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 1794 - 1889

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• Birth	16 Jul 1794	, Grayson, Virginia, USA
  	Nina Franco < ninafranco@aol.com > says he was born in Bedford Co, VA
  Gender	Male
  Died	25 Nov 1889	Banks, Washington, Oregon, USA
  Buried	Union Cemetary, Banks, Washington, Oregon, USA
  Person ID	I3285	Herring Family of Callaway County, Missouri
  Last Modified	21 Aug 2005
  Father	Henry Wilkes,   b. Abt 1758,   d. 1794
  Mother	Sarah Burcham,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F1315	Group Sheet
  Family	Anna Dallas,   b. 18 Mar 1797, , Bedford, Virginia, USA ,   d. 18 Mar 1888, Forest Grove, Washington, Oregon, USA
  Married	25 Mar 1815	, Bedford, Virginia, USA
  	Mar. 25, 1815; Peyton Wilks & Anne Dallas, dt. John; Archelous Magann, Surety; Married by William Leftwich, March 26, 1815
  Last Modified	21 Aug 2005
  Family ID	F1320	Group Sheet

• Notes

  He moved to Oregon in 1845, and descendants have a scrap of blue coverlet which Peyton had purchased in 1839 from "his uncle Reuben Burchum for $7.50, his wife having spun and woven" the coverlet, per a note attached to it in 1933. Descendant:Carol Thilenius in Oregon ------------------------------------ Researcher: Barbara Eakley - Virginia Connections - < http://expage.com/page/eakley > At age 7 Peyton was bound out. The Bedford County Virginia Court order read: "22 January 1798; Ordered that Peyton Wilks, son of Sarah Wilks be bound out by the Overseers of the Poor to Stephen Martin, according to Law." Stephen Martin had married Elizabeth Dobyns in 1794. The children of Sarah Wilks, who were bound out, went into homes of near relatives or friensds, all of whom lived on Goose Creek or close by in Bedford County, VA It was further ordered in Bedford Court in January Court 1810; that Peyton Wilks be bound by Overseers of the Poor to George Walker, according to Law. George Walker was a tanner and apparently Peyton was apprenticed to Walker to learn the trade. [so says Lillian J. Crews. Think she got info from L.E. Wilks] continued: The L.E. Wilkes book about Peyton Wilkes gives little of his early life, mentioning only that he was "left an orphan [or motherless] at an ealy age .. bound out to learn the trade of tanner/" I [Lillian J. Crews] haave the impression that he and Archibald were the yuoungest of the family. Peyton's descendants record that he served in the War of 1812, enlisting as a private at Single Block on Goose Creek in Bedford County, as a private in Capt. Wiley Jones Company of Virginia Volunteers and served from Sept. 8, 1813 to March 10, 1814. "He was first a drummer and later in the artillery." He supposedly lived near Lynchburg. "We heard him tell how they packed tobacco in large hogsheads, built rims around them, attached shafts between which a horse was hitched, and rolled them into Lynchburg; hence the distance must not have been very great." "Peyton followed his trade in Virginia for several years and his three eldest children were born there. Their eldest child, Henry, died in infancy." Peyton was a witness to deeds in Grayson Co, VA in 1827 and 1828 forn his uncle Samuel Wilkes, of Bedford, who owned land in Grayson County. Peyton did not write and made his mark on the deed Oct. 22, 1827 by the name "Payton" and later proved the deed as one of hte subscribing witnesses, July 29, 1828, was signed the same, with a mark by the name "Payton." Peyton's descendants believe that he and his family spent a short time in Kentucky during the 1820s then returned to Virginia for a time before heading west permanently/ They stayed in Indiana for a while before moving to Newton Co, MO in the early 1840s, where both Peyton and Anna had beothers living in the area. Lincoln Ellsworth Wilkes and his brother. Thomas S. Wilkes, sons of Jabez Wilkes, tell his story about their grandparents, Peyton and Anna Dallas Wilkes; An amusing story is told of these Missouir days which illustrates the perfect balance between the natures and dispostions of this couple. She was a high-strung , nervous spitfire, and needed th calm, philsophic nature of such a man as her spouse to keep her in check. The cattle were stricken with murrain which carried off a large share of their herd. One morning one of the boys came in and reported that one of the work oxen was dead. Grandfather's only comment was, "Well, take his hide off, it will make good leather." [he pronounced it "luthah"]. Soon they reported a heifer was dead. "Well, skin her, her hide will make good shoe leather." Next the bull succumbed and he said, "Take the hide off, it will