Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days: Benjamin Hathcock, Sr.

 

Lloyd Hathcock Family Cemetery, Red Cross, NC

The frailty of the human condition is an inherent reality that blends biological vulnerability with the philosophical search for meaning. Genetically and psychologically, we are built with delicate physiological reserves and deep emotional capacities that ultimately shape our resilience and mortality. The Divine Mercy.

My fifth Great Grandfather, Benjamin Hathcock, Sr.  was another long-lived ancestor of mine. This trait did not pass down to all of his descendants, however. Benjamin F. Hathcock was the ancestor of my paternal grandfather. My father lived to 81, his father lived to 71, his father lived to 68, his father lived to 73, and so on. Then there was Ben. His Find-a- Grave claims he was born August 10, 1742, in Brunswick County, Virginia and he died January 18,1857, in Stanly County, North Carolina. That amounts to 114 years old, in the mid 19th Century of all times.

Do I believe this man was 114 years old? Of course not. Do I believe he was a very old man? Yes, well obviously. 

I descend from Benjamin Hathcock, Sr. through one of his younger sons, Benjamin Hathcock Jr., who married Nancy Ann Burris, daughter of Solomon Burris and his wife, Judith. I refrain from throwing a 'Franklin' in, at least on Senior. Yes, there was a trend to name a son after the Revolution for the astute and respected stateman, Benjamin Franklin, but Benjamin Heathcock or Hathcock Sr. was born well before that time. He was simply Benjamin.

He seems to have been a well-liked, but not a wealthy man, so he didn't leave too many traces in his early years, only in the recall and memories of his grandchildren, whom he lived to see grow up, which was an amazing feat. They remembered him as an old man, though, so little is known about his youth. As far as his arrival to the area in which he died, he was here by 1783, when his name appears on a Montgomery County Tax list.

Census Records

1790

Benjamin Hathcock was the only Hathcock, Hethcock or Heathcock in the 1790 census of Montgomery County, North Carolina. It counted 1 male over 16, two under 16 and 3 females in the household. Edgecomb reported 4: Frederick, Ptolemy, Isham and William. Chatham: Hosea, James, John and William. Northampton: John, Rueben and Newman. Richmond County also had just one: Thomas. More on him later.

In 1800, the name appears as "Heckcock" and there are 3 in Montgomery County, Benjamin, Young and Dempsey. Benjamin had a full house. Ten people, a man and woman over 45, a boy 10-15 and another under 10. Six girls, two in each age group of 16-25, 10-15 and under 10. Dempsey looked like a young married couple, a man and a woman, both 16-25. Young had a male 26-45 and a female 16-25, there were two children under 10, a boy and a girl. It appears Young was the oldest son, at about 26, and Dempsey was second.

In 1810, there is Benjamin, Dempsey, James and "D". Ben still has 10 people in his household, but the dynamics have changed. There is still a male and female over 45, so his wife is still alive. He has one male 16-25 and two under ten, so two more sons born between 1800 and 1810. There are two females between 16 and 25 and two in the 10 - 15 brackets. He has one under 10. Dempsy and his wife are now both 26-45, two girls 10 -15 and two boys under 10. James has now started his own household, with a man and woman both 16-25 and a little girl under 10. James is next to Benjamin, and the unknown "D" is up a few spaces next to Edward and Edmund Almond. There is a theory that "D" Hethcock was actually Young Hathcock. The ages are correct.

Dempsey is listed among Burris's, Hardy Hatley, Malachi Harwood and Ezekiel Morton, and Edward Almond Sr., several of those also ancestors of my grandfather.

There was no 1820 Census for Montgomery County. By 1820, however, Young Hathcock was one of the many young men who removed to Tennessee. He settled in Montgomery County, Tennessee. The name must have felt familiar.

In 1830, There is Dempsey, James, James H, Jesse and John. No Benjamin.

Name	Benjn Haithcock
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)	Southampton, Virginia
Free Colored Persons - Males - Under 10	1
Free Colored Persons - Males - 24 thru 35	2
Free Colored Persons - Females - Under 10	2
Free Colored Persons - Females - 24 thru 35	1
Free Colored Persons - Females - 55 thru 99	2
Total Free Colored Persons	8
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)	8

There is a Benjamin Hathcock (or spelling variant), in Southampton, Virginia. This is not our Benjamin. He was a free person of color and that branch, and subject will be discussed later in the post.

Back in Montgomery County, North Carolina, Dempsey Hathcock is living next to Dempsey Springer and Frederick Lambert. This is intriguing to me, because I know that Frederick will soon migrate to Mississippi, and the two Dempsey's makes me wonder if there was a connection between the Hathcock and Springer families. Just a thought.

Jesse, James and James H. are living very near each other. One James is in his 20's and the other James in his 30's. Jesse is in his 50's. He may have just joined the family from another County. Jesse's oldest son, James Green Hathcock was born about 1804, so I believe he was the younger James. Jesse has an 80-year-old in his home, and it's listed here as a female, but I think that may be an error, and this was actually Benjamin, because the age is right. A decade later, he is in a grandson's house as a nonagenarian. There is also a a John Hathcock in his 20's living between Will Morton and Richard Poplin Jr., who was living near Dempsey before. I believe this John is a son of Dempsey.

Name	Jesse Hathcock
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5	2
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19	1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29	2 One of these could be youngest brother, Ben.
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59	1 Jesse
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5	1
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14	2
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29	1
Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59	1
Free White Persons - Females - 80 thru 89	1 Error? Benjamin?
Free White Persons - Under 20	8
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49	3
Total Free White Persons	14
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)	14

In 1840, the name is back to Hethcock and there is Ben Jr., James Jr., James, James Sr, Jesse Sr., Jesse Jr., Lloyd and Neelin. Benjamin, Sr. is obviously living with his Grandson Lloyd, as well as Lloyd's mother, Sally. The Grandsons are beginning to populate and youngest son, Benjamin Jr. is head of his own household.

Name	Loyd Heathcock
Residence Date	1840
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5	2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29	1 Lloyd
Free White Persons - Males - 90 thru 99	1 Benjamin
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29	2
Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69	1 Sarah, Lloyd's mother
Persons Employed in Agriculture	3
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write	2
Free White Persons - Under 20	3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49	3
Total Free White Persons	8
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	8

I personally believe the Hathcock family is a little more complicated than it's made out to be.

And then we have the 1850 census. Benjamin Hathcock Sr made it to the 1850 census. Amazing! This actually is the most amazing fact about him. Lloyd was now 41, married, and with seven children. At the top of the page, you'll see a two-year-old Sarah M. Hathcock. Her father, Benjamin Hathcock Jr. was listed on the previous page and she was a rollover. After Benjamin was miner Calvin Hathcock, 21. That was John Calvin Hathcock, Ben Jr.'s oldest son, who married Mary Hartsell. Notice that Benjamin's age is give as 108, and his birthplace as Virginia. 

