William OTTWELL of Sussex, DE (1717-1798)

Edna OTWELL-SIM > Edwin OTWELL > Maurice OTWELL . John F. OTWELL > William OTWELL > Francis OTWELL > William OTTWELL

Shilling circa 1798

Finding the parents of Francis OTWELL of Scott Co., KY has been our “brick wall” because there are few documents from this time period. Since Francis had a son with the unusual name of Parker, it is assumed that our family is linked to William OTTWELL and Grace RIGGIN who also had a son named Parker and a son named Francis with similar birth year. It seems likely that Francis named his sons after his father and brother as this appears to be a tradition in the OTWELL family tree. We need additional documents to confirm.

We see many different spellings for the surname in generations prior to Francis of Kentucky.  You will note that William's surname is spelled OTTWELL - this is based on his last will. 

Let's start with a map of Maryland and Delaware.  Just note that Maryland is on the left and is divided by the Chesapeake Bay.  To the right and outlined in red is Delaware.  Keep in mind that in the early days, there was a dispute as to where the border was.  So, in upcoming blogs, areas called Delaware then may be Maryland now and vice versa.

The following (indented) is from the research of Rev. Edward H. OTWELL and Edward BREGENZER’s The Otwell Manuscript (The Otwells in America Since 1619) which is a compilation of their research on the Otwell family history, dated 1998. (You can find a link to this document on our resource page.)

William OTWELL was likely born in Sussex Co., Delaware about 1717 to Francis and Hannah OTWELL. The family later moved to Somerset, MD.

By 1769 at age 52, he was married to 21 year old Grace RIGGIN (1748-1819), daughter of Charles RIGGIN and Amory TOWNSEND of Somerset Co., MD.

10 known children were: William, Hannah BEAVINS, Polly (aka Mary), Parker, Francis, Eleanor SHORT, Druzilla, John, Obediah and Joshua.

Sussex is the southern most portion of Delaware.  The following map is of the Chesapeake Bay area and will be used in the next several blogs.  Sussex County is where William was born and where he died, Somerset County is were he lived in his early years.

The earliest record of William is the 1740 census where he is listed as a dependent in his father's household in Somerset, MD.  Here, the surname was listed as OUTWELL.

The date of marriage is unknown. Because of the age discrepancy, it is possible that William was previously married and his older children were from a previous wife. On various sites, there is reference to up to 3 different wives, but no documents are provided.

William died 10 April 1798 in Sussex. We know that at this time, our ancestor Francis was already living in Kentucky. William’s will was dated 20 December 1797 and it lists his wife and all of his living children. Note the spelling of the surname is OTTWELL in this document:

“William OTTWELL 20 December 1797
To son William OTTWELL -one shilling
To daughter Hannah BEVINS-one shilling
To daughter Polley OTTWELL -cow and calf or money to buy one
To son Parker OTTWELL -one shilling
To son Frances OTTWELL -one shilling
To daughter Elenor SHORT-large pot, ewe and lamb
To daughter Druzilla OTTWELL -bed furniture, cow and calf, pot, ewe and lamb, 6 pewter platted, pewter dish, 6 earthen plates
To son John OTTWELL - my house and the land to the division that was made between him and his brother and yoke of oxen and $10
To son Obediah's OTTWELL - the land that was allotted by the division between him and his brother and yoke of oxen and $10
To son Joshua OTTWELL - three years schooling by his brothers John and Obediah's and 50 pounds if they refuse to give him schooling. If John or Obediah's should die without heir, Joshua to have the land given them
To wife Grace OTTWELL - whole estate for widowhood
Executor: wife and son John
Witness: Levin CONNAWAY, John TRUITT, Barsheba TRUITT 10 April 1798”

In general, wills had the names of children in order of age (but not always). From census records, we know our Francis OTWELL was born between 1766 and 1774.  William, Hannah, Polly and Parker all appear before Francis in the will and likely were his older siblings (though most on-line sites list them all as being born about 1770 and later). It is also noted that these older siblings inherited very small amounts. One shilling in 1797 is equivalent to less than $10 today. It could be that they were already established and William wanted to give his estate to his youngest children. Or, it could mean that only the younger children’s mother was Grace and she ensured that she and her sons received the bulk of the estate with the older siblings given a nominal amount to avoid lawsuits. 

At this period, the US was still using shillings and pounds as they were converting to dollars and cents and you will note that the will refers to several denominations. In addition to the land, John and Obediah received $10 (about $200 today)  Youngest son Joshua was about 14 years old at the time this will was written and William ensured that he receive his education from his brothers else they pay Joshua 50 pounds (about $9,500.00 today).

