The Pence Family with Roots in
Gilmer County, Georgia
Compiled by Joyce
Disharoon
My maternal
grandmother was Sarah Lucresa Pence, daughter of Gilbert Lafayette
Pence and Margaret E. Parks. She was born in Gilmer County, GA. The
Pence family was one of the first pioneer families of the county.
It is a beautiful
area, with mountains and clear mountain streams. This area still retains
the mountain atmosphere and the people are easy-going and friendly.
There are quite a few apple farms in the area and in the fall the apple
stands are full of goodies for locals and visitors who visit the North
Georgia Mountains to see the fall foliage. Gilmer County is located
north of Atlanta and Pence family relatives still live in the area.
My grandmother was a
wonderful woman. She married Charles Hambrick Seaborn of Bradley County,
Tennessee. My mother and grandmother made sure they kept up with the
family even though many were still in Gilmer County. We would drive down
for Sunday dinners and would stay until after dark because it was hard
to say goodbye. Then we would travel back through the mountains on our
way back to Tennessee.
Grandmother’s nephew was Robert Pence who was
a charter member of our website team. Bob’s father was Robert Pinkney
LeRoy Pence (Uncle Pink) who married Lector Leona King, daughter of
William Walker and Tennessee Jane King.
My mother, Agnes
Lorena Seaborn, married Clay Victor King, who was a grandson of William
Walker and Tennessee Jane. Bob and I are double cousins.
The Pences were a
close family. The old country church where my Grandmother’s funeral was
held was packed. I sat in the pew and looked around the lovely country
church where so many of my ancestors had worshiped.
The church was White
Oak Baptist Church, which is near the Lee Cemetery where she was buried.
The Lee Cemetery was on the property of the Seaborn old home place
where Grandmother and Grandfather raised their children, as
Grandfather’s father did before them.
FAMILY TREE
Gilbert Lafayette
Pence was born in Gilmer County, GA on 13 Sep 1856.
Margaret Parks Pence,
his wife, was born in Asheville, NC 23 Apr 1857.
They both died in
Bradley County, TN: Gilbert on 1 Sep 1939 and Margaret 4 Sep 1922. They
are buried in Prospect Cemetery in Bradley County.
Their children were
all born in Gilmer County GA:
1. Mary Malisia born 13 Oct 1877 – died 3 Jan
1878
2.
Missouria Elizabeth born 5 Dec 1878 – died 30 Jan 1942; married William
Carroll
3. Margaret Atheline
born 7 Jul 1881 – died 10 Mar 1920; married John West
4. Dora Frances born
17 Jan 1883 – died 7 Jan 1980; married John Pickett in Gilmer County 28
Oct 1900; John died and Dora married Arch Scoggins
5. Naomi Ann born 16
Dec 1885 – died 6 Aug 1962; married Robert Ramsey 10 Oct 1903
6. Robert Pinkney
LeRoy born 15 Sep 1887 – died 5 Apr 1971; married Lector Leona King 14
Sep 1913
7. Susie Emmaline born
12 Sep 1889 – died 17 Apr 1963; married Russell Carter Hickman 8 Mar
1908
8. Sarah Luicrecia
born 25 Dec 1892 – died 24 Aug 1971; married Charles Hambrick Seaborn
9. Bessie Gertrude
born 10 Oct 1895 – died 4 Feb 1924; married Lester Hickman 4 Jan 1924
10. Andrew McKinley
born 2 Aug 1897 – died 8 Mar 1980; married Inez Lattie 22 Jun 1919
THE BEGINNING IN
GILMER COUNTY
The Pence ancestors
began arriving in Pennsylvania in the early 1700’s. They were probably
from Germany, Holland or Switzerland and their names in those countries
might have been Pense, Bentz, Penss and other similar spellings.
Our branch of the
Pence family, the Kings and other allied families chose Virginia,
particularly the Shenandoah Valley, as their location after arriving in
the Colonies. The areas of Augusta, Rockingham, Orange and Spotsylvania
Counties were popular.
Gilmer County was settled by Abraham Pence in
1834 and we are his descendants. His brother Absalom came with him.
According to historians, they were the first white people in the
Mountaintown area of Gilmer.
Some Facts
Abraham bought land and built a grist
mill, which was the first in the area. His reputation was impeccable.
On 24 Mar 1840
Mountaintown Baptist Church was organized at Absolom Pence’s house.
Buried in the older
Mountaintown Church cemeteries of two, are both Parks and Pence family
members:
- Parks, Brenda Sue –
born 21 Apr 1956 – died 16 Feb 1957
Dau of Mr. & Mrs.
Grady W. Parks
- Parks, Susan – born 12
Dec 1853 – died 20 Jun 1912 - wife of S.W. Parks
- Parks, J.W. – born 22
Oct 1851 – died 17 Mar 1879
- Parks, Wm. Monroe – 26
Sep 1818 – died 22 Apr 1903
- Parks, Emeline – born
12 Jul 1824 – died 7 Aug 1907 – wife of W.M. Parks
- Parks, Edwin W. – born
1921 – died 1988
- Pence, Andy M. – born
1897 – died 1980
- Pence, Inez B. – born 1899 – died 1981
There are over 240
marked but not identified graves in the older cemetery.
STEPPING BACK IN
HISTORY
The Pences of Georgia
and Tennessee
by Richard A. Pence
(Reproduced with
permission of the author who is now deceased)
Absolom Pence and his brother Abraham were
the first white settlers in the Mountaintown district of Gilmer County,
Georgia, apparently having gone to Georgia by 1822, for all of Absolom's
children were said to be born in Georgia.
Absolom, Abraham, John
and their mother, Elizabeth, were all in Habersham County, Georgia, in
1830. In 1840, all except John were in Gilmer County. Note that Cherokee
County was formed partly from Habersham County in 1831 and the next
year Gilmer County was formed from Cherokee County, indicating these
families may not have moved after 1830 - the county lines did.
Abraham Pence, the
father of Absolom, Abraham and John, was apparently born in South
Carolina, probably in Pendleton District where there was an Abraham
Pence enumerated in the censuses of 1800 and 1810 and married and had
several children there before moving to Buncombe County, North Carolina.
Abraham Pence was issued a deed in Buncombe County in 1815. There also is
supposedly a land record for the son Absolom, said to have been born in
South Carolina, in Buncombe County. Abraham Pence (Sr.) died in Haywood
County, North Carolina, late in 1827
He seems to be the same person as the
Abraham Pence, born between 1765 and 1784, who was in the Pendleton
District of South Carolina in 1800 and 1810. There was also a John Pence
in Pendleton District in 1800 and 1810. Other early Pences in South
Carolina were Charles, who was in Lexington District in 1800 and 1820,
and Philip (1790 and later), Isaac, Isreal and Jacob (all listed in 1800
for the first time).
There is speculation that Abraham may have
been the son of Charles Pence, for on 25 Feb 1793 in Columbia County,
Georgia, Abraham Pence was made the administrator of the estate of
Charles Pence, with John Ray and Jesse Sample as sureties. There were
also notices in the Charleston, South Carolina, newspaper naming Abraham
as the administrator for the estate of Charles Pence.
In 1818 in Roane
County, Tennessee, an Isaac Rice left a will in which he mentions
Abraham Pence. The Rice and Pence families were neighbors in Pendleton
District in South Carolina, give rise to the belief that Abraham Pence's
first wife was Elizabeth Rice, the daughter of Moses Rice. Members of
this Rice family were also in Habersham County along with the Pences. In
Buncombe County, Abraham Pence deeded land to Elizabeth Rice. It
appears this could be his first wife - using her maiden name - as the
deed followed an apparent divorce so he could remarry to Frances Davis
(see below).
This
family was particularly hard hit as a result of the Civil War. Fourteen
of the grandsons of Abraham (Sr.) fought in the Confederate Army and at
least five of them were killed in action or died of disease (no record
on one)
There are several
books about the Pence families. This bibliography is copied with
permission of Dr. Richard Pence:
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arnold, Jan (Mrs. Forrest): George Kerr
and Sarah Lavina Adams, Their Ancestors and Descendants, 1975. Contains
chapter on William Pence, son of Jacob of Augusta (now Rockingham)
County, Va.; typescript.
Branner, John C.: Casper Branner of Virginia
and his Descendants, 1913. Includes descendants of John Pence, oldest son of
Conrad Pence of Shenandoah County, Va.; typescript.
Brookover, Mary Ruth:
Brookover-Pence, 1980. Includes descendants of Michael Pence of
Shenandoah County, VA, and Adams County, OH: printed, cardstock cover.
Carlson, Glenna Gandy:
Research
Report: Peter Pence – Revolutionary Soldier, Indian Fighter, 1982. Descendants of Peter
Pence of Lycoming County, PA, including family group sheets, census
reports and clippings; typescript; photo copies in some major libraries.
