William and Margaret, along with their brothers
Thomas and
Ezekiel,
were apparently abandoned by their parents,
Elizabeth
and Daniel Droddy about 1759 or 1760.
The exact details of this are lost in time. What
we do know is that Daniel was adjudicated a
garnishee in 1758 or 59, and that he and
Elizabeth left Virginia, taking with them their
youngest son,
Daniel
II. Thomas, William and Ezekiel were
bound out. Thomas, who was about 14 at the time,
and William, aged 4, maybe 5, were bound out to
Robert
Douglas. Ezekiel, who was just
a baby, was bound out to someone else. We
haven’t found the court orders regarding
Margaret yet, but we suspect someone was
appointed her guardian. Those early Virginians
were sticklers for legal details. In the order
book which noted Daniel and Ezekiel’s
disposition, the boys are referred to as
orphans.
[John M.
Gwin Note: I've interrupted here to
tie all this data into my outline format
for clarity; the birth order of generation
2 is not necessarily complete or correct:
1.00--Daniel Droddy, b. unk;
d. prob. bef. 1798; m. ca. bef. 1745 to Elizabeth (nee unk.)
2.01--Thomas
Droddy, b. ca. 1745; m.]
2.02--William Droddy, b. ca.
1755;
d. 1824 in St. Charles, MO; m. by 1787
to Ruth
Ellison (d/o James Ellison of
Greenbriar Co.)]
3.01--John
Droddy m.
3.02--William Droddy m.; at
least 2 ch.
4.00--Droddy,
b. in IL; m.
4.00--Droddy,
b. in IL; m.
3.03--Adney
Droddy m.
2.03--Margaret Droddy; m. in
1778 to Capt. John Morris (s/o William
Morris)]
2.04--Ezekiel Droddy m.]
2.05--Daniel Droddy II m.]
We don’t know the details of their upbringing.
There is a notation in a civil suit many years
later that suggests Robert Douglas moved to
another county. We’re still looking for clues
there.
Margaret, Ezekiel and William appear again in
the late 1770s. Margaret married John Morris, a
son of William Morris. The only detail to that
is a comment by an earlier researcher who said
that the Droddy lands bordered the Morris lands.
William and Ezekiel are both listed as members
of Capt. John Morris’s militia company, with a
notation that they were living at the Morris
stockade and raising a crop near there on their
own land.
The Morrises all fought at the Battle of Pt.
Pleasant in 1774. There is no record of any
Droddys serving in that battle, so they may not
have yet moved to the Kanawha valley. Margaret
and John were married in 1778. By 1781, William
and Ezekiel are being shown as part of John
Morris’s militia company. By 1787, William has
met and married Ruth Ellison, a daughter of
James Ellison of Greenbriar County. James
Ellison was a fairly successful farmer. We can
find no further record of Ezekiel, leaving us to
speculate that he may have been killed in one of
the many skirmishes with Indians during this
period. There were several periods of intense
fighting between the Americans and the Shawnees
not ending until the death of Tecumseh in 1814.
We heard that William operated a ferry across
the Ohio at Pt. Pleasant, but we found nothing
to confirm or support this theory. By 1820,
William and a wife had made it to St. Charles,
Missouri where he died in 1824. I say “a wife”
because we do not know if this is our
g-g-g-grandmother, Ruth Ellison, or not. There
is another record of a William Droddy marrying
in Illinois. We cannot determine whether this
William Droddy is our g-g-g-grandfather or his
son named William. We do know that son William
spent time in Illinois because two of his
children were born in Illinois.
William’s father, Daniel, is presumed to have
died prior to 1798. That year William gave a
power of attorney to Allyn Prier (Alan Pryor)
with instructions for Pryor to do whatever was
necessary to claim land belonging to Daniel near
Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia. In the power
of attorney, William refers to himself as a
legal heir of Daniel.
