James Henry Weaver, b. 22 November 1795/1796

Case Study Overview

In January 2003, Bonnie Hooley <bhooley-at-sisna.com> (replace -at- with @) contracted our firm for an in-depth ten hour research project. The goal of the project was to study her ancestor, James Henry Weaver, born 22 November 1795 (or 1796) of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana (and Mississippi) and prove whether or not he was the son of Matthias and Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver.

Several family historians have errantly placed James Henry Weaver, b. 1795/6 as the son of Matthias and Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver. With information from estate and census records, and an extensive analysis, the family of Matthias and Eleanor Weaver was reconstructed, and the birth order of their children was established. The final estate settlement for Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver took place in 1857. It noted that her son, James Weaver, lived in Sevier County, Arkansas. The 1860 census identified a James Weaver, born about 1811-1812 in Hempstead County, which bordered Sevier County on the East. Due to his birth year and residence, he was a superb candidate to have been the son of Matthias and Eleanor. Whereas the records involving the ancestral James Henry Weaver, never show that he lived in Arkansas. In the end, evidence indicates that James Henry Weaver, born November 1795 (or 1796), of was NOT the son of Matthias and Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver. Instead, one James Weaver, born about 1811, of Hempstead County, Arkansas, was the likely son of Matthias and Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver.

Analysis of evidence concluded that James Henry Weaver, born 1795/6 was NOT the son of Matthias and Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver, but his true parentage remains unknown. The full report follows. With additional funding from family members, we would be pleased to pursue this research further. If you are interested in having additional research conducted, please contact us.
 

James Henry Weaver’s Parentage
Prepared for Bonnie Hooley
March 2003

           The purpose of this research session was to prove whether or not James Henry Weaver (born 22 November 1795/1796) was the son of Matthias Weaver and Eleanor Wayland. While it is clear that Matthias and Eleanor had a son named James, current research concludes that there is little question that the son of Matthias was not the ancestral James Henry Weaver.

Review

            The family provided a number of documents concerning James Henry Weaver and Matthias Weaver, including several compiled genealogies. Some of these identify James as Matthias’s son. Of particular importance are copies of three original documents – the 1860 census enumeration of James Weaver, the pension applications of James Weaver and his widow, and the estate settlement of Matthias Weaver.
            The 1860 census shows that James Weaver and his family were then living in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Pension records show that the ancestral James Weaver was in Louisiana by at least September 1813. James would have been sixteen or seventeen years old at that time.
            In 1813, Matthias and Eleanor were both living and in Madison County, Virginia. They appear to have owned land and been well established in the county. It is possible that their sixteen-year-old son had gone off on his own and had traveled as far as Louisiana, but given the apparent stability of his purported parents, this does not seem likely.
            The estate of Matthias Weaver was equally divided among his eleven children, apparently after his widow had received her share. This record clearly shows that Matthias had a son named James Weaver. Furthermore, the record shows that he had been paid his share. There was no indication that James, the son of Matthias, lived outside of Virginia, however. And, the ancestral James Weaver was living in Mississippi at this time.
            These records provided sufficient reason to question the conclusion made by so many others that James Henry Weaver (born 22 November 1795/1796) was the son of Matthias Weaver and Eleanor Wayland. As noted by the client, she and others had already done a lot of research on James Henry Weaver and Matthias Weaver. As part of the research process, it proved to be very important to know what records others had found and review some of these records, such as censuses and probate records.
            Wanting to spend as little time as possible examining records such as censuses that had already been found and studied by others, copies of these original records were found quickly on the Internet and abstracted onto the research calendar for reference as research proceeded. These census records eventually played a significant role in the conclusions drawn, but there was not sufficient time to go back and make photocopies of the original records.
 

James Henry Weaver

            According to research completed by many others, James Henry Weaver was born on 22 November 1795 or 1796 in Virginia and died on 27 November 1860 in Creston, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. He married Charity Pullin on 1 January 1828 in Hinds County, Mississippi. Their first two children were born in 1829 and 1831 in Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi.
            The copy of the 1860 census that was provided by the client reports that James Weaver was then seventy-five years old (born about 1784/1785). He owned land and was born in Virginia. He still had some children living at home, the oldest of whom was seventeen-year-old James, who was born in Mississippi about 1842/1843 according to this record.
            James’s age appears to have been recorded incorrectly in the 1860 census. But, his age reported in the 1850 census matches much more closely with his age as found in his pension application and other records. According to the 1850 census of Bienville Parish, Louisiana, James Weaver was born about 1795/1796 in Virginia.[1] 
            James was enumerated in the 1840 census of Newton County, Mississippi. These census records and his pension application make it clear that James was born about 1795/1796 in Virginia but had lived in Louisiana and Mississippi apparently since at least 1813.
 

