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William FRENCH
Ms. __?__
WARNING:  the movements of this family are very hard to fathom.  I have a sinking feeling two different families are being mixed up here.  If you have any data to help sort out the confusion, please share it.
Husband:  William FRENCH
Birth:  1756, probably NJ or MD, not SC
Death: 
Military:  Revolutionary War:  Capt. Kenshaw's Co., Col. Roebuck's SC Rgmt.
Father:  Joseph FRENCH, Jr.
Mother:  Hannah HORNE

There is no record of William FRENCH in Christian Co., KY.  Whichever of his children reached there did so on their own steam or with their uncle, Simon H. FRENCH, who was there when the county formed in 1797.

Marriage:  bef. 1774
Wife:  Ms. __?__
Birth:  bef. 1760
Death:  aft. 1795
Children — presumably born in SC:
.  Jane FRENCH, b. 13 May 1781; d. 7 Feb 1834, Washington Co., AR; m. 1793, Christian Co., KY, Capt. John DUTTON / DENTON 

Hugh FRENCH, b. 1780-90 
Hannah FRENCH, bef. 1785 
Mary "Polly" FRENCH, bef. 1787 
Sarah "Sally" FRENCH, bef. 1788 

John FRENCH, b. bef. 1804 

.  Susan FRENCH; m. Samuel McRUNNELS
.  (son) FRENCH

Christian Co. did not exist in 1793, so Jane and Capt. John could not have been married there, not to mention that she would have been only 12 years old in 1793.  The marriage records of Christian Co. are extant, and her marriage does not apprear there — nor in Warren Co., KY.  If she was married in 1793, she was almost certainly married in South Carolina (whose marriage records are non-existent thanks to the burning of sourthern court houses during the Civil War).


'Under Construction' sign.Timeline
Year Location Event
1756   birth of William FRENCH
     
1780-90   birth of son, Hugh
1781   birth of daughter, Jane
    birth of daughter, Sarah
    birth of daughter, Hannah
    birth of daughter, Mary
    birth of daughter, Susan
    birth of son, John
1790 Census SC: Pendleton Co. William FRENCH, head-of-household
1792 Kentucky achieves statehood; Logan Co. formed from Lincoln Co.
1796 KY: Logan [now Warren] Co. William FRENCH, taxpayer
1796/7 KY: Warren Co. formed from Logan Co.
1797 KY:  Warren Co. marriage of daughter, Hannah, to William COX
1797 KY: Christian Co. formed from Logan Co.
1797 KY: Christian Co. Simon FRENCH (brother of Wm.), taxpayer
1799 KY: Christian Co. John FRENCH (son of Wm.), taxpayer
1800 Census - KY census destroyed
1800 KY: Warren Co. William FRENCH, taxpayer
1800 KY: Warren Co. marriage of daughter, Mary, to Isaac CLARK
1801 KY: Warren Co. marriage of daughter, Sarah, to Joseph ELLEDGE
1807 TN: Warren Co. formed from White Co.
1810 Census - 1810 Tennessee census destroyed
1812 TN: Warren [now Cannon] Co. Hugh FRENCH (son of Wm.), taxpayer
1812 TN: Warren [now Cannon] Co. Joseph ELLEDGE (son-in-law of Wm.), taxpayer
1814 KY: Christian Co. marriage of son, Hugh, to Sarah FRENCH (d/o Simon)
1820 Census -  
1830 Census
1836 TN: Cannon Co. formed from Warren Co.
1838 TN: Cannon Co. death of brother-in-law, Joseph ELLEDGE
1840 Census    
1843 TN: Cannon Co. death of daughter, Sarah (ELLEDGE) FRENCH

Sources:

1.  Family Group Sheet compiled by Georgie Tolleson and Betty Ann (Matthiesen) Cogliati.

2.  Census Index:  U.S. Selected Counties, 1790 (Broderbund CD-311):
French, William SC Pendleton Dist. p. 84 02-02-05-00-00
These data indicate:
Gender and Type Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred
2 free white males 16 and over in or before 1774 = William (b. 1756)
= eldest son
2 free white males 15 and under 1774-1790 = two younger sons
5 free white females all ages in or before 1790 = Wife (b. bef. 1760)
= Jane (b. 1781)
= Hannah (b. 1785)
= 2 of the other 3 daughters
For neighbors, see 1790 Census Table.

