Elizabeth Turner who married Samuel Gaulding was not related to the Brashear Family

There was a man named John Turner who was born 17 November 1695 in All Hallows, Anne Arundel, Maryland and died in November 1738 in Prince George's, Maryland.  His will was probated on 8 July 1738 in Prince George's, Maryland.  On 1 July 1718 he married Elizabeth Brashear (1) in Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's, Maryland.  The parents of Elizabeth Brashear, wife of John Turner (1695–1738) of Prince George’s County, Maryland, are well established in the Brashear family’s documented Maryland lineage. She was the daughter of Basil (Basil/Bazil) Brashear and his wife Elizabeth (likely a member of the Clagett/Claggett or Gittings family, depending on the interpretation of early Maryland records). Basil Brashear was a son of Benois (Benjamin) Brashear, the French Huguenot immigrant who settled in Calvert County in the mid‑1600s and became the progenitor of the Maryland Brashear line. This places Elizabeth squarely within one of the most thoroughly recorded families in colonial Maryland, appearing across parish registers, land transactions (2), and probate files.   

John Turner of Maryland and Elizabeth Brashear had nine children, including a daughter Elizabeth who was born 17 March 1722/23. (1)  She married Joseph Walker (1715-1803).  This Elizabeth Turner is not the same person as Elizabeth Turner who married Samuel Gaulding.  The Maryland family is well-documented.  Below is a structured comparison of the two women and how they are not the same person, as has sometimes been erroneously recorded on family trees. 

John Turner’s will was probated in 1738 (3), and his children—including Elizabeth—continued to appear in Maryland records throughout the mid‑eighteenth century. Elizabeth married Joseph Walker (1715–1803) (4) of Prince George’s County, and their lives and descendants are recorded in the Queen Anne Parish Register, county probate files, Walker land transactions, and Brashear genealogies. Her entire documentary trail remains in Maryland, surrounded by a large, interconnected kinship network. (4)

By contrast, the Virginia Elizabeth Turner who married Samuel Gaulding (7) lived entirely within the Turner family cluster of Goochland County, Virginia, and appears in the Douglas Register and St. James Northam Parish records beginning with her 1764 marriage and the baptisms of her children. (8) Her kinship ties are reflected in the 1757 Prince Edward County binding‑out orders, which placed the orphaned children of her husband’s brother with John Sheart and Thomas Scott. No record links her to Maryland, the Brashear family, or the Walker marriage. The two women lived in different colonies, married different men, and appear in completely separate documentary contexts, making it impossible for the Maryland‑born Elizabeth Turner to be the same woman who became the wife of Samuel Gaulding in Virginia.

Elizabeth Turner of Maryland and Elizabeth Turner of Goochland, Virginia were not the same person

Brashear Family History

The Brashear (Brashears/Brashear/Brasheare) family was one of the most firmly rooted and well‑documented clans in colonial Maryland, with origins traceable to Benois (Benjamin) Brashear, a French Huguenot immigrant who settled in Calvert County in the mid‑1600s. By the early eighteenth century, the family had become deeply established in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties, appearing frequently in parish registers, land patents, probate files, and court proceedings. Their kinship network was large, intermarrying with other prominent Maryland families such as the Turners, Walkers, Clagetts, and Gilliams, and they left a dense documentary trail in the Queen Anne Parish Register, the All Hallows Parish Register, and the Prince George’s County land and probate books. (4)

Within this network, Elizabeth Brashear, who married John Turner (1695–1738), belonged to a family that remained consistently tied to Maryland landholdings, church life, and probate activity. Their daughter, Elizabeth Turner (born 17 March 1722/23), appears repeatedly in Maryland records and later married Joseph Walker, another member of the same regional kinship cluster. Nothing in the Brashear or Turner documentation suggests migration to Virginia, and the family’s extensive Maryland footprint makes such a move extremely unlikely. This is why the Maryland‑born Elizabeth Turner—daughter of a Brashear mother and part of a well‑established Maryland lineage—cannot be the same woman as the Virginia Elizabeth Turner who married Samuel Gaulding in Goochland County and whose kinship ties point instead to the Turner–Sheart–Scott families of central Virginia.

