John Gregg-Ruble-John Todd Connnection

Richard McMurtry Feb 2006

 

The purpose of this essay is to show how John Gregg’s connection to the Ruble family of Frederick County, Virginia can help clarify the identity of Mary Ruble who married John Todd in Pennsylvania before coming to Kentucky.

 

John Todd 1750-1813 of Shelby Co, KY is thought by some to be the son of Andrew Todd d 1791 who settled in Chester Co, PA in 1760, moved to Bedford Co, PA by 1778 to live with his son William, and then moved towards the end of his life to Louisa Co, VA where he died in 1791 in the home of one of his other sons, Dr. Andrew Todd.  Though there are about 15 pieces of circumstantial evidence to support the hypothesis that the John of Shelby County is the son of Andrew d 1791, none  of the evidence is 100% conclusive. 

 

The evidence we have suggests that John Todd was in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1774, in Bedford Township, Bedford County 1776-1784, in Jefferson/Shelby Co, KY 1786-1813[1].  The first two locations are significant in establishing a connection between John Todd and Andrew Todd d1791 in that Andrew Todd d 1791 was the only other Todd in East Whiteland Township in 1774 and Andrew Todd moved to Bedford Township in the late 1770s to live with his other son William Todd.  Other evidence connecting John and Andrew is discussed in greater detail in an essay: “Sorting Out the John Todds of Kentucky”.[2]

 

In trying to find more evidence to substantiate the assumptions above, it was noted that John Todd was closely associated in Kentucky with John Gregg.[3]  John Gregg co-signed a bond with John Todd when John Todd was accused of hiding Mrs. Williamson’s calf in 1788; John Gregg bought land in the same location in what became Shelby Co in 1790; John Gregg chose John Todd as administrator of his will in 1791.   These references together suggest that John Todd was family to John Gregg in some way and suggest that perhaps they knew each other before coming to Jefferson/Shelby Co.

 

There is a John Gregg who lived a few miles from the Todds in Bedford County who was in the tax lists from 1773 to 1784, leaving the county about the same time as John Todd.  The 1784 tax list indicates that John Gregg had a family of 5 – either a wife and three children or a deceased wife and four children.[4]  John Gregg’s will in Jefferson County, KY indicates he had 4 children in 1791[5].

 

Since no Todd sibling or cousin was known to have married a Gregg, any family connection between the John Gregg and John Todd of Kentucky would have been through their wives.  Since John Todd’s wife was Mary Ruble, it is possible that John Gregg’s wife was a member of the Ruble family.[6]  Since John Todd’s daughter married a Ruble whose father was from the Frederick Co, VA Rubles, it seems logical to look for a connection there.[7]  Also, the fact that John Gregg sold his Bedford County land in 1783 to someone whose wife was a Mrs. Lydia Gregg who had a father living in Winchester, Frederick County suggests a connection there also.[8]

 

So the question arose:  Would it be possible to find a John Gregg who (1) was in Frederick Co, VA (where the Rubles lived) at the time of his marriage, and (2) who moved to Bedford Co, PA by 1773, and (3) who moved then to Jefferson/Shelby  Co, KY by 1788?

 

We have made a diligent effort to search the records of Cumberland County and Bedford County, PA and Frederick Co, VA with the help of professional researchers in Salt Lake City and Frederick County, MD, with help from the staff of the Cumberland County Historical Society, and with financial support from several descendants of John Todd and the Greggs.  Much to our delight we have found a John Gregg who lived only 4 miles from the Rubles in Frederick County, who seems to have married there and who is likely to be the John Gregg of Bedford County, PA and Jefferson Co, KY!   Though connection to the Rubles seems likely, we have not been able to find evidence to clarify what that relationship was.  More research is needed!  Meanwhile, I have resorted to speculation to offer a hypothesis for future research.