After the Revolutionary War came the westward expansion and some of William's descendants were early pioneers in the territories.  Our Francis moved to Kentucky by 1797 (along with a Solomon OTWELL, though we are unsure how Solomon is related).  John settled in Pike, Illinois by 1828 after a brief stay in Ohio.  The youngest son Joshua initially went to Pike, then moved to the wilds of Texas.

Widowed at age 51, Grace next appears in 1810 census (age 63) in Delaware next to John SHORT, likely her son-in-law. No additional information was found for Grace.

Francis (Frank) OTWELL - Died 1839

Edna OTWELL-SIM > Edwin OTWELL > Maurice OTWELL . John F. OTWELL > William OTWELL > Francis OTWELL

On the Otwell side, Francis was the last ancestor we were able to confirm for our family tree.  From census reports he was born between 1766-1774.  We have found no information on his birth, parents or location of his early years.  It is believed his father was William OTWELL of Sussex, Delaware.

We have no record of his marriage.  The Scott County, Kentucky 1810 Census listed six children along with a woman old enough to be his wife.  We believe his wife died some time after this census.  The census records showed many children.  We were able to confirm William, Parker and Mary Ann as his children.

On July 16, 1818 Francis Otwell next married Eleanor Tucker in Bourbon County, Kentucky.  Her maiden name was Berry.  She had a son, Greenberry Tucker, from her previous marriage.  Francis became Greenberry's guardian and he was around the same age as Francis' son, Parker.  Parker and Greenberry became life-long friends.  Parker named "his good friend Greenberry Tucker" as the executor of his will.

Francis Otwell was listed on the 1820 Census in Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky.  He had nine slaves.

In 1827 Eleanor and Francis were involved in a legal dispute over property (Berry vs. Tucker).  They were on opposing sides to Greenberry and other heirs that were involved in the dispute.  We next found Francis on the 1830 Scott County Census.  There is no listing for Eleanor on this census nor is she mentioned in Francis' will in 1839.  We did find Mrs. Otwell's death listed in 1850.  However, she was buried under the name Tucker in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Francis Otwell's estate appraisal was submitted to Scott County Court in January 1839 by his son, Parker Otwell, Administrator.  He had died at his Frank Otwell Farm. The appraisal included a list of his inventory and the value of his possessions.  The first listing was his 16 named slaves valued at $7175.  There were also 37 notes owed to him by family and friends.  Francis' son, William (our ancestor), moved to the Frank Otwell Farm.

Read more about the OTWELL Estates.

This will conclude our research on the Otwell Family.  We will continue researching for new information and will update our blog as it becomes available and verified.

OTWELL Estates

Edna OTWELL > Edwin OTWELL > Maurice OTWELL > John F. OTWELL > William OTWELL & his father Francis OTWELL

Estate appraisals can give incite on how a family lived. Both William and Francis were farmers living on the 150 acre farm in Scott County when they died.  Both were holding notes on numerous friends and family members.  From the lists, it appears William spent some money on furniture and bedding.  We also learn that Francis was harvesting wool and had a loom.

Here are the items in William OTWELL’s estate appraisal 1858:

Furniture
Dozen juniper chairs, a juniper rocking chair, a dozen split bottom chairs, a card table, a settee, 3 steel beds with bedding (steel or iron beds were new in the 1850s), a dining table trifle gun (a table with a compartment to hide a gun), breakfast table with safe, bureau with clock, rocking chair, wardrobe, cooking stove

Household Goods
A looking glass, a bowl & pitcher, 10 blankets, bed sheet & bedding, feather bed, cupboard ware, silverware, bedding for trundle bed, wash stand, fire irons/tongs/shovel, cooking utensils, grindstone, one lot of carpeting, two lots of other sundries

Farm Products and Animals
Seven fleeces of wool, one lot of leather, bushel of clover/timothy seed, lumber, one lot of wheat in the chaff at 40 cents per bushel, 12 hogs, oxen, an ox cart with log chain, 5 cows at $30 per head, 3 heifers at $18 per head, a steer, 5 calves, one lot of sheep, 6 horses and 1 yearling filly

Planted in field
30 acres corn, 20 acres oats, 5 acres wheat

Transportation
A carriage, a four horse wagon, swingletrees

Other
$11.53 Cash (about $323 in 2017), a check from son-in-law in the amount of $557.66 (over 15K in 2017), IOU Notes totaling almost $2000.00 (equivalent to over 56K in 2017), slaves (more about that at the end of this post).

