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Martha "Patsy" Wills Green m. before May, 1782 ?Washington Co. NC b. Dec 25, 1763 Williamsburg, James City Co. VA d. 1808? Natchez, Adams Co. Miss. Terr. |
William b. Before May, 1782 Washington Co. NC d. 1810? Jefferson Co. Miss. Terr. |
Joseph b. after May, 1782 Natchez Dist. d. after Feb 1801 |
Elizabeth b. 1785? Natchez Dist. d. after Feb 1801 |
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Mary Louise b. 1789? ?Natchez Dist. d. Feb 18, 1811 KY |
Jane Clementine b. Dec 22, 1789 ?Natchez Dist. d. Oct 5, 1851 Carroll Co. AR |
Cato (Jr.) b. 1791? Natchez Dist. d. Woodville, Wilkinson Co. MS |
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Charles C. b. 1792? ?Natchez Dist. |
?James b. 1804? ?Natchez Dist. |
Benjamin Franklin b. Mar 13, 1805 Jefferson Co. Miss. Terr. d. Aug 22, 1845 Claiborne Co. MS |
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Washington Co., 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. |
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By early 1782, it is believed that Cato married Martha Wills Green,
the daughter of Thomas Marsten Green, Sr.
(1723-1805) in the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. NC., and had a son.
They were among
13 families
including those of Martha's parents and brother,
Thomas Marsten Green Sr. and
Thomas M. Green Jr.,
arriving in Natchez in May 1782. They are listed in the arrival that was recorded
on Jul 6, 1782 as "Cato West, wife & children, 3 Individuos" and 8 Slaves. |
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On May 16, 1782 Thomas Ethridge made a
deposition to
the Natchez District Commandant responding to questions provided by
an Indian Interpreter St. Germain,
who was among some Natchez residents who had concerns regarding those
Americans arriving on flatboats down the Mississippi River [Farrell Family History website]. |
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On Mar 8, 1783 Cato, a resident of the Natchez District, sold to
William Barland, a lot in the town of Natchez,
"being 39 ft in front by 102 ft in depth, bounded on one side by
Thos. Green and on the other side by the street,
on which is erected a dwelling house of squared timber, about 20 ft square; for $100"
[McBee, Book A, p. 18]. |
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| On Apr 27, 1783 Cato sold to John Bisland a negro boy named John aged 14, native of VA for $400 [McBee, Book A, p. 18]. | |||
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On Jan 1, 1784, Cato witnessed a final payment of $60 from a Henry Manadue, possibly
Henry Manadue Jr., for "a tract of land in the
Dist. three leagues from the Fort, ten arpents in front by forty in depth,
bounded by lands of St. Germain and James
Spice and by lands not granted" [McBee, Book A, p. 18]. |
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On Sep 10, 1784, St. Germain
witnessed the sale of 100 arpents (about 84 acres) of land from
David Smith, to Cato "near Cole's Creek,
bordered on one side by land of Samuel Osborn, on other sides vacant" for $150
in cash paid at time of sale [McBee, Book A, p. 27]. |
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Map of
the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799. |
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On Apr 9, 1785, John Burnet sold to St. Germain
two/thirds of the saw mill "now occupied on or near land of
Richard Goodwin,
with the same part in a yoke of oxen at the Mill and the wheels
and chain and everything belonging to Richard Goodwin, and also my right to said
mill" for $800 (Spanish money) "payable January next" [McBee, p. 137]. |
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St. Germain died shortly before May 8, 1786
after "a fall from the top of a tree in the Cypress Swamp" about 15 miles above
the Fort of Natches, apparently trying to get wood for the saw mill that he had
purchased part of from John Burnet just the year before (McBee, pp. 33-4]. |
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On Dec 31, 1788, "Joucha Hayward" arrived in Natchez from "Cumberland/Tennessee",
not listed among the flatboats and without family [MS Dept of Archives & History,
website]. |
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In a letter dated Mar 2, 1790, from
Carlos de Grand-Pré, Natchez, 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]. |
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According to the 1792 Spanish Census for Natchez District, father
William West
was a head of household in the District of Second & Sandy Creek, as was
"Juan Holladay", both without owning land
or slaves. However William West reported 9 white persons living in the household.
