Descendants of Josiah Horn

Generation No. 1

1. Josiah⁵ Horn (William⁴, Henry³, William², Hypothetical¹)^1,2 was born August 6, 1766 in North Carolina, and died October 23, 1845 in Montgomery County, TN. He married (1) Elizabeth Hunter Abt. 1786 in Nash County, NC, daughter of Thomas Hunter and Priscilla Smith. She was born September 18, 1765 in Nash County, NC, and died July 1, 1840 in Montgomery County, TN. He married (2) Elizabeth Bunn^3,4, daughter of David Bunn and Mary Joyner. She was born Abt. 1765 in Nash Co., NC^5,6.

Notes for Josiah Horn:
Josiah Horn of Blooming Grove

A Consideration of Uncertainties
Regarding His and His Wife's Parentage
And Other Matters

"Josiah Horn, born to Col. William Horn and his wife, Mary Thomas, August 6,1766."

The date of birth and parentage is frequently cited by careful students of this family and the stated facts do not seem controversial, but I am aware of no precise documentation of these facts. For example, the births of the first two children of Col Wm and Mary T. Horn are listed in Williams and Griffin, Bible Records of Early Edgecombe, citing the files of Hugh B. Johnston, but neither Josiah nor the later wives and children of the Colonel are listed there.

The above date of birth is engraved on Josiah's tombstone (Photograph available) in the cemetary at Blooming Grove Church, so this date seems to have been in no doubt. Clear documentation of his parentage is lacking, however, and any conclusion requires some inferences.

Josiah was clearly a grandson of Henry "the Quaker" Horn and Ann Purcell. He received a bequest in the 1797 will of his grandfather, Henry "the Quaker" Horn, namely: "ITEM I give & bequeath to my Grandson Josiah Horn, all my wright in the Lands on the North side of Tarriver and above Kirby's Creek whereon he now lives to him & his heirs forever."

The Kirby's creek property which Henry mentions in the bequest to his grandson Josiah in his will is probably the 200 acres which Henry had bought from Thomas Kirby in 1752 and then sold to his son Wm in 1761 "on the north side of Tar river, joining Stoney Creek", property sold by Col William to his Josiah in 1791. Henry's peculiar phraseology in the will, ie, "all my wright in the Lands on the North side of Tarriver", probably reflects that there was some question of ownership of this property, a circumstance which often afflicted Colonel William's assets. (See further discussion of this issue below.)

(Henry and Ann Horn had a second grandson named Josiah, i. e., Josiah Robert, son of Jacob, but his age (born 1797) essentially precludes the possibility that Josiah Robert was the recipient of the bequest in Henry's 1797 will.)

Indication that this Josiah Horn, born 1766, is the son of Col. William Horn and Mary Thomas is suggested by numerous real estate transactions which tend to link these individuals. Cited in the abstracts of Early deeds of Nash County, NC, 1778-1813, by Joseph Watson, in 1780 and 1782 there are transactions by William Horn, witnessed by Josiah Horn and Milbrie Horn, linking these three rather convincingly. William would be about 42, now married to Sarah Granberry, Mary Thomas having died a few years earlier, and Josiah would be about 15.

[In 1762, the first year of their marriage, William Horn and Mary Thomas sold to Thomas Whitfield 260 acres on Pigbasket Creek, property which had been a grant to Joseph Thomas, Mary's father, and "Said Mary relinquished right of dower" (Edgecombe county deed book B, p530(603). Additional property on Pigbasket Creek, 100 acres, was sold by the Colonel in 1780, in a transaction (Nash Book 1, p 241) witnessed by Josiah Horn and "Melbry" Horn. It seems likely that this was residual property which had been part of the dower of Mary Thomas, mother of Josiah and Milberry. Citing this 1780 transaction, Gwen B. Horn, a very knowledgable student of this Horn family, commented to me in December, 1997: " How much documentary evidence do you need? ... Josiah is Col. Wm's son. In this 1780 NC deed Josiah, Milberry and and unidentified Joel witness the Col's sale of Mary Thomas's Pig Basket Creek inheritance. Clearly Mary died intestate and Josiah and Milberry had some sort of claim. I say clearly Mary died intestate, for I have searched for her will for 40 years."]

Josiah Horn witnessed the sale of property by Col. William in 1782 (Nash Deed Book 1, p 194) and in 1786 (Edgecombe Deed Book E, p 105(514), indicating that the father and son were in contact and on good terms at this time.
By 1788 Col William was no longer married to Sarah Granberry, and he married the fourth time, to Sarah Norfleet Hilliard, in 1790-1792. At the time of her marriage to the Colonel, Sarah was recently widowed by the death of her husband, Elias Hilliard. Considerable legal controversy involving the Colonel and his wife and the estate of her late husband, Elias Hilliard, ensued, as reflected in subsequent real estate transactions and other legal documents.

According to the 1790 NC census, listed in the Halifax district of Nash County, Josiah Horn was listed as head-of-household, with the following enumeration: Free WM >15, 1, presumably Josiah; Free WM <16, 1; free W F, 3, Slaves, 5, none other listed." [This 1790 census material may be found in the Ray Horn book, p146, p464, and in papers received from Bill Horn].

