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Facts and Events
William Gragg was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia
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Early Land Records
Acquisition of Land from Chalkley's:
- Page 235 - William Gragg, 200 acres, Seneca Creek. October 27, 1773. [Abstract of Land Grant Surveys, 1761-1791, Augusta & Rockingham Counties, Virginia, by Peter Cline Kaylor, pg. 83].
- Page 242 - William Gragg, 64 ares, Seneca Creek. Dec. 10, 1774. [Abstract of Land Grant Surveys, 1761-1791, Augusta & Rockingham Counties, Virginia, by Peter Cline Kaylor, pg. 85].
- Page 215.--21st November, 1775. Andrew Johnson, of Culpeper, and Michael Erreman (Ebermann), of Augusta, to William Gragg. Patented to Andrew and Michael 16th, 1771, on Senecar Creek, a branch of North Branch of South Branch of Potowmack.
Pendleton County, VA Records
- 13 July 1810, Land grant made to William Gragg of 37 acres in Pendleton Co., Virginia Signed by Jo[h]n Tyler, Governor of Virginia. William & Mary Digital Archive
Estate Records
- William Gragg, Sr., died 24 January, 1795; appraisal of estate, 26 January, 1795, in Pendleton County, [West] Virginia. [1]
Records in Augusta County, VA
From Chalkley's: [unless otherwise noted]
- Page 60.--4th May, 1761. Robert Harrison's will -- Father, Daniel, best hat; brother, Jesse. £10 for Jesse's daughter Ann when she arrives to 18; brother, Daniel; brother-in-law. Daniel Smith, watch and £20 for schooling Smith's son, Robert Smith; brother, Benjamin; sisters, Mary and Abigail. Executors, Daniel Smith and Jesse Harrison. Teste: Silas Hart, Hugh Hamilton, Wm. Minter,Wm. Gragg. Proved, 18th August, 1761, by Hamilton and Minter. Executors qualified, with Wm. Preston and Michael Warren.
- Page 93.--17th November, 1761. Gideon Harrison's appraisement by Daniel Love, Saml. Hemphill, Wm. Gragg. Recorded.
- Page 129.--18th May, 1762. Roger Dyer's sale bill and settlement of estate by Hannah Dyer, administratrix, approved and recorded--To Wm. Samples, Wm. Gregg, Margaret McGlaughlan, David Nelson, Pat Frazier, John Cunningham, Robt. Ralston, Johnston Hill, John Cravens, Jesse Harrison, Bryce Russell, Robt. McGarry, John Dunkle, John Montgomery. Paid John Wright, Ro. Minnis (for whiskey), Sarah Stevenson (for whiskey for vendue); paid Wm. Gibson, Adam Harper, James Dyer.
- Page 184.--14th August, 1762. Arthur Johnston's estate sold, settlement by Margaret Gragg, late Johnston, executrix. Recorded, 19th August, 1762 Sold viz: To David Williams, Israel Young, Robt. and Wm. Gregg, John Magill, Michael Warren. Paid Samuel Samples, Charles Campbell, Adam Stevenson, Robt. Moore, John Cathern, James Allen. (Note: Arthur Johnston was the former husband of William Gragg's wife, Margaret Phares. Arthur Johnson died 15 August 1759 in Augusta County, VA).
- Page 488.--18th May, 1768. John Wamsley to William Gragg, £__, security for going bail, 10 cows, 3 cows, 3 horses. Teste: Henry Erwin, Benj. Harrison.
- Vol. 1 - AUGUST, 1773 (A). - Arthur Johnston lived on Roanoke of Cook's Creek, which he desires to be divided between his two sons, John and Andrew. Capt. Dan Smith was chosen guardian of John, who married before he arrived at full age, when his guardian and stepfather gave him his moiety, which was where his stepfather Greeg lived, who moved off in consequence, and then John sold part to William Bowyer.
- Vol. 1 - AUGUST, 1773 (A). - Daniel Smith vs. Wm. Bowyer.--Chancery writ, 19th December, 1772. Bond of Wm. Bowyer to Wm. Gregg, to convey to him land on headsprings of Hunter's Gully (Cook's Creek), which he bought of John Johnson; dated 1767. Assigned by Gregg to Robert Hill, 1768. Assigned by Hill to Wm. Bowyer, 1772. In 1759 Arthur Johnston died, with will proved in Augusta, devising lands to his sons, John and Andrew, adjoining the late Daniel Harrison, deceased. Arthur's widow, Margaret, married Wm. Gregg.
- Vol. 1 - November 18, 1773 - (239) Wm. Gragg, vice John Crawford - Constable.
- Vol. 1 - (303) abt. 1775. Wm. Gragg qualified Constable. Constables appointed: Jacob Van Matre, Dinnis Springer, John Harden, Jr., John Connor, Hennery Taylor, Thomas Bay, Francis McGuire, Andrew Ramsey, Jonathan Coborne, Jr., Thomas Douglas and Philip Ryley.
