| Note |
- [William2.FTW]
REFN: 3507
John Gilreath was the oldest of five sons of William Wesley Gilreat h.
His name is first found on the Bute County tax lists in 1771, living
ap art from his father but in the same district as Benjamin Jones. No
record of his marriage to Johannah Jones has been found but there seems
to be general agreement among Gilreath family researchers that this is a
fact. After his m arriage to Johannah Jones, it appears that they lived
on the farm of her fath er and mother. In his will, made in 1776,
Benjamin Jones leaves John Gilreat h in full possession of the farm, for
his widow's behalf, and gives him a sha re of his personal estate. There
was clearly a close relationship between J ohn Gilreath and Benjamin Jones.
Although in 1778, John and his brother, Willi am, refused to sign a
loyalty oath in support of North Carolina and against K ing George 3rd, he
and two of his brothers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Why they
refused to sign the oath is a mystery, especially in view of the fact
that their father had been active in attending meetings of the Bute
County Committee on Safety. That same year, John and his brothers James
an d William signed a petition to divide Bute County into what became
Warren and Franklin counties. The Carolina legislature approved and,in
1779, the part of Bute County where the Gilreaths lived became Warren
County. John Gilreat h is on the 1779 list for the Smith's Creek and
Hawtree Creek Tax District wi th property valued at 507 pounds.
It is not clear when he migrated west to Wil kes County. The recordsshow
that in 1780 he claimed 50 acres in Wilkes adjo ining the land of Thomas
Hamrick. However in 1781, he was still on Captain J ohn Colclough's tax
list in Warren County for 126 pounds and 8 shillings. Wh ether he was
physically present in Warren County at that time is not known. In any
case, sometime around 1780 he moved his family Wilkes County, followin g
in the footsteps of his father, brothers William and Alexander and three
of his brothers-in-law, Thomas, William and James Jones. Johannah's
mother, then a widow, went with John and her daughter.
By 1782, John is in Captain Nathaniel Gordon's Tax District, listed as
owning 100 acres and two cattle. Thomas Jones (Sr.) is also in this
district. William Gilreath, Sr. and his other two sons, William, Jr.and
Alexander are in Capt. Abraham Demoss' distr ict. The 1787 North Carolina
census for Wilkes County, Captain Trible's Distr ict, taken by James
Fletcher, lists the John Gilreath household with one male 21-60, 3 males
under 21 amd 4 females. He was taxed on 150 acres of land.
The 1790 census for the 16th Company of Wilkes County, in which John,
William and Alexander Gilreath lived, showed that John Gilreath's
household containe d four females one of whom was probably the widow
Johannah since John and his wife had only three daughters. John Gilreath
was appointed constable in Cap tain Gordon's District in 1793, replacing
his brother Alexander, a position h e held until he resigned on May 2,
1797.
The 1800 census for John Gilreath's household shows one male less than
ten, two less than sixteen,, one over for ty five and, for females, one
less than sixteen and one over 45. Apparently, Johannah Jones has either
died or moved away.
He remained in Wilkes County until his death in 1802. Although John
Gilreath received land grants in Wilk es County ranging from 50 to 100
acres during the 1780s, the land his family seemed to have retained after
his death was a tract of 106 acres purchased on May 7, 1794 (Wilkes
County NC DB B-1, p. 407-408). This land, bought at a c ourt orderedland
sale, was located on both sides of Little Cub Creek, probab ly near his
father who lived on a fork of the same creek. The deed was prove d on the
oath of Hillair Roussau who in 1805 was the Captain of the tax distr ict
where Johannnah Gilreath resided. Later, o
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Abt 1754 - Aft 1802 (~ 48 years)
Children