Thomas MAJORS ⁶

  General Notes:

Although it is my normal practice to personally research all of my direct ancestors, I have made an exception in the case of Thomas Majors of Rhea County, Tennessee. After familiarizing myself with the quality of the research done by Dr. Troy Majors (see following Research Note), and the many contributions of Robert Majors, I concluded it was best for me to focus on issues they had not been able to resolve.

The foremost issue, of course, was whether Thomas Majors of Rhea County, Tennessee was the son of Peter Majors and Mary Slider of Baltimore City/County, Maryland. It seemed to me that Y-DNA testing held out the best hope for proving that relationship. Accordingly, I signed on as the co-administrator of the Major DNA Project at Family Tree DNA. I was initially able to recruit three participants for the purpose of proving/disproving the Peter-Thomas connection: Dr. Troy Majors himself to represent our line of Thomas Majors of Rhea County; a descendant of Peter Majors II, a proven son of Peter Majors of Baltimore; and a descendant of John Samuel Majors of Stokes County, North Carolina, like Thomas only a presumed son of Peter. The DNA test results for these participants establish that Thomas of Rhea County and Peter II unquestionably share a common ancestor, but that John Samuel doesn't. Although it is always possible the most recent common ancestor shared by Thomas and Peter II was someone prior to Peter of Baltimore, the circumstantial evidence developed by Dr. Troy Majors certainly points to Peter. The Major DNA Project's website can be viewed at http://worldfamilies.net/surnames/m/major/.

The other notable issue that I have contributed to is that of whether Thomas, after the presumed death of his first wife, Jemima Fuller, married her first cousin, Sarah Fuller. I have concluded that was indeed the case. My reasoning is set forth elsewhere.

I normally try to include in my database, to the extent the information is available, the children and grandchildren of my direct ancestors. In the case of Thomas, however, I have decided to list only his children, and only the basic vital statistics at that. This decision reflects my confidence in the research of Troy Majors and Robert Majors. I believe Robert now has the best records of anyone, for they are rich in detail and replete with sources. He is also willing to share them with those who are interested in more than just the vital statistics and/or later generations.

As to other websites that contain more information than I provide, see the website maintained by Teri Majors Johnson at http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/j/o/h/Teri-Johnson/index.html. Teri has served as a repository for Majors research from many different sources and has made a remarkable effort to sort out what is a confusing family. But, as Teri acknowledges in her introduction, some of the information is contradictory, some of it is unsubstantiated, and some of it, undoubtedly, is wrong. That simply can't be avoided when you strive to be a general repository for a diverse group of researchers. It is up to each line emanating from Thomas to verify her information as to their line. The reader will see, that as to my own direct line, I disagree with some of her information. ^{6 9}

  Research Notes:

N. B. The following memorandum was privately distributed to a small group of Majors researchers at the end of 1999. Although Dr. Majors' intention was to caution the current generation of researchers about slavish acceptance of his theories based upon his earlier research, it ironically became the seminal synopsis of the evidence regarding our Majors family. This is so even though it was not, because of its intended purpose, sourced. However, the sources are sufficiently described so that current researchers should be able to locate them. Because of the importance of the memorandum, I asked Dr. Majors for and received permission to reproduce it on this website. Although the Majors DNA project appears to have provided proof of the Peter-Thomas connection that eluded him in his research, there are still many other issues that will hopefully be pursued by the current generation of researchers. We are a long ways from knowing all the answers, which means this memorandum is not yet ready for the trash can, as Dr. Majors had hoped would eventually be the case (see Preface).

***

The Peter and Thomas Majors Connection

Troy E. Majors

Wichita, Kansas
September 18, 1999
Revision 1: November 15, 1999


Preface

Since putting down these thoughts on the Peter Majors connection in September, Teri Majors Johnson has uncovered a record that I had completely forgotten about when I wrote this piece on September 18. It has been over 30 years since I have done any genealogical research and that together with natural aging has caused me to forget many things. This record clearly establishes the Elias Majors who marries Diana Bosley in Baltimore Co., Md in 1763 as the son of Peter Majors, and it also establishes that Peter Majors died in about 1750. Accordingly, these thoughts have been revised to reflect this new bit of information. The main motive of this writing, however, remains the same, to reveal to the Majors genealogical community the uncertain basis for the claim that I made back in the '60s that Thomas Majors of Rhea Co., Tennessee is the son of Peter Majors of Baltimore Co., Maryland. The Elias Majors revelation seems to remove some of the doubt that I expressed surrounding the Thomas Majors connection, but it does not in and of itself prove the connection. Maybe it confirms a little bit now 30 years later that at least I was on the right track. My basic argument though remains the same, that proof must be found before we can establish the Thomas to Peter Majors relationship. With the growth of genealogical interest in the Rhea Co. Thomas Majors by many of his descendents (in the '60s, I was the only one), the availability of previously inaccessible records, and now the ease of record transmission with computer technology, the possibility for a resolution of this question becomes increasingly more likely. Once the proof has been found that either establishes or disproves the relationship, these thoughts can be safely committed to the trash can, my purpose having been achieved.