 

I believe the evidence is compelling that John Gregg of Frederick County, Virginia in 1766 is the John Gregg of Bedford County, PA and the John Gregg of Jefferson/Shelby County, KY.  Given that he was married by 1766 and living in Frederick County only 4 miles from the Rubles, and given our assumption that there was some sort of Ruble connection, it also seems compelling that he married into the Ruble family in Frederick County prior to 1766.

 

Given that John Todd is known to have married Mary Ruble and that the next generation saw a marriage between a daughter of Mary Ruble/John Todd and a son of David Ruble of the Frederick County VA Ruble family, it seems likely that John Gregg was the person through whom John Todd met and married Mary Ruble in Bedford County.

 

Of all the possible relationships between Ann (wife of John Gregg) and Mary Ruble wife of John Todd, the one that seems to best explain how Mary Ruble came to move from Frederick County, VA to Bedford County, PA is that Mary could have been the daughter of Ann and that Ann was the widow of John Ruble (who reportedly died 1760-1762).  In this case, John Gregg is seen as bringing to Bedford County by 1773 his wife Ann, step-daughter Mary born about 1759, and son David born 1767.  Though Ann and Mary could have been sisters or “aunt and niece”, neither of these relationships would explain Mary coming to PA as a young girl or teenager with her aunt or sister.

 

I frankly am comfortable in the belief that John Gregg was the link between John Todd and Mary Ruble and that the Todd-Ruble marriage occurred in Bedford County.   However, the exact relationships between Ann and Mary has yet to be definitively pinned down.

 

The most logical next step to confirm (or refuter) this conjecture would be to find the estate settlement of John Ruble or a guardianship record for Mary.  No such records have been found in Frederick County and no mention of John Ruble descendants was mentioned in a deed in 1793 related to the heirs of Ulrich Ruble – this absence of reference led some researchers to conclude that John had no descendants.  However, since the Rubles spread out in all directions – Peter going to South Carolina, Owen going to southern Virginia, Samuel going to the VA-PA frontier, and David going to SW Pennsylvania – it is possible that John went to Berkeley County or another nearby county.  To these counties, we should direct our research attention.

 

 

The Synthesis

 

We do not know the parentage of the wives of John Gregg and John Todd, but let us look at one conjecture:

 

  1. that John Gregg arrived on the Pennsylvania frontier in Cumberland County, PA by 1765 based on the Frederick Co deed record
  2. that this John Gregg may be the John Gregg who appeared as a single man on the 1761 tax lists for Hamilton Township in southern Cumberland County
  3. that this John Gregg had made a illegal claim for land by 1763 in Indian territory (which later became part of Bedford Township, Bedford County)
  4. that this John Gregg was the “John Gregg of Cumberland County, PA” who bought land in Frederick County in May 1765 that lay only 4 miles from the home of George Ruble, son of Ulrich Ruble
  5. that this John Gregg married in Frederick County that this John Gregg and his wife Ann sold their Frederick Co land in August 1766 and left the county. (Note that he bought the land for 30 pounds and sold it one year later for 100 pounds).
  6. that Ann was the widow of John Ruble who died 1760-1762.
  7. that John and Ann took Ann’s daughter Mary Ruble (about 7 years old, assuming a 1759 birth) with them when they left VA
  8. that in 1771 or between 1770 and 1773, John Gregg settled on his Bedford County land
  9. that John Todd met John Gregg in Bedford County and married John Gregg’s step-daughter Mary Ruble there in 1775
  10. that this John Gregg sold his land in Bedford County in 1783 and left the county after 1784 at the same time as John Todd did
  11. that this John Gregg arrived in Jefferson County KY by 1788 and possibly earlier

 

 

I must admit that the Ruble connections cited here are highly conjectural, that is, I have made up many things without supporting data.  But it is an elegant solution because it explains (1) how John Todd in Bedford County could meet a Ruble from Frederick County, (2) what part of the Ruble family John Gregg married into, (3) what part of the Ruble family Mary came from, (4) the cousin relationship between Mary Ruble and the son of David Ruble who married Mary’s daughter in Shelby County KY in the 1790s.  I must also admit that some pieces of this conjecture have NO supporting data and some pieces have confounding evidence.  Therefore I propose it here simply as a research hypothesis.  More research is needed, especially in the Ruble family records in Frederick County and surrounding counties.

