Chapter 17

William Denty

            We've now traced the lineal descent from Jonathan Denty through John and Susannah Denty and their descendants in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas.  But Jonathan had other children who also founded lines.  Those children and their descendants will be the subjects of the remaining chapters.

The fifth child and second son of Jonathan Denty by his first wife was William Denty, born in 1780 in Fairfax County, Virginia.[1]  William's first entry in the Fairfax County Personal Property Tax List occurred in 1800, when he was twenty-four.  In keeping with his father and grandfather, he also appeared in the court records, the first occurrence being Commonwealth of Virginia versus William Denty on 16 Nov 1802, with a second case in 1803.  Whatever the nature of the charges, William confessed to both.  On 20 Nov 1802, he was sued by Hancock, Mushett & Company, presumably for debt.  This case either continued for years or a second suit was brought by the same plaintiff, for a deposition from his older brother John, then residing in Georgia, was not entered into the record until 18 Mar 1807.  Its outcome is undetermined.  Perhaps it was that case that resulted in father Jonathan writing on 11 May 1808 that he had "sold a likely mare last fall and Saddel for Sixty Six dollars to pay a debt of Williams".  

William married Elizabeth Heniken and the couple had their only known child, a son named John, in 1807 in Fairfax County.  It must have been very shortly thereafter that William and younger brother Thomas went to the Sugarlands, where they were "gitting timber for the Navi" in 1808.  How long they may have stayed; indeed, where William's family resided in the decade following hasn't been discovered.  They have not been located on the 1810 Census in either Virginia or Maryland.  In 1820 William, Elizabeth, and their son John were enumerated in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay.  The census taker that year described William as "engaged in manufacture".  His land purchases certainly would not support any agricultural operation, however modest.    On 10 Jun 1820 William purchased 5/8 of an acre from Richard and Hannah Hopkins for $40.  On 16 Mar 1822 he bought another 5/8 acre near Elk Ridge Landing on the Baltimore-Washington Turnpike from John Robertson for $400, a price that would indicate already developed land.  He sold the property back to Robertson on 16 Jul 1825 for the same $400, perhaps representing a mortgage that William was ultimately unable to pay.  The following winter he signed a ten year lease on a furnished frame house, shortly thereafter offering one sorrel, one bay, a wagon, a two-horse cart, and a long boat as collateral to cover a debt of $75.

If William was not farming, was he still "gitting timber"?  There's no mention of William's occupation in any official records, but perhaps the history of "Elk Ridge Landing" offers a clue.  Now known simply as Elkridge in Howard County,[2] Maryland, the Landing was located at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Patapsco River, which empties into the Chesapeake at Baltimore.  Before the twentieth century, the river was navigable to that confluence; and taking advantage of the transport possibilities, an iron forge was built there in 1750 after the area's soil had been exhausted by tobacco.  The first fact of life for any iron furnace was its utter dependence upon huge amounts of charcoal, and therefore huge amounts of wood.  Even a small to medium size forge consumed an average of 1,000 acres of trees per year[3] and was soon surrounded by a treeless, smoke-filled "no man's land".  The most common job associated with any furnace was that of collier.  Colliers felled and hauled the cord wood, turned it into charcoal by burning it in large pits, and then delivered the result to the forge in large charcoal wagons drawn by four horses.  As noted, in the mortgage dated 30 Apr 1825 William listed a wagon, but only two horses.    It's not likely that he delivered the finished iron by boat or wagon.  Why employ a relatively small long boat or wagon when the landing was accessible to large vessels?   It must be remembered that this is speculation.  Our current knowledge offers little to either refute or support it.  How close William's property actually was to the furnace hasn't been determined.  And perhaps the turnpike, rather than the forge, was of paramount importance.  Perhaps William was delivering goods, just not iron.

Years later in Ohio, the family built a grist and saw mill, so it's conceivable that William was also a miller in Elk Ridge, supplying flour to the surrounding area.  But where did he acquire that skill?  There's certainly no indication that he learned it from any Denty relative. 

Adding to the mystery, William and son John were not the only male Dentys to reside in Anne Arundel County during those years.  On 25 Mar 1829 James Denty married Susan Pool in Baltimore in the same Methodist Episcopal Church that had witnessed the marriage of William's son John to Maria Barber in 1826.   In the 1830 Census, Susan Denty, age twenty to thirty with two young girls, was enumerated close to John's family.  One hypothesis would be that William and Elizabeth actually had two sons, one of whom, James, married Susan Pool.  But other possibilities exist.  James Denty could have been the son of William's brother Thomas Denty; or he might have been the son of sister Nancy, a boy mentioned by Jonathan in his 1808 letter.[4]  Whatever his parentage, he was obviously closely associated with William.

The Denty family left Maryland in 1831.  The 1820s and 1830s were decades of decline for small forges, as their forest resources were depleted.  Even if William was not in fact himself employed by the forge, he would nonetheless have found it difficult to thrive in an area losing population due to a declining industry.  By contrast, the Dentys' new home of Licking County, Ohio, just northeast of Columbus, although no longer a raw frontier by 1831, was still not fully established and settled.  It offered land and potential.  Whatever his livelihood in Maryland, when William and Elizabeth were enumerated in Bennington Township in 1840, along with a 10-15 year old female who was probably their granddaughter Amanda, the census taker described William as "engaged in agriculture".   The family was to farm there for generations.  Indeed, the farm remains in the possession of Dentys to the present day.

William died on 7 Apr 1850.  This is the date entered into the family bible and supported by the 1850 Census. The latter, taken in September of that year, found Elizabeth Heniken Denty enumerated in son John's household, but William nowhere to be found.   His tombstone in Bennington Cemetery, however, is inscribed with a date of 7 Apr 1860.  Since the birth date on the tombstone is also ten years too late, it would seem plausible to suppose that it was erected many years later, when descendants could remember only that he had lived to be sixty, not the exact years.  Elizabeth Heniken Denty died in 1861. 

 Research Notes: William and Elizabeth Heniken Denty

Birth date of 1790 on tombstone is incorrect.  Censuses of 1820, 1830, and 1840 verify a birth year between 1770 and 1780.   There's no way William could've appeared on the 1800 Fairfax Tax List at the age of 10, or been a defendant in court on 16 Nov 1802 at the age of 12!  [Dorman, The Virginia Genealogist, v. 20, n. 1, p. 14, Jan-Mar 1976; Court 3x5]

Elizabeth gave her age as 60 in the 1850 census, 73 in the 1860.  In 1850 she listed her birthplace as VA, but in 1860 she listed MD.  Son John always claimed a birth place of VA.

27 Jun 1800 Fairfax Co Tax List (District of Thomas Pollard): 1 white adult male over 16, 0 horses, 0 slaves.

In the 1801 and 1802 Fairfax Co Tax Lists, Jonathan Denty is shown with 2 white males over 16.  The second was undoubtedly William.

16 Nov 1802: Commonwealth of Virginia vs "William Denty".  William confessed, ordered to pay court costs.  [Court Record Fiche #6330177/Orig: Pg 10]

20 Nov 1802: "William Dainty" defendant in action brought by Hancock, Mushett & Co.  Case was continued.  On 18 Mar 1807 "John Dainty . . . of Georgia" gave deposition to J.P. in GA in case of "William Dainty" vs Hancock, Mushett & Co.  No further record found.  [Court Record Fiche #6330117/Orig: Pg 26; Josette Baker 3X5/Orig: Pg 40]

19 Apr 1803 Fairfax Co Tax List: 1 white male over 16, 1 horse or mule.  (William was enumerated the same day as Jonathan and John Denty.)

22 Jun 1803: Commonwealth of Virginia vs "William Denty".  William confessed, prosecution discontinued.  [Court Record Fiche #6330117/Orig: Pg 140]

18 Apr 1804 Fairfax Co Tax List: 2 white males over 16, 2 horses or mules.  (Enumerated the same day as Jonathan and John Denty.)  Who is the second male - Thomas or an in-law?

