1810 Census, Rockingham County, Virginia

Enumerator Daniel Bryan

I believe Maria Magthalena (Polly) May age 26-44 was the daughter of my fifth great grandparents Thomas May Sr. and Maria Catherine Emerich.  As such, Polly was the sister of my fourth great grandmother Margarethe Elizabeth (Peggy) May who married my fourth great grandfather William/Wilhelm Messamore.  Polly was born about 9 Sep 1777 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, so she was actually about 33 years old at the time of the 1810 census.

Polly's husband was Peter Cook.  They were married on 20 Nov 1805 in Rockingham County.  So all three of their children must have been very young at the time of the 1810 census.  I don't know anything else about Peter, other than his approximate birth date and that he married Polly May.  The only two other Cook families in the 1810 census for Rockingham County were headed by Mary Cook age 26-44 (apparently a widow with many young children) and Jacob Cook age 45+.  Of the two, Peter was living closest to Jacob, and it seems likely that Jacob was Peter's father.

Benjamin Bryan was the son of my sixth great grandfather Thomas Bryan Sr.  As such, Benjamin was the brother of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.

I do not know who this Thomas Bryan was.  My best guess is that he was the son of Benjamin Bryan who was living next door.  If that's the case, then this Thomas Bryan was named for his grandfather (and my sixth great grandfather) Thomas Bryan Sr.  Also, this Thomas Bryan would have been the nephew of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.

I include Jacob Lincoln only to provide some context for the Bryans who were living nearby.  The Bryans and the Lincolns were known to have been living on opposite sides of Linville Creek, so the Bryans who were listed on this census page were probably living along Linville Creek.

Cornelius Bryan Sr. was the son of John Andrew Bryan.  As such, Cornelius was the grandson of my seventh great grandfather Cornelius O'Bryan Sr. and the first cousin of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.

Henrich (Henry) May age 26-44 was the son of my fifth great grandparents Thomas May Sr. and Maria Catherine Emerich.  As such, Henry was the brother of my fourth great grandmother Margarethe Elizabeth (Peggy) May who married my fourth great grandfather William/Wilhelm Messamore.  Henry was born on 5 Dec 1773 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, so he was actually about 36 years old at the time of the 1810 census.

Henry's wife was Catharine (Keaty) Sites.  They were married on 25 Jun 1798 in Rockingham County.

I do not know who this Thomas Bryan was.  I only have two Thomas Bryans in my database who were born before 1765.  They were my sixth great grandfather Thomas Bryan Sr. and his son Thomas Bryan Jr.  But Thomas Sr. died in 1793 and Thomas Jr. died in 1800.  This leaves me wondering if this Thomas might have been a son of John Andrew Bryan or of Cornelius Bryan Jr.

I believe this was John Bryan Jr., son of John Andrew Bryan.  As such, John Jr. was the nephew of my sixth great grandfather Thomas Bryan Sr. and the first cousin of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.

John Bryan Jr. died in 1814.  So if I have properly identified this census entry, then this John Bryan did not appear on the 1820 census.

I believe this was George May Jr., son of John George May and Martha Magdalena Houghman, and the grandson of Leonard May.  I do not know how or if Leonard May was related to any of my May family members, but he probably was.

George May and Mary Cook were married on 2 Dec 1806 in Rockingham County.  It seems extremely likely that Mary Cook was related to Peter Cook who married Maria Magthalena (Polly) May.  In fact, Peter and Mary were probably brother and sister.

I believe this was the Abraham Peters who was born in 1752 in Augusta County, Virginia (now Rockingham County, Virginia), son of John Jacob Peters and Elizabeth.  However, there apparently was more than one Abraham.  Some researchers believe this Abraham was the son of the aforementioned John Jacob Peters.  Other researchers believe this Abraham was the son of an older Abraham.

The thing that leads me to believe that this was the Abraham Peters who was the son of John Jacob Peters and Elizabeth is the Phillip Peters connection from line 14 (below).  It appears that Abraham Peters from line 12 and John Peters from line 13 were brothers, and that Phillip Peters from line 14 was the son of John.

I make note of the fact that the ages of the children don't make much sense for a man born in 1752 unless the younger children were Abraham's grandchildren.

I am not sure exactly who this John Peters was, except that he was surely closely related to the Abraham Peters and to the Phillip Peters who were living next door.  Given the Phillip Peters connection, it seems likely that this was John Jacob Peters Sr. and his wife Frances (Franky) Simms.  If so, then it seems likely that this John Peters was John Jacob Peters Sr., son of an older John Jacob Peters and Elizabeth.

I am not sure exactly who this Phillip Peters was, except that he was surely closely related to the Abraham Peters and the John Peters who were living next door.  Based on the relative ages, it seems likely that Phillip was the son either of Abraham or John.

The most likely case seems to be that this Phillip was the son of John Jacob Peters Sr. and Frances (Franky) Simms.  If so, then it seems likely that the John Peters in line 13 was John Jacob Peters Sr.

One issue about this whole interpretation of the Peters family in Rockingham County is that Rebecca Clay who married Phillip Peters was the daughter of Mitchell Clay.  Mitchell Clay was enumerated in the 1810 census in Giles County.  Giles County is not now (and was not in 1810) adjacent to Rockingham County.  Also, I have Rebecca's birth date as 1764, and clearly the wife of Phillip Peters from this census entry was not born in 1764.

Another issue about this whole interpretation of the Peters family in Rockingham County is that there was a John Peters Sr. and a Phillip Peters in Giles County in the 1810 census.

I believe this was John Jacob Peters Jr., also known as Capt. John Jacob Peters.  If so, he most likely was the son of John Jacob Peters Sr. from page 142a line 13.  However, there seems to be some dispute about Capt. John Jacob Peters, and perhaps he was the son of Christian Peters and Anna Katherine (Ann) Fudge.  In any case, I cannot identify the birth dates of his daughters well enough to determine who the daughters were in this census entry.

One issue about this whole interpretation of the Peters family in Rockingham County is that Sarah (Sallie) Clay who married John Jacob Peters Jr. was the daughter of Mitchell Clay.  Mitchell Clay was enumerated in the 1810 census in Giles County.  Giles County is not now (and was not in 1810) adjacent to Rockingham County.

Samuel Liggett age 10-15 or age 16-25 married Hannah Bryan on 18 Apr 1815 in Rockingham County.  I believe that Samuel was born about 1795, so there is no way to know for sure in which of the age ranges Samuel was enumerated.  Samuel was the son of Jacob Liggett age 45+ and Catherine Williams age 26-44.  One might suspect that in 1810, Catherine was closer to age 44 than to age 26.

Hannah Bryan was surely one of mine, but I do not know who her parents were.  There were two Hannah Bryans in Rockingham County at about the same time, one of whom married the aforementioned Samuel Liggett in 1815 and the other of whom married Samuel Moffett in about 1814.  The Hannah Bryan who married Samuel Moffett is known to have been the daughter of Major William Bryan.  Major William Bryan was the brother of my fifth great great grandfather Peter Bryan.  It seems likely that the two Hannah Bryans were first cousins, but even if so I cannot at this time make an informed guess as to who the parents were for the second Hannah Bryan.