The Scottish and Irish Slave Trade and the Dunagan Family

I have ancestors on my 3rd great grandmother's (Lucinda Beall m. Joseph Ellis Dunagan of Hall County) family side, Col. Ninian Beall who served with the Scottish Army which was defeated by General Cromwell in 1650 at the Battle of Dunbar. Col. Ninian Beall and what was left of his regiment were taken prisoner and later sold into slavery to Barbados Planters in the West Indies. He somehow escaped and ended up in Maryland, becoming a planter himself, developing a large plantation where Georgetown is located today. In the 1970s his grave in Georgetown was excavated and relocated but they discovered that Ninian Beall was 6'7" and had red hair. He lived to be 92 years old and was a devoted elder of the Presbyterian church. This may be where I get my height. DNA is a mystery to me and it's like rolling the dice. What is most interesting about this history I have learned is that I am a descendant of slaves.

There were many white Irish and Scottish who came as slaves; vast human cargo transported on tall British ships bound for the Americas. They were shipped by the hundreds of thousands and included men, women, and even the youngest of children. England was emptying their prisons.

Whenever they rebelled or even disobeyed an order, they were punished in the harshest ways. Slave owners would hang their human property by their hands and set their hands or feet on fire as one form of punishment. They were burned alive and had their heads placed on pikes in the marketplace as a warning to other captives.

We don’t really need to go through all of the gory details, do we? We know all too well the atrocities of the African slave trade.

But, are we talking about African slavery? King James II and Charles I also led a continued effort to enslave the Irish. Britain’s famed Oliver Cromwell furthered this practice of dehumanizing one’s next door neighbor.

The Irish slave trade began when James II sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies. By the mid 1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves.

Ireland quickly became the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white.

From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade. Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain’s solution was to auction them off as well.

During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia. Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.

Many people today will avoid calling the Irish slaves what they truly were: Slaves. They’ll come up with terms like “Indentured Servants” to describe what occurred to the Irish. However, in most cases from the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish slaves were nothing more than human cattle.

As an example, the African slave trade was just beginning during this same period. It is well recorded that African slaves, not tainted with the stain of the hated Catholic theology and more expensive to purchase, were often treated far better than their Irish counterparts.

African slaves were very expensive during the late 1600s (50 Sterling). Irish slaves came cheap (no more than 5 Sterling). If a planter whipped or branded or beat an Irish slave to death, it was never a crime. A death was a monetary setback, but far cheaper than killing a more expensive African. The English masters quickly began breeding the Irish women for both their own personal pleasure and for greater profit. Children of slaves were themselves slaves, which increased the size of the master’s free workforce. Even if an Irish woman somehow obtained her freedom, her kids would remain slaves of her master. Thus, Irish moms, even with this new found emancipation, would seldom abandon their kids and would remain in servitude.

In time, the English thought of a better way to use these women (in many cases, girls as young as 12) to increase their market share: The settlers began to breed Irish women and girls with African men to produce slaves with a distinct complexion. These new “mulatto” slaves brought a higher price than Irish livestock and, likewise, enabled the settlers to save money rather than purchase new African slaves. This practice of interbreeding Irish females with African men went on for several decades and was so widespread that, in 1681, legislation was passed “forbidding the practice of mating Irish slave women to African slave men for the purpose of producing slaves for sale.” In short, it was stopped only because it interfered with the profits of a large slave transport company.

England continued to ship tens of thousands of Irish slaves for more than a century. Records state that, after the 1798 Irish Rebellion, thousands of Irish slaves were sold to both America and Australia. There were horrible abuses of both African and Irish captives. One British ship even dumped 1,302 slaves into the Atlantic Ocean so that the crew would have plenty of food to eat.

There is little question that the Irish experienced the horrors of slavery as much (if not more in the 17th Century) as the Africans did. There is, also, very little question that those brown, tanned faces you witness in your travels to the West Indies are very likely a combination of African and Irish ancestry. In 1839, Britain finally decided on it’s own to end it’s participation in Satan’s highway to hell and stopped transporting slaves. While their decision did not stop pirates from doing what they desired, the new law slowly concluded THIS chapter of nightmarish Irish misery.

But, if anyone, black or white, believes that slavery was only an African experience, then they’ve got it completely wrong.

Irish slavery is a subject worth remembering, not erasing from our memories.

But, where are our public (and PRIVATE) schools???? Where are the history books? Why is it so seldom discussed?

Do the memories of hundreds of thousands of Irish victims merit more than a mention from an unknown writer?

Or is their story to be one that their English pirates intended: To (unlike the African book) have the Irish story utterly and completely disappear as if it never happened.

None of the Irish victims ever made it back to their homeland to describe their ordeal. These are the lost slaves; the ones that time and biased history books conveniently forgot.


Source: "The Irish Slave Trade – The Forgotten “White” Slaves" by Don Jordan, Michael Walsh

Dunagan Reunion 2013

This was our fourth year to host the annual Dunagan Reunion for the gathering of Ezekiel and Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan’s descendants. I found that this year I was really looking forward to seeing the familiar faces of my new-found cousins. We have a real sense of family that has developed over these four years. My cousin Brad Dunagan overheard two of our little ones discussing, with astonishment, how many people they were related to. I think it is wonderful that they can come out and know that they belong to a family much bigger than the one they live with.

We began our Saturday at Dunagan’s Chapel located in east Hall County, Georgia. This is the area that Ezekiel and his family lived. It was known as Dunagan, Georgia back then. At the time of his death in 1836, Ezekiel owned over three thousand acres there. We still have Dunagan’s living on parts of his land today. This is also where Ezekiel and Lydia’s graves are located. We visited the gravesite and returned to the church to discuss and share information on our family and its history.

On Sunday we gathered at the Paul E Bolding Post of the American Legion in Gainesville, Hall, Georgia. This is year we honored our family members who labored to develop, defend, and serve this great nation of ours. We have had Dunagan’s and allied family members serve our nation in every conflict since the Revolutionary War to present date. We have also had judges, mayors, congressmen, senators, and governors in our proud lineage.

Reverand Roger L. Dunagan of Lumpkin County, Georgia offered a prayer and blessing on the food, after which we shared a delicious southern pulled pork barbecue with banana pudding for dessert. In addition to good food, and great company, we had music provided by Brad and Mike Dunagan’s band, Longstreet Station.

We had family members traveling from many states to attend this year. Thanks to each of you, near and far, who attended this year’s Dunagan Family Reunion. We are looking forward seeing you all and more next year.

Darline Dunagan Scruggs

Ezekiel Dunagan and Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan's Final Resting Place Preserved

Ezekiel Dunagan (1771-1836) was buried alongside his wife, Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan, on their estate located in east Hall County, Gainesville, Georgia. Ezekiel was a veteran of the War of 1812, The Creek Indian Wars and a member of the Georgia Militia, first stationed at Ft. Early, Jackson County Georgia, in the mid 1790s until 1814.  He was listed as a spy, which probably was a reference to him being a scout for the fort. Ezekiel was my 4th great grandfather and had 19 children, with descendants today in almost every state of the U. S. The original gravesite was marked only by the large natural stones on either side of the current granite grave marker. The landscape timbers are temporary until a decision is made to use either metal(black iron) fence enclosure or stone pavers. We needed something to contain the crushed marble stone so I used landscape timbers. Thanks to all those who helped with this preservation project.

