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…

The more I map (its what I do)… the deeper in the woods (otherwise known as going down a rabbit hole) I find myself. I have been whining and complaining about it lately… sorry about that, I should just man up and deal with it.

There may be an explanation for some of my frustration (and on the extreme side , some of my exasperation and short temper)…

It is just in the cards when you do research of 300 or so years ago that there will be missing elements in the history… fires, wars, dumb asses, book eating worms and critters, and of course politicians ( the worst kind of bacterial infestation). So I dare to exclaim that sometimes a researcher must “adapt” to the circumstances and make an educated (shudder) ‘guess’.

Here is an example…

One Richard Milton acquired a patent for 640 acres south of the Meherrin River in then Chowan precinct (now Northampton County, NC). Cool… I dutifully found the pertinent record and attempted to map the thing in it’s rightful place in history.

I placed theMilton patent here just as a hunch that it was close… and note that the Joseph Boon patent adjoins him. Also note the patent line between them… that line is 2 miles long… this is unusual. Unusual things like that get my attention.

Purely by accident I noticed a reference to this Milton patent… and by the coincidence of that “goofy” patent line it leaves little doubt that this is the same land. So, I suppose, I am explaining that pure dumb luck is an element of my particular flavor of research. This all amounts to just matching the jig saw puzzle pieces.

Sometime between 1719 and 1731 this patent went from 640 acres to 340 acres. It also became the property of Michael Hanley… those records may have just been “lost”. But the deed speaks for itself. The patent may have escheated, it may have been ‘assigned’ from Milton to Hanley. These are the types of problems I am dealing with in this area.

I’m still beating on this dead horse… I’m beginning to feel like Wyle E. Coyote chasing the Roadrunner.

I’ve added a very aggravating element of a blue “Wm Browne 1706” graphic. It is a taunt that drives me nuts. So naturally I figure maybe it will drive one of you to solve the mystery just to shut me up.

William Browne left William Boon about 100 acres in his will ca. 1718… “at the other side of Meherrin River”… where (or what part of the 640 acres is that 100 acres)?

In 1720 William Boon sold John Bryant 100 acres… is that the same land?

Where is the mouth of Rushin’s Branch?

Where is the “Dividing Run”?

Note below that the William Boon patent of 1745 (100 acres) on the north side of Meherrin River under Carolus Anderson is an “anchor” patent …meaning it cannot be disputed… it is a fact of history. Note also that I have successfully narrowed down the other patents just above the Country Line into Virginia. I have almost “but not quite” proven the missing 1706 patent. (it is roughly in the blue area I have highlighted).

Not sure if this is a correct term … but it works to generally describe the area of the Meherrin River where it borders Northampton and Hertford Counties in North Carolina and Southampton Virginia. I have discovered and mapped three patents from 1706. None of these patents can be found… but they were referenced in later deeds. That begs the question of if there were any more missing patents. My assumption is that they were probably burned in the courthouse fires of Northampton.

This is the general area I am focused on…

Note the 640 acre patent for Thomas Britt in 1723. It seems that no way in hell can I make that patent fit. The patent behind it is one of those 1706 patents (James Gee). But now note the two 1714 patents for Wm Maule in my notes below. This seems to be a conundrum. I am desperate for a clue.

The Wm Maule patent of 1714 is obviously the same land as the Thomas Britt patent of 1723… there is a missing piece of the puzzle here???

Here is some background I have compiled…

I have numerous other notes if anyone is interested.

I hope this is not taken as an ambush question… I am genuinely curious.

I like and respect Thomas Sowell… over the years he has earned a position of respect in my mind. I have heard him posit this point before that Colonial English folks brought over from England a “white trash” attitude. (that is my words… NOT Mr Sowell). (I observe that my expression of ‘white trash’ may be construed as racist. If you think so then so be it… I do not care… I am simply postulating my thought.) Mr. Sowell postulates that white English folks used the expressions Dis and Dat for “this” and “that”. And further he posits that the expression “AXE” as opposed to the expression “ASK” has an etemology that can be traced to the island of England.

I have joked in the past using the expression “I don’t want to be considered an “ask” murderer.”

I don’t want to put one of my long time commenters on the spot… but he and I have commented civilly on questions of Indians, Black and Whites. He seems pretty rational… (and I think he has his own blog).

So… what do you think about dat?