- Vol. 1 - March 25, 1775. (65) John Henderson, vice William Gragg - Constable. Jacob Woodley - Constable.
- Page 292.--16th November, 1774. Mary and Michael Aberman's bond (with George Coyle, Robert Minnes, Joseph Croutch, Wm. Gragg).
- Vol. 1 - November 22, 1775. (95A) Mary Gragg, orphan, to be bound to Wm. Gragg. (some researchers believe Mary was the younger sister of this William Gragg).
- Page 132.--(undated, appears to be abt. 1778-1779) Vendue bill of Samuel Samples--Jacob Caplin, John Chasm, Elihu Messexs, James Floyd, Wm. Greagg, John McVey, Wm. Pettijohn, Wm. Perrigin, Margaret and James McVey, Felix Sheltman.
- John Phares had other legal problems in 1784. His brother-in-law William Gragg (who had married Margaret Phares) brought a suit against him on 22 March 1784. Gragg apparently had enough clout with the Rockingham County Court to see a speedy resolution of the case. On 24 August 1784 the court ordered that Jacob Conrad and James Dyer arbitrate the dispute, but they seemingly either did not agree or failed to function. On 26 October 1784 it was left to arbitration between Benjamin Harrison, Seriah Stratton and Isaac Henkle. [2]
- Vol. 1. - DISTRICT COURT EXECUTIONS., SEPTEMBER, 1794 (A to J). - Gregg vs. Hinkle.--Sir:--I understand that you are much dissatisfied about the land that I surveyed for Abraham Teter, on the north side of Seneca, joining his own land, saying I promised to send you word before I surveyed it. I remember of promising not to survey it before Andrew Johnson would return from Rockingham, who was to bring your entry, and Andrew returned and brought no entry; and, moreover, old George Teter searched Lewis's records and found no such entry as you spoke of, and the widow Teter demanded the surveying of the same, and as Abraham had the oldest entry by warrant, I thought myself in duty bound to survey it, neither saw I any occasion to send for you, when I knew you had no entry for the land, and yet had time to procure it, and, furthermore, it is uncertain whether old entrys are prolonged on the Eastern waters or not, for Mr. Lewis wrote to me that he knew that they were prolonged on the Western waters, but not on our waters. But if your right is good, my surveying of it will not hinder you from obtaining it, for I don't mean to make the plot till you are satisfied about it. I am ready, at your demand, to survey 100 acres for you on Seneca, above Abraham Teter's land, for your entry is now made by warrant, for I lately obtained a warrant for you from Colonel Hamilton. I desire that you be moderate in your censures, and, whether or not, I am your hearty well-wisher and obsequious, M. Henkle. To Mr. Wm. Gragg. (Addressed). Mr. William Gragg, Sr., On Seneca.
Pendleton County, VA Records
- At a Court held for Pendleton County on Monday the Seventy day of July one Thousand Seven hundred and ninety four in the eighteenth year of the Commonwealth. Moses Henkle assne. of Gabriel Coil, Pltf. agst. William Gragg, Senr., deft., By petition. This day Came the Plaintiff in his proper Person & the Sheriff having returned on the summons executed the defendant was Solemnly Called byt failed to answer. Therefore it si considered by the Court that the Plaintiff recover against the said defendant eight dollars & right Certs & his Carts by him about his Suit in this behalf expended.
- At a Court held for Pendleton County on Monday the first day of September one Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety four in the Nineteenth year of the Commonwealth. Henry Gebhard, Plf. against William Gragg Senr., Deft.. In case, This Suit Abates by the death of the defendant.
Information on William Gragg
- Morton, Oren Frederic. History of Pendleton County, West Virginia (74302)S2
- Thomas Gragg was probably born about 1715, in Northern Ireland. Thomas Gragg came from Ireland with his sons, Henry and William and was of Scotch ancestry.
- Thomas Gragg's will, dated April 1773, Augusta County, Virginia, named his wife, Elizabeth and children: Ann, Mary and Elizabeth - sons Henry and William were not mentioned in the will. Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Semple. Thomas apparently died soon after the making of his will, as appraisers for the estate were appointed 17 August 1773. Mary, daughter of Thomas, was bound out to her brother, William in 1775. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, was bound out to her brother William in 1780. The first mention of Thomas in Augusta County, Virginia, court records, was 16 August 1758 - "Thomas Gregg's bond with Samuel Sample as administrator of William Woods estate." On 16 February 1764, Thomas bought 140 acres of land from Samuel Semple, on Dry Branch of Linville Creek. The area, in which the Thomas Gragg family lived, is about three miles north and west of Harrisonburg, Virginia.
- The Gregg Family History Project Website
Image Gallery
References
- Miller, Thomas Condit, and Hu Maxwell. West Virginia and its people. (New York, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1913)
Vol. 3, pg. 1125. - ↑ Morton, Oren Frederic. A history of Pendleton County, West Virginia. (Franklin, West Virginia: O.F. Morton, 1910)
Pages 167, 208.
Page 167, Gragg, Scotch-Irish, before 1792, Reed's Creek.
