Matthew Gaulding, the son of John Gaulding of New Kent, Virginia

May 1

8 min read

Matthew “John II” Gaulding

Matthew Gaulding, the son of John “of New Kent” Gaulding and Anne Stewart was baptized on 2 February 170_ in New Kent, Virginia and he died in October 1773 in Prince Edward, Virginia. According to Christ Church Parish, Virginia Records, 1653-1812 John "Matthew" Gaulding - The record states that "Matthew" (f) was the child of Jno Galling and was born on 9 Feb 170-. The record was mistaken as far as the gender is concerned, (1) but otherwise is the only account that gives the name of the second child and first son of John and Anne Gaulding.

The Geers family is not connected to the Gaulding family of New Kent

John “Matthew” Gaulding married a woman named Elizabeth sometime before 1735. There is a Sarah Gaulding listed in the Vestry Book of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, listed with the family of John of New Kent Gaulding, and she is probably Sarah their daughter. An overwhelming number of family trees and other resources list the name of Matthew's wife as Sarah Geers, but I’ve yet to come across a primary source such as a marriage record that would give credence to that assumption.

Sarah, the wife of John "Matthew" Gaulding is said to have been born about 1720 in James City and died in October 1773 in Prince Edward County, Virginia and was supposedly the daughter of Francis "Francil" Geers and Elizabeth Stewart. Elizabeth is assumed to have been the sister of Anne Stewart who married John Gaulding. There is no truth in this and no evidence that Sarah, wife of John “Matthew” Gaulding, was Sarah Elizabeth Geers, daughter of Francis “Francil” Geers and Elizabeth Stewart. Every part of that claim collapses when tested against actual records. Here’s what we know about Sarah, the wife of John “Matthew” Gaulding. His baptism is recorded in the St. Peter’s Parish Register in New Kent County and he later moved to Prince Edward County where he left evidence of his residence thee in the county records. He had a wife named Sarah but no primary source in New Kent, Hanover, Prince Edward County or surviving court, land or parish record gives her maiden name. Her surname is unknown.

Sarah was not the daughter of Francis Geers and Elizabeth Stewart. This claim appears in online trees and some derivative compilations but there is no baptism record for a Sarah Geers in York, James City, New Kent, King & Queen, King William or St. Peter’s Parish. Likewise a person of that name does not appear in any surviving Anglican register in Tidewater Virginia. There was a person named Francis “Francil” Geers, but he did not have a daughter Sarah and there is no record that Francis Geers married someone named Elizabeth Stewart. The Geers family and the Gauldings appear in different counties, different parishes and different social networks and the entire “Sarah Elizabeth Geers” identity seems to be genealogical fiction. No record places the Geers family in St. Peter’s Parish and later in St. Paul’s Parish in Hanover County where the Gauldings and the Stewarts appear and are connected through the 1752 guardianship case involving James Stewart. Dr. Charles Gaulden wrote in his 1999 booklet entitled The Gaulden, Gauldin, Gaulding Family History, A Seven Hundred Year Study, Vol 1.:

“Some basis of the belief centers on a particular court record in which John Gaulden and Elizabeth Geers of Prince Edward county, Virginia are seeking the custody of Alexander Gaulden's children, John and Susannah, upon Alexander's tragic death in December of 1752 (Court of Dyer and Terminer in Williamsburg, VA Library)” To begin with, that is not the name of the court. It is Oyer and Terminer, not “Dyer and Terminer”.

Court Records: 1752 • Virginia, USA - Petitioned court for custody of children of Alexander Goldinge, Sr./Prince Edward Property: 1758 • Virginia, USA - Virginia County Records, VII Prince Edward County. Book No. 33. Original Source Page #: 426

The more likely truth is that because John Mathew Gaulding’s wife’s was named Elizabeth, some compilers assumed she must have been the “Elizabeth” involved in the custody case, but the custody petition was made by John and not by John and his wife. Women rarely appeared as petitioners in guardianship cases in colonial Virginia and no primary record gives her last name or connects her to the Geers family, thus “Elizabeth Geers” identification is a modern invention, not a historical fact.

