Wansley Family

Named By Bishop Francis Asbury

This creek runs along side the Wansley Family Cemetery

Cynthia Anne Callison Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

Back Plaque:
“JOHN WANSLEY, JR. was PVT, 4th Regt., BOOTH’S GA MILITIA, CAPT. UNDERWOOD”S Co., INF, WAR OF 1812.”

3. Frank N. Wansley placed the front plaque on a six foot tall monument at the entrance of Wansley Family Cemetery. The plaque summarizes Frank Wansley’s view of his Wansley family, a source of great pride. Yorkshire may very well be the ancestral home of the Wansley’s; that has not been proven. [When I was in York, England ca 1990, I visited the large church, York Minster. A commemorative plaque noted a series of Wansley men who were organists at the church, as I remember in the 1700s. Jim B. Evans] The references about Louisa County, Elbert County and Coldwater Creek, Elbert County are well documented.

2. Frank N. Wansley did not include Larkin Wansley’s service in War of 1812 on the plaque. Larkin Wanslow was a private in Capt. Charles Carter’s Co. of Inf., 1 Reg’t, Georgia Militia, War of 1812. [source: Military Record in National Archives and Records Administration NARA] Frank N. Wansley knew Larkin was a son of John Wansley, Sr.

3. The monument is approximately six feet tall and composed of rocks and concrete, roughly shaped like a stubby obelisk. A stone or concrete eagle is mounted near the top of the monument.

NOTE: If John Wansley, Jr. or Larkin Wansley are buried in this cemetery, their graves are unmarked.

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

WANSLEY, JOHN, SR., Pvt Albemarle Co Va Line Rev War 1738 1835 Col Chas Lewis 14th Va Regt.

1. This vertical headstone was ordered in 1955 from the United States government which provided headstones or flat markers for unmarked graves of United States and Confederate veterans. Mrs. Z. W. Copeland applied for Christian headstone on 29 September 1955. Headstone was ordered on 12 December 1955. Georgia Marble, Co. Tate, George made the headstone. Mrs. Z. W. Copeland stated, I will transfer Stone [to cemetery].”
[Sources: 1. Application for Headstone or Marker. online. 2. Mrs. Zach W. Copeland (Edna Arnold 1881-1969) of Elberton, Georgia was a member of the D. A. R.]

2. Frank N. Wansley refers to this marker as D. A. R. headstone. There is no D. A. R. emblem on inscribed side. It is conceivable that the reverse side has a D. A. R. emblem.

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2014 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

WANSLEY, JOHN, SR., Revolutionary soldier, born Louisa Co., Va., 1738, enlisted Albemarle Co., Va., 1776, served as private, Capt. Harris’ Co., Col. Lewis’ Va. Regt. 1781. Settled here 1799, Allowed $30 annual pension Aug. 1833, Died here 13 Jan. 1835, age 97 years. His children were: NANCY YOUNG, SARA BECK, MILLY JENKINS, PATSY DAVIS, ELIZABETH ELLIOT, JOHN, JR., THOMAS, NATHAN, LARKIN, REUBEN WANSLEY. D. A. R marker at head of grave.

NOTES:
1. Frank N. Wansley provided information on the John Wansley, Sr. flat marker and possibly the headstone.

2. On 05 August 1809, Franklin Cunningham sold his brother-in-law, Reuben Wansley, 125 acres. [Elbert County, Georgia Deeds, Vol. N, p. 237.] On 14 September 1867, Johnson Wansley conveyed 140 acres on Coldwater Creek to his mother Elizabeth Wansley. The deed excluded ¼ acre for the "family Bering ground." [Elbert County, Georgia Deeds, Vol. EE, p. 66.] No deed has been found in Elbert County transferring this tract of land from Reuben Wansley, Sr. to his son Johnson Wansley. In 1860 Elbert County, Georgia tax digests, Johnson Wansley was recorded as trustee for Reuben Wansley. Johnson Wansley may have been acting as trustee or agent for Reuben Wansley in the 1867 deed although that is not stated in the document. [NOTE: discrepancies in acreage.]

“In 1955, by agreement with Luther Burton, the adjoining owner, I surveyed off one-quarter acre bounded on the east by Georgia Highway 368, and recorded the plat of same in Plat Book 2, page 385, Elbert County, Georgia records, thereby preserving it for posterity perpetually.” [Wansley, Frank N. From Rome to Ruckersville – Our Wansley History, second edition ca 1977, p. 32.]

3. “I [Frank N. Wansley] moved the granite monument to John Wansley, Sr., giving his Revolutionary War record, on Big Coldwater Creek, to his grave in the ancestral cemetery, his D. A. R. marker at the head of his grave.” [Wansley, Frank N. From Rome to Ruckersville – Our Wansley History, second edition ca 1977, p. 32.]

John Wansley’s Revolutionary War pension application documents his three 3-month tours of duty. Information on the monument mentions only one of his three three-month tours of service. [Revolutionary War Pension Application File S.32045, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).]

Taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

“REUBEN T. WANSLEY, SR., born Albemarle Co., Va., 1774”

1. Reuben Wansley, Sr. was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, a son of John Wansley, Sr. and Mildred Whitten Wansley. Virginia records place the John Wansley, Sr. family in Albemarle County, Virginia ca 1780. Based on 1850 census, Reuben Wansley was born ca 1774. Based on 1860 census he was born ca 1780.

Reuben Wansley, Sr. died after 1860 census in Elbert County, Georgia. At the time of the 1860 census, Reuben and Elizabeth Wansley were living in the household of their son Johnson Wansley.

2. Elbert County, Georgia legal records do not consistently use middle initial “T” for Reuben Wansley, Sr. None of his siblings had middle names. The logic has been that since Reuben T. Wansley, Jr. had a middle initial, therefore his father had the same initial and name.

3. Frank N. Wansley provided information for the headstones for Reuben and Elizabeth Cunningham Wansley which he, erected during his lifetime [1901-1983]. His source for Reuben Wansley’s date of birth is unknown. He did not know when Reuben Wansley and Elizabeth Cunningham Wansley died.

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

“ELIZABETH CUNNINGHAM WANSLEY, born in Va., 1784”

1. Elizabeth Cunningham was born 20 February 1783, a daughter of John Cunningham and Ann Davis. Source for Elizabeth Cunningham’s date of birth is John Cunningham Family Bible Record included in Revolutionary War pension application of Ann Davis Cunningham. Elizabeth Cunningham’s birthplace was either South Carolina or Georgia, definitely not Virginia, based on John Cunningham’s military postings during this period.

Elizabeth Cunningham Wansley died after a 14 September 1867 deed from Johnson Wansley to Elizabeth Wansley in Elbert County, Georgia. [source: Elbert County, Georgia Deeds, Vol. EE, p. 66.]

Jim Wansley’s great-great-great-great-grandmother

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

WANSLEY, THOMAS JEFFERSON, born Albemarle Co., Va., 29 Apr 1783, pvt Major Freeman’s Cav., Ga. Militia, War of 1812, died 23 July 1848.

WANSLEY, JEMIMA MEANS, born Ga. 6 Aug 1790 – died 21 Dec 1858.

Written on slab connecting two gravestones: “Erected by their ROWZEE descendants of Decatur, Miss., 1973.”

NOTES:
1. None of the contemporary legal documents for Thomas Wansley, Sr., including his will and estate records, provides a middle name or initial.

2. Thomas and Jemima Mean Wansley family record notes: “Thomas Jefferson Wansley, Jr., born November 29, 1820.” [source: Wansley, Frank N. Our Wansley History.] The assumption was that since Thomas Wansley, Sr. had a son named Thomas Jefferson Wansley, Jr., the father therefore had Jefferson as a middle name.

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

WANSLEY, R. T., Jr., 1813-11 Apr 1863, died of smallpox, leaving widow and eight children under age 15.

NOTES:
1. R. T. Wansley, Jr. was a son of Reuben Wansley, Sr. and Elizabeth Cunningham. Contemporary legal records do not consistently use “T” as middle initial for Reuben Wansley, Sr. None of the siblings of Reuben Wansley, Sr. had a middle name.

2. Concerning the middle name of Reuben T. Wansley, Jr.: On 01 May 1925, Caroline Jones died in Tignall, Wilkes County, Georgia. Maiden name: Caroline Wansly. [NOTE: Transcribed as Wausly.] White, American female. Birthplace: Elbert County, Georgia. Father: Tom Wansly. Mother: Emily Cobb. [source: Georgia Death Index 1914-1927] This is the only documentation we have seen for middle name other than Reuben Tabor Wansley.

Since Reuben Tabor Wansley [born 1906] had “Tabor” has a middle name, Wansley researchers have retroactively assumed that “Tabor” was middle name of earlier men named Reuben T. Wansley. The source for the Tabor name may be a socially prominent family in Elbert County ca 1900.

Granite marker: In 1867, JOHNSON WANSLEY reserved the ¼ acre as the “family burying ground.” Deed Book EE, p. 66. Elberton

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

Original marker (left): BECK, JOHN, [was] born 4 Feb 1762, died 11 July 1824, Rev. Soldier, married SARA WANSHEY, Albemarle Co., Va., 5 June 1784.

D. A. R Marker (right): BECK, JOHN, Captain, Va. Regt. Continental Line, Revolutionary War, 4 Feb 1762 - 11 July 1824.

Only two Virginians named “John Beck” have documented service in the American Revolution. John Beck [1762-1824], husband of Sarah Wansley, served in the American Revolution as a private in the fall of 1781. John Beck [1746-1816] served as an ensign or lieutenant and later captain during American Revolution. He married Rebecca Miller [1763-1853]. They were both buried in Ohio County, Virginia, now West Virginia. The Ohio County John Beck is not related to the John Wansley, Sr. line. See following notes.

