The probable origin of the “Elizabeth Geers” Tradition

The long‑repeated claim that John “Matthew” Gaulding married a woman named Elizabeth Geers does not come from any surviving 18th‑century record. No deed, will, parish entry, court order, or family document from the colonial period ever names a wife for Matthew “John”. Instead, the Geers connection arose much later, in the twentieth century, when a genealogist attempted to identify Elizabeth’s maiden name and made a series of assumptions that were gradually repeated until they hardened into family tradition.

The earliest version of the story appears to have begun when a researcher noticed that a Geers family lived in Amelia County during the same decades that the Gauldings lived there. With no documentary evidence, the researcher assumed that Elizabeth must have belonged to that family. Because the Amelia Geers were poorly understood at the time, the researcher then looked for an earlier Geers line and found Francis “Francil” Geers of Henrico County. Without any record linking the two families, the researcher concluded that Elizabeth was his daughter and that the Henrico Geers had migrated to Amelia.

This conclusion was incorrect on every point. The Henrico Geers never moved to Amelia County, and the Amelia Geers were a completely separate family who appeared suddenly in the 1740s with no connection to Francis “Francil” Geers. No Geers appear in New Kent, Hanover, or Goochland—the counties where the Gauldings lived before arriving in Amelia—making the marriage impossible. Nevertheless, the guess was published in early genealogical compilations and later copied into RootsWeb, GenForum, and early online family trees. As these unsourced claims circulated, they began to appear authoritative simply through repetition.

The SAR application of John Sherbourne Anderson gives the birthplace of Matthew “John II” Gaulding and his wife Elizabeth as James City, a place he was never in. (1)

Modern research has shown that Elizabeth’s maiden name is unknown, and no evidence ties her to any Geers family. The story survives only because a single speculative guess was repeated for decades until it became accepted as fact. When the records are examined closely, the Geers connection disappears entirely, leaving Elizabeth’s origins still undiscovered.

Francis “Francil” Geers and the Henrico Geers

In particular many online family trees make the statement that Elizabeth, the wife of Matthew “John II” Gaulding was the daughter of Francis “Francil” Geers of Henrico County.  This is not true. 

Francis “Francil” Geers was a member of the Henrico County Geers family, a line documented in the Tidewater region of Virginia during the early–mid 18th century. Contemporary research distinguishes this Henrico family from the later Geers families who appeared in Amelia and Prince Edward Counties. The Henrico Geers line is specifically noted as unconnected to the Geers families who migrated into Amelia County in the late 1740s and 1750s.

The most important genealogical point about Francis “Francil” Geers is that his family lived in Henrico County, not in New Kent, Hanover, Goochland, or Amelia—the counties through which the Gaulding family migrated. Because of this, modern analysis concludes that Francis “Francil” Geers could not have been the father of Elizabeth, wife of John “Matthew” Gaulding, as no Geers family cluster appears in any of the counties where the Gauldings lived before reaching Prince Edward County.

Henrico County suffered significant early record loss, but surviving tithe lists, land grants, and other fragments confirm the presence of Geers families in the region. The Henrico County Historical Society notes that many 1600s–1700s records were destroyed, making reconstruction of early families dependent on the few surviving tithe lists and land grants.

Thus, while Francis “Francil” Geers is recognized as part of the Henrico‑based Geers line, the surviving documentation is limited. What can be said with confidence is that:

He belonged to the Henrico County Geers family.

His line is distinct from the Amelia/Prince Edward Geers families.

No evidence places him or his descendants in the counties associated with the Gauldings’ migration path.

No record supports the idea that he had a daughter Elizabeth who married John “Matthew” Gaulding.

The earliest known Amelia/Prince Edward Geers are Thomas Geers Sr. (appears in Amelia tithables in the 1740s) and Mackness Geers Sr., who appears slightly later.  Thomas Geers, who was of a later generation and was born about 1760 is seen in the 1810 Census of Prince Edward County.  He was a neighbor of the Gaulding Family, specifically Richard Gaulding and Joseph Gaulding.

1810 United States Federal Census, Virginia, Prince Edward (1)

In the 1820 Census Mackness and Thomas Geers were living in close proximity to Jesse Gaulding in Prince Edward County.  Thomas is probably the same person we see in the 1810 census and Mackness was his son. 