Matthias Weaver

            As noted above, probate records prove that Matthias Weaver had a son named James. Matthias Weaver married Eleanor Wayland in December 1791. They could easily have had a son born about 1795/1796. Throughout their lifetimes, Matthias and Eleanor were enumerated in censuses of Madison County, Virginia. These census enumerations are important in determining when their son James was born and are therefore abstracted below.

             The ancestral James Henry Weaver would probably have been thirteen or fourteen years old when the 1810 census was taken, since he was not born until November in 1795 or 1796. He should have been marked on this census as a boy between the ages of ten and sixteen years. Note that there is no boy marked in this age bracket in the household of Matthias Weaver. However, censuses often have information recorded incorrectly as found in James’ 1860 census enumeration. 
  

             Above is the 1820 census. It lists Mathew not Matthias Weaver, but these two given names were often confused or used interchangeably. So, the difference in the given name as found in this census is not significant. James would have been about twenty-three or twenty-four years old when the 1820 census was taken. He could have been the young man between the ages of sixteen and twenty-six years found in Mathew’s household, above, but remember that the ancestral James was living in Louisiana during the War of 1812 and was married in Mississippi in 1828.

             James was about thirty-three or thirty-four years old when the 1830 census was taken. He was living in Mississippi by this time, but Eleanor, the widow of Matthias Weaver, still had four boys living at home.
 

Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver

            The client suggested that probate records of Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver, Matthias Weaver’s widow, might prove whether or not the ancestral James Henry Weaver was their son. Her will and other probate records were published in the periodical Beyond Germanna. This published abstract indicates that Eleanor left a will in Preble County, Ohio, and it included a list that named all eleven of her children, and which indicated where they were living at that time. Her son James Weaver was said to have been living in Sevier County, Arkansas.[5]
            However, a copy of her actual will shows that it only names four of her children and does not indicate where any of them were living.[6] This is also clear from a published abstract of her will, and probate proceeding.[7] Clarity came from a later article in Beyond Germanna, which indicates that the list of Eleanor’s children, with their places of residence, was part of a later court case relative to the distribution of the probate, and is dated 1857.[8]
            This probate record is not available on microfilm at the Family History Library. However, the 1858 tax list of Sevier County, Arkansas, confirms that a James Weaver was living there at that time, supporting the abstract of the probate record.[9]
            While the probate record and tax list prove that Eleanor’s son James was in Arkansas, it does not prove that he was not the same person as the ancestral James Henry Weaver (born 22 November 1795/1796), who could have moved to Arkansas for a couple of years and then returned to Mississippi. However, these records do increase the suspicion that the ancestral James Henry Weaver was not the son of Matthias and Eleanor. 
 

The 1850 Census

            While the 1858 tax list shows that James Weaver, son of Eleanor Weaver, was in Sevier County, Arkansas, at that time, he does not appear in Sevier County in the 1850 or 1860 census in that county. This suggests that he lived there for only a short period of time. There was a James Weaver, who is found in neighboring Hempstead County, Arkansas, who was born about 1811-1812 in Virginia.[10] It is possible that this Hempstead County James Weaver was the James Weaver, “of Sevier County,” who was the son of Eleanor. Future research will need to study this Hempstead Weaver further. 
            Other children of Matthias and Eleanor Weaver do appear in the 1850 census, which helps to determine when they were born and narrows the possibility of when their brother James was likely born. It was also anticipated that James, the son of Matthias and Eleanor, would be found enumerated in the 1850 census near one of his siblings, thus proving that he was not the same person as James Henry Weaver (born 22 November 1795/1796). However, James was not found enumerated in the 1850 census near any of his siblings.
            Probate records of Eleanor Weaver show that her son, Alfred, was living in Fulton County, Illinois, in 1857. He was already living there in 1850. According to the 1850 census, Alfred was born about 1814/1815 in Virginia.[11] 
            Joel Weaver was enumerated in the 1830 and 1840 censuses of Monroe Township, Preble County, Ohio, where his brother Larkin had settled sometime before 1820, and their mother Eleanor lived at the time of her death. In 1850 Joel was living in Darke County, Ohio, which is adjacent Monroe Township, Preble County. According to the 1850 census, Joel was born about 1800/1801 in Virginia.[12] 
           Four of Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver’s children were found living with or beside her in 1850 in Monroe Township, Preble County, Ohio. According to this census, Dicy (Weaver) Miller was born about 1798/1799 in Virginia.[13] Julia Weaver was born about 1809/1810, Simeon was born about 1811/1812, and Elizabeth (Weaver) Ritz was born about 1813/1814, all in Virginia.[14] Larkin Weaver was also living in Monroe Township in 1850, and this census places his birth about 1791/1792 in Virginia.
            Research presented in Beyond Germanna indicates that Elijah Weaver was born about 1807, Sarah Weaver was born on 15 May 1812 and died on 2 February 1900, and Alfred and Elizabeth were both born on 10 October 1814. Alfred died on 7 March 1899 and Elizabeth died on 2 October 1882. Given the detail of the information concerning these children as presented in this article, the information likely comes from censuses, tombstones, and perhaps death records, suggesting that the information is fairly accurate.
            Note that Matthias and Eleanor Weaver had at least two sets of twins. Sarah and Simeon were born in 1812 and Alfred and Elizabeth were born in 1814.
 

