Chapter 23

The Thomas Denty Family

            Twenty-four year old Thomas, the eldest child of Samuel and Nancy Bayliss Denty, married Martha Ann Williamson on 29 Apr 1856 in Washington, DC.  Although documentation is lacking, Martha was almost certainly the daughter of John and Rebecca Denty Williamson, and thus the groom's first cousin.  However unusual that might seem to modern eyes, such a "cousin" marriage was not uncommon before the twentieth century.  In fact, it was often encouraged, partly as a means of strengthening and consolidating land holdings within the extended family.

            The young couple presumably lived with Thomas' parents on their large farm in the Mount Vernon District of Fairfax County from the time of their marriage.  They were, in any event, residing there in the 1860 Census.  After their father died, Thomas and his brother Silas purchased all rights to the estate from brother Elisha in 1864 and sister Martha Denty Grimsley in 1865.   Thereafter, Thomas and Silas not only owned and ran the farm together - and perhaps a business dealing in and delivering timber - but lived together as well.  It must have been a successful operation and a fairly spacious dwelling on Pohick Road, for in 1870 the house contained Thomas and Martha and their four children, mother Nancy, and brother Silas.  The brothers also employed four farmhands, any or all of whom may have resided in the house.   The Denty farm was thus supporting twelve people.  Oddly, although Thomas and Martha, Silas and mother Nancy Denty were alive in 1880, this researcher has been unable to locate them on the census in Fairfax County.  Unless and until they're discovered elsewhere, one must assume that they were simply missed for whatever reason by the census taker. 

In addition to farming, descendant Bernice Bayliss Rison believes that Thomas and his sons may have operated a longboat on the Potomac River transporting goods, including timber, to and from Alexandria.   According to Bernice, the Alexandria Gazette carried an announcement that the longboat Mary E. Denty of Accotinck had discharged a load of wood in Washington, DC on 26 Jun 1896.[1]   As described in previous chapters, there are clues hinting that both his father Samuel and uncle James Compton Denty may have been involved in that sideline.   

            Thomas died in March 1887.  The widowed Martha then lived with son George Washington Denty on the farm until her death at ninety-two in July 1927.   Her death notice in the Fairfax Herald stated that she left twenty-three grandchildren and twenty-seven great-grandchildren.  Both Thomas and Martha are buried in Pohick Cemetery.  They were the parents of nine children, although we know the names of only eight.

Rebecca Denty was born in 1856 and died in 1879.  She is buried in Pohick Cemetery.

Mary Denty, born c. 1859, had disappeared by the 1870 Census.  She is not listed in the Pohick Church records. 

Born in 1863, Laura L. Denty married John Thomas Williamson, who may have been another Williamson cousin.    They had children Martha Allian (b. 6 Sep 1887, d. 4 Jul 1959), George Thomas (b. 25 Nov 1890, d. 5 Feb 1953), Paul Chester (b. 13 May 1894, d. 23 Sep 1902), Daisy Bell (b. 1897), and Ethel May Williamson (b. 1899). 

Napoleon Bonaparte Denty, born on 17 Sep 1866, married Catherine Tyler, the daughter of Daniel and Julia Ann Davis Tyler, on 15 Dec 1892 in Pohick Church.  "Poly" was a farmer, and lived very close to his mother Martha Williamson Denty on Pohick Road through 1910; but in 1918 the federal government "condemned" fourteen tracts totaling 1,300 acres in the Mount Vernon District to create a rifle range adjacent to Camp Humphries, now Fort Belvoir.  Among the property owners affected were Napoleon and his brother and sister George Washington Denty and Annie Denty Cooke.[2]  Poly then moved his family to what must have been a fairly large home on Howard Avenue.  In the 1920 Census the household included eleven residents: Napoleon, who described himself as a clerk in a clothing store; wife Catherine; widowed daughter Anita Shepherd; grandchildren Vivian, Herman, and Earl Shepherd; and five boarders!  Wife Catherine died on 13 Mar 1929 from diabetic complications after an appendectomy.  "Tight-fisted and strong-willed",[3] the aging Poly remained active and involved.  A loyal Democrat, he was often appointed as one of the judges to oversee both primary and general elections, and was a delegate to the 1936 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.  He also devoted himself to the beautiful and historic church with which his family had been associated for more than one hundred years, and would visit Pohick daily, acting as a guide to any interested visitors.  Although not of adequate quality to reproduce here, a photograph of Napoleon and Catherine in their later years does exist.  It shows a tall, well-built Poly, with thick, snow-white hair and mustache.   He must have been, at the very least, a very strong, imposing man, perhaps quite handsome in his younger years.  Napoleon died on 25 Jan 1943 and was, of course, buried next to Catherine in his beloved Pohick. 

