of the NC Land Grants

by Clarence McDaniel July 2013

It is unfortunate that this, the third son of William, has been so neglected by the many researchers of these lines. This is true because his history offers many solutions to problems that have puzzled several lines for a hundred years or more. These problems involve another son of William, William, G.

Isaiah was born about 1729, most likely in Middlesex County, New Jersey. He first appears in the 1754 Militia list and would appear to be married at this time. fig 1

At this point we must digress to a later time and place to explain the confusion concerning Isaiah and his brother, William.

The book "Ninety-four Years", written in 1871 by Judge George W. Paschall of Texas and Washington, DC, has, in my opinion, an error. The judge made a mistake in naming his grandfather in the book. He named his grandfather as William; this should have been Isaiah, F. In order to understand how such an error could happen we look at the circumstances surrounding the judge and his book. The book was written about forty years after the judge had left home and his father had died. The judge never knew or saw his grandfather and only remembered stories that were told at home in his youth. These stories concerned his father and his father's brother, William, and his father's uncle, Julius Nichols. Normally in this kind of memory the basic stories and detail can be remembered but dates and names are often confused. We are reinforced in this opinion by the fact that the judge's father never named a son William but did name one Isaiah. Also the details given by the judge concerning the revolutionary militia fit the known facts of Isaiah, F. Finally we note that William, G, did not have a son George but Isaiah had sons William and George and both were alive in 1795.

We can now get back to Isaiah and his story. About 1752 or 1753 Isaiah married Margaret, the daughter of William Nichols. There are no surviving documents of this period to show this marriage but it can be derived from data to be found from the period. One document is a deed of Julius Nichols (the oldest of this name) made 1761 (DB E, p61) in Granville County. Margaret Paschall was a witness to this deed. Her name was fully written so there is no doubt concerning the first name. This would indicate that Margaret was either married to a Paschall or had a maiden name of Paschall. Usually the witnesses on these early deeds were of some relation to the grantees concerned in the deed. Women were often selected because they were considered innocent. They only had to be old enough to understand.Also a younger person was more apt to be alive later on.

Note: Here are some revalent items that may be of use: fig 2

There is no known Margaret Paschall who would be of age in 1761 so the presumption is that she was a married woman, perhaps a sister to Julius. This Julius was the one written about by the judge as having "run off" to avoid a whipping by his father. The judge indicated that Julius was a maternal uncle to his father. This would indicate that a marriage had occured between the Nichols family and the Paschall family prior to the judge's father's birth in 1760 in Granville County. With these ideas in mind we need only to show that Julius had a sister, Margaret Nichols. Sometimes we get lucky in this business of genealogy for there is found in Warren County in June of 1772 the will of William Nichols. William named his eight children among whom were Julius and Margaret. Finally we have the 1762 Tax List of Granville County in which we find Isaiah living in the household of Julius Nichols as overseer. Often there is no one document that will give us the desired information but the assembly of several to do the same thing is, for the most part, even better evidence.The hardest part here is not to show that Margaret had married into the Paschall family but that she married Isaiah and not William.Lets explore this idea further.

In cases of this sort it is necessary to follow not one line but both lines completely in order to get sufficient evidence to support the presumptions. The line of William, G, does not support the idea of two sons, George and William, in addition to the two children shown by the records of Orange, Caswell and Person counties. Indeed, try as I can there is no way to "fit" the known years of birth of these people into William's line. So leaving William let us look at Isaiah, "the neglected son".

In the early 1760's Isaiah received land from his father in the western part of the land grants between those of his brothers, John and James. fig 3 Isaiah also received 700 acres of land in a grant(DB C p71) from North Carolina. He deeded this grant to his father(DB G p312) probably in some kind of trade or dealing of the times. Isaiah was the administrator of his brother John's estate in 1777 and there are records showing his participation in the revolutionary militia of Nutbush District in 1776, 1778 and 1779. Many searchers mistake the initial "I" of Isaiah's name for "J" and as a result, Isaiah is often listed in abstracts with the name Josiah-even Jeremiah. The three years of 1776-1779 coincide with the three years claimed by the judge in his book in which father and son were in the irregular militia. Sometime in the period from 1772-1778, Isaiah was widowed. He would then have been free, with his two sons, to wander about in the militia. In 1779 Isaiah was excused from further military duty for reasons of health, his age being given as about 50. fig 4

