Our Welborn family heritage has its known roots in the early history of Maryland back into the 1600s. Courtesy of Ann Beason Gahan, we know as far back as Edward Wilbourne, whose will contained this spelling of the family name. He was born ca 1660. Some records suggest he was born in Maryland. Others suggest he was born in England. He is believed to have died 24 June 1731 in St. George's Parish, Baltimore Co., Maryland, where his will was probated.
Edward's son, William, was born 21 January 1712/1713 in Harford Co., Maryland. William married Ann Crabtree 21 January 1730/1731 in St. George's Parish, Baltimore Co., Maryland. He died aft. 1772 in Rowan Co., North Carolina.
William's son, James, was born 18 August 1736 in St. George's Parish, Baltimore Co., Maryland. James was married to Mary Isabella Teague ca 1756 in Rowan Co., North Carolina. Courtesy of Ann's Gahan's research into the records of Barren Co., Kentucy, we know James wrote his will on 13 Feb 1811; on 27 Apr 1811, he witnessed a land conveyance of property to James Swift, grandson, mentioned in his will. His will was probated at the Aug 1811 court. So, James passed away in Barren Co., Kentucky, sometime between 27 Apr and Aug 1811. [many people incorrectly use the probate record as his date of death.]
At this time, we know very little about these early Welborn families.
James' son, Moses II, was born 4 July 1783 in Rowan Co., North Carolina. As was fairly common in those days, Moses is believed to have been named for an older brother, who had died shortly before his birth. Thus, we have Moses and Moses II as sons of James Welborn. Moses married Deborah Chipman, daughter of John Chipman and Mary Harris, 25 January 1807 in Guilford Co., North Carolina. In marrying into the Chipman family, we begin to find more information about their history.
The following insight comes from Judi Reed, a Chipman descendant, who graciously posted her research information on World Connect [one of the author's favorite Web sites]:
Excerpt from The Chipman Family book:
John Chipman, elder son of Perez Chipman was born in Kent Co., Del.,March 24, 1761;
died April 19, 1834. Moved to North Carolina about 1785. A farmer, living at Deep River,
N.C. He was a man of prominence and considerable wealth. In 1784, he married Mary Harris,
who died July 21, 1834.
Source: GUILFORD COUNTY--------The Nicholites of Jamestown and Deep River by Jack Perdue
context taken from pages 80 - 83
In the 1770's there was a migration of people into the Deep River section of Guilford
County, these people belonged to an obscure sect known as Nicholites. Prominent families
in the area who were Nicholites were the Chipmans, Charleses, Horneys, Standleys, and the
Wheelers.
The Nicholite movement was founded by Joseph Nichols about 1760. He lived in Delaware near
the Maryland border. Nichols had not been a religious person and spent his free time
partying with his friends. During one of these escapades, one of Nichols' best friends
became ill and died. This experience so shook Nichols that he began preaching to his
friends of the light that he had come to believe shown in the understanding of man and to
obedience to an "Inward Director." The area in which Nichols and his friends
lived was populated by Quakers. This movement was greatly influenced by and had many
similarities to the Society of Friends. They may have taken a stand against slavery even
before the Quakers did. They did not believe in paid ministers; all marriages, births, and
deaths were to be recorded. Marriages were performed in the same manner as Quakers and
marriage to a non-Nicholite would cause one to be disowned from the meeting. Nicholites,
like Quakers, did not believe in fighting and suffered many hardships because of this
believe during the Revolution. Nicholites even referred to each other as Friends and were
often called by others, "New Quakers".
One major difference between Quakers and Nicholites was evident however. While Quakers
were great believers in education and operated schools for that purpose, Nicholites saw
evil in too much education and seldom had their children taught beyond the ability to read
and write. Many of them lacked even this basic education.
