Descendants of Ralph(?) WANLESS/WANDLESS & Margaret Wylam(?) (Adams?)

These are the descendants of Margaret Wanless/Wandless, a widow who brought her 4 teenage children from Newcastle, Northumberland, England to Augusta County, Virginia in late 1772 or early 1773. Thomas Adams, a wealthy landowner of Deerfield, Augusta Co, VA, helped Margaret and her children come to America, sheltered them until she remarried, and left land in his will in 1788 to her son Ralph Wanless, so there is speculation (but no proof yet) that Thomas Adams and Margaret Wanless are related.

Margaret's son, my 3rd-great-grandfather Ralph Wanless (born in Newcastle in 1756) moved west into what became Bath County, VA and later Pocahontas County,West VA. He lived on Browns Mtn near Huntersville. He dropped the 'd' from the name and spelled it "Wanless", as do all of his descendants. His brother Stephen stayed in Bath County, VA, near Green Valley and Scotchtown Draft, and he kept the spelling "Wandless". Several of Stephen's descendants live today in Bath and Augusta counties. Several of Ralph's sons, including my line, migrated from Pocahontas County to Iowa in 1856 and then to Oregon in 1872. Most Wanlesses in Virginia, West Virginia, Iowa, Oregon, and Washington today are descendants of Margaret, plus there is a Minnesota branch.

Researcher: Holly Wanless Cochran, with contributions by many others (click my name to see contact info for all of us)

Table of Contents

Descendants of Ralph(?) & Margaret Wan(d)less
(from this point you can access pedigree charts, individual & family group sheets, a relationship calculator, and more)

Histories & Documents, including:

Photos

Hollyhock Press

Looking for Bath/Highland/Pocahontas county area ancestors in Virginia & West Virginia ? Visit the Hollyhock Press website
and search for your ancestors in the online indexes of my books:

  • Abstracts of Bath County, VA Will Books 5 and 6 (1843-1875)
  •  Snapshot Before the War: Bath Co., VA 1860 Census (with Maiden Names & Parents Added) & Marriages 1853-1860
  • Highland County VA 1860 Census & Marriages 1853-1860
  • 1870 census of Bath County, VA (database)

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