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The Early Ewing Families of Augusta County, Virginia:
Parts II to IV

In the early Western Virginia settlement period of the mid-1700s, most of the area from the Blue Ridge to the Mississippi was Augusta County, Virginia. There were at least three early James Ewing settlers in Augusta County plus a Joshua Ewing settler, all with large families using similar names and living in close proximity within this area:

Early records of the James Ewings in this area are quite ambiguous as to just which James is being referenced. Lyman Chalkley's Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia,[1] the definitive compilation of Augusta County records to 1800, contains some ninety-six items referencing Ewings. Of these, about seventy-eight can be reasonably well associated with one of six different Ewing families, the remaining eighteen still being ambiguous. These six Ewing families in Chalkley's accounting are the four above plus a Henry Ewing family in Rockingham County and Charles and Robert Ewing families in Bedford County.

In addition to the confusion caused by there being numerous Ewing families, the Virginia counties and their boundaries were continually changing. In 1745 Augusta County encompassed almost all the land west of the Blue Ridge, down to the North Carolina / Tennessee line and west to the Mississippi River. The land that James Ewing of Monroe settled was first in Augusta County, then in Botetourt County, and then in Greenbrier County before becoming part of Monroe County. The early records are dispersed among these counties and other colonial and United States jurisdictions. Pocahontas James' records can be found in Augusta, Botetourt, Greenbrier, Bath and Randolph Counties before Pocahontas County. Further, the continuing movement of these settlers among areas amplifies the difficulty of tracing their records.

While two of these Augusta County settlers – James and Joshua – are associated with Pocahontas County, that county did not exist until 1821, long after both were gone. Their records are mostly found in Botetourt and Greenbrier counties with some found in Bath County. With the partitioning of the Augusta County area into many new counties and their boundaries changing, records are found in dispersed places. The changing of counties and Ewing family movement is depicted in the sketch below indicating where their records might be found.

I have analyzed these four Ewing families whose overlapping records in the 1700s and early 1800s in the Augusta County area cause so much confusion. I have found various source documents and uncovered various references worthy of further investigation.

I have provided only overviews of the Pocahontas James and Joshua Ewing families; these families are well-known and have been well-documented. My focus has been on the Monroe County James Ewing family and the Staunton-area Capt. James Ewing family. These have not been, until now, all that well-researched and documented.

My conclusions with respect to the Monroe County James Ewing were presented in an earlier Journal article.[2] My conclusions with respect to the others are presented in this article. The 'full story' – presenting all I have found with respect to these four Ewings – is available on the Ewing Family Association's web site, accompanied by various detailed material.[3]

Part II – James Ewing Family of Pocahontas County, West Virginia

James Ewing, born in 1721 and an early settler of Pocahontas County, was the fifth child of John Ewing of Carnashannagh, Ireland, and his second wife Janett McElvaney. His brother John had a son, Joshua, who also settled nearby on land originally assigned to his uncle James. The background of the John of Carnashannagh family is well documented in Evelyn (Jones)  Ewing's Ewings of Shenandoah Valley Virginia,[4],[5] and more detail of this family is presented in Margaret Ewing Fife's Ewing in Early America.[6]

James Ewing was an early pioneer in the Jackson River and Greenbrier River areas of what is now western Virginia and West Virginia. His earliest recorded date is for a land survey, 254 acres on the Jackson River at Muddy Run in 1746, so he must have been there by then, but probably not long before as that area was just being surveyed and opened following a 30,000-acre grant to Andrew and Thomas Lewis in 1743. James later moved about nineteen miles further west to settle and establish the name of Ewing Creek (now known as Knapps Creek). He is noted in a 1751 survey there with a call "over the top of Ewing's house." This is in the area near today's town of Marlinton in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

In 1770, James turned over his claim to Moses Moore for a steel trap and ₤2. This is the last known transaction involving James Ewing. His inventory was filed in 1801 in Bath County so he lived to eighty years of age. His inventory included only a horse, gun, saddle, and some clothes and blankets. His children were by then grown and long off on their own.

