From the Mountains to the Prairies

Patience Raiford Coleman Madden Welton
Born 1742? Wayne Co. NC?
Died 1804/8 ?LA or Spanish West Florida

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
John William Coleman m. May 12, 1762 Anson Co. NC b. 1738? Prince George Co. VA or NC d. May 15, 1781 k. Indians ?Illinois Terr.	?Jeremiah b. Jun 14, 1764 Morris Co. NJ d. Jul 14, ?1817 Adams Co. MS	John Raiford b. Oct 28, 1766 NC d. Dec 11, 1809 New Feliciana Parish, Miss. Terr.	William b. 1768? NC d. after 1816 New Feliciana Parish, Miss. Terr.
	Judith b. 1771? ?NC d. 1823 East Baton Rouge LA	Mary "Polly" b. 1776? ?NC d. after 1799 ?Baton Rouge LA	James b. 1779? ?NC d. 1816 ?Baton Rouge LA
	?Isaiah b. late 1781? Natchez Dist. d. after 1818 ?Adams Co. MS
Emanuel Madden m. May-Oct 1781 Natchez Dist. b. 1755? ?Frederick Co. VA d. 1820? ?Rapides Parish LA
John Welton m. Sep 17, 1783 Lincoln Co. KY b. d. after 1799 ?Feliciana Dist., Spanish LA	Jane b. 1785? Bayou Sara, Natchez Dist. d. ?Nov 1811 LA
Patience Raiford was the daughter of William and Apsilla Raiford.
Husband John William Coleman came to the Natchez District about 1777 and moved the family there about a year later [Farmer, genealogy.com post].
According to Patience, her husband John Coleman was killed by Indians after he left for the Illinois Territory on May 15, 1781. By Oct of that year, Patience had married the caretaker of Coleman's land, Emanuel Madden [McBee, Book A page 56-9, p. 8-9]. This land was on the Homochitto River near Second Creek about 5 leagues from the Fort at Natchez. It was originally owned by Robert Robinson who had a purchase agreement with Coleman as he lived on it.
As early as Nov 1776 Emanuel Madden owned land near the other end of Second Creek, 10 miles from the Fort of Natchez. About 1788 Emanuel sold 100 arpents (about 84 acres) to a William Ratcliff. In 1804, this land was described as being adjacent to the land that was claimed in 1772 by Absalom Hooper [McBee, p. 53].
1895 Map of Natchez from the Ancestral Trackers website, shows the likely routes of Second Creek and Homochitto River in 1781.
On Monday, Oct 15, 1781, "John Townsend" sued a David Waltman, who had promised to pay a $7 note owed to John by Patience's husband John Coleman, killed by Indians in May 1781 on his way to Illinois [McBee, p. 292].
John Holloway was shot and scalped by Indians five leagues (about 17 miles) from the Fort of Natchez by Wednesday, Oct 24, 1781. At the time, he was apparently working as "an overseer", and/or living, at the Second Creek plantation of Joshua Howard, who was "absent from this district". Son George Holloway and a slave were tied with a rope to a workbench, but George cut the rope and escaped during the night. George later described the attack, saying his father was "soon [after they arrived] cruelly murdered by Indians at Natchez".
On Oct 28, 1781 Patience presented to the Court of Natchez petitions stating the property of her late husband and requesting that her new husband be appointed guardian of her children. Just four days earlier, on Oct 24, the court had appointed a guardian and taken inventory of the estate of John Holloway, also killed by Indians, and his widow Elizabeth Holloway also pregnant [McBee, Natchez Court Records, Book A, p. 304] However his death was recent and where he was sorking with his son George, at the plantation of Joshua Howard, near or adjoining the Madden plantation on Second Creek. On Nov 22, 1781 Emanuel Madden was appointed guardian of the Coleman children listed, as well as "the child of wh. she declares herself pregnant" [McBee, Book A, pp. 56-9].
Unrecorded Land Claims dated Mar 29, 1804 by Joshua and John Howard, recorded the location of their lands on Second Creek, where John Holloway was killed in 1781 while working there. It referenced a 1776 "plat" that showed "Manuel Madden and John Small with land adjoining" [McBee, Unrecorded Land Claims nos. 1470-1, p. 555].
By Feb 9, 1783 Emanuel is described as "absconded from the district" in a suit against him by Elizabeth Baker claiming that about a year before he stole a horse belonging to her husband [McBee, p. 300].
On May 24, 1784 Emanuel and Patience Madden sold 100 arpents of the land on the Homochitto River, "5 leagues from Fort" witnessed by her son John Coleman, aged 17 [McBee, Book A, p. 25].
In 1785 a James Cole "of own free will and accord" became surety for Patience's son John Coleman (not yet 18) because he came to the District with a William Davenport and did not return with him [McBee, Book B, p. 138].
On Jan 27, 1786, "Emanuel Madden" sued "Widow Coleman" after the "minors of Coleman" sued him on Jan 20, each regarding debts of the "estate of William Coleman, decd" resulting in the opinion by Lt. Gov. Bouligny on which estate debts to be paid by Madden and the estate [McBee, Book E, pp. 178-9, Book F, p. 243].
On May 24, 1786, in a suit brought by the Coleman children, John, William and Judith, "being of sufficient age to choose a curator", the court decreed that Patience was the lawful wife of Manual Madden, even though she claimed on Apr 3, 1786 to be married to John Welton. The court allowed John Welton to be their curator and that the Coleman estate be entrusted to Welton. [McBee, Book E, p. 179].
