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| Madison County in red |
The 1810 Madison Co Virginia census lists 5 John Yagers. One is shown as "Yager, John, PW." The 1820 census lists him as "John Yager" and his household consists only of himself (over 45) and a female slave over 45 (the "Milley" in his will?). The 1790 and 1800 Federal censuses for Virginia were destroyed, but the annual Land Tax and Personal Property Tax lists provide an excellent substitute. Personal Property Taxes and Land Taxes were instituted in Virginia in 1782. While one had to own land to be shown on the Land Tax records, all adult white males were tithed and thus appeared on the Personal Property Tax lists. Property taxes were also levied on slaves, horses, cattle, stud horses, and carriages in the 1780s and 1790s.
Tax assessors had as much of a problem then in distinguishing among the various John Yagers as family historians do now. Therefore, tax records became quite specific as to which Yager was which as the number with the same first names increased. For example, Adam's son John b. 1732 is usually shown as "John Yager Senr," while Pineywoods John is usually shown as "John Yager PW" or "John Yager Senr. PW." John H. Yager is shown on tax lists as "John Yager Junr. PW."
Starting from the beginning:
Nicholas Yager, his wife and the 2 children who survived the Atlantic crossing reached the Germanna Colony in Virginia in 1717. Nicholas moved his family to the Robinson River Valley, present-day Madison County, in 1726. The part of Culpeper where they lived became Madison County in late 1793. His only son Adam had 6 children, Michael, Barbara, John, Nicholas, Adam, Jr., Godfrey.
Hebron Church records show that Adam's eldest son Michael had 10 children:
John, born 25 November 1750;
Samuel, born 28 December 1752;
Barbara, born 17 August 1755, died soon thereafter;
Susannah, born 3 January 1759;
Eva, born 11 March 1760;
Elizabeth, born 15 July 1762;
Jemimah, born 13 December 1765;
Michael, Jr., born 13 January 1768;
Hannah, born 1 December 1770; and
Rachel, born 10 March 1773.
Michael's will, signed 16 July 1793, proved 27 Feb 1794, lists 8 children: John, Samuel, Eve, Elizabeth, Jemima, Hannah, Michael, and Rachel.
The marriages of 4 of Michael's daughters are recorded in Culpeper and Madison Counties, VA:
Hannah to John Yager, 19 Dec 1786, Minister: William Mason, Baptist; (a relative??)
Elizabeth to Elisha Yager, 18 Dec 1786, Minister: William Carpenter, Lutheran;
Jemima to James Walker, 4 Apr 1793, Minister: William Carpenter, Lutheran;
Eve to Robert Brown, 25 Nov 1802, Madison Co., VA, Minister: Isham Tatum [possibly Methodist].
Michael's estate sale was held on 25 Nov 1806. One of the purchasers is listed as "John Yager, S. Carolina," who is also shown this way among the recipients of the sale proceeds. Money taken in at the sale was divided equally among Michael's 8 children, with the shares of his married daughters going to their husbands. Those receiving a 1/8 share were: Elisha Yager, Robert Brown, Samuel Yager, John Yager S.C., John H. Yager, Rachel Yager, James Walker, Michael Yager.
(Note that John H. Yager, son of Pineywoods John, is the brother-in-law of SC John Yager.)
This estate sale account clearly shows that Michael's son John was living in South Carolina by 1806. The 1790 Federal Census for SC shows only one Yager: John of Laurens County, where he appears with 7 males under age 16, 1 male over 45, and 2 females. John's son Abner, b. 1789, states on the 1850 census that he was born in VA, while John's son Ira, b. 1790, states on the 1850 census that he was born in SC.
