Welllllll… a clue on William Anderson d.1789

Could be a breakthrough connecting him to Carolus Anderson. Carolus lived on the line between Virginia and North Carolina on the Meherrin River. Near neighbors were the Boons and Pitmans… along with this fella … Abraham Stevenson.

Oct. 17, 1739 Nicholas Boon to Arthur Stevenson, 125 A S/S Meherrin Riv adj. Carolus Anderson, Elias Fort, Joseph Strickland, Wm. Eldridge, Robert Cobb, Arthur Stevenson, pat. Dec 3, 1720

Nov. 4, 1739-Nicholas Boon to Robert Cobb, 20 pds., 165 A S/S Meherring Riv- purch. of Wm Bennett 5/14/1723. Wits: CHARLES Anderson, Joseph Cobb, Jr., Abraham Stevenson, Nov. Crt, 1739 [ this “Charles” is Carolus].

The 1733 will of Elizabeth Anderson, mother of Carolus Anderson mentions her daughter’s son William Anderson. Of course her “daughter” is named as Elizabeth PITMAN in the will which has confounded everyone for years.

Now this tidbit which has me all in a tizzy to get a copy of the deed AND the survey.

Land grant to William Boon dated June 22, 1749, of 100 acres on the northeast side of the Meherrin River between the river and the county line; William Anderson and Abraham Stephens chain carriers. Secretary of State Land Grants 78-B.

This could bring down a HUGE brick wall… it is all I can do to contain myself… William Anderson would be a young man if this is the same person. He would get his own survey in Edgecombe county about 1752.

Remember this area is a burned county… some nitwit lunatic burned down the house with the county records in an attempt to get rid of the records and save his sorry ass from his mortgage.

oops…wrong county for the firebug…

https://archive.org/stream/colonialandstat01winbgoog#page/n16/mode/2up

ANY tidbit such as this mention is a treasure. Since this small quote mentions the chain carriers… I assume (hope) that the survey is still extant. Here is the deed… the reference notes there “are no documents in the shuck” which is a bummer because that means no survey. But SOMEWHERE is a note of the chain carriers.

The land in question is on the VA / NC boundary and Meherrin River. This was just below Carolus Anderson’s original 1726 Virginia grant. Note that by 1745 Carolus had moved south to Meherrin Woods and Pattys Delight Swamp area. Note that Arthur Stevenson’s property adjoined his own. Note also that the Stevenson property was originally owned by Abraham Stevenson (per the survey boundary description). …Also this is the most comprehensive Boon map I have done so far…

Click several times to enlarge…

So… Traci sent me these scans… The one image we can read is not conclusive AT ALL! We can debate all day whether the signature is Ambroson or not. But my first reaction (and I admit I have a dog in this fight) is that it is closer to Anderson than Andrews (the most common misspelling). Amerson does not seem likely because it is clearly a “d” or a “b”.

So… no mention of the chain carriers that I can find in the 2nd document… and the 3rd document is clearly “Ambroson”. What the hell ??? Alright all you Jeffreys researchers fess up! Was Osborn Jeffrys (the surveyor) a drunk? Was he hard of hearing? If you think I am engaging in a bit of “character assassination” of Osborne Jeffreys then you would be correct… I ran across him several years ago and made a few observations… to wit:

http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr04-0041#p4-66

Minutes of the North Carolina Governor’s Council

North Carolina. Council

October 03, 1735 – October 18, 1735

Volume 04, Pages 64-67

At a Council held at Bath Town Fryday the third day of October 1735.

Present His Excellency the Governor…

[also present was Patrick Maule]

….Read the Petition of the Inhabitants of Tar River setting forth that they are 20 families in number

That Simon Jeffries Deced obtained in his own and in his Son Osborns name three Patents for 1000 Acres of Land on said River the Warrants for which have been so run out as to take in 15 miles on the said River

[get that?… Jeffreys patent involved 15 MILES “on the said River”]

That the Orphan of one Boyd hath a purchase Patent for 7000 Acres of Land beginning on Town Creek which will take in most of their Settlements

[The area of Town Creek is still referenced in modern Edgecombe County… it is east of Rocky Mount]

That one of the Pollocks has purchased patents for 5 Surveys and Town Creek and several others lay claim thereto thō they never made any settlements.

[the Pollock referred to above was a son of the war governor of 1712- Thomas Pollock – the original Battle property around Town Creek was derived from this early land deal of either Cullen Pollock or his brother George. Another huge tract of about 2,500 acres was taken out around the Roanoke River roughly east of Scotland Neck]

That your Petitioners have been at great charge in cultivating and improving the aforesaid Lands and have the late Governor Burringtons Warrants for the Lands whereon they have settled

[hence, some of these folks knew they were in danger of getting screwed because the deals of the 1720s were never recorded]

Therefore must humbly pray that the aforesaid Jeffrys’ Land and the Lands held by Purchase Patents be resurveyed

[Jeffries lost his ass here but still made up for it elsewhere]

Whereupon His Excellency the Governour by and with the advice of his Majestys Council was pleased to order that Mr Attorney General doth forthwith Enter a Prosecution against the several patentees mentioned in the aforesaid Petition in his Majesty’s Court of Exchequer.

