The Henry McDaniel Family of Surry County, NC

Born circa 1766, Henry McDaniel arrived in the Hunting Creek area of Surry County, NC in the early 1790's, having migrated either directly from Rowan County or from Rowan County via neighboring Wilkes County. At some point prior to 1812, his daughter Nancy would marry Isaac Jones' second oldest son Wiley.

1780 Rowan County, NC Land Entry ~ William McDaniel

Evidence would seem to indicate that Henry McDaniel was most likely the son of William and Ann McDaniel who had migrated to the Carter's Creek area of Rowan County, NC quite possibly from Charles County, MD sometime prior to 1780. The earliest mention of William McDaniel in the Rowan County records that I've been able to locate is a land entry dated January 1, 1780 for 300 acres located in the forks of Carter's Creek and adjacent Jeromiah Malone, Jacob Brininger, and George Dorcey. Carter's Creek is located in what is now the eastern section of Davie County and was originally settled by such notable families as that of Solomon Sparks, the Bryans (Bryants), and the family of Isaac Enoch. This area is also where Hardy Jones' Cokesbury School was once located so needless to say you also see much of his extended family in the area as well. Two months later on March 20, William McDaniel makes a second land entry for 400 acres on Carter's Creek described once again as being adjacent Jacob Brinegar (Brininger) and his own entry. This entry was ultimately "made over" to a man named Jonathan Fife, which is an important name to remember when trying to pin down the location of the McDaniel family in later years. Seven years later on July 2, 1787, William McDaniel would purchase an additional 390 acres on Carter's Creek from Jeremiah and Bridget Malone who bordered his original 1780 land entry. Later that year much of this land would be sold in a pair of deeds dated December 17, 1787. The first being a 195 acre sale to Michael Smith and the second being a 92 acre sale to Edger Rumbley. Pretty solid evidence of Henry McDaniel's relationship to William and Ann can be seen on the one and only Rowan County tax list that Henry makes an appearance on; that being the 1791 tax list for Capt. Enoch's District where Henry can be seen being taxed on 95 acres of land and listed directly adjacent to the Edger Rumley just mentioned.

Henry McDaniel's connection to William and Ann McDaniel can also be seen in a series of Rowan County deeds written between 1787-1791. The first of these deeds is dated September 11, 1787 and involves William McDaniel and his wife Ann selling 97 1/2 acres of land to a man named Zephaniah Harper for the amount of 70 pounds. The land is described as being adjacent William McDaniel's other property and an individual named John Johnston. The second in the series is actually a set of three deeds all written up on November 13, 1790 and involving a man named Richard Dowell and his wife Mary selling various sections of land to a Peter Dowell. The first important thing to mention is that Richard's wife Mary was a McDaniel prior to their marriage in Rowan County on December 10, 1787. The second important thing to mention is that on one of the deeds the witness was a Benjamin Berryman who also acted as a witness for William and Ann McDaniel's 1787 land sale to Zephaniah Harper. The other two deeds from that day both show Henry McDaniel acting as a witness for the transactions. The third deed in the series is dated July 25, 1791 and involves William McDaniel and wife Ann, now shown as "of Wilkes County" selling another 97 1/2 acres on Carter's Creek to a man named Edward Cox of Rowan County. The witnesses for this transaction are the John Johnston who was listed as living adjacent the McDaniels in the other deed and none other than Henry McDaniel.

Brier Creek area of Wilkes County, NC

Three months after their land sale to Zephaniah Harper in 1787, William and Ann McDaniel can be found on December 28 purchasing 140 acres in Wilkes County, NC from a man named William Colvard. Later deeds indicate the land lay in the vicinity of Brier Creek which at the time was just a few miles west of the Surry County line and the area of Hunting Creek. As with the 1791 deed, Henry McDaniel acts as a witness along with a man named Lewis Bryan. It is also around this time that you see the earlier mentioned John Johnston (Johnson) also now residing in the Brier Creek area. On February 1, 1790, William and Ann McDaniel can be found selling 70 acres on Brier Creek in Wilkes County to Joseph Fyffe whom I have no doubt is somehow related to the Jonathan Fife that William McDaniel "made over" his 1780 Rowan County land entry to. This time the deed is witnessed by Patric McCoy, Moses Adams, and Daniel McDaniel. Based on his later involvement as the administrator of William McDaniel's estate in 1796, I believe this Daniel to be a son of William and Ann. Another important name worth remembering in the Brier Creek area is Cunningham. A John and James Cunningham can be found along with the aforementioned John Johnson acting as witnesses for a deed involving William McDaniel's neighbor John Cargile in 1791. This is why it comes as no surprise to me that you find Henry McDaniel and Richard Dowell acting as witnesses for two Wilkes County deeds dated December 20, 1798 involving a William Cunningham selling land to a William Dowell. I expect this Richard Dowell is the same individual who married Mary McDaniel in Rowan County and quite likely a brother-in-law to Henry McDaniel. It's important to mention that the land involved with these two deeds was located on East Swan Creek which crosses into Surry County (now Yadkin) just to the north of the present-day community of Swan Creek and the area of Hunting Creek. Despite having the stronger connection to Wilkes County, it's quite likely that the William McDaniel who received a land grant on November 3, 1784 for 200 acres on the middle fork of Forbis (Forbush) Creek in Surry County is one and the same. If not him, then possibly his son also named William.