1820 United States Federal Census, Virginia, Prince Edward (2)

These men were the neighbors of the Gaulding Family of Prince Edward County.  Their origin is not traceable to Henrico County, and their names and ages do not match Francis “Francil” Geer’s known associates.   

Unified Comparison Table: Henrico Geers vs. Amelia/Prince Edward Geers

Category	Henrico County Geers (Francis “Francil” Geers Line)	Amelia/Prince Edward County Geers (Thomas, Mackness, Younger, Isham Line)
Geographic Origin	Long‑established in Henrico County, VA (late 1600s–mid 1700s).	First appear in Amelia County, VA in the 1740s–1750s.
Migration Pattern	No evidence of migration out of Henrico; remained in Tidewater region.	Arrived suddenly in Amelia; likely migrated from Henrico–Chesterfield–Powhatan region, but not from Francis’s family.
Key Individuals	Francis “Francil” Geers; associates named John, William, etc.	Thomas Geers Sr., Mackness Geers Sr., Younger Geers, Isham Geers.
Naming Patterns	Traditional English names: Francis, John, William.	Distinctive Piedmont names: Mackness, Younger, Isham, Thomas.
Record Trail	Appears in Henrico tithables, parish records, land transactions. No Amelia presence.	Appears suddenly in Amelia tithables and deeds. No earlier records in Henrico, New Kent, Hanover, or Goochland.
Overlap With Gaulding Migration Counties	None. No Geers appear in New Kent, Hanover, or Goochland during Gaulding residence.	Present in Amelia and Prince Edward — the same counties where the Gauldings lived.
Relationship to Gaulding Family	Cannot be the family of Elizabeth (wife of John “Matthew” Gaulding). No contact or proximity.	Possible community associates, but no proof of kinship. Not descended from Henrico line.
Documentary Links Between the Two Lines	None. No shared land, witnesses, or legal ties.	None. No evidence of descent from Henrico Geers.
Earliest Appearance	Late 1600s in Henrico County.	1740s in Amelia County — with no prior trace.
Likely Origin	Indigenous to Henrico region.	A separate Geers family from the central Virginia Piedmont (Henrico–Chesterfield–Powhatan), whose early records are lost.
Overall Conclusion	A distinct Tidewater family with no westward migration.	A distinct Piedmont family unrelated to the Henrico line, appearing independently in Amelia.

Where did the Amelia Geers come from?

The Geers family who appeared suddenly in Amelia County during the 1740s most likely originated in the Henrico–Chesterfield–Powhatan corridor, though they were not part of the Henrico line headed by Francis “Francil” Geers. Several factors point to this region: it served as the main staging ground for families moving westward into Amelia during the land boom of the 1730s–1750s; many families who seem to “appear” in Amelia can be traced back to this same area; and the distinctive names found among the Amelia Geers—Thomas, Mackness, Isham, and Younger—also occur in families from that central Virginia Piedmont zone. Complicating matters, Chesterfield and Powhatan suffered significant record loss, creating ideal conditions for a family to vanish from one county’s documentation and reappear in another without a clear paper trail.

The most likely scenario is that the Amelia Geers were a separate Geers family living somewhere in the Henrico–Chesterfield–Powhatan region whose earlier records were lost. They migrated west into Amelia County during the 1740s, which explains their abrupt appearance, their lack of connection to Francis “Francil” Geers, their naming patterns, and their immediate integration into the Amelia and later Prince Edward community.

Assuming Elizabeth was a part of this family, and there is nothing to prove she was, researchers would need a deed naming a previous county, a tithable list placing them elsewhere before Amelia, a court case linking them to another Geers family, or DNA evidence connecting their descendants to another Virginia Geers line in order to locate her origin and parentage. None of these have yet been found. 

Works Cited

1. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2204/images/32596_242372-00458?pId=960066.

2. 1810 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] Virginia, Prince Edward. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7613/images/4433236_00472?pId=705724.

3. 1820 United States Federal Census. ancestry.com. [Online] https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7734/images/4433179_00166?pId=143428.

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