I. The Peter Majors Connection

There is no conclusive evidence that I am aware of that Peter Majors of Baltimore County, Maryland of the early 1700s is the father of Thomas Majors who died in Rhea County, Tennessee in 1832. I originally made this connection back in the 1960s based upon what evidence I had, but it was by and large an educated guess, which may not be true. All descendents of both this Peter Majors and Thomas Majors should be aware of this. Unfortunately, many have freely passed around this connection to such an extent that my unproven data have ended up in some very hallowed places and in many published family histories, which causes people to believe that it is proven fact, which it may not be. Personally, although I remain hopeful, it's doubtful that any conclusive proof that Peter is the father of Thomas will ever be found. What little "proof" already available may be the best that will ever come. Back in the 60s, I combed the early records of Maryland very carefully until I couldn't find anything new, and the sources that would have provided an answer did not seem to be there. Of course, it's always possible that there are many records that I was unaware of waiting to be explored, and hopefully this is the case. For now though, we should bear in mind that Peter simply may not be the father of Thomas.


The evidence for the connection:

(1) The 1830 U.S. Census of Rhea Co., Tennessee indicates that Thomas Majors was born between 1730 and 1740 (places of birth were not recorded in the early U.S. Census records). There is no other record of his birth that would pin it down to the exact year, and certainly no record that indicates where he was born. There is a marriage record of what seems to be a Thomas Major in Baltimore Co., Md. (St. John's P.E. Parish Register) on 22 January 1761. OK. If the marriage record is of the Rhea Co. Thomas Majors, then that would mean he would have been between 20 and 30 years of age when he married. This is good. At least the two dates are compatible with the idea that the Rhea Co. and the Baltimore Co. Thomas Major are the same person. Another Thomas Majors that would fit these marriage and birth dates does not appear to exist anywhere in the Colonies, at least none that I could find. (Note that entries in the Episcopal Parish registers do not necessarily indicate anything about religious affiliation. All citizens of Maryland, regardless of religious affiliation, were required to register births, marriages, etc., at the church of the Parish in which they were residing.)

(2) Peter Majors first appears in the Records of Baltimore Co., Md. as one of the witnesses for the will of a Richard Cromwell, in 1723. The marriage of Peter Majors to Mary Slider and the birthrates of what appear to be his first three children, Esther, Peter, and Rachel, are recorded in the St. Paul's P.E. Parish Register from 1730 to 1735. St. Paul's was located 4 miles east of Baltimore City at the time and was moved into the city in 1739. There are no more Majors entries in the St. Paul's register after 1735. In 1743, Peter Majors is listed as a contributor (10 shillings) to the building fund for the St. Thomas (Garrison) church, built as a "Chapel of Ease" of St. Paul's parish for Baltimore City and County. Then in 1750, a court record refers to the 12 year old Elias Majors as the orphan son of Peter Majors. Peter Majors' daughter Esther's marriage to William Organ is recorded in the St. Thomas P.E. Parish Register in 1752. John Majors' marriage to Rebecca Pollard is recorded in the St. John's P.E. Parish Register in 1756, as is the marriage of a Thomas Major to Jemima Fuller on the 22 January 1761, and Elias Majors to Diana Bosley in 1763. (The St. Johns Parish church was located a few miles northeast of Baltimore City at this time.) What all this adds up to is that (1) a Thomas Major appears in the middle of the various records of Peter Majors' family activity in Baltimore City and County in the years 1723 to 1769, (2) all of Peter Majors children's births are not recorded in the Baltimore Co. Parish registers, definitely true of Elias, and if Thomas and John are also children of Peter, then true of them also. It is then a reasonable assumption that Thomas is the son of Peter. The only other Majors family in Baltimore Co. during this time (1760s and 1770s) is that of James Major from Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania who moved to Baltimore Co. in 1769 (well after Thomas Major's marriage in 1761) and some of whose family records appear from 1771 to 1775 in the First Presbyterian Church of Baltimore instead of the P.E. Parish Registers (probably indicating a Scotch or Scotch-Irish heritage). He is listed as a tithable in the Back River Upper 100 in 1773, and curiously enough listed also as a tithable in Baltimore City the same year. James and his two sons Robert and Alexander sign a loyalty oath in Baltimore in 1778. James dies in Frederick Co., Md. in 1795 and names all his children in his will -- a Thomas is not among them.

