Joseph Daniel

b abt 1765. m Sally Cordle 15 Jan 1798.

Joseph Daniel, as Joseph Daniel Jr., was paying tax in Brunswick County as early as 1782.  He received as a gift from his father, Joseph Daniel, 241 acres on Waqua Creek 27 July 1789. One Joseph Daniel served in the Revolutionary War and in 1777 was a private in the 11th and 15th Virginia Regiments.  His father would have been at least in his 50s and quite old to have served so perhaps this was his son of the same name.Joseph apparently married twice. We do not know the name of his first wife, but believe that she was a daughter of John Gilliam, a Waqua Creek neighbor. Joseph and his first wife were the parents of at least Peter Daniel and Mabry Daniel.

Joseph married second Sally Cordle in Brunswick County 15 January (bond) 1798.  Joseph’s surety was John Barrow who married Joseph’s sister Dianna Daniel. Joseph and Sally were the parents of at least Joseph Daniel III. We know Joseph had a large family so a number of otherwise unplaced Brunswick County Daniels were likely their children, too.

Brunswick County taxed Joseph Daniel on one white tithe and three black tithes in 1798 and he paid on four slaves in 1800.  He appeared in the Census of 1810 in Brunswick County with four sons and two daughters. The 1820 census of Brunswick County shows two adults, presumably Joseph and his wife, more than 45 years of age. Living in their household were four males and three females, all under 26.The conclusion that Joseph had a family of a first wife is predicated on the several facts. He was of age in 1782 and apparently fought in the Revolution in 1777. He certainly had time to marry and start a family before he married Sally Cordle in 1798. His sister Martha identified two nephews in her will who were born well before Joseph’s known marriage and these men likely belong to Joseph.

The 1832-will of Joseph Daniel who left a wife, Sally, in Brunswick County was thought to be identical to Joseph Daniel II. Eighteen years later the Census of 1850 depicts Sarah Daniel, an elderly 80 years of age, with five of Joseph’s children, ages 23 to 30, living in her home. Since the ages of these children place their births in the 1820s, this 1850 household is Sally (Cordle) Daniel and her grandchildren, the children of Joseph Daniel III.Among the witnesses to Joseph Daniel’s will in 1832 was Peter Daniel now identified as his half-brother.

It has been speculated that Peter and Mabry went to live with their aunt Martha Daniel because their parents died young. Yet a more likely scenario is that they chose not to continue to live in the crowded household with their stepmother and a family of half-brothers and sisters and went to help their aunt manage her property.