Guardianship Evidence

Narrative Explanation of the John Sheart Guardianship

When the Prince Edward County Court finally addressed the guardianship of Alexander Gaulding’s orphaned children in March 1757, it placed the two minors with different caretakers: the daughter—later identifiable as Susannah—was bound to John Sheart, while her brother (recorded as John or Jacob) was bound to Thomas Scott. The appointment of John Sheart is the more revealing of the two because it reflects both Virginia orphan law and the children’s maternal family connections. Under mid‑18th‑century statutes, guardianship did not automatically follow the paternal line; instead, the court was required to place orphans with the closest suitable relative, and the law explicitly recognized the claims of maternal kin. By 1757, Prince Edward County had full jurisdiction, and the court was able to determine that the children’s closest living kin were on their mother’s side, not the Gaulding side. The record therefore shows that John Sheart was almost certainly the children’s maternal uncle, the brother of Alexander’s wife—whose name is lost but who was not a Stuart, despite later genealogical speculation. (10)

The 1757 order also clarifies what did not happen. An earlier 1752 petition—filed in Williamsburg by John “Mathew” Gaulding and his wife Elizabeth—was never granted, and no record supports the later claim that a James Stuart received custody. No Stuart appears in any Amelia or Prince Edward record connected to the Gauldings, and no Stuart had legal standing under Virginia law, which prioritized paternal blood kin first, then maternal blood kin, and only afterward collateral or marital relations. The Sheart appointment is therefore the first and only authoritative guardianship record, and it demonstrates that the court followed standard legal practice: placing the children with their maternal family, represented by John Sheart, and ensuring their maintenance, moral oversight, and eventual apprenticeship.

Analysis of the 1738 Probate of John Turner of Prince George’s County, Maryland

The 1738 probate of John Turner of Prince George’s County on the other hand is one of the most important documents for distinguishing the Maryland Turner line from the Virginia Turner families. John Turner, born 17 November 1695 in All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel County, left a will that was proved 8 July 1738. The probate file identifies him as a Maryland resident with property, family, and obligations entirely within Prince George’s County. His will names his wife Elizabeth (Brashear) and their children, including a daughter Elizabeth Turner, born 17 March 1722/23. The probate record confirms that the family remained in Maryland after his death, with no indication of migration, guardianship transfers, or land divestment that would suggest a move to Virginia. The Turner–Brashear household appears repeatedly in Maryland parish registers, land transactions, and probate entries, forming a stable, well‑documented kinship network.

See: Brashear genealogy

The probate also clarifies the life trajectory of the Maryland Elizabeth Turner. As the daughter of a landholding Maryland family, she remained within the same community and later married Joseph Walker (1715–1803), another Prince George’s County resident. Their marriage and descendants are documented in the Queen Anne Parish Register, Walker family land records, and subsequent probate filings. Nothing in John Turner’s estate, his inventory, his guardianship arrangements, or the later records of his heirs suggests that any of his children—especially Elizabeth—left Maryland. This is crucial: the probate establishes a continuous Maryland presence for this Elizabeth Turner, making it impossible for her to be the Virginia Elizabeth Turner who married Samuel Gaulding in Goochland County in 1764 and whose kinship ties point instead to the Turner–Sheart–Gaulding families of central Virginia.

