Robert Fleming Tynes

joined a "Vallanteer Company of Horse" under Capt. Mathew Singleton in St Marks Parish of South Carolina, in the Revolutionary War, on August 26, 1775.

"Fleming Tynes, Sr. was a soldier of the revolution who served as a militia cavalryman under [General] Francis Marion, the famous 'Swamp Fox.' Fleming Tynes, Sr. left Georgia sometime after 1806. It is not known (1988) whether his first wife was still living at the time. She reportedly was his niece, Miss Watkins.

"There is no record available to show where he resided between 1806 and 1813, when he appeared of record in Amite County, Mississippi Territory. There he married Silvia Dixon, brieflyÖ in 1819 he appeared on records of Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he purchased land that appears on state land plats under the name of Fleming "Finis". His vocation in his later years was a farmer and his land was on Little Beaver Creek near the Amite River. the place of burial of [him] and his wife is not known at this time, though it's believed they are buried separately, she maybe in Georgia or [South Carolina].

"There are 10 children known born of the union of Fleming Tynes, Sr. and Miss Watkins. There is a good possibility that the Timothy Tynes, born 1788 in South Carolina and living in Butler County, Alabama in the 1800s, was a son. Conclusive proof, however, has not bee developed, although Timothy had a son named Fleming Tynes.

"Fleming Tynes, Sr. was probably a son of William Tynes, who lived in Granville County, [North Carolina] and was also the father of Colonel Samuel Tynes. Samuel was a Tory officer who served under Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis; after the war he moved to Virginia and has a number of descendants in southwestern Virginia, some of whom are prominent citizens. A William Tynes died in the area of Camden, South Carolina, about 1780 and his succession was filed in 1782.

"William Tynes' father was Captain Samuel Tynes, who migrated from Bermuda to [North Carolina] in the early 1700s and was one of two Tynes who probably married Butterfield sisters, Edith and Deborah [other sources say Deborah], also born in Bermuda. the other Tynes (or even our own ancestor) could have been Joseph Tynes, who appeared in Chowan Precinct, [North Carolina] about 1730.

"Many of the other Tynes in America are our relatives, having come from Bermuda or other islands at various times from the same stock that came from England at or before the time of the Cromwell Parliament. One Stephen Tynes was an early settler in Bermuda. There were Tynes residents in Greater London before 1500.

"This article is based on knowledge gained from genealogy research since 1954 and on correspondence with several genealogists, library research, interviews with relatives, cemetery records, research of Rev. Walter E. Tynes (b. 1848) and encouragement and assistance from Mrs. Jewel Paul Hunt. Also, there is some attempt to fit pieces of the puzzle together where few records are available."[100. Harris]

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"Walter Edwin Tynes, Robert Fleming Tynes' great-grandson, refers to him as 'Fleming Tynes, a Revolutionary Patriot, one of the General Francis Marion type and followers, who also came to this new country about the same time, if not in the same company with my grandparents, with a large family and settled in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. My grandfather was the oldest of his four sons, and several daughters, all of whom reared large families, except two sons.'

"Robert Fleming Tynes, known in most records simply as Fleming Tynes, was probably named after Robert Fleming, a magistrate and member of the House of Burgesses in Caroline County, Virginia, until his death in about 1738. (His name can be considered one more clue that the William Tynes family came from Caroline County.) the full name Robert Fleming Tynes appears only as a signature on the 1776 document, 'South Carolina Association for Public Defense' (in the South Carolina Department of Archives and History). His probable brothers, William and Samuel, also signed that declaration. By the mid-1770s, he was in South Carolina with his brothers. He signed the same 'Vallanteer Company of Horse' enlistment with his brother Samuel in August 1775, but unlike Samuel, he appears not to have switched sides.

"According to the Daughters of the American Revolution, Robert Fleming Tynes was a member of Francis Marion's brigade during the Revolutionary War. It is said that Marion's unit fought with and captured on several occasions Robert's brother Samuel.

"The story that his wife's name was Melissa Watkins has to be taken with a grain of salt. It's only someone's wild guess, based on a family legend that Fleming married his own niece, daughter of an unnamed sister and Uriah Watkins. For what it's worth, I've never found a Uriah Watkins in any of the various places that Fleming's family lived, although there were Watkinses in Caroline County, Virginia.

"Fleming kept his ties to Granville County: On 20 July 1782, he was a witness to a deed of gift from Abraham Mitchel (another Island Creek neighbor) to his two daughters. He is on the 1790 and 1800 census for Clarendon County (Sumter District), South Carolina; but by 1805 he was apparently in Liberty County, Georgia, where his eldest son, John Fleming Tynes, married Jane Warren.

"He resided in the Camden District, Claremont County, South Carolina, in 1790.

