The Love Family of Paw Creek Township
Copyright (c) 2023 by Donna Joy Johnson
All rights reserved
This page was last updated on: 22 August, 2023

And on my mother's side....

In western Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, one of the waterways that emptied into the Catawba River came to be known as Paw Creek, so named because of the paw paw trees that grew along its banks.  The township of Paw Creek took its name from this waterway, and included many communities within its area.  To the north of the township was Hopewell Presbyterian Church, and to the south was Steele Creek Presbyterian Church.  In 1809, some members of this area desired to form a church that was closer to their home places, and thus Paw Creek Presbyterian Church came to be formed.

There were members of the Love family in Paw Creek township from early on.  In 1789, John Love purchased 100 acres of land on Paw Creek.  His son Samuel married Elizabeth Nation that same year, in Mecklenburg County.  John and Samuel Love were enumerated in the census of 1790 in western Mecklenburg County.  When John Love made out his will in 1791, he left his plantation to his sons David and Christopher, to become their property after the death of their mother Sarah.  Other heirs were named and received bequests.  David and Christopher Love sold the property to General Michael McLeary in 1800, but the deed was not recorded until 1818.

On August 24, 1802, David Love took out a bond to marry "Jean" Thompson in Mecklenburg County.  The witness was Joseph Thompson.  This David Love was probably the son of John and Sarah Love.

During the period from 1810 to 1830, David Love was listed in the census, in western Mecklenburg County.  During this time he had a family, as was evidenced by the census.  David Love also appeared numerous times in various listings of taxables, but was not taxed for any property.  All of these tax listings were in companies that were in western Mecklenburg County.

My ancestor, John Scott Love, was born in 1803. It appears that he was the oldest of his siblings.  A family Bible record shows that John Scott Love and his siblings were the children of David Love and Jane (Jean) Thompson who resided in western Mecklenburg County.  The family Bible of Moses E. Kistler and his wife Jane Thompson Love, daughter of John Scott Love, includes a listing of Love family members and their dates of death.  At the top of this list are David Love and Jane Thompson, followed by the names of those persons I have believed for some time to be the siblings.  The names of the siblings are also set forth in the estate records of Moses Love, who was probably the youngest child of David Love.

David Love and Jane Thompson resided in western Mecklenburg County and raised a family there.  In the same area, John S. Love, Mary S. "Polly" Love, James M. Love, Thomas T. Love, Sarah D. "Sallie" Love, Joseph T. Love and Moses T. Love resided.

As for myself, I was born in 1953 and grew up in Paw Creek. I attended Paw Creek Presbyterian Church until college, and many of my relatives still attend.  My roots are deep in the township, and I am connected to many of the old families there.  I spent most of my life in Mecklenburg County, but moved "across the river" to Gaston County, NC in 2022.

My research to find additional information on ancestors and descendants of David Love son of John Love and Sarah Sharpe is ongoing.  I have much information to add to this website, so please continue to check back if this family is of interest to you.  I appreciate input from other researchers.

My other websites:

Ancestry.com - Harry and Donna's Tree @ John Love and Sarah Sharp

Hipp...a Story of This Family

Hoover Family

The James "Whisteling" Orr Family of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina


Contact me by email

My "Family Data" and my conclusions are not without errors!  This is a work in progress, and will evolve and change over time.  It is the responsibility of any researcher to check and confirm all material in which you have an interest, whether it be on my pages or any other genealogy-related pages.  There is no better source than an original source.
designed with Homestead
Sign InView Entries
From left, David Allen Love, Lucious Monroe Love, Eugene Alexander Love, Alma Florine Love (my mother) and their grandmother, Ruth Ann Hipp. Photo taken at the John Scott Love home place in the Moore’s Chapel community, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (circa 1931). James Monroe Love inherited his father’s “new” house on the upper part of his property, while son David Leander Love inherited the smaller house on the lower part. The property was purchased by the Mecklenburg Wildlife Club.