(3) The Rhea Co. Thomas's children, of the ones we know, start being born in the early 1760s. This is consistent with a 1761 marriage date.

(4) There is no other entry of this Baltimore Co. Thomas Major who married in 1761 appearing in Baltimore Co. records that I was ever able to locate. This would seem to indicate that after his marriage, he had moved on.

(5) The Rhea Co. Thomas names one of his sons Peter, another one Elias, and another one John. Not much in the way of evidence, but at least a consideration.

(6) Esther Organ, Peter Majors' daughter, appears on a list of tithables in Halifax Co, Virginia in 1785, presumably a widow. A William Organ appears there in 1782. Remember that Esther Majors married William Organ. No indication of when they first appeared in Halifax Co. The oldest of Thomas Majors' children were born in Virginia, according to the 1850 U.S. census records of those still alive at that time, specifically Absalom Majors. The Thomas Majors of Madison Co., Kentucky is born, according to his own statement in his pension application, in Halifax Co., Va. in 1764 and may be the eldest son of the Rhea Co. Thomas Majors. If so, this would indicate that Thomas Majors left Baltimore Co., Md. shortly after his marriage and settled for a while, along with a few other Baltimore Co. families (including his sister Esther's family), in Halifax Co., Va., where his first few children were born. This migration path, from Baltimore Co., Md. to the Halifax Co., Va. area, to the Wilkes Co., N.C. area, to the Hawkins Co., Tenn. area, was a typical 18th Century Scotch-Irish migration path that many families took, after disembarking at Philadelphia or Baltimore. Unfortunately, the records of Halifax Co., Va. are scanty. And by 1780, the Halifax Majors are already moved into Wilkes Co., N.C., where unfortunately the records are also scanty. So this is no proof of a connection to Peter Majors other than consistency. Also, it depends to some extent on the Thomas Majors of Madison Co., Ky., being the eldest son of Thomas Majors of Rhea Co, which he may not be. But the consistency, including the presence of Esther in Halifax, seems to suggest that Thomas' and Esther's presence in Halifax may not be a coincidence.

(7) The Revolutionary War pension statement of Alexander Major of Hopkins Co., Ky. states that he was born in Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania on 30 September 1756 and moved with his father James Major to Baltimore Co., Md., when he was about 13 years old (1769). He states that he enlisted as a substitute for his father when the revolution started. After his first term, he moved with his father to Frederick Co., Md. He served a second term and then after the revolution moved to Virginia, then to Woodford Co., Ky. His father's will was probated in Frederick Co., Md., on 9 November 1795. He names all his children both by his first and second wives, and there is no "Thomas" among them. This is the only other "Majors" family in Baltimore Co. during the time that could have been the source of a Thomas Majors whose marriage is registered in the St. John's parish register in 1761. And there is no Thomas among them. James' son Robert does have a son named Thomas, but this Thomas is not born until 1771, much too late to be the Thomas in question. Also, this family has no entries in the Parish Registers of Baltimore Co. but instead appear in the First Presbyterian Church of Baltimore.

(8) All the surviving records that I have ever seen for the early Colonies (1620 to 1700) show the Majors families without the "s" on the end. The Peter Majors of Baltimore Co., Md. is the first incidence that I have found in colonial records from 1700 to 1750 with the "s" on the end. And for one with an "s" on the end of his name, it was quite reassuring to find a Major family in early America that also had the "s" on the end of their name. The marriage record in St. John's parish register for Thomas Major, however, shows him without the "s". For some reason, after about 1800, the "s" starts being the most common, especially in the southern states, where Major without the "s" is rather rare. For example, the James Majors listed above appears most of the time in Pennsylvania and Maryland as Major (without the "s"), but his probated will in 1795 lists him as Majors, and some of his children continue as Majors. Those researching the Majors bunch should be aware also that the early spelling of names is erratic to say the least. You will find record entries for Peter Majors of Baltimore Co., Md. entered variously as Maigers, Magers, Maggers, Majors, Mayjors, Maijors, etc., and in one place, an obvious error, he is entered in an index to land records as Magee, but the land deed itself clearly shows Magers. Sometimes the surname Majors will be transcribed as Mayors, Moyers, Myers, etc., but normally these surnames are not Majors. And sometimes these names will be transcribed as Majors, especially confusing. Also beware of Wagers. Wagers is a legitimate surname and is definitely not Magers. These are normally errors in transcription by people unable to read the handwriting and especially the old handwriting styles, and not the error of the clerk who originally wrote the entry in the record. Normally the handwriting is accurate. It's when people try to read the handwriting from the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s that the mistakes are made. When you are reading a typewritten record that reports data from these earlier centuries, beware that someone has transcribed it from the original handwritten record and that mistakes are quite common.