The Wife

There is no document that gives the name of Benjamin Hathcock Sr.'s wife. Let me repeat that, there is no documentation of the name of Benjamin Hathcock Sr.'s wife. There is, however, speculation. By living so long, many of the grandchildren of Ben Hathcock had the advantage of knowing him and knowing him well. You can imagine a pack of them huddled around his feet as he told them of his childhood in Virginia. So, things undocumented were passed down. David Burris was one grandchild recorded speaking on Ben Sr., and he quoted from another grandmother of his, Judith Taylor Burris. The wife of Benjamin Hathcock Sr. is named either as Sarah or Nancy. Her maiden name is given as either Taylor or Young, sometimes crunched together. If I was to guess, I believe he probably had two wives, not one, as the ages of his children stretch from about 1775 to 1802. There seems to be a gap of about a decade in between two groups, which would lead me to believe that Young, Dempsey, Martha, James and Jesse were by one wife, and Sarah (Sally), Jane, Lee, and Ben II, were by a second one. He appears to have had a living wife through the 1810 census, but she was gone by 1830, or 1840, at least. The Young surname appears to have evolved from the given name of the oldest son, Young. This group also most commonly claim Nancy. The younger ones claim Sarah. Sarah may have been some relation to Judith Taylor Burris, so Sarah Taylor. But remember, no proof of either, just vague memories of a few elderly grandchildren written down somewhere.

Personality

-Benjamin Sr. and his family were musically talented. It was recounted to David Burris by his grandmother, Judith Taylor Burris, that Ben Sr. was the fiddler at her wedding, (to Solomon Burris).

-He was said to have owned the first Buggy in Stanly County. He wasn't into collecting large swaths of land, or owning the biggest farm, but he must have liked his vehicles. 

-He was said to have won a sharpshooter contest after he was 100 years old. 

Quite an incredible fellow.

There are a few sources of where most of the information we have concerning old Benjamin derives from. First and foremost is the deposition he gave for the pension from the Revolutionary War for William Poplin and his wife, Lucy. Benjamin did not serve in the Revolutionary War. I personally believe he was born more around 1857, than 1842. This deposition is best, and most accurate we have, because it's in his own words. I'm beginning to see a group move, a wagon train forming in my mind., with Hathcock's, Poplins, Perry's and probably a few more. Individuals usually did not travel alone. There would be a collective of families, some related, others just neighbors or acquaintances, heading for the same destination. 

The other information was from a letter, and recollections from grandchildren or others, who knew Old Ben, had met him, or heard their parents, his children, talk about him and passed the information on, someone having the forethought to write it down. 

Above, the pension claim of William Poplin of Montgomery County, North Carolina, a Private in the Company commanded Captain Welch of the Regiment commanded by Col. Alston. 9 months in North Carolina. June 7, 1832, Lawrenceville, NC. Although he was living elsewhere during the time of his service, he had moved to Montgomery County, NC by 1830.

Lucy Poplin, widow of William Poplin, stated she was married about 1767 or 1768. She believed she had three children at the time her husband left for the War, and that they were married in Chatham County, NC. She was in her 80's at this time.

State of North Carolina  

Montgomery County

On this 25 day of April 1840, personally appeared before me Solomon Efird a justice of the peace in and for the county aforesaid Benjamin Heathcock aged about ninety years form what he states and on his appearance.

indicates and who being duly sworn according to law Declares that as nearly as he can state he's now about ninety years of age. that he was born and raised in the state of Virginia and came to the county of Chatham in this state before the Revolutionary War. He further states that he became acquainted with William Poplin and his wife Lucy Poplin before the war and lived in the same neighborhood that they lived in Chatham. That they then lived together as man and wife and had before the war one child or two he cannot state which but he knows that they had a child. He states that the fact...

of their marriage was never questioned and the has no doubt at this time but that they were duly and legally married. He further states that William Poplin has been dead for several years and that Lucy Poplin who now declares for a Pension is his widow and has not married since his death and from the time he first knew them they had lived together as man and wife and have raised a large family of children and no doubt of suspicion in his mind nor ever entertained that they wee not duly married. That they  .... now in Montgomery County. 

Sworn to and Subscribe before me 

Solomon Efird

Benjamin X Heathcock (his mark)

This document gives us four facts about Benjamin:.

• He was born and raised in Virginia.
• He came to Chatham County, NC before the War.
• He met William and Lucy Poplin before the War and they all moved from there to Montgomery County.
• He was around 90 in 1840.

Family Tree of Mary Catherine Hathcock

The whole matter of Benjamin Hathcock's origins and the floundering, later, of prideful grandchildren is the story of human frailty and nature as old as time. The mortar of brick walls. We'll go through the sources later, but the bottom-line was that Benjamin Hathcock, was not a Hathcock down the male line. His father was a Hamilton or Hambleton, and his mother was a Hathcock. The man named Hathcock who raised him was his grandfather. There have been multiple books written on the Hathcock, and its many spellings, clan. Quite a few contain information on Benjamin, and some of that information is pretty old. One author of it was a Dr. Thomas Alexander Hathcock, a grandson of Benjamin Hathcock, Sr. He, being a learned and austere, (insert prideful) man, had to formulate a speculative, yet believable canard about his grandfather's origins that would not bring shame upon the family, so he told a half-truth. His story was that Ben was an orphaned boy who was taken in by an old man named Hathcock, although his real name, or his father's name was Hambleton or Hamilton. 

His cousin, Mary Furr, another descendant, would recount what her mother, a daughter or granddaughter of old Ben, told her. That Ben had been born out of wedlock to a Hambleton or Hamilton man and a Hathcock girl. He was raised in the home his maternal grandfather, Hathcock. This explains a lot, like Ben's lack of property and records, and a few other details. 

Ben had the opportunity to payback the care of his grandfather, and then to receive care back in turn. His own daughter, Sarah, aka "Sally", became an unwed mother by Daniel Perry, from another family who seem to have migrated at the same time from the same place, here. She had a son named Lloyd, and possibly a daughter, Mary. That's something I have to look at a little closer. Benjamin Sr. kept up his daughter and her child, (or children). Her son Lloyd is the one who took care of Ben in his old age. Reciprocal care.

Where did Ben first settle in Montgomery County? We know he first was found on a Tax list there in 1783.

He entered a grant on Long Creek of 100 acres,  on October 2, 1799, entry # 5115. Grant # 2392 was issued on December 6, 1816, Book 130, Page 373. The tract was on the waters of Long Creek, at the mouth of a branch on James Lee's line. Later is mentioned John Poplin's line.

