Notes on Isaac Barefoot Runyan

[Ira A. Runyan]

Notes on Isaac Barefoot Runyan


Generation No. 1

1. ISAAC BAREFOOT1 RUNYAN1 was born 1757 in Brock's Gap, Rockingham Co., Virginia1, and died 1875 in Talladega Co., Al1. He married MARGARET RAMBO1 May 19, 1777 in Rockingham Co., VA1. She was born 17551, and died 1802 in Sevier Co., OH, on Little Pigeon River1.

Notes for ISAAC BAREFOOT RUNYAN:
The father and mother of Isaac Barefoot Runyan has not been documented.

Marie Runyon Wright in the book "Up the Runyon/Runion/Runyan Tree" (Gateway Press 1993) says that John Runyon married a second wife named Anna Barefoot an "Indian maiden" about 1757, and that they were the parients of Isaac Barefoot Runyan. HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT CORRECT, AND FURTHER, THERE WAS NEVER A PERSON NAMED ANNA BAREFOOT.

This mis-information relating to the Indian Maiden named Anna Barefoot has been repeated as fact on several internet web pages and on commercial CD's with family Gedcom files, and as such the story will most likely come up for several years to come.

More About ISAAC RUNYAN and MARGARET RAMBO:
Marriage: May 19, 1777, Rockingham Co., VA1

Children of ISAAC RUNYAN and MARGARET RAMBO are:
i. JOHN WESLEY2 RUNYAN1, b. 1778, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia1; d. November 23, 1851, Hamilton County, Tennessee2; m. NANCY MULLENDORE3, 1804, Sevier Co., T.N.3; b. 1786, Sevier County, Tennessee4; d. August 27, 1875, Hamilton County, Tennessee5.

More About JOHN WESLEY RUNYAN:
Burial: 1851, Corinth Cemetery, Meigs, Tennessee5

More About NANCY MULLENDORE:
Burial: 1875, Corinth Cemetery, Meigs, Tennessee5

More About JOHN RUNYAN and NANCY MULLENDORE:
Marriage: 1804, Sevier Co., T.N.6

ii. AARON ALEXANDER RUNYAN6, b. 1786, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia6; d. June 06, 1869, Sevier Co., T.N.6; m. ESTHER PORTER6, Abt. 1807, TN.; b. November 19, 1791, Botetourt Co., VA.6; d. July 31, 1863, Seviersille, TN.6.

More About AARON RUNYAN and ESTHER PORTER:
Marriage: Abt. 1807, TN.

iii. TAVENOR MARCUS RUNYAN6, b. 17886; d. 1802, Sevier Co., T.N.6.

Notes for TAVENOR MARCUS RUNYAN:
Marie Runyan Wright in her book "Up The Runyon / Runion Runyan Tree" 1993 on page 68 says that "Records show, also, that while living in Sevier County, Tennessee, one of Barefoot and Margaret's sons, Tavenor Runyan, was murdered near his home, in 1802, by a band of Indians." She included as documentation a portion of a letter written by Archibald Roane concerning the incident.

Ralph Jenkins ( [e-mail] ) found a detailed account of the murder of Sammy Goose by Isaac Barefoot Runyan, and the subsequent revenge murder of Tavenor Runyan, as follows:

William G. McLoughlin, Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic,
Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1986, pp. 50-51.

