Re: Elizabeth Turner ~ Captain William Utley

I don't think it's ever possible to know any of these families "too well". Considering all the lost records, even the most thorough research will only let us know them fairly well. Records never change, but sometimes new records are found that change our understanding or interpretation of the old records. Errors are frequently found in land records since the deeds and grants are only the clerk's copies of the originals. The same is true for wills copied into the will books. Sometimes we HAVE to use copied records because the originals no longer exist. I have found many instances of records being incorrectly copied. You have to keep an open mind and compare records against each other to try to discover and weed out these errors. Our research needs to be updated as we learn more.

I descend from some of these families too - Sanders, Utleys, Woodwards, Jones. I won't include the Turners because I don't know that William Utley Sr's wife was in fact a Turner. Perhaps I should be cautious about saying I descend from the Sanders. There is no record that absolutely proves that Jacob Utley's wife Phoebe was a daughter of James Sanders Sr, but I am totally satisfied that she was. The circumstantial evidence for Phoebe being a Sanders is much stronger than the circumstantial evidence of Elizabeth being a Turner. You've probably seen my research on the Sanders and Utleys and Phoebe on the web.

Since some of your families came from Nansemond, perhaps you'll find something useful here. This is old research and some parts need to be revised. If you see something that interests you, I'll be glad to check to see if anything new has been found that changes what I believed based on the records I had when I wrote this up years ago. The Chowan Woodwards research you cited was also some of my earlier work that Austin Cooper had on his webpage for a while. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fcharper/theory.htmlhttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fcharper/theory.html

There were numerous unrelated lines of Jones in Johnston/Wake. Which line was yours? I descend from Lewis Jones and wife America Barnes originally from Edgecombe, through son Nathaniel Jones MC (meaning Middle Creek to distinguish him from several other Nathaniel Jones of Wake) and wife Elizabeth Powell whose daughter Delia/Delilah/Dillie Jones m Joseph Woodward, son of Pleasants Woodward and Winifred Utley, dau of Jacob Utley and Phoebe. I'm sure you know the line back from there.

Most of the children of Pleasants Woodward given in the Utley book were actually the children of his older brother Jordan Woodward who moved to Anson Co. Pleasants' children were Christopher, Joseph, William, China (m Needham Green), Winifred (m Etheldred Jones, son of William Jones and Mary Matthews), and Charity (m Alexander Smith). The names come from old letters written by Joseph's son Alexander Jackson Woodward and Charity Woodward Smith's daughter Samantha Ann Smith (Currie). There is no proof for the ancestry of Irene Woodard (Hyatt) who was named in the Utley book. Irene was not a daughter of Pleasants Woodward. She was not remembered as an aunt by Andrew Jackson Woodward or Samantha Ann Smith (Currie)and Pleasants' censuses indicated only 3 daughters. Irene married in Anson Co, which would seem to connect her to the family of Jordan Woodward, but she wasn't remembered by Asa Lawrence Woodward when he named his great-aunts and uncles who were obviously the children of Jordan Woodward (although Asa didn't name their father). I suspect Irene might have been the illeg dau of Nathaniel Woodward (MC) and Mary Woodward, daughter of Christopher Woodward and sister of Pleasants and Jordan. Jordan was Mary's guardian. There's no proof for Irene as the daughter of Mary Woodward either, although Irene's birth date does agree with the bastardy record.

I have done quite a bit of work on the records of Henry Jones Sr who was granted land on the Morratock in Chowan Co in 1710/11 (although he didn't move his family there until years later), his son Francis, and Henry Sr's brothers John and William Jones who moved to Edgecombe in the 1740's. By any chance, were you referring to Henry Jones Sr as your "ancestral grandfather [who] was given land on Maratock River (Roanoke River)"?

I have always believed that there is probably some connection between Lewis Jones Sr (wife America Barnes) and William Jones (wife Mary Matthews) and Capt Etheldred Jones, son of Philip Jones and Rebecca. Lewis and William certainly weren't brothers to Capt Etheldred Jones, but I suspect they were cousins. The name Etheldred first appeared in the Jones family when Henry Jones Sr's brother John Jones named a son Etheldred Jones in his 1757 will. This Etheldred Jones remained in Surry/Sussex when his parents moved to Edgecombe. Ethelerid Jones was the sponsor for Richard, son of John and Mary Jones 12/1/45 in the Albemarle Parish Register. The father would have been John Jones Jr, brother of Etheldred Jones. The name Etheldred appeared the second time in this Jones line when Philip Jones named his son Etheldred Jones (the Capt). The name appeared again when William Jones and wife Mary Matthews named a son Etheldred. Christopher Woodward was the bm for the marriage of William Jones and Mary Matthews. Christopher's granddau Winifred Woodward m their son Etheldred Jones. Capt Etheldred Jones was one of the extrs of the will of Christopher Woodward and the gdn for one of his minor children. Lewis Jones Sr owned land adj Christopher Woodward. His son Nathaniel Jones (MC) was the father of the illeg child born to Christopher's daugher Mary Woodward. Nathaniel Jones' dau Delia Jones m Christopher's grandson Joseph Woodward. I believe these Jones were all related, but believing and proving are two different things.

There is a will for a William Jones of Northampton Co that names, among others, sons William Jones and Lewis Jones, but I can't prove that this William Jones is the same as the son of Henry Jones Sr - and I can't prove that William Jones and Lewis Jones of Johnston/Wake were the same as the sons William and Lewis named in this will.

Will of William Jones
24 Sep 1784
to my son William Jones my land in the fork of Canoe Creek, joining Burwell Gilliam and lend him 1000 acres in Green Co. on Elk river and at his decease sd. 1000 acres to go to his son William to my son Richard Jones, during his natural life and life of his wife Sarah Jones, all my land on the north side of Burwell Gilliam'S Spring branch and if sd. Richard dies without lawful heirs sd. land to go to my grand son James Johnson to my wife Martha Jones land on Canoe creek and at her decease or marriage, sd. land to go to my son Lewis Jones Island purchased of Mrs. Penelope Dawson to be sold and money to go to sons William and Lewis and daughters Mary Johnson and Lucy Jones
Extrs.: son William and daughter Lucy and James Williamson
Wits.: James Williamson, Nathaniel Thrift, Simon Woodard
Northampton County, NC 1759-1808 Genealogical Abstracts of Wills, Will 226 pg. 336

The little I know about Simon Woodard/Woodward is posted here. http://boards.ancestrylibrary.com/surnames.woodard/676.780.1.2.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashxhttp://boards.ancestrylibrary.com/surnames.woodard/676.780.1.2.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx

You said in one of your posts that the Simon Turner family was connected to the Utleys. Did you mean prior to the Johnston/Wake records or just that they lived in the same general vicinity in Johnston/Wake? Can you prove some prior Turner/Utley marriage or even that Simon Turner and William Utley owned land near each other before they came to Johnston/Wake? Later marriages between the families would be interesting, but they wouldn't prove prior connections. Do you have anything that proves a prior connection between Simon Turner or his ancestors and Augustus Balthasar Turner and Jasper Melchior Turner or their ancestors?