Freeman
The ancestors on this page show a strong Southern connection. Both the Freeman and Barron/Barnes familes go back to early Jamestown settlement. There is also a Scandinavian branch of the Freeman family with both Swedish and Finnish ancestors who settled in New Sweden. Documentation of any of the early Virginia settlers is spotty so there is much room for revision here.
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The Freeman Family
The origin of the Freeman family in North America is John Freeman arriving in the Virginia Colony in about 1670. The Freemans lived in Barren and Metcalf Counties in Kentucky for over one hundred years, having moved there from Virginia by way of North Carolina. Barren County, like most of south central Kentucky, was settled by Scots-Irish. The first Freeman came into Kentucky in the late 1770s and many in this line were farmers and slave owners before the Civil War.
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Juanita Freeman married David McKay in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 27, 1934. She was born in Williamsville, Illinois where her father was working for the railroad. Juanita's early memories are visits to her aunt Ruth Schmidlap's house in Madison, Indiana. Juanita was a dutiful and devoted daughter to Grace but went against her mother's wishes when she married Dave. Grace refused even to attend her daughter's wedding.
********John Freeman married Grace Barron in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 5, 1911. John died when Juanita was only six so she had very few memories of him. An only son (he had seven sisters), his mother died just four months after his birth. He grew up in rural Kentucky and tried his hand at farming before deciding that there wasn't a future for him in it. John moved to Indiana for the last ten years of his short life. He worked as a brakeman for railroads.
John had been married previously to Mannie Spears (the girl in the class picture above in front and to left of John) but she died in her early 20's. John died during the influenza epidemic of 1918 but the official cause of death was tuberculosis.
********John Freeman married Patsy Ratliff in Glasgow, Kentucky on December 8, 1870. He spent his whole life in rural Barren and Metcalf Counties in Kentucky. He may have been in a Kentucky Cavalry unit during the Civil War on the Union side.
********George Freeman married Mary Robertson on January 22, 1844 in Barren County, Kentucky. He spent his life as a farmer in this area.
********John Freeman married Mary Polly Gibbons on April 20, 1820 in Barren County, Kentucky. It seems John moved West after the American Revolution, in which he was a soldier. His first child, Charlotte was born in Kentucky about 1780.
John was married three times including to Catherine Jones. She was married to George Dudley Robertson and had a daughter Mary Ellie before he died of cholera in 1833. Catherine then married John Freeman whose first wife Mary Polly Gibbons had died in 1838 (John and Mary Polly had had a son George Washington Freeman in 1819). In 1844 George Washington Freeman married Mary Ellie Robertson. So although they shared no blood relationship, at the time of their wedding George’s father, John, was married to Mary Ellie’s mother, Catherine. That makes Catherine both George's step mother and mother-in-law.
The 1850 census shows John, 85, married to Catherine and living next door to his son George. Both are farmers and John's property value is listed as $1500 and George's is $500. The same year the Slave Schedule for Barren County shows a John Freeman as the owner of seven slaves. There is further evidence in the law suit contesting the will of John Freeman that describes "an estate consisting of the land, slaves and personalty."
*******John's parentage is uncertain but it is likely that he is either the son of cousins John Aaron Freeman (1718-1784) or John Freeman (1723-1793). Both of them are the grandsons of William Freeman so I will continue the lineage from there.
William Freeman married Mary Cording. William was in Lower Norfolk, Virginia as a young man, along with his brother John where he met and married Mary. William and Mary relocated to the Catherine Creek Swamp near Cypress branch in Chowan Precinct, North Carolina in about 1716. William became a wealthy and prominent planter of the Albermarle and Chowan County areas. He owned large amounts of land and several slaves. At the time of his death he owned five plantations.
********Mary is the daughter of Thomas Cording. Thomas was the son of Richard Cording and Anne Browne. Richard is well documented as a physician in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia. There are many public records of Richard's career as a chirugeon (surgeon).
Anne's father was Thomas Browne, an early Virginia settler. In 1637 Thomas Browne was the headright and servant of George Holmes of James City near Archer’s Hope. By 1666 Thomas had added 1,210 acres to his holdings.
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John Freeman married Hannah Horn. John arrived in Virginia from Bristol England as an indentured servant on the ship Submission in the year 1670. He was indentured to a man named Thomas Wooton. By 1676 John owned 400 acres for transportation of himself and seven other people just north of the Great Dismal Swamp (see map).
