New Book: Descendants of John Bates of York, SC

William G. Bates, or Texas Bill, has published a new book entitled, "The Descendants of John Bates of York, South Carolina.

It is finally an accomplished fact, the 288 page book, "The Descendants of John Bates Sr From York County, South Carolina" (the first four generations) has been printed and distributed to family members who have requested a copy. The book was intentionally bound in the loose leaf style using2" clear comb bindings that will allow additions, principally Addenda, to be added to each individual book as the holder sees fit. The Addenda, the family lines of John Bates Sr's children who have descendants past the fourth generation (John Jr, Zachariah, Alenna, Allen, and David), will require both time and effort due to necessity of contacting all living individuals as to their preference in printing their personal information. I will probably set a date whereby if the "Permissions" have notbeen received, the Addenda will be printed using only the full name of anyone without permission on file. While the "Basic Book", as I call it for brevity, has only been offered to very few non-relatives other than The Bates Association, BFOOV, and the York County Genealogical and Historical Society, there is the possibility that other non-relatives may request a copy for their familial library so as to preclude using research in their genealogical era that is related within its pages. I am presently
asking $35.00 donation that only covers production and shipping costs. The Addenda WILL NOT BE OFFERED to non-vetted family members because of the magnitude of living individuals they will contain.

As an aside to this, I am adding to this note part of the opening section of the book as pertains to John BATES Sr and some early history of family migrations.

Beginning, fact and conjecture

Facts, and some conjecture, as of 25 July 2010:

1. John Bates arrives in the Colonies, probably Baltimore, between 1770 and 1775, age 20-25. He married Rebecca BEAL about 1777 probably in Georgetown, Maryland with John Jr (1778), Mary (1780), and Zachariah (1781) being born in the vicinity before he, and others, head south mid spring 1783.
2. John Sr pays cash to purchase 300 acres of land "on the main fork of Fishing Creek on the Indian Line with William Hall" in Sep 1783.
3. John seems to have been reasonably well educated as attested by the 1800 census that was written in his own hand with his signature on the opening page and on the final page when he gave two copies to the Marshall who then passed it to his superior with acknowledgment that they came from John BATES.
4. Besides being the Assistant Marshall for the 1800 census, John was also a Constable (1790), Under Sheriff (1793), and appointed a Commissioner (one of three) to oversee finishing the York County Court House building in Yorkville.
5. Mary BATES, on the 1850 York County, SC census and widow of Robert ELLIS, states she was 70year old (born 1780) and born in Maryland.
6. Only one of John Sr's children, Allen BATES, lived long enough to indicate on the 1880 census that his father was born in England and his mother was born in Maryland. Allen named both of John's wives, his mother as Rebecca Beall by full name and "Miss Kennedy" as the second wife, in a document to the York County Probate Court contesting the previous execution of Isis Bates' intestate probate settlement.
7. Zachariah's son, John C. BATES, indicates on the 1880 Sebastian County, Arkansas census that his father was born in "D. Columbia".
8. There is a John Bates (baker age 21 from Norwich) who signed a five year indenture aboard the ship Elizabeth bound Virginia which sailed from London on the morning tide 27 November 1774.
9. There is a John Bates who marries a Rebekah Rolfe in London in October 1775.
10. There is a John BATES, escaped prisoner, deserted his 7 year indenture contract in the sixth year, in 1777. This is followed by a John BATES who enlisted in the Continental Army in Annapolis, Maryland shortly afterwards. This is being investigated at this time.
11. There is a John BATES, from South Carolina, who is an Indian Trader who has made at least two trips into the central Georgia area that included Fayette County because of its Indian gathering locations. Along with this is the known location of Wiley and William REEVES, cousins to RIchard Lawson REEVES, Alenna Bates' husband, in Jasper County, Georgia (two counties before Fayette County on a direct line from Savannah, Georgia) Given the above, it is a consensus that:

The John Bates on the ship Elizabeth could not be be John Sr of York County, SC primarily because of the date in conjunction with other known dates and facts. There are the conditions of indenturement when coupled to the marriage to Rebecca BEALL about 1777. None of the individuals/families who purchased an indenture in this time frame would allow the individual to marry until the contract was satisfied without substantial extension. There has been noted incidences, all well documented, where the owner was impressed with the contractee's performance and considered the contract satisfied as much as six months, and one case 10 months, ahead of the original contractual date. However, considering the expected arrival date between early January to late February 1775, would preclude this John marrying Rebecca BEALL in 1777 as the earliest this John BATES could have been eligible to marry, without contractual penalty, would be about July 1779. Additionally, the Revolutionary War was a controlling factor in this area from early 1777 to about 1782.

