William R Ragsdale^{[1, 2, 3]}

1745 - 1824  (79 years)

• Name	William R Ragsdale
  Birth	1745	Bristol Parish, Prince George, Virginia, USA
  Gender	Male
  Birth	Abt. 1745	Bristol Parish, Prince George, Virginia, USA
  Residence	, Caswell, North Carolina, USA   [4]
  Residence	2 Aug 1790	, Caswell, North Carolina, USA   [5]
  Residence	1800	, Union, South Carolina, USA   [6]
  Residence	6 Aug 1810	, Richmond, North Carolina, USA   [7]
  Residence	1812	, Robertson, Tennessee, USA   [8]
  Residence	1820	Springfield, Robertson, Tennessee, USA   [9]
  Death	1824	, Robertson, Tennessee, USA   [10]
  Burial	, Robertson, Tennessee, USA   [10]
  Person ID	I46372	Master
  Last Modified	21 Oct 2022

  
  

  Family	Ann Parker,   b. 1748, , Brunswick, Virginia, USA d. 26 Aug 1815, , Robertson, Tennessee, USA (Age 67 years)
  Children	+ 1. Rebecca Ragsdale,   b. 1 Nov 1758, , Lunenburg, Virginia, USA d. 19 Aug 1844, Cross Plains, Robertson, Tennessee, USA (Age 85 years)
  Family ID	F10599	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	18 Oct 2022

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1745 - Bristol Parish, Prince George, Virginia, USA Birth - Abt. 1745 - Bristol Parish, Prince George, Virginia, USA Residence - - , Caswell, North Carolina, USA Residence - 2 Aug 1790 - , Caswell, North Carolina, USA Residence - 1800 - , Union, South Carolina, USA Residence - 6 Aug 1810 - , Richmond, North Carolina, USA Residence - 1812 - , Robertson, Tennessee, USA Death - 1824 - , Robertson, Tennessee, USA Burial - - , Robertson, Tennessee, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  The following entries are almost certainly William, the son of Benjamin and Martha Jones Ragsdale. The name William was so frequently used within the family that it's easy to combine two different men - or mistakenly identify one. The secondary sources seem inconsistent and the primary sources haven't helped. Relatives and associated families can offer a clue, but with the Ragsdales, we not only encounter common first names used by uncles, cousins, sons, and brothers, but often the same associated families. I'm unable to draw any conclusions without further, much more intensive research, which with advancing age and the siren call of other surnames, I may never undertake. Either our William, son of Benjamin, was highly mobile and much married, or there were more Williams than have been heretofore described. For additional possibilities, see Too Many Williams. In order to have been married in 1753, William must have been born before 1735. c. 1753: William married Ann Parker, daughter of John and Ann Sterling Parker. Sep 1758: Richard, Peter, and William Ragsdale appeared on the militia roster in Bedford County, VA. Richard was a Sergeant.[50a] They were either listed again in Oct 1765, or the dates have become confused - And these men may not have been William and his brothers. 1764: Lunenburg County Tax List (List of Edmund Taylor): William was assessed for 3 tithes and 300 acres of land.[51] 11 Mar 1771: He was deeded 50 acres on the upper side of Middle Bluestone Creek by [father] Benjamin Ragsdale.[52] 27 Jun 1771: William Ragsdale was mentioned as an adjoining landowner in a deed from Richard Jones to Richard Jones Junior in Nottoway Parish, Amelia County. The parcel Jones sold was bought from Abraham Cocke and was described as lying on both sides of Woody Creek . Other landowners adjoining were Henry Robertson, Samuel Sherwin, Richard Jones Junior, James Henderson, and the estate of John Irby.[52a] 23 Sep 1771: He sold two properties. The first was 58 acres in Nottoway Parish, Amelia County, to Richard Jones Junior for £47.10.0. This was described as adjoining William Hudson, the John Irby estate, said Jones' own line, and land William "sells to William Hudson". Witnesses: William Fitzgerald, Thomas (x) Wynne, Francis (x) Belsher, Abner Bates, and William Hudson. The second parcel William sold was 149 acres in the forks of Woody Creek sold to William Hudson for £120. This adjoined Richard Jones, the said Hudson's line, the middle of Woody Creek, Ragsdale's Spring Branch, and Henry Robertson. On 31 May 1773, wife Mary relinquished any dower right to both parcels. Was Ann actually Mary Ann, was William married three times, or was this man another William? The deeds were proved 24 Feb 1774.[52b] 7 Apr 1773: William mortgaged 325 acres on Bluestone Creek in Mecklenburg County for £78 to cover a debt to Charles Duncan & Company of Prince George County.[53] He supposedly resided in Hillsborough District, Caswell County, NC during the Revolutionary War, signing an Oath of Allegiance there on 10 Sep 1777. A William Ragsdale was also paid for flintlocks loaned to the Army, which were then lost. For that, he was awarded £2,113.13, which had to represent a substantial number of guns.[54] 11 Oct 1779: William, [brother] Benjamin, and [brother] Peter Ragsdale were appointed to work on the road from Burwell's Mill to Woodpecker Creek.[55] 20 Dec 1781: Along with James Randolph Junior and Ann Smith, William Ragsdale was mentioned as an adjoining landowner in a deed from James Randolph to Abram Randolph on Country Line Creek in Caswell County, NC.[56] 1782 Mecklenburg County Tax List (List of Lewis Burwell): 1 male over 21, 11 cattle, 2 horses, mules, or colts.[57] 14 Feb 1783: William, John, and [John's son] Drury Ragsdale witnessed a deed from [brother] Thomas Ragsdale to John Bruce. John and Benjamin Ragsdale, Hutchens Burton, Sampson Lamkin, Thomas Berry and John Berry were mentioned as adjoining landowners.[58] 14 Jul 1785: He sold 50 1/2 acres to James Randolph for £70.10. The parcel was located on Country Line Creek adjoining Randolph's old line. Witnesses: Ad Murphy and James Randolph Senior.[59] 15 Dec 1788: John Ragsdale gave bond to William Ragsdale Senior ceding any rights to William's estate in return for land already received. Witnesses: Thomas Tarpley and William Ragsdale Junior.[60] 1790 Census, Laurens County, SC: There were two William Ragsdales in Laurens County. The first, enumerated next to David Ragsdale, had 3 white males over age 16 1/2, 1 under, 3 while females and no other free persons or slaves.[60a] This William was enumerated next to Jacob Wright, who moved to Warren County, KY c. 1797. In 1789 or 1790 David Ragsdale purchased 100 acres on Reedy Creek adjoining Jacob Wright from George Madden and his mother Ann. Witnesses: David Madden, Thomas Ragsdale, and George Anderson, J.P.[60b] The second William Ragsdale enumerated in Laurens County was listed closer to Mark Moore and several Rowland families. This William had 2 males over 16 1/2, 2 under, 4 females, and no slaves.[60c] I'm assuming that this second William was the son of Benjamin Ragsdale. Brother Peter Ragsdale had moved to this area in 1784; and sister and -brother-in-law Rachel and Mark Moore in 1787. William's sister Mary, deceased 1772, was the wife of Augustine Rowland. 4 Feb 1812: William married Mary Daniel Isbell, mother-in-law of son Lewis Ragsdale. They signed a prenuptial contract that day, stipulating that the bride and groom would retain the rights to any and all property possessed before the marriage, that neither would make any claim to the other's estate. Witnesses: Abraham Moore and A. M. Campbell. Some researchers have claimed that they soon separated, but the couple who "soon separated" was actually son Lewis Ragsdale and second wife Nancy Foster. Mary Daniel Isbell was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Daniel. First married to George Isbell, she had been a widow for many years when she purchased land in Robertson County from Thomas Yates. Her son Thomas Daniel, who was a child at the time of purchase, eventually married Rebecca Yates, daughter of Rebecca Ragsdale Yates. 1812: William appeared on the tax list in Robertson County, TN. There are several deeds from this period which could conceivably have been William Senior rather than William Junior. The reader should therefore check William Junior also. 30 Sep 1819: William signed his will . . . Will of William Ragsdale In the name of God, Amen. I William Ragsdale Senr of the State of Tennessee and County of Robertson being sick of body but of sound mind and knowing that all men have to died do make and ordain this my last will and testament. First and principally I commit my body to the dust from whence it came, my soul to God who gave it, and as to what worldly estate it hath pleased God to bless me with I give in the manner and form following. Item. My desire is that my just debts should first be paid. Item. I give to my son John one dollar. Item. To my son Peter one dollar. Item. To my son William one dollar. Item. To my son James one dollar. Item. To my son Joel one dollar. Item. To my son Benjamin one dollar. Item. To my daughter Dolly one dollar. Item. To my daughter Sally one dollar. Item. To my son Lewis one dollar. Having heretofore given to the above named children all that I ever intended to give them. Item. The balance of my estate both real and personal with all debts and money due on demand, I do give to my daughter Rebecca to hold good to her and her heirs forever. I nominate and appoint my nephew [sic] Lewis Yates and my friend William Adams Senr Executors to this my last will and testament revoking all wills heretofore by me made ratifying this to be my last will & testament. I witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 30th of September in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred nineteen. William Ragsdale The will was witnessed by Jonathan Huddleston and Susanna Blackburn.[61] 1824: William died in Robertson County, TN. He was buried in Ragsdale Cemetery, but no marker has ever been found.

