Researcher’s Report on
Benjamin Hughes
Here is an example of
the work done by my researcher, Mrs. Jeanne Mead, taken from her report of
January 22, 2001. It is somewhat technical and I need to study the copies of
documents that she has enclosed. She has enclosed copies of old records that
support the claims made in the book; she does not expect me to rely on what a
book says. Mrs. Mead remembers that the records of Hanover were burned in the
Civil War and there are other indications of her expertise in the report. The
state of Virginia made a state census in 1787 and she has sent me information
from that census. And she did send me the name of Benjamin Hughes’ wife in a
subsequent report.
“You asked about the
name Littleberry, and I did have some luck with that. Thomas Strong married
Peggy Hughes in 1816. Her father was Benjamin and the surety for the marriage
was Littleberry Hughes. Campbell Chronicles & Family Sketches, page 428,
gives a sketch of Benjamin Hughes and family. He was a son of Henry and Margaret
Hughes, was born in 1763 in Hanover County, married a daughter of Littleberry
Tucker, and moved to Bedford and then Campbell. He later moved to Tennessee,
where he died in 1838. His son littleberry died in Campbell County in 1890. He
served in the Revolution, and the battles he fought in are listed. Genealogical
Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pensions Files, V.2, page 1753, enclosed,
verifies this information, and also gives his dates of birth and death.
Campbell County land tax records show that in 1828, Benjamin Hughes owned 146
acres on Johnson Creek, 18 miles SW of the courthouse. Campbell County Deed
Index shows that Benjamin Hughes and wife sold land to Jno. H. Bowyer in 1834.
This must have been when he moved to Tennessee. I will send for that deed in
order to learn the given name of Benjamin's wife.
The 1787 Census of
Virginia page 979, enclosed, shows that Benjamin, Henry and John Hughes were
listed in the Hanover personal property tax lists in 1787. The Vestry Book of
St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, 1706-1786, page 371, enclosed, shows that
Henry Hughes was reimbursed £3 for mending the church windows in act. 1758. In
1759 and 1779, his land was processioned, so we know that he owned land. (Pages
389 & 552, enclosed) The land tax records for Hanover County showed that
Henry Hughes owned 117 acres in 1792 and 1796. I've found nothing on
Littlerberry Tucker, as yet. The records of Hanover were burned in the Civil
War; so further information will be hard to come by.”