The children of Poly and Kate Denty were:

1.   Mary Elizabeth, born on 7 Jan 1894, married farmer George Arthur Bayliss, by whom she had four children before they were divorced: Lester Napoleon (b. 1 Jun 1911, d. 7 Apr 1996), Florence Lorraine (b. 1 Nov 1912), Shirley Elizabeth (b. 6 Nov 1914, d. 11 Oct 1971), and Pearley Lemaine Bayliss (b. 6 Nov 1914, d. 13 Dec 1915).   Mary Elizabeth then married electric lineman Eugene McWeadon,[4] the couple residing on Colchester Road in Fairfax County in 1930.  Mary Elizabeth died on 16 Jun 1961.  See photo.

2.   Born on 29 Dec 1895, Anita May married Silas Herman Shepherd Junior on 3 Jun 1911.  He died after the birth of their three children, Vivian Louise, Herman Denty, and Earl Weldon Shepherd.  By the 1920 Census the widowed Anita had moved in with her parents.   That spring, however, she married Frank Lee Rose, by whom she had seven children: Francis Preston, Thomas Melvin, Napoleon Eugene, William Carlton, Kenneth Jeter, Kathryn Elizabeth, and Lawrence Godfrey Rose.  Anita May died on 13 May 1983.  See photo.

3.   Gladys Virginia, born on 22 Feb 1898, married carpenter John Benjamin Shepherd Junior, on 20 May 1916.  She died on 11 Jun 1978.   See photo.

4.   Alma Bell Denty was born on 17 Dec 1904 and died on 15 Dec 1908. 

Thomas and Nancy's daughter Annie Elizabeth Denty, born in December 1868, married George Washington Cooke, a farmer fifteen years her senior.  The couple had a truck farm on Accotinck Station Road even after their loss of land to Fort Belvoir, and were enumerated there in the 1920 Census.  George died in 1925, Annie on 22 Sep 1940.  Three of their children, Agnes Maria, James Edward, and Everett Thomas, died before the age of five.  Agnes and Everett are buried beside their mother in Pohick Cemetery.  Their surviving children were Xrefa Belle (b. 7 Oct 1892), Beulah, George Washington (b. 11 Oct 1901, d. 13 Jul 1987), William Henry (b. 27 Aug 1903, d. 20 Sep 1971), and Martha Viola Cooke (b. 30 Sep 1909).  Son George Washington Cooke, who both farmed and worked for the railroad, resided with his Uncle Joseph E. Denty in 1930.

Born on 8 Mar 1873, Joseph E. Denty married Alice Bayliss about 1898 and the young couple moved in with Thomas' mother Martha Denty.  According to the Delinquent Taxpayers List in 1907, Joseph owned at least thirty-seven acres near Pohick.[5]  He described himself as a "dealer in wood" in the 1900 Census, and indeed, was paid for "hauling wood" in the accounts of the Silas Denty estate in 1905.  By the 1910 Census, however, he identified himself as a farmer, and remained so in 1920 and 1930.    It was doubtless, at least in part, a dairy farm, for in 1935 Joseph was a "Dairy Co-op Officer".    He died in Newington, Virginia on 28 Mar 1945 and was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria.  His widow died on 17 Feb 1959.  They never had children.

            James Thomas Denty was born in 1875 and died in July 1898.  He is buried in Pohick Cemetery.

George Washington Denty was born on 16 Apr 1878 and married Mary Rebecca Williamson about 1902. Mary was yet another Williamson cousin, the daughter of Daniel Williamson, son of John and Rebecca Denty Williamson, by Daniel's second wife, Irish born Mary Regan.   When the government purchased the Denty farm as part of a rifle range to be created adjacent to Camp Humphries in 1918,   George and Mary moved their family, which included his mother, to a large home  "just across" from Pohick Church "on the Richmond Highway".[6]  There they opened a small country store and gas station, from which George sold Esso gas for more than fifty years.  Although when enumerated on Pohick Road in 1920, George still described himself as a farmer, he did identify himself as the storekeeper of a general store in the 1930 Census, and the owner of a home valued at $10,000.  That year two men attempted to steal gas from George's station.  Awakened by the noise of the lock breaking, George took after them with his shotgun, reportedly wounding one in the leg.  While it's not known if the robbers were ever arrested, it was probably many years, if ever, before there were any more attempts on George's property.  George died at his home in Lorton on 22 Dec 1950, following his son Everett in death by only ten months.  Mary almost lived to celebrate her 100^th birthday, dying on 17 Apr 1981. 

George Washington and Mary Williamson Denty had five children: George Edward (b. 31 Aug 1905, d. 19 Sep 1947), James Everett (b. 20 Aug 1908, d. 26 Feb 1950), Thomas Earl (b. 12 Oct 1911, d. 1 Mar 1985), Annie Laura (b. 27 Mar 1914, d. 15 Jan 1968), and one child who died in infancy.  Both parents and all four adult children are buried in Pohick Cemetery.

Research Notes: Thomas and Martha Williamson Denty

Birth year of Thomas: 1832.  [Tombstone in Pohick Cemetery]

Birth date of Martha: May 1836.  [Tombstone in Pohick Cemetery]  In the 1900 Census, a birth month and year of May 1846 was recorded, but listed age of 54 would indicate a birth year of 1836.  The ages given in 1850 and 1910  both confirm 1836.   Pohick Church records give birth year of 1835.  [Liddle, Families of Pohick Church, Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Virginia, p. 114]

Parents of Martha Williamson: While the daughter of John and Rebecca Denty Williamson, may conceivably not be the Martha Williamson who married Thomas Denty, I'm assuming them to be one and the same until discovery of contrary evidence.  The fact that Thomas and Martha Denty named their first-born daughter Rebecca strengthens this assumption.

26 Dec 1850: Witnessed trust deed secured by father Samuel for 234 acres on Accotinck.  Other wits: William R. Selleman, Thomas Nevitt.  [Book P3, p. 421]

Marriage: 29 Apr 1856.  [National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, Old District of Columbia Marriage Records A-D, 23 Dec 1812 - 1 Sep 1858, p. 185]

17 Oct 1860 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA  (SO & AR Road): Farmer age 27, with personal property worth $450, residing in household of Samuel and Nancy Denty; M. age 23; R. age 3; Mary age 1.  [Pg 11]

3 Feb 1864: Along with Silas Denty, purchased all interest in the estate of Samuel Denty, dec'd, from Elisha and Josephine Denty for $500.  Land was described as that purchased by Samuel from William M, James B, and W. Thornton McCarty and known as part of the White Marsh Tract.  Wits: Thomas Denty [?] and Lewis Mc K. Bell.  [Book E4, p. 67]

1 Aug 1865: Along with Silas Denty, purchased from Elias and Martha Grimsley all rights latter might possess in estate of Samuel Denty for $500.  [Book E4, p. 387]

18 Aug 1870 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA  (Mt Vernon, Fairfax Courthouse PO): Thomas "Danty" = Farmer age 37 with real and personal property worth $4000 and $900; Martha age 33; Rebecca age 14; Laura age 7; Napoleon age 4; infant Nancy born Dec; mother Nancy age 74; farmer Silas age 36; 2 white and 2 black farmhands.  Martha was listed as not being able to read or write.  [Pg 342]

In 1873 the local newspaper carried the following entry in the court news: "Thos & Silas Denty vs Samuel Shepherd & c; the division of the real estate of Samuel Denty, deceased, ordered to be recorded".  [Fairfax News, 23 May 1873, p. 3]

Will of Thomas Denty filed 1887; can be found in Book E2, p. 391.

