The Proeger Family · Generation 8 — Earl's earliest known

Rev. James Quisenberry

Father of Colby Burris Quisenberry · 1759–1830

Rev. James Quisenberry

Probable

Father of Colby Burris Quisenberry · 1759–1830

Born
1759
Died
1830
Sources
8

Research status

Research status: PROBABLE — from compiled lineage books only: SAR application 27139 S498 and the DAR Lineage Book S499 make him Colby Burris Quisenberry's father. No original record has been read

Evidence: SAR application 27139 and the DAR Lineage Book, which make him Colby Burris Quisenberry's father; his epitaph, as a Quisenberry family book copies it, which gives his marriage to Jane Burrus and thirteen children by her; Colonial Families and a Burris typescript, which name his parents as Aaron and Joyce Quisenberry. Weak or missing: Compiled lineage books only; no original record has been read; the Memorials calls his descent 'constructive' and gives Joyce's surname, Dudley, only 'as is supposed'. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1759
Born 1759, Spotsylvania County, Virginia; married Jane Burris in 1776; died 1830, Clark County, Kentucky (lineage books)
Burial1759
🆕 A Revolutionary War burial index card gives Rev. James Quisenberry's dates as born 13 June 1759 and died 5 August 1830, aged 71, and says he was buried on his farm in Clark County, Kentucky, and was a “defender of Fort Boonesboro” S728. It is a compiled card, not an original record. added 26 September 2026.
Residence1783
🆕 Colonial Families of the United States calls him the founder of the Kentucky branch: after service in the Orange County militia he settled in 1783 in what is now Clark County, was in the garrison of the fort at Boonesboro under Daniel Boone, and was an ordained Baptist minister. It names his first three children by Jane Burris: Joyce, born 1777, who married James Duncan; Frances, born 1779, who married John Bruner; and Jane, born 1782, who married Ambrose Bush S762. A Burris typescript says his family moved from Spotsylvania to Orange when he was ten, and names his parents as Aaron and Joyce Quisenberry S763; the family Memorials makes him the son of Aaron Quisenberry (about 1715–1795) and of Joyce Dudley, “as is supposed” S761 Probable confirm or correct →. What is weak: all three are compiled books; the Memorials author calls his own descent “constructive” and hedges Joyce's surname; and two of the books give James Jane's 5 July birthday, one also a 24 December wedding, where the stones say 13 June and 4 December. If you know more, use “Add to this record”. added 26 September 2026.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Marriage1811
🆕 A Clark County marriage register records the marriage of a James Quisenberry and Cloey Ship on 24 December 1811, performed by James Haggard S727 Probable confirm or correct →. It may be a second marriage for this James after Jane Burris died; on the next page of the register a James Quisenberry officiates at three marriages, which fits a minister. What is weak: the register gives no ages or parents, so it does not show which James this is; Jane Burris's death, 3 November 1811, comes only from a book's copy of her stone S750; and the original bond has not been read. added 26 September 2026.
Marriage1759
🆕 His epitaph, as copied into a Quisenberry family book, says he was born in Orange County, Virginia, “of English parentage”, on 13 June 1759; married Jane Burrus in his eighteenth year and had seven sons and six daughters by her; married Chloe Shipp of Clark County on 24 December 1811 and had eleven more children; moved to Kentucky in 1783; and died on 5 August 1830 S750 Probable confirm or correct →. This names the 1811 bride of the Clark County register as his second wife. What is weak: it is a book's copy of the stone; and it puts his birth in Orange County, where a family history puts it in Spotsylvania, so the card keeps Spotsylvania. added 26 September 2026.

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Probable
Probable father of Colby Burris Quisenberry, and so great-grandfather of Louisa Quisenberry Chenault

