Ancestors

Michael Looney

Michael Looney was born in about 1755. The Looneys were a well known pioneer family of southwest Virginia, on the upper James River and in the valleys beyond. Family histories make him the eldest son of Absalom Looney.

In the autumn of 1774 he was a private in Captain Henry Pauling's company of Botetourt County militia. The roll lists him as "Mical Luney". The company marched with General Andrew Lewis to the mouth of the Kanawha and fought the Shawnee at Point Pleasant on 10 October 1774. It was the one pitched battle of Lord Dunmore's War.

According to family accounts he married Temperance Cross, called Tempa, in Botetourt County, about 1776 or 1780. They crossed the mountains into what became Hawkins County, Tennessee, then still part of North Carolina. He settled on Big Creek in Stanley Valley, about eleven miles northeast of Rogersville, and built a two story log house in 1782 or 1784. The farm was 250 acres, bought in 1790.

They had at least eight children: Margaret, Polly, Rachel, William, Michael, Absalom, Benjamin and John. Polly married Sherrod Williams in 1801, and the couple later settled in Franklin County, Tennessee, where they named sons Michael and Absalom.

A granddaughter wrote in 1934 that he "provided for all of his children before he died by deeds" and left no will. He died in 1852, said to be ninety seven, and was buried in the family plot near the house, between his son John and his wife.

If Michael Looney is in your family, start your own tree.

Cite: Heirology, "Michael Looney (1755-1852)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/michael-looney-1755-1852-761c8c.