FlowersFamilyTree.net

 

Gallery of a Flowers family genealogy:

Families of the Second Generation

2. Valentine Flowers (Ralph) was born 19 Jul 1765 (Ref. 2) and died in Humphreys County TN before April 1838 when his estate was proved (Ref. 14).

Valentine Flowers rendered service during the Revolutionary War as a Soldier of Virginia. He was at the siege and capture of Yorktown. His Revolutionary sword was handed down, and in 1909 it belonged to Ida Lee Forsee (Ref. 15 and 16).

Valentine Flowers was married on 26 Nov 1785 (marriage bond date) in Cumberland County VA to Elizabeth Flippin (Ref. 17).

Elizabeth Flippin was the daughter of William and Mary (Price) Flippin, who also had a son Joseph Flippin (Ref. 18). William Flippin died intestate in Cumberland County VA between October 1769 when he and Mary executed a deed and November 1770 when Mary was appointed executor of his estate. Mary Price was a daughter of Joseph and Ann Price (Ref. 19).

The marriage bond of Valentine Flowers and Elizabeth Flippin was signed by Jesse Flippin, of whom no other record has been found (Ref. 17).

Valentine Flowers acted as "attorney for Mary Flippin," one of the heirs of Joseph Price, when Francis and Hannah (Price) Armistead sued the executors of the executor (sic) of the estate of Joseph Price. Francis and Hannah (Price) Armistead were supported by Thomas Gunter (husband of Judith Price), William Rowton (husband of Elizabeth Price), Valentine Flowers "attorney for Mary Flippin," and William Palmore (husband of Sarah Price?), who agreed to split the cost of the lawsuit (Ref. 19).

Elizabeth Flippin must have been young enough to require parental approval of marriage, as the personal records of Valentine Flowers, copied in Ref. 2, included the following item:

***

To the clerk of Buckingham County, Virginia: I do hereby declare consent for Valentine Flowers to marry daughter y (name obliterated, but contained a y? Betsy? Patsy?) Given under my hand and seal this 13th Day of July 1785.

Test Handen Woodroof
Thomas Gunter

***

Thomas Gunter (husband of Judith Price) was an uncle in law of Elizabeth Flippin (Ref. 19), and Handen Woodroof (aka Harden Woodruf, etc.) was the son in law of Thomas Gunter (Ref. 5, page 126). On this occasion Thomas Gunter was apparently acting as guardian of his wife's niece. It is possible that Thomas Gunter was related to Elizabeth Flippin himself, as William Flippin had an aunt Sarah Flippin who married a Mr. Gunter, and their descendants have not been traced (Ref. 18).

Elizabeth Flippin died in VA (Ref. 2), and Valentine Flowers married 2nd Mary Martin in Cumberland County VA "during the administration of Gov. Robert Brooke (1 Dec 1794 to 30 Nov 1796)" (Ref. 17). They had no children.

By 1300 Valentine had moved to Campbell County VA as he appears there in the tax list for 1800 (Ref. 8).

The movements of Valentine Flowers were somewhat paralleled by those of Roland Flowers. They both came from Buckingham County VA, and both served at Yorktown in the Revolutionary War. They moved to Campbell County VA, as their names appeared in the records of the Oxford Iron Works, Roland on 1 Jun 1802, and Valentine on 18 oct 1802 (Ref. 20).

About 1810 Valentine moved to Hickman County TN, and in 1812 Roland moved to Overton/ Fentress County TN, where he obtained a pension for his service. The pension application shows that Roland served two terms In the Buckingham County militia. The second term began in July 1781, when he served in place of his father James Flowers, who had been drafted, under Major Bois in Captain Peter Guerin’s Company in "the whole siege" of Yorktown (Ref. 21).

Valentine Flowers' daughter Naomi was married to Daniel Forsee in Campbell County VA on 28 May 1805 (Ref. 22).

Valentine moved to Hickman County TN about 1810 and settled on Duck River near the mouth of Beaver Dam Creek (Ref. 2 and 23, Chapter XI).

In Hickman County TN Valentine Flowers bought a Negro boy named Killip from John Bird for $100 on 1 Mar 1818. Valentine Flowers witnessed a deed by John May in 1818 1820 of 150 acres on Tumbling Creek to Joseph Greer (Ref. 24).

Valentine was in Hickman County TN in 1820 (Ref. 25) and 1830 (Ref. 26), when the censuses also show Henry Flowers and Hardy Flowers. Their relationship, if any, to Valentine is unknown; but these are names found among the Flowers from NC. In 1820 the household of Valentine Flowers showed two males over 45; the name of the second one is not known.

Valentine was a Primitive Baptist Preacher (Ref. 1, 2, and 23). On 1 Jun 1827 the Liberty Baptist Church was organized near Coble, TN on land he donated (Ref. 23).

