Mary Baker Johnson

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/DEGRAFFENREID/1997-12...

PLEASE WATCH YOUR BIRTH YEARS AND MAIDEN NAMES! BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT THIS PERSON! I HAVE SEEN ON HERE MANY MISTAKES AND CONFUSION AND CHILDREN MIXED UP! TOO MANY CHILDREN ASSIGNED TO THE WRONG PARENTS. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE "MARY BAKER POLLY" IN THIS LINE. ONE IN EACH GENERATION. I HAVE STUDIED THIS INTENSELY! AS A DEGRAFFENRIED DESCENDANT HERSELF TRIED TO EXPLAIN SOME YEARS AGO - AND I FOUND THE SAME AFTER INDEPENDENT STUDY - PLEASE NOTE:

"The Mary Baker "Polly" de Graffenried who married (on 18 Nov 1779 in Lunenburg Co., VA) Gideon William Johnson, Jr. (as his second wife) was the DAUGHTER of Baker de Graffenried and Sarah Mary Vass. She was the GRANDDAUGHTER of Tscharner de Graffenried (first American born de G., 1722-1794) and his 1st wife, Mary Baker.

Tscharner's DAUGHTER, Mary Baker de Graffenried, married Miller Woodson, ca 1765, in Cumberland Co., VA. I'm pretty sure this is recorded in the "History of the de Graffenried Family" by Thomas P. de G.  Other references include the W&M Quarterly, WFT 7-4112, and Wulfeck, Dorothy Ford, 1986, "Marriages of Some Virginia Residents, 1607-1800":

Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore: p. 298 “WOODSON ___ m. Mary DeGraffenreid, dau. of Tscharner and (1) Mary (Baker). Free II:206”; p. 302 “WOODSON, Miller, b. 1745; d. 1823, son of John and Mary (Miller); m. Mary de Graffenreidt, dau. of Tcharner. Court Record, 20 Dec. 1796, Cumberland Co. 45V313...."

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Children of Mary Baker "Polly" Johnson (DeGraffenried - daughter of Baker DeGraffenried) and Gideon Johnston, Jr. are:

-Sarah, 1780-1859, married Hubbard;

-Mildred B., b 1782, d 1841, married George Allen.

-Nancy, b 1784, married George Chadwell;

-Ursula, 1787, married Charles May;

-Mary Polly Baker, b 1790, married Mordecai Pillow;

-Jane "Jincy", 1795, married (Constable) David Chadwell;

-Elizabeth, 1797, married Valentine Chadwell;

-Elinor, 1800, married Nathaniel Bell;

-Tabitha, 1803, married Robert Booker May;

-William Weakly, 1807 married Sarah Alston;

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"...This gets confusing! Mary Baker, daughter of Tscharner, married Miller Woodson. Also, Gideon and Mary Baker (de Graffenried) Johnson Jr. were supposed to have a daughter "Mary Baker," sometimes referred to as "P.B." Johnson [%28Mary%29 "Polly" Baker Johnson], but William A. Allen believes the "Polly Johnson" who m. James Hastings on 28 Mar 1812 in Rockingham CO., NC is NOT the offspring of Mary Baker DeGraffenreid (dau. of Baker) and Gideon Johnson. Reynolds, v. 1, p. 213, says:"The marriage records of Rockingham County, North Carolina show that a Mary Johnson married Mordicai Pillow on August 4, 1808.It seems possible that this Mary was the daughter of Gideon and Mary Baker de Graffenried Johnson.Gideon's sister, Ursula Johnson married John Pillow.Nothing is known of the descendants of Mordicai and Mary Pillow.Mordicai Pillow appears in the 1820 Census of Davidson County, Tennessee.He was betwen [sic] 26 and 45 years of age with two males under 10 years of age and one female (wife) between 16 and 26 and one female under 10.Mordicai Pillow also appears in the records of Williamson county, Tennessee.On January 4, 1814, Gideon Johnson of the county of Rockingham, State of North Carolina and Mordicai Pillow of the county of Williamson, State of Tennessee sold to Elisha Bagley of the county of Lincoln, State of Tennessee for $1,100, land in Lincoln County, 2nd district.Thus, it seems that the Mary who married Mordicai Pillow was the daughter of Gideon Johnson Jr. Nothing more is known of Mordicai Pillow and Mary Baker Johnson and their descendants." Bill Allen corresponded with Katherine Reynolds on this matter in 1983, who said he had presented a good argument that "M.B." was Mildred B. Johnson (not Mary Baker called "Polly" and referred to as "P.B") and she m. George Allen; i.e., "M.B." (Mildred Baker) m. George Allen and "P.B." (Mary Baker called "Polly," i.e. "P.B") married Pillow...."

