The author has done limited research on his paternal Wise ancestors and his research begins with Sherwood Wise (abt. 1750 - abt. 1816), his 4th great grandfather, who settled in Wilkes County, Georgia in the late 1700s. This Sherwood Wise should not be confused with the Sherwood Wise (1785-1845) who was his nephew, the son of his brother Joseph Wise and Margaret Patton. Sherwood the nephew married Cynthia Colquitt the daughter of the Rev. War soldier Robert Colquitt and his wife whose maiden name was Hubbard.
Sherwood's ancestry is murky. Based entirely on the research of others, Sherwood is said to be the son of James Wise (1714-1784) and Rebecca Massey. If this is correct, his paternal grandparents were Otto William Wise and Sarah Bonnewell and his maternal grandparents were Joseph Massey and Elizabeth Lee. One key problem with this ancestry thread is the Will of James Wise which does not mention a son named Sherwood. For this reason, the author doesn't place a lot of certainty in this lineage and he has not yet had time to dig into proving his lineage. It was not uncommon for children to be left off of Wills if they had already been given their share of an estate. If one wishes to dig deeper into the Wise genealogy, the book entitled "Col. John Wise of England and Virginia, His Ancestors and Descendants" written by Jennings Cropper Wise and the Virginia Historical Society in 1916 would be a good place to start. If one wishes to accept what the researchers have put forth, it would appear that Sherwood's ancestry can be traced back to Oliver Wise (1st) of Devon, Plymouth, England (12th century) - a very distinguished ancestry shared by many important and famous persons, possibly of Magna Charta ancestry. An internet search will turn up numerous records and histories of our Wise family so all of that information will not be duplicated here.
Sherwood was born about 1750 in Virginia and he died about 1816 in Wilkes County, Georgia. His marriage to Sarah Patton, the daughter of Jacob Patton of Augusta County, Virginia would be the likely place to begin confirmation of Sherwood's ancestry. Their marriage took taken place in Wake County, NC on January 5, 1772. [1] There are early records for a Jacob Patton in Wake and Johnson County, NC. Some researchers claim that Jacob Patton arrived in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1777 which is consistent with the records found for his son-in-law Sherwood Wise. Sherwood's brother Joseph is said to have married Margaret Patton. Margaret might be the sister of Sarah, Sherwood's wife. Joseph Wise and Margaret also moved to Georgia where their name can be found in the Wilkes County Georgia records.[2]
Sherwood was a patriot soldier in the American Revolution as a Georgia resident. His name can be found in Lucian Lamar Knight's "Georgia's Roster of the Revolution". [3] His land bounty was 287-1/2 acres of land in Wilkes County. In addition to this bounty land, Sherwood is shown to have received 350 acres in Wilkes County as a headright grant in June of 1778. In 1786, he is also shown to have sold 404 acres on Hutton's Fork - it is not know if this is in addition to his earlier grants or a part of those grants.
In Daniel Crumpton's book [4], Sherwood's land was located near the confluence of Dry Fork Creek and Long Creek just above the community of Rayle, Georgia. Crumpton's book indicates over 550 acres which agrees somewhat with the headright grant plus the bounty grant (637-1/2 acres).
Daniel Crumpton, Wilkes County, Georgia Land Records Volume 1
(Annotation by the author)
Two of Sherwood's daughters married sons of Daniel Jackson and Daniel's land was located almost adjacent to Sherwood's land (only the land of Elijah Clark separated the two - see plat map above).
The Georgia Archives holds a file that contains many records from Sherwood's estate administration (Wilkes County, GA). From these records, we can establish the names of his wife and eight children.
Estate record of Sherwood Wise, Wilkes County, Georgia
(GA Archives)
- Wife - Sarah
- Son - John (administrator of the estate) is said to have married Martha Fanning.
- Son - Josiah (Joshua?)