[around 1732 Edgecombe Precinct began evolving and the government, such as it was, was left to deal with this land problem… land scam in my opinion]

Then the Board adjourned till tomorrow 9 of the Clock in the forenoon.

….

So… since Mr. Jeffreys was demonstrably corrupt or at the least incompetent, he did get caught as you can see; then I can perhaps conclude he was also not that bright. Ergo, he could have easily misspelled a name. Case closed in my opinion.

On 6 december 1725 Abraham and Ann, his wife, sold to Thomas Stephenson 100 acres on Seacock Swamp in Isle of Wight Co, VA(21). On 23 November 1730 Abraham appraised the estate of Edward Brown. Nine years later he relocated south of the Virginia state border into Bertie Co., NC, where he bought 150 acres on the south side of “Maherring” River adjoining the lands of William Boon, John Bryant, and a Mr. Bennet from Elias Fort on 23 October 1739.

Abraham Stevenson did have an association with a William Andrews:

Northampton County.

Thomas Nickson

December 1, 1752. February Court, 1753. Brothers: JOSEPH and HENRY NICKSON. Sister: SARAH JINER. Executors: Abraham Stevenson, JUNR., and WILLIAM ANDREWS. Witnesses: WILLIAM TURNER, MARTHA MORE. Clerk of the Court: I. EDWARDS.

____________________________________________________________

Bottom line…. I can’t declare this a “proof”… darn it! But my “radar” is on. The first wife of William was Martha ____ . Their first daughter was named Absala, possibly for the mother of Martha… so he may have met and wed her in Northampton County?

A detailed Stevenson genealogy with numerous references to Carolus Anderson…

Click to access bookFormat_John_Stephenson.pdf

Written by anderson1951

August 11, 2016 at 11:02 am

Posted in Uncategorized

19 Responses

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Marc, there’s unfortunately not going to be a plat, it doesn’t look like. But here’s the patent book entry:

http://www.nclandgrants.com/grant/?mars=12.14.93.69&qid=178147&rn=4

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Traci

August 11, 2016 at 11:14 am

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- Don’t rain on my parade (smiling)… in the quote above they reference “Secretary of State Land Grants 78-B.” Any idea what 78-B is?
  
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  anderson1951
  
  August 11, 2016 at 12:21 pm
  
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  - Pretty sure it is a State Archives numbering system for the land grants. The grants on microfilm are divided up by these letters and numbers. You know I may actually have that here…let me check.
    
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    Traci
    
    August 11, 2016 at 12:46 pm
That was my next question – where did this info about the chain carriers come from? It obviously isn’t from the entry in the patent book (which isn’t a deed – sorry I have to be nitpicky about these things.) Usually it is on the description on the plat, but there is no plat here. What’s your source for the quote?

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Traci

August 11, 2016 at 12:48 pm

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Okay got it. The number, as I suspected, is for the Granville grant microfilm. This is indeed a Granville grant, which is good news, because there is a plat. The bad news…it looks to me like the name might be “William Amerson” not Anderson. Don’t throw tomatoes!
I will scan the image to you and send as soon as I can.

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Traci

August 11, 2016 at 1:07 pm

Reply
- Arrrggghhhh! Oh the agony of defeat…. Thanks for the quick info!
  
  I still have my fingers crossed it is an Anderson… if nothing else there may be some Boon info (I also research those guys).
  —————
  This is where I was snooping around and found the “Wm Anderson” reference…
  
  http://www.jenk.com/ftweb/d3.htm
  
  Almost fell out of my chair…..
  
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  anderson1951
  
  August 11, 2016 at 1:16 pm
  
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Aww poor Marc. Sorry to stick a pin in the bubble. But at least there is a plat, and yes, maybe it will be helpful anyway! About the Northampton records…only a few are gone. And remember these grants are colony/state level, not solely county. So yay. 🙂

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Traci

August 11, 2016 at 1:24 pm

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LOL the http://www.jenk.com website said “chair carrier” instead of chain carrier. I picture Granny Clampett being hauled through the NC backwoods in her rocker.

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Traci

August 11, 2016 at 1:38 pm

Reply
- Ha… I read your comment too fast and thought you said “rocket” instead of “rocker”.
  
  Granny Clampett and Jed’s Rocket….with Jethro driving. sorry… been a long day. LOL
  
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  anderson1951
  
  August 11, 2016 at 2:08 pm
  
  Reply
  - That’s even better. 😀
    
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    Traci
    
    August 11, 2016 at 2:15 pm
The “n” in A”m”broson can go either way in my opinion. (trying Desperately to remain objective). Look at the other “n”s in his writing style… almost the same as his “m”s.