In summary, it appears that the only Majors in Baltimore Co., Md. that could be the father of Thomas Majors of Rhea Co. is the original Peter Majors, even though there is no record of the connection other than circumstantial evidence. At least, this is the way it appeared to me in the 1960s when I did all this research. But there are good reasons to believe that there is no connection. Here are the main ones:


The evidence against the connection:

(1) No record whatsoever, no will, no court record, no church record, no family bible, not even an oral family tradition, documents who Thomas Majors' father is, at least no record that has been found thus far. The same is true of Peter Majors' children. The birth of Peter and Mary's children Esther, Peter, Jr., and Rachel are documented in the St. Paul's Parish Register, and Elias' status as a child of Peter is documented in the Baltimore Co. court records, but there are no other entries in the Parish Registers or records of Baltimore Co. that I could locate for the birth of any other children. Since Peter died in 1750, we are talking about a 20 year span of potential productivity from his marriage to Mary Slider, so it is quite possible, even quite probable, that there are other children of Peter and Mary that do not show up in the records. But so far, nothing to prove that.

(2) It is possible that the Thomas Major who marries Jemima Fuller in 1761 in Baltimore Co. is indeed the Thomas Majors of Rhea Co., Tenn. but not the son of Peter Majors. It's possible that the John and Thomas are not children of Peter, but of someone else not yet identified, or they may not even be related, to each other or to Peter. The parish records do not have any further entries that would clarify the situation. There is one Majors family historian in fact who claims that John Majors was born in Scotland and was the immigrant ancestor for his line of Majors, but no proof whatsoever is offered. This John moves to Dorchester Co., Md. shortly after his marriage, then later to the Surrey Co., N.C. area. The question remains, though, what was John Majors doing in Baltimore Co., Maryland in the same Parish where there were other Majors? Was he related to them or was it just a coincidence? If we were discussing a common surname like Smith or Jones, we would probably just say it's a coincidence, but with the surname Majors, which is not all that common in the colonies at this time, one is inclined to believe that they would be related. So it is tempting to make a connection, but proof is still required. So, we don't know for sure if John and Thomas are even related to each other, much less to Peter.

(4) Since there is no certain history of Thomas Majors prior to 1790, when he is settled on the South Fork of the Holston River in Washington Co., Va., he could have come from anywhere, even directly from the British Isles and be the original immigrant. What are the most likely American possibilities other than Baltimore County, Maryland? Virginia is the most likely candidate, since records show a plentiful supply of Major immigrants coming from England to Virginia from the 1640s on. But complete Majors families don't show up very often in any surviving records. And they come and go from individual counties without leaving much of a trace. The records are very spotty. The most plentiful, consistent occurrence of Major families prior to 1700 seem to occur in Accomac and Northhampton Counties, Va. There is even a Peter Major, as well as a Thomas Major, in Accomac County during the mid 1600s. After 1720, add Philadelphia Co., Pa. and Baltimore Co, Md. After about 1760, there is a sprinkling of them in places too numerous to mention. While Majors are not as plentiful as most other surnames in the early Colonies, there is a surprising number of them by 1790, and all of them do not show up in the 1790 census. And by 1800, there are so many Major(s) families scattered all over the country that it makes you dizzy at even the thought of trying to sort them all out. (Note that James Branch Cabell's book, The Majors and their Marriages, published in 1915, seems that it ought to be a gold mine of information, but unfortunately it is not. It deals with only one family in central Virginia, an Edward or Richard Major [don't remember], during the 1600-1700s, as I recall, with no apparent connection to any Majors family of interest.)

(5) The most disturbing possibility for the Peter Majors connection is that there may not have been a Thomas Majors in Baltimore Co., Md. at this time at all. The Thomas Major's marriage record to Jemima Fuller in 1761 could have been transcribed wrong, and he may be a Mayer, Moser, or some other surname. This needs to be checked again against the original handwritten marriage record to verify what the name is. The parish registers are in the Maryland Historical Society's library in Baltimore. When I was there in the 1960s, I copied the record, but can't remember now whether I was looking at the original handwriting or a transcribed copy. One needs a photocopy of the record. It's quite possible that I am guilty of misinterpreting the handwritten record. One of the old style handwritten "s"s (it extends well above and below other letters) looks very much like a "j", so a Moser or Mosher could be very easily copied as a Majer if one didn't know the difference. (Interestingly, my wife signs her name using this old style "s" as a "j".) There is absolutely no other record of a "Thomas Major" in Baltimore Co. at this time that I am aware of, and maybe the explanation is that he was never there in the first place. The other two marriages in the St. John's parish register do not present any problems. John Mayjors, for example, appears in a land deed in 1763 (I have photo copy of this handwritten deed) in which his name is unmistakably, clearly spelled as "John Mayjors".

