Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina

Back a bit in time to 1873…

Penny Hill is (was) the easy to find focal point of the area… find Tar River and follow it to the county borders of Edgecombe and Pitt. There is a modern bridge there now… that is Cheek’s Mill Creek. Penny Hill looks to be a very modern Solar Panel Farm nowadays…Who’dAThunkIt? I used Google Maps to visit the place and snoop around. There is narry a trace of the history that went on there.

Below is the area during the Civil War…1863ish. Penny Hill only had four map dots then… but note some of the folks living a bit north of there- W. and T. Little, J. Thigpen, T. May and W. Cobb to note a few. These names are all descendants of the colonial settlers. The guy I am tracking is Henry Anderson; he was there and died 1801, I am clueless when he first got there, perhaps more on him later but I have become enthralled by all the history. Note that the roads shown go back to the early days… starting about 1737 (or earlier)… mere wagon trails then. The earliest road I find mentioned went all the way to Bath Town.

120 years or so before the T. Little mentioned on the Civil War map above was a progenitor of the Little Clan named Thomas Little. Here is an example of how I find, track and map these folks:

The roads are very helpful to help me place these deeds on to the maps I create. The hilarious spelling of ” Tusckoanra” in the mention of the main Road to Bath town makes me curious as to what in hell they were referring to? Remember that the town of Tarboro was not much more than perhaps a tavern and a warehouse at the time if that. Edward Teach (Blackbeard the pirate) had been hobnobbing with the “royal” criminals (government officials) in Bath Town a mere twenty years or so before this Little deed. Pitt County was unknown and called Beaufort. I trying to find Tranter’s Creek as I type.

Dawn King commented about “The Doctor’s Office”…

To be continued… this may be very long-winded… there was a lot going on back in the day…

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In an article for the Tarboro Press written in 1842, the newspaper staff trots out an even earlier article by Jeremiah Battle written by him for the Agricultural Society in 1811. Let that soak in a bit… Mr Battle was more than likely a witness to the American Revolution.

Commenting on when the county may have first been settled, he wrote this:

“…it was probably prior to the year 1726, the oldest land patents we’ve dealt with, bearing this date. As the first settlement of the continent commenced at the mouths of rivers, so these interior settlements commenced at the mouth of creeks progressing upwards, as the natives gave ground. At the mouth of Town Creek it is believed, was the first settlement in the county. The site of Tarborough, and its vicinity, were settled at an early period. The Indians inhabiting these parts were driven by some of the settlers at Bath across Contentnea (creek), where they made a stand and built and dwelt for several years, but were at length besieged and destroyed.”

https://www.carolana.com/NC/Counties/edgecombe_county_nc.html

So just prior to 1737 one Richard Cheek presents a grant for land at a small creek running into Tar River at the boundary of what will be Edgecombe and Pitt Counties. At the time it was Beaufort County and Tar River was then known as Pamptico River. It is all very confusing for new readers in study of the old counties.

So the creek became known as Cheek’s Mill Creek. Mr. Cheek dies by 1745 but the name survived (except for an irritating period when it became Sugg’s Mill Swamp but we won’t tarry in a discussion- that is what it is referred to on the 1905 map but not today). My personal study of this area is my interest in one Henry Anderson who briefly owned some of the original Cheek property. Henry Anderson died in 1801 and his property was passed on to his family until they died or moved on. Reconstructing the history of the various and sundry property owners has proven to be a daunting task. But remember that my starting point is just after an Indian footprint was the only thing in the area… and perhaps an occassional watersnake slithering across the creek.

http://www.moonzstuff.com/cheek/richard1680_p3.html

Next in line for ownership is (perhaps) John Burney who married the daughter of Richard Cheek and thereby inherited some of the land by marriage; he was an Executor to the Estate along with two sons of Cheek. Much confusion begins as the property is carved up between the numerous sons of Richard Cheek and sold piecemeal to different buyers.

Here is a taste of what I am dealing with…

I am presently trying to figure out who bought the carved up land… I know Edward Cobb, et al, got some of it… (you can see Henry Anderson’s patents buried in the Richard Cheeek’s 640 acre patent).

David Gammon and I have been trying to out-lie each other lately and I was going to shoot him an email to ruffle his feathers over some of his dead peeps. He has helped me muchly with some of my dead-uns and I like to reciprocate when I can… but instead I figure I will share with the class just for sh*ts and giggles. I am WAY down the rabbit hole with this Edgecombe map and beginning to LOSE CONTROL… by that I mean there is so much selling and trading and shudder Capitalism going on that the sheer amount of layers I develop on the map makes it unreadable. This particular area (roughly Walnut Creek) never ceases to surprise me the deeper I dig… surprising to me were the Forts and Braswells… my mental picture had them mostly North of the Tar River (in MY mind). In reality they were all over the southside of Tar River. Here is a snippet of the area…

Click on the filename by the Download button to view the larger file.

Note the William Deloach patent near the center in the above map… here is a bit of the details of discovering who were his neighbors… and I am only partially done. That tiny little RED patent is only 10.5 acres but is packed with clues.

This is related to the tiny little red patent in the Deloach patent…

Edge. Co. Db 17, page 380, deed date 13 May 1821, recorded Nov Ct 

1821, by virtue of an order by Nov Ct to sheriff to take the sum of 

$800 from the property of Sampson Newsom which James Gray’s admr 

recovered against said Newsom and Joseph Armstrong, Sheriff Spencer L. 

Hart sold at public auction on 17 Feb 1820, where Wells Draughon was 

the highest bidder at $562 for two tracts of land, first tract 

beginning at a pine in Edmund Clark’s corner formerly William Deloach 

then 238 poles to a red oak then north (200) poles to a maple standing 

in a branch then down the courses of the branch to a pine standing 

where the path crosses said branch at the Beaver Dam then south to the 

beginning containing 223 acres, it being the land where said Armstrong 

lives, also, one other tract of five acres joining the same beginning 

at a lightwood post in Josiah Perry’s line then north along said 

Armstrong’s own line to (Dunnons Branch) to a pine said Armstrong’s 

corner then down the various courses of said branch to a persimmon tree 

& maple at the mouth of a small branch Josiah Perry’s corner then up 

the said branch to the head at a post oak then to the beginning, signed 

S.L. Hart, Sheriff, acknowledged in court by S.L. Hart, Sheriff.  

Abstracted 3 Aug 07, NCA film C.037.40015, CTC.

The Newsom guy is noted as living near the Edmund Clark guy who is noted on the William Deloach patent… see how all this work… cool stuff.

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Here is a slightly less info-packed version of some of the Walnut Creek area… I am still trying to figure out the best way to present this data. I’m considering doing it by (perhaps) a 20 year time span? Any ideas?

I started this one as a “study” of the Back Swamp area of Nansemond… but for a while I have been intrigued with the idea of mapping the entire colonial county … resurrecting it from the ashes as it were. It has been thoroughly burned three times in its history. It is the worst of the worst “burned counties” and has even been trashed as a county by ending its name and calling it by a town’s name… all for the purpose of collecting taxes from the farmers for the city folk (in my humble opinion).

But to “toot my own horn” a bit… this bit of mapping takes on a new level of accuracy. I have been doing this for over ten years and my “methods” have improved. Now I make a “data sheet” for each colonist from the Library of Virginia and any other pertinent source I can muster up. All of which will allow anyone to “check” my data… Which is the very essence of true genealogy.

Check over to the right under Pages… feel free to ignore my rants about politicians… I can’t help myself, its like some sort of Touretts symdrome.

Elizabeth

Daughter of

George & Rachel Anderson

Born 1784

Died March 26, 1880

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

its just the George is George Griffis and not George Anderson.

Seems to be a bit of moral chicanery going on here…

My buddy David Gammon has been sleuthing around the Edgecombe Court Minutes lately and sniffed out this bit of inconvenient truth:

“George Griffis ordered to pay Rachel Anderson for begetting a base born child on her body.   August Court 1797.”

One can only wonder nowadays why it would take Rachel Anderson 13 years to seek a court settlement?

And who the hell was George Griffis of Edgecombe?

It is well known the records for Nansemond have burned early and often… so I try to note where I find any morsels of history to pass on to hungry researchers. This is an interesting example… noted herein is that an early burning of the records was “at the house of Christopher Jackson”. Notes were passed on to what was being done to “ease the suffering” of the good folks of Nansemond in response to the unfortunate event. I was Googling around for “Shivers” clues and up pops this book from 1752 or so… a copy of which can be purchased for a mere $4,500.

The book is called “The acts of Assembly, now in force, in the colony of Virginia”

Amazingly… it is in a searchable format… there seems to be numerous sources. Very cool.

https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/BHPS/id/4798/rec/1

I am just going to “ease” into this Post…

I’ve studied these Pitman guys (and gals) for over 20 years ( meaning the Pitmans of the late 1600s to late 1700s).

A curious commenter… Linda… has generously contributed a bit of family intrigue into the mix. Interestingly, my buddy David Gammon has fessed up and confessed to possibly being “directly” related to some of these folks. He will watch and comment as fits his mood. I usually refer to him as “Holmes” when I am not referring to myself when I feel all intoxicated and otherwise wound up…

This particular batch of Pitmans are the sons and daughters of Thomas Pitman d. 1754 in Edgecombe County, NC. The Thomas d. 1754 was the son of Thomas d 1730 who assumed room temperature near the Meherrin River within a rifle shot of who I “suspect but cannot prove” is my ancestor Carolus Anderson. Thomas Pitman d 1730 was of Southampton County, NC.

The two Pitmans above can be considered “proven”. The documented evidence is overwhelming. Unless you want to challenge the fact… if so, then fire away.

The offsprings (“issue” for you nit picky types) of Thomas Pitman d 1754 are another matter entirely… they are “unproven”… meaning we as researchers are throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. In his will he referred to his “eight” sons without naming them. To his credit, and realizing that the man was looking at his imminent death, he did not realize that hundreds if not thousands of descendants would follow him.

So here is the will of Lot[t] Pitman as submitted by Linda from the personal records of her husband…

Like I said… I am just going to “ease” into this new information…

Course, as most of you know who visit my site, I have mapped out where some of this property was… I leave you at your leisure to ponder that will.

Comments are open. I could submit a few articles to ponder but I am hopelessly overwhelmed… so just do a search for “pitman” and find a comfortable place that perks your curiosity.

https://www.cuna.org/advocacy/actions/grassroot-action-center.html?vvsrc=%2fcampaigns%2f87852%2frespond&utm_source=bm23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Take+Action+Now&utm_content=Take+Action+Now:+Protect+Your+Privacy&utm_campaign=Kevin+Johnson+-+Legislation+Email+-+SEP+2021&_bta_tid=00128744315476428274990564219499655277461082318846687367908548248945418236104568754069438060137305061208

I did do the link…but I am left thinking what was the point?

I remember a news article a couple months ago where the IRS hired 30 thousand new employees…

“30,000” hey, buy in bulk… its cheaper (except for when they retire and our grandkids pay for that too.)

Those people are ‘enforcers”… to collect money… uh… wake up people… it is “your money ” they are after…

then I remember another article where that botoxed Senator Nancy Pelosi created a new category of Special Washington Police… (they are bodyguards). (they are basically Marshals, since they are “federal”) really weird federal legalese going on here that normal folks do not understand}.

This crap is driving me nuts….

meanwhile the Australians are worried about the Chinese….

weird time my friends… I am trying to keep it together… but it is tough..

This is Southampton County, VA… it was still considered Isle of Wight at this time. I am very confident of the placement of these patents. One title trail was found in the Isle of Wight books… the other was in the Southampton records. I have no way of knowing how much of Pearson’s Millpond has been altered over the years but this is pretty much on the money.

The original (new land) deed owners were William Kenney and Henry Powers. That is where Brantley obtained them.

The nitty-gritty detective work is in the below documents:

In 1739 John Brantley obtained a 3rd patent nearer to Emporia, VA for 350 acres… I have not determined how or when he disposed of it but it was a patent and not a “purchased” deed.

Click to access meherrin-r_va-brantley.pdf

I’ll have to add this guy to my list of suspect Indian Traders… also, he has been just out of my radar range for years but has recently come to my attention. A John Underwood is noted as the father in law to a George Anderson who left a will in Granville, 1757… so I have been curious about him for a while but could never find a trail. But that will have to be put on a back burner and researched later… I do not know if this is the guy or not.

I found a deed for “a” John Underwood in the Southampton records… but he is buried up sort of like a tick inside the Nottoway Indian’s Six Mile Square “reservation”. What’s up with that, I mumble to myself. So I’ve been occupying myself with figgerin’ out this perplexity. We all know that Indian Land is, you know…”reserved” for Indians. So how did a white guy worm his way into the sacred bowels of the Square?

I’ve dealt with a number of these colonial era deeds … but this one has some strange terms. Like “to corner number thirteen” and what the hell is Barrow doing building a “Road” in and amongst the heathens? I mean, wouldn’t a road builder surely get his ass shot full of pointy arrows or bbbb..bullets? Tommyhawks for sure!

Heres a map… its what I do… the sumbitch usurper is lower right (I used red for the color…get it?)

So with my curiosity meter on high… I searched up an article by Dr. Helen Rountree and she was right on top of all my questions. She is also remarkably un-racist and un-bigoted… but then what do I know? Hell! I watched John Wayne right there on the Big Screen when he kilt all those Comancheros and Comanches what kilt hapless settlers and buried guys up to their necks in ant beds… I know how Injuns really are… well, except for that old commercial on TV that showed that Indian with a tear running down his cheek. I get choked up thinking about it until I remember he was an actor just, you know… acting. (Iron Eyes Cody… that Italian guy from Louisiana)

Seems like it was common knowledge the Nottoway Indians drank spiritous liquors to excess. Well not ALL of them of course… but enough … if I say the Indians were a bunch of drunks I would of course be a racist bigot asshole.

Those princes of men in the colonial Virginia Legislature (I guess you could call it that) wrote a damn law! about the Drunken Indians and how they could sell their land to solve their lack of sobriety problem. (They were Problem Fixers for true!) I am convinced without any doubt whatsoever that Lyndon B. Johnson would have approved this bill and be inspired to later initiate his own bill for a Great Society. I quote verbatim…

Here are a couple more deeds of the Nottoway Indians selling their land. I’m 70 years old now and have lost my youthful misconceptions. I study history as it was… not how we wish it was. I may return to this study later but I think I will take a breather for now… its hard for me to find any humor when it gets this sad…

Drink in moderation.

This Fort book is witty and well done… well worth the read. The authors are very thorough and resourceful.

There may be a better source online but this one will do in a pinch… it is cumbersome and slow on my computer.

Click to access G002302.pdf

On page 216 or so can be found this reference to the Andersons and Boons I am interested in…

Of particular interest is a listing of the Thomas Boon family of Isle of Wight of which he cites Mrs. Louise Apperson of Newport News, Virginia. It is in bold below. I leave it in context because his throw away lines have me glued to my computer screen.

Alice Fort and The Clerk. The will of Elizabeth Anderson, Bertie Precinct,
North Carolina, made November 5, 1732 and recorded August Court, 1733,
was witnessed by “Elias Fortt” and what appears to be “Eaker Fort.”
Thinking this latter a variation of “Eliezer,” the authors ransacked counties
in North Carolina looking for this lost Fort. Hugh B. Johnston, Jr., of Wilson,
North Carolina, then suggested that the name might be “Alice.” Study of
the photostat shows that the Bertie clerk had a habit of putting an
unnecessary curlicue on his final “e”, and that the name is actually “Ealce.”
The person was a woman: “her mark.”
Phillis Fort. The name in George’s 1719 will is “Fybash.” Robert Simms’
will in Bertie Precinct, February Court of 1729, lists among others “John
Fybash.” William Boon, Elias Ford (Fort), and Nathaniel Cooper were
witnesses. Mourn1ng Barnes, daughter of Edward and Sarah (Pope) Barnes,
had married a John Fiveash prior to 1761; because of the name’s rarity we
can assume this was Phillis’s son. The authors do not know if there were
descendants by this marriage, but at least one branch of the Fiveash family
is known to be living in Georgia. A Georgia local history-the “Coweta
County Chronicles”-contains a sketch on the Simms family and mentions
that Phillis married Rowland Williams as her third husband. No other source
for this marriage is known, so the authors cannot put it in the category
of “Proved.” Abstracts of Northampton County, Virginia, deeds in the period
17 41-1759 show many deeds in which Rowland and Phillis are parties. Some
show ties to the Simms and Boon families, but none prove the wife had been ·
Phillis Fort. The last of the Williams abstracts in Northampton is in 1754-c
The Fort-Boon Mystery: There is no known direct proof of a Fort-Boon
marriage, but the number and kind of documents coupling the families make
it seem likely. William and Nicholas (“Niccolis”) Boon were witnesses to
George’s 1719 will. Elias and Benjamin had lands joining William Boon. Boon
was a witness to Elizabeth Anderson’s 1732 will along with Elias. William
Boon and Elias Fort witnessed the will of Robert Simms in 1729. Thomas
Boon, father of William, witnessed a sale of land to Elias by Samuel Canady
in 1723; in 1728 he witnessed another sale to Elias, this time by his son,
Thomas, Jr. Most persuasive, however, is the power of attorney given by
Elizabeth Boon, to “my trusty and well beloved friend Elias Fort . . . to
relinquish my right of Dower . . . in a Parcell of Land sold by aforesaid
Husband to John Bryan … 15th day of July, 1720,” Witnessed by Samuel
Peacock and John Bryan. (Chowan County, Deed Bk. F, Pg. 54) N9nnally
in those days powers of attorney were given only to relatives. The authors
think it probable, therefore, that Elizabeth Boon was the daughter of George
Fort. They are indebted to Mrs. Louise Apperson of Newport News, Virginia,

for this listing of the children of Thomas Boon of Isle of Wight County,
Virginia, who married Ziltha (:): William ( who is believed to have married
Elizabeth Fort); Mary (married Joseph Boon); Martha (married Mr. Gay);
Lela (married Mr. Wheeler); Nicholas (married Susannah Edmunds);
James; John; Jesse; Thomas, Jr.; Henry. There are Fort-Boon documents in
the records of Northampton County, North Carolina, at later dates.

This genealogy breaks down thusly:

Thomas Boon m. Ziltha

William m. Elizabeth Fort

Joseph m. Mary

Nicholas m. Susannah Edmunds

James, John, Jesse, Thomas Jr. and Henry

Mr. Gay m. Martha

Mr Wheeler m. Lela

Hopeless sceptic that I am, I am not sold on this scenario. For instance, I think the Thomas married Ziltha “may” be the son of Thomas Boon who married Elizabeth Strickland.

William Boon who married Elizabeth may be the daughter of George Fort.

And since I am of a theorizing nature, I think it possible Elizabeth Anderson d. 1732 may be a sister of George Fort. I just threw that in to stir the pot a bit. If one is not thinkin’ one is sitting on one’s brain. Prove me wrong.