make good sole leather." This was niore than grandmother's thrifty sould could contemplate with anything like equanimity and she exclaimed, "Old Man, it's a judgment God has sent on you for your sins." "Well," he replied, if he's got a judgment agin me and will take it out in cattle, I can pay for it that way cheaper than any other for I've got more of them than anything else." He was gifted with this calm, unruffled nature which is such a blessing to mankind and which enabled him to carry a load that would have broken a fretful and irritable man many times over. Note: It is but justice to relate that with all grandmother's fiery temper and sharp tongue, when times of real distress came, she could, and did, meet them with the calm fortitude of the true pioneer woman. Like most of the frontiersmen of his day grandfather liked his "likker" but curiously enough when under its influence it was impossible to say or do anything to make him cross or quarrelsome. Through a life of extraordinary hardship he found many things to bring smiles to his own face and to endear himseld to all with whom he came in contact. With all his equanimity, he was a human dynamo and his rapid walk enabled acquaintances to recognize him as fara as he could be seen. Grandmother was often heard to exclaim, "Here comes the old man just rarin' and cavortin'." Grandmother was of a deeply religious nature and her pious soul was, no doubt, sorely tried by her convivial and irreverent mate. She was without education, but in her later years took up the all but insurmountable task of learning to read and says Thomas. S. Wilkes, "...the most grateful kisses I ever received from her dear old lips was when I first was able to help her to read in her old "book of common prayer." Grandfather never learned to read. Mrs. Arlene Johnson Marble, a great great granddaughter of Peyton wilkes, contributes this: My Wilkes family came to Pregon by covered wagon from Independence, Missouri in 1845; an estimated 3000 persons came that year. The family unit of 12 persons consisted of 3 generations headed by Payton Wilkes, my great great grandfather, and his wife, Anna Dallas m. 1815 Bedford County, Virginia. My great grandfather William Gardner Wilkes, was born there in 1819. The trip west was uneventful except for the death of 18 year old Marmaduke near the present Oregon-Idaho border. At the Dalles [area in Oregon] the Wilkes party joined a group of about 31 wagons under the leadership of Sam Barlow, who decided to attempt to make a wagon trail around the south side of Mt. Hood. Prior to this the Oregon Trail had ended there with the next 100 miles traveled by rafting down the Columbia River through the Cascade Mountains. Dangerous rapids, a 6 mile portage, and the high costs of renting floating equipment made these miles the most difficult and dangerous. Early snows in the Cascades and time lost hacking a passable wagon road through the dense forest forced the train to a desperate situation. It became necessary to leave the wagons in the mountains and to walk out to the settlement at Oregon City in early December. With later improvements the Barlow Toll Road became the route chosen to enter the Williamette Valley with wagons traveling all the way. That winter Peyton split cedar shakes for Dr. John McLaughlin, who had formerly been the Husdon bay factor at Fort Vancouver. Soon Peyton and his 2 married sons filed for donation land claims. Peyton chose land in Washington County, where oak trees grew in the Tualitan Valley, as he was a tanner. The town of Banks is located on his property. He and Anna wer married 73 years; she died in 1888 and he in 1889, aged 98 years. A yearly meeting of their descendants is held every summer at Hillsborough. William Gardner wilkes chose land in bordering Multnomah County. There is still a Wilkes school in use on land he donated in the 1860s. He and three brothers traveled to California during the gold rush; he is said to have paid $20 for an onion there and to have judged the flavor to be worth the price. ------------------------------------ Mar. 25, 1815; Peyton Wilks & Anne Dallas, dt John; Archelous Magann, Surety; Married by William Leftwich, March 26, 1815. --------------------------------------- Parentage is unsure - so says Barbara Eakley - < eakley@webtv.net > BA Connections -------------------------------------------- there is a Peyton Wilks on the census of Bedford Co, VA in 1810 and 1820

• Event Map

  Event Died - 25 Nov 1889 - Banks, Washington, Oregon, USA Buried - - Union Cemetary, Banks, Washington, Oregon, USA  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth