The German View of Daniel's Roots

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1.  Early descendents of the Daniel Haston seem to have claimed a Dutch descent.  

Thus, statements to Daniel and his ancestors "Dutch" descent may indicate that the person making the statement thought that Daniel's roots were in Germany, not in Holland.  Because the double meanings associated with the term "Dutch," this argument for the Hollander-Dutch view applies also to the German-Dutch view.

A biographical sketch of Daniel's grandson, Pleasant Austin (son of John Austin, Sr. and Catherine Austin Haston) says that his mother (Catherine) was thought to have been of Dutch descent.  Pleasant Austin was born on September 8, 1820 which was six years prior to Daniel's death.  The Austins lived in the Lost Creek community, which is an extension of the Hickory Valley community in White County, about ten miles (down by the White's Cave and through Big Bottom and around to Cummingsville) from Daniel's home place.  Thus, he grew up close enough to his grandfather that he would have known him personally, and at the age six, should have had memories of interacting with Daniel.  
Source:  Page 861 of Goodspeed's History of Tennessee Illustrated (White, Warren, DeKalb, Coffee, & Cannon Counties) [published 1887 by the Goodspeed Publishing Company of Nashville, TN]. (This book was published about 13 years before Pleasant Austin died.  Pleasant was 67 years old at the time of its publication.)

The classic "Dutch descent" quote (most often cited quotation) is attributed to William Carroll Haston, Sr., although the quotation was not specifically said to have been from him (note the phrase I have underlined in the quote), in the book where it is printed.  In a biographical sketch of William Carroll Haston, published in A Biographical Record of the Cumberland Region by George A. Ogle and Company of Chicago (published in 1898), it is said of William Carroll Haston that "He was born here, March 2, 1829, and on the paternal side is of Dutch descent, his grandfather, Daniel Hastons [sic], being scarcely able to speak English.  At an early date, he [i.e. Daniel] came to Tennessee, locating in Van Buren County, near the spring now known as Haston's Big Spring, where he purchased the land now owned by our subject."  It is true that William Carroll never met his grandfather, since he was the youngest son of David and was not born until three years after Daniel's death in 1826.  On the other hand, it was he (William Carroll) who lived and died on the very property that was settled by his grandfather and would probably have had strong sentimental feelings, as well as "second hand memories" of his pioneer grandfather. William Carroll died about four years (1902) after the publication of the book that contained his biographical sketch.  At age 70 at the time of the book's publication, it is very possible that William Carroll Haston was the source of the information given in his biography.  

Landon Daryle Medley seems to have been referring to this Biographical Record of the Cumberland Region work when he said, "His (William Carroll Haston's) grandfather was Daniel Hastons, a Dutchman." (Page 257 of The History of Van Buren County, Tennessee:  The Early Canebreakers, 1840-1940 (published in 1987 by Don Mills, Inc. of Salem, WV).

These are strong arguments for some kind of Dutch descent (Holland-Dutch or German-Dutch [Deutsch]), particularly since William Carroll Haston, Sr. was the grandson of Daniel through David, as was Pleasant Austin, through Catherine.  The descendents closest to Daniel, to whom published statements exist regarding their ancestry, both point to a "Dutch" (whatever that may have meant) descent.  

Howard H. Hasting, Sr. (extensive Daniel Haston family researcher active in research in the 1950s-1970s) said:  "All evidence indicates that the statement as to the nationality of Daniel [i.e. in the William Carroll Haston bio] is correct, notwithstanding contrary statements by others.  This may account for the various spellings of the name--an effort to spell a Dutch name in English."  (Page 5 of Howard H. Hasting, Sr.'s unpublished report on his Daniel Haston family research; written in 1954 and revised in 1980)

Note:  It is perhaps noteworthy that nothing was said about William Carroll's grandmother and her origin.  The same is true of Pleasant Austin's mother's (Catherine's) mother.  Does this mean that whoever was giving this information didn't know about her or her roots, or that the interviewer/author just didn't ask about her (perhaps because the paternal ancestry was deemed to be more important)?

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Notes:  

(1) Hiestand researchers generally agree that the children of Heinrich Hiestand would have been bilingual, but would have probably been more comfortable with the German language than English.  For example, according to Hiestand researcher Joe Baker, the Bible entries in Peter Hiestand's Bible (brother of Daniel Hiestand) were written in German.  This bilingualism, but preference for German, would seem to naturally fit the "scarcely able to speak English" comment regarding Daniel Haston in the William Carroll Haston, Sr. biography.

(2) In a letter from Dwight Haston to Dave R. & Estelle Haston (sometime in the 1960s or early 1970s), Dwight wrote:  

"Mr. Creed Schokly [Schockley/Shockley] of Spencer found a reference that Daniel and his wife both spoke German and required a translator in court in White Co.  I have never been able to locate this but Creed is well known for his knowledge of the people and places around Spencer."  

In email correspondence between Wayne Haston and Dwight Haston, late in the year 2000, Dwight could not recall the Creed Shockley comment.  When he saw the letter, he agreed that the handwriting of the letter was his, but had no recollection of making the comment in a letter or having such a conversation with Mr. Shockley, who was the county historian for Van Buren County prior to his death.  If you know the whereabouts of a document such as the one Dwight Haston referred to, please contact us.

