John ‘Stephen’ McFadin

Married
1) Martha Weeks
2) Hannah Smith

Father of William, James, John Jr., Samuel, Elias, Margaret, Andrew, Stephen, and Alexander.

Disambiguation

The John McFadden described in various resources as being married in Massachusetts perished on a sailing vessel in Massachusetts. The information is available via newspaper archives on the internet.

Name

John McFadin has become known to many genealogy enthusiasts and researchers as "John Stephen" McFadin. This erroneous transposition of his name came about as the result of his probated estate records which are housed in the North Carolina State Archives and incorporated with his deceased son Stephen's records, thus "John Stephen" McFadin. Both because of this named which has become known, and for the purpose of separating him from the many other John McFadins in this line, he is identified here as John 'Stephen' McFadin.

Biography

The first documented evidence of John 'Stephen' McFadin is in Frederick County, Maryland, in 1748. Land transactions between 1754 and 1757 as well as other evidence of he and his sons appear in records on file in the Maryland State Archives. His first wife apparently died by 1757 and he remarried in Maryland.

A short time after 1766, John 'Stephen' McFadin moved his family to Tryon County [now Rutherford County], NorthCarolina. On 16 December 1769 he purchased three hundred acres of land from one Thomas Johnston on McFadin Creek off the Second Broad River, and this is where he died in 1776. the names of his children were listed in his will, which was probated in 1777.

Most, if not all, of John 'Stephe' McFadin's sons served their country in the Revolutionary War, primarily with the NorthCarolina Militia. In the early 1780's most of his sons migrated westward through Tennessee and in to Kentucky, settling in Davidson and MontgomeryCounties, Tennessee and Warren, Christian, Simpson and Todd counties,Kentucky. In 1806 the families of his sons Andrew and William McFadin were among the first permanent settlers in Indiana. They founded McFadin's Bluff, which later became Mt. Vernon, Indiana.

During the years of 1822 to 1830 branches of this McFadin family were again on the frontiers in the counties ofJefferson, Liberty, Washington, and Shelby, Texas, as well as RandolphCounty, Missouri, and various other locations in Missouri, Illinois andArkansas.

Tradition relates that John 'Stephe' McFadin was the son of Andrew McFadin born in Scotland between 1675 and 1683 and Marsey [also seen as Mercy] Mallory who was born in 1672 in Derry, Ireland. They were married in Derry in 1693. They resided in the town of Garvaugh in the county of Derry on the Bannwater at a placed known as Summersett. John apparently was not their only child, they had several other sons.

Marsey died, before 1704, as Andrew remarried in that year to Jane Lindsey who was born in Ireland in 1684. InSeptember 1718, the ship "Maccallum" arrived in Boston, MassachusettsColony, from Londonderry, Ireland, with Andrew and Jane, and their children. However the Puritan residents forced the new arrivals away from Boston, and so Andrew and his family settled to the north, far up the Kennebeck River near Merry Meeting Bay between the Cathence and Abagadusset Rivers.

Over the past centuries as many as seven different children have been given as Andrew McFadin's by his two wives, however not all are conclusively documented. These children are John,Thomas, William, James, Andrew, Daniel and Summersett.

As early as 1722 Andrew McFadin's family moved to Georgetown, Maine [which at that time in our nation was inMassachusetts], likely after the death of Andrew. The younger children and their families apparently remained in and near that area for many years. John appears to have lived near the vicinity of Boston, but perhaps later sailed to Philadelphia and moved inland to near the location of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania before moving onto Maryland. The whereabouts of his brothers Thomas and William [if they were his brothers] is still unknown today.

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TRYON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA MINUTES OF THE COURT OF PLEAS AND QUARTER SESSIONS 1769-1779

April term 1778

This Will is of record at the Court House of Lincoln County, N. Carolina, written in the hand writing of John McFadin, whose property was in Rutherford County. In the beginning Rutherford and Lincoln Counties were a part of Old Tyrone County, and many counties were made of Tyrone. This is our immigrant ancestor.

IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN, the Twenty Fifth day of March in the year One Thousand Seven hundred and seventy six, I, John McFaddin of North Carolina, in the County of Tyron, being very frail and weak in body but of pefect mind and memory, thanks being given unto God therefor, calling unto Mind and Mortallity of my body, and Knowing that it is appointed for all Men once to dye, do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament; that is to say principally, and first of all I gave and Recommend my soul unto the hands unto God that gave it, and for my body, I recommend it to the earth, to be buryed in a Christian like and decent manner at the discretion of my Executors, nothing doubting but at the General Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the Mighty Power of God, and as touching such worldly Estates wherewith it has pleased God to Bless me in this life, I Gave, Devise and Dispose of the same in the following manner and form--

IMPREMES: It is my will and I do order, that in the first place all my Just Debts and Funeral charges be paid and satisfied.

ITEM: I give and bequeath unto Hannah, my dearly beloved wife, the Plantation I now live on During her life time, likewise the Plantation tools and Housol furniture; Likewise all my Horses, mares and cattle not heretofore mentioned; after payment is made of my debts to be hers during her lifetime.

ITEM: I give and bequeath unto William McFaddin my beloved and oldest son one cow.

ITEM: I give and bequeath unto my dearly beloved sons James, John, Sam'l and Andrew McFadin to each of them the sum of five shillings to be paid out of my Estate.

ITEM: I gave and bequeath unto Stephen and to Alexander McFadin, my well beloved sons the Plantation I now live on, and all my lands to them and to their heirs and assigns for ever to be theirs after the Discease of their Mother to be divided equally between them accordingly as hereafter Mentioned. I do allow my Son Stephen to have the side of the Creek we now live on, being the West side from Taylors Line, runing up the creek as it meanders to a pond, and the first crook above where the fencing is on the Creek. Now from thence up and croping the top of the Big Hill westward and to my son Alexander to have all the East side from Taylors Line up the creek and what is above said Pond and Bent of the Creek at the West side.

ITEM: I gave and bequeath unto my well beloved Daughter, Margaret McFaden, one bed and furniture, likewise one Rone mare now 3 years old.

ITEM: After the discease of my Dearly Beloved wife Hannah all my Goods and Chattels and Housol furniture, with all my Estate remaining to be equally divided among my sons Stephen and Alexander and my daughter Margaret.

I likewise Constitute, make and ordain my well beloved son, Alex'r McFadin executor and my Dearly beloved Wife Executrix of this my Last Will and Testament, and I do hereby utterly Disallow, Revoke and Disannul and every other former Testaments, Wills, Legacies and Executors, by me in any ways before this Time named, Willed, and bequeathed. Ratifying and confirming this and no other, to be my Last Will and Testament, IN WITNESS THEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and seal the Day and year above written,
John McFadin (SEAL)

Signed, sealed, published,
pronounced and Declared by the
said John McFadin as his last
Will and Testament in the
presence of us,

D. Dickey- Jurat
Thomas x Walker
his mark,

References

• http://dangel.net/AMERICA/Gass/NellieGassNunnNotes.html
• The John Stephen McFadin Family of North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, and Kansas. Maude A. McFadin. Mennonite Press, (1971) - 111 pages. < GoogleBooks >
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L66G-WC3
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90337657/john-mcfadden
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 23 2023, 13:50:14 UTC