Location:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.301254,-83.718795&num=1&t=h&z=20

View Larger Map

FAMILY BIBLE MARRIAGE RECORDS - WILLIAM ANDREW DUNAGAN

From the family Bible of William Andrew and Martha Meldonia "Mellie" Cochran Dunagan

Click on to enlarge

MY PATRIOT FOREFATHERS

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs
Posted: June 30, 2013 http://mydunaganrootsandbranches.com

During the 1830’s my ancestor’s continued to be actively engaged in the building and establishing of Hall County Georgia. It had been sixty years since Joshua Dunagan and his brother Joseph Dunagan (my fifth great grandfather) had brought the first group of white settlers into what is now known as Hall County Georgia. The site of their settlement was located near present day Gillsville and was known as Stonethrow. It was a remote frontier located in hostile Indian Territory and even though it has grown and prospered in those sixty years it still remained a remote area that required much from those who lived here during the 1830’s.

The occupation and livelihood of most of its population was chiefly agricultural. Life was hard and laborious work was required to survive and prosper. Social life was largely limited to church and church related social events. Occasional special events would find themselves on the calendar from time to time.

One such special event of the year was the celebration and observance of Independence Day. Hall County citizens gathered to enjoy good food, good company, and hear political speeches orated by the citizens and special guest. The first Fourth of July celebration recorded in Hall County was in the year 1833. The celebration began at the square at 11 o’clock with a procession headed by Major General Bates, his staff, and the officers of the day. They were escorted by the Gainesville Hussars to the Baptist Church where the many citizens were gathered. Reverend Parks addressed the group, followed by a reading of the Declaration of Independence by David C. Neal, Esq., after which an oration was given by Mr. James W. Jones.

The celebration continued into the afternoon with much of the activity held at the Limestone Springs. Limestone Springs was located at what we know today as the intersection of Green Street Circle and Thompson Bridge Road (named so because of the original covered bridges built by Andrew Thompson’s sons).
The dinner, which was prepared by Mr. Joseph Frederick, was enjoyed by the Gentlemen at the Springs. Presiding over the program was a Mr. Rueben Thornton and his assistant Madison R. Mitchel. Formal toasts were offered followed by volunteer toasts from the gathered guest.

There were many “Volunteer Toasts” given that day but for purpose of interest, I am only quoting those pertaining to the Dunagan family.

“By Joseph Dunnagan Esq. – ‘May that patriotism that animated the Heroes of the Revolution be perpetuated in the hearts of their descendants, and may peace and good will abound among every portion of our Citizens, from Main [sic] to Misourie [sic].’ “
“By Joseph Dunnagan Esq. – ‘The protective system; originally advocated by some Southern men, and now strange to tell, the same men are the foremost to advocate unconstitutional measures to get rid of.’ “.
“By Mr. B. Dunnagan – ‘Detested be every…pendant such as the palmetto flag, with all that rally round them, but let all true hearted Americans rally round our star spangle banner emblem of our Union, and long may it wave o’er the land of the free and home of the brave.’ “.

The Independence Day festivities were the spotlight of the political season, the following account is of the 1840 celebration in Hall County Georgia. The celebration began that morning with an assemblage of the citizens at the Court House and a walk to the Academy Spring, where they heard a reading of the Declaration of Independence by Joseph Dunagan and a speech by T. C. Hackett. Keeping with tradition, they partook of an appetizing meal prepared by Wiley Sledge. The preset toasts were once again delivered followed by the volunteer toasts. As said before, many toasts were given that day, but I will quote those only from the Dunagan family.

“By James McClesky [husband of Anna Dunagan], a revolutionary war soldier, May the Lord, with the breath of his mouth, destroy that evil spirit that is now about to enter into the hearts of some of the offspring of our noble soldiers, who fought and bled under the flag of the U.S. and declared themselves independent of Great Britain on this ever memorable day.”
“By James McCleskey – Georgia; On the first Monday in November, she will load her big gun with Democratic principles, wadded with Republicanism, and leveling it at Federalism, will blow Wm. H. Harrison sky high.”
“By Benjamin Dunagan – Maj. Croghan; who so bravely defended Fort Stevenson, contrary to orders of cowardly commander. May he ever be esteemed by the American people as a hero and patriot.”
“By Jas. R. Dunagan – A strict construction of Federal constitution is the sheet anchor of this Government.”

The Dunagan’s of Hall County Georgia have been actively involved in the community and its government since their arrival here in 1790’s. That tradition continues even today.
May we always remember the great men from whom we came and do honor to them as they did us. I pay tribute to my grandfathers and those whom have fought to build and preserve this great nation of ours.

Joseph Dunagan – He came into Georgia about 1790 and built Dunagan or Donnegan Station in old Franklin County Georgia. A leader among the settlers, he and his brother Joshua lead the settlers into Indian territory where they established the first settlement known as Stonethrow.

Ezekiel Dunagan – A pioneer and founding settler of Hall County, Georgia and a veteran of the War of 1812. Ezekiel served as a spy during the war and his name can be found on the roster hanging in the Georgia State Archives.

Joseph Ellis Dunagan – “Old Constitution” a Georgia State Senator representing Hall County for 23 years and a valiant and staunch defender of the Constitutions of the United States and Georgia.

John Franklin Dunagan – A Civil War Veteran who was also taken prisoner during the war.

Joseph Alexander Dunagan – Born in 1862 while his father was fighting in the Civil War, he was too old to fight in WWI. He came from patriotic men and he raised patriot men.

Lester Commie Dunagan – A proud American who was a veteran of WWI

Lester Commie Dunagan Jr. – My father, who fought bravely in WWII and continued his service to his country for the remainder of his life. Serving as First Sergeant in the Georgia National Guard till retirement, serving as State Commander of the Paul E Bolding Post of the American Legion and serving as State Commander of the Georgia American Legion, he was the most patriotic man I have ever known.

Matthew L. Scruggs- Continuing the tradition is my son who served in the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard with a tour in Iraq.

This is just one line of the great defenders of freedom from which I descend. I am honored to able to trace my roots back to the beginning of our Great Nation and say those were my ancestors. It is to them and men like them that we owe our freedom!

*Information on the Fourth of July Celebration was taken from newspaper microfilm found in the Hall County Library and was transcribed as written.*

COL. NINIAN BEALL

Col. Ninian Beall
Born Feb 28 1625 Largo Fifeshire Scotland
Died Jan. 15, 1717 Bacon hall Plantation, Maryland

According to Deborah Dunagan's research, I am related to Ninian Beall through the following line:   Ninian - Thomas - John - Samuel - Amelia Jane Beall; then Amelia Jane Beall married Thaddeus Beall, my 5th great grandfather (maternal), and Thaddeus came down from Josiah who was Samuel's brother. In the day it was quite common for 1st cousins to marry and I noticed the Beall family line did it quite often. Below is some research I found that appears to be well sourced and I found the story of Col. Ninian Beall extremely fascinating. Col. Ninian Beall was an unusually tall man measuring 6' 7" in height with bright red hair.

Ninian Beall was in the Royalist Scottish Army. He was one of 10,000 Scottish prisoners taken by Oliver Cromwell at Dunbar on September 3, 1650. Tradition has it that he was among those shipped to the Barbados and from there brought to Maryland as an indentured servant. He remained nominally an indentured servant, for five years during which time he won the esteem and respect of the colonists.


He had married in Scotland and had two sons, Thomas and John. Wrenched from his family by the disaster at Dunbar, Ninian was never again reunited with them, though the sons probably came to America at a later date.


Ninian Beall became an important person in the Colony of Maryland. He was the chief military officer in Calvert County, a large land holder, including tracts where Georgetown, Washington, D. C., is located. It was named for his son, George, not for George Washington. Under Ninian's supervision, 200 Presbyterians from Scotland were settled along the Potomac in Prince Georges County. He gave a parcel of land for their church, shrewdly appointing his sons and sons-in-law trustees thereof. In 1707, he gave a silver Communion Service to the congregation, parts of which are still in the possession of the Hyattsville Presbyterian Church, descendant of that of New Scotland.


