Sturgills in America

Sturgill, David

Events

Parents

Families

Narrative

DAVID STURGILL was the mystery man of the family of Francis Sturgill Sr. and Rebecca Hash. There is a tradition in two different branches of the descendants of Francis that he had six sons and six daughters - the fact that the family was evenly devided would have caused this to be remembered. Francis died intestate in 1807 and the shares of the estate were traded back and forth between his heirs several times before Francis Jr finally obtained all of them and sold the original homesite in 1839. These deeds identify eleven of the twelve children beyond dispute but no deed from DSavid was found. One deed made by William and Jane Jones specified their share as 1/11th which has led some to believe that htere were only eleven children in the family but as only the one deed specified the share as 1/11th there is another explanation for why it was so worded. This deed was made five years after Ann, sister of Jane, had died so Jane apparently did not consider the fact that Ann left a baby daughter who was the heir to her share. this share was share was signed over to Anns mother by Timothy Perkins, Ann's husband.

The 1810 census of Ashe Co. NC shows a male 16/26 and four younger females living with Rebecca, widow of Francis Sr. The male could only have been David as all his older brothers were married before 1810 and were listed as heads of households. David did not appear i the Ashe Co census of 1820 or 1830 or i any adjoining county but the name David Sturgeon was found in Crawford Co, IN in 1820 and it is believed that this was him. He did have both Sturgill and Hash cousins in Indiana at that time. This record shows David age 26/45 with a son and a daughter under 10. He was not found in the 1830 census but was back in the VA-NC area as his son Elijah was born in NC in 1831 and the next two children were born in VA, probably in Grayson co. He witnessed deeds in both Ashe Co, NC and Grayson Co. VA during the 1830's and was shown in the 1840 census of Ashe Co. with three children in the family, a daughter b. 1810/20 a dau. b. 1830/35 and a son b. 1835/40. He was a member of the South Fork Baptist church and served as Clerk of the church during the 1840's until 1847. He was not found in the 1850 census or thereafter and it is believed that he died before 1850 and was buried in one of the unmarked graves in the old church cemetery.

No record of land ownership was found and it is uncertain how he made his living. He was literate as shown by a handwritten deed he made for his brother Francis Jr. in 1834 so he may possibly have been a minister or a teacher. It is not known who he married but there is strong evidence that she was a Riuchjardson. Those known or believed to have been his children are listed.

Ancestors