Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

Who the hell IS this guy?

I can’t find NUTHIN’ on this guy…. a little help?

My meager attempt to add this Mary Jackson is just a shot in the dark…

My objective is just to fill up this space on my map…

I may be a bit early, but I am pretty much convinced this is accurate…

I would further hazard a guess that it is likely that “Boon’s Road” was an Indian Trail before any White folks set foot in the area… but yeah… good luck proving that. smiling

There is also a deed in Northampton that refers to the “mouth” of Rushins Branch… (in conjunction to the Meherrin River).

And now we get to why I am interested in Rushins Branch…

All of which leads me one more step closer to finding that damnable ‘missing’ patent of William Browne of 1706. (all thanks to some clues by commenter William Brown, thank you, sir). whew

Just for sh*ts n’ giggles… to get your mind right…

If you have not experienced Google maps… or the utterly extraordinary Google Earth, then by all means do so. It is well worth the effort to learn a few details to use it.

I just used Google Maps and took a screenshot of a satellite image to “layer” over an area on one of my maps. I can turn the image On and Off… this allows me to see the real and actual of Now versus Then… Humans are busy little things… they dig ditches and bulldoze trenches. Hell, don’t forget the Panama Canal. Mother Nature in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or just the movements and erosion of tides will and does change things. Bear in mind that the patents and deeds I pursue are roughly 300 years old. I try to keep that in mind. But overall… there is some reason to the madness… these old surveys are surprisingly accurate after all these years.

I have found there is something of a psychological “game” I have to grapple with. It is just in the nature of things that I will speculate using what “reason and logic” I can muster up… and I will start to draw conclusions of what and where a deed ‘should’ be “according to my rules”. I have found I am often wrong. Sometimes by miles. So I will not hesitate to change my mind in an instant. I’ve learned to just follow the clues where they take me…

Of great importance to me is finding an “anchor” deed. That is a deed that shines in the fact that it simply cannot be moved. It is a rare occurrence where you “Know that you know” the thing cannot be moved. An example would be, for instance, the area is on the North side where two major rivers meet. You get the drift… things just fall in their proper place around an anchor deed.

Here is what I am working on at the moment. it involves Carolus Anderson and several others that strike my fancy. But as usual the deed descriptions are flawed, and confusing. But the more facts you can bring together the plainer the actual facts emerge.

William Bennet in 1723 obtained a patent for 600 acres… the problem is that the actual deed description describes only about 300 acres. So my objective was to find the missing acres… then this particular deed began to become VERY interesting…

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continuing…

Sometimes you just have to laugh… I realize there are folks that have came across that impenetrable “Brick Wall”… so I do have a bit of empathy… I have my own brick walls.

Note below that I have a deed that I am clueless about… But realize that I am not about to give up on… it just needs some more clues… maybe they will show up later… next week… next year… maybe another researcher will tie it in in a comment. You just have to shake your head.,,

Here is the funny part… the directions of the patent:

Wow… yawn

After pondering the above conundrum a bit it turned out to be pretty simple… after finding another deed with the same weirdness, it all came together. Nicholas Boon perhaps inherited or otherwise acquired the property from Thomas… I still have to settle that problem…

This is another example that shows the seemingly close relationship of Carolus Anderson with the Boons. I figure he married a Boon daughter… I just can’t prove it.

One should strive to keep things simple…

Stephen (a commenter) and I have been wrestling with the clues… now William Brown has apparently returned from the dead to help out…

He has added his two cents:

comments from William Brown;

Patent, Nicholas Boon 6 May 1742 281 acres (genealogy gremlins scrubbed the river’s name in this record)
Patent Barnaby Bryant 25 Mar 1743 50 acres

Book Page 21, Page 101.
Nicholas Baggett, planter, to Joseph Jordan, both of Northampton County, NC, 5 January 1743, for £32 Virginia currency, 160 acres, more or less, joining James Bryant, which land was granted by patent to Nicholas Boon on 2 August 1727. Witness: Nicholas Baggett, Jr.

William Bridgers of Northampton County to Abraham Baggett of same, 18 October 1750, £20 current money of Virginia for 150 acres on the north side of Meherrin River, beginning at the dividing run on the river, it being the same 100 acres (150 acres) my mother Sarah Cotton let the said Baggett have a deed for in August 1730. Witnesses included Abraham Baggett, Jr.
Page 73, Book Page 462.