"The 1800 census shows Fleming with two boys 10-16 and another under ten, one girl 10-16 and four under ten. Both Fleming and his wife are 26-45 years old. This implies that all of the children were six or younger in 1790, or else that some had already gone off by 1800. (The latter must have been the case with John Fleming Tynes, born in 1779 by most accounts.) If Robert Fleming Tynes had four sons, as Walter Edwin Tynes said, then who was the fourth? Possibly Timothy Tynes of Alabama; but there was also a Robert Marion Tynes, according to some vague family stories.

"About 1806, he moved to East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. He obtained land in East Feliciana Parish in 1813. He moved to East Baton Rouge (or West Feliciana) Parish due to ill health; his daughter cared for him there until his death.

"A footnote that might have been added by Walter Edwin Tynes' 1993 'republishers,' Frances M. Liptrap and James M. Liptrap, reads in full: 'Robert Fleming Tynes, born about 1750, estate in probate Jan. 22, 1827. Private, Volunteer Company of Horse, S. C. Troops, Revolutionary War.' On the enlistment document for the 'Vallanteer Company of Horse' in St. Marks Parish (County?), South Carolina, there is a Robert Fleming and also a Samuel Tynes. On the only extant pay list for that company are Robert Tynes and Samuel Tynes. Possibly the full name Robert Fleming Tyne appears on the original enlistment roll, and the 'Tynes' was left off in a transcription error. the original may be in the Salley Archives in Orangeburgh, South Carolina."

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Pesonal memo from files of Travis Tynes, Sr. and Doris W. Tynes, in Harris, p. 20:

"Fleming Tynes I from South Carolina was probably of a Jennings mother, but early had a step-father with whom he had a difference and ran away from home when he was only about 17 years old. He lived in Sumter District, [South Carolina]. During the Revolutionary War, he was a fierce rebel and his mother was put under torture, mashing her fingers, to force her to tell his whereabouts.

"He married his niece, daughter of his own sister adn Uriah Watkins. He was tall and slender, fair and very sinewy and powerful in fencing. He came to Georgia and thence to East Feliciana Parish and settled on a farm on Beaver Creek, one mile or more west of Amite River. He had a number of slaves, among them one woman named Isabel who bore 16 children who were divided as property among his children. He was twice married but his second wife bore him no children. They were soon separated. Afterwards, he lived among his children until his death which was sometime about 1830. ... He died at Frank Brown's near Jackson, Louisiana."

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“Possible other sons of Fleming Tynes and his wife, who was a Watkins: Francis Marion Tynes and Timothy Tynes b. 1788, d. after 1850 in Alabama. Reference: DAR paper from Franklintown, Louisiana State Archives.”

“Fleming Tynes, Sr. b. about 1750 in Virginia, North (or South) Carolina, or possibly in Bermuda. Father William Tynes settled in Hill Country of South Carolina before the Revolution. Probable grandson of Captain Samuel Tynes of Bermuda who settled on land granted 1744 in Upland, South Carolina. Brother to Colonel Samuel Tynes. Reference: Paper by DAR Bogalusa, Louisiana.”

“Fleming Tynes came to Feliciana Parish, Louisiana in 1809. Had four sons and daughters.”

“Timothy Tynes (there may have been several) is mentioned with statement, ‘Fleming Tynes is really Robert Fleming Tynes.’ Ref: Wills & Administrations of Isle of Wight County, Virginia 1647-1800, Chapman; [Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.]; Baltimore, MD: 1975.”

“William Tynes estate settled in Camden District, Kershaw County, South Carolina, 1782. May have come from Isle of Wight Co., VA. Believed father of Robert Fleming Tynes and Samuel Tynes in Sumter Co., S.C. 1775. Robert Fleming settled on Beaver Creek, E. Feliciana Parish, Miss. 1805. Ref: From inquiry in Louisiana Genealogy Magazine, p. 47, Vol. V, No. 6.”

“Fleming Tynes obtained land in 1813 near E. Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Lived on Little Beaver Creek near Amite River. Died in 1829. Buried in the Jackson-Clinton area. Left at least 6 daughters. … Records show Fleming Tynes assisting Col. Samuel Tynes 1804 during financial crisis. Fleming soon moved to Liberty Co., GA and about 1812 to the Louisiana-Mississippi area. Ref: DAR paper in LA State Archives, Baton Rouge, LA.” [236. Sandel]

Source: Harris, Valerie Fields, John Hastle Tynes and Associated Families. (Apollo PA: Closson Press, 1988)

GEDCOM Note

Robert Fleming Tynes's wife was possibly his niece, daughter of Uriah Watkins and Female Tynes. He is listed in the DAR Patriot Index, III:1300, as "Flemming" Tynes (as shown here),, c. 1750 SC, d. c. 1830 LA., Pvt. SC, married to a Miss Watkins.

GEDCOM Note