Jenkin, Uriah, & Joseph Williams
Jenkin, Uriah, & Joseph Jenkin and Uriah were among the earliest white settlers in the Rye Valley of Montgomery County, Virginia. They established their home at the headwaters of the South Fork of the Holston River. Initially part of Fincastle County and then Washington County by 1775, the jurisdiction shifted to Montgomery County around 1785. Subsequently, the Rye Valley became Wythe County in 1790 and Smyth County in 1832. Jenkin, along with his brother Joseph and their families, settled in the Rye Valley near present-day Teas, Virginia. Documented in the “Record of Certificates of Commissioners of Washington and Montgomery Counties, 1767-1788,” Jinkin Williams claimed 400 acres in Washington County and 200 acres on Staileys Creek in 1775 and 1772, respectively. Jenkin’s presence is noted in the 1782 Washington County Tax List and subsequent Montgomery and Wythe County Tax Lists. He was listed as having 1 tithe, 5 horses, and 7 cattle. Notable entries include Jenkin Williams receiving a treasury warrant for 100 acres encompassing the falls of Stailey’s Creek in 1787 and subsequent assignments to Absalom Cox and Michael Branstrater. Further land transactions involving Jenkin Williams and other settlers were recorded in Wythe County Survey Books, including entries for Doctor Thomas Rustin in 1796 and Henry Vice in 1799. These transactions delineate the expansion of settlement in the region, particularly along the Holston River and Cripple Creek. References for Samuel Williams and a land grant can be found at Library of Virginia here. Several of the Williams family are buried in the historic Morgan Cemetery. ——- Williams, Samuel Jr. Land Grant 31 October 1826. N.p., 1826. Print.