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Samuel B. Gaulding, the son of William T. Gaulding and Margaret Lane

Samuel B. Gaulding was born around 1791 in Bedford County, Virginia, and spent his adult life in neighboring Pittsylvania County. He married twice. His first marriage took place on 8 February 1813, when he wed Chloe McDaniel (1), who died in 1829. Samuel later married Mary “Polly” Nance on 4 March 1838, forming a second household that would remain central to his later years.


Marriage Bond of Samuel Gaulding and Chloe McDaniel (2)
Marriage Bond of Samuel Gaulding and Chloe McDaniel (2)

Chloe McDaniel was born around 1793 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, one of the many children of Randolph McDaniel. The McDaniel household was large and interconnected, with Chloe appearing among siblings whose names surface in later records—Isabel, Hyram, Jeremiah, Nathan, Moses, Polley, Aaron, and others—reflecting a wide family network in early‑nineteenth‑century Pittsylvania County. Both Chloe and her sister Isabel McDaniel later married into the Gaulding family, strengthening ties between the two households.


Source: McDaniel Family History (1)
Source: McDaniel Family History (1)

Samuel would later become a landowner on Cascade Creek, but Chloe did not live to see his later years. Chloe died on 24 December 1829 in Shelby County, Tennessee, at just thirty‑six years old. Her death left Samuel a widower with young children, and he remarried in 1838 to Mary “Polly” Nance.  Although Chloe’s life was brief and only lightly documented, the surviving records place her firmly within the McDaniel–Gaulding family network of Pittsylvania County and preserve her role as Samuel Gaulding’s first wife, remembered in later pension files and family histories.

 

The children of Samuel Gaulding and Chloe McDaniel were:

1.        Lucy Gaulding 1815–1894 - Lucy Gaulding was born around 1815 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, one of the daughters of the Gaulding family whose members appear frequently in early‑nineteenth‑century county records. On 18 November 1840, she married Samuel F. Matherly (3) in Pittsylvania County, with Jackson Haizlip serving as surety and Rev. Nathan Anderson performing the ceremony. The records show Lucy as the wife of a small farmer, living in the Pine Creek area and steadily aging in place as the household grew and changed around her. By 1880, Lucy was about 65 years old, still married and living in Pine Creek. She died in March 1894 in Hillsville, Carroll County, at roughly 80 years of age, with the cause of death recorded simply as “paralysis.”  Lucy's husband Samuel F. Matherly Sr. was born around 1819 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, the son of Benjamin Matherly and Polly Maurice. In the 1850 census, Samuel appears in the Southern District of Pittsylvania County working as a shoemaker, living with Lucy and their children America, William, and Samuel. By 1860, Samuel and Lucy had moved west into the mountains of Carroll County, Virginia, settling in the Pine Creek area. Samuel—listed as a farmer with a modest personal estate—was living with a large household that included America, William, Samuel, James, John, and David. During the Civil War era, Samuel served in Company G, 43rd U.S. Volunteer Infantry, with pension records later confirming his service. (4) The 1870 and 1880 censuses show Samuel still living in Pine Creek, working as a farmer or farm laborer as he aged. By 1880, only his youngest son David remained at home, and both Samuel and Lucy were recorded as illiterate, typical of many rural families in the region.  Samuel F. Matherly died in 1894 in Pine Creek, Carroll County. (5)

2.       America Gaulding 1815–Aft 1850 - America Gaulding was born between 1815 and 1820, likely in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where the Gaulding family was long established. On 6 October 1842, she married William Taylor (6), a young man born around 1825, with their marriage recorded in the Pittsylvania County marriage bonds. By 1860, (7) America—then about 35 years old—was living with William and their daughter Mary, age fourteen, in the Southern District of Pittsylvania County.  William Taylor her husband was born around 1825 in Virginia, likely in Pittsylvania County where he later established his household. By 1850 (8), William—then about twenty‑five—was living in the Southern District of Pittsylvania County with America and their young daughter Mary, born in 1845. The census identifies William as a tanner, a skilled tradesman responsible for curing and preparing leather, an important occupation in rural nineteenth‑century Virginia.  He died in 1865 of a fever. (9)

