Gilliam Family Genealogy

After four generations in Virginia, John Gilliam (1745-1825) begins the family migration south and west to Tennessee . Like the three generations of Gilliams before him, John was born in the James River Basin of Colonial Virginia. The specific location of his  1745  birth was Albemarle Parish, a part of Surry County. In 1754, Surry County was subdivided, and Albemarle Parish became part of adjacent Sussex County. This explains why some genealogists list John’s birthplace as Surry County, some as Sussex County. John’s first eight children (in order, John Jr., Avery, Nancy, Temperance, Frances, Hinchea, Mary (“Polly”) and Thomas) all appear to have been born in Albemarle Parish, Sussex County. The youngest of the children born in Sussex County, Thomas, was born in 1780, our best proof that John remained in Sussex County through 1780.  John obtained a 250-acre land grant from the state of North Carolina in Hawkins County in 1791. It is possible he left Virginia...

One of the things that always fascinated me about our family is how it migrated, along with the rest of the country, from the Atlantic colonies to the western states. With the passage of time, the individual why and how stories have been lost, but the historical record allows us to trace where and when the Gilliams moved. Where they settled gives us some clues on how they made a living. In some cases, our ancestors owned enough real and personal property to make a will and probate an estate, providing us the best proof of how they lived. This blog entry discusses the first four generations of Gilliams (in our direct line) in North America. The historical record shows that for approximately 150 years, the first Gilliams in America stayed in a relatively small area in colonial Virginia, in and around the James River Basin, just off the Chesapeake Bay. The maps shown at the head of the post will assist in tracing these early steps. The first shows the colonial county lines jus...

According to the Internet Surname Database, the surname Gilliam is an English form of a name of Norman (French) origin. "Guillaume" is the French male personal name better known as "William", which is itself derived from the Germanic name "Wilhelm", composed of the elements "wil", will, desire, and "helm", helmet, protection. In the central French form, the “W” is replaced by a “G”. The name was introduced into England after the ruling Saxons fell to the Norman Conquest in 1066 led by William the Conqueror. By the customs of those times, the property of the Saxons would have been confiscated and distributed among William’s followers.   As you might expect, William quickly became the most popular given name in the country. A large number and variety of surnames were generated from "William". The forms "Gilliam", "Gilham", "Gillham", "Gillam", “Gillem”, and "Gillum" all d...

Welcome to my occasional blog on Gilliam Genealogy. Our family has always been fiercely proud of our ancestors and their stories, where we came from and how we got to where we are. Unfortunately, those stories and details were not always well-documented and as each generation disappears, the oral history is lost. This blog will be my attempt to collect as many of those details as possible and to preserve the oral histories we can recall. Researching the history of our branch of the Gilliam Family is complicated by use of first names that appear multiple times in each generation, multiple marriages between families and the tendency for the next generation of Gilliams to migrate from their place of birth. I will report the basis for my conclusions when there is contradictory evidence and let you make your own conclusion. Please feel free to add, subtract or comment on any of my entries – maybe we can settle the controversies once and for all! Where to start? Based on my resear...