Sturgills in America

Stodghill, Joel

Events

Parents

Families

Narrative

Joel and his wife Martitia were the last of the family to leave Orange Co.,VA. In 1790 they migrated to Elbert Co. GA where Joel died in 1795. - p.30

Joel Stodghill was only three years old when his father died and thirteen when his mother died. After his mother's death in 1763, the Church Wardens of St Thomas Parish bound Joel to Elizabeth Stodghill. It has been assumed that this was Elizabeth, wife of his older brother John. Other records now indicate that John and Elizabeth wre not married until after 1765. As there was no other Elizabeth Stodghill known to be living in that area at that time, this Elizabeth, to whom Joel was bound, must have been an older sister. This supposition is supported by the tradition in both the Stugill and Hash families that the second wife of John Hash was Elizabeth Sturgill (Stodgill). If this tradition is correct, and, in my opinion, it is, then Joel did have an older sister named Elizabeth.

It is not known for certain from where or when John Hash moved to Grayson Co., Va., but the date is thought to be between 1765 and 1770. No records of him have been found in Orange Co., Va., but it is known that a John Hash, believed to be his son by his first wife, lived just across the mountain in Shennendoah Co., Va., less than twenty miles from where the Stodgill families lived. This John Hash was still there in 1790.

In 1767, Joel was released from Elizabeth at his own request and bound to Joseph Mann to learn a trade. Under the customs of the time this would not have been done until he had reaced the age of 16, which would place his birth date in 1750. This date of 1767 coincides with the approximate date his brother John moved to Greenbrier Co. and also with the approximate date John Hash and Elizabeth Stodgill first appeared in Grayson Co., Virginia.

After the departure of all his brothers, the tax records of Orange Co. show that Joel continued to live there until 1790. It is not known exactly where he lived, but it was probably on the 200 acres his brother John still owned there until 1818 and which would have been the original Stodgill homestead in Orange Co. and where Joel was born. In 1787 Joel did buy a tract of 100 acres from Charles Pearcy, described as the land where Joel was then living. He gave a mortgage for that land, which was declared in default by a court in 1792.

No records have been found to indicate that Joel received any share in his father's estate, but it is now believed that he probably received a cash settlement from the other heirs. When he moved to Elbert Co., Ga. in 1790, he owned slaves and had enough money to buy a farm there. It is also possible that the slaves were given to him as a share of his father's estate.

Joel died in Elbert Co., Ga. in 1795. Two of his known children are listed, but there may have been others.- -p. 35

Source References

Ancestors