Assuming William was born in Virginia and following Clerissa H. Tatterson's "History and Genealogy of the Poling Family", I did some searching in Loudoun County, VA.
I landed on a little 4 year old William Poland in 1791. He was bound out to a John Houghman Jr. This William stood out as a possible for many reasons, but what really caught my attention is that there is a Peter Houghman living next door to William in 1820 in the Ohio census. Peter Houghman also moves to Marion County, Indiana at the same time as William. And last, but not least, the Houghman\Hoffman's are buried in the same little cemetery as William and his wife.
William seemed to stick with this Houghman family rather than a Poland family. They have land patents dated on the same date in the same township and section. They bought and sold land to each other. And, of course, are buried near one another.
A research trip to Virginia identified the original documents surrounding the binding out of young William Poland. Below is a picture of the original letter written 09/12/1791 by Elizabeth Polen asking that her son William Poland "aged 4 years the 10th of April next". This would put this William's birthday as April 10, 1788.
Elizabeth returns to court on Oct 15, 1799 ordering that John Huffman be summoned to appear at the next court "to show cause why he detains William Poling in his service as an apprentice and for ill treatment to said apprentice". There are summons written up to order witnesses to appear on behalf of Elizabeth and John.
For Elizabeth: Pierce Bayley, Nathaniel Poland, Nancy Stephens, Jno Stephens and Ann Ellmore
For John: Theophilus Hughs and Elizabeth his wife, Peggy Hiler, John Holding, Harry Lowe, Nathl Pegg, and Polly Stevens.
I am currently researching the Houghman\Huffman\Hoffman family to make a connection between the Peter Houghman in Ohio to the John Houghman in Virginia. If anyone has any information on this family, please reach out!
If my theory is true, that means my William Poland was born on Apr 10, 1788 which would mean he was 67 in Jan 1856 when he died like his headstone indicates. He would have turned 68 that following April. It would also mean that his mother's name was Elizabeth, but we still don't know who his father was.
My current theory on a possible father if this scenario is true is William Poland born 1769 in Loudoun County a twin to Nathaniel Poland.
These twins were the sons of Hannah Pegg (sister to Nathaniel Pegg) and ?? Poland. There is debate as to whether the father of the twins was William Poland (1754-1778 son of Samuel and Madeline) or Daniel Baronet Poland. All sources I have found indicate that Hannah died during the childbirth of the twins. If the father was William Poland (1754-1778), then he would have died when the twins were 9 years old. The twins were bound to Nathaniel Pegg on June 12, 1780 (Loudoun County Order Book entry). A theory is the twins were with their grandfather Samuel (assuming the father is William Poland) until he was too feeble to care for them. Samuel is reported to have died in 1782.
Nathaniel Pegg's will recorded September 10, 1804 lists the twins as his nephews and heirs. Note the security for Nathaniel Pegg's will was John Huffman.
William Poland (b:1769) is documented to have moved to Jefferson County, Ohio, married an Elizabeth and had several children, the first being John Poland born in 1804. My thoughts are he was old enough to have had William (b:1788) prior to moving to Ohio, but I have not found any evidence to that fact yet. I do have DNA matches with individuals said to descend from both Nathaniel and William Poland (b:1769). The DNA matches lead me to believe I'm on the right track.
Please drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts on this theory and\or if you have any questions.
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