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Eleanor "Nelly" Price m. by May 15, 1799 ?Natchez Dist. b. 1740? ?VA ?k. ?Aug 1799 ?Natchez Dist. Miss. Terr. |
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On Oct 27, 1779, "James Willy" was entitled to 400 acres of land in the county
of Kentucky, "on Account of Settlement made in the year of 1774 and raising a
crop of corn in the year 1776" and also entitled to a pre-emption of 1,000
acres adjoining the settlement
[Copy of Warrant 33]. |
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According to Diocese of Baton Rouge [La.] Catholic church records, brother "John Wily"
married "Elisabeth Higdon" in New Feliciana on Sep 1, 1788. Generally, the parents
of each are recorded, but the
Church record says
"not given" for each. No witness is given [Diocese of Baton Rouge,
Catholic Church Records, vol. 2, p. 725]. |
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New Feliciana was in what became in 1810 Feliciana Parish
(see present day map
and Louisiana Parish Map
for location). It borders Mississippi south of Natchez. |
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In a letter dated Mar 2, 1790, from
Carlos de Grand-Pré to
Governor Don Estavan Miro, the amount of tobacco produced in 1790 was reported
by growers of Natchez. A "Wiley" [no first name] plantation reported producing
1500 pounds of tobacco that year [MS Dept of Archives & History, website]. |
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On Jun 19, 1792, "James Willey" was one of several settlers in Natchez signing
a judgement against a slave. On May 17, 1793 "James Wiley" and Charles King
were chosen to represent each of the sides to resolve a contract dispute
between a Scandling and Vilaret [McBee, pp. 148, 265]. |
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A
Census Index of heads of households in the Natchez District in 1792 placed
each household in one of nine areas within the district. Included in the SC =
Santa Catalina [St. Catherine's Creek] area, which later was approximately within
Adams and Franklin Counties: "Jaime [James] Willey"; "Juan [John] Willey" [brother]. |
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On Jul 19, 1793, "James Wiley" petitioned the "Spanish Govt. that he wishes to
establish himself and family [his relatives since he did not seem to be married]
in the New City [a new part of the town of Natchez]" and, in 1794, Lot 1 Square
32 was surveyed. This lot was on Main St. from Church to St. Catherine's St.
[now Jefferson St.] [McBee, Book D, p. 458]. |
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On Aug 30, 1793, brother "John Rankin Wylie" was granted
by the Spanish Govt. 400 acres on the south branch of Bayou Pierre 35 miles
NNE of the Fort, bordered by vacant lands. On May 9, 1798, John and wife "Lowicy"
sold "100 square miles" of this grant for $150. Both John and his wife signed.
On Nov 9, 1801 they, "John Wiley and Louvicy, his wife" sold the other 300 acres
for $350. Both signed [McBee, Book B, pp. 391, 392]. |
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On Jul 20, 1794, exactly one year after James Wylie's petition to live on Lot 1,
Square 32, Prosper King, brother of Richard King,
petitioned the Spanish Govt. to build a house on Lot 3, Square 33 which was also
on St. Catherine's St. but two blocks north of Main St. This lot is where King's
Tavern now stands. |
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King's Tavern at 613 Jefferson St. in Natchez operated as a
restaurant in 2023
was for sale in 2024
as a one bedroom, 3 bath house. Photos of
side of building facing
the Mississippi River, and
inside. |
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In 1795 Thomas Green sold to
Louisa Wylie, wife of brother
John Wylie,
100 arpents, "being 4 arpents in front on west line, running east along south
line to include 100 arpents, part of 800 arpents granted to [Green]", for $100
paid [McBee, p. 121]. |
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On Oct 3, 1795, Lot No. 4, Square No. 26, in Natchez was granted to sister-in-law
Louisa Higdon by
Carlos de Grand-Pré [McBee, Book D,
p. 450]. |
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On Jul 6, 1796, "James Wiley" and a John Cocke were ordered to pay a debt to
Simon McCay within three days by the district governor,
Gayoso. James appeared and acknowledged
that he had signed as surety for Cocke [McBee, p. 229]. |
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Beginning in 1796, Natchez court records show that there were complaints about
abusive language between the King and Corrigan families at "Wiley's Tavern"
[McBee, pp. 227-232]. |
