William Alldredge (b. 1702)

Name:	William Alldredge
Born:	13 Mar 1703 All Hallow's Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Died:	11 Apr 1786 Mount Pleasant Creek, Randolph County, North Carolina
Buried:	Sandy Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Randolph County, North Carolina
Parents:	Believed to be son of Nicholas Aldridge and wife Martha
Children:	William Alldredge (b. 1729), Eleanor (Alldredge) York, Sylvania (Alldredge) York, Nicholas Alldredge (b. 1737), Nathan Alldredge, James Alldredge

Overview

William Alldredge, also known as William Alldredge Sr., settled in about 1755 in what is now Randolph County, North Carolina, but then part of colonial Orange County. He was born on 13 Mar 1703 in All Hallow's Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, the son of Nicholas and Martha Aldridge. He died 11 Apr 1786, per Dennis York's reading of a discovered tombstone believed to belong to William. Compared to his son Nathan, I have scant records on William. The purpose of this page is to collect and verify what I do have and know.

History

As early as 1957, Memory Aldridge Lester connected our common ancestor, Nathan Alldredge, to William Aldridge born 1703 and to Nicholas Aldridge. I do not know the process by which she came to this conclusion, only that there was not a tradition of who Nathan's father or grandfather was. She appears to have reasoned out the connection by thorough and diligent research. I have known her book since I was very young, but was not completely certain of her conclusions until I was able to verify them though DNA research.

When I first became serious about Aldridge-Alldredge research in 2019–2020, I was concerned by the many unsupported claims (and it seemed to me, unsupportable) made by Dennis York and others on Find a Grave and Ancestry. I tried to get in touch with Mr. York, then the administrator of the Aldridge DNA Project, but was unsuccessful. Four years later, despite repeated attempts to contact him, I have never heard back from him. I can only conclude that he is no longer able to research or communicate.

Mr. York did not provide documentation for any of his claims. In the absence of any evidence, I am unable to accept his conclusions. They are, at least, pointers to possible places to search.

Name

Some researchers online refer to this William Aldridge (b. 1703), as William Ezekiel Aldridge. I do not believe this William Aldridge had a middle name. He never used a middle initial in records. I do not believe his son, William Aldridge (b. 1729), had a middle name either, but I at least accept that the appellation "William Ezekiel" has been attached to him for a long time (i.e. it is pre-Internet).

Birth

The birth of William Aldridge is recorded in the parish register of All Hallow's Parish, Anne Arundel County. He was born 13 March 1703, the son of Nicholas and Martha Aldridge, and christened 11 April 1703. He was the second son of Nicholas and Martha by the name of William: another child named William was born and died in 1702. For this reason, our William's name is sometimes given as "William II."

Disputed marriage

Ever since Memory Aldridge Lester's book in 1957, the claim has been made that William Aldridge married Elizabeth Symmons on July 3, 1726. Without qualification, Memory wrote, "William ... married Elizabeth Symons July 3, 1726." There is only one problem: this is a misreading of the marriage record. I have not laid eyes on the actual record (as of 6 July 2023, I have ordered a copy of it), but all currently available transcriptions read "William Akeridge to Elizabeth Symmons."

The claim that William Aldridge's wife was Elizabeth Symmons has been asserted so many times in the time since Memory Lester that it has become an "accepted fact." Despite the original claim evidently being a mistake, researchers widely are unwilling to let go of the false identification. Dennis York, in his biography of William Aldridge at Find a Grave, states:

William ALDRIDGE married Elizabeth Ursula SYMMONS in Anne Arundel County, Maryland on about 1727, when he was 25 years old and she was 24 years old. This often is confused with the "William Akeridge & Eliza Symmons who were married July 3, 1726". This is the marriage of a different couple.

The bare fact is, the only source for William Aldridge's wife being named Elizabeth Symmons is this marriage record. If one accepts that this marriage record is for William Akeridge rather than Aldridge, then there is no longer any basis for claiming William's wife was Elizabeth Symmons or even that she was named Elizabeth. Prior to Memory's book in 1957, there was no family tradition of William Aldridge's wife's name, either among the Nathan Alldredge family or among the descendants of Sylvania (Alldredge) York (Dennis York's family). We have neither a will for William which names his wife, or a tombstone for her, or any other evidence. If this marriage record is out as belonging to William Aldridge, then his wife's name, both first and maiden, is unknown.