In January, 1791 the Colonel sold 200 acres to his son Josiah, land "lying in both Nash and Edgecomb counties, beginning at the mouth of Kirby's creek" (Nash Deed Book 4, p 65). It seems possible, in view of the controversy about to develop, that this sale might have been made to protect it from the Colonel's creditors. Along this line of reasoning, I believe it is possible that this is the same property bequeathed to Josiah in his grandfather's 1797 will, noted above, considering the likelihood that Colonel William did not clearly own the Kirby creek 200 acres when he "sold" it to his son, and speculating that the grandfather Henry's gift of Kirby creek land to Josiah may have been an attempt of the grandfather to correct a wrong perpetrated by his son, the Colonel, on the Colonel's son, Josiah. [The somewhat peculiar phraseology used by Henry the Quaker, "... I bequeath all my wright in the Lands whereon he (grandson Josiah) now lives" seems to me to support this notion of the justification for the bequest.] This scenario is entirely speculative, but to me it has the ring of credibility, given the general impressions that the Colonel was at least occasionally inclined to somewhat nefarious deals.

In September, 1791, by order of the Sheriff of Nash County, pursuant to a court order obtained by the administrator of the estate of Elias Hilliard (the Colonel's wife's first husband), 200 acres on the north side of the Tar River belonging to William Horn was sold for 50 pounds and 1 shilling (Nash Deed Book 4, p 119); this tract was apparently near to but not the same property sold to Josiah in January of 1791. Under apparently similar circumstances, in April of 1792, Josiah purchased a tract of 185 acres (Nash Deed Book 4, p 148) "sold by Wm. Arrington, Sheriff, on Aug 10, 1791, by virtue of an execution obtained by ... the administrator of Elias Hilliard, against William Horne".

The above happenings and others documented in Nash County records seem to indicate that the Colonel's financial affairs were in serious disorder, in difficulties which must have arisen in relation to his marriage to the recently widowed Sarah Norfleet Hilliard. The real estate transactions involving Josiah suggest to me that Josiah was probably trying to help his father, the Colonel, extricate himself from his presumably self-inflicted wounds.

In the next several years Josiah Horn bought several additional properties in Nash County, in no apparent connection with his father. In 1792 Josiah purchased "..320 acres (Nash Deed Book 4, p 190) on the Great or Bloomery Swamp adjoining (1)Benjamin Bunn (possibly the brother of Josiah's wife, see below) and (2) Joseph Phillips (the husband of his sister, Milberry). [Within a few years, the families of both Josiah and his sister Milberry would move to middle Tennessee, in Montgomery and Davidson counties respectively, but there is no evidence that they interacted after the migration westward, to the Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee.] In 1794 Josiah purchased another 22 acres on Kirby's creek along with another nearby 14 acres (Nash Deed Book 6, p 8 and p18).

In Nash County records of 1796, Josiah Horn is bonded at 46 pounds ".. to keep a passable bridge across Stony Creek at the lower road ..", witnesses include Benjamin Bunn (from Ray Horn book, p 122).

Josiah's accumulation of property during this period, his late twenties, seem to indicate substantial material success, presumably in farming or other rural commerce. Presumably he was also active in religious affairs, since in less than a decade he would become the founding minister of a Baptist church in Tennessee.

Shortly after the death of his grandfather, Henry "the Quaker" Horn, in 1797 (his will signed March 30, 1797, probated in April Court, 1798, Wayne County), Josiah sold "a tract of 150 acres on Tar River and Kirby's creek", presumably the property bequeathed to him by his grandfather. I assume he sold other properties which he had acquired, listed above, although I have not identified recorded deeds describing the sale of those additional properties.

Josiah then purchased property in Tennessee and relocated there.

[ From TN State Library/Archives, Montgomery County Deeds, 1796-1800, p394 (Microfilm). Josiah Horn purchases property from Robert Prince. "This indenture made 10th day of January, 1800....sum of $400... 230 acres...Montgomery County Tennessee...on the waters of the Blooming Grove Creek joining the lands of William Weathersby, it being part of John McKey(?) preemption of his 640 acres granted to said McKey by patent, bearing the date the 10th day of July, 1778 and by him conveyed to Robert Prince by conveyance bearing the date 15 October 1799... Witnesses: Robert Nelson, Jesse Nelson"]

In 1841, four years before his death, Josiah Sr divided and deeded his property, apparently the 230 acres on Blooming Grove Creek, part to Josiah Jr, and part to Cordal H. See the Notes to these two men for more on the location and disposition of this property.

Apparently Josiah was married in the period of 1790-1792, although there is no known record of his marriage date, and it has, in fact, been difficult to establish a clear identification of the name and origins of his wife, Elizabeth.

According to the Ray Horn book Josiah was guardian to Howell Horn, son of Josiah's uncle, Joel (d 1793) from 1793 to 1798, indicating that Josiah was probably married before 1793.

A number of family researchers who have studied this family have stated that Josiah's wife was Elizabeth Bunn, born September 18, 1765 in North Carolina. While I was unable to locate any primary documentation of the source of either her surname or date of birth, I had no substantial reason to doubt the validity of her reported indentification. The most complete documentation of the Bunn family of North Carolina that I have encountered is in World Family Tree CD 19, #266, prepared and contributed by Deborah C. Harbuck of Georgia. An apparently expanded listing of this family tree is available on the Rootsweb World Connect project under the GEDCOM name, "mrsharbuck".

