General Notes

Alden Williamson was the first person to settle at the mouth of the Laurel Fork of Pigeon. He was a descendant of Hugh Williamson, who came from Wales about 1720's and first settled in New Kent County, Va., and then moved with the tide of emigration to Western Pennsylvania. Alden Williamson had three sons. John, who married a Miss Hibbard and moved to Kentucky, Richard, who married a Miss Wiley, daughter of Jennie Wiley, and settled on Twelve Pole, and Benjamin, who married a Miss Porter and settled near the present site of the town of Williamson, WV. By this marriage with Miss Porter, Ben Williamson had two sons, Benjamin, who married Esther Deskins, and John, who moved to Ky, and three daughters, who married respectively, Abram Millard, Joseph Porter, and James Taylor. James Taylor is the great-great-great-great grandfather to my husband, David A. Browning>Ruth Shilot>Addie Endicott>Columbia Taylor>Allen Taylor>James Taylor. By the second he had two sons, Hammond, who married a Miss Maynard, and Julius C, who married a Miss Butcher and is still living.

Alden Williamson died while going down Tug River on a raft of timber. He is buried on the bill little farm on the Ky. side of the river below the mouth of W.V. Camp Creek. He is buried 2 miles below the mouth of Calf Creek in Martin Co. On the Bill Little farm. His grave cannot be positively identified.

Family records state that Alden was born about 1750 in New Kent, county, Va.,the son of Hugh ,who came from Wales England in 1720. New Kent County is in the James River area, East of Richmond. Allden appeared in the military records of Southwestern Va. 1769-1800. Private Williamson was listed in Captian William Campbell's Company in Fincastle County Battalion. He is also listed in Robert Doak's Company of Militia in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774

All family records show Alden's first wife was Isabell Thompson, but none give when and where they were married. Records partly official and partly tradition are to the fact that after the Revolutionary War was over, Alden came to the Clinch River Valley in Western Va. Whether he married in Fincastle County and they came together or they were married in Tazewell County is not known.

Alden and Isabell's family; Benjamin b.1779, John b.1781, Hammond b.1783, Ann b. 1784, and Richard b.1786; were born in the Clinch River Valley and Isabell died there.

After the death of Isabell, Alden married Mary Elizabeth Jackson several years younger than him. Most family records did not use Mary as part of the name. Wayne County records list her as Polly a substitute for Mary.

All family records show that Alden migrated to the Big Sandy Valley between 1775 and 1790. Historians say that no Williamsons were in the Big Sandy Valley in 1793. The Census Bureau show Alden's children were born in Va. as late as 1801. Some say that Alden's first settlement was at the mouth of Laurel Creek of Pidgeon Creek, then in Va., but now Lenore in Mingo County, WV. This would care of the Census Report that his children were born in Va. up to and including 1801, and allowed him to have come any time after 1793. The Pidgeon Creek settling is not found on any records.

The first record in Big Sandy was the marriage of Hammond Williamson and Ruth Ford on Oct. 29,1803 in File 77 Floyd County. Another record was the birth of Nancy Williamson to John And Elender (Black) Williamson at the mouth of Shelby Creek Pike County 1803. There is no known record of any of Alden's children living in (West) Va. prior to 1820.

Various deed books give Alden's children owning land in Pike, Floyd, Johnson, and Martin counties, some later moved to (West) Va. The Census state that Alden's second family; Alden Jr., Elizabeth, Hiram, Nancy, and Solomon b. in1801 were born in Va., and William, Elias, Elijah, and James were born in Ky. Therefore Alden's family to Big Sandy after 1801.

Little Paint Creek as per family records is the place where Alden and his family fi