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107. John Cunningham Jr. (Married Margaret Donnell--bond: 20 March, 1786 in Guilford County, daughter of James Donnell, 1786, then Mary (McMurray) Mitchell (108) in 1798 (widow of John McMurray Jr.)--bond: 13 March, 1797 in Guilford County, and Mary Polly Findley, daughter of James Finley in 1818--bond: 28 December 1818 in Guilford County).

Born: 1763 of John Cunningham, Sr. (213) & Isabelle (Mary) ? (214).[Note: John's father died before his birth and his mother died the same year John was born. A guess is that she might have died in childbirth.] [Note there is confusion about his mother's name. The document Buffalo Presbyterian Church and Cemetery Greensboro, North Carolina compiled by Raymond Dufau Donnell, March 1996 p. 72 states his mother was Mary. History of Buffalo Presbyterian Church and her People, Greensboro, N.C. by Rev. S. M. Rankin page 23 states that his mother's name was Mary. But, “Guilford County Pioneers: The Cunningham Family” by Donald R. Simpson, published in The Guilford Genealogist, Vol. 27, No. 4 Fall 2000, Issue No. 91, pgs 204-210 states that John Sr.'s Will refers to her as Isabelle.]

Died: 24 January 1821 in 58th year of life. He is buried in Buffalo Church Cemetery, North Carolina, where he was an Elder as listed by Rev. J. C. Alexander. (Source: p. 126 History of Buffalo Presbyterian Church and her People, Greensboro, N.C. by Rev. S. M. Rankin. According to Buffalo Presbyterian Church and Cemetery Greensboro, North Carolina, compiled by Raymond Dufau Donnell, 1996, p. 14, he is buried at 5E-6E/5D-6D. He is listed as the son of John Sr. & wife Mary. Margaret Donnell (his first wife) and Mary Polly Findley (his 3rd wife) are buried with him. There is no record of the burial site of Mary (McMurray) Mitchell (108). (John's gravesite was verified during a visit to the cemetery on 29 September 2005 by Susan Snyder (#2) and her cousins Sandra Henson and Mary Lue Finch.)

[His siblings included:

Jean Cunningham ( Married: William Wilson, 1774) Born: ? Died: ?,

James Cunningham Born: ? Died: ? (Moved to Tennessee after the Revolutionary War. Received 640 acre grant in Tennessee for War Service),

Joseph Cunningham Born: ? Died: ? (Lieutenant in North Carolina Militia in the Revolutionary War),

Jeremiah Cunningham (Married: Hannah Coots, 1779) Born: ? Died: ? (In Revolutionary War-Pensioner),

William Cunningham (Married: Martha Blair, 1771) Born: ? Died: ?

Hugh Cunningham Born: ? Died: ? (Was in Captain Bell’s Company in the Revolutionary War),

Mary Cunningham (Married: William Smith) Born: ? Died: ? (Lived in North Buffalo, North Carolina --Smith died 1783).]

[(The above listed siblings and their spouses are documented in Rev. S. M. Rankin’s book: History of Buffalo Presbyterian Church and Her People ca. 1934. p. 23. However, according to "Guilford County Pioneers; The Cunningham Family, The Guilford Genealogist Quarterly Journal of the Guilford County Genealogical Society, Vol. 27, No. 4, Fall 2000, Issue #91, by Donald R. Simpson, p. 204, the Rankin information is not correct. Simpson says that much of Rankin’s information is based on oral family history, but Simpson bases his findings on John’s father’s will, probated in Rowan County, and other wills that are in the North Carolina State Archive. Simpson states that John’s siblings really include:

Jane Cunningham (Married: William Wilson, bond 16 August 1774, Guilford County) Born: ca 1756, Died: ? She and her husband moved to Pendleton Co., South Carolina; and

Margaret Cunningham (Married: John Work, probably ca. 1770-75; and then Patrick McGibboney, bond 16 Sept, 1783 in Guilford County.) Born: perhaps 1754-57 Died: ?

Simpson states that William Cunningham and Jeremiah Cunningham were two of the five children of a different Cunningham family. He states that their father was James Cunningham).[Note: Jane is probably Jean. In both cases, the husband is listed as William Wilson.]]

Miscellaneous:

John was probably in the Revolutionary War with his brothers.