He appears to have entered a failed grant two years earlier, as an assignee of Wiley Carpenter, for 100 acres on Long Creek, but no matching patent was found. It was entered on April 25, 1797, entry # 3057. There is no record of it actually being issued. 

This entry, shown above is mentioned as "Beginning at Poplin's corner", then to Taylor's corner, then to Carson & Moore's line, then to Lee's corner. James Howell and James Lee were chain carriers. Knowing that Lee probably referring to James Lee and that Poplin referred to John Poplin, I looked to see which Taylor it may have been referring to. Having looked well into, I was pretty sure I knew already.

Carson and Moore spoke of the partnership of Thomas Carson and Willam Moore, land speculators who had acquired large tracts of land in Piedmont North Carolina, primarily along the Rocky River, Island Creek, Long Creek and Bear Creek, most of which was in present Stanly County. In 1795, they received a grant for 17,920 acres in the forks of the Rocky River, and along Bear and Long Creeks. A John Carson later bought them out and sold tracts out of it, including one of 67,000 acres to William Thornton, whose name is also seen a lot in these early deeds. So, Ben's grant bordered one of Carson & Moore's lines, their presence is not one to look into as they owned half the county at the time.

I figured out that the Taylor mentioned in Ben's grant was most likely Nimrod Taylor. I found him in conjunction with Jonathan Taylor. There is also a Grant that reveals Johnathan Carpenter had property connecting Wyley or Wilie Carpenter, and also John Carpenter. 

Wylie Carpenter was the name Ben was an assignee of on the failed Grant. The Carpenters are also one of my family lines. They migrated here with the Upchurch family from counties east. John Carpenter was the son-in-law of Benjamin Upchurch, and I descend from his son, James Ludwell Carpenter, who married Obedience Broadway, one of my two Broadaway lines.

Another interesting name to look into was that of William Poplin.

His entry was on Scaley Branch and ran with Daniel Perry's line. Daniel Perry was the father of Ben's grandson Lloyd, or Loyd, Hathcock by his daughter, Sally. Jonathan Poplin had a grant that bordered John Poplin and Daniel Perry. 

"The above warrant of one hundred acres of land is transferred to Benjamin Hathcock for Value Rec'd and the security is required to Issue the grant in his name as witness my hand and seal this 14th day of January 1798. Test Asa Atkins His mark Wiley Carpenter (Seal).

Where did the Hathcock's originate to start with? What did the name mean?

It's of British origin and derives from the word haeth, meaning an open Moorland and cot for cottage, Heath Cottage, or Cottage on a Heath, a place name, like Hill or Woods. It was first found in Derbyshire in the 12th Century and is of Anglo-Saxon origin.

The Hathcock name has about a dozen variations including, but not limited to Hathcox, Hatcoat, Hathcoat, Haithcock, Haithcoat, Heithcock, Heathcock, Heathcoat, Heathcote, Heathcot, Heathcott, Hethcox, Hethcock. The most common one used in Stanly and Montgomery Counites were Hathcock, Hethcock and Heathcock. Most books on the family agree that our specific line began with a Thomas Hatcock who came to America from England about 1635. He first settled in what is now Northampton County, Virginia. By 1730 descendants had moved to Prince George County and Brunswick County, Virginia. 

We can't know for certain who exactly Benjamin's kin were, but by following the real estate, we can see the flow, like a river, from where we know he came from to where we know he ended up. Greensville County, Virginia was formed from Brunswick County in 1781. Its southern border is Northampton County, NC. 

There was a Joseph Heathcock whose plantation had been located in Brunswick County, in the part that became Greensville in 1781. 

Joseph had a son, John, who would later move to Bute County, NC, the part that later became Warren.

Hosea "Ozzy" Hathcock

Recall from the 1790 census, that a Hosea Hathcock lived in Chatham County, along with James, John and William. In the 1779 deed abstracts of Montgomery County, NC, we find the below information;

"50 acres of land was granted to Jesse Wooten in Montgomery County, NC". The property was said to have adjoined that of "Ozzy" Hathcock and a Mr. Collins. 

The same year that Hosiah "Ozzy" Hathcock in noted as having land in Montgomery County, NC. Thomas Hathcock, son of Edward Hathcock of Northampton County, NC, is noted as living in Anson County, 1779, in the part that would later become Richmond County, NC. Thomas and Hosiah were close together at this time. Josiah was a member of Captain Elisha Cains Chatham County Militia in September 1772, in Chatham County, NC. He appears to have been in Chatham, went to Montgomery, then back to Chatham. Militia groups would naturally travel to various places, sometimes on a near constant move, in the years between 1775 and the early 1780's. Hosea would move to Elbert County, Georgia, and is found there in 1800. There were several Hathcock's who preceded him there, including a John, Hastin, William and James, perhaps relatives.

Edward Heathcock

Edward Heathcock may have been born in Henrico County, Viriginia sometime between 1643 and 1675. He seems to have had some kinship to Joseph and Jesse Heathcock who were in the Brunswick County area with him in the 1730's.  Edward owned land on Arthur's Creek and Norton's Branch an in the Turbyfield's Run area near the NC/ Virginia border and along the Roanoke. Joseph, (1700 -1782), who had land on Beaver Pond Creek in Brunswick County may have been his son. Joseph died in Brunswick County on his Falling Run property.  Jesse Heathcock, who lived in the same area at the same time may also be a relative. 

A Granville grant dated June 22, 1749, to Joshua Stepp tells of land on the east side of Arthur's Creek adjoining Edward Heathcock and Norton's Branch, meaning Edward had settled there by 1749

 In April 1757, Edward Hathcock, in conjunction with his wife, Catron, sold 100 acres of land in Brunswick County, Viriginia to Drury Jordan, on the north side of Ragland's Ferry Road, adjoining James Norton and other land belonging to the Heathcocks. Deed Book 2 Page 387. Catron is a form of Catherine with Welsh origins, possibly indicating his wife may have been of Welsh extract.

On November 26, 1753, "Edward Heathcock, Planter" sold 100 acres in Northampton County, NC, to James Norton, "part of a patent originally granted to Edward Heathcock". Deed Book 2, Page 129. James Norton was his son-in-law, having married his daughter, Martha. The Norton family had land holdings dating back to the 1740's and references to a place called Norton's Corner are found in the old deeds. 

In May of 1758, Edward gave "for love and goodwill", to his son, Thomas Heathcock, 100 acres on "Turbafields Run", a name that would evolve into Troublefield in our area, found in Deed Book 2 Book 476.  On the same day, he conveyed 20 acres, also on Turbafield's Run to John Heathcock, found in Book 2 Page 475. He doesn't' specify John as his son in the deed, but it's likely. 