Based on the work of Larry Horn in early 2002, I am convinced that Josiah Horn's wife was not Elizabeth Bunn, and I have removed her from this Family File as Josiah's spouse. However, in order to preserve the information pertinent to this woman, in prior considerations of her possible relationship to Josiah, I have included her in this FTM file, unconnected to any Horn, and I have retained abundant information about her in the FTM file.

Also included in the Notes to Elizabeth Bunn is Larry Horn's essay supporting the conclusion that the earlier presumed relationship was in error.

On 21 December, 1804, William Curl, [son of Wilson Curl (spouse of Mourning Horn, Josiah's Aunt)], now of Stewart County, TN, sold 144 acres, a tract lying on the west side of Blooming Grove (creek) on Pain's Branch, running north on William Weathersby's line. Josiah Horn lived on Blooming Grove Creek, also adjoining Wm Weathersby, from 1800 until his death. On the same date on which Josiah Horn purchased from Robert Prince his 230 acres on Blooming Grove Creek, ie, 16 January, 1800, Prince also sold to "Edward More" a 150 acre tract "on the waters of Blooming Grove Creek". HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS: Sarah Curl, daughter of Wilson Curl and Mourning Horn, see above, married an Edward Moore, and it appears that after Wilson Curl's death in about 1802, the widow Mourning Horn moved south to Maury County Tn with her dtr Sarah and Edward Moore, then southward later to Tuscaloosa AL. (See Notes to Wilson Curl, for elaboration.)

It may be of interest to note that in June 1805 William Curl is recorded as a buyer at the estate sale of Thomas Tire, Will Book A, p 268. Five pages later, p 273, Josiah Horn posts a guardian bond as Guardian of Mary Tire, heir of Thomas Tire, deceased. I be ieve the Tire family is also called Tyree, and that two of the Tire/Tyree young ladies, married two of Josiah grandsons several years later.

Thus the Bunn's and the Curl's and the Horn's maintained some proximity in Tennessee as they had done in NC, but it now appears almost certain that Josiah's wife, Elizabeth, was not related to either the Bunn or Curl families.

Two of the children of Josiah Horn which are listed above, Thomas and Winifred, were not recorded in the records and resources which were initially available to me, but subsequent strong circumstantial evidence indicates that such children may have existed.

Two entirely independent sources have described remarkably similar stories, in which an apparently undocumented child of Josiah and Elizabeth was with them in Tennessee in the early 1800's, each subsequently relocating to Missouri, and each having assigned names to their children strongly supporting a relationship to Josiah Horn, who had given a son the quite unusual name of Cordell/Cordal/Cordial or a similar name, after his friend, Cordall Norfleet.

Exploration of the relationship of Thomas and Winifred to old Josiah led Larry Horn to the conclusion that Josiah's wife was Elizabeth Hunter and provided much additional support to the conclusion that Josiah and his wife had several additional children, not appreciated by most early students of this family.


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Miscellaneous thoughts of very doubtful significance follow:


In speculating who might have been the father of Elisha Thomas Horn, born 1800 in NC, etc, I will consider the possibility that ETH might have been an illegitimate child of one of Joel's orphaned daughters. They would have been 14 and 12 years old in 1800. Milbrie, the older, seems to have disappeared from the record.

[May 2000: Wild speculation. A Jacob Horn appears on the 1811 Davidson County Tax List, but I have no other record of Jacob Horn in Tenn. Possibly Jacob came to Tenn with his second wife for a few years and then returned to Edgecomb where his will was probated in 1826/27. Consider the possibility that Jacob was the father of ETH, by one of Joel's daughters, ?Milbrie, and that they (or some of them) were in Tennessee in regard to ETH and his possibly living with Josiah, Mourning Curl, etc, prior to his appearance in Alabama.]

Consider that Josiah and Elizabeth and/or Mourning and Wilson Curl and/or Sarah Curl and Edward Moore undertook the care of the foundling infant, taking it with them to Tennessee when they went there in 1800. See Above in these Notes to Josiah Horn and the essay speculating on the possible relationship of ETH to Colonel William. See Notes to Jacob Horn.

CONTINUED IN THE NOTES TO ELISHA THOMAS HORN, SEE INDEX:

It is the most rank of speculation, but consider that Sarah Norfleet Hilliard Horn bore a child of the Colonel, ETH, at about the time that the Colonel left NC in March of 1797, or shortly thereafter, and, further, at the failure of the Colonel to reappear after his presumed trek to Tennessee to claim his and Sarah's property, that Josiah and Elizabeth agreed to take on this young child as they moved to Tennessee, only a few miles from the location of ...

See the Essay, Speculations on Colonel William and Elisha Thomas Horn
on the FTW Website, discussing the possible origin of ETH therefrom.

RG Horn, 12 June1999

Notes for Elizabeth Hunter:
Larry Horn of Fayetteville, Arkansas has provided convincing evidence that Josiah's wife was Elizabeth Hunter.

To see a copy of his essay, too long for these Notes, open the "Book" on William Horn of Nansemond, and see the chapter on "Josiah's wife".

The proposed ancestry of this woman, listed herein, courtesy of Larry Horn.