The man with whom Michael's son is often confused is "John Yager of the piney woods," to whom I refer as Pineywoods John. Pineywoods John never lived in South Carolina. He moved from Frederick Co., VA, to Culpeper County in 1772 and stayed there till he died in January 1823. We know this from deeds, tax records, and censuses. A deed dated 11 March 1772 indicates that John Yeager of Frederick County, VA, bought 221 acres in Culpeper County, VA. The land description is virtually identical to a deed dated 19 Feb 1811 in which John Yager and wife Mary sold 221 acres to Edward C. Fitzpatrick. "John Yager Senr. piney woods" paid taxes on 224 acres from 1772 through 1810, and then on 3 acres from 1811 through 1823. The will of "John Yager Senr. of the piney woods" is dated 16 Feb 1816 and proved 23 Jan 1823. One of the witnesses is Edward C. Fitzpatrick, the man who bought 221 acres from him in 1811.
Michael's son John first appears on the Culpeper Co., VA Personal Property Tax list in 1783 where is listed as "John Yager Junr." From 1787 through 1790 he is identified clearly as "John Yager (son to Mich.)" with Michael abbreviated in various ways. Michael's John never owned more than 2 horses and 6 cows in Virginia. He disappears from these lists after 1790.
In these same years on the same Personal Property Tax lists, sometimes on the same page, Pineywoods John appears as: "John Yager (Piney Woods)," "John Yager pineywoods," and "John Yager pine wood & son." Pineywoods John's last appearance on the property tax lists is 1822, when he is still clearly identified as "John Yager PW."
Michael's son John has no deeds, patents or grants of record in Virginia. One could buy land but elect not to pay to have the deed recorded. Land Tax Records for Culpeper County show a John Yager paying tax on 22 acres acquired "of Michael Smith" beginning in 1786 and ending in 1790. This may not be Michael Yager's son John, but I strongly suspect it is. He had a lot of children but not much in the way of land or livestock in Virginia.
Pineywoods John is the one who stayed in VA and left the records that Professor A. L. Keith of the University of South Dakota found, and that's why Keith assumed he was Michael's son and published the names of the 6 children in Pineywoods John's will as the only 6 children of Michael's son John in the William & Mary Quarterly in 1929. When the Germanna Memorial Foundation published its official records about the Germanna colonists and their progeny, A. L. Keith's Nicholas Yager descendancy chart was the basis for the one published in Germanna Record No. 10 in 1967. Family historians Parker and Miriam Steele thought Keith was right but assumed that Pineywoods John moved to SC and merged the children of the two men when they published their book in 1975. Gaynelle Yeager Neale followed the Steeles' lead when she published her Yeager family history in 1990, but added one more child to the list. Ann Cochran Gregath, in assembling Dafphine McPherson's notes for publication posthumously in 1991, shows John H., son of Pineywoods John, to be the one who moved to SC. [Not hard to see why there is often much confusion with who belongs to which family, is it?]
Guilda, we know where your John Yager-of-the-Piney-Woods lived because of the VA Land Tax Records. In 1814 they started showing how many miles and in which direction from the county court house each property was located PW John Sr. lived from 7 to 10 miles SE of the Madison Courthouse, just north of the Rapidan River. (I have read somewhere that this area was called "the flats.") As to its distance from Culpeper -- I would estimate it to be about 18 miles SW of the town of Culpeper.
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| Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States |
When you combine the tax information with the land descriptions in the 1772 purchase deed and the 1811 sale deed, you can come up with a very good idea of where he lived. Do you have Scheel's map of Madison County? If you do, find on the grid H-4 and H-5. The land is in that area. Some of the old names there are Jarrell's Spring Branch, Beaver Dam Run, Brooking's Ford. It's near the road to Barboursville, which is in Orange County.
Note that PWJ's son John H. Yager (b. abt 1760, d. 1818) lived very near him and is shown in the tax records as "John Yager Junr PW."
Explanation:
Virginia levied its very first land taxes after the Revolutionary War in 1782. Your John had bought 221 acres in Culpeper county in 1772. I've never found a deed where he acquired 3 more acres, but he was taxed on 224 acres starting in 1782, when the taxes began. He continued to be taxed on that number of acres until 1811, when he sold 221 acres to Edward C. Fitzpatrick. (Beginning in 1793, of course, the land was in Madison County, which was created from part of Culpeper County.) From 1811 until his death in 1823, he was taxed on 3 acres (224 minus 221).
