Sixth Generation  

32. Jean Pierre Dorr, son of Jean Jacques Dorr and Marie Marguerite Paulus, was born on 4 Dec 1734 in Varsberg, Moselle, Lorraine, France and died on 29 Sep 1811 in Saint-Avold (57, Moselle), Lorraine, France, at age 76.

Jean Pierre married twice, the second time to Catherine Elisabeth Weber from Varsberg from whom we descend. During this time some of the Dorrs went into the cloth making field and evidently became well off. Jean became a tailor and an inn keeper. Jean Pierre's brother, Nicolas, became the mayor of Varsberg.

Jean married Catherine Elizabeth Weber in 1763. Catherine was born in 1736 and died on 10 Oct 1787 in Varsberg (57, Moselle), France, at age 51.

Children from this marriage were:

16        i.  Mathias Dorr ² (born on 7 Jul 1782 in Varsberg (57, Moselle), France - died on 30 Aug 1814 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France). Mathias married Marie-Marguerite Closset on 31 Aug 1801 in Morhange, France. Marie-Marguerite was born on 26 Sep 1773 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France and died on 20 Jun 1828 in Morhange (57 Moselle), France, at age 54.

         ii.  Anne Marie Dorr was born in 1766.

        iii.  Jean Adam Dorr was born in 1769 and died in 1859, at age 90.

         iv.  Ambroise Dorr was born in 1775 in 1864.

          v.  Catherine Elisabeth Dorr was born in 1779.

33. Catherine Elizabeth Weber was born in 1736 and died on 10 Oct 1787 in Varsberg (57, Moselle), France, at age 51.

Catherine married Jean Pierre Dorr, son of Jean Jacques Dorr and Marie Marguerite Paulus, in 1763. Jean was born on 4 Dec 1734 in Varsberg, Moselle, Lorraine, France and died on 29 Sep 1811 in Saint-Avold (57, Moselle), Lorraine, France, at age 76.

44. Hutchins Burton .

Hutchins married someone.

His child was:

22        i.  William Burton. William married someone.

48. Edward Boswell was born in 1750 and died in 1830 in Orange County, NC, at age 80.

The first record of Edward Boswell is in the 1782 Prince William County, Virginia Tax Roll. He had 6 horses and 4 cattle. However, several of his children were shown by the census records to have been born in Virginia before this - Craven in 1774, John in 1776 and Susannah in 1778. In 1789 there is a bill of sale for his purchase of one slave.

He lived on part of what was known as the "Bristow Tract." How or when he obtained this land has not been found. In 1686-87 King James II of England granted 30,000 acres to George Brent, Richard Foote and Robert Bristow. Mr. Bristow remained in England and the land was governed and leased out by Brent and Foote. An heir also named Robert Bristow owned the land prior to the Revolutionary War. After the war the land was taken by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the title to the land was tied up in the courts for many years. Edward sold one lot (100-200 acres) of the Bristow Tract on 19 September 1798 for 100 pounds to Benjamin Cooper. The original plat map has been lost. An 1823 map of the Bristow Tract is in the Prince William County Land Office in Manassas, Virginia. However, this map does not list a Cooper, so it must have been resold by that time. Also living on the Bristow Tract at about this time were John Sullivan and John, John T. and William Leachman, families who married into the Edward Boswell family.

Edward was probably a tobacco farmer. Between 1650 and 1776 tobacco was the major crop in Prince William County. During this time there were no towns, just plantations. The farmers of that day did not understand that they needed to rotate their crops, especially tobacco, as it depleted the soil of the necessary nutrients. Many times when the soil became poor they would just move on to new land. In 1797 the tobacco crop failed in Prince William County according to a letter from Thomas Lee, rent collector to the Governor, as recorded in the Calendar of Virginia State Papers.*

The legal controversy over the land, as well as the crop failure, could have influenced Edward's decision to sell his lease and move his family to North Carolina.

The first settlers in Orange County, North Carolina made their homes on the many streams in the area. Because of the fertile land, some settlers made their homes on a ridge which rose between Stoney, Tom's and Jordan's Creeks. On 1 October 1798 Edward Boswell bought 363 acres from James Brackin in Orange County (now Alamance County) for 363 pounds. This land is located on Stoney Creek north of what is now Burlington, North Carolina.

According to the Centennial History of Alamance County, tobacco and grain were the major crops in Orange County by 1800. In winter the farmer would load his high-wheeled farm wagon with 1,000 pounds of tobacco and haul it over muddy roads and across treacherous creeks to Dan or Roanoke Rivers from which it could be shipped by water to markets in Petersburg and Richmond. Orange County grew to be the largest county in the state by 1800.

