Bedford Co. Virginia

Recent DNA results show that Stephen shares a common ancestor with known descendents of James and Mary Fuqua Roberson.  The earliest information I have on James Roberson is a deed dated 20 March 1761 found in Bedford County Virginia Deed Book A-1, pages 380 & 381.  The deed image and accompanying transcription can be found here.  This one deed of 100 acres from Ralph Fuqua to James Roberson is unusual in the information it conveys and implies.  For one, it identifies James' wife as Mary.  It also identifies their eldest son as Roisdon, and specifically he is to inherit that property when James and Mary die.  This seems to be particularly familiar for a deed.  Ralph died in 1770; his will was probated July 24, 1770 in Bedford County Court (Bedford County Virginia Will Book 1, page 96).  That will identifies in a couple of places his relationship to Mary Roberson -

In the above deed it is clear that the land being transferred is a portion of a tract purchased by Ralph in 1756 (Bedford County Virginia Deed Book 1, page 101 William Callaway to Ralph Fuqua of Bedford Co. 350 acs. for �50 on the south fork of Otter River).  This identifies that Ralph is already in Bedford County at the time of the 1756 deed.  How far in advance of 1756 was Ralph in the county?  Was James also there by that time, and was he already married to Mary at that time?  It is unknown if they were in Bedford County in 1756, but later we will see that it is most likely they were married by that time.  At approximately the same time and in roughly the same location, according to Bedford County Virginia Deed Book 1, page 97, Thomas Walker and wife Madeline to John Robinson of Augusta Co., 100 acs. for �22 10S (shillings) on the north side of Otter River, dated 26 Sept 1756.  Here he is referred to as Robinson, later as Roberson (Bedford County Virginia Deed Book 1, page 523, Saml Drake, yeoman, and wife Mary to William Roberson, yeoman, 216 acs. for �27 next to John Roberson's tract, dated 23 Mar 1762).  Are these Robinsons/Robersons any relation to James?

According to "Goochland County Virginia Wills & Deeds 1736-1742" abstracted and compiled by Benjamin B. Weisiger III, 1984

The 1761 deed to James and Mary Roberson also identified their eldest son, Roisdon (commonly Roysdon but also Risden, and other variants).  This gives no clue as to the age of Roysdon when the deed was executed.  Since Roysdon was not purchasing the property, there was not the need for him to be of age to be included in the stipulations in this manner.  This condition as stated was tantamount to gifting the land to Roysdon in the event of the death of his parents.  According to the definition of legal age in Colonial Virginia, a minor could not purchase or sell property, but could own land acquired by gift or inheritance.  Thus determing age is determined by the type of land transacton occurring.  Obviously this 1761 deed does not help us in determining Roysdon's age, but one document does offer some idea of his age.  On August 25, 1777 Thomas Fuqua, Jas Robinson and Roysdon Robinson signed an Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia in the young United States of America.  That would seem to imply Roysdon may likely have been born on or before August 25, 1756.  This loyalty allegiance can be found here (Select the "high res" link to view a PDF image of the actual document.  Their signatures are on the first page, middle column.  Then use the web back arrow to return to this page.)  The 1761 deed did identify him as the eldest son, and since there were no other Roberson family members as signers of this oath, it seems prossible that he was not born a great deal prior to 1756.

Two other transactions that give us a greater degree of comfort that the estimated birth timeframe for Roysdon is correct involve deeds.  According to Bedford County Virginia Deed Book 4, page 34, a deed dated 26 Mar 1771 conveyed to Roysdon 50 acres of land at the "Mouth of small Branch of Stots Branch".  The conveyance was through the involvement of Thomas Fuqua so the action served as a "gift" to Roysdon.  Then in Bedford County Virginia Deed Book 5, page 519, a deed dated 13 Sept 1777 conveys that same 50 acres directly from "Rison Robinson of Bedford County" to "James Robinson of the said County" in consideration of the sum of �15 "Current Money of Virginia."  Since Roysdon did not use a guardian, a relative, or the like through whom to sell this property, we must assume he was of age.  With this transaction date following immediately upon the signing of the Oath of Allegiance, it appears he disposed of this property right after becoming of age, thus potentially affixing his birth in that same general timeframe.  If Roysdon was born circa 1756, and he was the eldest son, then it places a likely date of birth for James as at least 20 or so years earlier, and for Mary as at least 15 or so years earlier.

Then later that same year Roysdon again "disposes" of some property.  In Bedford County Virginia Deed Book 6, pages 35 and 36, a deed dated 25 Nov 1777 conveys Roysdon's interest in the original 100 acres, noted in the above 1761 deed, to James for the amount of �15 "Current Money of Virginia."  Thus James is the sole owner of the original 100 acres with no further stipulations related Roysdon's ownership or right to inherit.  With disposal of all his property, was Roysdon preparing to leave for new parts?

Perhaps Roysdon's motive in divesting himself of property in Bedford County was to prepare for a move to new territory.  Did he then inspire the same desire in his parents?  Bedford County Virginia Deed Book F-6, page 284, contains a deed recorded 25 February 1779 "Between James Robinson & Mary his Wife of the County of Bedford of the one part and Jonathan Woods of the County aforesaid of the other part" whereby, for �400 current money, the entire 150 acres from above are sold to Woods.  This action is preliminary to the Roberson family moving to Washington County, North Carolina.