On 10 May 1830 he conveyed some Negroes to his son in law Daniel Forsee in Dickson County TN (Ref. 27).

Valentine's estate was proved in April 1838 in Humphreys County TN, where the records report that his "heirs are three: Polly Flowers, Daniel Forsee, and William F. Flowers" (Ref. 14 Vol II page 292).
Valentine was buried in the Old Forsee Cemetery, which is six miles south of McEwen, TN. The cemetery is on the road from McEwen to Bold Spring, TN on the south side of Hurricane Creek on private property (1982) about 0.4 miles below the bridge (Ref. 14 Vol I page 60 and Ref. 28). The gravestone was replaced in 1931 by William V. Flowers (Ref. 2).

"Valentine Flowers had black hair and black eyes, and his son William Flippin Flowers had light hair and blue eyes; there were two distinct types that ran through the Flowers family"

Valentine Flowers and Elizabeth Flippin had 3 ch (Ref. 14). Their birth dates were originally copied from a notarized copy of Valentine Flowers' family Bible (Ref. 2):

9. i William Flippin Flowers b 5 Dec 1786 in VA
10. ii Naomi Flowers b 26 Jul 1789 in VA
11 .iii Elizabeth Flowers b 8 Apr 1791 in VA

3. Austin Flowers (Ralph) aka Orson Flowers or Oston Flowers was born 19 Jul 1765. Like his twin Valentine and his brother William, he was a Baptist preacher (Ref. 1 and 2). As of 1800 ministers were not necessarily taxed in Virginia, which may explain why Austin is not found on tax rolls of that period.

On 10 Apr 1799 Austin Flowers became constable of Botetourt Co. VA (Ref. 9).

Austin moved to Amherst County VA and was known as Rev. "Oston" and "Orson", as well as, Austin Flowers. His daughter Patsey Flowers was married in Amherst County to Nicodemus aka Cornelius Vermillion on 28 Nov 1804. He was listed as Cornelius Vermillion on the marriage bond and Nicodemus Vermillion in the marriage record (Ref. 29).

Patsey was apparently a minor requiring parental permission to marry, as the following is found in the records of Amherst County VA (Ref. 29):

***

"Sir, you will please to issue marriage license for my daughter Patsy Flowers to intermarry with Cornelius (sic) Vermillion, & this shall be of sufficient warrant for the same. Given under my hand and seal this 26 Novbr 1804.
Oston Flowers (Seal)

(witnesses)
Christopher Fletcher
Charles Davenport

***
The marriage was recorded as being performed by Rev. Orson Flowers, Baptist (Ref. 29).

Austin was the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was about 5 miles southeast of the court house in Amherst County VA. It was "under the pastoral care of Rev. Orson Flowers until 1805 when he was drawn into that vortex of Baptist preachers, Kentucky" (Ref. 30).

In 1820 Austin Flowers was in Grayson County KY with a wife and 5 children (Ref. 31), and he is undoubtedly the "Orson" Flowers in the 1830 census of Warren County KY (Ref. 32).

Austin was evidently married and had at least 6 ch and probably more (minimum determined by adding Patsey to the 5 in the 1820 census, one of whom can be identified as William (Ref.33):
12. i Patsy Flowers
13. ii Flowers (male) b 1775 1794, probably ca 1794
14. iii William Flowers b 1794 1804
15. iv Flowers (male) b 1794 1804
16. v Flowers (female) b 1794 1804
17. vi Flowers (Male) b 1804 1810

4. William F. Flowers (Ralph) was b 28 Aug 1767 (Ref. 231) as he was ordained as a Baptist minister in Buckingham County VA on 6 Sep 1788 when he was about age 20 and died in Oct 1844 in Smith County TN (Ref. 34).

On 18 Mar 1795 his farm in Buckingham County VA was surveyed, and the index of the survey book identified him as "William Flowers son of Ralph." Adjoining property owners included Andrew Flowers (Ref. 4).

The career of Rev. William Flowers can be traced in the Baptist histories and biographies of ministers in VA and TN.

The marriage registers of Campbell County VA show that in 1800 1802 there was a Rev. William Flowers or William Sr., while in 1803-1806 there was a Rev. William Flowers Jr. who was equally active, and a William Flowers JP performed some marriages. Our William may have been any one or all of these.

On 19 Oct 1805 he was a "messenger" at the Baptist Appomattox Association, which met at the Ash Camp Church in Charlotte County VA, and he was pastor of the Wreck Island Baptist Church in Buckingham County VA where in 1807 he appears for the last time in the Appomattox Association minutes (Ref. 30, 35).