Carson, Beatrice: Pence Family History:
Descendants of Henry, Lewis and Jacob Pence of Shenandoah County,
Virginia, and Champaign County, Ohio, 1967. Unpublished typed manuscript in the
possession of Richard A. Pence, who made a copy for the Champaign County
Library in Urbana. Miss Carson’s niece, Janice Beatley, Cincinnati, OH
(now deceased) revised portions of this and placed copies in local,
state and a few other libraries.
Crone, Frank: Crone and Allied Families, 1924 and
1933.
Includes some descendants of Wyrich Bentz of Lancaster and York
Counties, Pa.; typescript; copies available in some major libraries.
Eckhardt, Mrs. W.R.
Jr.: Pence
and Perkey,
no date. Collection of research notes and correspondence dealing
primarily with these two families in Augusta (now Rockingham) County,
VA; apparently added to and updated from time to time and circulated
among correspondents (the compiler has copies of three different
versions); typescript, not bound; photo copies may be available in major
libraries; this material should be used with care as there is much
speculation and few citations to records.
Malott, Eva, Ada
McPilliamy and Dick Pence: Digging Our Roots: Families of Pence,
Shannahan, Ward, Mann and Cravens, 1977. Includes many descendants of Lewis
Pence (son of Jacob and incorrectly called son of Lewis) of Shenandoah
County, VA, and Champaign County, OH; printed and hardbound; available
in major libraries.
McLaughlin,
Glenna Freeman: Descendants of George Smith and Jacob Heck, Revolutionary
Patriots of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. 1978. Information on Isaac
and Jacob Pence of Licking County, OH, probable sons of Peter Pence,
son of Nicholas Pence of Shenandoah County, VA; typescript: available in
some major libraries; well researched.
Oliver, Cora Hazen: The Descendants of
George C. Pence and Sarah Windle, 1936. Descendants of a son of Michael Pence
of Shenandoah County, VA and Adams County, OH; George C.’s family
settled in Whitley County, Ind.; typescript; available in some major
libraries; Ada McPhilliamy has prepared a name index.
Packer, Warren M.: Descendants of Michael
and Susannah (Frye) Pence of Virginia and Ohio, 1967. Available on
microfilm from the Family History Library.
Pence, Maxine E.: The Pence Family of
Georgia, North and South Carolina, 1986. Descendants of Abraham Pence of South
Carolina and North Carolina; most of the descendants originally lived
in Gilmer County, GA; typescript, plastic binding; available from the
author, 911 Moyer, Cheney, WA 99004.
Pence, Maxine E.: Pence Research Data,
no date (1987?). Collection of data from various sources gathered by
Mrs. Pence during her research for the above book; typescript, cardstock
cover; available from the author.
Pence, Monroe Conger: A History of Pence
Place Names and Early Pences in America, 1962. Miscellaneous Pence records,
with emphasis on towns in U.S. named Pence; the correspondence on which
genealogies are based now in possession of Richard A. Pence: small
printed book with cardstock cover; available in most larger libraries.
Pence, Randy: One Plus One Equals
One Thousand – Eventually, 1988, Powell Press, Beattysville, KY. Descendants
of Andrew Jackson Pence of Wolfe County, KY. Availability unknown. The
speculations about Andrew’s ancestry in this book are just that.
Pence, Richard Allen: A Guide to the Pence
Families of America: Part I, Jacob and Valentine Pence of Augusta
(Rockingham) County, Virginia, published by the author. 1982. Some
descendants of these two brothers who settled in Augusta County by 1747.
Available in many libraries; LDS Family History Library Film No.
1320680.
Pence, Richard Allen: A Guide to the Pence
Families of America: Part II, Lewis, Jacob and Henry Pence of Shenandoah (Page)
County, Virginia, and Champaign County, Ohio. Published by the author,
1982. Some of the descendants of these brothers who settled in what is
now Page County by 1752; available in some libraries; LDS Family History
Library film No. 1320680.
Pense, Beverly: Genealogy and History
of the Pense and Allied Families, 1987. (Descendants of John Pence of Alabama,
most of whose descendants went to Crawford County, AR; printed,
hardcover, possibly available from author and in larger libraries.)
Stiles, Lewis Ogden: The Family of David
Stiles,
1939. Contains chapter by Lafayette Stiles Pence, whose mother was a
Stiles, but has little on his Pence ancestors, who were from Hardin and
Grayson Counties in Kentucky; printed, hardbound.)
Wallace, Harry R.: Eva
May Pence Wallace (1894-1932), 1964. Pences from Hardin and Grayson
Counties, KY;
typescript, offset, many early miscellaneous Pence records; available
in major genealogical libraries. |
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