In 1814, your John's 3 acres are listed as 10 miles South of the Madison County courthouse. That puts it on the Rapidan River, on the border between Madison and Orange counties. As the years went by, the tax clerks modified this estimated distance and direction slightly. They probably made a guess the first time around and each year afterward tried to get more exact. So in 1816, it is shown as being 7 miles South of the courthouse. From 1818 through 1823, it is listed as being 7 miles SOUTHEAST of the courthouse.
The man John sold his original 221 acres to in 1811 was Edward C. Fitzpatrick (who also witnessed John's will in 1816). Fitzpatrick is taxed on 221 acres beginning in 1811. In 1814 the tax list shows that Edward C. Fitzatrick's 221 acres are located 9 miles S.E. of the Madison County courthouse.
I'm attaching a text document (PWJ's land.rtf) showing how Pineywoods John's land is listed on the VA Land Tax Records and one with the land description on it (PWJ deeds.rtf). [Not attached]
I heard from Jan a few days ago. She is having trouble getting the information she feels she needs to be definite about all her statements. However, she has a lot of material showing that PWJ's father was a man named Adam Yager, who owned land at Mount Poney in Culpeper County [modern day site of a radiation harded facility used by the Library of Congress as a central repository for the library's 150,000 film titles] and at Woodstock in Frederick County, but she has not been able to determine where they came from before Frederick County. They lived in what used to be called Muellerstadt or Millerstown, which is part of Woodstock and was named for Jacob Miller (who sold the 221 acres in Culpeper Co. to John in 1772). My best guess is that PWJ's people will turn out to Germanna Yager relatives who came in through Philadelphia and gradually made their way down the Great Valley Road toward their relatives in Culpeper County. They could have arrived in PA before or after the Germanna colonists did.
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| Library of Congress facility at Mount Poney |
As to why your John and his son John were called "of the piney woods," I think it is because of where they lived in Culpeper-Madison County. BUT-----! In old Frederick County there is a large area that was known as the "Old Pine Hills." So that could also be the reason.
Betty
Notes for John Piney Wood Yeager:
11 Mar 1772: JACOB MILLER and REBECCA his wife of Culpeper County sell 221 acres in Culpeper Co. to JOHN YEAGER OF THE COUNTY OF FREDERICK.. The land description reads: . . . in the Parish of Brumfield In the County of Culpeper . . . part of a Tract of Land the said Jacob Miller purchased of James Barbour Gent
Containing By Estimation Two Hundred and Twenty one Acres . . . BEGINNING at a maple wild chery and pine on the North side of Beverdam Run at the mouth of the old Spring Branch Runing thence up the said Branch North Twenty two Degrees West Sixteen pole thence North Sixty five Degrees West two Hundred and four Poles to a maple and two red Oaks in the fork of a Branch a new made corner in Barnett's line thence with his line North Sixty Degrees East two Hundred and Ninety poles to a Dead Pine and Small white Oak Corner to the said Barnett in Grimes's line thence with his line South Thirty Degrees East one Hundred and forty two poles to a white Oak in the said Grimes's line Corner to John Scott Woods thence with his line to the beginning (Culpeper Co VA, DB F, pp. 407-408)
Note that in 1793 Madison County was formed from part of Culpeper.
19 February 1811: JOHN YAGER and MARY his wife sold to EDWARD C. FITZPATRICK (all of Madison County) the same 221 acres: The land description is almost identical, with two exceptions: "Sixteen pole" in 1771 is written as "10 poles" in 1811; and "to John Scott Woods" in 1772 is changed to "to James Wood deceased" in 1811.
