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From: "M. Kent McMahan" <>
Subject: Roots of John Bull Sr. of 1805 Grainger Co., TN & 1806 Knox Co., KY???
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2006 11:57:11 -0400


The household of Jno. Turnbull is enumerated on page 162 of the 1790 Wilkes Co., NC census with 1 male over 16, 3 males under 17, 4 females and 0 slaves. On page 161 is the household of David Collins 3-2-6-0 who almost certainly is the father of Nelley Collins, who married John Bull on 23 Nov 1800 in Grainger Co., TN (Ancestry.com TN Marriages to 1825). I've been told that the record says John Bull gave surety for their marriage. This tells me that John Bull Sr. inexplicably changed the surname of his family from Turnbull to Bull after 1790. It also may partly explain why his sons John Bull Jr., Nicholas Bull, and (I believe) James Bull also changed their names back to Turnbull. John Bull Sr. was born ABT 1754 and died AFT 1830 in Knox Co., KY, per my RootsWeb World Connect database page for him, linked below:

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kmcmahan&id=I15601

Glain Martin, a descendant of John & Nelley Bull/Turnbull found the above Wilkes Co. census and suspects that he has POSSIBLY found the immigrant ancestor of John Turnbull/Bull Sr. Glain's research at the LDS Library in Salt Lake City found that Scotsman John Graham transported many (apparently Scottish) immigrants to Prince William Co., VA in 1742 and claimed them as headrights - among whom was William Turnbull. Glain read that William Turnbull served out a 5 year indenture to pay for his passage. He also found a multi-volume set of books in the FHL that covered 1606-1776 Colonial Virginia which mention this William Turnbull and, by association, several of his children including an unnamed daughter and son, as well as likely sons Richard Turnbull, John Turnbull, William Turnbull, and James Turnbull. Unfortunately, Glain neglected to note the name of the referenced book.

Based on the common use of the given names of William, John, Richard, and James in the subject John Bull's descendants, I think Glain has found important clues to origins of John Bull. I hope this information will stimulate further research into his Turnbull ancestry.

Kent McMahan
Louisville, KY

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