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[Btw....Henry Baker I, who I referred to below, was the owner of the historical plantation Buckland Plantation (still barely standing) in North Carolina. It stayed in the family and was "famous" until after the Civil War. And the Baker descendants are still working today in preservation of this Baker family and its ancestral property.  http://bakersofbuckland.org/ ] Anyway:

First:  To trace the Henry Baker I blood line to this point:

Mary Baker "Polly" Johnson (DeGraffenried) born 1764; her father Baker DeGraffenried born 1744; his mother Mary Baker born 1723; her father Henry Baker II born 1684; his father Henry Baker I born 1640.

To us descendants of the above mentioned Mary Baker "Polly" Johnson (DeGraffenried), born 1764, daughter of Baker DeGraffenried.....

"Polly"'s father, Baker DeGraffenried, was a close direct descendant of the DeGraffenrieds, a LONG famous noble line leading WAY back into Switzerland! Baker's mother (our surname Baker, i.e. Mary Baker born 1723) married Tscharner DeGraffenried. Tscharner was the first DeGraffenreid born in America. His GRANDFATHER, was (Swiss) Baron Christopher deGraffenried V, born 1661....who founded and was the Landgrave of New Bern, North Carolina. (Good heavens!) His VERY prestigious and famous/distinguished line goes all the way back to 1191 in Switzerland, with books (plural) written about this whole ancestry! In MUCH detail. Much of the Landgrave's life and story is written in his own hand! Fascinating! And it goes on and on....massive......ONE example: 

http://archive.org/stream/historyofdegraff00graf/historyofdegraff00...

Anyway, the Landgrave's son, Christopher deGraffenried VI came from Switzerland to North Carolina with his father and on Feb 22, 1714 married Barbara Tempest (nee Needham), the daughter of Sir Arthur Needham of Wymondsley, Hertfordshire, England. They only had ONE child.....Tscharner DeGraffenried, the first deGraffenried born in America - The Tscharner who married our ancestor Mary Baker born 1723 (whose grandfather was Henry Baker I.) Tscharner ended up with a bunch of property in Virginia. Tscharner had a total of four wives and 16 children, with 14 children living to adulthood! Mary Baker b 1723 was his first wife, with my direct ancestor Baker DeGraffenried being one of THEIR children. They had 9 kids.

ANYWAY.........when I hit THIS motherload of ancestry.....from BOTH parents of Baker DeGraffenried (perfect name for him), I thought "are you kidding me?!" Two ancestry titans came together when Mary Baker b 1723 married Tscharner DeGraffenried! Unbelievable!

Anyway, it goes on in similar fashion (leading WAY back to the 1100-1200s in other countries) with other ancestors of mine in the line I come from. I was SHOCKED!  I didn't expect to explode ancestrally so suddenly. 

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Sticking to just the "famous", historically significant, and influential and noble lineage, ....and in addition to my grandfather's Quaker Pennsylvania Dutch "Deweese" family who were instrumental in growing New York and particularly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Dutch "VanDyne" family and possible American Indian ancestry on my grandfather's side.....there is all this below! From my mother and grandmother's side.

I am omitting here the noble Scotland (celtic) line.  Lol  It is there, too, though! It is all unbelievably massive! And important.

This is just an overview from MY grandmother (i.e. me) maternal side:

[Btw....Henry Baker I who I referred to below was the owner of the historical plantation Buckland Plantation (still barely standing) in North Carolina. It stayed in the family and was "famous" until after the Civil War. (Yep.....you can think "Gone with the Wind" movie style......fascinating.) And those Baker descendants are still working today in preservation of this Baker family and its ancestral property - I have been chatting with them.  http://bakersofbuckland.org/ ] Anyway:

First:  To trace the Henry Baker I blood line only:

Me born 1955; mother Donna Rae Alvarado (Baker - this Baker is no relation to the Henry Baker line) born 1936; her mother Mabel Hixson (Phillips) born 1919; her father Earl Phillips born 1885; his father Samuel D. Phillips born 1854-1855; his mother Eliza Ann Mildred Phillips (Chadwell) born 1818; her mother Nancy Chadwell (Johnson/Johnston) born 1784; her mother Mary Baker "Polly" Johnson (DeGraffenried) born 1764; her father Baker DeGraffenried born 1744; his mother Mary Baker born 1723; her father Henry Baker II born 1684; his father Henry Baker I born 1640.