James had ten children, born from 1741 to 1772. These children and their children are listed in the following table, which should be helpful in identifying persons associated with various records. Included are a few more James Ewings to compound our confusion. Note that there are also brothers John and William. These brothers appear to have had local contact with similarly named John and William Ewing brothers both of the Frederick County and Monroe County Ewing families.

One daughter, Ann, married Archibald Clendenin who was killed in a 1763 raid by Indians of Chief Cornstalk's Shawnee tribe. Ann, two of her children, and her brother John were taken captive. Ann escaped, but one of her children was killed as the Indians attempted to lure her back. John and his niece Jane were taken to an area in Ohio where they remained with the Indians for nearly two years before being allowed to return. John was known as 'Indian John' thereafter. Most of the family moved to Gallia County, Ohio, in 1810.

A great deal has been written about this family in Nancy Hanks Ewing's James Ewing – Pioneer.[7] Wally Ewing presents some additional interesting family history in his The Ewings: One American Family.[8] There is a continuing debate as to whether or not this James Ewing married a second wife, Sarah Edwards, and raised another five children, as shown in the following table.

Descendants of James Ewing of Pocahontas County, West Virginia  [9] 

Part III – Joshua Ewing of Locust Creek at Greenbrier River

Joshua Ewing is the grandson of John Ewing of Carnashannagh, Ireland, and son of John Ewing. Thus, Joshua is a nephew of James Ewing of Pocahontas County – Pocahontas James – and came to live near the Greenbrier River on land originally assigned to his uncle James. The background of the John of Carnashannagh family is well documented in Evelyn (Jones) Ewing's Ewings of Shenandoah Valley Virginia [10] and a great deal of detail regarding this Joshua Ewing family is presented in Fife's Ewing in Early America.[11]

Around 1729, John Ewing of Carnashannagh, at age eighty-one, came to America with his large family and settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Several of his children, including William Ewing, ancestor of the Stephens-City Ewings, moved onward by the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road to the better land opportunities of the Shenandoah Valley. After John Ewing, father of Joshua, was killed by a male servant in 1736 in Chester County, his brother William Ewing and brother-in-law David Jenkins were named guardians and trustees of Joshua and his brother Thomas until they were twenty-one.

The earliest record we find for Joshua Ewing in the Augusta county area is in the 1763 estate sale of Naphtalim Gregory, one of the earliest settlers of what is now Pocahontas County. The first land record of Joshua is an 1774 survey of 270 acres on the north side of the Greenbrier River, at Little Levels near Locust Creek. In 1775, Joshua is noted in the list of tithables of the Little Levels area of Botetourt County along with William and John Ewing. These may have been sons of Pocahontas James since Joshua was located on Locust Creek, about twelve miles below Slago Creek where William and John Ewing held land. But other cousins, William and John Ewing, sons of William of Stephens City, were also in the area. At this point there were actually three sets of Ewing brothers in this area named William and John: the sons of Pocahontas James, Frederick William, and Monroe James. Joshua appears to have been reasonably prosperous. The Greenbrier Historical Society Journal notes that Joshua held 500 acres of land in 1783. and the Greenbrier County Tax List of that year shows him as having nine horses and seventeen cows.

Joshua Ewing was buried in the Ewing Cemetery, an acre of land which he gave as a public burying ground, located about ¼ mile from the Greenbrier River about a mile above the mouth of Locust Creek in an area that became the Rhea place. Said to be buried there are Catherine Rhea, W. E. Ewing, Robert Rhea, and J. E. Ewing (Joshua).[14]

Part IV – Capt. James Ewing Family of Staunton, Virginia

The origins of this James Ewing have not been established and there are probably no surviving lines. However, from the DAR records of the Glebe Burying Grounds gravestones [27] and the will of Capt. James,[28] the names and birth/death dates of this family are known.