3 Jun 1805 Fairfax Tax List: "William Dainty" = 1 white male, 2 horses or mules.  (Enumerated the same day as Jonathan.)

21 Jan 1807: Son John born, supposedly in Fairfax County. [Hill, History of Licking County, Ohio, p. 653]

In 1807 or 1808, William Denty vs Daniel Bradley.  Case discontinued.  [Court Record, p. 272]

8 May 1808: Jonathan Denty: "I sold a likely mare last fall and Saddel for Sixty Six dollars to pay a debt of Williams . . . William and Thomas left this county last August and is living at the Suger lands gitting timber for the Navi.  Thomas was down in Jenuar and William in November.  I have not seen them sence as thay never com a near as I am pore".   William was presumably already married with a young son.  [Copy provided by Rebecca Denty Abernathy]

10 Jun 1820: Purchased 5/8 acre in Anne Arundel Co, MD from Richard and Hannah Hopkins for $40.  It was described as lying on the southeast side of the Baltimore-Washington City Turnpike, a part oft the hanover Tract.  [Deed Book WSG 7, p. 257]

(Was William drawn to Anne Arundel County because of an earlier Denty presence there?  In the Deed Index are entries for William Dainty [Book T1, No. 1, #163 and Book IH, No. 1, #236] and John Dainty Junior [Book IH, No. 1, #294] dating from 1729 to 1733.  Two of John Wybert Denty's daughters married men "of MD".)

15 Nov 1820 CENSUS, Anne Arundel Co, MD  (District 4): 1 male 10-16, 1 male 26-45, 1 female 26-45; 1 "person in manufacture".  [Pg 317]

16 Mar 1822: Purchased 5/8 acres adjoining George Pocock near Elk Ridge Landing on the turnpike from John Robertson for $400.  [Book WSG 8, p. 474]

About 1822 William sold 5/8 acres, part of Hanover Tract, to John Robertson.  Was this actually a mortgage on the property he bought 16 Mar 1822?  [Index/Orig: Book WSG 9, p. 165; but unable to find original]

29 Jan 1825: From George Pocock, William signed ten year lease on a furnished frame house on lot occupied by Pocock.  Price: $25 per year.  [Book WSG 10, p. 596]

30 Apr 1825: For debt of $75, William mortgaged 1 sorrel, 1 bay, 2 wagons, and 1 long boat to Dr. Richard Hopkins.  Note due 30 Apr 1826.  Signed with his mark.  [Book WSG 11, p. 95]

16 Jul 1825: Sold 5/8 acre near Elk Ridge Landing adjoining George Pocock to John Robertson for $400.  Deed stated property had been sold to Denty on 11 May 1822.  Both William and Elizabeth signed with their marks.  [Book WSG 11, p. 242]

1830 CENSUS, Anne Arundel Co, MD  (District 4): 1 male 50-60, 1 female 50-60, 0 slaves.  [Pg 102]

Reportedly moved to Licking Co, OH with son John in 1831.  [Hill, p. 653]

1840 CENSUS, Licking Co, OH  (Bennington Township): 1 male 60-70, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 50-60.  Female 10-15 is undoubtedly granddaughter Amanda Denty.  (William is enumerated next to son John Denty, James and Aquilla Barber.  Both William and John have 1 person "engaged in agriculture".)  [Pg 313]

William and Elizabeth Denty were among the "originators" of the Methodist Lambert's Chapel in 1850.  With them were John and Maria Denty.   (This does not contradict death date of 1850.  The chapel may have been organized in the first months of the year, before William's death.)  [Centennial History of Licking County, Ohio, p. 274: Copy provided by Opal Denty]

Denty Family Bible has death date of 7 Apr 1850, a date also reported by Hill in 1881.  Death date of 7 Apr 1860 is inscribed on tombstone.  [Denty Family Bible: Copy provided by Opal Denty; Hill, p. 653]

7 Sep 1850 CENSUS, Licking, OH (Bennington Township): Elizabeth 60, born VA, residing in household of John and Mariah Denty.  [Pg 504]

20 Jun 1860 CENSUS, Licking, OH  (Bennington Township): Elizabeth 73, born MD; Wesley age 17; Rachel with age indecipherable but still in school.  [Pg 41]

Elizabeth's date of death: 1861.  [Hill, p. 653]

Both are buried in Bennington Cemetery: Opal Denty.

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