Rev. James LEAR

   Another name for James was Rev. James LAIR.

  Research Notes:

Bradford Lair Family:

Researchers of Rev. James Lear and family should be aware that another Lair family lived in Wayne County. Although there was some interaction between these families (discussed below), no evidence has been found to suggest they were related.

Bradford Lair first appears in Wayne County records in the 1814 tax list. Bradford settled on Sinking Creek, which was in the upper tax district, while James had earlier settled on Beaver Creek, which was in the lower tax district. The different tax districts help to tell these families apart. Per the 1850 census, Bradford was born about 1777 in NC and his wife, Elizabeth, was born about 1788 in GA. It is reported they married 24 Dec 1807 in Pulaski Co., KY. Children were:

Rebecca Lair, b. 10 Apr 1812, m. Thomas Powell 15 Nov 1833
Thomas Hardin Lair, b. 18 Feb 1816, m. Mary Boston 2 Nov 1837
Armilda Lair, b. abt 1818, m. Labor Holder 28 Jul 1836
Elizabeth Ann Lair, b. abt 1818, m. John Powell 11 Sep 1840
John S. Lair, b. abt 1820, m. Nancy Wade abt 22 Apr 1850
Josiah B. Lair, b. abt 1822, m. Nancy Loveall 11 Mar 1844
William B. Lair, b. abt 1823, m. Eliza Bell 4 Jun 1844
James Clark Lair, b. abt 1824, m. Elizabeth Powell, 31 Oct 1844
Mary "Polly" Lair, b. abt 1825
Permilia Jane Lair, b. abt 1827, m. William Powell, 5 Sep 1844
Julia Lair, b. abt 1830 (an idiot per 1850 census)

Besides tax districts, another thing that helps keep these two families straight is the strong connection between the family of Bradford Lair and Rev. Isaac Powell. Besides the intermarriage between the families, Rev. Powell officiated at several of the other weddings.

Also helping to keep the families straight is the consistent use of middle initials. That helped, for example, to distinguish William B. Lair from William Lear/Lair in the records.

There were a few contacts between these two families, but not enough, in my opinion, to suggest they were related in some way. My William Lear/Lair sold his 50 acres on Beaver Creek to Thomas H. Lair by deed dated 7 Oct 1844. This marked the beginning of a move by other sons of Bradford (John S. and William B.) to the Beaver Creek area. As these moves were taking place, the sons of James Lear were heading west. Eventually, Thomas H. Lair and John S. Lair became Trustees of the Old Bethel Methodist Church, where Rev. James had ministered.

Other Lear/Lair Sightings:

Following are some other Lears/Lairs who appear in the records of Wayne County, some of whom may be related to Rev. James in some way via the Garrard Co., KY Lears, but exactly how has not been determined:

William Lair: Appears in the 1801 and maybe 1802 tax list, no property. A William Lair also married Betsy Holmes about 19 May 1817. While there were many William Lears/Lairs in Garrard Co., KY, it seems they have all been accounted for -- see the Research Note for William Lear, father of Rev. James;

John Lair (could be Lain or Laid): Appears in the 1802 and 1803 tax lists, owned 176 acres on Cumberland River;

Jemima Lear: Married John Henson/Hanson 18 Nov 1819. Surety, David Lear. Per census records, James and Sarah appear to have had two daughters born 1805-1810, who have tentatively been identified as Rebecca and Mary. Jemima seems an unlikely candidate to be one of these daughters, for she would had to have married between 9 and 14 years of age. Moreover, the identity of the surety as David Lear suggests a tie to David Lear of Culpeper Co., VA and Garrard Co., KY. Jemima is a name that appears among the Lears of Culpeper Co.;

Nancy Lear/Lair: Married Abraham Flinn on 20 Oct 1825. Abraham Flinn married again to Polly Pendly about 14 Oct 1834, suggesting Nancy had died. Since Rev. James has a daughter named Nancy who was born in 1824, the Nancy in question could not be his daughter;

George Lear: Sold 130 acres on Otter Creek to John Francis on 29 Nov 1826 for $600. Query whether this is the same George of the 1825 tax list who owned no property. George is another common name among the Garrard Co., KY Lears;

Moses Lear: Married to Nancy Dabney on 14 Jan 1834 by Rev. James Lear. Jesse Lear consented. William Lear (presumably the William who was the son of Rev. James) was a witness. Jesse Lear is a proven son of William Lear of Garrard Co., KY, who died in 1807. Assuming, as I believe to be the case, Rev. James was also a son of William of Garrard Co., that would make Jesse his younger brother and Moses his nephew.

