Re-examining the Parentage of Matthew Gallaway of Oglethorpe County, Georgia

Re-examining the Parentage of
Matthew Gallaway of
Oglethorpe County, Georgia
Briana S. Felch, David Kentsmith, Susanne Sitton
Introduction
Matthew Gallaway (Galloway)1
was reported to have been born
15 December 1759 and lived for a number of years in Oglethorpe
County, Georgia, in the early 19th
Century.2
He married twice, first
to a Miss Beaver(s), then to Mary East.3
Although most researchers
Briana S. Felch is an experienced family history researcher who has written four
family histories for the “Heritage of Alabama” series. She is a volunteer administra-
tor for the Smith Official DNA Project. brianafelch@me.com. David Kentsmith is a
retired physician, associate professor of psychiatry and Colonel, US Air Force. He is
the State Secretary and 1st Vice-President of the Sons of the American Revolution for
Nebraska with 7 verified Revolutionary War Ancestors (DAR & SAR). k-d-2009@q
.com. Susanne Sitton is a newcomer to family history research. She is a member of the
National Society of Mayflower Descendants, the National Society of the Daughters of
the American Revolution, and the Society of the Descendants of Washington’s Army
at Valley Forge. smsitton@aol.com.
1. The surname is typically spelled either Galloway or Gallaway today, but early
variations are: Galaway, Galeway, Galiway, Galoway, Galleway, Galliway, and even
Gallua. Some documents use the spelling as Mathew rather than Matthew. Because
the primary source on which the authors are refuting several claims, including pater-
nity, is Irene Dabney Gallaway’s Matthew Gallaway and his Descendants, the authors
have chosen to be consistent with her spelling, except where sources are quoted
otherwise.
2. Irene Dabney Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway and his Descendants (Southern
Waxahachie, Tex.: n.p., 1908), 6 (as paginated by the authors). See also footnote 26.
3. The earliest known printed source for Matthew’s wife as Miss Beavers was
Irene Dabney Gallaway’s 1908 publication (p. 8). Later sources include Ettie
Tidwell McCall, Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia, Volume 1 (1941; reprint,
Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004). Anderson Gallaway Bible

Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol.51, No. 3198
list his first wife as Elizabeth (Betsy) Beavers, no primary or original
source has ever been located by the authors to prove this fact. Some
descendants of Gallaway’s first wife, such as Michael Beaver Gallaway
and Levi Beaver Campbell Gallaway, sons of William and Levi, respec-
tively, with “Beaver” as a middle name, lend credence to Beavers as her
maiden name.
Matthew Gallaway had two sons, William and Levi, by his first
wife and seven children by his second wife: Wiley, Anderson (Anson),
Brittain, James, Thomas, Sarah (“Sally”) A., and Nathan Johnson.4
Many of these children had a significant impact upon the early his-
tories of Georgia and Alabama, where a number of Gallaways moved
beginning around 1816.5
One of the more illustrious descendants
was his grandson, Matthew Campbell Gallaway, a leading newspaper
owner and editor in various cities in the South.6
Various sources provide insights into the lives of Matthew’s chil-
dren and grandchildren. For example, son William was at one time
a blacksmith as Matthew provided the bond for William to take on
an apprentice on 8 February 1814.7
Levi was a farmer, but his 1851
estate sale included a set of blacksmith tools.8
Wiley taught school
in Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, and then in Morgan and
Lawrence Counties, Alabama. He later went on to become a court
clerk in Lawrence County, Alabama.9
Thomas began his career as a
schoolteacher around 1823, but by 1850, he was a doctor in Walton
Record, Gallaway Family Bible Records and Other Family Papers, ca. 1974-1906, FHL
film no. 1697754, item 11. The record lists a daughter, Mary East Gallaway.
4. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 9.
5. James Edmonds Saunders and Elizabeth Saunders Blair Stubbs, Early Settlers
of Alabama (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969), 75-76. 1820
Alabama state census, Franklin County, population schedule, image no. 29, Levi
Galloway and Anderson Galoway; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.
com : accessed 15 June 2015), citing Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855 and
1866, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery.
6. Saunders and Stubbs, Settlers, 75-84. Matthew Campbell Gallaway was the
oldest son of Wiley Gallaway.
7. Oglethorpe Ordinary, Georgia, Court Records, 1800 to 1820, 30.
8. Itawamba Historical Society, Online Digital Archives, Levi Galloway Estate
Packet, 1851, website (http://www.itawambahistory.org/galloway.html : accessed 15
June 2015).
9. Saunders and Stubbs, Settlers, 75-84.

Parentage of Matthew Gallaway 199
County, Georgia, and practiced medicine in Georgia for forty years.10
Nathan Johnson Gallaway was a saddler in the 1850 census and
then served as a postmaster.11
Little is known about son James as he
was murdered in Montgomery, Alabama, sometime before 1827.12
Anderson and Brittain were farmers.13
William’s son, Matthew A.
Gallaway, was at one time a store merchant.14
Wiley’s son, William
Madison Gallaway, was a judge in Alabama, then after migrating to
Arkansas was elected to the Arkansas Legislature.15
Anderson’s son,
Amos Ponder Gallaway, was a doctor, a sheriff, and then elected to the
Texas Legislature in 1856.16
Another son, Levi James Gallaway, was
10. No author, Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida,
Containing Biographical Sketches of the Representative Public and Many Early Settled
Families in These States. (Chicago, Ill.: F. A. Battey & Company, 1889), 295-296.
1850 U.S. Census, Walton County, Georgia, population schedule, Division 88, p.
68B, dwelling 968, no family no., line 33, Thomas Gallaway; digital image, Ancestry.
com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 June 2015), citing NARA micropublica-
tion M432, roll 86. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 23.
11. 1850 U.S. Census, Lawrence County, Alabama, population schedule, District
7, p. 437A, dwelling 119, family 119, line 1, N. J. Gallaway; digital image, Ancestry.
com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2015), citing NARA micropublica-
12. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 23. Mary Ann Neeley, editor, The Works of
Matthew Blue: Montgomery’s First Historian (Montgomery, Ala.: New South Books,
2010), 100.
13. 1850 U.S. Census, Lawrence Co., Ala., pop. sched., District 8, p. 391A,
dwelling 378, family 378, line 31, Anderson Galaway; Ancestry.com. 1850 U.S.
Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Eastern Division, p. 36B,
dwelling 488, family 506, line 24, Britton Galloway; digital image, Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 June 2015), citing NARA micropublication
M432, roll 378.
15. Saunders and Stubbs, Settlers, 60. No author, Biographical and Historical
Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas, Comprising a Condensed History of the State, a Number
of Biographies of Distinguished Citizens of the Same, a Brief Descriptive History of Each
of the Counties Named Herein, and Numerous Biographical Sketches of the Prominent
Citizens of Such Counties (Chicago, Ill.: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1890),
641-2.
16. 1860 U.S. Census, Rusk County, Texas, population schedule, Beat 10, p. 292,
dwelling 566, family 583, line 36, A. P. Galloway; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://
www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 June 2015), citing NARA micropublication M653,
roll 1304. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 17. Stephanie P. Niemeyer, “Galloway, Amos
Ponder,” Handbook of Texas Online; website (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/