Isaiah made several deeds in Granville County in the years 1775-1780. Before 1780 he moved to Franklin County, only a short distance from his first home. In one of these deeds Isaiah transferred property to William Paschall. Isaiah and William also transferred between the same third parties so we presume that William was his oldest son. We find that between the years 1778 and 1779 Isaiah married, Ann,(nee, Jones) the widow of David Young. No record of this marriage has been located but the estate sale(Bute Co) of David Young in August of 1779 had his widow present. This shows Ann as not yet married to Isaiah and a deed record of 1779 shows them as man and wife. fig 5

The 1790 census of Franklin County carries Isaiah and his family and in 1795 Isaiah wrote his will. fig 6

In his will Isaiah named his children in a manner that indicates the first born sons, William and George, were by his first wife. He named his wife, Ann, and her children, those by him and those by her first husband. He named his son-in-law (stepson to us) as executor.

From the will we know that William, F1, and George, F2, were alive in 1795. There are some records of William but we find no mention of George Paschall in any record prior to this time in North Carolina. This lack of records and the judge's book are the apparent reasons that this son of Isaiah was never considered as the father of the Oglethorpe, GA, line. However, in a letter by Edward Early Paschall in 1928 we find that he too had come to the conclusion that an error was likely.

This line of Paschall had embraced the Methodist religion during the war, switching from the Church of England for rather obvious reasons. The judge mentioned the fact that his grandfather was a deacon in the Church. By my account this would seem to be Isaiah but it would appear that William, F1, was much attracted to this church also.

There are today to be found several lines and published genealogies based on the assumption that William, G, was the father of William and George. We have tried to show that this is in fact wrong and that these two were the sons of Isaiah, F. Here then are my conclusions concerning the descendants of Isaiah.

William,F1

The first record that we may identify as that of William, F1, is found in Granville County in 1780. This record is a deed(DB O p120)in which Isaiah, F, transfers to William some of his property in Granville. This deed then shows that William was born prior to 1760 and of age in 1780. William appears on other deeds with persons Isaiah is also having dealings with. The author believes this William to be likely the Paschall mentioned in the journal of Francis Asbury as then (July, 1780) living in Wake County.

William also appears as witness on two deeds in Franklin County in 1783. This tends to indicate that he was living in a border area. The 1786 state census has a William in Raglands District, married, with three males under 21. William's name appears on several proceedings under the title, "jurat". William is in the 1800 census and by association with others he is determined to be living in the southeast portion of the county, probably the district known as Tabbs Creek. William has as a neighbor, in 1800, the man Richardson Freeman, on one side, and a widow, Polly Freeman, on the other. The census shows that only two younger males are now living at home. The concurrent E-line Paschalls appear to be living in other districts, most likely Dutch and Beaver Dam. William does not appear in the 1801 and 1803 tax lists and we find he has moved to Franklin County where he is listed in the census of 1810. The 1810 census for William does not show any males except William so we consider they have married and left home.

In 1814 William purchased 50 acres of land(Little Shocco Cr) in Franklin which was situatedon the boundary with Warren County. In 1818 we find an estate proceedingindicating that William has died. The only relatives involved or named were the widow, Martha and a woman, Agnes Paschall, who bought at the sale. A later tax list has Patsy with 50 acres. Patsy was a common nickname for Martha at this time.

The tax lists of Franklin county carry the adminstrator, Pinnel Ryals, with 50 acres of William's land until 1826. No effort has been made to trace the final disposal of the land as of yet.

In the book, " Ninety-four Years", the author stated that his father, George, had a nephew, the son of his brother, William, who came to Georgia and married the younger sister of George's wife. His name was John and the marriage was in 1804 so a reasonable year of assumed birth would be c1780. This then would account for one of the sons of the 1786 census, who was still at home in 1800.

The 1812 tax list of Franklin County, NC, shows a William, with a poll. This is the first time he is listed and it may be that he has just become of age, thus about 21 years old. He never appears again. In 1819, squatters on the Indian land north of the Tennessee River in Alabama signed a petition asking the U.S. Government to allow them to remain. A William Paschall signed this petition. The author suggests that this was the second son of William, F1, and that he probably followed his brother John, F11, to Georgia and went on to Alabama.

