George Dean

Ancestor of one Dean Family of Owen County

Written and Submitted by Mike Dean

George Dean of Loudoun Co., Virginia was born July 19, 1770 the son of Samuel Dean and Sarah Dunkin of Virginia. Samuel was born in Ireland "of English descent" abt 1740 and is first found in Loudoun Co., Virginia in 1760 "tithables". George disappears betwen 1788 and 1800 from my review of the records, when he shows up in Clark Co., Ky. The various records of the children of George and Rebecca (last name unknown) state they were born in Virginia and/or Kentucky.

There is a second George Dean in Clark/Montgomery Co., Ky at about this time, who is variously referred to as George Roger Dean or just Roger Dean. There is no family connection, to the best of my knowledge.

George Dean had at least two brothers and one sister, Samuel, Jeremiah and Rebecca respectively. I believe there were more siblings but have never been able to prove this. (It is possible Edward Dean of Clark County, Kentucky may have been related and is in the Census of Clark County in 1810-1840. The man on his marriage bond (Isaac Constant) is the son-in-law of George Dean. George also signed the marriage bond.

George's brother Samuel remained in Virginia until about 1833 when he moved to Henry Co., Ky. Samuel died sometime after 1846 but no record of where he may be buried has been found. An application for service during the Revolutionary War was filed by Samuel but it appears was not approved due to his service lasting only the last four months of the war. Oddly enough, Samuel used an Attorney from Bloomington, Indiana to file his papers.

George's brother Jeremiah moved to Clark Co., Ky about 1800 and then died in 1822. Jeremiah is buried in the Dean Cemetery in eastern Clark Co., Ky. Some of his family remained in Clark and Montgomery counties until at least the 1880's.

The first record I have discovered of George, beyond the census, is in Court Order Book 4, 1805-1818. It addresses an allotment approval for the town of Winchester for hands to build a road from Hoods Creek to Stoner, dated Monday August 28, 1809. The next record of George is his land purchase of 53 acres from Martin and Elizabeth Haggard on May 10, 1828.

George and Rebecca had eight children who were all identified in his Will dated March 10, 1832. The children were:
Amy Constant wife of Isaac Constant; Nancy Hendricks wife of Anthony Hendricks; Samuel Dean and wife Sarah Hughes; Rachel Russell wife of Samuel Rusell; Tildy (Matilda) Dean wife of James W. Washburn; John Dean and wife Mary Gardner; Robert Dean and wife Matilda Gardner; Elizabeth Dean (future wife of Wm. Milby). The property was to go to his wife Rebecca and after her death equally divided among his children. No record has been found of the death of Rebecca nor of her maiden name. It is assumed she died before 1838, at which time her son Samuel sold the property to James Scott.

The witnesses to George Dean's will were Christy Scobee and George Scobee. Most of George's children left Kentucky by about 1835, with two exceptions. Those exceptions were Rachel Dean Russell and Matilda Dean Washburn. Matilda and her husband moved to Henry Co., Ky then left Kentucky in 1859 for Owen county, Indiana.  Rachel may have remained In Henry Co., Ky until her death, sometime after her husbands in 1862.

I have attempted to locate the land once owned by George Dean and my best efforts are only an approximation. It appears he lived south of today's Mt. Sterling/Winchester Road (once known as Hoods Road) and just east of Cabin Creek.

George's occupation was always listed as Commerce/Trader but his estate inventory did not shed any light on what he may have manufactured or traded.

Though a cemetery or headstone have never been located, it is possible George and Rebecca may be in Jeremiah Dean's family cemetery located north of Hoods Road and east of Cabin Creek.   The first Dean of this family line to arrive in Owen Co., Indiana, was Robert and wife Matilda Gardner Dean.  Early land entry records for Owen County, Indiana include Robert (11, 11N 3W) March 18, 1837. About this same time Robert and wife donated land for the building of a new Salem Methodist Church. By 1841 Robert sold his original 40 acres to his brother Samuel Dean. John Dean also appeared in Owen county at about this time.   In 1858 Samuel, Robert, and Samuel's son Isaac all died. My best guess is that they each died of the world wide influenza epidemic. The remaining members of this group were John Dean and family, and James W. Washburn and family. The Washburns arrived in Owen County in 1859, perhaps in light of the recent deaths of Matilda Dean Washburns family members. John Dean and his family remained in Owen County until 1869, when they moved to Nodaway County, Missouri. Before the deaths of these Dean males, Robert and John had each supported the new Asbury College at Greencastle and left their entitlement to access to those institutions in their Wills for their sons.  Samuel's remaining son was William H. Dean who served during the Civil War in the 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He returned after the war, moved to Greene Co., Indiana for about 10 years then settled in the Mill Creek area for several years. Roberts sons remained in Owen Co. most of their lives. Dunlap Dean became a teacher in Owen County, Thomas Jefferson Dean died in the Civil War, George R. became a farmer, Robert G. became a "Mill man" John was a farmer, and his sons moved with him to Nodaway Co., Missouri. His son John W. became a noted physician in Missouri. Johns second son, George T. continued to farm.   The Washburns remained in Owen County for many years. They farmed, owned resturants and auto dealerships in later years in Gosport and Spencer.   The Dean's of Owen County are a confusing lot to sort out. I have determined during my research that they are not all related. There are at least three other Dean groups. One group is from Coshocton Co., Ohio and previously from Virginia and Maryland. I have never been able to determine the lineage of the next group of Dean's. One unique characteristic of that family is their inclination to name their sons after Presidents and famous men of the early United States. A fourth group of Dean's moved from Spencer to Ellettsville and back. They appear to have moved north from the Ohio River to Owen County but identify themselves as being from Maryland.