See document by Catherine L. Gauldin, “Regarding the death of Alexander Gaulding and the 1752 Court Petition”.

The Geers family are found in York and James City Counties and there is no overlap with Gaulding records of the same time period. The families lived in different jurisdictions with no documented interaction

Below is the SAR Application of John Sherburne Anderson (2), a descendant of John Gaulden whom Dr. Anderson claimed was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1736 and died in Sumpter District, South Carolina on 20 January 1782. The application was approved in 1965 and stated John Gaulden was a Captain of South Carolina troops under General Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox”. I have found that Dr. Anderson, though well-intentioned, was wrong about a lot of things. The DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) has since corrected that. John Gaulden actually provided Civil Service “PETIT JURY, CAMDEN DIST, SC 1778-1779” and the source PETIT JURY, CAMDEN DIST, SC 1778-1779

There are several errors on the SAR Application of Sherburne Anderson. John Gaulding who married Elizabeth was not born in James City and John Gaulden, the Patriot did not serve with General Francis Marion. He provided Civil Service during the American Revolution according to the DAR.

The DAR also gives his date of birth as about 1742 in Amelia County, Virginia and his death as April 18, 1782 in Camden District, South Carolina. (2)

GAULDEN, JOHN, Ancestor #: A127234

Service: SOUTH CAROLINA Rank(s): CIVIL SERVICE

Birth: CIRCA 1742 AMELIA CO VIRGINIA

Death: ANTE 4-18-1782 CAMDEN DIST SOUTH CAROLINA

Service Source: HENDRIX AND LINDSEY, JURY LISTS OF SC 1778-1779, P 48

Service Description: 1) PETIT JURY, CAMDEN DIST, SC 1778-1779

John Gaulding, sometimes referred to as “Matthew” and his wife had a son named Alexander. Their eldest son was John Goldinge III, and naming conventions of the period often reserved the second son’s name for the father’s brother. This strengthens the hypothesis that an earlier Alexander Goldinge existed within the family network. John II owned 800 acres in Prince Edward County, which were ultimately divided among his eight children. It is important to note that the conveyance of this 800‑acre tract to John II (Matthew) was not an outright gift; the transfer involved monetary consideration, suggesting a formal purchase rather than inheritance. According to William Gauldin of Topeka, KS "John Jr. sold his 100 acres (acquired in the will of his father John Gaulding) to Nancy's husband, Francis Spaulding when he left for South Carolina." This property lay along what is now the northern boundary of modern‑day Hampden‑Sydney College, providing a clear geographic anchor for the family’s presence in the region.

Land Patent Book 33 lists John Gaulding, 400 acres in Prince Edward County (4)

The Find a Grave record for John “Matthew” Gaulding contains errors. It reads:

“John Gaulden (Sr.) and Elizabeth Geers lived and died in Prince Edward County VA. John (Jr.) and Susannah moved to Orange Co., NC around 1765,shortly after the death of John of Prince Edward County, VA. They moved to Sumter, SC prior to 1774. He died of Small Pox sometime before the proving of his will on January 20, 1782. He probably contracted Small pox during or around the time of the battle Eutaw Springs, in Orangeburg County.

John and Susannah "Susan" (Brumfield) Gaulden, Jr. had 9 children and they were:

1. James Gaulden (m. Frances Johnson)

2. Martha Gaulden (m. Francis Richardson)

3. William Geers Gaulden (2)

4. Elizabeth Gaulden

5. Zachariah Gaulden (m. Elizabeth Moore)

6. Rev. Jonathan Gaulden (m. Rhoda Paisley)

7. Sarah Gaulden (m. William Ely Freeman)

8. Dempsey Gaulden (m. unk.)

9. Keren Happuck Gaulden (m. James S. Gilliam)

Their children were contributed by M. Gaulden ~ 2014

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NOTE: He is listed as a Patriot in the DAR for Civil Service, serving as a Petit Juror in South Carolina during the Revolutionary period. Informant: Debbie Turner ~ 2014

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I just checked the ancestor list for your John Gaulden of SC on the DAR site. It appears that he was only a patriot and never a soldier. You are going to find it difficult to find service records or even a hint of a service record without going in the SC State Archives. Dr. Bobby Moss went around SC & NC trying to find militia lists. He said that most of them apparently no longer existed. He published all the ones that he could find. Informant: Eleanor Edmondson ~ 2015

∼Captain John Gaulden married Susannah Brumfield; 1759 in Sumter County, South Carolina. Gaulden death Camden District, South Carolina

Capt. Goulding served in the Revolutionary War under General Marion and died of smallpox.

