It was exciting to find Peter and Margaret Vess from Patrick County, Virginia in church records between 1801-1803 as “Peter & Peggy West” and then later Peter “Vest” in Wilkes County, North Carolina.  Of course, I wanted to see if there were any more Vest records under the “West” name…

1810 Census: A West Not A Vest

To my surprise, I found a Peggy West in the 1810 Wilkes County, NC census, but I don’t think it could be that easy…

A Peggy West with 3 children under the age of 15 (2 girls, 1 boy). Unfortunately, this record has been claimed by the West family as John West & Margaret “Peggy” Whitherspoon. 

This appears to be accurate, as this Peggy West isn’t near any Vess DNA matches nor is she near any families that we’ve seen close to Vest families; and several families listed on this census are also on numerous West family trees. 

According to family sources, her husband John West died in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1800. Whereas, Peter Vest in the 1820 White Co. TN census suggests there is a husband and wife (female & male over 45 years old). 

The Vest family appears to have left Wilkes County, NC prior to 1810. 

Peter Vest/West/Vess Census: Consistent Aging

Census records are not always accurate, but we do see consistent aging (in records) for Peter between Patrick Co. VA to White Co. TN, suggesting they are the same person.

Peter Vess and Pugnance Margaret Vaughn were married in 1785 (Henry Co). According to a 1787 Henry Co. tax list, Peter was under the age of 21, with an estimate birth year between 1766-1771. 

In the 1800 (Wilkes Co), Peter West is between 26-44, then in 1820 (White Co), Peter Vest is over 45 years old, and then in 1830 (White Co), he is between 50-59; all of which support a birth year between 1766-1771.


Sources:

Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 
Images reproduced by FamilySearch.