Witnesses: JOHN WALKER
WM. L. CHICK
MORDICAI HUTCHERSON
LEVI CLORE
(Madison Co Deed Book #5, pp. 62-63)
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| Madison Co Courthouse |
16 February 1816: "JOHN YAGER, Senr. (of the piney woods)" made his last will & testament.
Bequests:
to son JOHN H. YAGER, one dollar;
to children of daughter SUSANAH by EPHRAIM FLESHMAN, ten pounds each;
to son SAMUEL YAGER one dollar;
to son JACOB YAGER one dollar;
to son JOSEPH YAGER, one dollar;
to daughter MARY CLORE, one hundred dollars;
to "Grand daughter RHODY CHICK (WIFE TO WM. L. CHICK)," fifty dollars;
to slave MILLEY, the "priviledge of choosing her master";
to daughter SUSANAH, the "overplus" after his assets are sold.
Executors: MICHEL BERRY, JOHN G. BROWN
Witnesses: JOHN WALKER,
ELIJAH HOLBERT (by mark),
EDW. C. F PATRICK,
THOS. EAGAN (by mark)
Will proved: 23 Jan 1823 . . . by the oaths of EDWARD C. FITZPATRICK and THOS. EAGAN
(Madison Co. VA Will Book 4, pp. 184-185)
The Will of Pineywoods John:
When PW-John signed his will on 13 Feb. 1816, there were no fewer than five John Yagers living in Madison County. His son John H. Yager was among them. However, Pineywoods John's wife Mary had died. If she had not, surely he would have mentioned her in the will. Most of his children had moved away by then. Note that he appoints friends rather than children as executors of his will.
The Other Children of PW-John:
Jacob, Samuel, Joseph, and Mary moved their families to Kentucky. Susannah and her family moved to Kentucky and then to Indiana.
The 1820 Madison County Census:
There were four John Yagers on this census, none of whom was designated as "PW," but one John Yager's household consists only of 1 male over 45 and 1 female slave over 45, who is probably Milley, mentioned PW-John's will.
The will was proved in court in Madison County, VA, on 23 January 1823, indicating that John Yager of the piney woods had died.
Betty Johnson List Administrator Yeager-South list Jjandbj11@comcast.net rptd on Fri, 14 Mar 2003:
Nicholas Yager, his wife and the 2 children who survived the Atlantic crossing reached the Germanna Colony in Virginia in 1717. Nicholas moved his family to the Robinson River Valley, present-day Madison County, in 1726. The part of Culpeper where they lived became Madison County in late 1793. His only son Adam had 6 children, Michael, Barbara, John, Nicholas, Adam, Jr., Godfrey.
Hebron Church records show that Adam's eldest son Michael had 10 children:
John, born 25 November 1750;
Samuel, born 28 December 1752;
Barbara, born 17 August 1755, died soon thereafter;
Susannah, born 3 January 1759;
Eva, born 11 March 1760;
Elizabeth, born 15 July 1762;
Jemimah, born 13 December 1765;
Michael, Jr., born 13 January 1768;
Hannah, born 1 December 1770; and
Rachel, born 10 March 1773.
Michael's will, signed 16 July 1793, proved 27 Feb 1794, lists 8 children: John, Samuel, Eve, Elizabeth, Jemima, Hannah, Michael, and Rachel.
The marriages of 4 of Michael's daughters are recorded in Culpeper and Madison Counties, VA:
Hannah to John Yager, 19 Dec 1786, Minister: William Mason, Baptist;
Elizabeth to Elisha Yager, 18 Dec 1786, Minister: William Carpenter, Lutheran;
Jemima to James Walker, 4 Apr 1793, Minister: William Carpenter, Lutheran;
Eve to Robert Brown, 25 Nov 1802, Madison Co., VA, Minister: Isham Tatum [possibly Methodist].
Michael's estate sale was held on 25 Nov 1806. One of the purchasers is listed as "John Yager, S. Carolina," who is also shown this way among the recipients of the sale proceeds. Money taken in at the sale was divided equally among Michael's 8 children, with the shares of his married daughters going to their husbands. Those receiving a 1/8 share were: Elisha Yager, Robert Brown, Samuel Yager, John Yager S.C., John H. Yager, Rachel Yager, James Walker, Michael Yager.
(Note that John H. Yager, son of Pineywoods John, is the brother-in-law of SC John Yager.)
