James FRANKLIN ³

  Research Notes:

I believe the circumstantial evidence that James Franklin is the eldest son of William and Nancy is persuasive, but I will be the first to admit the evidence is not conclusive.

James appears on the 1795 tax list for Madison County, Kentucky, but his appearance predates that of William by one year, suggesting he could have been the son of the John Franklin of earlier tax lists. Or, might he as the oldest son have been the advance man for William?

The 1801 and 1802 tax lists for Wayne County, Kentucky suggest we are dealing with just one family. In 1801, James and Elijah were added to the tax list on the same day. In 1802, James and William are added to the tax lists on the same day.

From 1804-1813, James' whereabouts is unknown. Might he have been in the military? Note that his absence during these years explains why he was not involved in the 1813 deed which serves to identify Elijah and Elisha as sons.

There are records involving both James and Elisha, but Elisha's involvement is limited to being a witness. These records suggest a relationship, but not necessarily that of brothers.

If there was no record of a John Franklin in Madison/Garrard County, I would confidently assert James was the son of William and Nancy. I can, however, confidently assert James was the son of either William and Nancy or John of Madison/Garrard County, which means I respectfully disagree that he was the son of Elisha Franklin and Elizabeth Percival, as is alleged by many descendants of James.

How it came to be accepted by many that James was the son of Elisha Franklin and Elizabeth Percival is unknown to me. Whenever I see that in someone's records, I inquire where that information came from, but never receive an answer. My experience has been that if I don't receive answers to such queries, it is because there is no evidence.

Typically Elisha Franklin is stated to have been born 21 Nov 1741, to have married Elizabeth Percival, and to have died 20 Jan 1823. When someone gives precise dates such as these, you tend to think there is evidence supporting these dates, perhaps a grave marker or a family bible. In an effort to find a reference to this evidence on my own, I decided to do a little Internet sleuthing and found something startling. At the Freeman Family Genealogy Forum at GenForum, I found a detailed, documented Family Group Sheet for Elisha Freeman and Elizabeth Percival. You read it right, Elisha Freeman not Elisha Franklin. Elisha Freeman was born 21 Nov 1741 in Sandwich, MA, married Elizabeth Percival 12 Nov 1767 in Lee, MA, and died 24 Jan 1823 in Lee, MA. Do those dates look familiar?

It is clear to me that someone, somewhere, sometime, somehow confused Elisha Freeman with Elisha Franklin. Unfortunately this error has become accepted by many as fact. As researchers, we simply must become more discerning about the information found on the Internet. That is one of the reasons I provide source information and critical analysis on my web site -- so that you can make your own determination as to whether my conclusions are supported by the evidence.

It is also commonly asserted that James' wife was Elizabeth Fliz. Once again, no one that I have ever asked has been able to tell me the source for that name. I believe I have presented adequate evidence that James married Sarah Rus (or some version of that name). While it's possible Elizabeth Fliz could have been his wife, maybe even a second wife, until evidence to that effect is shown to exist I remain incredulous. ⁴

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Tax List: 1795, Madison County, Kentucky. ⁵

Adams' District: Franklin, James; 1 white male 21+; 3 horses/mares, 5 cattle.

2. Court: 1801-1802, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁶

July Court, 1801 at Page 17:
James Franklin, 100 acres established, Cert. No. 257.

June Court, 1802 at Page 36:
James Franklin named to road crew for road from Courthouse to Geo Duncans on Sinking Creek.

Sept Court, 1802 at Page 39:
James Franklin relinquished claim to Cert. No. 257 and established claim to another 100 acres, Cert. No. 384.

3. Tax List: 1801-1819, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁷

1801: Franklin, Js.; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare.

1802: Frankling, James; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare.

1803: Franklin, James; 200 acres, Elk Springs; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare. This land was entered, surveyed and patented by James.

1804-1813: Missing from records. Whereabouts unknown.

1814, Capt. Cat___ Company: Franklin, James; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare; $50.

1815, Capt. Gaines Company: Franklin, James; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare; $40.

1816, Capt. John Garners Company: Franklin, James; no poll; 2 horses/mares.

[Note that he was not taxed for a white poll in 1816. For the most part, in subsequent years he was also not subject to the poll tax. Court records in 1816 indicate he was exempt on account of old age, even though he would have been only about age 42 that year. Perhaps he had an infirmity as well.]

1817, Capt. John Garners Company: Franklin, James; no poll; 2 horses/mares; $50.

1818: Tax Book missing.

1819: No entry for James.

4. Court: 1816, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁸

March Court, 1816
"Ordered that . . . James Franklin be exempted from paying County levies on account of old age." [Query. Per the 1850 census he would have been about age 42 in 1816.]

5. Census: 1820, Wayne County, Kentucky. ⁹

James Franklin: 110201-11101

6. Tax List: 1820-1829, Wayne County, Kentucky. ^{7 10}

1820: No entry for James.

1821: No entry for James.

1822: Frankling, James; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare.

1823: No entry for James.

1824: Franklin, James; 100 acres, 50 acres and 80 acres, Beaver Creek; no poll; 1 horse/mare; $660 total value.

1825: Franklin, James; 100 acres and 80 acres, Beaver Creek; no poll; 1 horse/mare; $660 total value.

1826, Capt. Wm Thomas Company: Franklin, James; 100 acres, Beaver Creek; no poll; 1 horse/mare; $470 total value.

