Thomas Joseph RING III (Dec 1757-?182x?) +
Susan FOUNTAIN (1757-~1799)

Margaret

Nancy J.

Carmela ()

Mary Adaline ()

Susan ()

Elizabeth (27 Apr 1780-14 Jul 1850) — m. James Fountain on 21 Feb 1804

Dinah M. (18 Dec 1783-16 Apr 1852) — m. Joseph Halbrook on 31 Nov 1803

Thomas Jr. (10 Mar 1790-9 Mar 1855) — m. Nancy Ann West on 24 Nov 1811

Joseph Peter (1795-1865) — m. Carmela Medline

Thomas was born in Granville, Stokes County, North Carolina. He reportedly had an older brother, John, born about 1750, and another brother named William. There are claims that his parents were Thomas Ring (1700-1796) from England or maybe Virginia, and Margaret ?poss. Staats? (1710-1806) from Somerset County, New Jersey, a couple who married in New Jersey on 5 Aug 1741. It does seem that his father was also named Thomas Ring, but I strongly doubt he was born as far back as 1700.

Susan was also born in North Carolina.

Thomas and Susan married in 1779 in Stokes County, North Carolina. They reportedly had nine children.

Susan died about 1799 in Stokes County due to complications from childbirth. Thomas remarried to Sarah West (~1782-~1869) on 15 May 1799, and reportedly had three more children:

James W. (18 Dec 1812-19 Apr 1901) — m. Pernella Quillen on 18 Dec 1830

Nancy Ann (27 Jun 1816-27 Dec 1864) — m. Johann Henry Reich on 25 Sep 1840

Martin (8 Apr 1818-29 Aug 1876) — m. Mary A. Vanhoy on 19 Apr 1840

The 1800 census for Stokes County listed four Ring households side by side: Thomas Sr., Thomas Jr., John, and Martin. This was undoubtedly Thomas’s father and Thomas himself, and probably two of his brothers. The elder Thomas Ring and wife were over 45, but clearly not dead, which is why I doubt the born-in-1700 claim. Thomas, Jr. and wife were aged 26-44 and 16-25 respectively, which fits the ages expected circa 1800 for our Thomas III and wife #2 Sarah. They had just two children in the house, both boys under 10. I assume one of them was Joseph.

The 1810 census for Stokes County again listed Thomas Rings Senior and Junior next to one another, with John Ring nearby. It didn’t include head counts for households, so I don’t know whether this was Thomas II and Thomas III, or Thomas III and Thomas Jr. (aka Thomas IV), although the latter is more likely.

The 1820 census for Stokes County listed Thomas and Thomas, Jr. next door to one another. Their age ranges show this was our Thomas III and his now-grown son Thomas Jr. who was born about 1786. Thomas III had six children present: a girl age 10-16, and four boys and a girl under 10. Thomas Jr. had five children under 10, four of them girls.

The 1830 census for Stokes County listed the household of Thomas Ring, Jr. containing a couple age 40-49 and seven children. This was Thomas Jr./IV, born 1786. It’s possible Thomas III was already dead.

There’s a record of a Thomas Ring, Sr. dying in Stokes County on 26 Aug 1846. It lists him as having been a private in military service in 1831. That makes it doubtful it was Thomas III, who would have been in his seventies in 1831, but it clearly wasn’t Thomas Jr., who lived until 1855.

Children of Thomas Ring and Susan Fountain

Data on the older children is lacking.

Elizabeth Ring (1780-1850)

Elizabeth married James Fountain (7 May 1777-8 Feb 1855) in 1804 in Stokes County. Their children:

Nancy (19 Nov 1804-????) — m. Stephen Cooley on 4 Jan 1827

Stephen (27 Sep 1806-7 Aug 1890) — m. Marietta “Mary” Clark on 1 Mar 1825

Thomas F., Sr.(14 Jan 1809-1862) — m. Jincey Owens on 2 Apr 1831

Jane (25 Sep 1810-10 Feb 1855) — m. Albert Owen on 7 Jan 1846

Elizabeth (9 May 1812-1880) — m. Jacob Zike on 24 Mar 1838

Eleanor (1813-3 Jan 1896) — m. Moses Kirkendoll Newkirk on 29 Aug 1833

Cynthia “Syntha” (22 May 1816-5 May 1885) — m. William Owen on 22 Dec 1837

Louvisa (5 Jun 1818-????)

Mary “Polly” (18 Sep 1821-29 Apr 1897) — m. Aaron White on 19 Feb 1838; m. Joseph Wampler Knifong on 19 Feb 1854

By the beginning of the 1830s, the family had resettled in Indiana. Elizabeth died there in 1850, and James in 1855. They’re buried in Guthrie Creek Cemetery, Bedford, Lawrence County, Indiana.

Dinah M. Ring (1783-1852)

Dinah married Joseph Halbrook (9 Apr 1781-27 May 1863) in 1803 in Stokes. The family name is also sometimes Holbrook or Halbrooks. They had a claimed 15 children:

James (30 Nov 1804-~1880) — m. Theresa Kimmins on 25 Dec 1827

Thomas (5 Jan 1807-30 May 1864) — m. Lavica Lureisa Mahala Mary Pope on 6 Jun 1827

Nancy (17 Feb 1809-5 Oct 1875) — m. James Andrew Pope on 8 Jun 1823

John R. (1810-May 1863) — m. Mary “Polly” Chandler on 4 Jan 1832

Lettice (17 Aug 1813-28 Aug 1816)

Fount (17 Aug 1813-????)

Margaret “Peggy” (~1815-????) — m. Pascal Lancaster on 19 Feb 1835

Araminta (14 Jan 1818-????) — m. Dave Mitchell about 1840

Jesse (18 Dec 1819-26 Aug 1820)

Carolina (22 Mar 1822-14 Dec 1903) — m. John Quillin on 12 Aug 1841

William Carroll (4 Jul 1824-4 Jul 1824)

George W. (6 Sep 1825-6 Feb 1899) — m. Nancy Chandler about Dec 1847; m. Sarah Cates on 3 Nov 1853

Rice (~1826-1863) — m.

Joseph Fountain “Fount” (8 Apr 1828-7 Jun 1894) — m. Sarah Lucinda Pickard on 25 Nov 1847

Elias Deaton (7 Sep 1830-13 Jul 1864) — m. Sarah Elizabeth J. Ellison on 28 Oct 1847; m. Elizabeth Dunbar

They later moved to Hickman, Tennessee, where they remained. Dinah died there in 1852, and is buried in Pope-Halbrooks Cemetery, Coble, Hickman County. Joseph died in 1863, and is buried in Miner Cemetery, Dent County, Missouri.

One of their daughters is credited with having 26 children of her own.

Thomas Ring, Jr. (1790-1855)

Thomas married Nancy Ann West (Dec 1787-12 Jan 1865), relationship (if any) to his stepmother Sarah West unknown, in 1811 in Walkertown, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Children:

Elizabeth Ann (2 Sep 1813-16 Jul 1889) — m. Lewis Grubbs in 183x

William Jackson (1820-1900) — m. Mary Pope on 9 Dec 1844

Thomas Sanford (19 Apr 1822-5 Aug 1889) — m. Elizabeth “Betsy” Morris on 5 Dec 1846

Polly (~1823-????) — m.

Polina (~1826-????) — m.

Lillie Frances “Fannie” (19 May 1827-8 Mar 1907) — m. James Madison Day on 28 Apr 1855

They remained in Forsyth County. The 1850 census showed them as the Ringo family, with the three girls, unmarried, still at home.

Thomas died in 1855. He’s buried in Ring Family Cemetery, Walkertown. Nancy died ten years later, and is buried with him.

Joseph Peter Ring (1795-1866)

Joseph has his own entry in the family tree.

Children of Thomas Ring and Sarah West

James W. Ring (1812-1901)

James married Pernella Quillen (1815-10 Jan 1892) in 1830. Children:

Sheperd H. (1831-?1863?) — UNSURE

Mary Elenor (17 Dec 1831-12 Apr 1873) — m. James Thomas Ring about 1852

James C. (1837-1863) — m. Polly Anderson

William H. H. (~1841-????)

Augustin H. S. (9 Oct 1843-?28 May 1903?)

Zachariah Taylor (19 Sep 1847-22 Sep 1898) — m. Mary Jane Davenport on 24 Jan 1874

Dewitt Columbus “Dee” (11 Jun 1851-25 Oct 1921) — m. Julia Ann Duncan about 1869

The 1850 census for Forsyth County showed James and his brother Martin and their families sharing a household. By 1860 James and Pernella were in Garnsburro Township, Independence County, Arkansas, with children William (20), Zachariah (13), and Dewitt C. (9).

By 1870 they were in Piney Fork Township, Sharp County, and just had son Taylor (Zachariah, 22) still at home. By 1880 it was just the two of them.

Pernella died in 1892. James died in 1901 in Maxville, Sharp County. Burial details unknown.

Daughter Mary married a first cousin, and son Dewitt married a daughter of his first cousin Susan Ring, pandering shamelessly to the stereotype.

Nancy Ann Ring (1816-1864)

Nancy married Johann Henry Reich (1810-1880) in 1840. Children:

Henry T. (22 Jul 1841-13 Dec 1862)

Sylvanus J. (1843-1862)

John Hilory (7 Feb 1847-3 Mar 1888) — m. Florina Jane Ledford on 27 Mar 1867

In 1860 they were living in Oldtown, Forsyth County, North Carolina with all three boys.

Son Henry joined the Confederate army and died in 1862. Not sure about Sylvanus. Nancy died in 1864, and is buried in Ring Family Cemetery, Walkertown, Forsyth County. John Sr. died in 1880, details unknown.

Martin Ring (1818-1876)

Martin married Mary A. Vanhoy (1820-26 Aug 1876) in 1840. They had one child of record, although she made up for it by having ten children:

Sarah Amanda (1844-????) — m. George Washington Bland on 25 Dec 1859

In the 1850 census for Forsyth County, North Carolina, Martin and his wife and daughter were sharing a place with his older brother James and family. Like others of the family, they moved west to Arkansas in the 1850s. In 1860 Martin and Mary were living in Piney Fork Township, Sharp County.

Mary died in Maxville, Sharp County in 1876, and Martin died the following day. They're buried in Powells Chapel Cemetery, Poughkeepsie.