2.  Daniel Hiestand would have been the right age to have been the Daniel Haston who settled in White County, TN.

David B. Trimble's Hiestand Family of Page County, Virginia is a popular source for the history of the Hiestand family, particularly the Heinrich Hiestand branch of that family.  On page one of his book, Mr. Trimble indicated that Daniel Hiestand was "born c1750; married September 28, 1773, to Christina Nave." 

Those dates match up well with these known events in Daniel Haston's life: 

• Birth of David--If (and we are not sure of this) David Haston, whose Bible record records his birth as May 6, 1777, was the first child born to Daniel Haston, then that would be a reasonable fit with a marriage date of 1773.  If anything, we might wonder if other children were born in the 3 1/2 years interval between the marriage and the birth of David.

Source of the marriage date:  Page 117 of Shenandoah County Marriage Bonds, 1772-1850, compiled by John Vogt & T. William Kethley, Jr. (Athens, GA:  Iberian Publishing Company).

• Revolutionary War--At about age 25, in 1775, Daniel Haston would have been at the proper age to have fought in the Revolutionary War.
• Daniel Haston died in 1826.  The c1750 birth date (of Daniel Hiestand) would have made Daniel Haston about 76 years old at the time of his death, which would be a common age of death, even for that era.  David Haston died at about 83, Joseph at about 50, Isaac at around 77, Jesse was murdered by Yankee soldiers at about 68, and Catherine died at approximately 50 or older.

Note:  The1830 Mortality Listing file, compiled from a Survey of Revolutionary War Veterans for Pension Purposes, says that Daniel Haston died in 1735 at the age of 91.  Some Haston researchers have questioned the legitimacy of that 1735 birth date for Daniel.  They point to the fact that Daniel had been dead for four years at the time the survey was taken and that some family member, not knowing the actual date of Daniel's birth, must have filled in the answers to the survey questions inaccurately.

3.  Daniel Hiestand's brother, Abraham, did live in East TN in the late 1700s.

See the Abraham Hiestend timeline in order to track the journeys of Abraham Hiestend from VA to the area of western North Carolina that became east Tennessee in 1796, and on to south central Kentucky.

4.  Daniel Hiestand appears to have fallen out of favor with his father.

Three and one-half years after Daniel's marriage to Christina Nave and a couple of years into the Revolutionary War, Heinrich Hiestand (Daniel's father) created his will on March 22, 1777.  For some unmentionable reason, daughter Magdalena and son Daniel were to receive ten pounds less than the other siblings (except for Barbara who wouldn't receive anything as long as she "he lives with this man in wedlock").  

"...I ordain and it is my will that my youngest daughter Magdalena shall have ten pounds less in her inheritance than the other children because of a reason which I now do not like to mention, and likewise my son Daniel shall likewise have ten pounds less inheritance than the six remaining because of the same reason which I now do not like to mention."

Question:  How much was ten pounds worth at that time?  Apparently, from the will, Heinrich's  farm was worth 180 pounds in 1777, so ten pounds was worth 18% of the value of the (400 acres) farm.  In the same month (March 24, 1777), Heinrich sold 233 acres to his son Peter for 100 pounds.  For 100 pounds, Abraham bought 123 acres in Washington County, TN six years later.  

There has been a considerable amount of speculation over the reason that Daniel's portion on the inheritance was reduced by ten pounds, as was Magdalena's (his younger sister).  

• Did Heinrich not approve of Daniel's marriage to Christina Nave?  (He certainly didn't approve of daughter Barbara's husband, so she was totally removed from the inheritance.)  
• Heinrich's family went to Dunmore County, VA (now Page County) as Mennonites.  Did Daniel convert to the Baptist faith prior to 1777 and that offended his father?  It is true that there was a sweeping wave of Mennonite to Baptist conversions, led by Primitive Baptist Elder John Koontz, that occurred during this time.  Sooner or later, the Hiestand family (as did most all of the other Swiss-German Mennonites of that area) converted to Baptists.  At least some of the Hiestands of Page County, VA joined the Mill Creek Baptist Church, which was pastored by Elder John Koontz and former Mennonite Martin Kauffman.  In East TN (Washington and Cocke counties), Abraham's family associated with Baptist churches.  
• Did Daniel join the Revolutionary War effort, which may have offended a Mennonite (and pacifist) father? 

Note:  It is a historical fact that Quakers and Mennonites were generally resistant to the American war effort against Great Britain.  

This idea that Daniel Hiestand was disfavored because he joined the Revolutionary War, has been suggested as a connection between Daniel Hiestand and Daniel Haston.  It has been further conjectured that perhaps Daniel left the main body of the Hiestand family in Page County, VA, after the war was over in 1783, because he felt ostracized for his Rev War involvement. The logic goes on to say that perhaps he tagged along to East TN with his older brother Abraham who, for some reason, was more sympathetic to him than those who remained in VA.  

