Benjamin Bourland

Benjamin Bourland

Research Interest: Direct Ancestor

Name: Benjamin Bourland

Individual Facts

Birth: 1820 Kentucky

Death: After 1880

Marriages/Children

1. Abigal Bourland (before 1840)

Children:

Margaret Bourland (1840 - )

Francis Marion Bourland (1845 - 1907)

Gabriel Abner Bourland (1847 - 1907)

William Bourland (1849 - )

Mackey Jane Bourland (1854 - 1917)

Julia Etta Bourland (1865 - )

This is as far back as I can trace my family namesake ancestors. We would like to find out more about Benjamin and how he is related to the the other Bourland family trees. Although we possess no certain knowledge of Benjamin Bourland's ancestry, there are some intriguing clues about his ancestry.

DNA testing shows our family is part of the Bourland's who descended from "Immigrant" John and William Bourland. See http://www.bolling.net/bfa_dna_participants.htm.

Most of the other Bourland's of Franklin County, Alabama, were from the family of Ebenezer Bourland and his sons. A strong circumstantial case can be made that Benjamin is the grandson of Ebenezer Bourland. Based on his birth date and birthplace (1820-1822 and Kentucky) and there is a possibility that he is a son of Gabriel Lee Bourland, son of Ebenezer Bourland, son of "Immigrant" John Bourland. If this is true then two of Benjamin's sons are names for relatives, Gabriel his Father, and Francis Marion, his first Cousin. Also Julia's namesake would be Benjamin's sister.

Ebenezer Bourland is the son of John Bourland. Ebeneezer was born about 1768 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. His son Gabriel Lee was born in 1794, also in North Carolina. Gabriel Lee Bourland married Penelope Goodman. John and Oliver Bourland were born in Kentucky to Gabriel Lee and Penelope Bourland about 1815 an 1816. William, Julia, and Martin Bourland, were born in Alabama between 1824 and 1829. Later children were born in Kentucky.

In 1830 Gabriel Lee Bourland household is listed in Hopkins County, Kentucky. There are seven children in the household - five boys and two girls. One of the boys is in the 15 to 20 age slot. Two are 10 to 15. One is 5 to 10, and one is under 5. Could Gabriel be one of the male children listed as 10 to 15? In 1840 Gabriel is again in Hopkins County listed with six children - five boys and one girl. By this time, if the 1850 Census record is accurate, Benjamin is also married and may have a child of his own. It is also likely that if he is the son of Gabriel Lee he did not return to Kentucky with his Father's family. (See note below on 1880 census.)

1850 Census - Alabama, Franklin, District 6

Based on the 1850 Census record Benjamin and Abigal would have been married around 1840. Their first child, Margaret, is born in 1840, when Benjamin is 18 or 20 and Abigal is 14 or 15

By 1850 Francis, Gabriel, and William have been added to the family.

No 1860 Census has been located for the Benjamin Bourland family. His neighbors from the 1850 census can be located as well as John and Mary Hall from the 1870 census. But no record is found that can be match with the Bourland family.

The 1870 Census shows "Ben Bolin" living in Colbert County, which formerly was part of Franklin County.

1870 Census, Alabama, Colbert County, page 46,

Head of Household - Bolin, Ben, age 50 (1820), birthplace Kentucky

Abagil, age 45 (1825), birthplace Tennessee

Gabrail, age 22 (1848), birthplace Alabama

Jane, age 17?

Martha, age 15? or 5?

Julia, age 4

Francis Marion? Age 25

Sarah (wife of Francis) Kennedy

Image of 1870 Census of Ben Bolin

Alabama, Colbert, Township 4 Range 13

Colbert County was created in 1867 from portions of Franklin County

http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/colbert.html

Thanks to Juli D. Quinteros de Hernandez for bringing this census record to my attention.

In 1880 Benjamin's son Gabriel has relocated to Hill County, Texas. By 1872 Francis has moved to Texas. (Francis may have moved earlier, but we know his second child was born in Texas in 1873.) Julia Bourland would marry George Washington Petty in 1894 in Hill County, Texas. Mackey Jane Bourland is listed in the 1880 census as the wife of Isaac Andrew Eaton, living in Hill County, Texas. The youngest child is listed as born in Alabama, so they had just arrived in Texas in time for the 1880 census. Gabriel and Francis Bourland, and Mackey Jane Eaton. would live the rest of their lives in Hill County where they are buried. We do not have any more information on William or Margaret Bourland.

The last record of Benjamin and Abigal is the 1880 Census. They are living in Colbert County, Alabama with their daughter Julia.

The name in the census record is not recognizable for Benjamin. The age, names, geography, and birthplaces are otherwise consistent with the family of Benjamin and Abigal Bourland. The birthplace of Benjamin's parents is given as Kentucky, and if this is correct, then Gabriel Lee is not Benjamin's Father.

The given name appears to be "Armity" or perhaps "Army"