Edward Pennington & Pennington Gap

Edward “Neddy” Pennington is the third oldest son of Micajah Pennington and his wife Rachel Jones.  He was born on 29 Dec 1769 in Wilkes Co., NC – probably near modern day Ashe Co., NC.  He lived to be 90 years old and was the longest lived of all of his siblings

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Micajah Pennington and Rachel Jones had ten children born from 1761 to 1782.  Edward Pennington was the fourth son and fifth child in his family.    One of the first things that we see a legal listing for Edward Pennington was a Bastardy Bond.  When an unmarried woman was found to be pregnant, she was brought to court and questioned and was supposed to produce the name of the father.  The father would then be required to post bond to essentially pay for the raising of the child so the county wouldn’t have to take care of the expense.  Edward Pennington was required to post such a bond in the case of Agnes Little and their child Ann Little Pennington.  The child was born in 1792 and died in 1796.  Edward married not too long after the child’s birth and was supposedly being taken care of by Micajah and Rachel when the child died.  Edward married Martha “Patsy” Flanary around 1793 in Wilkes Co., NC and by 1802, they had moved to Lee Co., VA. 

Edward and his wife had four children by the time they moved to Lee Co., VA.   The process of moving a family to another location circa 1802 boggles the imagination.  The oldest child would have been around 7 (b. 1794) and the youngest was probably a baby (b. 1801).  Imagine trying to make the move in the first place and then having to build a home of some sort to house a growing family…because not too long after the move, they had another child.

Edward & Martha were the parents of the following children:

• ·         Phoebe b. 9/26/1794 m. William Parsons
• ·         Thomas  b. 7/5/1794 m. Mourning Jones
• ·         David b. 3/11/1799 m. Virginia Stamper
• ·         Elizabeth b. 1/19/1801 m. George Smyth
• ·         John Dees b. 10/5/1802 m. Rachel Zion
• ·         Rebecca b. 7/12/1805 m. John Parsons
• ·         Susan b. 3/20/1808 m. Abraham Chrisman
• ·         Elijah b. 3/10/1810 m. Sarah Jones
• ·         Levi b. 10/10/1812 m. Elizabeth Zion
• ·         Martha b. 7/6/1815 m. Isaac Russell
• ·         Mary b. 11/11/1817 m. Mitchell Cecil

When you start to look at this family and their descendants – it can get very complicated.  Phoebe and Rebecca married brothers – Thomas and Elijah married sisters.  Elijah married the niece of John’s wife…and within a few generations Parsons, Smythe, Russell, and Zions are so tangled up that it seems that they are all related somehow.  Many of these families stayed in the area and I would imagine if you talked to someone who was from Pennington Gap, Lee Co., VA and their families had been there for a few generations…I’m sure they have a connection to Neddy Pennington and his eleven children.  Edward and his family made enough a stamp on the region that the largest community in Lee Co., VA is called Pennington Gap – named for Edward Pennington, one of its earliest settlers!