The Family › Temple–Catchings › Spears
George Spears
✦ direct ancestor — Owen's 6×-great-grandfather · Carpenter line appears 3× in the tree — pedigree collapse
Marriage & children
Records behind this page
Lincoln County, Kentucky, deed book: release by the legal heirs of Christina and George Spears to Elizabeth (Spears) Holliday of the girl Fanny, 5 May 1818 (Kentucky deeds; image via FamilySearch)
pp. 117-118; FamilySearch film 008141351, image 125, ark 3:1:3Q9M-CSKH-WQZW-H
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[Read on the image 3 Nov 2026 (register K1619): in full.] Know all men by these presents that whereas Christean Spears widow & relict of George Spears Deceased did in her life time bestow & give to her Grand daughter Elizabeth Spears now Elizabeth Holliday a certain negro Girl by the name of Fanny now this therefore Certifies that we the under signed being legal heirs of the aforsaid Christianna & George Spears Deceased do hereby freely relinquish all claim to the aforsaid Girl Fanny in favour of the said Elizabeth Spears now Elizabeth Holliday & to her heirs forever freely resigning & confirming all right & title due us as heirs aforsaid from ourselves & our heirs or any other person or persons Claiming by or through us to the said Elizabeth Holliday & her legal heirs forever in Witness whereof we hereunto set our our hands & seals this fifth day of May 1818. [Witnesses] John Morrison, David Newman, Ambrose Lee. [Signed] John Spears, Johnathan Newman, Elizabeth (her mark) Morrison, David [his mark?] Spears, George Spears, Jacob Spears jun, John Spears, George L Carter. I do Certify that at a County Court holden for Lincoln County on the day of July 1818 the foregoing bill of sale was proven to be the act & deed of John Spears Johnathan Newman Elizabeth Morrison David [S]pears George Spears Jacob Spears John Spears & George L Carter by the oaths of John Morrison & on the 14th day of September 1818 the same was also proven to be their act & Deed by the oath of Ambrose Lee ...
Rockingham County, Virginia, Will book 1803-1862 (typescript): will of George Spears, dated 14 Oct 1796, proved November Court 1803 (Virginia, Wills and Deeds; image via FamilySearch)
typed p. 3; FamilySearch film 007646062, image 33 of 213, ark 3:1:3Q9M-C9PX-LSFN-2
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[Read on the image 3 Nov 2026 (register K1620): the bequests, the legacy to two daughters, the executors, the date and the probate. A TYPED COPY of a damaged original; the typist's dashes mark words not read.] ... the money arising from the Sale of said land One third thereof to be paid unto my beloved wife Christenah and the Other two thirds to Equally divided amongst my children that is to say my daughter Elizabeth wife of Aeher Morrison ------- on Jacob Speers, my daughter -------George Speer's my daughter hannah wife ------- Newman my son John Speer's my Son David S----- and to my daughter Sarah wife of John Ra---- The said third part to be paid to my said wife at the several payments ... I further will and bequeathe unto my named daughters Catherine Carpenter a-- Mary Rife Thirty Pounds each in eash--- be paid them by my Executors exclusive o- their equal Lagacy provided they do no- Obtain the lands now in Law in Kentu--- ... my beloved wife Christenah Spears my Beloved firend John Rader & my beloved Son David Spears to be my lawful Executrix and Executors of this my last will and testament ... This 14th day of October One Thousand Seven hundred and ninety six. George Speers (Seal). [Witnesses] Jno. Barnett, Christian S Sites (his mark), Elizabeth X Sites (her mark). Rockingham November Court 1803. The last will and Testament of George Spears and was Presented in Court and Proven by the Oaths of Christian Sites and Elizabeth Sites two witnesses Thereto and Ordered to be recorded and on the motion ----- John Rader and Christenah Spears Executor ... a bo-- in the sum of forty thousand dollars
Research notes
Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open. Many open with a line grading the parentage; what the grades mean.
Research note · 3 Nov 2026
AUDITED 3 Nov 2026 - GEORGE SPEARS of Rockingham County, Virginia, father of [3542] Elizabeth (Mrs John Carpenter, then Mrs Ezra Morrison) and of [734] Catherine (Mrs John Fry, then Mrs Adam Carpenter). HIS WILL, dated 14 Oct 1796 and proved at the Rockingham November Court 1803, survives as a typed copy of a damaged original (K1620): one third of the money from his land to 'my beloved wife Christenah', two thirds to his children Elizabeth wife of [Ezra] Morrison, Jacob, George, Hannah wife of [Jonathan] Newman, John, David and Sarah wife of John Ra----, with thirty pounds more each to 'my named daughters Catherine Carpenter a-- Mary Rife'; executors his wife, his friend John Rader and his son David; the executors' bond was forty thousand dollars. DEAD BY NOVEMBER 1803. His and Christina's heirs, among them 'Elizabeth (her mark) Morrison', signed a release in Lincoln County, Kentucky, on 5 May 1818 (K1619). Not established here: his birth (a 1976 family history says Aachen, c. 1731), his wife's maiden name, and his Revolutionary service. The Kentucky land warrants and the Rockingham claims list cited in [734]'s note were read by an agent, not here.
HIS PARENTS: A WALL (3 Nov 2026, K1622-K1625). He was foreign-born: the Augusta County court naturalized 'John Bear and George Spear' on 21 Aug 1770, and a 1774 deed was redone because he had not been naturalized when he first sold. The earliest record found is his purchase of 500 acres on Linville's Creek from Paul Froman on 3 Mar 1756, as 'George Spears of the County of Augusta' (K1623). No record found names his parents. The 1976 Carpenter family history gives them as Michael Christopher Spears and Marie Louise de la Noye of Aix-la-Chapelle, from a descendant's letter; the family papers it cites disagree about where the family came from, and no Christopher or Michael Spears or Speece appears in Virginia, Pennsylvania or Kentucky records before 1800 (FamilySearch full text, K1625). They are not added. What would reopen it: the 'George Spears documents' in the Carpenter Family Papers (Kentucky Historical Society, MSS 47, Box 1, Folder 1), or a church book naming his origin.
Elsewhere
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