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grandchildren: Mary Catherine Southard, Nell Southard, & John B. Southard Sr.
great grandchildren: John B. Southard Jr. and Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Southard
father: John D. Wickliffe mustered out at Gettysburg (Confederate Soldier's marker, "Cemeteries"- Muhlenberg, Co., Vol 4) (1799-1870)
John D. Wickliffe mustered out at Gettysburg (Confederate Soldier's marker, "Cemeteries"- Muhlenberg, Co., Vol 4)
(1st cousin to Kentucky Governor Charles A. Wickliffe)
Sarah's maternal family
married: Major Jesse Oates & Zilpha Mason united on April 13, 1798
father: Jesse "Jethro" Oates Sr (1732-80, N. Carolina land owner)
Established the first printing press in North Carolina,1749. reference: Daughters of the American Revolution, Volume XXXIII, Washington, DC, July 1908, page 1031.
James Oates (1647-1703) was a prominent planter and attorney for colonial Virginia and North Carolina. As a highly educated gentleman, he was called Esquire or Master. He was of such importance that he did not have to sign his name like ordinary people, for he was not what they considered an ordinary person.
A study of old wills leads one to understand the significance of various things we pay no attention to today. When one was important enough to have a coat of arms and a signet ring, it identified him. All of James Oates important letters, deeds, etc. have this signet ring seal on them. There still exists some family silver with this signet (Coat of Arms) on it.
James Oates lived in Warwick County, Virginia. He was a friend of many outstanding men in Virginia, including Nathaniel Bacon. When Governor Berkeley resumed the governorship in 1660, he was determined to destroy every democratic process in the colony. The governor drastically limited suffrage, obtained the election of an entirely subservient assembly and had it sit 14 years without re-election. By these and other measures, Virginia became an oligarchy and the ordinary man became more and more dissatisfied. Their growing discontent came to a head in 1676 when the governor declined to protect the frontier from Indian attacks (Susquehannock tribe). The Indians had been attacking the settlers relentlessly.
Men of Virginia wilderness and Jamestown Colony had tried in vain to get aid from King Charles. (What they didn't know at the time: King Charles was sending money & supplies to help fight the Indians. Governor Berkeley was pocketing the money and kept or sold the supplies.)
An overseer for Nathaniel Bacon Jr's plantation was murdered by the Indians. After this death, Bacon lead an attack on the Indians with a volunteer force. For this Governor Berkeley pronouced Bacon a traitor. In the uprising that followed, Bacon captured Jamestown Colony and burned it down, driving Berkeley across the Chespeake Bay. This became known as Bacon's Rebellion. (Jamestown never recovered from Bacon's Rebellion. The community moved inland and established Williamsburg.)
Bacon's Rebellion came to an end with the sudden death of Nathaniel Bacon, October 1676, from a fever. Governor Berkeley lost no time. His reprisals were brutal hangings (over 217) and confiscation of property. All this left an indelible stain upon Berkeley's memory.
James Oates and his friends fled Warwick County, Virginia to save their necks. They had to lie low, which meant going to another part of Virginia. James went to Halifax County, Virginia. When Halifax County got a governor, James Oates moved to Albemarle County, Virginia (now part of North Carolina). His first day in Albemarle County, he represented the governor at court. Within six weeks, all court sessions were held at James Oates' home. As word spread, various friends that had fled Jamestown 12-15 years earlier, started coming back and reunited with Esquire James Oates. The first General Assembly of North Carolina Colony was held in his house from 1696 - his death in 1703.
source: Oates-Earle and Related Families by William Lloyd Winebarger 929.2 011 W Filson Historical Society Library and Muhlenberg County Free Public Library
The Oates family is also identified with the early colonial period of North Carolina history in Inglis Fletcher's novels.
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