3.       Minerva Gaulding 1815– Minerva Gaulding, born between 1815 and 1820 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, married James T. Cox (10) on 13 January 1835, beginning a marriage that would carry them far from her Virginia roots. James, born around 1815 in North Carolina (11), appears to have lived a mobile and varied life. In 1850, a man matching his details was admitted to the Naval Hospital in New York (12) with “varioloid,” a mild form of smallpox—an unusual record that hints at a period of travel or maritime employment. By 1860 (13), Minerva and James had settled in Benton County, Tennessee (14), where James worked as a grocer with a personal estate valued at $1,260. No children were listed with them that year, suggesting either an empty nest or children living elsewhere. In 1861, James enlisted as a Private in Company E, 25th North Carolina Infantry (15), serving the Confederacy until his discharge in May 1862 due to disability. Military records describe him as a carpenter from Transylvania County, North Carolina. The couple reappears in 1870 in Decatur County, Tennessee, living at Braidies Landing. By then, James was farming, and the household included several children—Lucinda M., Elizabeth J., Minerva C., Marina A., and John T. Cox—indicating that their family had grown significantly since their earlier census appearance. James Cox died in 1873 but it is uncertain when Minerva died. 

4.       John Wesley Gaulding 1817–1883 - John Wesley Gaulding was born on 22 January 1817 in Scott County, Virginia, the son of Samuel Gaulden and Chloe McDaniel. Known throughout his life simply as Wesley, he married Mary “Polly” Taylor on 28 November 1838 in Henry County, Virginia. (16) Mary, born in 1817 in Pittsylvania County, was the daughter of John Taylor and Zerishe “Zella” McDonald, linking Wesley to another long‑established regional family. By the early 1840s, Wesley was active in Pittsylvania County affairs, appearing at the 1842 estate sale of William T. Gaulding, a gathering of Gaulding heirs and associates. He and Mary lived in Pittsylvania County through at least 1860 (16), where Wesley was recorded as a prosperous farmer in the Southern District with real estate valued at $2,000. Their household included several children—John Joseph, Chloe, Mary Elizabeth, and Cassandra Florence. A second 1860 record places Wesley in Saline County, Missouri, listed on the slave schedule with four enslaved individuals, suggesting a period of movement or dual property ownership as the family transitioned westward.  By 1863, Wesley was living in Atchison County, Missouri, and by 1880 (17), he and Mary had settled permanently in Richmond, Ray County, Missouri, where Wesley continued farming into his sixties. Their adult children—Cloey, George, and Mary—were still living at home in 1880, reflecting a stable family presence in the community.  Mary died in 1881, and Wesley followed in 1883. Both were buried in Dockery Cemetery in Ray County. (18)

5.       Samuel B. Gauldin Jr 1820–1865 - Samuel B. Gaulding Jr., born around 1820 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, married Anna “Annie” McDaniel on 30 July 1850. (20) Annie, born in March 1825, was the daughter of Joel McDaniel and Zericha Horatio Taylor. Samuel began his adult life as a young farmer in the Southern District of Pittsylvania County, where the 1850 census (20) shows him living with Annie and owning four enslaved people (20), a small slaveholding typical of modest agricultural households in the region.  By 1860 (22), Samuel and Annie were still living in Pittsylvania County, now with two young daughters—Susannah, age five, and Sarah Louvinia, age three. A third daughter, Angeline, was born around 1860, completing their small family. That same year, Samuel enlisted as a Private in Company I, 57th Virginia Infantry (23), serving the Confederacy during the Civil War. His service records show that he remained with the regiment through at least 1863, suffering illness at Winchester, and he likely died sometime after 1865, as no further records place him in civilian life.  After Samuel’s death, Annie remarried in 1868 to John William “Billy” Wilson, a man whose marital history is unusually intertwined with the McDaniel and Gaulding families. Wilson married multiple women from these connected lines over several decades, including Annie herself, and probably her daughters. Annie’s 1880 and 1900 census records show her living with Wilson in Pittsylvania and Henry Counties, surrounded by a blended household of Wilson children and her own Gaulding children and grandchildren. She reported having borne eleven children, with seven living by 1900. 