As I mentioned earlier, William McDaniel eventually passed away in Wilkes County at some point prior to the administration of his estate being granted to his son Daniel McDaniel on November 1, 1796. Once again the name Fife comes into play with one of the bondsman being listed as Samuel Fife. The other bondsman is listed as Daniel Hull who also acts as one of the estate appraisers along with William Johnson. This is likely the same William Johnson listed as a buyer along with Daniel McDaniel, William McDaniel, Daniel Hull, and William Cargile in regards to the 1799 settlement of John Johnson's estate.

It is my belief that the Henry McDonald listed in Capt. Hudspeth's District on the Surry County tax lists starting in 1792 is actually Henry McDaniel. Not only do McDaniel family records throughout time indicate that this was a pretty common occurrence, but you can see the eventual name correction in the Surry County tax lists a few years later. This is seen not only with Henry McDaniel, but with a John McDaniel who makes his first appearance on the 1794 tax list as John McDonold. A Surry County deed from the following year dated February 17, 1795 illustrates this name fluctuation perfectly, showing John McDanol purchasing 100 acres on Canada (Kennedy) Creek from John Martin. The deed is witnessed by a Nimrod Elliott and Nicholas Masters, with this Nicholas Masters also being listed next to the John McDonald on the 1794 tax list. Still owning only 100 acres, by 1797 and from that point forward the spelling is listed correctly as John McDaniel. This is also the case with the Henry McDonald who is shown owning 265 acres in 1792. By 1794 he is shown only owning 160 acres, and the following year 165 before dropping off the tax records entirely in 1797 and 1798. He makes his return to the tax list in 1799 still owning 160 acres, but now is listed as Henry McDaniel. By 1800 the tax list for Capt. Hudspeth's District shows Henry McDaniel owning 345 acres, to which I should also point out my inability to locate any deeds at all concerning any of this acreage mentioned.

The earliest Surry County deed I've been able to locate involving Henry McDaniel as either a grantor or grantee is dated October 28, 1803. The grantor's name is very difficult to read, but I believe it shows John Roton selling 181 acres of land on Hunting Creek to Henry McDaniel in exchange for 100 pounds. The land is described as being adjacent Reuben Bryan and Joseph Myers, who I'm sure has some relation to the James Mears (Myers) who acted as bondsman on the marriage bond for Henry McDaniel's son Reuben's marriage to Jemimah Brown dated December 28, 1808. The following year on August 7, 1804, Henry McDaniel would purchase an additional 165 acres on Hunting Creek from the same Joseph Myers just mentioned. On this same day Henry McDaniel would also sell 65 acres of land on Hunting Creek to George Lesly for $100. There must be quite a number of lost deeds or undocumented land transactions because based on the math alone, by 1808 Henry McDaniel would have owned 626 acres but by the 1812 tax list he's shown taxed on only 150. The 138 acres his son Reuben shows as owning on the same tax list may possibly account for some of it, as well as the wording of Henry McDaniel's will seems to indicate some possible gifting of land to his various children prior to it's creation.

Henry McDaniel's son Reuben would end up selling 78 acres of his land in a combination of two deeds dated February 6, 1816. The first deed was for the sale of 50 acres on the North Fork of Hunting Creek to Hardy Wells and the second for the sale of 28 acres to a Robert Jones. What I find the most interesting about these two deeds is that one of the witnesses on both of them is John K. Wells. Although only 26 at the time, he would eventually become a physician and can be found purchasing land from Isaac Jones in Calloway County, KY thirty years later in 1846. Another possible Hunting Creek to Calloway County, KY connection appears in a deed involving Reuben selling another 20 acres on Hunting Creek to a Jesse Peter on March 17, 1817. As I mentioned before in an earlier post, one of Isaac Jones' granddaughters eventually married a John Wesley Peter in Calloway County, KY.

Henry McDaniel would pass away at some point between the writing of his will on September 23, 1824 and February of 1825 when it was proven in court by Leonard Messick. As with John Brown from an earlier post, it's interesting to note that at the time of the writing of Henry McDaniel's will he was no longer able to sign his name as with his past land deeds, instead using "his mark". The bulk of his estate was left to his son William who is also named as an executor along with Henry's wife Fanny. Apart from her first name and census generated birth year of 1774 which seems a bit too young to me, I've never been able to locate anything further about her. Henry and Fanny seem to have used the traditional naming system when it came to their children so I wouldn't be surprised if her father shared the name Reuben. The seven children named in the will are as follows: Fanny who married a Matheson, Nancy who married Wiley Jones, Reuben, Lucy who married a Wood, Elizabeth who married a Johnson, Mary who married Amos Windsor in Surry County on Dec 20, 1823, and William. In later years Reuben McDaniel can be found living in Carter County, TN in 1850 and his sister Lucy (McDaniel) Wood can be found living as a widow in McMinn County, TN.