Page 208, Gragg, Thomas (____ ____)-left a minor daughter, Mary and appears to have had these sons:
1. Henry
2. William (Mary ____)-d. Jan. 24, 1795.
3. Samuel (Ann Black)-m. 1785?
A daughter of William was killed by the Indians in 1781 (see Page 64,65). Elizabeth (Peter Cassell-m. 1794) was a daughter of Henry.
The family seems afterward to have moved to the South Fork above Sugar Grove. J. Robert and Amby Gragg of that district are present representatives of the family...
Page 64, 65 - In 1781 took place what seems the last Indian raid into this county. A party of redskins, led by Tim Dahmer, a white renegade, came by the Seneca trail to the house of William Gragg, who lived on the highland a mile east of Onego. Dahmer had lived with the Graggs, and held a grudge against a daughter of the family. Gragg was away from the house getting a supply of firewood, and seeing Indians at the house he kept out of danger. His mother, a feeble old lady, and with whom Dahmer had been on good terms, was taken out into the yard in her chair. The wife was also unharmed, but the daughter was scalped and the house set on fire, after which the renegade and his helpers made a prudent retreat. The girl was taken up the river, probably to the house of Philip Harper, but died of her injuries.
- Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800. (Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company, 1912-1913 in Three Volumes)
Vol. 2, Page 456.
CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800
AUGUSTA PARISH VESTRY BOOK.
ADMINISTRATORS' BONDS.
page 456
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Page 444.--1767-1768: Processioned by Robt. Cravens and Jeremiah Harrison: For Daniel Smith, for Lennard Herren, for Samuel Sample, for Thomas Harrison, for John Harrison, for Wm. Snaddone, for John McClure, for Saml. Briggs, for John McGill, for John Fowler, for Saml. Hemphill, for Jeremiah Harrison, for William Gregg, for Pat. Guin, for Jno. Cravens, for Robt. Cravens, for Daniel Love, for Daniel Harrison, for John Brown, for David Ralston, for John Hinton, for Vaulintine Saveyer, for Francis Hughes, for Alex. Harrison, for James Fowler, for Edward Shanklin, for Jennett McDonald, for Alex. Miller, for Jno. Hardman, for Henry Ewen (Erven), for William Ervin, for Andw. Ervin, for Walter Crow, for Michael Waren, for John Curry.
- From "THE PHARES FAMILY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA, with a few notes on the allied families of Johnson, Gragg, Reynolds, Hill, Wilmoth, Veneman, and others", by Warren Skidmore:
- 1. Margaret, perhaps the eldest child (of John Phares). She married firstly Arthur Johnson (died 1759), and secondly William Gragg (died 1794) on 26 November 1760 at the Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church at Dayton.29 The Graggs lived on the North Fork in Pendleton County. William Gragg had a disagreement with John Faris, his brother-in-law, in 1784 (noticed elsewhere) which was presumably settled by a determination made by the Rockingham County Court.
- John Phares had other legal problems in 1784. His brother-in-law William Gragg (who had married Margaret Phares) brought a suit against him on 22 March 1784. Gragg apparently had enough clout with the Rockingham County Court to see a speedy resolution of the case. On 24 August 1784 the court ordered that Jacob Conrad and James Dyer arbitrate the dispute, but they seemingly either did not agree or failed to function. On 26 October 1784 it was left to arbitration between Benjamin Harrison, Seriah Stratton and Isaac Henkle.47 Nothing more is heard of the matter.
- From "The Gregg Family History Project Website":
- 1. William Gragg, Sr., was born in 1737, established by Augusta County, Virginia, court records. According to Morton's "History of Pendleton County, West Virginia,"S2 William came to America with his family from Northern Ireland.
This family of Graggs intermarried with the Henchel family of Pendleton County and according to a Henchel Genealogy, William had a son William, Jr., and a daughter, Hannah Gragg, by his first wife Mary Dunkle. William, Sr., secondly married Margaret John, widow of Arthur Johnson, in 1760. Only7 one child of this union is known who in 1785, married Ann Black (disambiguation, Ann Black married Samuel Gragg, son of Thomas Gragg and Elizabeth SempleS2), daughter of Walter Black.
Source: http://www.colonialgreggs.gfhp.co.uk/
- Morton, Oren Frederic. A history of Pendleton County, West Virginia. 1910S2
- Page 64, 65 - In 1781 took place what seems the last Indian raid into this county. A party of redskins, led by Tim Dahmer, a white renegade, came by the Seneca trail to the house of William Gragg, who lived on the highland a mile east of Onego. Dahmer had lived with the Graggs, and held a grudge against a daughter of the family. Gragg was away from the house getting a supply of firewood, and seeing Indians at the house he kept out of danger. His mother, a feeble old lady, and with whom Dahmer had been on good terms, was taken out into the yard in her chair. The wife was also unharmed, but the daughter was scalped and the house set on fire, after which the renegade and his helpers made a prudent retreat. The girl was taken up the river, probably to the house of Philip Harper, but died of her injuries.S2
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