The Maryland conservatives and ruling class were confronted first with the liberalism of the Puritans and Dissenters who overthrew the Council and the House of Delegates in 1654, but regained their established mode of living by the defeat of Puritanism in England and the return of the House of Stuart to the throne. Later, the liberalism of Coode, Beall, Jowles, Blakistone, and others, leftists of that day, overthrew the Proprietary Government of Lord Baltimore in 1689 and brought a new social and economic order to Maryland. The decline of seigniory therefore was imminent under the semi-radicalism, mingled with intolerance of Coode and his accomplices, yet negro slavery did as much as any visible force to abolish the manorial system of have it fade from the social fabric of 18th century Maryland.


[From Seigiory in Early Maryland, published in 1949, by the Descendants of Lords of the Maryland Manors.]


Although Ninian Beall is said to have come from Fifeshire, my own researches incline to the Stirlingshire idea, in which was situated the Parish of St. Ninian. In Stirlingshire we find the Rock of Dumbarton, the name given by Ninian Beall to one of his Maryland estates, while one of the earliest to his patents was for a tract called Ringan. The saintly personage from whom our Scotch Indian fighter took his name was Ninian, or Ringan.


The battle of Dunbar, in which Ninian Beall is reputed to have fought against Cromwell, was the first meeting of the opposing armies in Stirling. Cromwell sought the advantage of the coast, with its shipping, while Leslie, with his army, of which Ninian Beall was probably a leading spirit, was on the Hill of Doon above him. Down this hill of doom, rather, Leslie led his army to capture the wily Cromwell, whom he believed to have been delivered into his hands, but the rout at Dunbar is a matter of history and the escape of many of the adherents of the faith to the peaceful province of religious freedom is well known. In a land deed executed by Ninian Beall in 1667 he introduces a vein of wit and jollity not expected in a sober Scotch Presbyterian self-exiled from his country. In this recorded deed he refers to himself as "of me the said Ringing Bell," probably his nickname. He signed the deed "Ninian Bell." He arrived in the Province soon after the year 1650, some students of his life saying by way of Barbadoes and others direct from Scotland. He perpetuated the association and events of his life in the names given his lands, Soldier's Fortune, Fife Enlarged, Ringan, Rock of Dumbarton and others, while Bachelor's Choice was not appropriate after his marriage to Ruth Moore, of Calvert County, aged about sixteen.


The fact that he soon became a leader in the military affairs of the Province indicates that he had experience in these matters. In the year 1676, he was commissioned lieutenant of Lord Baltimore's "yacht or vessel of warr called the Loyall Charles of Maryland," of which the famous John Coode was commander. He took an active part in the revolution of 1689, led by Coode, who, it is said, called Major Ninian Beall his "Argyll," after the great Scotch Covenantor. While this revolution resulted disastrously for some of the leaders, he was appointed by the first Royal Governor to the high post of honor of Chief Military Officer for Calvert County. In the year 1689 the Assembly had reappointed Ninian Beall as major of the Calvert County militia, and in 1690 he was one of the twenty-five commissioners for regulating affairs in Maryland until the next meeting of the Assembly. In 1692 Ninian Beall was appointed High Sheriff of Calvert County. The year following he designated colonel. It is apparent that he was a great and efficient leader in the provincial army. In 1697 we find him one of the board of commissioners to treat with the Indians. Like our later military genius, General Washington, Colonel Ninian Beall was a surveyor, filling the office of Deputy Surveyor of Charles County in the year 1684, and later, during which time he continued his military services against the Indians. A fact not unworthy of notice is the intermarriage of a descendant of our Maryland "Argyll" and of the brother of the illustrious George. An act passed by the Assembly in the year 1699 reads: "An act of gratitude to Colonel Ninian Beall." This unusual recognition of service to his government is a high tribute to his efficient and untiring loyalty. The act in part refers to Colonel Beall's "valuable services upon all incentives and disturbances of neighboring Indians and though now grown very aged and less able to perform, yet continues his resolution even beyond his ability to do like service at this juncture of affairs, etc. Therefore, be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of this present General Assembly and the authority of the same, etc., that 75 pounds sterling be applied to the purchase of three serviceable negroes in recognition of Colonel Beall's services, etc."


In this same year he had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Rangers. In the year 1696 Colonel Ninian Beall had taken the oath as member of the House of Burgesses for Calvert County. He was also the first representative elected from Prince George's.


But it must not be imagined that this doughty Indian fighter knew nothing of the peaceful side of life. Certain it is that he served the church as loyally as he did the State, but from his own religious standpoint.


As member of the Assembly in 1699 he signed the petition to King William III for the establishment of the Church of England in Maryland, although he was a Presbyterian elder, and five years later gave half an acre of land in Prince George's County, to Nathaniel Taylor, the eminent Scotch divine, for "ye erecting and building of a house for ye service of Almighty God, that parcel of land being a part of a tract called ye Meadows, lying on ye western branch of the Patuxent River in Prince George's County."


It is therefore evident the Colonel Beall never renounced his Presbyterian faith, but simply wished to aid in the establishment of a Protestant as opposed to a Catholic supremacy. Ninian Beall, in his deed of gift for the site of an early Presbyterian Church in Maryland, made a number of is kinsman trustees. These were Ninian Beall, Jr., Thomas Beall, Sr., and Thomas Beall, Jr., James Beall, Charles Beall, Alexander Beall, Archibald Edmonston, William Offutt and others.


Colonel Ninian Beall is supposed to be the person referred to by Thomas Wilson, the Quaker preacher, who, writing of his trip through Maryland in 1691, says: "As we were traveling we met two men, one of whom being an ancient comely man kindly invited us to his house, where we stayed two nights and had a meeting, though he was an elder among the Presbyterians. He also lent a boat to go over the Potomac River."


Dr. Briggs, in the "American Presbyterian" says, "the Presbyterians on the Patuxent were kept together by their godly elder Col. Ninian Beall, from the time of Mathew Hill until the arrival of Nathaniel Taylor, who, it is said came over with a congregation of Scots from Fifeshire in 1690."

Colonel Ninian Beall lived to be ninety-two years of age. That he was a man of rare breadth of vision his charity to all men bears witness.


He was buried on his home plantation and when in recent years his remains were dug up, owing to the growth of Georgetown where his home was situated, it was found that he was six feet seven inches tall, and his Scotch red hair had retained all of its fiery hue.


That Ninian Beall was a man of wealth is shown by the large estates devised in his will to his children and grandchildren, many thousands of acres of Maryland's most fertile soil being left to his heirs.


His son, Colonel George Beall, inherited a part of the tract granted to Colonel Ninian Beall, by the name of Rock of Dumbarton, which had been bestowed by Charles Lord Baltimore "as of our manor of Calverton in free and common soccage by fealty only for all manner of service," etc. Georgetown was built on a large part of this tract.

Its second proprietor, Colonel George Beall, married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Colonel Thomas Brooke and his second wife, Barbara Dent, and the great-granddaughter of Robert Brooke, of De la Brooke, and his wife, Mary Baker.

Ninian Beall, Jr., son of Colonel Ninian, was dead at the time of his father's death in 1717. He had married Elizabeth Magruder, by whom he left a son, Samuel, and a daughter, Mary, largely provided for in their grandfather's will who directed that they be carefully brought up and "have that education suitable to their estate."


Two of Colonel Ninian Beall's daughters married Magruders, another married a Belt and a third an Edmonston. Most of the alliances of his children and grandchildren were with the Scotch who had settled in that part of Prince George's County called New Scotland. Among so many notable lines of descent it is difficult to discriminate in the favor of any, hence the choice must be given to that branch which has a national interest by reason of the marriage of Eliza Beall, great-granddaughter of Colonel Ninial Beall, to Colonel George Corbin Washington, a son of William Augustine Washington and his wife Jane (Washington) Washington, who was also his cousin, being the daughter of John Augustine Washington, brother of General George Washington, while her husband was a son of Augustine Washington, the older half-brother of the first President of the United States. Although born in Virginia (Westmoreland County), Colonel Washington, who married Eliza Beall, adopted Maryland as his home and represented the Montgomery County district in three successive terms of Congress. He died in Georgetown in the year 1854.


[From Side-lights on Maryland History with Sketches of Early Maryland Families by Hester Dorsey Richardson, copyrighted 1913.]



Ninian Beall held a commission as cornet in the Scotch-English Army, raised to resist Cromwell. He fought in the battle of Dunbar, 3rd September, 1650, against Cromwell, and was made prisoner at that battle and sentenced to five years servitude. He was sent with 150 other Scotsmen to Barbadoes, West Indies. About 1652 they appeared in the Province of Maryland. Ninian Beall served his five years with Richard Hall, a planter of Calvert Co.


In the Maryland Land Office Records of 1658, there is a record of Ninian Beall making a land transfer in Calvert County, Maryland. It seems that these military prisoners were entitled to 50 acres of public land after completing service. By the inexperienced reader the servitude of Colonel Ninian Beall for five years under Richard Hall, on account of fighting against Cromwell, may be rated as a disgrace. This humiliation of servitude which came to him not on account of crime, but through the fortunes of war, was an honor. The principle for which he fought finally triumphed in the overthrow of Cromwell. His servitude was a halo of martyrdom for a principle which was honorable. Although he had many chances to escape from servitude after reaching Maryland, yet we find the instincts of a gentleman and soldier prompted him to not only honorably and gracefully submit to the fortunes of war, but at the same time, by so doing, he gained the respect and confidence of the people of Maryland to such a degree that they showered continuos honors upon him to the day of his death.


Ninian Beall's military ability in the Scotch-English Army seems to have been made good use of in the Province of Maryland, as shown by the following notations:

1668: Records at Annapolis, dated 31st October 1668, call him Lieut. Ninian Beall.

1676: Commissioned Lieut. of Lord Baltimore's "Yacht of War, Loyal Charles of Maryland, John Goade Commander."

1684: Deputy Surveyor of Charles County.

1688: Appointed Chief Military Officer of Calvert County.

1689: Appointed Major of Calvert County Militia by the Assembly.

1692: Appointed High Sheriff of Calvert County.

1694: Appointed Colonel of Militia by the Assembly 30th July, 1694.

1697: Appointed on a Commission by the Assembly to treat with the Indians.

1679-1701: Was a member of the General Assembly.

1699: The General Assembly passed an "Act of Gratitude" for "the distinguished Indian services of Colonel Ninian Beall."

Col. Beall's signal defeat and destruction of the great Susquehannah Tribe of Indians caused him to be recognized as an Indian fighter of ability. Many official papers written by Col. Beall and on file in the Provincial Records show that he was a man of broad experience, great mental capacity, undoubted integrity, perfect moral courage, and of good education. His signatures to official papers are bold and free. As he signed his will by witnessed mark, that would indicate that he must have been in a very feeble condition of body at the time, for he was 92 years old. He figures in many land transfers. It is estimated that he owned about 4000 acres.

He seems to have identified himself with the Presbyterian Church of Maryland before 1690. During that year, 200 Presbyterian immigrants came over from Scotland under his supervision. He located them along the Potomac River and called the settlement New Scotland. These immigrants brought with them Rev. Nathaniel Taylor. There is recorded at Upper Marlboro, a deed of gift from Colonel Ninian Beall to Reverend Taylor of land in Upper Marlboro upon which to build a church. In 1707, Colonel Ninian Beall presented the above church a costly silver communion set, made in London. A portion of this silver communion set is now in the Presbyterian Church at Hyattsville, Maryland.


Colonel Beall's will was dated 15th January 1717 and was probated 28th February, 1717. Colonel Beall was buried on his Rock of Dumbarton Plantation, at a point now Gay Street, Georgetown, D.C. When his body was removed, his skeleton was found to be perfect and measured six feet seven inches, and his hair had grown long and retained its youthful color of red.


[From Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume II, edited by George Norbury Mackenzie, LL.B.

THE BEALL AND DUNAGAN FAMILY CONNECTION

William Bradley Dunagan

My DNA results have matched with distant cousins out there I didn't know I had until recently. Thanks to the hard work of Darline Dunagan Scruggs and the DNA matches we have been able to document our relationship with the Beall family, originally from Scotland and early planters in the American colony of Maryland.  My 3^rd great grandmother was Lucinda Beall of this family.

My fifth great grandfather (maternal)

Col. Thaddeus Beall (pronounced Bell) fought in the Revolutionary War. Col. Thaddeus commanded a battalion of the Maryland line in the army of General Washington. He was born in Frederick County, MD and died in Franklin County, GA. He was the son of Josiah Beall and Millicent Bradley. He married Jane Amelia Beall in 1767.

Thaddeus lived in what is now Montgomery County Maryland. On July 3, 1776 he was first commissioned 2nd Lieut. in the Frederick County Militia. On August 7th, he was in Captain Burgess' Company, Lower District of Frederick County. In September he was Brigade Major for General Rezin Beall (a distant cousin) at Flying Camp, Maryland. Thaddeus was listed on October 2nd as 2nd Lieut. Montgomery County Militia, and was shown as 1st Lieut. in the 29th Battalion on January 21, 1777. He was Captain, Lower Battalion, Maryland Line on September 12th. Thaddeus moved to Guilford County, North Carolina, where on 18 Aug 1784 he purchased 400 acres from Henry C Davis for 100 pounds, which he sold on 23 Aug 1785 to Thomas Land for 100 pounds after obtaining 800 acres of land grants. These land grants were given at the rate of 50 shillings per 100 acres. Thaddeus received the following Grants: 8 Nov 1784 Grant #1078 for 500 acres and #962 for 300 acres; 6 May 1787 Grant # 1415 for 300 acres; and 16 May 1787 Grants #1234, 1267, and 1315 for 300 acres each. He sold 243 acres of this land on 10 March 1788 and sold the remaining land in five transactions beginning 12 July 1791, and ending 21 November 1791, after which he must have made his move to Georgia. The 1790 Census showed him in Guilford County with a family of 1 man, 4 boys, 6 females, and 12 slaves. Thaddeus served on a Guilford County jury during the May 29, 1787 court session. Thaddeus's sons Frederick, Thaddeus, and William settled in Franklin County, Georgia, where Frederick was Clerk of Ordinary (Probate) Judge from 24 July 1799 through 1825. But it appears that Thaddeus settled in Warren County. A three page inventory of his estate dated 5 July 1808, with a total worth of $4989.42 1/2 was found in the court house in Warrenton, GA. He is also listed on a DAR Plaque at the court house, naming the Rev. soldiers buried in Warren County. The DAR lists his death as 1815, which must be incorrect in view of the inventory of his estate. REFERENCE: Walter V. Beall GEDCOM file

Thaddeus Beall's name is listed in the 1st column on left, 10th name down.