Notes for Elizabeth Bunn:
Elizabeth Bunn Curl has been thought by a number of sources to be the wife of Josiah Horn, but information developed by Larry Horn of Fayetteville, Arkansas, in early 2002, indicates that 1) almost certainly Josiah's wife was not Elizabeth Bunn and 2) it appears likely that his wife was Elizabeth Hunter. The possible Hunter connection was pointed out to me by Helen Polly of Missouri (see the discussion of Josiah's daughter, Winifred) and by Barry Ousley of Washington (see the discussion of Josiah's son, Thomas).

To the best of my recollection I first determined the surname of Elizabeth BUNN from wft 4:1402, by James Doyle of Friendswood Texas. Doyle does not source this, but among multiple legal records from that part of NC, there are numerous interactions with the Bunn's and Horn's, and there was an Elizabeth Bunn, daughter of David Bunn, who was thought to correspond to Josiah's wife.

I am convinced by the work of Larry Horn that Elizabeth Bunn, widow of Joseph Curl, was not the wife of Josiah, and I believe it is very likely that his wife was the Elizabeth Hunter, described elsewhere in this work.

In order to document and preserve considerable information about Elizabeth Bunn, for future reference,
extensive information is retained here regarding the Pro's and Con's of this possibility.

Following, below, is Part 1 of Larry Horn's work debunking the notion that Elizabeth Bunn was Josiah's wife.

The report describing Larry's evidence that the wife was Elizabeth Hunter, see the section in the Book on William Horn of Nansemond, chapter called "Josiah's wife".



The Likely Identity of Josiah's Wife, Elizabeth

That Josiah's wife was named Elizabeth, and the dates of her birth and death, seems well documented on her grave stone at the Blooming Grove Church cemetary in Montgomery County, Tennessee, but determination of her surname and origin has been problematical.

I initially received information indicating that Josiah's wife was Elizabeth Bunn. The source and evaluation of this suggestion is listed in the first section below.

More recently, Larry Horn of Fayetteville, Arkansas, has done extensive research and analysis and provided information which strongly suggests that Josiah's wife was Elizabeth Hunter, daughter of Thomas Hunter and Priscilla Smith of Nash County, NC.

The remaining and major portion of this section is a copy of Larry Horn essay describing his findings and their interpretation.

I completely and enthusiastically support his hypothesis.

Background Study Regarding the "Elizabeth Bunn" theory

Apparently Josiah was married in the period of 1790-1792, although there is no known record of his marriage date, and it has, in fact, been difficult to establish a clear identification of the name and origins of his wife, Elizabeth.

According to the Ray Horn book Josiah was guardian to Howell Horn, son of Josiah's uncle, Joel (d 1793) from 1793 to 1798, indicating that Josiah was probably married before 1793.

A number of family researchers who have studied this family have stated that Josiah's wife was Elizabeth Bunn, born September 18, 1765 in North Carolina. While I have not found any primary documentation of the source of either her surname or date of birth, I have no substantial reason to doubt the validity of her reported indentification. The most complete documentation of the Bunn family of North Carolina that I have encountered is in World Family Tree CD 19, #266, prepared and contributed by Deborah C. Harbuck of Georgia. An apparently expanded listing of this family tree is available on the Rootsweb World Connect project under the GEDCOM name, "mrsharbuck".

Along with others, Harbuck lists, as the wife of Josiah Horn, Elizabeth Bunn, daughter of David Bunn(1720-1784) and Mary Joyner(1720-1830). According to information sent to me by Jim Doyle and also Mary Sue Siler, a listing of abstracts of Nash County Wills, p 27, lists the following:
DAVID BUNN, SR. p. 28. Nov 27, 1784 - Feb Ct. 1785 Sons: David, Redmund, Benjamin. Daus: Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth, Rachel, Seletor, Creasy?. Ex: Benjamin Bunn Sr., Josiah Bunn*, John Bunn. [ *In the extensive documentation of the members of this Bunn extended family by Harbuck, no Josiah Bunn is listed. I considered the possibility that the name of Josiah Horn may have been incorrectly transcribed as Josiah Bunn, in the abstracting of the will of David Bunn Sr. However, on 1/4/99, I have examined a photocopy of the original will of David Bunn, Sr, obtained from the NC Archives, and the name "Josiah Bunn" clearly appears, both as a witness to the Will itself and as a witness to the recording of the will]. A typescript of this orginal will of David Bunn, Sr may be found in his Notes. [ Josiah Bunn is also identified as a witness to a 1785 Edgecomb deed: "1061-(300) ( John Barnes of Edge Co to Joel Horn, Wilson Curl & Hardy Harris of Edge & Nash counties. 540 acres as by grant to John Barnes 9 Oct 1783, a few miles from Tar River on the south side, joining Brigers (formerly Lewis Curl's), Philip Thomas, James Ricks, Horns Creek, Redmun Bunn, William Brigers. Wit: Redmun Bunn, Josiah Bunn. Nov Ct 1785. Edw Hall CC.)]

In the original of the Will of David Bunn, all of the daughters are referred to by given name only, and no surnames or married name is indicated, and no sons-in-law or grandchildren are named.

However, and of great interest, Sue Siler reported to me the following, found in Estate Records in the Deed Books of Nash Co NC, 1781-1897, by Joseph Watson (TN State Library, F262.w2/W33:
Bk. p 34. #127. p 33. Division of the estate of David Bunn, deceased, agreeable to an order of May Court 1786. An equal part of the money was given to each of the following children: Ann Curl, Sarah Curl, Elizabeth Curl, Rachel Ricks, Selector Bunn, David Bunn, and Leuvency Bunn. No date of registration. [Deed Book 14].