 

There are other possible scenarios, such as (1) Ann being the youngest daughter of Ulrich Ruble and that she died before the heirs settled the land inheritance issues in 1793 (and therefore was not named) and (2) Mary being the daughter of George and that she died around 1807 - before George died in 1813 and therefore not named in George’s will.  But such scenarios leave us without any explanation of how John Todd met Mary Ruble and without any explanation of why the Mary or Ann’s children were not mentioned. 

 

For the present, we simply need to be content that we have found a John Gregg with close geographic connection to the Rubles in Frederick County, VA and to Bedford County and to John Todd in Bedford County, PA and Jefferson/Shelby County KY.  The exact connection to the Ruble family needs more research.

 

For those who would like more detailed information, read on!  For those who just want the gist of the conclusions, you can stop here.

 

            Detailed Discussion

 

            The Location of John Todd-Mary Ruble marriage

 

Before we begin to list all the evidence, let us consider the importance of determining where John Todd’s wedding took place.  We know that John was in Chester County in 1774 and in Bedford County in 1776.[9]

 

I assume they married in late 1775 based on their oldest son Andrew Todd being born 27 Dec 1776.[10]  John Todd appears on the 1774 Chester County tax list as a single man without land.  John Todd appears in the 1776 Bedford County tax list, but is not taxed as either a renter or a single man, suggesting he was married by this time.

 

If the marriage took place in Chester County, then the connection to the Ruble family of Frederick County becomes very hard to discern or explain.  If he married in Chester County, then we should be looking in this case for a Gregg-Ruble connection in the Chester, Lancaster, Bucks, Philadelphia Counties area.  Such a location for the marriage would make it hard to explain how there could have been a connection with the Virginia Rubles and why John Todd’s daughter married a son of David Ruble of Frederick County, VA and Washington County, PA. 

 

If the marriage of John Todd and Mary Ruble took place in Bedford County, then the connection of John Gregg to the Frederick County Rubles that we have hypothesized seems to fit with John Gregg being the person through whom the John Todd-Mary Ruble connection was made.    Andrew’s birth at the very end of 1776, suggests a 1775 marriage which is more likely to have been in Bedford than Chester.

 

I am leaning towards a Bedford County wedding.

 

            The Evidence of Frederick County-Bedford County John Gregg Connection

 

The principal evidence of the Gregg-Ruble connection and a Frederick County-Bedford County connection consists of (1) a 1765 land purchase in Frederick County by “John Gregg of Cumberland County, PA”, (2) a John Gregg, single man, entry in a 1761 tax list in  Hamilton Township, Cumberland County, (3) 1763 and 1765 references to John Gregg being a neighbor on land in what later became Bedford Township, Bedford County, (4) the 1766 sale of his Frederick County land by John Gregg of Frederick County and Ann his wife.

 

The most fascinating evidence is that John Gregg bought land on Isaac’s Creek, a tributary of Back Creek, in May 1765 in Frederick County, VA.[11]  This land lies only 4 miles from where the George Ruble lived on Back Creek and perhaps 7 miles from where David Ruble lived.[12]  In the deed of purchase, he is listed as “John Gregg of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania”![13]   Bedford County was erected out of Cumberland County in 1771; so there is a potential link here.

 

Looking for a John Gregg in Cumberland County, we find in the 1761 tax lists, there are two John Greggs listed – one in the Carlisle area which is 90 miles NE of Bedford and another in Hamilton Twp which is 55 miles east of Bedford but which lies much closer to the Maryland border and to the border with the Indian Territory as the boundary existed in 1760.[14]

 

The first of these John Greggs first appeared on the Cumberland County tax lists in 1753 in Middleton Township (near Carlisle) in the northeast of the county and also almost continuously through the last published list in 1785.  He was born about 1727 and died there in 1807.  He was the son of Andrew Gregg, formerly of Chestnut Level in Lancaster County.  John had a brother James, and half-brothers Matthew and Andrew b 1755.  This is not likely to be our John Gregg. 

 

The second one appears in the 1761 tax lists in Hamilton Township in the southern portion of the county not far from the Maryland border.   This one was a single man who owned no land and seems a more likely candidate for our John Gregg of Frederick Co., VA..

 

There is also a John Gregg (who might be the Hamilton Twp John but might be a third John Gregg) who is listed as a neighbor on land records dating from 1763 in the area that that lay 55 miles west of Hamilton Twp.[15]  In 1763, settlement in the region was illegal because the land had not been “purchased” from the Indians yet.  There was no township in Cumberland County that included this area until Bedford Township was created in 1767/68.[16]  So we would not expect to find the settlers of this area on tax lists in 1763.  Perhaps the John Gregg over in Hamilton Twp lived in Hamilton Twp, but had claims to land in the area that became Bedford County.  Surprisingly, the Bedford Township tax lists 1768-1770 do not list a John Gregg.[17]    Presumably John was either in Maryland or in western PA during this interlude.

 

John Gregg is involved with a court case in 1771 with a George Scheinawolf with jurors who later appear in the Bedford Township records.[18]  John appears on the first existing tax list of Bedford County in Bedford Township in 1773 and so arrived there shortly after 1770.  The land he had apparently claimed in 1763 was sold by him in 1783 when the land lay in Bedford Township, Bedford County. 

 

The land in Bedford Township was only about 4 or 5 miles from where William Todd’s family lived; so this John Gregg would have known the Todds.

 

The somewhat sparse records of John Gregg in the Cumberland/Bedford County area can be explained by John Gregg having followed a frequent pattern of land speculation on the western PA/MD/VA frontier.  This pattern involved buying land in several locations as a speculation.  This is suggested by the Frederick County deed records in that, in 1765, when John bought land on Isaac’s Creek, he is identified as John Gregg of Cumberland County.  The Hamilton Twp John Gregg was single and landless in 1761 and may reflect his residence there while trying to make good his claims to land in the Pennsylvania.  Equally significant, is that by 1766, when John Gregg sold his Frederick Co land, he is identified as “John Gregg of Frederick County” and has a wife Ann.  So he had moved to Frederick County by 1766, but his 1763 land claims in Pennsylvania were still being referred to by his neighbors in their land transactions.

 

Since he sold his Frederick County land in 1766, it would appear that he moved in or after 1766.[19]   He could have gone to the southwest Pennsylvania frontier where Virginians were migrating to, or to western Maryland lying in between Bedford/Cumberland PA and Frederick Co VA, or to the Cumberland Valley area itself.  However, we do not find him in the Bedford Township, Cumberland County tax lists between 1768 and 1770; not until the first tax list for Bedford Township in Bedford County in 1773 does John appear.  He appeared on the tax lists there between 1773 and 1784.

 

This migratory pattern of the Gregg family from VA northwestward is supported by the fact that Robert Gregg, who lived near Winchester, Frederick Co by 1766, moved to the Cumberland, Washington Co, Maryland area by 1777 or 1778.[20]  If one travels up the valley from Cumberland into Pennsylvania, one comes to Bedford in about 30 miles.  In other words, there seems to be a migration of two Greggs into the area of the Cumberland valley.   Robert Gregg obtained a land grant in Frederick County in 1766; Robert Gregg and John Gregg appear in court cases in Frederick Co in the 1760s and Robert Gregg witnessed John Gregg’s 1766 deed; so a family connection between these two seems likely.

 

So at this point, we have shown a geographic connection between John Gregg and the Ruble family in Frederick County, evidence of land speculation on the Cumberland frontier in the early 1760s, a possible migration to Cumberland and then Bedford County by 1771 or 1773; a residence only 4 or 5 miles from the Todds; a departure from Bedford after the 1784 tax list, the same year that John Todd departed.

