30 Fathers in 30 Days: Josiah Abshire: Born on the 4th of July!

 

The old cemetery sloops peacefully over the rolling hills among the magnolias and holly bushes of old Wadesboro. It bears a mix of modern granite stones with a polished sheen, and broken stones beaten down by time and the abuse of vandals and weather. Among the crumbling monuments of over a century and a half old, is that of Josiah Abshire, an incredible, and extraordinary, if not unusual man. 

In the old days, ancestry was passed down by word of mouth and Family Bibles. Some societies kept meticulous records, writing down every baptism or birth, marriage and death with unerring consistency. Others didn't at all. Today, we are still at the mercy of trace, surviving records with centuries of loss of many of them, while still attempting to establish a paper trail. Now, a new, incredible tool has emerged, housed within our own bodies. The fascinating and still emerging science of DNA.

It began with a message from DNA match named Alan who I match with on multiple genealogy testing sites, Gedmatch and Family Tree DNA. From him, I discovered we shared, at the time, seven DNA matches together, whose number has now increased to nine. That's not many, but it is something, considering the circumstances. The DNA matches that we share all had one thing in common, they were descendants of one man, Josiah Abshire. 

Josiah, who lived to be an amazing 97 years old, was a Veteran of not only the War of 1812, but of the Revolutionary War as well.

Now I have a long list of Revolutionary War Patriots in my Family Tree, some, I have posted on recently; John Query, Alexander Erwin, John Starnes, Colby Randle, David Blalock, Job Calloway, John Lemmonds, and his father, surgeon William Marr Lemmonds, Solomon Burris, Matthew Wallace, I could go on. But where does Josiah Abshire or Absure come in? 

Josiah was noted enough in his community to have received an obituary in The Wadesboro Argus. They reported that he had received a pension from the government for many years and that he had spoken to the writer before his death and would be 97 on the 4th of July. A Patriot born on the 4th of July! Imagine!

His tombstone gives a date of death of May 6, 1853. The inscription states that he was a veteran of both wars. He is buried beside a woman named Jane Fletcher.

In the 1850 census, Josiah is listed as a 100-year-old pensioner, born in South Carolina.

Also in the home was a 40-year-old Jane Fletcher, the woman buried beside him, and 18-year-old apprentice, James Lockhart. 

Name	Josiah Absier
Gender	Male
Race	White
Residence Age	100
Birth Date	abt 1750
Birthplace	South Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Wadesboro, Anson, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Pensioner
Industry	Non-Industrial Response
Real Estate	200
Cannot Read, Write	Yes
Line Number	32
Dwelling Number	55
Family Number	55

Household members

Name	Age
Josiah Absier	100
Jane Fletcher	40
James Lockhart	18

Who were they and what can they tell us about Josiah Abshire, if anything? I already know that Jane was buried beside of Josiah Abshire.  

After the death of Josiah in 1853, it appears Jane and James remained in the home in Wadesboro along the Wadesboro and Morven Road, that they were living in with him. They deserve a post of their own, because they have a lengthy story, but in summary:

1860: James is still using the Lockhart surname. He's a 26-year-old Cabinet Maker. Jane Fletcher, 50, is living with him.

1870: Jane, 60, is Head of Household. James is now going by Fletcher, and is a 35-year-old carpenter.

1880: James Fletcher is the head of household and listed as a 40-year-old carpenter. We find out now that Jane, now listed as 72, is his mother. They have a 25-year-old housekeeper living with them named Mary Lineberry. 

1894: James Fletcher, "for natural love and affection", deeds a gift of property to Mary Lineberry. 

1900: Mary Lineberry is the head of household and James Fletcher, 62, a pensioner, is living with her. He was a Civil War vet. Mary has taken in an 8-year-old girl, Mary B Atkinson, as an adopted daughter. The girl is her grandniece, the granddaughter of her sister Elizabeth. 

1900-1901 Deeds go back and forth between a Henry family and James Fletcher and Mary Lineberry for the same tract of land. The wife, Lila Henry, is Mary's sister. 

1901 Mary writes a Will. After the usual shpill about body and bills, she leaves everything to her 'friend', James Fletcher, if he outlives her. Her second request is what gives us information. She wants a proper grave and markers for herself, for James, his mother, her mother, his grandmother, and his grandmother's husband. Not his grandfather, but his grandmother's husband. She adds that after James's death, all of the funds after the sale of her property goes to the church, in the hand of the trustees of the church and she names the trustees as her executors.

James dies first in 1905 and then Mary in 1910, so the trustees probate her estate. 

The records show that James is buried near his mother, Jane Fletcher, who is buried next to Josiah Abshire and Peggy Fletcher. Jane and Peggy's stones do not contain dates. According to this information, Jane was the daughter of Peggy Fletcher and James was the son of Jane. The vacillation between the surnames of Lockhart and Fletcher suggest, but do not prove, that James may have been illegitimate This also states that Peggy must have been the wife of Josiah Abshire, however, she is listed in the records of Eastwood Cemetery as Peggy Fletcher, not Abshire, so they may not have been legally married. 

This information is corroborated by the 1840 census where Josiah heads a household with a man between 90-100, a boy between 5 and 10, a woman in her 30's and a woman in her 80's. We know Jane was born around 1810 and died after 1880 and before 1894. Her mother, Peggy would have been born between 1750 and 1760 and must have died between 1840.

We're going to flip the script now and go back to the first census record of Josiah Abshire in Anson County, the 1810. Although he was born around 1756, the 1850 census states that he was born in South Carolina. Jane Fletcher's state of birth oscillates between South Carolina and Virginia, with her parents noted as being born in Virginia. 

Sit down, because this one is going to blow your mind. 

1810

Name	Josiah Abiaie
Residence Date	6 Aug 1810
Residence Place	Anson, North Carolina, USA
Number of All Other Free Persons	6
Number of Household Members	6

In 1810, Josiah was the head of a household of 6 "Other Free Persons". That is not in error. His military records hold him as a person of color. But in 1840 and 1850, he was counted among the white population. Yes, he was. Let me explain. Free people of color was a catch-all category for anyone darker than linen. It included freed slaves, people of mixed race born to free parents, or at least a free mother, indigenous people, and the odd person from any other country of brown-skinned individuals. Josiah must have been almost white, but not all white, and the darker part remains a mystery. I must add that his descendants are all white, he married white and his children either passed or chose to present themselves as white. Unfortunately, there is no other information about the 5 other people in his home in 1810

1820

Name	Jonah Absher
Enumeration Date	7 Aug 1820
Home in 1820 (City, County, State)	Harris, Anson, North Carolina, USA
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10	2
Free Colored Persons - Males - Under 14	1
Free Colored Persons - Males - 45 and over	1
Free Colored Persons - Females - 26 thru 44	1
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture	1
Free White Persons - Under 16	2
Total Free White Persons	2
Total Free Colored Persons	3
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other	5

In 1820, we can surmise that Josiah was free colored male over 45. There was a free colored male under 14 and two free white males under ten. There was a free colored female between 26 and 44. This must have been his wife. 

1830

Name	Josiah Alsheart
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)	Anson, North Carolina
Free Colored Persons - Males - 55 thru 99	1
Free Colored Persons - Females - 10 thru 23	1
Free Colored Persons - Females - 24 thru 35	1
Total Free Colored Persons	3
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)	3

In 1830, Josiah was the Free Colored man between 55 and 99. There was a free colored woman between 24 and 35 and another between 10 and 23. The boys were gone. Then we know the 1840 group appears to have been Josiah, with Peggy, Jane and James Fletcher. 

