Last week, we concluded a series on the Yeatts and Reynolds family with a look at Sally Barnard who married John G. Ingram. This week, we will look at Mr. Ingram and other members of the Ingram family. John G. Ingram was born on the 18th of October 1827 to Rowland Ingram and Nancy Corn. Rowland was the son of John Ingram and Elizabeth Chiles who were originally from Botetourt County. Nancy was the daughter of Samuel Corn and Elizabeth Smith, originally from Albemarle County, Virginia. Samuel Corn and his brothers, Jesse, George, and John settled on the banks of Goblintown and Sycamore creeks.
Rowland Ingram (often spelled Ingrum in old records) married Miss Nancy Corn on the 19th of July 1809; their first child, Samuel Corn Ingram was born in June of 1816. Samuel married Miss Sarah “Sallie” Clark in December 1835. Sarah was the daughter of John Moorman Clark and Elizabeth Wright. Samuel and Sallie had eight children with the youngest being a year old when tragedy struck, Samuel was murdered on his way home from a horse race.
Rowland and Nancy’s second child, Ruth was born in 1818. Ruth married Emmanuel Ewell Clifton in 1836, and the couple went on to have at least twelve children. Elizabeth was Rowland and Nancy’s third child, born in 1820. Elizabeth married Michael Andrew Rorrer in 1841; they would go on to have at least eleven children before Elizabeth died at the age of forty-two. According to the Patrick County death register, Elizabeth passed away on the 11th of January 1862 from heart dropsy.
James Andrew Ingram was Rowland and Nancy’s fourth child, born in 1821. James married Miss Martha Jane Smart in February of 1847. I was unable to determine who all of James and Martha’s children were except for their daughter, Alaminta Ann who married William Henry Trent and son, William Green Conner Ingram who married Martha Frances Wood.
Rowland and Nancy’s fifth child, Rozina was born in 1822. Rozina married John Slaughter in 1840, and they had at least five children. Richard Lee Ingram was born in 1825 to Rowland and Nancy. Richard married Miss Ida Agee in 1856, and the couple had at least four children before Ida’s passing at the age of forty-two. Richard married again, this time to Lucy Pendleton and the couple had two children.
John G. Ingram, who we mentioned at the beginning, was the next child born to Rowland and Nancy, followed by Susan in 1831. Susan married James Preston Handy in 1854; he was wounded in battle at the Charles City Crossroads in June 1862. James was taken to a Confederate hospital where he died a few weeks later. Susan passed away in 1870, leaving their four daughters- ages nine to fourteen-orphans.
Martha Jane Ingram, the youngest child of Rowland and Nancy, was born in 1832. Martha married Clayborn Hurd in 1868; the couple had at least six children.
The first Ingram to show up in records for what would become Patrick County (Lunenburg County in 1747) was John Ingram who along with Thomas Jarrell, Thomas Foster, and a Simmons man, applied for 3,200 acres along the Dan River.
In 1812, another John Ingram applied for a permit to operate a mill on the south fork of the Mayo River. Around the time of the Revolutionary War, brothers John and James Ingram settled on the lower Smith River. James Ingram died in 1816. His daughter Elizabeth married William Via, another early settler. Four of the first founding members of Union Primitive Baptist Church in 1815 were Ingrams, James; Alexander; Martha; and Elizabeth.
According to the History of Patrick County, Virginia, a Ross family tradition holds that James Ingram operated a ferry over the Smith River on the Patrick-Franklin border. A young Daniel Ross, who had recently bought a farm in Patrick County, was walking back to his home in Franklin County and went to Ingram’s house to have someone ferry him across the river. No one was at home except a teenaged daughter, Nancy, who agreed to ferry him across the river. Ross liked her looks and asked permission to call on her. They married and left many descendants as one of the earliest families in the county.
About ten years ago, award winning actress Angela Bassett appeared on the PBS show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. Angela’s great grandfather was William Henry Bassett from Henry County. According to his death certificate, dated October 6th, 1918, he was seventy-two years old at the time of his death and had served as a minister.
In the Henry County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, a marriage license was found for William Henry where he married a woman named Martha Price on October 29th, 1885. William Henry listed his parents as G. and J. Ingram. In 1870, five years after emancipation, Angela’s great-great grandparents, George and Jinny Ingram made their home in Franklin County, Virginia. The 1870 census record stated: George Ingram, 67 years old, male, black, farm laborer and Jinny, 55 years old, female, black, housekeeping along with two of their younger children, Sally and Fleming.
In 1870, another Ingram lived next door George and Jinny: Ingram, Elizabeth, 87 years old, white. Elizabeth Ingram would be the key to unlocking Angela’s ancestry; Elizabeth was the daughter-in- law of the man who owned both George and Jinny. A will filed in 1816 in the Patrick County Clerk’s Office would establish the connection between the two families. The following is a direct quote of an excerpt from the will: “I, James Ingram, give and bequeath to my son, Alexander Ingram, one Negro named George. I give unto my daughter, Sarah Ingram, one Negro girl named Jinny.” At the time this will was filed, Angela’s great-grandfather George would have been about thirteen years old, and her great-grandmother and George’s future wife, Jinny, would have been about a year old.
Moving forward thirty-three years, James Ingram’s son Alexander’s will was filed on April 2nd, 1849, in Franklin County, Virginia. The following is a painful excerpt from the will, “I, Alexander Ingram, Sr., give my beloved wife, Elizabeth Ingram, all my estate, real and personal, consisting of my land and Negroes, namely George, Bob, Stephen, Sophia, Amanda, Henry, Moses, Matilda, and Rhoda, together with all of my household and kitchen furniture.”
In this 1849 document, Jinny’s name wasn’t listed-she had been bequeathed to Alexander’s sister Sarah-but it included father and son, Angela’s great-great grandfather George and her great-grandfather, Henry. John Henry Bassett wound up with ownership of young Henry from the Ingrams and at the time of emancipation, young Henry took the surname Bassett. It would be over forty years later when John Henry Bassett’s sons would begin their lumber and furniture business.
Patrick County’s success is built on the contributions of all our ancestors. Their hard work, values, and experiences have shaped the foundation of what we have today, and it’s through honoring this shared history that we can continue to grow and thrive together.”
Thank you to Andy Doss for helping confirm facts and records. Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or (276) 692-9626.
