Samuel Major  (1712-1799)  P-240852  

Samuel Major's life spanned most of the eighteenth century. He was born in March 1712 and died in December 1799.  His life seems to have been not particularly extraordinary; he was a farmer.  A descendant, Mrs. Frances Yamnitz Gadd, has established Samuel Major supplied beeves to the Continental Army during the Revolution.  The records of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR) and National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) indicate Samuel Major furnished 550 pounds of beef to the Revolutionary soldiers at Culpeper County, Virginia.

Samuel was born in King William County, along the coast where his Major ancestors had lived since his great-great-grandparents Richard Major and Jane (Iremonger) Major, had arrived from Hampshire, England, around 1634.  The next three generations of Majors, George Major I, George Major II, and Samuel's father George Major III, all lived in the Virginia tidewater.  (Some genealogies abridge this descent, only having two George Majors between Richard and Samuel.  This apparently stems from a misreading of a document giving the birthdate of one of the Georges.)  The identity of Samuel's mother, the daughter of Francis Iremonger, is a long-standing puzzle to genealogists.   Family tradition makes her name out to have been "Elizabeth" or "Jane," but other records show that Francis Iremonger had another daughter named Elizabeth.  The Iremonger/Ironmonger family has been traced back to 1500, and Francis's mother, Bridgett Cordray, was descended from English gentry.

The name "Samuel Iremonger Major" that often appears in records stems from a misunderstanding.  A common tradition among the Major family is to have a father and son of the same name be not "Sr." and "Jr." but "I" and "II."  The Major family genealogist James Lester Major II, son of James Lester Major I, was an example of this.  Samuel Major had a son Samuel.  He was therefore referred to as "Samuel I" and his son as "Samuel II."  However, it later became assumed that the "I" stood for an initial, and the most likely middle name was his mother's.  One of his grandsons was Samuel Ira Monger Major, who followed this tradition, so that that one's son, the Frankfort, Kentucky mayor and newspaper publisher, was "S. I. M. Major II."

Samuel married Elizabeth Jones of Middlesex County, daughter of Humphrey Jones, at Middlesex County (on the coast of Chesapeake Bay) June 22, 1735. She was born there, March 19, 1715/1716. They moved inland over the years, eventually living in Culpeper County, Virginia.

Samuel and Elizabeth had eleven children: George Major, Richard Major, Sarah Major Taylor, Ludowick Jones Major, Samuel Major II, Elizabeth Major Sampson, Josiah Major, Jane Major Chowning, John Major, Francis Major and Humphrey Major.

The Major family has spread across America, growing up with the country. Descendants of Samuel Major now number in the thousands and live in almost all of the American states.  For far more detailed information, it is desirable to read the above-mentioned family history by Professor Russell Major.  The works of John Keene Major, William T. Turner, Julian Neville Major, and other descendants are also of interest.