On July 2 [1802], a Cherokee named The Goose (or Sammy Goose) was
killed in Tennessee by Barefoot Runion, a white man. Runion said the
killing was an accident, and the chiefs in council accepted his story.
To avoid trouble, another council held in August wrote off the death
and forbade Goose's clan relations to take revenge. Nevertheless,
Ca-tah-coo-kee (or Dirt Bottle), his uncle, believed that Goose's spirit
required revenge. With four or five other kinsmen, Ca-tah-koo-kee went
to Sevier County, where Runion lived, and on September 8 killed
Runion's son Travenor with a tomahawk. A woman of the family was also
killed in the fray. The whites in the vicinity were much alarmed,
[Return Jonathan] Meigs reported, not knowing who else might be caught
in this feud. Some of them wished to gather a posse and go after
Ca-tah-coo-kee and his companions. One of them wrote to Meigs that if
the United States is Bound to keep up the Cherokee Nation in an Annual
Salary [annuity], those who were the Avowed Enemies of the United States
in their struggle for Independence, and Good Citizens who have Suffered
in the defence of their Right and their Country, Must Now Submit to the
Laws of that Nation, I mean the Cherokee Nation, Executed on them [blood
revenge] with Impunity, then matters had come to a dangerous pass. (34)
When Ca-tah-koo-kee returned home, the council, under prodding from
Meigs, agreed to arrest him and turn him over to the white authorities
in Tennessee. However, fearing that a lynch mob might hang him, the
council insisted that he be placed in the United States army garrison
jail in Hiwassee until his trial. When the trial took place,
Ca-tah-coo-kee explained his position in terms of the tradition of clan
retaliation, but the court took no cognizance of it, and he was hanged.



(36) Return J. Meigs to Henry Dearborn, october 5, 1802, M-208. Meigs
reported that the white man had killed the Indian on July 2 in Tennessee
and the chiefs had tried to hold back his relatives from clan revenge,
but when no legal action was taken against the murderer by September 8,
a small party of Indians watched the House of the Whiteman who had
killed the Indian, with a view to kill him, but not finding him. They
killed his son, a young man about sixteen years old. It has been with
difficulty the white people in that quarter were restrained from going
against the Indians. Gov. Roane has exerted himself to keep peace.
Meigs said he would ask the Council to turn over the murderer.



iv. WARE RUNYAN6, b. 1791, Jefferson Co., TN (later Sevier Co., TN)6; d. October 23, 1837, Talladega Co., Al6; m. MARY ?6, 18166; b. 17976.

More About WARE RUNYAN and MARY ?:
Marriage: 18166

v. ISAAC RUNYAN6, b. March 17, 1793, Jefferson Co., T.N.6; d. August 13, 1873, Clark Co., AR6; m. MARY LOWERY6, 18206; b. May 19, 1801, T.N.6; d. November 14, 1873, Clark Co., AR6.

More About ISAAC RUNYAN and MARY LOWERY:
Marriage: 18206

vi. LOAMI WESLEY RUNYAN6, b. 1802, Sevier Co., T.N.6; m. NANCY WHITE6, June 30, 1843, Chamber Co., AL6; b. GA..

More About LOAMI RUNYAN and NANCY WHITE:
Marriage: June 30, 1843, Chamber Co., AL6


Endnotes

1. Thomas E. Runyan, [e-mail], "Electronic."
2. Ralph Jenkins ( [e-mail] ), (Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa), "Electronic."
3. Thomas E. Runyan, [e-mail], "Electronic."
4. Ralph Jenkins ( [e-mail] ), (Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa), "Electronic," Tree #3070, Date of Import: Dec 13, 1998.
5. Ralph Jenkins ( [e-mail] ), (Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa), "Electronic."
6. Thomas E. Runyan, [e-mail], "Electronic."

[Runaidhin]

I was shocked to see there are no replies on this yet.

Does that mean no one is currently researching Isaac's parentage?

My husband comes from this line, through John Wesley, Abraham M. and William Ahab.

I am also trying to find the source (think it was a book a family member had) for the following quote:

Loami Wesley is said to be named like this: His mother died shortly after childbirth , and the family says that when her older son Wesley came in the room and asked her how she was feeling she replied "Low am I, Wesley" . After she died that became the child's name.

When I began my research I did not always document my sources properly and am hoping to correct those problems within the family file.

On records as old as Isaac's where might one find his parents names? Church records, deeds, wills?

[R]

Some several years ago I ran across an account of Isaac killing an Indian. As I recall, it was in the TENNESSEE State Papers, or it could have been in the Virginia State Papers. For some reason, I didn't copy it---probably a line at the copy machine and a break for lunch distracted me. I've never been able to find the source again, but as well as I recall, two Indians came into the settlement to return some horses that had been stolen. A few drinks and a "friendly" wrestling match involving one of the Indians (no names given, as I recall) resulted in the death of one of the Indians. Such are the tricks of memory that I thought the person writing the message mentioned that one of Isaac's sons had been killed earlier. If anyone has the same story, I'd appreciate knowing the source so I can go back and copy it this time. Incidentally, I'm descended from Aaron Alexander via Jame McKindre (aka "M. K.") and it appears there may have been some Indian blood in the line. My great grandmother looked as though she may have had some Indian blood and I had the pleasure of meeting the daughters of Aaron Marcus Craddo (my grandmother's favorite uncle whom she called "Uncle Cradle") and they also looked as though they might have had Indian blood also. They were all tiny little ladies around 4 ft. 7 or 8 in. If they took after Isaac, he must have been one mean wrestler.

[francisdellinger]

thanks for invite, this is my branch of the tree down from Vincent

[nana]

I have been trying to connect John Runyan, b. 1800 NC d. after 1880 Sevier County, TN. to Isaac without success. My John 1st appears in the Sevier County, TN 1830 Census and stays there until his death. John Runyan and his family are in Sevier County the same time as Isaac Runyan's. Does anyone have info that might connect these two families? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[danrunyanfuchs]

My mother was Carol Runyan Fuchs, born May 27, 1931, died Nov. 18, 1988. She was from Little Rock, AR and was the only child of Herman Thomas Runyan and Hazel Runyan (nee Farrell).

If anyone can tell me if she has any living relatives (cousins, etc.) in Arkansas, Texas or Oklahoma, I'd love to know. I moved my family down to Texas from New York a few years ago and am, as you'd imagine, very curious to see if anyone from my mother's branch of the Runyan tree is still around.

Thanks,

Daniel Runyan Fuchs

[gothicscrybe]

I am so glad to have found this forum via a new contact on Ancestry.com, named Jan.

I am a descendant of Issac Barefoot Runyan, as well, through the John Wesley/Nancy Mullendore line and would love to learn ANYTHING I can about the Runyan line in general.

Until I joined Ancestry.com, I had no idea that this line of my family even existed.

[gothicscrybe]

Oh and just a quick update on my records if you please...if Issac Barefoot's mother was not Anna Barefoot...if anyone ever does find out who Issac's parents were, I'd be most interested. Thank you!

[Ira A. Runyan]

I received the following E-mail the other day and pass it on for your consideration. There is no dough that Marie Wright through her books has given much incorrect information on this family line which will require many years work by researchers to correct.


RE: Runyan family
From:
Chris Bailey <[e-mail]> [Chat now]
To: Ira Runyan <[e-mail]>



Hello Ira –

I apologize for the tardiness of this e-mail, but I had to go to New Hampshire on business last week and came back with a very bad cold which has settled in my chest and I have been under the weather the last few days. That seems to happen every time I fly these days. I see you live in Melbourne . I am now retired and live in Eustis/Mount Dora area. I was born in Robinson, Crawford Illinois near where Joel Harris Bledsoe and Judah (Runyon) Bledsoe lived for a time. Judah apparently died in Crawford County , but Joel and some of his children moved on to Kansas where he died. Their daughter and my ancestress, Sarah Ellen (Bledsoe) Watts and a sister remained in Crawford County and she died in a little home near my grandparents in 1935, eleven years before I was born.

.......... I believe Marie had no evidence for the early generation of her first book and lumped two families together. In the second book she only compounded the problem trying to prove she was right. The ancestry of Barefoot (which she called “Barefoot Isaac”) Runyon in the second book is also totally undocumented as outlined in a letter which I will append at the end of this e-mail.

To my knowledge there is no record anywhere which gives credible evidence they are the same person. Though Marie Wright claims in her book that the 1777 marriage of Barefoot & Margaret says "Isaac Barefoot", but when you check the original record it clearly states "Barefoot" Runyon married Margaret Rambo.

