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The Rountree Family The Rountree Family By Steven R. Butler, Ph.D. We are related to the Rountree Family by virtue of the fact that my grandmother, Alice May Tate, was a daughter of Isaac Henry Tate, who was a son of Mariah Elizabeth Hill Tate, who was a daughter of Isabella Hill Cox, who was a daughter of Mildred Mariah Rountree Cox, who was a daughter of Richardson Rountree, who was a son of William Rountree. According to Bardsley's A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, Rountree, also spelled Roundtree, Rowntree, Rowantree or Roantree, means "at the rowan-tree (the mountain ash), from residence beside such a tree." It is a "well-known North-English surname." William Rountree Our earliest certain progenitor in this line is a colonial planter named William Rountree, who, according to some researchers, was born in England (year unknown) and immigrated to the British colony of Virginia about 1720, where he settled in New Kent County, got married, started a family, and resided for nearly thirty years. There's evidence that he also lived for a time in Hanover County before finally settling in Goochland County (west of Richmond), where he died sometime in 1766 at the age of about sixty-six. Other researchers state that he was born in America and that his (and our) ancestors can be traced back to the sixteenth century, to one Moses Rountree of Yorkshire, England, which is possible, but unproven to a certainty. William Rountree's wife's name, according to all accounts, was Dorcas, reportedly the daughter of Ambrose Dudley. Together, William and his wife, whatever her maiden name, had the following nine children, not necessarily shown here in birth order:
Although the earliest land records of New Kent County, Virginia no longer exist, the vestry records of St. Peter's Parish show that Dudley Rountree, son of Wiliam and Dorcas, was baptized in New Kent County on March 2, 1728 (old style)/1729 (new style). No baptismal or christening record of any of the other children can be located.
The land records of neighboring Goochland County, Virginia likewise confirm that the family of William Rountree resided in New Kent County, by recording that on March 25, 1749, William Rountree "of Blisland Parish in new Kent County" paid £145 for 700 acres of land on the "broad Branch" in St. James' Parish, Goochland County, which he bought from a man named Philip Webber. It should not be presumed, however, that William Rountree immediately moved to and resided upon this property thereafter because eight years later, on November 15, 1757, William Rountree "of St. Paul's Parish in the County of Hanover and Colony of Virginia" for "Diverse causes me hereunto Moving but more especially for the Father like Love which I Bear to my Son William Rowntree" gave his namesake a 350-acre plantation, complete with "dwelling house, orchards, and fences" in Goochland County, located "on the Mannekin town Ferry Road," which was the "upper part of a tract" that he (William Sr.) had purchased from "Mr. Webber." On the very same day, William Rountree gifted the remaining lower 350 acres of this 700-acre tract to his son, Randal Richardson. The previous day, November 14, 1757, William Rountree "of St. Paul's Parish in the County of Hanover and Colony of Virginia," in consideration of 157 Pounds and ten shillings, sold a different 700-acre tract in Goochland County, located on the Beaverdam Creek, to John Woodson and John Wright and his wife, Ann. There does not seem to be any record, however, of how and when he acquired this property. It should be noted that Hanover County was formed from a portion of New Kent County in 1719. It may be that William Rountree became a Hanover County resident simply because county boundary lines changed, and not because he physically moved. Unfortunately, without knowing precisely where his property was located, it is difficult to know which scenario applies.
In 1766, "Mr. William Rowntree of Virginia" was listed as one of the subscribers to a little pamphlet, published in London, England, entitled Sermons on the Most Useful and Important Subjects, Adapted to the Family and Closet, Vol. 1. We also know that sometime between 1757 and 1765, William Rountree moved to Goochland County, where he was a man of wealth and property. His will, which was written and signed on October 1, 1765, reveals that at the time of his demise and despite the generous gifts of land he had already given to two of his sons, he still owned in excess of 450 acres. He also owned eleven enslaved African-Americans, who were named in the will, as follows: Rip, James, George, Phillis, Nan, Luca, Nell, Charles, Sam, Ben, and Jane. Their ages were not given. Here is William Rountree's will in full, which names not only his children and his slaves but also some of his grandchildren:
William Rountree was almost certainly buried somewhere in Goochland County, Virginia but the precise location of his grave, and that of his wife, is unknown. Richardson Rountree
Richardson Rountree, one of the six sons of William Rountree and his wife, Dorcas, was born about 1735, almost certainly in New Kent County, Virginia. He was a planter like his father before him, except that following his father's death in 1765, he sold his inherited land in Virginia and removed to South Carolina, where he took up residence in what would eventually become Edgefield County, the western border of which is the Savannah River, separating South Carolina from Georgia. On June 14, 1756, when Richardson Rountree was approximately twenty-one years of age, he received a royal land grant of 150 acres in Craven County, one of the original three counties of South Carolina, which encompassed all of the present-day state that lay between the boundary with North Carolina and a long line formed by the Saluda, Congaree, and Santee rivers. (South Carolina Royal Land Grant Book 1 Index, p.410.) According to one source, thirty-year-old Richardson Rountree married nineteen-year-old Mary Hart (born 1746) in 1765 in Halifax County, North Carolina. Another source claims that he had two wives and that he married the first, named Matilda Anderson, in Goochland County, Virginia, and that she died about 1774. No matter how many wives, we know that Richardson Rountree fathered the following named children::
Although a source exists which claims that Richardson Rountree and his family lived in Halifax County, North Carolina for several years following their move from Virginia, there appear to be no land records for him in that county during any period of time nor anything else that might confirm his residence there. There is, however, a record of a royal land grant in South Carolina, dated February 15, 1768, in which Richardson Rountree was granted 150 acres on the "S. side of the Catawba River on a branch thereof called Fishing Creek, it being eight feet wide and six inches deep," which ran diagonally through the property. (South Carolina Royal Land Grant Plat Book 9, p.288.)
