Job's Children: Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days: Tillman Helms Jr.

Several years ago, while recovering from one ailment or accident or another, I was needing one particular deed involving one particular Helms, that should have been remotely accessible through the online website of the Union County Register of Deeds. Their website was down, as often was, and I was unable to drive. Not all counties offer online access to historic deeds, and among the ones who do, their systems are fragile. I was not able to make the drive, at that time, which was only about an hour away.

Now, when speaking to employees of county registrars, or clerks of court, or the history corner of a library, or museum, it's like one of those boxes of chocolates that Forrest Gumps' Momma referenced. They have access to everything there. Some have loads of time on their hands in their sleepy little coves.Others, in growing metroplexes, do not. Some are as friendly as your best friends' Grandma who wants to feed everybody. Others are just there for a paycheck and do not want to be bothered. On this particular day, I had the fantastic luck of getting one of the latter.

The clerk sounded like a young girl, maybe someone just out of college, if that. I needed someone to email one particular deed to me. I had seen it before, couldn't find my copy, and unable to access it online. Their fault with that last part. If they could not email it, at least find it and read me one sentence from it. So, I asked the clerk to find it.

"I don't see it, " she quickly answered. I spelled the first name.

"Nope, not here." So, I asked her to look under the surname, Helms, hoping by scanning the list, she might see something that looked similar to the first name I had mentioned.

"I don't have any Helms."

"You don't have any Helms!", I exclaimed, quite loudly in fact. Shocked at that answer, I asked, "Have I reached the Union County Register of Deeds?" Thinking I must have called the wrong number.

She answered with an affirmative.

"In North Carolina?!?"

"Yes."

"Ma'am," I replied, "If you are in Union County, and you can't find a Helms in the deeds at the Register of Deeds, you are NOT in Union County, North Carolina."

My reason for recounting that little scenario was to express the fact that Helms in Union County are as common as fleas on a cow's back.

Sardis Church. Court Minutes 1774–1800, Genealogies 1774–1800, Court Records 17

Tillman Helm Jr. was my 5th Great Grandfather. As such, his father, Tillman Sr., was my 6th. I will mention both, but my focus will be on Tillman Helms Jr.

The surname Helms, also seen in the older records as Helems, is Teutonic in origin, and arrived to the British Isles with the Goths. Simply put, it means Helmet, or someone who wore a Helmet.

Tillman Helms Sr. and his brother George, arrived to North Carolina from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a common way station for immigrants heading south. It's unknown where they arrived from prior to that, some say they came by way of New Jersey. They were most likely related to other Helms who were also in the area early on, Jonathan and Thomas, as they were some of the pioneers to what was Anson County and would include what is now Richmond, Montgomery, Anson, Union and Mecklenburg Counties.

The first record of them is when George Helms was issued 100 acres of land on October 11, 1749. The property was in Anson County on the North Side of the Pee Dee and on the East Side of Little River, mentioned on the bank of the river and along John Ashley's line, Land Patent Book 10 Page 346. Little River is not in current Anson County, but in Montgomery and Richmond. Montgomery split from Anson in 1779, as did Richmond. They would later relocate to a part of Anson that would become Union.

Below is a list of grants entered by Tillman Helms. This is not all the same Tillman Helms.

The elder Tillman died between 1800 and 1805. Tillman Jr. died in 1825. The ones in "Union" County in 1844 and 1852 had to be a son or grandson, as Union County didn't exist while Jr. and Sr. were living. Tillman Helms Jr., born between 1755 and 1760, was definitely born in Anson County, but not necessarily in what we now call Anson. The 1762 Grant was the first one for Tillman, Sr., on the east side of Little River, near his older brother. Anything before 1780 should be considered that of Tillman Sr. The 1783 Anson Grant, on the southwest side of the Pee Dee River on Reedy Branch, I believe is the first for Jr, but I could be wrong.

Reedy Branch is located in current Union County near Marshville. The December 10th, 1818, Grant was most definitely Tillman Jr. It was registered in Mecklenburg County, which had been established in 1762, but it was in the part of Mecklenburg that would become Union County, which was formed in 1842 from the western half of Anson and the eastern part of Mecklenbug.

The grant, shown above, was on Richardson Creek. Richardson Creek runs south of the Rocky River and crosses from Anson into Union. The grant was for 200 acres. Recorded in Mecklenburg County in Book 133 Page 167, it mentions hitting "Burris's corner", to Isaac Helms, Daniel Barnes' line. Daniel Ritch and Isaac Helms, chain carriers.

Sarah M. Myers compiled a book called " George and Tillman Helms 1720 -1900 History and Genealogy of the Helms Family Pioneers of Anson and Mecklenburg Counties Five Generations".

It is mostly a list of descendants, however, it includes a few interesting points. For one, she states that the family became so numerous, they founded a town, called Helmsville, from the descendants of the family of Tillman Sr., in conjunction with his brother(s) George and Jonathan. She also points out that "The fact that gold and silver mines are mentioned in some land records might explanin why there was much wheeling and dealing in land before George and Tilllman Helms finally settled on Richardson Creek, and its tributaries, in what is now Union County, North Carolina. In 1762. Mecklenburg County was formed from Anson Co. with Richardson Creek being the dividing line between the two counties which resulted in some Helms families being divided by a county line."