NOTES:

1. Payroll for Capt. B. Harris’ Company, Albemarle County, Virginia, from 19 September 1781 through discharge on 06 November 1781, included Private John Beck. This is the only known Revolutionary War contemporary reference for John Beck who married Sarah Wansley. [Burgess, Louis A. Virginia Soldiers of 1776. pp. 1246-7.] This John Beck did not receive a Revolutionary War pension or military bounty land from the United States government.

In 1827 Georgia Land Lottery, Sarah Beck, widow of a Revolutionary Soldier, won 202½ acres in Lee County, Georgia. No documentation was required, only assertion that she was a widow of Revolutionary War veteran.

On 04 August 1856, Sarah Wansley Beck applied for a United States military pension as widow of Revolutionary War veteran John Beck [died 1824]. Her application was rejected since she could not prove her husband’s service. [Disapproved Revolutionary War widow’s pension application for Sarah Wansley Beck. R692 National Archives and Records Administration]

2. The only John Beck from Virginia who received Revolutionary War benefits was Lieutenant or Ensign and later Capt. John Beck. He was born in Maryland in 1746 and died in Ohio County, Virginia [now West Virginia] on 29 August 1816. His widow Rebekah [Rebecca] Miller Beck received a pension based on his service. Rebekah Miller Beck, born 1763, died 23 August 1853 in Ohio County, Virginia.

On 17 June 1783, Lt. John Beck received a warrant for 2666 2/3 acres of land for his service. On 07 June 1807, Lt. John Beck received a warrant for 444 2/3 acres. John Beck transferred land warrant No. 5150 to John Storkely. [John Beck Revolutionary War Pension W 3755 National Archives and Records Administration; Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus. Revolutionary War Records, Vol. 1 Virginia.]

Beck Family Cemetery, West Liberty, Ohio County, West Virginia.

Capt. John W. Beck [1746-29 Aug 1816]

Rebecca Ann Miller Beck [01 Apr 1763-22 Aug 1853] findagrave.com

3. The D. A. R. marker on grave of John Beck [died 1824] appropriates military service of Capt. John Beck, husband of Rebecca Miller, to John Beck of Elbert County, Georgia. The dates of birth and death are for John Beck of Elbert County, Georgia.

“The Stephen Heard Chapter DAR of Elberton, Georgia placed a marker at John Beck’s grave in the Wansley family burial plot, near Cold Water Creek bridge, Elbert County, Georgia. His grave is beside that of his son, Reuben C. Beck. It is opposite the DAR marked grave of John Wansley, Sr., his father-in-law.” Doris Steed Smith appropriates military service of Captain John Beck, husband of Rebecca Miller, to John Beck, husband of Sarah Wansley. [Smith, Doris Steed. Beck History. Doris S. Smith: Sparta, Georgia, October 1979.]

4. On 11 October 2014, the Samuel Elbert Chapter Georgia Sons of American Revolution [SAR] placed stone plaque at grave of John Beck. On the same date SAR placed a flat stone marker at John Wansley’s gravesite. The plaque for John Wansley, Sr. has SAR emblem and “Patriot.” Presumably John Beck has the same marker.

5. John and Sarah Wansley Beck descendants have posted a photograph of his two headstones on Ancestry.com public family trees. The same photograph is also on findagrave.com, dated 11 October 2014.

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

Born 24 Nov 1795. Died 10 Nov 1843. Schoolmaster. Son of John Beck and Sarah Wansley Beck.

NOTES:
1. The parents of Reuben C. Beck are unknown. He was perhaps a son of John Beck and Sarah Wansley. Sarah Wansley Beck gave birth to children from 1787 to 1803, so Reuben C. Beck’s date of birth falls within this time frame. Doris Steed Smith, a descendant of Sarah Wansley and John Beck, asserted Reuben C. Beck was a son of John and Sarah Beck. However, there is no known documentation for this relationship. [source: Smith, Doris Steed. Beck History.]

Jim Allen Wansley shown; taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA

“As you depart this hallowed shrine among the ever lasting hills from whence cometh our help, may His peace be with you now and always Frank Wansley” Monument design: Joe Fernandez [Our Wansley Family, p. 106.]

Beck Family Cemetery. West Liberty, Ohio County, West Virginia. Findagrave.com

Burgess, Louis A. Virginia Soldiers of 1776.

Elbert County, Georgia Historical Society. Early Cemeteries and Gravestone in Elbert County, Georgia. Elberton, Georgia: Elbert County, Georgia Historical Society, 1984.

Wansley, Frank N. “Elbert County [Cemeteries]” in Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 3, Fall Issue – Bicentennial Issue 1976. Atlanta, Georgia: Georgia Genealogical Society, 1976. pp. 159-160.

Wansley, Frank N. From Rome to Ruckersville - Our Wansley History. Elberton Georgia: second edition, ca 1977.

Taken 2004 at the Wansley Family Cemetery in Elbert County GA