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King's Tavern is located on Lot 3 in Square 33 in Natchez. On Aug 5, 1799 according
to the Minutes of the Adams Co. Court, Richard King
was "licensed to operate a public house" (tavern) [Minutes of the Court of
General Sessions of the Peace, p. 78]. |
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A "George Wiley", who died in 1874, is said to have arrived in Natchez in 1788
and after 1860 wrote that what was "at one time kept as a tavern by a man named King"
was "probably the oldest house now existing in Natchez" [Claiborne, p. 529]. |
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On Jun 6, 1798, brother "John Wiley" paid $30 to
William Daniel for his Oct 20, 1793 Spanish grant of 200 acres 10 miles north of
the Fort, between Fairchild's Creek [running south of Cole's Creek] and lands of
Thomas Green and John Bolls [McBee, Book B,
p. 401]. |
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Map of
the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799. |
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Brother John owned several tracts of land in Jefferson Co., the part created
from Adams Co., Mississippi Territory, in 1796
(see present day map). |
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On May 15, 1799 "James Wiley and his wife, Eleanor, of Natchez" sold the lot that
he petitioned for in Jul 1793, for $400. This lot was on Main St. from Church to
St. Catherine's St. [now Jefferson St.] and the transaction was signed by "Jas. Wiley,
Eleanor (X) Wiley". John Holland was the buyer but in May 1802, he was an
"absconded debtor" and this lot, which had two houses on it, was publicly auctioned
by the Adams Co. Sheriff to satisfy a debt of $200 to John Wells, Sr. At the
public sale, two men bought the lot for $470 [McBee, Book D, p. 458]. |
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On Jun 4, 1802, brother "John Wiley and Louvicy, his wife"
sold two tracts from the original Daniels grant they had purchased, totalling
183 acres, to a Timothy O'Hara for $410. On Feb 6, 1806
Richard King deposed that he had sold a tract to
"John R. Wylie" that was now the property of Timothy O'Hara [McBee, p. 571, Book B,
p. 401], indicating that by 1806, John no longer lived in the District. |
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On Mar 11, 1804, brother "John Wylie and wife Lavizay,
of Adams Co." deeded Lot No. 4, Square No. 26, which had been previously granted
to the wife Louisa Higdon in 1795, to
"John Stump, of Davidson Co. Tennessee" who
claimed the lot 2 weeks later [McBee, Book D, p. 450]. A niece of
John Stump, was named Louisa Guice when she
was born in 1807. |
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On line 3 of page 405
of the 1810 Census for Rapides Parish Louisiana, brother
"John Wiley" had in his household: 2 males age 16 to 26 (unknown), 1 male between age 26-45 (John born after 1755), 2 females under age 16 (dtr Louisa, ?), and 1 female between age 26-45 (wife Louisa Higdon born after 1755), and no slaves. There are also three "William Wiley" households with younger children. |
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In the 1820 Census for Rapides Parish LA, on the ninth line of
page 134,
there is a "Mrs Willey" household with: 1 male aged under 10, 1 female aged under 10, 2 females aged 10-16 [born after 1805], 1 female aged over 45 [John's widow Louisa born before 1775], and no slaves, |
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Sources: Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. Claiborne, John Francis Ha, Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State, Volume 1, BiblioBazaar, 2008, p. 529. Diocese of Baton Rouge Department of Archives, Catholic Church Records, vol. 2 (1770-1803), Baton Rouge LA, p.725. MS Dept. Archives & Hist., Will Book Vol. 1, Adams Co. Courthouse, Natchez MS, microfilm, Apr 1816. McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book B, pp. 391, 392, Book D, pp. 450, 458. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, pp. 64, 78, 227-232. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Early Mississippians in Spanish Natchez. "Natchez District 1792 Spanish Census Index", in USGenWeb, Early Southwest Miss. Territory, Census Index. North Carolina Land Grants, Davidson Co. TN, #2991, website Potter, Dorothy Williams, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823, Gateway Press, Baltimore MD, 1982, p. 342. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1810, microfilm p. 405. U. S. Census, Rapides Parish LA, 1820, S-K Publ., 2003, p. 134. Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151, |
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