Napthalum Gregory of Paulding County, Ohio

In researching the Gregory families of Meigs County, Ohio, I stumbled upon this interesting name – Napthalum Gregory. Napthalum was born about 1816-1817 in Virginia1 and his unique name belonged to one of the earliest settlers of Augusta County, Virginia.2 Of further interest, the Napthalum Gregory born 1816-1817 owned land in the exact section and township as my ancestral Gregory family.

Napthalum Gregory’s name was quite unusual; I’m not even sure how to pronounce it. Unsurprisingly, his name was commonly misspelled. Various documents list him as Napolean Gregory, Napthaliam Gregory, Naph Gregory, Nap, Nepthalum, etc.

I first discovered Napthalum Gregory in the land records of Meigs County, Ohio. On 28 Aug 1844, he and his wife, Harriet, of Scioto County, Ohio sold 26 acres of land in Columbia Township in SE 1/4 of Section 17, Township 9, Range 15 to James Nute, of Meigs County.3 From whom did he obtain that land?

A continued examination of the land records of Meigs County, Ohio, revealed that Napthalum Gregory’s 26 acre parcel was originally sold to John Gregory on 15 Aug 1829.4 Thus, it seemed likely that John Gregory was the father (or other close relative) of Napthalum.

The land tax records of Meigs County, Ohio were helpful in identifying more about John Gregory. John is taxed in Columbia Township from 1827 to 1832.5 He is also enumerated in the 1830 U.S. Federal Census for Columbia Township, Meigs County, Ohio.6 He and his wife were born between 1790 and 1800. They had male child in the household born 1815-1820, which is the perfect age category for Napthalum Gregory. In 1833, John Gregory disappears from Columbia Township tax records. Interestingly, a Lucretia Gregory appears in tax records in 1833. She is enumerated in 1834, too.7

Since Lucretia Gregory first shows up in personal property tax lists in the same year that John Gregory disappears, she is a great candidate to be the widow of John. Was there a marriage record in Virginia for John Gregory to Lucretia that occurred sometime before 1815? Indeed, there was. John Gregory Jr. married Lucretia Young on 29 May 1814 in Harrison County, Virginia.8

The 1840 U.S. Federal Census finds Naph Gregory in Green Township, Scioto County, Ohio.9 He has a wife and child and an older woman living with him. The older woman living with Napthalum was likely his mother, Lucretia. Notably, Scioto County, Ohio, marriage records document the marriage of one Lucretia Gregory to Asher Winkler on 3 May 1841.10 Was this Lucretia Gregory, the mother of Napthalum? The 1850 U.S. Federal Census for Asher Winkler’s household11 indicates that Lucretia was born in 1793 in Virginia, thereby making her the appropriate age to have been Napthalum’s mother, Lucretia (Young) Gregory.

Napthalum Gregory married to “Miss Sharp” in 1836,12 He served in the Civil War in Company H, 132 Regiment,13 and died 25 May 1865 in Paulding County, Ohio.14 His youngest daughter, Emeline (Gregory) Phelps, applied for a pension on behalf of her father’s service in 1887.15

Napthalum Gregory is not one of my ancestors, but he and his father, John, are closely related to them. If you have more information on any familial connection between John Gregory Jr. (married Lucretia Young) and James Gregory (married Matilda Race), please contact me.

  1. 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), PO Paulding, Paulding Township, Paulding County, Ohio, Page 93a, Dwelling 30, Family 30, Nathaniel Gregory household, http://ancstry.me/1F7ZAif
  2. Lyman Chalkley, “Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800” Google Books (originally printed Rosslyn, VA:  The Commonwealth Printing Co., 1912), http://books.google.com/books?id=VzUPAAAAYAAJ
  3. Meigs County, Ohio, Land Deeds, Book 9, Page 396, FHL MF 313484
  4. Meigs County, Ohio, Land Deeds, Book 3, Pages 185-186, FHL MF 313481.
  5. Meigs County, Ohio, Tax Duplicates 1820-1829, FHL MF# 511800 and Meigs County, Ohio, Tax Duplicates, 1830-1836, FHL MF# 511801.
  6. 1830 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Columbia Township, Meigs County, Ohio, Page 269, Line 5, John Gregory household.
  7. Meigs County Ohio, Tax Duplicates 1830-1836, FHL MF 511801.
  8. “West Virginia Marriages,” Harrison County, Virginia, Book 2, Page 450.
  9. 1840 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Green Township, Scioto County, Ohio, Page 79, Line 15, Naph Gregory household.
  10. “Ohio County Marriages 1789-1997,” FamilySearch.org, citing Scioto, Ohio, Reference Page 22; FHL MF 292694, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XDP1-QK9.
  11. 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Wheelersburg, Porter Township, Scioto County, Ohio, Page 235a, Dwelling 91, Family 91, Asher Winkler household.
  12. “Ohio County Marriages 1789-1997,” FamilySearch.org, citing Scioto, Ohio, reference Page 226; FHL MF 292694, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XDPL-MR2.
  13. The National Archives Publication M552, Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Ohio, Rol 41, 132nd National Guard Infantry, http://www.fold3.com/image/288494039/.
  14. “Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans 1879-1903,” Ancestry.com, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=try&db=CivilWarHeadstones&h=149810.
  15. U.S. Civil War Pension Index General Index to Pension Files 1861 to 1934, Nephtalion Gregory Index Card, Application 350525 filed 18 Feb 1887 in Ohio.