Rev. James Quisenberry · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

8 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S498U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications — national no. 27139, James Marvin Hinkle, 1914. Ancestry record 315470. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Probable A great-grandson's lineage: Colby Burris Quisenberry (1788–1870) and Lucy Bush (1790–1872), married 1810; Lucy the daughter of Francis Bush and Rachel Martin (his second wife); Francis Bush born 23 February 1750, Orange County, Virginia, died 1836, Clark County, a private in the 2nd Virginia. The supplemental line gives Colby's parents as James Quisenberry (1759–1830) and Jane Burris, married 1776. A compiled lineage of 1914, not a record, so the parents are probable. The cover sheet is record 315462.
  2. S499DAR Lineage Book, p. 189, no. 88597: Miss Elizabeth B. Karr. Ancestry record 2609444. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Probable Descent through Colby Burris Quisenberry Jr. (1822–1907), who married Sallie Tribble in 1847, from Colby Burris Quisenberry (1788–1870) and Lucy Bush (1790–1872), married 1810, and from James Quisenberry (1759–1830), born Spotsylvania County, Virginia, died Clark County, Kentucky, a private in the Virginia militia. A printed compilation. It agrees with the SAR application (S498).
  3. S727Clark County, Kentucky, marriage register (later copy), p. 98. Ancestry record 1655638. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Probable James Quisenberry and Cloey Ship, married 24 December 1811, by James Haggard. On the next page a James Quisenberry is the officiant at three marriages. The copy gives no ages or parents, so it does not show which James Quisenberry this is.
  4. S728U.S., Revolutionary War burial index card. Ancestry record 52093. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed Rev. James Quisenberry, born 13 June 1759, died 5 August 1830, aged 71, buried on his farm in Clark County, Kentucky; “defender of Fort Boonesboro”. A compiled index card, not an original record.
  5. S750Genealogical Memoranda of the Quisenberry Family, appendix p. 192: epitaphs of Rev. James and Jane Quisenberry, Clark County, Kentucky. Ancestry record 191. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Probable Jane Quisenberry, “consort of Rev. James Quisenberry, to whom she was married December 4, 1776”, thirteen children; born in Orange County, Virginia, 5 July 1759; died 3 November 1811, aged 52 years, 3 months and 27 days. Rev. James: born in Orange County, “of English parentage”, 13 June 1759; married Jane Burrus “in the 18th year of his age”, seven sons and six daughters; married Chloe Shipp of Clark County on 24 December 1811, eleven children; moved to Kentucky in 1783; died 5 August 1830, aged 71 years, 1 month and 22 days. The page also prints an 1895 War Department letter on Thomas Burrace (Burris)'s service in the 3rd Virginia, 1776–1779. A family book's transcription of the stones, not the stones themselves. The ages at death agree with the dates given.
  6. S761A. C. Quisenberry, Memorials of the Quisenberry Family (1900), p. 7: “A Constructive Descent”. Ancestry record 4297926578. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Probable Generation 13: Aaron Quisenberry, born in Caroline County, Virginia, probably about 1715, died in Orange County in 1795, married Joyce Dudley “as is supposed”. Generation 14: Rev. James Quisenberry, born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 5 July 1759, died in Clark County, Kentucky, 5 August 1830, settled in Kentucky in 1783, married Jane Burris of Orange County on 4 December 1776. Generation 15: Colby Burris Quisenberry, born in Clark County (then Fayette County, Virginia) on 7 July 1788, died there 30 December 1870, married Lucy Bush of the same county on 16 December 1810. The author calls the whole descent “constructive”; generations 1–12, back to a Questenberg of about 1380, are his speculation and are not used here. The 5 July birth given to James is Jane Burris's birthday on her stone; his own epitaph (S750) says 13 June.
  7. S762Colonial Families of the United States of America, p. 427: James Quisenberry. Ancestry record 7967. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Probable “James Quisenberry (founder of the Kentucky branch)”, born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 5 July 1759, died 5 August 1830; after serving in the Orange County militia he settled in 1783 in what is now Clark County, Kentucky; in the garrison of the fort at Boonesboro under Daniel Boone; an ordained Baptist minister. Married first Jane Burris, daughter of Thomas and Frances (Tandy) Burris of Orange County, and second Chloe Shipp of Clark County, 24 December 1811. Children of the first marriage begin: Joyce, born 25 October 1777, married James Duncan; Frances, born 6 October 1779, married John Bruner; Jane, born 22 February 1782, married Ambrose Bush. A compiled family history. It dates the first marriage 24 December 1776, where Jane's stone and a typescript (S750, S763) say 4 December, and gives him Jane's 5 July birthday.
  8. S763Typescript family history (U.S., Family History Books), p. 59: the children of Thomas Burris. Ancestry record 4341918106. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Probable Item 9: Jane Burris, born 5 July “1755”, Orange County, Virginia, died 3 November 1811, married 4 December 1776 Rev. James Quisenberry (born 13 June 1759, Spotsylvania County; died 5 August 1830, Clark County, Kentucky), son of Aaron and Joyce Quisenberry, whose family moved to Orange County when he was ten; he married at seventeen Jane Burris, “who was the same age”; seven sons and six daughters. Item 10: her sister Frances Tandy Burris married on 9 December 1778 William Bush, “Captain Billy Bush” (1746–1815), son of Philip Bush Sr., founder of the Bush Settlement in Clark County. Item 11: Mourning Burris married Thomas Graves Jr., 5 February 1791. A compiled typescript that cites the Genealogical Memoranda (S750). Its 1755 is a slip: the same page makes Jane the same age as James, born 1759, and her stone gives 1759.

Know something this page doesn't? Send it to Earl — corrections, names, dates, documents. Nothing appears here until he has reviewed it.

Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear by name and relationship, with the year only: no full date of birth and no home town on any page that search engines index, and a living person’s own page is kept out of search engines. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

Know something this record doesn't? Send it to Earl.

Top