a postmaster, editor, and printer.17
Thomas Gallaway’s son, Nathan
Lumpkin Gallaway, followed in his father’s footsteps and also became
a doctor in Walton County, Georgia.18
Matthew Gallaway’s own footprints are all over Oglethorpe
County, Georgia, as a founding member of Beaverdam Baptist
Church, a participant in civil life, and as a landowner.19
His will,
recorded in 1825 in Oglethorpe County, named his heirs and provid-
ed detailed instructions for disposition of his property. In this docu-
ment, Matthew willed to his wife Polly, a good horse or mare, bridle
and saddle, a good feather bed and furniture, a dutch oven, various
tools, kitchen crockery and dishes, other livestock, and the use of a
fifty-acre tract of land which he instructed his executors “to purchase
together with my negro man Daniel, my negro woman Patty, and my
negro man Jackson and an ample support of corn fodder,” but if Polly
should remarry, Daniel and Jackson were to be sold and the money
divided equally among his children.
His will indicated he had previously given some children their
shares in his estate: William, one hundred forty dollars; Levi, one
online/articles/fgahl : accessed 09 April 2015).
17. 1860 U.S. Census, Lowndes County, Mississippi, population schedule,
Columbus, p. 751, dwelling 1058, family 1053, line 27, L. J. Gallaway; digital
image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2015), citing
NARA micropublication M653, roll 586. “U.S., Appointments of U.S. Postmasters,
1832-1971,” Levi J. Galloway, Dry Creek, Lawrence, Alabama, 23 Sep 1853; digital
image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2016), citing
NARA micropublication M841, roll 2.
18. 1900 U.S. Census, Walton County, Georgia, population schedule, Monroe, p.
9B, dwelling 169, family 178, line 58, Nathen Galaway; digital image, Ancestry
.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2015), citing NARA micropublica-
tion T623, roll 226.
19. Florrie Carter Smith, The History of Oglethorpe County, Georgia (Washington,
Ga.: Wilkes Publishing Company, 1970), 238. William Brent Jones, That Peace and
Brotherly Love May Abound: Kinship and the Changing Character of Church Discipline
in a Southern Primitive Baptist Church, 1814-1860, MA Thesis (Athens, Ga.:
University of Georgia, 2004), 34, 40, 42, 96; (http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/
jones_william_b_200408_ma : accessed 5 Oct 2014). Fred W. McRee Jr. Oglethorpe
County, Georgia, Newspaper Extracts, The Oglethorpe Echo, 1874-1881 (n.p., 2006),
241. Rev. Silas Emmett Lucas Jr., The Second or 1807 Land Lottery of Georgia (1968;
reprint, Easley, S. C.: Southern Historical Press, 1987), 51. Gallaway, Matthew
Gallaway, 7.

hundred eighty dollars; Willie (Wiley), one hundred eighty-nine
dollars; Anderson, two hundred seventy-seven dollars; Brittain, one
hundred fifty-nine dollars; James, two hundred dollars and twenty-
five cents; and Thomas, one hundred seventy-one dollars and forty-
three cents. Matthew bequeathed to his daughter, “Sarah Gallaway, at
her marriage or coming to the age of eighteen years, one good horse
or mare, saddle and bridle, one good feather bed and furniture, one
negro girl, Ara, provided the said negro is not redeemed by Johnson
Hendon or his representatives or die previous to Sarah’s said marriage
or coming to the age of eighteen years and the sum of two hundred
dollars….” He bequeathed “son Nathan Gallaway one good horse
or mare, saddle and bridle at his coming to the age of twenty one
years, one good feather bed and furniture at valuation and whatever
they may lack of amounting to the sum of two hundred and seventy
seven dollars. I desire that the balance may be paid to him in cash,
so as to make up the sum of two hundred and seventy seven dollars.”
Matthew also stated, “My negro boy Larkin I desire may be hired out
by my Executors for one year, and all the rest of my estate not par-
ticularly mentioned in this will I desire may be sold on a credit of
twelve months and the money arising from such sale as well as the
money arising from the hire of my negro boy Larkin, together with
the money due to me on bonds mortgages and notes I desire may be
divided amongst all my children as to make each of them share equal.”
Finally, Matthew appointed his “beloved sons, Levi Gallaway and
Willie” (Wiley) Gallaway as executors who were “hereby directed to
sell and dispose of my negro woman Edy, my wagon and three horses
at their discretion to purchase a tract of land containing fifty acres for
my wife.”20
In 1908, Irene Dabney Gallaway published Matthew Gallaway
and his Descendants, based upon her research and interviews with
other descendants. Irene Gallaway was a librarian and genealogist
who published various other family histories. She was a descendant of
20. The Last Will and Testament of Matthew Gallaway, dated 1 February 1824,
was recorded in Will Book B (of folio 254), Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 4 January
1825. The will transcription is found in Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 7-8. The
1825 probate (Will Book B, Oglethorpe County) and 1825 Annual Return (Walton
County) are referenced in Ted O. Brooke, Georgia Wills, 1733-1860 (Atlanta, Ga.:
Pilgrim Press, 1976), 70.

