GARTH.
The first of the Garth family in Albemarle was Thomas,
who in 1762 bought from Samuel Taliaferro four hundred and
fifty acres on the Indian branch of Buck Island Creek. In
1770 he purchased from John Lewis, of Halifax, nearly a
thousand acres on Blue Run, not far from Barboursville.
The next three or four years he was employed by Mr. Jefferson
to buy the Lego estate from William and James Hickman,
sons of Edwin Hickman, the second Sheriff of the
county. In 1779 he bought another thousand acres of the
Lewis estate on Ivy Creek, and continued his purchases in
that section, till he owned all the land stretching from near
the Staunton Road, opposite Jesse Lewis's place, to the forks
of Mechum's and Moorman's Rivers. On this tract he
resided until his death. He was appointed a magistrate
in 1791, and served as Sheriff in 1807. He died in 1812.
His wife, it is said, was Judith Long, and his children
Thomas, John, Elijah, Jesse, Garland, Ann, the
wife of Richard Gaines, whose daughter Margaret was the
wife of George Crank, and mother of R. G. Crank, a representative
of the county in the Legislature twenty years ago,
Sarah, the wife of Samuel Poindexter, who removed to Bedford
County, Susan, the wife of Isaac Dalton, who emigrated
to Stokes County, North Carolina, and Mildred, the wife of
John Fretwell.
Thomas succeeded his father on Chesnut Ridge. He died
in 1834. He married Susan, daughter of Richard Durrett,
and his children were Jesse Winston, Willis, William, Elizabeth,
the wife of Dr. Thomas K. Clark, and mother of Cornelia,
the wife of Drury Burnley, and of Catharine, the wife
of George McIntire, and Frances, the wife of James Michie.
Jesse W. was deputy Sheriff, was admitted to the bar, was
for six years Commonwealth's Attorney, was member of the
Legislature, sold Birdwood to his brother William, and in
1818 removed to Alabama. His wife was Unity Dandridge,
of the same kindred as Patrick Henry's second wife. Willis
lived at the place occupied by the family of Legh R. Waddell,
married a Miss Graves, and was prominent in the establishment
of Mount Harmony Church. He died without
children in 1851. William resided at Birdwood, built the
spacious brick dwelling it contains, and by his improvements
made it one of the principal country seats of the county. He
married Elizabeth, daughter of George Martin and Barbara
Woods. He died in 1860, leaving eleven children, J. Woods,
Edgar, Lewis, George, Eugene, Georgiana, the wife of Rollin
Kirk, Gabriella, the wife of James Kirk, Susan, the wife
of Smith P. Bankhead, Elizabeth, the wife of William S.
Bankhead, Celestine, the wife of Marshall Walker, and secondly
of John Stockton, and Alice, the wife of Philip Gilchrist.
John married Ann, daughter of John Rodes, sold the land
on Blue Run which was given him by his father, and near
the close of the last century removed to Kentucky. Elijah
received from his father a plantation of more than five hundred
acres southwest of Still House Mountain, and in the
early years of the century acted as deputy Sheriff. He was
twice married, first to Susan Fretwell, and secondly to Catharine,
widow of George Wayt. He died in 1817. His
children were Littleton, Paschal, Elizabeth, the wife of a
McGarvey, and Virginia, the wife of a Cross.
Jesse lived on a plantation his father gave him, lying west
of the Barracks. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Bezaleel
Brown, and his children Thomas, William T., Brightberry,
Bezaleel, Mary, the wife of John H. McKennie, and
Sarah, the wife of Willis C. Goodman. He died in 1836.
Garland resided on the old Barracks place, where he built
the large brick mansion recently occupied by the late George
Carr. He married Susan Crenshaw, and his children were
Dr. Garland A., Burwell, Isaac, Harriet, the wife of Isaac
Davis, and Hardenia, the wife of Dr. Waller Head, who removed
to Missouri. Mr. Garth was deprived of his home by
business reverses, and spent his last days with one of his
children in Nelson County.
