The Wansley name is almost certainly English in origin. Alternate spellings are Wanslow, Wanslee and Wansloo.
My research begins with my maternal 5th great grandfather John W. Wansley (1738-1835) of Albemarle County, Virginia who was a Revolutionary War soldier in both militia and continental units of Virginia. John arrived in Elbert County, Georgia (Formerly Wilkes County) about 1800 where he lived on/near Van's (Vann's) Creek. On his Revolutionary War pension, he stated that he was born in Louisa County, Virginia (adjoins Albemarle County). Note that he was already in his 60's when he arrived in Georgia. Also note that Albemarle County is where Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is located near Charlottesville.
At this time, no one knows who his parents were nor the maiden name of his wife; However, there have been several researchers who have done extensive work on John and I will not repost their info here but instead I will provide links for those interested in reading that information. Frank Nicholas Wansley (1901-1983) wrote a book many years ago entitled "From Rome to Ruckersville - Our Wansley History". [1] Frank is a direct descendant of John Wansley and he also lived in Elbert County. His work contains a lot of information about the Wansley family but it should be pointed out that several more recent researchers have found discrepancies with some of the information in his book; In particular, John Wansley's wife's maiden name. Joan Horsley is one of those researchers and her work can be found here. Also, visit the research of Jim Evans here. My research has mainly only covered John's Revolutionary War service and some of his descendants so I will not speculate on his or his wife's ancestry - that has been well researched by others.
John and many of his family are buried in the small family cemetery that is near Coldwater Creek in Elbert County.
Supposedly, Van's Creek Baptist Curch was named after the famous Cherokee Indian Chief David Vann.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR SERVICE
His pension application, which can be found on Fold3.com is #S32045 under the name (Private) John Wanslow. He applied for his pension in 1831-1832 while living in Elbert County, GA.
- General Thomas Nelson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
- General Wilson could possibly be James Wilson, another one of our founding fathers.
- General Lafayette is the famous Marquis de Lafayette
Witnesses to his pension application were William A. Beck and Joseph Rucker. The Beck family has a close relationship to the Wansleys which I discuss later. Joseph Rucker was a very large landowner in Elbert County and a substantial character witness. He was from Orange County, VA. He was known as the first millionaire in Georgia. The town of Ruckersville is named for him. Per the 1860 slave schedule, Joseph Rucker owned 224 slaves! (Joseph may have owned up to 300 slaves at one point. I found no records for any Wansleys owning slaves - likely that they did not have the financial means to acquire them.)
Note that John lived near Van's Creek (Vann's Creek) which was the site of a Revolutionary War Battle in February 1779, 3 days before the Battle of Kettle Creek which took place in nearby Wilkes County, GA. It followed the skirmish at McGowan's blockhouse. John probably did not participate in this battle - he did not arrive in Georgia until about 1800 - but it is likely that the associations he made during that war led him to settle in Georgia.
Monument at the Richard B. Russell State Park which memorializes the events at Cherokee Ford and Van Creek. The Richard B. Russell State Park sits on land that likely was previously owned by Colonel John Cunningham.
Several of John's sons served in the War of 1812: John Jr. (4th GA Militia), Joseph (4th GA Militia), Larkin (1 Regiment GA Militia) and Thomas (Freeman's Squadron Cavalry, GA Militia).
John Wansley's daughter Sarah married John Beck who was a Captain in the Revolutionary War, also from Albemarle County, VA. There is a Rev War marker for John in the Beck-Wansley family cemetery; His wife, Sarah Wansley, is buried in Murray County, GA which is where she was living at the time of her death (living with her son Col. William Andrew Beck). According to Frank Wansley, John Beck owned approx. 1500 acres of land near Little Van's Creek and Beaverdam Creek in Elbert County.
(Revwarapps.org)
WILL of JOHN WANSLEY SR
John left a Will in 1835 naming his living children.