My fourth great grandfather (maternal)

Frederick Beall (son of Thaddeus Beall and Amelia Jane Beall) was born October 20, 1776 in Prince Georges County, MD, and died June 13, 1847 in Campbell County, GA. He married Martha Peyton Beall on 1792, daughter of Daniel Beall and Martha Peyton Whiting. Notes for Frederick Beall: He is buried 4 miles west of Carrollton, Georgia. NOTES FROM WALTER BEALL OF WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA "Frederick was in Franklin County, Georgia as early as 1797 when he started serving two years as Clerk of Inferior Court. He was Clerk of Ordinary (Probate) Judge from 24 July 1799 to 1825, and Justice of the Peace from 1799 to 1812. He was a Commissioner of Franklin County Academy and was appointed County Commissioner by the act of November 29, 1806, to erect Public Buildings in Carnesville. Frederick, Daniel, and Horace Beall all drew lots in the 1805 Land Lottery or land in Baldwin, Wilkinson, and Wayne Counties. Of the three, only Horace had a winning draw. Frederick was a Major in the 2nd Battalion, Franklin County from 1801 to 1818, and was Brig. General of the 2nd Brigade, Georgia Militia from 1810 to 1829. He fought in the War of 1812 from 1812 to 1814.

General Fredrick Beall’s daughter, Lucinda Beall, married my 3^rd. great grandfather Joseph Ellis Dunagan of Hall County, Georgia, who was also a veteran of the Creek Indian War and the War of 1812. Joseph Ellis Dunagan’s brother, Col. Benjamin Black Dunagan also served in the militia as well. Joseph Ellis Dunagan and Lucinda Beall, whom they called “Lucy,” had the following children:

Frederick Dunagan 1824 – 1907

Lydia Dunagan 1826 – 1891

Ezekiel Dunagan 1829 – 1906

Martha Dunagan 1830 – 1903

John Franklin Dunagan 1832 – 1890 (My 2^nd great grandfather)

Alpheus Benton Dunagan 1835 – 1892

Mary Dunagan 1837 – 1903

Elizabeth Dunagan 1845 – 1937

Sources: Ancestry.com

ANCESTRY DNA

William Bradley Dunagan   06-12-2013

Ancestry DNA Analysis via Ancestry.com

Genetic Ethnicity

Scandinavian 59%     British Isles 34%     Uncertain 7%

Your genetic ethnicity reveals where your ancestors lived hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of years ago. This may update over time as new genetic signatures are discovered.

Comparing your genetic ethnicity to the known birth locations in your tree can help fill in gaps, find potential relatives and offer clues on places to look.

My Scandinavian Ethnicity 59%

Modern Day Location

Norway, Sweden, Denmark

Did You Know?

In the northern latitudes, the sun rarely dips below the horizon in the summer, meaning very long days and very short nights. However, the tables are turned the rest of the year, with almost no daylight at all in the middle winter months.

About Your Region

Looks like you may have some Viking blood in you. Your genetic ethnicity ties you to Scandinavia, which includes the modern-day nations of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. While the Vikings were feared by the coastal towns of medieval Europe as seaborne raiders and violent pillagers, they were also well-travelled merchants and ambitious explorers. They raided the Mediterranean coast of Africa, settled areas as far south as the Black Sea, and traded with the Byzantine Empire. And it was a Norse sailor, Leif Ericson, who is credited with being the first European to travel to North America—500 years before Columbus.

And it wasn't just the Vikings who had an irrepressible urge for adventure. In the days of the mighty Roman Empire, the Goths, originally from Sweden, wandered south and settled in what is now eastern Germany. In the year 410, they invaded and sacked Rome, setting the stage for the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire.

In the more recent past, the Scandinavian nations have embraced a new identity. Considering their neutrality during the World Wars, high quality of life, and relatively egalitarian societies, they are known more for their peaceful ways than their ancient Viking lineage might suggest.

Migrations into this region

As the glaciers retreated from Northern Europe, roaming groups of hunter-gatherers from Southern Europe followed reindeer herds inland and marine resources along the Scandinavian coast. Neolithic farmers eventually settled the region beginning about 6,000 years ago. However, the tradition of hunting and reindeer-herding remains among the Sami people of northern Scandinavia. The Sami formerly occupied much of northern Scandinavia and Russia, and likely had connections with the Volga-Ural region (where there are other languages similar to Finnish and Sami).

Migrations from this region

The rise of the Viking culture spread Scandinavian ancestry far throughout Europe. Their earliest coastal voyages took them to Scotland, northeastern England and established the settlement of Dublin, Ireland. As their power continued to grow, the Vikings spread farther afield, down the Volga River in Russia, to the coast of France and Spain. But perhaps their most famous accomplishments were the oceanic voyages across the Atlantic, establishing villages in Iceland and Greenland and exploring the northern coast of Canada. Few, if any of the early Scandinavian settlers, are thought to have survived in the Americas. However, Iceland remains a flourishing post of Scandinavian language and culture.

My British Isles Ethnicity 34%

Modern Day Location

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales

Did You Know?

The English language, predominantly spoken in this region, is descended from German settlers.

About Your Region

You're from North-Western Europe, an area including the modern-day United Kingdom and Ireland. It is a group of islands separated from France and the rest of continental Europe by the narrow English Channel. It is the rolling, emerald-green hills of Ireland, the craggy, weathered peaks of Wales, the rich history of the city on the Thames, and the deep, mysterious lochs of Scotland.

This is where Shakespeare wrote his plays and poems. It's home to the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood. It's produced some of the world's most adventurous explorers and greatest political and military figures—George Mallory, Winston Churchill, Admiral Horatio Nelson. Brilliant scientific minds such as Sir Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell laid the foundations of modern physics. And it's the place where a rainbow can lead to a pot of gold. Maybe.

The history of the region is one of periodic invasions and settlements by various groups including the Angles and Saxons from Germany, the Jutes from Denmark, the Vikings, the Normans from northern France and, of course, the Romans. English, a Germanic language brought by the Angles, is obviously the primary language spoken. But a few of the older languages spoken by the ancient Celts still exist—a rarity in post-Roman Europe.

The people of the region have been witness to sweeping political changes and amazing technological progress through the centuries, from the Glorious Revolution to the Industrial Revolution. But despite their penchant for reform and progress, they have always found a way to preserve the past. From royal families to prime ministers, ancient languages to international diversity, from thousand-year-old cathedrals to glass skyscrapers, their culture is a fascinating blend of old and new.

Migrations into this region

Despite being a cluster of islands separated from continental Europe, Great Britain and Ireland haven’t been insulated from outsiders. Although they weren’t the first, the Celts from central Europe spread throughout the Northwest Isles about 2500 years ago. Then, as with everywhere else, the Romans came. After the Romans withdrew from the area, tribes from northern Germany and Denmark (the Angles, Saxons and Jutes) came to conquer much of what is now England. About this same time, the mighty Vikings also left their imprint, particularly in southern Scotland, Ireland and western England.

Migrations from this region

Religious and political upheaval in 17th and 18th century England played a critical role in establishing and defining early American history. Called the Great Migration, religious dissidents including the Pilgrims, Quakers, and Puritans left England seeking religious freedom and a new way of life. Although the migration was not large in overall numbers, it laid the foundation for American culture, including the concepts of church-state separation and religious tolerance.

The Great Irish Famine, also called the Potato Famine, was triggered by an outbreak of potato blight, which destroyed potato crops across Europe in the mid 1800s. Already enduring widespread poverty and massive unemployment, Ireland was hit harder than any other nation by the disaster since potatoes were a dietary staple. Ireland lost nearly a quarter of its population. Those who could leave, fled mostly to England, Australia, Canada, and the United States, creating a world-wide Irish diaspora.

Unknown Ethnicity 7%

Daughters Of The American Revolution

Darline Dunagan Scruggs


For the granddaughters of Joseph Ellis Dunagan and Lucinda Beall Dunagan: I finally succeeded in establishing Frederick Dunagan as the father of Lucinda. The DAR genealogist was not the smartest cookie on the block so it took an exhaustive year to prove the parentage. We finally appealed and the head genealogist accepted it with no hitches. It is now official. So all of you that have been waiting patiently with me, now is the time to get your documents together. Sending them to the Longstreet Chapter here in Gainesville will be the quickest way to get your national number. You will use my national number to get in so you will not have any difficulties. You can then transfer to any chapter of your choosing. 



http://www.dar.org/natsociety/chapters.cfm?State=GA

Donnegan’s Station 1793, Georgia

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs
http://mydunaganrootsandbranches.wordpress.com/


As was stated in “Following Joseph”, we know that Joseph Dunagan (1740-1808) came into Georgia in or around 1790 and settled in Georgia’s original Franklin County. His land was near the Curahee Mountain on the upper North Fork of the Broad River. Posted is a map showing the location of Joseph Dunagan’s land. It is referred to as Donnegan’s Station on the map. Also posted is a letter from the settler’s to the Governor, notice that Joseph’s signature shows that he spelled his name as Dunagin. You will also see documents referring to the building of a blockade on Donnagan’s Plantation and general orders given to build the blockade. Also note on the map that Donnegan’s Station was located ten miles from Fort Mathews and 2 miles from Wofford’s Settlement.

2013 Ezekiel Dunagan (1771-1836) Family Reunion

Average Life Expectancy of 6 Generations of Dunagan Men

My 4th Great Grandfather Ezekiel Dunagan 1771-1836,  died at age 65 (After fathering 19 children with two wives, I imagine that he was tired)
My 3rd Great Grandfather Joseph Ellis Dunagan 1793-1861, died at age 68 (After his third trip to the west to prospect for gold, he took the "fever" when returning from Pikes Peak to Georgia in 1861. He probably died of pneumonia. He was buried somewhere in Illinois.)
My 2nd Great Grandfather John Franklin Dunagan 1832-1890, died at age 58 (He served in the Confederacy, numerous battles, captured at Vicksburg, spent time as a POW at Ft. Delaware. The Georgia Infantry unit he served with was so decimated that they had to be merged with a TN Regiment. Not sure if he was wounded but probably suffered from malnutrition and dysentery during the war.)
My Great Grandfather Jeter Andrew Dunagan 1856-1923, died at age 67 (Died from injuries suffered when he fell off of a house he was building.)
My Grandfather William Andrew Dunagan 1880-1939, died at age 59 (Suffered from heart disease and complications from diabetes.)
My Father George Jeter Dunagan 1913-2006, died at age 93 (Lived a long and productive life, ultimately died from kidney failure.)

Going back 6 generations on my father's side, the average life expectancy of Dunagan men in my direct line was 68 years and 3 months. Of course, my father, George Jeter Dunagan, lived the longest, to age 93, which probably throws off the numbers on average. If I take George Dunagan out of the total average, then the average life expectancy for Dunagan men would drop to 63 years and 4 months.

I am turning 60 years old in a few weeks and this little exercise has helped remind me of my own mortality and just how short life really is.

“Thar’s Gold in Them Thar Georgia Hills”

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

Source:   http://mydunaganrootsandbranches.wordpress.com

I am a third great granddaughter of Joseph Ellis Dunagan and Lucinda Beall Dunagan. I was born and raised in Hall County Georgia where I grew up hearing the stories of my ancestors. One such story was of Joseph’s elusive buried gold. The following is an account of Joseph’s buried treasure in Hall County Georgia.

Joseph Ellis Dunagan was a man of prominence during his time. He was the son of Ezekiel Dunagan who came here in 1798 with his brother Isaiah, leading in the second group of white settlers into the Indian Territory where present day east Hall County, Georgia is located. Ezekiel followed his father, Joseph and Joseph’s brother Joshua Dunagan (transcribed in some records as Joshua Darnigan) who led the first group to that area. They were all part of the original Wofford settlement.

Joe grew up in a time when men had to work hard to sustain life and that he did with great success. He married the prominent Frederick Beall’s daughter, Lucinda, and bought land by the Chattahoochee River about three miles north of downtown Gainesville, Georgia. There is where he and Lucinda raised a family of eight. I think that Lucinda had to do much of the raising alone with her husband spending a considerable amount of his time traveling to the capital city of Milledgeville, where he served as the state senator representing Hall County, and this he did for 23 years. When not serving his county as a judge of the Inferior Court or as a state senator, he was traveling west. “Old Constitution”, as he was fondly nicknamed, found himself with the contagious ‘gold fever’. He would travel with his family members out west to pan for gold. These travels kept him away from home for long periods of time, and I know that at least once he was away from home for two years.

The story begins when Joe decided to make a trip back to Pike’s Peak to retrieve some gold dust that he had left buried there. It was in the spring of 1861 when Joe packed up and left on his quest. His trip to Pike’s Peak was successful but the retrieval of his buried dust was not. It seems Joe was to return empty-handed. So Joe began his trip back to his family and home. He traveled as far as Illinois when he became ill. He was alone and he knew no one, but the times were friendlier then and he was given aid by strangers. They took him into their home and cared for him but Joe did not recover from his malady. He died there amongst strangers and was buried there also. Unfortunately, for us today, we do not know the whereabouts of his burial.

My second great grandfather, John Franklin Dunagan, told of his treasure hunting experience with his father. He said: “I panned out the first gold that was found after we got to Colorado”. He also stated the following, “Joseph Dunagan was my father. He went to the Rocky Mountains in March, 1860, and came back in the fall and my recollection is that he brought back about $3200.00 in gold dust. He carried it to Dahlonega and got it coined. I saw the dust, I was with him and helped him dig it out…”

Joseph Ellis Dunagan was known to be somewhat eccentric and with no banks available to him in Gainesville, buried his gold coins in the grounds of his land. The location of his buried to treasure was unbeknown to anyone other than himself. Here begins the tale of the unearthing of the buried treasure of Joseph Ellis Dunagan.

After Joseph’s death, his family searched for the buried treasure but it was not to reveal its secret hiding place to anyone at that time. Years passed and the land changed hands. The land where Dunagan had lived in 1860 was purchased by Mr. S.C. Dunlap Sr. Mr. Dunlap had a farmer by the name of Isaac Bales farming the land that had been owned by the late Joe Dunagan. In the early spring of 1887, fifteen year old Cicero ‘Jack’ Bales, the son of Isaac, was bedding cotton rows when he discovered a gold coin. Taking a closer look he discovered quite a few more gold coins, 288 was the number reported. Jack took the gold to his father who in turn, believing the gold to belong rightfully to Dunlap, took the gold to Mr. Dunlap. According to a newspaper article, as told by S. C. Dunlap Jr., his father, Dunlap Sr., held out his derby hat and the gold coins were thus emptied and counted. S.C Dunlap Jr. stated, ”We counted the money and there was $1190.00 in $5 dollar gold pieces –all coined in Dahlonega, Ga. in the year 1860. This gold was bright and new, as if it had just come from the mint.” Continuing, S. C. Dunlap said that Mr. Bales was insistent that the money belonged to Dunlap, but Dunlap said “that he had never had enough money to use in his business, much less to bury any, and stood the position that the gold belonged to Jack, the finder.”