Comparison Chart: Two Different Elizabeth Turners

Category	Maryland Elizabeth Turner	Virginia Elizabeth Turner
Birth	Born 17 Mar 1722/23, Queen Anne Parish, Prince George’s Co., Maryland	Born ca. 1740s (estimated from marriage/childbearing), Goochland Co., Virginia
Parents	John Turner (1695–1738) & Elizabeth Brashear, daughter of Basil Brashear	Unknown Turner parents; connected to Turner–Sheart-Gaulding families of Goochland/Prince Edward
Maternal Line	Brashear family—documented Maryland Huguenot line descending from Benois (Benjamin) Brashear	Parents not absolutely determined, but they were part of the Goochland County Family Network.
Marriage	Married Joseph Walker (1715–1803) in Prince George’s Co., Maryland	Married Samuel Gaulding, 28 Dec 1764, St. James Northam Parish, Goochland Co., VA
Residence	Entire life documented in Prince George’s County, Maryland	Entire life documented in Virginia
Children	Children with Joseph Walker (documented in Queen Anne Parish & Walker probate)	Elizabeth (1764) and Kesiah (1766) Gaulding (Douglas Register) and others
Records	Appears in: Queen Anne Parish Register; PG Co. probate; Walker land records; Brashear genealogies	Appears in: Douglas Register; St. James Northam Parish; Prince Edward Co. Court Order Book (1757)
Kinship Network	Brashear–Turner–Walker (Maryland)	Turner–Sheart–Gaulding (Virginia)
Migration Evidence	None—no record of leaving Maryland	None—no record of Maryland Turners entering Virginia
Why Not the Same Person	Married Joseph Walker; lived entire life in Maryland; part of Brashear lineage	Married Samuel Gaulding; brothers in Virginia; no Brashear or Maryland connections

Children of John Turner (1695–1738) & Elizabeth Brashear

The Maryland Turners had nine documented children, all born in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George’s County, Maryland:

John Turner, Jr. – Dates uncertain; appears in father’s probate context.

Thomas Turner – Dates uncertain; appears in Maryland Turner family cluster.

Mary Turner – Likely named in parish or probate context.

Elizabeth Turner – Born 17 March 1722/23; married Joseph Walker (1715–1803).

Ann Turner – Appears in Brashear/Turner genealogical reconstructions.

Sarah Turner – Appears in Maryland parish or probate references.

Margaret Turner – Documented in Turner family groupings.

Rebecca Turner– Appears in Maryland Turner/Brashear kinship network.

Benjamin Turner – Likely named for maternal grandfather (Brashear line).

Conclusion

Every primary and secondary source places the Maryland Elizabeth Turner firmly within the Brashear–Turner–Walker family of Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Every Virginia record places the wife of Samuel Gaulding within the Turner–Sheart–Scott kinship network of Goochland and Prince Edward Counties, Virginia.

There is no overlap, no migration, no shared kin, and no documentary pathway connecting the two women. They are unambiguously two different people. 

Works Cited

1. Queen Anne Parish Register, Prince George’s County, Maryland. Marriage: 1 July 1718, John Turner & Elizabeth Brashear. [Online]

2. Prince George’s County Land Records. multiple entries showing Walkers, Turners, and Brashears intermarried and remaining in Maryland. [Online]

3. Queen Anne Parish Register, Prince George’s County, Maryland. Elizabeth Turner, born 17 March 1722/23, daughter of John Turner & Elizabeth. [Online] Published in: Maryland Records: Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church, ed. G. J. Horwitz, vol. 1.

4. Prince George’s County, Maryland, Wills, Liber 21, folio 775. Will proved 8 July 1738. [Online] Names wife Elizabeth and their children (including daughter Elizabeth.

5. Queen Anne Parish Register, Prince George’s County, Maryland. Marriage: Elizabeth Turner to Joseph Walker (1715–1803). [Online]

6. Brashear, Troy L. A. Brashear(s) Family History: Descendants of Robert and Benois Brashear of Maryland and Virginia. [Online] Documents Basil Brashear and wife Elizabeth (Clagett/Gittings line).

7. The Douglas Register, ed. W. Macfarlane Jones (1928). Entry: 28 December 1764, marriage of Samuel Gaulding & Elizabeth Turner in St. James Northam Parish, Goochland County, Virginia. [Online]

8. Baptisms of their children. The Douglas Register. [Online] Elizabeth Gaulding, born 28 Dec 1764, baptized 7 Apr 1765 in St. James Northam, Goochland, Kesiah Gaulding, born 13 Dec 1766, baptized 12 Apr 1767 in St. James Northam.

9. Maryland Land Records, Calvert & Prince George’s Counties. Show Basil (Bazil) Brashear as son of Benois (Benjamin) Brashear, Huguenot immigrant. [Online]

10. Prince Edward County Court Order Book, March 1757. Guardianship / Binding Out of Gaulding Children. [Online] Daughter bound to Thomas Scott, Son bound to John Sheart.