All members of the Capt. James Ewing family are buried in the Glebe Burying Grounds with the site and stones well-preserved today, although located in a somewhat remote woods near Middlebrook, Virginia. It is sad to note that almost all of this family died in the 1790s, two passing within days of each other in 1794 and seven altogether over a short five-year period. By 1800, the survivors consisted only of Martha, wife of Capt. James, a daughter Martha, and a son Joseph.

Martha never married. She used the name Ewin, both in her will and on her gravestone. Joseph is believed to have been married, but no survivors have been found. With the passing of Joseph at the age of sixty and Martha at ninety-one, this Ewing line seems to come to an end. However, Martha Ewing/Ewin did mention one unknown Ewing in her 1855 will – "to the heirs of Rob Ewin" – so perhaps there was some survivor of this line.

This James Ewing family mostly used the same given names as found in both the nearby and often confused Monroe and Pocahontas James Ewing families. Capt. James' signature appears on documents with the Monroe James, and his daughter Martha's will mentions many of the Monroe James family descendants who lived nearby. Still, there is no established family relationship.

The closest indication of a relationship found would be that these Ewings lived in close proximity to Susanna (Ewing) Sproul, daughter of James Ewing of Monroe County. The land that Capt. James purchased in 1772 appears to be adjacent to the farm of William and Susanna (Ewing) Sproul – Martha lived in nearby Middlebrook, and James Jr. owned lot #8 in Middlebrook. Archibald Alexander Sproul and his brother William Scott Sproul, grandchildren of Susanna, bought ninety-four acres of Martha's land also adjacent the Sproul farm in 1855 after she died. Of great significance is that Martha Ewing/Ewin a wealthy woman and in her 1855 will left the predominance of her wealth to various members of the Sproul family. This may indicate a familial relationship with the Monroe Ewing family or, perhaps also, that there were just no remaining survivors of the Capt. James line.

In James Ewing – Pioneer,[30] Nancy Hanks Ewing gives a brief sketch of this family:

Capt. James Ewing, merchant of Staunton, was married to Martha Wilson, daughter of Colonel John and Martha Wilson, also of Staunton. The colonel was for 27 years a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses in Williamsburg. Both he and his wife, Martha who died in 1755 are buried in the Glebe Burying Grounds, as are Capt. James Ewing and his wife Martha and most of their children, several of whom died young.

Capt. James' will is dated February 3, 1795, and was proven October 18, 1796. His wife Martha is mentioned, as are two sons – James and Joseph – two daughters – Martha and Nancy – and several slaves.

This matches the information from the family gravestones at the Glebe Burying Grounds. There are ten Ewings buried at the Glebe Burying Ground, all apparently of the immediate family of Capt. James and Martha Ewing. All ten are either mentioned in Capt. James Ewing's 1796 will of or were already dead at the time of his death. There were four family members already buried here at the time of James' death.

Glebe Burying Grounds Records

Records of the Glebe Burying Grounds and its Capt. James Ewing family gravestones come from two sources:

• Chalkley's Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia.[31]

• A Glebe Burying Grounds pamphlet prepared for the Colonel Thomas Hughart Chapter of the DAR.[32]

The Chalkley record, while published earlier, is less complete and does not identify its source. The DAR record is more complete but contains a birth date conflict as well as conflicts with the Chalkley record.

Corrections for Family Dates

There are obvious inaccuracies here, some caused by the difficulty of deciphering inscriptions (as noted in the DAR booklet). Another source of inaccuracies would be that many of the Ewing gravestones and inscriptions were not installed until after 1855. Martha's will, probated in 1855, provided that "I direct that there shall be a decent head and foot stone placed at the grave of each of the family with a suitable inscription on each." That provision of Martha's will, executed more than seventy-six years after the first Ewing graves, may account for errors in the inscriptions such as the birth dates of the siblings James and Joseph being six months apart.