1823 Inventory & Purchaser list for the Estate of Joseph Johnson

(Surry County, NC)

Based on a document I located in Surry County's Records of Inventories and Accounts of Sales, I tend to believe that the Johnson that Henry McDaniel's daughter Elizabeth married was Reuben Johnson. There were a number of different Reuben Johnsons of various ages in the area at the time, but this particular Reuben Johnson I believe to be the son of a Joseph Johnson who died in Surry County around 1823. The Reuben Johnson that I'm referring to can be seen on the 1830 Census for Surry County shown as being married at the time and in the 30-40 age range. The document mentioned is the inventory and purchaser list for the estate of Joseph Johnson which was entered by his administrator Strangeman Johnson. The very first listed and largest purchaser from the estate is an "R. Johnson" who has Henry McDaniel acting on his behalf. The "note" for the goods is recorded as having been given to Elizabeth Johnson with Henry McDaniel acting as security. Starting in 1818 this Reuben Johnson can be found being taxed along with Joseph Johnson in what at the time was known as Capt. Peter Dowell's District. This area bordered Hunting Creek to the north, later also known as the Jonesville District and Capt. Chappel's District, and included the area of Swan Creek as shown by Reuben Johnson's 1820 tax listing for 450 acres on that watercourse. The rest of the purchasers on the Joseph Johnson estate inventory reads like a "who's who" for that area and really illustrates the close proximity and connection between many of the families I've discussed so far in my blog. Apparently Joseph Johnson was in the horse breeding business and held notes on numerous people at the time of his death for what is recorded as his "studd horse accounts". Some of the other names listed include: Isaac Jones, James Whitlock, John Whitlock, Matthew Sparks, Benjamin Sparks, Robert Jones, Samuel Jones, James Parks, and many many others.

1787 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ Jeremiah Malone & wife Bridget to William McDaniel

1787 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ William McDaniel & wife Ann to Zephaniah Harper

1787 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ William McDaniel & wife Ann to Edger Rumbley

1787 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ William McDaniel & wife Ann to Michael Smith

1787 Wilkes County, NC Deed ~ William Colvard to William McDaniel (page 1)

1787 Wilkes County, NC Deed ~ William Colvard to William McDaniel (page 2)

1790 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ Richard Dowell & wife Mary to Peter Dowell (page 1)

1790 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ Richard Dowell & wife Mary to Peter Dowell (page 2)

1790 Rowan County, NC Deed #2 ~ Richard Dowell & wife Mary to Peter Dowell (page 1)

1790 Rowan County, NC Deed #2 ~ Richard Dowell & wife Mary to Peter Dowell (page 2)

1790 Wilkes County, NC Deed ~ William McDaniel & wife Ann to Joseph Fyffe (page 1)

1790 Wilkes County, NC Deed ~ William McDaniel & wife Ann to Joseph Fyffe (page 2)

1791 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ William McDaniel & wife Ann to Edward Cox (page 1)

1791 Rowan County, NC Deed ~ William McDaniel & wife Ann to Edward Cox (page 2)

1795 Surry County, NC Deed ~ John Martin to John McDanol (page 1)

1795 Surry County, NC Deed ~ John Martin to John McDanol (page 2)

1798 Wilkes County, NC Deed ~ William Cunningham to William Dowell

1798 Wilkes County, NC Deed #2 ~ William Cunningham to William Dowell (page 1)

1798 Wilkes County, NC Deed #2 ~ William Cunningham to William Dowell (page 2)

1803 Surry County, NC Deed ~ John Roton to Henry McDaniel (page 1)

1803 Surry County, NC Deed ~ John Roton to Henry McDaniel (page 2)

1804 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Joseph Myers to Henry McDaniel (page 1)

1804 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Joseph Myers to Henry McDaniel (page 2)

1804 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Henry McDaniel to George Lesly (page 1)

1804 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Henry McDaniel to George Lesly (page 2)

1816 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Reuben McDaniel to Hardy Wells (page 1)

1816 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Reuben McDaniel to Hardy Wells (page 2)

1816 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Reuben McDaniel to Robert Jones (page 1)

1816 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Reuben McDaniel to Robert Jones (page 2)

1817 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Reuben McDaniel to Jesse Peter (page 1)

1817 Surry County, NC Deed ~ Reuben McDaniel to Jesse Peter (page 2)

1824 Surry County, NC Will ~ Will of Henry McDaniel (page 1)

1824 Surry County, NC Will ~ Will of Henry McDaniel (page 2)