Hannah was the daughter of immigrants Thomas Horn and Mary Yates.
James John Freeman married Mary Hancock in James City, Virginia in 1673. James inherited his father's interests along the Chickahominey River in St. Peter's Parish, New Kent County. He probably also had some holdings in Gloucester County.
********Bridges Freeman married Bridget (last name uncertain) in Jamestown, Virginia in 1635. Bridges arrived in Jamestown in 1622. He may have served an indenture period with Capt. Martin at Martin's Brandon about twelve miles upstream from Jamestown. It is known today as Brandon plantation and is still a working farm.
Around 1627 he and his friend James Sleight moved to a new location. On 22 January 1628, Dave Mynton petitioned the General Court for damages for an assault perpetrated on him by Bridges Freeman. The court ordered Freeman to Apaye for curing the said Dave his wounds, and for that it appeared that Dave Mynton gave very bad words to the said ffreeman and was in the moste fault the said Dave shall have noe remedy."
In 1629, Bridges was elected to the House of Burgesses for Pasbyhoy. In 1632, he was elected Burgess for Chicahominy. Bridges was active in the local militia and rose to Lieutenant-Colonel. In December, 1635, Bridges Freeman received a patent for 150 acres in James City County on the East Bank of Chickahominy. 50 acres was awarded for the transportation of his spouse Bridget, and 100 acres for importation of his brother Bennet Freeman and one servant named Ellis Baker.
Bridget has been claimed to be the daughter of Bridges' business associate, Francis Fowler. But Francis was too young to have a daughter of marriageable age by 1635.
Freeman/Robertson
The Robertson Family
The Robertson family was among the first to migrate from Virginia to Kentucky after arriving from Scotland.
Mary Robertson married George Freeman on January 22, 1844 in Barren County, Kentucky.
*********George Dudley Robertson married Catherine Jones on January 2, 1817 in Washington County, Kentucky. George was a blacksmith. He died of cholera in 1833 at 39 years old leaving his wife with small children, including a son born after his death. She soon remarried John Freeman.
Catherine Jones was married to George Robertson and had a daughter Mary Ellie before George died. Catherine then married John Freeman whose first wife Mary Polly Gibbons had died in 1838 (John and Mary Polly had had a son George Washington Freeman in 1819). In 1844 George Washington Freeman married Mary Ellie Robertson. So although they shared no blood relationship, at the time of their wedding George’s father, John, was married to Mary Ellie’s mother, Catherine. Nothing is known about Catherine's parents although it is known that they were from the Shenandoah Valley.
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Scotland connection
Samuel Robertson married Mary (last name unknown) who was the mother of George Dudley. Samuel was born in Elgin, Scotland.
Samuel shows up on the tax rolls in 1789 in Washington County, Kentucky with a household that includes one slave. He acquired significant property holdings in the area. Samuel's parents are uncertain.
After Mary's death, Samuel married Hannah Jackman November 1, 1799 in Kentucky. Both had been previously married. Hannah's first husband, John Smith died about two years before she remarried.
Freeman/Gibbons
The Gibbons Family
The Gibbons family name has been variously spelled Gibbens, Givens, and Gibbons. hey are most likely descended from English ancestor John Gibbons who emigrated to Virginia in 1641.
Mary Polly Gibbons married John Freeman on April 20, 1820 in Barren County, Kentucky.
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Francis Gibbons married Susanna Cox on March 6, 1800 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. There is conflicting information about Francis' origins. I have chosen to go with research by the Gibbins family shown on Francis' individual page. It shows Francis as the son of his father's second marriage born in North Carolina. Other documentation states that Francis and Susanna moved from North Carolina to South Carolina early in their marriage. They later moved to Barren County, Kentucky where Francis died.
********John Gibbons, Jr. married Mary (last name unknown). In 1778 John and Mary moved to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
********John B. Gibbons Sr. married Rebecca (last name uncertain, possibly Easton) in 1733 in York County, Virginia. They had nine children. John's will shows that he was a significant slave owner, leaving four slaves to his wife and others to his children.
Rebecca supported the revolution by selling provisions to Washington's army and after her death her home was used to quarter General Washington.********
Thomas Gibbons, Jr. married Sarah Creech (or Cairox) about 1700. He was he sheriff of York County, Virginia in the 1690's.
