This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Abernathy, Roper Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1919.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Frank: Thank you for the more fulsome account of the ABERNATHY clan. My response to your Query as to the correct reading of the challenging materials in David ABERNATHY's Pension file are given below. > This is what the transcriber came up with: "I was called into service living in Lincoln, North > Carolina from thence I moved to Tennessee Giles County where I now live & have lived > three years last past". I believe that Will GRAVES mostly got this text correct. I read this passage in the file to say: "I was when called into service living in Lincoln North Carolina from there [or "thence"] I moved to Tennessee Giles County as here I now live have lived for three years last past." For the benefit of others, Frank and I are referring to the Pension application of David ABERNATHY found within the collection at Ancestry shown as "U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900." This passage appears at Ancestry.com Image 81 of 721. * * * You stated: > First, this transcription can't be correct because David Abernathy and his brother Joseph can > both be seen in the 1820 Giles County, TN census, 12 years before the 1832 Pension > application. I further discuss the Census evidence below, but it supports rather than contradicts this reading of the pension application materials. * * * > The key words in the transcription that may be wrong are "three years last past". > The first two letters appear to be a "th" if you compare those letters with the numerous "the" > in the application. Thus, the word could be "three", "thirteen", or "thirty". To me, the word > looks more like "thirty", but, being human, I may be biased in in wanting a certain outcome. > There also appears to be a "dot" above the word, which might indicate a "i" in the word. > The "dot" is not shown in the area where the "i" would be located, but this particular scribe > appears to be a little sloppy about where he dots his "i"s, as if he is adding them after he > writes the full word. > I mentioned above that the word can't be "three". The same reasoning would apply for > the word "thirteen", since David and his family are clearly settled into Giles County by 1820. > So by the process of elimination, it appears to be the word "thirty". However, I would like > other opinions on this. In analyzing the difficult text, I prefer to remain focused on the letters and then let the other primary documents give us separate independent evidence. I AGREE with your assessment as to the first two letters ("th") and also agree that the text is very hard to make out. But there are several things about the text that seem to me to support Will GRAVES' reading. First, I think that the word following is sufficiently distinct in saying "years", thus truncating the previous word at a length that appears to be about five letters. This alone seems to me to preclude possibilities such as "thirteen" or "twelve" (if one admits the possibility that the second letter might be something other than an "h"). Second, both twenty and thirty have both a "t" and a "y". I cannot see a way to make out either a "t" or a "y" out of the letters at the end of the word once the distinct "y" at the beginning of the following word is ascribed to make the word "years". The word seems too long to say "two" or "ten". By contrast, "three" has ending letters "e" which are often indistinct when written in cursive. I think most of the other ink in the ending letters is simply bleed through from the ink written on the reverse of the paper. So I believe that this word says "three" without regard to the other evidence. * * * * * Turning to the Census, I believe that you are misreading the 1820 Census returns for Giles and IGNORING the evidence from Lincoln, NC. In Giles, Tennessee in 1820, I see these adjacent records including a David ABERNATHY: Joseph ABERNATHY: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 5 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 [Giles, Tn 1820] David ABERNATHY:. 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 3 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 [Giles, Tn 1820] David ABERNATHY of Giles, Tennessee, in 1820, is shown to be age 26 to 44 (b abt 1776-94), much too young to be the Revolutionary War Veteran who was shown to be born 29 Jul 1759. * * * Here is what I have for the 1790 Census data for Ninth Company, Lincoln, NC: Jno ABERNATHY:.. 1 - 0 - 5 -- 1 [Lincoln, NC 1790] [Image 6 of 11 for Lincoln, NC, at Ancestry.com] B. ABERNATHY:... 1 - 2 - 3 -- 1 [Lincoln, NC 1790] Susan ABERNATHY: 2 - 2 - 1 -- 2 [Lincoln, NC 1790] Jos. ABERNATHY:. 1 - 0 - 7 -- 0 [Lincoln, NC 1790] David ABERNATHY: 1 - 2 - 3 -- 2 [Lincoln, NC 1790] Jno. ABERNATHY:. 1 - 0 - 6 -- 1 [Lincoln, NC 1790] Sarah ABERNATHY: 5 - 0 - 1 -- 11 [Lincoln, NC 1790] Jas. ABERNATHY:. 1 - 0 - 4 -- 0 [Lincoln, NC 1790] David ABERNATHY, Sr.: 3 - 1 - 2 -- 18 [Lincoln, NC 1790] Robt. ABERNATHY: 1 - 1 - 5 -- 1 [Lincoln, NC 1790] [Image 7 of 11 for Lincoln, NC, at Ancestry.com] Charles ABERNATHY: 1 - 3 - 3 -- 1 [Lincoln, NC 1790] Wm. ABERNATHY:.... 1 - 3 - 3 -- 0 [Lincoln, NC 1790] [Image 8 of 11 for Lincoln, NC, at Ancestry.com] That is a LOT of ABERNATHYs!! * * * * * These are clusters of ABERNATHYs in Lincoln, NC, in 1800 U.S. Census which include a David ABERNATHY: Martha ABERNATHY:. 6 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Smith ABERNATHY:.. 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 3 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Billy ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 5 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Jms ABERNATHY:.... 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] David ABERNATHY:.. 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 3 [Lincoln, NC 1800] [Image 27 of 101 for Lincoln, NC, at Ancestry.com] * * John ABERNATHY:... 