Rebecca Lair Dodson: Born 1793, died 1880, buried Dodson Cemetery. Wife of James R. Dodson. Reported to be related to Pulaski Co., KY Lairs, perhaps a sister of Bradford.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Tax List: 1799-1801, Garrard County, Kentucky. ⁴

1799: James Lear, 1 white male 21+, 1 mare/horse

1800: James Lear, 42 1/2 acres, Back Ck, 1 white male 21+, 2 mares/horses

1801: James Lare, 42 1/2 acres, Back Ck, 1 white male 21+, 2 mares/horses

2. Court: 1801-1805, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁷

July Court 1801, page 15: James Lair established right to 70 acres (certificate no. 212).

May Court 1802, page 33: James Lair relinquished his claim to certificate no. 212.

Sept Court 1802, page 38: James Lear established right to 188 acres (certificate no. 370).

March Court 1805, page 85: Motion of James Lair for certificate for land overruled (no acreage information).

3. Tax List: 1803-1809, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁸

1803: Lair, James; 188 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 5 horses/mares

1804: Lear, James; 188 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares

1805: Unreadable

1806: Lear, James; 188 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares

1807: Lear, James; 188 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares

1808: Lare, James; 112 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares

1809, District 1: Lare, James; 225 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares

4. Land Grant: 1804, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁹

Lear, James: 188 acres on Beaver Creek, surveyed 20 Jul 1804, Book 2

5. Deed: 1805, Garrard County, Kentucky. ¹⁰

Dated 1 Sep 1805, Recorded 1 Feb 1806. James Lair to John Lear, 52 1/2 acres on waters of Back Creek adjacent Stout Brinsan's Spring Branch for 55 pounds. Witnesses: Benjamin Wiley, William Lear and Elizabeth Lear. (In affirmation, all names written Lare.)

6. Estate Administration: 1807-1809, Garrard County, Kentucky. ^{11 12 13}

A James Lear served as a co-administrator with Jonathan Finnell for the Estate of William Lear, who died in 1807 in Garrard Co., KY. There appear to be only two candidates for this James: (1) my James Lear, who by that date was living in Wayne Co.; and (2) an older James Lear, who moved to Garrard Co. from Culpeper Co., VA at the end of 1807 and who was probably a first cousin of the deceased. Both a James Lear and a James Lear, Sen appear in the estate sale records, who could only be my James and the Culpeper Co. James, respectively. Besides the fact the "Sen" designation is not part of the co-administrator's name, James Sen would seem an odd choice for administrator, given his recent arrival and the fact there were heirs and other relations who had lived in Garrard Co. for some time that could have served. But, the choice of my James might also seem odd given that he lived in Wayne Co., except for the fact he appears to have been the oldest son still in the vicinity.

7. Land Grant: 1809, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁹

Lair, James: 25 acres on Beaver Cr, surveyed 10 Feb 1809, Book 17

8. Census: 1810, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹⁴

James Lear: 10010-3001

9. Tax List: 1810-1819, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁸

1810: Lair, James; 188 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares

1811: Lair, James; 188 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 4 horses/mares

1812: Unreadable

1813, Capt. Cooper's Co.: Lair, James; 188 acres, Beaver Creek and 25 acres, Harmon's Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares

1814, Capt. Cooper's Co.: Lair, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares; $387

1815, Capt. Cooper's Co.: Lair, James; 246 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares: $419

1816, Capt. Garner's Co.: Leear, James: 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares; $424.50

1817, Capt. Garner's Company: Lear, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares; $414

1818: Tax Book missing

1819, 2nd Precinct: Lair, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares; $543.50

10. Ordination: 1814, Wayne County, Kentucky. ^{15 16 17}

Jan Court 1814
"James Lair produced in Court credentials of his ordination as a minister of the Gospel & Cert. of his being in Regular Communion with the Methodist Society took the oath of allegiance to this Commonwealth and entered into bond with Abraham Vanwinkle, Saml Allen & Joshua Whitaker his Secys [securities] in the penalty of L500 conditioned as the law directs & is thereupon permitted to celebrate marriages."

Per Bork:
"Lair, James (sometimes shown as "James Lear") performed marriages in Wayne from October 1815 to March 1834."

[The General Commission on Archives and History for the United Methodist Church has no record of the ordination of James Lear/Lair. Therefore, they conclude he was probably ordained as a local pastor rather than as part of the itinerant clergy. That would mean he was a lay person who was authorized to assist the itinerant clergy in a given area, which included the authority to perform marriages, as well as other pastoral duties. Since such local pastors were considered part of the laity, they were not included in the records of the annual Kentucky Conference. During this period of time, ordained local preachers outnumbered ordained itinerant ministers by about two to one.]

11. Deed: 1815, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹⁸

Dated 18 Mar 1815, Recorded 20 Mar 1815, Book B:215
John Hambleton to James Lair, 30 acres on Beaver Creek for $100. (John Hamilton was James' brother-in-law.)

