for Traci
Who the heck is this James Pitman?
Haun’s Edgecombe Cout Minutes, Book III
[327]-57 May 1785
The following are insolvents returned by the collector of Captain FLOWER’S district for 1784 which were allowd viz: Sherrod HORN, Jesse BOAZMAN, Isaac MELTON, James PITMAN, William JONES, Daniel HIGHSMITH , Benjamin ROGERS, all Pols & Danl. HIGHTOR? for 1 Poll & 460 acres.
With the pitiful lack of information we have for ANY James Pitman can this be our guy of the 1740s deeds? If he was in his 20s in the 1740s this would tag him roughly 70ish yrs old in 1785. I dunno.
I have him “apparently” selling all his holdings by 1746 and then he just disappears… could it be he was a tenant, sharecropper, living near relatives on the south side of Tar River? The glaring problem is the 40 year gap…. but it is “plausible”.
Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina 
I noticed him. Don’t know how he fits in yet, but think its highly unlikely to be the same person. If I discover more ill let you know.
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traci thompson
January 9, 2012 at 10:49 am
Nothing startles my delicate sensibilities anymore with these early Edgecombe folks… we’ve recently dug up the fact that not only did William Anderson hilariously name 2 sons the same name but then each of those sons named a son Micajah. While all the Tarboro “proper folks” were snortleing over the scandal of Micajah Anderson’s publication of his dirty laundry, there was the other Micajah stealthily lurking in the background. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. This guy was hidden from 1782 to 1850… nary a peep.
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anderson1951
January 9, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Oh yeah, I thought the two Williams was hilarious, not to mention a bit unusual. Brothers naming their kids the same thing, though, is wildly common.
About James…I’ve seen indications that the James in the Tarboro vicinity (the merchant?) was still around in the 1780s. However, “Captain Flower’s District” gives me a clue that this area might be modern-day Wilson County.
This is an insolvent tax list. People couldn’t pay their taxes for a variety of reasons – in some cases because they are too poor, in others because they had left the area, and sometimes because they are dead. These three scenarios are usually the ones reported in the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions. Two out of the three involve the people not physically being present in the area any longer.
Here’s something interesting I ran across yesterday…I hope it’s not a rehash of material gone over…while looking at George Anderson’s Rev War pension file, I found one for a James Anderson of Jefferson Co, TN., July 1833. He claimed to be 73 years old, and reported that he had been “born in North Carolina on Tar River…reckons his birth to have taken place in the year 1760…At four years of age he moved with his father to Cape Fear river, NC…in the upper end of Cumberland County.” Who knows where on Tar River, but it’s an interesting migration to keep in mind.
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Traci Thompson
January 11, 2012 at 9:26 am
My guess is that the pension you refer to may track back to that “other” George Anderson who died in 1757. That clan is all very sketchy at this point. (the Cumberland folks)
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anderson1951
January 11, 2012 at 10:02 am
Now that would make a great Dna study…compare direct male descendants of the Cumberland faction to you & others of the Edgecombe area.
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traci thompson
January 12, 2012 at 1:17 am
If the pension you refer to is the one I am thinking of then we did actually. A man by the name of Paul Anderson tracks to that pension James. His DNA is that icy-white Viking strain and mine is the more tainted Scots Irish English castletrash blend. Another contact tracks to the Pitts County Andersons but different than Paul’s and mine. I have a Page for “my take” on the Cumberland bunch… (George d.1757 Granville).
Somewhat of my take on the Pitts County Andersons can be found at Page (Tar River 1723). I’m pretty much the only big mouth representing Edgecombe at this point. You guys are stuck with me.
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anderson1951
January 12, 2012 at 5:26 am