James Landgon (b.Abt.1755 - d.November 1835)
Patty Stephenson (b.Abt.1758 -Bet. 1810-1814

James and Patty were married in Johnston County, NC on September 13, 1778.

They had 9 children together)
Britain Landgon (b.1792)
Elizabeth (Betsy) Landgon
Winifred L. Landgon (b.1793)
Sarah (Sally) Landgon (b.1786)
Zachariah Landgon (b.1781)
Edith Landgon (b.1791)
Nancy Landgon (b.1787)
Mary Landgon
Martha Landgon

James moved to Montgomery County and remarried after the death of his 1st wife. His 2nd wife was Catherine Beaman, and they married in 1815. They had no children together. They moved to Owen County, IN with several of James' children from his first marriage. The only male Langdon to remain in Johnston County was his son Britton (or Brittain-I've seen it spelled both ways). All Langdons in Johnston County are descended from this son.

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Will of William Messer
Johnston County, NC Estate Records
3 Jan 1800; NC loose papers

In the Name of God amen. I William Messer of Johnson Countey & state of North Carlonar being of sound & _____ mind do the 3 day of Janry 1800 I do make & publish this my Last Will & testement as folith that is to say, I give & beQuath to my luving wif Elisebth one mar & a parsel of hogs a Bout 14 had & all my houshold & furntr & a copel of ten pound notes hur lifetim & after her deth to John Meseser sun William Messer. Allso I give to my Beloved soninlaw James Langdon five poundes to be rased & levid out of my astate - also to my Beloved son William Messer I give fiv pound to be rased out of the astat as before menchid - & allso to my Belovd daughter Mary Stevens five shillinge starling. My son John Messer & James Langdon my Execuars of this my last will & testement & I do ______ by utterily desaallow revok & disonnul all & every other former testaments wills legis bequeteh & executor by me in any wis before named wild & bequthed ratifien & conforming this & no other to be my last wil & testamen in witness wherof I have here unto set my hand & seal this 3 day of Janary in the yar of our Lord Eightteen hundard.

Sind seld published pro his
nounced & declard by th William Messer (sel)
sad William Messer mark
as his Last will & testemen
in the presentes of us.

Noel Johnson
her
Winney X Langdon
mark
her
Nanny X Messer
mark

Interpretation:

In the Name of God amen. I William Messer of Johnston County and state of North Carolina being of sound and _____ mind do the 3rd day of January 1800 make and publish this my Last Will and Testament as followeth, that is to say, I give and bequeath to my loving wife Elisabeth one mare and a parcel of hogs, about 14 head, and all my household and furniture and a couple of ten pound notes for her lifetime and after her death to John Messer's son, William Messer. Also I give to my beloved son-in-law James Langdon five pounds to be raised and levied out of my estate; also to my beloved son William Messer I give five pounds to be raised out of the estate as before mentioned; and also to my beloved daughter Mary Stevens five shillings sterling. My son John Messer and James Langdon my Executors of this my last will and testament and I do (______ by) utterly disallow, revoke and disannul all and every other former testaments, wills, legacies, bequests and executor by me in any wise before
named, willed and bequeathed. Ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 3rd day of January in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred.
Signed, sealed, published, pronounced and declared by the said William
Messer as his last will and testament in the presence of us.

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Copy of Deed 1802

CLEMENT BRYAN - deed book B-2, p. 49, 18 Sept. 1794

JAMES STEVENSON & JAMES LANGDON of Johnston Co. to SARAH STEVENSON of Johnston Co being heirs of Est. of SOLOMON STEVENSON, JR.(sic) . . such part of Est. as appears by LW &T to SARAH, his wife, as her right & to dispose of as she pleases. Wit: CLEMENT BRYAN.
Signed: JAMES (J) STEVENSON, JAMES LANGDON, May Ct. 1802.


Revolutionary War Pension Application BLWT 52778-160-55

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LANGDON

James Langdon is the founder of the Owen County Langdon family. Where he was born is unknown but family tradition claims he was brought to America by his mother as a baby.

Another possibility, which has never been researched, could place his residence before Johnston County, N.C. in Shenandoah County, VA. In the Johnston County wills, 3 Jan 1800, Wm Messer, dec'd, had as a beneficiary "son in law" James Langdon. Since Langdon was married to Patsy Stevenson, it may be that son-in-law meant step son or some other relationship. In The History of Shenandoah Co. Va., by Wayland, p. 131, one of the trustees of Woodstock in 1761 was Joseph Langdon. The 1785 census of Va, Shenandoah Co. shows a John Messer.

James was a Revolutionary War soldier and died at his son Zacheria's home in Owen Co. Indiana. His first wife had died before he came to Indiana, and his second wife was Catherine Beaman. Whether Beaman was her name from a previous marriage or was her maiden name is not known by me.

James' first wife and the mother of his children was Patsy Stevenson, the daughter of Soloman and Sarah. The Stevenson's came to Johnston Co. N.C. in 1766. His first wife, ? Mathews was the daughter of hugh Mathews of Isle of Wight Co, VA. Had one child by her. Second wife Sarah ? was the mother of James Langdon's wife Patsy.

Two of James and Patsy's children married Beaman's who were or had been Quakers that had moved to Johnston Co. NC from Northhampton Co. NC, and prior to that, Nancemond Co. VA. This connection brought James Langdon to Montgomery Co. NC with the movement of some Beaman families. Then to Owen Co. Indiana with the migration of 10 or 12 families from Montgomery Co. His son Zacheria was married to Rachel Bolin, of a Montgomery Co. family. Several of her relations apparently also came to Owen Co. The Montgomery Co. N.C. Bolin's claim descent from Pocohontas and John Rolf.

Roger Peterson
1991

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Genforum Posting by James Mark Valsame
3/23/2005

The will of William Messer was devised in Johnston County, North Carolina on January 3, 1800 [no probate date given]. In his will, Messer left wife Elizabeth a mare and a parcel of 14 hogs, as well as all household furniture and a couple of 10 Pound notes. After her death, the same was to fall to "John Messer sun William Messer" [Note: It is not clear from the original will whether this refers to a grandson William Messer or to both sons John and William Messer jointly]. He also left a bequest of 5 Pounds to ?son-in-law? James Langdon to be raised out of the estate. Messer made an identical bequest of 5 Pounds for his son William Messer. Daughter Mary Stevens [probably Stevenson] was to receive a legacy of 5 Shillings Sterling. John Messer and James Langdon were appointed executors to the will, which was witnessed by Noel Johnson, Winney (+) Langdon, and Nanny (x) Messer. A note at the bottom of the will crossed out states that ?John Messer only Qfd. Exr.? [Johnston County, North Carolina Wills, North Carolina State Archives - original only, no recorded copy].

William Messer was deceased prior to February 20, 1800, when John Messer made an inventory of his personal property [Proven May Term, 1800; Johnston County, North Carolina Record of Estates, Volume 3, 1795-1800, p. 303]. More than four years later, the Johnston County Court Minutes of May 31, 1804 contain an entry showing that Elizabeth Messer sued the executor of her husband?s estate [i.e. John Messer] for her legacy from the will:

Elizabeth Messer vs. The Exor. of William Messer, Petition for Legacy: Petition taken Pro Confesso. In this Cause it being Satisfactory made appear that the Defendant had been duly Served with a Copy of the Petition & Summon Agreeably to the Requisites of the Act of Assembly. The Court Order and Decree that the Defendant Pay and deliver over to the Petitioner the legacies in the Will as her Petition Sets forth, and the Costs of the Suit. [Johnston County, North Carolina Court Minutes, November 1800-November 1804, p. 221.]

Family tradition handed down through various descendants of son Britton Langdon (b. September 7, 1792, d. before January 29, 1876; md. November 7, 1815, Margaret ?Peggy? Carrell, b. Spring, 1793, d. May 24, 1836, d/o James Carrell and Rhoda Stevenson; 2md. August 5, 1836, Winifred H. Jordan, b. about 1815, d. after 1880) of Johnston County, North Carolina state that James Langdon (b. about 1755, d. November, 1835; 1md. September 13, 1778, Patty Stevenson, b. about 1758, d. before 1815, d/o Solomon Stevenson, Sr. and Sarah; 2md. 1815, Catherine Beaman, b. about 1777, d. after. 1860) of Johnston County, North Carolina and Owen County, Indiana was an illegitimate child brought to America by his mother, who was banished from her family for conceiving a child out of wedlock. While this family tradition has never been proven, Langdon does abruptly appear in the records of Johnston County at the time of his marriage in 1778. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the use of the term ?son-in-law? could suggest its traditional interpretation (i.e. a man who marries one?s daughter) or stepson (i.e. the son of one?s current spouse by previous marriage). It is felt that the latter interpretation is the correct one. Elizabeth Messer was most likely the second wife of William Messer, this being suggested by the fact that she did not receive her legacy from her husband?s executor John Messer until four years after William?s death. The fact that James Langdon named one of his eldest daughters Elizabeth (md. Thomas Barber) would further suggest that Elizabeth Messer was possibly James Langdon?s mother. Likewise, daughter Sarah Langdon (md. Samuel Beaman) was undoubtedly named for her maternal grandmother Sarah Stevenson [believed by this author to be Sarah (Matthews) McKinny, daughter of Hugh Matthews and Martha Johnson and widow of Gilbert McKinny]. Langdon?s younger son Britton appears to have derived his first name from the Stevenson/Stephenson family, as Patty?s older brother David Stevenson (ca. 1749-1808; md. Charity Pearson) of Wake County, North Carolina had a son named Britton Stevenson.

Whether James was Elizabeth?s legitimate offspring by a previous marriage or an illegitimate child is completely unknown. It is curious that James Langdon?s eldest son was named Zachariah, a less common name for that period. It is felt that this name may have some special significance in the origins of James Langdon. Interestingly, the name Zachariah or Zacharias appears in a number of Langdon families living in Cornwall, England in the 1700s.

One researcher whose brother-in-law was a Langdon descendant claimed in conversation with this author that Langdon?s mother was Nanny Messer, who witnessed the 1800 will of William Messer. He stated that his brother-in-law had claimed that Nanny Messer was William Messer?s sister, and that William Messer ?adopted? his nephew James Langdon. Whether this theory is truly based in an actual family tradition or merely some genealogical speculation on that researcher?s part is unclear. However, it appears rather unlikely that Nanny Messer was Langdon?s mother. The most logical explanation is that Elizabeth was William Messer?s second wife, and that she was the mother of James Langdon.

• Married: 13 SEP 1778 in Johnston County, North Carolina ^{1 2}

1. Elizabeth "Betsy" LANGDON b: ABT 1782 in Johnston County, North Carolina
2. Winnifred LANGDON b: 1783 in Johnston County, North Carolina
3. Sally Sarah LANGDON b: 1786 in Johnston County, North Carolina
4. Nancy LANGDON b: 1787 in Johnston County, North Carolina
5. Zachariah LANGDON b: ABT 1789 in Johnston County, North Carolina
6. Edith LANGDON b: 1790 in Johnston County, North Carolina
7. Mary "Polly" LANGDON b: 1792 in Cumberland County, (Harnett County,) North Carolina
8. Britton LANGDON b: 7 SEP 1792 in Johnston County, North Carolina
9. Martha LANGDON

• Married: 1815 in Montgomery County, North Carolina ^{1 2}

1. Text: ?A