Analysis

In this time of limited birth control means, couples typically had children born about every other year beginning about a year after their marriage. Matthias Weaver and Eleanor Wayland were married in December 1791. They would have had children born beginning about 1792. Note how well the births of their children, as found in the 1850 census, fit this pattern.

1792    Larkin (born about 1791/1792)
1794    
1796    
1798    Theodosia (born about 1798/1799)
1800    Joel (born about 1799/1800)
1802    Frances (born about 1802/1804)
1804    
1806    
1808    Elijah (born about 1807/1808)
1810    Julian (born about 1809/1810)
1812    Simeon and Sarah (born 1812)
1814    Alfred and Elizabeth (born 1814)

            The gaps noted here could represent children who died young. Note from this that there is space about 1796 when Matthias and Eleanor might have had a child born. This could be the ancestral James Weaver, who is known to have been born in 1795/1796.
            With this information it is possible to identify the children enumerated in the household of Matthias and Eleanor Weaver in U.S. censuses from 1810 through 1830.

The ancestral James Weaver was born on 22 November 1795/1796 and would have been thirteen to fifteen years old when the 1810 census was taken. He would be enumerated in the 1810 U.S. census as a male between the ages of ten and sixteen years. Note that there is no such male who fits into the 1810 household of Matthias Weaver.
            The extra female under the age of ten years old could have been born about 1804 or 1806 and might have preceded her parents in death.

            Elijah Weaver was born about 1808 and would have been about twelve years old when this census was taken. He should have been marked as a male between the ages of ten and sixteen years. No such male was marked in this household, leaving the possibility that Elijah was incorrectly marked as the additional male under the age of ten years.

            Larkin Weaver was married on 27 August 1811 and had moved to Preble County, Ohio, by 1820. He was enumerated as the head of his household in Preble County in the 1820 U.S. census. Theodosia Weaver married John Price on 25 November 1818. She was also out of her parents’ household.

