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1984 Letter from Don Strong to Mr. Edward A. Ewing

March 26, 1984

Dear Mr. Ewing,

            Thank you for the information on Ewing. I had most of it except for the Nicholas Co. information. It is very probable that Joshua Ewing was in the Little Levels area with relations. It will be very difficult for you to make any progress if you do not look into the names that are associated with this Ewing family, for example, the 1815 deed in Bath Co. Between Robert Harvey, Aaron Ewing and Robert Rhea, identifies Lazarus Bartley as the father of Aaron Ewing’s wife. Lazarus Bartley checks out to have come from the same area in Frederick Co. That John Collins came from. The will of Lazarus Bartley identifies the wife of Aaron Ewing as Eleanor, and 100 acres at the head of Locust Creek is mentioned that Lazarus got from William Ewing.

            Joshua Ewing’s daughter Mary Curry is buried in Gallia Co., Ohio. She died in 1853 at the age of 76. This would put her birth date at 1777. In the 1850 census, she lists her birth place as Virginia and it that is true, Joshua is in Va. In 1777.

            In answer to your letter, I have read the history of Nicholas Co., Va. I see from my copy of the 1850 census of Nicholas Co., Kentucky (sic) that a Benjamin Darlington, age 75, is living with Allen Ewing. Have you determined if he is a relative of Allen?

            Joshua Ewing purchased at the estate sale of Naphtalim Gregory, 13 Sept. 1763. If you go to the library at Charleston, you may want to see if there is a genealogy on “Nap” Naphtalim Gregory. I do not know how this library there is indexed. Hopefully you can look up surnames there. Nap Gregory was a witness to Indians killing Henry Baughman on Muddy Creek (Greenbrier), his wife was Mary. If Nap Gregory was in Greenbrier area in 1760, then this is probably our Joshua.

Joshua Ewing’s children:

            Eleanor md. Abraham Hawk

            Mary md. Samuel Curry 27 Dec 1797

            Hannah md. John Collins 17 Dec 1792

            Aaron md. Elinor Bartley 16 Mar. 1791

            Elijah —

            Moses md. Peggy Brown

            Sarah md. Alexander Stephenson

            Nancy Agnes md. John Stevenson 6 Sep. 1787

            Joshua —

            Rebecca md. John Collins Jr. 8 Nov 1808

            Joshua born 1765-1784

            Moses born 1765-1784

            Mary born about 1777

            Eleanor born 1765-1784

            One account says that Aaron went to Indiana. Aaron Ewing is identified in Adair Co., Ky. In 1811 when he records power of attorney concerning the estate of his father Joshua. Records that have not been searched on Joshua Ewing are Bath and Greenbrier Co. Court records, chancery records. These records are not available out here.

            I called the lady in Colorado and asked her to send her line down to 1875 so I could look for clues, but have not heard from her so far. Muddy Creek is near Lewisburg, Va.

            Have you traced the line of Peggy Brown? In 1752, a John Brown was living on Ewings Creek (now known as Knapps Creek) in now Pocahontas Co., W. Va. Joshua owned land on both sides of the Greenbrier River. You could really help by tracing a land office warrant to Joshua Ewing dated 29 Aug. 1783 for 109 acres. Warrant number 18931. He also received 400 acres of land from a commission in exchange for 400 acres of unpatented land in Augusta, Botetourt and Greenbrier Co. Joshua had 270 acres on North side of Greenbrier River, part of Robinsons Grant in Botetourt Co. In 1774.

            I am not sure if this land ended up in Greenbrier Co. This land survey was hard to read. If you can get to it there it would be a great help, also, are there any deeds recorded for Joshua in Botetourt Co.? There are a few things that you could check in Charleston if possible.

            I hope we can correspond on this line in future weeks. Perhaps we can help move the line back to Joshua’s father. I believe that Joshua is a brother of James Ewing of Pocahontas Co. Or perhaps a nephew. Let me know how things come out.

                                                                        Don Strong

[The following was printed on the bottom of page 1.]

Also, the Little Levels area was within the boundary of Botetourt county 1770-1782. I got a letter that points to Nap Gregorys land being in Botetourt county. Very little research has been done in Botetourt.

[End of letter]____________________

File: Joshua Ewing (1733-1810)

File: Documents:EwingJoshua(1733-1810)Strong1984letter