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 paragraphs 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 there 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 Hargetts and 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. There 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 families. 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

The family of Tillman Helms, Jr. and Elizabeth Presley Helms was:

Burwell Helms (1785 -1871) a most prolific Helms, married Elizabeth Helms.

Andrew T. Helms (1776-1860) removed to Butler County, Alabama. Married Elizabeth Stancil.

Agnes Henrietta Helms (1787-unknown) married David Moose

Holly Helms (1791-1851) Married  Helton Milton Presley

Allen Helms (1793-1871) removed to Talbot and Harris County, Georgia, Married Anna Ritch.

Annie Isabel (1795-1811) Married Wiley Chaney.

Rebecca Helms (1797-1870) Married Samuel Ramsey.

Mary Delilah Helms (1801-1853) married Asa Traywick.

Wiley Helms (1804 - 1880) Married Martha Crowell.

Polk Mountain, Union County, North Carolina. The southernmost mountain in the Uwharrie Range. 

Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days: Erasmus Preslar.

Something unexplainable and something you can't explain are two different things. The parents of a set of my third Great Grandparents, John L. Falkner and his wife, Susan "Susie" Webster, were something I couldn't explain, but not unexplainable. They were the parents of Sarah Frances Falkner, my maternal Grandfather's grandmother, through his mother, Penny Wayne Turner. Penny had lived long enough for me to meet her. I remember her, but she passed when I was yet a small child. While John's family tree is still something I am butting my head up against, I haven't given up. With the help of DNA, and matches in Kentucky, I know the people he came from, but I can't tell you how he came from them, or why they left him behind. Not so with Susan.

I knew Susan had been a Webster, before she showed up in the 1850 census as a married woman. They lived in Anson County, with a very old and surviving newspaper, and their names had appeared in the paper when they wed, as if they were important. Sadly, other factors pointed to the fact that they were not, as there were no Wills, land documents or divisions, probate files or information that attached them to other people they were related to. Except that the newspaper had revealed she was a Webster. She had also had a son, James Coleman, before her marriage, who was a Webster. He would embrace the Faulkner name at times, too, but he was not a biological Faulkner. There were not many Websters in Anson County at the time, which made things simpler, but there was one, a woman named Nancy, and when I found her, I figured it out, and I found Erasmus Preslar, the father of her children.

30 Mothers in 30 Days: Nancy

I covered the story of Nancy Webster when I was doing my series of posts I called "30 Mothers in 30 Days" while recovering from surgery a few years back. The link is above. Sometimes death and tragedy created vile disadvantages for widows and orphans, and desperate girls became mistresses instead of wives. Nancy was very young when she had at least six children with Erasmus Preslar, because she had followed her sister, Mary, who had married Erasmus's brother, Elias Preslar, Sr., and moved to Simpson County, Mississippi. Nancy remarried there and had eight more children with a mixed-race former seaman, named Enoch Parrott or Perritt. Enoch was from South Carolina and his father, Captain Thomas Encoh Parrott, was a Revolutionary War Patriot, born in Christchurch, Middlesex, Virginia and died in Fairfield County, South Carolina in 1797. Captain Parrotts wife was named Francis Lucinda "Choctaw Annie" Port, and there is where Enoch's non-white status came from. At any rate, we can surmise that Nancy and her family were considered a rather lowbrow people, but they are mine. Once I figured it out and hooked the horse up to my wagon, people found me, found it and now I have DNA matches in Thru lines from six of Nancy's eight Parrott children, about 8 or 9 apiece, and 18 different people descended from her daughter Nancy Jr. These folks have no other connection to my family tree or the area my kin all came from, so this is cemented in my mind. Nancy's story fascinates me, but what about Erasmus? This is his story, but there's not as much to it.

Erasmus died a young man, predeceased his father, Elias Preslar, and is mentioned in his will. He left but a trifling trace of himself in the sands of time, but passed on his DNA at any rate, which many never had the chance to do. 

There's an advantage that comes when someone famous is descended from the same ancestors you are. It may be too far back to call them family, perhaps, but because they are famous, there's a chance some really good, a professional team, even, has taken up the chore of researching that person's family tree and have the time and budget to fly to foreign countries looking for ancient baptism records and such. In the case of the Preslar's, that has happened. The famous subject - The King Himself, Elvis Presley.

Elvis was not a patrilineal Preslar/Presley. There had been a break in the branch of his family tree. His paternal great grandmother, Rosalia Presley had several children out of wedlock without naming a father, so the Presley name had descended to him through her. He was still a Presley, and still a descendant of Andreas Pressler, as I am, he just would not have been able to have taken a Y-tdna test and ended up among Presley's. 

The list below is of Elvis's family tree back to Johannes Valentin and my lines are in it. Elvis and I both descend from son #6 on the list, Andreas, or Andrew. The family were Palatine Germans who traveled first to England and had then set sail to New York, arriving on June 14, 1710, on a ship called Fame, with Captain Walter Houxton. 

Descendants of Johannes Valentin Pressler by Ed Dunn

The Preslar/ Presley name, like many of those from early settlers to America, has gone through many deviations due to local dialects and phonetic spelling. This happened especially to German and Central to Eastern European settlers in an English-speaking Colony. Seen early on with a "B", it quickly became Anglicized to a "P".  Erasmus and Elvis both trace back to son Andreas, born in 1701.

Personally, I have Preslar/ Preslar lines. The other stems from a fifth Great Grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Presley, who married Tillman Helms Jr., daughter of Thomas Preslar and his wife, Sarah Culpepper. Thomas was also a son of Andreas Pressler.