Which then brings us to 1850 where he was counted as a 100-year-old pensioner. 

Alfred

Now, as far as Anson County goes, only one child of Josiah Abshire was known or proven, that of Alfred, who is named in deeds and hired and attorney to represent him from Georgia when his father passed away. Alfred was born about 1805, and by 1840, was settled in Habersham, Georgia, where he appears in the 1840 census.  Alfred married Sarah Price, a lady of British descent and worked as a shoemaker. Together they had nine children: A J, Mary J., Aminda, Alfred Prescott, Francis Marion, Joseph Josiah, William Henry, Alfred Jr., and America. 

Alfred is not seen in any record, beyond perhaps his early census records as a child, as anything but a white man. Whatever color he had inherited from his father must have faded away in Alfred, and certainly among the grandchildren. 

In steps DNA, which has confirmed three other children for Josiah Abshire. 

Ann, born about 1785, although that year is flexible and might be more in the 1800 range. 

Joseph 1808 - 1850

Rachel about 1810 to Unknown, who married a Horne and moved to Cumberland County. 

Joseph and his wife, Martha are living in York County, South Carolina in 1850. They had two sons, one named Joseph II, who both died during the Civil War.

Land tales:

Below are the deeds that Josiah Abshire was involved in recorded at the Anson County, North Carolina Register of Deeds:

1819, March 30 Book S Page 343 - Josiah Abshire to Ingoe D. Cash for $320, 180 acres in the Illinois Territory, part of Josiah's Military Bounty.

1821, Oct. 12 Book W Page 403 - Josiah Abshire to Ingoe D. Cash, 160 acres in Illinois State, "patented by the United States of Americas to Josiah Abshire."

1829, April 29 Book Y Page 236- William Hammond to Alfred Abshire for  $30 where Josiah Abshire lives in the town o fWadesboro, number 5 plat of town on Caswell Street, one half acres which Hammond bought of W.Wade.

1833 Nov. 23 Book Z Page 19 Josiah Abshire Grant # 3120, $10 for every 100 acres, 15 acres joining Augustus Shepherd and William Hammond. on the east edge of Stanbach Ferry Rd and Alexander W. Brandon's.

1839, April 9 Book 10 Page 56 - Josiah Abshie to Alexander Little for $30 in the town of Wadesboro, for 6 acres adjoining Coleman's old field. 

1839, April 9 - Book 15, Page 166 - Alexander Little to Josiah Abshire, 4 acres on the Stanback Ferry Road adjoining Josiah Abshire.

1849 June 5th Book 13 Pages 140 & 141 - Josiah Abshire to Sherwood Cox for $30 a lot on Moss's Ferry Branch adjoining A. Shepherd and Josiah Abshire and the middle of Stanback Ferry Road, two acres. The a second deed on the 31st of August 1839 to Sherwood Cox for two and one quarter acres. 

1855 January Book 15 Page 671 - Patrick J Coppedge as administrator of Josiah Abshire, Wilson Allen became highest bidder for $127, property on Stanback Ferry Road adj. Shepherd's line, Jane Fletchers' corner, and Willoughby's line. This is the same P. J. Coppedge with land transaction between himself and the Fletchers. 

1855 -Book 23 Page 476 Alfred Abshire of Habersham, Georgia appoints Joseph White his attorney to sell property, "formerly the property of my father and conveyed to me by him."

1855 Book 23 Page 477 Alfred Abshire by his Attoney J. White to P J Coppedge, one and a half acres on N.E. Caswell Street at William Shaddings corner, and meeting Patrick Coppedge. 

1887 Book 23 Page 178 P. J. Coppedge to Albert Myers for $8.25, one half acres for debts owed, property formerly belonging to Josiah Abshire. 

Back to the Conversation 

So, where do I fit in, in all of this? During my correspondence with Alan, who had spent over 30 years working on the Abshire family line, came this conversation;

"Do you have any Abshire's in your family tree?"

"Not that I know of."

"How about Hornes or Hooks?"

"I have Hooks, but not Horne"

"Do you have a Daniel Hooks?"

"I do. My third Great Grandparents, John and Martha Capenter Hooks had a son named Daniel J. Hooks born in 1852."

"No, this is older than that. Do you have an Ann Hooks?"

I didn't know that I did, until I found this....

John Hooks died in the Civil War in 1864. He left a living wife and ten children. However, it was Ann Hooks, his mother, who made a claim for his settlement with the War Department. So yes, I did have an Ann Hooks in my family tree. Ann Abshire married a Daniel Hooks who died in 1845. DNA suggests she was the daughter of Josiah Abshire, making her my 4th Great Grandmother and him my 5th Great Grandfather. The one mystery I have not solved is where was Ann after Daniel died? She was evidentally alive in 1864, so should be somewhere in 1850 and 1860, which named everyone. There are multiple Ann Hooks about in those records, but I have not settled on one that says "This is me.", in some way or another.

John Hooks

The above link takes you to a post of mine on John Hooks, himself. 

As far as Josiah's own war records, he is on a DAR Roster and recieved a pension and bounty land in Illinois " Territory', for his Revolutionary War Service. 

In the War of 1812, he was a Corporal in Parker's Company 3rd US Rifle Regiment US Rangers. He was ruptured in January, 1815 near Alexandria, Virginia while on a march, and was discharged as an invalid. 

An 1825 affidavit by Major Thomas J. Robeson describes him explicitly as "a man of color', then about 56, living in Anson County, NC. Major Robeson praised his faithful service . He appears on an 1840 pension roll in Anson County and recieved land patent No. 8135 and 1818/ .

Josiah Abshire's situation gained the attention of websites such as Fourth Generation Inclusive, which tracts records of early Free family groups of color from the early years of the nation. 

The website mentioned the early census records, where he headed a family of six free people of color, perhaps himself, a wife and their four children.

They also recorded his amazing military career. Josiah evidently had a wife before his relationship with Peggy Fletcher, the widow of an older James Fletcher found in early Anson County records, which seems to have began between 1830 and 1840.

As far as the free person of color tag, some assume that meant he was black. But that's not what the evidence gives us. Josiah was light enough to be counted as white in his later years. His children were considered white and their mother may have been. This would have not have happened had he had been fully African, even if their mother was not. It seems he was a darker-skinned man of mostly European heritage, and the other part unknown. Perhaps Native, perhaps a touch of African blood, distantly. 

Josiah Abshire on a pension list for Anson County.

Joshiah Abshires Military Bounty Grant for land in Illinois

The origins of Josiah Abshire remain a mystery. He was old enough to appear in the 1790 or 1800 census. Yet, he did not. This suggests he was living in someone else's home, somewhere. The 1850 census gives his place of birth as South Carolina. Scan the entire 1790 census for the USA and you get two Abshire/Abshure's, one in Burke County, NC and the other in Wilkes County, NC. In 1800, there are two in each of these same Counties, no Josiah. By 1810, they seem to have spread out a little bit, one of them being Josiah in Anson County. The name is said to be an abstract of the German name Ibshcher, or a variation of Upsher.and a Lewis Abshire bought land in Virginia in 1637, but the name didn't take off until the mid-1800's. 