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anderson1951

August 11, 2016 at 4:33 pm

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Since this turned out to be a Granville grant, I checked Margaret Hofmann’s abstracts of such to see what she thought it was. She transcribed the name as “Ambroson.” Then I checked the index to see if there were any other Ambrosons mentioned…nope, just this one. So maybe drinking and/or funky pronunciation was involved? However…there is a William “Ambrose” noted three times. However…this name is always associated with Johnston County, not Northampton. Hmmm.

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Traci

August 12, 2016 at 12:45 pm

Reply
I think you can make a case for this to probably be William Anderson with a very messed-up name. Kind of like Abraham Stephens appears to be the same person as Abraham Stevens, and Abraham Stevenson. (And the plat is upside down…not unusual, but still drives me nuts. Osborn Jeffreys must not have been as OCD as me.) But, hard to say for sure. It just can’t be easy, can it?

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Traci

August 12, 2016 at 1:10 pm

Reply
- On a side note concerning the upside down plat… go here and scroll down almost to the end of my rantings and see the graphic for the 1668 “Great Deed” shenanigans… in that case the surveyor was the notorious Edward Moseley… it is also upside down. I have a commenter who is a professional surveyor (retired) who may chime in?
  
  https://andersonnc.wordpress.com/mathew-strickland-thomas-boon-iow/
  
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  anderson1951
  
  August 12, 2016 at 3:42 pm
  
  Reply
  - Laughing… I added a map to the post… not only was the plat you scratch your head about “upside down”, it was also “bass arkwards”… if you read your deed closely you will see the property was actually “northeast” of the Meherrin River. Ckeck my map for the mess. And since this was on the “country line” per the Granville grant… this was part of the original Virginia patent to Carolus Anderson in 1726.
    
    …all of this to further indict the half-witted Osborne Jeffreys… who appears to be a falling down, hard of hearing drunk. (a mere opinion on my part, of course)
    
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    anderson1951
    
    August 14, 2016 at 6:14 am
This is frustrating… I also checked a bit and there is an Ambrose during the period but for years tied to Rockahoc area… I’ll have to root that out. Also an Ambrosia but tied to Pasquatank or that area.

There are people named Ambroson nowadays but none I can see in Eastern NC at this time period. (so it is a legit name).

I respect Hofmann’s “eagle eye”… so I am happy to put the matter to rest that the name is “Ambroson”. But the circumstantial evidence is compelling to pursue the matter.

1. The two elder Boons witnessed the will of Carolus’s mother in 1733. (they signed with a mark) (oops, wrong it was Elias and Ealen Fort who witnessed her will… but the older Boons signed George Fort’s will with X)
2. The two younger Boons witnessed Carolus’s will in 1752. (they signed their names). (William Boon and Nicholus Boon in each case.. they lived next door).
3. A William Anderson is mentioned as a kid in the 1733 will.
4. It is reasonable to assume a teen or “young man” William Anderson could be at that place at that time to show up as a chain carrier in 1749. William Boon was directly associated with Carolus… which follows my theory that Carolus was the uncle of Wm Anderson.
5. It is also possible (still theory) that Carolus’s wife Mary was a Boon.

That’s my case in a nutshell…

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anderson1951

August 12, 2016 at 2:30 pm

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So is this William Anderson also Henry Anderson.. I recently have been spending a lot of time in Wendell NC at rhe Anderosn Cemetery. This blog has helped a lot but ive confused myself a little ecpecially when I saw the “Anderson Wadkkns Cemetery”. This cemetery is in Wendell NC and they have 11 buried there including a Jess Station Anderson born 1810 and a James Lawrence Anderson born 1840. Ive done my research and both of them fought for the south, including their 3rd brother, the youngest out of the 3 ,WH Anderson I do believe his name is! (he is buried in Wilson NC) I have been obsessed with this grave site and will be going back this weekend to clean the graves and explore.. I’m going to take another video for my YouTube channel if anyone is interested in seeing!! There is a stone structure beside the cemetery and ive been trying hard to find archives on the property.. Is the Anderson property in Wendell NC the Faulks Branch property or is buriedthat the Anderson Wadkins Cemetery?? The property I am talking about use to be called “Marks River Township” or “Little River Township”.. I believe these guys are related to William aka Henry Anderson! I would really appreciate any help and I would love to share my photos and videos of the property!! Thank you I’m really enjoying this blog! -Brice Croneberger Jr

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CivilWarBuff34

March 22, 2021 at 6:06 pm

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*** Jesse Staton Anderson

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CivilWarBuff34

March 22, 2021 at 6:07 pm

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Hi Brice

I have never “proven” that the Jesse Staton Anderson line is connected to the Anderson line of Edgecombe county. It is all still speculation…

Marc

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anderson1951

March 23, 2021 at 1:38 am

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Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina