Where Did Union County Chastains Originate?

The federal census of 1834 for Union County reveals that John B., Edward and Abner Chastain had established households in the county early in the county's history.

Where did these Chastains originate? What is significant about their ancestry?

Tracing these Chastain settlers in Union back to Pierre Chastain (about 1659 - 1728), known to subsequent generations as Dr. Pierre Chastain, the Immigrant, we find that this first of the line in America came to Virginia in 1700 because of religious persecution in France. Pierre was a son of Estienne Chastain and Jeanne Laurant Chastain. They were members of what became known as the French Huguenots. They were adherents of the French Reformed Church (also called Calvinists because of their leader, Jean Cauvin, English name John Calvin [1509-1564]).

With other Huguenot immigrants, Pierre Chastain and his first wife, Susanne Renaud, settled on land at Manakin, Virginia near present day Richmond. Pierre had multiple occupations. First and foremost, he was a physician (surgeon). It has also been noted that he was a perruquier (the French term for barber and wig maker). He was a planter and plantation owner.

After the death of his first wife, Susanne, by whom he had eight children, he married Anne Soblet, whose family had also escaped France under Huguenot persecution. Dr. Pierre Chastain and his wife Anne had eight children, making a total for The Immigrant Chastain of sixteen. Three of his children with Susanne died young, for in February, 1700, he was listed with five children and no wife in the Manakin area census. Dr. Pierre Chastain's third marriage was to Mary Magdalene Trabue, widow of Antoine Trabue.

Pierre Chastain was active in the Manakin Town Episcopal Church where present-day visitors are told of the Chastain pew, third from the front on the left side of the church. Descendants of The Immigrant also take pride in visiting the home of Dr. Chastain, a two-story white frame house in Manakin Town, Virginia. The gravesite of Dr. Chastain and his three wives and some of his children has been identified and marked. The Pierre Chastain Family Association, organized in 1975, has for its aim the development and preservation of Chastain family records and information. Many places dear to The Immigrant and his descendants have been marked and identified as they spread out from Manakin Town, Virginia to surrounding areas and moved to other pioneer regions of the country as migrations occurred.

The book of genealogy, Pierre Chastain and His Descendants, Volume I: First Five Generations in America was published by the Association in 1995 and has become a much-sought after volume for history on the Huguenot settlers in Virginia and their dispersion throughout America.

In more recent years, the Chastain Family website posts additional genealogical and historical information, and The Chestnut Tree, the Association's quarterly newsletter, keeps interest in the Chastain family alive and well.

As I studied and read the Chastain family history book, I was interested in how names were passed down through generations. There were many with the name Pierre, to honor The Immigrant. But in subsequent generations, Pierre became anglicized to Peter. Jean became John.

As mentioned in last week's article, one of the Johns was John Chastain (1743-1805) the famous John "Ten Shilling Bell" Chastain, noted Baptist minister and church planter. This John was a son of Pierre Chastain, Jr. (1707- after 1775), third child of Pierre and his second wife Anne Soblet. The records on the second Pierre are somewhat fuzzy as courthouse fires in Buckingham County, Virginia where the family lived took major records.

Pierre, Jr.'s son John's first wife was Mary O'Bryan (1765-1797), born in Ireland and died in Pendleton District, South Carolina. Following his first wife's death, he married second, Mary Robinson, a widow, whose maiden name is unknown. It is through this John Chastain that many of the North Georgia Chastains descend. For those who can trace their lines back to John "Ten Shilling Bell" Chastain, they can claim a Revolutionary War patriot, for he signed the oath of allegiance in Powhatan County, Virginia.

A brief listing of John Chastain's children by his first wife, Mary O'Bryan show Abner (1764-1846) who died in Pickens County, SC. John, Jr. (1766-1844) who died in Pickens County, SC. Martha (1768- 1794) who married John Blythe and died in South Carolina. Edward Brigand (1769- about 1834) who lived in Union County, GA, died in what is now Fannin County. Mary (1771-?) married John O'Dell. Elijah (1776-1853) died in what is now Gilmer County, GA, married Hannah Adams, Anna Middleton and Catherine Carson. Elizabeth (1777-after 1850) married Samuel Denton, Jr. Cleo (or Chloe) (1799 - ?) married John Denton. Benjamin Chastain (1780-1845) was in Union County, died in what is now Fannin, married Rebekah Denton. Nancy Chastain (1783-?) married John Robinson. Joseph Chastain (1783-after 1850) married Nancy Young, went to Missouri.

John Chastain's children by his second wife, widow Mary (maiden name unknown) Robinson were Violet (1798- ?) married William Akins. William (1801-after 1860 and before 1875) married Margaret Dobbs, died in Habersham County, GA. Mary Lavina (1803 - 1845) died in Franklin County, Tn. She married three times.