12. Census: 1820, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹⁹

James Layer: 201110-121100

13. Tax List: 1820-1829, Wayne County, Kentucky. ^{8 20}

1820, (1st Precinct?): Lear, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares; $580

1821, 2nd Precinct: Lair, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+, 3 horses/mares; $610

1822, 2nd Precinct: Lear, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 4 horses/mares; $700

1823, 1st Precinct: Lair, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 4 horses/mares; $508

1824, 2nd Precinct: Layer, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares; $919

1825, 1st Precinct: Layer, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares; $839

1826, Capt Wm Thomas' Company: Lear, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare; $541

1827, Capt Elisha Franklin's Company: Lair, James; 88 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares; $511

1828: Lear, James; 188 acres, 25 acres and 30 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares; $437

1829: Lear, James; 188 acres, 25 acres and 30 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+, 3 children 4-15; 3 horses/mares; $440

14. Deed: 1821, Wayne County, Kentucky. ^{21 22}

Dated 29 Oct 1821, Recorded 4 Apr 1822, Bk C:318. James and Sally Lair were among the grantors of land that had been owned by Charles Hamilton, Dec'd, to the Trustees of The Methodist Episcopal Church. See Events under Hannah Henry Hamilton for details of this transaction.

This is the oldest deed for a Methodist Church in Wayne County and presumably Rev. James served as its Minister. Actually, the deed refers to an an existing structure on the property called the Bethel Meeting House, so probably services had been held there since Rev. James was ordained in 1814. The Old Bethel church was located in the area now known as Parnell. It was a large log building which remained in use until 1909.

Stokes and Duncan further state, "A second deed for the same land and church was made in 1861 by Shelby Coffey to the then Trustees James Wade, Thomas Lair, Harrison Branscum, John Lair, A. J. Calhoun." Please note that the Lairs serving as Trustees at that time were sons of Bradford Lair, no known relation to Rev. James Lear.

15. Census: 1830, Wayne County, Kentucky. ²³

James Layer: 00110001-01100001

16. Tax List: 1830-1834, Wayne County, Kentucky. ²⁰

1830: Layre, James; 188 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+, 3 horses/mares; $500

1831: Tax List missing

1832: Tax List missing

1833: Lare, James; 183 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares; $440

1834 (very blurry): L___, ____; 183 acres, 30 acres and 25 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21+; 2 horses/mares; $397

1835: Land taxed to widow, Sarah

17. Will: 1834, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁶

Nuncupative [Oral] Will of James Lair, Old Bk B:26-27, Proved 22 Sep 1834, Recopied in New Bk A:55.

"Now laboring under a mortal disease . . my dear wife keep full possession of the house & furniture & as much property as she sees fit . . my daughter Sally, when she leaves her mother, should have a cow & a good bed & furniture & a good womans saddle . . my daughter Nancy should have the same when she leaves her mother . . my 2 sons, William & Charles, I desire to come & live in the house with his mother & William to take the farm & do the best he can to render their mother comfortable & at her death, the land of my wife be sold & equally divided among all my children, but my youngest daughter Nancy to have $20 more than the rest . . This is James Lair's verbable Will in presence of Samuel Allen, James Wade, Elisha Franklin & Joshua Whitaker."

James married Sarah HAMILTON, daughter of Charles HAMILTON and Hannah HENRY, about 14 Feb 1801 in Garrard County, Kentucky.^{1 2 3} (Sarah HAMILTON was born about 1778 in Lincoln County, North Carolina ²⁴ and died after 1850 in Indiana ²⁵.)

  Marriage Notes:

The official marriage book shows Bond No. 189 and the marriage license for James Lear and Sally Hamilton were dated 14 Feb 1801, but that there was no return to evidence the date of marriage. Bondsman was John Lear. Charles and Sally Hamilton were noted to have consented to the marriage of their daughter.

The consent note reads as follows: "February 13th, 1801. This is to certify that I Charles hambleton and Hannah Hambleton [Hannah Hambleton is crossed out] of the County of Garrard and State of Cantucky do consent that James Lear of the said County and state may marry my Daughter sally hambleton." It is signed by Charles Hamilton and Salley Hamilton, the latter by her mark. It was witnessed by David Walker and John Lear. It would appear that Hannah was not present to sign the note, which explains why her name was crossed out. Sally must have signed to signify her own consent. In recording the marriage in the official marriage book, the clerk mistakenly thought Sally was the mother.

This marriage consent note contains the only signature I know of for Charles Hamilton, although it does not appear to be entirely in his handwriting. "Charles" appears to have been written by the person who penned the note and "Hamilton" appears to have been written by Charles himself. It's almost as if the clerk expected Charles to sign by his mark and had started to write his name, when Charles stopped him and added his last name in his own handwriting. As signatures go, it is not the best specimen because the edge of the paper prevented the name from being written normally. The result is "Hamilt" with "on" being written right below. ^{1 2 3}