William Bridges
William Bridges was born on May 30, 1800 in the Tyancoca Swamp community of Edgecombe County, North Carolina. He was the fourth of the seven children of Drury Bridges and Charity Cohoon Bridges. William became the patriarch, after his father, of the Bridges family of Trigg County, Kentucky. All members of the family tree who carry the surname of Bridges descend from Drury Bridges through his son William Bridges.
Of William’s six siblings, he only had one brother, Orren Dates Bridges. Orren Dates was born about 1802 as his exact birth date is not known. Orren Dates died before the family migrated to Kentucky in 1804 and is buried somewhere in the Tyancoca Swamp community. William’s other siblings born in North Carolina were his twin sisters, Selethia and Piety, born in 1790 and his sister, Jemima, born in 1795. William along with his three sisters traveled with their parents across the Appalachian Mountains and settled in the Donaldson Creek valley in western Kentucky. William’s two other sisters were born in Kentucky, Elizabeth Josephine Bridges, born in 1804 and Mary Bridges born in 1807.
William was only about four or five years old, when his family moved from the Donaldson Creek valley and settled in a small cabin on Beechy Fork Creek in an area eventually called Maple Grove. William grew to maturity in that small cabin on the north side of Beechy Fork Creek where his father had acquired 85 ½ acres of land.
On June 20, 1820, William, at the age of 20 married Mary Thomas, the youngest daughter of James and Mary Standley Thomas. Mary was born July 1, 1802 in Bertie County, North Carolina. William and Mary settled on a farm which was located about two miles west of his father’s original homestead. His farm was in an area known as “Little Spring” also on the banks of Beechy Fork Creek.
William and Mary had twelve children. The twelve children were Orren, born June 27, 1821; Starkie, born February 15, 1823; Simco, born January 17, 1825; Drewry, born January 20, 1827; Burnetta, born March 5, 1830; James, born June 14, 1832; William, Jr., born October 3, 1834; Stanley, born February 14, 1837; Mary, born April 23, 1839; Charity and John, twins, born May 2, 1842; and Cullen, born August 12, 1844, who was born a month after his father’s death. Through his nine sons, who lived to maturity, the Bridges name became well established in Trigg County, Kentucky and eventually throughout the United States.
William Bridges died at his homestead at the fairly young age of 44 on July 11, 1844. He was buried in a family graveyard located on a hillside adjacent to the house where he lived now known as the William Bridges Cemetery. His wife, Mary, outlived her husband by 32 years and died at the age of 74 on July 28, 1876. She was buried next to her husband in the family cemetery.
Tombstone of William Bridges
LINEAGE: (William Bridges was the fourth child of Drury Bridges and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)
The year of birth for Mary Thomas can't be 1762 - is that her mother's birth year perhaps?
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. Mary was born on July 1, 1802 in Bertie County, North Carolina. Don't know where the 1762 came from but thank you for bringing it to my attention. It has been corrected.
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