In an August 12, 1978 letter from Howard Hasting, Sr. of San Antonio, TN to Dave R. & Estelle Haston of Sparta, TN, Mr. Hasting commented that:  "Old Henry Heistant made a will on 22 March 1777, in which he disinherited his son Daniel for 'taking up arms against the King.'"  However, we have not been able to find the "taking up arms..." phrase in the Heinrich Hiestend will.  Mr. Hasting was the most precise Daniel Haston researcher of his era.  He was a lawyer, who did research and served as chief assistant to the American Judge on the war crimes tribunal for the Far East in the post-WWII period.  Generally, he did not make statements that he could not document.  Where did he get this "taking up arms against the King" phrase?

Note:  This argument fails to take into consideration that three of Daniel's Hiestand's brothers were on a Rev War muster roll as early as October, 1775 (a year and a half prior to Heinrich's will).  Jacob Heaston, Peter Heston, and John Heaston were camped in Michael Reader's militia company at Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) in October of 1775.  This company was mustered in the southeast part of old Dunmore (now Page) County, VA in 1775.

Question:  Why didn't Daniel Hiestand join Michael Reader's militia company too?  He was old enough and had been married for two years.  Why didn't Abraham join also?  Both Jacob and Peter were older than Abraham and they joined.  It is interesting that the only two of the five sons of Heinrich Hiestand that didn't join Michael Reader's company were Abraham and Daniel.  Does even that fact suggest that there was some kind of special brotherly bond all along between Abraham and Daniel, which might suggest that Daniel truly did journey with Abraham to East TN?

5.  A Danl Heston lived and voted in Washington County, TN while Abraham Hiestand was there.

On August 18, 1786 a "Danl Heston" and a John Nave both voted in Jonesborough of Washington County as did John Sevier (first governor of TN).  Although Abraham Hiestand/Hastings may have been there in 1786, his name does not appear on the voting list.  The next year (1787), in the same county, a tax payer's list includes the names of Danl Heston (who owned no land at the time), Abrm. Hastings (123 acres, which we know to have been on Cherokee Creek not far from Jonesborough), Saml Hastings (50 acres), as well as John Sevier (1220 acres) and many others.  Source:  Early East Tennessee Taxpayers compiled by Pollyanna Creekmore and published by The East Tennessee Historical Society's Publications (in Washington County section).

Question:  Who was this Saml Hastings?  He seems to appear later in Jefferson County, TN.

In 1791, Abram Heslin, senr (with 223 acres) and Abraham Heslin, junr (no land mentioned) appear again on the Washington County tax list.  Danl Heston (nor any similar name) does not appear on the list in 1791.  Source: Washington County, TN Records, Volume 1 compiled by Mary Hardin McCown

These appearances of a Danl Heston who was old enough to vote in 1787 (probably 21 years old or older, and thus not the Daniel who was Abraham's son) and Abraham Hiestand/Hastings in Washington County at the same time (1787) do present a possible connection between the Page County, VA Hiestand family and the Daniel Haston family of White County, TN.  Also, the fact that Danl Heston seems to have disappeared from the Washington County scene by 1791 fits the Knox County chronology which places Daniel Haston in Knoxville by or before 1794.  

Note:  This information is discussed in more detail in the 1786 and 1787 entries in the Daniel Haston timeline.

6.  Daniel Haston's son, David, claimed that he (David) was born in Virginia.

There are at least two known sources that indicate that David Haston was born in Virginia (1850 Federal Census and the AIS Mortality Schedules Index; see David Haston timeline).  Were it not for these sources (and perhaps other sources that we are not aware of), Haston researchers would probably assume, based upon Daniel Haston's Rev War bounty land grant, that the Haston family was firmly rooted in North Carolina.  Apparently Daniel Haston's family did live in NC at some point, but it also seems evident that Daniel Haston (or at least his wife) lived somewhere in VA on May 6, 1777 (the day that David Haston was born, as per his own Bible record).

Note:  It is interesting, just for the record, that Heinrich Hiestand's will was signed on March 22, 1777, less than two months prior to the birth of David Haston, son of Daniel Haston.  Also, we know from another court document that Swiss-German Daniel Hiestand signed his name in Page County, VA on March 25, 1777, less than two months prior to David Haston's birth.  Thus, we can say with some moderate degree of certainty that Daniel Haston (or at least his wife) and Daniel Hiestand lived in VA at the same time, even if though they may not have been the same person, nor from the same family or specific location in VA.  However, as a Rev War soldier perhaps at the time of David's birth, Daniel himself may not have been present for the birth of David.

7.  There were many connections between the Shenandoah area of VA and the East TN settlement.

The Shenandoah Valley of VA, where Dunmore/Page County was located, was the home of many of the early settlers who migrated to East TN.  For example, the known VA-TN migrations of the following families may suggest circumstantial evidence that Daniel Hiestand was the Daniel Haston of Tennessee. 

• John Sevier (Rev War hero and first governor of Tennessee) grew up in the Shenandoah Valley not far from where the Heinrich Hiestand family lived in northern VA.  John Sevier (1745) was born between the dates of Abraham Hiestand's (1740) and Daniel Hiestand's (c1750) births.  Sevier started the settlement that later became known as New Market, VA.  The New Market area is about 10 miles west of where the Hiestand family lived, which was over the Massanutten mountain to the east of New Market.  