There was a Daniel Hooks in Anson County in the early years, and John Hooks did have a mother named Ann. 

Just as an experiment, I typed in Josiah as my ancester in my Family Tree and the next morning, I already had a match from a descendant of Alfred's on Thrulines. Now there are many. Ann may have only had the one son. I believe she may have had two, the two little boys in Josiah's home under five that were white when the rest of the house was FOP. Research continues. 

8

Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days: Nathaniel Tatum

"He is not man who does not bend the knee,

And she no woman who is not like thee!

Jamestown, and Plymouth's hallowed rock

To Me shall ever sacred be,-

Or breathe Viriginia' air, Or in New England claim his birth,

From the old pilgrims there, He is a bastard, if he dare to mock

Old Jamestown's shrine or Plymouth's rock.

-From "Ode to Jamestown" by James Kirke Paulding (1779-1860).

Mortality was extremely high in the first twenty years or so of the Jamestown Colony, and of the children sent as indentured servants, only one in ten would see adulthood. Between 1618 and 1622, the Virginia Company in companion with the City of London made a pact to send groups of children, in general, ages 8 to 16, to work in Virginia as apprentices or servants, basically the same as indentured servants, and often no more than slaves. The company intended for them to learn skills and become tenants. Those who received them were not ready for what they received. They wanted labor from children who needed care instead. They were mostly orphans, or street urchins, children who ran about the streets of London begging and stealing. They were poor, hungry and often sickly as well. Most came from Bridewell Hospital. Some died en route, others after arriving. One source states that of the first 300 children shipped, only 12 remained four years later. Nathaniel Tatum was one of the very few who beat the odds.

Nathaniel Tatum is one of my tenth Great Grandfathers. In a case of no pedigree collapse, a person would have 4096 ancestors at this level, and just Grandfathers, 2048. I do have pedigree collapse in my tree due to endogamy among the Burris and Mauldin lines, folks marrying cousins, or marrying back into a family after a number of generations, but still, I'm sure I have a large number of  Tenth Great Grandfathers, and do not know who most of them were. Nathaniel Tatum is exceptional in that manner, too. I know who he was.

There are two separate Nathaniel Tatum's that people confuse often, Nathaniel the Immigrant and Nathaniel of Barbados. Nathaniel of Barbados was about 6 to 10 years younger, had a family, and arrived later. The Nathaniel I descend from was Nathaniel the Immigrant. He was christened on November 18, 1599, at Holy Trinity the Less Church in London, the son of William Tatum and Ellen Kirk (or Kirke). His parents were married on August 3, 1587, at St. Benet Grace Church on Gracechurch St in London. The Church he was baptized in was built in 1540 and destroyed by fire in the Great Fire of London in 1666, as was the St. Benet Grace Church, were his parents were married. 

His Family Origins

Nathaniel was from London, and Tatum is a very old English name, dating at least to the Doomsday Book of 1069. It was "Tateham" in 1202, and essentially meanings "Ham" or Home of a man named Tate or Tata, literally "Home of a man named Tate." His father, William Tatum, appears to have been married twice, first, to Ellen Kirke, and second, to Anne, maiden name unknown. 

The children of William Tatum (or Tatam) recorded in St. Michael Crooked Lane Parish were:

1) Samuel Tatam (July 5, 1590) He died young.

2) Anne Tatum (Aug. 25 1593 - Oct. 5, 1593)

3) Samuel Tatum (Oct 8, 1594 - unknown)

Children of William Tatam recorded in Holy Trinity the Less Parish

4) Jerome Tatum (Feb. 27, 1597 to Aug. 8, 1603.

5) Nathaniel Tatum (Aug. 3, 1599 to Jan .27, 1676 Virginia)

6) Nehemiah Tatam (April 25 1602 - August 1603)

Nathaniel was more than fortunate, he was blessed. William and his sons Jerome and Nehemiah were buried on August 1, 1603. His wife was buried two days earlier on July 30th of the same year. The plague killed over 37,000 Londoners between July until November 1603. Nathaniel must have been placed in a healthy home with neighbors or relatives when everyone began getting sick. He was the only family member who survived the dread disease. What happened to the 4-year-old after that is unknown. He may have been placed in an orphanage or became a street child. He was older than the other children when transported to America. Perhaps he was attempting, successfully, to pass for younger than he was. He appears to have been very sharp and sensible for his entire life. Mere survival required cunning.

George the Ship

The ship named 'George' left London on March of 1619 and arrived in Virginia in May of 1619. 

"Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607 – 1624/5," Fourth Edition, Compiled and edited by John Frederick Dorman, Volume Two, page 16" has the following entry l.

1619 May - Virginia: "Nathaniell Tatam aged 20 yeares in the George, May 1619" 

Gotten from a Muster list dated January 22, 1724. 

The age at 20 in 1619, aligns perfectly with the 1599 Baptism, meaning this is the correct Nathaniel Tatum. 

Indian Wars

From its inception, Jamestown was, reasonably, the object of attack from the native peoples. Its mere existence was an invasion of their territory.  On March 22, 1622 there was an attack on nearly every plantation and settlement. Charles City Point was reported to be wiped out. The settlers were mostly unarmed and unprepared. 

By 1624, the Colony had set up musters at over twenty plantations, with arms and fortifications to prepare for future attacks. Nathaniel Tatum survived this dangerous period as well. He was listed in the muster as an occupant of a plantation known as "Shirley Hundred", and for arms he had, "Peece fixt - one, Armour - one." Shirley Hundred was located in what is now Charles City County, on the northeast bank of the James River. It was north of Eppes Island and across the river from Bermuda Hundred. The Shirley Plantation and house still exists, and is a tourist attraction and historic site today, hailed as "Virginia's Oldest Plantation."

Nathaniel had survived The Plague, Transportation, probable indenture, Indian attacks, disease and the ravages of a new Colony. He was Survivor. At the age of 25, he crossed the river and was living on the South side in "Charles Citty". 

As an adult, Nathaniel Tatum returned to England for a time, leaving his property, possibly occupied by attendants. There, he married a woman named Ann, and she gave birth there to their first child there, a daughter named Mary, before returning to Virginia. He would be given a grant for the transportation of his wife and daughter. 

Patents

July 24, 1638 Virginia Land Grant to Nathaniel Tatum - 500 acres on the Appamattuck  River, west upon a 'great creek' and south in the main woods, east upon Causey's field, and north upon said river, due by assignment from Thomas Causey. '

July 25, 1638 Charles City County, Grant to Nathaniel Tatum, 100 acres on the Appamattox River, "bounded northerly upon the river..easterly upon a creek that parts the said land from 500 acres granted said Tatum, upon the river towards land of John Baker, due for transport of his wife Ann and his daughter Mary Tatum."

                

 According to the book, Purse and Person, Nataniel was named as a tobacco viewer for the north side of the Appomattox River in 1640, along with Cheney Boyce and Anthony Wyatt. 

 Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1624/5, Fourth Editions, Volume 3, by John Frederick Dorman – Families R-Z Genealogical Publishing County, Inc. page 260.

December 4, 1641, in Charles City County Grant to Nathaniel Tatum - 500 acres on Appomattox River, "beginning upon the farther side of a creek separate from land of said Nathaniel Tatum from the land of John Baker."

 In 1644 there was another attack by the native tribe that occupied the coast of Virginia. In 1656, Nathaniel was part of a militia ordered to secure the immediate area. 