The actual settlement of the current state of Tennessee began in 1769 on Boone's Creek near the Watauga River.  This settlement and those in Carter's River Valley and on the Nolichucky River were known as the Watauga Settlements.  By title this land was part of the area claimed by North Carolina, but as a mountain wilderness, they were almost entirely ignored by North Carolina.  They formed the Watauga Association and elected five magistrates to make and administer law and at the outset of the Revolutionary War organized themselves into a military district which they named for George Washington.  They requested annexation to North Carolina and in 1777 the petition was granted.  Washington District was incorporated as Washington County, including the whole of the present state of Tennessee.  It was this truly wilderness territory that became the destination for the Roberson family (more on this under the "Tennessee Happenings" link).

Before moving on to the Tennessee territory, let's summarize how this information relates to the family traditions for Stephen.  Stephen was supposed to have been born in Fincastle County, Virginia circa 1775.  James and Mary Roberson were certainly in Virginia at that time, but in Bedford rather than Fincastle County.  Fincastle County and Bedford did share a small border in 1775.  Could it be that Stephen was born near Fincastle County and it has been recorded as in that county?  I am not sure why it would be reported that way - why would a person be born in one county but it reported as being born near another?  Especially one that was in existence for only three years.  Perhaps rather than Fincastle County it was intended that he was born near the village of Fincastle which was founded in 1772.  Fincastle was founded in the eastern portion of Botetourt County, very close to its common boundary with Bedford County.  Roberson property was near the mountain range in the western portion of Bedford County, thus perhaps because of the village of Fincastle's importance in the area (more on that later) it became something of a placename that would be meaningful to people of the time.

The tradition goes ahead to say he came through the Cumberland Gap in December 1779 with the party of Alexander Robertson.  Sometime before 1790 they moved to Mercer County Kentucky near Harrodsburg.  The passage through the Cumberland Gap would likely have happened in early December, if not sometime in November, to make it to Gordon's Station by Christmas Eve.  "Family Tree Magazine", F-W Media Inc., Cincinnati, December 2012 issue, page 70 published a diary entry of Jesse Crume who made this trek in 1795.  A portion of that published entry says, "Some very dangerous places.  The passway down one hill was about a mile down and very sideling.  Now if the wagon had missed the track which was only a foot wider than the wagon all the horses that did not hang in the fork of trees would have to go three hundred feet or more before they would reach the ground.  Some teams had met with that kind of luck before us...Father's Brother and Cousin Died".  The trip that Alexander Robertson's group was making was 15 years prior to what was described by Jesse Crume and the route would have been less traveled, thus less developed and more dangerous yet, and slowing the group considerably.  The following map shows the route followed by Jesse Crume, and also the Roberston group, heading to Kentucky:

It is almost certain that James and Mary Roberson and family followed this same trail.  It is also very probable they spent a good part of 1779, after the sale of their property, consolidating their personal property, provisioning for their trip, and arranging to be part of a group for safety in passage.  It may even be the case that they joined the Alexander Robertson group, but then veered to the left and entered the territory that would eventually become Tennessee rather than to continue on through the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky.  I suggest that possibility because most groups went through the village of Fincastle (near Salem on the above map) in traveling this trail.  Fincastle was something of the last outpost before the western frontier serving as a supply station for settlers heading West.  As such it was a very important and well-known feature of western Virginia.  Even Meriwether Lewis and William Clark departed from Fincastle when they left to explore the Louisiana Purchase.  It would be expected that the Roberson family would likely have done the same.  Now Alexander Robertson's family had settled in Dunker's Bottom on New River, near present day Radford on the above map, so it could be possible that James Roberson's group joined up with Alexander's group along and way and journeyed together toward the Cumberland Gap before turning left into the North Carolina western territory.  Additionally, Alexander's son, Judge George Robertson, in his autobiography "An Outline of the Life of George Robertson"; by George Robertson and Alexander Hamilton Robertson; Transvylvania Printing & Publishing Co.; Lexington, Ky; 1876 states, "There (Dunker's Bottom) they (Alexander's family) lived until the fall of the year 1779, when, resolved to try their fortune in the wilds of the 'Dark and Bloody Ground,' they started with a caravan of emigrants for Kentucky; and, after extreme peril and privation, they arrived, on the 24th of December, at Gordon's Station, about four miles northeast of Harrodsburg.  Detained for several weeks in Powell's Valley, hunting for horses lost by some of the company, they were overtaken by the 'hard winter,' after which the impracticability of the wilderness 'trace,' and the memorable severity of the weather, prevented them from traveling more than from three to five miles a day."  These described delays suggest a very early fall or late summer start, which could be consistent with the timing of the Roberson family trek to North Carolina/Tennessee.

In summary, Stephen could have been born close to Fincastle, and could have traveled with the Alexander Robertson family for a distance along the Wilderness Trail, but did not go on into Kentucky.  While it does not match exactly as Fred had Stephen's history documented, there were also other discrepencies in his history - Alexander went to Gordon's Station rather than Fort Boonesborough, Alexander's future Robinson in-laws were not in Fort Boonesborough, and Alexander married Margaret well in advance of going to Kentucky and not in Fort Boonesborough after migrating to Kentucky - allowing for the possibility that as we uncover more research information we get more accurate in our accounts.  The next section is "Tennessee Happenings."

Use the links in the frame to the left to navigate to your topic of choice among the Robertson research topics.