This estate sale account clearly shows that Michael's son John was living in South Carolina by 1806. The 1790 Federal Census for SC shows only one Yager: John of Laurens County, where he appears with 7 males under age 16, 1 male over 45, and 2 females. John's son Abner, b. 1789, states on the 1850 census that he was born in VA, while John's son Ira, b. 1790, states on the 1850 census that he was born in SC.
The man with whom Michael's son is often confused is "John Yager of the piney woods," to whom I refer as Pineywoods John. Pineywoods John never lived in South Carolina. He moved from Frederick Co., VA, to Culpeper County in 1772 and stayed there till he died in January 1823. We know this from deeds, tax records, and censuses. A deed dated 11 March 1772 indicates that John Yeager of Frederick County, VA, bought 221 acres in Culpepper County, VA. The land description is virtually identical to a deed dated 19 Feb 1811 in which John Yager and wife Mary sold 221 acres to Edward C. Fitzpatrick. "John Yager Senr. piney woods" paid taxes on 224 acres from 1772 through 1810, and then on 3 acres from 1811 through 1823. The will of "John Yager Senr. of the piney woods" is dated 16 Feb 1816 and proved 23 Jan 1823. One of the witnesses is Edward C. Fitzpatrick, the man who bought 221 acres from him in 1811.
My ancestor, the one that is the reason for my discourse, is Joseph Yeager, wife of Sarah Cheek and my third great grandfather.
Posted by: Allison Reker Date: April 09, 2003 at 10:03:28
It is my understanding that there is a marriage certificate in existence for Joseph Yeager(Yager), and Sarah (Sally) A. Cheek or Chick. They were supposedly married in Culpepper Virginia on October 16, 1806 but I have not been able to verify this yet with documentation.
I tried to get it through the Culpepper, VA courthouse and they flatly told me that they no longer make copies for researchers because they are understaffed, no exceptions. I live too far away to go to the courthouse and make a copy myself. Does anyone out there have this record? I'd love to know what it says, especially if it has additional information (parent's names, places of birth, etc.) I'm having a hard time finding her and making the leap from Sarah to her father (patriot James Chick, Sr.?).
Joseph is the son of John of Pineywoods Yeager, not to be confused with John of the same place and era who is descended from Michael of the Germanna colonies.
J Wheaton Date: April 03, 2003 at 08:34:10
Allison,
I also have Yeager/Yager ancestors and descend from John Yager "of the Piney Woods" through his son, Jacob (brother of Joseph). The information from the previous response to your inquiry is correct. It was a widely held belief that John Yager-PW was the son of Michael (Adam, Nicholas-Germanna Colony) due to two articles published in the William and Mary Quarterly by A.L. Keith (Vol. 9- Series 2, 1929). Due to exhaustive research by a woman named Betty Johnson, it is almost a certainty that Keith was incorrect and that the John Yager that was the son of Michael is one that has come to be known as John Yager "of Laurens Co., SC". Betty's research can be found on the Rootsweb Yeager-South mailing list (http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/YEAGER-SOUTH-US/). The most pertinent information will be found in the 2002-2003 articles. Specifically, Note # 41: Recap, dated Mar 14,2003 gives a good condensed explanation. I believe she may be scheduled to speak on the subject at the 2003 Germanna Colony Reunion.
By the way, the Keith article gives the following information for Joseph, son of John Yager:
"Joseph Yager, probably identical with the Joseph Yager who married Sarah Chick (Cheek?) in Culpeper Co. Oct. 16, 1806 (license)."
Hope this helps you discover what you are looking for.
Jane
Betty Johnson
List Administrator
jjandbj11@comcast.net
Pineywoods John's wife's name was Mary. The only place her name has been found so far is in a deed from John Yeager and his wife Mary ("John Yeager wife Mary") to Edward C. Fitzpatrick dated 18 Feb 1811 (Madison Co., VA, Deed Book #5, pp. 62-63).
He first acquired land in Culpeper County in 1772 and in that deed is described as "of Frederick County," which is in the Shenandoah Valley, to the west. The land he bought in 1772 became part of Madison County, when it was created from part of Culpeper County in late 1793.