From Pierre the Immigrant to the generations cited here, the Chastains migrated to many sections of our country and became involved citizens in the life and growth of their communities.

c 2009 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published June 11, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Brothers Philip and Wilson Gillespie--Casualties of the Civil War

In last week’s column we were introduced to the Gillespie gunmakers of East Fork, NC. Two sons of Mathew and Elizabeth Sitton Gillespie, John R. and James A., moved to Union County, Georgia about 1849 and set up gun making establishments.

Two of their brothers, Philip and Wilson, and their brother-in-law, George Washington Underwood, were casualties of the Civil War.

Mathew and Elizabeth Gillespie had a large family of twelve children. Two of their sons, Philip and Wilson, and two of their sons-in-law, Robert O. Blythe, husband of their daughter, Jane, and George Washington Underwood, husband of their youngest child, daughter Isabel, left Mills River, NC together on their way to Tennessee to join the Union Army. It is reported that they walked from Mills River to Asheville where they caught a train to Tennessee. After arriving in Tennessee, they worked for several days in the fall harvest of wheat and corn, and then enlisted on September 25, 1863 at Greenville.

Prior to joining the Union Army, Philip Gillespie (2/11/1815 – 1/15/1864) was a noted gunmaker, having learned in his father’s shop. At Mills River, Philip plied his trade, with his brothers John, James and Wilson, and his brothers-in-law Robert O. Blythe, George W. Underwood, and John Harvey Gillespie, his first cousin but also his brother-in-law, married to his sister Sarah, worked at the shop owned and managed by Philip. In addition to turning out many guns with the initials “P. G.” to identify them, Philip owned a large farm he had bought from his grandfather, Philip Sitton, Sr. (for whom he was named). He ran a legal whiskey distillery. He also operated the Sitton Iron Forge.

Up in Tennessee, the two brothers and two brothers-in-law were assigned on October 1, 1863 to Company F, 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Mounted Infantry, Army of the United States, at Knoxville.

How much action Philip Gillespie engaged in is unclear. He became quite ill and was taken from camp into the home of Richard Wade near Maynardsville, Tennessee. He died of chronic diarrhea on January 15, 1864, and was buried there the next day.

Philip Gillespie never married. Reportedly, before he left Mills River to enlist in the war, he hid a bag of gold coins and a cask of brandy somewhere on Forge Mountain near his home. But the treasures were never found. Several fine Gillespie rifles with his initials were his legacy left to posterity. He was perhaps the most productive and best known of the third generation Gillespie gunmakers.

Wilson Gillespie (02/15/1825 – 01/15/1825) was the eleventh child of Mathew and Elizabeth Sitton Gillespie. Wilson was first married to Rachel N. Taylor. She died shortly after the birth of their son, William Harvey Gillespie (1851-1920). Wilson married, second, Malinda B. Underwood., a sister to George Washington Underwood who married Wilson’s sister, Isabel. Wilson and Malinda had five children: Rachel, Mary Elizabeth, Martha E., Margaret J., and Thomas W. Martha died the day she was born (March 1, 1858) and Thomas died at age fourteen months in 1864. When Wilson left home to join the U. S. Army, Malinda had the responsibility of rearing their children, Rachel, Mary Elizabeth and Margaret. William Harvey Gillespie, her stepson, was living with his maternal grandfather, Jeremiah Taylor.

It is interesting that Wilson Gillespie and his brother, Philip, died the same day, January 15, 1864. Wilson became sick on November 24, 1863, shortly after his enlistment, and was taken to the army hospital at Tazewell, TN. The cause of his death was listed as typhoid fever. He was buried in Tazewell. It is reported that Wilson Gillespie had received no pay during his months in the army.

Malinda Gillespie, widow, made application for a pension, applying first on September 11, 1865, with the last appeal dated March 30, 1869. She was finally granted a small pension. She lived until May 21, 1921 and was buried far from her fallen husband in the Shaws Creek Campground Cemetery near Horse Shoe, NC.

George Washington Underwood, husband of Isabel Gillespie, died April 8, 1864. Details and place of his death are unknown to this writer. The only one alive of the four men who went with high hopes to defend the Union was Robert O. Blythe, husband of Jane Gillespie. However, since his death occurred on January 21, 1866, he may have returned home with an injury or illness from the war. He was 54 when he died and was buried at Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery in Henderson County, NC.

In Union County, Georgia, John R. and James A. Gillespie would have heard with great sadness about the deaths of their brothers Philip and Wilson and their brothers-in- law. George W. Underwood and Robert O. Blythe.

[Note: My thanks to Dennis Glazener and his book, “The Gillespie Gun Makers of East Fork, NC” (2004) for information for this article. He granted permission for the use of pictures to accompany this article. On the very day this article will appear in “The Sentinel,” he is in Union County, GA from Midlothian, VA. Local resident, Billy Harkins, also a Gillespie descendant, is showing Dennis Glazener where John and James Gillespie had their gunshop in Union County.]

c 2006 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Oct. 12, 2006 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.