| Notes |
- Possibly spelled James Heustin or Hewston in his time.
Subject: HOUSTONS
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 16:45:53 -0400
From: pcsmith@hom.net (Percy Smith)
To: dean@telemail.com.py (Joseph Dean Moore)
Hi Dean,
Long time since I've heard from you and the way the market has been acting
the past few days made me think of you. Hope you didn't get hurt too bad
or not at all.
I'm forwarding some something my son has been working on.
Good luck,
Percy (Smith)
Hewstons 1
I have found some interesting items on the Hewston Family in
Georgia and South Carolina. I feel pretty strongly that the early Hewstons
were an extended family. We know that the Smiths are descendants of the
James/John Hewston clan which settled in Morgan County in the early 1800s.
My great-great-great grandfather Young Gresham Houston is identified in the
will of his father, James Hewston in 1838 in Morgan County, Georgia.*
James Hewston, Senior left Newberry County, South Carolina in 1798
to move to Greene County, Georgia. There are three reasons why we know he
left South Carolina around 1798. First, he sold his land in Newberry
County to James Wright August 7, 1798.* Next , during the late 1700s
and early 1800s county roads are maintained byS teams of land owners who
live within 10 miles of a road.* The country court would choose prominent
citizens in the area to supervise or oversee the maintenance of the road.
The county court is similar to todays county commissioners. James Hewston
is chosen with Hugh Boyd to oversee a road that passes from Newberry to
Kings Creek to Enoree River to the Tyger river. They must of made a good
team because they are repeatedly chosen from the October term of 1795 till
July term of 1798.* Boyd is again chosen in 1798 but someone replaces
James Hewston.* Finally, James Hewston does not appear on the 1800 census
of Newberry County or of South Carolina. David, Samuel and John Jamess
brothers however do appear on the 1800 Newberry census.*
The Georgia Tax Digest for Greene County in the year 1801 lists a
James Hughston on page 42.* From land records in Greene County, we know
that he settled in an area of the county along Fishing Creek called
Greshamville.* No record of its incorporation as a town or village can be
found. It derived its name from the many Greshams who settled in the area.
Many Gresham went held important posts in Greene Countys government. The
Postmasters office was held by two generations of Greshams. Coincidental
they were named Young Gresham.* Also Young Gresham, Sr. is mentioned as
being a Physician. One can find Greshamville marked on some current maps.
By 1805 Jamess brothers have joined him in Georgia. On the 1805
Tax Digest for Georgia, Samuel and David have joined James in Greene
County.* John and his son Alexander are in nearby Clarke County.* Nephews
John Jr. and Benjamin Hughson have joined the family in Greene county by
1810.* In 1806, James Hewston buys over 200 acres across the Oconee River
in the new Morgan County. In the deed to his new land, James lists his
children as the future beneficiaries of the purchase.* This land is on the
Cherokee Indian frontier having just been ceded to the settlers. The new
Indian border was within a couple of miles of Hewstons land. As late as
1813 a massacre of settlers by Indians occurred within a few miles of the
Hewston farm. There were several deaths along with the kidnapping of two
females.* Living this close to danger it was important to have family
nearby in times of need. In 1817 John Y. Hughston, James Hewstons oldest
son has bought his own farm and has settled within a couple of miles of his
father.
By the 1820s, James brother John has moved his family to nearby
Jasper (then called Irwin) County. In the 1826 Georgia Land Lottery, John
won large tracks of land in Fayette, Troup and Coweta County.* He moves
his family of grown sons John Jr., Hugh, Samuel, and Oliver to the area to
manage his farms.* This is a fine example of the Hewstons clannish nature.
A similar situation happened with Jamess family. In the 1826
Georgia Land Lottery, James Jr., David Ross, Young Gresham and James Sr.
enter the lottery together.* James Jr. is the only winner. He remains in
Morgan County and sells his land in Troup County.* James Seniors
son-in-laws John Hargrove, Julius Skinner and Posey Johnston also won land
in previous lotteries but they remain in Morgan County till after the death
of their father-in-law, James in 1837.*
From the will of James Hewston we know his children were: Polly,
David, Prudy, Peggy, Nicy, Luicinda, James, John and Young Gresham. Mary
Polly Houston marries Isaac Culberson. David Ross Huston marries Ann F.
A. Ellington and Mary O Kelly. Prudence Prudy Hewston marries Posey
Johnson. Margaret Peggy Hewston marries Benjamin Auberry. Eunice Nicy
Houston marries John R. Hargroves. Lucinda Houston marries Julius Skinner.
Young Gresham Houston marries Harriet Amend Haynes. It is unclear who
James Hewston, Jr. and John Y. Houston marry.