********Thomas Gibbons, Sr. married Mary Helen Seratt about 1665 in Virginia. When he was about 20 years old he joined and participated in what was called Bacons Rebellion, led by a man named Nathaniel Bacon, against the rule of the King's appointed Governor of Virginia, William Berkeley. On July 3, 1667 Thomas confessed to killing several of Arthur Allen's cattle for food. Thomas was later included in a list of pardoned rebels, by the King of England. He received a land grant in Surry County, Virginia.
********John Gibbons married (first name unknown, possibly Mary) in about 1644 in Accomack, Virginia. John came to the Colony of Virginia in 1641 as a headright of William Burdett. He sometime later returned to England and died there in 1654.
Freeman/Gibbons/Cox
The Cox Family
The Cox family in America originated with settlers in New Sweden.
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Susanna Cox married Francis Gibbons on March 6, 1800. After Francis' death in Kentucky, Susanna moved to Indiana.
********Ephraim Cox married Susannah Person on July 9, 1768 in Rowan County, North Carolina. In 1787 he was granted 400 acres of land in Greene County, North Carolina and acquired land in Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1779.
Susannah was the daughter of English immigrant Denny Person but nothing further is known about her family. She may have been born in America or traveled to North America with her parent(s).********
Ephraim Cox married Maria Keen before 1750. Ephraim and Maria probably moved from New Jersey to North Carolina about the time they got married. The earliest record of Ephraim Cox in Rowan County, North Carolina dates to 1753, the same year that county was created from Anson County.
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Gabriel Petersson Cock married Anna Nilsdotter. Gabriel inherited Carpenter's Island from his parents, but sold it in 1714 and moved his family to St. George’s Creek, Delaware. The island is now the site of the Philadelphia airport.
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Swedish connection
Peter Larrson Kock married Margaret Lom in 1643. Peter Larsson was given his surname Kock, "cook" in Swedish, because he served in this capacity in 1641 when he was sent to New Sweden from Stockholm on the ship Charitas. Margaret and her family had also come over on the Charitas, on the same trip. The name Kock evolved into Cock, and among his descendants finally became Cox.
Born in 1610 in Bångsta, a hamlet in Turinge parish, Södermanland (now Stockholm Län), Sweden, Peter had been an imprisoned soldier at Smedjegården in Stockholm. The reason for his imprisonment is not known.
Peter and Margaret lived on two islands at the mouth of the Schuykill, later known as Fisher’s Island and Carpenter’s Island. His plantation there was called 'Kipha'. A farmer, like almost all of the Swedes, he became relatively prosperous by the standards of the time. They had thirteen children.
He served on the court of justice under the Swedes, Dutch, and English. He was a magistrate under Dutch rule, a justice under the English, and a councilor under the Duke of York.
An excellent summary of Peter's life can be found here. Click here to see the history of New Sweden.
Margaret had arrived in New Sweden in 1641 with her father, Måns Svensson Lom a Swedish Navy officer, and her mother.
Freeman/Gibbons/Cox /Frande
The Frand (Friend) Family
Nils Larsson, adopted the surname Frände, meaning "kinsman" in Swedish. Ultimately this became Friend for later generations.
Maria Frande (Friend) married Gabriel Cock in 1687. They had eight children.
********Nils Larsson married Anna Andersdotter in 1659 in Upland, Pennsylvania. He is believed to have arrived in "New Sweden", a settlement in Upland aboard the ship "Swan" in 1648.
Nils was a prominent member of New Sweden. The land he once owned in present day Bucks County, was the land he traded to William Penn (where the Pennsbury estate was built) in return for 800 acres east of Red Clay Creek in New Castle County.
The earliest Courts of Upland were held in his home and the "House of Defence", built on his land, was where the Courts under the English government were held for some time. There is evidence that he acted as an arbitrator by appointment as early as 1673 and at the time of his death in 1686, Nils was serving as constable for Chester township.
Freeman/Gibbons/Cox /Frande/Andersson
The Andersson Family
The first of the Andersson family who came to New Sweden was actually Finnish.
