Levi Deaton, Sr.

I. Levi Deaton Sr., was born 5-12-1748 in Amelia Co., VA, and died 5-16-1799 also in Amelia Co., VA. He married Martha Cady Vesser ca 1770. Martha was the daughter of Benjamin Vesser and Rhoda Harris. Levi walked with a limp due to a childhood accident.

His wife, Martha, bought a hotel known as "Hendrick's Ordinary" in Amelia Co., VA, in 1784. The hotel was evidently renamed "Deaton's Ordinary" and was the basis for the name of Deatonville, VA. Judge Southall, an elderly judge of Amelia Co., recalled that Deatonville was known as "Thompson's Tavern" before the Revolutionary War. The hotel was located on a forty acre plot of land.

Levi also purchased one slave known as "Pompeii" in 1786 for the price of 30 pounds. Levi was a farmer and provided food and tobacco to his brothers who served in the Revolutionary War and also to fellow Revolutionaries. During the Civil War, Deatonville was in the route of the retreating CSA which was pushed inexorably backwards by repeated attacks from the Union cavalry and artillery.

• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 13 2022, 22:54:01 UTC