John Sevier moved to what is now East TN in 1772 or 1773, which was just a year or so prior to Abraham Hiestand.  His name appears 29 places down from Danl Heston on a non-alphabetized list of voters in Jonesborough (of now Washington County, TN) in August of 1786.  We know that Abraham Hiestand/Hastings also lived in the Jonesborough area at that time, having purchased land on Cherokee Creek on September 25, 1785.  (See the narrative timeline for Abraham Hiestand/Hastings above.)  

John Sevier was the governor of TN for six terms (1796-1801 & 1803-1809).  Knoxville was the capital of TN during that entire time (1796-1812).  The Sevier plantation, "Marble Springs,"  is located south of the Holston River.  If Daniel Haston lived, as we think he did, "south of the Holston, opposite Knoxville" in his Knox County years (1795 or before to about 1807), he would have lived very near the John Sevier plantation during the time that John Sevier was governor.  We know of no connections between Daniel Haston and John Sevier, but it is (at least) an interesting set of coincidences that Daniel Hiestand and John Sevier grew up in the same area of VA at the same time, that Danl Heston and Abraham Hiestand/Hastings lived near Jonesborough of Washington County (NC/TN) at the same time that John Sevier was there, and that Daniel Haston (possibly/probably) lived near the John Sevier plantation in Knox County in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

• (Colonel) John Tipton moved with his parents (about 1747) from Baltimore County, MD to the Shenandoah Valley of VA near the Hiestands just shortly after Heinrich Hiestand moved there (about 1740) with his family from PA.  Whether or not the Tiptons and Hiestands knew each other in VA, we do not know.  However, John Tiptons name does appear on the same page of a court document that Daniel Hiestand signed in Page County, VA on March 25, 1777.  

The Tiptons moved to Washington County (NC/TN) in October of 1783, almost the exact time that Abraham Hiestand moved to the same area, where John Tipton lived until his death in 1813.  This is the John Tipton who signed the Tennessee Constitution.

John Tipton's son, William "Fighting Billy" Tipton, was born in Shenandoah County, VA on February 13, 1761.  He was severely wounded during the Rev War, but recovered and returned to VA.  William moved to Greene County (NC/TN) in the Fall of 1783, presumably with his father (although they seem to have settled in different areas of what became East TN).  Around 1785 he moved to Knox County, TN.  There is still a Tipton Station area of south Knox County where William Tipton lived prior to moving to Blount County, TN in about 1819.  

In April of 1800 (see the April 1800 Daniel Haston timeline for documentation and a more complete discussion), Daniel Haston and Elizabeth Roddy were appointed administrators of the estate of a James Roddy who died intestate.  William "Fighting Billy" Tipton was one of the two men who put up bond money to secure the administration of the will.  Thus, Daniel Haston and this Shenandoah County, VA native, William Tipton, knew and interacted with each other.  Daniel's son David Haston, in this same year of 1800, married Margaret/Peggy Roddy, who was probably associated with the same Roddy family that the Tipton family was connected to through marriages.  

Source of most of the Tipton information:  Tipton - The First Five American Generations: A Short History of the Tipton Family by Charles D. Tipton (Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc.)

• Members of the Nave family of the Shenandoah Valley of VA also migrated to what is now upper East TN in the late decades of the 1700s.  According to an email from John & Marilyn Murray, there were two Neff/Nave families in the Shenandoah Valley, as early as 1740.  Although it isn't certain, Nave researchers think that the Christina Nave, who married Daniel Hiestand, may have been the daughter of Dr. Hans Conrad Neff.  If that is correct, Christina's oldest brother would probably have been John Nave, who moved to East TN.  A John Nave voted in the August 1786 Jonesborough election in Washington County.  This is the same election in which Danl Heston (Daniel Hiestand? brother in law of John Nave?) voted.  
  
• A John Miller, who was a Rev War veteran, married Mary Dottson/Dotson/Dodson in Shenandoah County, VA on July 5, 1787.  In 1798 in Knox County, TN, a John Miller put up bond money for David Haston in the "cow tails" case.  In White County, TN a few years later, the John H. Miller who married Mary Dottson/Dotson/Dodson  lived near the Daniel Haston family.  John Miller's descendents say that he was born in Maryland.  Daniel Haston's family seems to have had some association with a McComisky family of Baltimore, MD.

8.  The Daniel Haston family may have helped to establish a Baptist church when they arrived in White County, TN.

From the evidence stated above, it is clear that Daniel Hiestand's brother Abraham was a staunch Baptist.  Like a nomad moving from oasis to oasis in the desert, Abraham's movements, from Page County, VA to Washington and Cocke counties in what is now East TN, and eventually on to Monroe County, KY, were always associated with Baptist churches of those areas.  

There is evidence that, as early as 1808, there was a Baptist church referred to as the "Big Fork" church that was a part of the Stockton Valley Association of churches.  Apparently, this was the church that existed at the location of the Big Fork cemetery, in the Cummingsville area of what is now Van Buren County, TN (White County until 1840).  It was located on Haston property and must have been established soon after the Haston family arrived in White County.

The Mill Creek Baptist Church near Tomkinsville of Monroe County, KY that Abraham Hiestand joined in 1800 was also a member of this Stockton Valley Association beginning in 1805 (search on the word "Stockton" on this page).  Abraham and his second wife, Elizabeth, withdrew from the Mill Creek Baptist Church in 1811.  This was just a couple of years after Elder John Mulkey, pastor of Mill Creek Baptist, was forced (in late 1809) to withdraw from the Stockton Valley Association because of changes in his doctrinal views.  

