The family of Samuel Lane 1700-1779, approximately

 We have no firm, documented birth or death dates for Samuel Lane, the son of Dutton and Pretotia Tydings Lane.  Nor do we have specific dates for his children, which, depending on what record or tree you look at, are all over the calendar.  Sometimes even the decades are "fluid".  Yet, there is much that is known or thought to be accurate about the family of Samuel and Jane Corbin (daughter of Edward and Jane Wilkinson Corbin).  And there are a totally ridiculous number of Samuels, and Duttons, and even Richards, who carry the last name.  I've tried here to winnow out the obvious errors and I hope I haven't allowed any new ones to creep in.  I'd be delighted to receive any additional information that is available, but once again, here is a not necessarily correct post which I hope will at least contain clues to help us get this family straight.

Samuel was born about 1700 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and died sometime after his will was written in 1779, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  He married Jane Corbin about 1735, and didn't go to Pennsylvania until after her death.  It's thought that he lived with one of his sons there.  We should note that by order of King George, there were to be no settlers west of the Appalachians, but that was ignored by more than one early family of settlers.  Tension between the native Americans allied to Britain during the Revolutionary War, and the settlers who needed more land, were tight, and this may not have been the best part of Samuel's life.

Samuel and Jane had at least eleven children together.  Tracking down their grandchildren has been hit or miss, but it seems that they had many, who ended up scattered over Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and perhaps Virginia and North Carolina.   Please keep in mind that the birth years given here may not be correct, but I do believe these were all Samuel and Jane's children, regardless of the birth order.

Samuel seems to be the first born, in February of 1735/36.  He married first Mary Corbin, who fits into the Corbin family somewhere,  and their children are Richard, Mary, Ruth, Elizabeth, Abraham, Pretosia, Jane, Dutton, and Samuel.  He then married Keziah Sias, the daughter of John and Mary Chambers Sias, and they are the parents of James, Elilah, Caleb, Joshua, John, Jacob, George, Pheobe, Sarah, Eleanor, and Abner.  Samuel was the first of several Lane sons to serve in the Revolutionary War.  He was in the militia, and it seems more than possible that he would have spent at least part of his time at Fort Pitt.  

Samuel and Jane seem to have gone to England for a few years after young Samuel was born, because the next two children are said to have been born in England.  It's a strong family tradition, but again, proof has not been found.  Lambert was born about 1737 and died in 1804 in Shelby County, Kentucky.  He was a Revolutionary War veteran, having participated in battles that we might wish he hadn't, against the Cherokee tribe.  (At the time, he lived in Greene County, Tennessee.) He married Nancy or Ann Anderson, the daughter of James and Ann Downing Anderson.  Their children are Mary, Thomas, John, James, Elijah, Rebecca, Wilkinson, William, Nancy Ann, Elizabeth, Jesse, and Sarah or Sally.  I will write more of this family in my next post.  

Charity was probably the first daughter, born about 1738 and died after 1798, likely in Baltimore County, Maryland..  She married Greenberry Baxter, the son of John and Mary Brown Baxter.  Their children are Samuel, Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, Delia, Charlotte, and possibly Jesse.  

Richard was born in November of 1740 and died in Muskingum County, Ohio in 1813.  This would have made him an early settler there.  He married Catherine Groom, the daughter of John and Mary Gristwood Groom.  Their children are Richard, Dutton, Samuel, Elizabeth, Charity, Nancy, Jemima, and Catherine.  

Wilkinson was born in 1743 and died in 1814 in Fairfield County, Ohio.  He married Jane Plowman, the daughter of John and Sarah Chambers Plowman.  Their children are John, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Mary, and Rachel.  It is possible that they are also the parents of Wilkinson, Jacob, Richard, Jane, Dutton, and Mary Jane, but not everyone is in agreement on that.  Like Samuel, Dutton, and Richard, there was more than one Wilkinson Lane and it's possible that not all of these children belonged to the Fairfield County Wilkinson.

Dutton was born about 1745 and died after 1828 in Greene County, Tennessee.  He is said to have had two wives, Mary and Keziah.  However, see the paragraph about Samuel, noted above.  Would two sons in the same family have married two women, in the same order, with the same first names?  Perhaps Mary Corbin and Keziah Sias should be listed as Dutton's wives, but I've found nothing that convinces me at this point.  Regardless, Dutton did have children.  Joseph, Samuel, Nancy, Dutton, Benjamin, John, Abraham, Kezia, Catherine, and Mary appear to be his, and there is a possibility that there was also a Soloman.  I'm not convinced about the Soloman, either, but am showing him here as a possibility.

Sarah was born in November of 1746 and died after 1800 in Greene County, Tennessee.  She married Joseph Hays, who may be the son of Samuel and Jane Corbin Hays.  (I don't know who the Jane Corbin belongs to but she is likely related to Edward Corbin in some manner.) Their children are May, Ann, Sarah, Joseph, John, Ruth, William, and Samuel.

Corbin was born about 1747 and died after December 8, 1816 in Scott County, Virginia.  He married Frances Prock (various spellings such as Brock and Frock), the daughter of Paul and Margaret DeHart Prock, who were German immigrants.  Their children are Mary, Catherine, William, Rachel, Samuel, Abraham, Thomas, Benjamin, Rebecca, Ruth, Temperance and Frances.   

Ruth was born about 1750 and died after 1840 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  She married Vincent Stevens, the son of Giles Stephens and his unidentified first wife.  I show only four children for this couple, but given the number of children that the other siblings have, I may be missing some.  The known children are Vincent, Benjamin, David and Vianna.

Abraham was born about 1754 and died probably in 1810 in Baltimore County, Maryland.  Other death dates show March 1847.  There was more than one Abraham Lane so likely the later date belongs to one of the later generation, but I am leaving the date in this post in case it helps someone figure this out.  Abraham married Rachel Mannon, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Mannon.  I show only three children for this couple-Rachel, John, and Jane.  There may be more.

Lastly, there is John,  born perhaps as late as 1757 or possibly in 1748.  It is also possible that there was a son born in 1748 and who did not survive, and his name was used again in 1757.  There is a good deal of controversy regarding his wife.  She was named Rebecca, and I tend to think it was Rebecca Dorsey, the daughter of John and Frances Watkins Dorsey.  They married in 1768, which would mean the 1748 date for John would be the correct one.  The other possibility is that his wife was Rebecca Loveall, the daughter of Zebulon and Mary Margaret West Loveall.  Perhaps he was married to both women, in which case the Loveall marriage would be the second one.  John's children are William, Thomas, Rebecca, and Mary, and possibly more.

I mentioned John "lastly", but there is one other possibility.  There may or may not have been a daughter, Achseh, born about 1753.  There is no proof of her existence, nor of her death.  It is of course possible that she was stillborn, or lived for just a few hours or days, but still was named.

Once again, we are left with questions, but also with admiration for this family.  They experienced tough times, and survived, and left a legacy of children, and of service to our country.  If all the granchildren I've mentioned are correct, and none are missing (both of which are distinct possibilities), then this Lane family had just short of 100 grandchildren, a significant contribution to the growth of America.  

I would of course love to hear from anyone who can give us more information about the family of Samuel Lane.