The following paper on Sampson Bethell was written by the DeKalb County Historian, Thomas G. Webb. The contents of these pages are copyright 2000 to Thomas G. Webb. all rights are reserved. The information on these pages are free for private use, but may not be included in any compilation or collection in any media form for either private or commercial use without the author's consent. I am using these papers on this page with Mr. Webbs permission.
SAMPSON BETHELL and MARY CANTRELL
Sampson Bethell was born Jul 10, 1750, (1) probably in Frederick County, Virginia.
He was almost certainly one of several children of William Bethell and his wife Jean (or
Jane) Hurst. His father died in early 1756, when Sampson was only five years old.
Apparently his father was a man of many talents; the inventory of his personal effects
shows “a parcel of books, carpenters and coopers tools and shoemakers tools, and one
violin”. He also owned three slaves.(2) By the time Sampson was ten he had a
step-father; his mother by 1760 was married to Larkin Pierpoint. (3) It is not thought that
Jean had any children by Larkin Pierpoint, nor is there any evidence that he had children
by a previous wife. Sampson Bethell was so young when his father died that he could
hardly remember him; apparently Sampson and his step-father had a very close
relationship, as Samson named his oldest child Larkin.
Where and when Sampson Bethell got his education is not known, but he could read,
could write an excellent hand, and had enough mathematical ability to do surveying of
land. (4) His skill as a surveyor was put to use after Sampson, his mother and step-father,
his brothers William and Samuel, and other relatives moved from Virginia to North
Carolina about 1770. They settled in Guilford County, in what is now Rockingham
County. There Larkin Pierpoint, William Bethell, and Samuel Bethell had farms which
either joins or were within a short distance of each other. Although Sampson surveyed
land for the others and appears as a witness on their deeds, he does not seem to have
owned land himself. Apparently he lived on the homeplace with his mother and
step-father, who owned 558 acres. (5)
Not long after the family moved to North Carolina, Sampson Bethell met the girl who
was to become his wife. She was Mary Cantrell, the daughter of Isaac Cantrell and his
first wife, Talitha Cloud. Mary was born December 4, 1754, (6) probably in New Castle
County, Delaware, where the Cantrells lived before moving to North Carolina by 1758.
Mary was one of the older children of her parents. Her father had several children by his
first wife (possibly as many as sixteen) and nine more by his second wife. Mary was a
young child when the Cantrells made the long trek from Delaware to North Carolina.
One or more uncles and various cousins moved at the same time; the Cantrells were a
large family. Mary Cantrell was probably better educated than many women of the time;
she could at least read and write, for she signed as witness to a deed in 1792. (7) Just when
and where Mary Cantrell met Sampson Bethell is not Known, but it was very likely at
some sort of church service. Both the Cantrells and the Bethells had strong religious ties,
generally to the Baptist Church.
On August 24, 1773, Sampson Bethell and Mary Cantrell were married. (8) He was
twenty-three years old; she was nineteen. During the next twenty-five years, the would
have twelve children born to them. During their early years of marriage, they apparently
continued to live on the farm of Larkin Pierpoint. The Revolutionary War was fought in
the years immediately following Sampson and Mary’s marriage. No record has been
found indicating that Sampson took part on either side. Historians now estimate that
about one third of the residents of the thirteen colonies had neutral feelings and just
wanted to be left alone; perhaps Sampson was one of this group. Or perhaps he had some
physical handicap of which we have no knowledge. There is a tradition that some of the
Bethells were Quakers; religious beliefs may have kept him from serving in the army.