Parents:

Father: John Matthew Gaulden birth circa 1705 in New Kent County, Virginia

Mother: Elizabeth Geers birth 1710 (Note: This is not true)

Children

1. James Gaulden, birth circa 1761 Prince Edward County Virginia, death January 17 1827 Abberville County South Carolina. James served in the Revolutionary War under General Nanthiel Green.

2. William Geers Gaulden birth circa 1764 death 1839 New Orleans Jefferson Parish Louisiana

3. Martha Gaulden birth November 26 1765 Santee River death July 12 1832 Wilkinson County Mississippi married Francis R Frank Richardson

4. Elizabeth Gaulden birth circa 1765 death 1838 married John Boatner

5. Dempsey Gaulden birth circa 1767 Sumter County South Carolina death 1840 York County Pennsylvania

6. Zachariah Brumfield Gaulden birth circa 1767 Orange County North Carolina death July 1821 Amite County Mississippi married Elizabeth Moore their son Thomas Fleming Gaulden Wilkinson County, Mississippi

7. Jonathan Gaulden birth circa 1776 Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina death Quitman Brooks County Georgia.

8. Sarah Gaulden birth 1778 Sumter District South Carolina death 1856 Montgomery County Alabama married Eli Freeman

9. Keren Happuck Gaulden birth circa 1780 Sumter County South Carolina

From “Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776 John Gaulding (John “Matthew”) was a private in late war between Great Britain and France, under command of Col. Wm. Byrd, and continued in service during his enlistment. Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776 ++++++++++++++++++ Additional information in NOTES

Other information

Military Record Source Document SOURCE DOCUMENT TITLE THE MILITARY RECORD OF JOHN “MATTHEW” GAULDING Source # SD_Gaul_JohnMatthewGaulding_1705 Related to JOHN MATTHEW GAULDING, son of John Gaulding, Sr. and Anne Stuart Source link http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/19189540/person/1029764996?pgNum=1 1 Text: MILITARY RECORD JOHN “MATTHEW” GAULDING, Source: “N. Hunter Family Finder Search” tree on ancestry.com, From “Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776 John Gaulding (John “Matthew”) was a private in late war between Great Britain and France, under command of Col. Wm. Byrd, and continued in service during his enlistment. Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776 Name: Heading: Land Bounty Certificates For Service in the French and Indian Wars. For participation in the wars of the Colony of Virginia against the French and Indians, and for service rendered by the Militia in defense of the frontiers, the King's Proclamation of 1763 granted certain amounts of land. The amount given to field officers was 5,000 acres; to captains, 3,000 acres; to subalterns or staff officers, 2,000 acres; to non-commissioned officers, 200acres; to privates, 50 acres. The Original Warrants or Certificates of the subjoined abstracts are tobe found in two MMS. Volumes, deposited in the State Land Office, Richmond, Va. The original spelling of proper and Christian names has been strictly adhered to. It has not been thought necessary to print the original Proclamation of 1763, which may be found in Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia, Vol. VII., Appendix. Certificates. Name: Freeman Lewelling Comment: John Gaulding, Chas. Howall and James Foster, severally privates in late war between Great Britain and France, under command of Col. Wm. Byrd, and continued in service during their enlistments. Court Name: Prince Edward Co. Date: Feby. Court, 1780 Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776 Certificates. Source Information:Ancestry.com. Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000. Original data: Crozier, William Armstrong. Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776. Richmond, VA, USA: Southern Book Co., 1905.”

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Source information

Title

Virginia Colonial Militia, 1651-1776