Eaton/Heaton-Amos

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Amos Eaton (Heaton)
Born 1740? Augusta Co. VA
Died by Mar 4, 1795 Nashville, Davidson Co. TN
SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Elizabeth Ramsey m. 1764? Augusta Co. VA b. 1746 VA d. May 21, 1805 Nashville, Davidson Co. TN	Robert (Rev.) b. Mar 15, 1765 Augusta Co. VA d. Nov 15, 1843 Ashland City, Cheatham Co. TN	Prudence b. Jan 14, 1767 Augusta Co. VA d. after May 18, 1805	Enoch b. Dec 3, 1768 Augusta Co. VA d. 1835 TN
	Elizabeth b. 1770? ?Augusta Co. VA d. after 1857	Thomas Lewis b. Jan 6, 1773 VA d. Sep 29, 1852 Randolph Co. AR	Isaac b. 1775? ?Augusta Co. VA d. by May 1805?
	Mary "Polly" b. Feb 25, 1778 ?Augusta Co. VA d. Sep 2, 1851 New Middleton, Smith Co. TN	John b. 1780? ?Washington Co. NC d. by May 1805?	Sara "Sally" b. 1782? ?Washington Co. NC d. by Oct 20, 1835 ?Montgomery Co. TN
	Joseph b. 1786? ?Davidson Co. NC d.
Amos was a son of Isaac Eaton and Hannah Bowen of Virginia.
Wife Elizabeth Ramsey was born in 1746 in Augusta Co. VA, a daughter of Thomas Ramsey.
Father-in-law Thomas Ramsey signed the 1777 petition of men living on the north Holston River complaining about the division of Fincastle Co. VA. They felt the county line was not equitable and the court house was too far away. Also signing were a John White and other Ramseys, and members of the Renfroe, Bledsoe, Drake, Mansker, Freeland, Terrell and Robertson families, as well as a Solomon White and "John Holladay". These names all match with those that eventually moved to the Cumberland settlement in 1780, where the families of John White and John Holloway lived. A sister of Elizabeth Ramsey Eaton, Mary Ramsey (1743-1808), was married to Col. Anthony Bledsoe from 1760 until 1788 when he was killed by Indians in Sumner Co. TN. She then married Nathaniel Parker in 1791.
In the early 1770s, Amos "built a cabin on his [Virginia land] claim near a spring that flowed out of the base of Chestnut Ridge", near Long Island and Kingsport and the Holston River. "During the trouble with the Indians in the mid-1770s, Eaton's home became a place of refuge and was known as Eaton's Station" [Carter, Yancey Tavern, on historicsullivan.com website]. This area became part of Washington Co. NC in 1777 and in 1779 part of Sullivan Co. NC. Presently the area is in far eastern Tennessee, just south of the Virginia border in Sullivan Co. TN.
Washington County, previously Washington District, was formed by North Carolina in 1777 and extended west to the Mississippi River, mostly containing land inhabited by five different tribes of Native Americans, but mostly Cherokee. In 1779, the Cumberland Settlement was created by the granting of land by the NC government. In 1783 this settlement was mostly contained in the newly formed Davidson Co. and surrounded by Indian Lands, and Virginia and Kentucky to the North. Map of the Cumberland Settlements showing Forts, known as Stations, in present-day counties.
Amos led an expedition that left the NC mountains in Dec 1779 for the Cumberland Settlement. They arrived at the beginning of 1780, just a week after the leading James Robertson party of men, horses and dogs. Amos did not receive one of the Cumberland Settlement's 1,410 Pioneer Land Grants. However a "Robert Heaton" (son) did, as did Roger Topp (father of Robert's future wife). That part of NC is now Middle Tennessee [Drake, et al.].
Once in the Cumberland Settlement, the Eaton family name was usually spelled Heaton, but pronounced the same ["Nashville History: Record of Baptisms...", website blog post].
After arriving at the very beginning of 1780, during a harsh winter, Amos, along with Frederick Stump, Isaac Lindsay, Louis Crane, John Drake, Isaac Rounsevall, and "a man named Winter" (probably Moses Winters), immediately went to work fortifying what was originally Eaton's Fort in the 1770's. It became known as Heaton's Station and was located on a northeast bank of the Cumberland River [Carr, rootsweb website].
Photo of river taken in Feb 2024 from near where Heaton's Station was located. The Donelson Expedition, delayed several months, arrived at Heaton's Station on Apr 21, 1780, and arrived at French Lick on Apr 24. There, the Bluffs fort, which became known as Nashborough, was soon built on the west side, downriver from Heaton's.
There have been two Historical Markers near the original location of Heaton's Station: the Heatons Station Marker and the "Old Heaton Station" Marker [Historical Marker Project].
Map of the Cumberland Settlement after 1780 showing Eaton's Station, the Bluffs fort, Whites Creek, and the location of the Stump land and distillery [Illustration by J.P. Brown, in Summerville, Southern Epic].
Future son-in-law, James McCain Jr., "accompanied his father" to the Cumberland Settlement in 1780 [ancestry.com]. A James Cain was on a list of flotilla captains recorded by Col. John Donelson as being with his flotilla expedition to the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. NC (now middle TN) which lasted several months into the spring of 1780 and endured a brutal winter, Indian attacks, hunger and smallpox. On Apr 12, the Renfroe family was among at least 16 families, about 80 persons, to leave the expedition and settle 9 miles up from the Cumberland River along the Red River, settling at Fort Union, which became known as Renfroe's Station. The Donelson flotilla reached Eaton's Station on the north side of the Cumberland River on Apr 21, 1780, and its final destination (Nashborough) on Apr 24 [Donelson's Jornal, pp. 98-107].
Photo of a Map showing the route of the Donelson Expedition on display at the Tennessee State Museum. On Dec 22, 1779, the expedition left Fort Patrick Henry on Long Island of the Holston River, but some boats likely joined the flotilla in Mar 1780 after it passed Knoxville, and then left it at the Red River near Clarksville on Apr 12 [Donelson's Journal, pp. 98-107].
Amos' sister Brigida Heaton (1750?-1810) married David Rounsavall (1735?-1815?) in Rowan Co. NC. They and their younger children are thought to have come to the Cumberland Settlement on the Donelson Expedition. Their son Isaac Rounsavall (1761?-1846?) was almost 21 years old and came earlier with the Amos party, but was too young at the time to claim land there, but did sign the Cumberland Compact in May 1780, being at least 16 years old. Isaac married Elizabeth Ramsey by 1788 and in Mar 1790 he bought land from Frederick Stump's preemption. In 1799 he was on the Warren Co. KY tax list. He moved to LA in Jan 1737 and died in Caddo Parish in west central part of LA. Caddo Parish was created in 1838 from Natchitoches Parish which dates back to 1714, the oldest European settlement in the Louisiana Purchase.
Cumberland Settlement pioneer Frederick Stump likely marched over land with his family toward the mountains after the British destroyed is home in Augusta GA and joined the Amos Eaton party that left the NC mountains in Dec 1779 for the Cumberland Settlement. Frederick received one of the Cumberland Settlement's 1,410 Pioneer Land Grants [Drake, et al.].
Frederick Stump was in his fifties when he came to the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. NC. He was thought to have famously killed 10 Indians in his native Pennsylvania in Jan 1768, and had been jailed for killing British soldiers in Georgia. After he escaped, he joined the Amos Eaton expedition to Cumberland and claimed land on Whites Creek and helped build Eaton's Station (also called Heaton's Station). He later started a distillery and an inn and tavern, helped improve local roads, and was granted more land in the Whites Creek area. Map of the Cumberland Settlement in 1780 [Summerville].
The land that Frederick Stump claimed bordered that of William White, the eldest son of John White. He was a private on the NC Continental Line, thereby receiving an original land claim in the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. NC, but he may never have actually settled on the land. This may be why John Holloway was there in 1780. The claim Holloway attempted with a James Scott the year before on Long ("Glady") Creek (shown on Map) appears to be the same as Whites Creek which ran through the lands claimed by Frederick Stump, David Rounsavall (father of Isaac Rounsavall), William White, Joshua Howard and Absalom Hooper, before flowing into the Cumberland River. See Topographical Map showing early land claims in the Whites Creek area [Drake, p. 23 and map E7]. Scott did receive a land grant but Holloway never did.
Son Robert married Elizabeth Topp (1765-1837), daughter of Roger Topp who died in Mar 1783, three years after arriving at the Cumberland Settlement. Elizabeth and Robert Heaton are both buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Ashland City, Cheatham Co. TN. Grave marker photos of Robert Heaton and Elizabeth Heaton [Find-a-grave, website].