1743 – February 7, Barnabe Bryant of Northampton to Abraham Bagget of same, 100 acres for 18 pounds, part of a tract granted to Barnaby Bryant 22 Mar 1743, adjacent Bryant’s swamp, Maherin River, Brigers, mouth of Rushing Branch Wit: Nicholas Boon, James Boon Reg. Northampton Co. Feb Ct. 1743 J. Edwards C. Ct. (Northampton Co., NC Pg 111)

Page 66, Book Page 407.
Abraham Baggett of Northampton County to Abraham Baggett, Jr. of Northampton County, 3 November 1749, for £20 current money of Virginia, 75 acres, more or less, joining Ruskins Branch, Samuel Bridgers, other lands of Abraham Baggett, Nicholas Boon and Bartholomew Figures, and is the plantation whereon the said Abraham Baggett, Jr. now lives. Witnesses unknown.
Page 71, Book Page 449.

Abraham Baggett and Abraham Baggett, Jr. of Northampton County, planters, 23 January 1750, are held and firmly bound onto Newit Drew of Southampton County, VA in the sum of £250 current money of Virginia, a mortgage on 250 acres on the north side of the Meherrin River. Witnesses unknown.
Page 73, Book Page 463.

Abraham Baggett and Abraham Baggett, Jr. of Northampton County to Newit Drew of Southampton County, VA, 23 January 1750, £102 and 10 shillings current money of Virginia, 250 acres on the north side of the Meherrin River, 150 acres of which is part of a patent to William Brown on 29 November 1706, and the other 100 acres is part of a patent to Barnaby Bryant on 22 March 1742, joining Bryant’s Swamp, Meherrin River, Bridgers, and the mouth of Rushing Branch. Witness: Robert Warren, Thomas Lile, and James Washington.

James Bryant’s land:

March 14, 1708: RICHARD BRASSWELL to JAMES BRYANT, Sr. (both of Isle of Wight County, Va.) for 4,000 pounds of tobacco assign my right, title & interest in the within mentioned patent. Wit: JAMES BRYANT Sr. (X), (sic) JOHN DEW (Chowan County, N. C. Deed Book W #1, p. 187)

May 20, 1740: WILLIAM BRYANT & wife of Edgecombe County, N. C. to THOMAS UZELL of Nansemond County, Va., £1000 for a certain plantation plus 100 a. of land on NORTH side of MEHERRIN RIVER being plantation whereon JAMES BRYANT formerly lived and and of the patent granted to RICHARD BRASSWELL and also one hundred (100) acres of land bought of JOHN DEW by deed bearing date July 25 1730. Wit: JAMES UZZELL, THOMAS WHITFIELD, W. BAKER, August Court 1740. (Bertie County, N. C. Deed Book F, p. 133)

May 20, 1740: WILLIAM BRYANT of Edgecombe County, N. C. to THOMAS UZZELL of Nansemond County, Va. – for £25 320 a. – Land whereon JAMES BRYANT, deceased, formerly lived. Patent granted to RICHARD BRASSWELL for 640 a. dated November 24, 1706 … which patent being endorsed to JAMES BRYANT, SEN. the 4 day of March 1708 and recorded in Chowan County. Adjoining JOHN DUKES, Being the same 300 acres of land given JAMES BRYANT by his father JAMES BRYANT DECEASED & also one hundred acres I bought of JOHN DEW dated July 25, 1730. Land adjoining JOHN DEW, WILLIAM BRYANT, BRITT’S corner. Wit: THOMAS WHITFIELD, W. BAKER August Court 1740 (Bertie County, N. C. Deed Book F, p. 136)

My comments about his comments:

And a bit more intrigue…

Note on the map… Chitty’s patent straddles the border and mentions “Rushins Branch”… to me that pretty much makes obvious that the branch running to the Meherrin River is named after the Matthew Russian/Rushin deed of 150 acres. The question is…is that branch also “the Dividing Run”? (mentioned in William Bridgers deed of 1716)

I’m still shuffling clues…

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the Nicholas Boon 281 acre deed…1742:

(thank you Stephen for reminding me of this can of worms… as of now, it seems to be crucial) Who wooda thot?

A “tentative” placement of Nicholas Boon patent 1742. This does not please me as a mappist.

The nitty gritty…

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An aside…

A court case (provided by Stephen, thank you, sir) provides a couple of interesting details…

1. The date of the original patent by James Gee is 1706. I have tried in vain to find this patent… here it is cited in 1795. So I will take that as a primary source.
2. This case “seems” to indicate that I am correct with my placement on my map. Contradictory facts notwithstanding.