Additionally, there was another son, also named James Jr., who lived locally and died about 1799.[34] He was unmarried5 and most certainly should have been buried here with all of his family. This James Jr.  would have had to be born by 1777 to have been of age eighteen and named an executor of his father James' estate in 1795.[35] It seems most probable that the James Jr. gravestone which the DAR report records actually refers to this James Jr. and the record of his date of death should be 1799 rather the inscribed 1779.[36]

That leaves the problem of there being only six months between the births of siblings James Jr. and Joseph. One of the birth dates must be wrong, but there is no evidence as to which, so that conflict remains unresolved. The Chalkley record definitely has Jane's dates incorrectly attributed to James.[7] The foregoing rationale thus accepts the DAR record with the changed 1799 death date for James Jr.  and recognizes the conflict between the birth dates for James Jr.  and Joseph.

James Ewing's Will [37]

James Ewing's Executors Statement     

The executor's statement [38] by Mathew Wilson which was recorded after the will refers to the preceding will of Capt. James Ewing.

Four children were alive at the time of Capt. James' death. Nancy and James Jr. died a few years later, leaving Joseph and Martha. Joseph lived with his mother and died in 1835. Martha died in 1855.

James Ewing of North Mountain Meeting House Cemetery

Capt. James and his family lived near Middlebrook, Virginia, and were all buried at the Glebe Burying Grounds, nearby the home of Susanna (Ewing) Sproul, daughter of James Ewing of Monroe County. Recently found at the nearby North Mountain Meeting House Cemetery is the grave of Susanna's brother James, another James who died ten years after Captain James. This James also had a son James Jr., so there were some four persons named James Ewing in that area of Augusta County at one time. This explains some of the conflicts and ambiguities such as where apparently duplicate records were actually referencing different persons. Having established that Capt. James and his son James Jr.  died before 1800, subsequent references in the Augusta/Middlebrook area are generally to the North Mountain James family descendents of the Monroe County James. A timeline chart depicting the time-frame on these two James Ewing families appears on the next page.

Reference Notes – Capt. James Ewing

While there are numerous persons named James Ewing in the Augusta County area, the many documented citations noted below are believed to be associated with the Capt. James Ewing family.

Chalkley's Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia has some ninety-seven citations regarding Ewings which relate to at least six different Ewing families.[39] About thirty-seven of these that seem to be associated with Capt. James Ewing of Staunton.

Will of Martha Ewing, signed November 23, 1849, proven 27 August 1855 [57]

Martha Ewing died in 1855 at the age of ninety-one, the last survivor of the family of Capt. James and Martha. Her will shows she was fairly wealthy, but reveals few Ewing family relationships. Her strongest connections seem to be with the Middlebrook Sproul family, who are the children and grandchildren of Susanna Ewing of the Monroe James Ewing family. While no actual family relationship has ever been found between the Staunton and Monroe Ewing families, Martha lived in close proximity to the Sproul family and Martha's family relatives appear to have all died twenty years before her death. The thirty-six items of her will are listed below, grouped by the family relationships that have been identified.[58] 

Summary of References [59]

Primary Sources

²⁸          Ewing, James. Will. Augusta County, Virginia, WB 8

³⁵          Ewing, James Sr. Will. Augusta County, Virginia, WB VIII

^{12, 25}         Ewing, Joseph. Will. Bath County, Virginia, WB 1

³⁴          Ewing, Joseph and Jacob King. Land Sale. Augusta County Virginia, DB 1A

²⁹          Ewing, Joseph and Marlyn. Estate Appraisal (1837). Augusta County, Virginia, WB 21

⁵⁷          Ewing/Ewin, Martha. Will. Augusta County, Virginia, WB 34

³⁸          Wilson, Mathew. Executor Statement. Augusta County, Virginia, WB VIII