Listed in the will of John Hewston, father of our James Hewston we
find the names of his brothers and sisters. John, David, Ross, William
and Samuel are his brothers. His sisters are listed as Mary Hopper
(Harper) wife of John Hopper and Elizabeth (Peggy) McCrackin wife of James
McCrackin Jr. John Hewston died in 1808. Most of the clan has moved to
Georgia except for Mary Hewston the widow, Mary Hoppers, Peggy McCrackins,
Rosss and Williams families. A rift develops in the administration of the
will. By 23 February 1811 a full blown civil case has arisen. John and
James are fighting with Ross and William over the dispersion of the
proceeds of the estate. The interesting point is that the Georgia part of
the family has aligned itself against the South Carolina family.*
When William leaves South Carolina to move west in the late 1820s
he skips Georgia and goes straight to Alabama.* Evidently the animosity
ran deep. Before William Hewston leaves South Carolina, he serves a stint
as Postmaster of a station called Houstons Store in 1827. The store is
left to be administered by a nephew Andrew Turner when William leaves the
state.* Andrews mother is Mary Hewston which is not the aunt married to
John Hopper but another aunt. The name of the station changes to McMorries
Store and later to Popular Grove before being discontinued after the Civil
War.*
James and Samuel Hewston must have been pig farmers before they
left South Carolina. They are in court in the 1790s charging someone with
rustling pigs. After a year at trial the court rules it was only a case of
mistakenly branding the wrong pigs. A cash settlement was made.* James
stayed busy because he was involved in owning a tavern with the Goodman
family. Something ran a foul because James winds up suing the Goodmans for
a cash settlement.* There was a criminal case pending against James right
before he left for Georgia that was eventually dismissed.*
Religion must have been very important to the Hewston Family. The
closest Presbyterian church was in Newberry eight to ten miles away. The
Reverend Robert McClintock, a local circuit rider, had been preaching in
the area before the war, but he must flee South Carolina when the
Revolutionary War starts. He was stuck in Ireland till after the war.
After The Revolution War, James Hewstons father wants a church nearby. He
donates one acre of land to the Reverend McClintock to build a church and
cemetery.* The church was named Guilders Creek Presbyterian Church. It
was also known as Kings Creek and Indian Creek Presbyterian. The church
had a strong following with some of the family being buried there.* Ross
A. Houston preaches there on occasion before becoming a circuit rider. He
serves as a circuit rider in Georgia, South Carolina and retires to preach
in Alabama.* His name appears on on many marriage certificates, especially
in Greene County, Georgia.*
Moses Waddell is a Presbyterian minister from Willington South
Carolina. He preaches on a circuit which takes him to Newberry South
Carolina.* He later preaches in Greene County, Georgia. The Goshen
Presbyterian Church is very close to Greshamville where he occasionally
preaches. He soon begins preaching in Greensboro, Georgia. He becomes
instrumental in starting a college in Greensboro. Later, he is chosen to
be The University of Georgias first president at Athens in Clarke County.
This is the same time that Young Houston should be appearing on
the tax digest in Morgan County. It is unclear exactly when Young was born
but he appears on the deed in 1806, which means he should be 18 years old
by 1824. Georgia Law said that all males 18 or older should appear on the
counties tax digest. There is a Houston studying at the University at the
time but it is unclear if he is related . Could Young Houston have gone to
college. He does hold the position of plantation overseer in later life.
His first three sons, William H., James D., and John Scott could read and
write according to the census reports.* James Decatur lists his occupation
as a teacher in 1860 census.* Living with a wealthy landlord in town,
William H. Houston and his cousin William Haynes lists their occupations as
clerks in 1860 census.* Could he had been a law clerk studying law? John
Scott Houston is listed as a plantation overseer for his grandmother
Elizabeth Haynes and uncle Malcolm Haynes.*
The pioneers on the frontier of South Carolina took politics very
seriously in 1776. Living on the Indian frontier protection from the
Indians was very important as well as protection from the Spanish in
Florida. Many of the cash crops grown in South Carolina were sold in Great
Britain. The issue of taxation without representation was at the heart of
a major uprising that had occurred when The Stamp Act was implemented in
nearby Savannah.* The Hewstons were of Scot-Irish descent arriving from
County Tyronne Ireland after 1760. Immigrants were required by British law
to take an oath of allegiance to Britain before land grants were given.
John Hewston had received a land grant in 1771.* Perhaps this is why his
son John served in the Continental Army in his fathers place. John served
several tours enlisting in 1776 and serving till 1782 as a private. He
applies for a pension in Coweta County, Georgia in 1835. James Hewston and
his other brothers served in the South Carolina Militia. The militia
members would work their vocations till a need to fight arose. The 96
District of South Carolina which included Newberry County was the scene of
many skirmishes between Whigs and Tories. The politics of Newberry County
were dividing families down the middle between Whigs and Tories. The
Turner family, which Mary Hewston becomes part of by marriage, has
brothers-in-law fighting as Tories and Whigs. One of the brothers is killed
while fighting as a Tory, forcing another Tory brother and his family to
move to Florida after the war. On a visit back to South Carolina an
assassin wounds him. He is smuggled back to Florida in a coffin playing
dead.
(It should be noted that the Houston name had two distinct pronunciations
during this time. An early Governor of Georgia James Houstoun pronounced
his name HOUSE ton. One finds several spellings of our ancestors named HUGH
ston such as: Hewston, Huston, Hueston Huson Hughston or Heuston. It seems
that the HOUSE-ton pronunciation was more frequently connected to English
nobility or very affluent British families. The rise in Sam Houstons
popularity after the war of Texas Independence, probably did the most to
standardize the pronunciation.)
|
1756 - 1827 (~ 71 years)
