I am working on the family of William Dean of Edgefield Co, Sc. There seems to be two of them in the early census data. One with a wife Ruth and one with a wife Nancy according to deeds. I believe that the William who m Nancy was first married to Rebecca Harley Withers per information in Roster of SC Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby Gilmer Moss, (Limestone College, Baltimore Genealogical Publishing co, Inc, 1983), p. 245. I am interested in finding out the death date of Rebecca Withers Dean and the marriage date to Nancy (possibly Stephens first married to a Bryan or Bryant). From other researchers I have quite a lot of information on the Deans who came to SC and some of the ancestors of the line that contains William m Ruth back to a Richard Dean 26422 [1698](b. England, m. Sarah 26423 (d. 1751 Henrico VA), d. 1748 Henrico VA) and his son Edward Dean 26420 (b. 1718 Henrico VA, m. Rebecca Abney 26421 (b. 1720 Henrico VA)[d/o Unity & George Abney], d. 1761 Halifax VA)) I have no proof that William is connected to this line, or to an early Samuel Dean m Dunkin who had a son William. I would love to correspond with anyone working on these lines. Below are some notes that I have gather on early Deans from internet and library sources. hope this helps someone. Looking forward to hearing from fellow Dean researcher who connect to the SC folks. Billie Jones Colonial Fam. of America, Vol 2 (Ancestry.com) found the following reference: A Wm. Roberts of "Deans Adventure" and "Roberts Range", planter if Kent Co., Md. - will probated 1/27/1772 m Elizabeth Dean d 12/16/1731. Buried at St. Pauls Church,Kent Co., Md. She was the d/o William and Elizabeth Dean of Kent Co., Md. I have no proof of any earlier relationship to William Dean, although I have information on Deans from several sources. Excerpt from Early New England People, 1882 "The name of Den. of Dene, which is the ancient way of spelling what is now written Deane, makes its appearance in England soon after the introduction of surnames. It was apparently derived from the Saxon word den, or dene, a valley. In the reign of Elizabeth I, the letter "a" was introduced into the name Denne, which becomes Deane. There are in England four distinct families of Deanes, from which all others are offshoots. The first person of record was Robert de Den,or de Dene, who was butler or server of Edward the Confessor. He held estates in England and Normandy." DRaffe3066@aol.com (DAVE) My information is that some researchers start the US line with a William Henry Dean and wife Elizabeth Dampier of Dorset , England, but it is not definite. I have a print out of many Dorset Deans of the period, sent by a British list source, but don't locate these people. There is also a previous generation in England mentioned as a possiblitiy, William Gilbert Dean and Alice Talbot. Henry Dean was the son of William Dean, d. 1699 Dorchester Co, MD, a shipbuilder supposedly out of Dorset, England. m. Elizabeth (Meredith?). Their children were : Elizabeth, William, Richard, John, Henry, Sarah and Mary. Thomas Dean was the son of Henry Dean, d. 1746. Dorchester Cty, Maryland, a blacksmith; m. Elizabeth Summers, d/o Thomas and Elizabeth Summers, d.1763. Dorchester, cty. MD. Children: John, Henry, Thomas, Mary. Henry Dean , Sr. was the son of Thomas Dean, b. ca. 1730, Dorchester Co, MD; d.1812, Mercer Co.Ky.; m. cir. 1753, in MD,Elizabeth Shenton, dau of Raymond and Mary (Critchett?) Shenton, Parents of : Raymond, Henry, Thomas, Sophia, Leven, Nathan, Summers, Mary, and Elizabeth "Betsy". Thomas then married Dianna (possibly Reeder) and had children: John, Keziah, Job, Ann, Milly, and Rebecca. There was a long court battle between the two descendant families after the deaths of the parents. The other Deans I know about were Descended from Henry, Jr , mentioned above, who was an early settler of Breckinridge Co., KY. There is another prominent Dean family that settled in Taunton, Mass, I believe, from Taunton, Eng and was active on the list sometime ago. There are a couple of references "Genealogy of the Dean family" Indianapolis, published by John Candee Dean, 1918, and pamphlet, "Brief Memoirs of John and Walter Dean", Coolidge and Wiley, Boston, 1849. Early SC Deans were found in the Index to Commissioners of Locations , Plat Books A & B (1784-1788), Lower Part of Old 96th Dist (which included the Edgefield Co area), compiled by R. Wayne Bratcher, F277.N6B4, SC State Archives, Columbia, SC: Name Book Page Acres Location Date Recd. John Dean A 267 293 On Cloud's Creek 5/14/1785 Joshua Dean A 165 130 On Big Creek 12/15/1784 Joshua Dean A 165 200 On Saludy River 12/25/1784 Julius Dean A 202 240 On Big Creek 1/18/1785 Richard A 258 116 On Cuffeytown Creek 4/27/1785 Samuel B 195 350 Forks of Tugaloo & Keowee 3/29/1787 William B 96 360 On Saludy River 12/10/1785 William B 139 310 On Sleepy Creek 5/29/1786 ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/sc/sccolony.txt - Page Num. 18 Colony of South Carolina Compiled by: Paul R. Sarrett, Jr. Records of 1716 to 1783 Internet: prsjr@aol.com DEAN , George 1779 Colony, SC Resident Old 96th DISTRICT DEAN , Richard 1779 Colony, SC Resident Old 96th DISTRICT DEAN , Thomas 1779 Colony, SC Resident Old 96th DISTRICT DEAN , Thomas 1779 Colony, SC Resident Old 96th DISTRICT From the book "Abstract Wills of The State of SC 1670-1740" compiled and edited by Caroline Moore and Agatha Simmons, 1960, (located at SC State Archives) p. 205-206 Thomas Farless, Berkley co, vintner d. 19 Jan 1733; probated 29 July 1735. lists dau Martha Whelson, son-in-law Thomas Dean, all estate; Daniel Dean, Nathaniel Dean, Dau-in-law Sarah Smith ; Ann Dean. Executors brother-in-law Nathaniel Snow and son-in-law Daniel Dean. p. 136 Nathaniel Dean witnessed the will fo Thomas Wilkinson, Berkely Co, Sc p. 220 Thomas Dean witness mentioned St Bartholemew Parish, James Island Church, and Charles Town, so in low-country area. p. 131 Daniel Dean Witness to Nathaniel Snow, Berkely co, SC d. 3 Oct 1728 p. 52 Samuel Dean Executor of will of Arthur Laugharne, Charlestown Merchant w. Rebecca dau Rebecca. From the book "Abstract Wills of The State of SC 1740-1760" compiled and edited by Caroline Moore, 1964 (located at SC State Archives) p. 145 Thomas Dean, St Bartholemew Parish, Colleton, Co d. 13 May 1751. No family mentioned. Butler family given estate. p. 27 Nataniel Dean withess to John Goodbe, Parish of St. James. Goose Creek, planter. Also witness - Nat. Snow. p. 168 Thomas Deane witnessed the will of Thomas Baker of Berkley co. , Sc d 24 Nov 1737 p. 75 Thos. Dean witnessed to Abraham Caine of Colleton Co., SC d. 11 Sept. 1747 p. 80 Thos. Dean witness to John Jackson, Sr. Colleton Co. planter d 24 March 1747 p. 204 Mary Deane of Charlestown d 5 Dec. 1755. No children with Dean name given. From the book "Abstract Wills of The State of SC 1780-1784" compiled and edited by Caroline Moore and Agatha Simmons, 1969, (located at SC State Archives) p. 88 Nathaniel Dean, Charles Town, surveyor. Wife Rhoda (wife's son Nathaniel Dean by reputation not baptism- age 7) d. 29 Oct 1767 p. 140 Nathaniel Dean witnees to will of James Bond 4 Dec 1756 From the book "SC soldiers and Indian Traders 1725-1730 compiled by Tony Draine and John Skinner (Camden, SC Archives) p. 26 Thomas Dean given a Licens to trade Among the Indians - 1725 as located in Records of Public Treasurer Ledges A, p. 17 From the book "SC Tax List 1733-1742 compiled by Tony Draine and John Skinner, 1987 Nathaniel Dean 1741 1,950(n) St. of Peter Marion Daniel Dean 1735 200(o) Berkley, Goose Creek Daniel Dean 1737 200(o) Berkely, 500 (n) Craven Book "SC Immigrants 1760-1770" (see source data for full information) James Dean, p. 61, 620 Thomas Dean p. 49 Stephen Dean p. 127