A few years after the Revolutionary War ended, Sampson Bethell and his family,
along with Mary’s father and several others Cantrell relatives, made another move, this
time to Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Sampson and Mary probably moved in late
1787 or early 1788; their son Tilmon Bethel was born in South Carolina on December 5,
1788. (9)
The Bethells and Cantrells lived in the Buck Creek neighborhood; the center of their
religious activity was Buck Creek Baptist Church. Both families had been active in the
Baptist Church in North Carolina, probably in the Wolf Island Baptist Church, which was
founded in 1775 near the home of Mary Bethell’s father, Isaac Cantrell. The Bethells
evidently joined the Buck Creek Baptist Church soon after they moved to Spartanburg
County, South Carolina. They also seem to have been closely associated with John
Hightower, the minister of Buck Creek Church; Sampson Bethell witnessed a deed for
him in 1789. (10) In 1792 Sampson Bethell was sent as a messenger to the Association by
the 72 members of Buck Creek Baptist Church, an honor reserved only for the most
faithful. (11)
In 1795 John Hightower and several members of the Buck Creek Baptist Church left
Spartanburg County and moved to Warren County, Kentucky, where they established Old
Union Baptist Church on the west fork of Drake’s Creek. Apparently Sampson and Mary
Bethell and their family made this move. Sampson had acquired 270 acres by grant from
the State of South Carolina only a year earlier, on September 3, 1794. (12) This land lay on
Buck Creek and Island Creek “in the Maple Swamp” and was evidently of little value;
when Sampson finally sold it in 1801, it brought less than twenty dollars. (13) Sampson
gave John Bankston, a neighbor, power of attorney to sell this tract on October 16, 1795.
(14) This seems to have been when the Bethells left Spartanburg County, for they do not
appear in the Spartanburg records after that date, even as witnesses.
The Bethells remained in Kentucky about six years. Their son Larkin Bethel entered a
land grant of 200 acres on Trammel Fork of Drake’s Creek on September 20, 1798.
Sampson Bethell served on the Warren County, Kentucky, grand jury on February 4,
1800, and his son Cantrell Bethell had jury duty the following day. (15) Larkin Bethel
appears in the Warren County, Kentucky, Tax List for 1800/1801, but by December 1801
Larkin was living near Liberty in Smith (now DeKalb) County, Tennessee. (16) Also
residing near Larkin Bethel in Smith County in 1801 were Richard Cantrell (husband of
Larkin’s sister Constance) and Daniel Allen. Daniel Allen married Elizabeth Bethell,
who was probably a sister of Sampson Bethell. Daniel Allen was witness to a 1782
survey of Sampson Bethell in Guilford County, North Carolina; it may have been Daniel
Allen who first settled in Smith County and encouraged the Bethells to come there. The
first settlement in that particular area had been made only three years earlier, in 1798.
Probably Sampson and Mary Bethell were in Smith County in 1801; unquestionably
they were there on May 29, 1802, when they along with their son Cantrell Bethel, were
among the sixteen members who constituted Brush Creek Baptist Church. (17) Another of
the sixteen members was Thomas Jordan, who had lived near the Bethells in South
Carolina and also sold his land there in 1795. (18)
After 1802 the information concerning Sampson and Mary Bethell becomes very
meager. No record has been located showing that Sampson bought land in Smith County,
Tennessee. He apparently leased land from a Sampson Williams; on April 9, 1812, John
Looney sold land bordering the “tract that Sampson Bethell leased of said Williams, it
being whereon John Hays now lives.” (19) Just when Sampson Bethell leased this land, or
what he did afterward, is not clear. His son Cantrell Bethel came to Liberty and helped
establish Salem Baptist Church in 1809. Sampson Bethell is not listed on the
membership roll for Salem Church. The 1809 list of members has a Polly Bethell, who
asked for a letter of dismission on August 1810. This might have been Mary Cantrell
Bethell (Polly is a nickname for Mary), or it might have been Cantrell Bethell’s wife, who
was also named Mary.
