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m. Bef 1728
Facts and Events
James Cunningham was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia __________________________ [edit] Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA
Acquisition of Land in Augusta County:
Disposition of Land from Chalkley's:
[edit] FamilyThe children of James Cunningham and Margaret MNU are named in the 1760 will of James Cunningham as James identified each of his children as "my son Moses", "my daughter Elizabeth", "my daughter Ann" etc. James had two sons Jacob & Isaac, with sons of their own, that predeceased his 1760 will and thus James names the oldest grandsons as heirs in lieu of his deceased sons [see Will of James Cunningham below]. James & Margaret had the following children identified from Primary Sources:
There are many online trees that list James' grandsons as his sons because they are named in his will but James very explicitly identifies his grandsons as "James, son of my son Jacob" and "John, son of my son Isaac". Both Jacob & Isaac were killed in the 1759 raid and both Jacob & Isaac had children thus James named the oldest son of each as an heir in his 1760 will however many online trees make every person named in James' will his son and this is how Jacob's son James "becomes" the son of James & Margaret, or James' brother Hugh "becomes" the son of James & Margaret in hundreds of online trees. James very explicitly tells us in his 1760 will who his sons are, who his daughters are and who his grandsons are. The most accurate depiction of James & Margaret's children can be found on page 480 in "A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia" by Oren Morton[2]
[edit] Will of James Cunningham
[edit] The Kerr's Creek MassacresAccording to accounts, including "Adam and 500 More Cunningham's in the Valley of Virginia", James Cunningham and his wife Margaret were both killed in the 2nd Kerr's Creek (formerly known as "Teas Creek") Massacre on 17 July, 1763. An article detailing the Kerr's Creek Massacres is located here: The Kerr's Creek Massacres 1759-1763 [edit] Records in Augusta County, VAFrom Chalkley’s Augusta County Records:
[edit] Information on James CunninghamFrom "Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871", by Joseph Addison Waddell: On August 5, 1753, James Coningham conveyed to his son Jacob 100 acres, a part of 400 acres on Tees' creek, a branch of James River, which had been patented by James C. ; and on February 12, 1756, he conveyed 128 acres of the same tract to his son Isaac. The last named died in 1759, Jean Cunningham having qualified as his administratrix, May 20, 1759. Jacob Cunningham died in 1760, as appears from the inventory and appraisement of his personal estate. The wife of a Jacob Cunningham was killed by Indians July, 1763, and his ten-year old daughter scalped and left for dead. One account of the first Kerr's Creek massacre states that he escaped by being absent from home ; but the probability is that he was the person who died more than three years before.
[edit] Advisory on James Cunningham
There are 3 different bios that state three pioneer brothers "James, Hugh and John" settled in Augusta. We should not dismiss these bios or Hugh's true age [or James' true age] because Hugh is mentioned to receive 1 shilling in James' 1760 will. [James could have very well named his brother as an heir to receive 1 shilling knowing Hugh would be an elder helping aide his family if anything happened to him]. People make Hugh a "son" of James because Hugh is mentioned in James' 1760 will however James does NOT call Hugh his son - a mention in a will does not make him a son and we should NOT read more into the will than what it says. In his 1760 will https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9P7-S9SJ-Q?view=fullText&groupId=M9NC-B3J James names each and every one of his children "my son Moses" "my son Jacob" "my daughter Elizabeth" "my daughter Ann" etc. Hugh is mentioned in the 1760 will to receive 1 shilling but James does not state "my son Hugh". We should NOT read what isn't there. There was Indian Depredation occurring on the frontier and certainly James knew he too could lose his life after the death of his sons in 1759, so James wrote his will in 1760 and in his will James named each and every one of his children as children. Hugh was NOT named a son in the will.
This line is frequently consolidated due to the the repeating naming pattern the Scot-Irish used, naming the first born after their father, which resulted in numerous men named James in the second generation. James & Margaret had two sons Jacob & Isaac, with sons of their own, that predeceased James' 1760 will and thus James names the oldest grandsons as heirs in lieu of his deceased sons. There are many online trees that list James' grandsons as his sons simply because they are named in his 1760 will but James very explicitly identifies his grandsons as "James, son of my son Jacob" and "John, son of my son Isaac". Both Jacob & Isaac were killed in the 1759 raid and both Jacob & Isaac had children thus James named the oldest son of each as an heir in his 1760 will however NUMEROUS online trees make every person named in James' will his son - and this is how Jacob's son James "becomes" the son of James & Margaret, or James' brother Hugh "becomes" the son of James & Margaret in hundreds of online trees. James very explicitly tells us in his 1760 will who his sons are, who his daughters are and who his grandsons are. The most accurate depiction of James & Margaret's children can be found on page 480 in "A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia" by Oren Morton https://archive.org/details/historyofrockbri00mortrich/page/480/mode/2up?q=cunningham but even in this mention, Oren Morton names James & John [the grandsons] as sons of James & Margaret - this is probably how the error originated and why it snowballed onto so many online trees. If one READS James' 1760 will, one will see who James identified. There are zero primary sources naming Hugh Cunningham born c1715 as a son.