Matthew’s son Anderson, through his son Levi James Gallaway, and
her publication contains valuable information on various branches
of the Gallaway family. Her research on Matthew Gallaway and his
descendants is often cited today, more than 100 years after it was first
published.21
Unfortunately, Irene Dabney Gallaway also contributed some
improbable information to the stories about Matthew Gallaway.
The primary problematic contribution was the claim that Matthew
Gallaway’s father was Tait Gallaway.22
That assertion has been repeated
extensively for the past hundred years, with no supporting evidence.23
A careful reading of her publication suggests her source was Matthew’s
granddaughter, Mrs. Emily Lester. Emily Elizabeth Gallaway Lester
was the daughter of Matthew’s son, Anderson. The publication also
gives Matthew’s exact birthday as 15 December 1759 and, further-
more, states that he was born in Ireland. This suggests that somewhere
a document may have existed for Matthew Gallaway relating to his
birth, though the Irish place of birth has recently come under scrutiny
as well.24
Other documents suggest that the death date of 14 February 1824
given by Irene Dabney Gallaway was likely in error, and that he actual-
ly died on the day he made out his will, 1 February 1824. Among the
Oglethorpe County, Georgia, probate papers of Matthew Gallaway’s
estate were affidavits of 10 December 1824 in Lawrence County,
21. Irene Dabney Gallaway published at least three other family histories. These
include: The Martin Family, descendants of Thomas Martin of Goochland Co., Virginia
(Fayetteville, Arkansas, Sentinel Print, 1906); Puckett Points: Some Facts Concerning
the Family of Richard Puckett of Lunenburg County, Virginia, Together with Data
Relating to the Allied Families of McConnico and Daugherty (Little Rock, Arkansas:
Democrat P. & I., 1931); and Doctor Newlin Addison Davis, His Wife, Eliza Murray
Drake Davis, and Their Ancestors: compiled from Personal Recollections, Family Bible
Records, Old Letters and Documents, State and County Files, and Published Histories
(1949). Her record as librarian is described in “Miss Galloway Resigns as Librarian,”
Northwest Arkansas Times (Fayetteville, Arkansas), 28 June 1945. Gallaway, Matthew
Gallaway, 18-20.
23. References to Tait Gallaway as Matthew’s father appears in numerous trees on
Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com) and RootsWeb (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.
com).
24. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 6, 18-20.

Alabama, by his widow, Polly, and son, Wiley, attesting that Matthew
Gallaway of Oglethorpe died on 1 February 1824, the same day that
his will was written. Wiley’s affidavit also rejects his appointment as
co-executor with brother Levi “in consequence of the unfavorable situ-
ation of my business, and the ill State of Health which exists at this
Period in my Family it is impracticable for me to attend on the above
administration.”25
Many researchers give the date of Matthew’s death
as 14 February 1824 rather than 1 February 1824, probably since the
earliest history of Matthew, Irene Gallaway’s 1908 publication, was
likely used as source material. At least one source published before
Irene Gallaway’s 1908 publication, however, claims that Matthew
Gallaway died in 1822 in Morgan County, Alabama.26
No support
for that claim has been found and his will, clearly written and dated
1 February 1824, was filed in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, and would
seem to contradict that date and location. Furthermore, though some
of the sons are reported to have begun moving to Alabama around
1816, Matthew was listed on the 1820 Oglethorpe County, Georgia,
census and was still there selling his lands in 1820 and 1821.27
Mary
(East) Gallaway first appears as a widow in the 1830 Morgan County,
Alabama, census. Matthew’s grave has never been located.28
Because she was unable to locate any records of his Revolutionary
service, Irene Gallaway originally suggested that Matthew might have
been a Tory.29
She later recanted that statement. In a letter to the
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) on 14 October 1947,
she wrote, “I am anxious to have someone use the Matthew Gallaway
line, because we were so long in finding any mention of his Rev. service
25. Wiley and Mary (East) Gallaway, “Affidavit, Lawrence County, Alabama, 10
December 1824,” The Southern States Armchair Researcher 1:1 (Summer 1983).
26. William S. Speer, Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans, Containing Biographies
and Records of Many of the Families Who Have Attained Prominence in Tennessee (1888;
reprint, Easley, S. C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978), 346-350.
27. Saunders, Settlers, 75. 1820 U.S. Census, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, popu-
lation schedule, Lexington, p. 175, line 2, Mathew Gallaway; digital image, Ancestry.
com (http://www.ancestrycom : accessed 16 June 2015), citing NARA micropublica-
28. 1830 U.S. Census, Morgan County, Alabama, p. 218, line 5, Mary Galloway;
digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2015), citing
NARA micropublication M19, roll 4.

– and my pamphlet did not give him credit for it. I’d like to make
amends now!”30
In 1948, Irene Gallaway again wrote to the DAR, “I
feel that I was unjust to my ancestor MATTHEW GALLAWAY, in
suspecting him to have been not loyal and I wish to atone by helping
several of his descendants to establish their records.”31
A number of
descendants of Matthew Gallaway applied for and were approved for
membership in the DAR, based upon his name being included in an
1804 list of names eligible for the 1805 Georgia Land Lottery.32
In the early 1990s, however, the DAR closed his line on the
grounds there had been no acceptable proof of Revolutionary War ser-
vice. A notation was placed in his file, dated 4 April 1993, which reads,
“No proof that land grant was for Rev Service. The proof of service
used to establish this person as a patriot is no longer valid. Subsequent
evaluation of the proof of service may have determined that the proof
is not acceptable under today’s standards (examples: tombstone, obitu-
ary, undocumented genealogy or county history, family tradition); the
service belongs to another person of the same name; the residence of
this person during the Revolution is inconsistent with the service, or
multiple people have claimed the same service. Future applicants must
provide proof of service (and possibly residence) that meets current
standards.”33
In subsequent correspondence, the DAR stated that the
Georgia Land Lottery list originally used as proof of service was no
longer acceptable evidence as it is now known to be simply a list of
people who signed up for the lottery, not a list of Revolutionary sol-
diers.34
Nevertheless, older published lists of Georgia residents who
30. Letter from Irene Dabney Gallaway, 14 October 1947, contained in the DAR
supporting documentation file of DAR National Number 376688.
31. Letter to Mrs. William V. Tynes, Registrar General, NSDAR from Irene D.
Gallaway, 9 February 1948, also contained in DAR National Number 376688 docu-
mentation file. This correspondence also transmits a copy of Miss Gallaway’s publica-
tion and notes that it has long been in the Library of Congress and in the historical
libraries of most of the Southern States.
32. DAR National Numbers 376688, 587443, 454690, 634361, 664784,
644802, 678469, 638280, 686221, and 732349.
33. Matthew Galloway is listed on the DAR records as Ancestor A043279.
34. Letter from NSDAR Genealogy Department to David Kentsmith, 17 July
2008. On file with authors.