            Two of Eleanor’s daughters were married and had left her household by the time the 1830 census was taken. Frances Weaver married David Price on 7 February 1825, and Elizabeth Weaver married Thomas Utz on 10 February 1830. Accordingly, they were not enumerated in their mother’s household.
            Note that there is an extra individual in each of these censuses. This extra individual can be explained easily enough in the 1810 and 1820 censuses. In 1810, it appears that there was a young daughter who died sometime between 1810 and 1820. In 1820, it appears that Elijah Weaver was enumerated incorrectly as a boy under the age of ten years. However, the presence of an extra male between the ages of twenty and thirty years in the 1830 census brings the possible explanations of the other two censuses into question.
            The possibility that the extra child in each of these censuses was James Weaver, son of Matthias and Eleanor, was now considered. Fortunately, the birth years of all of the other children of Matthias and Eleanor show that they were named in birth order in the division of their shares of their father’s estate – Larkin, Dosha (Theodosia), Joel, Fanny, Elijah, James, Julian, Simeon, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Alfred.
            James was listed between Elijah and Julian. Further, Elijah was born about 1808 and Julian was born about 1810. It seems unlikely that there was another child, James, born between 1808 and 1810, but also note that Matthias and Eleanor had at least two sets of fraternal twins. Since they had two sets of twins, it is much more likely that they could have had another set of twins. Twins are sometimes given names that sound alike or begin with the same letter, such as Sarah and Simeon. The given names Elizabeth and Alfred do not begin with the same letter, but begin with similar sounds, a vowel followed by the letter L.
            James is listed between Elijah and Julian in their father’s probate records. All of the other children are clearly listed in order from oldest to youngest. Therefore, there is almost no question that James was born after Elijah and before Julian. Elijah was born about 1808 and Julian was born about 1810. Since there is little space for the birth of James between 1808 and 1810, and since Eleanor had at least two other sets of fraternal twins, it is very likely that James and Julian were twins, both born about 1810. The fact that their names begin with the same letter lends mild support to this supposition.
            Given the probability that James Weaver was born about 1810, the extra child in the Weaver household in the 1810, 1820, and 1830 censuses can be better explained. James and Julian were born about 1810. They were still infants when the 1810 census was taken. As infants, the census taker probably would not be able to tell whether they were boys or girls and might have assumed that they were both girls. If this confusion did, indeed, occur, it would explain the extra girl under the age of ten years in the 1810 census.
            In 1820, James and Julian would have been about nine or ten years old, depending on when the census was taken. They could have been enumerated as children between the ages of ten and sixteen years or under the age of ten years. Julian was clearly enumerated as a girl under the age of ten years in the 1820 census. Although it is uncertain where twelve-year-old Elijah was in 1820, the extra male under the age of ten years was most likely James.
            James and Julian could also have been enumerated in one of two age brackets in the 1830 census. They would have been about nineteen or twenty years old in 1830 and could have been marked as between the ages of fifteen and twenty years or between the ages of twenty and thirty years. Curiously, Julian appears to have been marked as between the ages of fifteen and twenty years while James was marked as between the ages of twenty and thirty years. Remember that the census taker did not necessarily get the information from a family member. A neighbor might have guessed that James was more than minutes or hours older than Julian.
            Since James appears to have been born about 1809/1810, a search of the 1880 U.S. census was made for anyone names James Weaver who was born between 1808 and 1812 in Virginia and living in 1880 in any state. Only one person who fit these search parameters was found.
            Seventy-one-year-old James Weaver was enumerated in the 1880 census of Lee County, Texas. He was born about 1808/1809 in Virginia, according to this census. His parents were also born in Virginia. His wife, Eliza, was born about 1833/1834 in Arkansas. She appears to have had a daughter from a previous marriage, Ida Burnett, who was born about 1867/1868 in Texas. It is possible that this James Weaver was the son of Matthias and Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver.[15]

Conclusions

            Censuses and other records definitively indicate when the children of Matthias and Eleanor (Wayland) Weaver were born, with the exception of their son James. Having proved when the other children were born makes it quite clear that they were listed in order from oldest to youngest in the settlement of their father’s estate. This places James’s birth as having occurred between Elijah, b. 1808 and Julian, b. 1810. James and Julian could possibly have been twins, born about 1810-1811. A James Weaver, of the appropriate age to fit into this family, was found in Hempstead County, Arkansas in 1860.
            James Weaver, son of Matthias and Elizabeth (Wayland) Weaver was living in his parents’ household through 1830. No record of his marriage was found in this brief research session, but he was living in Sevier County, Arkansas, in 1857 and 1858. By 1860 he appears to have left Sevier County. He might be the James Weaver of Hempstead County, Arkansas in 1860, and he might have been the James Weaver who eventually moved to Texas, where a possible match appears in the 1880 census.
            These facts, along with the early Louisiana and Mississippi residence of James Henry Weaver, leave very little question that Matthias and Elizabeth (Wayland) Weaver were not the parents of the ancestral James Henry Weaver, who was born on 22 November 1795/1796.

Future Research

            Having shown that James Henry Weaver was not the son of Matthias and Elizabeth (Wayland) Weaver, the next task is to determine who his parents were. Censuses indicate that James Henry Weaver was born in Virginia, so his parents were likely in Virginia in the mid-1790s. However, James was in Louisiana by 1813, when he was still fairly young. Given his age, he likely moved to Louisiana with his parents or an older sibling. Therefore, future research should begin the search for James’s parents in records of Louisiana, eventually moving on into records of Mississippi and Virginia.

Andrew S. Webb
Professional Genealogist

Endnotes follow. Click here for a complete recitation of sources studied in this ten-hour session.