Anna Andersdotter married Nils Larsson in 1659 in Upland, Pennsylvania. It is probable that Anna arrived in New Sweden on the Mercurius in March 1656. After Nils' death Anne survived him by about 40 years and was referred to as "...Anne Friend widow and Relict of Nils Larsson also Friend late of Chester also Upland deceased..."
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Finnish connection
Anders Andersson married Christina Gulbrant in 1626 in Strängnäs, Södermanlands län, Sweden. Anders, known as "The Finn," arrived in America in 1643 with his family. He was formerly a soldier at Fort Älvsborg in Sweden and had been banished to New Sweden as punishment for some undisclosed crime. By 1644 Anders the Finn had become a freeman, having served out his sentence. Like several other Finns he resided in an area known as Finland, located west of Upland (now Chester) Creek.
Anders had legal problems with the Governor and with some of his neighbors. Finally he decided to move. After the English captured the Delaware from the Dutch in 1664, Anders the Finn moved his family to join other Finnish families at Deer Point on the north side of Christina Creek where he built a mill.
Freeman/Barron
The Barron/Barnes Family
The Barron/Barnes family originated in America in Jamestown, Virginia in the earliest colonial period. One hundred and fifty years later Bingamond Barnes moved to Kentucky and a generation after that the Barnes family ended up in Indiana, farming in Jennings County. The women who married into the Barnes family are especially poorly documented.
Lillian "Grace" Barron married John Freeman on February 5, 1911 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Grace lost both her mother and husband at an early age. Grace's mother, Lucy, died in 1901 when Grace was about 11. She lived in Seymour, Indiana with her father and siblings until 1903 when they moved to Indianapolis where she met John. Her husband John died in 1918 after only seven years of marriage.
After John's death Grace was left to support her two young children working as a winder at the Metso Company and an assembler at the PR Mallory Company in Indianapolis. Finances were always tight in the family but during the depression, Fairbanks and Morris where Grace worked moved to Wisconsin and Grace lost her job. Rather than move with the company, she stayed in Indianapolis and the family made it through this rough period. Grace died quietly resting in an easy chair after ironing of a heart attack in 1952.
Grace's sister, Ruth, married a Schmidlapp cousin, William making him both Grace's cousin and a brother-in-law. ******William Barron married Mamie Jordan. William's occupations were listed on the census as teamster in 1900 and transfer wagon driver in 1910.
Unfortunately I have been able to uncover very little information about William's life but his death made the local newspapers. On December 5, 1915 William was found dead in street clothes on his bed by his son Charles. An autopsy indicated that he died from a blow to the back of his head. Whether there was foul play or he died in a fall was never conclusively determined.
William's parentage was difficult to track down. There are very few Barrons (or Barens or Baron or Barron) that match the location and time. A newspaper article at William's death stated that he had a brother Thad Barrons. Thaddeus Barrons married in 1913 and listed his parents as George and Rosana Barrons.
The reason for the difficulty seems to be that William's father's birth surname was Barnes not Barrons. Dave McKay's notes on the Barron family listed William's last name as Barron/Barnes. There are a great many members of the Barnes family in Jennings County and Seymour, Indiana in the 1800's.
*******George W Barnes was married to Rosana Anderson (although she might have been his second wife). He was a farmer. In May 1910 he was an inmate at the Jennings County Poor Asylum at age 77. George and his sons William and Thaddeus must have been estranged.
What is a Poor Farm?
Poor Farms were tax-supported residential institutions to which people were required to go if they could not support themselves. They were started as a method of providing a less expensive (to the taxpayers) alternative to what we would now call "welfare" - what was called "outdoor relief" in those days. People requested help from the community Overseer of the Poor, who was an elected official. If the need was great or likely to be long-term, they were sent to the poorhouse instead of being given relief while they continued to live independently. Sometimes they were sent there even if they had not requested help from the Overseer of the Poor. That was usually done when they were found to be unable to care for themselves (such as being unable to purchase firewood or food). Many times it would be women whose husband had died or left them, or older people who could no longer earn an income.
The Jennings County "Poor Farm" has had a number of names, it has also been called the "Poor Asylum", "Asylum for the Poor", "Alms House", "Old Folks Home and "County Infirmary."
********George Barnes was married to Jemima Jackson on March 24, 1818 in Washington, Tennessee.
********Freeman/Barron/Anderson
The Anderson Family
The Anderson family's background is one of the most speculative in the tree based, to a large extent, on circumstantial evidence and family stories.