6.       Maacha Mickey Gaulding 1825–1880 - Maacha “Mickey” Gaulding, born around 1825 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, was one of the daughters of Samuel B. Gaulding (1791–1858) and Chloe McDaniel (1793–1829). On 13 December 1845, she married Lloyd Bateman (25), a Bedford‑born farmer nearly twenty years her senior. The couple began their married life in the Southern District of Pittsylvania County, where the 1850 and 1860 censuses show them raising their children—John, Algernon, and William Clay Bateman—while Lloyd worked as a farmer with modest property. During the late 1860s, Mickey and Lloyd moved south into the foothills of Surry County, North Carolina, and later into Quaker Gap in Stokes County, where their family expanded to include Sariah Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary Bateman. Lloyd continued farming throughout his life and briefly served as postmaster at Sunny Side, North Carolina, in 1871, reflecting his growing role in the local community. Mickey’s life ended in April 1880 in Quaker Gap, Stokes County, where she died at about 56 years old, reportedly from complications of childbirth. (26) She was buried back in Cascade, Pittsylvania County, returning her to the community where she was born. Lloyd lived until 1885, leaving a will in North Carolina that named his siblings and children, preserving the final record of his long life.

 

Samuel Gauldin married Mary Nance on 4 March 1838 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. His first marriage had been to Chloe McDaniel on 8 February 1813, also in Pittsylvania County (FHL Film 33326, p. 54).  Samuel and Mary had two daughters:

1.        Virginia Caroline “Jenny” Gaulding (1839–1911) - Virginia Caroline “Jenny” Gaulding was born on 12 November 1839 in the Cascade community of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, the daughter of Samuel B. Gaulding and Mary Nance. She grew up along Cascade Creek, appearing in the 1850 census as an eleven‑year‑old in her parents’ household. In 1860, at about twenty‑one, she married John Henry Pyron, a young overseer born the same year—22 July 1839—and raised in Pittsylvania County by his parents Charles and Nancy Pyron. John enlisted in the 57th Virginia Infantry on 1 March 1862 at Bachelor’s Hall, serving the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the war, he returned home and built a prosperous farming life with Jenny. Census records from 1870, 1880, and 1900 show the Pyrons living in the Cascade and Tunstall districts of Pittsylvania County, surrounded by a growing family. Together they raised a large group of children: Nannie Elizabeth, Robert Lee, James Bruce, Mary Bell, John Cornelius, Ambrose Beauregard, Peyton, and Charlie T. Pyron. Their household often included extended family as well—Jenny’s mother Mary (Nance) Gaulden lived with them in 1880. John died on 6 November 1905 in Cascade, and Jenny applied for his Confederate widow’s pension in 1907. (27) She lived until 12 January 1911, passing away in the same community where she had been born. Both she and John were buried in the Pyron Cemetery in Cascade, (28) leaving behind a large family whose descendants remained deeply rooted in Pittsylvania County.