According to "Guilford County Pioneers; The Cunningham Family, The Guilford Genealogist Quarterly Journal of the Guilford County Genealogical society, Vol. 27, No. 4, Fall 2000, Issue No. 91, page 205, "At the Rowan Court of 13 July, 1763, it was ordered that Thomas Donnell, William Denny, Hugh Brawley & George Hamilton 'do lay off and value according to law one acre of land belonging to the orphans of John Cunningham (213) on the South Fork of Haw River, unto John Boyd, Junr., to build a public grist mill thereon & make return thereof to our next Court.' John Boyd's Mill was located on Reedy Fork [i.e. South Fork] of Haw River just west of George Finley's Mill and near the present bridge for U.S. Hwy. 29. This land, from which the Boyd Mill tract was taken, continued to be held by John Cunningham, Jr. In 1785, he sold of it to Samuel Thompson by deed which gives the bounds as including "John Cunningham's line through Boud's [=Boyd's] old mill pond." [Note: The above passage refers to John Sr.'s children as orphans, which means that his wife died prior to 13 July 1763. She may have died in childbirth with John Cunningham, Jr. who was born in 1763. John Sr. died before John Jr. was born. It is not known who raised John and his siblings.]

In Guilford County, North Carolina Land Grants 1778-1934, by Elizabeth "Pat" Shaw Bailey, 2001, John Cunningham Sr.'s property is referred to numerous times after his death. [Note: John Sr. died in 1762, but the land continued to be held by his son John Cunningham Jr.]. Page 7 states that David Brown was granted 40 acres (Entry date: 16 May 1815 Location: "wtrs Reedy Fork/Haw River- Cunningham - John Milloway". ) Page 42 states that Edward Loney was granted 300 acres (Entry date 18 Nov. 1778) Location: head Cunningham Branch of Reedy Fork - Thomas Blair. Page 48 states that John McKibbin was granted 160 acres (Entry date: 20 Feb. 1779) Location: "South side Haw River at Cunninghams line". Page 58 states that Isaac Relph? (Ralph) was granted 50 acres (Entry date: 8 Feb. 1798) Location: "wtrs Haw Rvr - Geo Nelson-Cunningham-Loney-Person." Page 69 states that Robert Thompson was granted two parcels of land. The first was 100 acres (Entry date: 30 Sept. 1789) Location: "waters Reedy Fork - begin at John Cunningham's corner." The second was 130 acres (Entry date: 21 July 1794) Location: "wtrs Reedy Fork - John Cuningham -Robt Thompson decd." Page 75 states that Andrew Willson was granted 311 acres (Entry date: 1 Apr. 1779) Location: "on the Haw River - Cunningham line-Widow Wilson."

There are additional references made to land that John Jr. was granted in Guilford County, North Carolina Land Grants 1778-1934, by Elizabeth "Pat" Shaw Bailey, 2001. Page 16 states that John Cunningham was granted 339 acres (Entry date: 21 Nov. 1778) Location: "on Big Troublesome Creek - Thomas Henderson." Page 28 states Andrew Hall was granted 250 acres (Entry date: 29 Feb. 1780) Location "waters Rosses Creek - John Starat- John Cunningham."

According to "Guilford County Pioneers; The Cunningham Family, The Guilford Genealogist Quarterly Journal of the Guilford County Genealogical Society, Vol. 27, No. 4, Fall 2000, Issue #91, p. 206, John “made his will in 1820 naming his wife and children, and disposing of his considerable estate.” He is buried in the Buffalo Church Cemetery with at least two of his wives and some of his childen."

John had three wives and 11 children. With Margaret Donnell, he had three children: James, Isabella, and John. With Mary (McMurray) Mitchell, he had 8 children: Mitchell, Hannah (54), Joseph, Polly, William, Andrew, Elizabeth, and Nancy.

Below: John's tombstone at Buffalo Presbyterian Church Cemetery. (GPS 36° 6.596 minutes N, 79° 46.78 minutes W). These pictures were taken on 29 September 2005. One photograph show that chalk was applied in order for the inscription to be more easily read.

His tombstone reads:

IN
Memory of
JOHN CUNNINGHAM
DIED
Jan’y 24, 1821
In the 58th Year of
HIS AGE.