served in the Revolutioncontain Matthew’s name, leading to continu-
ing confusion.35
While the authors have been unable to find documentary evi-
dence proving that Matthew served in the Revolutionary War, caution
should be exercised in inferring that he did not serve, as there could
be a number of reasons to explain a lack of evidence to date. Indeed,
where he lived in and around Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Matthew
Gallaway was surrounded by various Revolutionary War veterans
and his children married into those families. For example, Anderson
Gallaway married Delilah Ponder, daughter of Amos Ponder (DAR
Ancestor A090526); Brittain Gallaway married Anna Ponder, anoth-
er daughter of Amos Ponder; and Wiley Gallaway married Mary
McDowell, daughter of John McDowell (DAR Ancestor A076461).36
Several years ago, the authors of this article began a joint investi-
gation into Matthew’s early life, his family, and his alleged association
with the American Revolution.37
Although this research has still not
produced a definitive answer to his military service, it has begun to
point to new facts regarding his family and his early life and towards a
different direction regarding his service from Irene Gallaway’s origi-
nal, but subsequently retracted, claim that he was a Tory. The authors
also continue working on some theories and clues about possible
Revolutionary War service, but cannot confirm or refute any service
at this time.
Tait Gallaway Debunked
Irene Gallaway’s 1908 suggestion, based upon Mrs. Lester’s state-
ment, that Matthew Gallaway’s father was Tait Gallaway has never
been seriously challenged or examined. Rather, the “Tait Gallaway as
father” theory has taken on a “common knowledge” status as if it has
35. McCall, Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia, Vol. 1, 214. Carter, Georgia
Revolutionary Soldiers, Sailors, Patriots, and Descendants, Vol. 1, 80-81.
36. Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Marriage Book Typescript, 1794-1832, Volume
1: 101, Anderson Gallaway-Delilah Ponder; 11, Brittain Gallaway-Anna Ponder;
56, Wiley Gallaway-Mary McDowell; Microfilm Drawer 46, Box 5, Item 2, Georgia
Archives, Morrow. Speer, Sketches, 346.
37. Briana Felch and David Kentsmith are descendants of William Gallaway,
Matthew’s oldest son by his first wife, Miss Beavers, and Susanne Sitton is a descen-
dant of his son Anderson Gallaway, by his second wife, Mary East.

always been known.38
Some recent researchers, moreover, have pur-
ported to have “found” this Tait Gallaway who married Ann Gibson
in Knock, County Cork, Ireland, and have thus given Matthew
Gallaway of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, both an alleged father and
mother. It was only recently, when seeking the official documentation
of Tait Gallaway’s marriage to Ann Gibson, that serious issues with
these claims began to emerge.
The earliest record found of Tait Gallaway and wife Ann Gibson
connecting them to Matthew Gallaway was a 2001 message board
post on Ancestry.com.39
It asserted that the couple married in 1752 in
Knock, County Cork, Ireland, and warned the reader not to be misled
by apparent transcription errors as this data had been confirmed with
a researcher in England. This assertion lends a degree of authenticity
because the post claims someone with access to the original actually
confirmed it. Yet no name or contact information for this witness was
given and this witness has not come forth to corroborate the 1752
Knock, Ireland, marriage.
The post cites two primary sources, “St. Mary’s, Nottinghamshire,
England Register of Marriages, vol. 11” and “Pallot’s Marriage Index.”
The scanned image of the actual record, however, in Ancestry.com’s
online database and an electronic copy of one of the books clearly
show that Tait Gallaway actually married Ann Gibson on 28 July
1797, in St. Mary’s Parish, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England,
and not in 1752 in Ireland. This 1797 marriage was nearly 40 years
after our Matthew Gallaway, their alleged son, was born in 1759.40
As to the transcription error warning, the two original parish
transcriptions do not even cover dates in the 1750s. They cover dates
38. Tait Gallaway is listed as Matthew Gallaway’s father in numerous online trees
on Ancestry.com and RootsWeb, without any supporting documentation.
39. Walter “Jay” Galloway, username “tghwjg,” “Found Tait Galloway,” Ancestry.
com, message board, 24 October 2001 (http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.gal-
loway/719/mb.ashx : accessed 16 June 2015).
40. W. P. W. Phillimore and James Ward, editors, Nottinghamshire Parish Registers,
St. Mary’s Church, vol. 2, Marriages, 1763-1813 (London: Phillimore and Co., 1900),
174; digital image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/nottinghampar-
is03wardgoog : accessed 2 Oct 2014). “England, Pallot’s Marriage Index, 1780-
1837,” Galloway Tait-Ann Gibson, Lic. 1797; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://
www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June 2015). Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 6.

