Robert Gregg

Abt 1732 - 1796  (64 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Robert Gregg
  Birth	Abt 1732	Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, USA
  Gender	Male
  Burial	1796	Greene County, Tennessee, USA
  Death	3 May 1796	Greene County, Tennessee, USA
  Siblings	9 Siblings
  + 1. Robert Gregg,   b. Abt 1732, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, USA d. 3 May 1796, Greene County, Tennessee, USA  (Age 64 years) ▻ Lydia Harrison,  m. 1754   2. Herny Gregg,   b. 1726   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Nancy Ann Gregg,   b. 1728   d. Yes, date unknown   4. Samuel Gregg,   b. 1830   d. Yes, date unknown   5. Jane E Gregg,   b. 1738   d. Yes, date unknown   6. John Gregg,   b. 1725   d. Yes, date unknown   7. Margaret Gregg,   b. 1737   d. Yes, date unknown   8. Thomas Henry Gregg,   b. 1731   d. Yes, date unknown   9. Thomas Gregg,   b. 1728   d. Yes, date unknown   10. William Gregg,   b. 1735   d. Yes, date unknown
  Person ID	I366544	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	26 Jan 2002

  
  

  Father	John Gragg,   b. 1690, Antrim, Éire d. 1758, Augusta Co., Virginia, USA (Age 68 years)
  Mother	Nancy Ann Woods,   b. 1694, VA d. Between 1758 and 1760, VA (Age 64 years)
  Marriage	1717	Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, USA
  Family ID	F145194	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Lydia Harrison,   b. 1737, Augusta Co., Virginia, USA d. Bef 31 Oct 1788, Augusta Co., Virginia, USA (Age 51 years)
  Marriage	1754	Prbly. VA
  Children	+ 1. Ann Gragg,   b. 1759, Augusta Co., Virginia, USA d. May 1835, Clark Co., Arkansas, USA (Age 76 years)   2. Abigal Gragg,   b. 1770   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Herman Gragg,   b. 1770   d. Yes, date unknown   4. Nancy Gragg,   b. 1758   d. Yes, date unknown   5. Dinah Gragg,   b. 1766   d. Yes, date unknown   6. Thomas Henry Gragg,   b. 1761   d. Yes, date unknown   7. John Thomas Gragg,   b. 1765   d. Yes, date unknown   8. Robert Gragg,   b. 1755   d. Yes, date unknown   9. Samuel Gragg,   b. 1757   d. Yes, date unknown   10. William Gragg,   b. 1775   d. Yes, date unknown   11. Elizabeth Gragg,   b. 1777   d. Yes, date unknown   12. Mary Gragg,   b. 1765   d. Yes, date unknown   13. Henry Gragg,   b. 15 Oct 1755   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F145193	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	26 Jan 2002

  
  

