TWO RICHARDS

SUMMARY

 

We have concluded, with little doubt, that 1815 Richard was the son of 1795 Richard.  The data we considered and the reasoning behind this conclusion follow.

VIRGINIA PROBATE RECORDS

 

1795 Richard wrote a will on 7/21/1795 which was probated in Botetourt County, VA, Court during the September, 1795, session^[1].  See chapter on "1795 Richard" for more on this. This will lists:

1) "My wife Lucy".  (This could not have been his first wife.  In the "Only One Thomas" chapter, we see that son Thomas was born in 1748.  Daughter Katy was probably born in 1795, but no earlier than 1780.  For both to be born of the same mother is highly unlikely.  In June, 1756, Elizabeth Bandy, wife of Richard Bandy, testified at a Cumberland County, VA, trial on behalf of "spinster" Elizabeth Bandy^[2].  Further, as shown below, a Richard (believed to be 1795 Richard) and wife, Elizabeth, are grantors of a November 24, 1766, Cumberland County deed.  Further, Botetourt marriage records^[3] show Richard Bandy, Sr., marrying Lucy Justice 5/23/1794, and Botetourt Court records of 1800^[4]  show Catherine Bandy - see Katy below - as an orphan daughter of Richard Bandy with guardian, Lucy Bandy.)

2) Sons:

a) "Thomas Bandy", co-executor of the will (SE Thomas). In the "Only One Thomas" chapter, we show that this must have been 1748 Thomas.

b) "Richard Bandy", co-executor of the will (SE Richard).

c) "John Bandy"

d) "George Bandy"

3) Daughters:

a) "Mary Lewis, wife of Thomas Lewis".

b) "Eliza, widow of Aquilla Greer".

c) "Sarah, wife of Benjamin Jordan".

d) "Katy Bandy, an infant". ("Infant" can mean any legal minor. As noted above, Catherine was listed in 1800 court records as an orphan daughter with a guardian.  Thus she had to have been born after 1780.  However, we believe she was Lucy's daughter and therefore was born in 1795.)

e) Ann (Nancy) Bandy.  The will does not list Ann as a daughter.  We list her here for completeness.  See discussion below on Henry Bandy.

4) Grandson:

"My grandson, Henry, son of Ann Bandy, now wife of James Neighbors".  Bedford County, VA, marriage records^[5] show Nancy Bandy and James Neighbors (Nabors) married 3/12/1791, with Nancy's father shown as Richard Bandy.  We conclude that Henry was Ann's (Nancy's) illegitimate son and that Richard did not list Ann as a legatee because of his disapproval of this.

TENNESSEE PROBATE RECORDS

 

1815 Richard wrote a November 3, 1815, will^[6] which was probated in Wilson County, TN, on March 16, 1816.  This will lists:

1) Sons [The names of four of these sons (Wilcher, Paron, Jameson, and Epperson) have a large number of variations in their spellings.  Except in direct quotes, we will stick with one spelling and not show the variations we find in each of the references.]:

a) Wilcher

b) Paron

c) Joseph

d) Solomon

e) Jameson

f) Richard

g) Epperson

2) Daughters:

a) Martha Cornelius

b) Elizabeth James

c) Sally Brown

 

VIRGINIA LAND RECORDS

 

                                          Book-
 #      Date                       Page             Grantor                                 Grantee                                    Description
Cumberland County:

 1      3/24/1755          2-202            Samuel Phelps                   Richard Bandy                      200A

 2           1760                  33-889         VA land grant                    Richard Bandy                      48A

 3      8/24/1761          3-195            Richard Bandy                   James Aiken                           48A

 4      11/24/1766        4-114            Richard Bandy                   John Campbell                       200A

                                                                & wife Elizabeth

Bedford County:

 5      10/24/1767        3-362            John Bradshaw                  Richard Bandy                      168A Lick Run

 6      5/24/1773          5-63              Wm. Hyath                          Richard Bandy                      92A

 7      10/1/1783          8-35              Richard Bandy                   George Bandy                        175A Lick Run

                                                                                                                                                                  

Franklin County:

 8      6/20/1788          2-398            Richard Bandy                   John Hook                               92A Stauton R

                                                                & wife Elizabeth                                                                  

 

Botetourt County:

 9      9/13/1786          3-421            John Mills                            Richard Bandy                      100A

                                                                                                                                                                   Wolf Creek

10     7/18/1787          9-718            State of VA                           Richard Bandy                      250A

                                                                                                                Thomas Bandy                      Wolf Creek

                                                                                                                Christian Vinyard

11     9/9/1788             4-24              Roland Madison               Richard Bandy                      254A Lewis

                                                                                                                                                                   patent

12     10/4/1799          41-455         State of VA                           Richard Bandy                      350A Wolf

                                                                                                                                                                   Creek

13     7/14/1801          7-465            Richard Bandy                   George Kirk                            290A

                                                                & wife Jane

14     7/14/1801          7-483            Richard Bandy                   William Harris                      187A

15     9/8/1801             7-498            Richard Bandy                   Thomas Bandy                      254A

                                                                Exec Richard decd

 

By their deed descriptions, transactions 1 and 4 are the same parcels of land, as are transactions 2 and 3.  From the dates, it seems the Richard Bandy in transactions 1-4 is logically 1795 Richard.