Thus, there was a period of about three years (1808-1811) during which time Abraham Hiestand and at least some members of the Daniel Haston family of TN were possibly* associated with two different Baptist churches (one in TN and one in KY) that were associated with the same Stockton Valley Association.  Abraham Hiestend's son, Daniel, was frequently a messenger to the Stockton Valley Association from the McFarland Creek Baptist Church in Monroe County, KY beginning in 1822. 

*Note:  We don't know for sure that the early Haston family was associated with the Big Fork Baptist Church, but circumstantial evidence seems to indicate that this may have been the case.

9.  Daniel Haston gave all of his sons Biblical names, as did Heinrich Hiestand.

There is nothing unusual about the assignment of Biblical names to children born into 18th century families.  Even families who did not attend church regularly often gave their children names of Bible characters.  Both Heinrich Hiestand and Daniel Haston seemed to be particularly conscientious about the matter.  

Even though the name Heinrich (Henry) was not of Biblical origin, Heinrich chose the prominent Bible names Jacob, Abraham, Peter, John, and Daniel for his sons.  Although he broke the tradition with Barbara, the first daughter, (Barbara is not a Bible name) he did name his other two daughters Anna (appears one time in Bible) and Mary Magdalene (a friend of Jesus).

Daniel Haston also named his (known) sons after these major Bible characters: David, Joseph, Isaac, and Jesse.  Like Heinrich Hiestand, he seemed less concerned about a Biblical name for his daughter Catherine (not a Bible name).  Did Daniel adopt this Biblical name tradition (particularly for sons) from Heinrich Hiestand?
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Note:  It is interesting that, even though Heinrich and Daniel used some of the more prominent Biblical names, each of the nine names used between them is different.

10.  The spelling of Daniel's name on the 1806 White County, TN petition looks "German."

The Daniel who spent the latter part of his life, and died, in White County, TN participated in the formation of that county.  His name appears on the 1806 petition to form the county from Jackson County.  It appears just six signatures down from "Joseph Haston" and eight signatures down from "Isam Bradley."  Several of the other signatures on that page are names of men who are known to have been neighbors of the Daniel Haston family.

Daniel's name is spelled "Dannel Hasstont."  There is some uncertainty as to whether or not this is a bonafide, self-written signature of Daniel or if someone wrote the name for him.  For a fuller discussion of this matter, and to see these signatures, see the section on this site that investigates all known Daniel Haston and Daniel Hiestend signatures.  However, even if Daniel did not write this signature for himself, one could argue that the person who did write the name was writing it the way he heard it pronounced by Daniel.  There are numerous spellings of the German surname "Hiestend," and some of them end with the letter "t."  (Examples:  Hiestandt / Hiestent)

11.  We know of some other connections between Daniel Haston's family and Nave / Neff families.

Approximately a year before David Haston moved to White County, TN, he was an auctioneer ("crying vendue") in the estate settlement of a Jacob Neff (Nave).  David was paid $1.00 for his role in the estate settlement of Jacob Neff / Knave / Nave in Knox Co, TN on November 11, 1806.  Isaac Prewet (probably the friend of David Haston by that name) also was paid for some role in the settlement.  What was the relationship between this Jacob Neff (Nave / Knave) and the Christina Nave (Neff) who married Daniel Hiestend in Shenandoah Co, VA in 1773?  We don't know.  Please contact us is you have information on this Jacob Neff (Nave / Knave).

Jacob Mitchell was an original (1808) land grantee in White County, TN whose land was adjacent to that of Daniel & Joseph Haston.  The way his land was situated with the Hastons around the Big Spring Branch seems to indicate that they were close friends or relatives.  A family Bible record (supposedly in the possession of Glen Cowan, great-great grandson of Morris and Elizabeth [parents of Jacob Mitchell]) indicates that this Jacob Mitchell (one source [from Sharon Spurgeon] says "Montgomery Co. Maryland May 1 1784") married a Lucinda Hastings.  This Lucinda Hastings possibly was a daughter of Daniel Haston.  Jacob Mitchell's brother, Rev. James Mitchell, married a Sarah / Sally Nave (born March 4, 1793) from Rockingham County, VA in Knox County, TN on October 6, 1808.  

12.  The Abraham Hiestend (Hiestand / Hestand) family first settled in Green County of south-central Kentucky (from which Adair Co, KY was formed in 1801) in the late 1790s.  In 1829, Louisa Hastings / Haston (born in 1811 to Daniel & Chloe Skaggs Haston in Adair County, KY) was wed to Thomas T. Green by "David Hastings, Esq." in White County, TN.  This David Hastings was David Haston, son of the White County, TN Daniel Haston.  Thus, there very probably was some kind of familial relationship between the Louisa Hastings / Haston who was born in Adair County, KY and our David Hastings / Haston who performed her wedding in White County, TN.  Louisa's father, Daniel Haston, was very possibly a son of the Daniel Haston of White County, TN.