The John Bates who married Rebekah Rolfe in London is considered by the research group to be improbable as much because of the date, 1775, and John of York County's marriage to Rebecca BEALL of Maryland in 1777. There is, however one of several sequence of events that could still allow this to be accurate, however, all of them require Rebekah to die between early 1776 to shortly after arrival, probably Baltimore, in late 1776 and John to immediately became acquainted with the BEALL family. The most probable cause of death would be childbirth with the child possibly surviving though there are conditions of ship crossings where death has been noted for numerous other reasons. There is no documentation found to confirm or deny this conjecture besides the marriage in London.

The John BATES, escaped prisoner, in 1777 seems to have much going for this possibility. Several items have been discovered that seem to point in his direction. First he has been in the proper area, present Alexandria and northward to about Great Falls to encounter the BEALL family of Georgetown, Maryland. and the owner did not pursue but only reported the incidence which seems to indicate the two events may be linked. Second is the historical records of the unit to which he enlisted includes service in the Carolina's as Coastal Defense which would probably put them in a position of being in the area of the Battle on Kings Mountain or afterwards highly possible. Kings Mountain is in the extreme northwest corner of York County but at the time of the battle was part of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Since John would have had to marry Rebecca BEFORE he enlisted in the Continental Army, it is necessary that we discover something that indicates this John knew her and/or something of their marriage. Research is ongoing at this time.


The discovery of the Isis Intestate Documents, both original Probate (1872) and the later contestation(1884) by John Jr's living children (William T., John W., Thomas Allen, and Nancy (Bates) Aiken) with John Jr's brother, Allen Bates, clearly shows several facts.

First, John Sr was married twice, first to Rebecca BEAL (Correct spelling BEALL) of Maryland and after her death to Miss KENNEDY in York County, South Carolina. Miss KENNEDY is believed to have died before John Sr (1833) as there are indications of her on the 1810 and 1820 censuses but not on the 1830 census plus there is no provision for her in John Sr's will with his entire estate going solely to his unmarried daughter, Isis.

Also contained in these documents is they did not know whether Zachariah was alive or not in 1872 but that he was last known to be in Arkansas with no specific location. There is also John Jr preceding Isis in death and gives his year of death as 1856 in Georgia.

It is speculation on my part, along with the birth declarations and the prevailing tradition that a woman would repair to her parents home, if they were close by, for childbirth. It is believed that all three, John Jr, Mary (confirmed), and Zach (confirmed), were born across the Potomac River in what is now the Georgetown district of the District of Columbia.

The area now known as Arlington District is an official part of District of Columbia on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. This area may have been the locality for John's residence from arrival to 1783 when he, and others, head south, either via the Old Indian Road (Shenandoah valley) southward or the Fall Line Road which began in Fredericksburg and ends at the South Carolina side of the Savannah River across from Augusta, Georgia. No one in their right mind, not so much as problems with the natives but primarily because of outlaws, would have attempted family travel individually for any distance during this time period but would have connected with others in their area who wanted to travel in the same direction with a leader who had been to the area of destination.

Anyone who wishes to contact me may do so using my email address, WGB97@elp.rr.com, and I would be happy to discuss this, or any of the multitudinous families of research I have been engaged in over the past thirteen years. I have numerous files of several other BATES lines that, while not complete and in most cases just plain outdated, I have information that may be of importance of some individuals particularly in the western Georgia and Alabama area. I have a huge file on the cemetery listings in the Cullman County, Alabama area that includes four different BATES family lines. I do not recall the exact connection points but there is a "Back Door" connection between this BATES family and BFOOV through the ALFORD family in Virginia (1700's) and somewhat later (mid 1800's) in Spalding County, Georgia.

I would urge all individuals with DNA test to please upgrade them to at least 67 markers to take advantage of the newest research possibility and connections.

William G. Bates

Those interested in obtaining a copy can contact Bill at: wgb97@elp.rr.com, or

William G. Bates
637 Castile Ave
El Paso, Tx 79912
ph. 915-307-7627