There is as yet no knowledge of a third son. However some names appear in the tax lists that may be a son.

George,F2

Much has already been written about George of Oglethorpe County, GA, and his family but little concerning the origin of George. George was a revolutionary soldier having enlisted in the Virginia Line or regular army. He applied for pension and thus we are given some facts regarding his service and himself. He was born 1760 in Granville County, NC, and died 1832 in Georgia. George probably left Granville about the time his father remarried and made his way to South Carolina, he enlisted there and returned there after the revolution. He is found there, alone, in the census of 1790, the only Paschall in South Carolina. He went to Georgia and married Agnes Brewer in 1802 at about the age of 42. In a way, George's wife was famous, being the subject of the book,"Ninety-four Years", by her son. George was the father of four sons, two of whom were prominent men in history. Judge George W. Paschall wrote several books on law, married an Indian "Princess", and could be himself the subject of quite a history. His brother, Franklin L., was a well known man and hero of the Texas Revolution.

Isaiah,F3

We first learn of this namesake from the will of his father in 1795.He apparently was at home with his mother in the 1800 census of Franklin County. He was born about 1781. We know he married Agnes Freeman about 1802, was on Franklin county tax lists and moved to Wilson County, TN. He served in the War of 1812 and applied for bounty land. Isaiah left Wilson County and moved to Morgan County, IL, about 1825. He died at Cass County, IL, about 1876. Isaiah raised a large family who lived in Morgan, Cass and Whitesides counties of Illinois. One son moved to Lee County, IA, before 1840.

Oddly, as far as is presently known, Isaiah was the only grandson of William of whom a photograph survives.

Dennis,F4

Of this son we know very little. He was born about 1789 in Franklin and married Biddy Medlin on February 8, 1811, in Franklin. He seems to have gone to Wilson County, TN, and then to Hamilton County, IL, where he was on the 1840 census. He most likely died and left descendants there before 1850.

Lucinda,F5

Lucinda was born about 1785 and married John Taylor in Franklin County on March 14, 1805.

John,F6

John was born between 1782 and 1790 and was apparently was at home for the 1800 census. There is speculation that he may have been the John who lived in Rockingham County, NC, from about 1803 until about 1825. This John was more likely the son of Elisha, H. Recent findings (October,1987) indicate that John, F6, went to TN and then to Hamilton County, IL, dying prior to 1840 and leaving descendants in that area.

Source notes for Isaiah Paschall(not up to date)

1754 Gran/NC Militia list; Capt Coleman's Co
1755 Gran/NC TL with father/brothers
1761 Gran/NC DB E61 Julius Nichols; wit, Margaret Paschall(sis to julius)
1762 Gran/NC TL Fishing Cr; Julius Nichols has Isaiah, overseer
1769 Gran/NC TL 1 poll
1771 Gran/NC TL 1 poll
1775 Gran/NC DB K273,O120,D120,K115 and others to 1780+
1777 Gran/NC Ct Min admr of brother John's estate
1778 Bute/NC David Young est sale; widow,Ann (nee,Jones)Young-not yet married to Isaiah; August
1779 Fran/NC DB A p24 100a to James Young; Isaiah & wife, Ann
1779 Gran/NC Col Rec's Disch from militia for health, age about 50
1780 Gran/NC DB O p124 sold ld father gave him; was in Franklin Co
1783 Fran/NC DB 1-76; DB 4-63; 4-76; James Young/Isaiah; more deeds
(aka Josiah, Jeremiah)
1790 Fran/NC MB bdsman for Delila Cook to Demetricus Young; Mar 20
1790 Fran/NC 1-3-5
1795 Fran/NC WB-will named wife, children, step-children
1800 Fran/NC 12000-00301  widow/ch
1807 Fran/NC TL Ferrell's dist, 170a, 1 poll; as Ann
1808 Fran/NC TL ditto, but poll missing, see Dennis
1809 Fran/NC TL ditto, also 1810, 1812,1814-1823
1810 Fran/NC 00100-00101  widow/ch
1871 Galv/TX Book,"Ninety-four Years", by Geo W Paschall, F24; error
2001 Research by John N Jones; internet; Shows, widow, Ann Jones Young marr Isaiah
2001? unk author: Descendants of Jams Young; maybe same as above?