starting in the 1760s and 1780s, respectively. Thus, the cited sources
indicating the parentage of our Matthew, at least by Tait Gallaway
with the stated wife, Ann Gibson, is improbable. After posting several
online queries to this same message board thread regarding these new
concerns, the authors have received only one useful response to date. A
descendant of Tait Gallaway and Ann Gibson stated that not only did
this couple indeed marry in 1797 in Nottinghamshire, England, as the
primary sources indicate, but they never had a son named Matthew,
and they and their children lived out their lives in England.41
Indeed,
there are numerous records showing that this Tait Gallaway, who, by
English census records, was born about 1775 in Scotland, and lived
in Nottinghamshire until his death in 1855.42
As there is no hint of a
legend of our Matthew with ties to England, this is further evidence
indicating that this is clearly not our alleged Tait Gallaway.
The impossibility of the identified couple being our ancestors also
called into question whether any Tait Gallaway was our ancestor. Of
course, it is possible that another Tait Gallaway existed with perhaps a
different wife but, to date, no other Tait Gallaway of age and era to be
Matthew’s father has ever been found in any country.
Clearly, Matthew’s father as “Tait Gallaway,” without a named
wife, originated in Irene Gallaway’s 1908 publication. She states, “No
authentic facts have been learned prior to the time of Matthew Gallaway.
Tradition says that he was the son of Tait Gallaway and came to America
from Ireland when he was a mere lad. ‘The grandsire of all the family
was born in Ireland. His name was Tait Gallaway. Matthew G. was one
41. diananelson_1, Response to “Found Tait Gallaway,” Ancestry.com, message
board, 25 January 2011 (http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.galloway/719.3.1/
mb.ashx : accessed 16 June 2015).
42. 1841 census of England, St. Mary, Nottinghamshire, p.1, line 9, Tait
Galloway; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 June
2015), citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841, The National Archives
of the UK, Kew, Surrey. FHL film no. 474570. 1851 census of England, Lenton,
Radford, Nottinghamshire, p. 34, family 142, line 7, Tait Galloway; digital image,
Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 June 2015). “England & Wales,
FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915,” Tait Galloway, Apr-May-Jun 1855, Radford,
Nottinghamshire; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed
16 June 2015), citing England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes, General Register
Office, London.

of the sons of Tait G., and was born 15th
December, 1759.’ –Mrs. Emily
Lester.” 43
This paragraph made several claims about Matthew’s paternity,
nationality, birth, and immigration. What many researchers have over-
looked in repeating these statements is that the publication is not well
sourced, save for a few names as in the case of Mrs. Lester. In fact,
Irene Gallaway is careful here to try to differentiate what is fact from
what has not been confirmed and thus, is only legend.
“Authentic facts” which have not been learned would include
information on Matthew’s parents. “Tradition,” or legend, states he
was son of Tait Gallaway and that Matthew came to America from
Ireland when he was a boy. Tradition, in genealogy, is typically an oral
one. Thus, there is no evidence, written, primary, or otherwise, prior
to the 1908 publication of this theory that any Tait Gallaway was
Matthew’s father.
Irene Gallaway was a lifelong librarian, genealogist, and family his-
torian, who never married and died without issue.44
The authors tried
to locate her original genealogy notes, sources, and written correspon-
dence in order to fully evaluate them. Contacting her alma mater’s
library, the library where she worked, and living extended family, all
proved fruitless.
Nonetheless, to prove or disprove this tradition about Tait, the
authors needed to know who Mrs. Emily Lester was and to try to estab-
lish where she might have received her information. Irene Gallaway
identified Emily Elizabeth Gallaway as the daughter of Anderson
Gallaway by Matthew’s second wife, Mary East, and thus, Matthew
Gallaway’s granddaughter. Emily married William Alexander Lester.
Two items of particular note are relevant with regards to her identity.
Emily was born on 2 July 1829, after Matthew’s death in February,
44. Craighead County, Arkansas, Circuit Court Book 581, p. 507, Affidavit
of Charles Frierson, 14 November 1962, digital image, Washington County,
Arkansas, website (http://www.co.washington.ar.us/Information/Chronicle/
ChronicleScannedImage.asp?IN=Land-581-507 : accessed 16 June 2015). In 1962
litigation regarding the disposition of land belonging to Miss Gallaway’s mother,
Margaret Martin Gallaway, and the affidavit of Irene’s nephew, Charles Frierson, indi-
cates she died without issue on 12 August 1957.

1824, so Emily never knew her grandfather, Matthew. Any informa-
tion, therefore, she had of him was second-hand.45
By the time Emily would have reached an age to be interested in,
or remember such early family history, her probable sources, her older
relatives, would have been advanced in age. If she were 20 years old–
around 1849–at the time she might have taken an interest, her father,
Anderson, would have been nearly sixty, having been born 3 July
1794.46
Anderson would also have learned any early history second-
hand. Emily’s grandmother, Mary East Gallaway, Matthew’s second
wife, would presumably know more of Matthew’s early history, but
with an estimated birth of circa 1770, by about 1849, she was approx-
imately 80 years old.47
Even if Mary East Gallaway’s memory was still
intact, she, too, would have learned it second-hand. With no original
written supporting source, we cannot rely on this information.
Thus, there is an absence of any written record of any Tait
Gallaway even associated with our Matthew, let alone as his father,
prior to this 1908 publication, nor any reputable source since.
AnOTHER Theory FOR the “Tait” Name
Although the identification of the Tait Gallaway of
Nottinghamshire who married Ann Gibson as Matthew Gallaway’s
father is unsupportable, sometimes with family traditions and legends,
there are bits of fact mixed with fiction. It is unlikely that Mrs. Lester
drew the name “Tait” from thin air. It is possible that some associated
name or source for the confusion crept in and altered our Gallaway
family history to include this elusive Tait.
Delving deeper into the family history provides some possible
clues. According to Irene Gallaway, Matthew had a granddaughter
named Mary Ann Tait Gallaway who was the daughter of Wiley, the
eldest son by second wife, Mary East.48
This appearance of the Tait
name would seem to support the “Tait as father” legend. Mary East
Gallaway, grandmother of Emily Gallaway Lester, was the daughter
45. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 17, 21.
46. Anderson Gallaway Bible Record, Gallaway Family Bible Records.
47. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 9. 1850 U.S. Census, Walton Co., Ga., pop.
sched., Division 88, p. 27A, dwelling 376, family no. 376, line 41, Mary Galloway;
Ancestry.com.
48. Gallaway, Matthew Gallaway, 12-13.

of James East Sr. and Euphan, maiden name unknown.49
James East
Sr.’s wife, Mary East Gallaway’s mother, is alternately given as Euphan,
Uphan, Ufan, Eu(s)shan, and Ellphan.50
Mary East Gallaway had a
brother named James East Jr. who married Polly Edwards, and their
oldest son was named Henry Tate East.51
If Tait Gallaway was alleged to be Matthew Gallaway’s father, why
would James East Jr. name a son Tate, after his brother-in-law’s father,
especially as there is no evidence that a Tait or Tate Gallaway ever even
lived in Georgia, let alone crossed paths with the Easts? Middle names
in that era were often family surnames of the female ancestors, but
Henry T. East Sr.’s mother was an Edwards, not a Tate. There is noth-
ing to indicate that Polly Edward’s mother was a Tate either. Since the
Tait/Tate name is also associated with the East family in the naming of
Mary East Gallaway’s nephew and grandnephew, Henry Tate East Sr.
and Jr., a possible namesake probably exists elsewhere.
Henry Tate East Sr. and Mary Ann Tait Gallaway do not share
Gallaway ancestors, but they do share East ancestors. James East Jr. is
Henry Tate East Sr.’s father and Mary East Gallaway is Mary Ann Tait
Gallaway’s paternal grandmother. In turn, James East Jr. and Mary
East Gallaway are the children of James East Sr. and Euphan, maiden
name unknown. Could Euphan East have been a Tate by birth?
James East Sr.’s wife’s name as Euphan, Uphan, Ufan, Eus(s)han
or Ellphan appears in several records. In 1786, she is listed as Uphan
East with her daughter, Elizabeth East Elkins, and son-in-law William
Elkins as members of the Bever Creek Church, Henry County,
Virginia, where the East family resided prior to moving to Georgia.52
49. Euphan’s relationship is proven by an 8 March 1783 deed from “James East
Senr. and his wife, Ellphan of the county of Henry.” Lela C. Adams, Abstracts of
Henry Co, Virginia Deed Books I and II, 1776-1784; 17 February 1776 Through 22
July 1784, Including Surveys Made From March 1778 Through June 10, 1783 (Easley,
S. C.: Southern Historical Press, 1983), 82.
50. For readability, the authors have chosen to be consistent with the Euphan
spelling unless otherwise cited with a particular alternate spelling.
51. Adams, Abstracts of Henry Co, Virginia, Deed Books III and IV, 46-47.
“Tennessee, Probate Court Books, 1795-1927,” Edmund Edwards will, April 1814,
digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 June 2015),
citing Robertson County, Inventories, Wills, 1825-1827, Volume 5.
52. Stella Pocahontas Anthony Thompson, History of Bever Creek Church, 1786,
Henry County, Virginia (Columbia, Mo.: The Author, 1933), 1, 3.

She is listed as the “(widow) Ufau East,” of Oglethorpe County in the
1821 Georgia Land Lottery.53
What may have been originally written
as Ufan, a likely misspelling or variant of Euphan or Uphan, may have
been transcribed in error as Ufau, perhaps due to unclear or faded
old handwriting. In any case, these records seem to reference the same
Euphan East, Mary East Gallaway’s mother.
A number of Upham families, which may be a namesake for
Euphan (Uphan) East, and Tate families, the latter which include
descendants specifically named Euphan Tate, were located in and
around areas of particular interest to the East and Gallaway families.
James Tate Sr. married Anne Upham who were the parents of James
Tate Jr. that married a different Anne Upham who, in turn, were
the parents of Robert Tate who married Ann Waddy. Robert Tate’s
son, Henry John Tate, married Sarah Netherland who were the par-
ents of Euphan Tate that married James Rucker on 30 May 1781.54
Euphan’s brother, Jesse, was the father of the Euphan Tate who mar-
ried Edmund Logwood on 22 February 1807. Both marriages took
place in Bedford, which borders Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where
James East allegedly had ties.55
James and Euphan Tate Rucker
moved to Robertson County, Tennessee, where James East Sr. and Jr.
bought land in 1790 around the time our Gallaways moved to Wilkes
County, Georgia. The authors have identified about eight Zimri Tates
and seven Waddy Tates, all known or presumed descendants of the
afore-mentioned Tate clan of Virginia. Zimri Tate, grandson of Robert
Tate and Ann Waddy, died in 1792 in Elbert County, which borders
53. “1821 Georgia Land Lottery Eades–Gwin,” USGenWeb (http://files.usgwar-
chives.net/ga/deeds/1821/1821eg.txt : 2 October 2014), entry for East, Ufau (Wid),
Oglethorpe, Huffs Mil Dist, Lot 86, Sect 13, Henry.
54. Earle S. Dennis and Jane Estelle Smith, Marriage Bonds of Bedford County,
Virginia, 1755-1800 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1975), 60.
55. Roy S. Schild and Dola S. Tylor, The Tate Family from England to Tennessee,
website, (http://www.grundycountyhistory.org/04_Coll/Schild/Tate_Family_RCS
.pdf : accessed 16 June 2015); citing Ethel S. Updike, Tate and Allied Families of
the South (Salt Lake City, Ut.: Hobby Press, 1972) and Kevin Howard Walters’
Genealogy Website (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/a/l/Kevin-
Howard-Walters/index.html : accessed 10 March 2012) with primary source given
as Tate Family of New Kent and Hanover Counties, Virginia (no further information
available).

Oglethorpe County, Georgia, about the time our Easts and Gallaways
came to Wilkes in 1791. Wilkes County was split to form Oglethorpe
in 1793. Several Waddy Tates appear ca. 1820-1830 in Limestone
and Madison Counties, Alabama, and in Lauderdale County border-
ing Lawrence County, Alabama; Madison and Lawrence being where
some of our Gallaways moved circa 1816 and 1820, respectively. Dr.
Waddy Tate of Limestone and Madison married Mary F. Scruggs on
2 May 1823 in Madison County, Alabama.56
He later became a State
Representative (1825, 1834, 1843) and was wounded in a duel with
future Governor Clement Comer Clay.57
A list of persons of Henry County swearing allegiance to the
Commonwealth of Virginia in 1777 includes James East Sr., father
of Matthew Gallaway’s second wife, Mary Polly East, along with a
Henry Tate and Robert Tate.58
William Tate was listed with Matthew
Gallaway as a 1794 petit juror for Oglethorpe County, Georgia.59
In the 1805 Georgia Land Lottery, Samuel Tait, James East Sr.,
and Matthew Gallaway, all of Oglethorpe County each received
two draws.60
Thus far, we cannot definitively link a specific Euphan
Tate to James East Sr. nor these Gallaways, but this Euphan Tate
56. “Madison County (Alabama Marriage Collection, 1800-1969,” Madison,
Alabama, Waddy Tate-Mary F. Scruggs (02 May 1823); database, Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 June 2015), citing Jordan R. Dodd,
Early American Marriages: Alabama to 1825 (Bountiful, Utah: Precision Indexing
Publishers, 1991).
57. Thomas McAdory Owen, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama
Biography, Vol. II (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1921), 886. Willis Brewer,
Alabama: Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men: From 1540 to 1872
(Montgomery, Alabama: Barrett & Brown, 1872), 356-357.
58. C. B. Bryant, “Henry County From Its Formation in 1776 to the End of
the Eighteenth Century, et. seq.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography
9:1 (July 1901), 11-18; JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/stable/4242399 : accessed 4
October 2014). William East, dated 7 October 1777 (p. 13), and Henry Tate, Robert
Tate, and James East, dated 30 August 1777 (p. 17). List of persons renouncing alle-
giance to Great Britain and swearing allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
59. McRee, The Oglethorpe Echo, 1874-1881, 241.
60. Martha Lou Houston, Land Lottery List of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1804,
and Hancock County, Georgia, 1806: Copies From Courthouse Records in Oglethorpe
County, Georgia, and Hancock County, Georgia (1928; reprint, Danielsville, Georgia:
Heritage Papers, 1978), 10-11.

connection seems a possible source for the introduction of the name
into our Gallaway line via legend. As far as the authors are aware,
there is no evidence of the Tait name associated with any direct
descendants of Matthew’s first wife, alleged to be Miss Beavers, but
only descendants of his second wife, Mary East Gallaway, further
indicating that the Tait name may have originated from the East side
rather than with the Gallaways.
It is not implausible to imagine young Emily listening to stories
from her grandmother, Mary East Gallaway, and later confusing those
stories about Mary’s own maternal grandfather, a man possibly of sur-
name Tate, with Emily’s great grandfather and Matthew’s unnamed
father. For example, perhaps Mary spoke of “Grandfather Tate,” mean-
ing Mary’s own (maternal) grandfather and Emily inferred that Mary
meant Emily’s (paternal) great grandfather was Tait (Gallaway). It may
have been more confusing if both lines were believed to be of simi-
lar national origins. The Tate name appears to be most common in
England, which well could explain why that unrelated Tait Gallaway,
who might have himself been named for a Tate ancestor, married
Ann Gibson in England; however, the Tate surname also appears
common in Ireland.61
The Gallaway surname is commonly thought
by researchers of Matthew Gallaway to be Irish; it seems, however,
to be much more commonly associated with Scotland.62
Likewise, it
should be noted that the Cape Fear area of North Carolina where our
Matthew Gallaway may have lived in the early 1760s was a notably
large Scottish settlement.63
Nonetheless, the seeming similar national
61. Tate Name meaning: “English: from the Old English personal name Tata,
possibly a short form of various compound names with the obscure first element tat,
or else a nursery formation. This surname is common and widespread in Britain; the
chief area of concentration is northeastern England, followed by northern Ireland.”
Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).
62. Galloway Name meaning: “Scottish: regional name from Galloway in south-
western Scotland, named as ‘place of the foreign Gaels’, from Gaelic gall ‘foreigner’
+ Gaidheal ‘Gael’. From the 8th century or before it was a province of Anglian
Northumbria. In the 9th century it was settled by mixed Gaelic-Norse inhabitants
from the Hebrides and Isle of Man.” Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013).
63. Lloyd Johnson, “Highland Scots,” North Carolina History Project; website

origins also may have played a role in confusion among researchers
with the early history of our Gallaways.
If Not Tait Gallaway, Then Who?
The leading candidate for Matthew’s father, supported by three
primary source documents, is Thomas Gallaway Sr. of New Hanover
County, North Carolina.
The minutes of the New Hanover County Court 1738-1769,
dated 6 September 1764, record that a Thomas Morris and a James
Price were appointed guardians to Catherine, Thomas, Matthew and
Sarah Gallaway, orphans, children of Thomas Gallaway, with Caleb
Grainger, Esq., providing security.64
If our Matthew Gallaway’s birth-
day was 15 December 1759, as stated in Irene Gallaway’s publication,
then he would fit as Matthew Gallaway, minor orphan of Thomas Sr.
in 1764.
Furthermore, on 13 May 1786, two of Thomas Gallaway Sr.’s
orphans appear in Chatham County, North Carolina records. There,
Thomas and Matthew Gallaway registered a power of attorney giving
attorney Matthew Johnston of New Hanover County the author-
ity to represent them in matters “respecting the estate (real and per-
sonal) of their father, Thomas Gallaway, Dec’d of the County of New
Hanover.”65
Census records of Matthew’s two oldest sons, William and Levi,
who were reportedly born in North Carolina, support Matthew’s con-
nections to North Carolina. William Regan (Ragan) Gallaway and
Matthew A. Gallaway, sons of Matthew’s oldest son William, report-
ed in the 1880 census that their father was born in North Carolina.66
(http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/commentary/110/entry : accessed 17 June
2015).
64. New Hanover County, North Carolina, Court Minutes, 1738-1769: 223,
Guardians Appointed to Minors of Thomas Gallaway, 1764; New Hanover County
Public Library, Wilmington.
65. Chatham County, North Carolina, Deed Book C, p. 533, Power of Attorney
for Matthew Johnston, 13 May 1786; index, Chatham County Register of Deeds
Remote Access Site (http://www.chathamncrod.org : accessed 17 June 2015).
66. 1850 U.S. Census Itawamba County, Mississippi, population schedule,
District 6, p. 348A, dwelling 618, family 625, line 4, Levi Gallaway; digital image,

