The Children of James Rainwater, ca 1735-post 1804, Surry Co., NC

James Rainwater, son of John Rainwater and Mary Fussell, was born in North Carolina. His parents were married in or before 1735. In 1754, he served in the Granville Co., NC militia - something which under normal circumstances he would not have done before the age of 16. We therefore place the year of his birth between 1735 and 1738.

Little is known of James Rainwater. He left no marriage record, no will, no family Bible. All that is known of him comes from property records, militia records and the occasional service on a jury (see Evidence for Early Rainwaters, prior to 1800). As I have assembled these lists, it has become apparent that the children of two different families have been routinely confused with one another - that is, the children of James Rainwater of North Carolina, and James Rainwater of Sevier Co., Tennessee.

The difficulty for many researchers is that James is the link from their provable ancestors to John Rainwater and Mary Fussell. So far, none has been able to satisfactorily prove the names of James's children. What we have is a tradition of these children, with nothing on which to base it. Over the years I have collected a number of lists of James Rainwater's children. I don't reproduce them here to humiliate the originators but to illustrate the thorny problem of proving descent from James. Just to further complicate things, the existance of many of the individuals on these lists in not in question - merely the identity of their parents.

The Lists

Roscoe Rainwater's List
This is the list that was passed down in our branch of the family.

Solomon, 1765-1814
Elizabeth, 1769-1850
William, 1774-1825
Miles, 1787-1826
John
Moses

Bob Schimmel & Coy B. Hodge's List

Solomon, 1758-1814
Elizabeth, 1760-1850
James, Jr., born 1766
Moses, born 1767
Sesame, born 1769
Ann, born 1772
William, 1774-1825
Catherine, born 1774
John, died 1790
Abraham, born 1784
Miles, born

The Whaley-Fussell List
This list was derived from a book called "Fussell's-n-Families" by Whaley, with the additional note that the information was supplied by Terrell, Charles and Lyle Rainwater and is the source for the list of James's children used in Lynn Fussell's "The Descendants of Nicholas Fussell, c. 1600 - c. 1660".

Solomon, born 1758
Elizabeth, born 1760
William, born 1761
Abraham, born 1763
Miles, born 1765
John, born 1765
Moses, born 1767
Sesame, born 1769
Ann, born 1772
Catherine, born 1774
James, Jr., born 1766

Jim and Gail Tabor's List
As an interesting twist, the Tabors dispute the conventional wisdom that William migrated to Kentucky around 1810. Rather, they indicate he settled in Alabama.

John, born ca 1752
Solomon, 1758-1814
James, born ca 1766
William, 1774-1855
Abraham, born 1784

Don Webber's List

Solomon, 1765-1814
Elizabeth, 1769-1850
William, 1774-1825
Abraham, born 1784
Miles, 1787-1826

Terry E. Davis's List

Moses
Solomon, 1765-1814
Elizabeth, 1769-1850
William, 1774-1825
Abraham, born 1784
Miles, 1787-1826
John, born 1788

Lisa Alexander's List
Lisa lists Don Webber's book and Hal Irving as her sources.

Moses, 1755-1828
Solomon, ca 1765-ca 1814
Elizabeth, ca 1765- ca 1860
William, 1774-1825
Abraham, ca 1784
John, ca 1788
Miles
2 unknown daughters

The LDS Family Search List
If you do a search at the LDS web site for James Rainwater and Catherine Regan, this is one of the lists you will get. The composition of this list is unusual, since unlike the other seven, it doesn't include Solomon or William. This list clearly refers to the family of James Rainwater and Charity Fowler of Sevier Co., TN.

James R. Rainwater, 1811 - 1894
Sesame Rainwater, born ca 1813
Moses Rainwater, born ca 1815
Ann Rainwater, born ca 1817
Catherine Rainwater, born ca 1818
John Berry Rainwater, 1820 - 1910

The Eloise Groover Lovell List
This list comes from Eloise Groover Lovell's 1983 publication, "The Richard Phillips Family History, 1791-1983".

Solomon Rainwater, 1765 - 1814
James Rainwater, b. ca 1766
Moses Rainwater
Elizabeth Rainwater, ca 1769 - post-1850
John Rainwater
Miles Rainwater, ca 1878 - 1826
William Rainwater, 1774 - 1825
Abraham Rainwater, b. ca 1784

Russell C. Rainwater's list
This list was came to us in a packet of research notes of Thelma Sargent.

William Rainwater
James Rainwater
Abraham Rainwater
3 unnamed daughters

R. H. Folmar & Walter Terrell Rainwater, Jr.'s list
This list is drawn from the highly suspect Folmar Chart. It's likely that this early list created in the 1950s or 60s, has influenced the composition of many of the later lists.

Abraham
Patsy
Solomon, 1765-1815
James, born 1766
John
William, 1774-1823
Moses

Points to Ponder

The percentage of each names' appearing in these 11 lists

William, 91%
Solomon, 82%
Abraham, 82%
John, 73%
Elizabeth, 64%
Miles, 64%
James, Jr., 64%
Moses, 64%
Ann, 27%
Catherine, 27%
Sesame, 27%
unknown daughters, 18%
Patsy, 9%
John Berry Rainwater, 9%

Individuals whose existance can be independently documented

Solomon: Anderson Co., SC land and probate records
William: 1825 will, family Bible, 1820 Pulaski Co., KY census records
Elizabeth: 1850 Pulaski Co., KY census
Abraham: 1810 Pulaski Co., KY census, Surry Co., NC court records, Russell Co., KY court records
Miles: Baptist church records
Moses: Sevier Co., TN 1830 and 1832 census indexes, Johnson Co., TN tax list
James: There are at least four individuals who fit the age requirements. These are James who married Catherine McCall (TN), James who married Charity Fowler (TN), James the blacksmith (GA) and James the preacher (GA).
John: Crawford Co., AR 1850 census
The daughters listed as Sesame, Ann and Catherine are almost certainly the children of James Rainwater and Charity Fowler, although Sesame is actually a son - Sissum or Cessum.