Will dated 13 Feb 1813, Madison Co VA, probated 23 Jan 1823, Madison Co VA
I, John Yager, Senr. (of the piney woods) doth make this my last will & testament, Revoking and disanuling or wills or testaments by me heretofore made declaring this, and only this to be my last will and testament in manner and form following (that is to say)
I give unto my son John H. Yager all the property and money that he hath received of me upon marriage or otherwise, and the further sum of one dollar as and for his full and absolute share of my estate.
I give unto the children of my daughter Susanah say [?] the children that she had by her first husband, Ephraim Fleshman the sum of ten pounds each to be paid out of the moneys arising from my estate.
I give unto my son Samuel Yager all the property and money that he received upon marriage or otherwise, and the further sum of one dollar as and for his full and absolute share of my Estate.
I give unto my son Jacob Yager all the property and money that he recd. of me upon marriage or otherwise and the further sum of one dollar to be paid out of my Estate as and for his full and absolute share of my Estate.
I give unto my son Joseph Yager all the property and money that he hath received of me upon marriage or otherwise, and the further sum of one dollar to be paid out of my estate as and for his full and absolute share of my Estate.
I give unto my daughter Mary Clore all the property and money that she received of me upon marriage or otherwise, and the further sum of one hundred dollars to be paid out of my Estate, as and for her absolute share of my Estate.
I give unto my Grand daughter Rhody Chick (wife to Wm. L. Chick) the sum of fifty dollars to be paid out of my estate.
It is my will and desire that my old negro woman Milley shall [have] the priviledge of choosing her master, and that whoever she may choose, shall have her at valuation.
It is my will and desire that the balance of my Estate should be sold, and the money arising (after the payment of my debts) together with the debts that may be due me shalt be applied to the payment of the aforesaid legacies. But in case there should not be a sufficiency to satisfy the whole, in that case, each legatee shall be entitled in proportion agreeable to the aforesaid legacies but in case there should be more than a sufficiency to satisfy the said legacies In that case, my will is that my daughter Susanah should
have the overplus.
Lastly I constitute and appoint my friends Michel Berry and John G. Brown Executors of this my last will and testament.
As witness my hand and seal this 13th day of February 1816.
John his X mark Yager (Seal)
Sign'd Seal'd and
acknowledged before us
John Walker
Elijah his X mark [Molbert?]
Edw. C. F Patrick
Thos. his X mark Eagan
At Court held for Madison County the 23rd day of January 1823
This Last will and testament of John Yager Senr. Deceased was produced into Court and proved by the oaths of Edward C. Fitzpatrick and Thos. Eagan two of the witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded. And on the Motion of Michael Berry and John G. Brown Exors therein named, Certificate of probate thereof in due form is granted them, whereupon they qualified and entered into bond with security according to law.
Test.
Belfield Cave C___?
Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 22:07:57 -0400
From: Betty & JJ
To: YEAGER-SOUTH-US-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: Note #17-C: "Pineywoods John Yager"
Why did he call himself John Yager "of the piney woods"? If your name was John Yager and you lived in what is now Madison County, VA, between 1772 and 1823 (as did Pineywoods John), you would need to
distinguish yourself from the several other John Yagers living in the same relatively small area. By 1810, there were no fewer than five John Yagers on the Madison County census, and these did not include one who had been there in 1772.
The John Yager who designated himself "of the piney woods" had lived in the Shenandoah Valley (old Frederick County, VA) and moved eastward over the ridge in March 1772, where he found himself one among three adult John Yagers, the other two being Germanna Yager descendants.
We don't know when Pineywoods John was born, but it was some years before 1750 because he had a son old enough to serve three years in the Revolutionary War. In Culpeper Co. (the part that became Madison Co. in 1793) he made his home in the flat lands of the pine woods along the Rapidan River. The site is just above the southern boundary of present day Madison County, where it meets Orange County.
