Person:Francis Meadows (4)

Francis Meadows was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia

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Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA

Land Grant Surveys in Virginia:

• Page 166 - Francis Meadow, 80 acres, North Fork of the Hawksbill. March 15, 1770. [Abstract of Land Grant Surveys, 1761-1791, Augusta & Rockingham Counties, Virginia, by Peter Cline Kaylor, pg. 60]. (Note: The Hawksbill River is a tributary of South Branch of the Shenandoah River).

1. ↑ Descendants of Ambrose Meadows-Meador, Bruce Colburn Fink, April 13, 2004 , in Family tree maker. (MyFamily.com, Inc., c2003).

   19. FRANCIS7 MEADOWS-MEADOR-MEADES, SR. (THOMAS6, THOMAS5 MEADOWS-MEADOR, JOHN SR.4, THOMAS JR.3, THOMAS SR.2, AMBROSE1, PATRIARCH MEADOWS-A MEADOR) was born 1738 in Virginia, and died 1820 in Monroe County, Virginia. He married MARY KESIAH BELL Abt. 1758 in Essex County, Virginia. She was born 1736, and died Bef. 1818.
   
   Children of FRANCIS MEADOWS-MEADOR-MEADES and MARY BELL are:
   i. JOHN8 MEADOWS, d. 1848, Monroe Co., VA.
   28. ii. ISRAEL MEADOWS, b. 17 September 1755, Virginia; d. 30 September 1827, Estill Co., KY.
   29. iii. JAMES MEADOWS, b. 1760, Orange Co., VA; d. 1844, Orange Co., VA.
   30. iv. JEREMIAH MEADOWS, b. Abt. 1764, Orange Co Virginia; d. 25 June 1843, Fayette Co., WV.
   v. MARY MEADOWS, b. Abt. 1768; d. Virginia; m. AARON BUSH, 1804, Rockingham Co., Va.; b. 1776.
   vi. MATTHEW MEADOWS, b. Abt. 1770.
   vii. JACOB MEADOWS, b. 1762, Va; d. Abt. 1838, Giles, Va.
   viii. JOHN MEADOWS, b. Abt. 1766; d. March 1848, Staffordshire, Giles, Va.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Francis I & II and the Rockingham County Land Records , Curt L. Sytsma, 25 Mar 2001, in RootsWeb Archiver, MEADOWS > 2001-03 > 0985540573
   accessed 7 Sep 2014.

   To distinguish between Francis I and Francis II, it may help to distinguish among five separate parcels of land, each of which was located in the Hawksbill Creek region southeast of Elkton in what is now Rockingham County, Virginia.
   
   Parcel One: 80 acres surveyed by Francis Meadows I in 1770. We know that Francis Meadows I surveyed this land, but we do not know that ever acquired title to it. There is some reason to suspect that he did not.
   
   Parcel Two: 50 acres crossing the boundary purchased by Francis Meadows I from Reuben & Hester Roach on September 28, 1780. This exact 50 acres was sold by Francis & Mary to Thomas Barbour on January 31, 1791. (Logically, this land should have been apportioned between the tax lists of both Rockingham and Orange Counties, but it appears to have been taxed as Orange County property only. I imagine that the act permitting the creation of Rockingham or some follow-up legislation led to this lack of apportionment for tax purposes).

3. ↑ Location of Francis Meadows I in 1756, Curt L. Sytsma, 11 Mar 2001 , in RootsWeb Archiver, MEADOWS > 2001-03 > 0984339326
   accessed 8 Sep 2014.

   Francis Meadows I lived "near the 'upper part' of gthe Swift Run Road which ran from the Swift Run Gap at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains then eastward to the Blue River', based on Orange County tax lists and Orange County Road Orders.

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Francis Meadows I & Mary; Francis Meadows II & Kesiah Curt L. Sytsma, 7 Mar 2001, in RootsWeb Archiver, MEADOWS > 2001-03 > 0984003483
   accessed 8 Sep 2014.

   Francis Meadows I (married to Mary Meadows) had very limited property holdings
   
   There is a long-standing family tradition that Francis Meadows I purchased property that crossed the county line, paying taxes in Orange County. Shirley Seal Breeden, The Descendants of Francis Meadows of Orange & Rockingham Counties, VA. (Carr Publishing Company: Boyce, Virginia 1979), pages 6 & 7] The 1785 tax lists quoted by the Genealogical Publishing Company would reverse this order. The dwelling must have been in Rockingham County; the barn (and one other building) were in Orange County.
   
   The only known parcel of Meadows' land to cross the county lines is the 50-acre tract purchased by Francis Meadows from Reuben and Hester Roach on September 28, 1780. [Orange County Deed Book 17, pages 380-382.] This 50-acre tract was sold by Francis and Mary Meadows to Thomas Barbour on January 31, 1791.
   
