Colonel John Tate

1743 - 1828  (85 years)

• Name	John Tate
  Title	Colonel
  Born	1743	Augusta Co., VA
  Gender	Male
  Died	15 Dec 1828	Lebanon, Russell Co., VA
  Buried	Russell Co., VA
  Person ID	I783	Main
  Last Modified	21 Mar 2006

  
  

  Father	Robert Tate, Sr.,   b. 1725,   d. 1794, Russell Co., VA  (Age 69 years)
  Family ID	F182	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary Bracken,   b. 1742, New Castle, New Castle Co., DE ,   d. 13 Mar 1817, Lebanon, Russell Co., VA  (Age 75 years)
  Married	c1766	Lebanon, Russell Co., VA
  Children	+ 1. John Tate, Jr.,   b. 6 Aug 1761, Russell Co., VA ,   d. Kentucky, USA + 2. Jane Tate,   b. 1763, Fincastle, Betetourt Co., VA ,   d. Before 9 Dec 1829, Pulaski Co., KY  (Age 66 years) + 3. Robert Tate,   b. 31 Jul 1768, Fincastle, Betetourt Co., VA ,   d. 3 Aug 1844, Tateville, Pulaski Co., KY  (Age 76 years) + 4. Hannah Tate,   b. 1772, Russell Co., VA ,   d. 3 Jun 1844, Tateville, Pulaski Co., KY  (Age 72 years) + 5. Major Samuel Bracken Tate,   b. 11 Nov 1775, Russell Co., VA ,   d. 21 May 1845, Pulaski Co., KY  (Age 69 years) + 6. Martha Tate,   b. 1777, Washington County, Virginia, USA ,   d. 1847, Tateville, Pulaski Co., KY  (Age 70 years) + 7. Isaac Tate,   b. 27 Sep 1780, Russell Co., VA + 8. Lydia Tate,   b. 1785, Russell Co., VA ,   d. 15 Oct 1854, Scott County, Virginia, USA  (Age 69 years)
  Last Modified	31 Dec 2002
  Family ID	F799	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 1743 - Augusta Co., VA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Headstones

  Tate, John Photo courtesy Shirley Owens-Fletcher by way of Doy Louise Groenenberg

  
  

• Notes

  John Tate was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War according to the reference from Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 27, Tate Family. In a deposition in 1808 he moved to Russell Co., VA in 1772. They had 12 children., Robert, Samuel, Homer, John, Lydia, Isaac, Mattie and Hannah Tate. Hannah was born in 1772, died in 1844 and married Colbert Fugate. From The Tate Family of Russell Co., VA by David Farris, Gateway Press, 1986 From WFT V2 # 5573: John Tate was born in 1743, Virginia, and is thought to be a son of Robert Tate. John is thought to be the brother to Robert Tate Jr., born 1745 and to William Tate, born 1747. John Tate, at the age of 23, married Mary Bracken in 1766. In a deposition dated 24 February 1810 for the court case of George Fugate vs. Nancy Mahon; John Tate stated that he settled on Big Moccasin Creek on a spur of Clinch Mountain on the Holston River in November 1772 and that Francis Fugate family then lived on the land. The land was located in Botetourt County, and that Francis Fugate, deceased, who lived five miles from him, " did as the rest of us did, defended our land and families, and lived on the land in dispute (1772-1781) except for the time forted." The land in the Moccasin Valley on which John Tate first settled was Botetourt County, then shortly thereafter became Fincastle County. (Jan. 1773- Jan. 1777) In 1777, Fincastle Co., was discontinued, and the land was then in Washington County. (Jan. 1777- May 1786) In 1786, John's original settlement near Lebanon, became present day Russell County. John obtained his first land grant of 145 acres from the Royal Company of Virginia. The land was surveyed 12 December 1774 by John Floyd, Deputy to Colonel William Preston, Surveyor of Fincastle County. Around 1775-76, John and his neighbors built a fort for protection against Indians on his land. The fort was called Tate's Fort and was known by early travelers to Tennessee and Kentucky. John enlisted in the Washington County Virginia Militia and Patriots during the American Revolution and fought in the Revolutionary Battle of King's Mountain, 8 October 1780, in South Carolina. John Tate's name is found in the "History of Washington County and Southwest Virginia" by Lewis Preston Summers. The Washington County Militia was commanded by Colonel William Campbell who led them to victory against the British Forces. Colonel William Campbell was married to Elizabeth Henry, sister to Patrick Henry. She then married General William Russell, (for whom Russell Co. was named), after the death of Colonel Campbell. A Land Treasury Warrant, survey recorded 1 May 1781 for $9,059, Washington County, gave John an additional 100 acres of land. In Nov. 1781, John Tate, Robert Tate, William Huston and John Wood were appointed to appraise the estate of Francis Fugate deceased, who was killed by a fall from his horse. John Tate in February 1782, was among the ones who were appointed to view and cut out the road down Moccasin Valley from Little Moccasin Gap in Clinch Mountain (present US 19) between Abingdon and Lebanon to Big Moccasin Gap (present US 23) near Gate City. With the formation of Russell County in May of 1786, John Tate was appointed constable and an overseer of the poor. He was also a Lieutenant in the Militia. In 1787, John was appointed Captain in the upper Militia of the Moccasin Valley. He also took the "Oath of Allegiance" to the newly drafted Constitution of the United States. By appointment by the Governor of Virginia, John Tate served as a " Gentlemen Justice " on the Russell County Court with devotion for the rest of his life. Because of his position as Justice, he was referred to as John Tate; Gent., of John Tate; Esquire. John rode his horse to various places of county government meetings at Castlewood, Dickensonville and Lebanon, serving one to three days per month. He often presided, wrote the minutes of the meetings, and signed them with an attractive, bold signature. Still in the Virginia Militia in 1789, John became Captain of the 2nd Battalion, 72nd Regiment. In 1792 when Lee County had been formed from part of Russell County, John was Appointed as one of the commissioners for Russell County to meet with the commissioners for Lee County to superintend and run the dividing line between the two counties. In 1800, John recorded his cattle mark with the Russell Co., Court. His cattle mark was a "swallow fork" in the left ear. John became Sheriff and Collector of Revenue serving 2 years in 1801. James Monroe, the Governor of Virginia, later President, appointed John Tate to become Lieutenant Colonel Commander of the 72nd Regiment, 3rd Division of the Virginia Militia in 1802. Again in 1809, John was an overseer of the poor and served by re-appointments 15 or more consecutive years. In 1813, John and others, requested that a school be established officially as Amity Hall Academy. John was one of the signers and one of the trustees. In 1819, John and his grandson, Robert Fugate, became executors of the estate of Colbert Fugate, deceased. Colbert Fugate married his daughter Hannah. Colbert was a farmer, part-time county official, and 3 times a member of the Virginia Legislature. John as the senior Justice among 31 present for a special meeting in Lebanon in 1825, help start Emory and Henry College, 10 miles east of Abingdon at Emory, Virginia. At the age of 83 in 1826, John again became Sheriff and Collector of Revenue for Russell County and served 2 years. This was his third term as Sheriff. On the Tate Farm at Zumbeg, 15 miles southwest of Lebanon, in the Moccasin Valley, a moss-covered slab reads: " Col. John Tate, died December 15, 1828, aged 85 years, and Mary Tate, his wife, died March 13, 1817, aged 75 years." Inventory of his