Irene Gallaway also believed, possibly based on interviews with his
grandchildren, that Matthew had lived there before migrating to
Georgia, as she wrote, “There is some reason to suppose that Matthew
Gallaway spent part of his life in North Carolina.”67
Likewise, an 1889
early history, including biographical accounts of his children, Early
Settlers of Alabama, by Col. James E. Saunders who was a contem-
porary of Wiley Gallaway and served on a committee with him, also
corroborates that Matthew was from North Carolina.68
This Matthew
Gallaway of New Hanover and Chatham Counties, North Carolina,
used the triple “a” spelling of Gallaway, as did our Matthew Gallaway
of Georgia in his early documents, although spellings from this period
are notoriously unreliable.
A third primary document linking our Matthew Gallaway of
Oglethorpe County, Georgia, as the orphan Matthew Gallaway of
New Hanover and Chatham Counties, North Carolina, involves a
Gallaway Bible and bond. In 1978, an item appeared in the Santa
Maria Valley Genealogical Society & Library Quarterly, submitted
by May Smith, a Matthew Gallaway descendant through his son
William.69
Mrs. Smith’s article reads:
“A Bible containing a bail bond with the prisoner’s name signed in
his own blood is owned by Mrs. Fred Pitchford near Mountain Home,
Arkansas.
This Bible belonged to Mathew GALLOWAY, Revolutionary War
Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 June 2015), citing NARA
micropublication M432, roll 373. 1880 U.S. Census, Anderson County, Texas,
population schedule, Precinct 5, p. 154B, dwelling 264, family 264, line 45, Mathew
Galaway; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 June
2015), citing NARA micropublication T9, roll 1288, FHL film 1255288. 1880 U.S.
Census, Kemper County, Mississippi, population schedule, Moscow Enumeration
District 068, p. 84D, dwelling 166, family 166, line 21, Wm. R. Galloway; digi-
tal image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 June 2015), citing
NARA micropublication T9, roll 652, FHL film 1254652.
68. Saunders and Stubbs, Settlers, 75. Saunders’ granddaughter, Elizabeth
Saunders Blair Stubbs, later republished his original 1889 history with her own notes.
69. May Smith, “Mathew Galloway Bible, 1781, SC,” Santa Maria Valley
Genealogical Society & Library Quarterly 10:2 (Summer 1978).

soldier who was captured by the king’s army. The oath of bond pay-
ment, written in faded brown ink on one old yellowed leaf can still
be read as follows: ‘County of Chather, South Carolina. Am held and
firmly bound with oath. Mr. GALLOWAY herein orders the sum of
50 pounds sterling current money before the 20 November to pay for
value received on or before Jan 4, 1781.’ Followed his name signed in
blood. Also signatures of Wm. CAMPBELL, Thomas GALLOWAY,
HARVIN HEBORTS, ___ JOSLIN, John BURNES.”
The article also states that “handed down in the family is the
information that Mathew was unable to raise this sum of money and
lost his land” and “Mrs. Pitchford came into possession of the Bible,
through her grandmother, Mrs. Sina Wilson, also of Baxter County,
who was a Galloway.”
May Smith further wrote, “The Bible was printed in 1773 by
Alexander Kincaid, “His Majesty’s Printer,” in Edinburgh. It was
procured by Mathew GALLOWAY, Aug. 17, 1775. It contains only
the Psalms and the New Testament books and is quite different from
Bibles today.”70
Her article described the bond as “written in blood” and she gave
the location as “County of Chather, South Carolina.” As there is no
such county, past or present, in either South or North Carolina, the
authors believe that this might be a transcription error and the actual
reference may be to the County of Chatham, North Carolina. This
would also be consistent with the 1786 power of attorney that indi-
cates Matthew Gallaway resided there.
A search for additional information that May Smith might have
acquired about the Bible, where she saw it, a more detailed descrip-
tion, or attempts to locate the bond on file with North Carolina, has
not been successful. The claims reporting the bond to be a bail bond,
related to his Revolutionary service, and that he was captured and lost
70. May Smith, “Ancestor Chart of Lola May Brown Smith,” Santa Maria Valley
Genealogical Society & Library Quarterly 12:4 (Winter 1980-81). May Smith’s geneal-
ogy showed that Mrs. Smith was a descendant of William, son of Matthew, through
his daughter Sina Gallaway Wilson, the latter who passed the Bible to her grand-
daughter, Mrs. Pitchford, as noted in the 1978 article.

his lands, have not been substantiated.71
May Smith’s transcription
of the bond, however, does provide useful clues and resulting theo-
ries regarding his alleged Revolutionary service that the authors hope
will eventually lead them to the evidence required for the DAR to
reopen the line. Another family member who viewed the Bible around
1998 reports he does not recall seeing such a bond in the Bible, so
it is assumed lost since May Smith’s 1978 article. Unfortunately, too,
though the most recent owner of the Bible has been identified, it does
not appear possible at this point to examine it, but hopefully, the cur-
rent owner’s family will some day be able to share it. Examination of
the Bible, and the bond, if it can be located, may provide additional
information.
Can DNA Testing Help?
The question of whether Matthew Gallaway of Oglethorpe
County, Georgia is the son of Thomas Gallaway Sr. of New Hanover
County, North Carolina, has not been established conclusively,
although the three primary documents discussed provide a basis for
believing that this Thomas Gallaway may well be Matthew Gallaway’s
father. A more definitive answer may some day come from y-DNA
testing of known and suspected male descendants of Thomas Gallaway
Sr. of New Hanover County, North Carolina, and of Matthew
Gallaway of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, who still carry the Gallaway
surname, or even through autosomal DNA testing. Although autoso-
mal DNA testing is less reliable as a predictor of common ancestors, a
broader range of descendants, including both males and females who
have different surnames, can submit to autosomal testing and still pro-
vide useful clues.
Thus far, the three authors of this article, descendants of Matthew
Gallaway through two different wives and sons, are found to share
autosomal DNA with each other, as well as with known descendants
71. A reference to Matthew Gallaway having been held a prisoner of the British
and “bought his freedom” is contained in one DAR application file, DAR National
#664784, April 1982. The file references a notation found in a family Bible, but
provides no further documentation and the authors have been unable to verify such
claim.

of Thomas Gallaway Sr. of New Hanover County, North Carolina,
and his son, Thomas Gallaway Jr. through his son, Robert A. Gallaway
who married Margaret Ann Sellers. As more Gallaway researchers add
DNA tests to their genealogical research tools, we hope that the answer
to whether Matthew Gallaway of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, is the
Matthew Gallaway, son of Thomas Gallaway Sr. of New Hanover
County, North Carolina, will become further evident.72
Editor’s Note: Additional sources exist for the research documented in
this article. Please contact the authors for more information.
72. With special thanks to Bonnie Carlson, another descendant of Matthew
Gallaway, and David Johnston, a descendant of Thomas Gallaway of New Hanover
County, NC, for their contributions to researching the Gallaway family.

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