Rosanna Anderson married George Barnes in Indiana. This connection is so far based on scant evidence. Rose Anderson, born in Kentucky in 1830 and likely moved to Indiana when she was less than four-years-old. Both her parents had died by the time she was eleven. She married John Collins in Jackson County in 1851. Thaddeus Barrons, William Barron's older brother, was born in Jackson County (Seymour, Indiana) in 1856 to Rosana Anderson. I have no record of John Collins' death or George and Rosana's marriage but the link is quite possible.
********William Anderson married Judy Slone on September 19, 1816 in Floyd, Kentucky. William was born in western Virginia but by 1816 had moved across the Appalachins to eastern Kentucky. By 1840 he was in Jackson County, Indiana.
********Jacob Anderson married Susannah Buchanan around 1780. Jacob came down the famed Wagon Road that opened the Appalachian region with other families around 1768. He was one of the first pioneers in Grayson County in far western Virginia. Jacob was a Revolutionary War soldier under Capt. Enoch Osborne in Montgomery County, Virginia in 1781 with his brother. He received a war pension.
Susannah's background is in dispute.********
John Anderson married Mary Peck (or Peek) on August 31, 1755 in Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware. There is strong DNA evidence of the John Anderson/McKay connection. Johns first wife, Mary Helton had died a few years earlier. It is likely that John relocated later to either Wilkes, North Carolina or just across the state line in Grayson, Virginia.
It is likely but unproven that John's origins are with the Swedish settlement in Delaware and New Jersey that took place from 1638 to 1655.
Nothing is known of Mary Peck's origins.
Freeman/Barron/Anderson /Slone
The Slone Family
The Slone family's background tied up with the colorful but murky story of Hiram and Mary Alice Slone.
Judy Slone married William Anderson on September 19, 1816 in Floyd, Kentucky.
********William Hiram Slone married Mary Alice Sizemore in 1748 in Patrick, Virginia. William Hiram and Mary Alice traveled from Patrick County, Virginia to Caney Creek, Kentucky with their four sons. Three of those sons were Alice's children who were adopted by Hiram. He likely brought two female slaves with him from Virginia.
Mary Alice "Little Granny" Sizemore may have more written about her with less documentation than anyone in this tree. Stories include that she was 1/2 Indian, 1/4 white, 1/4 mulatto probably from a runaway slave. That her four known sons (Hiram, Shady Hall, Isom Adkins, and Isaac Stephens) are supposed to have been fathered by four different men, their middle names indicating the father's surname. Mary Alice is said to have been killed by a bear attack. Another story says that she was decapitated by a group of Indians for marrying a white man. She was said to be buried without her head that was never found. It is claimed that she was the first white woman to settle Kentucky.
What is known about Mary Alice is that she was 100 years old in the 1850 census, in Floyd County, Kentucky, living with son, Hiram Slone. She was supposedly born in Franklin, County Virginia in 1750. It is probable that she is not the daughter of "Ned" George Edward Sizemore, nor is she a Native American. There is no consensus about her parents. Verna Mae Slone has written in What My Heart Wants To Tell that "(t)here have been Slones living on Caney (Kentucky) since 1790, when Alice Slone, better know as Little Granny, came from Virginia with her husband and three sons. They had a government grant to several acres of land here in Knott County. Slone could have been the Revolutionary soldier."
What DNA shows is that Mary Alice has a very strong DNA connection to the Sizemore family. Charlotte McKay and John McKay have more DNA connections through Mary Alice than any other Ancestry record. So Mary Alice may be the daughter of any of the Sizemores that are in the Lunenburg 1748 tax list: William, Ephraim, James, Edward or Henry.
Freeman/Barron/Jackson
The Jackson Family
The Jackson family history traces back to early Virginia settlement.
Jemima Jackson was married to George Barnes on March 24, 1818 in Washington, Tennessee.
********George Jackson was married to Elizabeth Jobe.
********Robert Jackson was married to Jane Gilliam in 1754 in Surry, Virginia.
********Freeman/Barron/Jackson /Jobe
The Jobe Family
The Jobe family like the Jacksons traveled from Virginia to Tennessee.
Elizabeth Jobe was married to George Jackson.
********General History
Relations with Native Americans
History
Migration
Details