In conclusion, for Majors genealogists who want a sure answer to this question of whether there is a connection between Peter Majors of Baltimore Co., Md. and Thomas Majors of Rhea Co., Tenn., an answer is not be found in the data thus far uncovered, nor will it be found in other genealogists' intuitive guesses based on other peoples' work which they may take to be evidence. It will require new record discoveries, a property deed, a parish record, or a similar such record which has entries which establish the relationship, but which so far has escaped the best efforts at discovery by this researcher. I am comforted however by the persistent efforts of other genealogists to search and find the necessary records. More effort I think also should be spent on finding the Virginia connections to the family, since Absalom and no doubt other sons and daughters of Thomas were born in Virginia. Maybe the necessary records to establish or refute the relationship could be found there.


II. The Thomas Majors Connection

Thomas Majors is the presumed progenitor of all the Majors who appear in Washington Co., Va. (this county is in the extreme southwest corner of Virginia and it borders Tennessee) from 1792 to 1795, all the Majors who appear in Jefferson Co., Tenn. from 1795 to about 1820, and all the Majors of Rhea Co., Tenn. from about 1815 on. He appears profusely in the records of these counties, and gradually his children, as they mature and marry, start appearing profusely in the records also. His will is probated in Rhea Co., Tenn. in August, 1832, but he only names his son Abner and two of Abner's children. So, there are many problems with Thomas. There is no proof as to where he came from or as to who his father was. There is further no sure proof of who any of his children were except Abner, named in Thomas' will. All the evidence is circumstantial. There are two questions to deal with in establishing the Thomas link. First, we must separate him from the other Thomas Majors that at this time suddenly appear in east Tennessee records. And, second, we must examine the evidence that suggests that Thomas is the father of the Absalom, Abner, Peter, Elias, John, William, etc., who appear in the records of Jefferson and Rhea Counties. Let us deal with each of these questions in turn.

[Part] I

First, there is the question of which Thomas Majors we are talking about in east Tennessee records. Suddenly, around the same time that our Thomas starts appearing in the east Tennessee records, there are three other Thomas Majors that must be separated out: (1) a Thomas Majors in Blount Co., Tenn., (2) a Thomas Majors in Sullivan Co.and Carter Co. Tenn., and (3) a Thomas Majors in Hawkins Co., Tenn. All these counties are in east Tennessee relatively close together, and relatively close to Jefferson Co. In fact Hawkins Co. borders Jefferson Co. at this time, and the location of our Thomas Majors bunch is in northern Jefferson Co. (now Hamblen Co.) right on the border with Hawkins Co.in the area known as Cheek's Crossroads during the years from 1795 to about 1815. This is the same area where the Crocketts of "Davy Crockett" fame lived, and there is a "Crockett's Tavern" from this time still standing in the area today. And while they are in Rhea Co, they are in the northern part of the county right on the border to Roane Co.
.
First, Thomas Majors of Blount Co., Tenn. A Samuel Majors starts appearing in the county records in 1796. His will is probated on 10 Feb. 1801, in which he names his wife Mary, his son Robert, his father Thomas, and mentions but does not name other children. Some of his children appear in later court records though, identified as children of Samuel. In 1803, Thomas Majors and his wife Ann deed 150 acres on Cripple Creek in Whyte Co., Va., to John Hashbariger. This same record is in Whyte Co., Virginia records. In 1805, there are miscellaneous entries for Thomas Majors. Then on 23 Feb., 1807, the nuncupative will (oral will made before death) of Thomas Majors is presented in court. This Thomas who dies in 1807 obviously cannot be our Thomas who dies in 1832. It would be of great interest to try to pin down the ages of this Samuel and Thomas who died so close in time, and to establish any connection or disconnection to our line. I do not have photocopies of these two wills. It may be of interest to have these.

