SELECTED DOBKINS ANALYSIS

Virginia and Tennessee

DISUSSION

Evan, Jacob, John and Reuben DOBKINS possibly were the sons of John DOBKINS, Jr. (Capt.), who was the son of John A. DOBIKIN (d. 1743). John Jr. and his mother, Mary, were named as executors in John A. Dobikin's will. Thus, he probably was an adult in 1743 when his father died. He is listed as Captain when he sold land to Thomas Moore in 1753, presumably in the Colonial Army.

Jacob was born 1751 in VA, according to DAR Patriot Index. He moved to Claiborne Co. TN in 1802 from Shenandoah Co., VA, and died in 1835. A 1965 DAR application by a Veda DOBKINS in TX says that he served 2 years as a private for 2 years under Capt. Todd and Col. Bowman. From David Jennings info., he entered service in May 1779 while residing at Harrodsburg, KY (Virginia at the time).

Jacob was not Thomas D. DOBKINS' father, but likely was his uncle. Jacob was in the Rev. War and got a pension. Neither Thomas nor Eleanor in Cocke Co., TN appear as a child of Jacob in the records.

Evan, Reuben, and Jacob appear on a Rev. War Muster List--ca. 1780--in the Dunmore Co. Militia under command of Capt. Jacob HOLEMAN. John DOBKIN JR.'s wife was Elizabeth--probably HOLEMAN. Capt. John DOBKIN obtained a land grant in 1750 on HOLMANS CREEK in Shenandoah Co. near Forestville, which he sold to Thomas Moore in 1753.

Jacob HOLEMAN got a land grant in 1749 about 3 miles easterly from the DOBKIN'S grant on HOLMANS CREEK (the creek apparently was named after the HOLEMAN family). From this association, it may be inferred that John DOBIKIN JR may have been the father of Evan, Reuben, and Jacob.

Jacob was born in 1751. He married Darcus JOHNSON in 1775 in Shenandoah Co. Evan married Margaret JOHNSON in 1775, also in Shenandoah Co. Margaret and Darcus JOHNSON very likely were sisters and Jacob and Evan probably were brothers. Both Evan and Reuben probably were born around 1750. Reuben is listed as a "Head of Household" in Shenandoah Co. in 1783. To date, Evan has not arisen again in VA references since his marriage in 1775.

A John DOBKINS is listed as "Head of Household" in Shenandoah Co. in 1783 with 4 in the family. This, of course, may have been Capt. John DOBKINS. If it is assumed that he was an adult when his father died in 1743, say 21 years old, he would have been about 60 years of age. It seems unlikely but not impossible that he still could have had children at home in 1783. Possibly the 1783 John Dobkins was another son.

A John DOBKINS appears as one of three appraisers in an estate in Washington Co., TN in 1788. An Evan DOBKIN is listed as bondsman in a marriage in 1790 in Washington Co., TN. A Reuben DOBBINS (probably DOBKINS) is listed in an 1800 Tax List in Jefferson Co., TN.

It seems likely that these were the same John, Evan, and Reuben DOBKINS that were in Shenandoah Co., VA up to 1783. It is not yet evident where they resided in Washington Co. If they were brothers, chances are that they dwelled in the same locale.

The whereabouts of Thomas D. DOBKINS when he married Mary (BRICKEY) McADAMS is not known, but the general locality may be surmised. John BRICKEY--Mary's brother--in his GENEALOGY OF THE BRICKEY FAMILY (typescript) says that his father, Girrard, moved to the "Frenchbroad" (French Broad River) in E. TN in 1789. Girrard's father, John (m. Mary GARNER) had already moved to this area and lived on the waters of the "Big Pigeon" (Pigeon River). Girrard bought a farm near his father 3 years later, or 1792

Examination of contemporary maps reveal that the French Broad and Pigeon Rivers converge in the northwesterly part of Cocke Co. This area would have been in Greene Co.--if I understand the succession correctly--in 1789 and Jefferson in 1792 (?). Cocke Co. was formed in 1797 from Jefferson. Washington, formed in 1777 covering all of present-day TN and claimed by North Carolina, was the parent county.

For the time being, assume that Mary BRICKEY was living near her father in Cocke Co. when she married Thomas D. DOBKINS in 1810 in that county.

It seems that either Evan, Reuben, or John could have been the father of Thomas D. DOBKINS--and Eleanor, if she were his sister (Ms. Burns indicated that they were related). Both Reuben and John were in Shenandoah Co., VA in 1783. John shows up in Washington Co., TN in 1788 and Reuben in Jefferson Co. in 1800. If Thomas were born to either of them in 1781, then his birth place would have been in VA.

On the other hand, the last reference to Evan in VA in 1775 was his marriage to Margaret JOHNSON in Shenandoah Co.. He shows up again in Washington Co., TN in 1790. Of the three, perhaps he moved first to TN soon after his marriage. This, then, would logically make him the father of Thomas D. if he were indeed born in E. TN.

Regardless of the family tradition that Thomas D. was born in E. TN, there is a very good possibility that he was, instead, born in VA and his parents moved to TN early in his life. This would apply to Eleanor also.

Now, where does Peggy DOBKINS--m. John HILL 1806 in Jefferson Co., TN--fit into the picture. Could she have been a sister to Thomas D. and Eleanor, or were they cousins?

QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED

1. Were Evan, Jacob, Reuben, and John DOBKINS brothers or cousins? If so, do they trace back to John A. DOBIKIN (d. 1743) and his son John Jr.? If not, who their parents?

2. Are the Evan, Reuben, and John in TN the same individuals that were in Shenandoah Co., VA? If so, when did they move to TN and where did they reside at the time Thomas D. and Eleanor were born?

3. Was the John DOBKINS in Shenandoah Co. in 1783 John Jr. from Question No. 1, or was he a son?

4. How does Peggy DOBKINS--m. John HILL--fit in?

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Page URL: http://www.users.qwest.net/~alidonyin/Web/Home/Dobfam/selected_dob_analysis.htm
Author: Donovan Yingst
CREATED: 17 July 2006

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