Children

William Aldridge left no will. Dennis York asserts a list of whom William's children "likely included":

1. Joseph Aldridge (b. 1728) — We now know, from DNA research that Joseph Aldridge was not William's son.
2. William Aldridge "III" (b. 1729)
3. Eleanor (Aldridge) York (b. 1730)
4. Sylvania (Aldridge) York (b. 1731)
5. Samuel Aldridge (b. 1735)
6. Nicholas Aldridge (b. 1737)
7. Nathaniel "Nathan" Benjamin Aldridge (b. 1740) — Mr. York has here conflated Nathan Alldredge with Nathaniel Aldridge.
8. James Aldridge (b. 1742)

Of these children, I am personally certain of my own Nathan, and of William, Nicholas, and James, who appeared together in records in Nathan. Either Sylvania (Aldridge) York or Eleanor (Aldridge) York is apparently Dennis York's ancestor. The two Aldridge sisters married York brothers: Sylvania married Semore York, and Eleanor married Thomas York. The York brothers were sons of Jeremiah York, a close neighbor who had land dealings with both William and Nathan. So I feel confident that they are in the right place too. At this time, I have no knowledge of Samuel, and it appears, neither did Mr. York.

So I can list these children with some degree of confidence:

1. William Alldredge (b. 1729)
2. Eleanor (Alldredge) York
3. Sylvania (Alldredge) York
4. Nicholas Alldredge (b. 1737)
5. Nathan Alldredge
6. James Alldredge

Migration and settlement in North Carolina

William Aldridge apparently migrated to North Carolina about 1755. Orange County, North Carolina, was created, and opened for settlement, in 1752. So William might have come a few years prior to 1755. But 15 March 1755 is when he entered land for a grant, on Mount Pleasant Creek, a branch of Sandy Creek, in what is today Randolph County. The grant was issued 13 November 1756.

There is some uncertainty about whether it was this William (b. 1703) or his son, William (b. 1729), who received the 1756 land. To me, it seems likely that it was the father. William the son would have been twenty-six years old. It is certainly possible for him to have received a land grant, but it does not seem likely for the son to receive a land grant and not the father. The next land grant in the same of William Aldridge was entered in 1778. We know that Nathan Alldredge and his brothers were in North Carolina by 1768, from the Regulator movement records. It does not seem likely for William Sr. to have been in North Carolina for ten or twenty years without receiving a land grant, while William Jr. could certainly have lived on his father's land for all that time.

1756 land grant

An abstract of the 1756 land grant follows:

North Carolina, Orange County. File no. 312, Granville land grant no. 3, patent book no. 14, page 328. Entered March 15, 1755. 256 acres, surveyed 27 Oct 1755 for William Aldridge, lying on a branch of Sandy Creek, the waters of Deep River, commonly called Mount Pleasant. Adjoining Herman Husband. Witness, Herman Husband, Steven Peters. Chain carriers, Seymore York, Herman Husband. Issued 13 Nov 1756.

1786 land grant assigned to Nathan Alldredge

An abstract of the 1786 land grant, entered in the name of William Aldridge and assigned to Nathan Aldridge:

Warrant no. 927. 5 December 1778. Survey for William Alredge 200 acres in Guilford County on waters of Mount Pleasant, branch of Sandy Creek, adjoining Henry Pearce.

North Carolina, Randolph County. File no. 166, Grant no. 359, Patent Book 58, page 408. 24 July 1786. 200 acres granted to Nathan Aldridge on waters of Mount Pleasant, branch of Sandy Creek, adjoining Henry Pierce, Jonathan McCallom, and Jeremiah York.

The back of the warrant bears this notation:

December 24th 1783

I sign all my right of this within warrant to Nathan Alldredge. Signed by me,

Wm. {his mark} Alldredge

Witness Jere. York.

1788 land grant

Given that William Alldredge (b. 1703) is believed to have died in 1786, the 1788 land grant in the name of William Aldridge almost certainly belongs to his son, William Alldredge (b. 1729):

North Carolina, Randolph County. File no. 486, Grant no. 526, Patent Book 66, page 373. Entered 14 Sep 1784, issued 14 Sep 1784. 184 acres on the waters of Sandy Creek.

Death

Tombstone ascribed to William Aldridge at Sandy Creek Cemetery.

Dennis York reports William Aldridge's death date as 11 April 1786, based on a discovered tombstone at Sandy Creek Baptist Church. This description accompanies the photo he shared on Find a Grave:

William Aldridge II tombstone marker. This field rock was dug out of the ground in 2003 by Mr. Kivett caretaker of the Sandy Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Liberty, Randolph County, North Carolina. It is installed as part of the Thomas York and Elinor Aldridge grave site. This field rock has been incorporated into the memorial maker for his son-in-law Thomas York placed by Dennis York 6th great grandson in 2003. This William Aldridge is the father of the two Aldridge sisters, Elinor and Sylvania who married two brothers Thomas York I and Semore York I who buried on either side of their beloved pastor Shubal Stearns.

The photo he shared has been digitally altered to enhance the carved date. I have not seen the original stone, so I am not certain how accurate the enhanced image is – whether the date indeed legible, or whether Mr. York is "reading tea leaves."

But the date of 11 April 1786 seems reasonable. Shortly before his death, in 1783, William Alldredge transferred his 1778 land claim to Nathan Alldredge, which was completed and issued in July 1786 after William's death.