Second, Thomas Majors of Sullivan Co., Tenn. On 7 Feb., 1804, a Stephen Majors deeds to his son Thomas Majors one Negro named Top. On 26 Feb., 1806, Stephen Majors deeds to his son Thomas Majors all his property, his 100 acres, horses, cattle, and hogs, all family utensils, and household furniture, and stipulates that "my son Thomas Majors is to maintain me and his mother during our natural life time on a decent like manner." Evidently, he was very old and was preparing for his last days. There is no record of a will in Sullivan Co. other than this deed because there was nothing left for him to will. Then there is a record, don't remember the source, that indicates the birth and death dates of Thomas Majors, "Thomas Majors, Nov.22, 1776 -- Mar 11, 1831, Washington Co., Va., son of Stephen Majors who died Sullivan Co., Tenn." I copied this last record from somewhere back in the 60's but for the life of me I now can't find the source of the record. Perhaps someone copied it from a headstone. But I remember at the time being skeptical of the validity of this record, so it should be used with caution. In any event, assuming that this is an accurate record, then this Thomas who died in Washington Co., Va. in 1831 is not our Thomas Majors either, since ours was born 1730-1740 and died in 1832 in Rhea Co. Also, this Thomas who was born in 1776 could not be the father of Absalom, Abner, Peter, etc., of Jefferson Co. He was not old enough, since Absalom was born in 1770. It should be mentioned that there is also a Thomas Majors in 1798 Carter Co., Tenn., adjacent to Sullivan Co., but this is probably the same Thomas and not a different one. It would be of interest to find out where these Majors came from and who they are related to also.

Third, Thomas Majors of Hawkins Co., Tenn. This is a tough one. Thomas Majors of Madison Co., Ky., indicates in his Revolutionary War pension application that he was born in 1764 in Halifax Co., Va., enlisted in the service in Wilkes Co., N.C., and lived in Hawkins Co., Tenn before migrating to Kentucky. In his 1847 pension application, he states that he has resided in Madison Co., Ky. for 14 years and that previous to that he lived in Hawkins Co., Tenn. He states that he was robbed of his discharge and some $30 dollars while emigrating to Tenn. This seems to suggest that he moved to Tennessee shortly after the revolution. He enlisted in 1780 and served 18 months, so he would have been discharged in 1782. So, according to his statements, he should be found in the records of Hawkins Co., Tenn. sometime between about 1786 to 1833, a period of 47 years, but it is not clear from his statement that those are the exact years he was in Hawkins Co., and it is also not clear that there is any record of him there during this time (I believe he does show up in the 1830 census of Hawkins Co.). In 1787, there is a tax record of one Thomas Majors in Washington, Co., Tenn., (the source of Hawkins Co.) which I have always believed to be the Thomas of Rhea Co. Remember that Tennessee was not even a state until 1796, and the earliest counties were still part of North Carolina. Settlements were first starting in the 1770s, but the 1780s saw a big push of immigration and the creation of many new counties. Washington Co. was the very first county (1777) and contained the entire state of Tennessee, all other counties being created out of it. Hawkins Co. was created in 1786 and contained what is now Hawkins, Hamblen, Grainger, Hancock, Claiborne, Campbell, Union, Anderson, Jefferson, Knox, Roane, Rhea, and Hamilton -- a pretty big county. But by 1833, most of these counties had already been created out of Hawkins, so it's difficult to say where in Hawkins Co. this Thomas Majors of Madison Co., Ky. is from. Unfortunately, the census records for 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820 for all these counties don't exist anymore. So, it is extremely difficult to sort things out. If he is the son of our Thomas Majors, then perhaps many of the Thomas Majors entries in Jefferson Co. are for the younger Thomas, but there seems to be no way to prove the connection of this Thomas to our family. Maybe someday someone will find the necessary records to establish the connection. It's only safe to say that he is not our Thomas Majors because the age is not right, our Thomas being born 1730-1740 and this Thomas in 1764. It would be of interest to know the wife and children of this Thomas to see if there are any clues there.

An interesting aside: In the records of the Bent Creek Baptist Church, located near the Cheek's Crossroads area, there is a Mary Majors listed in the church register among those excommunicated. On page 62, Nov. 2, 1806, a Brother Witt was "appointed to cite Sister Majors to our next meeting to answer reports abot (sic) her." In Dec., Sister Majors came forward and acknowledged part of the Report signed by 11 men. In Jan., Sister Majors came forward and acknowledged her crimes. The church men were not satisfied so kept her under censure. Finally, in Feb., she was excluded from membership for "1. ronging Mr. Grisham in stoping his water; 2. wilfully telling a scandalous falshood out of spite on pryer Grisham; 3. for rasing a stick & trying to beet Jesse Cheek without provication and made his horse throw him; 4. for neglecting to attend meeting" (original spelling followed). On p. 60, March 2, 1808, church agreed to give Brother Thomas Majors a letter of "dismission." This is presumably our Thomas, but may be the younger Thomas of Hawkins Co., and the only Mary Majors I know about at this time in this area is Peter Majors' wife, unless the younger Thomas has a wife named Mary.