On Dec 12, 1787 a Jeremiah Coleman (1764-1818?) arrived in Natchez after serving in the war and before marrying a woman named Jones. Jeremiah could have been the oldest son of the deceased William Coleman. In 1792 Jeremiah and family were living in the SC (St. Catherine's) division of the Natchez District. In 1818 Jeremiah headed a large household next to a single man named Isaiah Coleman [MDAH, Adams Co. 1818 Census]. His will was said to have been probated Nov 1719. On page 15, line 16, his widow, "Mrs. Coleman", headed a family of 2 white males and 3 white females, all being taxable in Adams Co. MS in 1830 [MDAH, 1830 Adams Co. MS Census Tax List].
On Apr 7, 1789, Patience, then married to John Welton, paid $35 to her daughter Judith Coleman, who was the widow of James Baker by Jul 1789, as her share of the estate of her father, "Mr. William Coleman" administered by Patience after Dec 31, 1787. The other four Coleman children each received $35 [McBee, Book D, pp. 142, 253].
Patience and daughter Judith lived together in Bayou Sara for a while after Judith's husband, James Baker, died about 1789. Bayou Sara no longer exists because the Mississippi River now runs through it. In 1820 it was partly in Wilkinson Co. MS (formed in 1802 from a part of Adams Co.) and a part of West Feliciana LA, south of the town of Natchez (see present day map for location of Wilkinson Co. and present day map for location of West Feliciana Parish.
A translation of the Head of Household Index of the 1792 Natchez District Census shows "Emanuel Madden" in SC=Santa Catalina (St. Catherine's Creek) and "Juan Welden" in BS=Bayou Sara [USGenWeb, website].
On Aug 2, 1793 the son of Philip Alston, "Lewis Alston, Inhabitant and planter" in Bayou Sara, district of Baton Rouge, brought suit over a fight with a Col. Frederick Kimball. John Welton and his wife, Patience Welton, and a William White "living at Mr. Barkley's plantation" and James Alston, "brother of Lewis, lame in one hand" gave depositions [McBee, p. 266].
Bayou Sara no longer exists because the Mississippi River now runs through it. In 1820 it was partly in Wilkinson Co. MS (formed in 1802 from a part of Adams Co.) and a part of West Feliciana LA, south of the town of Natchez (see present day map for location of Wilkinson Co. MS and present day map for location of West Feliciana Parish LA.
According to a 1799 land map of a portion of the "Feliciana District, Spanish Louisiana", land owned by those involved in the Aug 2, 1793 suit between Lewis Alston and Col. Frederick Kimball, i shown. Patience's husband "John Wilton" owned 400 acres south of Kimball's land. Her son "Wm Coleman" owned 225 acres bordering Lewis Alston to the south, and son "Jno. Coleman" also owned 225 acres next to his brother. Daughter and widow "Judith Baker" owned 400 acres adjoining both Kimball's and her stepfather's land [Library of Congress ..., image of map online].
Daughter Judith married James Goodman Young (1761-1840) in Avoyelles Parish LA. There is a historical marker for them in the Young Family Cemetery on land granted in 1796 by the Spanish to him in the Plains/Port Hudson area of East Baton Rouge LA [Find-a-Grave, website].
On Mar 28, 1799, daughter Mary "Polly" Coleman married Edward Randolph, in St. Joseph Catholic Church in Baton Rouge LA. There she stated her parents as "Guilermo & Paciencia Coleman, natives of NC" [genealogy.com post by Franklin Farmer, Mar 20, 1999].
Daughter Jane Welton married James Patton on Jul 29, 1805, probably in St. Joseph Catholic Church in Baton Rouge LA.
Patience made a will that was recorded in Spanish West Florida in 1804. It says she was the widow of John Coleman and John Welton. She was to be supported by her fifth child James for the rest of her life [genealogy.com post by Franklin Farmer, Mar 20, 1999].
Son James Coleman married Louisa Pressler from Anson Co. NC. He died in 1816.
SOURCES: Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. Aymond, Greg, Holloway Family of Holloway Prairie, internet website, Dec 1999. "Franklin County, MS 1810 Census", abstract from Gillis book, rootsweb website. Documents ... , US Congress, 1815-24] Farmer, Franklin, post on genealogy.com forum, Mar 20, 1999. Franklin Co. Genealogy & Hustory Network, Franklin Co. Mississippi Marriages, website. "John Holloway, 1851", File H-3, on p. 208 of "The MS Cains", website. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Wash. DC, "Portion of a map of Feliciana District, Spanish Louisiana ... 1799", image, var. websites. McBee, Mae Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book F, p.21. McBee, Mae Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, Book A, pp. 25, 56-9, 292, Book D, pp. 142, 253, 266, 300, Book E, pp. 178-9, Book F, p. 243. MDAH, Adams Co. MS 1818 Census, website, microfilm. MDAH, Adams Co. MS 1830 Census, website, microfilm. USGenWeb, Early Southwest Miss. Territory, "Natchez District 1792 Spanish Census Index", Head of Household Index. USGenWeb, Franklin Co. Mississippi, "Franklin County Mississippi Early Settlers", website. Will of Patience Coleman, Spanish West Florida, Feb 16, 1804, in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805.