John Henry Pyron Family (29)
John Henry Pyron Family (29)

1.       Leticia Gaulding (1841–1870) - Leticia Gaulding was born around 1841 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, the younger daughter of Samuel B. Gaulding and Mary Nance. She grew up in the Southern District of Pittsylvania, appearing in the 1850 census as a nine‑year‑old living with her parents and older sister, Virginia “Jenny” Gaulding.  On 22 December 1870, Leticia married David Lafayette Hanks, (30) a Pittsylvania County native born in 1848, the son of William Hanks and Fannie Lydia Hodges. Lafayette had served in the Virginia Reserves (Company C) during the Civil War, later reporting that he contracted measles during service—an illness he said permanently weakened his heart and lungs.  Leticia and Lafayette lived in Pittsylvania County after their marriage, but her life was short. She died on 16 June 1878 in the county’s Third District at about 32 years old, with the cause of death recorded as meningitis. Her death record identifies her as Lettitia Hanks, married, and the wife of D. L. Hanks.  Lafayette survived her by many years. He remarried (likely to Lucy Greene, though the record is uncertain) and continued living in the Cascade area. In 1901, at age fifty‑three, he filed a Confederate veteran’s pension application, stating he could no longer perform manual labor due to lingering effects of wartime illness. This is the last confirmed record of him.

 

Military Service in the War of 1812

Samuel Gaulding served briefly in the War of 1812, entering service on 25 January 1814 as a private in Captain John Clark’s Virginia Militia and serving until 26 March 1814. His widow’s later pension application confirms his service and identifies both of his marriages, preserving valuable documentation about his military role.


U.S., War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815 (18)
U.S., War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815 (18)

Throughout the 1840s and 1850s (19), Samuel appears frequently in Pittsylvania County’s deed and probate records. In 1844, he sold his undivided interest in the estate of William T. Gaulding—his share as a legatee—to Thomas Jones for $600, a transaction similar to those made by other Gaulding heirs. He is recorded in the 1850 Slave Schedule. (20)  In 1855, Samuel executed another deed conveying a 190‑acre tract on Cascade Creek to his wife Mary for her lifetime, with the remainder to pass to their daughters Virginia and Letitia. This land included the site of Samuel’s grist mill, a landmark remembered in local accounts and noted in the 1850 census.

 

Samuel B. Gaulding died on 13 February 1858 at Cascade Creek in Pittsylvania County. Samuel Gaulding’s will was recorded on 17 March 1857 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.  According to the General Index to Wills, Vol. 1 (1767–1948), page 178, his will appears in Will Book 2, page 229, where he names Jenny Gaulding, Letitia Gaulding, and his widow as beneficiaries.  His widow Mary Nance Gaulding later applied for a War of 1812 pension, confirming his death date and preserving the final official record of his life. Through military service, land transactions, and family ties, Samuel’s story illustrates the experiences of a mid‑nineteenth‑century Virginia farmer whose life was closely woven into the broader Gaulding family network.

Works Cited

4. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/4654/images/32959_032982-04482?pId=1677775.

11. 1840 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] Benton, Tennessee. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8057/images/4410697_00012?pId=3407247.

12. U.S., Registers of Patients at Naval Hospitals, 1812-1934. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9268/images/43190_647350_0620-00018?pId=208786.

14. North Carolina and Tennessee, U.S., Early Land Records, 1753-1931. ancestry.com. [Online] West Tennessee Land Grants, Roll 184: Book 16. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2882/images/33118_290770-00303?pId=143159.

20. U.S., Family History Books. ancestry.com. [Online] McDaniel Family Research-Virginia, "Anna McDaniel married Samuel Gaulding, Jr. 30 July 1850. She was the daughter of Joel McDaniel". https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62282/images/555166_fl6125190_2477425-00009?pId=4467653525.

23. 1860 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] Pittsylvania County, Virginia. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4298865_00384?pId=34650104.

24. U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2322/records/14301427?tid=163174124&pid=422121229819&ssrc=pt.

25. Lloyd Bateman. Find a Grave. [Online] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144922633/maacha-bateman.

26. U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8756/images/NCM1805_5-0175?pId=40876.

27. Alabama, Texas and Virginia, U.S., Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1677/images/31867_B034416-00128?pId=534734.

31. U.S., War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1133/images/miusa1814_114137-00802?pId=29840.

32. 1850 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] Pittsylvania, Virginia. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4206390_00230?pId=15430054.

 

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