This information from the estate records of the David Bunn who died 1784, in which three daughters of David Bunn had the last name of "Curl", was unusual and certainly of interest. Possible explanation for the three "Curl girls" included the possibility that three daughters had married the Curl brothers or cousins.

[RGH, 1//99: I have received copies of numerous David Bunn estate settlement records from NC Archives. Preliminary look confirms above. See the Notes to David Bunn (1720 - 1784) for extensive evaluation of his will and estate records.) In summary, in the David Bunn Will all the daughters are named by first name only, and married names are not given. However, in the Estate Settlement Papers Ann, Sarah, and Elizabeth are all designated as Curl's. Major purchases at the Estate Sale are made by Lewis, Willis, and Joseph Curl, clearly nominating them as sons-in-law of the deceased. Harbuck's WFT 19/266 names Ann Bunn + Lewis Curl and Sarah Bunn+ Willis Curl, but associates Elizabeth only with Josiah Horn, and not with Joseph Curl. On the other hand Carolyn Young(cfyoung@mind.net) of Ashland, OR cites a source, as yet unnamed, stating that Elizabeth was married to Joseph Curl, as the Estate Papers suggest. Young also names the parents of these three Curl young men as Wilson Curle and Mourning Armistead, citing work by Clarence Curl, while acknowledging considerable uncertainty about the complete validity of the sourcing.

The four sons of Josiah Horn, are generally listed similarly in sources I have seen. James, born 1787, Henry, born 1793, Cordell, born 1800, and Josiah, born 1806. All of these four sons of Josiah of Blooming Grove community are found listed with their families in the Tennessee censuses of the first half of the 1800's, and their offspring are generally well documented.

Examination of the data on the family of Josiah Horn raises the question that his first son, James, might have been the product of an earlier marriage, either of his wife Elizabeth, e. g., to a Curl, as suggested above, or, conceivably, by a prior marriage of Josiah, which is not documented. It is of interest that the date of birth of James is generally given as 1787, in the same sources which estimate the date of the marriage of Josiah Horn and Elizabeth as 1790-1792. (Suggestion that Josiah also had an "undocumented" daughter named "Winifred" is discussed below, and the possibility of another son, Thomas, surfaced only recently, also discussed below.)

As noted above, in the 1790 NC census, Halifax district, the Josiah Horn family was enumerated as consisting one adult WM (Josiah), one WM <16, three WF, and five slaves. Perhaps the young WM is the son James. The three WF might include Josiah's wife and perhaps the child, Winifred.

Careful examination of original documents, if possible, need to be made to determine if Elizabeth Bunn was actually and correctly listed as Elizabeth Curl in the Nash County records of 1786.

In the recorded Deeds of Nash County, NC, it is clear that Josiah Horn was acquainted with and substantially involved with the Bunn families of that area. Many members of the Bunn and Curl families are named as witnesses and principals in transactions involving various Horn's, including Josiah, recorded during the 1790's. Thus it is reasonable to expect that Elizabeth Bunn was well known to Josiah Horn during the period in which he was seeking a wife.

Recent (Feb 1999) perusal of Montgomery county Records at the TN State Library has provided evidence that some Bunn's as well as Curl's had joined the migration to Montgomery County during the years that Josiah and his wife Elizabeth relocated there from NC. Burwell Bunn on 23 April 1792 purchased, for 80 pounds, 640 acres on Sinking Creek, a branch of the west fork of the Red River on the west side, in then Tennessee County, and sold it to Lemuel Sugg in November, 1803 for 1500 dollars, then Montgomery County (See Notes to Burwell Bunn). Also on 23 April 1792, Joel Bunn purchased for 80 pounds a 640-acre tract of land in Tennessee County, on the north side of Cumberland River and on the North fork of Sycamore Creek (See Notes to Joel Bunn.)

On 21 December, 1804, William Curl, [son of Wilson Curl (spouse of Mourning Horn, Josiah's Aunt)], now of Stewart County, TN, sold 144 acres, a tract lying on the west side of Blooming Grove (creek) on Pain's Branch, running north on William Weathersby's line. Josiah Horn lived on Blooming Grove Creek, also adjoining Wm Weathersby, from 1800 until his death. On the same date on which Josiah Horn purchased from Robert Prince his 230 acres on Blooming Grove Creek, ie, 16 January, 1800, Prince also sold to "Edward More" a 150 acre tract "on the waters of Blooming Grove Creek".
(See Notes to Wilson Curl, for elaboration.)

It may be of interest to note that in June 1805 William Curl is recorded as a buyer at the estate sale of Thomas Tire, Will Book A, p 268. Five pages later, p 273, Josiah Horn posts a guardian bond as Guardian of Mary Tire, heir of Thomas Tire, deceased. I be ieve the Tire family is also called Tyree, and that two of the Tire/Tyree young ladies, married two of Josiah grandsons several years later.

Thus the Bunn's and the Curl's and the Horn's maintained some proximity in Tennessee as they had done in NC, but clear definition of the origins and background of Josiah's wife, Elizabeth, is still lacking.

