Gabriel DeHart, Jr., my Great-Great Grandfather was born in the year 1811 in Patrick Co. I know this because he was listed in the U.S. Census for Patrick Co., Va (1860) as being 49 years old.
I have not been able to find out anything about Gabriel's early life up to his marriage. He married Martha Gates on 28 Feb. 1833 in Patrick Co., Va. They were married by Stephan Hubbard, a relative. As I mentioned earlier, Stephen Hubbard married Gabriel's Aunt, Susanna (Aaron's daughter). A record of their marriage can be found in the Patrick Co., Va. Marriage register.
Gabriel and Martha raised a large family of six boys and three girls. I will list the children, their birth dates. The oldest was Stephan DeHart, (my Great Grandfather). He was born on 30 Nov 1834; Sarah, born in 1835; William, born in 1838; Henry, born in 1840, Lucinda, forn in 1842; Green, born in 1845; John, born in 1850; Martha E., born in 1854, and last Nathaniel, born 14 July 1857. The dates for all but Stephan, Martha, and Nathaniel are not exact to the day. Stephan's birth date was taken from his grave stone as well as his Death Certificate of which I have a copy. Martha and Nathaniel's birthdates were taken directly form their birth records as recorded at the Patrick Co. Courthouse in Stuart, Virginia. The remainder of Gabriel's childrens' birthdates were taken from the U.S. Census for Patrick Co. (1860). Their birthdates should be correct within one year.
Gabriel's occupation was that of a farmer and miller as listed in the U.S. Census records.
All indications point towards the Rock Castle Creek area as being Gabriel and Martha's home. The only birth records that I could find were of the two youngest children, Martha and Nathaniel. The records indicate that they were born on Rock Castle Creek. Also the fact that both Gabriel and his wife Martha are buried in a small cemetery at the base of Tuggles Gap off of Rt. 8 on Rock Castle Creek indicates that this was most definitely their home.
Gabriel DeHart, Jr. died a young man. Although I have not been able to locate a death record for Gabriel, through Census records, deed records, and property tax records I have been able to fix Gabriel's death at 1861. I will explain how I arrived at this conclusion. The first thing I did was to check the U.S. Census records for Patrick Co. Gabriel was listed in the 1860 Census, but he was not listed in the 1870 Census. Instead, his oldest son, my great-grandfather, Stephen H. DeHart was listed as the head of the household in the 1870 Census. This told me that Gabriel Jr. died sometime between 1860 and 1870. The information that finally solved this problem was the personal property tax records.
The records show that Gabriel paid taxes through the year 1860. I could not find any record of his paying taxes after that year. Also, I found an inventory of the personal state of Gabriel, Jr., deceased -- dated aug 8 1862. This inventory was taken by Stephan H. DeHart who was acting as administrator of the estate. With this evidence I fixed Gabriel's date of death at sometime in 1861. Gabriel's wife Martha died in 1897 (from the gravestone of Martha Gates).
Contributed by Pat DeHart Long
Document Prepared by Gloria Lambert
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Amber Dalakas