owenbybib

THE OWENBY FAMILY

**ARTICLES**
JAMES OWENBY
JOHN OWENBY (1735-1824)

JAMES OWENBY
submitted by Mrs. Doris Cline Ward

James Owenby was born on January 6, 1761 in Amherst County, Virginia, the son of John (Jr.) and Nancy (Porter) Owenby, and moved with his family to Rutherford County, NC. His father, John Owenby Jr., had been born in Lancashire, England, but apparently had come to Virginia with his grandfather, Arthur Owenby.

James married Joanna Sims, the daughter of Capt. William Sims and his first wife whose identity has not yet been determined. It is thought that both the Captain's first wife and his second wife may have been sisters.

James left Rutherford County and became a farmer in the Broad River area of Old Buncombe County. His farm lay north of Edneyville, and may have been up in the area that is still a part of Buncombe County.

During the Revolution he fought as a Patriot, for which he eventually received a pension. He took part in the Battle of King's Mountain. He and his wife had a family of seven children as follows:

1. Annesta Owenby, who married George Koone, probably of Rutherford County;
2. William Owenby, who married 1st, Sarah "Sally" Brown, and 2nd, Martha Lewis, also a Rutherford County family;
3. John Owenby, married Mary Koone, sister of George, above. They moved to Tennessee, and there were nine children in this family.
4. Susannah Owenby, who married Peter Koone, brother of above.
5. Sims Owenby, who married Rachel Hodge. There is land record of his purchase of 100 acres on North Fork of the Swannanoa River in Buncombe County on August 1, 1825;
6. Ambrose Owenby, who married Margaret Hodge, probably a sister of Rachel. They remained in the Edneyville area of (now) Henderson County and were a farming family with three known children. One of them was Martha, born about 1822, who married William Jackson on December 21, 1849.
7. Madison Owenby, who married 1st, Nancy Morgan, 2nd Elizabeth Clements.

Sources: Based on the research of Joyce Haig of Wilmauma, Florida, and submitted with her permission. And records of Mrs. Clara Mann, Flat Rock, NC - also with permission.
from Heritage II, article #426, p. 282

See Revolutionary War Pensioners

JAMES OWENBY BIBLE RECORD

James Owenby was born Jan. 6, 1761
Joanna born March 24, 1761, married March 1785

**Children**
Anester, daughter, born Nov 14, 1785 William born Oct 16, 1787 John born Apr. 4, 1791 Susana born Dec. 12, 1793 Sims born March 19, 1796 Ambrose born Dec 28. 1798 Madison born Oct. 25, 1801

--"A Lot of Bunkum," June 1987, Vol. VIII, #6, p. 87-84

JOHN OWENBY (1735-1824)
of Lancashire, England, Amherst County, Virginia, and Rutherford and Buncombe
Counties, North Carolina.
and his wife, Nancy "Nannie" Porter (1743-1818)
(based on a collection of material donated to OBCGS Library by Tom Connor, originally designed as a tribute to the memory of Carmia Etta (Owenby) White, wife of Henry Thomas White and descended from Johny Owenby through Arthur, Joshua, and Caleb to her parents D. Rufus and O.Antonette (Moffit) Ownbey. Edited, designed and numbered for multiple use at OBCGS by Doris Cline Ward.

1st Generation

JOHN (JOHNY) OWENBY
John (or Johny as he is called) came to Virginia, probably with his grandfather, Arthur Owenby, and settled first in Amherst County. He had at least two known brothers who left descendants, and there is an occasional intermarriage of Johny's descendants with descendants of theirs.

He married Nancy Porter who, according to the research of Joyce Haig who donated her papers to the McLung Collection in Knoxville, Tenn., was a daughter of Ambrose Porter and his wife Jemima (..) Porter. Ambrose Porter's father was Benjamin and his mother was Ann (Campbell) Porter. These families must have been living in or near Amherst County, Virginia, at the time.

John and Nancy had a large family starting with their oldest born in 1761, but only eight have been identified, all born in Amherst County, VA. and early involvement with the Revolution took place in Virginia. Later they moved to North Carolina and settled in what was finally Rutherford County where Nannie died in 1818, with burial in the Mountain Creek Church Cemetery, five miles north of Rutherfordton.

After her death, Johny moved to Montford Cove but then came to Broad River township in (now) Buncombe County near Bald Mountain where he lived until he died. There is some rumor of a marriage to a Sally Davis, but this is not confirmed. He is buried in the Old Field's Cemetery on Broad River near Bat Cave.

2nd Generation

(issue of Johny and Nannie (Porter) Owenby)
2.1: James Owenby, [10.1] born 6 January 1761, Amherst County, Virginia. He married Joanna Sims, the daughter of William and Annester (Stepp) Sims. (see Heritage of Old Buncombe, Vol. II, Article #426 and #427)

3.2: Elizabeth Owenby, born 1763, Amherst Co., Virginia, married Stamper Owenby a cousin. More information is needed re their family/descendants.

4.3: Nancy Owenby, born about 1765 in Amherst County, Virginia. She marriedEphraim Hill and about 1805 they moved to Illinois to live.

5.4: Ambrose Owenby, born 1770 in Amherst County, Virginia. He marriedElizabeth Henson. Information is needed for this line of descent,as well as for the ancestry of Elizabeth Henson.

6.5: Arthur Owenby, [17.1] born about 1771 in Amherst County, Virginia. He married Barbara Hill, (1776-1854) possible daughter of John Hill as he was the bondsman for her son Joshua and Millie (Wheeler/Wheelon) Owenby at the time of their marriage. Arthurdied in 1861 in Rutherford County, with burial in Old Field's Cemetery. They had eight known children.

7.6: Porter Owenby, born 1774 in Amherst County, Virginia. He married Martha Morgan, daughter of the Rev. Perminter Morgan, who was a pioneer Baptist Minister (See article #479, Vol. I, Heritage of Old Buncombe County, NC which indicates that eventually Porter and Martha moved to Union County, Georgia, where they died. Their descendants would probably have to be traced from that area. Information is sought.

8.7: Thomas Owenby, born 1776 in Amherst County, Virginia,. He married (1) Mourning Hill (possibly related to Barbara, above); and married (2) Winnie Shelton. There is no further information on this family, and such would be welcome for this collection.

9.8: John Owenby, born 11 July, 1781 in Amherst County, Virginia. He married (1) Elizabeth Hill; (2) Lucinda Mary Martin. No indication of where these people lived, or dates of death for any of them or information about their descendants. Information is needed here.

We leave this here as the basis of a genealogy of as many descendants as can be found. We have some - those in the Heritage of Old Buncombe County, Vol. II; the Heritage of Henderson County, Vols I and II, Bruce Whitaker's books, The Whitaker Genealogy, The Harper Genealogy, The Reed Genealogy and the Wright Genealogy. We have the children of Martha (Owenby) Jackson (Mrs. William), daughter of Ambrose and Margaret (Hodge) Owenby. Permission to coordinate this family material will be requested from all printed sources.

We invite the contribution of any other Owenby records that members might have so that we could arrange them in numerical order by generations and eventually provide a full name index. The more references that are received, the more cross references we will have with allied lines, giving our library greater wealth of research material. Material for at least the first six or seven history of this family in this area.

ALOB Vol XIII No. 5 May 1992