Beeks family: Thomas Moon 1756-1828

It's been a long time since I've written about a Beeks ancestor.  I've known about Thomas Moon for a long time, as a name and dates, but that much information wouldn't fill a thimble, let alone a blog post, so I've not pursued him.  Today his name struck my fancy, mostly because I noticed he lived during French and Indian War as well as the Revolutionary War.  I wondered if there was more information available than just names and places, and I've found enough to fill in a couple of parts of his life, anyway. 

Thomas Moon was the son of Jacob and Jane Rees Moon.  He was born October 11, 1756 near what is now Arden, Berkeley, West Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley.  At that time, it was part of Frederick County, Virginia.  The area is in that tiny hook between Maryland and West Virginia, and Arden is 160 miles from Fort Frederick, near Hagerstown, Md.  Fort Frederick was built during the French and Indian War.  We don't know for sure that the Moon family went here during the attacks that the Indians made during those years, but it's possible, since much of Shenandoah, or at least the women and children, evacuated during that time period.  And of course, the Moons were Quakers, so they would likely not have been willing to fight.  Regardless of whether the Moons stayed in their home or left for a safer location, they would have lived through interesting times.  Thomas was one of at least six children born to his parents, and they would all have worked hard to feed the family. 

I've found no mention, yet, of the Moons during the Revolutionary War but this time the danger would have come from the British and the native Americans.  This area was hit hard and repeatedly, and again, it is easy to think that the family would have evacuated to safer areas.  It would be interesting to know whether their cabins or homes were burned, crops lost, etc.  If it didn't happen to the Moons, it happened to many of their neighbors. 

We don't know when or where Thomas met his wife, Jean Grey, but they were married June 1, 1780 in what was now Berkeley County, but still Virginia.  He was 24 years old and had a right to marry anyone he chose; or did he?  Three times his Quaker church family tried to talk to him and three times they got nowhere.  He was bound and determined to marry his "hireling teacher", but may have later admitted his error because he is still referred to as a Quaker in a history of Fayette County.  Jean was from Scotland and it is not likely she would have converted to the Quaker faith.  She was likely Presbyterian in belief.  I would love to find more about this "hireling teacher", as this is the first thing I've learned about her other than her vital statistics.  We can guess that Jean had a decent education, at least for the time and location, and wonder about Thomas's education, also. 

Thomas and Jean had at least nine children together.  Jean died in 1804 in Berkeley County, Virginia, and Thomas remarried at the same location to Lydia Job in 1806.  He is found in the census records of Berkeley County in 1810 but apparently moved to Fayette County, Ohio, later that year and is in the tax records of Fayette County, Ohio in 1814.  Fayette County at this time was quite sparsely settled and he would have contended with wolves, panthers, and probably bear as well as the snakes which gave name to the creek he lived on.  In the 1820 census, he is in Green Township, Fayette County, with two of his sons listed separately but as neighbors.  Thomas and Lydia settled on Rattlesnake Creek and according to a History of Fayette County written by R.S. Dills, owned 1100 acres of land, some of it in Highland County.  He had the first flour mill and saw mill in the county, and also ran a distillery which was apparently a popular "resort".  He was a trustee of the township and held other positions of "public trust".  Lydia died sometime before he married Amy or Annie Ellis in 1819. 

Thomas's will was probated in 1824.  He had already given gifts to his three daughters but gave his personal property to them to be divided equally, and left each of his sons tracts of land.  I didn't see a mention of Amy in the will, so perhaps she had died earlier. 

Who knew that Thomas Moon had such stories to tell us? I'd love to learn more, such as whether his children were Quakers, and whether his childhood home, or his home where he spent the first 30 years of adult life, were destroyed.  Was he ever in fear for his life, during either of the wars in Virginia?  Did he speak with the Quaker "thee" and "thou"?   What would he think was his greatest accomplishment?

The line of descent is:

Thomas Moon-Jean Grey
Margaret Moon-Owen T Reese
Eliza Matilda Reese-Samuel Goodnight Dunham
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants