Owen Fluker

1729 - 1819

• Name	Owen Fluker
  Death	btw Sept. 3 and 9 1819	Wilkes Co., GA
  Birth	9 Apr 1729	Wicomicco, Northunberland, VA
  Gender	Male
  Burial	Originally Hixon-Porter Rd,
  Person ID	I295	Georgia Revolutionary War Graves
  Last Modified	15 Dec 2018

  
  

• Photos

  Fluker, Owen

  
  

• Notes

  In North Cumberland County, Virginia in 1714 there was a seventeen-year-old boy who was to become the progenitor of the Fluker and related lines. He had every reason to be dejected and sad in 1714 and feel that his life held little promise. Records in Virginia show that David, the orphan son of David Fluker, was turned over to Alexander Love who was to become his guardian. David was taught the trade of tailor. Eventually he married. The name of his wife is not known, or the date of their marriage. But, we know they had four children: David, Judith, Sarah and Owen. The Fluker Bible states that Owen Fluker was born April 9, 1729 in Wicomico, Northumberland County, VA and died September 3, 1819 in Wilkes County, GA at the age of 91. His wife Sarah Fluker was born January 26, 1730 and died age 72 in October 1802. The first official record of Owen, other than his Bible record, was his participation in the battle of Kettle Creek. We do not know if he was already a resident of Georgia or if he had followed the army to Georgia. But, it is known that he had relatives in Wilkes County, Georgia because in Miss Eliza Bowen?s History of Wilkes County she states on page sixteen, ?with the solitary exception of Mr. William Fluker who was raised in the community I think I am the only person in Washington who has ever been on the battlefield. Mr. Fluker?s ancestor was living in the neighborhood when the battle was fought and the man?s brother, Owen Fluker, was one of the soldiers engaged?. Owen Fluker married a Sarah around 1750. Their first child Susanna was born August 10, 1753. She married a Morgan. John was born in 1755, Betty in 1759, Molly or Mary in 1760, Jude in 1763, Lucy or Luse in 1765, William in 1767 and their youngest child, Issac, was born on May 27, 1771. Owen Fluker, was a private in the Revolutionary War under Elijah Clark and Pickens in Georgia particularly in the Battle of Kettle Creek in Wilkes County, Georgia on February 14, 1779. There are at least eleven creditable information sources that testify to his service. He received Bounty land for his services. A Certificate, the original of which is housed at the Georgia Archives, was issued by Col. Greenberry Lee in March 1784. It states: ?This is to certify that Owen Fluker hath steadfastly done his duty from the time of passing an Act at Augusta, to wit, on the 20th of August, 1781, until the total Expulsion of the British from the State; and the said Owen Fluker to my knowledge or belief, cannot be convicted of plundering or distressing the country; and is therefore, under the said Act, certified to a bounty of Two Hundred and Fifty Acres of good land, free from Taxes for ten years. Given unto my Hand on the 22nd of March at ______ Mill.? And there are Certificates from the State of Georgia to Owen Fluker granting him 287 ½ acres of land in Washington County ??.as a Bounty for his Services?? in May 1784. This was the second step of a five-step process that Revolutionary patriots went through to receive land due them because of their service to the colony during the Revolutionary War. And there are Grants made to Owen Fluker in Wilkes County in March of March of 1784 for 800 acres on Kettle Creek and in August of 1784 for 900 acres on the Ogeechee River. (These appear to be Headright grants.) There is a map by C.I. Hammett of land grants along Kettle Creek which shows Owens property containing 840 acres in 1784 and reaching all the way from Kettle Creek on the north to the location of the Fluker home on the south. Owen and his family continued to live in Wilkes County after the Revolutionary War. The original minutes of Phillips Mill Baptist Church lists Owen and Sarah Fluker as two of its founding members and Owen served as a Deacon in the church. At his death in 1819 the church minutes states that Owen was a member in good standing. This book also contains the story of church member Joel Phillips, an ?unreconstructed Whig,? who is alleged to have bodily ejected a Tory who dared to attend a church service one Sunday. The Tories being British sympathizers. This anecdote, according to the book, was taken from an article in the Augusta Chronicle. Tax returns confirm that Owen was still a resident of the community in 1790 and 1792. At one time the Flukers lived on land that was located on what is now the Hixon-Porter/Doc. Armour Road. There is a cemetery there and several unmarked graves. There is strong evidence that these are the graves of Owen Fluker, his wife, children and slaves. Two graves are marked. They are the graves of two of Owen?s great grandchildren, Queen Fluker Beazley and her brother Robert Fluker who, also, has a confederate marker. Owen Fluker?s will (dated 1806) states to son Issac the land whereon I live, slave Isham, still and large Bible. To son John, $5.00. To daughter Lucy Ashmore, slave Harry. To daughter Betty Fluker, a slave Fanny and household goods. To heirs of Savannah Morgan $500.00. To daughter Mary Jackson $385.00. To Patrice Varner?s son, James, a feather bed. To grandson Owen Fluker, son of Issac, my saddle. Residue to be divided among my four daughters above mentioned. His son William had preceded him in death. His will was probated March 7, 1803 and is recorded in Will Book 1806-1808, Wilkes County, Georgia. It mentions to wife Mary Ann a slave, horse, bed and 40 gallons of Brandy; to father, Owen, a slave; to brother, Issac, a horse. Residue is to be divided between brother John and sister Betsy Fluker. Owen and Sarah?s son John served in the Revolutionary War, also. A pension application for a John Fluker was published in the spring of 1974 in the Georgia Genealogical Magazine The Flukers eventually moved their house to what was to become the Carters Grove community where it is known as the Fluker Beazley house because their original homeplace near the cemetery was on low ground and they were frequently afflicted with the ?fever?. The home built by Owen consisted of one large room constructed of crude lumber, hand hewn, with large fireplaces at each end. A large loft served as a sleeping area. The house has been modified through over 200 years but the original portion is still part of the house. In fact, marks of the hand lathe are quite visible both upstairs and down. The original chimneys are still in working condition and provide a cozy spot for family gatherings. The 605 Militia District of Taliaferro County in which the Fluker property was located was known for many years as the Fluker District. Owen Fluker was just an ordinary man trying to protect his family and property when he walked or rode his horse to War Hill (That is; Kettle Creek Battlefield) on that February 14th. There are 11 generations of his descendants. It is estimeded that there are over 2,000 descendants of Owen an Sarah Fluker in 2018. Among them are medical doctors, PhDs, lawyers, botanists, chemists, archeologists, nurses, educators, financial consultants, engineers, information technologists, building contractors, gun shop owners, miners, artists craftsmen, ministers, lay church leaders, professional musicians, automotive workers, farmers, merchants, housewives, owners and operators of a soft drink bottling plant and others. They are well respected citizens of this land of freedom that our ancestor Owen Fluker and others defended on a back-woods hill-top some 238 years ago. Grave marked 05 May 2018 by Washington-Wilkes Chapter, GA SAR