In conclusion, then, it's clear that none of the other Thomas Majors of east Tennessee during the period of 1787 to 1830 are our Thomas Majors. There remains only the question of whether the various Majors who marry in Washington Co., Va. and Jefferson Co., Tenn. are children of the Thomas Majors who dies in Rhea County in 1832.

[Part] II

What evidence is there to suggest that Thomas is the father of the Absalom, Abner, Peter, Elias, John, William, etc., who appear in the Washington Co., Va., Jefferson Co. and Rhea Co., Tenn.?

(1) First, there is chronology. Thomas is the first one who appears in the records as a landholder. A Thomas Majors appears in a Washington Co., Tenn. tax record for 1787, as one pole (meaning no males over the age of 20 in his household except himself). Then, if this is our Thomas, he evidently moved across the Virginia border into Washington Co, Va. where he is a landholder (153 acres) from 1792 to 1795. There is a marriage record there of Absalom Majors to Elizabeth Smith on 9 September 1795. In 1795, Thomas deeds away his land in Washington Co., Va., and moves to Jefferson Co., Tenn. where he buys 128 acres, later on another 175 acres. During the ten-year span from 1796 to 1807, Abner, Peter, Mary, John, Elias, Nancy, and Dicey Majors all get married in Jefferson Co., Tenn. The 1850 U. S. Census records for Cass Co., Missouri indicate that Absalom was born in 1770 in Virginia. If all of the Majors who married during this time, 1795-1807, in Jefferson Co., Tenn. were at least 20 when they married, this would indicate that they were all born roughly between 1770 and 1787, during which time Thomas could have been between maybe 35-52 years of age. His wife's name as indicated by Thomas' deed of land in Washington Co., Va. is named Sarah. (If Thomas is the Thomas of Baltimore Co., Md., then at some point Thomas married a second time.)

If he married in 1761, there must be other children of his born between 1761 and 1770. One of these children could be Margaret Majors, who married Richard Haines in about 1783. Although we don't have a marriage record of Margaret and Richard, descendents' family records show Margaret's maiden name to be Majors and that she married Richard in about 1783. Richard Haines' household is only two doors away from Thomas Majors in the 1787 tax records of Washington Co., Tenn. The Haines family were in Montgomery Co., Virginia before moving to Washington Co., Tennessee. Richard Haines' and Absalom Majors' families together moved to Indiana after 1820. There were probably other females born between 1761 and 1770, but finding them would be extremely difficult if not impossible. Another male born during this period might be the Thomas Majors of Madison Co., Ky. He states in his Revolutionary War pension application that he was born in 1764 in Halifax Co. Va., was living in Wilkes Co., N.C. when he enlisted to serve in the Revolution, moved at sometime afterward to Hawkins Co., Tenn. (Jefferson was created out of Hawkins in 1792) before he at some point moved to Madison Co., Ky. In the 1880 Rhea Co., Tennessee federal census, Peter Majors youngest daughter Penelope indicates that her father was born in North Carolina. That, together with Absalom indicating in the 1850 Cass Co., Missouri federal census that he was born in Virginia, would seem to indicate a migration path consistent with this Thomas Majors' migration path. It is interesting that Thomas' will probated in Rhea Co., Tenn. in 1832 refers to him as Thomas Majors, Sr. -- suggesting the existence of a Thomas Majors, Jr.

One caveat to this connection might be the 1787 tax record for the Thomas in Washington Co., Tenn. It shows only one pole (one person over 20), but if Thomas Majors of Madison Co., Ky was born in 1864, then he would have been about 23 years old in 1787 and had he been living with or in the vicinity of his father would have either been registered as another pole or in a separate household, neither of which appear to be true. He evidently is somewhere else in 1787 and may or may not be the son of our Thomas.

Or else (and this is a pretty big "or else" which opens up a whole new can of worms) the entry in the 1787 tax record for Washington Co, Tenn. is for the Madison Co., Ky Thomas Majors. This would mean that our Thomas was somewhere else in 1787 and that our first certain record of him and any of his known family members would be in Washington County, Virginia in 1792.

(2) Next is the age. The 1830 census of Rhea Co., Tenn., shows a male resident in Abner Majors' household as being born between 1730 and 1740 (census records at the time did not indicate place of birth). Two years later, Thomas dies and names Abner as his son. Clearly, Thomas is of an earlier generation than all the Majors who are just getting married between 1795 and1807, and just the right age to be the father of all of them.