   Francis & Mary Meadows did not prove up their sale in Court. To the contrary, the deed was proven by witnesses in two court proceedings: "At a Court held
   for Orange County on Monday 25th of July 1792. This indenture from Francis Meadows to Thomas Barbour was proved by the Oaths of Thomas Davis and James Early two of the Witnesses thereto, And at another Court held for the said County on Monday the 23d of October 1792 was further proved by the Oath of Lewis Davis another Witness thereto And Ordered to be Recorded."
   
   [Sytsma assumes this implies the death of Francis and Mary before July 1792, following Shirley Seal Breeden]
   
   Francis Meadows I and Mary Meadows purchased this 50 acres for 40 pounds in 1780, and they sold it for half that amount 20 pounds to Thomas Barbour on January 31, 1791. Moreover, when they sold it, the 50 acres was in "the occupation of Richard Morris."

5. ↑ Virginia, United States. Heads of families at the first census of the United States taken in the year 1790, Virginia: records of the state enumerations, 1782 to 1785. (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1908)
   p. 97.

   Orange County, List of Jeremiah White
   Francis Meadows, 6 souls, no dwelling, 2 other buildings

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Francis Meadows, Sr, in Find A Grave
   accessed 9 Sep 2014.

   Francis Meadows, Sr
   Birth: 1717, Essex County, Virginia, USA
   Death: 1792, Rockingham County, Virginia, USA
   Burial: Non-Cemetery Burial - "Pictured are the remains of a stone wall on that property (situated in Sandy Bottom, Rockingham County), upon which Francis likely died and is buried."
   
   Spouse: Mary Meadows
   Children: Jeremiah I. Meadows (____ - 1843), James Meadows (____ - 1849)
   
   [Parents]
   Based upon Francis' own March 10, 1781 testimony in the Orange County, Virginia chancery suit, Reuben Roach etc vs. Administrators of William Monroe, he was born 1717/8. His death is presumed from the date of his absence in the Rockingham County, VA personal property tax records.
   
   From the Orange County law suit, it appears that he was the son of Richard Meadows and Ann Moss (Bryson) and moved - with his mother and step-father - to Orange County before May 1731. [Emphasis added]
   
   A number of accounts have erroneously credited Francis Sr. with serving in the American Revolution along with his son Francis Jr. The root of this mix-up appears to be have been a summary of a June 16, 1818 affidavit in Monroe County, (West) Virginia which was incorrectly transcribed to include that his age was 80 years. The 1818 affidavit did not state his age. Two years later – on August 15, 1820 – Francis Meadows Jr. provided an affidavit in Monroe County stating that he was about 66 and that he had "made a declaration before the said County Court of Monroe on the 16th day of June, 1818." And his own account of his military service, including his troop commanders, movements, and incarceration as a prisoner of war, are identical in both the 1818 and the 1820 affidavits. These individuals are one and the same and are Francis, Jr.
   
   Francis married Mary (maiden name unknown) and on September 28, 1770, "Francis Meadows of Orange County, Virginia" purchased a tract of 50 acres of land which straddled the line Orange [current day Greene] and Rockingham Counties from Reuben & Hester Roach.

7. ↑ The 1818 date seems to come from a publication with the (short?) title The Descendants of Francis Meadows, several pages of which have been attached to Francis Meadows in the A to Z 2008 Family Tree by cherylbugala1 (as accessed 8 Sep 2014). The attachments provide no citation as to author or date of publication, and may predate the extensive research reported by several individuals in the early 2000's on the RootsWeb Meadows email List. In any event, the author of The Descendants of Francis Meadows states, on p. 10, that "Francis, Sr" was living with his son, "Francis, Jr." in 1818 in Monroe County, Virginia.
   
   In 1810, there were two Meadows families living in Monroe County: Elijah, age 26 through 44, who did not have an older male in his household; and Wm., who was over 45 yrs of age.
   In 1820, among the Meadows families living in Monroe county, were Francis Sr, over 45 yrs of age with his wife and 6 children aged about 16 or younger. Living nearby (reported on the preceding line) was a Francis Jr, aged 16-25, with one female of similar age and no children in his household. Francis Sr., in 1820, would be the son of Francis and Mary (Bell) Meadows, and the Francis who applied for Revolutionary War Pension in 1818.
   [NOTE: These Meadows families should NOT be confused with Meador families also living in Monroe County. The Meadows families and Meador families are from different lines of descent from the original immigrant to Virginia.]
   
   According to his own statement in his pension application, the "Francis Sr." in Monroe County was 66 yrs of age in 1819, with 6 children at home under the age of 14.
   According to the author of The Descendants of Francis Meadows, the Francis Meadows who received a pension in 1818 was 80 years of age (p. 7, referencing "soldiers of the Revolution in West Va." )
   
   Someone, somewhere, seems to have confused father and son. (See also: Francis Meadows, Sr, Find A Grave, above)