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| Town Seal |
The other two adult John Yagers in 1772 Culpeper County:
1. Among the Germanna Yager descendants already living in the Robinson River Valley in 1772 was John Yager, born in 1732, died in 1826, son of Adam. He came to be known as "Blind John." His father Adam Yager was the surviving son of Nicholas who immigrated to the Germanna Colony in VA in 1717. Nicholas and his son Adam are the Germanna Yagers. Adam's five sons and one daughter and their progeny are the Germanna Yager descendants.
2. Also living in Culpeper County in 1772 was another Germanna descendant John Yager, born in 1750, son of Michael (1728-1794), son of Adam. This John married the daughter of English colonists and lived in the uplands near her family, north of modern Criglersville. This is close to the northern boundary of present day Madison County. When he was 40 years old, this John moved his family to Laurens Co., SC. He is the one I refer to as LaurensSC-John.
A third John: The following year, 1773, Blind John had a son whom he named John W. Yager.
A fourth John: Adam Yager Jr. (brother to Blind John and Michael) also named a son John, whose birth year is unknown but was probably between 1760-1780.
A fifth John: Pineywoods John himself already had a son named John H. Yager when he moved to Culpeper county. John H. was born probably after 1760 and definitely before 1765.
In the 1810 Madison County census there are FIVE John Yagers heading their own households. Keep in mind these do not include Laurens-SC-John, who had left in 1790, so the identity of at least one of them is a mystery.
Pineywoods John is even listed as "Yager John P. W." on the 1810 census, to distinguish him from the 4 other John Yagers. Note that the "P. W." is not shown as middle initials. Others, with middle initials, were listed last name, middle initial, first name, e.g., "Yager H. John" is John H. Yager.
The 1815 Land Tax record shows the location of PW-John's property as 9 miles south of Madison Court House. The following data is from "1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer)," Vol. 4: Northern Region, abstracted by Roger G. Ward:
"Location of land is described in number of miles and the direction from the county courthouse in 1815. . . .
Madison County, VA . . .
YAGER, John, Junior, P W = 9S
YAGER, John, Senior, P W = 10S . . .
FITZPATRICK, Edward C; Smiths Run; 9SE.
This places the property he lived on, after selling his original 221 acres, as 10 miles south of the Madison Court House, in the southern part of Madison County, practically on the Orange County line. Here, as in the 1810 Census and his 1816 will, he is designated as John Yager PW. Note that his son (John H.) is shown as John Yager, Junior, PW -- also of the piney woods.
Note also that the person who bought his 221 acres, Edward C. Fitzpatrick, lives 9 miles southeast of the Madison Court House.
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| sample of will |
The Will of Pineywoods John:
When PW-John signed his will on 13 Feb. 1816, there were no fewer than five John Yagers living in Madison County. His son John H. Yager was among them. However, Pineywoods John's wife Mary had died. If she had not, surely he would have mentioned her in the will. Most of his children had moved away by then. Note that he appoints friends rather than children as executors of his will.
John H. Yager, son of Pineywoods John:
In December 1786 John H., son of Pineywoods John, married Hannah Yager. Hannah was the youngest sister of Germanna descendant Michael (son of Adam) and the aunt of Laurens-SC John. Their marriage was performed by William Mason, a prominent Baptist minister. Some years prior to his father's death, before 13 Aug 1818, John H. Yager died. An Administrator's Bond was issued to his son Thomas and his brother-in-law Michael Yeager Jr. Guardian bonds were issued for his minor children John H., Jr., Lucinda, and Virginia. Bounty land was later granted to his son Thomas, for John H. Yager's service during the Revolutionary War. To be eligible for bounty land, one had to prove the veteran had served three years. His widow Hannah applied again for benefits in 1837. She was living in Madison County, VA,at the time.
The Other Children of PW-John:
Jacob, Samuel, Joseph, and Mary moved to KY. Susannah and her family moved to Kentucky and then to Indiana.
So you see the process that genealogists go through to prove a lineage. Most are not this complicated - not having so many of the same named person living in one county - but all take some researching and the more documents you can procure, the more secure you can be in your heritage.
Good luck with your researching!
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