NOTE: Catawba Co. was formed

1842 - At he time of his death,

Sherrill's Ford was in Lincoln Co.

The following contributed by

Jeff Thomas, descendant of Gilleland

family.

Thomas Gilleland was born May 23, 1763

in Lincoln County, North Carolina, son

of Alexander Gilleland.

He married October 17, 1785 to

Mary Allen, daughter of James Allen,

in Lincoln County, North Carolina.

Together he and Mary had ten children:

William, James, Elizabeth, David, Mary,

Nancy, Allen, George, Margaret Peggy,

and Thomas Jefferson Gilleland.

Most of Thomas' older children moved

to Georgia after they married and had

children.

Thomas died October 12, 1825 and is

buried in the Gilleland Family Cemetery

in Catawba County, North Carolina.

According to locals the Cemetery is

on the property of the former

Gilleland Plantation therefore most of

the family that stayed in North Carolina

are buried on that site.

There is also a small slave cemetery

to the left of the family cemetery.

Family members in Georgia and North

Carolina are currently working to fence

the cemetery in as the current land owner

allows cows to run freely over the cemetery.

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Note from Kevin Conner:

There is misinformation posted in the bio above. I have an ancestor named John Gilliland, born about 1785 in North Carolina. I have no good DNA evidence that he is closely related to Alexander Gilliland's family. He is definitely closely related to this Thomas Gilliland/Gilleland, born about 1763. They were probably brothers. Neither one of them were sons of Alexander Gilliland. Alexander left a readable will, and it names his surviving children in the order of their birth, which excludes both my ancestor and this Thomas. Alexander did have a son named Thomas, born about 1790, and he was the last child named in the will.