Archive for June 2016
A Jolly question
A comment left lately…
I am looking for more information on John and William Jolly of Isle of Wight. John died 1687 and William was his son. William had a grant in 1705 but wondering if he went to NC. Can’t find William’s family anywhere.
So… I’ll take a stab at this…
The John Jolly d.1687 may well have been a servant imported earlier… I found a deed with that name listed and at this time it is quite likely that the headrights were legit. As William Jolly requested Administration on the “intestate” the odds are he was related and “likely” his son. (Obviously it would be helpful to see the 1687 documents and not an abstract).
Pertaining to the 1705 grant…
The original grant was to Hugh Campbell (1699) who let the patent lapse and hence it fell into the hands of William Jolly. This land was a mile or two southwest of the town of Smithfield in IOW. Before Campbell dabbled in the land it was granted to Robert Coleman in 1667. See my map here:
https://andersonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/map_surry7.jpg
All of the below references to “Newport Parish” below are firmly in Isle of Wight… and distinctly support where the JOLLY property “roughly” was. (My opinion is that Newport Parish extended from the Surry County border to the IOW/Nansemond line and even further west to the Mehering River in present day Southampton County… all of which gets “iffy” at that point)
Just from a few deeds I’ve found on the web, William Jolly had acquired well over a thousand acres…but to cut to the chase… if his father died in 1687 it is my hunch that the son would die in a 20-30 year period after that. 1687 +25 =1712. He may well have died intestate and left no will. And if he was invested with considerable land in IOW… why would he move?
IOW Deed Book 7, Hopkins
(pg 17) 21 Feb 1744…. Edward Ballard and wife, Ann Ballard, of Newport Parish to John Wills, Gent., of the same… 150 acres in Newport Parish (being part of a patent formerly granted to Hugh Campbell who assigned it to William Jolly and “by several descents came to John Jolly” who sold the land to said Edward Ballard… (snip)
As Ross Perot would say… “I see a pattern here”.
I did a quick check on Familysearch.org (Virginia Records) and found basically NOTHING for a William Jolly after his 1705 grant… hence I suspect he died in the 17teens perhaps (or earlier). However, in 1710 or so a James Jolly was present in Newport Parish:
I got lazy and made these images a little small… just use Cntr + to enlarge them…sorry.
Note in the Ballard 1744 deed above “by several descents came to John Jolly”. So my guess is that James Jolly was the son of William Jolly. (Or a descendant one way or another).
Forward to about 1739 and we have a Newport Parish “processioning” record noting a John Jolly… my hunch is that by referring to the other people referenced in this record you may be able to tag this property to the general area of IOW where William Jolly was settled.
And to nail this down with a little proof and some handy-dandy DATES…
IOW Deed Bk 12, Hopkins
(p. 515) 27 Apr 1772…. John Jolly and wife, Elizabeth Jolly, to Andrew Mackie…-?- acres in Newport Parish (being land that descended by the will of James Jolly, decd., dated 28 Feb 1726 to James Jolly and then to the said John Jolly) adjoining Robert Driver…(snip)…
So James Jolly d.1726… and in 1772 John Jolly was still living… (he and his wife signed the deed)…
This is what I see…
The Immigrant died 1687…William d.17teens unknown… son James d.1726…son James d. unknown… son John d. after 1772.
And the story continues here (Chancery Records Index, Library of Virginia):
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/default.asp#res
Search under “Isle of Wight” and simply use the search term “jolly”…
Index Number: 1806-002view details »
Locality: ISLE OF WIGHT CO
Plaintiff(s) Defendant(s)
DIXON PINNER & WIFE ETC
JOSIAH GRAY & WIFE
Index Number: 1810-001view details »
Locality: ISLE OF WIGHT CO
Plaintiff(s) Defendant(s)
INFANT(S) OF HENRY JAMAICA BY ETC
JOHN JOLLY & WIFE
Index Number: 1816-002view details »
Locality: ISLE OF WIGHT CO
Plaintiff(s) Defendant(s)
JOHN JOLLY
EMILY EVERETT
SALLEY WILLS EVERETT
Good luck with your research…
Marc
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So it seems the Jollys of Isle of Wight above just do the “family thing” for numerous generations… which does not discount the idea that one may have
cut out for North Carolina. But lets let that dog lie without kicking it.
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My commenter offers this theory about a Peter Jolly who has a presence in NC:
“Let me start with this, Gooch’s American Regiment was made up of men from NC, MD, NY, PA, and VA. They were raised to fight in he War of Jenkin’s Ear. Robert Jenkins, master of the Rebecca, had his ship seized by pirates in the Caribbean in 1731. Jenkins accusd his captors of cutting off one of his ears. Seven years later the story of Jenkins’ ear tipped the scales and Great Britain declared war on Spain. The regiment existed Between 29 Dec 1739 and 25 Dec 1742. Most of the recruiting was done in 1740.
The NY troops left for the Caribbean on 3 Oct 1740 and were joined at Sandy Hook by troops from East Jersey and New England. On 12 Oct the armada sailed for the VA Capes to rendezous with the troops from PA, MD<, and VA ut they had already sailed and made Port Royal, Jamaica ahead of the main convoy. The NC troops were delayed and did not arrive until March 1741.
I have the record from the Muster Book of His Majesty’s Ship Boyne for March 1740 to April 1741 which shows a Peter Jolley alive and well who was discharged Apr 1741 in camp most likely in the Caribbean and I also have the muster log from the same ship for May and June 1741 that shows Peter Jolly deceased 11 May 1741 at sea. This Peter Jolly/ey was born abt 1709. He had 3 sons I know of John, James, and Peter. Peter my 4 x great grandfather was born 1740 and died 1803 in Pitt Co., NC (his son Jesse born 1790 was my 3x great grandfather), . James stayed in Edgecombe Co. most likely on the land his mother was on until her death (no record on her death). The land James stayed on ended up in the newly formed Nash Co., and he died in Nash Co. in 1796. James was born abt 1735.
I have “a true inventory of all goods and credits of Peter Joyle (Jolly) decd” signed by his widow Rachell Jolly with her mark in 1742 from Edgecombe Co. Court.. Is it definitive, maybe-maybe not, but the time line ties in pretty good. I have found no records around that time for Peter Jolly in any of the other colonies except for a Peter Jolly in Norfolk Co. born abt 1706 who died in 1730 and his son Peter who, according to the book written by William Joliffe in 1893, went to NC about 1738 and then further south. The Jolleys in Norfolk Co. also went by the name Jolliffe from the time they settled there about 1653. There are probates that ue the name Jolley but the majoirty of it is Jolliffe.
Seeing as how I couldn’t find any other Peter Jollys besides the one in Edgecombe Co. then it seems true that the Peter Jolly who died aboard that ship is the Peter Jolly who received the land grants in Edgecombe Co. in 1741 from King George.
any way, that is about it. No problem. I believe in proof too. That is why I have not definitively said Peter 1709 came from Isle of Wight Co. because I do not have a positive indication.
Jerry”
I like a good theory… I do a lot of “speculating” myself. Lo’ and behold a James Jolly fell over dead in NC in 1670…
Alt a Generall Court, held ye 27 September, 1670, at ye house of
Sam’l Davis, for ye county of Albemarle, in ye Province of Caro-
lina. Present, the Honorable Peter Carteret, Esq., Governor and
Commander-in-Chief. Left, C>1. John Jenkins, Mr. John Harudy,
Mr. Oliver Rithd. Foster, Mr. Francis Godfrey, Mr. John Willoughby,
Capt. Thomas Cullen.
Jno. Harudy, acco. to Mr. Howard, Mr. Nixon, petition to have or-
der of administration, on ye estate of James Jolly. Ordered yt ad-
ministration be granted by putting in security.
https://archive.org/details/northcarolinahi00hathgoog
And Jolly researchers will enjoy this… it seems he hailed from Maryland and may have been in NC as an Indian Trader. And to make another point- it tears me away from the idea that these early settlers were hell bent to stay in one area. On the contrary, some were prone to move about. And lets not forget that there was considerable trade going on at the time from not only Maryland but other Colonies to the north.
I simply don’t have the time to do justice to researching the Maryland records… but here is an interesting synopsis:
http://colonialencounters.org/Databases/HistoricalDataResults.aspx?SITEABBREV=&OCCUPANTID=90
It seems that he had a son William??? Who knows if this line ended or carried on?
The Cashie River area was a hot spot for early trade… and traders. Here is another James Jolly in 1748…
Bertie COUNTY NC Deeds – Cashie Swamp (north – north east side)
Aug 16, 1748 THOMAS RYAN to WILLIAM WILSON 160 AC on NORTH SIDE of
CASHIE AT POPULAR BRANCH Wit: John Nicholas, Thomas Holder, James Jolly.
DBK F, p.195
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Backing up a bit to 1738… here is a Peter Jolly…
Bertie County, NC…court minutes…1724-1739…Haun
At a Ct. held…Febry 1738..
224-115
…”Peter JOLLY to John JONES ackd. 40/.”
225
“Wm. PIERCE Const. in ye Room of Jos. JOLLEY”
And this is the time span that has Jerry so worked up with his theory. Peter Jolly was undoubtedly in Bertie County at that time (and it is quite possible the area was Cashie River???). In 1741 a Peter Jolly received a patent in Edgecombe County for 250 acres.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr04-0171
But then, we cannot find any records of him settling the property. Did he die on the ship? Are there any militia muster rolls for Bertie around 1738-1740? There are for Edgecombe in the 1750s.