"Dr." John Gill, II, born c1773?, probably the son of John Gill born c1754, died after 1825 and before 26 Sept. 1828) (DAR) married 4 times with children listed for each marriage, 3rd wife Elizabeth Faust (in DAR record), 4th wife his "cousin" Alsey Gill whom he married 8 Feb. 1824 in Lawrence Co., MS. She appears to have been the daughter of James Gill who signed the bond for the marriage along with James Martin (from John T. Cupit). James Martin married the widow Alsey Gill in 1830. His first two wives may have died in SC. Andrea's Winton John Gill deed fragment cannot be Elizabeth Faust, as the dates are incompatible. John Gill, II, removed to Mississippi in 1812.
Note by FOC: It is not obvious that he was in fact married four times. Can anyone document this? The records support three marriages. I believe the fourth may have resulted from incorrect assignment of the early South Carolina deeds, and a mix up of birth years. Some of the earliest DAR supporting documents files, from family members who did not support Mr. Cupit's interpretation of the records, strenuously believed that John Gill was born c1773, and not later, as Mr. Cupit thought. This is a murky area.
The following record is clearly of the migration to Mississippi: 7 March 1812, a passport through Indian Nations to the Western Country was requested for Mr. John Gill with his wife and six children (number of children suggesting middle age, born before 1812-(21+6) or before c1785), Mr. John Kysan (this is Kyzer, who was very literate and left a written notebook of the Mississippi migration in beautiful script) with wife and one child (suggesting that he was young) and one negro (Nellie married John Kyzer, so if she was 21 when she married, lower limit 14, and had one child, her father would have been born before 1812-(21+21+1) or c1769, upper limit 1776), Mr. James Faust with wife, six children and 9 negroes (related to John Gill's third wife Elizabeth Faust?), 2 farmers and their families from Lexington Co. (to the west across the river from Columbia/Richland Co.), and the latter from Richland District, South Carolina. One for Mr. Peter Sandifer with wife and 4 children, and one for Mr. Edward Chitty, both from Barnwell District, South Carolina. Clearly this is the record of the migration of the Mississippi John Gill. It states that this John Gill was of Lexington Co. Although the record in "Fam. Rec. Miss. Rev. Sol." states that John Gill resided in Barnwell, this documented pass clearly states otherwise. Part of John Kyzar's notebook in flourishing script is in the DAR Library in the supporting documents section.
There is a twist on the Mariner Gill of Charleston here. Both Kyzer (German spelling Kaiser) and Faust are clearly German surnames. There was a large migration of "poor German protestants" into Charleston before the Revolutionary War , and it is probable that the Faust and Kyzer families came into South Carolina with this migration. Therefore, they may be originally "low country" families from Charleston. Given this connection, it is remotely possible that John Gill, MS-1, is an undocumented descendant of the Mariner Gill family. This may be unprovable, although a detailed search of the Charleston records may shed more light. This is completely consistent with the Mississippi claim that the Fausts were "Dutch", as the German word for a German person is "Deutch" (like Doy-itch, Doy like Boy). This is precisely how most English speakers interpreted the German word. For example, the Pennsylvania "Dutch" are as German as German can be (Deutch)! "Dutch Fork" near the Congarees was "Deutch Fork." These folks were German, not Dutch.
According to the Mississippi records, John Gill, born c1754, came from Columbia, SC to Lawrence Co., MS c1811, and lived in Amite Co., MS for two or three years about 1812 to 1815. He then returned to Lawrence Co. He was reputedly married four times, with only the third wife known, Elizabeth Faust. He died in 1828 near Bogue Chitto, MS. Mrs. Kate Gill Elam's accounting of John Gill states that John Gill was born in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. He followed the trades of gunsmith and blacksmith, and came to the Mississippi Territory before the War of 1812. He resided a few miles north of Bogue Chitto, and followed the occupations of farming, gunsmith, and blacksmith. He established Old Cold Springs in 1814. He built a house there and moved his family in the year 1815. He died and is buried near Old Cold Springs. She states that she is descended through his son, Uriah Gill, who was a large landowner, born in Columbia, SC 1 October 1799 and died 28 June 1872 on the Gill Farm two miles north of Bogue Chitto. He is buried there.