I have two degrees in genealogical research from Brigham Young University and have been doing genealogy for 49 years. I have published five hardbound referenced genealogies and many smaller papers on ancestral families, so like yourself, I am not an amateur. Although I have not been to Bledsoe County , TN , I have personally conducted research in Putnam County , IN and Rhea County , TN. While I will admit the primary documents on this Runyon family are meager and non-conclusive, I am even more convinced at this point that my conclusions are correct.

I believe that Barefoot Runyon likely died or was killed soon after the last record of him in 1813 in Sevier County , TN. I can find no other record of his name. I believe Barefoot and Isaac were two different men, very likely brothers, who were living in Sevier County , TN about that time, though Isaac Runyon moved to Bledsoe County , TN by 1817 when he recorded the well-known “deed of gift” to his grandson, William, son of John.

If Barefoot and Isaac are considered two different people, I believe much of the problem goes away. There is absolutely no documentation I can find in a primary source that calls one person “Barefoot Isaac” Runyon nor is there any record in Bledsoe County , TN or Alabama of the name “Barefoot” Runyon who could be this man. In my 49 years of research I have never known a middle-age to elderly man change his name, perhaps it might happen if the person was a fugitive from the law.

I can only find good evidence that Barefoot Runyon had two children: (1) the son Tavenor who was killed by the Indians in 1813 and (2) Aaron who married Esther Porter and remained in Sevier County , TN. I believe most or all the other children Marie gathered into Barefoot's family actually belong to Isaac.

The 1830 census of Bledsoe County , TN records an Aaron Runyon who was age 50-60 with a wife 40-50 and two males 5 to 10, a female 10 to 15 and three females 15 to 20. This Aaron Runyon is definitely NOT the same Aaron who lived in Sevier County , TN. The Bledsoe County Aaron probably died about 1830 and certainly before died before 1840 as he appears in no later census records. I feel confident that my Judah (Runyon) Bledsoe (b. ca. 1813) was his daughters and several of his other children moved to Putnam County , Indiana in 1830, following Joel and Judah (Runyon) Bledsoe who moved to there in 1829. I believe the following were her other Runyon siblings. All were born in TN and married in Putnam County , IN :

John Runon b. abt. 1806/07 in TN. He was married Mar. 7, 1835 to Zerna Allen.
Priscilla Runyon. She was married Dec. 31, 1830 to John Hedges.
Nancy Runyon. She was married (license) Oct. 24, 1839 to Benjamin Baker Wilson.
Elizabeth Runyon. She was married Mar. 27, 1841 to John Nelson.

Although there was another Runyon family who came from Montgomery County , VA and settled in Putnam County , IN , I have good primary records for that family and none of the above Runyons are part of that family.

Marie tried to claim my Judah was the son named Claiborne noted in the War of 1812 pension and bible record of John Runyon (md. Nancy Mullendore). When in Rhea County I found primary evidence that John Runyon had lived in Bledsoe County before he moved to Rhea County .

John Runyon, son of Isaac, lived in Bledsoe County , TN , but later moved to Rhea County , TN where he was living when the 1830 census was taken. I believe my ancestress Judah was living there with her uncle’s family when she met and married Joel Harris Bledsoe in 1829. I know of no other reason for her being in Rhea County , TN. The minute docket books of Rhea County 1823-1828 have entries for John, William, and West Runyon, mostly concerning their being overseers of the road. I believe the first two are for John and his son William (b. 1804). This record also notes a lawsuit between William Runyon and Francis Woodson, Sheriff of Rhea County in Nov. 1825. William Runyon finally had the suit dismissed against Woodson in Feb. 1827, but there were a number of entries which stated that depositions had been gotten from people in Bledsoe County , TN concerning this suit. That makes sense as William and his father John were residents of Bledsoe County when William's grandfather Isaac deeded him the horse in 1817.

I believe that Robert and Amos Runyon published a record in the addendum to their book of the death of Isaac Runyon in their book. They noted entries from the bible of F. L. Hutchinson of Alabama :

Isaac Runyon, husband of Priscilla Runyon d. April, 1846.
Priscilla Runyon, wife of Isaac d. July 24, 1824.
Priscilla L., daughter of Isaac and Priscilla Runyon was b. Feb. 11, 1801. She died Sep. 5, 1857 and was buried in Alabama . She was married July 11, 1819 to Hezekiah Hutchinson (1797-1848).