Now keep in mind that John said his father returned in March of 1860 and took the dust to Dahlonega for minting. Then Dunlap Jr. states in his own words that the gold coins, all minted in Dahlonega in 1860, were “bright and new, as if they had just come from the mint”. The gold minted in 1860, buried on Dunagan’s land, the Dunlap’s testifying that it was not their gold, and the well known fact that Joseph Dunagan, who owned the land prior to Dunlap, was a miner who had become quite wealthy from his endeavors, leads me to believe that the gold coins did indeed belong to the Dunagan estate. Now I find it interesting that Bales was more than willing to relinquish his son’s find to Dunlap, who claimed no rights to it, but refused to accept the logical explantion that the gold was indeed that lost buried treasure of Joe Dunagan.

The Bales, thrilled with their found treasure, took the gold to Banks Brother’s Bank where it was counted and deposited to their credit. As you can imagine the news of the Jack’s discovery was spreading throughout the community and the talk was high. When John F. Dunagan and his brother Ezekiel, heirs and administrators to Joseph Dunagan’s estate, heard of the unearthing of the gold coins, they knew immediately that it was their father’s gold. John set out to tell Mr. Bales that the gold belonged to the Dunagan’s but Bales, of course, would not accept the Dunagan’s claim to their ‘gold fortune’. A suit was filed against Bales by the Dunagan’s in the Hall County Georgia Supreme Court.
On March 29, 1887, Bales was duly served and required to give a bond of $2380.00 for the forthcoming property. The first trial thus proceeded and was declared a mistrial.
Again, in November 1888, the case was called and the trial continued. This time the jury found in favor of the plaintiffs. This was not the outcome that Bales neither wanted nor expected, so a motion for a new trial was made. This motion was overruled so the case went to the Supreme Court on a writ of error for the October term. However, this never came to light because both parties were tired of the long drawn out court proceedings and decided to divide the money equally after attorney and court fees were paid.

Now you would think this was the end of the story but it is not. I am not certain to the circumstances as to why the monies were not distributed amongst all the heirs of Joseph Dunagan but obviously they were not. The Dunagan’s found themselves in court again. A Petition and Citation for settlement was filled in Hall County Court by Martha Dunagan Highfield, Fred Dunagan, Mary Dunagan Short, and Elizabeth Dunagan Webster, surviving children of Joseph Dunagan and siblings of John F. Dunagan and Ezekiel Dunagan. A W.P. Smith is named also showing that he is interested as distributee in the Estate of Joseph E. Dunagan for which John and Ezekiel were legal administrators.

The following is an account taken from Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia, Volume 93
By Georgia. Supreme Court, John Erskine:
DUNAGAN v. WEBSTER et al.

Where one qualifies as administrator of a deceased person it is an undertaking by the administrator equivalent to a contract to duly administer the estate according to the law, for the benefit of the heirs and creditors. If such qualification took place prior to the passage of the homestead act of 1868, a homestead set apart to the wife of the administrator in 1873, out of his land, is subject to a judgment rendered against him by the court of ordinary in favor of the heirs upon a citation for a settlement of his accounts, although the judgment was based upon a failure by the administrator to pay over money belonging to the estate which did not come into his hands until 1887. January 27, 1894
Levy and claim. Before Judge Wellborn. Hall superior court. July term, 1893.
S.C. Dunlap and W.L. Telford, for plaintiff in error. George K. Looper, contra.
Joseph Dunagan died in 1861, and in the same year J.F. and Ezekiel Dunagan qualified as administrators of his estate. In 1887 certain money which had been buried by the deceased was found and went into the hands of the administrators. They were cited by the heirs to a settlement before the ordinary, and a judgment was rendered against them in favor of the heirs. An execution founded upon this judgment was levied on certain land as the property of Ezekiel Dunagan, and his wife interposed a claim to the property as having been set apart to her and her children as a homestead and exemption on March 29th, 1873. It appeared that he had never sold or otherwise disposed of the land. Upon the agreed facts the question whether the land was subject to the execution was submitted to the judge without a jury; and he found that it was, and to this ruling the claimant excepted.
Where one qualifies as administrator, it is and undertaking equivalent to a contract on his part to duly administer the estate according to law for the benefit of heirs and creditors. In the present case the claim of the creditor was based upon this contract on the part of the administrator; and the contract, as we have seen, antedated the constitution of 1868, under which the homestead was set apart. The Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Gunn v Barry, 15 Wall.610, reversing the decision of this court, held that the homestead right could not prevail against a contract created prior to the constitution-that as to such contracts the homestead is a nullity; and that ruling has since been followed in several decisions of this court. It has also been held that, as between the homestead right and the claim of a creditor founded upon such a contract, the date of the contract and not of the breach of it governs in determining the question of priority.
Van Dyke v. Kilgo, 54 Ga. 551; Drinkwater v. Moreman 61 Ga. 395; Hunt v. Juhan, 63 Ga. 162; Douglass v. Boylston, 69 Ga. 186; Willis v. Thornton, 73 Ga. 128.
It follows that the court below did not err in holding the property subject. Judgment affirmed.
So it seems that the monies from the gold were never distributed amongst Joseph’s surviving children. The Dunagan’s share,prior to court and attorney fees, would have been $590.00 after the division with the Isaac Bales. The 1887 dollar value of $590.00 would be $14,390.24 today. The amount is calculated strictly on an inflation rate of the dollar value not the gold value. Since the money was in $5.00 gold pieces the value could be higher.

As previously stated, in 1893 when the suit was filed, Joseph’s remaining children, excluding Ezekiel, were Martha, Mary, Elizabeth and Frederick. John died in 1890 leaving Ezekiel the only surviving administrator of the estate. This is why John is not mentioned in the above document. I am curious as to what happened to Ezekiel’s land and how it was distributed after the court finding. I am assuming it would have been sold and the profits divided. More research is needed to determine this.

This is all that I have been able to ‘dig up’ on the gold of Old Joe Dunagan. I will keep digging in hopes of finding even more clues to the lost fortune of the Honorable Joseph Dunagan.

Reference to the lost gold of Joseph Ellis Dunagan: The Gainesville Times, March 2, 1932.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Family Bible Records of Alfred Doster Dunagan

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

(Click on the image below to enlarge)

A. D. Dunagan Family Bible (Certificate of Authenticity)

This photo image is of the Bible Records of Alfred Doster Dunagan, who was the son of James Reid Dunagan and grandson of Ezekiel and Lydia Ann Brown Dunagan. I received the authenticated records from the Georgia State Archives.

Following Joseph Dunagan

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

Joseph Dunagan was born the son of Thomas and Sarah Dunagan in Orange County North Carolina in or around the year 1740. The summation of my research. is as follows:

According to George Dunagan, whose researches I trust more than anyone else, Thomas and Sarah Came to America in the 1730’s, they bought land in Orange County North Carolina in 1748. It is in Orange County, North Carolina that Joseph was born. There is record of Joseph serving on the Grand Jury at Hillsboro in 1763. George said that in “the same year he was known to be in South Carolina looking for a place to settle”. He purchased 150 acres on the Pendleton side of the Saluda River in 1768 and in 1769 he purchased another 150 acres adjoining his land. George said, “This is where he raised his family”. So this must be the birthplace of Ezekiel.

George does make mention of the Dunagan’s in Surry County as being an ‘Uncle John’ (not the same as John, the brother of this Joseph) whose son John Jr and of David who was his brother John’s son. All along with Joseph, Joshua, and Thomas served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

I have found records of Joseph in 1790 census in Pendleton South Carolina. Listed in the house were 3 males under 16 and 2 over 16 and 4 females. We know that he did have at least 6 sons and 3 or more daughters but the daughter’s names are not known. I also have record of Joseph Dunagin in the U.S. Census Reconstructed Records for Franklin County Georgia, for the residence year of 1790, however household remarks on the record has a date listed for a petition given by the Governor as 11 November 1793. He must have first come into Georgia in 1790 since we find him listed in both censuses.

