Hello Cousins,
There is a correction that we need to make to our information on the first marriage of John Greathouse to Pheby Thompson. Louise Franklin Johnson and others have suggested that this marriage is an error. So we would like to share some additional documentation with you, which provides significant evidence to disprove the first marriage of John Greathouse to Pheby Thompson.
This information is being shared with our mailing list and in our forum, to request that you share any additional information you have supporting or contradicting the work described below.
We will be using the following sources to disprove this marriage:
1) "History of Harrison County, West Virginia: From the Early Days of Northwestern Virginia to the Present." Henry Haymond. 1910. Acme Pub Co. Digital copy online:
http://books.google.com/books?id=J4QFK5LO-boC&printsec=titlepage#PPA451,M1 .
2) "Marriage Return of Rev. John W. Loofbourow." Harrison County, VA, 1793. Digital copy online:
http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=38854&Type=Marriage .
3) Email from Diana Johnson to Rick Greathouse, Subject: "Correction - Marriage of John Greathouse and Pheby Thompson", 20 Mar 2008.
4) "Federal Supply Tax of the County of Bedford, for the Year 1783", Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Volume XXII, Page 252. Digital copy online:
http://www.footnote.com/viewer.php?image=3076932 .
5) "Federal Supply Tax of the County of Bedford, for the Year 1785, Turkeyfoot Township.", Bedford, PA GenWeb Project. Digital copy online:
http://www.pa-roots.com/~bedford/taxlists/tl1785turkey.htm .
Currently in our database at Greathouse Point, we have the following listed for the first marriage of John Greathouse, son of William Greathouse and Barbara Schutz:
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Johannes married Phoebe THOMPSON 1 about 1774 in , Harrison, Virginia (Later West Virginia).
Marriage Notes: Harrison County, VA Marriages
Call #: #975.5 V2mc
Marriage: Sherry Scoresby forwarded by Pat Greathouse.
Children from this marriage were:
+ 78 F i. Susannah GREATHOUSE 1 was born about 1775.
+ 79 F ii. Regina GREATHOUSE 1 was born about 1777 and died after 1840.
80 M iii. Leonard GREATHOUSE 1 was born about 1779.
Leonard married Sarah PARSONS 1 on 8 Nov 1800 in , Harrison, West Virginia.
81 M iv. Michael GREATHOUSE 1 was born about 1781.
Michael married Nancy JOHNSON 1 on 10 Feb 1810 in , Wood, West Virginia.
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Some time ago, Louise had sent us copies of several documents regarding the marriage of John Greathouse and Pheby Thompson. The first document was the page from "History of Harrison County, West Virginia: From the Early Days of Northwestern Virginia to the Present." by Henry Haymond, where on Page 451 the following marriages are listed for John Greathouse and Pheby Thompson:
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April 8, 1793........John Greathouse and Pheby Thompson
April 8, 1793........John Greathouse and Milly Gillaspy
April 2, 1793........Barnabas Smith and Phebe Thompson
Source: "History of Harrison County, West Virginia: From the Early Days of Northwestern Virginia to the Present." Henry Haymond. 1910. Acme Pub Co. Digital copy online:
http://books.google.com/books?id=J4QFK5LO-boC&printsec=titlepage#PPA451,M1 .
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The information contained in this book about the marriage of John Greathouse to Pheby Thompson may have been the source of this erroneous first marriage for John Greathouse, son of William Greathouse Senior and Barbara Schutz.
The second document was a copy of the original marriage return that John W. Loofbourow reported to Harrison County Court, when he registered these marriages. The information found on the marriage return folllows:
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A Return of Marriages Made by the Rev. John W. Loofbourow.
Barnabas Smith and Pheby Thompson married April 2nd 1793.
John Greathouse and Milly Gillaspy married April 8 1793.
Source: "Marriage Return of Rev. John W. Loofbourow." Harrison County, VA, 1793. Digital copy online:
http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=38854&Type=Marriage .
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Diana Johnson, a volunteer at the Waldomore House Library in Clarksburg, Harrison, VA states the following:
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This error is also included in "Virginia/West Virginia Genealogical Data from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Records" Vol 2--Dabbs through Hyslop, compiled by Patrick G Wardell, p 208,
Greathouse, John, esf 1777 Bedford Co, PA; PN ae 60 Harrison Co., VA, 1818; dd 5/14/1838; QLF states sol md Miss Gillespie 1793; QLF 1912 from desc Dora Hedges (Mrs. W Samuel) Goodwyn, Emporia, VA, states another VA RW sol John Greathouse was b 1742, md (1) Miss Thompson, and PN 1819, further both he and 1st John md same day in 1793. F-S8630 R1117
And Cochran's edition of Harrison County WV marriages did not pick up this particular marriage and neither did Morris' edition and I do not have it in my personal information of Harrison County Courthouse Marriage Records research. It is simply an error in copying by a person."
Source: Email from Diana Johnson to Rick Greathouse, Subject: "Correction - Marriage of John Greathouse and Pheby Thompson", 20 Mar 2008.
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Therefore, based on the information that was obtained from both of those documents and the information submitted by Diana Johnson, we feel that there is enough evidence to disprove that John Greathouse married Pheby Thompson on April 8, 1793.
The discovery of this evidence, of course, has led us to ask more questions about this disproven marriage, where one of the most important questions would be:
Did John Greathouse marry a first wife before his marriage to Milly Gillaspi on 8 Apr 1793?
That question can be answered with some additional evidence that has been found in the Federal Supply Tax Lists of Bedford, PA where John Greathouse, son of William Greathouse Senior and Barbara Schutz was listed as a Single Freemen in those tax lists for the years 1783 and 1785.
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Federal Supply Tax of the County of Bedford, for the Year 1783
Turkeyfoot Township
Page 250
Eakart, Frederick 100 acres, 2 horses, 3 cattle, Tax 1 .9 .9
Greathouse, William 200 acres, 3 horses, 5 cattle, 4 sheep, Tax 3 .2 .7
Page 252
Single Freemen
John Greathouse 100 acres, 1 Horse, Tax 2 .5 .5
Non-Residents
William Greathouse 150 acres, Tax 1 .0 .8
Source: "Federal Supply Tax of the County of Bedford, for the Year 1783", Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Volume XXII, Page 252. Digital copy online:
http://www.footnote.com/viewer.php?image=3076932 .
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John Greathouse was also listed as a Single Freemen on the Federal Supply Tax List of Bedford, PA, in Turkeyfoot Township, in 1785.
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Federal Supply Tax of the County of Bedford, for the Year 1785
Turkeyfoot Township
Frederick Achor
Wm Greathouse, 400 acres.
William Greathouse, 400 acres.
Single Freemen
John Greathouse
Source: "Federal Supply Tax of the County of Bedford, for the Year 1785, Turkeyfoot Township.", Bedford, PA GenWeb Project. Digital copy online:
http://www.pa-roots.com/~bedford/taxlists/tl1785turkey.htm .
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Therefore, those tax lists provide us with further evidence which supports that John Greathouse may not have been married or had any children before he married Milly Gillaspi on 8 Apr 1793 in Harrison, VA.
If any of you have any questions about the information that we have provided above, please let us know, by replying to this email. If any of you have any further documentation in support of or in contradiction to the information that we have presented above, please share your research with us.
Thanks,
Rick
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