An American Family History

Also spelled Boran, Boreing, Boring Borring, Borin

American colonists continued to use British monetary units, namely the pound, shilling and pence for which £1 (or li) equalled 20s and 1s equalled 12d. In 1792 the dollar was established as the basic unit of currency.

Johnson City, Tennessee is in Washington, Carter and Sullivan Counties. It was known as Brush Creek for the Creek than runs through it.

Absolom Boren was born about 1750.

He married Nancy Miller.

Absolom's and Nancy's children probably included:

Dorcas Boren (1773),
Joshua Boren (1773),
Violet Boren (1776)
Mary Boren (1778),
Abia Boren (1778),
Jacob Boren (1780, married Alice Green),
Greenberry Boren (1782, married Mary Ruble),
Henry Boren (1785),
Amos Boren (1791, married Anna Hiles),
George Boren (1793),
John Boren (1794), and
Ruth Boren (1794).

Absolom moved to Washington County, Tennessee in the late 1700s. The family settled on Brush Creek.

His will dated November 28, 1815 is found in Washington County Will Book A. He mentioned his wife Nancy, Nancy Miller a minor, and Greene Boren. The executor was Joshua Boren and it was witnessed by Horatio Ford, John Sailor, and Catherine Coon. It was proved in January, 1816.

American pioneers migrated west to settle areas not previously inhabited by European Americans.

Greenberry Boring was born about 1792 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Absolom Boring and Nancy Miller. He was a blacksmith.

He married Mary Ruble, daughter of Peter Ruble and Catherine Wirt on Oct 11, 1807.

Greenberry and Mary's children included:

Montgomery Boring (1808),
Peter R. Boring (1809),
Lorenzo Boring ( 1812),
Margaret Boring (1814),
Wesley Boring ( 1816),
Isaac Boring (1818),
George Washington Boring (1820),
Elizabeth Boring (1823),
Emeline Boring (1825, married Wesley David Dyer),
John, Boring (1828),
James M. Boring (1831), and
Solomon V. Boring (1833).

They settled on Sinking Creek.

Greenberry was a soldier in the War of 1812.

divider

Watauga Pioneer Neighbors
map

October 3, 1990
The Boring Family of Washington County
by Jonesborough Genealogical Society

. . .John III, 1705- ?, who was father of Absolom, c1750-1816. Absolom migrated to Washington County, Tennessee in the late 1700s when his son Greenberry (Greenbury) was 10 years old. The family settled on Brush Creek where Absolom, who has a master builder, constructed a home. When he died he was probably buried near King Springs Road.

Absolom and his wife had five sons and five daughters: John, Joshua, Greenberry, who married Mary Ruble, Jacob, who married Alice Green, Amos, who married Anna Hiles, Dorcas, who married Jacob Laudermilk, Abia, Polly, who married Abraham Tipton and one daughter, name not given.

Greenberry Boring, son of Absolom, was a soldier in the War of 1812. He married Mary Ruble, daughter of Peter II and Catherine Wirt Ruble, Oct 11, 1907, and settled in the Boones’ Creek area.

Their children were: Montgomery, b. July 15, 1808, Peter R., b. Nov. 17, 1809, Lorenzo, b. Feb. 14, 1812, Margaret, b. July 24, 1814, Wesley, b. Dec. 2, 1816, Isaac, b. Sept. 27, 1818; George Washington, b. Aug. 27, 1820, Elizabeth, b. Feb. 3, 1823, Emeline, b. April 7, 1825, John, b. Aug. 7, 1828, James M. b. May 27, 1831, and Solomon V., b. Feb. 4, 1833.

Four of the sons, Peter, Lorenzo, George Washington and John, were Methodist ministers and Isaac was a physician. Greenberry Boring died in 1874 at the age of 92. His wife Mary went to Dayton, Ohio to live with her daughter, Emeline, who married David Dyer, and Mary’s two sons Wesley and Solomon. Mary died in Dayton in 1881 with Emeline, Wesley and Solomon at her bedside.

Dr. Isaac Boring, son of Greenberry, and Mary Ruble Boring, b. Sept. 27, 1821 [?], married Nancy Yoakley May 24, 1844 in Washington County. Their children were
Peter Harris, who married Mary Kitzmiller,
Greenbury who settled in Steubenville, Ohio,
John, who married Elizabeth White,
Isaac Newton, who died in Washington County,
Orry, who married Henry Crouch,
Effie, who died young and unmarried and
William Decatur, father of Grace Boring Smith. . .

from Christian Advocate (Nashville) August 15, 1874
by Reverend John Boring, son of Greenberry

Father was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1782, within the limits of what is now embraced in the City of Baltimore. His Father's name was Absalom, and was originally from England. He had five sons and five daughters, whose names were as follows: John, Joshua, Greenberry, Jacob and Amon: Ruth, Dorcas, Violet, Abia and Polly.

Grandfather moved from Maryland. and settled on Brush Creek, in Washington County, East Tennessee., when my father was about ten years old. In this community he grew up an honest, hard working, and industrious man, with but few facilities for mental and moral improvement. Father spelt his name as written above, but brother Washington and I left the "e" out of our name when we joined the Holston Conference in the fall of 1851. The question in the days of father's youthful manhood was not who is the wisest man, but who is the bravest man - not who is the best man morally, but who is the strongest man physically. In this rude state of society his manly form was well developed, but the training of his mind and heart were greatly neglected. This was a source of regret to him in later life, and especially so after he turned his feet to the testimonies of the Lord.

He was married October 11, 1807, to Miss Mary Ruble, daughter of Peter Ruble, of Washington County, TN.. Immediately after their marriage they settled on Sinking Creek, in said county, where he followed his hard and honorable trade - that of a blacksmith - until his country called for volunteers to fight in the War or 1812. In this war he enlisted as a soldier, and served one campaign, and returned home in good health; then went again, and served a second campaign as a substitute for Henry Bowers, of Washington, Tenn. For the service he rendered in this war he was drawing a pension when he left the battle-field of life,
He was the father of nine sons and three daughters, and although he and mother were not members of the Church in those days, still they were believers in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and as such they had all their children dedicated to God, by baptism, in their infancy; every one of whom, when they grew up united with the Methodist Church, professed faith in Christ, and started for the heavenly Canaan, four of whom were subsequently cled to preach. They gave us all to God when we were young, and then we prayed to God when they were old, and these prayers have been and will be answered, for they both finally joined the Church of their children, and promised to go with them to heaven.

An unlettered and eccentric man by the name of William Cole, of Sullivan County, TN., was instrumental in getting father into the Church (it occurred at a prayer meeting in father's house). He was a man of great power in prayer, and "was full of faith and the Holy Ghost." He was familiarly called "Old Billy Cole." Soon after this father professed religion, being about sixty-six years of age...

...Father was in his ninety-second year when he finished his course, at one o'clock and thirty minutes, January 7 1874, at his residence on the Watauga River, where he lived for the last forty three years of his life...

H O M E	Colonial Maryland	Colonial New England	Colonial Virginia & North Carolina	Colonial Virginia & West Virginia	Quakers & Mennonites	New Jersey Baptists
German Lutherans	Ontario Settlers	Ohio Pioneers	Watauga Settlement	Pennsylvania Pioneers	Midwest Pioneers	Californians	Jewish Immigrants

©Roberta Tuller 2020
tuller.roberta@gmail.com
An American Family History is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.