James Pitman & Elizabeth Anderson
James Pitman died about 1746 near and actually adjoining the obscurely famous Green’s Path at modern Rocky Mount, North Carolina. If he lived a conservate lifespan of 66 years, his possible birthdate would be about 1680…possibly, and not unlikely, earlier I suspect, but cannot prove, he had two sons by an early marriage. The sons named John and William… the first wife unknown. His last wife would be my ancestor, of whom I have not proven, but am confident of, named Elizabeth Anderson. I suspect she was born in the 1690s. Her mother was Elizabeth Anderson, who died in 1733. The mother left a will in 1733 and seemingly was near her son Carolus Anderson at her death. He lived on the Meherrin River on a Virginia land patent, which would become NC after 1728 and the new boundary. Carolus lived very near Thomas Pitman, who died there about 1730 leaving a will which did not mention a son James.
I have no doubt that the James of Edgecombe is connected to the “immigrant” Capt Thomas Pitman line. I propose that DNA will prove that. I theorize he may be a son of an early William (perhaps of the one connected with William Wray’s sister of Surry County, Virginia) or of his brother Thomas. My evidence is purely circumstantial. Only one other early James (of the 1700s in this area) is known of and he died in Isle of Wight, VA in 1773 (a known son of William Pitman) of Surry and Isle of Wight. Which makes this James dying in Edgecombe County, NC ‘unique’. “James” was an unusual name in that early Pitman world. I know of only these two.
…click the blue filename under the graphic for a better image…
To backtrack a bit, there is a mysterious and unaccounted for Pitman in Isle of Wight, VA noted in 1732 witnessing a deed. This guy, I suspect, is a son of James Pitman of Edgecombe. You have to wrap your head around the fact that Isle of Wight and Surry counties in 1740 extended all the way across the Blackwater River to the North Carolina border. So until 1749, when Southampton , VA broke off from IOW and became a county all the early deeds were in IOW deed books. Note the John Pitman and some of his neighbors I chronicle later below this graphic…
This is a close-up of the above map… the area is Poplar Swamp and Three Creek Branch of Virginia. Note John Pitman and some neighbors… all of these folks moved to Edgecombe County, NC by the mid 1740s.
They moved to the White Oak SWamp area of Edgecombe County. Note in particular the Wright McLemore patent shown here:
Note these deed transactions between John Pitman, Wright McLemore and others. And here I introduce William Pitman, who I presume to be a brother of John Pitman. Note also that here I show some deed transactions between John Pitman and Thomas Hicks. Hicks was the grandson of Robert Hicks, the famous Indian Trader who settled what would become modern Emporia, Virginia.
As I chronicle these few Pitmans, I have left in the background the fact that after James Pitman dies in Edgecombe about 1746 he left a widow… Elizabeth Pitman nee Anderson. By 1748 she has a patent in the works which will ripen in 1749. Remember that in this era of English Common Law, only widows or single women could get Grants from the King or Granville. This is simply a reminder that I have not forsaken her in this Timeline, I will give her facts later.
As I see it: James Pitman, early on, perhaps in a first marriage, had sons John and William in Isle of Wight around the area of Meherrin River. They were born around 1715 or earlier ( deduced from the fact that son John witnessed a deed in 1732). Prior to 1733 he married Elizabeth Anderson and had two sons by her at some point, named Joseph and Arthur. Their birthdates unknown but in the zone of 1720s or 1730s. So we have a half-brother circumstance… which is all circumstantial evidence on my part… a reminder this is my theory. And in this mix of half-brothers is my ancestor William Anderson, bastard son of Elizabeth Pitman nee Anderson.
In order to shorten this explanation, I offer a nifty deed which I hope is a “picture worth a thousand words”. This graphic is just above Rocky Mount, NC. After John and William Pitman concluded their life experiences near White Oak Swamp, by 1765, per the date of this deed reference, John Pitman seems to have been happily nestled upon Stoney Creek in Nash County.. By 1774 he has transferred his property to his son John Pitman Jr. By 1782, John Sr and Jr seem to have disappeared and another son Joel has acquired the property. I have not researched much further than this.
Remember that William Pitman married the daughter of Andrew Ross, and in doing so, as circumstances came about, he found himself with quite a few properties of which he “dealt favorably” with his brothers. In addition to his purported brother John above, he had a half brother Arthur Pitman, son of Elizabeth Pitman (of Swift Creek and Falling Run) in Edgecombe. If you are like me (God help you) then all of this circumstantial evidence is beginning to add up. Note that Arthur Pitman sells this property to his half-brother William in 1765… Arthur promptly moves to Duplin County, NC in cohoots with the Hatcher folks from near White Oak Swamp. I figure Arthur married a Hatcher gal. William is on quite a roll in Nash County. He has multiple properties around Sapponey Creek and elsewhere such as Stoney Creek. Note that Sappony Creek is where his father James originally got his first grant in 1741 or so. I figure William was at Three Creeks in the 1740s but if he was say, involved in the Indian Trade, he may have stopped by to visit his old man on Sappony Creek and, perhaps, developed a “liking” for the area. I don’t know.
An association with William Pitman and his half brother Joseph Pitman is demonstrated by this deed in 1764.
The above Joseph Pitman leaves a Will in 1786 which explains quite a bit.
I could add much more, but I would like to get any reactions pro or con to this Study. Again, this is my theory. To be clear, I appreciate any sniper or pot shots to tear this apart. If this cannot hold up to scrutiny then it is doomed.
James Pitman b.1680ish d.1746
son John b. abt 1712ish d.1775 mother unk
son William b. unk d. unk mother unk
son Joseph b. unk d. 1787 mother Elizabeth
son Abner b. unk d. unk mother Elizabeth