Fifth Generation

My entire life my grandfather Charles Lee, told me that he was German from his grandmother, Theadora Mae Deaton. He told me that his grandmother told him that she was German. My grandfather had a love of Germany from an early age and tried to learn the language. He would only drink German beer and loved to dance to German beer drinking music. The problem is that I couldn’t see how he was German. His grandmother’s name is Deaton which is English. I guess eventually it is Germanic if you go back to the Anglo-Saxon times, but nevertheless it is an English name. I thought my grandfather had a case of wishful thinking.

Well, sure enough he was correct and his grandmother was indeed half German. Thedora Mae Deaton’s mother was Sarah Isabella Souars from Iredell, North Carolina. She was born in 1847. Her father’s name is Philip Souars and her mother is Elizabeth. I couldn’t find anything else on the Souars. The only reference to the Souars name that I saw was the name of a man by Etienne Souars who was executed by the guillotine in Paris, France in 1784. I kept seeing references to the Sowers family in Iredell County so decided to check to see if a Sowars family matched up. In handwritten records, a “w” and a “u” look similar.

Sure enough there was a Philip Sowars who was born on Dec 4, 18oo in Rowan County, the part that because of boundary changes was turned into Davidson County. On the 20 March 1828 he married Elizabeth Overcash (Oberkirch) also of Davidson County, NC. Around 1848 they had a daughter named Sarah J. This is another case that if someone looked at written records, they would mistake the “I” for a “J”.

This is the lineage of Philip Sowars:

1.John Peter Sowars (1767-1802) Rowan,NC married Catherine Hepler

2.Johann Philipus Sowars (1733-1784) Born in Katzenbach, Altenkirchen, Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany) and died in Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina. He married Christina Faust.

I looked on the message boards to see if anyone knew anything about the Sowars/Overcash and sure enough I found a post from a distant cousin who is also a descendant of Sarah Souars who traveled to Rowan County and did some research linking the family to Elizabeth Overcash (Oberkirch) and Philip Sowars! Elizabeth’s father may have been Michael Overcash also known as Oberkirch.

Now I understand what my grandfather was trying to tell me all of those years. I wish I could tell him that I am sorry for not believing him!

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I cannot find when Moses Linster came to North Carolina. He was granted over 100 acres by the state in North Carolina. He came from Lancaster, PA and knew Captain John Hall whose sons married Moses Linster’s daughters. He was a Revolutionary War hero so I wonder if Moses Linster also fought in the war.  He seemed to care a lot about religious freedom and was well off when he lived. He married into the Wells family who were supposedly a Quaker family who came to PA to escape religious persecution. They later became part of the Baptist church. Moses left Ireland probably for similar reason, as religious persecutions were terrible in Ireland at the time he was born. They moved to North Carolina which was more tolerant of other religions beside the Church of England and offered land which presented a great opportunity for Moses Linster and his family.

Moses Linster paid taxes in Rowan County, NC in 1778. Other men who paid taxes in 1778 were John Ford (Goodwin’s father) Henry Wells, James Wells, James Kincaid, and George Hall. These men all lived close to Moses Linster and their children married into the Linster family. Moses Linster also paid taxes in 1778.  Moses Linster appears on the 1790 census in Salisbury Township, Rowan, NC. He had in his household 2 males over 16 years, 4 boys under 16 years old, 6 females, and 8 slaves. Thomas Wells lived nearby and had 1 male over 16 years, 3 boys under 16 years, and 5 females in the house. James Kincaid had 4 males over 16, 3 under 16, and 3 females. In 1800, Moses is not listed on the census but his son Isaac Linster and his son-in-law Robert Linster are. I still cannot figure out where Robert Linster comes from. In 1800, Robert Linster was married Mary Linster and had two girls under 10. Isaac Linster lived alone. In 1810, Moses Linster is listed again. He still had one son living with him and 9 slaves. His wife, Sarah Wells was still alive. There is a Josiah Linster and a John Linster living in Gates Co, NC at the time. I wonder if they are related? Joseph Kincade, who was married to Eleanor Linster, lived nearby and had seven children and one slave living with them. I cannot find their children and their names.

“After 1800 Thomas Smoot migrated to Rowan County, North Carolina, where on May 9, 1810, he purchased from John Linster for $700 land on the north side of the South Yadkin River, “where Boon’s Road crosses”, containing 100 acres which had been granted by the State to Moses Linster. The transfer was proved by Harrod B. Pruit and Richmond C. Hughes. In August 1810, he deeded to John N. Smoot land for $150, at which time Samuel Smoot and Jacob Smoot witnessed the conveyance. On May 17, 1819, he sold another tract to John N.
Smoot for $300, lying on the north side of the South Yadkin River, being part of the tract on which he was then living and adjacent to the dwelling of the said John N. Smoot. The deed was attested to by Josh Smoot. On December 7, 1819, he sold to John W. Linster for $500 land on the north side of the South Yadkin River, with Joseph Kincaid and Neal McGill as the witnesses. On August 2, 1830, he conveyed 200 acres of land to Jesse Tatum, with Joseph C. Pickler as the witness. The census of 1830 shows him as domiciled in the “forks of the Yadkin River”.