Priscilla L. Hutchinson married secondly, an Alexander George it is my understanding the George family bible claims that Priscilla b. 1801 was the daughter of Jesse Conwell, not Isaac Runyon. I cannot resolve this though my suspicions is that it was the mother, Priscilla who was the Conwell, not the daughter. From the birth date of young Priscilla (1801), it is very likely the older Priscilla was a younger second wife of Isaac and the younger Priscilla was half-sister to Isaac’s older children. I note the name Priscilla was found in the Putnam County, IN family above, another clue that Aaron named a daughter after his sister or half-sister.

The death date and place for Isaac Runyon in 1846 fits the correct time frame for the death of Isaac Runyon. Who appeared in the 1840 census, but not the 1840 and 1850 census. The newspaper article claimed by Mrs. Wright in her last book that Isaac Runyon died about 1872 at age 117 is absurd. He is nowhere to be found in the 1850, 1860 or 1870 census. He could probably have been missed in one census, but all three? No way.

I talked with Beverly Rambo after she published the Rambo genealogy some years ago and she admitted that she copied the data from Marie Wright about Margaret's family assuming it was correct and admits she did not do any original research on Margaret (Rambo) Runyon's family.

It really irritated me when I asked Marie Wright for some documentation that proved the family of Barefoot and asked for a copy of just one document - the only indication I saw in her first book of a document which, although secondary, might have had some age and indicated the children of Barefoot Runyon. She neither sent a copy or even answered my letters thereafter. She also omitted me from the pre-publication offer for her second book and I had to have a friend order one for me. I should have saved my money. The Barefoot Runyon ancestry is as much a myth as his family.

Thank you for listening. The above may not be of much interest to you, but it is to me as it is my ancestral line. Following I will recount below the communication received by me from Harmon Clark on Mar. 10, 2000 about the ancestry recounted by Marie Wright.

Cordially,
Chris H. Bailey



Mr. Bailey -

Here are my notes on the John Runyon who was son of Peter and Providence (Blackford) Runyon:

Geri Halstead of Pocono Pines, Penna. for 11 years published a bulletin entitled "Under the Runyon Tree". In the final issue, November 1993, for the family of Peter and Providence (Blackford) Runyon, she does show a son John, but as follows:

"John August 15, 1705 Piscataway , New Jersey , said to have died in Virginia NO PROOF. Married Prudence Smalley NO PROOF."

John does not appear in the list of children in a letter from Howard Stelle Fitz Randolph to Oliver D. Drake, found in the Oliver Drake Records, Folder 010, Rutgers University Special Collections. Indeed, H.S. Fitz Randolph ("a descendant of this couple") writes that "the John b. August 15, 1745 to Peter and Providence " Pisc. Rec. must be a mistake for Peter, Jr., as Providence must have been well over 50 by that time."

Piscataway VR in NJHS Proc. 3rd Series, Vol. 3, page 13, does, as Howard Stelle Fitz Randolph mentioned, show a son John, born to Peter and Providence Runyon, but the date is Aug. 15, 1745, which is very late for that couple. We also note that, except for Grace and Joseph, shown as children of Peter and Providence, the other children listed in the Piscataway Register of Births as published in NJHS Proc. are shown as children of "Rugnion: Peter and Providence". Why the difference of Aug. 15, 1745 in this published report, and the date of Aug. 15, 1705 in other genealogies, we do not know. Is the NJHS Proceedings a typographical error [as Geri Halstead assumes]. or is the error in recording the parents -- that is, is H.S. Fitz Randolph correct in his supposition that this John is probably a child of Peter, Jr.

Regardless of the above, we have found no recording showing that this person married Prudence Smalley, daughter of Joshua. While Joshua's will calls his daughter, Prudence Runyon, there is nothing to show that the Runyon she apparently married was this John Runyon, or, for that matter, that his first name was John. Joshua Smalley was born 1698/99, which would assume his daughter, Prudence, was born no earlier than about 1720; that would have made her at least 15 years younger than this John Runyon, born 1705.