We have no knowledge of William’s feelings
towards his father and mother who abandoned him
and his siblings in Virginia. I would note that
the name Daniel is not found in any of William’s
children’s descendants, while it appears
frequently among the family that Daniel took to
South Carolina.
Another note of distinction between the family
left behind and the family taken. William
spelled his name D-R-O-D-D-Y. In South Carolina,
the name is spelled D-R-A-W-D-Y.
My grandfather, Joseph William Droddy, told my
cousin Charles that his people came from Ireland
on a banana boat. Every family legend generally
has a kernel of truth.
My Droddys continued the family’s western
migration, ending up in Texas in the early
1830s. By 1836, William was dead, but his sons,
John, William and Adney, along with several of
their sons, were in Texas. I believe they
floated down the Mississippi as far as
Louisiana. Maybe on a flat-bottomed boat. They
all grew up on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
At least one of the brothers operated a ferry
across the Sabine River between Texas and
Louisiana.
Five unknown
children believed to be Droddys
17 Comments:
Hi-
My maternal grandmother's name was Droddy. Her father was Ota Franklin Droddy, and Ota's father was Christopher Columbus Droddy. The father of Christopher Columbus "Lum" Droddy was Charles Droddy. I was so glad to see your homepage. Your mother has red hair like the women in my grandmother's family. LOL I guess you know the Droddy's (anyway, ours?) are Irish? I would like to find out who Charles Droddy's father was. I have spent 20+ years researching genealogy, so I hope I don't talk your leg off. I also have an MA in English, so I get hung up on lingusitics. I read somewhere that Droddy is phonetically the same as O'Grady in Gaelic. The state of WV spelled 'Drawdy Creek' and 'Drawdy Mountain' on road signs-but that is the doing of people outside the family. I used to laugh when I was a kid that they spelled our names like a 'crawldad' that lives in a creek. It's that Gaelic "ah" lilt that translates in "awl" for people who aren't familiar with the Gaelic language, I guess.
Contact me and we'll share notes~Maybe we're connected somehow. I'm sorry about your mother's nose. Charles Droddy bought a bunch of land around 1825 - I don't know where he got his money, but I wish I knew. Do you know? I found out tonight that he was a teacher. Teachers don't make that kind of money! LOL Thanks-great site - hope to hear from you!
Charles' father, William, died in St. Charles, Missouri in 1824, but that was not the source of any money Charles may have had for purchasing land. I have William's estate papers which I will be happy to send a copy to you. Odds are that while Charles may have "bought" property in 1825, very little money changed hands, just like today.
Hello
My gandfather is Clarence Ray Droddy. He's from WV. I'm not sure but I think that Christopher Cloumbus Droddy is like my forth or fifth great-grandfather.
I've been told that the Droddy's have a family graveyard in WV. To this day, I can't remember where though.
I thought that that might be some useful information though. I just wish I could remember where.
My name is Jerry Droddy. My Grandfather was Fredrick H. Droddy. His Father was Daniel Droddy. His father was Columbus (Lum) Droddy. We just visited the Family graveyard last weekend. It is located in Walton WVA. I took some pictures. If you are interested you can e-mail me at droddyj@yahoo.com.
my name is sarah droddy, my father is john o droddy, and my grandparents were john o droddy sr. and esther ellen droddy. the part of my droddy family that i know are all from the port aurthor/beaumont part of texas. sadly that is all i know about my fathers side of the family, and i am hoping that someone can help me.
Hey, Sarah,
Email me and I'll help you tie into the whole Droddy clan. I'm pretty sure you're fairly closely related to my bunch.
Most of the Droddys in Louisiana and Texas descend from the children of William Droddy and Ruth Ellison.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Houston
Hello, I was doing family research on the Morris family and found ths blog. I am a direct descendent of Captain John Morris and Margaret Droddy. If you would like to correspond please e-mail me at ddavidmorris@hotmail.com. This family history is very interesting to me and would like to find out more information.
D. Morris
do any of you know a Merle Droddy. He would have been a soldier during WW 2.