By 1784, when North Carolina granted 640 acres of land to anyone who defended the Cumberland Settlement against the Indian attacks, Amos chose to move his family to an area northwest of where Whites Creek flowed into the Cumberland River. The New Heaton Station was established there. It was just a short distance from the claim of John Holloway attempted with James Scott in 1779 and the lands claimed by Frederick Stump, William White, Joshua Howard and Absalom Hooper. See Topographical Map showing all of these Whites Creek area Land Claims [Drake, p. 23 and map E7].
By May 1780, John Donelson brought his large flotilla to the new Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. in western NC territory (now TN). John, along with about 247 others, but not Amos nor son Robert, signed the Cumberland Compact created May 1, 1780. It was finalized on May 13 and established a provisional government for the isolated area; provided for the election of twelve representatives from the eight stations or forts, including Heaton's; provided for a Sheriff, a Clerk, a Militia that required service by all men over age 16, and for the adjudication of causes, the administration of estates, and the awarding of executions. On the first page of signatures of the original Compact, "Jn Donelson, C." is the fourth signature. The eighth is his son "John Donelson Jr." Also signing were co-founder "Js. Robertson", "John Holloday", Frederick Stump, his son Jacob Stump, and Philip Alston.
Of the four claimants of land on Whites Creek in 1781, only Frederick Stump signed the May 13, 1780 Cumberland Compact. On page 2 of the original Compact, the signature, in Dutch or German, of "Frederick Stumpf" is tenth down from the top, just below that of "John Holloday". His son Jacob Stump, and William Hood signed after him. Hood was killed by Indians in 1780 or 1781, and by winter of 1780, Jacob Stump was killed while out with his father near their home along Whites Creek.
In 1783, North Carolina created Davidson County, the first county in what became the state of Tennessee in 1796, formed from the Southwest Territory.
Joshua Howard arrived in the Cumberland Settlement from the Natchez District by the beginning of 1781. He eventually was assigned Captain of the Freeland's Station on Mar 15, 1783 [Clayton, p. 37].
In 1787 daughter Elizabeth married (Capt.) James McKain Jr. (1766-1857) and then William Waters.
Daughter Prudence married George Ewry (Ewing?), each of whom were bequeathed 100 acres by Amos in his will.
In 1787, the first year Davidson County levied a tax on land and polls (persons), the Robert and Amos Heaton family (son Robert was over 21 living with his parents) had 5 taxables [Whitley, Pioneers of Davidson Co. Tennessee, pp. 11-12].
Monument in Sumner Co. TN near where the brother-in-law of wife Elizabeth, Col. Anthony Bledsoe, and Col. Isaac Bledsoe were killed in Indian attacks in 1788.
On Dec 31, 1788, "Joucha Hayward" arrived in Natchez from "Cumberland/Tennessee", not listed among the flatboats and without family. In a letter dated Mar 2, 1790, from Carlos de Grand-Pr�, Natchez, Mar 2, 1790 to Governor Don Estavan Miro, the amount of tobacco was reported by growers of Natchez. A "Joshua Houvard" reported producing 5000 pounds of tobacco [MS Dept of Archives & History, website].
On Oct 20, 1789, son Enoch married Mary Topp or Ruth Fopp [Davidson Co. TN Marriages], and later Mary (Polly) Hyde (1780-1839). Enoch and Polly had a son born about 1813 in Franklin TN.
In Oct 1792, the Stump distillery in Nashville TN was burned down by one of the area tribes. Frederick Stump was the first to distill whiskey in the region. By 1795 the rebuilt distillery along Whites Creek was producing up to 600 gallons of whiskey per year. Absalom Hooper was also producing whiskey as he was taxed for doing so by the end of the century [Tenn. State Museum].
On Jul 19, 1794 son Thomas married Mary Stuart (Stewart) in Davidson Co. TN [Davidson Co. TN Marriages].
On Jan 9, 1798 daughter Mary (Polly) married William M. Smith in Davidson Co. TN [Davidson Co. TN Marriages].
Joshua Howard had become "Conservator of the Peace for the Southern District, Mississippi Territory" by Oct 27, 1798 when two men swore to the truth of statements made re: suit involving Elizabeth Still Lee lending a slave girl Peg to her son-in-law Alexander Freeland in the Summer of 1796. She had made her deposition before Cato West, Howard's counterpart in the Northern District [Ragland p.6].
Will of Amos Heaton written Sep 9, 1794, probated Mar 4, 1795 [Davidson Co. TN Will Book 2, p. 13].
On Jun 9, 1801, daughter Sara (Sally) married Philip Duke in Davidson Co. TN [recorded as "Sallie Heaton" and "Philemon Duke" in TN State Marriage Index, 1780-2002, familysearch.org website]. A Philemon "Philip" Duke was born in Bute Co. NC about 1775 and died in 1807 or by Oct 20, 1835 in Montgomery Co. TN when his estate was probated [geni.com, wikitree websites]. Their son William S. Duke lived in the Heaton home near Heaton's [new] Station in Davidson Co. TN [genealogy.com post by Nancy Vertz, Sep 22, 2004].
Wife Elizabeth Heaton died May 21, 1805 "in the 59th year of her age" ["Nashville History: Record of Baptisms...", website blog post]. Her will dated May 18, 1805 mentions sons Robert (Executor), Thomas, Enoch, Thomas' wife Polly, daughters Prudence, Polly (Mary), Elizabeth, Sally [TN Wills and Probate Records,1779-2008, ancestry.com record 9176 #4073033].
In Jul 1812, an enumeration of the 2200+ free male inhabitants of Davidson Co. included Robert and Thomas Heaton, both next to John Drake Sr. and Jr. in Dempsey Morris' Company. A Robert Heaton was included in the same company as Frederick Stump and son Christopher, and both Benjamin Drakes (Sr. and Jr.) [Whitley, Pioneers of Davidson Co. Tennessee, pp. 28, 33].
Between 1812 and the year of his death, 1843, son Rev. Robert Heaton baptised many area residents at many churches, including three in Davidson Co. TN, Zion at White's Creek, Marrowbone Church, and Charity Church. On Jul 25, 1813, a "Susanah Lester & negro Sam" were baptised along with Benjamin Drake and wife Susanah, Thomas and William Heaton, and Hanah Criddle. Also recorded with the baptisms, were 8 deaths of church members, including "Black Sam died July the 18 1824" ["Nashville History: Record of Baptisms...", website blog post].
The 4th item of Absalom Hooper's 1811 will bequeathed an "old Sam" and "little Sam" to his son Absalom (Jr.) [Davidson Co. Deeds, Book C, page 431].
Sources: Carr, John, "Early Times in Middle Tennessee, Chapter 1", rootsweb Sumner Co. website, 1857. Carter, W. Dale, Yancey Tavern, rev. 2012, repr. on website of archives of historicsullivan. Clayton, Prof. W.W., History of Davidson County Tennessee, reprod. 1971 by Charles Elder, Nashville TN. Cumberland Compact, original document signed May 13, 1780, Washington County NC, website. Davidson Co. Deed Book C, pages 59, 431. Davidson Co. TN Marriages, Book 1, 1789-1800, genealogytrails.com website. Davies, K. G., ed., Documents of the American Revolution, 1770-1783, vol. VI �Transcripts 1773�, Irish University Press, Dublin, 1974, pp. 177-8, 242-243. Donelson's Journal, 1779-1780, pp. 106-7. Drake, Doug, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear, Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas, 1779-1804, Warioto Press, 2009, pp. 23, map E7. Fischer, Marjorie Hood, comp. Tennessee Tidbits 1778-1914 Volume I, II, Ram Press, Vista CA, p. 180. Imbert, J. Leopold, map maker, Carte des Possessions Angloises... 1777, reprinted by the Museum of the American Revolution from map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790. Nashville History, facebook blog, "Charity Church: Record of Baptisms of Rev. Robert Heaton, 1812-1843" posted Feb 14, 2009; transcribed by Debie Cox in 2003 from original at Library of Free Will Baptist Bible College, Nashville TN. Summerville, James, Southern Epic, Gloucester Point VA, Hallmark, 1996. Tennessee Co. Marriages, 1790-1950. "U.S. Census of the Cumberland Settlements, 1770-1790, Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee Counties", Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 3006 #2269 (accessed 4 October 2024) Amos Heaton in Davidson Whitley, Edythe Rucker, comp., Pioneers of Davidson Co., Tennessee, Clearfield Publ., 2009. Will Book 2, "Will of Amos Heaton", Davidson Co. TN, page 13, dated Sep 9, 1794. Will Book 3, "Will of Elizabeth Heaton", Davidson Co. TN, page 33, dated May 18, 1805.