The previous paragraph of merged accounts contains some interesting statements. Note first that John Gill, MS, is attributed a birth date of c1754, and note also that it is stated that he removed to Mississippi c1811. The Passport through Indian Nations is dated 1812, so the person who penned this may have been working from oral and written family traditions. This birth year tradition therefore may be independent of public documentation.
In a document supplied by Ms. Johnson, probably attributable to Mr. Cupit, a section marked "Gills Claimed by Lucie Gill Price to be Her Ancestors," are found the statements that John Gill married four times, with third wife Elizabeth Faust, a Dutch woman (see above). John Gill is stated to have married Elizabeth Faust in 1803, and they were in Edgefield District, SC when their youngest son, Uriah Thomas Gill, was born. He married his fourth wife in Mississippi (FOC: Alsey Gill). John Gill, along with his brother Reuben, his brother-in-law John Hart (married his sister Mary Gill), and most if not all of his children emigrated to Mississippi in 1811 or 1812, locating first in Amite Co., MS. Later John Gill moved to Lincoln Co., clearing a farm at Cold Springs, three miles from the present town of Bogue Chitto. He died at a ripe old age in 1825 and was buried near his residence.
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The records sent by Mrs. Johnson were overwritten by hand to change the birth year of John Gill, MS, from 1754 to 1773. These changes may have been made to accommodate records found in SC. John Gill born c1733 is a documented son of old James Gill (on the 1768 land plat attached to the 1784 deed). Old James Gill documentedly had at least five children in 1749, and these probably did not include eldest son Thomas, or John.
The father of John Gill MS born c1773 would have been born before c1773-21=c1752.
The 1816 Amite Co., MS census shows John Gill 1w male >21, 3 w males <21, 1 white female >21, 1 white female <21, 6 total, no slaves. This census suggests John Gill was young, born before c1816-(21+4) or 1791. There is an ambiguity in dates here.
References for John Gill, MS, are original sources as given; Mr. John T. Cupit's "Our Kin" (LDS Genealogical Library); records of Mr. Cupit, Mrs. Lucie Gill Price, and Mrs. Kate Gill Elam provided by Mrs. Deidre Johnson of Lake Charles, LA, in 1992, and a collection of Mr. Cupit's papers from the folders at the Shreveport Library supplied by Mrs. Evalyn Gill, Yuma, AZ.
Children of John Gill (dates have not been changed for consistency):
[by unknown first wife]
1. Ellender "Nellie" Gill bc1790 died c1860 in Lawrence Co., MS, married 26 Feb. 1809 in SC to John Kyzer (German Kaiser) born c1765-70 in SC. John Kyzer was quite literate and left a journal in beautiful script of this migration, some pages of which are reproduced in the DAR supporting documents file. If 21 when she was born, John Gill, MS was born c1769. John Kyzer's birth year, c1765-70, is 20-25 years older than Nellie. Was Nellie born considerably before 1790?
(FOC: there is a rather large gap here. There may be other children.)
2. John Gill, III, b9 Jan. 1796 died 22 Aug. 1864 (from tombstone). April Page's outstanding write up on him! There is a big gap between Nellie and John, III. The 1860 census in Rapides Parish, LA, states that he was born in SC, while the 1850 census states that he was born in Tennessee, and there is apparently a tradition that the family may have removed to Tennessee during the turmoil of the revolutionary war. It is an established fact that some families did this. He married Jane Coward of Marion Co., MS, 21 Aug. 1818. Jane Coward was born Jan. 1804, died 12 May 1885 in Lake Charles, LA. Their marriage license is in Amite Co., MS. They had 12 children and lived in Amite Co. until about 1844 when they moved to Rapides Parish, LA, now Vernon Parish, LA. Estate Records. Some have claimed 12 children for John Gill, III (we here have only 11):
3. Uriah or Hugh (Hughriah?) Gill born 1 Oct. 1799 Columbia, SC, died 28 June 1872 on the Gill Plantation, 2 miles north of Bogue Chitto, MS. Uriah married in MS 1823 Margaret (Peggy) Parnell born c1809 in SC, probably a daughter of John Parnell near Columbia, SC. Peggy died 25 March 1881, buried in the Gill family cemetery. The name Hugh Gill appears in early Maryland records, as well as Richland Co., SC (from the father of John Gill born c1733 second wife, Hugh Murphy). Known Children of Uriah Gill:
4. Nancy Gill probably born c1800-3 (from John T. Cupit) m. Joseph, James or John Martin. A Joseph Martin married 1834 a Nancy Gill in Lawrence Co., MS.