James 

A James Hathcock (1743-1838) was born in Brunswick County, Virgina to William and Nancy Anthony Hathcock. He removed to Chatham where he married Elizabeth Sexton and had seven known children; Charlotte, Isaac, Isaiah, Hiram and Patrick. He served in the NC militia during the Revolutionary War and afterwards settled in Hillsborough. He died in Chatham in 1838, at the age of 95, continuing what seems to be a nature towards longevity in this particular Heathcock/Hathcock line. He was known as Scout or Scott. Whether that was a middle name, or a nickname, I don't know. It could have indicated a career if it was Scout, or origins if it were Scott.

Thomas 

Thomas Hathcock was the son of Edward Heathcock of Northampton County, NC, whose property seemed to have straddled the State lines. Edward was there by 1758. Thomas was in Anson, then Richmond, by October of 1777. It was a fact that River Jordan and John Jordan had moved to the same general area. River Jordan was previously a resident of Brunswick County, Virginia and would also move to Elbert County,  Georgia where Hosea Heathcock moved.

A John Jordan witnessed a Heathcock deed in Northampton County and Edward Heathcock had sold property there to Drury Jordan, who was also his neighbor. There seems to be a strong Jordan theme running through the family connections. Thomas died on April 13, 1818, and it appears he had something in common with Benjamin Hathcock than just a surname. His age was greatly exaggerated.

A newspaper article that appeared in the Carolina Observer of Richmond County and was reprinted in Augusta Chronicle out of Georgia, made the following incredible claim:

"Longevity - Died in Richmond County on 13th instant at the seat of Col. Therogood Pate, Thomas Heathcock age 125 years!

He left a numerous family of children settled in different parts of the country, two of whom live in the State of Georgia. (Elbert County?!?), One aged 93 and the other 87, and one son in Richmond County but little over 16 years of age."

His known sister, Martha Norton, was born during the 1720's to 1730. He was probably fairly close to his age, and that would have put him between 80 -90 at death. 

A quick check of the 1820 census in Richmond, finds only a Samuel Heathcock, with only Hosea in Georgia, Elbert County. His age is only categorized as over 45, so we can't know, but Hosea was probably one of the sons. There's also a Grace Hathcock in Chatham that year, which interests me, because Ben Jr. named a daughter Grace.

Recall the 1830 census of a Benjamin Hathcock family in Southampton County that were classified as "Other Free"? There was a branch of the Hathcock/ Heathcock family that were considered mixed with the Nottaway tribe. The paragraph below is from the book, "Family Connections of the Brooks, Hathcock and Nance Families of the United States, Compiled Genealogies". Authors include Bill Gullickson, Nancy Norton, Sam Norton, Marcy Stephens, June Melvin and Myrtle Stephens.

From the book 'Hathcock Family History: United States. Family Histories 1991 (no single author given, just collaborate efforts mentioned)

Holiday Hathcock was a free man of color from Johnston County, North Carolina. Born about 1760, he volunteered for multiple tours of service in the Revolutionary War. His 1834 pension application was suspended. His eventual successful fight was helped by the testimony and affidavit of Justice of the Peace, William Bryan. Byran provided that Free People of Color were drafted, volunteered and served just like white Patriots.

A timeline of Holiday Hathcock's locations show:

• 1784 in Sampson County, just south of Johnston, (Sampson Early Tax List)
• 1788 assigns his Revolutionary War Bounty lands over to his daughter Nancy Sheppard (John)
• 1790 Census Johnston County, North Carolina (6 people, Other Free Persons)
• 1800 Hillsborough, Orange County, (6 people, Other Free Persons)
• 1832-1836 Pension Application
• 1853, his son David applied for his pension in 1853, meaning he was deceased. His wife named as Sally.

Why would Holiday Hathcock be important to the story of  Benjamin Hathcock?

Many believe Holiday to be the son of Edward Hathcock. He was born in Northampton County, where Edward had moved to from Brunswick/Greensville County, Virginia, along the same waterways, as Greensville borders Northampton. There was interaction on a road crew. Had Edward, who was known to be a white man, marry a Nottaway woman or have a child with her? Or was she not a Nottaway? Who really was Edward?

I question this because Hathcock DNA studies link Benjamin Hathcock descendants with the Edward/Thomas group, only autosomal, but then again, Ben wasn't a Hathcock down the male line. Hosea Hathcock group matches with them among Ydna testing within a normal range of mutations. The Joseph Hathcock group, who was a contemporary of Edward, is also connected, but not as directly. I am copying and pasting the information below because if I just typed it, no one would believe me.

From Familytreedna.com

More on the Poplins:

In 1777 in the Chatham County Superior Court records, Sally Hathcock of Halifax County, was ordered to appear before a Justice of the Peace, to give testimony against William Poplin, of Chatham for a charge of Horse Theft. William was later convicted. Sadly, the records do not include Sally's exact testimony. Since Benjamin knew William Poplin and bore the same name, there could have been a relation between he and Sally, as we know that she also knew William Poplin and knew of his criminal act. Could Benjamin have also had a connection to Halifax County?

Of course, Halifax borders Northampton, and all arrows point to the family being in Northampton before arriving in Chatham.

Again, I link to the incredible research and blog of George Thomas, who mentions in the following post the family of William Poplin prior to his service and after, and connections to the early Taylor and Burris families. Please see below:

A Veteran's Story from They Lived Upon a Rocky River

We know from his grant that William Poplin also ended up in Montgomery (Stanly) County, along with Benjamin Hathcock. He was born about 1749 and died on June 2, 1835 in Stanly County, becoming the Patriarch of a large Stanly County family. He served under that dastardly Col. Phillip Alston who tormented my Dowd relatives. He lived in Chatham briefly after the War, moved to Moore County for a few years before removing to Georgia, finally returning to Montgomery County where he lived out his last years.

Dr. Thomas Alexander Hathcock, Jr.

Dr. Hathcock, who was the son of  Thomas Alexander Hathcock, Sr., (1824-1908), was a Great Grandson of Old Benjamin Hathcock. He published a genealogy in "Makers of America. Vol. 3, 'Biographies of Leading Men and Women. Including Family Histories and Accurate Genealogical Records" by Leonard Wilson, F.S.A.  B. F. Johnson Incorporation, Washington DC. 

Family can be biased in recounting their ancestry. That's an understatement. It particularly can apply to descendants of education and status, like those with letters after their names, beyond Jr. and such.

Dr. T. A. Hathcock, Jr.

Among the claims and whitewash in Dr. Hathcock's account of his ancestor was the exaltation of the eight Hathcock's who were soldiers along the NC line during the Revolution. Fair enough. He mentions Thomas Hathcock of Richmond County,  as being a forebear, due to his first name, Thomas. See quote below.

