Abner Jefferson PONDER^[1]

1755 - 1832  (77 years)

• Name	Abner Jefferson PONDER
  Birth	1755	Augusta, VA
  Gender	Male
  Reference Number	40
  _FSFTID	KNQ3-G53
  _FSLINK	https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KNQ3-G53
  _UID	3725D6778CB844C3B945A42927A0FA31B146
  Death	Dec 1832	Bon Aqua Springs, Hickman Co, Tennessee
  Burial	Ponder-Perkins C, Bon Aqua Springs, Hickman Co, TN
  Person ID	I13970	Carney Wehofer July 2025
  Last Modified	12 Dec 2022

  
  

  Father	Daniel PONDER,   b. Abt 1720, MD d. Aft 1788, SC (Age ~ 69 years)
  Mother	Jemima BENNETT,   b. 1724, Sussex, Delaware, British Colonial America d. Abt 1784, South Carolina (Age 60 years)
  Marriage	23 Aug 1751	Delaware, Delaware, Iowa   [2]
  Family ID	F7237	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Sarah (Mcguin) GUIN,   b. Abt 1750, Ireland? d. Bon Aqua, Hickman Co, Tennessee
  Children	1. Elizabeth (Weems) PONDER   d. Grayson Co?, TX?   2. Jefferson PONDER,   b. GA? d. Ripley Co, MO   3. Asa Archibald PONDER,   b. Abt 1797   d. 1852, Ripley Co, MO (Age ~ 55 years)   4. Mary Polly (Burden) PONDER,   b. Abt 1800, Elbert County, Georgia d. Bef 1819, Hickman County, Tennessee (Age ~ 18 years)   5. Amos F. PONDER,   b. Abt Feb 1801, Elbert County, Georgia d. 1868, Missouri (Age ~ 66 years)   6. Abner J. Jr PONDER,   b. Jun 1805, Elbert County, Georgia d. Doniphan, MO   7. James Madison PONDER,   b. Abt 1807, Hickman County, Tennessee d. Abt 1845, Ripley Co, MS (Age ~ 38 years)   8. Clarissa (Perkins) (Webb) PONDER,   b. 15 Mar 1813, Bon Aqua, Hickman Co, Tennessee d. Aft 13 Jan 1888, Hickman County, Tennessee (Age 74 years)
  Family ID	F7219	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2016

  
  

  Family 2	Sarah BURDEN   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F7202	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2016

  
  

  Family 3	Jane GREEN?,   b. Abt 1770   d. Abt 1791, GA? (Age ~ 21 years)
  Marriage	Bef 1785	Buffalo Gap, Augusta Co, Virginia
  Children	1. John Reuben PONDER,   b. 1785, Virginia d. 2 Jun 1871, Braxton, Simpson Co, Mississippi (Age 86 years)   2. Thomas PONDER,   b. 1787-1788, Elbert County, Georgia d. Aft 1850, Mendenhall, Simpson Co, Mississippi (Age 63 years)   3. Catherine (Price) PONDER,   b. 1790, GA, Elbert Co? d. Franklin Co, MS
  Family ID	F7204	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2016

  
  

• Notes

  !The relationship of Abner Jefferson Ponder to Daniel Ponder has not been proven as of this date 19 aug 1991. This appears to be a good guess for a wide variety of reasons, some of which will be explained below. !The first known record of Abner Jefferson Ponder, born 1755, seems to be about 1781 when he fought in the Rev. War, probably at King's Mountain and Cowpens in SC. There have been several theories as to who Abner's father was; many serious Ponder researchers, including myself, have concluded that Daniel Ponder and Jemima Bennett were his parents. Others have speculated that he was born in Baden, Germany, and migrated to the USD before 1780. Spence and Spence in their book, "A History of Hickman County, Tennessee," published in 1900 state that Abner J.Ponder was born in Germany in 1755. This possibility is supported by two other facts. The first is a letter written by Abner J. Ponder's grandson, Col. Abner Jefferson Ponder, dated 27 Jan 1904 from Doniphan, MO, to a Mr. Joseph Brown in Delaware in which the grandson writes that his grandfather was of (Dutch) German descent. A second supporting fact is that in 1832 a large family named Ponder led by Valentine and William Ponder, came from Baden Germany, and settled in MO along the MS River and near many of the descendents of Abner J. Ponder. This could be coincidence since many other German families settled in the same area at that time. None of these possibilities have been proven or disproved. So, to date, Abner Jefferson Ponder's life before 1781 remains a mystery. There seems to be no ties between the Ponder name and the English family names of Pounder, Pinder, or Pender except as misspelling by clerks and record keepers. After the Rev. War it is known that Abner J. Ponder was in Virginia, furthering the possibility that he was the son of Daniel and Jemima Bennett Ponder who lived for a time at Buffalo Gap, Virginia. John Reuben Ponder, a son of Abner, was born in Virginia in 1785. Soon after, however, Abner J. Ponder was known to have been in Abvbeyville Co, SC, and by 1787 was in Elbert Co, GA. His second son, Thomas Ponder, was born in GA in 1787 or 1788. It is believed that Abner J. Ponder was back in Abbeyville Co, SC in 1790 and then back in Elbert Co, GA by 1791. "Abner" was a very common name in the Ponder family. The Abner Ponder who married James Knox and lived in SC and GA is often confused with Abner Jefferson Ponder, but that Abner seems to have been Abner Jefferson Ponder's nephew, although that has not been proven either. By 1806 Abner J. Ponder had moved his family to Hickman County, TN. An account of this move if given in "A History of Hickman Co, TN," which tells of Abner's settling at Bon Aqua Springs. In was in this account that Abner Jefferson was reportedly born in Germany. (See "The Family of Abner Ponder," compiled by Jerry Ponder and Eldon Dow Vandiver, 1989, published by Ponder Books of Doniophan, MO, for a more extensive account of this move and for additional information on Abner Jefferson. While it has long been believed that Abner Jefferson was a Rev. War veteran, it was not until 1988/89 that Jerry Ponder, a descendant of Abner Jeffgerson, and the primary author of "The Life of Abner Jefferson Ponder," clearly proved his Revolutionary War service. On October 6, 1989, the Tennessee Daughters of the Revolution dedicated a grave marker to Abner Jefferson Ponder, a Revolutionary War veteran. Jerry Ponder of MO, Pat Saupe of Indiana, Catherine and Thomas C. Ponder of Texas, among others, attended this moving event. Pat Saupe provided me pictures of the guests and of the cemetery and headstone. Pictures of the event, including the headstone, appear in Jerry Ponder's "Life of Abner Jefferson Ponder." A twenty-year genealogical search had finally culminated in identifying most of Abner's descendants with the family history and clearly establishingh the war record of our progenitor. In the census of 1830, Hickman Co, TN, page 62 we find Abner Ponder and Archibald Ponder. They also appear in the 1832 Census of Hickman Co, Tn.2

  
  

• Sources

  [S818] John T. Palmer, Ph.D., John T. Palmer, Ph.D. [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 12 Dec 2022), entry for Jemima BENNETT, person ID LCJD-X8Q. (Reliability: 3).