ATTENTION: Martha Strong <[email protected]> ======================================================= BoB, Has anyone looked at the history of Guilford. To see who was there first etc. and where they came from. << Elizabeth Strong in Guilford / Rockingham Co., NC, Martha ========================================================== My apologies to all for my many clerical (typing) errors and poor proofreading. In the Subject of my last message on this topic, the date of birth for Thomas Strong should have been 1739 rather than 1735, per the William Strong, Sr., family birth register. The John Strong in the Subject of this messge was the son of Elizabeth Strong of Guilford and Rockingham Counties, NC. Yes, Martha, a review of the Guilford County, NC, records was included in Jim Rolff's manuscript. I personally doubled checked the Guilford County records, too. However, I noted that the Grantor Index for surnames N-Z for Deed Book 2, for years 1779-1783, was missing. Thus both Rolff and I may have overlooked some deeds of purchase by Strongs. Descendants of William Strong, Sr., should obtain Deed Book 2 on microfilm and scan the pages for Strongs. However, Guilford County Deed Book Two has been abstracted and was published in 1993 by Timothy Kearney. Abstracts of Deed Book One were published in 1990 by William D. Bennett. No Strongs were indexed in Bennett's volume (which seems to be an ommission). The earliest record of John Strong in Guilford County was in 1780 when he purchased land (17 FEB) and was granted additonal land (1 MAR), both tracts on Buffalo Island Creek, later in Rockingham County. I went back even farther and checked the records of Orange County, NC, from which Guilford County was formed in part in 1770. No Strongs were found in the Orange County records. The sucession of counties was that Rockingham County was created out of Guilford County and that Guilford County was created, at least partly, out of Orange County. John Strong, son of William Strong, Sr., was in Pittsylvania County, NC, in FEB 1777 when he was a militiaman and was nominated to be a Lieutenant in the militia. In 1777, John Strong still owned 100 acres in Pittsylvania County, VA. He and his son, Sneed Strong, were apparently living on the land, The tax assessed was for 100 acres and two tithes. [For this tax year a tithe was apparently age 16 years or over. For some years a tithe was age 21 or over.] I could not find these two in the same tax precinct for years 1778 and 1779, although John Strong continued to own land in Pittsylvania until at least 1788 {two deeds of sale recorded in 1789 in Pittsylvania County from John Strong of Guilford County, NC). [At the Pittsylvania County, VA, Court House I found the "Vestry Book of Camden Parish, 1767-1852, Pittsylvania County". This volume might contain valuable information about the Strongs who lived there from the early 1760s (e.g., James Strong and Samuel Crowley, then of Halifax County, witnessed 1762 will of John Turner). The volume was not indexed and I did not have time to scan it. Efforts should be made by descendants of William Strong, Sr., to determine if this Vestry Book is available via loan from the LDS Family History Center. The volume should be read carefully for information about the Strongs and Crowleys. The tradition in the Crowley family is that Samuel Crowley was the husband of Elizabeth Strong, daughter of William Strong, Sr.] The earliest legal record for Elizabeth Strong was a deed of purchase recorded in Guilford County, dated September, 1783. So John Strong appears to have been the first Strong to own land in Guilford County, NC, judging from the deeds. Elizabeth Strong was the second Strong to own land there. But they were preceded by Mary Strong, who appears on a list of members of the Martimony Primitive Baptist Church, dated 17 SEP 1776, according to Rolff's account. I have not personally reviewed those church records. In 1776, the church would have been in Guilford County. Incidentally, while visiting the genealogy collection in the public library in Rockingham County, located in Madison, there was a map on the wall that showed the location of various land owners, including John Strong and Sneed Strong. The locaton of Matrimony Baptist Church was shown on the map and there was a notation that the Matrimony Primitive Baptist Church apparently shared the building with the Center Meeting House of the Society of Friends (Quakers). The map was published by The Custom House, Jamestown, NC. The print was so small I had difficulty reading the address. The Post Office Box may have been 549. The map was titled "Rockingham County, NC, Historical Documentation". So we have Thomas Strong who disappears after 1775, a Mary Strong who appears in 1776 [but who could have been the wife of James Strong, who owned land on the same creek just across the state line from the Martimony Baptist Church], Elizabeth Strong (possiby a widow, possibly not) whose first record is dated 1783, and the widow Mary Strong who appears on the 1790 census of Rockingham County. These may be the same or two different Mary Strongs. Are you confused yet?! My point is that we have two Strong women, both assumed to be widows, but we have only one candidate to be their husbands: Thomas Strong. There appears to be one Strong male missing from these records, yet all of William Strong's sons are accounted for. Since we have two Strong women who could have been the widow of Thomas Strong, in my opinion it is an error for the purported descendants of Thomas Strong, Sr., to totally ignore one of them: Elizabeth Strong. Someone needs to do some more intensive research to try to resolve these perplexing questions. The situation is very similar to my own lineage. I can prove descent from Mrs. Ann Strong of Goochland County, VA. Circumstantial evidence indicates she was probably the widow of Martin Strong of Hanover County. I cannot prove, indisputeably, that Martin Strong is my ancestor. The many Strongs who claim that they are descended from Thomas Strong, Sr., cannot prove that, either, in my opinion. All that can be proved is descent from Mrs. Mary Strong of Rockingham County, NC. That she was the widow of Thomas Strong is conjectural. There is a plausible second alternative, as explained in my earlier message, that Elizabeth, rather than Mary, was the widow of Thomas. I hope that some descendant of Strongs of Rockingham County will be motivated enough to further research this topic and find definitive evidence one way or the other. Some of the proof may be in the Vestry Book of Camden Parish, Pittsylvania County, VA, which has not been researched by any descendant of this Strong lineage to my knowledge. "BoB T." Strong Robert T. Strong, Jr. 119 Mystic Way Madison, Al 35757-8801