3.  Anon.  1991.  The 1795 Census of Kentucky [as constructed from tax lists].  T.L.C. Genealogy, Miami Beach, FL.
Name County
French, William Clark
French, William Woodford
Other FRENCHs in KY:  Benjamin, Henry, Ignatius, James (2), Levi, Raphael, Robert, Samuel, Stephen.

4.  Anon.  1990.  Logan County, Kentucky, Taxpayers, 1792-1799.  T.L.C. Genealogy, Miami Beach, FL.
Year Name
1796 French, William
1797 French, John
1798 [list not extant]
1799 [not found]

5.  William S. Bryan & Robert Rose.  1876.  Pioneer Families of Missouri.  Bryan, Brand, & Co., St. Louis, MO (reprinted 1992, Southern Historical Press, Greenville, SC; reprinted 1997, Gen. Publ. Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD — if you buy a copy, be sure to get the GPC version because the SHP version is bound too tightly and the margins trimmed way too narrow).  On p. 329:
FRENCH.--William and Simon French were brothers, and lived in South Carolina.  William died, leaving a widow and seven children, viz.: Hugh, John, Jane, Sally, Hannah, Mary, and Susan.  The widow and her children removed to Warren county, East Tennessee, in 1795.  Her son Hugh married his cousin, Sally French, of Christian county, Ky., and settled in Boone county, Mo., in 1820.  His children were--Simon L., William H., John N., Caroline M., Mary J., Susan A., Sarah J., and Emily EJohn French settled in Callaway Co., MO., in 1820.  He was married first to Jane Clark, of Montgomery county, by whom he had--William H., Bryant, Milton, and Sally A.  His second wife was Isabella Dillard, by whom he had--Hugh, Thomas, and Lucy. Jane French married John Dutton. Sally married Joseph Elledge. Hannah married Samuel Cox. Mary married Isaac Clark, of Montgomery county.  Susan married Samuel McRunnels... [continued on Simon French's page]
Bryan & Rose are known to have made many errors, some serious, and this entry appears to contain several that are sources of a great deal of confusion about this family.

  • First off, Warren Co., TN, did not exist until 1807, and for that matter, neither did Warren Co., KY, but it is to Logan [now Warren] Co., KY, that they surely went — and William had not died.  William FRENCH shows up on the tax rolls of Logan [now Warren] Co., KY, in 1796, along with his brothers-in-law, Benjamin CLARK and Isaac DAVIS.  William is again on the Warren Co., KY, tax roll in 1800; and three of his children are married in Warren Co., KY, between 1797 and 1801.  My first inclination would be to believe that the William FRENCH in Warren Co., KY, is a different individual, but the marriages of the children and presence of his in-laws argue otherwise.  The only other possibility might be that this William FRENCH is son of our subject.  Bryan & Rose do not mention a son, William, but there is a son unaccounted for in the 1790 Census.  It becomes a question of which error(s) did Bryan & Rose make: That there was a son, William?  Or that the father didn't die before 1795?  And it is a cruelty of fate with regard to names that William's son, Hugh, and son-in-law, Joseph ELLEDGE (husband of daughter, Sally), show up on the tax rolls of Warren Co., TN, in 1812.  As if we didn't have confusion enough!  But that juxtaposition of names (i.e., Warren Co., KY, and Warren Co., TN) undoubtedly led to the confusion in the family history that Bryan & Rose were presumably relating.
  • Hannah married William COX.
4.  Ancestors of Carl Allan Ramsey by Carl Ramsey. [link died]

5.  WorldConnect (online at RootsWeb.com).

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