Edward Masterson,

His Children and Grandchildren

Contributed By: Ginny Schilt

          Edward Masterson, known to us researchers as "of Fairfax Co," was born 1705/6.  (Court deposition, where he was 44 in 1750)  The earliest record we have found, so far, of him is an Essex Co., VA, court indenture showing 150 acres of land to Edward Masterson from Thomas Short, 19 Nov 1728.  When he sold land in Essex Co. in 1735, the deed says he is "of the County of Caroline."

     He was in Fairfax Co., VA, by 1745 when he leased 300 acres of land on Four Mile Run and built a mill where Doctor’s Creek entered Four Mile Run.  (Fairfax Co VA Land Record Book)  The Creek is now covered over and an apartment complex is built there.  His will says he was a millwright.

     In 1750, he bought 8 acres on Difficult Run, which became the boundary between Fairfax Co. and Loudoun Co. when the latter was formed from the western part of Fairfax Co. in 1757.  On 25 Sep 1751, he asked the Fairfax Co. Court for permission to erect a water grist mill on Difficult Run and to have an acre of land confirmed to him.  The report of the committee appointed by the sheriff was recorded 24 Jul 1752, so presume it was granted.  (Fairfax Co VA Deed Book C)

     According to Rev. Phillip Slaughter's “History of Truro Parish,” 1751--The time for processioning the lands having come again and the division of the parish having changed it geography, etc.  It was ordered that “... Edward Masterson [procession] between Four Mile Run and Hunting Creek ...”     Edward wrote his will 25 Jul 1754.  It was presented in court, 18 Sep 1754, by his executors, wife Mary and son, Edward.  (Fairfax Co Will Book B1)  Some people think she was Mary Lindsay, but can produce no proof, so far.  His widow remarried Mark McPherson, and in 1768, sold 418 acres of land on Quantico Creek in Prince William Co., VA to her son, John.  This is the 418 acres Edward says in his will, he bought from Abraham Farrow.  (Pr Wm Co Deeds)  By his will, we know he left 9 children:

            1. Edward (Jr.), b ca 1730, mar Mary Coleman, dau of Richard and Eleanor Critcher Coleman.  She is listed in her father's will, 1764, in Loudoun Co., VA.  Edward was a trooper in the French & Indian War, 1755-56.  The "House of Delegates Journal" 1777-80 says he went "in defense of people in outlying Virginia."  He moved to Dobbs Co., NC, and died in Wayne Co., NC, prior to a court order for distribution of his estate, 20 Apr 1790.  (See Vol 1 No 3 p 16, Masterson Newsletter)  He had 11 children:

                        A. James, b 7 Apr 1752 in Fairfax Co VA "between Georgetown and Alexandria" (Rev. Pension Appl.), was in the Rev. from NC, moved to Lexington, KY, ca 1780, fought with George Rogers Clark, drew a Rev. pension.  He mar in Lexington, 1781, Margaret Wymore (Wimer), dau of John Wymore, who was killed by Indians near Lexington.  James was guardian of his young brothers and sisters, 1794-1803. (Fayette Co., KY Will Book)  James had 13 children.  He wore frontier clothing long after most men had stopped.  He died 15 Dec 1838, age 86.

                        B. Mary, mar Samuel Craig, 7 Mar 1781 in Lincoln Co., KY.

                        C. Caleb, b 1758, was one of the first lot holders in Lexington, KY, 1781 with James.  He fought with George Rogers Clark in the Rev.  Caleb mar Jenny Champ, dau of Thomas Champ, and lived in Bourbon Co., KY.  He had at least 4 children.

                        D. Leannah (Lenney), b 30 Mar 1763 (TS), mar John McCormack before her father's estate settlement 1790.  They moved to Lincoln Co KY where her husband died, (will written 1817, guardian chosen for son John 1817 in Bourbon Co Court Order Book).  She died 28 Sep 1849, in Pulaski, Giles Co TN, where several of her children lived.

                        E. Leah, mar Isham Young (Younce) 2 Jun 1790, in Lincoln Co., KY.

                        F. Sarah (Sally), mar James Ely 19 Dec 1790, in Lincoln Co., KY.

                        G. Winifred (Winney), ward of James, mar William Sampson 25 Jan 1797, in Lincoln Co., KY.

                        H. Delilah (Delle), b 27 Nov 1775, ward of James, mar Martin Wymore.  She died 18 Dec 1841, in Fayette Co., KY.

                        I. William, b 5 Apr 1778, ward of James, mar 27 Oct 1803 Mary (Polly) Patton.  He lived in Lincoln Co., KY and had 10 children, two of whom died in infancy.  He died 19 Nov 1858.  His wife was b 7 Sep 1782 and died 8 Dec 1839.

                        J. Lazarus, b 22 Feb 1782, ward of James, mar Elizabeth (Betsy) Givens, dau of Robert and Margaret Robertson Givens, 2 Feb 1808 in Lincoln Co., KY.  Lazarus lived in Logan Co., KY, as shown in the 1820 and 1830 censuses.  He was the father of 10 children.  He died 24 Sep 1859 in Lafayette Co., MO and is buried in Mt. Hebron cemetery.

                        K. Jane Masterson, listed in settlement of father’s estate.

            2. Mary, mar before her father's death, 1754, John Lindsay, son of James and Sarah Daniel Lindsay of Caroline Co., VA.  Mary and John moved to Halifax Co., NC.  John, b 27 Aug 1728, d Dec 1800, will probated Feb 1801.  They had 8 children:

                        A. James, d before his father without issue.

                        B. Edward.

                        C. Anna, b 1753, mar Baron George Zollicoffer of Halifax Co., NC, who was a Captain in the militia in the Rev. (if Virkus' Compendium is correct)

                        D. Judith, never married.

                        E. Susanna, mar ____ West, and had at least 1 son.

                        F. Mary, called Polly, never married.

                        G. Elizabeth, mar ____ Crittenden.

                        H. John, b 30 May 1768, mar Sarah Kearney.  He was a Methodist minister, referred to as "Reverend."  They moved to Maury Co., TN.  (Wm & Mary Quart.)

            3. William, probably the one who bought 400 acres in Frederick Co., VA, 1762; was on the Romney Payroll 1775; in 1810 census was in Augusta Co., VA; in 1820 census was in Monongahela Co., VA, if these are all the same man.

            4. Robert, listed in father’s will. 

            5. Sarah, probably the one who inherited 5 pounds in Fairfax Co., VA, will of Ann Mason 1761;  listed as a legatee in the Fairfax Co, VA, will of Harry Piper 1774; and who left her will 1801 in Alexandria, VA, who apparently had been living with the William Ramsey family.    

            6. Elizabeth, b 1744, mar Joseph Farrow, who was a "waggoner" in the Rev.  Some time after his death, 1784, in Loudoun Co., VA, (Loudoun Co Wills) she went to KY with her children.  She died in 1822 at the home of her son, Joseph, in Mason Co., KY.  The epitaph on her tombstone reads:

                                                "Her languishing head is at rest     

                                                Its thinking and aching are o'er.   

                                                Her quiet immovable breast     

                                                Is heaved by affliction no more.   

                                                Her heart is no longer the seat      

                                                Of trouble and tormenting pain,    

                                                It ceases to flutter and beat,

                                                It will never flutter again."

There were 7 children (order?):

                        A. William, b 18 Apr 1771, mar 18 Mar 1793 Elizabeth Shore, dau of Richard and Susannah Simpson Shore, and had 10 children.  After Susannah's death 5 Sep 1826 in Montgomery Co., KY, he mar Mary Nancy Davis and had 7 more children. He died 26 Mar 1846 in Fleming Co., KY.

                        B. Thornton, mar Henrietta O'Hara.  He died 22 Oct 1807 in Fleming Co., KY.

                        C. Joseph, mar Elizabeth Waugh and/or Betty Harrow. He died 20 Aug 1852 in Mason Co., Ky.

                        D. Sarah, mar James O'Cull.

                        E. Thomas, mar Nancy ____.

                        F. Elizabeth, mar James Ross.

                        G. Mary Ann, mar John Harrow and/or C. R. Goddard.

            7. John, b ca 1747, was a schoolmaster in Loudoun Co., VA, when he bought the 418 acres in Prince William Co., VA, from his mother in Dec 1768.  He mar Sarah Tobin, dau of James and Esther ____ Tobin (Tobins).  She is listed in her father's will, 1774. (Loudoun Co Wills)  By 1773, John and Sarah had moved to that part of western PA that was claimed by VA, where he is on the Tax List in Springhill Township in 1773 Bedford Co., PA, Sarah paid the taxes in 1783 Westmoreland Co., PA, and in 1785 Sarah paid in Fayette Co., PA.  They didn't move, the state kept forming new counties. John wrote his will 27 June 1781; it was proved in court 2 Aug 1782, so he died between those dates.  He left 5 children (one unborn), order unknown:

                        A. Edward

                        B. Thomas, moved to Mason Co., KY, to land inherited from his father, then to TN.  He mar Sarah Washington, dau of Thomas and Janet Love Washington, 2 Dec 1807, in Rutherford Co., TN.  Thomas may have been a lawyer (see Mary below).  He had a Copartnership with John Sample and James Gordon in the Town of Franklin, TN, and owned real and personal property in Franklin, Nashville and "wheresoever it may be found."  This includes the land in Mason and Lewis Cos., KY, on "Licking  Creek," sold by his sons in the 1830's.  He left 2 sons, one born after his death in 1812 in Nashville, TN.  (Davidson Co Wills)

                        C. Richard, b 1770/75, mar Susannah Brown, dau of Joshua Brown.  (Fayette Co PA Deeds 1803)  He stayed in Fayette Co, PA and was in the 1810 census.  He died before the 1820 census which lists Susannah.

                        D. Mary, b 1772/3 (1850 Trumbull Co., OH census), mar Daniel Hank 16 Dec 1792 in Fayette Co., PA.  (Trumbull Co History)  In 1804 he appointed his brother-in-law, Thomas Masterson, of TN, "my true and lawful attorney and agent to act for me to divide a tract of land in Mason Co., Ky," on the North Fork Licking.  This is the land left in John Masterson's will to Mary. (Mason Co Deeds)  Daniel was "of Washington Co.," PA, in that deed, 1804.  Later that year they moved to Trumbull Co., OH.  Mary was living with her son, Richard Masterson Hank in the 1850 census.  She and Daniel had 8 children.  He died 5 Jun 1821, she died 22 Dec 1856.

                        E. Sarah, b 1781/2.  Unborn in father's will. Apparently she never married.  In the 1850 census, she is living with her nephew, Richard Masterson Hank, in Trumbull Co., OH.

            8. Thomas, b ca 1750, in 1766 he was apprenticed to Thomas Dagg, ship carpenter by his guardian, Joseph Farrow, his brother-in-law.  In 1774-76, he bought and sold land in Prince William Co, VA, including two lots in Dumfries, VA. (Pr Wm Co Deeds)  At the start of the Rev. War he owed money to some store or business in England; he is listed in "British Merchantile Claims" as "Thomas Masterson of Prince William Co. ... due Sep 1776 Lives in Petersburgh, solvent." Another merchantile claim, 1803, says "Thomas Masterson, of Loudoun County ... due 29 July 1776.  Died insolvent about twelve years ago."  He is probably the Thomas Masterson, ensign, on the ship "Tempest" 1778.  He mar Lucy Hardaway, dau of James and Mildred Stanfield Hardaway of Dinwiddie Co., VA.  The 1782-87 Tax Lists, which substitute for the 1790 VA census, shows Thomas in Prince George Co., which is next to Dinwiddie Co.  Petersburg was in Prince George Co. at that time.  He died before 1816, ca1791 if that merchantile claim is right, when his wife and dau grant power of attorney to sell land Thomas had owned on Twin Creek in Gallatin and Owen Cos., KY; they were residents of Dinwiddie Co., VA then.  Have found only one child:

                        A. Milly, b 1770/80, mar James Booth.  By 1825, they were in Morgan Co., GA, and are in the 1830 census there.

            9. Richard, b 31 Dec 1752, was a surveyor.  He went to what is now KY in 1775, one of ten young men from VA, to survey between the Ohio River and the North Fork Licking River, between Well's Creek and Mill Creek.  That land is now in Mason and Lewis Cos.  They erected a cabin for each member of the party and deadened trees, thus meeting the requirements for claiming land.  (Collin's "History of Kentucky")  Richard came back the next year and claimed more land for himself, his brothers John and Thomas and his brother-in-law, Joseph Farrow, on both sides of the North Fork.  These land pre-emptions were registered with the court in Harrodsburg, KY in 1780.  (I do not think John, Thomas and Joseph were ever in KY; they just owned the land and left it to their wives and children, some of whom came later.)

     Richard is listed as a Rev. soldier on the Romney and Winchester payroll (this is now Grant and Hardy Cos., WV).