 

I can’t find any information on John Linster. Perhaps he was the son living with Moses in 1810. Moses died in 1817 and left a will which I cannot find. His wife, Sarah Wells Linster, died soon after on 12 December 1818.

Questions:

Where is Moses Linster’s will? Can someone send me a copy?

Where did Robert Linster come from? Who is Josiah Linster?

How did Moses Linster come to America and when? How dide he meet the Wells and Hall families?

I would like to know information on Sarah Wells family and information on the family in Lancaster, PA.

My subscription to ancestry expired so there is a lot of information I am unable to find at this time and would appreciate any information on the Linsters of Tennessee and North Carolina.  Moses Linster is the great grandfather of Annie Elizabeth Watkins.

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Moses Linster was born on November 1, 1740 in Cavin county, Ireland. He died on 02 July 1817 in Rowan County, NC.  In 1768, he married Sarah Wells in Lancaster, PA.

He was a Protestant and Scots-Irish. Around the time of his birth, this is what was going on in Ireland:

Presbyterians congregated in Ulster, where typically they adhered to the culture (and religion) brought over from Scotland by their ancestors. Close knit and industrious, they responded to discrimination by distancing themselves from Ascendancy culture, becoming a self reliant community within the larger society. The typical Presbyterian pursued a middle class livelihood in the linen business or in farming.

Anglicans and Presbyterians soon found themselves in serious conflict. The principal problem was that the “established” Church of Ireland, and its Anglican members, treated the Presbyterian Religion as a second class religion, and its members (who generally were less affluent than Anglicans) as second class citizens. Although Presbyterians were treated far better than Catholics — there were no restrictions on the right to own realty or to bear arms — they were required to tithe to the Anglican Church of Ireland, and were prohibited from holding government office or military commissions. Many emigrated to America where their descendants served with distinction in George Washington’s Revolutionary army.

He came to America in the 1760’s and lived in Lancaster, PA. There he married Sarah Wells in 1768. After the Revolutionary War, Linster, along with the Hall and Thompson families, moved to Rowan County, NC. They settled in Salisbury Township, Rowan County, NC near the Yadkin River. He has a will somewhere that I would like to read.

The administration in Virginia
was constantly opposed to religious freedom. Earl Granville disposed of
his lands in Carolina upon favorable terms, for he desired to increase
their value by rapid settlement.5 Therefore, influenced by the inviting
nature of the climate and soil, the peacefulness of the Catawba Indians
and the laxity of North Carolina laws in comparison with those of Virginia
on the subject of religion, the Scotch-Irish passed through the vacant
lands in Virginia, in the neighborhood of their countrymen, and made homes
for themselves in western North Carolina.  As early as 1740 a few families
were located on the Hico, Eno, and Haw rivers in the territory just east
of Rowan.6  By the year 1745 the Scotch-Irish had established themselves
in the fertile and well-watered area between the Yadkin and the Catawba,
and previous to 1750 their settlements were scattered throughout the
region from Virginia to Georgia.7  The Scotch-Irish settled mainly in the
country west of the Yadkin. (from ncroots.com)

Moses Linster appears on the 1790 census in NC. He had 11 children with Sarah Wells.

1. Eleanor Linster who married Joseph Kincade. She was involved in a lawsuit later after her husband died.
2. Humphrey Linster married Goodwin Ford and stayed in Rowan County.
3. John Linster I don’t have a lot of info on John Linster.
4. Martha Linster married John Thompson.
5.  Mary Linster married Robert Linster. Moses must have had another Linster relative in America. There is also a Josiah Linster in the 1810 census in Rowan Co.
6. William Linster married Peggy Lewis and they later moved to TN.
7. Isaac Linster married Hannah Kincaid and Lishia Howard.
8. Margaret Linster married Joseph Hall. They later moved to Illinois. There has been a lot of work done on this line.
9. Jean Linster married Andrew Hall.
10. Elizabeth Linster married William Hayden.
11. Thomas Wells Linster (1789-1829) My direct ancestor who moved to Tennessee and married Mary Campbell in the Murfreesboro, TN area. He is the grandfather of Annie Elizabeth Watkins my great great grandmother.

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