Joseph Thames1

Male, #47288, (1732 - 1780)

ParentThomas Thames2 (circa 1710 - after 6 Mar 1758)
ParentPrudence (?)2 (circa 1710 - circa 1760)
Joseph Thames|b. 1732\nd. 1780|p47288.htm|Thomas Thames|b. circa 1710\nd. after 6 Mar 1758|p47386.htm|Prudence (?)|b. circa 1710\nd. circa 1760|p47387.htm|||||||||||||

Birth*1732 He was born in 1732 at Craven Co., North Carolina.2 
 He was the son of Thomas Thames and Prudence (?).2 
(Family Member) Relocationcirca 1749 Family member(s) Joseph Thames, accompanying Thomas Thames, relocated circa 1749 at Bladen Co., North Carolina, (Thomas & Prudence Thames with their family came to Bladen Co. from Craven Co. NC by 1750 and bought land there. There is a court record of Thomas Thems in Craven Co. as late as 1748.).2 
Marriage*circa 1753 He married Martha Elizabeth Newberry at Bladen Co., North Carolina, circa 1753. The basis of the proof of the marriage of Joseph Thames to Martha Newberry is a deed of gift from her father John Newberry to his son's-in-law Joseph Thames and Peter Lord; Cumberland Co. DB-1, page # 358, 19 August 1760. This same property was sold in 1761, DB 1, page 455 by Joseph Thames and wife Martha. There are eleven other deeds between 1761 and 1769 showing sales by Joseph Thames and wife Martha. Also, his will names wife Martha. The ages of Joseph and Martha's children are based on Bladen Co. Tax Records, obituaries, tombstone, the census and the wording of the Will which seems to name them in order of birth and indicates that the last four were children and so not of age..2 
(heir) Will6 May 1758 In Thomas Thames's will on 6 May 1758 at Bladen Co., North Carolina, Joseph was named as an heir.
     Will of Thomas Themes, 6 May 1758, Bladen Co., NC, Will Book 2, p 463: "To my loving wife Prudence Themes one Hundred acres of Land Being the plantation where I now Live Etc. To my Daughter Phebe Themes and to my Daughter Marcy Themes I give a bed & furniture & a chest of drawers. The Land above mentioned after the decease of my beloved wife I give and bequeath unto my Son Samuel Themes & his heirs and assignees forever. Also to my son Joseph Themes I give the sum of five Shillings also I give unto my son Cornelius Themes the sum of five Shillings also I give unto my Son Thomas Themes one hundred acres of Land Lying in the provence above and the County of Craven on the Flat Swamp also I give unto my sons John Themes & Amos Themes two hundred and twenty acres of land lying on Dunns Creek to Be Equally Divided Between Each of them. Mentions daughters Elizabeth Themes and Pricilla Dunn."
Wit: Josiah Evans & Jonathan Evans Jr. Signed by Thomas Themes
.2 
Will*11 Oct 1780 He made a will at Cumberland Co., North Carolina, on 11 Oct 1780.1 
Death*1780 He died at Cumberland Co., North Carolina, in 1780.1 
Biography* According to Dorothy Thames Emert, "Joseph Thames came to the Cape Fear area of North Carolina as a young man. He had been a school teacher since [his father] Thomas Thames had moved to Craven Co., NC. One document, Records of Craven County, NC, Vol. I, shows he traveled with a Moravian Missionary stating he was a school teacher from Pennsylvania. Soon after he arrived in the Cape fear area, he purchased half interest in a grist mill with John Newberry, a wheelwright. Joseph married Martha Elizabeth Newberry. In partnership with with Elizabeth's brother, John, he built a gristmill on Cross Creek in what is now Fayetteville, NC. On close inspection, the remnants of the mill (the first of its kind to be built in Fayetteville) are still visible in the creek. Joseph was proud to be a Quaker and was an active participant in the settlement of the area. After his death, his wife, Martha Elizabeth, and their children operated a Traveler's Inn on the old wagon road between Fayetteville and Wilmington, NC.

Walter Gabennesch observes: Joseph's will was written 11 October 1780 and he died shortly after writing it. Martha appears on the Bladen County Tax Exempt List of 1781. Only an unmarried woman could own property at that time. Martha was a widow in 1781. The Joseph who appears on that tax list is her son. Martha's Will is written 11 February 1814 and is recorded June 1815. She names four sons Joseph, Thomas, John, and Samuel. I think this is according to age, Joseph being the oldest. Jesse and William are dead so are not named. Martha names Joseph and John executors because they are the only sons she has left in NC. Joseph names "my sons Jesse Thames, Joseph and William Thames the sum of five shillings each" then he names "my four children Thomas, Martha, John and Samuel Thames". This indicates, to me, that his three sons Jesse, Joseph and William were of age, twenty-one years. The other children had not yet come of age... It would appear that only two of the sons of Joseph & Martha ever left NC, Thomas & Samuel. The other four died in Cumberland County, North Carolina.

(Names referenced above: Joseph Thames Joseph Thames).3,4 

Family

Martha Elizabeth Newberry (circa 1737 - 1815)
Marriage*circa 1753 He married Martha Elizabeth Newberry at Bladen Co., North Carolina, circa 1753. The basis of the proof of the marriage of Joseph Thames to Martha Newberry is a deed of gift from her father John Newberry to his son's-in-law Joseph Thames and Peter Lord; Cumberland Co. DB-1, page # 358, 19 August 1760. This same property was sold in 1761, DB 1, page 455 by Joseph Thames and wife Martha. There are eleven other deeds between 1761 and 1769 showing sales by Joseph Thames and wife Martha. Also, his will names wife Martha. The ages of Joseph and Martha's children are based on Bladen Co. Tax Records, obituaries, tombstone, the census and the wording of the Will which seems to name them in order of birth and indicates that the last four were children and so not of age..2 
Children

Charts Warren Culpepper's Ancestry Chart
Joseph Thames Descendants
Last Edited 6 Apr 2003

Citations

  1. Dorothy Thames Emert, A Thames Family History 2002.
    p. 63.
  2. Walt Gabennesch post on Thames Forum at Geneaology.com, 22 May 2002.
  3. Dorothy Thames Emert, A Thames Family History 2002.
    pp. 63-64.
  4. Walt Gabennesch post on Thames Forum at Geneaology.com, 6 Nov 2001.
  5. , RootsWeb WorldConnect Project, Ancestry.com: Rootsweb.
    http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/
    Larson-Morgan GEDCOM (2003 Jan) by David Larson.
  6. Dorothy Thames Emert, A Thames Family History 2002.
    p. 63. Birth and death dates from tombstone.
  7. Dorothy Thames Emert, A Thames Family History 2002.
    pp. 63-64. Mentioned in mother's will.