a start of a genealogy of the Boons of Eastern North Carolina…
Trying not to be misunderstood, I am not starting a Boon timeline… this is just a suggestion to anyone who may. This ‘issue’ simply has to be dealt with at some point… I am just ‘dealing’ with it up front.
Firstly, there is no way in hell that a Boon… any Boon, ever was in NC in 1668…. period. Here is the deed that started that nonsense:
[6 Feb 1754] Nicholas Boon to John Braswell, both of Northampton for 41.1.6 pds VA, 490 acres in sd Co., part of a pat. granted to Mr. Thomas Boon, decd, May 1, 1668, beginning at the mouth of a branch known by the name of Know Bottom, so up the sd branch bending on George Seller’s line to ye head line of the patent so then bending on the sd patent line to the first station. Wit: Thomas Boon, Wm. Murfree. Ackd. February Court 1754.
But wait! you say… that is exactly what the damn deed says… you ignorant dumbass! (meaning me, the author of that outrage). And sure enough that is “exactly” what the deed says.
“it being part of a patent granted to Mr. Thomas Boon Deceased bearing date of first day of May Anno Domino 1668”
I certainly do not want to cast any aspersions on the good clerks, scribes and grandmotherly bespeckled county court folks who painstakedly rewrote the constantly bug infested and rotting written pages of the records from the 1660s. Oh wait… there does not seem to be any… or an extremely small amount which was reasonably protected from the weather’s vississitudes.. All of them seem to be rewrites or copies, as we say now. Those in the know, well, know that there has to be a certain “type” of paper to hold up over time. And that type of paper is and was expensive. This is not to mention that the inks had to also be weather-resistent over time, else they would fade away to nothing. A good quality India Ink was preferred and not always readily available. (Particularly in the boondocks of Colonial North Carolina in the 1660s).
So, in my humble opinion, the date of the patent of 1668 was an error. In 1668 a “landmark” decision was made and conveyed from England that was referred to afterwards in many deeds. (It saved the colonists money so it was important to be noted).
Which begs the question… where is the original patent to compare it to for…you know… actual, factual, details. The patent above refers to to a date of 1754… and I note that Mr. Boon is quite dead. It might also be observed that a ‘reasonable’ person in 1754 might note and call out the date of 1668 as an error… but let us also realize that most of the observers then were illiterate and left such details to the clerks. Personally I think some of those clerks drank a bit… if you catch my drift.
I discuss this more in detail here if you are interested:
So here is my next question… if not in 1668, then when did the Boons arrive in North Carolina. My thought is that they all migrated from the Mathew Strickland property in Isle of Wight, VA. Thomas Boon, Sr. simply moved to the Meherrin River with all his sons… excepting his youngest son Ratcliffe, who stayed on the old property on Horse Swamp. So my answer is that they arrived sometime after 1700 when the land was “officially” opened for settlement.
In 1704 or thereabouts, Thomas Boon (et al, I assume with his sons) had relocated to near modern Franklin, VA on the Blackwater. So it is likely after this that the Boons set their eyes on North Carolina.
I find it particularly interesting that in 1704 the Boons were just across the Blackwater River from James Bryan(t). James Bryant also relocated to NC about 1708. He was conveyed property from his son in law Richard Braswell on the NS of Meherrin River. The Boons and Bryan(t)s had numerous dealings found in the records.
I completely agree with you Marc! I spent my career conserving art on paper and that often included documents from rare book rooms and museums. The paper, although cotton and linen from scraps of garments until some genius in the 19th century used wood pulp, often aged badly due to alum rosin sizing and acidic production methods still in use into the 20th century. And then of course there was the ink. Don’t let me drive you crazy – I could go on and on lol!
Kristin Anderson
July 1, 2023 at 1:46 pm
Smiling…thank you. I was an illustrator in the Air Force in my early twenties and always had black stains everywhere from using India ink… not to mention Strathmore and other fine papers for art. Folks just need to pull up some old photo images of eaten away images to see what we refer to.
anderson1951
July 1, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Indeed – India Ink (lampblack and water) is bound with shellac! Thanks to those beautiful insects and ingenious Oriental folks we have permanent, waterproof ink!
Kristin Anderson
July 1, 2023 at 2:04 pm
Marc – are you the Amazing anderson1951 running this site? and – are you the Marc Anderson who made a query over on FT recently about Y-SNPs?
Nothing to do with this thread – I just noticed the atypical spelling and was curious (nosy)…and wasn’t sure how to message you – I post under my (double-second) cousin Jim H Anderson’s kit quite often – and my mom Nancy Lineberry’s kit too. If that be you, please feel free to contact me – I’m still in shock-and-awe at this site you’ve built (it’s yours, right?)
I’m no expert, but I try to help where I can – and I was both heartened and disheartened when you found your early NPE – heartened that you did it – YAY! – disheartened by how difficult it was…..I’ve got the same ‘row to hoe’ and I’ve currently resorted to investigating pirates! Really.
Anne Lineberry
December 2, 2023 at 5:06 pm
The Northampton County Courthouse was not the one that burned, but neighboring Hertford County’s which was burned twice, once in March of 1830 by Wright Allen, thinking he was destroying evidence in an upcoming trial and again in 1862 by Union troops. See this link for the 1830 fire.
https://www.ncgenweb.us/hertford/newspaper.htm
I really appreciate your research and mapping the deeds of the area and am especially interested in the lands of John Bonde (originally Boude) or Bond. He came to Bath in the early 1720’s from Philadelphia, died in 1738 and was also an agent for the Meherrin Indians. His will and deeds are mostly in Bertie.
Gregory Tyler
July 1, 2023 at 2:33 pm
Thanks for the correction… I thought as much but was just too lazy to check.
That John Bond caught my attention as I got the drift that he was a merchant that may have traded with New England? Some leads have me thinking there were trading vessels running out of that area on the Meherrin River. I have probably only scratched the surface of his history in the area…
I can make an “aside” to this Post which may be of interest for your John Bond. I find it of interest he was involved with the Meherrin Indians…
https://wordpress.com/post/andersonnc.com/6667
PDF format please…
marcanderson1951@gmail.com
anderson1951
July 1, 2023 at 2:47 pm
Yes, that he was a merchant from Philadelphia when he first came. He also married the widow of John Boyd who wrote his will on Dec. 17, 1725 in Bath County, then likely drowned himself, leaving a widow, a young son and a large estate of land, slaves and personal property.
John Bonde took the deceased Boyd’s inventory and within six weeks was married to Boyd’s widow, Catherine. Also about this same time he acquired his first tract of land “from Philip Eden to John Bonde of Bath County, Feb. 16. 1726 for 230 Acres, part of a patent granted Henry Wheeler 1717 on SS Meherrin River Adj. Thomas Kirbey adj. “Land of John Bayley & land I sold Arthur Williams. At head of Spring Branch.
Wit: John Darden, jurant, William Folk May Court 1727.”
At this same time John Bonde was having dealing with the Meherrin Indians and on November 27, 1729, he was made their agent. He and the widow Catherine Boyd had no children themselves. But he had an illegitimate son, Charles Dew, by Katherine Dew, identifying him in his will as his “reputed son,”
Gregory Tyler
July 1, 2023 at 4:14 pm
Anne
I must be that guy… I do not see anyone close by to blame it on.
I chased a pirate in connection to a James Anderson… in one of my Posts…I have no idea how to find it. If I need anything on this site I have to use my “search box”… a really marvelous tool. I would be lost without it.
anderson1951
December 3, 2023 at 8:57 am