Between 1638 and 1669, there were ten mentions of Nathaniel Tatum in the Virginia early land records, either involving his own property, or as a mention in the records of his neighbors. This gives an idea of who lived around him.

         

May 22. 1638 A Grant to Joseph Farye, 250 acres on the north side of the Appomattox, opposite the property of Nathaniel Tatum.

Oct. 10, 1639, A Grant to Edward Prince, 500 acres adjoining Nathaniel Tatum, with Prince's land running up the falls

Nov. 5, 1649, A Grant to Walter Childs, 813 acres ..  running to a patch of water on Nathaniel Tatums property.

Jan. 23,1653 A Grant  to Col. Francis Epps,  280 acres adjoining Nathaniel Tatum.

 Mar 12, 1654  Walter Brooks purchased 300 acres   running east  along the  head of NathanielTatum's land.

 Mar 12, 1662 Grant to John Coleman  for 600 acres at the head of Nathaniel Tatum's land.

 Mar 18, 1662 Grant to Walter Brooks for 300 acres, north on Appomattox, then east alongthe  head of Nathaniel Tatum's land.

 Feb. 17, 1663  A sale to Col. Francis Epps for 285 acres at the   head of Nathanile Tatum's land.

 Mar 25, 1663  A sale to  Lt. John Howell for 212 acres adjoining Nathaniel Tatum's land.

 Aug 18, 1663 An Indenture to  John Howell  for 203 acres at place called Bakers, along a trace parting Nathaniel Tatum and Howell, then on to Cawson's Creek.

June 6, 1664 Nathaniel Tatum and Jervis Dix were paid as witnesses for Richard Nance. (Jarivs Dix would later marry Mary Tatum, who married John Howell first.

Jan. 27, 1675 A deed of gift from Nathaniel Tatum "The Elder" to his grandson, Nathaniel Tatum was recorded in Bristol Parish.

"Received of said Nicholas Dison, one old parchment book containing about 2 quire of paper and being Procedures of the Bristol Parish Court, held at Fort Henry, beginning 19 May 1655 and ending with a deed of gift from Nathaniel Tatum the elder to his grandson Nathaniel Tatum, of a parcel of land, entered 27 January 1675"

(Henrico County Colonial Deeds 1677-1705 by Benjamin B. Weisinger, III, 1996, page 62.)

April 26, 1684 A Land Patent for 150 acres in Isle of Wright County to Thomas Pill, the land being "which Ann Tatum died seized of". This showed Ann was dead by this date. Most sources secure Ann as Ann Godfrey, daughter of Peter Godfrey and Dorothea Wilde. This makes the most sense as the Tatum held a close and intermarried bond with the Wilder/Wilde family. I've also seen her as Ann Wainwright.

Nathaniel Tatum died about 1675 and his wife Ann died before 1684.

The five known children of Nathaniel and Ann Tatum were:

A) Mary Tatum, born in England. Married 1st: John Howell, Four children; Ann Howell Gibbs, Mary Howell Hood, Nathaniel Howell, John Howell. Married 2nd: Jarvis Hix: two daughters.

B) Nathaniel Tatum II , born in Charles City, Virginia. Married Elizabeth Turner. Children: Nathaniel Tatum III, Edward Tatum, Christopher Tatum, Peter Tatum and Henry Tatum.

C)  Samuel Tatum, born in Charles City, Viriginia. Married Mary Elizabeth Moore.Children: Nathaniel (who married Elizabeth and was gifted the deed from his grandfather), Ann Tatum, Rebecca Tatum, Mary Tatum, Barbara Tatum and Samuel Tatum II who married Phoebe.

D)  John Tatum , was a resident of Martin's Brandon Parrish, Charles City County. According to The Adventures of Purse and Person, he married Elizabeth (MNU), a widow, who would later marry John Good. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, who was neglected by her stepfather. Elizabeth would marry Anthony Wyatt, who went to court for her and the court ordered Good to restore or return her lands.

1688 April 13 – Charles City-County: At a Court held at Westover, 13 April 1688, complaint made that an orphan, Elizabeth Tatum, now in the care of Jno. Good, is utterly neglected by Good both in fitting education and apparel and other necessaries suitable to her estate.  Good summoned to next court with account of Jno. Tatem, deceased.  In meantime, Good (is) to decently care for girl or else Captain Nicho. Wyatt to be entrusted with her care.  Said Elizabeth likewise to appear at next court.

(Charles City County, Virginia Court Orders 1687-1695, by Benjamin B. Wessiger III, 1980, page 17, original 122)

E) Isaac Tatum, who had a wife, but she is not named. He settled in Surry County. He was 31 when his age was taken from a deposition in 1667. This one is debatable. He seems to be a separate Tatum to me and not of the same class that Nathaniel attained through his long life and industry.

Nathaniel Tatum was an incredible survivor and patriarch. He lived through being orphaned by the plague, crossed the ocean at least twice, fought the land for sustenance and left descendants across America. His daughter Mary married Jarvis Dix. Their daughter married William Winfield and had son Jarvis who had son Edward who had son Peter, who moved to the Rocky River in North Carolina and whose daughter,  Sarah, would marry Job Davis, who I named this blog after. They had a son Henry, who had a son Horton, who had a son William, who had a son Lewis, who had a daughter, Joyce, who had me. Now, I am a grandmother and have two generations below me. That's 15 generations in America descended from Nathaniel Tatum, the Immigrant.

Sources: 

"Southside Virginia Genealogies," by John W. Pritchett, Genealogical Publishing County, Inc. 2006, on CD.

"Tidewater Virginia Families": Generations Beyond, by Virginia Lee Hutcheson Davis, 1998      

"Marriages of Some Virginia Residents 1607-1800," by Dorothy Ford Wulfeck, Volume II, Surnames I-Z.

"Descendants of Cheney Boyce, 'Ancient Planter,' and of Richard Craven," by John Anderson Bayson, 1996

"Adventurers of Purse and Person – Virginia 1607-1624/5," Fourth Edition, by John Frederick Dorman, Volume 3, Tatum    

   Cavaliers and Pioneers – Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1666, by Nell Marion Nugent and Library of Virginia on-line grants)                    

Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days: Joseph Culpepper

Following my last few posts from my father's family tree, Wilson and Starnes, I must switch back over to my mother's side of the tree: Culpeper.

The Culpepper who brought our lineage to America from England was one Henry Culpepper, who was in Virginia by 1653, appearing as a headright. He later appeared in several records in Lancaster County in 1658. By the early 1660's, he would arrive in Lower Norfolk County, where he would make a nest and become a patriarch of a slowly building family that would find its way to Anson County, North Carolina within a century.

In that year, his name was posted giving notice of his intention to return to England, found in Brayton's Lower Norfolk Book D 338a. It appears he had made a place to settle and returned to England to bring back family. In the "Complete Book of Immigrants 1661-1699", page 64 is found the record of Henry returning from London to New England with a John Culpepper. Henry was born in 1633 in Harriettsham, Kent and died in Norfolk County, Virginia in 1676, at the young age of 43. He married an Elizabeth Green, (1640-1676) and had at least two sons, Robert and Henry Jr., and possibly John, and a daughter, Elizabeth.