Nicholites, apparently influenced by Quakers John Woolman, believed in austerity and
plainness to the extreme. Following the example and the preaching of their founder, they
were exceedingly plain in dress. The women wore bonnets and the men, hats of undyed or
natural, white wool. They objected to dyeing cloth. They did not even approve of mixing
colors which were natural, such as black and while wool or black wool and cotton; and they
refused to wear black leather or to blacken their shoes. This austerity extended to their
logic in all aspects of life. They refused to grow flowers in their gardens or around
their houses as ornamentation, and they preferred the simplest type of furniture--stools
and benches were used rather than chairs. Their usual mode of travel was by foot, but when
the distance was great, they went on horseback or in light carts.
The Nicholites of the Delaware began to decline and merge into the Society of Friends in
the 1790's and by 1800 the movement for all intents and purposes, no longer existed. It
probably lasted about a decade longer in the Deep River-Jamestown area of Guilford County,
North Carolina. Shortly after the outbreak of the American Revolution, a group of
Nicholites largely from Delaware, migrated to North Carolina where they settled in the
southwestern corner of Guilford County.
Since we have no recorded history, to date, from which to draw, we can only speculate about the lives of Moses and Deborah. We do not know if Deborah was still a practicing Nicholite upon her marriage to Moses. We don't know if Moses subscribed to these doctrines either. From this history, we see that the "movement" was declining in practice, so perhaps it had little effect on this couple, although it certainly must have on Deborah's father, John. We do know they did not remain in the area, but emigrated to Indiana. Before leaving, however, they had a number of children, among them our John Chipman Welborn, the firstborn of the family, born 4 January 1808 in Rowan Co., North Carolina.
We have the following brief insight into the Welborn family, which emigrated to Posey county, Indiana, courtesy of Marlys from Missouri, a distant Welborn cousin. This is a biographical sketch of Joseph F. Welborn, younger brother of our John:
JOSEPH F. WELBORN
"Among the representative men of Posey County not one has identified himself with its
material growth more creditably than Joseph F. Welborn; not one is there who has labored
with greater zeal to the end that the County might reach a position second to none in the
great State of Indiana; not one is there who can lay claim to a more emulative spirit of
public improvement than he. Indeed, we feel that he is entitled to a position that has
been reached by few, when we consider the extent of his sacrifices of time and
contributions of money to promote the best interests of his fellow citizens. He has always
kept in view the prosperity of the County and has been a public bene-factor in every
sense. Mr. Welborn was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, August 6, 1818, and in
I833 emigrated with his family to Mt. Vernon, where his father for five years worked at
the trade of wagon-making, while his son Joseph cultivated a small farm in the
vicinity until he was twentv-one years of age, when he removed to Robinson Township and
engaged in stock-raising and farming with eminent success. He paid particular attention to
fine stock and acquired the reputation of being an excellent judge of horses and hogs. In
1844 he married Miss Nancy Mills, whose father, David Mills, was one of the early
settlers of the County and who was a man of considerable prominence in his day. Her
brother, Felix Mills, was elected Sheriff several times and also filled the position
of County~: Treasurer, discharging the duties of those offices with great efficiency and
rare ability. In 1856 Mr. Welborn leased his farm and removed to Mt. Vernon, where he
associated hinself with the late Wm. J. Lowry, with whom he engaged very extensively in
the grain and pork-packing business until 1872, when the firm was dissolved by
mutual consent. In that year, in company with Charles A. Parke, E. T. Sullivan, and S. M.
Leavenworth, he organized the Mt. Vernon Banking Company, of which he was chosen
President, from which he retired 1877, leaving the institution on the highway of
prosperity. In 1858, he was elected County Treasurer for two years, during which time he
showed much executive ability and great business capacity. He was prominently identified
with the organization of the Mt. Vernon and Grayville Railroad Company, of which he was
President until its consolidation with the Chicago and Illinois Southern Railway Company.
In 1876 the nominee of the Democratic County Convention for Representative in the
Legislature and was elected by a handsome majority the regular election of that year. He
served in the capacity of Legislator two years with honor to himself and credit to the
County. He was for fifteen years Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee,and was also
a Delegate to the National Convention held Chicago, in 1864, when George B. McClellan was
nominated as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States. In 1881, he
the actively participated in securing an appropriation of money and the right of way to
aid the E. & T. H. R. R. in the construction its line through the County to Mt.