To us descendants of the above mentioned Mary Baker "Polly" Johnson (DeGraffenried), born 1764, daughter of Baker DeGraffenried.....

"Polly"'s father, Baker DeGraffenried, was a close direct descendant of the DeGraffenrieds, a LONG famous noble line leading WAY back into Switzerland! Baker's mother (our Baker, i.e. Mary Baker born 1723) married Tscharner DeGraffenried. Tscharner was the first DeGraffenreid born in America. His GRANDFATHER, was (Swiss) Baron Christopher deGraffenried V, born 1661....who founded and was the Landgrave of New Bern, North Carolina. (Good heavens!) His VERY prestigious and famous/distinguished line goes all the way back to 1191 in Switzerland, with books (plural) written about this whole ancestry! In MUCH detail. Much of the Landgrave's life and story is written in his own hand! Fascinating! And it goes on and on....massive......ONE example: 

http://archive.org/stream/historyofdegraff00graf/historyofdegraff00...

Anyway, the Landgrave's son, Christopher deGraffenried VI came from Switzerland to North Carolina with his father and on Feb 22, 1714 married Barbara Tempest (nee Needham), the daughter of Sir Arthur Needham of Wymondsley, Hertfordshire, England. They only had ONE child.....Tscharner DeGraffenried, the first deGraffenried born in America - The Tscharner who married our ancestor Mary Baker born 1723 (whose grandfather was Henry Baker I.) Tscharner ended up with a bunch of property in Virginia. Tscharner had a total of four wives and 16 children, with 14 children living to adulthood! Mary Baker b 1723 was his first wife, with my direct ancestor Baker DeGraffenried being one of THEIR children. They had 9 kids.

ANYWAY.........when I hit THIS motherload of ancestry.....from BOTH parents of Baker DeGraffenried (perfect name for him), I thought "are you kidding me?!" Two ancestry titans came together when Mary Baker b 1723 married Tscharner DeGraffenried! Unbelievable!

Anyway, it goes on in similar fashion (leading WAY back to the 1100-1200s in other countries) with other ancestors of mine in the line I come from. I was SHOCKED!  I didn't expect to explode ancestrally so suddenly. I can pinpoint, also, right where and with who that this hundreds of years long "gentry" ends in my line. 

This "prestige" and fame (for lack of a better word) goes on and on in Tennessee and the Nashville area from my line, even to this day! Who knew?  And we ended up here in Tennessee by pure happenstance! 

All this leads to....ME?! Little old unwanted adopted-out "only" child, raised with no siblings of any type, .......ME? Now that's hilarious! Hah!

The "break" from family status quo (from every family side) was when Eliza Ann Mildred Phillips (Chadwell) born 1818, married Thomas Crow Phillips, born 1810-1811. They left it all (prestige, influence, lineage, money, fame, government, military, politics.....you name it) behind and started all over from scratch in Illinois. I don't know why. Maybe for "love"?

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Ok, as usual......other genealogists are mixing things up.

CORRECTIONS:

Ancestor Mary Baker [1723%E2%80%931760], daughter of Col. Henry Baker of Chowan, North Carolina, m. 1742 to Tscharner DeGraffenried:

Her grandfather WAS Henry Baker of Isle of Wight, BUT he was born in 1640 (not 1645). Here is his correct bio from https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2AAvycdC94C&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&d...

We know his age, because he was 67 when he made his Will in 1707 (putting his birth year at 1640.) We do not know who his wife was nor for certain where he was born. 

Henry born 1640 was a wealthy merchant. He was also Justice of the County Court in 1685, 1698 and 1702. He was Burgess in 1692-1693; and Lieutenant Colonel commanding the Isle of Wight militia. 

Where he was born appears to be a pure guess, based on supposition that he came from Kent, England. It could be true, but no "documentary" evidence exists that I can find. Only a bit of loose reasoning, is all. I cannot locate any Henry from the Bakers of Kent that even come close to matching. Although it is an interesting  theory, it doesn't hold water at all. This theory being perpetuated is in  https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2AAvycdC94C&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&d...

Here is what I found, which said online research I reviewed didn't exist at the time of the writing of the above book:

Kent, England was fairly small and located on the border with East Sussex. Example: "Crowborough is a town in East Sussex near the border with Kent, in the South East of England."

