Ancestor's of Ron DeFries Continued
Generation No. 7
64. Moses Defrees, born March 09, 1787 in Rockbridge, VA;
died Bef. April 1835 in Knox, TN.
He was the son of 128. James Defrees and 129. Sophina Sevier Risley.
He married 65. Mary Ann Swadley Abt. 1809 in Knox, TN.
65. Mary Ann Swadley.
She was the daughter of 130. Marcus Swadley and 131. Elizabeth Fouchee.
Notes for Moses Defrees:
JAMES DEFREES AND HIS DESCENDANTS, by Jeanne Brooks Gart
There is no evidence that James ever paid a tax for his son Moses, so
perhaps he, like David, left home at an early age. Moses was probably in
Knox County in the early 1800's, perhaps going with or following his older
half-brother Asher. Moses probably married Ann Swadley in Knox county about
1809, the year that he is first recorded as paying a poll tax in that
county. He was taxed again the following year, and in 1812.
On 20 sep 1814, Moses enlisted as a private in Capt Charles Conway's Co.
Chiles' Battalion of Mounted Gunmen, in which he served until 1 May 18145.
He thus joined the flood of volunteers for the War of 1812 which gave
Tennessee the name "Volunteer State." He was described as being 5'11", with
a dark complexion, and black hair and eyes.
A claim filed years later, in 1834, with the U.S. Congress, tells us
something of his service.
"He started from East Tennessee some time in the year 1814 and expected to
meet Genl. Andrew Jackson somewhere in Florida, but before that event, said
Battalion was ordered to or near Fort Mimms - There the government failed
to furnish forage for the horses and to prevent the horses from starving,
Major Chiles sent [Moses Defrees] and others near to Fort St. Stephens, to
procure forage, on which expedition the mare of [Defrees] died because she
had nothing to eat. . . . He was forced to leave his saddle, bridle and
blankets. . .[losses] of about $82. . . "
This claim was referred to the Claim Committee of the House. Moses filed
another claim in the next session of Congress, signed by him with an X,
adding that he was in West Tennessee when he heard that an office was
established to process such claims, but by the time he returned home to
East Tennessee the office had closed. This time Major Chiles verified that
the facts as Moses had stated them were correct. There is no evidence as to
whether he ever received compensation.
The first record of a land purc hase was 2 April 1821, when he bought, for
$400, 150 acres on the East Fork of Turkey Creek. This property, described
as adjoining the lines of David Campbell and James Montgomery, was the same
piece of property that his brother Asher had bought in 1806. In 1824 he
bought, for $600, 193 acres in an unspecified location, and the following
year sold the 150 acres on Turkey Creek for $500. Beginning in 1826, and
continuing through 1831, he was taxed for one poll and 193 acres of land.
In 1830 he was included in the Knox county census record, with a wife,
four boys, and three girls.
On 2 Jan 1832, he bought, for $12, another small parcel on Turkey Creek,
and, two years later, for $78.75, an additonal 26 acres in an unspecified
location.
Moses died intestate in Knox County before the first Monday of April,
1835, when the court appointed administrators for his estate. An inventory
of the property was made and a sale in the same year netted $642.41.
Included in the inventory were three bedsteads, two dozen plates, four sets
of cups and saucers, one sugar bowl, a coffee pot, a looking glass, three
spinning wheels, five horses, 15 head of cattle, one yoke of oxen, 59 sheed
and 64 hogs.
One of the administrators appointed was Durrett Everett, who had been a
close neighbor in 1830, and from whom Moses purchased a small parcel of
land on Turkey Creek. Everett was also appointed guardian of Moses two
youngest children, Joseph and Mark. The date of the guardianship is not
recorded, but the first court record refers to settlement beginning in
1838.
The oldest son in the family, John M. was appointed guardian for two of
the children, Lucinda Flora and James S., in March 1841. In September 1842,
William W. Nelson was appointed guardian for Thomas and Nancy Jane.
Beginning 13 April 1842, Moses' land was disposed of by his heirs. On that
date, Thomas acquired from his sister Nancy Jane and her husband Joseph O.
Greer, for $110, an unspecified amount of land, her share of the estate. On
the same date, also for $110, John sold his share to Thomas. On 23 April
1848, William and Lucinda Greer sold her share to Mark for $80. On 18 Dec
1851, Durrett Everett, guardian for Joseph, sold to Thomas, for $100, 18
acres and 11 poles. On 29 Sep 1852, Thomas sold to Nalthaniel Grigsby, for
$650, two parcels of land, one consisting of 18 acres and 11 poles, and the
other of 90 1/2 acres. On 13 Mar 1854, three of the brothers who had moved
to Independence County, Arkansas - James, Mark, and Joseph - sold their
shares of the land to N.B. Grigsby, for $150.
Thus by 1854, after a series of land sales and transfers, Moses land, said
in one record to have consisted of about 200 acres, had all been sold to a
neighbor, Nathaniel Grigsby."
