Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

Allow me to be a bit personal… my genealogy led me to suspect that a guy by the name of George Anderson in 1695 was granted a patent in Isle of Wight, Va. … he being who I suspect is my DNA ancestor. He can’t be… because my DNA can be proven to be ‘Brantley’ from Isle of Wight, VA. I am a bastard by that simple fact (I have a Brantley bloodline but Anderson as a surname). Oddly enough, I have done what is seemingly impossible in genealogy, I have found where a purported (by me) daughter of that George Anderson had a bastard son. So… gee whiz… that simply cannot be proven. Well guess what… it can be proven through DNA.

About 1725 or so…Elizabeth Pitman had a bastard son named William Anderson. (At a point after his birth she married a Pitman). That son had Brantley DNA. That Elizabeth Pitman was the daughter of a woman named Elizabeth Anderson… who left a will in 1732. Are things beginning to click? I purport that that woman who died in 1733 was the wife of George Anderson who left Isle of Wight in 1710 and disappeared (and obviously died because his widow left a will… and a will could only be left by a ‘widow’) Got that?. That ‘Anderson’ woman’s daughter, also named Elizabeth, hooked up with a Brantley male and had a child… per the standards of the time a ‘bastard child’ took the name of the mother… hence, Anderson. The ‘records’ of the period and time of say 1700 to 1741 of the ‘area’ of where these events took place were burned by a delusional man who thought he could hide his inability to meet his obligations by burning down the courthouse and the records held within. A sad occurrence for history. And a great perturbation for people like me researching the now nonexistent early Northampton Hertford County, NC records.

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With that background being stated… let me establish some of the neighbors of that George Anderson who had 150 acres in Isle of Wight from 1695 to 1710… this is where things get interesting… and is also the entire basis of my website. Careful observers will recognize the names. The takeaway point that I am trying to make is that many of this second generation “grew up” together, or at least became acquainted.

Boon Braswell Mandue Fort… and others which I may bring up.

The genesis of the BOONS was only a few miles from George Anderson… easy walking distance for the time. It was on the property of Mathew Strickland… Thomas Boon married his daughter. Strickland set up his son in law with some land and Thomas began his family, having numerous sons and I suppose daughters.

Note on the map at Braswell… the little red circle denotes a neighbor of Thomas Underwood. That neighbor was Richard Braswell (the son of the preacher Robert Bracewell of Isle of Wight). That Richard Braswell would die in 1724 somewhat south of here but still on the Blackwater River… he had several sons and daughters. A notable ‘aside’ here is that the son of this Richard Braswell, also named Richard would become involved with one Ann Carver who was a daughter, or very young wife of William Carver also shown on the map above. (I included that for those of you with prurient interests…you know who you are, smiling).

Thomas Mandue had a son, also named Thomas, who also moved south and at one point had some land he bought of Richard Braswell on the Blackwater (called Mandue’s Landing). He also had other holdings in what is now Southampton County, VA. (But then known as Isle of Wight until about 1749). Mandue shows up numerous times in documents (wills and deeds) of several of these folks. Which is why I would love to identify his wife’s maiden name. (A Boon or Braswell perhaps)? His will of 1736 mentions daughters and such but no clues to his wife or perhaps an earlier wife.

Across the Blackwater River was the plantation of George Fort at Round Hill. George and his son Elias would move to NC to the same area the Boons and Andersons would settle near the Meherrin River. Elias Fort would sign the will of Elizabeth Anderson in 1733. As I stated before, I think that woman was the widow of George Anderson of isle of Wight. I know very little of any early interactions of the Forts and Andersons.

Not mentioned is William Browne; he was the son of John Browne of Kingsale Swamp more southerly in Nansemond. This William Browne ‘wrangled’ his way into these clans, for lack of a better word. He married a daughter of Richard Braswell d. 1724. Voila! he is in the group. This makes him a brother in law of Richard Braswell the son of above. An aside is that the brother of this younger Richard Braswell was William Braswell who died in 1721 and was not mentioned in the will of his father who died 1724… which causes much confusion. (update) I stumbled upon this in my notes:

According to Hugh B. Johnston in a report in 1961 in regard to the Stricklands of IOW… “There does not appear to be reliable documentary evidence of his presence in Isle of Wight county earlier than 1678.”

His reference is evidently the patent on Kingsale Swamp.
Mathew Strickland received 2 large patents… one for 902 acres near Kingsale Swamp in 1678… another several miles north on the Blackwater River for 1802 acres in 1680.

“Matthew STRICKLAND appears to have settled about 1678 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, where he passed the rest of his life. On June 6, 1687, Matthew (M) STRICKLAND gave a power of attorney to John BROWN to execute a deed to William EVANS “by reason of my nonability to travel to court held for this County the 9th of this Instant June” in Isle of Wight County, witnessed by Richard (RB) BOOTH and Elizabeth (S) STRICKLAND.”

On June 6, 1687, Mathew (x) and Elizabeth (E) STRICKLAND of the Lower Parish deeded to William EVANS of the Upper Parish for 4,000 pounds of tobacco in cask 800 acres in the Lower Parish between the Main Swamp of King Sail and Beaver Dam Branch adjoining William COLLINS (from a tract of 902 acres patented by the said STRICKLAND on September 26, 1678, of which 102 acres had been leased to Thomas JONES for ninety-nine years on November 6, 1682, witnessed by John BROWN, Richard (RB) BOOTH, and Robert ® LAWRENCE.

Richard Booth and John Brown had nearby property at Kingsale Swamp.  This is just north of the Nansemond County line. The UPPER patent on the Blackwater River is where Thomas Boon was located. I have no idea WHEN he settled there? (So this pretty much explains how William Browne, son of John Browne, became friends with the Boons and Braswells).

William Browne became ‘tight’ with William Boon… Boon was left property in the will of Browne in 1718. Some have claimed he was his brother in law… I disagree and have proved such elsewhere. But, I would like to know the maiden name of Boon’s wife.

Matthew Strickland Jr, brother in law of Thomas Boon, Sr married Ann Braswell, daughter of Richard Braswell d 1724.

All of which serves to explain my interest in these folks and my search for clues. This also explains my present ‘fixation’ with the area of what I call Meherrin Neck,NC.

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With that background, again accounted for, it seems to me that all the ingredients are available for many of these folks to intermarry and become “kinfolk” as we Southerners are so fond of saying. I know how hormones and the scent of pheromones react when close together.

I suspect the wife of Carolus Anderson was a Boon… I just cannot prove it. His will in 1752 was witnessed by two Boons. Perhaps the father of those two Boons was also the father of his wife or an uncle?

I could go on all day…