Other Jameses

According to the Draper Manuscript Collection, Lyman C. Draper, The Preston and Virginia Papers, there was a James Robertson in Augusta County who served in the Virginia militia as first a Lieutenant, then Captain, then promoted to a Major, and served on the frontier including Dunmore's War and then into the Revolutionary War.  A letter in the Preston Papers from this James to Colonel William Preston on June 9, 1778, as shown and transcribed here, speaks of waiting impatiently for the Henry County militia to assist with sightings of three different Indian parties in the vicinity.  He was going to move his family to Peter Dyerly's tomorrow and requested one or two soldiers be sent there to guard them.  This description however does not make it sound like a fort, and a different letter of the previous day from Andrew Lewis speaks of this as a residence along with other residences in the area.  That, and the fact that another document in the Preston papers from August 31, 1780 identifies Colonels William Preston, William Christian, and James Robertson as justices of Montgomery and Botetourt Counties, says he is a long shot to be our James, if we assume the James who was the father of Stephen accompanied his 4 year old son to Kentucky.

According to "Virginia's Colonial Soldiers" by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.; Baltimore, 1988, a warrant registered in Montgomery County April 1780 granted 2,000 acres to Col. James Robertson, a subaltern (a grade of lieutenant) in a company of enlisted men on the frontier of Augusta until the fall of 1764.  This is the same James as in the previous paragraph.  These bounty land grants were often granted in Kentucky County, and indeed this one was the Virginia Grant shown in "The Kentucky Land Grants" by Willard Rouse Jillson; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.; Baltimore, 1871, Part 1, page 112 for James Robertson of 2,200 acres (Book 7, page 294) in Jefferson County and surveyed January 21, 1783 on a creek between Floyds Fork and Bullskin Creek and as issued by Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia (also Virginia Land Office Grants W, 1786, page 369).  Could this be why Alexander went to Kentucky?  This James is likely the one born in 1738, married Margaret Poage, died in Montgomery County in 1836 and thought to be a son of Mathew Robertson, a possible brother to James Jr.  If true, this would make Col. James and Alexander cousins.  Would Col. James possibly allow some of his children (including a possible 4 year old Stephen) to accompany "cousin" Alexander and live in Kentucky under the threat of Indian depredations?  According to a letter written by James to Colonel William Preston, as shown and transcribed here, he states he had not made it all the way to Kentucky and he does not mention any family in that region.  The question of Stephen as a son of this James may be a moot point anyway based on a researcher for this family asserting this James only had sons Robert and Alexander.  There is yet another James in Augusta, son of William Robertson, and co-executor of his father's will in 1812.  This William is also thought to possibly be another brother to James Jr.  This James is thought to be the one who married Mary Russell in 1789 in Augusta County, which disqualifies him as father of Stephen.

Some researchers have linked associations with this Augusta Robertson family that I do not believe will stand up under scrutiny.  Some have tried to link this family to James Robertson and Ann McKenzie and similarly have used published genealogies to say that James Robertson, founder of Nashville, was descended from James and Ann and then to say these two Robertson branches are linked and thus James Sr. and James of Nashville are cousins.  They may be cousins but not because of James and Ann McKenzie Robertson.  John Brayton and the late Tom Robertson have done an admirable job of debunking this James and Ann McKenzie Robertson ancestry and identifying the grandparents of James of Nashville as Israel and Sarah Robertson, and great grandparents as Nathaniel and Sarah Robertson (see their well documented analysis on the Robertson Archives web site).  Others have confused the James Sr. and James Jr. of Albemarle and Augusta Counties.  Let's take a look at the Albemarle Robertson family next.

The narratives in the Fort Boonesborough topic section concerning James and Matthew who were born in Amherst and Albemarle Counties shows the presence of another Robertson family in that immediate area of Augusta and Montgomery Counties.  The will of James Robertson Sr. in the Parish of St. Anne, County of Albemarle on October 24, 1751, as transcribed here, has often been confused with and attributed to James Sr. of Augusta.  The Rebeckah in the will was Rebeckah Royston who married James Robertson, residents of Rockfish River in Albemarle, according to page 60 of the R-S surnames section of "Marriages of Some Virginia Residents 1607-1800" by Dorothy Ford Wulfeck; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.; 1986.  There is no indication that James Sr. of Augusta ever moved to Albemarle or would have filed a will in that county.  The Indenture whereby James Jr. sells his interest in the land and home plantation to his mother Rebeckah, as transcribed here comes six years after the death of the Augusta County James Jr., thus further demonstrating this to be a distinctly diferent Robertson family.  This from "Albemarle County in Virginia" by Rev. Edgar Woods; The Michie Company, Printers; Charlottesville, 1901, page 129 also lends credence to the two James Robertsons being distinct - "Presbyterians were settled in the county while it was yet a part of Goochland.  The colony of Scotch Irish who came over the Blue Ridge in 1734 under the auspices of Michael Woods brought with them the faith of their fathers.  Among these were the families of Wallace, Kinkead, Stockton, McCord, and Jameson.  Further to the south along the base of the Ridge were the Morrisons, McCues, Montgomerys, Reids, and Robertsons.  These last were the founders of Rockfish Church located in the forks of Rockfish River.  About 1746 James McCann, who had patented the land in 1745, conveyed to John Reid, James Robertson, and Samuel Bell one acre and thirty five poles, for the Rockfish Church, and for a school for the inhabitants of that vicinity."  And page 363 identifies a James Robertson as a member of "Albemarle Company of Militia, lately in actual service for the defence and protection of the frontier against the Indians, September, 1758", this being the James Jr. of Albemarle County.  He was allowed 13 shillings pay on Captain James Nevil's muster roll to September 8, 1758 ("Virginia's Colonial Soldiers" by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.; Baltimore, 1988, page 202).  In addition to James Sr., it appears there was at least one other Robertson in the area at the same time according to Rev. Woods Albemarle book, page 7, "Reference has been made to the entry of bodies of land extending over a wide area ... William Robertson in 1739, more than six thousand on Naked and Buck Mountain Creeks..."

While the James Sr.of Augusta and the James Sr. of Albemarle are different people, they were only 20 or so miles apart as the crow flies, and could have known each other or even perhaps were related.  James Sr. of Augusta had a 274 acre tract of land situated on Lewis Creek in Beverley Manor (see Alexander Roberson link in the left navigation).  James Sr. of Albemarle, and Rockfish Meeting House, was located on a parcel of land containing 265 acres lying on Taylors Creek, a branch of Rockfish River as identified in the deed between James Jr. and Rebeckah, his mother (as transcribed above).  Rebeckah died in 1784 and her will of August 14, 1784 in Amherst County is transcribed here.  Thus this one family has both Albemarle and Amherst County ties, as do the Mathew and James of Kentucky, although this does not necessarily mean they moved from one county to the other.  Rather, they were in that part of Albemarle County that became Amherst County when it was formed in 1761, and the property probably ended up in Nelson County when it was formed in 1807 from Amherst County.  Perhaps he was preparing to move his family to Kentucky.  According to Amherst County Deed Book C, page 216, William Robertson, Amherst County, sells to Jno. Puckett, Amherst County, for �50, 100 acres on the south side and joining Rockfish, part of tract patented to Jno. Chiswell and surveyed for Jno. Small 1 April 1754, adjoining Saml. Bell on south side of river and Jos. Barnett.  Shortly thereafter, and according to Amherst County Deed Book C, page 239, Matt. Robertson, Augusta County, sells to Jas. Henderson, Amherst County, for �40.10, 240 acres on branch of Rockfish, adjoining Ro. Ware, Jno. Henderson, and Edwd. Stephenson.  Thus Matthew is already in Augusta County when he sells his Amherst property.  Could James have led the way, followed later by brothers William and Matthew?

In fact, we know that Mathew and James did go to Kentucky, but they were sons of William, who was the brother of James Jr. of Albemarle.  James Jr. never went to Kentucky, or did not stay there if he went.  As it turns out, James Jr. of Albemarle goes on to execute several additional land transactions in Albemarle over the ensuing decades and is said to have died circa 1814 in Virginia.  While it appeared this Albemarle/Amherst Robertson family was a potential fit that deserved further reseach, recent findings in the Robertson DNA Study has found Stephen is definitely not related to this family.  Next step - topics associated with James and Mary Fuqua Roberson of Bedford County, Virginia.

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