5. daughter died young? John T. Cupit says she was of John Gill's second wife below, could be: Marriages in Amite Co., MS, records: Phoebe Gill marr Young Goldman 1815 in Amite Co., MS; Nelly Gill marr Wm. Allen in Amite Co., MS 1824 [by unknown second wife, Cupit says they were married c1798] ("there were supposed to be two girls in this group by John Gill's 2nd wife, probably between Reuben and Uriah - from Cupit's notes. Perhaps Phoebe or Nelly?)
[children of Elizabeth Faust (married c1803)]
6. Reuben R. Gill born c1803 or 1805, tomb tone has 1809, in SC, died 11 May 1874. See April Page's outstanding write up on him! In the census of 1850 he was listed as age 45. Reuben married Harriet Price born c1814-16 SC. Harriet Price is believed to be the daughter of Robert Price and Mary Moak, both born Richland Co., SC, married there before 1800, and who lived near the Gills in Amite Co., MS. Reuben is buried at Castor Baptist Church, c4 miles east of Leesville, LA. Reuben came to Mississippi with the family about 1815. He moved to Louisiana in Vernon Parish or Rapides Parish c1845. More than 6 children:
7. Jefferson Gill (Jeff) born c1809 (census) died c1870. Jeff Gill marr 1st Martha J. Martin in Lawrence Co., MS. They had two children who died young. He removed to Louisiana before 1850, when he was in Reuben's household in the census. After Jeff Gill removed to Louisiana, he married c1853 Matilda Armstrong born c1830, and lived at Old Petersburg, Vernon Parish, LA. Jeff died c1870. Jeff Gill had ten children by his second wife Matilda Armstrong:
8. James Gill died young (single)
9. William Thomas (Alexander?) Gill b. 15 April 1810 in Edgefield, SC. Wm. T. Gill was brought to Mississippi while quite young. He grew to manhood on his father's farm in Mississippi & married Amanda Bennett in 1834 (Mormon record), youngest daughter of Dr. Jesse Bennett and his wife Patsy Paul Dotson Bennett, who came from Virginia and NC and settled near Clinton, LA, where they died. At the time of their marriage, Armenda lived with her brother, Dotson Bennett, in Franklyn Co., MS. The couple went to Chicasaw (sic) Co., but did not stay long. They came back to Yazoo, now Holmes Co., MS, and all their children were born there. On Christmas day, 1857, the family moved to the old Homestead at Cold Springs, MS, Lincoln Co. They remained there until 1866, when their eldest son, Wm. Alexander Gill, gave them a better farm at Greensburg, LA. Wm. T. Gill died of a heart attack at his home in Greensburg 3 May 1882, and is buried in Greensburg cemetery, which land he had given to the town. His wife lived with her children until she died on 22 Aug. 1897 in Magnolia, MS, in the home of her son Wm. A. Gill.
10. Peter Alexander Gill b26 Jan. 1815 (or 1813) m. Sarah Brister 17 Dec. 1834. He was killed accidentally soon after the Civil War when a load of lumber fell on him. She died 21 Feb. 1908 at 88. This is the line of Luther Harper
11. Lucinda Gill m. Peter McCairn who was a widower with two children.
[children of his cousin Alsey Gill]
12. Harrison M. Gill m. Lydia Ann Yarbrough in Holmes Co., MS. No children.
13. Louisa Gill bc1825 m. Daniel Chandler.
14. Lavonia Gill bc1826
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