Thomas Gillespie (North Carolina)


Thomas Gillespie was a large plantation owner in mid-to-late 18th-century North Carolina and served as commissary of the Rowan County Regiment in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolution. He spent his early life in Augusta County, Virginia before migrating to Anson County, North Carolina in about 1750, where he lived most of his life on Sills Creek in the area that became Rowan County, North Carolina in 1753. He and his wife and son were the first white settlers west of the Yadkin River. He owned a plantation of over 1,000 acres on Sills Creek in Rowan County, as well as 6,000 acres in the area of western North Carolina that became part of the state of Tennessee in 1796. He was an early elder in the Thyatira Presbyterian Church in Rowan County, which was formed in 1753. Thomas was the great-grandfather of U.S. President James K. Polk through the lineage of his daughter Lydia, who married Captain James Knox and gave birth to Jane Gracey Knox, mother of the President.

Early life in Virginia

Thomas Gillespie was born on December 13, 1719. The location of his birth is not documented but tradition says that he was born either in Cecil County, Maryland or New London Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, which were common points of origin of those that traveled the Great Wagon Road in the 1700s. The names of his parents are not known. He migrated to Augusta County, Virginia in about 1740. There, he married Naomi Thompson on January 1, 1745 in the "Valley of Virginia" with the ceremony performed by Rev. John Craig, pastor of the Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church in Augusta County, Virginia from 1740–1764. Thomas was probably a member of the Tinkling Springs Presbyterian Church.
Thomas Gillespie owned land in Augusta County, Virginia. On December 1, 1740, Thomas Glassbey in Augusta County, Virginia received 400 acres on a draft of the north river of "Shanando" called the "Long Glade". He paid forty shillings of good and lawful money for this land. The land was bounded on the west by Long Glade and on the east by Naked Creek. This is in the northern part of Augusta County. This is the first legal document about Thomas and places him in Augusta County in December 1740. Thomas Gillespie served in the Virginia Colonial militia in Augusta County in 1742.

Move to North Carolina

Before 1750, Thomas and his wife and young son, James, moved south to Anson County, North Carolina, perhaps because of land that he acquired for his colonial militia service in Virginia. Thomas, Naomi, and their first son are reported to be the first white family to settle west of the Yadkin River in Anson County. The Gillespie plantation was located on Sills Creek. He attended church at the nearby Cathy's Meeting House on Cathy's Creek, which later became Thyatira Presbyterian Church. It was the first Presbyterian church in this area of western North Carolina.
In 1752, the Province of North Carolina started issuing Granville land grants for vacant land in the Granville District, which included Anson County. After 1780, the State of North Carolina began issuing State Land Grants for vacant land. During his lifetime, Thomas was granted or purchased a total of 2,570 acres of land in Rowan County, beginning with two Granville Land Grants in 1751 and 1752. The 1780 tax list of Rowan County prepared by Adlai Osborne lists Thomas Gillespie, Sen. in Captain John Cowan's District with land valued at 5,529 pounds, as well as his sons Thomas Gillespie, Jr. with land valued at 230 pounds and James Gillespie with land valued at 2,521 pounds. His son, George Gillespie, was listed in Captain George Cowan's District with land valued at 1,430 pounds.
His large plantation house was located on Sills Creek included more than five rooms. He owned farm machinery, including a cotton gin. The crops that were grown on his plantation included flax, cotton, potatoes, and wheat. He also raised horses and cattle. Thomas owned up to seven slaves to help on his plantation but must have relied extensively on family to help run his large plantation. In 1790, there were 1,742 slaves in 2,432 families in Rowan County. The largest plantation, owned by Richmond Person, had 101 slaves and there were 31 families with ten or more slaves. There were six slaves mentioned in his will and seven slaves enumerated in the 1790 Census in Rowan County for Thomas Gillespie, Sr.

Family

Thomas and Naomi Gillespie had ten children. Only the oldest son, James, was born in Augusta County. The others were all born in Rowan County, North Carolina. Four of his children died in Tennessee, where Thomas had extensive land holdings.
  1. James Gillespie : He died in Rowan County, North Carolina. He married Jane Graham on January 9, 1765. He served in the Revolutionary War.
  2. Martha Allison : She died in Rowan County, North Carolina. She married Thomas Allison, Sr. in Rowan County on January 20, 1770. She had a son, Thomas Allison, Jr.
  3. Isaac Lemuel Gillespie : He died in Williamson County, Tennessee and was buried in the Moses Steele Cemetery on the land he inherited from his father on Flat Creek, Duck River. He married Mary Ann McGuire on April 12, 1791 in Rowan County. He served as a private in the 3rd North Carolina Regiment in Captain Alexander Brevard's Company during the American Revolution.
  4. George Gillespie : He died in Gallatin or Bethpage, Sumner County, Tennessee and was buried at the Old Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Sumner County. He married Mary Graham on April 8, 1771 in Rowan County. He provided patriotic services during the Revolutionary War. He may have fought at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
  5. Lydia Knox Wallace : She died in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. She married Capt James Knox on November 4, 1772 in Rowan County. James was a Captain in the Mecklenburg County Regiment during the American Revolution. Lydia and James had three children: Robert Knox, Naomi Knox, and Jane Gracy Knox. Jane Gracy Knox married Samuel Polk on December 25, 1794. While living in a log cabin in Pineville, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Jane and Samuel had ten children. The first child was James Knox Polk, the 11th President of the United States. Lydia later married Ezekial Wallace on March 19, 1797 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
  6. Thomas Gillespie, Jr. : He died in Williamson County, Tennessee after moving there after 1805 and was buried in the Moses Steele Cemetery near Flat Creek in Williamson County. He married Mary Jane Luckey on September 5, 1785 in Rowan County.
  7. Alexander Gillespie : He died in Rowan County. He did not marry.
  8. David Gillespie : He died in Williamson County, Tennessee and was buried on the land on Flat Creek, Duck River that he inherited from his father. He married Mary Luckey in 1785 and later married Mary Marlin/Martin on February 12, 1814 in Tennessee. He was employed by his father during the American Revolution, hauling supplies in a wagon for the troops.
  9. John Gillespie : He died in Alabama. He married Margaret Kerr on January 31, 1786 in Rowan County
  10. Robert Gillespie : He died in Rowan County, North Carolina. He married Sarah "Sally" Thornton before 1808 in Rowan County.

    Military service

During the American Revolution, Thomas served in at least 1780 and 1781 as a commissary under General Griffith Rutherford, commander of the Rowan County Regiment, which was under the Salisbury District Brigade. General Rutherford lived near Gillespie on Grants Creek
and was also a large land owner, like Thomas. Thomas was one of five commissaries under a Quartermaster General, Joseph Marbury. As commissary, Thomas was responsible for provisioning the soldiers in the brigade, which included as many as 1,400 to 2,000 men.
Non-commissioned officers were entitled to receive 1,000 acres of land for their service in the American Revolution. Thomas received Grants of 4,000 and 1,000 acres of land on Flat Creek, Duck River for his Revolutionary War services. This land was originally located in North Carolina and became part of Tennessee on June 1, 1796 and part of Williamson County, Tennessee in 1799. This land was inherited by his male children through his will. The initial application for this grant was on October 27, 1783. This grant, No. 80, was entered on pages 216 and 217 of Book A. The land was survey on February 21, 1785 by H. Rutherford. The grant was given on April 25, 1807 to David and Isaac Gillespie, after their father's death.
Thomas also received bounty land for his service in 1786 and 1787 (Grants Nos. 798, 802, and 809 in the State of Franklin, which later became Washington County, Tennessee. His son, George, also received bounty land in Sumner County, Tennessee for his service in the war.