- Son - Zachariah is said to have married Catherine Thompson Glenn. There is a record of Zachariah serving as the administrator of the estate of John Jackson (his brother-in-law). Another record from the estate of Sherwood Wise indicates that Zachariah signed for his sister (J.Jackson).
- Son - Patterson
- Son - Erwin dec'd at the time of his father's death.
- Daughter - Ruth (Rutha?)
- John Jackson and Joshua Jackson are listed as beneficiaries "in right of their wife" - meaning that they receives shares for Sherwood's daughters (not named); However, other documents have been found that indicate these 2 daughters were Jane and Eleanor.
- Daughter - Jane - married John Jackson, brother of Joshua, both sons of Daniel Jackson. This is the author's line - Jane Wise and John Jackson are his paternal 3rd great-grandparents.
- Daughter - Eleanor - married Joshua Jackson, brother of John above. Interestingly, Eleanor Wise and Joshua Jackson had a daughter named Lucy that married John R. Talbot who is the author's paternal 3rd great-granduncle. John R. Talbot's parents were Joseph Hale Talbot and Bethany Callaway, his paternal 4th great-grandparents. John R. Talbot's sister Nancy married Spain Colley.[4]
Early Records of Georgia, Vol. 1, Grace Gillam Davidson
Sherwood Wise estate document
(GA Archives)
In addition to these names, there is a Mary Wise that received money from his estate - she may be the widow of Erwin.
One very interesting document that lists Sherwood is a 1794 document where he is subpoenaed to appear before a Judge in Wilkes County in regard to a matter between a Sarah Patton and General Elijah Clark. This could be his wife but not likely because he would have been her representative in this matter. Was this his sister? The name Sarah Patterson can be found in his estate documents - could this have been a typo? Some researchers claim that John Wise's middle name was Patterson which might ambiguate the maiden name of Sherwood's mother (Patton).
Also found is a muster card in the "Revolutionary War Records" for a Sherwood Wise on Fold3; However, the dates are for 1793 and therefore it cannot confirm that this is the same Sherwood Wise. He served with Captain William Spruce in the Georgia Militia (2nd Regiment, 1st Brigade, 3rd Division). Captain Spruce was a Revolutionary War veteran and he is buried in Guilford County, NC. William Spruce appears to have owned at least 56,0000 acres of land in Georgia and he likely resided in Wilkes County at some point. His name is found on a 1793 Wilkes County document listing what is called the Linch Society which appears to be a group of Georgia men (soldiers) who banded together to defend the reputation of General Elijah Clark.
If this Sherwood is our ancestor, he would have been in his early 40s in 1793 when he served in the militia. Most likely this Sherwood is the son of Sherwood's brother Joseph.
Fold3.com
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[1] Wake County Marriage Bonds.
[2] The records indicate that Jacob owned over 3000 acres on/near Mack's Creek (now Oglethorpe County) which is fairly close to where Sherwood lived. Daniel Crumpton's plat book lists several tracts issued between 1783 and 1788. The 1783 plat is consistent with the time bounty lands were awarded to Revolutionary War soldiers. Given his age and the fact that his brother Sherwood was a Patriot soldier, Joseph likely was also a Patriot Revolutionary War soldier as well but no record of his service was found. It would be highly unlikely for a man of his age to have no done some service or provided provisions for the Patriot cause.
[3] Listed as Sherard Wise, page 401. Certified List; Men who received bounty warrants.
[4] Daniel N. Crumpton, "Wilkes County, Georgia Land Records, Vol. 1"
[5] Almost all of of the author's paternal ancestors that lived in Wilkes County, Georgia lived fairly close to one another and therefore he is related to a lot of the early settlers of the area (Talbot, Callaway, Eidson, Arnold, Combs, Staples, Stark, Pinkston, Jackson, Wise and others). This region mirrors the area of Pendleton District, South Carolina and Franklin County Georgia for having so many of his maternal ancestors.
This page was created on 2/24/2025