There is also a "Lettle Berry West" Household with 3 white persons living
in the same area. A different translation has a Cato West household in the Villa
Gayoso area that became Jefferson Co. MS. |
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1895 Map
of Natchez from the Ancestral Trackers
website, shows the likely routes of the Second and Sandy Creeks in 1792. |
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Map
showing Land Holdings in the Second Creek area in 1810 is an enlargement
of part of the Adams Co. 1810 Land Holdings Map found on the website of the
MS Achives and History. In the center of this map can be seen the land owned
by Joshua Howard and other members of the
Howard family. Brother John Howard (Jr.)
tried to claim 165 acres next to D. Ferguson and R. Sessions on May 29, 1804, the
same day that Joshua Howard tried to claim
the 200 acres of land had been surveyed for him in 1777. The latter tract would
be the land that John Holloway was "improving" and where he was killed. |
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Unrecorded Land Claims
dated Mar 29, 1804 by Joshua and John Howard, indicating the approximate location
of their lands on Second Creek, and where
John Holloway was killed in 1781 while
working there [McBee, Unrecorded Land Claims nos. 1470-1, p. 555]. |
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On Dec 12, 1797 Cato West instituted a suit against
John Smith for "trespass on
his land and cutting and carrying away a quantity of timber" at the head of
Cole's Creek sometime in 1792, causing damage estimated on Jan 24, 1798 to be
$50 by Thomas Calvit, appointed by the Natchez court. Afterwards Cato reported
to the court that John Smith refused to pay [McBee, Book G, pp. 347-8]. |
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Cato West had become "Conservator of the Peace for the Northern District,
Mississippi Territory" by Oct 24, 1798 when two men swore to the truth of
statements made regarding a 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, Joshua Howard's
counterpart in the Northern District [Ragland p.6]. |
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On Feb 24, 1801 the will of Filmer Wells Green [son of
Thos. M. Green, Sr.], of Pickering Co. (became
Jefferson Co. the next year) was read. In it he mentions his sister-in-law Martha
Green and her two sons Joseph and Filmer, as well as his father, and brother
Everard, Ann James, and his brothers Abraham and
"Thos. Marston" to be executors [McBee,
p. 366]. |
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Son William married Sarah Kirkland on Feb 10, 1804. They had at least one son,
before William died about 1810. |
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Daughter Mary Louise married Edward Turner. |
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The West and Green families primarity owned land in what became Jefferson Co.,
the part created from Adams Co., Mississippi Territory, in 1796
(see present day map).
In 1802 Claiborne Co. was formed just north of Jefferson Co.
(see present day map
for location). |
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Sources: Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. Cumberland Compact, original document signed May 13, 1780, Washington County NC, website. Clayton, Prof. W.W., History of Davidson County Tennessee, reprod. 1971 by Charles Elder, Nashville TN. Drake, Doug, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear, Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas, 1779-1804, Warioto Press, 2009, pp. 23, map E7. 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. McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book F, p. 21. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, Book A, pp. 18, 27; pp. 137, 366, 450, 541, Book G, pp. 347-8. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1788-1790. North Carolina Land Grants, vol. 2, at Morganton NC Library, p. 6, #1476, transcribed by Lisabeth M. Holloway Oct 9, 1987. Ragland, M.L., comp., "Holloway Succession Records of St. Helena Parish, LA", Greenwood MS, May 1990, pp. 6, 15-16. Rowland, Dunbar, "1816 Census for Franklin Co. Miss.", taken from The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi,Centennial Edition, 1917, rootsweb website. USGenWeb Archives, contr. by Houston Tracy Jr., "Deposition of William Wall, 20 Dec 1780", microfilm folio 458-9. Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151, Will Books 3 and 4, Wilkes County, North Carolina, 1811-1848, The Genealogical Society of "Original" Wilkes County), Will Book 3, "Estate of Joahua Howard", Oct 1814, page 89, 120. |
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