Richardson Creek is not the dividing line, as you can see below

The map above, from 1911, shows the town of Helmsville to be a little south of Monroe, sitting right on Richardsons Creek.

The county was formed in 1842 from parts of Anson County and Mecklenburg County. Its name was a compromise between Whigs, who wanted to name the new county for Henry Clay, and Democrats, who wanted to name it for Andrew Jackson. The Helms, Starnes, McRorie, and Belk families were prominent in the town as well as Monroe and Charlotte. Most of these families came from Goose Creek Township. Eventually, the state would come to acquire a Clay County and a Jackson County, too

Wikipedia reports that "The Helms, Starnes, McRorie and Belk families were prominent in the town."

I descend from both Helms and Starnes and there were Belks who married into my Davis family line. McRorie is the only name not hanging somewhere in my family tree.

It was said that George Helms had bought the land where Monroe, or part of it, now sits and Tillman settled about a mile and a half northeast. Ms. Myers said in her book, titled above, that when George sold his old planation, his nephew, Tillman Jr., bought it and divided that piece of property up between two of his sons, Andrew and Wiley.

Another account of the same story, written by R. C. Griffin, was published in The Monroe Journal, on August 12, 1949. His is a little more detailed, revealing that they lived on Bearskin Creek and that George had settled on what was then called Gold Mine Road.

The Monroe Journal

Monroe, North Carolina • Tue, Jul 11, 1911Page 3

In the July 11, 1911 editon of The Monroe Journal, the above article was published.

It was entitled "Two Big Families" and gave bried histories of the Helms and Richardson families

I've chosen a few paragraph to highlight below.

The person recanting the history was a Mr. McNeeley.

The former settler whom Tillman purchased land from was a Scotman named John McCoy.

He listed the children of George and Tillman Helms and revealed the fact that their was intermarriage between Helms cousins. This was not uncommon. Tillman and George both had a son named John. While Tillman's son was referred to as "Whitehead" John, his cousin was called "Blackhead" John, to differentiate between the two of them. I would tale a guess this meant Tillman's son ws a blonde while George's son was a brunette.

The above is a complete list of the children of Tillman Senior. As you can see, there was much intermarriage between the Helms and the Presley/Preslar family. Out of ten children of Tillman Sr. and his wife, Rachel, five married Presley's. Population was not great in those days and neighbors married neighbors. Andreas Preslar/Presly Sr. was a German Palantine immigrant who settled around the same area as the Helms family.

Tillman Jr. married Elizabeth Presley, daughter of Thomas Presley and wife, Sarah Culpepper. Below is a list of their children and whom they married.

Susannah married John Helms

Richard married Mary Helms

Sarah married George Helms, Jr.

Elizabeth married Tillman Helms, Jr.

Thomas Presley Jr. married his cousin, Jennea or Jane Preslar. Some families settled with one spelling, some another, while the spelling would flip flop back and forth in records for the same individual.

Thomas Presley remarried after the death of his wife Sarah, and had four more daughters. Two married Pool's, one a Thomas and his youngest daughter, Jensie, was still single at the time of his Will, so it is unknown if she married.

Name	Tilman Hellums
Home in 1800 (City, County, State)	Salisbury, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	1
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15	2
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10	2
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44	1
Number of Household Members Under 16	6
Number of Household Members Over 25	2
Number of Household Members	8

Tillman Jr. is enumerated in the 1800 census of Mecklenburg County. He was in the part that became Union. Salisbury indicated the Court they would attend if business was needed. Among his neighbors were a Hargetts and a Matthews, and many other Helms. Helmsville. He heads a family of eight.

Name	Tilghman Helms
Residence Date	6 Aug 1810
Residence Place	Capt Legetts, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25	2
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10	2
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	2
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25	1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over	1
Number of Household Members Under 16	5
Number of Household Members Over 25	2
Number of Household Members	10

In 1810, the neighborhood is seen to be diversifying. Their are still alot of Helms and Hargetts, but Blounts and Chaneys, Moose and Matthews have joined the mix. His family size has increased to 10

Name	Tillman Helms
Enumeration Date	7 Aug 1820
Home in 1820 (City, County, State)	Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 18	1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25	2
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25	2
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over	1
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture	3
Free White Persons - Under 16	1
Free White Persons - Over 25	2
Total Free White Persons	7
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other	7

In 1820, his last, his family size has now decreased to seven, as his older children are flying the nest. We now have many Crowells, Hooks, Williams, Walkers, Coburns, Lemmonds, Pyron, Stewart, Freeman , Forsyth and Broom. This is his last census.

Tillman and Elizabeth's daughter, Rebecca, born about 1795, will marry Samuel Ramsey, the son of Starkey "Stark" Ramsey, who lived along the Rocky River in the Burnsville area of Anson County.

The Court records found in Mecklenburg County, after 1790, we can safely assume referred to Tillman Jr.

The abovementioned 115 acres had been transferred to his son Wylie.

Tillman stood witness and posted bond to several transactions in Mecklenburg County, none really telling. Above he swore witness to the last Will and Testament of neighbor, James Chaney.

In 1804, he testified to the signatures on a deed from James Ritchie to Richard Preslar