Death and Burial of Thomas:  Mar 1887.  [Liddle, p. 113; supported by tombstone in Pohick Cemetery]

19 Jun 1900 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA  (Mt Vernon District): Widow born May 1846 in VA, mother of nine children with five still living; George W. age 21, a farmer; Joseph age 26, a "dealer in wood", with his wife Alice; and farm laborer John Tate.  [ED 21, Sheet 13]

27 Apr 1910 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA  (Mt Vernon District): Farmer age 74, mother of nine children with five still living; farmer son George W, daughter-in-law Mary R, grandsons George and James  (The family is residing on Pohick Road, as are families of son Napoleon Denty and Joseph Denty.)  [ED, 35, Sheet 10]

Death and burial of Martha: Jul 1927.  [Liddle, p. 114; Alexandria Gazette, 25 and 26 Jul 1927, p. 9; tombstone in Pohick Cemetery, Lot 4, Sec A]

Martha's Obit in Fairfax Herald, 29 Jul 1927, p. 5: "One of the oldest, if not the oldest, resident of Fairfax County, died at the home of her son Mr. George Denty near Pohick . . . 92 years of age . . . 2 daughters, 3 sons, 23 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren . . . interment was at Pohick Cemetery".  

Napoleon and Catherine Tyler Denty

Napoleon's birth: 17 Sep 1866.  [Liddle, Families of Pohick Church, Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Virginia, p. 114; tombstone in Pohick Cemetery]  (In the 1900 Census Napoleon listed his birth date as Sep 1867.)

Catherine's birth: 27 Dec 1869. [Liddle, p. 114; tombstone in Pohick Cemetery]

Nicknames: "Poly" and "Kate". 

Marriage: 15 Dec 1892.  [Bernice Rison, 5 Jan 1999]

18 Jun 1900 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA  (Mt Vernon District): Farmer age 32, born Sep 1867, married 7 years; Catherine age 30, born Dec 1869, mother of 3 children, all living; Mary E. age 6; Neta May age 4; Gladdus V. age 1   (Residing very close to household of Martha Denty.)  [ED 21, Sheet 13]

27 Apr 1910 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA  (Mt Vernon District): Farmer age 43, married 17 years; Catherine, mother of 4 children, 3 living; Lizzie age 16; Anita age 14; Gladis age 11; boarder John Fletcher, a laborer on railroad  (Residing on Pohick Road, very close to household of Martha Denty.)  [ED 35, Sheet 10]

In 1918 federal government purchased 14 tracts totaling 1,300 acres in Mt. Vernon District to be used for a rifle range adjacent to Camp Humphries.  Among landowners affected were Napoleon B. and George W. Denty, Annie E. Cook, John and Silas Shepherd.  [Fairfax Herald, 30 Aug 1918, p. 3]

12 Jan 1920 CENSUS, Alexandria, VA  (Potomac Town, Jefferson District): Age 53, born VA, clerk in a clothing store, owner of home on Howard Avenue; wife Catherine age 50, born VA; daughter Anita Shepherd age 24 with Vivian L. age 7, Herman D. age 6, Earl W. age 4 ½; five boarders: Arthur Hamilton 24, William Hamilton 37, Clarence Hansborough 18, Webster Rose 18, and Ethel Williamson 21.    [ED 13, Sheet 7A]

Catherine's death: 13 Mar 1929.  [Liddle, p. 114; NSDAR, Fairfax County Cemetery Records, Pohick Church, p. 150; Tombstone in Pohick Cemetery; Alexandria Gazette, 14 Mar 1929, p. 7; Fairfax Herald, 22 Mar 1929, p. 1; Pohick Church Cemetery Burials, p. D-6]

In 1929 Poly was chosen by County Electoral Board as one of judges and clerks in Democratic primary election to be held 6 Aug 1929.  [Fairfax Herald, 26 Jul 1929, p. 1]

In 1936 was listed among delegates attending Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.  [Hernden Observer, 18 Jun 1936, p. 1]

In 1937 N.B. Denty was paid $7.00 for services as Judge, Accotinck Precinct, of the general election and for bringing returns to County Clerk.  [Herndon Observer, 26 Aug 1937, p. 4]

In 1938, at Poly's request, grandson Lester Napoleon Bayliss with his wife and two children moved into the house on Telegraph Road.  {Bernice Rison, "Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte Denty"]