On March 30, 1771, Richardson Rountree received a third royal land grant, this time for 100 acres on the "S. side of the Pacolet River," which formed the property's northern boundary. It was surveyed and certified in 1773. (South Carolina Royal Land Grant Plat Book 20, p.216 .)
During the latter part of the American War for Independence, Richardson Rountree served as a Captain of Commissaries in Colonel Thomas Brandon's Regiment, Anderson's Return, South Carolina Militia, both before and after the fall of Charleston in 1780. Unfortunately, the personal details of his service have been lost to history, but there is an interesting story about him that was related in The Memoirs of Georgia (1895).
A similar version of the story, with a different ending, was printed in Historical Collections of the Joseph Habersham Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Vol. II:
Although any further details of Richardson Rountree's military service have unfortunately been lost to history, we know that Colonel Brandon's Regiment, which consisted largely on Union County men, was known as the Second Spartan Regiment, South Carolina Militia. We also know that on either June 10 or July 12, 1780, at a place called "Brandon's Camp," located near Fair Forest Creek in present-day Union County, South Carolina, where he was recruiting patriots to fight the British and Tories, the regiment was attacked and dispersed by Tories. We also know that Brandon's Regiment took part in the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780 and Cowpens in 1781. In all likelihood, Captain Rountree and his men took part in both those engagements and others. Richardson Rountree's Revolutionary War service is also verified by records in the South Carolina state archives showing that he was paid for his militia service, as well as for providing his troops with provisions in 1782 (South Carolina Revolutionary War Stub Entries to Indents, #6634.) Following the war, Richardson Rountree received at least two land grants from the State of South Carolina. The first, for which he paid seven Pounds, seven Shillings and six Pence, was dated April 3, 1786. It entitled him to a "plantation or tract of land" measuring 316 acres "in the District of Ninety-Six, on both sides of Buffalow Creek, a branch of Fair Forest including his plantation." The second, for which he paid seven Pounds, fourteen Shillings, and eleven Pence, was dated March 3, 1788. It entitled him to 332 acres of land adjacent to his earlier grant. Richardson Rountree was still living in Union County, South Carolina when the 1790 federal census was taken. At that time, he and his wife had two sons and six daughters. He also had six slaves. Here is a list of land transactions involving Richardson Rountree in Union County, South Carolina:
In 1800, the Richardson Rountree family was living in Edgefield District, South Carolina with two sons between the ages of 10 and 15, one daughter under ten, two daughters 10 to 15, and five slaves. In 1810, the family was still resident in Edgefield District, with one son under ten and two from 16 to 25, and 15 slaves. By this time, all of Richardson and Mildred's daughters were presumably married and living in their own homes with their husbands and children. The oldest sons too. Here is a list of land transactions involving Richardson Rountree in Edgefield District, South Carolina:
Sometime in early 1819, Richardson Rountree died at the advanced age of about eighty-four, which was quite remarkable for that period in history. From all appearances, his wife, Mildred, predeceased him. Unfortunately, he died intestate, that is without leaving a will. Consequently, on April 20, 1819, the Edgefield District court appointed his sons James and Daniel administrators of his estate, which was inventoried shortly afterward. In addition to some furniture, household goods, tools, farm implements, and livestock, the estate also included ten slaves, whose names and appraised values were given as: "one negro boy named Jesse," valued at $600, one negro woman named Clary, valued at $200.50, another negro woman named Nan, valued at $450, a third negro woman named Milly, valued at $200, a fourth named Sook, valued at $500, one negro girl named Neley, valued at $500, another girl, named Leah, valued at $450, a boy named Harper, valued at $550, another boy, named Hall, also valued at $550, and a boy named Jack, valued at $800; total appraised value of enslaved persons, $4,800.50. Interestingly, when the aforementioned slaves were actually sold, in almost every case the amount paid was higher than the appraised value. There were also three (Lewis, Tempy, and Chany, who were not mentioned in the inventory taken earlier. A list of the buyers, slaves, and amounts paid for each is as follows:
TOTAL: $7,673.00 Equally interesting is the fact that of all the property of Richardson Rountree that was sold, collectively, his slaves were by far the most valuable. The amount raised by the sale of everything else came to $1.415.48. Apart from the plantation that he had already gifted to his son, Daniel, the land that he still owned, a tract of 139 acres, was sold by his heirs for only $300. (Edgefield District, South Carolina Deed Book 37, pp.246-7.) Court documents identify the legatees of the deceased, which included, as was the custom of the day, his sons-in-law, in place of their wives, who received a cash payment from the sale of the estate (in most cases, $725), except, for some unknown reason, Asa Cox, husband of Mildred Mariah Rountree, who is not listed, nor Mildred Rountree, which suggests that she had predeceased her husband:
According to one researcher, Richardson Rountree was buried at Edgefield Village Cemetery. Edgefield, Edgefield County, South Carolina.
The Rountree Family
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