Vernon, contributing not only time, but money for the success of the movement. A half
century hence the name of Joseph F. Welborn will be mentioned with a feeling of greater
veneration than it is now perhaps. It will be written in connection with emulative deeds
and acts which perpetuate memory through the ages.
[Note: From the book, "History and Directory of Posey County 1882" by W.
P. Leonard]
We have the following additional supporting information about the Welborn family's move to Indiana, courtesy of Joe Welborn, descendant of our John's brother, James Henry Welborn:
"... story about Moses and family coming from North Carolina to Mount Vernon,
Posey County Indiana to build wagons. He came at the request of his cousins Jesse Y and
his brother John Welborn who founded a church and a farm near the village of Upton. Jesse
Y came by way of Hopkinsville Kentucky where he married Elizabeth Warren Crabtree on 23
Aug 1814. JY Welborn was elected to the state legislature in 1828. He and his wife had 9
children, William, James, Enoch, were doctors, George Y. was a poet and author and 2
daughters, one of whom was the mother of Lt. Col. William Walker and Major Jesse Walker in
the Civil War.
This story about how Moses came to move to Indiana is further supported by some information written by a Maj. G. W. Kimball, coming to us courtesy of Ann Beason Gahan:
I do not know how many years ago, Major G. W. Kimball wrote quite an extensive article on
Jesse York Welborn in which he stated:
"At some time during the residence of Jesse and John Welborn in and about Mt.
Vernon, Jesse Y. interceded with one of the name Moses Welborn, then back in North
Carolina, to come to this community on the Ohio River to build wagons much needed by the
settlers, the type being North Carolina 'Pararie Schooner,' ribbed on the sides, high in
front and rear ends. Arrangements were made and Moses Welborn came, with his
family. A log house, cabin fashion, stood on the lot opposite the present Elks
Home and the Masonic Hall, known as the William Fogas property, at Fourth and Walnut
streets. At some time in the career of the Moses Welborn wagon shop, he took sick
from so-called 'Milk-Sick' it is stated by one of the early biographers. The disease
'Milk-Sick' was from an unknown cause among the community at large and spread well into
neighboring localities. Here Moses Welborn died, leaving his widowed wife, who
mourned sadly at the untimely fate of her husband.
As she wept bitterly her young child of tender age leaned upon the widowed mother and
exclaimed 'Don't cry, mother, I will take care of you,' and he did. That
determined lad grew up to be the Honorable Joseph F. Welborn, and became the owner of that
property and spent his life on that spot of ground upon which was built a magnificent home
for that day, besides which he owned much other valuable property. From the Moses
Welborn branch of the Welborn family, many distinctive men have come to the front in
Southwestern, Indiana, whose origin was from the sturdy pioneers from North Carolina,
whose destinies with the vision of Jesse Y. Welborn in the Welborn migrations early in the
century, to the Territory. There has been no attempt to copy from any of the early
history of the men who figured as pioneers, but rather from personal knowledge not
hitherto written of the subject and subjects of this sketch of some of this
distinctive family characteristics."
It is Ann's belief that our Welborn family's emigration to Indiana passed through Kentucky, where his mother lived in Barren county.
Whatever the fate of the extended Welborn family in Indiana, our Moses passed away, of the aforementioned "milk-sick" disease, on 11 July 1851 in Owensville, Gibson Co., Indiana. His son and our ancestor, John, had already left the area. We find him on the first "expanded" version of the U. S. Census records on 28 October 1850 in Lafayette Co., Missouri. John's mother, Deborah, upon losing her husband, Moses, apparently moved to join her firstborn son and his family, as they were in Texas by 1860 and she died there at Pilot Point, Denton Co. on 17 September 1871.
To continue with our Welborn family history, please follow the links to the biographical information on our ancestor, Moses Welborn's son, John Chipman.
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003