In 1691, the County was split into two, with the other composing Princess Ann County, and the part where the Culpepper's settled remained Norfolk. Robert is my line, my 8th Great Grandfather, while Henry was my 9th. Robert was born in Lower Norfolk County around 1664. He married around 1687, to Sarah, whose maiden name remains unknown. On June 16, 1692, he was granted a deed from Thomas Greene, Jr. and wife, Elizabeth, which was witnessed by his brother, Henry Culpepper Jr. The property was located on the western branch of the Elizabeth River, and was purchased with 2000 pounds of tobacco, the most popular currency of the time.

Even more interesting, in 1727, there is a deed between Robert Culpepper and John Winfield, Jr, in the Western Branch District.

According to Culpepper Connections, an online compositor, "In 1727 Robert Culpepper bought 50 acres on the West Branch of the Elizabeth River from his cousin Jonas Winfield for 10 lieu." Proof of the Winfield relationship is found in the Will of Jeane Greene. Jeane and her husband, Thomas Greene Sr. are my 9th Great Grandparents through their daughter, Elizabeth Greene who married Henry Culpepper. She was born around 1615 and married circa 1630. In 1654, she and her husband Thomas, attempted to attain a third of the estate of Nicholas Harvey, but it was not granted. She had testified, "I, Jane Green, the now wife of Thomas Greene of Elizabeth River, in the County of Lower Norfolk, planter, do here testify freely before the magistrate that I was the lawful wife and widow of Nicholas Harvey of Patuxent in the Province of Maryland, planter".  So, Jean had remarried to Thomas after the death of her first husband, Nicholas Harvey. She had been his second wife, because she had callously left a young stepdaughter with the neighbors and took off to Virginia. Jean Harvey Greene wrote her will on March 27, 1694, in Norfolk and named Henry Culpepper, Jr., her grandson, as one of her heirs. It was witnessed by Eleazar Tart, who would turn out to be one of Robert Culpepper's son in laws. In 1695 in Deed Book 5 Page 241 of Norfolk County Va, Jean's Will was proved by Samuel Walker and Eleazar Tart. She left a mare to her grandson, John Winfield. a bed and pestle to her granddaughter, Eliza Walker, a gun to her grandson, Richard Bunting, a pewter dish to her granddaughter Elizabeth Bunting. To the Grandchildren born of her son, Thomas Greene she left small items to Ann Green and Tomisen Green and a chest to Elizabeth Walker. To her grandson Henry Culpepper, she left a small chest and her pigeons. She mentions Tomasen Green and Alice Norcott, as granddaughters, and named her son in law, Richard Bunting as Executor. Witnesses were Samuel Walker, Henry Culpepper and Eleazar Tart. 

The children of Thomas and Jeane Green were:

Thomas Greene Jr.

Sarah Greene who married John Winfield.

Elizabeth Green who married Henry Culpeper Sr 

William Greene

Ann Green who married Richard Bunting.

A daughter who married Samuel Walker.

Robert Culpeper Sr. my 8th Great Grandfather, has been proven by DNA to be a descendant of Henry Culpepper Sr using Y-111 testing and Y-DNA separate markers.  His Will had been written in 1739 and proved in 1743. He lived to be 80, quite remarkable for those times. Robert and his brother Henry II are responsible for most of the American Culpepper's, Robert, for 80 percent of them.

In the Will, Robert names 3 sons and 5 daughters.

To Robert Jr., he leaves his "Great Bible", an ancient text supposedly contained at the Virginia Archives. Robert also gets lancets, horse flames and other instruments "of iron for the use of horses." 

Robert Junior must have been learning the art of blacksmithing. 

He left five shillings each to his sons Joseph and Benjamin, who had already removed to Edgecomb County, North Carolina by then. He left a crown each to his daughters Rachel and Ann, who had married brothers by the name of Wilder. He left a Ewe and lamb to his daughter, Elizabeth, wife of John Ward, and a Ewe to Mury Green, his daughter who married Henry Green. He must have been particularly fond of his grandson, William, who is believed to have been the son of Robert Jr. He left the boy a Cow and calf and Ewe and lamb. To his "loving daughter Mary Tart", who was the wife of Eleazar Tart, who he named his sole Executor, he had also left a Ewe and lamb..

The origin of the name Culpepper began in Kent. It's an occupational name for an herbalist or spicer. Quite literally, it means one who "culls", or gathers, and peppers. 

Joseph Culpepper

Joseph Culpepper, my 7th Great Grandfather, was not the oldest son of Robert Culpepper, Sr. He is thought to be the middle one, with Benjamin the youngest. Many people have merged the two online, but they were obviously separate men, brothers, who traveled together.

Joseph was born circa 1696 in Lower Norfolk and had moved south into Bertie County, NC by sometime in the middle 1720's. The area he settled in would later become Northampton. Around 1738 or so, he moved on to Edgecombe County, where he would stay. He passed away there about 1745. He would only have been around 49 or 50 years old. Neither he nor his brother, Benjamin left a Will, but Benjamin seems to have followed him. 

Joseph named his oldest son Benjamin, probably for his little brother, Benjamin, of whom he was extremely fond. His son, Benjamin, inherited most of his father's property through his right of primogeniture.

Joseph is proven to be the son of Robert Culpepper, not only through the paper trail, but through the Warren Culpepper DNA project in 2010.  The project proved that over three fourths of all Culpepper's descended from one progenitor, and that line traced back to Henry of Lower Norfolk.

Joseph Culpepper was in Bertie County, NC by 1725, as I mentioned previously.  In August of that year, he witnessed two deeds. These are found in the Bertie County Deed Book 725-1727, Book 2 and Book 14. One was for a William Whitehead and the other for a William Bennett, who were neighbors and their land bordering one another on the Roanoke River.

Later, on August 2, 1727, John Bass, Jr. was granted 410 acres located "on the northernly side of the Morattock River, joining the south side of Bear Swamp."  Morattock is now known as the Roanoke. This tract was said to have adjoined the property of Joseph Culpepper and Robert House. On the very same day, Joseph was granted 364 acres in Bertie "on the northernly part of the Morattock."  His tract joined those of Robert Newsom and Robert House. This shows that Joseph's land was near the Bear Swamp, which is in current Northampton County, NC, which is only a few miles Rich Square, a very old community founded in 1750. So, it appears Joseph lived in Rich Square, Northampton County, from when he first arrived, sometime before 1725, until 1738, when he left after the fall harvest.

Then, on December 5, 1738, John Edwards Sr. of Bertie Precinct, that part which later became Northampton, sold 320 acres in Edgecombe to Joseph Culpepper for 16 pounds. The land was on the south side of the Morattock River and west side of Fishing Creek. So, he was sliding down the river, but not immigrating far distances, just picking up better tracts of land. The land joined that of Emanuel Rogers. A grant to Emanuel Rogers shows that Joseph's land was close to Beaverdam Swamp, about 13 miles north of Rocky Mount. The Roger's grant was on the southside of the Morattock River joining Beaverdam Swamp, which was a branch of Fishing Creek. So, the new digs were 30 miles west of his old place in Bertie County on Bear Swamp.

In Edgecombe, Joseph Culpepper recorded his cattle brand in 1741 in the Edgecombe Book of Marks. It seems he intended to graze cattle on the new property.

Two years later, on Feb. 27, 1743, Joseph entered 300 acres in Edgecomb County on the north side of Swift Creek below the mouth of the Tuckahoe Branch, which included his own improvements.

Then in 1745, John Edwards, the same man who sold Joseph land in Edgecomb in 1838, was granted 595 on both sides of Bear Swamp, adjoining Joseph Culpeppers land, at a point near the mouth of White Oak Branch, Solomon fuller, William Boon, and the swamp. Book 5, page 223.  Several months later, in November of 1745, John Edwards sold 139 acres in Northampton County on both sides of Bear Swamp to Thomas Hayes for 20 pounds. The tract adjoined Joseph Culpeper, Solomon Fuller and William Boon, and the swamp. These were swampy lands, with all that came with it. It was added, "and was part of a 595-acre patent to John Edwards dated 6 April 1745". This seems to imply that Joseph still owned his property in Northampton, although now living in Edgecombe. There's a Culpepper Bridge over Fishing Creek, that could have been named for this same family. In 1749, William Culpepper received a grant, Number 645, in the same area.

Benjamin Culpepper received a grant that bordered John Rogers, a brother of the Emanuel Rogers, mentioned earlier. Most of Emanuel Roger's land was north of Fishing Creek in the Quankey Creek area and his brother, John Rogers, Jr. lived on Little Fishing Creek, (asa Conway Creek), north of Fishing Creek. This area became part of Halifax County later on.

In 1741, Northampton and Edgecombe were cut from Bertie County. That same year Joseph Culpepper sold 160 acres in Edgecombe to his brother Benjamin. This was located north of Fishing Creek and "one half of John Edwards" that was mentioned above. There is no record of when or how Joseph acquired the property. It apparently was lost or not recorded. 

In Edgecomb deeds Book 3 Page 136 and Book 5 Page 192, John Edwards gifted land to his sons, Thomas and John Edwards Jr. It was in the Rocky Swamp area and north of Fishing Creek. This area is now in Halifax. The Culpepper Brothers had close contact with the Edwards, but exactly how, if there is a relation, is unknown.

Joseph Culpepper died in Edgecomb in 1745. His wife, Martha (Mallory) Culpepper was appointed the Administrator of his estate in May of that year. Later, she was appointed guardian of four children: John, Joseph, Argent and Sampson.  These were not all the children, just the ones who were underage, or "infants", at the time.  

When he died at 49, he owned one or two tracts of land, the west half of the 320-acre grant on Fishing Creek and the 300-acre tract on Swift Creek. These both went to his oldest son, Benjamin, who was an adult when he passed away. Martha, who may have been a second wife, remarried about 1751 to Benjamin Dumas, another familiar, Anson county name. About this same time, her son, Benjamin Culpepper, sold half of his land on Fishing Creek, to his cousin, Benjamin Culpepper Jr., son of Benjamin Culpepper, Sr.. To differientiate between all of the Benjamin Culpeppers,  they referred to Ben,  the son of Ben, as Benjamin "The Ferryman", because, I suppose, he operated a ferry. Benjamin the Ferryman, also had a widowed mother who lived on the eastern half of the property. Got that?

William Wilder

We move up another two years to August of 1753. On the 21st, William Wilder sold 100 acres that adjoined the property of "Widow Culpepper" and the "Widow Mason" on the south side of Fishing Creek. The witnesses were Thomas Mann,  Benjamin Culpepper, and Nathaniel Powell. Deed Book 4, page 531. The property had been granted to William Wilder the year before, on May 2, 1752. It bordered Joseph Culpepper's old Fishing Creek Property on the west. The widow Mason refered to in the deed was Hannah Mason, wife of Ralph Mason. Later on her son Mark Mason is seen with land that bordered the Culpepper Plantation.

William Wilder had married Joseph and Martha Culpeppers' daughter, Elizabeth just after her father died in 1745. I don't know if or how he may have been connected to Elizabeth's Aunts, Rebecca Culpepper Wilder and Ann Culpepper Wilder, but I would guess he probably was. They loved keeping it in the family back then.

The marriage to Benjamin Dumas by Joseph's widow Matha was fortuitous, because this is the catalyst that brought the Culpeppers to Anson County, North Carolina and into my gene pool. Nearly all of her children, and at least two of Joseph's nephews, sons of his brother, Benjamin Culpepper, Robert and William, joined the trek westward to Anson County and the banks of the Pee Dee River.

Benjamin Dumas died on October 1, 1763, and did not leave a will, according to Martha's own testimony. 

In a Salisbury District Court case we find John and Joseph Culpepper (Jr.), sons of Joseph Culpepper Sr. vs David Dumas, their stepbrother, the son of Benjamin Dumas, who was also the administrator of the estate.

The Will of Martha Mallory Culpepper Dumas was dated January 23, 1764 and was probated January 26, just three days later. Her will is found within the Benjamin Dumas Estate papers. In it, she mentions her chldren Joseph, John, Sampson and Sarah Culpepper and Elizabeth Wilder. Sampson is noted as the youngest. She doesn't mention Joseph's oldest son, Benjamin or daughter, Argent. Either they were by a first wife, had already recieved everything they were going to get, or it was simply because they were no longer around her. Some feel that Argent Culpepper had passed away after her father died, unmarried and childless, and the Argent Culpepper found later in Anson County mentions is a younger, namesake.

Anson County, NC

In July 1755, page 455, Benjamin Dumas, of Anson, sells to John Vanhoose for 20 pounds current money of Virginia, a tract on the southside of the Great Pee Dee River. It lie on the banks of the river opposite of Long Island and the bank of "Dividing Creek". I am not sure where that was exactly. It was for 248 acres and was signed by both Benjamin and Martha Dumas. Witnessess were Jeremiah Dumas, John McQueen and John Vanhoose.

A year later on April 23, 1756, Benjamin Dumas sells to John Colson, 156 acres of land bordering John Hall for 50 pounds proclamation money, signed by Benjamin and Martha Dumas and witnessed by Jeremiah Dumas, Zachariah Smith and Edmund Lilly.

By the 1790 census some 44 years later, household led by Andrew, Benjamin and Jeremiah Dumas are found in Richmond County and Davis Dumas, a Junior and a Senior, along with a Susanna Dumas, are found in Montgomery County, with none in Anson County. 

Timeline of the Culpeppers following the death of Joseph:

1745 Martha appointed administrator of Joseph's estate in Edgecomb County.

1745 In August, Martha is appointed the guardian of her own 4 minor children: John, Joseph, Argent and Sampson.

1764 On Jan. 23 in Anson County, NC, Court in Salisbury, Rowan County. (Court at this time for this area was either in Salisbury or Fayetteville). She name her "well beloved " children in her will, Joseph, John, and her youngest, Sampson, and daughters Elizabeth Wilder and Sarah Culpepper. She gives a girl named Effey to Sampson. She requests that the residual of her estate be divided amongst her children, Joseph, John, Sampson and Sarah Culpepper and Elizabeth Wilder. Witnesses to the Will were John Gibson, John Colson and Andrew Presley.

Sarah will meet Thomas Presley, son of Andreas (Andrew) Presley/Preslar Jr. in Anson County and they become my 6th Great Grandparents.

The children of Joseph Culpepper:

1) Benjamin Culpepper (1724-1771) Remains in the Bertie/ Edgecombe area.

2) Elizabeth Culpepper (1725-unk) Married William Wilder

3) Sarah Culpepper (1729-1808) Married Thomas Presley

4) Joseph Culpepper Jr. (1731-1821/1822) Moved with mother and stepfather to Anson County, and later to Georgia. Revolutionary War record.

5) John Culpepper (1733-1808) Moved to Anson with family, also removed to Georgia, also a Revolutionary War record. 

6) Argent Culpepper (1735- bef. 1764) Believe to have died young, not in mother's will.

7) Sampson Culpepper (1736-1823) Married Elenor Gilbert in Anson County, father of Rev. John Culpepper, a US Congressman. 

The Gibson connection: In 1760, a man named Walter Gibson deeded to Joseph Culpepper (Jr), "for goodwill and natural affection", a tract on the Rocky River. The train of thought on this is that Joseph had married a daughter of Walter Gibson. A John Gibson had witnessed the Will of Martha Dumas.

The Culpepper's settled on the Rocky River, Brown Creek and Richardson Creek in Upper Anson where a great number of my other ancestors lived. 

Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days: Nicholas Broadway

 

The surname of Broadway, also seen as Broadaway, takes me back to my British roots, my second largest hunk of DNA. The name originated in the area of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset in the West Midlands of England. Simply put, it referred to someone who lived by a broad road or path.

Nicholas Broadway was one of my 5th Great Grandfathers. I have two Broadway lines, both through female ancestors. His daughter, Obedience Broadway, (1785-1837), my 4th Great Grandmother, married James Ludwell Carpenter, and was settled along the Rocky River near my Davis ancestors. Elizabeth "Betsy" Broadway, born circa 1804, married their son, Thomas Jackson Carpenter (1802-1877). She was the daughter of a William Broadway (circa 1772) and wife Mary and the granddaughter of Robert (circa 1752) and wife Ann Berry. This may have been a cousin marriage for Thomas and Betsey. Robert and his wife married in Philadelphia, and he is the one who brought his branch of the Broadways to Anson County. 

Nicholas, on the other hand, was the son of an Edward Broadway and Mary Pettypool. He was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and was found in Edgecomb, North Carolina by the mid 18th Century. He didn't tarry long in Edgecomb County, as he and his wife are found in 

 he is found in a Tax List for Anson County in 1763.

Name	Nicholas Broadway
State	North Carolina
County	Anson
Year	1763

Nicholas was probably named for an earlier Nicholas Broadaway, who arrived in Maryland in 1658 and was found later in Virginia. Nicholas married Elizabeth Berry while still in Prince Edward County. The couple set forth to North Carolina in their twenties. 

Name	Robert? Broadway
Residence	1763 Tax List, Anson, North Carolina

Nicholas and Robert the Early were the only Broadaways, as heads of families in the middle 18th Century, the earliest years of settlement of Anson County, the part of the County that remains Anson to this day. I can't help but think there is a connection somewhere, whether close or distant, I can't say.

In a transaction dated September 20, 1757, wherein Nicholas Broadway and his wife, Elizabeth sold to Thomas Tallant for 15 lbs. in Virginia money land on Smith Creek that had been granted to Joseph White and Francis McElwain on April 13, 1749, and had been conveyed to Tomas Berry by deed on July 17, 1752, and then from Thomas Berry to his daughter, Elizabeth and as such, to her husband, Nicholas Broadway.  It was signed by both Elizabeth and Nicholas. Witnesses were Samuel Berry, Isaac Falkenberry and William Howell. 

The above plat of 250 acres was surveyed for Nicholas Broadway in 1763, on the Southwest side of the Pee Dee River. It bordered Joseph "Whitet" and F."Mchilcherson".  This was Joseph White and Francis McElwain.

This land was like a hot potato, as on July 27, 1762, Thomas Tallant of Anson sold it on to Leonard Higdon, planter, also of Anson, for L30.00, doubling his profits. It was the same land granted to White and McElwain and then to Thomas Berry, and then to Nicholas Broadway, on Smith's Creek. Witnesses were Benjamin Martin and Isaac Falkenberry. 

If that wasn't bad enough, just four months later, on November 4, 1862, Leonard Higdon sold the exact same tract, with the list of owners getting longer to Samuel Flake for the same amount he paid for it. The same men, Martin and Falkenberry were witnesses. 

In August of the next year, Charles Berry, Elizabeth's brother, sold his share of his father's property, on both sides of Smith's Creek, to Thomas Tallent, "175 acres conveyed to Thomas Berry " on July 18, 1752 and to Charles Berry, his son, in October of 1755. This had also been granted previously to Francis McElwaine in 1749. It was signed by Charles and Elizabeth Berry and witnesses by Benjamin Martin and James Denson.

Smith's Creek runs west to east from around Lilesville to the Pee Dee River, north of Clark's Mountain.

This is east of Wadesboro.

In 1766, Nicholas and Benjamin Bridges were chain carriers on a survey of James Hutchins 100 acres. 

The Broadways were not a populous family in those days, in fact, records are sparse and fleeting. Location becomes very important. In NC land Grants we see:

• 1756 Robert on Buffalo Creek
• 1767 Nicholas 
• 1791 Robert on Lane's Creek
• 1799 Robert on Cribbs Creek
• 1844 Robert on Rocky River next to Hinson
• 1797 William on Richardson Creek
• 1818 William adjoining Ludwell Carpenter and John Charactor
• 1833 Thomas adjoining his own and Wiley Polk
• 1795 John on Arnett Branch of Rocky River
• 1801 and1802 - John on Cribbs Creek
• 1808 and 1812 - John, adjoining his own and John Lee
• 1826 and 1827 - Again John Broadway

There is a later one in 1854 involving Hartwell Broadway.

There were an earlier Robert and a later Robert. Then there was Samuel Broadway, a Revolutionary War solider who stated that he was born in Anson County in 1763, the year Nicholas was taxed in Anson County, NC. Samuel stated he had since lived in South Carolina and Georgia, but had lived primarily in Rutherford and Haywood Counties, North Carolina. He lived in Macon at the head of the Tennessee River for about 9 or ten years. He server as a substitute for Montford Dejarnett, a Virginia Militia man in Prince Edward County, Virginia, the place Nicholas Broadway was born. Samuel had gone there, where he had met DeJarnett, and later returned for a period of 9 months.

On August 27, 1834, Samuel Broadway wrote from Dahlonega, Lumpkin County, Georgia, that he had moved there.

William Broadway living next to Ludwell Carpenter is significant, because Ludwell married Obedience Broadway, and William's daughter, Betsey, married Ludwell's son, Thomas.

It seems by marrying Elizabeth Berry, Nicholas had lucked up, allowing him to become freeholder. But Nicholas was not the only Broadway to marry a Berry (or Barry). Robert Broadway married Ann Berry, but not in Anson County.

According to 'Encyclopedia of Biographies' an older Nicholas Broadway, settled in Talbot County, Maryland in 1662. He had a son, Samuel, who had Ambrose, who married Mary Wilson. The book claims they were the parents of Robert Broadway, who married Ann Berry and had a son, also named Ambrose. 

Nicholas Broadways year of birth has been estimated at 1722; He had a brother named Ambrose. This lineage seems to take him back to being the grandson of Nicholas the Immigrant, and making Robert Broadaway, who arrived in Anson County about the same time as Nicholas, his nephew, Robert being the father of William whose daughter, Elizabeth 'Betsy' Broadway, married the son of Obedience Broadway Carpenter, daughter of Nicholas. Got that?

