EVAN/EVIN DOBKINS-The Mystery Man

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Permalink Reply by Carol Dobkins Keith on July 24, 2009 at 12:08pm

Thanks, Gene. I do have those documents; and yes, all of John & Elizabeth's sons were married by 1775 or so. I have the marriage dates for all of them somewhere. I have had no trouble tracking any of them, except Evan. All of them migrated to Tennessee--Evan & Jacob were here first; then Reuben and James followed; and eventually John & Elizabeth were also in Claiborne County, TN. Reuben mostly "hung out" in Jefferson County, although he flitted about somewhat. Evan first settled in Washington/Greene County, then came on to Sevier County for a brief period of time; then just seemed to vanish. Most of the descendants of all these boys ended up in Missouri; a few in Arkansas; and a very few farther west. Old John (aka Capt. John, John Jr.) was one of the signers of the Cumberland Compact here in TN; and I have a copy of that document; but, other than having had a stray horse, performed a marriage in Washington County, owned land on Little Limestone and had a land grant on Dunn & Webbs Creek in Sevier County, Evan left no traces; nor has there ever been mention of any children of his. He is, indeed, a mystery man!

Permalink Reply by sharon emery on January 13, 2011 at 1:55am

Hi Carol,

 

Are you in contact with Paula Marksman? Paula has an account on ancestry and she has information about Evan on there, I have added below.

 

 

*Evan Dobkins Birth 1758 in Augusta County now, Shenandoah, Virginia, United States Death 1835 in Cocke, Tennessee, United States

John DOBKINS³⁹⁵ was born on 20 Jan 1811 in TN.³⁹⁵ [2333582.ged] 

Thomas, John and Evan DOBKINS received E. TN Land Grants on Dunn's Creek in Sev ier Co. in 1810. Evan possibly was Thomas' father; if not, then it very likely was Reuben. 

I have been researching my mothers DOBKINS line since about 1989 , trying to verify the parents of my ggg-grandfather, Thomas D. DOBKINS. So far , I have not been able to positively identify his parents, even though I have g athered a great deal of information from various sources and references. 

Acc ording to family tradition, he was was born 1781 in East Tennessee. He married Mary (BRICKEY) MCADAMS ca. 1810 (?). They moved to Crawford Co., MO in 1817 wit h Girrard BRICKEY (Mary's father) and several other BRICKEYS.Thomas died 1822 i n Washington Co., MO; Mary died 17 January 1858 in Crawford Co., MO. 

The des cendants of Thomas D. DOBKINS and Mary are well defined beginning about 1810 in TN, with the birth of their first child, John. This would indicate that John and Mary were married ca. 1810, although this is suspect as she apparently was married to John McAdams, her first husband, until he died ca. 1814. Mary's bro ther, John C. BRICKEY says that she and Thomas were married in 1817 in MO; howe ver, I have found no marriage in neither TN nor MO -- another mystery! On top o f that, one reference (source unidentifed) shows that Thomas was previously mar ried, with three children -- Israel, Sammie and Mary. I have found no trace of them in other records or sources; still another, more complicating mystery! 

I also want to say a little about Elenor DOBKINS, b. 1779 in Cocke Co., TN, who married William BRICKEY ca .1800, Mary's uncle. So far, her parentage has not been determined either. I believe that she was probably Thomas's sister, or if not, surely a cousin. Remains to be seen! 

Since 1989, I have compiled DOBKIN S Occurences from various sources into an Early Dobkins List for England, New York, Virginia, Tennessee and Misouri. My intent here is to share the occurenc es and sources for the benefit of DOBKINS researchers; not to make any interpre tations or inferences about possible or probably family relationships. I have o mitted most occurences after Thomas moved to MO 1817 as I am principally intere sted in tracking down his ancestors in TN and VA and, also, in England where I think the family line originated. 

Many early VA and TN records and reference s show DOBBINS and variations rather that DOBKINS, seemingly depending on the p articular recorder at the time. It is clear in most cases that DOBBINS was a cl erical substitute for DOBKINS or DOBIKIN. I have included DOBBINS or DOBINS in some VA and TN locales where it is not clear whether they may be clerical varia tions for DOBKINS. In some cases, I have omitted DOBBINS where it is reasonably clear there is no connection to DOBKINS/DOBIKIN. 

The first definitive occur ence of the true surname is John A. DOBIKIN, who was listed for a Northern Neck Land Grant in Augusta Co., VA in 1735/36. He died in 1743 and named his son Jo hn and wife, Mary, as co-executors of his estate. Son, John DOBKINS (Capt.) rec eived the 400-acres grant on Holeman's Creek in now Shenandoah Co. in 1950. Joh n and wife, Elizabeth, sold the land to Thomas Moore in 1753. 

The Great Brit ian occurences linked in the table below were extracted from the 1993 Internati onal Genealgocial Index (IGI) [' The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint s] and the January, 1997 Addendum thereto. The IGI Extraction is presented only as an aid to researching the DOBKINS surname and variations. 

I believe the the DOBKINS surname has its origins in Great Britian, based on the occurences o f the surname and presumed variations. I think that John A. DOBIKIN probably ca me from England prior to 1735, possibly bringing wife, Mary and son, John, with him and perhaps other unidentifed children. I have not done any definitive res earch to prove this because I am still trying to make the link back to him from Thomas D. DOBKINS. 

I would appreciate hearing Parents: Thomas D DOBKINS and Mary BRICKEY.

 

kind regards

Sharon

Permalink Reply by D. Barry Sheldon on January 20, 2012 at 6:44am

I know this is an old post, but my theory is that Johnson Dobbins who shows up in Sevier County Census Records for 1830, 1840, 1850 on to McMinn and then to North Carolina, where a few of his children were.

Anyway I believe him to be a child of Evan and Margaret nee Johnson Dobkins.

Take care,

D. Barry Sheldon