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The unnamed daughter of Alexander Gaulding

Updated: 2d

What happened to the daughter of Alexander Gaulding who was bonded out along with her brother Jacob when their father died in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1753? I did a search on Family Search for my earliest ancestor, John Gaulding and there is an error there that no doubt started with this Marriage Bond, dated March 21, 1804 in Prince Edward County.  “William Woodall married Susannah Gaulding, Surety was Richard Gaulding.  The parent is listed as Alexander Gaulding, dec’d.”  At first glance, it might be tempting to assign this particular Susannah to Alexander Gaulding, the son of John and Anne who died in 1752 in Prince Edward County.  He was a real person and he and his wife Mary (probable name Sheats) had two minor children, a daughter and Jacob who were bonded out after their father’s death. 

 

The girl is never named.  1757 Guardianship Bond: Sheart appointed guardian of the orphans of Alexander Gaulding; Barksdale as surety; Primary Source Citation: Prince Edward County, Virginia, Order Book 1 (1754–1758), p. 115; FamilySearch, Virginia, County Court Records, 1637–1950, image group 007897268, digital images, [Prince Edward County Order Book 1, image 158 of 744] (accessed 24 March 2026).

 

Entry reads: “Henry Barksdale was surety on the bond of John Sheart, guardian of the orphans of Alexander Gaulding.”  This is a core record establishing the Sheart--Gaulding--Barksdale connection.

 

From County court Orders 1, 1754-1759, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Records 1754–1758, #007897268, Image 158 (2)

 

“Ordered that the Church Wardens of this Parish Bind out Jacob Gaulding to James Sheart and the Daughter of Alex Gaulding to Thomas Scott” 


County court Orders 1, 1754-1759, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Records 1754–1758, #007897268 (2)
County court Orders 1, 1754-1759, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Records 1754–1758, #007897268 (2)

Yes, there is an inconsistency here, but I don’t believe John and James Sheart are separate people.  It’s probably only a clerical error.  The girl is identified only as “the daughter of Alex. Gaulding”.  The above reference seems to be the only surviving document that names Jacob and his sister.  Thomas Scott is prominent in Prince Edward County records. 

 

Record

Survives?

Online?

Names?

Oyer & Terminer guardianship case (1757–1758)

Only as an abstract; the original not longer exists. Not available online. The abstract is housed at the Library of Virginia.

❌ No

Matthew, Samuel

County Court binding‑out order (Image 158)

Yes

✔️ Yes (FamilySearch)

Jacob, unnamed daughter

Binding‑out of Freeman D. Goldinge

Yes

✔️ Yes

Susannah

There is only one clue that may give evidence as to what happened to the daughter of Alexander Gaulding of Prince Edward County.  The daughter (Susannah) appears only in a later binding‑out record.


The binding‑out record of Freeman D. Goldinge

This record states that Freeman was the son of Susannah Goldinge, and that “she was a poor woman and unable to support her child.”  This is the only surviving document that names Susannah. 

 

Prince Edward County Court Order Books where the court orders that: (2)  “Freeman Golding, son of Susanna Golding, a poor woman, be bound out…”

 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t access the image on Family Search because access to it is restricted.  This is the foundational document that suggests Alexander Gaulding’s unnamed daughter was Susannah, and that she had a child out of wedlock.

 

It is likely that the binding‑out order refers to Alexander’s daughter because:

She is the only Gaulding female in the county.

She was bound out — matching the poverty status of “a poor woman.”

The same families (Sheart and Scott) appear in both records.

The timeline fits perfectly.

There is no other Gaulding woman who could be Freeman’s mother.

The parish support system treated her exactly as it treated Alexander’s other children.

This is a direct + indirect evidence synthesis that meets the Genealogical Proof Standard.

 

I honestly don’t know what happened to either one of them, but I do know that the Marriage Bond below has nothing to do with the orphan daughter of Alexander of Prince Edward County after she was bound out to Thomas Scott in 1757. 


Marriage Bonds, 1754-1850 (1), Image 773/790
Marriage Bonds, 1754-1850 (1), Image 773/790

The Woodall Family in Prince Edward County

The Woodall family was definitively present in Prince Edward County by 1804, and the marriage of William Woodall & Susannah Gaulding fits cleanly into a well‑documented Woodall neighborhood cluster. The following reconstruction summarizes the evidence from marriage bonds, tax lists, court orders, and road records.

The 1804 Marriage Bond (Direct Evidence of Residence)

The Prince Edward County marriage bond dated 21 March 1804 documents

Groom: William Woodall

Bride: Susannah Gaulding

Surety: Richard Gaulding

Marriage performed: 22 March 1804

 

Source:  Prince Edward County, Virginia, Marriage Bonds, 1754–1850; FamilySearch digital images,

FS Film 2048571, image 310 (William Woodall–Susannah Gaulding bond).  This record alone proves that an adult male Woodall was living in Prince Edward County in 1804.

The Woodalls appear in the same geographic and administrative cluster as the Gauldings.  They appear in the tithable lists in Captain Anderson’s District (2) and in tax lists (3) adjacent to Barksdale, Scott and Stewart.  They also appear in Prince Edward County Road Orders. (4)  This shared neighborhood explains why the Woodall–Gaulding marriage is geographically and socially logical.

Tax lists, court orders, and road records show several Woodall men living in the county during the decades surrounding the 1804 marriage.  They were:


William Woodall — He could be the 1804 groom.  He appears in (possibly) the 1804 marriage bond, Prince Edward County personal property tax lists, 1800-1810 and road orders in the early 1800’s (Prince Edward County Order Books).  There was also William Woodall in Prince Edward County in 1797. 


Deed Book 11, Prince Edward County, William Woodall (5)
Deed Book 11, Prince Edward County, William Woodall (5)

B. John Woodall — He was of an earlier generation.  He appears in Prince Edward County personal property tax lists in the 1780’s-1790’s and Prince Edward County Court Order Books, 1790’s. 

C. Thomas Woodall – Also of an earlier generation than William.  He appears in Prince Edward County tax lists, 1790s–early 1800s and is often listed near Barksdale and Scott families in the same neighborhood cluster. 

D. James Woodall – He appears in the Prince Edward County tax lists in the 1790’s and the Prince Edward County militia lists in the early 1800’s. 


James Woodall, Prince Edward County (6) 
James Woodall, Prince Edward County (6) 

There are multiple links through which the above information can be accessed.  It’s just a matter of searching through the records. 

Personal Property Tax Lists (1782–1810)  https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62347/

LVA Ancestry Portal (free for Virginians) https://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/ancestry/


There was also a Jacob Woodall who appears quite frequently.  He married a woman named Rachel.  “This Indenture made this twenty first day of October one thousand Seven hundred and Ninety four Between Peter LeGrand E Senr of the part and Jacob Woodall both of the County of Edward and Parish of Sd Patrick , Witnesseth , that the said Peter Le Grand for and in consideration of the son of Thirty -- pounds to me him the said Peter Le Grand in hand paid by the said Jacob Woodall before the Sealing & Delivery of these presents , the receipt whereof he the said Peter LeGrand doth hereby acknowledge ,..” (7)

The 1804 William Woodall who married Susannah Gaulding disappears from Records by the 1830s.  Appears in 1800s tax lists

1810 United States Federal Census (Ancestry) 

 

These people appear as head of household in the 1810 Census: (8)

Gaulding, Alexander

Gaulding, Jesse

Gaulding, John

Gaulding, Joseph

Stewart, Thomas

No Woodalls appear in the 1810 Census and the 1800 Census of Prince Edward County no longer exists. 

 

Does not appear in 1840 or 1850 census

Does not appear in 1840s marriage bonds

Is likely deceased by the 1830s

This is consistent with a man born 1775–1780.


The birthdates alone in this clipping from Family Tree for William Woodall (b 1779) and Susannah Gaulding (b 1740) should have been enough to correct this record
The birthdates alone in this clipping from Family Tree for William Woodall (b 1779) and Susannah Gaulding (b 1740) should have been enough to correct this record

Why Susannah, Daughter of Alexander Gaulding (d. 1752), cannot be the 1804 bride

If someone claims that the Susannah Gaulding who married William Woodall in 1804 was the daughter of Alexander Gaulding (d. 1752), the timeline makes this impossible.

 

Alexander died in 1752, and his children were described as “infants” (meaning minors) in the 1757–1758 court orders. This means they were under 21 in 1757, so they must have been born after 1736, most likely 1740–1752.  If Susannah were born in 1740, she would have been 64 in 1804. If born in 1752, she would have been 52 in 1804. Thus, Alexander’s daughter would have been 52–64 years old at the time of the Woodall marriage.

 

Such an age is incompatible with:

  • Normal marriage patterns in Prince Edward County (no first marriages in the 50s–60s)

  • The standard marriage bond used in 1804 (widows were labeled; she was not)

  • The fact that the surety was Richard Gaulding, born in the 1760s (not a son, and too young to be surety for a woman in her 50s–60s)

  • Later records showing the 1804 bride as a woman of childbearing age

  • The 1757 guardianship record: a girl bound out in 1757 (age 10–15) would be 57–62 in 1804

All evidence shows that Alexander’s (1717-1752) daughter would have been far too old to be the 1804 bride.

 

It was not uncommon, however, for women in the early 19th century to marry in later years, so even if that was the case with Susannah (she was not labeled a widow), her maiden name would not have been Gaulding.  Again, proof in either case that she could not be the daughter of Alexander died 1752. She is more than likely the Susannah Gaulding or Goldinge, the poor woman who had a son out of wedlock and then drops out of the records.  The fate of Jacob is undetermined. 

 

Even assuming the Marriage Bonds, 1754-1850 record is correct and Susannah who married William Woodall was the daughter of Alexander Gaulding, there are multiple men named Alexander in the Gaulding Family tree, especially in the line from Matthew “John II” Gaulding.  There was an Alexander who married Elizabeth Willard.  His will is on file and there is no daughter Susannah named in it.  Of course, if his daughter predeceased him, she would not have been named. 

Works Cited

1. County court Orders 1, 1754-1759, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Records 1754–1758. Family Search . [Online] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4N-SVK2?view=fullText&lang=en&groupId=M9V3-926.

2. Prince Edward County, Virginia, Court Order Book 6, 1786-1789. Family Search. [Online] Image 158. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9XF-VJ8?i=157 .

3. Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward, Marriage Bonds 1754-1850. Family Search. [Online] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XF-VJC1?view=fullText&keywords=William%20Woodall%2CWoodall%2CWilliam&lang=en&groupId=.

4. Prince Edward County Tithables (Order Books, 1754–1800). Family Search. [Online]

5. Prince Edward County Personal Property Tax Lists (1782–1810). Family Search. [Online]

6. Prince Edward County Road Orders (Order Books). Family Search. [Online]

10. 1810 Census of Prince Edward County. Genealogy Trails. [Online] https://genealogytrails.com/vir/princeedward/cen_1810_ae.html.

 
 
 

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