Erasmus was the son of Elias Preslar, Sr. and his wife, Nancy Martin. Because of the location where they lived, I believe Nancy Martin was somehow related to the John Martin (1801-1888), who intermingled with my Turner ancestors who lived in the same area. We don't know the dates that Erasmus was born or died, but he was deceased prior to his father's Will of 1835, and his oldest son, Calvin Webster, was born in 1819, so expecting him a young father, we can estimate his year of birth as around 1799/1800.

The surname of this one family was fluid, as Elias is seen as "Presley" in the 1790 and 1800 census records.

In his Land Grant file, the same man is seen as Elias Preslar. His grand was on Lanes Creek and joined Hosea Little and his own property. 

While Elias appears in many deeds, records and transactions from early Anson, Erasmus does not. He never owned land or appeared in Court. Above he is gifted land from his brother, John.

The first mention of Erasmus's name was in a deed granted from Elias Preslar to Calvin Webster dated November 8, 1834, Elias deeded property to Calvin Webster, "for and in consideration of the natural love & affection he hath and bears toward s the aforesaid Calvin Webster who he has thus far raised and who is reported to be an illegitimate son of his son, his son's son.  Erasmus Preslar dec'd  by Nancy Webster for the above reasons." 

The property given to Calvin was likely Eramus's share of his father's lands had he lived. 

There were two tracts, one of 60 acres and the other 100, bordering the lines of Jordan Woodward, Ann Maness and the later one, John Duck on Flag Fork Branch.

Calvin would sell his property in 1840 to Andrew J Davis and move to Mississippi.

This was the same Lane's Creek Property gifted him by his grandfather. 

Nancy Webster had six Webster children altogether, presumably the children of Erasmus Preslar, although the younger two, I'm not certain about. 

1) Calvin Webster Preslar (1819- before 1880) Moscow, Polk County, Texas. Married Martha Thurman. 9 children. William Roseberry, Benjamin Franklin, Amanda Jane, Laura Ann, Francis C., Sarah E., Lydia, James Calvin, Minerva Octavia.

2) Melissa Holly (1820-1872) 

3) Susan Webster (1827-1900) Married John Faulkner.

4) John B. Webster (1832 -1880) Married Margaret Ann Copeland

5) Joseph S. Webster (1835 -1872) Died in Tennessee.

The Will of Elias Preslar 

Elias penned his will with the usual prequel. 

He bequeathed to his sons Elias Jr. and Levi with the stipulations that they take care of their mother, Nancy, until her death, 250 acres on Lanes' Creek. 

The other tract bequeathed to those two sons was one he was granted on December 11, 1802, and two he had purchased from Absolom Caudle in 1830 for 75 acres on Lanes Creek.

To his daughter Molcy, he gave furniture, a gray mare and saddle and a cow and calf. To his wife, Nancy, he gave his black mare, all of his stock of cattle and hogs which did not go to his children, and the balance of all Household items and furniture.

To his son Levi, he gave a cow and calf and half of his farming tools. To Elias, Jr. , he gave the other half of his farming tools. 

To his daughter Tabitha, he gave one hundred dollars and the proceeds of a sale he ordered in Item 6.

He bequeathed $50 from the sale bequeathed to Tabitha to go to her first child Nancy Preslar.

He willed the balance of the land sale to be divided between his surviving children.

He made his wife, Nancy and two sons, Levi and Elias Jr. co-executors.

The Will of Elias Preslar was witnessed by William A. Morris, Jr. and Calvin Preslar, aka Calvin Webster, his grandson. Calvin had carried on the Preslar name after all.  

Elias had outlived his sons John, Erasmus and Salathiel.

An Amazing Discovery: The Brooms

I often am researching a very different family from the one I may be posting about, due to waiting on information or documents to arrive in the mail.

The current object of my research is Gilson Broom. Born in Union County, he eventually made his way to Stanly and appeared on an amazing document of whom the likes I have not seen. I  decided to find out who the individuals mentioned in this document were in an off-chance that I might discover more about the individual the document primarily concerned.

In that document, several times over, was the mention of Mr. Gilson Broom, and in the research of Mr. Gilson Broom, I came upon this fabulous newspaper article from The Monroe Journal, dated January 16, 1912. I am quite certain I am a descendant of the Union County Fincher and Broom families, although I have not yet found any absolute proof. I know that Frederick Fincher Starnes, who spent his early years and even into his first marriage and the birth of his oldest children, in Union County, was one of my second Great-Grandfathers. He lived his most productive years in Cabarrus County, moved after his second marriage to Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, had land just over the state line on a "Rocky River Road" in Lancaster County, SC and even possibly have been born in Georgia.

Frederick Fincher Starnes married a lady named Mary Louise. There is an older lady living in their home named Martha Byram, Bynam or Broom assigned as his mother-in-law. So Mary Louise, my second Great-Grandmother, may have been a Broom. The name is not altogether legible in the original document. Fincher, as F. F Starnes's middle name, could have been a maternal maiden name passed down the family line, either mother or grandmother or other, and the Finchers were prevalent in Union County in the early days.

Mentioned in the following article are definate ancestors of mine, and many other Stanly County citizens who benefited from these early settlers on the Rocky River which became the Stanly/Union/Anson/Cabarrus counties lines. One of those was Tilman Helms, a direct ancestor of mine.

This article is a gem. Enjoy. I hope someone can find beneficial information from it.