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Amber Dalakas
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SIMON DEHART THROUGH STEPHEN H. DEHART
Aaron DeHart was the youngest of the original settlers. The date of his birth can only be estimated at this state of my research. His older brother, Elias, was born in 1730 so Aaron could have been born any time after that date. However, I doubt if his birth occurred any later than 1740 because of several occurences. First, Aaron witnessed a land deal in which his brother, Elias, sold 112 acres of land to a William Diuguid in 1763. (Deed book A, pg. 76 - Amherst Co. Records) At this time I would like to point out that this seemingly minor documents disproves part of the original "Four Brothers Theory". That is the date, 1770, when the brothers were supposed to have landed in Charleston, S.C. If they landed in 1770 as believed, how could Aaron Dehart have witnesses a deed some six years earlier?
Aaron first bought land in 1770. It consisted of 108 acres that he bought from his brother, Simon for five shillings. (Deed book C, pg. 88 - Amherst Co. Records.) This purchase may have coincided with his marriage --the exact date of which is not known.
All of the DeHarts that I have researched usually bought a tract of land preceding their marriage and I see no reasons that Aaron would be any different.
Aaron married Ellender Dennis who was probably from Amherst Co. I have run across several different first names of his wife some of which include: Malinda - the most widely known in the many papers that have been written; Ellender (mentioned in Deed Book G, pg. 187 Amherst Co. Court Records.); and Lalender (mentioned in the Deed Book I, pg. 85 - Amherst Co. Court records.)
Aaron and Ellender had three sons and two daughters. James, I feel sure was the oldest, Elijah was next and Gabriel was the youngest son. Because of the Census records and Gabriel's long life, I have been able to fix his birth date within a year of 1780. The two girls were Susan and Mary. I do not have much information on these two.
I was able to find a few records of Aaron's life between 1770 and 1793. On 9 June 1779 Aaron purchased another parcel of land. This time he bought some land from a Henry Christian. (Deed Book E, pg 150 - Amherst Co. Records.) The next mention of Aaron in the official records of history was in 1883 *(a handwritten notation of 7 has been superimposed over the 8 so that it reads 1783) in a book entitled "Heads of Families". This was a record of the first Census of the U.S. as taken from tax records of the time. In this record Aaron was listed as having nine family members and no slaves. Of the nine family members mentioned Aaron, Ellender, and their 5 children would have been 7 of the 9. The other two of the nine could have been children of either of his brothers. At least one of these two unknown family members I believe I can identify. In a book entitled, "Marriages and Records - Amherst County, Va., 1763-1800," pg. 25 a John DeHart is listed as being married to Ellender Scott, spinster on Sept. 3, 1792. The interesting part of this is that Aaron DeHart gave his consent for John to marry. John, I feel sure, lived in Aaron's household and may have been an adopted child.
Aaron sold land on two different occasions. First in 1792 he sold some land to a Sackville King. (Deed book G, pg. 18 - Amherst Co. Records.) Aaron sold land again in 1793 to his son, Elijah. (Deed book H, pg. 459 - Amherst Co. Records.)
There is strong evidence that Aaron died in late 1793 or early 1794. Through a careful check of tax records in the Virginia State Library Archives, I found that Aaron was listed as a taxpayer for most years up to and including the year 1793. This was the last that I was able to find about Aaron in any record book. What convinced me that Aaron died during these years was the fact that Ellender DeHart was listed as a taxpayer for the year 1794. And only heads of households were listed as taxpayers. In 1793 the tax records indicate that Aaron had 5 people living under his roof. In 1794, Ellender had only one person listed in her family. The next *(handwritten insertion of "year" entered here), 1795, Elijah and Ellender disappeared from the Amherst Co. Tax rolls and Elijah reappeared on the Patrick Co. tax lists.
According to a paper I found in the Geneology dept. of the Bassett Va. Public Library, a decendent of Elijah DeHart wrote the story of what happened. It states, "After her husband, Aaron's death, she (Ellender) lived with her son, Elijah until she died and was buried at the old Charity Baptist Church under some large Oak trees." All of this fits perfectly with what I have found in my search.
This is the All important link between the DeHart family in Amherst and Patrick Co. Elijah DeHart was the first DeHart to settle in the new wilderness called Patrick co. - which was carved out of Henry Co. in the year 1791. Elijah started the migration of DeHarts between the two counties. Elijah, his family, and his mother (Ellender) along with his brother and sister (Gabriel and Susan) made the move in 1795.
The next to move to Patrick Co. was Aaron's son James. He paid taxes in Amherst Co. through the year 1797. In 1798 he was listed as a taxpayer in Patrick Co.
The final break with Amherst Co. came in 1799. A deed was negotiated which appears much like an estate settlement of some kind. In this document 90 acres of land was sold to a Mathew Stanton for the sum of 92 pounds. The Grantors were as follows: Ellender DeHart, (Aaron's wife) Thomas Tennison; Mary Tennison (Aaron's daughter); James DeHart; Catherine DeHart, (Aaron's son and his wife); Susanna DeHart, (Aaron's other daughter); and Mary DeHart, (Elijah's wife). Mary DeHart was probably representing Elijah in his absence. All of these DeHarts were listed as being from Patrick Co. (Deed Book I, pg. 85 - Amherst Co. Court Records.) Gabriel DeHart would have been 18 or 19 years of age at this time and thus too young to enter into a contract of this kind.
Earlier it was mentioned that Aaron's wife, Ellender was buried at the old Charity Baptist Church. The Church was started in 1778 and is still in existence today in Patrick Co. Services are still held there once a month.
Mail to:
Amber Dalakas
Last updated: Wednesday, 24-Apr-2024 21:56:21 MDT