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From the video…

An aside…

I’ve never been inclined to write much about my “Southern Pride”… I once commented on an article from a Virginian University website (left unnamed because I did not save the comments) upon the author’s rejection of being a member of a Civil War reenactment group. This was just before the current “woke” movement. The author lamented his past mistake and stated he was wrong for ever having the racist idea of participating in a reenactment. He was insulted at my mere mention of the term “Southern Pride” Sad I thought, I was dumbfounded by it all. Little did I know that next to follow this nonsense was the “Woke” movement.

Here is an article where an author only a decade or so ago was confronted with a similar “confrontation” of this new and modern abomination of “Woke” bullsh*t. It seems to me the woke clowns are just trying to silence speech. Good luck with that clowns…

https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/31/4/race_crime_and_culture

“Southern honor did exist, did breed violence among men of every class, did cut against evangelical Christianity and the law of the state. Without the concept of honor, Southern violence remains inexplicable. Honor was the catalyst necessary to ignite the South’s volatile mixture of slavery, scattered settlement, heavy drinking, and ubiquitous weaponry. Honor thus served to set the South apart from the North, and once established honor became an integral part of the Southern identity.[7]

This southern culture of violence has long been associated with high crime rates among white southerners—in particular, violent crime. As far back as the 1870s H. V. Redfield found that murder was four to fifteen times more frequent in the southern states than elsewhere in the United States.[8] This southern proclivity for violence continued well into the twentieth century, and even endures in the twenty-first.[9]

Arguments that southern whites share a subculture of violence won’t get your book condemned. Slamming southern whites is perfectly acceptable among intellectuals and elites. It’s only when one speaks of a black subculture of violence that one steps over the line. Theoretically, of course, there’s no difference. “

If I may be so bold as to try to aid Mr. Sowell in understanding a “Southerner” and a redneck cracker (all of which I am) it is to understand “Southern Pride”. The author above alludes to it… I found his article very interesting.

I find it highly plausible that Blacks picked up on “Southern Pride”. Could it be that the odd shootings in Chicago are merely black Hatfields and McCoys?

This is an interesting record…

10 Feb 1724 – Bertie Ct – John Perry is on jury “to lay out the road from Mr Simon Jeffries Landing on the Roanoke to the maine branch that begins at Mr James Bryants and goes to Chesshires Landing on Maherin River where the trading Vessell comonly lye according to law and that William Bridges be and he is hereby appointed overseer of the said road for the ensuing year.” Haun abstract

(I cannot find the original of this quote… if anyone can clue me in, please do so)

As a mapping guy, I get caught up in these things when I find some clues…

In this case I have found where “Chesshires Landing on the Maherin River” was… I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say I am willing to bet serious amounts of money I am right.

William Bridgers is below (upper left) on the Meherrin River in 1716. James Bryan has property (since 1708) near another grant of John Cheser (1720)… but I have not determined exactly where on the Meherrin River Bryan had any land… (But Moseley clearly has him on his map of 1733).

Note the next part: “where the trading Vessell comonly lye according to law “.

My question is… do the Trading Vessels commonly lie on the Roanoke River or the Meherrin River?

This is from the Moseley Map of 1733…

Note in the Moseley Map that the Jeffries Road never seems to have been completed or came into being… but the Road from Wheelers Mill appears from the “Landing Area’ through Stony Bridge and on to Bryan’s Ferry.

Here is my latest Chowan “PRECINCT” map… this was just before even Bertie County was formed (roughly). You can zoom in for details…

Click to access 1chowan-prec-working-2.pdf

This is the area on the Collet map of 1770…

There are no particular questions I have about this Post… the area is just interesting to me. I do have a curiosity about the trade that was carried on in this early colonial period… particularly concerning the Indian Trade… hence my interest in any Trading “Vessels”… you know, small skiffs, boats, periaugers or whatever. And who were the captains.

an afterthought… I do have an ongoing suspicion that many of the modern roads have a genesis in the early colonial roads. Even to a point that many of ‘those’ roads were based on Indian Paths or trails.

This is an interesting article of the early ‘Militia’ of Bertie ‘precinct’ and later County. This author did his homework… a hat tip to him. These were many of the movers and shakers… real people.

Click to access History_NC_Bertie_Colonial_Militia.pdf

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If you have kept an interest thus far then you will find this interesting; I have consulted it a lot. I recognize this as someone who has studied enough to become comfortable with the history. This takes years.

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~fcharper/genealogy/JonesandWoodwards.html

This is for any puzzle solvers out there…

I ran across this article :

http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/bertie/history/other/courthou283gms.txt

I mapped the patent… approximately… (center of graphic)

I am curious of any neighbors to more accurately map the location.

This may be one… but it seems to reference the East shore of Chowan [River]?… but I think I may be totally off base and am reading too much into the description?

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…