Individual Details
Michael Pinkley
(Abt 1755 - Abt 1828)
Some of Pauline's notes show Michael born in North Carolina and died in New York, but I don't know where that came from. It could be that the abbreviation for Kentucky (KY) was mistaken for the abbreviation for New York (NY). Helen J. Pinkley lists Michael as born in Hagertown, Ireland. A search on the LDS web site (familysearch.com) turned up several Pinkley's in England, but none in Ireland.
At first I could find no Hagertown, Ireland, but I did find mention of a Binkley/Pinkley family who lived in the area of Hagerstown, Maryland, including a George Binkley who died there about 1814. I sent e-mail to a couple of people who posted queries on this family which I found on rootsweb. Unfortunately, nobody knew of any link between the two families. There was a Michael mentioned in one of the e-mails, however (Michael and John, sons of Catherine Binkley). It was assumed that this Michael was dead before 1806, because his mother, Catherine (wife of Johannes Binkley Jr.), was leaving land to grandchildren instead. However, Michael was living in North Carolina by then (known from the 1800 census and from the purchase of land there in 1801), so it would be natural that she wouldn't leave land in Maryland to him. Also, there were apparently Reels in Maryland as well, and Elizabeth's family may have been in Maryland before moving to North Carolina. Also, Imogene Pinkley's book mentions that a Michael C. Pinkley shows up on the Muster roles of Maryland troops.
His will was entered in Kentucky in 1828, so that's probably where he died, and I think that's probably where the (approximate) death date came from. In fact, his wife shows up as head-of-household in Kentucky census of 1830.
I did find Michael in the 1800 census on USGenWeb (on the internet), which indicates that he was at least 45 years old in 1800, so by 1828 he would have been at least 73 (and he was born 1755 or earlier, which is a bit earlier than what other researchers have said). On the 1830 census, Elizabeth is 60-70, so she must be the 26-45 year old female on the 1800 census, and I'm guessing the 45+ year old female is probably the mother of one of them.
1800 Burke County, North Carolina Federal Census
==================================================================================================================================================
Males Females All
Pg# Ln# Head of Household to-10 10-16 16-26 26-45 45+ to-10 10-16 16-26 26-45 45+ Others Slaves Remarks
Last Name First Name (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)
==================================================================================================================================================
786 5 Pinkley Michael 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 0
I also found Rachel and George on the 1850 census:
Barren, KY 1850 Federal Census (First Division minus Glasgow)
=========================================================================================================================
LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BIRTHPLACE MRD. SCH. R/W DDB
=========================================================================================================================
39 1184 1214 Pinkley George 58 M Miller N. Caro X
40 1184 1214 Pinkley Rachel 68 F N. Caro X
If Rachel was 68 in 1850, then she would have been 18 in 1800, but the 1800 census doesn't show any 18 year old females in the household. George would be one of the male children on the 1800 census. The other could be Josiah.
There are 5 female children named in the will, but there are only three on the 1800 census. I am assuming that the first three on the will (Elizabeth, Marion and Margaret) are the ones that show up on the 1800 census. Since Rachel, Ruth, and Josiah are all biblical names and the others are not, I think it probable that these were the first three children, possibly by a previous marriage. Since there's such a gap between Rachel and Josiah (at least 8 years), Ruth was probably the second child after Rachel.
Junita Pinkley Fott had George and Rachel down as William's parents. I think she must have gotten those names from 1850 census and didn't suspect that these were actually his older brother and sister.
2019 update: I did find that there was a Hagertown in Ireland, in the County of Lowth (based on a book I found online, Statutes Passed in the Parliaments Held in Ireland: 1310-1662). I see also a mention of "parish of Hagertown, county Louth, Ireland" (according to another web site). I have also found a web site for County Louth genealogy where there are records for a place called "Haggardstown" which was spelled "Hagerstown" in the old parish records that I found online. I google search of Haggardstown turned up more interesting results.
An ancestry.com search for Pinkley's in Ireland do turn up quite a few in the Southern part of the country. But also there were some people with the similar-sounding name "Penngelly" in County Louth. Also there were Pinkleys in the US census and Canada census who said they were born in Ireland. However, I also find Pinkleys born in Germany, so it is hard to draw any conclusions just based on the surname.
Other census results:
Found Michal Penkly in 1790 census of Burke, North Carolina.
Michael Pinkley in 1800 census of Burke, North Carolina who is 45 or over.
Also, Miche Pinkley in 1810 census of Morganton, Burke, North Carolina who is over 45 years old. (The image on this one appears to show the middle initial "C".)
Found a Michl Pinkley in 1810 census of Howard, Centre, Pennsylvania who is apparently between 26-45 years of age. So, this appears to be a younger person.
Then we have a Michael Pinckley in 1820 census of Barren, Kentucky.
