John Geddy

AMERICA THE GREAT MELTING POT

Contact information on HOME page

Direct descendant is highlighted in red

John Geddy
Fought in the Revolution
see Family Tree
Born: Bef. 1744 Williamsburg, York Co., VA

 

   
Married: bef. 1767 Halifax co., NC

 

   
Died: 30 Dec 1798 Raleigh, Wake Co., NC   Abstracts From the North Carolina Journal, Halifax, North Carolina 1798-1800 Vol III
The North-Carolina Journal. Halifax. Monday, January 7, 1799
"Died At the city of Raleigh, on the 30th ult. Col. John Geddy."

FATHER

James Geddy

MOTHER

Anne

WIFE

Patience McKinnie

CHILDREN

1. Ann McKinney Geddy
   b. Abt. 1767
   Anne Geddy married Dr. Richard Fenner

2. Mary Geddy
   b. Abt. 1769
   Mary Geddy married William Gilmour

3. Elizabeth Geddy
    b. 27 Dec 1771
    Betsy Geddy never married

4. Martha Geddy
    b. Abt. 1773
   Martha Geddy married John Marshall

5. Sarah Geddy
    b. 1775
    Sally Geddy married William Hill

 

On Monday, August 21, 1775, a general meeting of the "Delegates of the Inhabitants of this Province," (North Carolina)  was held in Hillsborough, North Carolina.  The meeting was called by Mr. Samuel Johnson, "pursuant to a resolve of the late Convention".  Among those attending was John Geddy, one of five representatives of Halifax County.

______________

Source: State Records of North Carolina vol. XIV pg. 286.
"At a Council held at Campbelton, 23rd March, Anno  Dom., 1779  - Resolved, That his Excellency the governor be advised to appoint John Geddy, Esqr., to be Captain of a troop of Horse to be Composed of volunteers raised in this State in defence of American Liberty."

_______________

Source: Obit of his son-in-law William Hill   "Colonel G. was a staunch Whig. He was captured by the British and imprisoned for a long time in Charleston, S. C. He was a member of the first Convention of the people held in the State on the 25th of August, 1775; and he represented Halifax county in the State Legislature from 1774 to 1885."

________________

Source:  Dictionary of North Carolina Biography "John Geddy settled in the town of Halifax in 1768 at the time of his marriage to Patience McKinnie of Halifax County. From Halifax, he advertised in the Virginia Gazette in 1773 that he had for sale a large assortment of silver and goldsmiths' work and was able to repair clocks and watches and to do engraving of all sorts. In August 1774, he was elected to represent the borough of Halifax in the Assembly in the place of Joseph Montfort; the same year he was a member of the Provincial Congress at New Bern. He again represented his county in the Provincial Congress at Hillsborough in 1775. Geddy was appointed first major of the Halifax County militia in 1776 and promoted to lieutenant colonel two years later. In 1779 he resigned his commission to become captain of a volunteer company of horse. After the war, he was a member of the House of Commons from Halifax in 1783 and sheriff of the county in 1785 and 1786. About 1790 he moved to Cool Harbor, near Louisburg in Franklin County. In 1797 he advertised in the North Carolina Journal that he would be in Raleigh to repair clocks and watches when the Assembly convened. He died in Franklin County two years later."

John's brother, James, was a prominent silversmith whose restored shop on Duke of Gloucester Street is one of the exhibition buildings in Colonial Williamsburg.
______________________

On March 7, 1796 5000 acres of land were issue to John Geddy in the Middle District (Tennessee) "on both sides of a large fork of Obeys River.  It was surveyed in 1796.  See survey at right  

From Silversmiths of North Carolina 1696-1860 by George Barton Cutten, 1984

"Two entries in the Franklin County court minutes for the March term (1797) are significant:

Ordered that Administration be Granted to Doct' Richard Fenner on the Estate of John Geddy dec'd who entered into bond in the sum of three Thousand pounds with John Foster & Green Hill his Securities.

Order'd that Rich'd Fenner Adm. of the Estate of John Geddy dec'd sell as much of the Personal Estate of said decendent as he may Judge Necessary to satisfy the debts due s'd Intestate."


Sale of estate of Col. John Geddy dec'd Sale begun April 4, 1799. Buyers were Richard Fenner, along with many others.

This deed shows that Elizabeth and Sarah Geddy  were daughters of John Geddy. The deed was taken from reel C.03940003 Franklin County Real Estate Conveyances Vol.9 pg. 93 found at The North Carolina State Archives

 

 

 

This little note was found at the North Carolina State Archives as an original document in Franklin County Estate Records. Original Records box CR 039.508.25. It shows that Richard Fenner was the administrator of John Geddy's estate and one more indication that Anne Geddy, wife of Richard Fenner, was indeed John's daughter  

 

This deposition, which forms part of the pension application of Anne Fenner for Richard Fenner's Revolutionary War Service,(obtained from NARA archives) shows that Elizabeth Geddy was Anne Fenner's sister and therefore that Anne was also a daughter of John Geddy  

 

From the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography: D-G, Volume 2:

John Geddy, silversmith and patriot, was born in Williamsburg, Va., the son of James and Anne Geddy. His brother, James, was a prominent silversmith whose restored shop on Duke of Gloucester Street is one of the exhibition buildings in Colonial Williamsburg. Ann Geddy, a younger sister of James and John, was the wife of the Reverend Henry John Burges, whose father, the Reverend Thomas Burges, was the last Church of England clergyman in Halifax County, N.C. She died in 1771. 

John Geddy settled in the town of Halifax in 1768 at the time of his marriage to Patience McKinnie of Halifax County. From Halifax, he advertised in the Virginia Gazette in 1773 that he had for sale a large assortment of silver and goldsmiths' work and was able to repair clocks and watches and to do engraving of all sorts. 

In August 1774, he was elected to represent the borough of Halifax in the Assembly in the place of Joseph Montfort; the same year he was a member of the Provincial Congress at New Bern. He again represented his county in the Provincial Congress at Hillsborough in 1775.

Geddy was appointed first major of the Halifax County militia in 1776 and promoted to lieutenant colonel two years later. In 1779 he resigned his commission to become captain of a volunteer company of horse. After the war, he was a member of the House of Commons from Halifax in 1783 and sheriff of the county in 1785 and 1786. 

About 1790 he moved to Cool Harbor, near Louisburg in Franklin County. In 1797 he advertised in the North Carolina Journal that he would be in Raleigh to repair clocks and watches when the Assembly convened. He died in Franklin County two years later. 

Geddy's wife, Patience, was the daughter of John and Mary McKinnie. Her sister Mary was the wife of Colonel Nicholas Long. Another sister, Martha, married Dr. Charles Pasteur, a physician during the American Revolution; he represented the town of Halifax in the House of Commons in 1785. 

Patience and John Geddy had five daughters: Betsy, who never married; Sally, who married William Hill, the secretary of state of North Carolina for many years; Martha, who married John Marshall of Raleigh; Mary, who married William Gilmour of Halifax, and Anne, who married Dr. Richard Fenner of Franklin County.

Mrs. Geddy died in 1814.

--------------------

References:

Archives, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (Winston-Salem), for information on John Geddy

Walter Clark, ed., State Records of North Carolina, vols. 12 (1895), 13 (1896), 19 (1901), 21 (1903)

George B. Cutten, The Silversmiths of Virginia from 1694–1850 (1952)

Deeds and Wills of Halifax County (County Courthouse, Halifax)

William L. Saunders, ed., Colonial Records of North Carolina, vols. 9, 10 (1890)

Williamsburg Virginia Gazette, 29 July 1773

 

 

.