Children of Moses Defrees and Mary Swadley are:
i. Mary M. Defrees, born June 13, 1810 in Knox, TN;
died Bef. 1848.
ii. Elizabeth Defrees, born June 13, 1813 in Knox, TN;
died Bef. 1848.
iii. John McNeil Defrees, born June 06, 1816 in Knox, TN;
died Bef. October 11, 1858 in Independence, Ar.
iv. Thomas R. Defrees, born January 05, 1818 in Knox, TN;
died Bef. 1875.
v. Nancy Jane Defrees, born May 24, 1821 in Knox, TN.
32 vi. James S Defries, born October 08, 1823 in Knox, TN;
died Bef. May 02, 1884 in Independence, AR;
married Martha J. Ross September 23, 1847 in Knox Co. Tennesse.
vii. Lucinda Flora Defrees, born January 23, 1826 in Knox, TN.
viii. Mark Defrees, born April 20, 1828 in Knox, TN.
ix. Joseph Defrees, born December 23, 1830 in Knox, TN.
Generation No. 8
128. James Defrees, born 1737 in N.Y., N.Y.; died August 1827 in Sumner Co., TN.
He was the son of 256. Joseph Deforest and 257. Mary Catherine Hutton.
He married 129. Sophina Sevier Risley December 02, 1777 in Goshen, Orange, New York.
129. Sophina Sevier Risley.
She was the daughter of 258. Johann Reuschtle and 259. Susanna Traber.
Children of James Defrees and ? are:
i. William Defrees, born Abt. 1767 in NY.
ii. Mary Defrees, born Abt. 1769 in NY;
died Bef. 1827 in Rowan, NC;
married Henry Hardy February 02, 1789 in Rockbridge, VA.
iii. Asher Defrees, born Abt. 1770 in NY;
died Abt. 1847 in Barren, TN;
married Elizabeth Paul August 18, 1796 in Rockbridge, VA.
iv. Elizabeth Defrees, born Abt. 1772 in NC;
died Bef. 1830 in Surry, NC.
v. James Defrees, born Bet. 1774 - 1784 in Rockbridge, VA;
died Aft. 1827.
Children of James Defrees and Sophina Risley are:
i. John Defrees, born Bet. 1780 - 1783 in Rockbridge, VA;
died Aft. 1827;
married Sarah T. Riggs Abt. 1800.
Notes for John Defrees:
from JAMES DEFREES AND HIS DESCENDANTS, by Jeanne Brooks Gart.
"John and Sarah lived in Williamson County, Tennessee, near Mill Creek,
shortly after 1800. On 15 Sep 1807, John bought land in Surry County, North
Carolina, giving his residence as Williamson kCounty. The land was on Big
Rocky Fork of Mitchell's River where James Defrees also owned land. The
land was purchased from David Riggs, probably his father-in-law, and the
deed waas witnessed by Zadock and Hezekia Riggs, two brothers-in-law. (This
was undoubtedly the Zadock Riggs who was an agent to dispose of James
Defrees' property in Surry County.) In that same year, as well as in 1812,
John Defrees was on the tax rolls of Williamson County, each time paying
one poll. Also in Williamson County, on 2 Jan 1815, David Riggs registered
gifts of deed to several of his children, including Sarah Dupriest.
In 1820, John Defrees bouth 168 acres of land on Spring Creek in Bedford
County, TN, for $1650. Fishing Ford Road ran through the property, and John
laid out a village which he named Gideonville in honor of his son. In 1824
one lot was sold to David Riggs for $7. There is no record of the sale of
the other lots.
John Defrees lived about three miles north of present day Chapel Hill.
According to an old newspaper account,
" He had a spring on his place which he dug out and in the
bottom of which he placed a sack of salt. A few days later he took some of
the water to old Mrs. Dickson, a worthy old lady belonging to the Primitive
Baptist Church and in whom everybody had confidence, and asked her to boil
it down for him. She did so and, of course, it made salt and furnished the
foundation for the widespread report that a valuable salt spring had been
discovered. . . . Setlers came in and made improvements in the town until
business houses of the place consisted of a hotel, a store, 3 whisky shops,
a blacksmith shop, a cabiinet shop, a saddler's shop and a hatters shop.
Business was conducted at this place until about 1832/33, when the
town went down and no traces remain, except for a few graves in the old
cemetery."
If he was the "John Depriest" appearing in the 1820 Bedford County census,
then John and Sarah probably had other children, as this record shows three
boys and a girl.
In 1827 he had apparently returned to Williamson County, where he was
granted a license to operate an Ordinary in his residence and took the
required oat to prohibit the vice of gaming. This is the last known record
of John. The date of his death is unknown.
ii. David Defrees, born 1784 in Rockbridge, VA;
died Bef. 1860 in Grayson, NC;
married Nancy Low August 16, 1806 in Surry, NC.