When this Daniel Haston of Adair County, KY died in 1820, two members of the Lemmon / Lemmons family purchased items from his estate sale.  Two of Abraham Hiestend's daughters married into the Lemmons family in Green County, KY in 1800.  One of Abraham Hiestend's granddaughters (daughter of Rudian & Elizabeth Hiestand Lemmon) married Moses Skaggs in 1821.  Moses Skaggs was related to the Chloe Skaggs whom Daniel Haston married in 1809.  Thus, there are several known indirect connections between the Adair County, KY "Daniel Haston" (who may have been a son of our Daniel Haston of White County, TN) and the Swiss-German Hiestend family of south central KY.

13. A James Ryon/Ryan, who married Eleanor McComiskey, joined the Cherokee Baptist Church near Jonesboro, NC/TN in April of 1791 along with a Daniel Heaston.  The church records clearly indicate that the Swiss-German Abraham Hiestand/Heaston family was active in the church for several years.  This "Daniel Heaston" was very probably the son of Abraham Hiestand/Heaston.  The Daniel Haston family ("our Daniel" who lived in Knox County and, later, White County of Tennessee) was closely associated with Eleanor McComiskey Ryan's sister's family, Mrs. Philip Roddy.  It is very possible that David Haston (son of Daniel Haston) married a daughter (Margaret Roddy) of Philip & Mary McComiskey Roddy.  James Ryan and his family provide a documented common link between the Swiss-German Hiestand/Heaston family and the Daniel Haston family.  See more information on this Ryan-McComiskey-Roddy-Haston connection, see: The Mysterious McComiskey-Roddy-Haston Connection and the Cherokee Baptist Church records.

14. In an August 1852 circuit court case in Van Buren County, Tennessee, the spelling of James W. Haston's surname appears to be "Heastand."  James W. Haston was the son of David Haston and grandson of Daniel Haston.  In other places in the minutes for this case, the "Haston" spelling appears.  Why would the "Heastand" spelling appear here at this time?  By this time, in White and Van Buren Counties of Tennessee, the "Haston" spelling (or some near misspelled variant) had long since been established.

For many years, Haston researchers have sought to connect the Page County, VA Daniel Hiestand with Knox County-White County, TN Daniel Haston.  There is an abundance of genealogical and historical data on the Hiestand family in general, and specifically on Daniel Hiestand's brother Abraham who moved to, lived in, and moved away from the area that became East TN.  The Daniel Haston family is also easily tracked, beginning in 1795 in Knox County and later in White County.  

But after all of the research efforts attempting to connect the two "Daniels," no definite documented link has been found.  The appearances of a Danl Heston who was old enough to vote in 1787 (probably 21 years old or older, and thus not Abraham's son Daniel who was born in 1770) and Abraham Hiestand/Hastings (brother of Daniel Hiestand) in Washington County, TN at the same time (1787) are the closest that Haston researchers have been able to come to making the Hiestand and Haston families connect.  Thus, to say that Daniel Hiestand and Daniel Haston were one and the same, requires a historical-genealogical leap of faith.   

Here is an interesting thought.  Even if Daniel Haston was not from the Page County, VA Hiestand family, he and Abraham Hiestand may very well have known each other during their residence in the Jonesborough area of Washington County.  

2.  The "vanity biographies" of the 1800s can not be trusted for historical accuracy.

It is a historiographical principle that sources closer in time to an historical event tend to (but not always) be more reliable than later sources that can more easily become corrupted by a variety of influences through the passage of time.  That reality seems to lend strong credence to the German-Dutch view, due to the fact that two of Daniel's grandsons (one of whom, Pleasant Austin, would have personally interacted with Daniel) were said to have been of Dutch descent.  (See this argument as stated and discussed above.)

However, in the case of the Pleasant Austin and William Carroll Haston biographical statements regarding nationality of origin, the reliability of the sources need to be examined.  Genealogical researchers are generally well acquainted with the "biographical sketch" books that were popular during the late 1800s and early 1900s.  Writers would go into various communities and determine who the prominent citizens were (that is, the ones who could afford to buy their books...in many cases).  They would gather information on these people, probably some times from the subjects themselves and other times from whoever was available and willing to share the information.  Surely, the editorial criteria varied from publisher to publisher, but more often than not (probably, although I don't know that this has been proven by research) a subject with a strong ego and a bit of money could have his biographical sketch published.  In some/many? cases, the subject probably had to put up a certain amount of money at the outset of the project.  (It's not unlike some of the "Who's Who in America" books/schemes of today.)  Thus, these books could be called "vanity biographies."  Although they do serve a valid purpose for genealogical research, researchers need to remember that there was no historiographical passion for accuracy in this process.  Thus, information contained in these works should be taken with the proverbial "grain of salt."   

Also, notice in the William Carroll Haston, Sr. quotation that it was said of him that he was of Dutch descent.  Who knows who the source was?  His wife or children?  Some neighbor?  Or, someone in an office in Spencer who was acquainted him to one degree or another?  The wording in the Pleasant Austin biography was similar in its vagueness of source.

Note:  However, it should be noted that the information in the William Carroll Haston bio does seem to be generally accurate and quite detailed.  William Carroll Haston was only 70 years of age at the time and could very possibly have been the source of this information.