Flat Creek community

Flat Creek is a historic community that was established in 1799 in the extreme southeast corner of Williamson County, Tennessee. It was founded primarily by Revolutionary War veterans awarded claims for their service. Isaac Gillespie, Thomas Gillespie, Jr., and David Gillespie inherited land in Flat Creek from their father and they were buried at Moses Steele Cemetery near Flat Creek. The Moses Steel Cemetery is named for Moses Steele, who was originally from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The land on which the cemetery is located was originally purchased by Moses from Thomas Gillespie's 4,000-acre bounty land. The Smithson–McCall Farm was built on 528 acres of Thomas Gillespie's 4,000 acres that were willed to his son David and conveyed to him in 1808. Samuel Henderson purchased 125 acres from David in 1813 to build what later became the Smithson-McCall farm.

Religion

Thomas was a devout Presbyterian and one of the early members of a Presbyterian Meeting House established before 1753 at the headwaters of the 2nd Creek in Anson County. The congregation became Cathey's Meeting House and later the Thyatira Presbyterian Church. It is the oldest Presbyterian congregation west of the Yadkin River. It is located near the town of Mill Bridge on Cathey's Creek, which is near Sills Creek and Back Creek where Thomas lived. After his death, his living children remained with the church until 1805 when there was a split in the congregation between revivalists and anti-revivalists. Thirty families and five church elders, including Thomas Gillespie, Jr. left the church to form the revivalist Back Creek Presbyterian Church. The Thyatira church included a slave gallery for slaves to participate in services.

Additional land acquisitions

Thomas entered claims for grants of additional land in Tennessee from 1778 to 1784 that was issued between 1782 and 1788. There is no evidence that Thomas Gillespie, Sr. took up residence in Tennessee on any of these lands. However, his sons, Isaac, George, Thomas, and David, took up residence in Williamson County in the early 1800s on the 5,000 acres that he obtained for his military service. Thomas may have sold this additional land in Washington and Green Counties. Washington County, North Carolina became Washington County, Tennessee in 1796. Greene County was formed in 1783 from Washington County, North Carolina and became part of Tennessee in 1796. The following list shows the location of the 1,333 acres of land that Thomas Gillespie acquired in Greene and Washington Counties:
CountyEnteredIssuedGrantBookPageAcresDescription
Washington County, North Carolina1778178297 474783south side of Nolachucky River
Greene County, Tennessee1784178676 Warrant 1412, Grant 7658437100beginning at a stake on Dumplin Creek
Greene County, Tennessee1783178645 59406200upon Nolachuckie River
Greene County, Tennessee1778178624 Warrant 45659385100upon Dumplin Creek
Greene County, Tennessee1783178623 Warrant 46959384200upon Dumplin Creek
Washington County, North Carolina17801787798 Warrant 2668, Grant 79864151150on Rock House branch
Washington County, North Carolina17811787805 Warrant 278864154100joining said Gillespies Survey of one hundred and fifty acres on the Rock House Branch
Washington County, North Carolina17781787794 Warrant 75664150150on Rock House Branch
Greene County, Tennessee17781788200lying on its North side of Clinch River in its upper end of its first bend
Middle District, Tennessee1788Number 28934,000on the north side of Flat Creek

Death

Thomas Gillespie died on December 15, 1797 in Rowan County, North Carolina and is buried in the same tomb with his wife Naomi in the Thyatira Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Cathey's Creek in Mill Bridge, Rowan County, North Carolina. On the tombstone is carved the date Dec 12th, 1797; however, church records shows the date as the 15th, which was a Friday. The ages confirm that Thomas was born in 1719 and Naomi in 1727.
An obituary appeared shortly after his death in the North Carolina Journal on January 9, 1797. It is quoted in a book by Lingle about the history of the Thyatira Church. It read as follows:

Will

Seven of his eight sons were living at the time of his death: Isaac, George, Thomas, Alexander, David, John, and Robert. James had predeceased him. Both his daughters, Martha and Lydia, were still alive at the time of his death. His sons, Thomas Gillespie, Jr. and Robert Gillespie, were named executors of Thomas Gillespie, Sr.'s will written on November 15, 1796. When he wrote the will in 1796, Naomi was still living. He bequeathed the following to his wife and children in his will:
There are several descendants of Thomas Gillespie that have tested for DNA in his son George and Issac's families. The Y-DNA haplogroup for these descendants is I2b 126 137 L369.

Citations

Additional sources