Here are items in estate of William's father Francis OTWELL 1839:

Furniture
2 chest & cupboards, 9 chairs, 9 split bottom chairs, 2 breakfast & dining tables, cupboard, bed and bedstand, a trundle bed and stand, 2 beds, table, large desk, 2 bedsteads, 5 cradles

Household Goods
tea kettle, kettle, silver soup spoon and tea spoon, 4 table cloths, 3 canisters with lids, carpet, chamber pot, loom and equipage (wheel, hooks, thread), brush for wool, wool bands, wool, black wool, 2 rugs, cooking utensils, buckets, 3 chests with contents, cupboardware, silver tumblers, 5 kettles, pot, candlesticks

Farm Items and Animals
3 rakes, 4 hemp hooks, brushes, , 2 axes, ox yoke, pair of andirons, chains, 2 buckets, 4 pairs of sheep shears, saw whetstone, saddlebags, 1 lot irons, 3 spades, old barrels, 5 hogsheads (casks for wine making), grindstone, 7 plows, 7 shovel plows, mowing laythe, 1 harrow, 5 meal bags, 2 lathes, ox cart, ox yoke, log chains, large box, cutting iron, hemp break, , 1 lot barrels, pitch fork, 29 geese, 37 hogs, 8 lassos, cow & calf, 2 steers, 7 yearling calves, 32 sheep, 6 horses, 2 lots leather, 2 lots of flax, 1 lot linen, 1 lot hempseed, 1 lot rye, 40 bushels of wheat, pork, 2000 hemp, old bacon, pork, soap, hay, 1 lot sugar crocks

In the Field
5 stacks hay, 1 stack fodder, 1 stack rye

Transportation
2 doubletrees, 7 saddles, 6 bridles, wagon, 2 singletrees, 4 lots of hames

Other
 $92.00 Cash (equivalent to about $2,300 in 2017), IOU Notes totaling almost $2500.00 (over 63K in 2017), a shot gun and equipage, slaves (see next section)

SLAVES

When we first became aware of slave ownership in our family history, it was very difficult to accept. This will be the first time some of you hear about this. So, I have split the slave information into this section to allow people to decide if they want to read about it. After years of researching our history, I have come to terms with it by understanding that this was the norm in early America. I am not proud of this information, but you have to take the good with the bad. If any of our ancestors made different choices, we may not be here today.

Keep in mind that the first OTWELL to come to Jamestown Colony (1623) came as an indentured servant in order to pay for his passage to the New World. Within 2 generations, the American OTWELLs were slave owners. The last OTWELL slave owner in our tree was John Franklin OTWELL. Slaves were also owned by our GARTH and TAYLOR ancestors.

What is interesting is that we have information for 2 estates spanning almost 20 years: Francis (1839) and William (1858). Prior to the Civil War, it was illegal to buy slaves from outside of Kentucky. The only way one could get a slave was to purchase them from existing Kentucky slave population. Additionally, it was frowned upon for gentlemen to sell their slaves - probably why William's will stipulated that his slaves were not to be sold. In comparing the estates, we find that a few of the younger people on the 1839 list appeared on the 1858 list. We also find that when the estate was split in 1858, women and their young children were kept together.

Francis’ list (1839) included 3 adult males (Jacob, Nathan and Mathew), 2 adult women with their infant children (Casey with William and Lucinda with William) and 10 children (Robert, Harry, Sam, Jefferson, Julia, Sarah, Emily, Elizabeth, Jenny and Mary). No ages were given.

William’s estate (1858) included a list of slaves with their ages. The heirs each received one slave and the remaining were grouped according to their value so that each heir received the same portion of the estate. The sons (both farmers) were willed adult men while the daughters were willed children.

• Our ancestor John Franklin was willed Harry (21 years old). Note that Harry was one of the 10 children in Francis’ 1839 estate. John F. also received the group consisting of George, Samuel (12), Mary and Albert (9).
• Thomas was willed Randall (21) and received the group of Elijah (33), Lucinda (40) with her 2 children (Austin and Alexander). Note that Lucinda appeared on Francis’ 1839 list.
• Martha was willed Lewis (8) and received the group Leah (44) with children Isaac, Elizabeth and Harvey
• Emily was willed 2 children (Billy and Dinah) and received the group Jacob (14), Fanny (21) and her 2 children (Martha and Isabel)
• Mary Ann was willed a child named Frank and received the group Abraham (23), Rachel and her 2 children
• Sarah Jane was willed a child named Jo and received the group Nathan (50), Hannah (17) and Henry (8). Nathan was on Francis’ 1839 list.