[The interested reader may wish to correlate the events in the life of Josiah at this time, with the events in the life of his father, Colonel William, now married to his fourth wife, Sarah Norfleet Hilliard Horn, and the father of two young sons, born 1793 to 1795. These events in the Colonel's life are summarized in the Notes, and elsewhere.]


.......Robert G. Horn, November, 1998 & February, 1999

The essay by Larry Horn establishing that Elizabeth Bunn was not the wife of Josiah Horn follows:


WHO WAS JOSIAH HORN’S WIFE?

by Larry Horn


The Josiah Horn referred to in this title was the son of William Horn and Mary Thomas; he was the grandson of Henry the Quaker Horn and Ann Purcell Horn and of Joseph Thomas and Mourning Pope Thomas. This Josiah Horn migrated from Nash County NC to Montgomery County TN cl800.

My title should perhaps be rephrased thus: How Many Wives Had Josiah Horn, and Who Were They? For if the prevailing accepted view is correct--that the wife of Josiah Horn was Elizabeth Bunn, who was formerly married to Joseph Curl--then clearly Josiah Horn himself had a former wife. On the l790 federal census for Nash County NC Josiah Horn is listed as a head of household with three white females in his home, one of them no doubt his wife. And in l790 Elizabeth Bunn was still married to Joseph Curl (they had been married, as will be shown, since at least l786), and Joseph Curl did not die until l798. It is possible that by that date Josiah Horn had become widowed also and that he and Elizabeth Bunn Curl then married.

However, continued research into the records of Nash County NC for the period concerned has led me to question seriously whether Josiah Horn and Elizabeth Bunn Curl were in fact ever married. And if this is the case, it is likely that Josiah Horn ever had only one wife. I take this position somewhat timorously, knowing that family researchers more experienced than I have concluded/assumed that Elizabeth Bunn was the wife of Josiah Horn. But it is not without significance that, according to Dr. Bob Horn, when he has asked any of these researchers for a source for this conclusion/assumption, no one has been able to provide such. This conclusion/assumption has been perhaps deduced from the readily observable fact, based on deeds and records of property transactions, that in Nash County NC in the l780s and l790s Josiah Horn and Bunns and Curls lived in close proximity to one another, knew one another, and intermingled a great deal. But I have come seriously to doubt that any intermingling included a marriage between Josiah Horn and Elizabeth Bunn Curl.

Making use of legal documents of Nash County NC for the period in question, my essay will seek first to substantiate my doubt that Elizabeth Bunn was ever the wife of Josiah Horn. Then, using additional Nash County documents as well as other material, it will offer what I think is very credible circumstantial evidence, and perhaps more than circumstantial, pointing to the real identity of the wife of Josiah Horn.

One can find numerous assertions on internet genealogy sites that the wife of Josiah Horn was Elizabeth Bunn, daughter of David Bunn, Sr. and Mary Joyner (the same assertion made by the researchers referred to above whom Dr. Bob Horn, to no avail, queried regarding their source). And certainly they had a daughter named Elizabeth. The will of David Bunn, Sr.--written November 27, l784 and probated Feb. 1785--lists these children: David, Redmund, Benjamin, Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth, Rachel, Seleter, and Creasy. (Abstracts of Will Book I, Nash County, NC l778-1868 by Joseph W. Watson)

More valuable to the present undertaking is information contained in a record of the “Division of the estate of David Bunn, deceased” in 1786 in which the married names of his daughters are given: Ann Curl, Sarah Curl, Elizabeth Curl, Rachel Ricks. (Estate Records in the Deed Books of Nash County, NC l781-l897 by Joseph W. Watson)

What this record clearly demonstrates is that, while there may be no evidence that she ever married Josiah Horn, Elizabeth Bunn did marry into the Curl family, and that she had married a Curl by 1786. Taking note of this fact on his Horn family web site, Dr. Bob Horn writes that “Major purchases at the Estate Sale [of David Bunn] are made by Lewis, Willis, and Joseph Curl, clearly nominating them as sons-in-law of the deceased.” He goes ahead to state that Deborah Harbuck in the Bunn family information she provides on World Family Tree CD19, #266 “names Ann Bunn + Lewis Curl and Sarah Bunn + Willis Curl, but associates Elizabeth only with Josiah Horn, and not with Joseph Curl.” This is rather odd, given that records clearly demonstrate that the name of Joseph Curl’s wife was Elizabeth and that this wife clearly had Bunn associations/connections. These facts (which I will get to presently) taken in conjunction with the estate sale records referring to a daughter of David Bunn as “Elizabeth Curl” seem indisputably to indicate that Elizabeth Bunn was the wife of Joseph Curl.

Abundant property transaction records testify to the presence of Joseph Curl in the Stony Creek and Kirby’s Creek areas of Nash County, NC in the 1790s. But by l798 Joseph Curl was dead. This entry appears in Joseph W. Watson’s Abstracts of Early Records of Nash County, NC l777-1859: “Petition of Elizabeth Curl for a year’s support. She was the widow of Joseph Curl, decd. Nov. 13, l798."