 

            The Identity of John Gregg’s Wife

 

We also note that John Gregg’s wife in 1766 based on the Frederick County Virginia land sale was Ann and John Gregg’s wife in 1790 based on the will in Jefferson County, Kentucky was also Ann.  The only discontinuity is that when John Gregg sold his Bedford County land in 1785, no wife was indicated.  And the 1784 census indicates only 5 members in his family and we suspect he had four children beginning in 1767.  This suggests also that his wife had died.

 

We can now ask the question:  If John Gregg married into the Ruble family in Frederick County, who was Ann?

 

Ann was married by 1766; so she must have been born by the late 1740s or early 1750s.  There are three major possibilities for her connection to the Ruble family: (1) youngest daughter of Ulrich Ruble d 1759/61, (2) oldest daughter of George Ruble, son of Ulrich, (3) widow of John Ruble d abt 1760-62, son of Ulrich.[21] 

 

Possibility 1.  She could have been an unnamed daughter of Ulrich Ruble based on age, but we have no supporting evidence for this.  We do know he had a daughter Elizabeth born about 1740 and a daughter Susanna born about 1738.  So a daughter Ann born about 1742 or 1743 would not be out of the question.  On the other hand, no mention of her or her children is made in the 1793 deed related to the heirs of Ulrich.

 

Possibility 2.  If  Ann were a daughter of one of the sons of Ulrich, the only one old enough was George, the oldest son, who had a daughter Jane married about 1768 and therefore assumed to have been born by 1750.  Since all the other brothers appear to have had their oldest children in the 1760s, George seems to be the only candidate amongst the siblings to be Ann’s father.  On the other hand, George makes no mention of Ann or her descendants in his 1813 Ohio will but perhaps she had died by this time.

 

Possibility 3.  John Ruble, son of Ulrich, does not seem a likely candidate for having a daughter born in the late 1740s, but could have had a widow by the 1760s.  He was born by 1730 and of full age in 1751 when he entered a survey but didn’t secure the land.  He was still alive in 1760 when he witnessed a deed in Winchester.  He is assumed dead by 1762 according to some researchers, possibly because he is not mentioned in records related to Ulrich’s estate.   It is also possible that John Ruble had a daughter Mary born about 1759 though we have no estate records for him and hence no indication of a wife or children.

 

This last possibility is a tantalizing one.  What if Ann were born in the 1730s, married John Ruble, and became a young widow in 1760-62, and then married John Gregg.  What if John and Ann had a daughter Mary born about 1759.    What if they brought Mary with them to Bedford County and there John Todd met and married Mary Ruble?  This would explain the John Gregg-John Todd connection and explain how John Todd could have married a member of the Frederick County, Virginia Ruble family.

 

However, I can not explain why Mary as a grandchild would not be mentioned in the 1793 deed of Ulrich’s heirs other than the fact that she was in Kentucky by this time.

 

            The Connection with Jefferson/Shelby County, KY

 

Both John Gregg and John Todd left Bedford County around the same time, based on their last appearance in the tax lists in 1784.  The 1784 tax list indicates there were 5 members of John Gregg’s family, which would match with the Jefferson County John Gregg who had 4 children beginning in 1767.  The same tax list indicates John Todd had 7 members which would equate 5 children - 1 child every 1.8 years between 1776 and 1784.  This matches with the statement about John Todd son of Andrew d 1791 having 12 children in 1799 – 1 child every 2 years during the 23 year period 1776-1799.[22]

 

John Todd is in Jefferson County by 1786; John Todd and John Gregg appear together in a court record in 1788.  They buy land on the same day in the same neighborhood in 1790; John Todd is the administrator of John Gregg’s 1791 will.  This close connection from their very arrival in Kentucky suggests they knew each other before coming to Kentucky.

 

All this constitutes a “good fit” though we can’t show a specific reference that connects the two individuals in the two locations.

