Saffold Genealogy

Following is a brief summary of the beginnings of the Saffold family in the United States. The narrative does not attempt to provide complete histories of each family line, but rather provides an overview of the first generations.

The Saffold surname is said to have originated in Germany, but the first ancestors to migrate to the United States probably came from Essex, England. Saffolds in the Southern states descended from William Saffold I, who is found in Surrey County, Va. in 1742 and Lunenburg County, Va. between 1748 and 1753. William Saffold I was married to Temperance Shore. William and Temperance lived in Johnston County, N. C., on the Neuse River, between 1760-1765, and in Tryon County, N. C. between 1768 and 1779. Tryon County was one of the counties involved in a border dispute between North and South Carolina. The area where the Saffolds lived became part of the Spartanburg (Old 96th) District of South Carolina. The Saffolds were living in the Spartanburg, Dist. in 1779.

William Saffold I signed a will on August 11, 1784, listing as his heirs, his wife, Temperance, and the following children:
1. Anne Saffold
2. Daniel Saffold
3. Samuel Saffold
4. Isham Saffold
5. William Saffold II
6. Reuben Saffold I
7. Elizabeth Saffold
9. Aaron Saffold

Temperance Shore Saffold stayed in Spartanburg County, S. C., where she is presumed to have died. The last of her children to leave South Carolina was Isham. Isham followed William and Temperance's other children to Georgia some time after the 1790 census.

The children whose histories are known first settled in the Wilkes County area of Georgia, before spreading out to other Georgia counties and other states.

Daniel Saffold married 1. Elizabeth Goolsby and 2. Jenney Hemphill. He settled in Jasper County, Ga. Several of his descendants migrated to the Tallapoosa County area of Alabama. Known children of Daniel Saffold and Elizabeth Goolsby were:
1. Mary Saffold
2. Isham Saffold
3. Elizabeth Saffold
4. Temperance
5. Thomas
Known children of Daniel Saffold and Jenney Hemphill were:
1. Rhoda Saffold
In addition, Daniel Saffold may have been married before his marriage of Elizabeth Goolsby. There is debate about whether Drury Saffold may have been a child of Daniel Saffold and this unknown spouse, or a child of Isham Saffold, son of William and Temperance.

Mary Saffold married Willie Holifield, and Isham Saffold married Jenny Waters. Elizabeth Saffold married John Jennings Smith; they had eight known children:
1. William S. Smith
2. Drewery Wayne Smith
3. John Jennings Smith II
4. Wiley Hubert Smith
5. Elizabeth Ann Smith
6. James Ernest Smith
7. Alfred A. Smtih
8. Albert Green Smith
Temperance Saffold married John Askew, and Rhoda Saffold married Moses Askew. Names of their children, if any, are unknown. Thomas Saffold married Sarah Askew; their children were:
1. Jane Saffold
2. Mary Saffold
3. Elizabeth Saffold.
4. William Saffold
5. Robert Saffold
6. Sarah Saffold
7. Thomas S. Saffold
8. Lewis D. Saffold
9. Martha A. Saffold
Drury Saffold married Martha ____; their known children were:
1. Daniel R. Saffold
2. Elizabeth Ann Saffold
3. Mary Jane Saffold
4. Ian Saffold
5. Emanuel Saffold
6. Alexander Marion Saffold

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Descendants of Isham Saffold and Samuel Saffold, sons of William Saffold I and Temperance Shore settled in Washington County, Ga., as did Samuel Saffold.  Nothing is known about their spouses or children.