We know that he and others applied for land grants. Records, authenticated by the Georgia State Archives, prove that an order was given on 6 February 1792 to give Joseph Dunagan head rights for 200 acres in Franklin County, Georgia. He was given the land warrant on 1 January 1793. His brother Thomas was also given 100 acres in Franklin County, Georgia.

Next we find records indicating that a general order was given by Major General Elijah Clark that a Block House be erected on the Dunagan land near the Currahee Mountain dated 2 January 1793. Again we find records concerning the building of the Block House dated 30 April 1794. Then in the years of 1800, 1802, 1803, we find Joseph Dunagan in the Franklin County Georgia tax census. Another record is found in 1807 for J Dunnigan. Often the name is spelled ‘Dunnigan’ throughout the census.

It is said the Joseph traveled to Tennessee where he spent some time before traveling on to Madison County, Illinois to visit his sons Isaiah and Ande who had moved there from Georgia. George said “It is said he traveled some west of the Mississippi River. He left Georgia in the early part of 1805 but died in the latter part and was buried across the river from St. Louis, Missouri in St. Clair County, Illinois.”

So perhaps the J. Dunnigan of the 1807 census is not Joseph Dunagan, which means that he is last documented in Georgia in 1803. I know that his brother Joshua Dunagan, who was written in the Hall County records as Joshua “Darnigan”, died shortly after their arrival into what is now Hall County, Georgia. We know that they came into the area around 1796, but we do not know how long they were here before Joshua was killed by the Indians. So perhaps the J. Dunnigan could have been Joshua, however as the story has been handed down, I was always under the impression that Joshua was killed not long after they settled here and built their stockade.

Ezekiel and Lydia Ann Dunagan Grave Site

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

Ezekiel Dunagan is my fourth great grandfather. We believe that Ezekiel was actually born in 1770, in Pendleton, South Carolina, according to family Bible records we discovered recently. Other records show his birth year as 1771. His father Joseph was given a land grant for 200 acres near the Curahee Mountain in Georgia and it is then that the first Dunagan’s came into Georgia. Later Joseph along with his brother Joshua Dunagan, transcribed in the Hall County records as ‘Joshua Darnigan’, lead the first group of settlers into what is now known as east Hall County Georgia. They were followed by Ezekiel and his brother leading the second group of settlers to the ‘Joshua Darnigan (Dunagan)’ settlement. It is in the same area that we find the grave of Ezekiel and Lydia. Through the years, nature had taken over the cemetery and many graves have been lost. Thanks to those Dunagan’s who still live on the land that Ezekiel owned, we never lost the location of his grave site. It was a long time dream of mine to restore and mark the graves of my grandparents for present and future generations. Along with my cousins, we made this possible. The new tombstone was recently placed on the site. Thanks to each of you who contributed your time and money to make this possible.

John F. Dunagan's Civil War Record

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

John Franklin Dunagan, son of Joseph Ellis Dunagan and Lucinda Beall Dunagan, was my great great grandfather. I have a photo of him and his wife, Samantha Frances Bryant Dunagan, that I made from an old photograh that hangs in my great Aunt Elizabeth's house.

I was going through my files and came across John's Civil War Records where he signed allegiance to the United States at the end of the Civil War. In the record he is described as being 5 feet seven inches tall, dark hair, and blue eyes.

Dunagans Move West

Stephen Reed Dunagan's parents were Ezekiel Dunagan (1771-1836) and Margaret "Peggy" Wallace(Wallis) and he was born in Hall County, Georgia in 1827. Ezekiel died in 1836 and according to the 1850 Federal Census, Peggy Dunagan was living in Hall County, Georgia,still. Sometime after 1850, Peggy moved to Alabama with her children to live with relatives, who I  believe were the McCleskeys.

In the Civil War, Stephen Reed Dunagan rose to the rank of Captain and served as a calvary officer with the CSA, Company G, 4th. Alabama Calvary, also known as Russell's Rangers. They say that he had red hair and a red beard and must have been an imposing figure when leading a cavalry charge. This is the story of Captain Stephen R. Dunagan moving his family westward ending up settling the wilds of New Mexico.

Source:  To Animas With Love, A History Dunagan and Smith by Carol Dunagan Smith

Stephen R. Dunagan and wife Eliza Ann Turk Wood Dunagan, and their living children, along with other family members left Alabama because of a son with tuberculosis. The doctor advised a dry climate. Poverty and unrest after the Civil War also prompted their decision to move westward. Stephen had served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War. He was a Captain of the Fourth Alabama Calvary Russell’s Rangers. Stopping along the way to work to obtain the money to continue on, they located in Calahan, Texas, and lived there for several years.

A granddaughter told of winding their way to New Mexico. “Came from Texas in 1883, Ma and Pa, Granpa and Grandma, Eliza Ann and Stephen Reed Dunagan, Sr., and the whole bunch. Pa (Robert Sexton) and Ola (son) herded the sheep and Ma (Clifford Ann Dunagan Sexton) drove the wagon. Ma chewed pine gum all the way and almost died from the turpentine. She got sick and her baby came early and it died. Aunt Indy had a baby on the way and lost four year old boy. Buried him in a Mexican grave yard in a little village along the way.” (a direct quote of Minnie Sexton White)

Letters written home (Click on below to enlarge)

On the long trek to New Mexico the dangers of Indians and wolves kept the wagons as close together as possible. Any weakened animal, dropping behind, would be a prey for a wolf pack. Minnie remembered the continual fear of the children going off alone. They crossed through the Territory of Arizona, coming down into the Blue River, near Luna, NM. Minnie told of the men cutting trees and tying them to the wagons for a brake to keep them from running into the horses.

They were sheep drovers, and their arrival in Silver City was not welcomed. After much disagreement with cattlemen in the area, they left. The decision was made after a cattleman shot the family dog. One of the Dunagan boys drew his gun, but the others talked him out of using it. After one year at San Simon valley on the west side of the Peloncillo Mountains, where the family lived in fear because of Indians, they drove their sheep to Litendorf, New Mexico. They lived there about two years, where the men made piling for the mines. At this time, two daughters, Clifford Dunagan and her husband, Robert Sexton; Indiana Dunagan and her husband, John Brooks; one son, Lorenzo Dow, moved to the Gila valley and named the community Richmond (now known as Virden), New Mexico.

Mr. Dunagan and sons, Stephen R., Jr., Ezekiel and Robert, drove their sheep to Animas Valley. Among their children was a granddaughter, Etta Morton, daughter of Georgia Dunagan Morton, deceased, and married to John Morton. 

One of the sheep herders employed by the Dunagans, a Mr. Taylor, was killed by a band of raiding Apaches. A detachment of United States soldiers stationed at the Gray Ranch chased the Indians back into Mexico.

Stephen R. Dunagan, Sr. was also a surveyor and with the help of his sons surveyed a large part of Animas Valley.

Captain Stephen Reed Dunagan, Sr., passed on in 1894 and is buried at Shakespeare, the pioneers cemetery, beside his wife, Eliza Ann who died in 1896. Buried at the foot of their grave is their son Ezekiel, who preceded his parents in death in 1885. He was 26 years old when he died of tuberculosis not long after they came to New Mexico. His survivors were his wife, Sara L. McCleskey Dunagan and three children; Buena, Georgia, and Ezekiel  J. Dunagan, Jr..