Thanks
I do not know of any Merle Droddy who may have served in WWII. Sorry. If he spelled it with a "double d" then he's probably related to us. Might be one of those West Virginia Droddys who are descended from Charles Droddy, the son of William Droddy and Ruth Ellison.
im a andrew droddy, from an andrew droddy, from a william droddy, from Louisianna somewhere.... i am extremely interested in the choctaw and african american influences in our family...i have a picture of my great grandfather who they called pipaw and hes def irish...and he was standing with/married to "mimaw" and she was super dark....my skin is pretty dark red...and i want to know where/who/how it came from....anyone know?
droddyandrew@hotmail.com
Hey all. I don't know if any of this is still active, but my name is Steven Thomas Droddy. I come from a branch of the WV Droddy's that moved to Delaware with my Grandfather, Richard Edward Droddy. I know he is from the Charleston area and think some of these names sound familar from a project I did back in high school, but I'm not certain. I'd love to find out more about my relatives and could talk to my grandparents to help fill in gaps. My email is stevedroddy@comcast.net if anyone is interested.
Hi Mr. Bridges,
It's been a while, since we have contacted one another, but I'm your distant Droddy cousin , that lived in Maryland, but now living in Alexandria, Louisiana. How have you been? So glad your still active with our family tree and so generous in the information that you pass down to others. I see that you have traveled and collected even more. You should write a book. Keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Donna Thompson Yu Campanile
Hi
I have a VERY distant connection with the Droddy family through various marriages (which I couldn't even start to unpick at the moment!) back to my maternal grandmothers family from the Forest of Dean in England.
I love the fact that you are researching your history in such detail, good luck to you in your continued research.
Hi Houston,
It's me, your long lost cousin, donna from maryland, remember? I moved to louisiana and want to know when the family reunion will be taking place this summer 09? How's the family tree info coming along? Book yet? Hope to hear from you soon.
donna
Hi, My name is Marie and I am of the Texas-Louisiana Droddys. My grandfather was Joe Droddy. His line is Samuel, Adna Samuel, and William Droddy. I would appreciate any and all info on the Droddys. I would love to get any stories on the Droddys to pass on through my grandchildren to keep the Droddy family alive in the minds and memories of our future Droddys. I would also appreciate any pictures, old and new to keep an album of all Droddy family members. Thank you and God bess you all, Marie marie.mcconahie@gmail.com
Hi, My name is Denise Kemp-Otterson, Iam related to the Drawdy's of Fl, Va, and S.carolina. If anyone can help me connect the dots to I believe Daniel, i would appreciate it. I can tell you my mother's mother was Minnie Marie Drawdy, her father was Dellmar (dell) Colsby Drawdy,His father was Corneilus,(neil) Drawdy. Iam hoping iam making the right connection when i connect Neil to Daniel, but which Daniel? their are sooo Many!!. I notice our family like to reuse names a lot!! LOL. If anyone can help me make sure i'm connecting the right dots i would appreciate it.Oh, my grandmother's father and her siblings resided in Coral Gables Fl in the early 1900's. What's left of her siblings' children are there and Here in West Palm Beach and Pt. St. Lucie,Fl.
Hi Denise,
I'm not able to be of much help to you in connecting your Drawdy line to Daniel, but there are plenty of Drawdys out there who can be of help to you. First, try GenForum (http://genforum.genealogy.com/) and try connecting with someone there.
My line of Droddys are descended from Daniel's children left behind in Virginia when Daniel and Elizabeth absconded off to South Carolina with their youngest child, Daniel. We don't know much about why, but we do note that he was adjudicated a debtor and his children were bound out to others. There may have been some hard feelings on the part of the children left behind, however, since none of the remaining children named any children for Daniel or his wife, Elizabeth, nor did any of the next generation name any children Daniel or Elizabeth.
I'd have sent more information to you, but I have no idea where to send it.
Good luck in your genealogical adventure.
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