(3) Then there is the cohesion of all the Majors who appear in the records. They all stick together in the Jefferson Co., Tennessee area during the years from 1795 to about 1810. And most of them move to Rhea County, Tennessee during the years 1810 to 1820, though some take a temporary route through other counties, and some start moving to other locations. So in Rhea County in the 1820s, we find a very old Thomas along with Absalom, Abner, and Peter and their children. By 1820, John, William, and possibly Elias have relocated elsewhere. (There is a John, Elias, and William who appear in the early records of Rhea Co. (starting about 1820), but it is believed that these are children of Absalom, Abner, and Peter.) There is thus a clear route from Washington Co.in 1792, through Jefferson Co. from 1795 to no later than 1820, to Rhea Co. beginning in about 1810, with Thomas Majors initially leading the pack, and being the oldest and one of the first to die at a very old age. Of course, by 1810, Thomas Majors, Sr. is already in his 70s and is probably not maintaining an independent household. He is living with his son Abner when he dies in 1832. In the early years of the century, and especially after Thomas' death, Thomas' children start leaving home and generally move westward. It is believed that John died prematurely in Grainger County in about 1809. William moves to Giles Co., Tennesse in 1818, then later to White Co., Illinois. The 1850 census finds 80-year-old Absalom in Cass County, Missouri, where he presumably dies later. Peter dies in Rhea Co. in November of 1844. Abner was still in Rhea Co. in the 1840 Census but is not there in 1850, presumably having died during the intervening years. What happened to Elias is not clear to me at the moment, but he may have emigrated to Missouri with Absalom, and this could easily be researched, as could be the known female children of Thomas..

An interesting aside: In the Rhea Co. papers, there is a record in 1813 of a sale by Absalom Majors to James Upton of 33 gals., 2 qts, & 1 pint of whiskey, the whiskey at three shillings the gallon. Was Absalom a distiller?

In conclusion, that's about it. As with Peter's connection, not much for evidence, and mostly circumstantial. But I believe the circumstantial evidence here is much more compelling than with the Peter Majors connection. Still one must keep an open and skeptical mind. As for myself, I will continue to consider Thomas Majors of Rhea Co., Tenn. to be my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather until someone can convince me otherwise. Not so with Peter Majors of Baltimore Co., Md. His relationship to our family is to the best of my knowledge not yet established. For him I will keep an open mind but will not accept him as my progenitor until better evidence is found. Other genealogists are of course free to make up their own minds, and may very well opt for the connection, since a very good case can be made based solely on the circumstantial evidence.

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  Birth Notes:

The range for Thomas' year of birth is based on census records. It's at least possible that Thomas was the child that was the subject of the 1730 bastardy action, which would make him the next child after Esther. On the other hand, since the births of Esther, Peter (II) and Rachel are all recorded in St. Paul's Parish Register, that may indicate he was born after Rachel, since neither Thomas' nor Elias' birth was recorded there. But, if that were the case one would think Thomas would also have been bound out after his father died, just as Elias was, unless he was born after Elias and was considered too young to be bound out. His marriage in 1761 seems more consistent with his year of birth being closer to 1740. Pending additional information, I have decided to list Thomas as the last child of Peter and Mary.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Deed: 1769, Orange County, North Carolina. ¹⁰

Dated 28 Jan 1769; Registered Jan 1770; Book 2:600
Henry Fuller of Orange County to Thomas Mayjers of the same place, 185 acres on both sides of Stoney [Storeys/Stories?] Creek, part of a 365 acre tract acquired from Benjamin Long by deed dated 5 Aug 1761. No reference to consideraton other than "for good causes me thereunto moving." Henry signed by his mark -- an H -- and the deed was witnessed by John Pryor, John Camp and James Banhook. It was proven at the January 1770 Court by the oath of John Pryor and was ordered to be registered. [The lack of consideration suggests this conveyance was a wedding gift from Henry.]

No subsequent deed by Thomas Majors disposing of this land has been found. However, his absence from the 1777 tax list (seemingly the only tax list from the 1770s that has survived) indicate he and Sarah had left the area by then. Also, by 1784 Henry is being taxed on 365 acres on Storeys Creek, which corresponds to his original 1761 purchase and seemingly includes the 185 acres he gifted to Thomas in 1769. I suspect that Thomas simply relinquished the land back to Henry when he and Sarah left the area, without there being any formal documentation.

Note there are many other Events that could be recorded for Thomas, but I have chosen to record only those that were products of my research. See the records of Troy Majors and Robert Majors for more information.

Thomas married Jemima FULLER, daughter of John FULLER (III) and Susannah HUTCHINS, on 22 Jan 1761 in Baltimore County, Maryland.^{1 11} (Jemima FULLER was born on 9 Oct 1736 in Baltimore County, Maryland ¹² and died before 1769 ¹³.)

Thomas next married Sarah FULLER, daughter of Henry FULLER and Elizabeth.^{3 4 5} (Sarah FULLER was born about 1747 in Virginia ¹⁴ and died after 1795 ¹⁵.)