One might conclude that the widowed Elizabeth (Bunn) Curl soon married Josiah Horn, perhaps also recently widowed, and accompanied him on his move from Nash County NC to Montgomery County TN--where he was by early l800 as property transactions and a county tax roll show. Such a conclusion would, however, be erroneous, as will be shown. There is also the consideration that if Elizabeth Bunn Curl married Josiah Horn and went with him to Tennessee, what happened to any children she had had by Joseph Curl? Or were they childless? The following records help answer these questions as well as show that Elizabeth Curl, widow of Joseph Curl, was surnamed Bunn, a conclusion that seems unassailable, and that she never went to Tennessee but remained until her death in Nash County NC.

This very significant entry appears in Watson’s Abstracts of Early Records of Nash County, NC l777-l859: “CURL, JOSEPH inventory taken by Benjamin Bunn and David Bunn, admrs., Dec. 18, l798 included nine negroes. Allotment made to widow, Elizabeth Curl, and family. Another inventory taken
March 14, l799 included 100 apple trees. Sale held Dec. 20, l798, with Elizabeth Curl principal buyer. Aug. Term, l799.” The significance is the names of those men who took inventory of the estate of Joseph Curl as administrators. Benjamin Bunn and David Bunn were sons of David Bunn, Sr.; see reference to the latter’s will above, which also names the daughters of David Bunn, Sr., including an Elizabeth. Records of the estate sale of David Bunn, Sr. state the married name of Elizabeth, sister of Benjamin Bunn and David Bunn, to be Curl. Putting all this pertinent information together leads to the inescapable conclusion that the maiden name of the wife of Joseph Curl, deceased, was Elizabeth Bunn. Benjamin Bunn and David Bunn were administering the estate of their brother-in-law.

Then very significantly, and answering the question whether Elizabeth Bunn Curl and Joseph Curl had children, occur these entries in the same work referred to above:

“CURL, MARY (POLLY), orphan of Joseph Curl. Bond l799, returns l801-02-03-04-06-07-10-11-12-13 by Redmun Bunn, gdn. Paid Elizabeth Curl for board and ‘schooling.’”

“CURL, MOURNING, orphan of Joseph Curl. Bond l799, returns l801-02-03-04-06-07-10-11-12-13 by Redmun Bunn, gdn. Paid Elizabeth Curl for board and ‘schooling.’”

“CURL, NANCY (ANN), orphan of Joseph Curl. Bond l799, returns l801-02-03-04-06-07 by
Redmun Bunn, gdn. Paid Elizabeth Curl for board and ‘schooling.’”

“CURL, NORFLEET, orphan of Joseph Curl. Bond l799, returns l801-02-03-04 by Redmun Bunn, gdn. Paid Elizabeth Carl for board and ‘schooling.’”

More evidence that the surname of Elizabeth Curl, widow of Joseph Curl, was Bunn is the name of the man who was her orphaned children’s legal guardian: Redmun Bunn. Redmun Bunn was another brother of Elizabeth Bunn (see above the will of David Bunn, Sr.).

So Elizabeth Bunn Curl and Joseph Curl did indeed have children. What became of these children if she married Josiah Horn and accompanied him to Montgomery County, TN? They appear nowhere in the picture of the family life of Josiah Horn in Montgomery County, TN after his removal there. Did they then remain in North Carolina with their guardian while their mother removed to Tennessee? The records cited just above indicate that for all the years for which returns were made to the court by their guardian, the Joseph Curl orphans resided with their mother, to whom payment for their board and schooling was made, in Nash County, NC.

Other records support this conclusion. Elizabeth Curl is a household head in Nash County, NC in l800, according to Elizabeth Petty Bartley’s Index to the l800 Census of North Carolina. In January of l800, Josiah Horn was already in Montomery County, TN purchasing land along Blooming Grove Creek.
(See Montgomery County Deeds for l796-1800, p. 394, in the TN State Library Archives.) And his name
appears on the l800 Tax Lists of Montgomery County Tennessee in the "Capt. David Brigham's Co." section of those lists (http://www.tngenweb.org/montgomery/taxlistl800.html).

Further and strongly supporting the contention that Elizabeth Bunn Curl, widow of Joseph Curl, never left Nash County, NC--and thus could not be a wife of Josiah Horn--are the following very important entries in Watson’s Estate Records in the Deed Books of Nash County, NC l781-l897 (all from Deed Book 14).

Elizabeth Bunn Curl was clearly in Nash County in late l800: “Allotment of dower to the widow of JOSEPH CURL, deceased, by jury, Nov. 18, l800, a tract of 136 acres on Stony Creek.”

And she was also there with her orphans in l803: “Division of the negroes of JOSEPH CURL, deceased, by commissioners, Dec. 29, l803, among the widow and orphans so as to give the widow her share.”

She was there as well in l807, when another such division was made: “Division of the negroes of JOSEPH CURL, deceased, by commissioners meeting at the house of Elizabeth Curl, Dec. 28, l807. The heirs were Norphlet Curl, Nancy Curl, Polley Curl, and Mourning Curl.”

Another estate division was made in l809: “Division of the lands of JOSEPH CURL, deceased, May Court l809, Aug. 14, l809, among the four heirs, to wit: Polly Curl, Mourning Curl, Norphlet Curl, and Nancy Daniel.

Then there is this entry: “Division of the estate of JOSEPH CURL, deceased, among the widow and other heirs of the deceased, no date. The widow, Norphlet Curl, Nancy Curl, Polly Curl, and Mourning Curl each received 92 pds. 1 sh. 3 ½ p.” While this transaction is not dated, it would appear to be earlier than the immediately preceding one which is dated May l809 because here the daughter Nancy is referred to by her maiden name whereas in the preceding one she is designated by her married name, Daniel.