- Nancy (Married William Young)
- Elizabeth (Married an Elliott)
- Sally (Sarah) (married Captain John Beck, Rev. War soldier)
- Nathan (?-1852; Married Elizabeth Cleveland)
- John (Married Sally Greenway)
- Reuben (1784-?; Married Elizabeth Cunningham)
- Milly (Married Samuel Jenkins)
- Patsy (Married Benjamin Davis)
- Thomas (1783-1848; Married Jemima Means)
- Larkin (unknown wife)
He also had a daughter named Polly that died in1806 and a son named William for which there is no information.
His estate in 1838 was valued at $3475.50 (about $114,000 today) which consisted of $2541 in slaves.
One of the buyers at the estate sale was Ralph Gaines. Ralph's house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 - I do not know what became of this house. It appears to have been located to the east of present day highway 368 and south of Luther Burton Road (GPS 34.202500, -82.808889). This is approx. 1 mile south of the Beck-Wansley Cemetery at 368 and Coldwater Creek where John Wansley and many of his family are buried.
DECENDANTS OF JOHN WANSLEY SR
From a historical perspective, the most famous relationship in John's family is the marriage of his son Reuben to Elizabeth Cunningham who was the daughter of Colonel John Cunningham. Reuben and Elizabeth are my line and I have done significant research on Col. Cunningham so make sure you visit those pages since the information presented is relevant to John Wansley and his family. >>WANSLEY RECORDS<< >>CUNNINGHAM RECORDS<<
John Wansley's great grandsons Thomas Nathaniel Wansley and William J. Wansley served for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Thomas served with the Georgia 38th Regiment (Evans' Brigade, Wright's Legion) and William served with the 15th GA Infantry. Of the 1200 original soldiers in the Georgia 38th, only 105 men surrendered at Appomattox. William was a POW at Point Lookout, MD. William was captured at Mud Tavern, VA (Spotsylvania) in May 1864 - the same place that General Stonewall Jackson had died 1 year before.
2nd great-granduncle
(Unknown provenance)
A son of William J. Wansley, John Wesley Wansley, was Mayor and Sheriff of Franklin County, GA from 1908-1921. John W. Wansley's son, Hal B. Wansley, was an officer of the huge Georgia Power Company (now Southern Company) and the large electrical power plant in Carrollton Georgia bears his name. Interestingly, this plant surrounds an old cemetery that has the graves of several Confederate soldiers. A small controversy arose in 2011 when descendants of these soldiers had placed small Confederate flags on the graves only to have them removed by a Georgia Power employee.[2]
There is certainly a familial resemblance to Mollie and her father Jacob
The famous horse breeder/trainer Rex Cooper Ellsworth is a descendant of John Wansley. He was featured in Sports Illustrated Magazine in February 1963. One of his horses won the Kentucky Derby. Rex descends from John's grandson Nathan Whitten Wansley Jr. who moved to Arizona in the 1800s. Rex is the 3rd great grandson of John. Rex's grandmother was a Cleveland. Interestingly, Nathan Whitten Wansley Jr. served as a petit juror in Gordon County, Georgia in 1852 when Elisha Boucher murdered my 3rd great grandfather Signal Wilkinson (son of Rev. War soldier Elisha Wilkinson). It is highly doubtful that Nathan Wansley knew Signal Wilkinson since they were from different counties: The Wansleys are my maternal grandmother's side and the Wilkinsons are my maternal grandfather's side.
(From Rome to Ruckersville, book by Frank Wansley)
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[1] A copy of his book can be found at the Georgia Archives.
[2] The power plant is situated on land that encompasses and old church and cemetery where the Confederate soldiers are buried. The cemetery is not owned by the company but access to the cemetery is across restricted property owned by the company. In recent years, Confederate flags have been placed by descendants of the soldiers on the graves of these soldiers only to be removed by some Georgia Power employees citing a company policy forbidding "offensive materials" on company property. The cemetery, however, is not owned by the company and not on property owned by the company but a lawyer or two had to get involved to settle this. To my knowledge, the flags still fly - and rightly so.
(This page was created on 8/7/2023)