13 comments

  • Randy Sue Page McKeever

    Natalie I looked in my database and found John Gregory born 1776 in Virginia married Elizabeth Castor born 1769 I have found 2 sons James born 1787 in Virginia and David Gregory between 1801-1803. John died bef 1839 and Eliz before 1830. James Married Matilda Rice and he died in Vinton County on Oct 2, 1861. Matilda was born in Virginia in 1795. She died in Vinton County and is buried in Cummings Cemetery in Vinton. She died in 1861. They had 6 children. Do you want their info??

  • Randy Sue Page McKeever

    David Gregory the other child of John and Elizabeth was born as I said earlier between 1801-1803. He married Charity Cummings on June 19, 1822 in Columbia Twp. Meigs County. He died June 2, 1863 in Vinton. He had a 2nd wife Elizabeth Gool whom he married Aug 8, 1858 in Vinton County. Charity died in 1850 in Vinton County. David had 10 children with Charity and 1 child with Elizabeth. I do not have when Elizabeth Gool Gregory died yet. Her birthdate is 1832. I also have info about David’s children. Do you want that info? Unfortunately when I did this portion of genealogy I was such an infant in believing I would remember exactly where I found my information! HA! HA! HA! I do have decent notes and documentation for David and family. I can send it to you if you would like.

    • Randy, David and Charity (Cummings) Gregory are my ancestors! Thank you for offering to help with their family history. I am currently working on grouping these Gregorys into their appropriate families and working to extend the lineage back in time. I have Gladys Pierce’s handwritten history of the family. Do you have that? James Gregory (md. Matilda Race) married in Harrison County, (West) Virginia on 6 Oct 1814. The John Gregory (named in the above article) married Lucretia Young in Harrison County, (West) Virginia a few years earlier, in 1811. That both of these men not only married in the same (West) Virginia county, but also ended up owning land in the same section and township in Meigs County, Ohio, leads me to hypothesize that John Gregory was another brother to James. I’d be happy to share Gregory information with you, too, as I find it.

      • Dianne Hagerty Sheaffer

        Looking for the parents of Lucinda Peck Gregory. Gladys Peirce was my 7th grade teacher. And the Aunt of an old school friend of mine, Larry Barnes. Lucinda was his gg-grandmother. My great grandmother was also a Peck. She married a Molihan.

  • Donna Wortman

    Natalie,
    I believe that the “Miss Sharpe” who was married to “Napthaliam Gregory” in 1836 was Harriet Sharp, a sister of Susanna Sharp who was married to Eber Barnhouse. Note that in the 1830 Meigs County Census John Gregory lived near Thomas Sharp who was Susanna’s father. (Also note that the marriage of David Gregory and Charity Cummings was performed by JP Thomas Sharp.) Eber Barnhouse and family were later found in Paulding County. Also, in the 1870 Paulding County Census, Emeline Gregory, age 11, is listed in the household of Eber Barnhouse as a domestic servant. It seems likely to me that Nathan Gregory who married Lydia Jane Smith in 1841 was another person and that Napthalum Gregory was married only once, to Harriet Sharp.

    Ancestry.com. Scioto County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1803-1860 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World, Archives Project contributors. Original data:

    Shoemaker, Caryn R. F., and Betty J. Sisler Rudity, compilers. Marriage Records of Scioto County, Ohio, 1803–1860. 1987. Reprint, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co Inc., 2003.

    Gregory, Nabthaliam and Harriet Sharpe, 20 June 1836

    Gregory, Nathan and Lydia Jane Smith, 8 Apr 1841

  • Donna Wortman

    Another bit of information:

    Ohio Death Certificate 77011 for
    Emma Phelps
    b 16 July 1858, Paulding Co. Ohio
    d 28 Dec 1937, Logan Co. Ohio
    lists Emma’s parents:

    Father Nathaniel Gregory
    Mother Harriet Sharp

  • Larry C. Barnes

    Lucinda Peck Gregory was My Gr. Gr. Grandmother, Married James Gregory Jr. Would Like to Know Who Her Parents Were.

    • Larry C. Barnes

      Lucinda Peck born 1832 in Va. married James Gregory in 1849 Athens Co. Ohio. she was the Mother of My Great Grandmother Caroline born in 1849 died 1880. She married Milton Arbaugh Her daughter Mary was My grandmother She married Jehiel Barnes. would like to know who Lucinda’s parents were.

  • Larry C. Barnes

    Lucinda Peck Gregory Married James Gregory They Had Three Daughters. Caroline, Adeline and Anna Elizabeth. Anna Elizabeth Married Thomas Johnson. She Died in 1875. Caroline Married Milton Arbaugh . Caroline Died April 17, 1881 Adeline Died abt. 1870 to MY knowledge She was never Married. She was only 18 years old when She passed away.

  • Larry C. Barnes

    New email

  • Christi Jenkins Skidmore

    This information is very helpful! Thank you. Emma Lucretia Gregory Phelps was my Great Grandmother. Her daughter Clarice Phelps Hisel was my Grandmother, and Irene Hisel Jenkins was my Mother. Love learning about the ancestry.

    Christi Jenkins Skidmore

    • Robert Bean

      Christi, My Great Grandmother was Emma Lucretia Gregory Phelps. My Grandmother was Alice Ellen Phelps McEntire. I recall my Mother and Aunts talking about their cousin Irene Hisel. I am having a hard time finding out much about Napthaliam Gregory. I can’t find his grave in Paulding County. Do you know where it is?

      Robert William Bean

      • Robert, Napthalum Gregory had a Civil War Pension – you might want to order that record to learn more about him and his family. Anyway, Napthalum was provided a headstone by the government – it said he was buried in the “village” (Paulding) cemetery. https://tinyurl.com/ychozz34 (he is errantly listed as Napoleon Gregory in this record).

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