two of his sons in law, who appear in court
documents with him and his sons can be shown to be living in the general
vicinity. It also shows that, at the most, only about half of these people were
living in Augusta County in 1742, so, clearly, everyone did not arrive in the
area at the same time.21,329 |
Four Augusta County court records, primarily dealing with information related to
Robert Fowler, when considered together, provide more definitive information on
the location of William MaGill, Sr.’s neighborhood. Three of them, descriptions
of the processioning districts from 1764 and 1767, and the results of the 1760
processioning, are not included in the William MaGill, Sr. timeline, since his
name is not listed in these records. The fourth record, however, includes a
reference to William MaGill, and comprises the final timeline entry for him.
Since the 1764 and 1767 processioning district descriptions are essentially the
same, only the 1764 entry will be reviewed in detail here. Processioning results
are not available for these two years, but they are available for the 1760
processioning. Unfortunately, the description of the 1760 processioning district
is not available. Since the boundaries of the 1764 and 1767 districts are,
essentially identical, it can probably be safely assumed that the 1760
boundaries were the same or at least reasonably similiar. As a result, the 1760
results most likely apply to the 1764 and 1767 boundary descriptions. The fourth
record represents a court record in which the children of Robert Fowler describe
his original settlement, and definitively connects not only the processioning
data, but much of the other data associated with the neighbors of William MaGill,
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In the 1764 processioning district information, shown below, several processioners are identified and the segment of the processioning district for which they bear responsibility is broadly defined. Most of the features mentioned in these descriptions can be identified in Figure 35, so the outline and extent of each segment of this processioning district can be determined, and from this information the location of Robert Fowler's property can be approximated. Below are six segments from the 1764 processioning district, falling in the Great Valley over present day Augusta County. Segment 1 covers the north/south area between the north end of Borden's Grant to Jenning's Gap, and east/west between North Mountain and Kennedy's Road. The Shenandoah Valley was bounded by mountains to the north and south for it's entire extent through Virginia and Pennsylvania. The settlers referred to North Mountain as the consistent line of mountainous uplifts forming the northern boundary of the valley, while the southern boundary was typically referred to as South Mountain. All of these features can be located on Figure 35 except Kennedy Road, and that feature is either not represented on the map or comprises at least part of the one or more of the north/south trending roads generally paralleling the mountain front. Kennedy Mill Creek, also referred to as Ott Creek lies at the northern boundary of the Borden Grant (Figure 8), and was probably connected to the surrounding area by a road. On modern day maps there are a number of back roads that certainly could have corresponded to that road, but the major road today, and quite possibly even in early times was highway 252, which leads directly into Staunton (see Figure 35). The road from Ott/Kennedy Mill Creek connects to this road, so, if this is not above mentioned Kennedy Road, it probably most closely corresponds to the position of that road.21,250 |
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Description of 1764 Processioning Districts
Segment 1
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Segment 2
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Segment 3
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Segment 4
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Segment 5
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Segment 6
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Results of 1760 Processioning in Capt. Daniel Smith's District
Processioned by John Malkem and Alex. Blair, viz:
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Last Revised: 11/26/2013