Othniel (Othneal) Minter

  General Notes:

The 1840 Federal Census for Henry Co., VA records Othnel Minter as 60 to 70 years old. He is also listed in the 1820 and 1830 census records for Henry Co.

from: http://webpages.charter.net/chamberlayne/minter/mnotes.htm Minters of Henry County by Donald W. Chamberlayne : chamberlayne@charter.net
Othniel Minter
Othniel (sometimes Orthniel, or Othinel) [4], born in 1778, was the fourth child and first son of John and Susannah Minter. In December, 1799, he married Joyce Stultz, born in 1785, a daughter of Adam and Mary (Gravely) Stultz.
Othniel was a Baptist minister and his name (with that spelling) is on record in the performance of numerous marriages in Henry County (ref. Virginia Anderton Dodd). As for the spelling of the given name, "Othniel" has in its favor two factors: one, that it was spelled that way in numerous county marriages on record with him as the presiding minister, and two, that Othniel is an Old Testment name and it was an era of popularity of biblical names. (According to The Free Dictionary and Easton's Bible Dictionary, Othniel was the first judge of Israel after the death of Joshua.) Othniel also served with the 4th Regiment of Virginia Militia in the War of 1812 [War service records online, Ancestry.com].
Between 1801 and 1827 Joyce Minter bore thirteen children, four sons and nine daughters. Storm shows marriages of all thirteen, most yielding descendencies of varying extent. It is presumed that Joyce was deceased by 1837, since Othniel remarried on June 12 of that year. His second wife was Mary "Polly" Burgess [Dodd, p.36, p.113]. There is some uncertainty as to who this Mary "Polly" Burgess was.
In addition to Dodd's transcription of the marriage records, the work of Anne Vestal-Miller, encompassing the Burgess family, and others, which is well documented, serves as an important source on this branch of the Minters. Mrs. Vestal-Miller traced a Burgess line from Gloucester County, Virginia to a Davis Burgess, born in 1765, who moved to Henry County and married Lucy Pace in 1794 [Dodd, p.7]. Of their ten known children, two of concern here were (1) John Burgess III, born about 1800, who married a Polly Weaver on October 22, 1825 [Dodd, p.7]; and John's sister (2) Mary "Polly" Burgess. According to Mrs. Vestal-Miller, the latter was referred to as Polly Potts in her father's 1828 will (her husband not named). No such marriage is cited by Dodd.
It thus appears that in June, 1837, at the age of 59, the Rev. Othniel Minter married one Mary Burgess, who presumably was either (a) the daughter of Davis Burgess who married and was the widow (or former wife) of a gentleman named Potts, or (b) the widow or former wife of John Burgess III, the brother of the first possibility.
Adding to the complexity and the interesting quality of this matter is the fact, from Dodd's transcription of Henry County marriages, that a son of Othniel and Joyce Minter, William Leftwich Minter, born 1818/19 [per 1850 census], married, on Feb-20-1843, a Mary D. Burgess. She was described therein as "dau. of Polly Minter. Othniel Minter, grdn. of wife."
Thus, the younger Mary D. Burgess was a daughter of Mary "Polly" Burgess, and therefore, from the time she was eight or nine years old, a step-daughter of Othniel Minter, presumably living in the Minter home. In the 1850 census, Mary D. (Burgess) Minter was listed as age 21 (thus born 1828/29), with three children, wife of William L. Minter, with children ages 7, 5, and 3.
Evidence also exists, according to Kim Morton, of an application made in the 1870s by Mary Burgess Minter for a pension based on her husband's service in the Virginia militia in the War of 1812. This Mary Burgess Minter clearly was the widow of Othniel.
There remain, then, at least two possible interpretations of the origins of the Mary "Polly" Burgess who married Othniel Minter in 1837. One is that she was the daughter of Davis and Lucy (Pace) Burgess who (apparently) married first a Mr. Potts. This scenario raises the question of why her daughter, Mary D. Burgess, would not have been known as Mary D. Potts.
Another, perhaps more likely possibility is that she was Polly (Weaver) Burgess, former wife of John Burgess III, either his widow or the product of a rare divorce. Suggesting the latter is the fact that Dodd shows another marriage, in 1837, of a John Burgess (although not necessarily the same one, of course) to a Matilda France [p.7].
A third, and somewhat remote, possibility arises from the existence, according to Anne Vestal-Miller, of "...another John Burgess in Pittsylvania County, Va. He married Mary [Polly] Mcmillon in 1799 and died on 28 Sep. 1837." Thus, a third Mary "Polly" Burgess enters the picture. The chief obstacle to this possibility, however, is that her husband's death came three months after the marriage of Othniel and Mary Burgess (June 12, 1837).
Maybe there is a piece missing from this puzzle, a documentary fact somewhere that would settle the ambiguities described here. We can only hope that a reader who knows what we do not know will make contact and fill us in, hopefully with documentary evidence.

Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 09:54:48 -0500
From: kim morton <genmorton@usa.net>
Subject: Re: Minter Family in Missouri
To: "L. Bolling Hagen" <lhagen@vt.edu>
Dear Bo, Sorry I don't know anything about these families[Richard W. Minter & William D. Doyls who moved to Missouri ca 1855]. My Henry Co. residents moved to MO in the 1840's and 50's as did my line. Tabitha Minter daughter of Othneil Minter is my line. Tabitha and her husband Merrit Harville moved to Cedar County MO about 1848. I'll keep my eyes open for you.
Sincerely, Mr. Kim Morton

Note: Henry County, Virginia Marriages, 1778-1849 <http://www.ancestry.com>
Nov. 20, 1834 Harvell, Merritt, and Tabitha Minter, consent of Othneil Minter. Henry County, Virginia, Marriage Bonds, 1778-1849, page 24
[p.103] Return dated 1835 Harvell, Merrit, and Tabitha Minter. Silas Minter, Minister.
also ...
The 1860, 1870, & 1880 census records report Merrit and Tabitha Harville in Madison Township, Cedar Co., Missouri: The 1860 Federal Census for Madison Township, Cedar Co., Missouri, Bear Creek P. O. records Merrit (48 - VA) and Elizabet (48 - VA) Harvile with daughter Mary A. Harville (11 - Missouri). Next door is son William L. Harvile (25 - VA) and family.
The 1870 Federal Census for Madison Township, Cedar Co., Missouri, Stockton P. O. records Merit (58 - VA) and Tabitha (57 - VA) Harvell.
The 1880 Federal Census for Madison Township, Cedar Co., Missouri, District 252 records Merit (68 - VA) and Tabitha (67 - VA) Harvel. Merit is always listed as a farmer w/o much in assets: 1860 real estate: $500, personal estate: $220 & 1870 real estate: $300, personal estate: $350

Othniel married Joyce Stultz in Dec 1799 in Henry Co, VA. (Joyce Stultz was born circa 1785 and died circa 1838 in Henry Co, VA.)