Person:Elisha Wallen (3)

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This page presents the results of research conducted to date into the life of Person:Elisha Wallen (3). Collaborative participation is welcome. For data collection, source data, research notes, and collaboration activities see: Person talk:Elisha Wallen (3)

Contents 1 Overview 2 Personal Data 3 Disambiguation 4 Bibliography 5 Footnotes

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The Long Hunter

Overview

From Hamilton, 1970 (Hamilton's paraphrasing) Source:Hamilton, 1970

Redd says that when he knew Wallen on Smith's River in Pittsylvania County in 1774, he was then some forty years old and had been a long hunter for many years before. That he usually hunted on a range of mountains lying on the east of Powell's Valley and from Wallen the mountain took its name. Wallen described the ridge and surrounding country on which he hunted as abounding in almost every known specie of game. The animals and birds had been intruded on so seldom that they did not fear his presence, but rather regarded him as a benefactor, but soon learned to flee from his presence. Wallen, along with the Blevinses and Coxes, who were connected with him by marriage, lived on Smith's River in Pittsylvania County in 1774. They owned no land, but were squatters. During the Revolutionary War, the Virginia Legislature passed a law that British subjects who owned land must come in and take the oath of allegience or their lands would be confiscated. Redd says that some in Pittsylvania County did this, and Wallen, the Blevinses and Coxes, packed up 'enmass' and moved to the frontier for fear they would have to pay many years back rent as squatters. He states that the Blevins and Cox families settled on Holston River, above Long Island, (now Kingsport) and that Wallen settled on the Holston about eighteen miles above Knoxville^[1] and that in 1776 he stopped by to see him, and was informed by Wallen's wife that he had then been on a hunt for two months. Redd further states that Wallen later moved to Powell Valley^[2] lived there a short time and then moved to Missouri.

Another version Linda's Genealogy (extraction rather than paraphrasing)

Excerpts from Interview with Major John Redd (1755-1850) Walden, Cox and Blevins Families "It is vary probable that Walden^[3] Cox & Blevins established a hunting camp in Powel's valley a few years after 1761, for the Blevinses & Coxes were a vary numerous family, and many of them were long hunters; they lived on Smith's river in the neighborhood with Walden, and they were connected to him by marriage."

"When I first knew him [Elisha Walden, Jr.] he lived on Smith's river at a place called the round-about, near the centre of the county [Pittsylvania], and about two miles east of Martainsville, the present county seat of Henry, he lived near his wife's fathers, Will. Blevenes. Walden, the Blevines & Coxes owned no land, but were squatters on land owned by a company of speculators. During the revolutionary war the assembly of Va. passed a law that all British subjects owning land in Va. must come in by a certain time and take an oath of alegance, and become actual setlers, or ther land would be confiscated. After the act was passed, two of the british subjects owning land in Pitsolvania (now Henry), came in and complied with the act of the assembly, the Blevinses and Coxe's, for they feared they would have to pay many years rent they all moved off en mass. The Blevinses & Coxes settled on the holston above the long Isleans." (From Draper Manuscripts; reprinted in Virginia Historical Magazine, Vo l. 6?)

"Modern Henry County, VA."

Personal Data

See the talk page for Wallen Family in Southwest Virginia for data collection.

Disambiguation

There are several related Elisha Wallen's, data for whom have been interchanged in some of the genealogical literature.

Person:Elisha Wallen (3) is said to have been born in 1734, and is the most likely candidate for being "The Long Hunter". Source:Redd, 1899 describes Elisha Wallens, the Long Hunter, as being about 40 years of age in 1774. (While Redd's assessment matches exactly with the 1734 DOB given by some, that DOB may actually be based on Redds assessment of his age, and doesn't necessarily serve to confirm this identification).

Person:Elisha Wallen (2) was born in 1760 (per his pension application), and is much too young to have been the "Long Hunter". It is not immediately clear who his father was, but it is clear that he was active in southwest Virginia during the Revolution.

Person:Elisha Wallen (4) gave a deposition in a court case in 1811, indicating that he was 27 years of age, hence born c1784. It is clear that he was familiar with persons in SW VA, and presumably lived there, if not at birth, then shortly thereafter. Who his father was is not obvious.

*Active---Acquired and in Use; Deleted---Acquired, but deleted; Inactive---Acquired, but empty**;  Empty---Never Acquired
**When someone creates a "person card", and indicates parents, spouses, or children, space is set aside for additional cards for these persons;  If those cards derivitive person cards are never opened and edited, they remain "empty", but the space (and index number) is still dedicated to the person for whom the card was set up.

Bibliography

Source:Wallin, 1990 Elisha Wallen, The Long Hunter.

Footnotes

1. ↑ This appears to be an error; possibly Kingsport was meant.
2. ↑ Elisha moved southward in the Powell Valley, settling in Hawkins County; he appears there on a 1790 voter registration list.
3. ↑ See disambiguation for Wallen Family in Southwest Virginia Redd uses the "Walden" variant of the surname. Hamilton, in his extraction above converts the name to "Wallen". The "Wallen", "Wallin", and "Walling" variants are used exclusively for this family in the primary records of southwest Virginia, never "Walden". A check of Ancestry family trees show that most descendants use the "Wallen" variant, though there are outliers recording the name as "Walden", at least in their family lineages, if not actually using this spelling as their surname. The concensus usage by historians whose focus is on Southwest Virginia is "Wallen". Tennessee historians, such as Ramsay, and Goodspeed, who also have an interest in the Long Hunters, utilize the "Wallen" and "Walling" variants, though some recent authors have adopted "Walden".