Rev. William Flowers moved to Smith County TN, and he appears in church records there starting in Feb 1809 (Ref. 36). He settled near Rome, in Smith County. He helped to organize Hogans Creek Baptist Church on 11 Jun 1810, and preached at Dixon Creek Baptist Church on 8 Sep 1810. He became pastor of Hogans Creek Church in 1811 and continued there for 26 years. In 1844 he was pastor of the Knob springs Church in Smith County (Ref. 37).

In 1815 1817 he was appointed tobacco inspector for Smith County TN (Ref. 10).

William Flowers was listed in the censuses of Smith County TN in 1820, 1830, and 1840 (Ref. 38, 39, and 40).

In 1814 William Flowers received a grant of 220 acres of land from the State of TN and in 1840 a grant of 32 1/2 acres, which may be the same as the acreage in Maury County TN which he willed to his grandson John W. Allen (Ref. 41).

The descendants of Roland Flowers and his brothers of Overton County TN regarded Rev. William Flowers of Smith County as a near relative (Ref. 42).

On 14 20 July, 1844 William Flowers was apparently putting his affairs in order as he executed a series of deeds in Smith County TN to Lucy W. Allen, Joel S. Flowers, Lyda Hughes, William L Flowers, Rolfe K. Flowers, and grandchildren John H. Flowers, William McClannahan, and Drucilla McAlister and son George C. Flowers (Ref. 43). His will was dated 22 Jul 1844 and was proved in Nov 1844 (Ref. 44).

William Flowers m Martha Smith b 16 Jul 1770 on 4 Jul 1788 (Ref. 231). They had 11 ch:

18. i Lyda (aka Lydia/Syda) Flowers b 15 Feb 1789 in VA (Ref. 231)

19 ii Sealy Flowers (female) b 25 Nov 1791, m William McClanahan (Ref. 231)

20 iii Joel Saunders Flowers was b 31 Jan 1794 (Ref. 231) in VA. He was married to Mary Jane , who was b ca 1820 in VA. In 1850 and 1860 he resided in Smith County TN He was an executor of his father's will (Ref. 44, 45 and 46)

21. iv Drucilla Flowers b 4 Jun 1796 in VA (Ref. 231)
22. v William Lumkin Flowers b 26 May 1798 in Buckingham County VA (Ref. 231)
23. vi Rolfe Kelly Flowers b 18 Jun 1800 (Ref. 231)
24. vii David Patterson Flowers b 14 May 1806 in VA (Ref. 231)
25. viii Lucy Walker Flowers b 26 Feb 1805 (Ref. 231)
26. ix Louisa Ana Flowers b 30 May 1803 (Ref. 231)
27. x Eliza Ione Flowers 14 Dec 1807 (Ref. 231)
28. xi George Christian Flowers b 23 Dec 1809 in TN (Ref. 231)


His will mentions 9 ch and son in law William McClanahan, and the son George C. Flowers was described as such in the afore¬mentioned deed. William Flowers will included a wife named Martha (Smith) of whom he married on 4 Jul 1788 in Buckingham County VA. She was born on 16 Jul 1770 in Buckingham County VA and died unknown. She is the daughter of Alexander Smith and Diana (Phelps) Smith.

5. Elizabeth Flowers (Ralph) was born ca 1770 in VA and died about 26 Sep 1845 in Johnson County AR (Ref. 47).

She was married ca 1790 in Buckingham County VA to Benjamin Hardwick, who was b ca 1766 in Buckingham County VA and died at age 69 on 2 Sep 1835 in Dickson County TN (Ref. 48).

The career of Rev. Benjamin Hardwick is recorded in the histories of Tennessee Baptists. He grew up motherless in Buckingham County VA, but strove and saved to become independent. He married Elizabeth Flowers. His farm on Slate Run prospered, and he was noted for raising fine race horses. In mid¬life he was called to the ministry, and to learn to read the Bible he attended school for a time with his own sons. The failure of the tobacco market about 1809 and the business depression due to the Embargo Acts and the War of 1812 caused financial problems, and he emigrated to Smith County TN. He seems to have been an evangelist rather than a pastor (Ref. 49).

In 1810 and 1820 Benjamin Hardwick and his family were in Buckingham County VA (Ref. 50 and 51), and in 1830 they were in Smith County TN (Ref. 52).

After the death of Benjamin, Elizabeth moved with her daughter Nancy and son in law Joab Durham to Johnson County AR where she died, and Joab Durham was the administrator of her estate (Ref. 47).

