Misheal, John's daughter, is married in 1812 to Marcellus Cook in Randolph Co, and both of them turn up in documents in Lincoln/Marshall County TN, she in John's will, him in various court documents. With their unusual names and this, there can be no doubt that the couple in Randolph Co are the same people in Lincoln/Marshall Co. The question is: did Marcellus go to Randolph Co to marry Misheal or was he already living there? His father died in 1806 (Chatham Co will book A p 130 - John and wife Bethany witness the will in 1801), but I can't find him or his brothers or mother in Randolph or Chatham. If he wasn't living in Randolph Co, it's clear to me this is John Jr and Joseph. She was living there and he went there in order to marry her. If he was living in Randolph Co, it's harder to make the case that these people aren't one of the other 50 billion John or Joseph Rossons floating around.Randolph
John RawsonJoseph Rawson
- Males: 0 / 1 / 1 / 0 / 1
- Females: 2 / 2 / 0 / 0 / 1
- Males: 0 / 0 / 1
- Females: 0 / 0 / 1
I can't find any mention of any Rossons in Randolph Co in the 1815 tax list (not so surprising) or in land records, but I presently don't have any access to any of these from after 1801. The latest residence I have for John prior to 1810 is 30 Dec 1801 in Chatham Co (executor for Henry Bagley's will), so I really do need to see post 1801 land records from there.
A Joseph Rosson also married a Mary McMasters in Randolph, but there's no evidence to connect Joseph in Bedford Co TN with a Mary McMasters. I wish I knew how somebody came up with 1819 as the date of his marriage to Rebecca (TN wife). If I had that as a solid fact, it would be easier to connect him to Randolph Co. He would have children that predate that marriage which of course means a prior marriage.
All of this being said, I think it probably is, namely because this John's family fits so well with what we know about it John Jr's (a genealogist's famous last words):
John Rawson[1]
- Males: 0 / Henry B[2] / William H[3] / 0 / John Jr[4]
- Females: Sarah and Candia[5] / Mary Uland and Misheal[6] / 0 / 0 / Bethany[7]
- Males: 0 / 0 / Joseph
- Females: 0 / 0 / Mary McMasters?
[1]In John's will, his children are given in the same order throughout: Sarah S, Joseph, William, Misheal, Henry B, and Candia. When only males are mentioned, it's Joseph, William and Henry B. When it's the females, it's always Sarah S, Misheal, and Candia. Is this oldest to youngest? It doesn't quite jive with my reasoning below, but it would make more sense than a random order repeated the same way 3 separate times. Mary Uland presumably died before the will was composed.
[2]1820 Census age (only one aside from 1810): 16-25 (i.e. b 1795-1804). 1810 census implies he was b 1795-1800.
[3]1850 birth year: ~1791; 1840: 1781-1790; 1830: 1791-1800; 1820: 1776-1794; 1810: 1785-1794. Birth year of ~1791 agrees with all of these.
[4]See my post on figuring out his birth year. This census implies the latest he could have been born would have been 1765.
[5]The birth dates for the women are harder to figure out, aside from Misheal. Mary Uland is mentioned in Henry Bagley's will along with her mother (Chatham Co Will Book A pg 43), which suggests to me that she was the first born female child. (It looks like Wm H is older, so she can't be the absolute first born.) This would make her and Misheal the two elder daughters. I have absolutely nothing on Candia. Sarah is 50-59 in 1840 but 20-29 in 1830. I'm guessing she was b 1800-1805. Her eldest child was born 1819 (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... id=5412211), which probably means she got married in 1818. You'd expect she was 15-18 when she got married.
[6]Misheal: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... d=25708189
[7]>44 in 1800-1820 censuses and 70-79 in 1830 census. This suggests a birth year somewhere in 1751-1755. This would make her 10 or so years older than John Jr. Was she married to someone else prior to John?