Womack Family in America before 1850 - Classification

The Womack family in America circa 1850 was fairly large - about 2400 to 2800 individuals, not counting slaves held by Womacks. A couple years ago, I abstracted all the Womack US federal census records up to and including 1850. At the time, I had no idea how many of them were related. I still do not know how many are related, but I have made some headway. This has led me to classifying the Womacks into several divisions.

Scientists are always classifying things, such as species of living things, minerals, stars, languages, etc. They make their groupings based upon similarities between things.

I have two types of groupings for the Womack family, which I call branches and divisions. A branch is group of people with one common Womack ancestor - the head of that branch. A division is a group of people who are possibly not related, but grouped together by similar characteristics. Some of these may form divisions may eventually become branches with more research.

I believe the vast majority of white Womacks in America in 1850 were the descendants of the Womacks of the late 1600s in Henrico County, Virginia. This includes all spellings, including Warmack. For each branch or division, I have a description that includes a name and a place. The place is usually where the person was known to have lived last.

Note that I do not trace the descendants of Womack females. Sorry, this project is large enough just with Womacks.

Some branches come from other branches. I do this to make the branches smaller, and thus easier to understand.

Before asking me questions about these branches, remember it for Womack individuals in America before 1850. So please, no comments/questions about other families, Womacks in other areas of the world, or Womacks after 1850.

A) The Core Womack Family from Henrico Co, VA - the first 4 generations, starting with William Womack, sometimes called "the Immigrant". Researchers have made many mistakes in this part of the family, leading to an enormos amount of confusion. However, a great deal of this part of the family is understood.

B) The 17 Womack great-grandsons of the Immigrant

B.1) William Womack of Cumberland Co, VA - son of William, son of Abraham

B.2) Abraham Womack of Lincoln Co, NC - son of Thomas, son of Abraham - see branches D.1 and D.2 below.

B.3) William Womack of Charlotte Co, VA - son of Thomas, son of Abraham - married Jane LNU; they had no children, but William's estate records hold many clues to the families of his siblings.

B.4) Thomas Womack of Nottoway Co, VA - son of Thomas, son of Abraham

B.5) Isham Womack of Halifax Co, VA - son of Thomas, son of Abraham

B.6) Francis Womack of Chesterfield Co, VA - son of Thomas, son of Abraham

B.7) Abraham Womack of Halifax Co, VA - son of Abraham, son of Abraham

B.8) William Womack of Chesterfield Co, VA - son of Abraham, son of Abraham

B.9) Thomas Womack of Rowan Co, NC - son of Abraham, son of Abraham

B.10) Richard Womack of Goochland Co, VA - son of Abraham, son of Abraham - father of William Warmack of Davidson Co, TN and Matthew Warmack of Wayne Co, MO.

B.11) Richard Womack of Burke Co, GA - son of Richard, son of Richard

B.12) Alexander Womack of Campbell Co, VA - son of Richard, son of Richard

B.13) Thomas Womack of Chesterfield Co, VA - probably son of Richard, son of Richard

B.14) Matthew Womack of Amelia Co, VA - probably son of Richard, son of Richard

B.15) Henry Womack of Goochland Co, VA - son of William, son of Richard

B.16) William Womack of Halifax Co, NC - son of William, son of John

B.17) John Womack of Johnston Co, NC - probably son of William, son of John

C) Womack Family of Prince George Co, VA - this is a division rather than a branch. These Womacks appear to be the descendants of John's three sons John, Richard, and Abraham. Despite the records loss in Prince George, we know Richard was there as late as 1742, and Abraham at least until 1759.

D) Branches off of (or probably off of) the "B" branches

D.1) Thomas Womack of Burke Co, NC - married Louvisa Rice - the son of Abraham (B.2). See also E.6.

D.2) William Womack of Gallatin Co, IL - married Rebecca LNU - the son of Abraham Womack (who married Elizabeth Stubblefield), son of Abraham (B.2). This was NOT the William who married Lucy Womack, dau of Thomas/Louvisa (C.1). Nor was it the William Womack, son of Thomas of Rowan Co, NC (B.9).

D.3) Thomas Womack of Jasper Co, GA - married Lavina Dennis - probably the son of Richard (B.10)

D.4) Allen Womack of Buchanan Co, MO - probably the son of Richard (B.10)

D.5) Abraham Womack of Monroe Co, GA - married Judith Minter - probably the son of Abraham (B.7)

D.6) Benjamin Womack of Gadsden Co, FL - probably the grandson of Frederick, son of William (B.16)

E) Other Womack Branches and Divisions that almost certainly descend from the Henrico Co, VA Womack Family.

E.1) Richard Womack of Smith Co, TN - wife Catherine (supposedly Steetman). From VA, supposedly Halifax Co, although a search of tax records for every year from 1782 to 1810 failed to find him. Descandants spell the name "Wommack".

E.2) Terry Womacks of Brown Co, OH - from VA, supposedly the son of Henry Womack (see B.15), but I would need more documentation or DNA testing to believe this.

E.3) Peter, Lewis, and David Womack of Lincoln Co, TN - all born in NC, probably brothers from their proximity, occupations, and similar names of their children.

E.4) Warmack Family from Franklin and Habersham Cos, GA - descend from an unknown male Womack or Warmack, who married Sarah LNU. After his death, she married Jesse Putman. Son John born in SC. Dau Susannah married Littleton Meeks. Not descended from Ian Warmack (no such person, see Fictional Womacks below). Ian supposedly settled in GA, which makes little sense, given that John Warmack was born in SC, possibly Union Co, SC where Jesse Putman was from.

E.5) Archibald Womack of Lincoln Co, NC - married Sarah Hager - confused with Archibald, son of Thomas (B.9). Possibly the Archer Womack, son of Thomas, son of Thomas (B.13).

E.6) William Womack of Marion Co, TN - married Lucy Womack, dau of Thomas/Louvisa (D.1). NOT the son of Abraham Womack (wife Elizabeth Stubblefield), son of Abraham (B.2). Possibly the son of Isham (B.5).

E.7) William Womack of Campbell Co, VA - married Catherine (possibly Blankenship). NOT the son of Francis (B.6). William son of Francis married Elizabeth Perkinson, and he wrote a will in Chesterfield Co, VA in 1830 naming his wife Elizabeth. Also, DNA evidence strongly suggests that William in Campbell Co, VA could not have descended from Francis, since DNA of his descendant matches that of descendants of Richard (B.11) and Alexander (B.12).

E.8) Womack Family of Northern Virginia - there was supposedly a William Womack in Frederick Co, VA in 1779 and 1782 tax lists. More research needed here, but my gut feeling is that this was actually a Hammack family that was mis-transcribed. The Womacks in northern VA counties after 1800 were probably the descendants of Peter Womack, son of Thomas, son of Thomas (B.9).

E.10) Womack/Warmack family of Montgomery Co, GA - a division that is very little understood. John and William Womack/Warmack appear in early records in Montgomery Co, GA, and then in Twiggs and Pulaski Co, GA. John Warmack moved to MS, and people from this group were in Copiah, Hinds, Holmes, and Yazoo Cos, MS among others. A Timothy Womack was probably John's brother, and John had sons John and William Warmack, and possibly other children, such as Patience Warmack, Benjamin Womack, and Joel Sherrard Warmack. Note that some descendants spelled the name Womack, but most were Warmack.

E.11) Josiah Womack of Hancock Co, GA - married Nancy Holliman

E.12) David Womack of Union Co, KY - married Esther Tanner - possibly a son of Thomas/Louvisa (D.1).

E.13) Abraham Womack of Obion Co, TN (later in Arkansas Co, AR)

F) Other unclassified single Womack families before 1850 that probably decsend from Henrico Co, VA - This includes Womack families that were not extended families in 1850, and the head of household was born after 1800. This includes families such as Newton Womack in Fayette Co, TN in 1850. Note that there are very few Womacks in this category.

G) Womacks NOT descended from the Henrico Co, VA Womack Family

G.1) Recent Womack Immigrants - mostly or all in New York in 1850, all from England

G.2) African-American - a handful of free black Womacks in 1850; the vast majoity were slaves.

G.3) Native American - there were NO Native American Womacks. The Womack name comes from England. There were Womacks with Indian blood from their mother's side of the family.

H) Womacks who were not really Womacks - mistakes

H.1) Mistakes made in the past - mistakes made in censuses, newspapers, by county clerks, etc where people were called Womack who really were not. Example: Elizabeth Womack in the 1850 Census of Madison Co, TN was actually Elizabeth (Fly) Warmath, widow of Henry Warmath.

H.2) Mistakes made in record tanscriptions - Womack is difficult to tell from several other names in some old handwriting, and in documents that are faded or otherwise hard to read. An example is the supposed Womacks in Stewart Co, TN, all of whom were Warnicks.

I) Non-existent Womacks

I.1) Legendary or Fictional Womacks - often handed down in family oral traditions. Example: Ian Warmack of Georgia. Real research either finds no proof of these people, or finds other (and real) ancestors. These fictional Womacks do proove that someone was a great story teller.

I.2) Fraudulent Womacks - the Womacks in this category were created by unscrupulous "professional genealogists" to separate people from their money. Example: Henry Womack of Accomack Co, VA.

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Whew, that was a lot of typing - I count 46 branches and divisions. I think that covers all the Womacks in America prior to 1850.

Hopefully, this will get some discusion going. Obviously, I left a lot of details out. Let me know if I missed a grouping, or any other comments/questions.