 

Conclusion and Future Research

 

I believe that John Gregg married into the Ruble family in Frederick County VA and that he introduced John Todd to Mary Ruble in Bedford County, PA.

 

I am not so certain of the exact branch of the Rubles that produced Ann and Mary, the wives of John Gregg and John Todd, but the hypothesis of Ann being John Ruble’s widow and Mary being Ann’s daughter seems plausible.

 

Future research may prove this entire theory to be false; however, the next step is to search the records of Berkeley County, WVA and other counties surrounding Frederick County for both Ruble and Gregg references and to search the records of Washington and Allegany County, Maryland (where Robert Gregg settled and where John may have lived while in transit between Frederick County and Bedford County).

 

 

Attachments

  1. Gregg Genealogy Report (Gregg Genealogy Report.doc)
  2. Tax Lists of Cumberland County, PA (Greggs in Cumberland Tax Records.doc)
  3. Todds in the Tax Lists of Pennsylvania (Todds in PA Tax lists.doc)
  4. Gregg Tegarden Ruble Families Summary (Gregg Tegarden Ruble Family Summary.doc)

 

Endnotes:


[1] The John Todd who appears as a single man in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, PA tax list in 1774 seems likely to be the son of Andrew d 1791 who is the only other Todd living in East Whiteland Township in 1774.  Andrew d 1791 sold his land in 1778 and neither Andrew nor John appear in 1779 tax list in East Whiteland, suggesting they both left the county and possibly together.

 

Andrew Todd d 1791 was known from family tradition to have moved to Bedford Co, PA to live with his son William.  William appears in the Bedford Township, Bedford County tax lists from 1776 to 1795 when he died.  The John Todd who appears at the same time and in the same township as William in 1776 continues on the tax lists until 1784.     This John is therefore likely his brother and therefore the son of Andrew d 1795.  John Todd does not appear in tax lists after 1784, suggesting he had either died or left the area.

 

John Todd was in the portion of Jefferson Co, KY that became Shelby Co by 1786.  This is compatible with the departure of John Todd from Bedford County, PA after 1784.  John Todd of Kentucky had children born in Pennsylvania 1776-1782 and the John Todd of Bedford County is the only John Todd in the PA tax lists that matches this pattern.   The 1784 tax list for Bedford shows 7 family members, presumably 5 children.  This fast rate of child bearing matches with John Todd of Shelby Co having 12 children by 1799.

[2] The essay is on the following website: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mcmurtriecfr/richard/todd/toddentrance.htm

[3] See the Jefferson County references in the documentation for the “Sorting Out the John Todds of Kentucky” essay on the above website..

[4] The tax lists are contained in the documentation refereneced in the previous footnote.

[5] See abstract of will in GGR (Gregg Genealogy Report): wife Ann; eldest son David, eldest daughter Margaret, daughter Lydia, daughter Mary.

[6] Mary Ruble and John Todd are identified as the parents of their children in a Shelby County deed in the 1820s as referenced in the Essay Documentation.

[7] Marriages of Shelby County referenced in “Essay Documentation”

[8] Deed of sale referenced in “Essay Documentation”;

John Gregg to John Borland, Bk B, p 207, Bedford Co, PA Deeds

 

I John Gregg of the Township of Bedford and County of Bedford.. Pennsylvania… yeoman  … for 120 pounds..paid by John Borland and Samuel Borland of Cumberland Valley Township and County aforesaid..sold … to John Borland and Samuel Borland jointly..tract of land lying in Bedford Township..called the phisen Botom where the said John Greag now lives containing by comparison 300 acres.. joining hendreys and Lukens on the south and the company of the West..27 Nov 1783. (Note that no wife is named) recorded an compared with the original the 8 day of March 1786

 

 

Samuel Borland and Lydia his wife to George Burket p 208 of Book B, Bedford Co, PA Deeds

 

7 March 1786 .. Samuel Bourland of Twp of Bedford, county of Bedford..Pennsylvania and Lydia his wife.. to ..George Burket of Twp & Co aforesaid..whereas Samuel Borurland obtained a patent ..4 Oct 1785 ..tract..called Carrigans in Bedford Twp..beginning..thence by land of George Armstrong s77W 120 p, w38p,thence by John Little’s land s63.5W 108, n5w 143 p, S83E 47, n45e 91.5 p, thence by surveyed land s 63e 79p, s40e 40, s63e 67, thence by a ___ hills  s30w 36, s52w 41, s3e 21, s40e 68 p to beg ..containing ..266 acres,  (tract was surveyed in pursuance of a warrant to Samuel Boreland dated 31 Jan 1785 and patent Book A p 40

 

Rachel Borland, June 25, 1822. She was the daughter of Samuel Borland, who emigrated from Ireland to America settling in "The Manor," Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming. He was an officer in the Revolutionary war. At the close he married Mrs. Lidia Gregg, at her father's home, Winchester, Virginia. They made their home for a few years in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, before moving to Westmoreland county. He was a Presbyterian and married Lydia Gregg, who was born in Winchester, Virginia, removing from there to Bedford, Pennsylvania. From: Source: Page(s) 112 - 113, History of Westmoreland County, Volume 2, Pennsylvania by John N Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906.

 

Rick (Ray) Borland has clarified some of the sources of the “Cary” being Lydia’s birth surname:

My three great grandfather, Samuel Borland Jr, a son of Samuel and Lydia, was married twice. To his first wife he had three children of which I am descended. To his 2nd wife he had two more children. Nobody descended from the first married has ever mentioned the Cary name; they all refer to Lydia Gregg. Two times in the Harrison County, Ohio history books the 2nd marriage descendants mention Lydia Cary. Once is under David Borland in the 1890 book on page 78. The other is in the 1921 book under Leroy H. Borland on page 611. Leroy was David's son. Our line always felt this Cary name was misinformation but I attempted to check it out with the resources I had.

 

To quote the William Borland Neel biography from the Westmoreland County History book (I believe dated 1882) on page 208: (speaking of the second marriage of William's father) "Samuel Neel was again united in marriage with Rachel Borland, whose father, Samuel Borland, came from Ireland to America and settled in "The Manor," Westmoreland county, Pa., where he followed the occupation of farming. He, too, was a presbyterian; his wife was Lydia Gregg, who was born in Winchester, Va., whence she removed to Bedford, Pa. There, in her youth she used to hunt the cows in the vicinity of the springs which have since become the famous 'watering place'." ---------Bedford Springs----------

 

Lydia was born in 1763 and married Samuel in 1782 at age 19. For her to have married and been widowed by this young age is not impossible but rather unlikely. The Cary name does not appear in any descendant's name that I have ever come across, but Samuel and Lydia Borland did name their next to the last child, Andrew Gregg Borland.

 

Email by Richard McMurtry:

In my searching of the 1782-1787 tax lists in Frederick Co, I found a Daniel Curry in 1782 and 1783 and then it looks like Daniel Carry in 1785.  So I would say that either (1) Daniel Curry and Daniel Carry should be searched to see if indeed this is a Cary or (2) the Cary story is incorrect.  There are no Cary/Carey in the deed indexes up to 1785. 

 I found this:

1801 - Daniel CURRY and Abigail HERRING, dau. of Leonard HERRING, were married, 22 Jan 1801, at Rockingham Co., Virginia. Adam CURRY was surety.

This makes me think that the name was correct as Curry and that there were no Cary/Carey’s in Frederick Co in the 1780s.

I should mention that Robert Gregg owned a lot in Winchester but didn’t live there and didn’t show up on the tax lists.  So, a Cary could have owned a home but not appeared on the tax lists.  But there is no Cary in the deed records prior to 1785.