 

As will be shown in a later chapter on "Which George is Which?", transactions 5 and 7 are the same properties and the Richard is 1795 Richard.

 

By their deed descriptions, transaction 8 is the disposition of the land acquired in transaction 6.  The fact that the acquisition was in Bedford County and the disposition in Franklin County is explained by the fact that a part of Bedford County was cut off into Franklin County when the latter was formed in 1785^[7].  In fact, the deed in transaction 8 notes that the tract was formerly in Bedford County.  Transactions 4 and 8 both list Elizabeth as Richard's wife.  This does not prove, but strongly suggests that they are the same Richards.

 

Figure 1, at the end of this chapter, shows the land parcels involved in transactions 9, 12, 13 and 14.  Transaction 9 is composed of sub-parcels "L" and "I", transaction 12 of "J" and "K", transaction 13 of "L" and "J", and transaction 14 of "I" and "K".  Thus, these four transactions overlap in such a way that they had to be made by the same Richard.  Further, since transactions 12, 13 and 14 were after 1795 Richard's death, they could not have been made by 1795 Richard.

 

As will be shown in the chapter on "Only One Thomas", the Richard in transaction 10 is 1795 Richard.

 

Transactions 11 and 15 are the same parcels of land.  Transaction 15's grantor is "Richard Bandy, executor of Richard Bandy, deceased" - the latter would have been 1795 Richard.  Therefore, the grantee in transaction 11 was 1795 Richard.

 

From these land transfers alone, we know for certain that:

1. There were either one or two Richard Bandys buying and selling land in Cumberland County in the 1755-1766 period.

2. There were one or two Richard Bandys buying and selling land in Bedford/Franklin Counties in the 1767-1788 period, and that one of these was 1795 Richard.  Further, one of these Richards was probably the same as one of the Richards in Cumberland County in 1755-1766

3. There were two Richard Bandys involved in land transfers in Botetourt County in the 1786-1801 period. One of these was 1795 Richard and one was his executor son, "SE" Richard.

 

The personal property tax rolls below show only two Richards between 1782 and 1792.  From this, we believe it reasonable that the above land transfers are accounted for by only two Richards - 1795 Richard and "SE" Richard.

VIRGINIA PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX ROLLS

 

Virginia personal property tax rolls for Bedford, Botetourt, Franklin} and Washington  Counties were searched for anyone with the last name of Bandy for the years 1782 (first year available) through the first decade in the 1800s (cutoff date varied with county).  Results pertinent to this discussion are shown in the table below. 

 

An "X" in a year's column indicates that a Bandy, with the given name shown in the "Name" column, shows on the personal property tax rolls of the County in the "County" column.  A period, ".", indicates that name was not on that year's rolls.  Spaces indicate records which either do not exist, were unreadable, or that we did not research because we felt some of the later years would not be pertinent.   Botetourt in 1784-6 and Bedford in 1787 were unreadable.  Franklin County was not formed until 1786.  No Bandys were found in Washington County in the time period we investigated.  When we realize that most of the lands owned by the Richards were very near the location where the other three counties listed all touch each other, the movement from county to county does not seem unusual.

 

We were advised by genealogy consultant, Wilma Adkins, that personal property tax rolls are not precise for any one year.  Their evidence over a period of several years, however, is generally very reliable.

 

County       Name                   <1780's>   <-1790's->   <-1800's->

                                    23456789   0123456789   0123456789

Bedford      Richard                XX... .X   XXX.......   ......   

Franklin     Richard                    .XX.   ..........   ....     

Botetourt    Richard, Sr            ..   ...   ...XX.....   ..........

Botetourt    Richard                ..   XXX   XXXXX.....   .....X....

Botetourt    Richard, Jr            ..   ...   .....XXX.X   XXX.X.X...

Botetourt    Richard                ..   ...   ..XX.X.XXX   XXXXXXXX..

Botetourt    Richard, Constable     ..   ...   ......X...   ..........

 

Botetourt    Wilcher                ..   ...   ...X......   ..........

 

Botetourt    Peron                  ..   ...   .....X....   ..........

 

Botetourt    Solomon                ..   ...   .........X   XX........

