William Ledford

1.WILLIAM1 LEDFORD was born Bet. 1685 - 1690 in Germany.He married SUSAN PIERCE.

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/l/e/d/James-W-Ledford/GENE2-0001.html

Notes for WILLIAM LEDFORD:

I am not sure on this William Ledford's name being the father of the three Ledford's who are thought to have came to America from Lancaster, England, but a new theory of the Ledford's coming from Germany is being researched now also.

Notes for SUSAN PIERCE:

Not sure on this person or name yet.

Children of WILLIAM LEDFORD and SUSAN PIERCE are:

• i. HENRY2 LEDFORD, SR., b. 1720; d. July 1755, Augusta County, Virginia.
• ii. WILLIAM L. B. LEDFORD, SR., b. Bet. 1722 - 1724; d. June 02, 1796, Rowan or Davidson, North Carolina.
• iii. JOHN LEDFORD, SR., b. 1724; d. 1799, Davidson County, North Carolina.

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his was from a forum and I copied the text here. Thought it appropriate it go here.

Hi Kirk,

I want to clear up a few points you have here.

(1) William Ledford Sr of Generations fame had a lot of chilren: Thomas b ca 1748, John b ca 1752 and William were the sons. William Sr's wife's maiden name appears to have been McCurry, and this McCurry family was closely associated with William's family as far back as Augusta county, VA, having also been part of Ephraim Vause's settlement on the South Fork of the Roanoke. It appears also that William Sr's sons Thomas and William moved to the Lincoln county NC/ Spartanburg SC area, along with Elizabeth Ledford who married William McCurry and Lydia Ledford, widow of George Towery. More of this family may have moved south, but I don't know of them, there was a Mary Ledford in Spartanburg county in 1790 with one son, Lewis Ledford. They were in Rutherford from 1800 on. Mary's husband isn't known to me at this time, nor the names of any other children. Acoording to the 1800 census she was born 1755 or before so had to be married to one of the sons of William, Henry or John.

(2) I've checked indices for the Ledford surname in Lancashire and it never appears. The Ledford clan was based in SW England, Dorset, Somerset and Warwick. The possibility of the three brothers actually having been born in Lancaster is only a remote one. That's not to say that the DIDN'T sail from Lancaster, but more likely they were born in the south.

(3) As for the 1738 passage, Col. Patton was a member of a rather influential family in Ulster both his mother's and his father's side. The ship Walpole was built by his father. Col Patton served in Queen Anne's War in the early 1700's, then afterwards was given the ship Walpole and began trading goods to and from the colonies. His main port of docking in Ameriva was at Hobbeshole, Virginia on the Rappahannock, the area in which the Rev. Matthew Ledford lived, and Hobbeshole was settled by the Hobbes family which was associated with Matthew's wife, Lettice Weekes's family. The book Generations makes Col Patton out to be something of a scoundrel, which he may have been to some degree, but he was well liked by the Crown for his services in the War and trading. In the 1730's Ireland was not a very good place to live, many landowners were confiscating properties and raising rents. The holdings of the Patton family came under this kind of condition, and they no doubt considered moving to the colonies before 1738. Well, in early 1738, the King told Patton that he would grant him so many thousands of acres on the conditions that it had to be west of the Blue Ridge and he had to settle it with people loyal to the Crown. This is more in response to French encroachment along the Ohio Valley than the King actually liking Patton. That spring, Patton loaded up the Walpole with his family. Mind you that ship wasn't very large, and I believe this particular trip there were only about 56 people on board, mostly his relation. There is only one single record of the Walpole departing England in 1738 (not from Lancaster), and one record of it's landing in America, I believe three months later. Col Patton then retired and never sailed again. He moved his family west of the Blue Ridge, from Staunton (founded by Patton's cousin Charles Lewis) to Draper's Meadow (modern Blacksburg). If the Ledfords were on this trip they must have been good friends of the family. Between 1715 and 1738 there are some 25 recorded voyages of the Walpole to Virginia, and the three brothers could well have come over prior to 1738, staying in Tidewater until Patton called on them to return the favour and settle in his land. Ephraim Vause was given the original tract along the South branch of the Roanoke to settle for Patton. He built a fort (

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/l/e/d/James-W-Ledford/GENE2-0001.html

ID: I0675 •Name: William LEDFORD •Sex: M •Birth: BET. 1685 - 1690 •Note: He is thought to be one of three brothers who came to American from Lancaster, England.