NATHANIEL LANDRETH and MARY GRAYSON
Little is known of the early life of Nathaniel
Landreth who was born about 1760, lived in Grayson County,
Virginia, a large part of his life, then spent the latter part in
the Ashe-Alleghany County, North Carolina area. He died in what
was Ashe County (now Alleghany) in April of 1836, leaving a will
naming his children. He was probably living with his son John at
the time. We do not know this line of Landreths any further back
than Nathaniel, nor do we know the brothers and sisters of
Nathaniel. It seems likely that he was a brother to the old
William Landreth (1742?-1801) who also lived in North Carolina
and Grayson County, Virginia. William left his will in Ashe
County in 1801 and many of his descendants stayed in the area.
Nathaniel and Mary's children, more or less in order of birth,
were: Thomas (ca 1780-1847); Solomon (1782-1852);John (1784-after
1860); Zachariah (1785-1859); Jane ( ? ); Sarah (ca 1790-after
1850); Mary (1792-1861); Hannah ( ? ); Milly (1798-?); and
William (1810-?).
(ed. note: My direct line listed first.)
Mary, the seventh child of Nathaniel and Mary, married
William Wyatt in 1808 and had fifteen children, all born in the
area of Ashe County, now Alleghany County. They were: Solomon,
Zebedee, Burgess, John L., Louis, Nathaniel, Jonathan, Catharine,
Jane, Calvin, Mary Adaline, Nancy Emaline, William M., Eveline,
and Wyley.
(ed. note: see Biographical Sketch on William Wyatt and Mary
Landreth.)
Thomas married Martha "Patsy" Burton, daughter of Revolutionary War soldier John Pleasant Burton and Susanna Stamper. They had a daughter, Nancy, who married Allen Edwards in 1822 in Grayson County, Virginia. All the other children of Thomas Landreth and Patsy Burton went to the Lawrence/Owen County area of Indiana with their parents. Their children were: John who married Rebecca Ward and had nine sons; Allen (1811-1877) who married Naomi Burton and had fourteen children, then Allen married Ella V. {---} and had a son by her; Mary Jane (1814-?) who married Zimeria Lewis and had six children; Nathaniel (1818-1893) who married Sarah Arnett and had one son, then married Henrietta Martin and had three children; Benjamin who married Hannah Morris and had six children, and by a second wife he had nine more; David who married Rosanna Snelling and had eight children; Elizabeth who married Theodore Pridemore. He died young and she married James Russell and probably had a daughter by him; Martha who married Enoch Snelling and had four children; Powell who married Mary F. Spurlin and had five children.
Solomon, the second son of Nathaniel and Mary, married Mary Long and took his family to Owen County, Indiana, in the 1830's. His children are thought to have been: Nancy, David, Zachariah, Jesse, Patience, Thomas, Isaac, Mary, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Martha and Clisby. Solomon died in 1852 and his widow Mary went to Mercer County, Illinois, where four of her children had settled. Many are buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery at Millersburg. Thomas, Mary, Nathaniel and David all married into the Bass family and most of them lived in Boon County, Iowa. Patience married Henry Landreth and moved to Missouri. Clisby married Elizabeth Miller and moved to Oregon, where he died young and left two children.
John, the third son of Nathaniel and Mary, stayed in the Ashe/Alleghany area most of his life. He had lived on Buck Mountain in Grayson County before moving to Ashe around 1810. He married Elizabeth Hammons (?) believed to be from the Wilkes/Surry/Ashe border and it is believed there were about eight children. Only sons James and David are known for sure. They lived in the Gap Civil area of what is now Alleghany. James married Rachel Bass from Surry County and had nine children. David married first Cynthia Duncan and had three children. She died and he married Rachel Wagoner and had nine more children.
Zachariah, the fourth son of Nathaniel and Mary, married Catherine Long (?) and moved to Owen County, Indiana, then to Holt County, Missouri. Their known children were: Henry H. who married Patience; Thomas Solomon who married Esther Bevins and died at age thirty-five; Alexander who married elizabeth L. Crowes. He also died young, leaving seven children. Some of this family moved to Phillips County, Kansas.
Jane, the fifth child of Nathaniel and Mary, is thought to have married John Wyatt.
Sarah, the sixth child of Nathaniel and Mary, married John Ham, born about 1780, and son of William Ham, Sr.
Hannah, probably the eighth child of Nathaniel and Mary Landreth, married and died young leaving children, according to Nathaniel's will.
Millie, probably the ninth child of Nathaniel and Mary Landreth, married John Price. The seem to have had a large family, some of which were found in Alleghany in 1860.
The youngest child of Nathaniel and Mary Landreth was William. He was known as "Buck", was born in 1810 and descendants say he died in 1869. I somewhat doubt this as his wife, Marjorie Cox, appears in the 1850 census with her children only. Marjorie Cox was a daughter of Joshua Cox and Nancy Richardson. Joshua was a son of the well-known Captain John Cox who served in the Revolutionary War from the Grayson County, Virginia area, then moved to Ashe County, North Carolina after the war. William and Marjorie Landreth had seven children: Nancy, John (Jack), Betsy, Samuel, Polly, Eli and William. Several of these children stayed in the area and others went to Kentucky.
--- Laura Landreth Rust
(biographical sketches from The
Heritage of Ashe County, North Carolina.)
Sources: Will of Nathaniel Landreth; census records; land grants;
cemeteries; county histories; correspondence.
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