Elizabeth and Benjamin had at least 10 ch (Ref. 50 54):

29. i Jonathan P. Hardwick b ca 1791 in VA
30. ii William H. Hardwick b ca 1794, m on 1 Nov 1833 to
Mary E. Woodward
31. iii Hardwick (female) b 1794 1800
32. iv Hardwick (female) b 1794 1800
33. v Benjamin H. Hardwick b ca 1804
34. vi Samuel P. Hardwick b 1806 7 In VA
35. vii Nancy C. Hardwick b ca 1808 in VA
36. viii Hardwick (male) b 1800 1810 (Joel W.?)
37. ix Lydia D. Hardwick b ca 1812 in VA
38. x Joyce P. (?) Hardwick b ca 1815 in VA


6. James Flowers (Ralph) was probably born ca 1772 in VA. The 1800 Tax List of Buckingham County VA (Ref. 5) lists "Ralph Flowers and son," showing that Ralph had a fourth son, and family records identify him as James, who moved to KY, where he died (Ref. 2).

This James Flowers may have been one of the several in Buckingham County VA (and elsewhere) in 1810 and 1820 (Ref. 55 and 56). Likewise he would have been the right age, and the only candidate in the KY census to be the James Flowers in Hickman County KY in 1830 (Ref. 57) and Graves County KY in 1850 (Ref. 58). In 1850 the household in Graves County KY consisted of James Flowers age 78, born VA, F. Hayne age 25 and Dortha Hayne age 21, both born in KY. We may conclude that our James Flowers was married and that he had at least one son and two daughters:

39. i Flowers (male) b 1784 1790
40. ii Flowers (female) b 1804 1810
41. iii Flowers (female) b 1804 1810

7. Mary Flowers (Ralph) aka “Polly” was born in VA ca 1777 (Ref. 59) and died after 6 Feb 1855, when the last codicil was made to her husband's will (Ref. 60).

She married Stewart Doss ca 1800 in Smith County, TN(Ref. 2, 13, 232), who was born ca 1779 in VA (Ref. 59) and died between 6 Feb 1855 and the April 1855 term of DeKalb County Tennessee Court, when his will was proved (Ref. 60).

They moved to Smith County TN before 1820. Stewart Doss was said to be one of the first settlers of Smiths Fork (Ref. 61), and Stewart Doss was one of the executors of Ralph Flowers' will in 1821 (Ref. 13).

By the 1820 census they had 2 sons and 7 daughters (Ref. 62), and by 1830 there were apparently 5 more daughters in the household (Ref. 63).

The census records accordingly indicate that Mary and Stewart Doss may have had as many as 14 children, 2 sons and 12 daughters. Stewart Doss's will made in 1853 names only 9 children, but it shows 9 grandchildren, children of deceased daughters Rebecca and Mariah.

In 1848 Mariah contracted Typhoid fever. She lived 14 days before dying of the disease. One of her sons, Thomas Fannin Terry also died of Typhoid fever just a few days before his mother. (Ref. 235)

The following family is compiled on the assumption that Stewart and Mary had 10 children, including a son who died young, and that the 4 youngest females in the 1830 census were the orphans of Rebecca. Elizabeth appears to be older than Jonathan, who was born ca 1801, and Rebecca and Mariah, deceased in 1853, are assumed to be older than the other daughters (except Elizabeth). The executors of Stewart Doss will were Jonathan C. Doss and Frances Dowell, so Frances Dowell was probably the husband of either Martha or Caroline.

42. i Rebecca Doss (b 1795 1804?) dec by 1853, m – Amonett (Ref. 232)
43. ii Elizabeth Doss, b 1795 1800, m James Wallace (Ref. 232)
44. iii Jonathan C. Doss b ca 1801 in VA, d 1853, burial Alexandria, TN, m Pricilla Thweatt who was b 1801 (Ref. 232)
45. iv Mariah Doss b 1806 in Buckingham, VA, d Oct 1848 Smith Co., TN
(Typhoid fever), m Thomas Jefferson Terry 1 Feb 1824 in Smith Co., TN, b 1799 in VA, d 23 Oct 1859 in Sherman, Grayson Co., TX (Ref. 232)
46. v Mary Doss (b 1805 1810?) m Archibald Wright (Ref. 232)
47. vi Lucretia (Permelia) W. Doss (b 1805 1810?) m James Wright (Ref. 232)
48. vii Martha Jane Doss b 29 Oct 1809 in Buckingham County, VA, d 8 Sep 1872
m 1st Willis F. Dowell, m. 2nd Josiah Baird Jr. (1818-1871) on 19 Jul 1852 Smith County, TN (Ref. 232)
49. viii Caroline Doss (b 1810-1810?) m - Dowell
50. ix Doss (male) b 1810-1820
51. x Darthula Doss (b 1820 1825?) m 1st - Gray
m 2d - Williams

Satellite view of the burial locations of all of my great grandfathers

Flowers/Forsee cemetery, McEwen, Tennessee, USA