The children worked in the fields most of the year, going to school only in December, January and February. Stoney Creek Church was the location of one of the early schools started about 1800. The first church building was the Union Meeting House on the Union Camp Grounds and was used by all denominations. Stoney Creek Presbyterian Church was built in 1775. Bethel Methodist Church dates back to 1800. Gilliam's Primitive Baptist Church was built in 1824 on the Haw River.

Edward's religious affiliation is not known. His grandson, Thomas Leachman Boswell, "professed religion" at a Cumberland Presbyterian camp meeting at age 13 in Henderson County, Tennessee. However, he became a Methodist minister. Thomas L.'s brother, Craven Carlyle, became a Cumberland Presbyterian Minister, and Edward's son, Craven, was also a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and gave land to the Mount Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Henderson County, Kentucky. Edward's grandson, James Iverson Boswell, was a member of the Primitive Baptist Church after he moved to Mississippi.

No record has been found of Edward's wife; however, there were twelve children. She apparently died between 1820, when she appears on the census record, and 1826, when Edward's will was written with no mention of his wife.

All of Edward's sons became farmers. Craven left North Carolina and moved to Henderson County, Kentucky about 1805. Thomas went to that same part of Kentucky for a short time around 1818 and then in 1820 went to Henderson County, Tennessee. Matthew went to Henderson County, Tennessee briefly and then to Missouri in 1837. John died in Caswell County, North Carolina in 1854 but his son James Iverson went to Fayette County, Tennessee about 1832 and then moved to Marshall County, Mississippi.

A grandson of Edward's (whose father is not known), Brown Boswell, went to Henderson County, Tennessee about 1830. Edward's daughter Charlotte, who never married, lived with Brown in Tennessee according to the 1850 census.

Susannah Boswell Leachman and her children moved to Polk County, Missouri sometime after 1820. Her husband, Thomas Leachman, had died in 1816. Edward's daughter Elizabeth (?) Sullivan died before 1830. Her children are named in Edward's will. His daughters Nancy Bracken Wilkerson and Catherine Graham apparently remained in North Carolina. His sons, Edward and Matthew, both served in the War of 1812. James was executor of his father's will in 1830, so apparently he also remained in North Carolina.

Edward's will was probated in Orange County, North Carolina in August 1830. It instructs that his plantation be sold and the proceeds divided among his children.

Edward married Craven ?.

Children from this marriage were:

24        i.  Thomas Boswell (born on 27 Sep 1779 in Prince William County, VA - died on 6 Oct 1822 in Hend. County, TN). Thomas married Mary Sims, daughter of Zebiah Rice, on 10 Dec 1802 in Caswell, County, NC. Mary was born on 9 Feb 1787 in NC and died on 23 May 1858 in Med. County, TN, at age 71.

         ii.  Craven Boswell was born on 12 Nov 1774 in Prince William County, VA and died on 3 Feb 1847 in Henderson County, TN, at age 72.

        iii.  John Boswell was born on 5 Mar 1776 in Prince William County, VA and died on 18 Jun 1854 in Casw. Co., NC, at age 78.

         iv.  William? Boswell was born 1777 ? in VA and died before 1826 in Casw. Co., NC.

          v.  Susannah "Sukey" Boswell was born on 5 May 1778 in Prince William County, VA and died after 1850 in MO. Susannah married Thomas Leachman.

         vi.  Charlotte Boswell was born about 1783 in Prince William County, VA and died after 1850 in Henderson County, TN.

        vii.  Elizabeth ? Boswell was born about 1784 in Prince William County, VA and died before 1826.

       viii.  Edward Boswell was born on 8 Jul 1786 in Prince William County, VA and died about 1840, about age 54.

         ix.  Nancy Boswell was born about 1790 in Prince William County, VA and died after 1842 in Orange County, NC.

          x.  Matthew Boswell was born in 1792 in Prince William County, VA and died on 13 May 1852 in St. Clair County, MO, at age 60.

         xi.  James Boswell was born about 1798 in VA? and died about 1843 in NC?, about age 45.

        xii.  Catherine "Kitty" Boswell was born on 5 May 1797 in Prince William County, VA and died on 16 May 1892 in Alamance County, NC, at age 95.

49. Craven ? .

Craven ? married Edward Boswell. Edward was born in 1750 and died in 1830 in Orange County, NC, at age 80.

51. Zebiah Rice, daughter of Thomas Rice.

Zebiah married someone.

Her child was:

25        i.  Mary Sims (born on 9 Feb 1787 in NC - died on 23 May 1858 in Med. County, TN). Mary married Thomas Boswell, son of Edward Boswell and Craven ?, on 10 Dec 1802 in Caswell, County, NC. Thomas was born on 27 Sep 1779 in Prince William County, VA and died on 6 Oct 1822 in Hend. County, TN, at age 43.