Person:Samuel Curry (5)

Samuel Curry was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia

Contents 1 Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA 2 Acquisition of Land in North Carolina 3 Acquisition of Land in Tennessee 4 Will Transcript 5 Notes		Welcome to Old Augusta Early Settlers Beverley Manor Borden's Grant Register Data Maps Places Library History Index
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Early Land Acquisition in Augusta County, VA

Acquisition of Land from Chalkley's:

• Page 360.—-30th August, 1771. James Blair, Jr., farmer, to Samuel Curry, £30, 100 acres Teste: William Young, John Hare, James Searight. Delivered: Samuel Curry, March Court, 1773. (Note: James Searight was the brother-in-law of Samuel Curry).

Acquisition of Land in North Carolina

• Samuel Curry received a Land Grant from North Carolina File N 145, on 4 October in 1782. It was for 181 acres on the South side of the Holston River, in what was called McPheeters Bend. His land was next to Samuel McPheeters who got a 300 acre Land Grant in 1784, south of the Holston River, it was next to land of John Young. Samuel Curry got another Land Grant No. 1517, for 200 acres of land on the South Fork of Beech Creek. In 1797, Samuel Curry sold this 200 acres of land to Moses Ball, near Brown's mountain. [1]

Acquisition of Land in Tennessee

• Samuel Curry bought land in Hawkins County, Tennessee, from Francis Guithery on 17 May 1797, 640 acres

• Samuel Curry sold to Thomas Campbell 158 and 3/4 acres of land in Powels Valley on 25 Feb. 1799

• Wilson Co., TN., Deed Book A., pp 190-191, Samuel Curry of Hawkins Co., TN sold John Curry 186 acres on Spring Creek. Date was 28 Oct 1801, recorded 6 Nov. 1801. His sons John and James had transactions as did Archibald Simpson, son-in-law. [2]

Will Transcript

Will of Samuel Curry of Hawkins County, Tennessee (formerly of Augusta County, VA)

Copied from a handwritten copy from the Will Book in Hawkins County, Tennessee.

February 22, 1812

Considering the uncertainty of this mortal life and being of sound and perfect memory, blessed be Almighty God for the same, do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following Viz: after all my legal debts are paid.

First, I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Mary Curry, the third of my Estate both real and personal.

I do also give and bequeath unto my two younger sons, George and Samuel Curry, the plantation whereon I now live. :I do also give and bequeath unto my three daughters Viz: Rebecca, Ann and Margaret Curry, three cows and calves and four sheep, a feather bed and bed clothes to each, likewise, a horse and saddle, the horse not exceeding eight years old, not under fourteen hands high.

I do also give and bequeath unto John McPheeters, Arch'd Simpson, John and James Curry and Reuben Skelton, the sum of one dollar to each. [Note: John McPheeters, Archibald Simpson and Reuben Skelton has married daughters of Samuel Curry prior to the writing of his will in 1812]

And Lastly, as to all the rest and residue and remainder of my personal estate goods and chattels of what kind and nature soever, I give and bequeath the same to my said beloved wife Mary Curry whom together with Samuel McPheeters - Executor and Executrix of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-second day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twelve.

Signed, sealed, and published and declared."

(Signed) Samuel Curry (seal)

By the above named Samuel Curry to be his last will and testament, in the preesence of us who at his request and in his spresence have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses to the same.

Thomas Connilly

John Marshall

Notes

From Genforum.com post;

Re: Samuel CURRY Posted by: Billie Curry Steeley Date: November 19, 1998 at 16:34:45 In Reply to: Samuel CURRY by Billie Curry Steeley of 4801

This Samuel Curry had sons John, James, Georg and Samuel, Jr. and six daughters. The three younger daughters are named in the will. You will note older children were left $1.00. Sons John and James are mentioned and three sons-in-law were mentioned as was the practice in that day and age. (He had no son named Isaiah) His beloved wife Mary Curry was in fact, Mary Seawright, daughter of John and Sarah Leeper Seawright, proven in court records in Augusta in the Seawright vs Seawright Lawsuit in 1811, etc.

From Rootsweb.com post:

From: Kevin Curry <kevinc@@maui.net> Subject: Polly SEAWRIGHT/Samuel CURRY never set foot in Hawkins Co. TN Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 11:35:01 -1000

Dear Billie:

Thank your for forwarding me another copy of the "Seawright vs. Seawright" court case announcement appearing in the "Staunton Eagle" in Augusta Co., Virginia in 1810. It named Nicholas, Samuel, and Robert CURRY and their wives as plaintiffs. I am familiar with this document as you sent it to me before. I still think the claims you make resulting from it cannot possibly hold water.

I expected that you had stumbled upon something entirely different when you wrote:

>I have court documents and newspaper announcements proving that Mary >Seawright, daughter of John and Sarah Leeper Seawright, married my >Samuel Curry who removed to what is now Hawkins County, Tennessee and >they were residing there in 1811 according to documents. My Samuel died >in 1812 and Mary Seawright Curry died in 1830.

I had imagined that you had uncovered a marriage announcement, marriage bond, tax record in Tennessee or some new evidence. Bilie, it is simply not possible to infer so much from this official notice in the newspaper. All that can be inferred is that Polly Seawright was an heir in John Seawright's will. You've made an entire family tree here, including mother and sisters! From it, you cannot infer "whose" Samuel that is. You cannot infer anything about Samuel's whereabouts (more about this later) and you cannot infer as to when he died. You cannot infer who Polly's mother was. (Although that is easily ascertained.) I'll retype the notice to clarify:

"VIRGINIA---At Chancery District Court holden at Staunton, November Term, 1809 Between John Soearight, Plaintiff, And Eleanor, otherwise cited Helen Searight widow and administratrix of John Searight, dec'd, Sarah, Polly, and James Searight, infant children of the said James, & c, and others, Defendants. The defendants, Robert Curry and Jane his wife, Samuel Curry and Polly his wife, Nicholas Curry and Sarah his wife, Samuel M'Pheters and Margaret his wife, John Henderson and Margaret his wife, not hav- ing entered their appearance and given se- curity according to the act of assembly, and the rules of this court and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that they are not inhabitants of this commonwealth: ON the motion of the plaintiff, by his counsel, it is ordered that said defendants do appear here on the first day of the next term, and answer the bill and amended bill of the plaintiff, and that a copy of this or- der be forthwith inserted in some newspaper published in the town of Staunton for two months successively, and posted at the front door of the court house of the county or Augusta."

Note that in this announcement Polly Seawright is referred to as "Polly" and not "Mary" as you claimed in your post. Be careful about stretching information into a form that you'd LIKE to be true. Although at times Polly has been used as a "nickname" for various given names, I have never seen this Polly Seawright referred to as "Mary" in any document pertaining to Augusta County, Va. Not in land deeds, not in the above court document, not in the Seawright family bible. Because I've never seen her referred to as anything other than Polly, I believe her given name WAS Polly. Certainly the court would have been required to use the exact name spelled out in John Seawright's will. However, if he had used her "nickname" in the will, I'm certain that the court would have made a reference similar to, "Polly" Seawright whose given name is "BlahBlahBlah." Anything else would not have been legally appropriate.

Further supporting the practice of clarification of nicknames seems to exist even in their day. It is evidenced by the fact that this very article clarifies by stating: "Eleanor otherwise cited Helen" when referring to the administratrix. Assuming that Samuel's wife's name was actually "Mary" is purely your own conjecture.

I agree however, that this announcement does indeed refer to the Samuel Curry who m. Polly Seawright. But, there is no reference to this man ever having moved to Hawkins Co. TN or any other place in this notice or any credible source that I am aware of. Billie! How can you contrive the claims in your post above from this one legal notice and still expect to maintain your credibility? The reason Samuel was named in this case is because he was a named heir in John Seawright's will. Samuel and Polly had both died by 1808 as evidenced by Samuel's will cited in Chalkley's. (Note: Samuel does not name his wife in his 1808 will but does name his younger children---Polly had died by then.)

The statement "and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that they are not inhabitants of this commonwealth" was used as a means to "cover the court's behind." It was a general statement to imply, "we have no idea where these folks are." The Plaintiffs had not appeared for the arraignment (or whatever the pretrial announcement of the charges was). In Samuel and Polly's case they were deceased! To get the courts "satisfaction that you aren't an inhabitant of the commonwealth", all one had to do was not show up! The court's statement has no basis on geographic residency and should not be regarded as an indication of where someone is living. It simply meant they did not appear in court that day.

The requirement to place the official notice in the paper for two months had to do with the fact that the court actually did NOT know where several parties were. Once the official notice ran in the paper uncontested, the court had fulfilled its obligation to search for the missing parties, a practice done in very much the same way to this day.

I have studied the deeds, wills, tax records and census data in regards to the Samuel Curry living in Augusta Co. who owned land on Curry's Road near the Seawrights. They are difinitive. There were only three Samuels in Augusta at the time: This one, who m. Polly Seawright, their son, Samuel, and the son of Dr. Robert and Ann CURRY. Samuel Curry lived on the land he purchased in 1765 from Isaac Carson, and stayed there until his death in 1808.

He could not have been living and worshipping at the New Providence Presbyterian Church in Hawkins Co. TN at the same time. Other than an unofficial church history from Hawkins Co., TN (no references cited, not even an author stated) you have not been able to provide me with one credible document in Hawkins Co. TN bearing the name Seawright.

Therefore, it is my long considered opinion that this man who died in 1808 was indeed the spouse of Polly SEAWRIGHT. I have no evidence that he ever set FOOT in Tennessee. Your Hawkins Co. TN information does show the existence of a man by the name of Samuel CURRY married to a woman named "Mary", as well as a Samuel McPHEETERS and even a few LEEPERS----all names that appear in Augusta Co., but also names of families that had migrated south to NC as well. I suggest that you focus your research there and attempt to trace a migration from Augusta Co. to NC then to TN.

I invite you, or any of the over 200 members of the Curry Surname list to provide me with primary documentation (deed, will, marriage bond, census data and the like) to change my opinion on this. To all descendents of Samuel Curry who d. 1812 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee, I invite you to write me for suggestions and direction as to where to look to find the true parents of your ancestor. Now that we can throw out this red herring, we can move on and perhaps make a connection that makes sense.

Sincerely,

Kevin Curry Curry Surname Listowner kevinc@@maui.net 22:50, 19 May 2009 (EDT)22:50, 19 May 2009 (EDT)22:50, 19 May 2009 (EDT)22:50, 19 May 2009 (EDT)22:50, 19 May 2009 (EDT)Delijim