• Notes

  Robert Gregg is listed with the spelling Gregg in the DAR patriot index book on page 285. Gregg, Robert, b. c. 1732, d 1796; m---Harrison, Pvt. VA. Robert Gregg/Gragg was born 1732 in Ireland, immigrated to PA. and moved to Augusta, VA.; and died May 3, 1793 in Greene, Co. Greene TN. He was buried in 1793 in S. Nolichucky River, Green, TN. He was the son of John Gragg and Nancy Ann Woods. He married Lydia Harrison 1755 in August, VA. She was born about 1737 in Augusta, VA and died about 1788. In the Spring of 2001, Roy and I made a trip to Fayetteville, AR and went to the library to get a copy of the Gragg book by Lee Gragg. Following is information taken from that book: Robert Gragg c. 1732--1796---Son of John "Robert Gragg was born about 1732, probably in Northern Ireland. It is thought that John, the father and his family emigrated from Ireland to America in the early 1740s. The family lived in Cumberland Co. PA for a period of years, then migrated southwest through the Shenandoah Valley to Augusta Co. VA in the early 1750s. The big wave of settlers came to the Valley perhaps ten or so years before the Graggs decided to pioneer again on a new frontier. Several families who were closely associated with the Greggs/Graggs moved into the area about the same time. Some descendants of Robert claim that he married Alice Harrison, but proof is not available or hasn't been found. Robert would have been about the right age for marriage after he moved to Augusta Co. A careful review of the "Settlers By The Long Grey Trail" by J. Houston Harrison, an excellent treatise on the genealogy of the Harrison and their connections in Augusta Co. revealed no mention of a Harrison marrying a Gragg. Augusta Co. Court Record. The first mention of Robert in Augusta Co. Court Records was on the 1755 Tax List. Throughout the some 35 years in Augusta Co. there are many references in the court records regarding Robert as a witness in land transactions and other court proceedings. From the land transactions recorded, Robert accumulated 513 acres. A surveyor's description of this land, made in 1768 was found at the Harrisonburg, VA Court House. This land was bought in parcels of 100, 207, and 206 Acres, from 1765 through 1768, as is located on the North River of Shenandoah. This area was visited by the writer and his wife in 1977. The land owned by Robert is about two miles northwest of the town of Mt. Solon, is located in a small valley, with Castle Hill bordering it on the west and adjoins the Natural Chimneys' Regional Park on the north. Modern farm buildings complete with a silo, are now on the farm, replacing the log cabin home, sheds and out buildings of the old Gragg homestead. Frontier Hazards. The valley settlers felt the impact of the French and Indian War. They suffered from the raids and harassment of the Shawnee Indians for several years. Two of Wm. Gregg's children were killed by the Indians in 1782. Wm. was a nephew of Robert. Robert served in the VA Militia in 1758. While still living in Augusta. Robert experienced more trouble with the Cherokee Indians during the American Revolution. He served under Captain Sawyers and Colonel Christie in the 1774 expedition in TN; which included the Tellico Valley towns of the Cherokee. Still later after more trouble with the Cherokee, the family moved to yet another frontier in Holston Co. TN. Another Frontier. Augusta Co. records reveal that Robert sold 513 acres of land in Augusta Co. on Oct. 31, 1788, to Frederick Michel, of Rockingham Co. VA. He purchased 500 Acres of land from Alexander Kelly south of the Nolichucky River in Greene Co. TN, on Feb. 3, 1789, according to Greene Co. court records. After the completion of their new home in TN, sons John and WM, daughters Abegail and Elizabeth continued to live at home with their father, Robert. In 1787, sons Samuel, Thomas and Henry obtained land grants in what was then Greene Co. TN. Little is known about Robert, Jr., the eldest son, after their removal from Augusta Co. to Greene Co. TN. The will of Robert Gragg, Sr., was dated May 23, 1793 in "Green County, and Territory of the United States, South of the River Ohio." Children named were Robert, Samuel, Thomas, Henry, John, William, Abegail, and Betsey. Robert, the father, died in May 1796, in Greene Co. TN. Sons-In-Law Robert, Sr., in his will, named three sons-in-law: Benjamin Crow, George Malcom and Joseph McMurtry. Some descendants of Robert claim that Joseph McMurtry married Abegail, daughter of Robert, but no documentation to prove this. Robert's will quoted in part - "I do bequeath to my beloved daughter, Abegail Gragg, the young Rone mair, one cow and Three sheep, hir bed and beding, and half of the dresser to hirself or asigns forever." It may be assumed from the wording of the will that Abegail, in 1793 was living in her father's house, sharing a dresser and room with her younger sister, Betsey. First Brick House The 500 acres purchased by Robert Gregg/Gragg in 1789 is located on the south side of the Nolichucky River, about one-half mile east of Loves Bridge and about ten miles northeast of Parrottsville, TN. The site was visited in the spring of 1972 by Lee Gragg. It was a surprise to find the old home in a remarkable state of preservation. The outer walls were built from handmade brick with double brick construction. A tenant farmer said the house was 183 years old. Robert died there in 1796 and left the property to his two sons, John and William. After a few years, William sold his share of the land to John. A good many years ago, a descendant, Mrs. Florence Gragg Chambers, who had lived in the home, stated that the Robert Gragg home was the first brick house built in eastern TN. Mrs. Chambers was the daughter of Marshall W. Gragg, grandson of Robert Gragg." In "John Finley Crow's Memoirs" (son of Benjamin Crow) he tell this about Robert Gregg: "My maternal grandfather, Robert Gregg, was from the County Drury in the North of Ireland. He immigrated a single man to the Colony of Virginia and married into a respectable family by the name of Harrison and settled in the neighborhood of Staunton, Augusta Co. He was a respectable farmer, member of the Presbyterian Church and the father of seven sons and five daughters. his eldest son, Wm. fell about the close of the Rev. War in a battle with the Indians at the mouth of the Kanawha. His sons, Henry, Thomas, Robert and Samuel after having married, moved into my father's neighborhood in East TN. In a few years they were followed by their father with his two youngest sons, John and William.The old gentleman purchased a fine tract of land and for a number of years lived as a patriarch, surrounded by six sons and four daughters, their contiguous farms covering several miles square. At a good old age he was gathered home to his fathers, amid the tears of his descendants who at that time numbered over three score and ten. In a few years after the death of Robert Gregg the old Patriarch, my father, Benjamin Crow moved to Missouri which seemed to be a signal for the breaking up of the neighborhood and the posterity of Robert Gregg werfe scattered over some half dozen of the Western and Southwestern States. The old homested is still held by a grandson, Marshall Gregg."