3.  Daniel may have spoken Scottish Gaelic, which could have easily been confused for German.    

It may (or may not) be true that Daniel could hardly speak English, although we don't have any evidence of that from court records or other documents that are known to exist (that is, other than the William Carroll Haston biography).  If he was truly "scarcely able to speak English," that would pose a nearly insurmountable argument against the English view.  However, Highlander Scots spoke Gaelic and that could account for his non-English dialect.  Gaelic had harsh Germanic sounds and was more different from English than was German or French.  In his Carolina Scots, Douglas F. Kelly (1739 Publications, Dillon, SC, published 1998) says that "It is a proven fact that Gaelic was almost universally spoken all through the Upper Cape Fear section (of NC)...until about the time of the War Between the States." (page 108)  He goes on to cite a source that claims that so many people spoke Gaelic in the Fayetteville, NC area in 1828 that a Gaelic speaking clerk was necessary at the post office.

Note:  On the other hand, Gaelic was the language of the Scottish Highlands.  The Scots of the Lowlands generally spoke English.  The Isle of Hestan, from which the Scots-Irish view suggests Daniel's family may have originated, was located very near the English border. (Page 4 from Kelly's book)  Thus, if Daniel Haston was from the Isle of Hestan, he probably would have been able to speak some form of English.  If Daniel Haston spoke Gaelic, it probably means that he was a Scottish Highlander and not from the Isle of Hestan or the parishes around it.  (See the Scots-Irish view.)

4.  Daniel Haston's (possible) birth date conflicts with the birth date of Daniel Hiestand.

The Hiestand genealogy indicates that Daniel Hiestand was born "c1750."  However, the 1830 Mortality Listing (file compiled from a Survey of Revolutionary War Veterans for Pension Purposes) clearly states that Daniel Haston was born in 1735.  If both of those birth dates are accurate, then clearly they point to two different men.

Source of Daniel Hiestand birth:  Hiestand Family of Page County, Virginia by David B. Trimble

Note:  Many Haston researchers, not limited to advocates of the German-Dutch view, have questioned the 1735 date of Daniel Haston's birth.  If born in 1735, Daniel would have been 40 years old when the Rev War began and 42 years old before his first (known) child was born.  Perhaps the person who reported the information on the survey (Daniel had been dead for a few years at the time) didn't have a written record of Daniel's date to refer to and, thus, was guessing.

5.  Daniel Haston fought in the NC line of the Rev War Continental Army, not the VA line.

Rev War bounty land grants given in Tennessee, were only given to veterans of the Continental army from NC.  Virginia soldiers were given grants in Kentucky or in Ohio.  Daniel Haston was granted land in north central Tennessee on September 29, 1785 (to which he immediately sold his rights to Thomas Hays on September 30, 1785, who apparently sold it to Thomas Archer).  His grant was assigned by the State of North Carolina in Warrenton, NC by William Faircloth, who had been a Lieutenant in the 10th Regiment of the NC Continental army.  Source:  See the September 29, 1785 entry on the Daniel Haston timeline.

Note:  As per Russell Koontz, archivist at NC State University and expert on certain Rev War issues relating to NC, the NC officers traveled far and wide to recruit soldiers.  Soldiers who fought in the NC Continental army could have been from anywhere.  (11/27/00 email from Russell Koontz)

Page County, VA is in the northern part of VA, more than 150 miles "as the crow flies" to the NC border.  Why would Daniel Hiestand have traveled so far to join the Continental army in NC, when he could have joined much closer to home?  If he wanted to participate in the war effort, why didn't he join Michael Reader's militia company with his brothers, Jacob, Peter, and John?  (see above)  Furthermore, if Daniel Hiestand fought in the NC army during the Rev War and was credited for 84 months (7 years of service), what was he doing signing his name to a court document in Page County, VA on May 25, 1777, since the war ended in 1783?

Note:  It appears, however, that a soldier was credited for seven years of service if he served from the time of his enlistment until the "end of the war" for a period that encompassed at least two years.  Thus, if this is correct, Daniel Hiestand could have joined after March 25, 1777 and still have received a full 84 months land grant.  Source:  Page iv of Tennessee Land Entries, Military Bounty Land, Martin Armstrong's Office, Part 1, Location book (#3138-4839) by Dr. A.B. Pruitt.

6.   German names or Heinrich Hiestand family names do not appear in the early Daniel Haston family.

Much more so than today, it seems that our forefathers tended to perpetuate maternal surnames by assigning them as given, first or second, names for their children.  The Scots-Irish view points out the possible significances of "McComisky" and "Montgomery" in the early family of Daniel Haston.  Also, as an honor to their parents, siblings, or other favored relatives, they would assign the given names of these loved ones to their sons and daughters.  For that reason, certain names tend to show up repeatedly in some families (which has created nightmares for genealogists!).  

The Hiestand family of Page County, VA is a classic case of the repetition of certain names.  The names Magdalene, Abraham, Jacob, Henry, Peter, and Mary, for example, are so common in the first generations of the Hiestand line that it is difficult to sort them all out.  However, those names are virtually absent in the first three or four generations of Daniel Haston's family.  If Daniel Haston was a part of the Hiestand family, we would expect him to have perpetuated some of those family names among his TN offspring.  Also, there are no distinctly German names in the Daniel Haston family, although there are several Scots-Irish and/or English names that do appear as first or second names of Haston family members.

