Christian Family

Our Christian ancestor are first found in the Isle of Man in the 12th Century. They were originally Vikings who. The first Viking who came was Gilcrist who married a Celtic wife. The surname envolved from McCristen or McCrysten to finally Christian. Deemster William McCristen, who died in 1593, was the first to sign his name as William "Christian". Many of the family were deemsters, or judges. The Manx Note Book No 1 p17/20 names John McCristen, as the first of whom there is any record, was one of the Judges or Deemsters in 1408 and a Member of the Tynwald Court in 1422.
The Christian ancestral home of our line was "Milntown", located in the parish of Lezayre.

A famous Manx from our collateral line was Fletcher Christian who was a mate of H.M.S ‘Bounty,’ and leader of the mutineers.

Our Christians left the island in 1655. They were two brothers, William and Jonathan and their families from the parish of Maughold, and a family named Cottier from the parish of Lezayre. William received a grant of land from the Crown in Virginia.

We are descended through his son, Thomas Christian I who was born in 1635 in the Isle of Man. Thomas settled in Virginia and bought land on the north side of the James River in Charles City County. Thomas' sons and other family members obtained additional land in the area. At one period twelve connecting plantations were held by members of the Christian family. Our Christian line continues through his son Thomas and his grandson Thomas, all settling in Virginia.

By the time of the American Revolution, the Charles City County Christians had been in America 125 years, and many served in the Continental Army and Virginia Militia.

Lewis Christian, great-grandson of the immigrant Thomas, moved into Hawkins County, Tennessee. His first grant of land was 250 acres in 1790, before Tennessee became a state. He is the progenitor of many families in Hawkins County. Eventually his descendents owned all of Goshen between the two divides, all of Christian's Bend and part of McPheter's Bend. Many can still be found in the hills of Tennessee. Lewis Christian died in the fall of 1830 during the "epidemic".

My line of the Christian family comes through Lewis' son John, his grandson, William Lewis, and his great-grandson, Stephen Christian.

John M. Christian was born in Virginia, but moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee with his parents. He married Nancy Skelton. Their son William Lewis Christian married Aggie Bailey. After her death he married Elizabeth Hartman Thrasher. William lived in the house willed to him by his maternal grandfather, William Skelton. William and Aggie were the parents of Stephen H. Christian.

Stephen H. Christian first married Seraphina "Sally" Skelton. After her death he married Sarah Louisa Long, his first cousin. My line continues with Stephen and Sarah. He was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. He served as a private in the Twelfth Cavalry Battalion. Stephen fought in the Battle of Stones River. Sometime in the 1880's, after Sarah died, Stephen and his children came to Texas and settled in Collin County. There are still Christians living there today.

Allied Families

Bailey
Ball
Brashear
Hardin
Long
Maupin
Price
Skelton
Stith

My special thanks to Nancy Akard Christian of Church Hill, Tennessee for her many years of dedicated research of the Christian Family.
In 2005 Nancy published a book "Christian Cousins from Hawkins County, Tennessee".