Secondary Sources             

¹⁵          Botetourt County, Virginia. Book of Surveys, Vol. 1

²⁷          Glebe Burying Grounds, 1749, Stones copied by Major W. A. Murphy and Mrs. W. W. King for the Colonel Thomas Hughart Chapter of the DAR, 1934

¹³          Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Marriage Records – Greenbrier Historical Society Archives

¹⁷          Greenbrier County Surveyor’s Land Book One, from 1750

²¹          Greenbrier Historical Society J., Vol. 1, No. 1 (August 1963)

⁴⁹          Abercrombie, James. Virginia Revolutionary Publick Claims

⁴³          Abercrombie, Janice L. and Richard Slatten. Virginia Publick Claims - Augusta County

⁵⁵          Bushman, Katherine. Second Marriage Record of Augusta County, Va. 1813-1850, DAR, Colonel Thomas Hughart Chapter, 1972

¹            Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia. Extracted from the Original Records of Augusta County 1745-1800. Three volumes. Genealogy Publishing Co (Baltimore), 1989. Originally published in 1912.          

⁵¹          DAR, Col. Thomas Hughart Chapter. First Marriage Record of Augusta County, Va., 1785-1813.

⁶          Fife, Margaret Ewing (ed. James R. McMichael). Ewing in Early America, Family History Publishers (Bountiful, Utah), 2003, Chapter XI, John Ewing of Carnashannagh

⁵⁶          Lyman, Mike. Index of the Location of War of 1812 Veteran Graves in Virginia. Compiled by the War of 1812 Society in Virginia, 2007

⁵²          Schreiner-Yantis, Netti. The 1787 Census of Virginia, Augusta County

¹⁹          Shuck, Larry. Greenbrier County, West Virginia Records, Vol. 1 – Greenbrier Co. (West) Virginia early survey records, 1780-1799, Greenbrier Co. (West) Virginia early court minutes, 1780-1801, 1811, 1817-1819, Greenbrier Co. (West) Virginia court record books, 1828-1835, district court records, Botetourt, Greenbrier, Kanawha, and Montgomery counties, 1792-1797, district court deeds, Sweet Springs Virginia court house, 1789-1808, Iberian Pub. Co. (Athens, Georgia), 1988

²⁰          Shuck, Larry. Greenbrier County, West Virginia Records, Vol. 2 – Greenbrier County (West) Virginia personal property tax lists: 1782/3, 1786/8, 1792, 1796, 1799, 1805 & 1815, Iberian Pub. Co. (Athens, Georgia), 1988

⁴⁶          Shuck, Larry. Greenbrier County, West Virginia Records, Vol. 5, Deeds, 1770-1833, Iberian Pub. Co. (Athens, Georgia), 1988

²³          Sims, Edgar. Index to Land Grants in West Virginia, Greenbrier County, West Virginia

⁴⁴          Sparacio, Ruth. Augusta County, Virginia land tax books, 1782-1788 , 1788-1790. Compiled and edited by Ruth and Sam Sparacio, 1987 and 1997

²²          Stinson, Helen. Land Entry Book 1780-1786 – Greenbrier County, West Virginia

¹⁶          Stinson, Helen. Tithables in Greenbrier Co 1775 in Botetourt Co Va Records

Family-line Genealogical Documentation      

⁴            Ewing, Evelyn (Jones). Ewings of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia (Part 1), J. Clan Ewing, Vol. 13, No. 3 (August 2007)

⁵            Ewing, Evelyn (Jones). Ewings of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia (Part 2), J. Clan Ewing, Vol. 13, No. 4 (November 2007)

⁷            Ewing, Nancy Hanks (ed. Barbara Ewing Powell). James Ewing – Pioneer, Self Published, 1994

⁸            Ewing, Wallace K. The Ewings: One American Family. Self-published, Grand Haven, Michigan, 1998

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Margarett McCorkle and Wallace K. Ewing for their encouragement and support over the last several years as I have discovered my great-great-great-great-grandfather, the Monroe County settler James Ewing.