Valentine Worley (1771-1849)
Valentine
For this post there are no shiny red hearts, no flowers, no cupid’s bow. Instead, I am taking advantage of this post to review research that I did about 10 years ago that provided me with direct evidence for an ancestor who is not very well known to me, a paternal 4th great-grandfather: Valentine Worley (1771-1849).
Valentine Worley (1771-1849),
paternal 4th great-grandfather
I descend from Valentine Worley through my paternal great-grandmother Ruth Ann Crawley’s paternal grandmother — my 3rd great-grandmother Catherine “Kate” Worley (1813-1861), the wife of my 3rd great-grandfather Caswell Crawley.
PIONEER [pahy-uh-neer ] noun: a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
18 out of 32 of my paternal 4th great-grandparents, and 15 out of 16 of my paternal 3rd great-grandparents were pioneers of the state of Indiana, being among the first to enter and settle the mid-region of the state prior to the year of 1840.
My 4th GG Valentine Worley was one of those Indiana pioneers, coming to Putnam County, Indiana in the summer of 1830 from Wythe, Virginia after selling his land in Virginia (100 acres for $350) to Adam Rosenbaum, his brother-in-law, in June 1830.*
*Canfield, Clifford Robert. The Rosenbaum, Rosenbalm Family of Southwest Virginia. Germany: C.R. Canfield, 1963, pg. 509.
In 1787, the US defined the Northwest Territory which included the area of present-day Indiana. In 1800, Congress separated Ohio from the Northwest Territory, designating the rest of the land as the Indiana Territory. Indiana, as it is defined today, after the Michigan Territory and the Illinois Territory were taken away, was admitted as the 19th state of The United States in the year 1816.
Pioneers filled up the state throughout the settlement period of 1816-1850, from the south to the north, like the filling of a glass of water from the bottom up to the top.
Picture: The Society of Indiana Pioneers
![Transcription:Certificate No. 11,817The United States of AmericaTo all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:Whereas, Valentine Worley of Putnam County, Indiana has deposited in the General Land Office of the United States, a certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Crawfordsville whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said Valentine Worley, according to the provisions of the act of Congress of the 24th of April 1820, entitled “An act making further provision for the sale of the Public Lands,” for the West half of the North-East quarter of Section twenty-two in Township thirteen, North Range three, West, in the district of land Subject to Sale at Crawfordsville, Indiana, containing eighty acres, according to the official plat of the survey of the said Lands, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, which said tract has been purchased by the said Valentine Worley.NOW KNOW YE, That the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in consideration of the premises, and in conformity with the several acts of Congress, in such case made and provided, have been given and granted, and , by these presents, do give and grant, unto the said Valentine Worley and his heirs, the said tract above described: To Have and to Hold the same, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities and appurtenances, of whatsoever nature thereunto belonging, unto the said Valentine Worley, and to his heirs and assigns forever.In testimonry whereof, I, Andrew Jackson [not his actual signature], PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, have caused these Letters to be made Patent, and the Seal of the General Land Office to tbe hereunto affixed.Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the third day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the fifty fifth.By the President, A.J.E.H. Commissioner of the General Land OfficeCitation: Valentine Worley, (Putnam, Indiana), no. 11,817; “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records (http://glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch : accessed 14 Feb 2021) Link in button below.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff50d6d4fd21777a23b0165/1613525353478-MN82U3TJYMLHLZVAAMPF/valentine+worley+land+1831.jpg)
Transcription:
Certificate No. 11,817 The United States of America
To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:
Whereas, Valentine Worley of Putnam County, Indiana has deposited in the General Land Office of the United States, a certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Crawfordsville whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said Valentine Worley, according to the provisions of the act of Congress of the 24th of April 1820, entitled “An act making further provision for the sale of the Public Lands,” for the West half of the North-East quarter of Section twenty-two in Township thirteen, North Range three, West, in the district of land Subject to Sale at Crawfordsville, Indiana, containing eighty acres, according to the official plat of the survey of the said Lands, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, which said tract has been purchased by the said Valentine Worley.
NOW KNOW YE, That the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in consideration of the premises, and in conformity with the several acts of Congress, in such case made and provided, have been given and granted, and , by these presents, do give and grant, unto the said Valentine Worley and his heirs, the said tract above described: To Have and to Hold the same, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities and appurtenances, of whatsoever nature thereunto belonging, unto the said Valentine Worley, and to his heirs and assigns forever.
In testimonry whereof, I, Andrew Jackson [not his actual signature], PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, have caused these Letters to be made Patent, and the Seal of the General Land Office to tbe hereunto affixed.
Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the third day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and of the Independence of the United States the fifty fifth.
By the President, A.J.
E.H. Commissioner of the General Land Office
Citation: Valentine Worley, (Putnam, Indiana), no. 11,817; “Land Patent Search,” digital images, General Land Office Records (http://glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch : accessed 14 Feb 2021)
Timeline for Valentine Worley:
c. 1767-1771: Born in Brushy Fork Abbott’s Creek, Rowan County, North Carolina, to Michael Worley (1738-1813) and Anna Reigher (1748-1810).
c. 1771-1792: His early years were spent during the tumultuous years of the Revolutionary War in North Carolina. With his father he came to Cripple Creek, Wythe County, Virginia. Also, along with his father, he was a male member and lay-person for the Lutheran Church in Wythe County. This church organized in 1791, becoming a worshippng congregation with the first baptismal book started on 1 January 1791. Not long after, this congregation would join with German Reform church to become the Zion Lutheran Church of Cripple Creek.
13 July 1793 - 12 May 1808: First wife — married Anna Barbara Sprecher (1768-1808), his cousin and the daughter of Johann Christopher Sprecher (1738-1830) and Elizabeth Ann Reigher (1745-1825) in Wythe, Virginia. From 1794-1805, they had eight children. His first wife and their eight children were baptized in the Zion Lutheran Church of Cripple Creek.
Picture taken in 2011: Zion Lutheran Church of Cripple Creek, Wythe, Virginia
c. 1810: Inherited 119 acres of land, his father had purchased from William and Polly Sanders (Wythe County Book No. 2, pg 49).
c. 1812: 2nd wife — married Maria Barbara Yonts (1795-1831), daughter of Michael Frederick Yonts (1758-1839) and Maria Barbara Michael (1766-1850) in Wythe, Virginia. He and his second wife also had eight children, all born in Wythe, Virginia.
c. 1813: Birth of daughter Catherine “Kate” Worley, my 3rd great-grandmother.
11 February 1815: Joined Captain Brown's company of Infantry Militia of the 35th Regiment, Wythe, Virginia. He served three weeks being discharged at the Wytheville courthouse on 4 March 1815, having only served for twenty two days. The war was over.
Picture: www.fold3.com
c. 1830: Sold land in Virginia, moved his family to Putnam County, Indiana.
c. 1831: 2nd wife Maria Barbara Yonts died in Putnam County, Indiana.
31 July 1839: 3rd wife — married Martha Tracy in Hendricks County, Indiana.
c. August 1849: Died intestate, age 78, according to the 1850 Census Mortality Schedule for Putnam County, Indiana — Occupation: Farmer, Cause of Death: Fever.
Picture: Modern map from General Land Office / Bureau of Land Management using the coordinates provided in Valentine Worley’s 1831 Patent above: West half of the North-East quarter of Section twenty-two in Township thirteen, North Range three, West
