White County

Peter & Peggy: A Look At Census Records

/ J. V. / Leave a comment

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.

Death of Pryor Vest (1831 Tennessee)

/ J. V. / 1 Comment

According to Sparta Recorder & Law Journal (Jan. 7, 1832), Pryor Vest died on December 29, 1831 in the Warren County jail from Typhus Fever.

Details of his death was published with reassurance his cause of death was not due to mistreatment of prisoners.

Why Pryor Vest was in prison, is unknown. Earlier Warren county records have been lost due to a court-house fire in 1852.

We do know that Pryor Vest was charged with assault in 1807 in Wilkes County, North Carolina, but was found not guilty. Wilkes County, NC, Pleas & Quarter Sessions Court Minutes 1805-1810
Transcribed by John A. McGeachy.

Pryor, William, and Peter Vest (unsure of their relation), settled in White County, Tennessee after 1810, with Pryor Vest obtaining land on Caney Fork in 1814 in an area later to be known as Sparkmantown in Van Burren County, which included the Dodson, Medley, Sparkman, Vest, and Simmon families.

You can see the Vess/Vest record history below.

YEARName Record Location
1814Pryor Vest Land RecordCaney Fork
1815Pryor Vest Land RecordCaney Fork
1815Pryor and William VestTax ListCaney Fork
1816Pryor and William VestTax ListCaney Fork
1817Pryor and William VestTax ListCaney Fork
1818Pryor and William VestTax ListCaney Fork
1819
1820Peter Vest Census RecordCaney Fork
1821
1822
1823Pryor and William VestTax List Caney Fork
1824Prior Vasse and William VassTax List Caney Fork
1825William Vest Tax List Caney Fork
1826William Vist and Willis Vist Tax List Caney Fork
1827
1829
1830Peter VestCensus RecordCaney Fork
1831Pryor Vest Death Warren County Jail (next to White Co)
Sources: Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, and Newspapers.com Sparta Recorder & Law Journal Jan. 7, 1832

*There is no evidence to suggest Willis Vest of Tennessee is the same as Willis Vess of Alabama; however, there is circumstantial evidence (see previous posts) to strongly suggest they are both of the same Vess/Vest family.