Name	Nicholas Brodoway
Arrival Year	1658
Arrival Place	Maryland
Primary Immigrant	Brodoway, Nicholas
Source Publication Code	8510
Annotation	Index from manuscript by Arthur Trader, Chief Clerk in the Maryland Land Commission, 1917. And see nos. 4507-4511, Land Notes.

There is a book on Nicholas the Immigrant and his wife, Catherine. Although the book finds its way to Robert, it does not mention Nicholas of Anson who married Elizabeth Berry.  There are too many unanswered questions within the Broadway family. I cannot help but to view them as a puzzle waiting to be solved. For instance, there exists in the middle years of the 19th century, a Robin Broadway, who is sometimes seen as Robert, and once as Thomas, who exists in my family tree as the husband of my 4th Great Grandaunt, Sarah Webster, sister of ancestor, Nancy Webster, who is mentioned in my earlier post in this series on Erasmus Preslar. Robert seems to be steadfastly anchored to the oak of the John Broadway family tree, but the identity of his mother is anybody's guess, although I've seen three different suggestions. These inconsistencies and quandaries lead me to desire to investigate the particulars of the Anson County Broadways or Broadaways, as a whole a little deeper. I'm not sure I agree with others concurrences.  

When Nicholas Broadway appears in the 1763 Tax List of Anson County, who is the obliterated name below his? We see his father-in-law, Thomas Berry, below him three spaces, who is taxed for 1 poll, his sons grown. Nicholas was taxed for 5 white polls and no black polls. This means he had four males over 16 living in his household, besides himself. 

Nicholas Broadway bought and sold land in Anson County between the years 1757 and 1768.

On Christmas Eve, 1760, Nicholas, identified as a Planter, bought property from John Husbands, his neighbor. 

The document was witnessed by W. Brown and Elizabeth Brown. 

The tract was 200 acres and cost him 20 pounds proclamation money. 

The tract was on the southwest side of the Pee Dee River and began at Caleb Howell's upper corner. This is the second time a Howell is mentioned in connection with Nicholas Broadway. This interests me, because the cove of them huddles in the same area as other ancestors of mine. I've long attempted to identify the family of Richard Howell, my 5th Great Grandmother Sarah Winfields first husband. These Howells near them is inspiring for that purpose. The survey proceeded forward to John George's corner on the Riverbank near the Grassy Island Wagon Ford, then down the Pee Dee River, then back to John Husbands'. 

Six years later in 1766, Nicholas bought property from Thomas Mitchell for 30 pounds proclamation money. 

This tract was 150 acres on the north side of Jones Creek.

Witnesses were Henry F. Falconborouh (later Falkenbury) and William Fielding, another name I've seen frequently in other family documents. 

In January of 1766, Thomas Berry departed with more of his own property, to his son-in-law, Nicholas Broadway. 

For 25 pounds proclamation money, he conveyed to Nicholas a tract in Anson, formally called Bladen, a piece of property beginning at Samuel Flake's lower corner of 100 acres altogether including buildings and 'one half of all gold and silver mines", and was part of the 500 acres of land Thomas Berry had gotten from Joseph White and Frances McElwain.

Later in the deed, Thomas Berry is referred to as Thomas 'Broady'. 

The above sale to Thomas Tallent, previously mentioned, was in 1757, and witnessed by Isaac Falconbrough, Samuel Berry and William Howell

Thomas Berry appears to have had at least the one daughter and two sons, Samuel and Charles. If Nicholas had another wife, there is no proof of it.

Nicholas Broadway had a case in court against William Hamer, but it doesn't say what the issue was about. 

Nicholas Broadaway had ventured into South Carolina on unspecified business, it is supposed. There he died on December 26, 1766. It is unknown where he was buried. However, the grave of his wife, Elizabeth, still remains to this day.

Tombstone of Elizabeth "Betty" Berry Broadaway

Elizabeth Berry died in 1769, the year after her husband. She was not an old woman; her age estimated at about 44. Her husbands at 46 when he died. Some of the children must have still been minors. As was the custom, they would have been assigned a guardian, or bound, and placed in another's home. Unfortunately, Anson is one of the many Counties that suffered record loss, from fires and other acts of nature or men, so that information is lost to time.

Rocky Mountain Church sits atop the highest hill in the area surrounding it near the forks of Richardson Creek and Rocky River. The Road begins at the Anson/Stanly County border, swirls around the rich ford area, near the John Lee cemetery, where Henry Davis lies, and then bends west, where the old Turner Cemetery is, all family and ancestors of mine. It ends near Crib Creek where two other roads, one called Randall, split off. For decades it was used for random camp meetings as the itinerant ministers would pass that way. The oldest graves predate the church by 70 or 80 years, so it must have served the earliest of arrivals. The church was founded in a log building in 1852. There are many Broadways in the Rocky Mount Cemetery. Among the internments there is Elizabeth 'Betty' Berry Broadaway, and more than likely, her husband Nicholas, too. 

Tombstone for Robert Broadway

Also buried in this same cemetery is my 6th Great Grandfather, Robert Broadaway. It's hard to focus on one without mentioning the other. There are no dates on the ancient stone, with its' rune-like markings

By 1790, the first census of the new United States of America, there was only one Broadway head of household in Anson County, a lady, named Gracy.

There has been much speculation on exactly who Gracy Broadway was. There were 7 males in her home over 16 and 7 females. The historic timeline analysis concludes that she certainly must have been the widow of Robert Broadway, although not a first wife. Otherwise, there are no hints as to who she was.

In the row of names where Gracy is listed, folks we can assume lived in the same general, though widespread, area, included my Uncle of many Greats, Edward Winfield, Drury Robertson, a friend of the Winfield's, who made the trip from Mecklenburg County, Virginia, with them, Richard Meanly, who married Edwards's mother's sister, Keziah Freeman, and also part of that same caravan, and John Ramsey, who I speculate may have been an ancestor, as Stark Ramsey, a known ancestor,  lived next to him, and was a generation younger.

She is nearest Gardner High and several Yarboroughs. 

And just above Gideon and Jacob Green.

In the 1800 census, Gracy is not listed, but there are two Broadways side by side, John and William.

Both families seem to hold a young couple, with children. Both have a man and woman between 16 and 25. William also has two girls under 10, and John has 1 boy and 2 girls under 10.

In 1810, there is only John. William may have moved temporarily, but not permanently. He and his wife are now in the 26 to 44 age range, and he's up to 7 children, four girls and two boys

By 1820, John and wife are over 45, they have 8 children, and for the first time, 7 slaves. 

William is back, in the same age range as John, with 5 younger household members, three young women 16 to 25, and one under 10 and one male under 10. 

There is a third Broadway household in 1820, led by a female named Lydia. There are two women 26 to 44, and a little boy under ten.

By 1830, the family starts to take off both figuratively and literally. There's Jordan, Robert, John and James and three Williams. Two Williams are in their 40's, one with a family of five and one slave, the other with a family of 8 and no slaves. Family of 8 lives near the Allens and George Turner, which puts him in the Rocky Mount Church area. Family of 5 lives near Whites, William Nash and Marshes, which puts him in Nicholas Broadaway's stomping grounds. The younger William appears to have been on the west side of the county, the part that became Union. He was between 16 and 25. 

My Broadway roots definitely need a more intense scrutiny, which I plan to launch into soon. But as I descend from both Nicholas and Robert, I hope to put at least some of the puzzle together.