And according to Nash County Deed Book 5-353 Elizabeth Curl was in Nash County NC in l812. That record tells us that “Elizabeth Curl of Nash. Co.” deeded “to her son Norflet Curl, Aug. 3, l812, for love and affection two negroes by name, to take effect after her death."

That death did not occur until l821. And at that date Elizabeth Bunn Curl was still in Nash County NC. Her will is indexed thus in North Carolina Wills: A Testator Index, l665-l900, vol. 1, A-J by Thornton W. Mitchell. And more detail about this will is given in The Wills of Nash County, NC, vol 1,
l777-l848 abstracted by Dr. Stephen E. Bradley, Jr. This detail helps to identify the Elizabeth Curl of this will. The will was dated Dec. l9, l820 and proved in August Court l821. In her will, Elizabeth Curl leaves to her daughter "Mourning Curl . . . all my property." The will names as its executor Alfred Bunn; and Willie Bunn is one of its witnesses. The name of the daughter (see earlier sections enumerating the children of Elizabeth Curl) clearly identifies the Elizabeth Curl of this will as the woman who has been largely the sujbect of this study thus far, the wife of Joseph Curl. And the names Alfred Bunn and Willie Bunn help strongly to support a central point of this study, that Elizabeth Curl's maiden name was Bunn. The l785 will of David Bunn, Sr. establishes that a brother of his daughter Elizabeth was named Redmun. And the will of Redumn Bunn (l822/l826) identifies Alfred Bunn and Willie Bunn as his nephews. (Abstracts of of Will Book I Nash County NC l778-1868 by Joseph W. Watson) Alfred Bunn and Willie Bunn would thus also be nephews of Elizabeth Curl..

The fate of the children of Elizabeth Bunn Curl may be of some interest. Available evidence suggests that they like their mother remained in North Carolina. Certainly this statement holds true for Nancy Curl and her sister Mary (Polly) Curl. These Curl sisters married Daniel brothers. The l809 estate division of Joseph Curl, see above, refers to Nancy, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Curl, as Nancy Daniel. An entry in Abstracts of Early Records of Nash County NC l777-1859 by Joseph W. Watson identifies her husband as Jephthah Daniel, who died in l824. And "Allotment of Dower to Nancy Daniel, widow of Jephthah Daniel, deceased" was made "by jury, Nov. Term l824," assigning her the right to "a tract of 30 acres which was the house tract; also, the Curl tract of 82 acres on Kirby's Creek." (Watson's Estate Records in the Deed Books of Nash County NC l781-l897) And at a Nash County Court of Equity l845 "Petition for the sale of land for division" was made by the "children of Mary Daniel, 'lately' deceased and David Daniel, decd. They were tenants in common of a tract of land given to said Mary Daniel by her father, Joseph Curl, and of a tract of land given to said David Daniel by his father, David Daniel." (Watson's Abstracts of Early Records of Nash County NC l777-1859.) The l824/25 will of David Daniel, Sr. verifies that Jephthah Daniel and David Daniel were indeed brothers. (Bradley's The Wills of Nash County NC, vol. 1, l777-l848.)

As for Mourning Curl, the other daughter of Elizabeth and Joseph Curl, the only record I have been able so far to locate, besides her mother's will, regarding her later life is the statement in Williams' and Griffin's Early Marriages of Nash County NC that on Nov. 19, l822 Mourning Curle married Jeremiah Bunn; and he no doubt was some kind of the cousin of the bride, deriving from the family of Mourning Curl's mother. His parents appear to have been Burrell Bunn and Charity Horn; she, interestingly, was a cousin of Josiah Horn.

Norfleet Curl, son of Elizabeth Bunn Curl and Joseph Curl , was in Nash County, NC at least until l820. He is listed as a household head on the l810 federal census for Nash County, NC. And on Sept. 23, l811 "Norfleet Curl of Nash Co." sold "to Jephthah Daniel of same . . . a tract of 89 acres on the south side of Kirby's Creek adjoining David Daniel and said Jepthah Daniel. (Watson's Abstracts of Early Deeds of Nash County NC Books 1-6 l778-1813) [At this date Norfleet Curl was the brother-in-law of Jepthah Daniel. The David Daniel referred to is probably David Daniel, Sr. In time, Norfleet Curl would also become the brother-in-law of David Daniel, Jr. (See above)] Norfleet Curl is also listed as a household head in Nash County, NC on the l820 federal census, but he is not listed on the l830 census for NC, having presuambly died during the l820s.


The overwhelming and inescapable conclusion emerging from the foregoing citation of evidence, it seems to me, is that Elizabeth Bunn, while she was indeed wife to Joseph Curl, was never married to Josiah Horn. She did not marry him and accompany him on his move from Nash County NC to Montgomery County TN. She never remarried at all but remained the widow Curl until her death in Nash County in l821. So, whoever the wife of Josiah Horn was, Elizabeth Bunn seems clearly not to be a candidate for that distinction.


End of Part I


See Notes to Josiah Horn and Elizabeth Hunter for additional information.


Children of Josiah Horn and Elizabeth Hunter are: