Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

This is directly on the Blackwater River and Isle of Wight county Virginia. Note the Horse Swamp. I am attempting to find the historic boundaries as accurately as I can of Strickland’s patent of of 1803 acres in 1680. Since 1680 until about 1910 or so, when this base map was printed, I suspect that the Horse Swamp “today” is not exactly where it was then. This modern topo map depicts three ponds which apparently date back to the 1600s. With that in mind see my notes:

It is important that I get this patent accurate because every patent to the right of it will be based on it’s “correctness”. It is what I call an “anchor patent”.

So I invite anyone to take a crack at pond naming… which pond is which and which creek is which… there seem to be several… smiling

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So… with the addition of Thomas Boon’s 1702 deed… (in the above Post)… I am confident that Strickland’s original patent began at the “mouth” of Horse Swamp. However… read the metes and bounds carefully…

“begin at the mouth”…then up the Blackwater

then to the mouth of First Branch

I do not see a “First Branch”… or any branch off the Blackwate for that matter (remember this is only 300 acres) So I still have questions.

Ask yourself… is Arthur Whitehead’s property on the west side or right side of Horse Swamp? My guess is the right side… So where is the mouth of First Branch? (another deed references a “second branch” Good Grief).

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My other objective is to depict the other deeds “inside” the large patent of 1803 acres… there are several, including Thomas Boons.

Related notes…

some answers to Jennifer concerning the Boons

Click to access 235412966.pdf

A daughter of Rev. Robert Bracewell, Jane, married the unfortunate rebel with the stretched neck. (Full disclosure, I would have been on his side). I have been perplexed and bewildered for years attempting to map where the property was. So I shall omit any whining on my part and just simply lay out the clues as I have amassed over the years…

This is very “roughly” where I think it was… but I am busily re-working this area…

…as usual, don’t click this image…click the blue filename below to open a better view…

I’m presently nitpicking these clues and particularly am intrigued with the last one (which I have only recently dug up)…

If I can somehow get a coherent grasp of how James Long’s property adjoined the Braswell (et al) property then perhaps that will help to make some sense… and perhaps I can make better sense of the Robert Scott connection. This has been a tough nut to crack…

An aside… a Braswell commenter just rattled my cage… it seems this is my best guess of where the original preacher may have lived:

https://andersonnc.com/?s=when+you+see+it

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an Update:

There may be more details in this article…

I don’t know what to do with this…it is one of those “rabbit hole” paths that I just don’t have time for right now… but don’t want to just throw away. So if one of you want to pursue it then by all means do it… It is particularly interesting because it has an actual “will” involved… for one John Watkins d.1648.

The area is roughly NE (or NW) of the Western Branch… my usual routine is to find some neighbors… by hook or crook or bribes or threats…. then try to join the puzzle pieces…

The nitty gritty details…

So… who the hell was Thomas Hodgis? Hodges?

Jennifer from California aka (Thornton) has been busy on her blog…

Her THORNTON line seems to be some of those “quiet” types who just make their way thru life with no fuss or muss… and darnit!… very few records are left behind. Its like a blind man trying to find paintings on a cave wall! Perhaps that is why I am so fond of horse thieves and women of ill repute… at least they leave ‘some’ records.

Jennifer has scored a few points lately in one of my more baffling areas of study… the Meherrin River near the VA / NC border. This area is a Rouge’s Gallery of characters… in no particular order:

Boons, Pitmans, Brownes, Bryans, Braswells, Kinchins, Andersons, Forts, Sims, Stricklands… and on and on… now some Thorntons added to the mix. And mapping the place is proving to be a challenge. So stop by her place and say hello…

Joseph Strickland and Ann Thornton

Oh… and I think she has a bank robber tucked away in the family records just to lend some spice… I’m jealous. My grandfather was named Bart Brock… has a touch of the Old West donch’a think? Didn’t rob any banks I know of tho’.

I have hopelessly lost track of where this began and where it will end…I have been tracking this gentleman for about twenty years or so… the only advice to new readers I can give is to avail yourself of my “search” box… but be forewarned, I have totally lost control and I have made numerous Posts and a rather confusing Page… all of which I have never written a coherent summary… my apology… my only excuse is that this is still ‘ongoing’ research. Which is the excuse everyone uses.

Oddly enough, Forrest King rather inadvertently on his part, unveiled to me the stark reality that I had missed, that John Browne signed with his signature ‘mark’ of “TTT”. Lo’ these many years, I was blithefully in the dark of that obvious fact! Thank you Mr. King.

In my last few Posts I have been tracking the lovely and gracious Bridgett Lewis… his wife. It seems they had what is referred to as one of those ‘winter’ marriages… which is to say… rather ‘late’ in life. I reckon they married sometime between say, 1695 and 1706. If someone can better pinpoint a date, please inform me. She, as best I can figure, never married but had at least three sons. My best reckoning is that John Browne died about 1713… Mrs Browne died after he did at an unknown date (two of her sons close by).

Here are some pertinent details to validate my theory… although, frankly, I am thinking I have actually proved my case?

My last name is Anderson. I am a Brantley by blood, DNA proven. A Big Y 700 match to me is another Brantley from the Brantley DNA group.

My good friend, Ken Brantley who wrote the book… and is the head of the Brantley Association.. has welcomed me in as an Ambassador… that is because of my mapping skills.

I will not mention my match to the particular Brantley I “match” to simply because I cannot reach him thru email… I suspect his ‘old’ address has probably expired. So I respect his privacy.

But I can lay out some facts from ‘my’ perspective.

Note here that my “rather rare” Big Y match @ 700 (not named) has speculated all on his own with absolutely no input from me that this is his ancestor…

Note that this is not ‘my’ theory… it is my ‘match’ to the Brantley group. And it is a BigY 700 match.

Also note that the mystery Brantley match to me thinks he may have a “Lumbee” Indian in his past. I do not think so.

My friend Ken Brantley of the Brantley Association recently did a recent check on my genealogy track…which is online … and found by his reckoning that I had more than 50 matches to the BASS family of, lets say, the Southside Virginia… (the Bass family dates to Jamestown).

So… without much ado… I am very interested in this.

Curious folks may note that I have recently explored the mysterious Joyce Lewis mentioned above who married, who I suspect, is my direct ancestor, Philip Brantley.

I am also curious how friendly Philip Brantley was with his wife’s close friend Susanna Braswell?

I discuss Ms Braswell in Posts below…

(a sidenote… being a bastard is not a matter of pride with me, to the contrary, it is a matter of curiosity that circumstances were as they were in the past… but as I had nothing to do with those circumstances, I take the attitude that I will accept and correct, and laugh in the face of Fate, or try at least to improve the circumstances that true love is involved with the birth of every child born in the future… therefore I support the institution of marriage between a man and woman who at least “try” to stay together. And if I may be frank… did not God Himself re-birth himself as a bastard? So I toast all my bastard cousins! And perhaps we are in good company…)

This would include me of course, Marc Anderson aka Brantley… it seems my DNA leads directly to Edward Brantley d. 1688 of Isle of Wight.

It seems I can now add James Braswell, son of Susanna (Burgess) Braswell, the occasional wife of Robert Braswell Jr., son of the Rev Robert Bracewell of Isle of Wight.

My friend David Boyett, administrator of the Boyett DNA Group,(and others) has noticed that James Braswell does not match with his half brother Richard… both sons of Susanna.

David asked if I might know ‘about’ where Susanna Braswell might have been living at the time that James Braswell is estimated to have been born about 1676.

An article written by Carey Bracewell in 2007 gives this account:

Susannah Burgess Braswell’s 100 acres

It appears Susanna got the 100 acres she left in her will to her sons Richard and William – from her Mother who had inherited it from her sister Joyce England Cripps who had inherited it from her husband Francis England.

http://braswellgenealogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/susannah-braswells-100-acres.html

Further… the deeds were researched a bit more…

Susannah Burgess Braswell’s 100 acres, more

A few more records have surfaced from the Isle of Wight deed books which seem to confirm the identity of Susannah’s 100 acres she bequeathed unto sons Richard & William in her 1714 will which was witnesed by RICHARD JONES & RICHARD JORDAN.

(p. 275, IOW Deed Book 4) 28 Mar 1733….SAMUEL GAINER and wife, ANN GAINER, of Albemarle County in North Carolina to JOHN MILLER of Isle of Wight County…..100 acres in the upper parish adjoining RICHARD JONES, PHILIP BRANTLEY, FRANCIS ENGLAND, Maj. WILLIAM BRIDGER and FRANCIS WRENN. Wit: JOHN HODGES, JAMES EVEARD, RICHARD JORDAN and EDWARD MILLER. Rec: 27 Aug 1733 SAMUEL (X) GAINER, ANN (X) GAINER. NOTE: ANN GAINER appoints GEORGE BELL, Sr. of the upper parish as her attorney. Wit: JOHN NAIRNE, WILLIAM BELL and JOHN (X) BELL.

(p. 209, IOW Deed Book 8) 8 Mar 1748….JOHN MILLER and wife ANN MILLER to SETH HUNTER…….100 acres in Newport Parish (being land bought by said MILLER from SAMUEL GAINER on 27 Aug 1733) adjoining the Cart Path from RICHARD JONES to PHILLIP BRANTLEY, FRANCIS ENGLAND and Major WILLIAM BRIDGER. Rec: 9 Mar 1748 JOHN MILLER, ANN MILLER

http://braswellgenealogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-about-susannah-braswells-100-acres.html

Note the above clues mention Philip Brantley. I have fairly accurately (in my mind) mapped the Brantley land in Isle of Wight which Philip Brantley inherited a piece from his father Edward Brantley.

I discuss it at great length here:

early_iow_2_dec16

And per the name references noted… it seems Susanna Braswell lived near the Brantley property. Which is counter to my first thought that she probably lived somewhere near the old church where the preacher preached.

So perhaps that answered David Boyett’s question.

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A bit more intrigue…

The bastard sons of Bridgett (Lewis) Browne… a good friend of Susanna Braswell…

Anthony Lewis…that orphant boy

Morgan Lewis… Come on Down!

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Is it just me or does anyone else notice this whiplashishly circuitous route that seems to backtrack to my Brantleys? There seems to have been a huge meeting of cousins near Anthony’s Delight plantation in Southampton county, VA, around about 1702.

A “new” Bryan showed up on my radar… he is noted on the map below:

This area is the Roanoke River near Bridger’s Creek

A commenter claims he descends from a Robert Bryan who moved into NC prior to 1725. I was a bit skeptical, having not ran across the name, but my friend Jennifer from California promptly emailed a grant… as noted above.

The commenter also claims “in 1652 John (Bryan) received the land ‘twix’ the IOW and Nansemond cos. being old for the time John needed more help and 7 yrs. later brought a Robert (age 27) and Lewis Bryan as well as John Ballard from Bitton Eng. “

So with a little math, considering Robert Bryan was 27 in 1659, that would make his birthdate 1632 and his age in 1721 about 89… which is highly unlikely.

Another Robert Bryan to ponder is shown here near the Blackwater River straddling IOW and Nansemond. He also has a son Robert. But these guys seem to stay in Southampton into the 1740s as shown by later patents.

I am a bit bewildered by it all. My friend David Boyett has provided some data to back up the claim:

http://www.virtualjamestown.org/indentures/search_indentures.html
Agent: John Brian
Aug 15, 1659 Lewes Brian of Bitton, Gloucestershire
Aug 15, 1659 John Ballard of Bitton
Aug 24, 1659 John Boulton of Bitton

15 Aug 1659 (p. 432)
following bound to John Brian, Planter, to serve in Virginia:
Lewes Brian of Bitton, Glos., yeoman
Robert Brian of Bitton, Glos.,
John Ballard of Bitton
—-Bristol Records Office

24 Aug 1659 (p.433)
John Boulton of Bitton, Glos., bound to John Brian, Planter, to serve 4 years in Virginia
—-Bristol Records Office

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Jennifer also found this reference to a Robert Brian in 1690:

Patents, v. 8, 1689-1695; Film # 008422927

121/464 (p. 92)

23 Oct 1690, Hodges Council the younger and Thomas Man, grant 200 ac, IOW county, beginning at Jno (Brown) corner, Kingsale Swamp. Transport of four persons: Thomas White, Jno Wator_, Robt Brian, Jno Barnard.

Earlier comments can be found here:

John Bryan 1672, a curious patent

David Boyett (the DNA guru)… is doing his research and Posting as we speak… and I, as I mentioned am still bewildered by it all.

Let’s call this a “study” because I am not convinced I have it nailed down. Gee researchers can do no better than to go to the website “GeesnMore” by Kathryn Gearhart.

In attempting to map this area, I have found Moseley to be “accurate” with his general placement of “people”… but ‘not so much’ with his accuracy of the terrain (this is forgivable because they did not have the technology to map, as we do today… they were ignorant of many things… but again, understandably). Plus it would have been nice to have aerial photography… not to mention satellites.

In my research, so far, I have found the placement of ALL of these people to be accurate… including the Indians. My problem is the old adage… “the devil is in the details”. I will try to update this Post as I progress…

In the meantime here are some of my present notes..

Some questions I am entertaining…

Was Charles Gee involved in the Indian Trade? He seems to have been very interested in Occoneechee Neck. ( having patented three tracts of land there, but letting them lapse).

Why did Moseley completely ignore the presence of the Boons along the Meherrin River?

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To be honest… I am not at all “pleased” with this map… I think it has major errors I need to fix… I just think the GEE patent is a good starting point.

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Update:

Not to sound “whiney” or complain… this is my hobby… I enjoy the hunt and the intrigue. But this is twisted, backtracking and generally difficult to follow. So I am getting back to somewhat of a starting point… in this case I made a new map…

As usual, do not click on this image… click on the blue filename below for a better image you can zoom in…

I am now ‘almost’ certain this is where the James Gee patent of 1706 actually was. My main reason for thinking so is the adjoining deed for 150 acres issued to Matthew Rushing in 1718. Rushing would later sell this property to William Bridgers. Bridger’s wife Sarah, would again sell this property (as his Executrix in 1730) to Abraham Bagget.

The “takeaway” point I am making is that each of the deeds I mentioned also mentioned the term “the mouth of the Dividing Run“.

Another point to make is that (if you look closely at the Matthew Rushing property) you will note the underlying creek. I contend that that this will become known as “Rushin’s Branch” and it will lead all the way up past the Virginia border and into Southampton County. It will also later be lost to history… poof, it is gone.

I offer this map as supporting evidence…

Indeed, and as further evidence, I offer this deed and analysis to note that this “branch” was known for a period in time as “Rushins Branch“. And I think I can now conclude that Dividing Run is the same as Rushins Branch. The term Dividing Run was very short-lived and was replaced with Rushins Branch and lasting at least until the 1750s as noted in later deeds…

Trying not to be misunderstood, I am not starting a Boon timeline… this is just a suggestion to anyone who may. This ‘issue’ simply has to be dealt with at some point… I am just ‘dealing’ with it up front.

Firstly, there is no way in hell that a Boon… any Boon, ever was in NC in 1668…. period. Here is the deed that started that nonsense:

[6 Feb 1754] Nicholas Boon to John Braswell, both of Northampton for 41.1.6 pds VA, 490 acres in sd Co., part of a pat. granted to Mr. Thomas Boon, decd, May 1, 1668, beginning at the mouth of a branch known by the name of Know Bottom, so up the sd branch bending on George Seller’s line to ye head line of the patent so then bending on the sd patent line to the first station. Wit: Thomas Boon, Wm. Murfree. Ackd. February Court 1754.

But wait! you say… that is exactly what the damn deed says… you ignorant dumbass! (meaning me, the author of that outrage). And sure enough that is “exactly” what the deed says.

“it being part of a patent granted to Mr. Thomas Boon Deceased bearing date of first day of May Anno Domino 1668”

I certainly do not want to cast any aspersions on the good clerks, scribes and grandmotherly bespeckled county court folks who painstakedly rewrote the constantly bug infested and rotting written pages of the records from the 1660s. Oh wait… there does not seem to be any… or an extremely small amount which was reasonably protected from the weather’s vississitudes.. All of them seem to be rewrites or copies, as we say now. Those in the know, well, know that there has to be a certain “type” of paper to hold up over time. And that type of paper is and was expensive. This is not to mention that the inks had to also be weather-resistent over time, else they would fade away to nothing. A good quality India Ink was preferred and not always readily available. (Particularly in the boondocks of Colonial North Carolina in the 1660s).

So, in my humble opinion, the date of the patent of 1668 was an error. In 1668 a “landmark” decision was made and conveyed from England that was referred to afterwards in many deeds. (It saved the colonists money so it was important to be noted).

Which begs the question… where is the original patent to compare it to for…you know… actual, factual, details. The patent above refers to to a date of 1754… and I note that Mr. Boon is quite dead. It might also be observed that a ‘reasonable’ person in 1754 might note and call out the date of 1668 as an error… but let us also realize that most of the observers then were illiterate and left such details to the clerks. Personally I think some of those clerks drank a bit… if you catch my drift.

I discuss this more in detail here if you are interested:

Mathew Strickland / Thomas Boon…IOW

So here is my next question… if not in 1668, then when did the Boons arrive in North Carolina. My thought is that they all migrated from the Mathew Strickland property in Isle of Wight, VA. Thomas Boon, Sr. simply moved to the Meherrin River with all his sons… excepting his youngest son Ratcliffe, who stayed on the old property on Horse Swamp. So my answer is that they arrived sometime after 1700 when the land was “officially” opened for settlement.

In 1704 or thereabouts, Thomas Boon (et al, I assume with his sons) had relocated to near modern Franklin, VA on the Blackwater. So it is likely after this that the Boons set their eyes on North Carolina.

I find it particularly interesting that in 1704 the Boons were just across the Blackwater River from James Bryan(t). James Bryant also relocated to NC about 1708. He was conveyed property from his son in law Richard Braswell on the NS of Meherrin River. The Boons and Bryan(t)s had numerous dealings found in the records.