3 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 3 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Henson ABERNATHY:. 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] John ABERNATHY:... 3 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] David ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 15 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Turner ABERNATHY:. 3 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 3 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 5 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Jonas ABERNATHY:.. 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 3 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 1 [Lincoln, NC 1800] John ABERNATHY:... 3 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 4 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Robert ABERNATHY:. 1 - 4 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 16 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Sarah ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 -- 0 - 10 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Battee ABERNATHY:. 4 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 3 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 7 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Sterling ABERNATHY: 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Wm. ABERNATHY:.... 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] David ABERNATHY:.. 4 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Sally ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 5 [Lincoln, NC 1800] [Image 37 of 101 for Lincoln, NC, at Ancestry.com] * * Charles ABERNATHY: 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 3 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1800] David ABERNATHY:.. 3 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] Orban ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 2 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1800] [Image 43 of 101 for Lincoln, NC, at Ancestry.com] NOTE: This may NOT be ALL of the ABERNATHYs in Lincoln, but these are the clusters that include a David ABERNATHY in 1800. * * * * * In 1810, there are two clusters in Lincoln which include a David ABERNATHY: David ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 -- 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 12 [Lincoln, NC 1810] William ABERNATHY: 4 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 7 [Lincoln, NC 1810] Turner ABERNATHY:. 2 - 0 - 3 - 1 - 0 -- 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 8 [Lincoln, NC 1810] Moses ABERNATHY:.. 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 6 [Lincoln, NC 1810] Capt ROZELES District, Lincoln County, NC * * * David ABERNATHY:.. 3 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1810] Nathan ABERNATHY:. 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1810] James ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1810] Charles ABERNATHY: 3 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 -- 3 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1810] William ABERNATHY: 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 -- 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 0 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1810] Captain DELLINGER's District * * * * * In 1820, there is still a David ABERNATHY residing in Lincoln: David ABERNATHY:. 0 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 0 - 1 -- 3 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1820] James ABERNATHY:. 1 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 0 - 1 -- 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 1 - 2 -- 1 - 1 - 0 - 1 [Lincoln, NC 1820] Miles ABERNATHY:. 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 -- 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 4 - 2 - 2 - 0 -- 4 - 3 - 2 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1820] William ABERNATHY: 1 - 1 - 1 - 3 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 2 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 7 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 9 - 3 - 1 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1820] * * * * * Given that David ABERNATHY the Revolutionary War Veteran is shown to have been born born 29 Jul 1759, he would have been age 26 to 44 in 1800 and age 45 or more in 1810 and 1820. When combined with the information from the David ABERNATHY Will executed in 1808 and probated in 1814, it seems to me that these two Census records must pertain to the elder David ABERNATHY: David ABERNATHY, Sr.: 3 - 1 - 2 -- 18 [Lincoln, NC 1790] David ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 15 [Lincoln, NC 1800] David ABERNATHY:.. 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 -- 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 12 [Lincoln, NC 1810] * I am inclined to suspect that the Revolutionary War Veteran was the David ABERNATHY shown in this same cluster who is shown to be age 26 to 44: David ABERNATHY:.. 4 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 2 [Lincoln, NC 1800] This would seem to be the Revolutionary War Veteran's 1820 Census record: David ABERNATHY:. 0 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 0 - 1 -- 3 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 0 - 1 - 0 [Lincoln, NC 1820] * * * * * It appears to me that the ABERNATHY family is sufficiently large that sorting out all of the relationships is going to be quite a chore! I believe that the David ABERNATHY probably arrived in Giles about 1829 well AFTER the arrival of some of his children there. * * * * * I find the asserted date of the a marriage between David Y. ROPER and Dionysia ABERNATHY to be credible and consistent with the reported dates of birth of the eldest of the asserted children. The PLACE of marriage by contrast is NOT credible. First, there is NO Robertson County, NC. There is a Robertson County, TN. There is a Robeson County, North Carolina. I will discuss the asserted place of marriage in another later post. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board. <br>