The Brush Creek Church minutes before 1828 are lost, so any information in them is
gone. It seems likely that Sampson and Mary Bethell moved about 20 miles from liberty
to Sink Creek in Warren (now DeKalb0 County, Tennessee. Their daughter Constance
and her husband Richard Cantrell made that move in 1809, (20) leaving Liberty and
settling on Sink Creek in Warren (now DeKalb) County. There they became members of
the Bildad Baptist Church, which covers the years from 1812 to 1816, Also has the names
of four of the younger sons of Sampson and Mary Bethell: Green, Tilman, Chester, and
Bluford. All were received “by experience,” and all were dismissed by letter within the
four-year period, (21) indicating that they were living in the vicinity of Bildad and that they
then moved away.
It is my belief that Sampson and Mary Cantrell Bethell and their family moved into
Warren County, Tennessee, about 1809 and that Sampson Bethell died there about 1813.
There would be no record of his death or of the administration of his estate because the
Warren County records prior to 1827 were lost in a fire. After Sampson’s death, Mary
moved back to Liberty, where she lived alternately with her sons Cantrell and Tilman.
(Tilman Bethel was received by letter into Salem Baptist Church at Liberty in August
1814.) By 1815 all of Sampson and Mary Bethell’s children were married except the
youngest, Bluford. The Bethells did not own land, so there was no reason to maintain a
household of their own. The 1820 census of Tennessee shows the household of Cantrell
Bethel with an older woman living there; very likely this was his mother. Cantrell Bethel
was a traveling preacher and spent some years as a missionary on “the frontier.” (22) The
older woman does not appear in the 1830 census; probably Mary Cantrell Bethell died
between 1820 and 1830, and probably at the home of her son Tilman Bethel, as the
Sampson Bethell Bible came down in his family.
The children of Sampson and Mary Bethell were scattered in Indiana, Illinois, and in
Carroll, Franklin, and DeKalb Counties in Tennessee. It is not impossible that Sampson
and Mary moved with some of the children, but evidence indicates that they died in
Tennessee. The tradition in the Illinois branch of the family is that Sampson and Mary
“spent the balance of their lives near Liberty, Tennessee.” (23)
They had spent most of their lives moving about, from Virginia and Delaware to North
Carolina, where they married, then to South Carolina, from there to Kentucky and on to
Tennessee. Since they spent only a few years at each place, and since they lived always
on what was then the frontier, we can safely assume that their home was always a log
house of two or three rooms. There were no cookstoves then; the Bethell, like everyone
else-both rich and poor-did their cooking on the fireplace. Mary and her daughters spent
much of their time preparing food, spinning, weaving, and making clothes.
Since only one deed shows Sampson Bethell owning land (and that swampland of
little value), it is possible that he followed some occupation other than farmer, perhaps as
shoemaker, like his father. This idea is mere speculation; there is little real evidence to
support it. It should be noted, however, that of seven of his sons of whom we have
knowledge, one was a teacher, one a doctor, and two were preachers- this at a time when
more than 90 percent of the people were farmers.
Sampson and Mary Bethell placed a strong emphasis on religion; they were leaders in
establishing and maintaining the Baptist Church whereever they went, as were their
children. Their sons Cantrell and Cloud were both Baptist Preachers, their son Tilman
was clerk of Salem Baptist Church, and their son-in-law Richard Cantrell was clerk of
Bildad Baptist Church. We have less knowledge of their other children; they may have
been equally active in the church.
There is much that is not known about Sampson and Mary Cantrell Bethell. Perhaps
further research will eventually turn up more information which will establish more facts
about their lives.
The Children of Sampson and Mary Cantrell Bethell were:
Larkin Bethel, born 4 March 1775 in Guilford (now Rockingham) County, North
Carolina, died probably between 1830 and 1840 in Franklin County, Tennessee. Larkin
entered 200 acres in Warren Co., Kentucky, in 1798, and on 28 Sept. 1798 in Warren Co.,
Kentucky, was married to Mary Thompson by John Hightower. He appears on the
1800/1801 tax list of Warren Co., Kentucky, but is in Smith (now DeKalb) County,
Tennessee, by Dec. 1801. In 1814 he served in the War of 1812 from Franklin Co.,
Tennessee, and is in the 1830 census of that county with an apparent wife and daughter or
grand-daughter. No Bethels appear in Franklin County census for 1840 or 1850.
