Thomas Wozencraft (1768-1852)

name

History
Listed in the 1830 Clarke County, Georgia Census as Thomas Woozencraft. In the household are: 1 male age 10-14, 1 male age 15-19, 1 male age 60-70, 3 females under age 5, 1 female age 30-40.

Listed in the 1840 Clarke County, Georgia Census as Thomas Woozencraft. In the household are: 2 males age 5-9, 1 male age 20-29, 1 male age 70-79, 1 female age 5-9, 3 females age 10-15, 1 female age 40-50.

Listed in the 1850 Clarke County, Georgia Census, enumerated October 24, Farmington District, Dwelling 29, Household 29 as Thos Wozencraft, age 84, born South Wales. With wife and children, but they are listed out of order...not sure why, when it seems the other families are listed in order.

1st wife: Hannah (Lewis) Wozencraft. Still alive in Wales when Thomas immigrated.

From Beverly Roberts, bitteroot@prodigy.net : "1994:According to the ships manifest for the Jamaica Packet, captained by Thomas Tripp, Wozencraft was brought to American shores in 1798. He was 32 years old. His naturalization is not recorded at Atlanta, Clarke Co, Savannah, or Athens Ga. neither is it recorded in Hamilton Co Ohio or the Great Lakes Regional office in Chicago. In 1812 he married Sarah Wright at the age of 46; she was 19. Some family members speculate that he had a family in Wales that he was unable to bring to America & so started another. We do not know that the middle initial B is for Beverly. He died at the age of 84, leaving a family of 9 children, 4 of which were girls. His wife was 56. We have the dates of birth from census records & the Wozencraft family history. He is not listed in the 1820 census although it seems reasonable that he would be as he married Sarah Wright there in 1812. Our previous date of death of 24 Dec 1834 was based on the copy of the persons in that will, giving us the names of his children & wife. He would have been 68 at that time so that seems reasonable to make a will however further research has well supported a later death date of 1852 per the 1840 & 1850 census' & the will book. Index to Ga Tax digests vol5, 1814-1817: Woozencraft pg 102 Clarke Co/Martin 1815 digest pg 032. March 1996: From Midland Public Library Genealogy,"Records of Clarke County, Georgia 1801-1892, in the Ga Dept of Archives & History, compiled by Robert S Davis, page 22: Wozencraft, Thomas 1852-53. (Assume this pertains to death). Page 59: Thrasher, Barton vs Wozencraft, Thomas 1842. page 41: Jackson, Hartwell Jr vs Wozencraft, Thomas; Wozencraft, William J 1842. page 53: Sheats, Benjamin J; Sheats, Marshall M vs Wozencraft, Thomas 1843. page 58: Thomas, Merrill vs Wozencraft, Thomas 1841 Apr 1996: Per Lou Pettigrew 3721 Kimberly Ln, Ft Worth Tx 76133: Family group sheet: Thomas Wozencraft b 1 Jan 1768 South Wales, England; d June 1852 Clarke Co Ga, m Sarah Wright, 24 Dec 1812."

From Louise Lavender: "Thomas Wozencraft was born in Wales. In the early part of 19th Century at the age of 30 years, he came to the United States and made an expedition throught (sic) Louisiana and Arkansas.  During the War of 1812, while he was on his way home, he was captured within one days ride of his home.  He was carried back to England.  In 1816 he returned to his native land and was absent from his family for seven years.  He married in Georgia.  His son William Thomas was seven years old before he saw his father.  He spent the rest of his life engaged in farming in Georgia.  He led an interesting and eventful life."

The gap in ages between the older kids and younger would seem to fit with the story that he was captured and sent back to Wales for 7 years...

Charlotte Erickson's 1972 book, "The Invisible Immigrants," reprints letters from English immigrants to 19th-century America. Included are letters from Thomas Wozencraft, about whom the following information is given:

"Born in South Wales, he was living in the village of Leintwardine, a few miles north of Kington, Herefordshire, in 1790 when his son, John, was born. Thirty-five years later, when he emigrated, he was farming land that he owned, 172 acres at Womaston, three miles NW of Kington. ...The village of Womaston itself returned 181 inhabitants in 1821 and 186 in 1831. This was the decade when Thomas Wozencraft emigrated....When Wozencraft left for America in 1825, he let [leased] his farm to his son, John, who was then about thirty-five years old. Wozencraft himself was nearly sixty years old when he emigrated. In this respect he was already an exceptional immigrant, though there were quite a number of elderly people who emigrated from Britain with their children to American farms. The fact that Wozencraft left alone, without his family, is even more remarkable and may have been preceded by some sort of rupture of family relations. At least the letters make clear that Thomas Wozencraft did not bear any great love for his children in Herefordshire.

"Though he referred to his wandering in the United States, Wozencraft had arrived in Watkinsville in Clarke County, Georgia, before 1830. By this time he had also remarried, bought land and six slaves. Clarke County, created in 1801 and situated in east north central Georgia, already had 7,628 inhabitants in 1810. In an older cotton producing region, it was no longer growing rapidly by the twenties, when Thomas Wozencraft settled there....The largest town in Clarke County, Athens, had a mere 1,658 inhabitants by 1850.

"At the time of the 1850 census, Wozencraft was still on the same plantation, though his land holdings were reduced from the five to six hundred acres he reported in his letter of 1843 to three hundred acres. He now owned only four slaves....By this time his son, John, born in Georgia in 1831, was helping on the plantation."

Also Records show he showed up in Savannah GA with a 22 year old female: Levia Wozencraft.

Marriage Book A 1804-1821 Clarke Co Ga pg 35: Thomas Woozencraft & Sarah Wright Dec 24, 1812-A, licensed & performed same date, performed by William Wright Jr, Methodist, located 1803-07, died 1818-1821.

Children and the related family trees
name - Guy and Gia Davis Family Research Project

Research
Guy Davis-compiled information and converted it into article format.