Based on English protocol, this Henry would be from the "Bakers of Kent". Following that logic, first I study the Bakers of Kent. This person has done a great job of researching  this: http://baker.canavancentral.com/sissinghurst.html  He is looking for a different specific Baker, but it is the same family in the same area. Interesting. I don't find my "Henry" there, but it also doesn't appear that this researcher went up as far as the year 1645. 

Next, I switch to another avenue, as follows:

From http://www.theweald.org/home.asp

"...Thirty miles south of London and half way to the South coast of England lies an area of outstanding natural beauty combined with a fascinating history called the Weald. ... The Weald of Kent, Surrey and Sussex encompasses the Lancaster Great Park formed in 1372 and renamed as the Ashdown Forest in 1672...."

Apparently England can't locate Henry's parentage, either. 

In 1704, Henry Baker owned 850 acres in Surry. At the time of his death in 1712, in his Will he left those 850 acres in Surry to his son Lawrence (who was not yet 21 in 1707....putting his birth year after 1686). Henry also left Lawrence some other land on the borderline of Surry. Henry left his oldest son, Henry (Jr.) 2,500 acres at Bucklands, North Carolina. THAT IS HOW HENRY JR. GOT TO NORTH CAROLINA.

Bucklands is now an old plantation mansion in total disrepair. One of its most recent owners were former slaves there.

The below is from a discussion held online re ancestry and this plantation. There are also pictures online, too. SEE ATTACHED.

"...For lots of details and a history of the home and its occupants, there is an unpublished work (booklet) on file at the North Carolina State Library in Raleigh, N.C. called "Buckland Plantation" written by Thomas F. Baker in Nov. 1985. I have a copy I made on one of my visits to the library. It is about 70 pages with a very comprehensive history of the home complete with biographies of it's inhabitants over the years and maps showing how the land was granted and then divided over the years..

If you are unable to download or obtain a copy of the booklet easily, let me know and I can arrange to have my copy reproduced for you. If you have any info on the ancestry and heirs of the Henry Baker I who was an early occupant of the home, please share it with me. My ggggrandfather was a Henry Baker who died in Franklin Cty. N.C. and I have been trying to trace his ancestry correctly for many years without success. Best regards...."

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HENRY BAKER (JR.)

Henry Baker (Jr.) died in 1739. The date he was born has not been confirmed yet. We know he ends up at Bucklands in Chowan County, NC, because his father left him that property in 1712 in his Will.

Henry Jr. was Sheriff of Nansemond and Captain of Militia, and Burgess from Nansemond in 1723-1726. His 1st wife was Angelica, daughter of Col. David Bray. His second wife was named Ruth, daughter of Edmund Chancey of Pasquotank County, NC. From examining the Wills of both Henry Baker (Jr.) and his father-in-law Edmund Chancey, we can ascertain that Henry Jr's daughter, my ancestor Mary Baker who married DeGraffenried, mother is RUTH Baker (Chancey).

NOTE: Nansemond County (Virginia) was divided up and Chowan County, NC came out of it. There were a lot of boundary changes, etc, for the regions between Virginia and North Carolina. Nansemond County doesn't even exist anymore.

An interesting tidbit about the ferry Henry Baker (Jr.) owned is:

http://www.ncpublications.com/colonial/nchr/subjects/watson20.htm

"...The liveliest legal controversy concerning ferrykeeping in colonial North Carolina involved the statutory proscription of competition within ten miles of an established ferry.40   Henry Baker, awarded a ferry by the Chowan court, complained to the General Court in 1724 that the Bertie precinct justices had permitted William Maule to have a ferry at approximately the same location.41   When Maule claimed that the legislature had authorized his ferry (though only the Lower House had done so), the General Court referred the matter to the next assembly and remanded the case to the Bertie court. Bertie found that Maule was keeping the ferry in a “sufficient condition” and upheld Maule’s license. The General Court demurred upon receiving Baker’s second appeal, and Maule’s death occasioned the dismissal of the case by 1726.42  The Maule-Baker case was unusual, however, in that it was one of the few appeals by ferrymen to the higher courts.43  Decisions of the county justices seemed final...."

Footnotes:

40 Clark, State Records, XXIII, 47. For other complaints on this ground see Bertie County, Miscellaneous Records, Road Papers, 1734-1834, April, 1747, State Archives.

41 Bertie Precinct was formed from Chowan in 1722. Baker received his ferry license before this division occurred.

42 Saunders, Colonial Records, II, 475, 549, 654; Colonial Court Records, Box 192, July, 1722; March, 1724; August, 1725, State Archives.

43 Saunders, Colonial Records, 475; Bertie Court Minutes, December, 1770; March, 1772.