Constance Bethel, born 22 October 1776 in Guilford County North Carolina, died
probably between 1830 and 1840 in Franklin County, Illinois. Married 18 February 1794
in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, to Richard Cantrell (born 10 March 1771). He
was her cousin-their grand-fathers were brothers. Constance and Richard moved by Dec.
1801 to Smith County, Tennessee, and in 1809 about twenty miles away to Warren
County, Tennessee. About 1816 they moved to Orange County, Indiana, with most of
their children and with Constance’s younger brother and sister, Cloud Bethel and Talitha
Floyd. Both the 1820 and 1830 Censuses show Constance and Richard Cantrell living in
Franklin County, Illinois. They had thirteen children.
J. Bethel, born 2 October 1778. The name of this child is not known, nor whether it
was male or female. (The Bible record gave only initials and dates of birth.) The 1790
census indicates that among the first eight children, ;there was one other daughter besides
Constance. It also indicates that probably one of the first eight children died young; this
may have been the one.
Cantrell Bethel, born 17 December 1779 in Guilford County, North Carolina, died 22
October 1848 (1819?) and buried at Liberty, DeKalb County, Tennessee. He married by
1809, Mary Bratten; the 1820 census shows them with three sons and three daughters. He
became a Baptist preacher very early in life; at the age of 22 he was the principal
organizer of Brush Creek Baptist Church in Smith County, Tennessee. In 1809 at
Liberty, Tennessee, he helped organize Salem Baptist Church, which he served as pastor
for more than 25 years. Salem was the mother church of many Baptist churches. Cantrell
Bethel also served as a missionary on the frontier.
P. Bethel, born 26 Feb. 1782 in Guilford County, North Carolina. It is uncertain
whether this child is male or female. Another child born in 1786 also has the initial P.
Some have speculated that one of them may have been named Pierpoint, for Sampson’s
stepfather. There is a P. Bethel whose name appears as a witness on deeds in Spartanburg
County, South Carolina in 1792 and in 1795 (Deed Books C, p. 20 and E, p. 61). He
seems too young to have been a witness, but Cantrell Bethel appears as a witness at age
14 and Larkin at age 16. Nothing more is presently known of this child.
Green Bethel, born 14 July 1784 in Guilford County, North Carolina, died probably
1836-1840 in Carroll County, Tennessee. He was married about 1808 to Zilpha (or
Zillah) Bucey, daughter of Benjamin. They had seven or more children. Green Bethel
was a member of Bildad Baptist Church in Warren County, Tennessee in 1812, but was
granted a letter of dismission by 1816. By 1822 he was living in Carroll County,
Tennessee, where he probably died by 1840. His widow is listed in the 1840 census of
Carroll County, but not in 1850. Some of their descendants moved to Arkansas.
P. Bethel, born 30 November 1786. Nothing more is known of this child.
Tilman Bethel, born 5 December 1788 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, died 9
March 1865 at Liberty, Tennessee. He married 2 September 1813 Sarah Root (Sally)
Dougherty, daughter of John and Nancy Davidson Dougherty. She was born 24 March
1793 and died 26 November 1869. They had fifteen children, at least two of whom died
in infancy. Tilman spent his married life on a farm near Liberty, where he was a doctor
and where he served as clerk of Salem Baptist Church.
Chester Bethel, born 7 January 1791 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, and died
about 1869 near Fieldon, Illinois. He was married in Tennessee to Jane (or Jennie) Jones
about 1811. They had ten children. Chester appears on the list of members of Bildad
Baptist Church in Warren County, Tennessee, in 1812, but was granted a letter of
dismission by 1816. He is said to have moved to Ft. Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1813. Like his
father, he moved several times. In 1820 he was in Gallatin County, Illinois; in 1829 in
Green County, Illinois, near Springfield, Missouri in 1846; and in Jersey County, Illinois
in 1850. He spent his last years living with a son near Fieldon, Illinois, where hid wife
died in 1876 and where Chester died in 1869. He had been a farmer all his life.