William Saffold II married Ann Goudelock. Two sons of William and Ann -- Adam Goudelock Saffold and Seaborn Jones Saffold -- settled in Morgan County, Ga., where many of their descendants still live. John, another son of William and Ann Saffold, migrated to Arkansas. Yet another son, James, moved to Alabama. Known children of William Saffold and Ann Goudelock were:
1. Isham H. Saffold
2. Adam Goudelock Saffold
3. Seaborn Jones Saffold I
4. Martha Saffold
5. John Saffold
6. James Saffold
Isham H. Saffold married Patience Jordan; they had one daughter: Ann W. Saffold. Adam Goudelock Saffold married Ann Porter; they had two children: William Oliver Saffold and Ann Goudelock Saffold. Seaborn Jones Saffold I married Julia Smith Heard; their children were:
1. Anne Heard Saffold
2. Thomas Peter Saffold
3. Isham Heard Saffold
4. Abram H. Saffold
5. Seaborn Jones Saffold II (settled in Dallas County, Ala.)
Martha Saffold married William Beal; nothing is known about their children. John Saffold married 1. Holly Bagley and 2. Nancy ____. Known children of John Saffold and Holly Bagley were:
1. William G. Saffold
2. Winifred Ann Saffold
3. Elizabeth Ann Saffold.
4. John D. Saffold
5. Ann Saffold
6. Mary Saffold
7. Jackson Saffold
8. Reuben Saffold
Known children of John Saffold and Nancy ____ were:
1. James Fannin Saffold
2. Adam Saffold
3. Della Saffold
4. Mazilla E Saffold
This branch of the Saffolds settled in Arkansas.
James Saffold married Martha P. Gardner; their children were:
1. Eliza A. Saffold
2. James Saffold
3. Mary Adaline Saffold
4. Lucius Saffold
5. William Saffold
6. Susan G. Saffold
7. Daughter, name unknown
James Saffold and Martha Gardner settled in Dallas County, Ala.

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Reuben Saffold I, son of William Saffold I and Temperance Shore, married Sarah Bird, and settled in Wilkes County, Ga. One of his sons, Reuben Saffold II, migrated to Alabama, where he was prominent in the early history of the state. Descendants of Reuben and Sarah also migrated to Mississippi and Texas. Known children of Reuben and Sarah Saffold were:
1. William Saffold
2. Daniel Saffold
3. Mary Saffold
4. Reuben Saffold II
5. Rhoda Saffold
6. Bird Saffold
7. Sarah Saffold
8. Elizabeth Saffold
William Saffold, son of Reuben Saffold I and Sarah Bird, married Martha A. Wooten; they had the following children:
1. Bird Saffold
2. Evalina Kendall Saffold
3. Allen Saffold
4. Cade Saffold
5. Martha Saffold
This branch settled in Guadalupe County, Texas.
Mary Saffold, daughter of Reuben Saffold I and Sarah Bird, married Peter Barnett. They had several children about whom nothing is known.
Reuben Saffold II, son of Reuben Saffold I and Sarah Bird, married Mary Evelyn Phillips. Their children were:
1. Joseph Phillips Saffold
2. William Bird Saffold
3. Zeno Ray Saffold
4. Addison Jackson Saffold
5. Jane Elizabeth Saffold
6. Mary Anne Saffold
7. Benjamin Franklin Saffold
8. Reuben Washington Saffold
9. Milton Jefferson Saffold
10. Caroline Sarah Saffold
This branch settled in Dallas County, Ala.
Bird Saffold, son of Reuben Saffold I and Sarah Bird, married Matilda Cade. Their children were:
1. Robert Cade Saffold
2. Sarah D. Saffold
3. William C. Saffold
This branch settled in Mississippi and Texas.

Nothing is known about the descendants of three children of Reuben Saffold I and Sarah Bird: Daniel Saffold, Sarah Saffold and Elizabeth Saffold. Sarah married a Ward, and Elizabeth married Manoah Bolton.

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Elizabeth Saffold, daughter of William Saffold I and Temperance Shore, married James H. Fannin. Their descendants figured prominently in the settlement of Texas. Known children of James and Elizabeth Fannin were:
1. Ann Fannin
2. Sarah Fannin
3. William Y. Fannin
4. Joseph Decker Fannin
5. Isham S. Fannin
6. John H. Fannin
7. James W. Fannin
8. Jeptha Fannin
9. Eliza Fannin

Nothing is known about Anne and Aaron, children of William Saffold I and Temperance Shore.  

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