At first I could find no Hagertown, Ireland, but I did find mention of a Binkley/Pinkley family who lived in the area of Hagerstown, Maryland, including a George Binkley who died there about 1814. I sent e-mail to a couple of people who posted queries on this family which I found on rootsweb. Unfortunately, nobody knew of any link between the two families. There was a Michael mentioned in one of the e-mails, however (Michael and John, sons of Catherine Binkley). It was assumed that this Michael was dead before 1806, because his mother, Catherine (wife of Johannes Binkley Jr.), was leaving land to grandchildren instead. However, Michael was living in North Carolina by then (known from the 1800 census and from the purchase of land there in 1801), so it would be natural that she wouldn't leave land in Maryland to him. Also, there were apparently Reels in Maryland as well, and Elizabeth's family may have been in Maryland before moving to North Carolina. Also, Imogene Pinkley's book mentions that a Michael C. Pinkley shows up on the Muster roles of Maryland troops.
His will was entered in Kentucky in 1828, so that's probably where he died, and I think that's probably where the (approximate) death date came from. In fact, his wife shows up as head-of-household in Kentucky census of 1830.
I did find Michael in the 1800 census on USGenWeb (on the internet), which indicates that he was at least 45 years old in 1800, so by 1828 he would have been at least 73 (and he was born 1755 or earlier, which is a bit earlier than what other researchers have said). On the 1830 census, Elizabeth is 60-70, so she must be the 26-45 year old female on the 1800 census, and I'm guessing the 45+ year old female is probably the mother of one of them.
1800 Burke County, North Carolina Federal Census
==================================================================================================================================================
Males Females All
Pg# Ln# Head of Household to-10 10-16 16-26 26-45 45+ to-10 10-16 16-26 26-45 45+ Others Slaves Remarks
Last Name First Name (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)
==================================================================================================================================================
786 5 Pinkley Michael 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 0
I also found Rachel and George on the 1850 census:
Barren, KY 1850 Federal Census (First Division minus Glasgow)
=========================================================================================================================
LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BIRTHPLACE MRD. SCH. R/W DDB
=========================================================================================================================
39 1184 1214 Pinkley George 58 M Miller N. Caro X
40 1184 1214 Pinkley Rachel 68 F N. Caro X
If Rachel was 68 in 1850, then she would have been 18 in 1800, but the 1800 census doesn't show any 18 year old females in the household. George would be one of the male children on the 1800 census. The other could be Josiah.
There are 5 female children named in the will, but there are only three on the 1800 census. I am assuming that the first three on the will (Elizabeth, Marion and Margaret) are the ones that show up on the 1800 census. Since Rachel, Ruth, and Josiah are all biblical names and the others are not, I think it probable that these were the first three children, possibly by a previous marriage. Since there's such a gap between Rachel and Josiah (at least 8 years), Ruth was probably the second child after Rachel.
Junita Pinkley Fott had George and Rachel down as William's parents. I think she must have gotten those names from 1850 census and didn't suspect that these were actually his older brother and sister.
2019 update: I did find that there was a Hagertown in Ireland, in the County of Lowth (based on a book I found online, Statutes Passed in the Parliaments Held in Ireland: 1310-1662). I see also a mention of "parish of Hagertown, county Louth, Ireland" (according to another web site). I have also found a web site for County Louth genealogy where there are records for a place called "Haggardstown" which was spelled "Hagerstown" in the old parish records that I found online. I google search of Haggardstown turned up more interesting results.
An ancestry.com search for Pinkley's in Ireland do turn up quite a few in the Southern part of the country. But also there were some people with the similar-sounding name "Penngelly" in County Louth. Also there were Pinkleys in the US census and Canada census who said they were born in Ireland. However, I also find Pinkleys born in Germany, so it is hard to draw any conclusions just based on the surname.
Other census results:
Found Michal Penkly in 1790 census of Burke, North Carolina.
Michael Pinkley in 1800 census of Burke, North Carolina who is 45 or over.
Also, Miche Pinkley in 1810 census of Morganton, Burke, North Carolina who is over 45 years old. (The image on this one appears to show the middle initial "C".)
Found a Michl Pinkley in 1810 census of Howard, Centre, Pennsylvania who is apparently between 26-45 years of age. So, this appears to be a younger person.
Then we have a Michael Pinckley in 1820 census of Barren, Kentucky.
Events
| Birth | Abt 1755 | Haggardstown, County Louth, Ireland | |||
| Marriage | Est 1781 | Elizabeth Reel | |||
| Census | 1800 | Burke, North Carolina, USA | |||
| Death | Abt 1828 | Barren, Kentucky, USA |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth Reel (1765 - 1830) |
| Child | Rachel Pinkley (1782 - ) |
| Child | Ruth Pinkley (1786 - ) |
| Child | Josiah Pinkley (1790 - ) |
| Child | George H. Pinkley (1792 - ) |
| Child | Elizabeth Pinkley (1798 - ) |
| Child | Marion Pinkley (1799 - ) |
| Child | Margaret "Peggy" Pinkley (1800 - ) |
| Child | William P. Pinkley (1804 - 1864) |