Yesterday, I reviewed the known facts and family lore associated with William Sturgill and his supposed wife, Sophia King.

Today, we will work back to their first home as a married couple – Ashe County, North Carolina.

Since Dr. David King of Baltimore has been debunked as the father of a possible young lady named Sophia King, it is worth a look to see if there are any Kings enumerated in the 1810 census of Ashe County.

There are, in fact, two King households in Ashe County in 1810:

E. King, aged 26-44, with a female 45+, a male 10-15, a female 16-25 and two females under 10 are found on Page 1.

R. King, 26-44, is with a female 26-44, male 10-15, female -10, male -10, male -10, male -10 and male -10 are found on Page 13.

Neither of these men is old enough to be the father of a daughter who had married five years earlier. However, E. King does have one female over 45, who could be his widowed mother.

Ashe County is quite small in 1810 with only 20 pages of names.

And the Sturgills? They are enumerated together on Page 2. There seems to be little doubt that the Sturgills and the Kings may well have known each other.

Jumping back to 1800, that census was taken in ABC order, so neighbors can’t be determined. However, there are two Kings enumerated, in the K section, on Page 13:

Edward King, 45+, female 26-44, male 16-25, female 10-15, female 10-15 and female -10. [One of the females 10-15 is most likely ‘Sophia” who married William Sturgill. Robert, below, has no females approaching marrying age.]

Robert King, 16-25, female 26-44, male -10 and male -10.

These entries support the idea that Edward, over 45, might be the father of Robert King, but much more research is needed to verify or disprove that theory.

In this study, dates of county formations are important to know because they affect where records are kept. In the case of Ashe County, it was set off from Wilkes County, North Carolina in November 1799, just before the 1800 census.

There might be records of interest in Wilkes County.

Ashe, and before it Wilkes, are located in the very upper northwest corner of North Carolina, bordering Tennessee and Virginia.

Therefore, any earlier Kings of interest will be found in Wilkes, if they were settled in the area before 1799.

A quick look at the 1790 census showed FIVE King families in Wilkes County:

Baker King, one male 16+, one male -16 and 3 females (p.6)
Edwd King, two males 16+, 4 females (p. 11)
Frank King, two males 16+, one male -16 and 3 females (p.11)
Robt King, one male 16+, two males -16 and 1 female (p.4)
Jas King, one male 16+, 2 females (p.11)

[Note that no further information could be found about Baker King.]

Next stop was vital records to look for marriages in Ashe and Wilkes County. Alas, Ashe has a record loss and no marriage records surviving until 1853, so there is no help there.

Wilkes County, set off from Rowan County in 1777, has extant marriages from 1778. There are only three King entries:

1.James Glover to Hannah King, 28 May 1782
2. Jacob King to Betsey Bennett, 13 January 1783
3. John Love to Peggy King, 23 May 1789

I was only able to uncover further information about John Love and his wife, Peggy. Looking for the low hanging, easy to pick fruit, I checked the DAR Patriot Index for Kings, James Glover and John Love:

It seems there were at least two men named in Wilkes County. John Love was born c1762, died 1842, Wilkes County, NC and had pension S8852, although it says problems have been found with this line. This man married Margaret. At some point, someone applied thinking he was the man who married Peggy King and who had a son Robert King Love.

However, notes do mention John who married Peggy King, had a son Robert King Love, and further digging in land records proves that Peggy King was the daughter of one Robert King, who died in 1799.

Wilkes County probate records include one entry:

Robert King died by July 1799 in Wilkes County, and left a will, but it only named wife Mary Ann, who was to be in charge of the estate. No children were mentioned.

If Peggy was 21 when she married in 1789, then she was born no later than 1768. If Robert, in turn was 21 when he married AND Peggy was his first child, then Robert would have been born no later than 1746 and possibly considerably earlier if there were children born before Peggy.

Further searching in the DAR Patriot Index brought one entry for Robert King, born c1746; died before July 1799 who had a wife, Mary Ann. That is an exact fit with the probate record. Robert took the oath of allegiance when recording a land transaction in Wilkes County in 1779. All DAR ladies in this line are descended from Peggy and John Love.

No entries were found for James Glover.

No entries were found for Jacob King.

What was found for Edward King?

Edward King is listed in the DAR Patriot Index. He was born c1746; died c1800, Ashe County, North Carolina. His heirs, John King and Mary Mullins, applied for heirs’ pensions (R5942) in 1851, but were rejected because they couldn’t prove his service. (However, Edward did fight in the war.) His wife is named as Feelie Lewis and his children said they married in July 1767 in Wilkes County [but which would have been Rowan county at the time].

I have not been able to find a marriage record for Edward.

Feelie is said to be a nickname for Felicia or Felicity, both uncommon names for the time period. Notice how closely Feelie resembles Feebe (Phebe). Remember, too, that William and Sophia supposedly had a daughter named Phebe.

Could John and Mary King’s mother have been Phebe and it was incorrectly written in the pension application? Maybe.

In 1804, there is a land sale from Phebe (as she is indexed) King  to Edward King for 89 acres (Deeds B:173), In reading the deed, the B is Phebe is not fully closed. Might she actually be Phele aka Feely or Feelie?

Here are two examples from the deed:

It could be either name, as far as I can tell.

However, the land sale does fit with the Edward King, aged 45+, in Ashe County in 1800, with a male 16-25 at home and a female aged 26-45. Then, with Edward dying between 1800-1804, his widow sold the land to Edward Jr., possibly the male 16-25 at home in 1800.

By 1810, Edward Jr.’s mother would be the female over 45, with Edward and his wife in their 20s.

We’ve just dipped our toes into the water. Stay tuned for Part 3. Let’s see what other records are available.