Yesterday I found a patent for John Council for 640 acres in 1714… it is almost what I call an “anchor patent”.

By the term “anchor point”, I mean it is pretty much ‘self evident’ and cannot be moved… further meaning that any patents adjoining it also are sacrosanct and also cannot be moved. If you consider my analysis of the creek called “Rushins Branch” then I think I have presented enough evidence to make my case.

I am still in the process of making an accurate and truly historical map of this area in North Carolina… this helps to add information.

This is my current interpretation…

All of the “hoopla” as I term it, concerning the above suit involving the “half mile” discrepancy lends a bit more mystery to the details of my map. I would need more evidence, however, to change the map.

This is hilarious and not to mention… fun. Folks could almost haul out metal detectors and look for artifacts from their ancestors to these maps.

…and others…

I’m still working the area of Maherrin River in NC and where it extends to the Chowan River. This Post is primarily in response to some comments posted by Stephen. I will put some asterisks on the map and add some comments or additional info.

As usual… click the blue filename above for the best image.

Firstly… the blue asterisk is where I think the John Browne (missing) patent of 1706 is located… roughly. It is still up in the air where it was.

The John Cheser patent has been added between Braswell and Dew (this is getting to be very accurate).

The Beal Brown patent has been added… (thanks Stephen, I missed that one).

The Powers patent has been confusing on several levels… I will add a file for those interested.

Lastly note the 3 William Maule patents dated 1714… they just seem to get lost in the mix… my guess is that they simply never came to fruition. Your guess is as good as mine where they may have been intended… it was this area though (I am pretty sure). Perhaps some historian will look into whether William Little and William Maule were stepping on each other’s corrupt toes?

The Edward Powers file… this land was conveyed several times between Powers, Bonde and Little… the area where it is located was actually on Meherrin Indian land (in my opinion).

Below is a study concerning another piece of the puzzle of the William Browne (missing) patent of 1706. I do not know where the “Dividing Run” is… as first referenced in the Matthew Russian deed.

Perhaps it is the “second branch” as referenced in this deed to John Bryant… which begs the question “the second branch of the “Run”… where is the Run? I have this tentatively placed at a creek which runs up to the Virginia Line… and it “seems” to have a second branch at the tip of Russian’s deed.

Another clue would be nice… this is agonizingly close… Or mayhaps I am missing something obvious.

To any budding detectives who want to join in the fun…I have a search button half way down the right side of the page… I have to use it often myself… it is the only way I can find anything.

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An aside concerning Beale Browne, Edward Powers, et al…

“

At a Council held at the Council Chamber in Edenton the 3d day of August Anno Dom 1726

Read the Petition of the Meherron Indians Complaining against divers of the Inhabitants of this Government for molesting them in their settlements and taking up their Lands And at the same time was Read also the Petition of Beal Browne Edwd Powers in behalf of themselves and others living near the said Indians for molesting them

Ordered That the Parties on each side Do attend this Board at their Sitting in October next And that in the mean time Neither of the sd Parties give one another any Disturbance in their Settlements.

…….

August the 26 1726. This Council met again ut supra Mr Chief Justice laying before this Board a Copy of the Judgement against George Senecca an Indian for Murthering an English Woman and her Two Children in hac Verba Vizt

North Carolina—ss.

At a Special Court of Oyer and Terminer held at the Court house in Edenton on Thursday the 25th day of August An Dom 1726, A Bill of Indictment was found by the Grand Jury against George Senecca an Indian Man of Bertie Precinct for having feloniously Murthered Catherine Groom Wife of Thomas Groom of Bertie precinct aforesd planter and Two Infants Children Daughter of the said Thomas and Catherine who upon his Arraignment Pleaded Guilty and he was thereupon sentance to be hanged

Given under my hand this 26th day of August 1726

C GALE C J “

http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr02-0292

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Editorially speaking… I find it a reoccurring tactic of, lets say, Colonists vs Indians, that it often happened that an account of murder or other horrendous acts were commonly brought up in conjunction to a squabble about, oh, I don’t know…”Land Rights” lets say. That is not to imply that I think there was a conspiracy against the Indians… it is to verify it. MA

Just out of curiosity… I may have to try to “map” where one Thomas Groom lived at the time of this Land Dispute… 1726. I have not ran across him so far in my mapping…

For the curious…

https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5481&context=etd