YEARY – FAMILY AFFILIATED WITH BRANAMANS



Sources of Yeary Information   

Robert W. Evans, private researcher.  Email: [email protected]

“Early Settlers of Lee County, Virginia and Adjacent Counties – Volume II,” compiled by Hattie Byrd Muncy Bales, Media Inc., Greensboro, NC, 1977.

First Court, January 1777, Washington Co., VA.  Minute Book 1, Page 2 Revolutionary War Claims.

Benedict Yeary (1732-1802)Benedict Yeary, born 1732, was living in Washington County (now Lee County) Virginia by 1775.  He was allowed seventeen shillings, six pence for one horse for fourteen days service carrying provisions for the Army during the American Revolution.  From land deeds it is confirmed that his wife’s first name was “Mary.”  Benedict Yeary died in 1799 in Rocky Station Community, Lee County, VA.  He and his wife, Mary, are buried in the Benedict Yeary Cemetery near Rocky Station Fort, Virginia.

WHERE DID BENEDICT YEARY COME FROM?Numerous family researchers have attempted to determine the origin of this family.  All of the following have been theorized as Benedict Yeary’s homeland before 1777:     *  England                        * Fairfax Count, Virginia
     *  Scotland                       * Maryland
     *  The Netherlands           * NY/Pennsylvania

THEORY #1: ENGLAND/MARYLAND/FAIRFAX,VA MIGRATION“Early Settlers of Lee County, Virginia” repeats oral family tradition that the Yearys were related to the Balls by intermarriage and were believed to have been part of the Ball migration.  The Balls have been meticulously documented to have originated in Wiltshire, England – emigrating to Charles County, Maryland about 1713 and moving westward to Fairfax, Virginia by 1768.  The Balls came to Washington County, Virginia about 1782.  The various Ball-Yeary marriages that this researcher has been able to locate seem to be related to children of Benedict’s brother, Henry.  There is evidence that Henry was living in Maryland and, then, Fairfax County, between 1763-1770.  A William Yearley is among the early “Settlers of Maryland 1731-1750”  in Kent County by 1734.  This is a good – but not proven – theory.THEORY #2: SCOTLAND MIGRATIONNo documentation has been located to support the Scotland theory – although it is repeated in numerous DAR applications and internet submissions.THEORY #3: THE NETHERLANDS/NEW YORK/PENNSYLVANIAThe Netherlands-Pennsylvania connection is intriguing.   “History of the Low Dutch Colony of Conowago” by Dr. Demarest, early pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania includes “Benedekter Rune Jury” and wife “Maria Haartens Jury” as being among the Low Dutch folk (German-speaking) who moved from the Long Island/Hackensack/ Bergen NJ area to York, Adams County, PA between 1765 and 1771.

Baptismal records from the Low Dutch Church (Dutch Reformed Church – a Calvinist sect similar to the Presbyterian Church that originated in Scotland)  in Adams County, PA record 5 births to parents with various spellings of Bennedeck Jury and Maria Harten: Willem May 27, 1771;  Christiena Oct. 11, 1772; Elizabeth June 5, 1774; David July 27, 1777; and Margaret Oct. 3, 1779.   – Excerpted from “Somerset Count [New Jersey] Historical Quarterly, Vol. IV, pp. 267-281, “The Conewago Colony – Baptisms 1769-1793,” by A. Van Doren Honeyman, 1915Since Benedict Yeary is documented as hauling supplies for the Revolutionary Army in 1777 in Washington County, VA, this connection seems unlikely.   It appears to this researcher that the Low Dutch Colony gentleman is a different individual.  In answer to the question posed at the beginning of this section:Nobody knows where Benedict Yeary came from – but the Fairfield County, VA theory is more logical. 

Two sons of Benedict and Mary Yeary have been confirmed:  (1)  David Yeary  married Peggy and left Virginia about 1808, probably moving to Tennessee.  (2) William Yeary  remained in Lee County, VA.  His descendants are followed by this website.

William Yeary (1760 -1842)

As with his father, there is conflicting information regarding William’s birth:

  • Yeary Bible Records, quoted by his cousin William Yerry (son of Henry Yeary and Elizabeth Croxtall) give this William’s birth date as 1761 in Fairfax County, VA.
  • The 1880 census on one of his sons, says William was born in Pennsylvania.
  • Also in the 1880 census, of a son of the brother, Henry, indicates that the elder Yearys were born in Maryland.  There were border disputes in the early days between Maryland and Pennsylvania.

William Yeary was active in the civil and political life of Lee County.  He was a justice of the peace in 1810 in Lee County and was elected to the State Legislature and serviced 1818-1889 and again 1825-1826.

William married Elizabeth Hubbard Jan 4, 1792 in Lee, Louden County, VA.   The Hubbards were early settlers of Lee County.   Hubbard Springs is named for early settler Eli Hubbard.  Local history books suggest that “Hubbard” was originally “Hubert” and that it is a French Huguenot name.  Elizabeth’s last name is also often listed as “McCarty” for her step-father.

William and Elizabeth Hubbard Yeary had 13 children.  The names of the children were derived from Deed Book 13, Lee County, VA when the estate of William Yeary was settled in 1845.  William Yeary died in August 1842 in Sugar Run, Lee County, VA.  The children are listed below:

  1. Benedict Yeary.  Born 11/25/1792, Washington (now Lee) County, VA.  Died 25, 1856, Lee Co., VA. Married Nancy Hughes, 1820 in Lee County.
  2. Sarah H. Yeary.  Born 7/5/1794, Lee County.  Married Isaac Chrisman about 1808.  He was a farmer and minister.
  3. Henry H. Yeary. Born 11/14/1796, Lee County, VA. Died 1/31/1881, Jonesville, Lee Co., VA. Married Ruth Russell 6/2/1819.
  4. William Yeary.  Born 6/27/1797, Lee Co., VA.  Died 1887, Big Hill, Lee Co., VA.  Married Lucinda Hughes Koger about 1822 Lee Co., VA.  William was one of the first school teachers in Lee County.
  5. Jeremiah Yeary. Born 4/28/1800, Lee County, VA.  Married Elizabeth Hughes about 1832 Washington Co., VA.  Lived in Lee County all his life.
  6. Malinda Yeary.    Married John J. Crabtree.
  7. Mary Yeary. Born 1/20/1802, Lee Co., VA.  Died 1886.  Married Jacob Crabtree.
  8. Elizabeth Yeary.  Born 12/6/1803, Lee Co., VA.  Died about 1810 Washington Co., VA.  Married Charles Chrisman.
  9. Hiram H. Yeary.  Born 3/20/1806, Lee Co., VA.  Died 1850 in Missouri.  Probably married Elizabeth Yeary about 1828 in Lee Co., VA.  He was living in Jackson Co., MO in 1850.
  10. Nancy Yeary. Born 8/21/1810 Lee County, VA.  Died 1/9/1897 Greenville, Hunt Co., TX. Married John Graham between 1825-1827.  Relocated to Hunt Co., tX
  11. David McCarty Yeary.  Born 3/17/1813, Lee Co., VA.  Married Lavina Sloan in 1832 Lee Co., VA.  They are lived in the 1860 Tennessee census.  He is believed to have died in the vicinity of Sugar Hill, TX.
  12. Andrew Jackson Yeary. Born 2/16/1815, Lee Co., VA.  Married Elizabeth Sarah Garrison 1834, Lee County, VA.  Andrew was a blacksmith.
  13. Margaret Yeary. Born 10/8/1818, Lee County, VA.  Married James H. Taylor.  These are the parents of Minerva Taylor  who married Joseph Branaman/Branaham.