  
  

• Sources

  [S761] Yates Publishing, Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree. [S788] Ancestry.com, North Carolina and Tennessee, U.S., Early Land Records, 1753-1931, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records; Roll: 39; Book: P. [S1422] Ancestry.com, Tennessee, U.S., Early Land Registers, 1778-1927, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Series Number: 02; Series Title: Entries. [S1199] Ancestry.com, North Carolina, U.S., Land Grant Files, 1693-1960, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S249] Ancestry.com, 1790 United States Federal Census, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Gro), The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; First Census of the United States, 1790.; Year: 1790; Census Place: Caswell, North Carolina; Series: M637; Page: 81. [S250] Ancestry.com, 1800 United States Federal Census, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - Second Census of the United States, 1800. (NARA microfilm publication M32, 52 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Grou), Year: 1800; Census Place: Union District, South Carolina; Series: M32; Roll: 50; Page: 222; Image: 436; Family History Library Film: 181425. [S248] Ancestry.com, 1810 United States Federal Census, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.), Year: 1810; Census Place: Richmond, North Carolina; Roll: 38; Page: 200; Image: Ncm252_38-0233; FHL Roll: 0337911. [S757] Ancestry.com, Tennessee, U.S., Early Tax List Records, 1783-1895, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), The Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Early Tax Lists of Tennessee. [S1234] Ancestry.com, 1820 United States Federal Census, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Springfield, Robertson, Tennessee; Page: 18; NARA Roll: M33_125; Image: 30. [S751] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.).