The Will of Joshua Smalley (N.J. Cal. Wills 1761-1770, page 390) is dated May 31, 1761 [proved Jan. 6, 1764], which indicates that Prudence Smalley Runyon was living in May, 1761. That negates the assertion made by Marie Runyon Wright in her books on "Tracking Barefoot Runyon", that John Runyon, [who she identifies as the son of Peter and Providence ] who had first married Prudence Smalley, "came to Rockingham County , VA before 1753 and settled at Tunnus (Tunnis) near an Indian town of the tribe . . John Runyon married Anna Barefoot about the year 1757." [Note: Mrs. Wright's latest book "Up the Runyon / Runion / Runyan Tree" (Gateway Press 1993) contains many other errors as to early Runyon generations and shows complete lack of use of available authorities and knowledge of Piscataway families]. Certainly if Prudence Smalley had been the wife of this John Runyon, he would not have married an "Indian maiden" named Anna Barefoot in Virginia "about the year 1757". If it was John Runyon, b. 1705 as son of Peter and Providence Runyon, who married Anna Barefoot in Virginia about 1757, then it seems clear that he was not the Runyon who married Prudence Smalley in New Jersey .

[Note: the whole story about any John Runyon marrying an Indian maiden by the name of Barefoot is just fantasy. There was a man named Barefoot Runyon, in Rockingham County , Virginia , who married Margaret Rambo May 12, 1777, and who may have been the son of a John Runyon of Rockingham County . That Barefoot Runyon was probably born in New Jersey and, as Robert and Amos Runyon point out in their Runyon Genealogy (1955), pages 129-130, the name "Barefoot" seems to have originated in New Jersey. They reference a will of Daniel Brymson, dated 1696, in New Jersey , where he mentions his only son, Barefoot Brymson. The earliest known Sheriff of Somerset County, N.J. (serving around 1711 to 1730) was Barefoot Brinson, who was named for his grandfather Greenland's friend, Dr. Walter Barefoot; see Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol. 3, page 289 (1914). We have also found a Thomas Barefoot who was in the Paule of London, bound for Virginia , 6 July 1635, age 19; and Savage, Vol 4. mentions a Walter Barefoot in New England as early as 1684.]

Ms. Wight also postulates that the "reason" John was not named in the will of "his father" Peter Runyon, might have been some kind of "shunning". There is absolutely nothing in the character of the Runyon family, or their religious beliefs, that would give rise to an allegation that Peter and Providence would have "shunned" their son John. The accounts of the John Runyon family found in Rockingham County , Virginia , show him as an active member of the Linville Baptist Church , serving as Deacon on several occasions -- hardly the character which would have been shunned by Peter and Providence . To suggest that he was shunned is an insult to Peter and Providence and their beliefs.

Oliver B. Leonard in "Outline Sketches of the Pioneer Progenitors of the Piscataway Planters 1666-1716", (N.Y. 1890), in his genealogy of the Runyon Families, page 27, lists John as son of Peter and Providence, born 1705, but then states "Nothing is definitely known of John".

HARMON CLARK

[astevens0691]

If a man is named on a tax list in 1838 Sevier County, Tennessee, does that mean the man still lives, somewhere, or does it mean the county land records had never been updated as to ownership?

Ancestry has images of two records listing Barefoot Runyan (that I am aware of).

North Carolina and Tennessee, U.S., Early Land Records, 1753-1931
Name Barefoot Runyan
Record Date 7 Jul 1808
Location Sevier, Tennessee
Warrant Number 332

www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/185445:2882?ssrc=pt&tid=75192114&pid=362397684322
30 Oct 2023

Tennessee, U.S., Early Tax List Records, 1783-1895
Name Barefoot Runyan
Residence Date 7 Jul 1808
Residence Place Sevier, Tennessee

www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/180216:2883?ssrc=pt&tid=75192114&pid=362397684322
30 Oct 2023

I am not an expert at any means. These two records do seem to mean the same man?