Gabriel P. DeHart, Sr. was the youngest son of Aaron DeHart. He was born in 1780 (approx. within a year - U.S. Census for Patrick Co, Va. 1870 listed him as 90 years old). He was born on Porriage (the "a" was hand inserted) creek in Amherst Co., Va.
I know very little about Gabriel's early life. He would have been only 14 when his father, Aaron died in 1794. The next year after his father's death, Gabriel, along with his mother, his sisters, Susan and Mary, and his older brother Elijah, left Amherst Co. and moved to Patrick Co. He lived with his family there until about 1800.
The reasons I have concluded this is the fact that Gabriel bought land from his brother, Elijah on 28 June 1798 in Patrick Co. (Patrick Co. Deed Book - Vol. 1, Pg. 559.) As was the custom in that day and time Gabriel prepared his first land purchase to become his first home. I believe that he then got married about the year 1801. He appeared on the tax rolls for the first time in 1800 in Patrick Co.
Although I have been unsuccessful in locating a record of Gabriel's marriage to Charity Hubbard, I feel certain that this event occurred in or near Patrick Co, Va. He would have been 21 years of age in 1801 so I feel confident that his marriage took place at about this point in time. The earliest birth that I could find of a child born of the union of Gabriel and Charity was that of their son, Stephan. The date of his birth was March of 1805. (Obtained from a Certified copy of his death certificate.) I have very little information on the other nine children. I will give their names and the names of their marriage partners.
Stephen married Susan Pickle Elgin, John married Sarah Palmer, Thomas married Millie Conner and Mary Pendleton (2nd Marriage), Sallie DeHart married Chestley Rakes, Susan DeHart married William Blackard, Jessee DeHart married Mintory Ayers, Lucinda DeHart married Paul DeHart, Hannah married Josiah Johnson, Polly DeHart married a Mr. Wood, and finally Gabriel DeHart (my Great-Great Grandfather) married Martha Gates.
As with most of the other DeHarts the best record of Gabriel DeHart, Sr. was through the deed records. After the initial land purchase in 1793, Gabriel did not buy or sell land again until 18 Sept 1815 when he sold 100 acres to his brother James DeHart (Patrick Co. Deeds, Vol. 4, pg. 254). Gabriel bought land again from his brother Elijah in 1819 (Patrick Co. Deed book 5, pg. 285).
These were just a few of the many land dealings that Gabriel had in his lifetime. I mention only a couple of these because most are unimportant in relation to this paper. Any or all of these land transactions can be studied in detail at the Clerk of the Court's office in Stuart, Va. I could not find any evidence of Gabriel ever being in the military service or public service. I found this true of all the Deharts that I have researched to date. The only exception was Stephan H. DeHart (My Great Grandfather) who served in the confederate Army during the Civil War.
Gabriel Sr. lived a very long life. Through a careful check of the U.S. Census records for Patrick Co., Va. I have determined his approximate date of death. The 1870 Census for Patrick Co. listed Gabriel DeHart as being 90 years of age and his wife Charity as 83 years of age. This was the last appearance that either of them made the Census records.
Other efforts at locating the exact date of Gabriel's death have been unsuccessful. One of these efforts includes communication with The Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics. I had this agency search the years 1872-1879 for a record of Gabriel's death. The reply that I received stated that no records could be located of the death in question. The letter went on to say that a record of his death may not have been filed at the time it occurred.
Another document that may shed some light on this search is a copy of a dower assigned to Mrs. Gabriel DeHart form the Estate of Gabriel DeHart. (I have a copy of this document in my records.) The document is fated 14 March 1879. From this paper I now know that Gabriel died before this date. He may have died a couple of years before or he may have just died several months before. In any case Gabriel DeHart, Sr. lived longer than any of my ancestors that I have been able to document up to this point in my research.
Contributed by Pat DeHart Long
Document Prepared by Gloria Lambert