estate 11 Feb. 1829, wit: Martin Fugate, David Jessee and John Olson. At the sale 13 Feb. 1829 were: John Fugate, Hannah Fugate, Uriah Fugate, Hiram & John Owens, Elisha Price, John, Joseph, Robert and William Tate. Administrator of estate, Robert Tate, a deed of 9 Dec 1829 is signed by: Robert Tate, Hannah Fugate, Samuel Tate and the heirs of Jane Haddox or Haddin, dec'd, John Buster and Martha his wife, William Fugate and Lydia his wife. To his son Isaac Tate, Hannah the widow of Colbert O. Fugate, etc. John Tate gave Isaac Tate a tract of land but did not deed it to him, consequently after his death in 1828, the family met and signed a deed to Isaac conveying the 108 acres on which he then lived to him, the deed dated 9 Dec. 1829. From The Tate Families of Russell Co., VA, by David Farris, Gateway Press, 1986 The ancestors of Col. John Tate and his brother Robert Jr. are uncertain. Their whereabouts prior to their arrival in Southwest Virginia in the late 1760's or early 1770's has not been determined. There are some pieces of information that do point to the Tate family who first settled in York Co. in about 1635. This family lived in New Kent Co., which came out of York Co. from the mid 1660's, and through the 1760's in Hanover and Louisa Counties. Both Hanover and Louisa Counties came out of New Kent. The association John and Robert Tate with this Tate family stems from the similarities in the family names, but more importantly, from their departure to Orange County, North Carolina. This connection can be made through John Tate's wife Mary Bracken. Mary Bracken's grandfather, William Bracken, immigrated from England in 1699, landing in Philadelphia aboard the "Britannia" of Liverpool. He settled in New Castle, Delaware where he became well enough off to give land to his sons. John Bracken, Mary's father, sold his land in 1763 and left New Castle. He moved to Orange County, NC were he is recorded in 1766 and died in 1770. The Tate family moved from the Louisa County area sometime in the 1760's with many of them settling in the Orange, Guilford and Caswell Counties of North Carolina. The census of 1790 shows the children of John Bracken living adjacent to several members of the Louisa County Tate family in the Chatham District. It is very possible that John and Mary Tate never did move to North Carolina, but struck out on their own during this time of westward movement. Specific records of John and Robert (Jr.) Tate start in what was Botetourte County about 1770. Robert accumulated more land than John. Col. John Tate was active in the settlement of the area of what was to become Russell County. Both he and his brother Robert were very active in area affairs, with John the more civic minded of the two. A Robert Tate, possibly Robert and John's father, died in Russell County about 1794. John Tate settled in Moccasin Creek in 1772, on land that Francis Fugate had lived on. John and Mary Tate remained their the rest of their lives. In the 1770's and 1780's he was active in the Militia, and he served as a Justice of the Court and as sheriff of Russell County. His daughter, Hannah, born about 1772, married Colbert Fugate about 1789 or 1790. Robert Tate was not as active in civic affairs and less is know of him. His wife Mary's family is unknown. His oldest son Joseph married Margaret Floyd sometime before 1805. Joseph's son and Robert's grandson, Elisha, married Eliza Davenport. Elisha and Eliza Tate's daughter, Permelia Jane Tate married Ferdinand Joseph Colbert Fugate in 1850. This would make F.J.C Fugate and Permelia Jane Tate third cousins, sharing a common great-great grandfather, Robert Tate Sr. FRONTIER FORTS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA, by Emory L. Hamilton From Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Number 4, 1968, pages 1 to 26 TATE'S FORT Tate's Fort on Moccasin Creek in Russell County was another the early historians completely overlooked, and only two historical references brought it to light. The first made by Mrs. Samuel Scott of Jessamine Co., KY, who in referring to her stay on the Clinch makes this statement: "We moved out of Tate's Fort, close on Moccasin Creek, over to Holston to get ready to come to Kentucky." (15) This was in the spring of 1780 and she joined a party of emigrants to Kentucky in 1784. The other statement was made by Captain John Carr, of Sumner Co., TN, who was born on Carr's Creek in Russell Co., VA, in 1773, and moved with his widowed mother to the Cumberland settlement in 1784. In speaking of the year 1776, he states: "My father settled on Big Moccasin Creek with some 15 or 20 families from Houston's Fort. The Indians were so troublesome that we built a "new fort". It was called Tate's Fort, where we forted in summer and returned home in winter." (16) Carr's statement needs some clarification and he does not mean that his father settled on Moccasin Creek in 1776, but that it was this year in which they moved out of Houston's Fort where they had refugeed in the past and built a new fort for their convenience. His father had settled on Moccasin Creek much earlier for John, himself, was born there in 1773, and his father died there in 1782. This, then, places the construction of Tate's Fort in the year 1776. That Tate's Fort was a stockaded affair certainly cannot be doubted, for 15 or 20 families could never have crowded into a fort house. It certainly must have been manned and defended by its occupants for I find no record of militia ever having been stationed there. This fort was built on the lands of Colonel John Tate who had settled on Moccasin Creek in the year 1772, on a tract of 174 acres of land surveyed for him December 13, 1774. (17) I have not found any account that this fort was ever attacked directly by Indians.