     In the middle 1780's, he bought land 5 miles northwest of Lexington, and with the families of Shore, Morin, Taylor, Simpson and maybe others, founded Masterson's Station. Though the marker says the home belonged to James Masterson (son of Edward, Jr.), it was Richard who was on Masterson Creek and the Elkhorn. James was in Lexington and on Hinkston's Fork, northeast of Lexington.  The house was torn down while part of the U. S. Narcotic Hospital property.  Later they gave the land to the city of Lexington and it is now Masterson Station Park.

     He mar 29 Jul 1784, Sarah Shore, dau of Thomas and Sarah ____ Shore, originally from Loudoun Co., Va.  Richard and Sarah became quite active in the early Methodist church. "Methodism was planted in Kentucky in 1783 at Masterson's Station in Fayette County." (Collin's "History of Kentucky") Richard built the first Methodist Church in KY there in 1788.  It was in their home at Masterson's Station that the first Methodist conference west of the Appalachian Mts. was held.  (Weatherford's "Religion in the Appalachian Mountains")  A picture of the home, taken 1890, can be found in a number of Methodist history books.

      About 1792, Richard and his family moved up to Gallatin Co., KY.  He built a house on the Ohio River and his parlor hosted both church services and meetings of the town and county officials.  The men who incorporated Port William, now Carrollton, in Carroll Co., KY, in 1794 met in this house and in 1799 the first court of Gallatin Co. convened there.  He was one of the first Trustees of the county. This house is now on the National Register of Historic Places as one if the "oldest standing two-story structures along the Ohio River."  It is now used for meetings of the Carroll Co. Historical Society.  Richard died 1806 in Gallatin Co., KY where the Will Book has the inventory of his estate.  Sarah died 1834 leaving her will. (Carroll Co) They are said to be buried in the cemetery between their house and the road, but there are no tombstone for them. They had 10 children:

                        A. Sally (Sarah), b 14 May 1785.  She mar Thomas Peniston in Dec 1804. (Gallatin Co. Marriages)

                        B. Elizabeth, b 19 Dec 1786, mar 1st Robert Moore 24 Apr 1805, 2nd Jesse Lynch Holman 26 Feb 1810.  They moved across the Ohio River to Vevay, IN.  Jesse became Indiana's first novelist.  In 1816 he was an elector from IN to the Electorial College to vote for President.

                        C. Richard Shore, b 19 May 1788, died 1789.

                        D. Thomas Shore, b 5 Apr 1790, died 29 Jun 1791.

                        E. Mary (Molly, Polly), b 18 Feb 1792, mar William Scandrett 9 Jun 1812 in Gallatin Co.

                        F. Jane, b 14 Nov 1793.

                        G. Wesley Poythress, b 27 Sep 1797, named for John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, and Francis Poythress, one of the KY's first Methodist ministers, mar 12 Mar 1816, Catherine C. Abbett, dau of Dennis and Mary ___ Abbett, in Gallatin Co.

     Wesley P. must have been quite a character.  Although Richard, over the years, had owned nearly 100,000 acres of land in northern KY, Wesley P. lived his entire life by selling one piece after another, too lazy to even pull on his own boots.  In his mother's will, she leaves him one slave, Lorenzo, but he is to be freed when he, Lorenzo, reaches the age of 28.  When Wesley P. was on his death-bed, his grandson, Wesley C., my grandfather, was 10 years old. He was taken into the sickroom, the old man told him to kneel down, hit him on the forehead and said "now you'll remember me," and died 5 minutes later.  He was right.  The names he chose for his sons were unusual, too.  After boys named for his father and father-in-law, the other two were named for his brothers-in-law, Thomas Peniston and Jesse Holman.

     Wesley P. died 6 Mar 1876 at the home of his son, Richard W., in Newcastle, Henry Co., Ky.  Catherine died 19 Jan 1853, Carroll Co, Ky.  They had 7 children.

                        H. Lucy, b 5 Mar 1799, mar 24 Feb 1824 George W. Booram in Gallatin Co.

                        I. Richard, b 2 Nov 1802, died 1803.

                         J. Eleanor, b ca 1805, mar 15 Jan 1824 Dr. James W. S. Mitchell in Gallatin Co. (Mason Co Deeds and Carrollton Methodist Church records)

     Thus, we see that Edward Masterson had 9 children, at least 45 grandchildren, of whom at least 31 lived to adulthood and married.

Anyone wanting to know more about the Masterson family history, please contact --

Mary Virginia “Ginny” Schilt

ginnyfl@comcast.net

or 3460 SE Martinique Trace #101

Stuart, FL 34997