Described affectionately by the Bayliss family as "tightfisted and strong-willed.  When things didn't go his way, he threatened to cut individuals out of his will.  This was an enjoyable threat because he had few worldly possessions other than his home . . . He died without a will. . . . One of Mr. Denty's great loves was the historical Pohick Church . . . He lived within walking distance of the church and visited it daily acting as a guide, walking visitors through the beautiful building and grounds, sharing its history back to colonial Virginia".  [Bernice Rison, "Biography of Napoleon Denty"]

Will: Died intestate; Mary Elizabeth McWeadon was Admx of estate.  Probate proceedings can be found in Book 22, p. 333, 54.   [List of Heirs: Copy provided by Bernice Rison]

Napoleon's death: 25 Jan 1943.  [Liddle, p. 114; Tombstone in Pohick Cemetery; "List of Heirs": Copy provided by Bernice Rison; "No Inheritance Tax Assessable"]

George Washington and Mary Rebecca Williamson Denty

Birth year of George: 1854.  [Liddle, Families of Pohick Church, Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Virginia, p. 115; tombstone from Pohick Cemetery]  In the 1900 Census, however, George gave his birth year as 1879.

Birth date of Mary: Dec 1868.  [Liddle, p. 115; Social Security Death Index]

Mary's parents: Daniel and Mary Williamson.  [Liddle, p. 115]

Mary's baptism took place at Pohick on 26 Aug 1894.  [Liddle, p. 115]

When son Thomas was a "small boy", the government took the family farm as part of Fort Belvoir.  (Thus, the house no longer exists.)  George moved his family, which included mother Martha until her death, to a large home "just across" from Pohick Church.  He opened a small country store that he later enlarged.  He sold Esso gas there as a dealer for "over fifty years". [Kathryn O'Neill, 30 Jan 1990]

In 1918 federal government purchased 14 tracts totaling 1,300 acres in Mt. Vernon District to be used for a rifle range adjacent to Camp Humphries.  Among landowners affected were Napoleon B. and George W. Denty, Annie E. Cook, John and Silas Shepherd.  [Fairfax Herald, 30 Aug 1918, p. 3]

3 Jan 1920 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA  (Lee District): Farmer "George N. Denty" 41, VA VA VA; wife Mary R. age 38, VA VA IRELAND; son George E. age 14; son James E. age 11; son Thomas Earle age 8; daughter Annie L. age 5; mother Amelia T. age 84, VA VA VA.  (Age is absolutely correct for mother Martha Ann Williamson Denty, who did not die until 1927.  It certainly couldn't have been his mother-in-law since Mary claimed that her mother had been born in Ireland.)  Farm located on Pohick Road.   [ED 34, Sheet 1]

18 Apr 1930 CENSUS, Fairfax Co, VA (Lee District, Ward #1): Age 51, married at age 29, VA VA VA, occupation storekeeper of general store, owner of home valued at $10,000 on Road 16; Mary R. age 46, married at age 19, VA VA VA; George E. age 24; James E. age 21; Thomas E. age 18; Annie L. age 16.  Both sons George and James gave their occupations as laborer in general store.  [ED 30-14, Sheet 9A]

In 1930 an attempt to steal gas from George's station "near Pohick on the Richmond Highway" resulted in George, who was awakened by the noise of the lock braking, grabbing a shotgun and wounding one of the men in the leg.  Suspects had not been captured when article appeared.  [Fairfax Herald, 3 Oct 1930, p. 1]

George's death: 1925.  [Liddle, p. 115; tombstone from Pohick Cemetery]  He "died at his home in Lorton".  [Fairfax Herald, 22 Dec 1950, p. 1]

George's burial: Kathryn O'Neill, 30 Jan 1990; Fairfax Herald, 22 Dec 1950.  Located in Lot 4, Section D, Grave 2.  [Pohick Church Cemetery Burials, p. D-7]

Mary's death: 22 Dec 1940.  [Liddle, p. 115; Social Security Death Index]

Children: According to church records, George and Mary also had an infant born 9 Sep 1903 that only lived until 17 Sep 1903.  This is verified by the info on the 1910 Census, describing her as the mother of four children, three living. [Liddle, p. 115]

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