[9] See “Todds in PA Tax Lists”, a compilation of Todd entries in PA county and state tax lists, mostly of tax lists published in the PA archives

[10] Rootsweb file of Gregg Branum lists Andrew’s birth and death dates as exact dates, suggesting a family bible source.

[11] See the GGR for the deed abstracts.

[12] See Map 5 in Cecil Odell’s book on Back Creek Settlers for the location of George Ruble’s land near Gainsboro.  David Ruble’s land appears to have been a few miles downstream.  See map of Geetsema, a surveyor in Berkeley Co, WVA for location of Hannah Cook’s property.  Galtjo Geertsema, PS, 1225 W King St., Martinsburg, WV 25401

[13] IN the land records of Bedford County are references to land bounded by John Gregg’s land.  This Bedford County records refer to the land as formerly in Cumberland County, even though at the time settlement in the area of this land was illegal because it had not yhet been bought from the Indians, according to a staff person at the Cumberland County Historical Society.

For example:

 

a.  Land Warrant; John Finney (message posted by Stacia Liegey)

Aug. 10, 1765. John Finney of Cumberland Co. applied for 200 acres bounded by Robert Callander on the north, John Gregg on the east, and Joseph Alexander on the south, including William Mason's improvement in Cumberland Co. (Source: Early Land Applications, Bedford County)

b.    Situated on the waters of the Shawanese Cabin Creek in the Tonwship and county of Bedford containing 300 acres.. surveyed for Samuel Johnston 16 Aug 1793 on warrant dated Aug 20 1765:  N5.5W 20 by land of John Gregg, N87W 76 by land of John Finney, N21 W 145 by John Finney, N32E 66 by john finney , N46W 140 by Alexander’s Claim, S83W 95 by John Baldwin, S3W 286, S85E 191, S87E 76 by John Little.

c.  Situated on the North side of the Raystown Barnch of Juniata in the Township and County of Bedford ..306 acres and 118 p..survyed for John Little 16 Aug 1793 on warrant dated Aug 20 1765. N84E 48, S62E 150 by Frederick Helsimer, s3, s83E 115 by Frederick Helsimer, S21W 40, N39E 140 by surveyed land, N64W 60, by John Gregg’s alnd, n5.5W 95 by John Gregg, N87W 76 by Samuel Johnson, N85W 192.78, S10E 141

 

[14] See file:  “Greggs in Cumberland County tax lists”

[15] See “Essay Documentation” for early land record references to John Gregg being a neighbor in 1763 and 1765

[16] See Raymond Bell’s book:  Mother Cumberland for maps of townships in 1760 and 1770

[17] Verbal statement by staff of Cumberland County Historical Society

[18] Court case abstract from Bedford County Genealogy website.

Sheinawolfe, George; John Gregg

Posted by: Joan Christopher (IP Logged)

Date: December 12, 2005 10:47AM

 

George Sheinawolfe vs. John Gregg, case #58, relevied and delivered to plaintiff. (Source: Bedford County Civil Court Docket, Bedford Co., Pa., July Term 1771.)

Case #58, Sheinawolfe vs. Gregg, jury selected for Oct. 1771: Samuel Drenning, William McCombe, Hugh Ferguson, George Wills, Allen Rose, Thomas Hays, James Deley, Moses Read, John Fisher, James Mollott, Jacob Money, Bernard Money (Mooney?). Find for plaintiff.

[19] A Frederick County court order book in the 1767-72 period (Vol 14, p 393) states “Robert Gregg (Plaintifff) vs John Gregg(Defendant) “in Debt”: Dismissed being agreed by the parties and an entry in the 1772-1781 period (Vol 17, p 232) says: Robert Gregg Plt vs John Gregg Deft. “In Case”, Discontinued.

[20] See GGR for records of Robert Gregg in Frederick County and Hampshire Co, VA. Also references to his children’s migrations.

[21] See Ulrich Ruble Family Summary for the dates of birth of his grandchildren

[22] This letter was from Andrew Todd Jr to John McCulloh in 1799.  See “Essay Documentation”