Notes for David Defrees:
It is not known when David left his father's household, and there is no
evidence that James ever paid a poll tax for David. In 1806, the same year
that David married, he paid a poll tax in Surry county; no land ownership
was indicated. By 1810, David and his family were in nearby Ashe County,
where the household consisted of David and Nancy, both between 16 and 26,
and a boy and a girl, both under ten. In 1813, David appeared again on the
county tax list in Capt. Underwood's District, located in upper Surry
county along Mitchell's River (the same general area where both James and
John had owned land). Also in 1813 he was bondsman to James Low, probably
his brother-in-law.
The 1816 tax list showed him living on Fishers River, although he was not
charged with a property tax. (Stephen Low owned property on Fishers River,
and was taxed in Cap. Underwood's District in 1816). He continued to pay
one poll yearly through 1818. In 1820 he was again in Ashe County.
Beginning in 1826, and continuing fairly consistently through 1850, he was
included on the personal property tax list in Grayson County, Virginia. He
was charged with a tax in only one of those years, 1831, when he was taxed
for owning a horse. Although these records are meager, they indicate a
family that was not affluent, and one that lived in an area considered
isolated, even today.
David was included in the fed. census in Grayson county for the years
1830, 1840, and 1850, but it is difficult to reconcile the information
gained through these records with what we know of his children. In 1810,
there were two children, a boy and a girl, who could be Sally and Ricely J.
However, in 1820, there were three boys under 10, one of whom could have
been Aquilla, but no older children at all. The 1830 record lists a booy
5010, probably Aquilla, and one 15-20, possibly Ricely, and a girl 15-20,
probably Polly. In 1840, there was a young boy, probably Polly's son, a boy
15-20, probably Aquilla, and a young woman 20-30, probably Polly. In 1850
David and Nancy were living with Polly and her son Elam in the household of
John Clements. Adding another element of doubt as to whether all of these
children were David's is the evidence that in later census records both
Polly and Ricely consistently say that they were born in Virginia, although
the only records we have of David and his wife during this period of time
were in North Carolina.
Further examination of the tax list is somewhat helpful in determining
David's sons. In 1829, 18300, and 1831 he was charged with two tithables.
In 1832 Ricely paid under his own name, presumably 21 years of age. Aquilla
first paid a tax in 1841.
David was the only one of James' children to return to Virginia after
living in North Carolina. It is belived that he owned no land. In 1850 he
said his occupation was laborer.
The 1850 census is the last known record of David Defres or his wife
Nancy. Presumably they both died before 1860, probably in Grayson County.
64 iii. Moses Defrees, born March 09, 1787 in Rockbridge, VA;
died Bef. April 1835 in Knox, TN;
married Mary Ann Swadley Abt. 1809 in Knox, TN.
iv. Hannah Defrees, born Abt. 1789; died Aft. 1827;
married David Hart Bef. 1820.
v. Nancy Ann Defrees, born Abt. 1795 in Surry, NC;
died December 27, 1875;
married Edward Williams January 01, 1814 in Surry, NC.
vi. Polly Defrees, born Abt. 1797 in Surry, NC;
married James S. Stovall March 05, 1816 in Sumner Co., TN.
vii. Joseph Defrees, born Abt. 1801 in Surry, NC;
died Bet. 1832 - 1840;
married Mary Ann Day May 03, 1821 in Sumner Co., TN.
Notes for Joseph Defrees:
JAMES DEFREES AND HIS DESCENDANTS, by Jeanne Brooks Gart, C.G.
Joseph Defrees, the son of James and sophina Defrees, born in Surry county,
North Carolina, about 1801, married in Sumner county, Tennessee, 3 May
1821, Maryann Day. It is not known where or when he died, although it
probably occurred between 1832 and 1840. The three sons below are believe
to be the children ofJoseph and Maryann Defrees, for the following reasons:
they were all bornin Tennessee in the period 1823-1829; census records,
which will be quoted later, strongly indicate that these three men were
brothers; it was reported on the death certificate of the youngest of
these, Moses, that his father was Joseph and his mother Mary. All three
lived in Missouri later, but whether their father went there with them is
not known.
the following are thought to be the children of Joseph and Maryann Day
Defrees:
James Defrees, born May 1823
Philip R. Defrees, born ca. 1828
Moses Defrees, born 14 Feb 1829
Joseph is mentioned in only three known records other than that of his
marriage: he was named in his father's will, by which he inherited, along
with Ricely, the family farm; in 1832 he posted bond for a brother-in-law
in Sumner County; he was probably the person mentioned as the father of
Moses Defrees when the latter died in 1914 in Fremont county, Iowa.
viii. Risley Defrees, born May 28, 1800 in Surry, NC;
died May 08, 1862 in Sumner Co., TN;
married Elizabeth Holloway December 21, 1821 in Sumner Co., TN.
130. Marcus Swadley. He married 131. Elizabeth Fouchee.
131. Elizabeth Fouchee.
Child of Marcus Swadley and Elizabeth Fouchee is:
65 i. Mary Ann Swadley, married Moses Defrees Abt. 1809 in Knox, TN.
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