7.  A Daniel Hiestand lived in Cocke (Jefferson, at that time) County, TN at the same time that Daniel Haston lived in Knox County, TN.

People sometimes say out of frustration, "I can't be at two places at the same time!"  If that is true, then there is a problem related to the Daniel who was associated with Abraham Hiestand/Hastings/Heaston and the Daniel who eventually moved to White County.  They existed at the same time in two different parts of TN!  

Daniel Haston's (Hasting, as per the court record) appearance in Knox County, TN is first documented in 1795.  In the years following that, he appears on court records in that county.  His association in a couple of those cases with his sons Joseph and David, make it clear that this is the same man who moved to White County in the first decade of the 19th century.  Source: United States vs Jacob Welker; Book "O" (1792-17950; Rhea (attorney), Docket # 320/35. [Knox County, TN Archives]

During those same years that Daniel was making various court appearances in Knox County, a Daniel Haston/Heaston was faithfully participating in the ministry of the Big Pigeon Baptist Church approximately 50 miles to the east of Knoxville, in Cocke County, TN. 

• Daniel Heaston joined the church on December 13, 1794
• Daniel Haston was assigned church business on January 2, 1796
• Abram Heaston and Daniel Heaston met with Joel Moore on May 6, 1797
• Daniel Heaston applied for a letter of dismissal on August 4, 1798

So we know that "Daniel Haston sightings" in East TN during the era of 1785 to 1800, particularly those associated with Abraham Hiestand/Hastings/Heaston do not necessarily point to the man who later lived and died in White County, TN.  There were two men with Daniel and a "Has-" surname that lived in East TN at the same time!  The Daniel in the Cocke County Big Pigeon Baptist Church was probably Abraham's son, Daniel, who was born in 1770.

Note:  It is true that there were two Daniels who were family associates of Abraham Hiestand/Hastings/Heaston.  One Daniel was Abraham's son (born 1770), who was probably the Big Pigeon Baptist Church member.  The other Daniel was Abraham's brother (born about 1750), who in some way and for some unknown reason, separated himself from other members of the Hiestand family and whose historical whereabouts is a mystery to even the best of the Hiestand researchers.  It is possible that the Knox County Daniel of the 1790s was Abraham's brother Daniel, and that he was indeed the man who moved to White County and was the progenitor of a vast Haston, Hastain, Hastings family that is now spread across the United States (although there is no documented link that ties him to the family that moved to Middle TN).

8.  Daniel Hiestand could sign his name and Daniel Haston could not.

Signatures on very old documents can be tricky.  The literacy rate during the post-colonial period wasn't very good, particularly in the frontier areas of America.  The true pioneers generally preceded education as they moved west.  Clerks, it seems, often circumvented the personal signature process or making of the "x" mark for the illiterate, and just signed other people's names.  Forgery was probably rampant.    

However, a comparison of clear and bonafide signatures of Daniel Haston and Daniel Hiestand, would seem to determine whether they were the same person or were two different men.  In lieu of DNA* samples or finger prints, signatures are generally the best way to make such a determination.  

In September of 2000, an examination of the original (1800) Samuel Cowan vs Joseph Haston Knox County, TN court documents (in the Knox County Archives) revealed that Daniel Haston could not write his name.  Joseph signed his own name in a distinct handwriting style and David signed his name in his own handwriting (which, when compared to his signature on his marriage certificate is clearly the same signature).  The clerk signed Daniel's name, but left room in between his first name and his surname for Daniel to scribble his "x."  Above it, the clerk wrote "his mark."  The handwriting of Daniel's name is the same as that of the clerk who wrote the body of the document.  Source:  Samuel Cowan vs Joseph Haston; Knox County, TN Court Case File: Docket # 138511235, (1800).  Vol. 3 Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, 1800-1802 (p. 76 / p. 100), # 1235, 1385.

Shortly after that, a Hiestand researcher provided a document that contains the signature of Daniel Hiestand.  The document was signed on March 25, 1777 in Dunmore County, VA by Jacob Heaston, Andrew Gimbling (brother in law of Abraham, Daniel, Jacob, Peter and John Hiestand), and by Daniel Heaston.  The court clerk spells their last name "Heaston" but Jacob and Daniel wrote it in a German script.  Someone (possibly a Hiestand researcher) has scribbled in the English interpretation, "Hiestand," just below the German script for their last names.  All three signatures are distinct and are different from the handwriting of the clerk who drafted the document.  A comparison of Andrew Gimbling's signature on this March 25, 1777 document with his signature on the Heinrich Hiestand will of March 22, 1777, indicates that the same man seems to have written both of them.

If Daniel Hiestand signed his name in 1777 and Daniel Haston could not sign his name in 1800, then it appears that they were not the same man.  

Also, the signature for Daniel Haston on the 1806 petition to form White County, TN shows a spelling of "Dannel" for Daniel's first name.  The Daniel Hiestend of Dunmore/Page County, VA clearly spelled his first name, "Daniel."
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*Note:  In the future, as DNA testing becomes more popular and less expensive, watch for DNA testing of human remains to be used for basic genealogical research (as it has already been used in such high profile cases such as the Thomas Jefferson and Jesse James families).