TENNESSEE LAND RECORDS

 

On 3/27/1804, Richard Bandy bought, at a tax sale, 160 acres in Wilson County on the Cumberland River^[8].  This was certainly 1815 Richard, because:

1. On pages 152-3 of the Wilson County, TN, Court Minutes, 1812-1829, is recorded the 1/20/1816 sale of 1815 Richard's estate (see chapter on "1815 Richard").  Here we see that Epperson Bandy bought land from the estate for $1055.

2. On 8/2/1819, Jameson Bandy, executor of Richard Bandy, sold^[9] 109+ acres in Wilson County on the Cumberland River to Epperson Bandy at a price of $1055.

3. We could find no other transaction in Wilson County with Richard or his estate as grantor.

TENNESSEE TAX ROLLS

 

Wilson County, TN, Court Minutes of 1803-1807, show Bandys on the tax rolls as follows:

1803: Richard

1804: Richard, Wilcher, Paron and Solomon

1805: Richard, Wilcher, Paron and Solomon

1806: Richard, Wilcher, Paron and Joseph

1807: Wilcher, Paron

TENNESSEE CENSUS RECORDS

 

The following Tennessee census records for the sons of 1815 Richard are of interest to this discussion:

Given                                                 Birth year inferred by census of:                                                   Birth Yr.

Name                 County                  1820                1830                1840                1850          1860       Concluded

Joseph                Sumner                 1775-94          1770-80          1770-80          1776                          1776

Wilcher             Davidson                                       1760-70                                                                       1760-70

Solomon            Sumner                 1775-94          1770-80                                                                       1775-80

Jameson            Wilson                  1775-94

                             Hickman                                        1780-90

                             Perry                                                                         1780-90          1788          1790       1789

Paron                 Sumner                 <1775                                                                                                    <1775

Epperson          Wilson                                            1790-00          1780-90          1795          1794       1794

Richard             Sumner                 1775-94

                             Smith                                              1800-10          1790-00                                             ~1790

REASONING BEHIND CONCLUSION

 

For the reasons listed below, we think it is certain that 1815 Richard was the son of 1795 Richard:

1. From the later chapter on "Only One Thomas", 1748 Thomas was the son of 1795 Richard and had children born from 1769 to 1794.

2. From the Virginia Personal Property Tax Rolls and later Tennessee censuses, 1815 Richard's sons were born from 1772 (maybe as early as in the 1760's) to 1794.

3. From 1 and 2, we conclude that 1748 Thomas and 1815 Richard were of the same generation, since their children were born over the same time period.  This does not prove our above conclusion, but supports it.

4. From the Virginia land transactions, "SE" Richard, the son of 1795 Richard, seems to be winding up his affairs in Virginia (by selling off all his land) by late 1801.

5. From the Tennessee land transactions and tax rolls, 1815 Richard shows up in Wilson County, TN, by 1803.

6. When a person by one name drops from sight in one location at about the same time the same name appears in a second location, we normally expect them to be the same person.  Thus 4 and 5 also support the conclusion that "SE" Richard and 1815 Richard are the same.

7. Virginia personal property tax rolls indicate there were two Richards up through 1791, three in 1792 and 1793, and two from 1794 through the early 1800's.  The three Richards must have been:

a. 1795 Richard - land transactions indicate he was there

b. "SE" Richard - again, land transactions indicate he was there

c. Richard (born 1771), the son of 1748 Thomas.  He should have shown up (and did) on the rolls in 1792.  If the third were 1815 Richard (assuming he was not "SE" Richard) he should have shown up sooner than 1792.

8. Botetourt County, VA personal property tax rolls show Wilcher, Peron, and Solomon Bandy - all sons of 1815 Richard.  If we assume they show up on the first year they were 21, the birth years inferred are 1772 for Wilcher, 1774 for Paron and 1778 for Solomon.  These birth dates agree satisfactorily with those shown above on the Tennessee census records, i.e., 1760-70 for Wilcher, prior to 1775 for Peron and 1775-80 for Solomon.

9. Since at least three of 1815 Richard's sons are in Botetourt County as they reach age 21, surely 1815 Richard was there, not wishing to leave minor sons.

10. 1815 Richard cannot be 1795 Richard - you can die only once.

11. Since 1815 Richard had sons born as early as 1772, he cannot be the Richard born 1771 who was the son of 1748 Thomas.

12. From 7, 9, 10 and 11, 1815 Richard must be "SE" Richard.

ADDED COMMENTS

 

Advocates of the Richard Solomon / Solomon Richard twins legend usually interpret 1795 Richard as being Richard Solomon and 1815 Richard as being Solomon Richard who dropped the Solomon part of his name when he moved to Tennessee.  For the reasons developed above, we cannot believe that these two Richards were twin brothers.

 

 

 

FIGURE 1  BOTETOURT LAND TRANSACTIONS OF 1815 RICHARD