James & Margaret had the following children identified from Primary Sources: i. Jacob (1732-1759) ii. Isaac (1735-1759) iii. Elizabeth (1737-) iv. John (1740-1759) v. Mary (1741-1767) iv. Anne (1742-) vii. Moses (1743-) People want to add a son Hugh born c1727 in the above list but that means Hugh fathered his children at age 14.... that doesn't look right so they omit Hugh's older children?! If they change Hugh's DOB to c1715-1720 [to be old enough to marry c1740] they then have to alter James' date of birth to 1690-1700 to make him old enough to father Hugh born c1715-1720 and that means James fathered Hugh c1715 and then didn't have children again until 1732 which is unrealistic. If Hugh was born later, 1739-1745, Hugh would have been named a minor "or infant" in James' 1760 will as son Moses born c1743 was named infant [because he was under 21 when James wrote his will in 1760]. So Hugh was much older than people purport. Hugh was NOT named a son of James in James' 1760 will so neither should we name him a son of James & Margaret. Hugh did not name James & Margaret as his parents in his petition so neither should we. Hugh had children c1740 so Hugh was born c1715-1720 [one bio says 1708 but without naming sources]. James born c1705-1710 could not have fathered Hugh when James was 10-15 years old. So people change James' DOB 1685-1690 but that means James didn't father children until after he was 30 years old, had Hugh c1715-1720, then didn't have children again until 1732 and that is unrealistic... people are making up dates but eliminating an entire generation. People then create Find A Grave memorials [with no headstone or proof of interment] and alter Hugh's date of birth, or James' date of birth, to "make it fit" that Hugh was a son of James. Others write books and state Hugh was a son of James but offer no Primary Source documentation of how they made James' brother his son... they just read into James' will & Hugh's petition what they "believe". In her book, Betty Cunningham Newman states that Hugh was a son of James instead of a brother, and that "James and his son Hugh were in the military expedition in 1742", but it is impossible for James born c1705-1710 to have a son old enough to be in the Augusta Militia in 1742 [his oldest son was only 10 years old in 1742].
Show me one Primary Source that makes Hugh a son and not one of 3 Pioneer Brothers as listed here and I will change it: Bio from "Old Oxford and Her Families" by George West Diehl: "James who married Margaret is one of the 3 brothers that settled on the forks of the James. Hugh and John are the other two. Hugh had a son, Jonathan, to whom he deeded the "Big Spring" farm. It was the scene of the 1763 massacre. "
"When Joseph Tees, founder of Waynesboro, followed the old Indian trail toward the Allegheny Mountains, he and his sons William and Charles paused in a breathtaking valley opening at the foot of a long western ridge. Meandering in a shallow S-curve along a bold creek, the valley contained enough flat land to invite settlement. Later Francis McCown received a patent of 928 acres on Tees Creek. In 1746, he sold parcels to Hugh Martin, Robert Erwin and Samuel Norwood. Other early settlers at the foot of North Mountain were the Gilmores, McKees, Hamiltons and Logans. Three Cunningham brothers arrived with their families – Hugh, James and John. The eldest, Hugh, bought a tract from Benjamin Borden in 1748 near John Carr’s. He called it Big Spring after the numerous springs that gathered into a pond and created an ideal cabin site. In 1762, he sold the land to his son, Jonathan, who had married Mary McKee."
"James came to America with his brothers Hugh b 1708 and John (the oldest). "
Baptism records of Hugh's children reveal their dates of birth and the fact that Hugh was born 1715-1720. People that change Hugh's DOB to 1727-1730 "to make him fit to be a son of James" means Hugh fathered his children at 10-15 years old [so since changing Hugh's dob to 1727 doesn't "fit" having children in 1741, they just omit his children "to make it fit"].
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