Rev. John 'Ten Shilling Bell' Chastain

A Patriot of the American Revolution for VIRGINIA. DAR Ancestor # A021238

Reverend John Chastain, b.1743, Goochland County VA, who married Mary O'Bryan. This John's father was Pierre Chastain, Jr. and Mildred Archer. Pierre was the son of the emigrant, Pierre Chastain. DAR A 021238, Patriotic service, VA

GOOCHLAND COUNTY IS NOW BUCKINGHAM COUNTY VA.

Family

John Chastain was born about 1743 in the Huguenot settlement of Manikin, Virginia that his grandfather Dr. Pierre Chastain helped establish. John was a third generation Chastain; his father was almost certainly Peter Chastain, Jr., son of Pierre Chastain, the immigrant. Unfortunately, Buckingham County, Virginia records were destroyed in 1869, so the only child of Peter, Jr. that is absolutely certain is Rene, who is often designated in Buckingham documents as the son of Peter to distinguish him from his cousin, Rev. Rene Chastain who lived in the same area.

There has been much discussion among researchers about Peter's possible children, and a number of lists have been proposed. The most definitive Chastain genealogy, Pierre Chastain and His Descendants (PCD), lists ten progeny, but titles them as Known or Speculated Children. However, Rev. John appears in every list, including Cameron Allen's early list of only three: James, John, and Rene. The evidence for Peter, Jr. as John's father is very strong and is the consensus of researchers. There is only one discordant voice; one of the earliest Chastain researchers, James Garvin Chastain, assigns Rev. John to Peter's older brother, John (Jean) as: (6) John ("Ten Shilling Bell"), b. 1740, d. 1806. Rev. John's HeadstoneHe gives no reason. Perhaps he confuses Rev. John with Jean's son, Jean, Jr. (John, Jr.), who was born in 1721 and died around 1807. Although James Garvin Chastain provides us with much valuable genealogical information, he made a number of such errors as often happens in pioneering research.

John married Mary O'Bryan (ca 1765-ca 1797) from Ireland around 1763, and they had 11 children who survived to adulthood. After Mary O'Bryan died, John married Mary Robertson (ca 1759-1847). In the early nineteenth century, many of John's descendents and collateral relatives occupied the Cherokee lands of North Georgia, abandoned when the Cherokees were forced to march to Oklahoma. There has been a high concentration of Chastains in this area since that time.

John died in Pendleton District (later Pickens County), South Carolina in 1805. According to PCD, he is buried next to his first wife, Mary O'Bryan. The site is west of Greenville, Couth Carolina, three miles south of Table Rock and two miles north of Pumpkintown. Their graves are 200 yards west of the mill on Carricks Creek which flows south into the Oolenoy River. His will is interesting in that he signed with his mark, suggesting that he was illiterate. This is in contrast to his grandfather, who was quite educated, and to his cousin, Rev. Rene Chastain, who was raised in the same area as John, but was literate non-the-less. More information: http://www.chastaincentral.com/content/john.html

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John CHASTAIN was born in 1743 in Goochland County (later Buckingham County), Virginia. In 1765, he married an Irish immigrant, Mary O'BRYAN. While living in Virginia, they had eight children. According to the DAR, both John and his brother Peter were Revolutionary soldiers, or at least supporting patriots, in Virginia.

While his father and grandfather had been Anglican, John became a Baptist. Along with his brother James and first cousin Rene CHASTAIN, John traveled up and down the frontier, preaching and establishing churches. Around 1780, John and his wife Mary (O'Bryan) migrated to North Carolina, where three more children were born. After that, they moved to the Pendleton District in northwest South Carolina.

John's wife died in 1797. The following year, he married Mary ROBERTSON, a native of South Carolina. They had three children, all born in South Carolina.

John CHASTAIN, Sr. was one of the founders and also the first minister of the Oolenoy Baptist Church in what is now Pickens County, South Carolina. His communion table and pulpit from the church still exist today. It is said that John's preaching voice was so loud and clear that he was given the nickname of "Ten Shilling Bell".

• Updated from MyHeritage Match via brother William Chastain by SmartCopy: Sep 16 2014, 3:40:25 UTC

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• Updated from MyHeritage Match via brother William Chastain by SmartCopy: Sep 16 2014, 3:40:25 UTC

1743 Manakin Goochland County Virginia, USA Death: Jul. 31, 1805 Pickensville Pickens County South Carolina, USA

Family links:

Parents:

 Pierre Louis Chastain (1707 - ____)

 Mildred Archer Chastain (1709 - 1790)

Spouse:

 Mary O'Bryan Chastain (1744 - 1797)

Children:

 Abner Chastain (1764 - 1846)*

 John Chastain (1766 - 1845)*

 Edward Brigand Chastain (1769 - 1834)*

 Emmett Elijah Chastain (1776 - 1853)*

 Benjamin F. Chastain (1780 - 1845)*

Siblings:

 Judith Chastain Carter*

 James Chastain (1740 - ____)*

 John Chastain (1743 - 1805)

 William Chastain (1744 - 1790)*

 Rene Chastain (1745 - 1818)*

 Abraham Chastain (1750 - 1821)*

 Martha Chastain Edens (1750 - 1840)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Chastain Cemetery Pumpkintown Pickens County South Carolina, USA

GEDCOM Note

I have found no hard evidence to link John to Lavinia Lavisa as her father. However I have 56 DNA matches that say otherwise.

GEDCOM Note

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=47344674&pid...

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=47344674&pid...

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=47344674&pid...

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=47344674&pid...