Capt. James Ware
1778 – 1832
Nancy Garland Pendleton
1786 – 1825
by Iris Teta Eubank Wagner
Capt. James Ware was born December 25, 1778 in Amherst County, Virginia, son of Capt. John Ware, an officer in the Revolutionary War. James’s mother is identified only as Elizabeth. By the naming of her first child Mansfield, she may have been Elizabeth Mansfield. She may be instead of the Dabney, Dudley, Anderson families, for those names are in the names of her children.
Nancy Garland Pendleton was born September 2, 1786, in Amherst County, Virginia, the daughter of Reubin Pendleton and Frances Maria Anna Garland.
Reuben was the son of William Pendleton and nee Elizabeth Tinsley. William was a brother to Edmund Pendleton (left).
Writer David J. Mays, in his two-volume Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Edmund Pendleton, begins the preface of the book: Edmund Pendleton was, in the considered opinion of [Thomas] Jefferson, one of the greatest men of his age; and the tribute was deserved, since Pendleton’s high character and conspicuous abilities were devoted throughout his long life to the problems of his fellow citizens, and he contributed mightily to the history of Virginia and the Nation.
James and Nancy were married five days after bond was posted by Nancy’s uncle James Garland. They were married at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on December 18, 1800. Consent was given James Ware to marry by his father John Ware. Nancy’s father Reubin Pendleton gave consent for Nancy to marry. St. Mark’s Church was built as New Glasgow Church in 1793.
The land for the church was donated by David Shepherd Garland (right)Nancy’s uncle, the brother of her mother Frances Maria Anna Garland.
James Ware – Surveyor
On July 16, 1808, a surveyor’s bond was posted at the Amherst County Courthouse by Reubin Pendleton, David Tinsley, and Nicholas Harrison for James Ware certification as surveyor.
Five children had been born to James and Nancy by 1810, Mansfield Ware, Mary Camden Ware, Reuben L. Ware, John D. Ware, and James D. Ware. They would have seven more children. All would live to be adults except the last child born, who died at five months.
James Ware’s Inn and Tavern
After 1814, the James Ware home functioned as an inn and tavern. Nancy’s uncle James Garland posted bond on February 21, 1814, for certification from the Court for James Ware to keep an Ordinary.
Full House on the 1820 Federal Census
Entries on the 1820 U. S. Census for James and Nancy list an extensive household of 39 individuals. Six of them involved in commerce, one in manufacturing, and 15 servants to help in the operation of the inn.
The inn was a full house on this 1820 census entry. Seven male children under sixteen years, and thirteen male residents ages sixteen to forty-five, and one male resident over forty-five. There are three females – the oldest is James’s wife, Nancy Garland Pendleton Ware, and daughter Mary Camden Ware, and the youngest daughter Ann Ware.
James’ and Nancy’s daughter Mary would marry Richard Newman Eubank on December 22, 1820. They would live at the family home Tudor Hall along the Old Lexington Turnpike four miles west of the Amherst Courthouse.
After 1814, James’ inn keeper’s certificate was renewed every three years. On July 21, 1817, bondsman was Richard Harrison; on May 15, 1820, bondsman was Bennett A. Crawford; and the last bond posted on record for the inn was on June 17, 1823.
County Court and family research reveal the inn was built of brick and located at an intersection of two old roads – one that in present-day is called the Wagon Trail Road that ran along the north side of Tobacco Row Mountain and intersected with one called Ware’s Gap Road that then turned eastward through Ware’s Gap and continued to the Amherst Court House. (map above) The road is still called Ware’s Gap Road.
Among those papers shared with us by the late Sallie Eubank (Mrs. Tucker Eubank), a descendant of George Eubank, born 1746.
The Ware Inn and Tavern was the local social hub, and welcome respite to migrating settlers going west. The intersection at which the inn was located was a major route for early southwest migrations. Waugh’s Ferry at the lower left in the map above was a major crossing point on the James River for travelers heading west.
Death of Nancy Pendleton Ware
Nancy died on September 14, 1825, in her 39th year. As the last 3-year-bond for operation of the inn was posted in 1823, James may have discontinued operation of the inn due to his wife’s death. The Lynchburg Virginian announced funeral services for Mrs. Nancy Ware at the Episcopal church at Pedlar Mills. She was buried in the family cemetery near her home.
James’s Marriage to Lucy Eubank
Lucy Eubank was James Ware’s second wife. Lucy was a daughter of George Eubank, who moved with his brother John’s family to Amherst County from Caroline County, Virginia in 1780.
Narrative and Website © Iris Teta Eubank Wagner 2006-2014
- Douglas C. MacLeod, “Ferries in Bedford County on the James River,” included in Bedford Villages Lost and Found, Vol 2,compiler, Peaks of Otter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Bedford, Virginia.
2. Eubank-Ware Family Bible, contents copied by Margaret Jacqueline Moore of Jackson, Mississippi, from the Bible owned by Richard N. and Mary C. Ware Eubank, published by the Mississippi Genealogical Society, Jackson, Mississippi.
3. Lenora Higginbotham Sweeney, Marriage Bonds and Other Records of Amherst County, Virginia, 1763-1800.
4. Bishop William Meade, Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia, 2 Vols., Orig. pub. 1857.
5. Genealogy.com, Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Vol II, Augusta County Court Records, James Harrison’s Declaration as to his Military Service [in the RevolutionaryWar], Sept.3,1832,p482.
6. Margaret Jacqueline Moore, History of Eubank/Ware-Hunter-Allen, privately published, Jackson, Mississippi.
7. Bailey Fulton Davis, The Deeds of Amherst County, Virginia 1807-1827, Deed Books L-R, p379.
8. Genealogy.com, 1810 United States Federal Census, Virginia, Amherst, p274, Roll 66 Book 1, copyright, MyFamily.com.
9. David John Mays, Edmund Pendleton, 1721-1803 – A Biography, Volume I and II. Second Printing published by The Virginia State Library, Richmond, by permission of Ruth R. Mays, 1984. Original publication, first edition, published by Harvard University Press, 1952.