Cloud Bethell, born 19 may 1793 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, died 30
March 1844 in Warrick County, Indiana. He was given the maiden name of his
grandmother Cantrell. On 2 August 1815 in Tennessee he married Rachel Floyd. They
had eight children. The name of Rachel Floyd appears on the 1812 list of members of
Salem Baptist Church at Liberty. In March 1816 “Rachel Floyd (now Bethell)” was
dismissed by letter. Cloud Bethell served in the War of 1812 from 15 Dec. 1813 to 27
Mar. 1814. After returning home, he became a Baptist preacher and continued preaching
after he and Rachel moved to Indiana in 1816. Moving first to Orange County, then later
moved to Warrick County, where he died in 1844. Rachel lived until 1874; both are
buried at Newburgh, Indiana.
Talitha Bethel, born 22 April 1795 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, died
probably in Warrick County, Indiana. She was given the name of her mother’s mother.
About 1815 Talitha married Jonathan Floyd, a brother to the wife of Talitha’s brother
Cloud Bethell. With Cloud and his wife, Talitha and Jonathan moved from Tennessee
about 1816 to Orange County, Indiana, and later to Warrick County, where both probably
died. They had a daughter who married Union Rice, and probably other children.
Bluford Bethel, the youngest child of Sampson and Mary, was born 8 Feb. 1798,
probably in Warren County, Kentucky. He died in 1854 in Warrick County, Indiana. He
married about 1820 to Mary Bowen, and they had thirteen children. (She was born 16
Feb. 1800 and died 22 Sept. 1851.) One of their sons was born in Franklin County,
Tennessee in 1825, another in Kentucky in 1830. They are said to have settled in Warrick
County, Indiana in 1832, and to have spent the remainder of their lives there. Bluford
was a school teacher.
FOOTNOTES
(1) Sampson Bethell Bible record, xerox copy in possession of Thomas G. Webb.
(2) Frederick County, Virginia Will Book 2, page 183.
(3) Frederick County, Virginia Will Book 2, page 426.
(4) 1782 survey, xerox copy of land grants in Guilford Co. N. C. clerk’s office.
(5) Larkin Pierpoint to John Dill 6 Aug. 1790, Rockingham Co., N. C. Deed Book.
(6) Sampson Bethell Bible Record.
(7) Spartanburg County, S. C. Deed Book C, page 20.
(8) Sampson Bethell Bible Record.
(9) Tilman Bethel Bible Record and 1850 Census, DeKalb Co, Tennessee.
(10) Spartanburg County, S. C. Deed Book B, page 312.
(11) Townsend, Lea, South Carolina Baptist, 1670-1850 (Florence, S. C. 1935) p. 239.
(12) Spartanburg County, S. C. Deed Books G, p. 288; M, p.273 and I, p. 306.
(13) Spartanburg County, S. C. Deed Book G, p. 288.
(14) Spartanburg County, S. C. Deed Book H, p. 1.
(15) Warren County Ky. Surveyor’s book 1796-1815, p. 54; and Order Book 1779-1801.
(16) Smith County, Tn. Court Minutes 1799-1804, page 53.
(17) Brush Creek Baptist Church Minutes, p. 1. (Micro film TSL&A, Nashville, Tn.)
(18) Spartanburg County, S. C. Deed Book E, p. 61.
(19) Smith County, Tn. Deed Book D, p. 125.
(20) Minutes of Salem Baptist Church, Liberty, Tn. Nov. 1809.
(21) Minutes of Old Bildad Baptist Church (Microfilm, TSL&A, Nashville, Tn.)
(22) Salem Baptist Church Minutes, Dec. 1817.
(23) Garde, Virginia Mohler, The Early Bethells and their Descendants, page 92.
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