Charles Roark

Not a known child of Timothy Roark & Sarah Roark

Charles Roark, parents unknown, was born about 1750, Augusta Co., VA (?). He died after 1830, Ashe Co., NC and is buried in the Charles and Abigail Roark Family Cemetery, Peak Road, Creston, Ashe County, North Carolina. The remains of his cabin are also on that land.

Origins

Parents unknown.

From https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54197367/charles-roark

Two different Charles Roark's are being combined. Charles of Grayson Co VA, son of Timothy Roark never left VA & was there when the Charles of Ashe Co NC married Abigail

(see more, below)

Family

Charles Roark married Abigail, her parents unknown, about 1775 in Fincastle Co., VA. (??) She died before 1820 in Ashe Co., NC.

Children:

1. Sarah 1775 (m. Stephen Taylor, s/o John Taylor and Mary (? Lewis) d. 1801 Ashe Co., NC),
2. Rebecca 1776 (m. Richard Vanover),
3. Jesse 1778 (m. Ellen "Nellie" Price),
4. Mary "Polly" 1785 (m. Thaddeus Lewis);
5. Kiziah Sosandra 1786 (m. William L. Price),
6. Timothy 1790 (m. Rebecca),
7. Jane 1798 (m. John Pope s/o Nathan Pope b. 1775),
8. Eleanor 1792 (m. Nathan Lewis),
9. Charles B. 29 Nov 1795 (b. NC, m. Letitia Jones);
10. Abigail 1800 (m. Noah Mahala);
11. Martin

Disambiguation

From https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54197476/abigail-roark/flower (also see Document attached, "Flowers" section)

Abigail Roark is NOT Cherokee per DNA testing of many descendants. Please stop this myth from perpetuating. Here is a write up from a professional Vanover genealogist to help clear up the errors in our tree. Please stick to fact when documenting, after all it IS what happened.
"After 30 years of research, here's my findings, and you are all quite welcome to dig deeper into the records and come to your own conclusions one way or the other. If anyone has documentary proofs that refute what I say here, I would very much welcome the opportunity to review it: Many trees on Ancestry and elsewhere are listed with Abigail Easterd/Eastridge "Raven Canoe" as being married to both Charles Roark and Cornelius Vanover. If one looks at the overlapping dates of the children born to the Charles Roark and Abigail "Raven Canoe" and to the Cornelius Vanover and Abigail Easterd families, you can clearly see that these are two separate families that are unfortunately being combined into one. But that's not all...
1. There are two different Charles Roark's that are being combined into one man. Charles of Grayson Co VA, son of Timothy Roark never left VA. Charles of Grayson was living in VA with wives Polly Reed (md. 1800) and Isabella Hale (md. 1823) when the Charles of Ashe Co NC who married Abigail "Raven Canoe" was in Ashe. There's extensive documentation which would take up several pages that proves they were two different men, but the biggest piece of evidence is the 1811 Will of Charles of Grayson's father Timothy Roark and a subsequent Chancery Court document which clearly shows Timothy's son was a resident of the state of Virginia at the time Charles of Ashe is shown living in North Carolina. County Court Orders for both men in both states covering many, many years also show they were two different men. Charles of Grayson was the soldier.
2. There are two different Abigail's that are being combined into one woman. Abigail "Raven Canoe" was the one who married Charles Roark of Ashe Co NC...she might have been Native American, although mtDNA testing would be needed to prove it. Abigail Easterd was the one who married Cornelius (5th) Vanover...she likely was not Native American based on everything I've seen on the family document-wise and have heard from those who have done mtDNA on this line. Both families were living in Ashe Co NC at the same time. Charles Roark - (1806-1811 Ashe Co NC County Court Orders, 1810-1820-1830 Ashe Co NC Census, 1815 Ashe Co NC Tax List) and Cornelius (5th) Vanover (1790 Rowan Co NC Census, 1806-1807 Ashe Co NC Court Orders, 1834 Ashe Co NC Minutes of NC Superior Court, 1810-1820-1830 Ashe Co NC Census, 1815 Ashe Co NC Tax List). Abigail "Raven Canoe" born about 1755 died about 1820, but Abigail Easterd born about 1766 was still living as late as 1830, maybe later.

---

Charles and Abigail Roark Family Cemetery
Peak Road
Creston Ashe County North Carolina USA

Cemetery notes and/or description: Path to cemetery is located to left of original Charles B. Roark log cabin on Peak Road. Treak to cemetery is a 1200 ft steep rugged climb. The cemetery is at the summit. Approximately 300 feet below the cemetery is a path that turn rights. This path is about 50 feet and leads to the original site of Charles and Abigail Roark log cabin. Part of the original chimney remains. Pictures are included with this cemetery listing.

Links

• Charles and Abigail Roark Family Cemetery
• Re: Roark, Timothy 1740, Stokes County, NC posted October 11, 2006 (dead link March 2018)

References

• Bishop, Brenda C. 1984. 1840 Ashe County, North Carolina [federal census]. Transcript on file, Heritage Room, Ashe County Public Library, West Jefferson, NC.
• Reeves, Eleanor. n.d. Ashe County, North Carolina Census 1850, by A.M. Bryan, July 25, 1850. Transcript on file, Heritage Room, Ashe County Public Library, West Jefferson, NC.
• Sebastian, Samuel E., and Paul W. Gregory. 1975. 1810 federal census of Ashe County, North Carolina. April 10. North Wilkesboro, NC: The Wilkes Genealogical Society. Transcript on file, Heritage Room, Ashe County Public Library, West Jefferson, NC.
• Shepherd, Ruth W., and Evelyn W. Trostle. 1987. 1830 federal census, Ashe County, North Carolina. Abstract from microfilm. Jefferson, NC: Carolina Printing Company. On file, Heritage Room, Ashe County Public Library, West Jefferson, NC.

  ---

• Residence: Ashe, North Carolina, USA - 1820
• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via daughter Rebecca Vanover (born Roark) by SmartCopy: Nov 4 2014, 19:31:51 UTC