Pennington Family Genealogical Information - Material - Events
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Family
Group 29
Thomas,
1796, Rowan Co., NC
The date and place of birth of Thomas Pennington is unknown. The earliest proven document on Thomas Pennington is a marriage bond from Rowan County, North Carolina dated March 29, 1796. A copy of this Marriage Bond was obtained from the North Carolina State Archives and is in the possession of Group 29 leader. This marriage between Thomas Pennington and Lethe Bell is also listed in a book entitled Marriages of Rowan County, North Carolina 1753-1868, compiled by Brent H. Holcomb published by Baltimore Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1981 on Page 3l7.
The children of Thomas and Leatha Beall Pennington are as follows:
William Beall Pennington, b. 1797 m. Mary PhillipsBy 1800 Thomas and Leatha Pennington had migrated to Warren Co. Georgia where sons Samuel and Thomas were born. In 18l3 Thomas Pennington owned property in Warren Co., Ga. (Source: Book C, Pg. 579 Warren County, Ga. property records) Also in 1813 Georgia Military Records 1779-1839, Ga. Archives, lists Thomas Pennington as a soldier in an Indian Party with the 38th Regiment of the Georgia Militia, Jasper County, GA.
Ann Nancy Pennington b. 1798 m. John Phillips
Samuel Pennington b. 1800 m. Elizabeth Shy
Thomas Pennington b. 1802 m. Eleanor Phillips
Amanda Pennington b. 1805 m. Capt. Wm. Hearn
Thaddeus Pennington b. 1807 m. Marian Wade
Frederick Will Pennington b. 1808 m. Elizabeth Watts
Ephraim Pennington b. 1809 m. Mary Ann Phillips
In 1815 Property Deeds-Deed Book 7, Pg. 358 show property owned by Thomas in Shadydale, Jasper County, GA.
Thomas died July 4, 1825. His estate was probated in Jasper County Probate Court in Monticello, Ga. Sept. 5, 1825-Min. Book A, Page 81 and 94.
In our research we have been more successful in researching the Beall family and through that have found some clues that suggest further possible links with Penningtons.
Leatha Beall’s father, Thaddeus Beall and his wife Amelia Beall were born in Prince George’s Co., Maryland before the formation of Frederick County in 1748. They married in Frederick County and lived as “Planters” in that part of Frederick county which became Montgomery County in 1776. Thaddeus Beall was a member of the Continental Army and was a Brig. Major in the Revolutionary War; By November 20, 1779, a Montgomery County deed recites them to be of “Guilford County, N.C.
Land Grant records of North Carolina include applications executed by Thaddeus Beall in 1779 for 6 tracts of land, granted to him in the period November 1784 to May 1787 totaling 2,000 acres. These tracts were in Guilford County. The last tract of this property was sold in 1791 and Thaddeus and Amelia moved to Georgia. Sometime around 1794, Thaddeus moved his family into unsettled, virgin country then in Greene County, Georgia. (later formed Hancock County) where the family resided at Thaddeus’ death in 1808 (Source of Beall family information: Alexander Beall-1649-1744 of Maryland, one Line of Descent in America, by William Hunter McLean-Published by the Fort Worth Genealogical Society, Fort Worth, Texas.) This book also mentions that Thomas Pennington was with the Bealls in Guilford County, N.C. Thomas also owned land adjoining Thaddeus Beall in Georgia.
Further possible links to Penningtons and Bealls is the fact that Leatha’s grandfather, Samuel Beall in 1760 was part owner of an iron works complex in Western Maryland near Antietam called Frederick Forge. (Source: Beall family web site and Register of Maryland's Heraldic Families credits Samuel Beall, Jr. with creation of “The first Iron Forge in Maryland, if not in the United States. It cast the first Cannon for the Continental Army”.) A book entitled Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and their Descendants by Cartmell states that just 28 miles from Winchester, Virginia, Isaac Pennington owned an iron works on the Capon River and advertised bar iron for sale at $100.00 per ton, delivered at any point within 60 miles from his forge. Just southwest of Frederick Forge and North of Winchester was Coxson’s Rest, present day Brunswick, Md. where Abraham Pennington, in the 1700s was an Indian trader from Cecil County where he built his cabin. Further west on the Potomac was the plantation of John Beall, grandfather of Thaddeus Beall. (Source: Book entitled Pioneers of the Old Monocacy)
It would be reasonable to assume that Thomas Pennington migrated from Maryland or Virginia and possibly had a connection with the Abraham and Isaac Penningtons mentioned above and further research might possibly connect Groups 4 and 8.
Group 29 is a very large group with many descendants in Georgia through the l800s with migrations into Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. There were several Methodist ministers in this family group and the name Ephriam is found often. It has also been speculated that Thomas may have been called Ephriam or it may have been a middle name for him. We are looking at the possibility that Thomas’ father could have been named William, based on the fact that William signed the marriage bond for his marriage to Leatha and also based on the custom of naming the first son after the father's father.
We welcome coordination and sharing of research with all Georgia and Carolina researchers. Group 8 Penningtons and Group 11 Penningtons as well as Group 4 Penningtons have all seemed to be in some of the same places as our group. Any further comments or resources that any one has that would help us in achieving the goal of finding Thomas's parentage and connecting with established groups in PRA would be appreciated.
Copyright © 2000 Joanne Pennington, Family Group 29 Leader, September 15, 2000
