Thomas and Elenor

I can’t find out much more regarding the Smith’s…but with that name you have to expect some difficulty. But I do have more to tell you about Rebecca’s parents. Her father, Thomas Sinclair, (4th Great Grandfather) was born in October of 1772, in Rowan County, North Carolina. Her mother, Elenor Boone Power, (4th Great Grandmother) was 4 years younger, being born in November of 1776. She was also born in Rowan County, North Carolina.

Look at those dates! Declaration of Independence and the 4th of July! I wonder how long it took for the news to get down to some small village in the mountains of North Carolina? And what did our 5th Great Grandparent’s think of this event? Or was pioneer life so tough that simply making a living was worry enough? I like to think that they celebrated the birth of a nation.

I remember taking the bus from Jacksonville, North Carolina all the way to Washington, D.C. At the time, I was stationed at Camp Lejeune and three of us wanted to go to see all of the sites. We didn’t own a car, so it was the Greyhound for us. I remember that the trip seemed to take forever. Probably about 8 hours, as it was 375 miles. How long would it have taken our G-g-g-g-grandparents to make that trip by horse or wagon?

And now for the rest of the story…Thomas Sinclair and Elenor, his wife, were first cousins. On April 9th, 1799, Amos Sinclair purchased 300 acres on a branch running into Flat Creek, located in that part of Montgomery County, Kentucky which is now Bath County. His sons, John and Thomas, accompanied him there and on the 25th of July 1803, he deeded 150 acres to John and on Feb. 14 he deeded 150 acres to Thomas.

On 25 November 1819, Thomas signs with his wife Elenor when he sells 164 and one half acres on Flat Creek in Bath County. He then purchased of the United States Government at the land office in Jeffersonville, 160 acres of land in Jackson County, Indiana at $2.00 per acre. The family moves to Indiana. It is not a good move. Final certificate was given July 31, 1821.

According to family tradition, Thomas Sinclair and his wife, died suddenly and at about the same time. The last record of their being alive is on August 27, 1821, When Thomas Sinclair and his wife Elenor "of Jackson County, Indiana” sell 14 acres of land on Elkhorn Creek in Fayette County, Kentucky to Elenor’s brother, John Power. In Sept. 1823 Letters of Administration was granted Benjamin Snelling [brother in law of Thomas Sinclair] on the estate of Thomas Sinclair. In June 1824 Spencer Boyd was appointed guardian of the "infant orphans of Thomas Sinclair." The record shows that he traveled to Jackson County Ind. and returned the children to Bath County, Kentucky. So, sometime between August of 1821 and September of 1823, the two parents suddenly die.

The 1810 census of Montgomery County, Kentucky, and the 1820 census of Jackson County, Indiana indicate that they had ten children, six girls and four boys.

So, they died some time between 1821 and 1824. Rebecca would have been 17 or 20 at the time. Here’s a list of the children and their birthdates.
Martha_(Patsy) SINCLAIR b: 1795 in Fayette, KY
Miss SINCLAIR b: ABT 1799 in Fayette, KY
Willis P SINCLAIR b: ABT 1803 in Bath, KY
Rebecca SINCLAIR b: ABT 1805 in Bath, KY
Amos SINCLAIR b: 6 JUL 1807 in Bath, KY
Susannah SINCLAIR b: 1809 in Bath, KY
Elenor SINCLAIR b: ABT 1811 in Bath, KY
Thomas SINCLAIR b: ABT 1814 in Bath, KY
William P. SINCLAIR b: ABT 1817 in Bath, KY
Juliane SINCLAIR b: 1819/1820 in JACKSON, IN

(This information comes from a book, "Descendants of Israel Boone" by Alice H. Boone, Springfield, Mo. 1969)

See that name, “Boone”? Sound familiar?