1827: No entry for James.

1828: Franklin, James; 100 acres, Beaver Creek; no poll; 1 horse/mare; $265 total value.

1829: Franklin, James; 85 acres, Beaver Creek; no poll; 1 horse/mare; $232.50 total value. [Even though James seems to have sold all his land to son John on 23 Sep 1828, James continued to be taxed on the property as though he still owned it. Perhaps it was because he continued to live on the property until at least 1850 when John sold what remained after the partial sale in 1839.]

7. Deed: 1826, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹¹

Dated 28 Nov 1826, Recorded ____; Bk D:291
Edward Sharp of Blount Co., TN to James Franklin, John Harris and Thomas Russell, $400 for 125 acres on Beaver Creek.

8. Deed: 1828, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹²

Dated 22 Sep 1828, Recorded 13 Dec 1828, Bk D:535
James Franklin to Joseph Hamilton, $50 for 15 acres on Beaver Creek. Wit: Elisha Franklin.

9. Deed: 1828, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹¹

Dated 23 Sep 1828, Recorded 1 Oct 1828, Bk D:483
James Franklin to John Franklin, $350 for 85 acres on Beaver Creek. Wit: Elisha Franklin and Thomas Simpson.

10. Census: 1830, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹³

James Franklin: 000100001-0001001

11. Tax List: 1830-1839, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹⁰

1830: Franklin, James; 67 acres, Beaver Creek; no poll; 1 horse/mare; $350 total value.

1831-1832: Tax Lists missing.

1833: Franklin, James; 85 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 white male 21; 1 horse/mare; $300 total value.

1834: No entry for James.

1835: Franklin, James; 80 acres, Beaver Creek; 1 voter, no poll; 2 horses/mares; $280 total value.

1836: Franklin, James; 80 acres, Beaver Creek; no poll; 1 horse/mare; $190 total value.

1837: Franklin, James; 1 white male 21+; 40 acres, Beaver Creek, $120; 1 horse/mare, $50; $170 total value.

1838: Franklin, James; 1 voter, no poll; 2 female children 5-18; 100 acres, Beaver Creek, $300; 1 horse/mare, $45; $45 total value (note land seems to have been exempted).

1839: Franklin, James; 1 white male 21+, 1 county levy; 80 acres, Beaver Creek, $300; 1 horse, $50; $350 total value.

12. Census: 1840, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹⁴

James Franklin: 0000001-11000101

The extra females in the household have not been identified.

13. Tax List: 1840-1849, Wayne County, Kentucky. ^{10 15}

1840: James Franklin; 40 acres, Beaver Creek, $120; no poll; 1 horse/mare, $50; 2 children 7-17; $170 total value. [The reduction in acreage reflects the 1839 sale by John.]

1841, District 2: James Franklin; 40 acres, Beaver Creek, $120; no poll; 1 horse/mare, $50; $170 total value.

1842, District 2: James Franklin; 40 acres, Beaver Creek, $120; no poll; 1 horse/mare, $50; $170 total value.

1843, District 1 (Lower): James Franklin; 40 acres, Beaver Creek, $80; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare, $30; $110 total value.

1844, District 2: James Franklin, 140(?) acres, Beaver Creek, $120; no poll; 1 horse/mare, $30; $150 total value.

1845, District 2: James Franklin, 40 acres, Beaver Creek, $80; 1 white male 21+; 1 horse/mare; $105 total value.

1846, Lower District: James Franklin; no poll; 1 horse, $20; $20 total value.

1847: Tax List missing.

1848 and thereafter: No entries for James.

14. Tax Delinquent List: 1842, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹⁶

Franklin, James - exempt

15. Census: 1850, Wayne County, Kentucky. ³

Household 193:
James Franklin, 76, Farmer, VA

16. Deed: 1850, Wayne County, Kentucky. ¹⁷

Dated 30 Jan 1850, Recorded 17 May 1850, Bk K:430
John Franklin to Lewis Vaughn, $50 for __ acres on Beaver Creek, where "James Franklin now resides," this being the same property deeded to John by James.

James married Sarah RUS on 15 Mar 1796 in Madison County, Kentucky.^{1 2} (Sarah RUS was born in 1780-1785 ^{9 13 14} and died in 1840-1850 in Wayne County, Kentucky ^{3 14}.)

  Marriage Notes:

There appear to be two sources for this marriage: the Vockery compilation and the Bell compilation. However, an asterisk appears in the Vockery book, which means they did not find the bond themselves but had taken the information from another source, to wit, the Bell compilation. Thus, there is really only one source for this marriage. Nonetheless, both entries are shown below, for reasons which I'll then explain.

Per Vockery: Franklin, James and Rue, Sarah; bond dated 15 Mar 1796; bondsman, Charles Hutcherson; no record of consent; no record of return.

Per Bell: Franklin, James and Rus, Sarah; b. Charles Hutcherson; 3-15-1796.

Note the Vockerys misread Bell's spelling of the last name. Although typed, the type is blurry and is susceptible to being read as Rue or Rus. Fortunately, the bride's index has clear type and clearly spells it Rus.

Charles Hutcherson, the bondsman, also appears as a witness along with Agnes Franklin to an 10 Oct 1801 Wayne Co., KY deed from Joseph Beard to James ____. See Events for Agnes Franklin. ^{1 2}