William Franklin

A marriage bond was issued in Westmoreland County for William Franklin and Ann Collinsworth on October 30th, 1786¹. Security was provided by John Collinsworth, possibly a brother to Ann. On May 22nd, 1790 Thomas J. Franklin, son of William Franklin and Ann Collinsworth, was named as a beneficiary in the will of Sarah Collinsworth (Ann's mother).

A marriage between William Franklin and Nancy White was recorded in Westmoreland on January 28th, 1805, meaning Ann had died before that date. During the War of 1812 William Franklin was listed as serving as a Lieutenant in Captain James Dozier's Company as a part of the 111th Regiment of the Virginia Militia.

On August 18th, 1815 a deed was drawn up between William Franklin of Westmoreland and Richard Brown, also of Westmoreland. The agreement was for William Franklin to sell an estate of 108 acres including livestock, "my part of an estate which fell to me in Matthews County" being the "land where I now live" to Brown for $1 in exchange for payment of debts due to William Greenlaw, Armstrong McKenny, William Porter's estate, and John Redman. Curiously the deed calls William Greenlaw "admin. of William Franklin, dec'd." The deed may have been drawn with the understanding that it would not be recorded until after William's death because it was not entered into record until July 13th, 1821. I have not yet found who left the land to William.

A final possible record for William Franklin may be the 1820 census in Westmoreland. William's name was recorded as the head of a household that included; four males under 10, one male 10-15, one male over 45, one female under 10, one female 10-15, one female 26-44 and one male slave over 45. The following entry line on the census was for Thomas Franklin, William's son.