"Christian names are often repeated in families, and following reasonable deductions, it is possible that all these Hathcock's are descendants of Thomas Hathcock who was an early Viriginia (Stone County) immigrant. The repetitive use of the name Thomas Alexander Hathcock suggests that the original immigrant's full name may have been Thomas Alexander Hathcock".

Dude get over yourself! I take his recounts with a grain of salt. For one thing, he invented a County in Virginia that never existed. I suppose he pulled that from the name of William Stone who transported a Thomas Heathcock from England, who was an indentured servant by the way! He left that little tidbit of information out. He also attempted to whitewash the whole story of how Benjamin, whose father was a Hambelton or Hamilton, became a Hathcock. Mrs. Mary Furr's account is much more credible.

Debra Baugh's account of the Benjamin Hathcock family seems more accurate and carefully compiled. She didn't contrive anything out of the ether due to the multiple occurrences of a common name in a family.  Ms. Baugh carefully and diligently collected information from various Hathcock families in Stanly and surrounding counties, weaving together the various patches of the spring branches of the Benjamin Hathcock tree. There were common threads that would weave into a consistent dialogue. 

Debra Baugh compiled and incorporated Mary Furr's records into her book, 'Hathcock Family History, Descendants of Benjamin Hathcock, Vol. IX (1986).

Mary Furr had written a letter in 1969 with the following information, "My mother, (Elizabeth Jane Burris), told me just before she died that Benjamin's mother was a daughter of this Mr. Hathcock".  She had admitted on her deathbed that the Mr. Hathcock known to have raised Benjamin was his grandfather and that his mother was not married. 

Also, in Mrs. Baugh's rendition of the Hathcock menagerie was the recount of an undated letter from a David Burris to an unknown person, (probably Eliza Jane Burris, she surmises). This could have been my second Great Grandfather, David Burris, (1851-1928), who married Ellen Honeycutt. He was the son of Gideon Green Burris and Obedience Hathcock, a daughter of Benjamin Hathcock Jr. and Nancy Ann Burris. There were multiple David Burris's, so I can't be sure that he's the one, but the shoe fits. 

He made several interesting observations and recollections of Old Ben in his letter, which must have come to him in the stories of older relations. One was the story of how Benjamin had been orphaned as a child and was raised by Mr. Hathcock, (his grandfather), and that his father's name had been Hamilton or Hambleton. It was David who revealed the musical talents of the bunch. He recalled, "This generation was much inclined to music. They were drummers, fifers and fiddlers and some were fine singers. I heard Grandma Burroughs, (Judith Taylor Burris) say that old man Hathcock, (Benjamin), of them all was their fiddler when she and grandfather, (Solomon Burris) married". This was probably a David Burris a generation up from my David, as, although my David was a Hathcock descendant as well, he was a Great Grandson of Solomon, not a Grandson.

Continuing quotes from the letter, "Old Jimmy Hathcock, (James Sr., son of Benjamin), your Great Grandfather on your grandmother Hathcock's side of the family said that their proper name was Hambleton. Your grandfather Lloyd Hathcock's father was Daniel Perry, but he (Lloyd) took his mother's name. As to their children, I do not recollect that they were twins. I think they died in infancy. That is all I know about them." I don't know what children he was referring to, perhaps those of Lloyd and his wife who had died young. 

"A postscript to this letter continues, 'Old Benjamin Hathcock of all, I have seen this often. He belongs to the old school Baptist, Primitive Baptist and lived to be very old - 115 years of age. They said he had a son named Benjamin who married my father's sister, Nancy Burris. (This indicates this could have been David Wright Burris, son of Joshua C. Burris), "Old Billy Whitley married one of old man Benjamin's daughters, (Martha Hathcock Whitley). " I have forgotten her name. He lived, (William Whitley) to be of great age 118 years.' (Another exaggeration) This letter was in the possession of Beatrice M. Hanson of Mesa, Arizona in 1971."  It is also in her book the claim that Benjamin had the first buggy in Stanly County. She added that even though no stone exists that Benjamin is regarded as having been buried, in 1857, in the family cemetery of his grandson, Lloyd, with whom he lived. The cemetery is located on the east side of Ridgecrest Road in the town of Red Cross, Stanly County, NC. The book reports that it's "Just before crossing Stony Run Creek." 

Summary on Benjamin

These are my own summations. We know from his own words, and the 1850 census, that Benjamin Hathcock Sr. was born in Virginia. He later moved to Chatham County, "before the Revolution". This doesn't mean he went straight there. He followed the same trail, more or less, as Thomas Hathcock and Hosea "Ozzy" Hathcock, at first. His parents were rumored to have died of smallpox, his father at least. Fatherless children were considered orphans in those days. His father's surname was Hambleton, (or Hamilton). His mother's surname was Hathcock/Heathcock. He was taken in and raised by his maternal Grandfather, Mr. Hathcock. 

Some claim descent from the long living Thomas Hathcock who moved to Richmond County. Thomas was the proven son of Edward and lived in Northampton County before moving to Anson as early as 1758. Benjamin first appears in Montgomery (Stanly), as early as November of 1782. Thomas shows up in Richmond by 1777, with a connection to the Jordans. Thomas was of an older generation than Benjamin, but he was not old enough, to have been Benjamin's grandfather. I believe he was more of an uncle, and that Hosea was the son of Thomas. There were certainly similarities with Thomas, and James, who lived to be a believable 95. 

My bets would be on Edward Heathcock being the grandfather who raised Benjamin. It all fits together. There is a consensus among the Hathcock family authors and that Ben was born in Brunswick and then lived in Greensville Counties in Virginia. I propose that he lived along the border in the part that was Brunswick but became Greensville. I can see him following his grandfather into Northampton, before moving to Chatham with relatives after the passing of Edward. An exact birth year for him would help with my theory, but alas. If Benjamin was born in 1742, like his Find-A-Grave entry suggests, he would have been a young adult of 21 when Edward Hathcock died. I think he was younger than that and may have been 10 or 12 in 1763. There was indeed a smallpox outbreak in 1759. I believe this was probably a few years after Benjamin was born. He may have traveled down this way with Chatham neighbors, or with Hathcock relatives. 

The Children

United States. Family Histories 1993

1) Dempsey Hathcock (1775- aft 1860) wife or children unknown. Died in Guy, Montgomery County, Arkansas after 1860. There were two Dempsey Hathcock's. The other lived in Moore County, NC. He also had his start in Chatham County, and ended up in Jack County, Texas. The Moore County Dempsey was older, but not a generation older. This could suggest a familial relationship somewhere up the line. 

2) Martha "Patsy" Hathcock (1776-1880) Married William "Old Billy" Whitley. They had a son named Jesse who married Reuah Perry, the daughter of Daniel Perry and Sarah "Sally" Hathcock, a cousin marriage.

3) James Hathcock Sr. (1778 - May 9, 1848) Buried at Old Freedom Cemetery. Married Esther or Easter Honeycutt.

4) Jesse Hathcock Sr. (1780-1847) Married Catherine "Katie" Whitley. There were many marriages between the two families. The prevalence of the name "Jesse" leads me to a believe a definite familial relationship between the Jesse and Joseph Hathcock families who were in Brunswick with Edward and moved down into Johnston and Halifax. 

Ten-year gap between children indicating a second marriage, possibly. A wife appears to have been living at least until the 1810 census, possibly longer. 

5) Young Hathcock (1790 -1850) Married Sarah Meredith. Moved to Montgomery County, Tennessee.

6)  Sarah "Sallie" Hathcock (1792-1860) Did not marry. Mistress of Daniel Perry had at least two children, Lloyd in 1809 and Reuah in 1818. Possibly a Mary in 1811. Reuah was an old Hebrew name that meant breeze, wind or spirit.

7) Jane Hathcock (1795-after 1870) Married John Whitley. Died in Mount Mourne, Iredell County. I have posted on John and Jane and their family while I was focusing on the Whitley family. 

8) Lee Hathcock (1798 - 1849) Married Sarah Ann Wilhelm. Settled in neighboring Cabarrus County.

8) Benjamin Hathcock, Jr. (1802 - 12 Jun 1884) Married Nancy Ann Burris, daughter of Solomon and Judith Taylor Burris. 

Benjamin Hathcock's Grant as an assignee of Wiley Carpenter bordering Carson & Moore, Poplin's corner, Taylor's corner and Lee's line. James Howell and James Lee, Chain Carriers.

John Poplins Grant on both sides of Long Creek dated 1794 beginning at James Lee's corner, to William Taylors line, Richard Thomason and Benjamin Hathcock chain carriers.

James Hathcocks 1830 Grant of 42 acres on Scaleybark Branch, running with Daniel Moooses entry. Benjamin Hathcock (probably Jr.) and Solomon Hathcock chain carries.

Lloyd Hathcock allowed $38.75 for keeping and taking care of his grandfather, Benjamin Sr.

1850 Paupers list for Stanly County. Benjamin Hathcock near bottom.

See the below book for more information on the descendants of Benjamin Hathcock, Sr. 

The Flooded Ditch

Over the past few decades, I've had the pleasure of assisting several individuals of African American ancestry in assembling their family trees. Those with deeply rooted heritage in the Southern Piedmont of North Carolina, or the entire south, actually, who have taken DNA tests, are often shocked to discover how multi-racial they truly are. African Americans are factually a hybrid race and are a very different ethnicity than those born in Africa. 

When someone begins this journey and receives the results of their DNA testing and sees the multiple countries of origin of their African roots, and then as many countries of origin of their European roots, their minds first go to tales of slavery and the abuse of enslaved women by their enslavers or the supervisory men placed over them by their enslavers, and often, that was the source of their European ancestry. But sometimes, it was not. With the increase in YDNA and MtDNA testing, it is shown that a great deal of racial mixing occurred prior to the plantation era and was the results of Irish indentured servants mixing with the earliest arrivals of Africans to the colonies. A majority of indentured servants did not live long enough to find themselves free with the dangers of the new colonies from disease, starvation, wars and attacks and outright murder. Punishments often ended in death, whether intentional or not. However, men were more likely to make it to freedom than women. An out-of-wedlock pregnancy would lead to more years added to their indenture, and when they were abused, as they often were, pregnancies would occur. Many found companionship among the other enslaved people, including African men. But that wasn't the only other source of European DNA in the African American diaspora.  

Since I have begun researching my roots in Stanly and surrounding Counties that sometimes extends into neighboring states and beyond, I have run into a phenomenon that was not supposed to have existed, that was the existence of free white women who gave birth to mixed race children. A common occurrence now, this was not to have existed in the past, especially in the Civil War and Jim Crow eras, but it did. I have labeled my collection of the stories of these individuals as "The Women who did not exist, except that they did".  I've found many of them, not only in Stanly County, but Montgomery County, Anson County, Rowan County, and I am sure every other county and every other state. They were not numerous, but neither were they rare. 

I recently recounted the story of one of them, Charlotte Melton, a white woman with brown sons. She was a member of the Melton family who came to live in Stanly County from Eastern North Carolina around the turn of the 18th to 19th century. One of her sons married a white girl named Ann Byrd, and in the 1850's, they were brought up on charges of fornication, because the legality of their marriage was in question. These women existed, and for the most part, their offspring married into families that were either mixed, indigenous, or black. They existed prior to the Civil War, like Charlotte Melton, and after, as well. I believe some of the individuals disappeared from records due to foul play that was neither recorded nor reported, like the fate of Harris Melton, Charlotte's son, who died in 1855, just after the trial in Stanly County. Harris had moved to Gold Hill in Rowan County and was working in the mining industry there as a laborer. Mining is and was dangerous, and his demise may have been from that intrepid enterprise, but why was he brought back to Albemarle for burial and not buried in Gold Hill? And why was he buried in the Henry Marshall Cemetery? 

So sometimes those European genes showing up in your 23 and me DNA test were not the result of pre- emancipation rape, but of 'wayward' white women who fell for darker-skinned men. The brief story below mentions one of them. 

While searching for the mysterious "J. S. Honeycutt", the father of a woman named Arwelder who was the subject of my last post, I came across the following entries in the early court records of Union County, NC. 

"Union County, April Session, 1850

Ordered by the court that a baseborn boy of color a child of Martha Honeycutt named Henry now about eight years be bound unto James Beckett until he arrive at the age of twenty-one years and (illegible) he find him good victuals and clothes, learn him the trade of  laying stone and brick and give him fifty dollars when of age."

The next paragraph read nearly the same, a baseborn child of color, the son of Martha Honeycutt, named Monroe, "now about six years old", was bound to James Beckett until he reached the age of 21 to learn the trade of laying stone and brick. These children were not slaves, they were intended to be more like apprentices, but were they?

These were not the children of slaves. Those would not have been brought to this court or mentioned in this record. Martha Honeycutt, the mother, was not a slave or a person of color herself. She was white. Her sons were not.

James Beckett/Bickett in the 1850 census of Union County.

James Beckett is found as a 48-year-old Jailer in the 1850 census of Union County. It is obvious he is living in the fledgling town of Monroe, which only took up a meager four pages in the listing. The listing above him, his neighbors, so to speak, were 'Retailer of Spirits", William G. Winchester, Constable Henry S Neely, Merchants John W. and William B. Twitty, and their clerk, G. B. Broom. Jailer, J. D. Hayden and house carpenter, John Phillips. One unique feature the Union County census had, that surrounding counties did not, was that they gave a little more information in the birthplace column than just the state or foreign country, if that were the case. Because of this, we know Mr. Beckett was born in Union County, while his neighbor was born in Lancaster County, South Carolina, which bordered Union to the South.  

Beckett/ Bickett and his wife, Elizabeth, are shown at the bottom of the page, meaning his entry continues on the next one. 

Here, we find the list of 'Bickett' children, listed in an indicated 'jail'. Of course they were not in jail. It only revealed that their father resided at the place or house that was serving as the jail. These individuals included Harriett Bickett,  18, James S. Bickett, 15, Thomas M. Bickett, 13 and Mary Jane Bickett, 11. Fifteen-year-old James was noted as being a brick mason. He was also born in Mecklenburg County, as opposed to his nearest older and younger siblings, Harriett and Thomas, who were born in Anson County.  Also in the residence was L. A. Winchester, 24, first labeled a merchant. That title was stricken out and replaced with the occupation of 'clerk'. He was related to the previously mentioned Winchesters, a neighbor.

Next in the residence was 22 year old Jacob M. Long, a School Teacher. For some odd reason, the year was written beside his name. He seems to have been the only individual in the Beckett household, aka 'the jail', who was in jail. In the column labeled "Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper or convict" were the words 'Assault and Battery'. So, he was not a house guest.

Last, but not least, we find the two little boys bound to him by the court. Henry Honeycutt, age 7, male, mulatto, was listed as being born in Anson County, NC. His brother, 'Munroe', just 5, was listed as being born in Stanly County. This gives us three counties in which to search for their mother, Martha Honeycutt.

The page continued a list of those who lived in the small, but industrious town; J T Griffin, Clerk of Superior Court and his family, born in Lancaster County, SC, his wife, Mary, born in Mecklenburg County, NC and their children all born in Union County; House Carpenter A. G. Snipes from Johnston County, NC; Merchant Hugh Houston and his family and boarders, a clerk named James Rogers, and retailer of spirits, Hezekiah William and Mr. William B. Skipper.  Next was Hotel Keeper, William H. Hart from Lancaster County, South Carolina, his family, and the boarders in his hotel, which included teachers, attorneys, saddlers and other tradesmen. 

So, who exactly was James Beckett or Bickett, and by the way, which spelling was correct?

Born March 31, 1802, James Beckett, Jr. was the son of James S. Beckett, Sr., an Irish immigrant from Carha, Silgo, Ireland, himself the son of Samuel Bickett and Mary Stuart Shannon. Notice the change in spelling. James Sr. married in 1794 to Elizabeth Osborne, an American girl,  in Mecklenburg County, NC. They are found in Salisbury, in the 1800 census, so James Jr. may have been born in Rowan County. He grew up in Mecklenburg County, however, and as Union County was formed from portions of Anson and Mecklenburg, it appears they had settled in the part of Mecklenburg that became Union County. 

All of the Bickett children were educated and it served them well in the generations to follow, as they became professionals and leaders in their communities. James Sr. remained in Mecklenburg County until at least 1840, then he and his wife, Elizabeth removed to Tallapoosa, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, with some of their children, particularly William, their youngest son who survived to adulthood, Rev. Samuel Capers Beckett, and their daughters, Margaret and Sarah, who had married two brothers with the surname Wolfe. It appears to be the older children who remained in North Carolina. 

The Bickett Sr.'s are found in Alabama in 1852 and their tenancy there was brief, as James Sr. passed away on September 8, 1852, and his wife, Elizabeth, would return to Monroe, North Carolina, where she is found in the 1860 census living with one of her younger daughters. She died there on July 25, 1861, at the age of 85. The body of Elizabeth Tabitha Osbourne Beckett is thought to have been transported to Tallapoosa, Alabama to have been interred beside her husband. On a train, probably, can you imagine?

Sarah Beckett Wolfe and her husband, George, in old age, sister of James Beckett and last caretaker of their mother, Elizabeth Tabitha Osborne Beckett

James Beckett Jr. remained in Monroe for quite some time after his parents and younger siblings meandered down to Alabama. His name appears often in court records of the era, primarily in reference to his station as jailer, or constable, or in his later métier as an Innkeeper pursuing debts. However, one of his primary and germinal skills appears to have been that of a Stonemason, one he passed on to multiple sons and was bound to impart to children placed in his care, or bondage, however one may chose to regard the condition.

Just before the denouement of the Civil War, James Beckett appears in an indenture ordered by the Court that Harriett Watts, a free girl of color, only ten years old, " be bound to James Beckett to live with  the said James Beckett to live with the said James Beckett after the manner of an apprentice until she arrives at the age of 21 years and the said James Beckett is to feed, clothe, said Harriett comfortably and at full age is to give her one hundred dollars in money and a bed and furniture suitable to her color and a good freedom set of clothes." Did he fulfill his obligations?

On October 25, 1866, James Beckett of Union County, NC appears by signature on a petition found in the US Freedman's Bureau records nominating William Harding Broom for the office of  A.(illegible) Agent for the Bureau, signed by the Governor of the State, Jonathan Worth, who served from 1865 to 1968, during the early years of Reconstruction. While there was a buffet of rationale for signing such a document, it tended to be antipodal to the dominate attitudes of the region which was based in resistance. It was a pragmatic and beneficial action that could have positive results for former slave holders in the possibilities of the restoration of confiscated lands, and aiding in establishing labor contracts between property owners and freedmen, in the face of the attrition of the labor force due to the ravages of War and the migration of many of the manumitted. James Beckett had the discernment to survive the aftermath of the upheaval with little impairment. 

Name	James Bickett
Age in 1870	68
Birth Date	abt 1802
Birthplace	North Carolina
Dwelling Number	5
Home in 1870	Monroe, Union, North Carolina
Race	White
Gender	Male
Post Office	Monroe
Occupation	Keeping House
Male Citizen Over 21	Yes
Personal Estate Value	200
Real Estate Value	1000
Inferred Spouse	Elizabeth Bickett

Household members

Name	Age
James Bickett	68
Elizabeth Bickett	64
Mary J Delorme	30
James E Delorme	8
Harriet Watts	16

In 1870, James Beckett had remained an Innkeeper, still living in the middle of the town of Monroe, between a Lawyer and the Clerk of Superior Court. Among the household was 16 year old Harriett Watts, said to be a Domestic Servant, not an intern. It appears that Harriett, at least, survived her term of Indenture, to marry and become a mother, and live to see the turn of a new century. She is buried at Watts Grove Baptist Church in Monroe. 

James Beckett did not remain in North Carolina in his old age, either. It is my notion that this removal to another state in the winter of ones life was not the resultant of seeking greener pastures as it would have been among a more youthful generation, but instead was a grapple for security and care in the waning years of a life. Hence, James and wife, Elizabeth Ross Beckett, being found in different households in 1880, in Georgia.

James and Elizabeth were the parents of seven well-educated children.

John Wade Hampton Beckett

• John Wade Hampton Beckett (1825-1864), a farmer and married father of five, had also married into the Wolfe family, like his aunts. He was a Corporal in the Confederate Army and met his end at Orange County Courthouse, Virginia.
• Theresa C. "Tressie" Beckett ( 1826-1888) Married Abel Laney Funderburk and relocated to Decatur County, Georgia and was the mother of 13 children.
• Harriett E. Beckett (1832-1850) Married William Franklin Windell and died a newlywed five short weeks after her wedding.
• James Sample Beckett (1836-18700, a Master Stone and Brick Mason, died unmarried at age 34 in Decatur County, Georgia.
• Dr. Thomas Winchester Bickett (1836-1888), a Physician, retained the "Bickett" spelling of the name, and survived his service in the Civil War. He married Mary Ann "Mollie" Covington and remained in Monroe, becoming a father of five.
• Mary Jane Bickett (1839 - after 1900) Married 1st to James Edward Delorme, Sr., having one son of the same name born 2 weeks posthumously to his father's death as a Civil War casualty in West Virginia on October 14, 1862. Her son was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She returned home to her parents and is shown above with them in the 1870 census. She later settled in Kershaw County, South Carolina and married Andrew Jackson Baker, with whom she had two children, Lillian in 1875 and James Edgar in 1879. It is unknown what happened to Mr. Baker, but in 1880, Mary Jane is found in a boarding house with 5 year old Lilly and 6 month old E.J.. He may have been out looking for a new place to settle, or working, or he may have passed away, like her first husband. She is last found in the 1900 census, living with her married daughter, Lilly Simms in Williamsburg County, South Carolina, where both of her younger children settled, while her firstborn took up with his paternal family and settled in Atlanta.
• Rachel Louise Bickett (1829-1909) Married a Funderburk, like her oldest sister, Theresa. Hers was named George Washington, and they also settled in Decatur County, Georgia, raising a family of 11 children, a few who died young. the birthplaces of the children reveal the timing and their path of migration, as the oldest five were born in Lancaster County, South Carolina, ending with James Sample Funderburk, born in 1854 and picking up with the birth of Elizabeth Desdemona Funderburk in 1857 in Decatur County, Georgia, where Rachel died in 1909, at the age of 54.

Record details

Name	Rachel Funderbuck
Age	51
Birth Date	Abt 1829
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Pine Hill, Decatur, Georgia, USA
Dwelling Number	231
Race	White
Gender	Female
Relation to Head of House	Wife
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	George W. Funderbuck
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Housekeeper
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
George W. Funderbuck	57
Rachel Funderbuck	51
Laura J. Funderbuck	21
Jefferson G. Funderbuck	19
Josephine L. Funderbuck	17
Mary E. Funderbuck	14
James S. Funderbuck	25
Elizabeth Beckett	74

The 1880 census shows Rachel as the caretaker of her mother, Elizabeth, 74. 

Name	James Bickett
Age	78
Birth Date	Abt 1802
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Pine Hill, Decatur, Georgia, USA
Dwelling Number	230
Race	White
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Father
Marital Status	Married
Father's Birthplace	Ireland
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Farmer
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
Tricia C. Funderbuck	55
Robert S. Funderbuck	18
Effie Funderbuck	12
James Bickett	78

While Theresa was the caretaker of her father, James, 78. Elizabeth passed away in 1888, while James endured until 1917, being buried at the Brinson Cemetery in Decatur. But, back to the Honeycutt's. I still ponder Becketts motives for garnering the indentures of freeborn, but illegitimate, or orphaned children of color. Was he a benevolent guardian or a malevolent master? Were the children bound to him because of his skill set without his own bartering, or did he seek them out as a source of cheap labor?

But there was one more.

Martha had an older son. In the 1850 census, 11-year-old William Honeycutt, mulatto, was living in the home of Tilman Helms, a farmer in Union County, but not inside the town of Monroe. One of Tilman's sons was a merchant and his neighbors were farmers, save one, Dugald Carter, a Shoemaker whose son was a miner.

I have an ancestor named Tillman Helms, but this was not the same one. 

This was the son of Isaac Helms, as shown in the family tree above. 

The difference between William and the younger Henry and Monroe, is that he is found in the 1860 census, living in Union County, in the Monroe Post Office District. And he's not alone.

William is a Day Laborer, his age given as 19 here, placing his year of birth between 1839 and 1841, from the two census records, so around two to four years older than Henry. He's still living among a number of Helms', next to Levi Helms, a Stage Contractor and Dresser. William is a newlywed, married to Mary, 18, also a mulatto. This is still before the Civil War, so Mary was also a free person of color. That term covered free persons of any ethnicity, or mix of ethnicities, other than white. At this point, in this place, it appeared to be a catch-all, and in the area, most with this labor were either mixed race individuals with black and white heritage, or Native Americans. Free Africans with no European heritage were labeled "B" for black. 

William and Mary were included in the marriage documents, and revealed her maiden name was Richardson. The Richardsons, white, were a large slave-holding family found primarily in Anson and Union Counties. Mary was most likely of black and white heritage, source unknown.

No parents were named and the wedding was performed by G. W. Hargett. They're not found in the 1870. This couple seemed to weave and wave through various counties and even states until William was alone and ended up returning home and living out his last, and very long, days, although not as long as his death records indicate. I've seen this before. In those days, some, when they could no longer press for youth, embraced their long-lived status, claiming to be much older than they were. Papers would advertise an individual's age as near 100, or over, while earlier records would indicate they were factually around 80 or so. 

William was found in the 1920 census, working for a family as a laborer, with his age given as 95. But it was his death certificate that intrigued me most. 

William Honeycutt, the brown William Honeycutt, died on November 13, 1924. His cause of death was labeled Old age, and I recognize the word "palsy", but otherwise, the script is illegible. He was widowed and a resident of the County Home when he died and buried at the cemetery located there.

It was the excerpt above, where his parents' names were to be recorded, that caught my eye. His father was written in as an "Unknown Indian" and his mother as an "Unknown White Woman".  We know that his mother was named Martha Honeycutt because of the Court records. In the death certificate, William had been given "Indian" as his race. 

1920

In the 1920 census, he was listed as "Mu" for mulatto, however, as he had his whole life. 

There are those online who have this William Honeycutt conflated with a William Monroe Honeycutt who married Ophelia Pheobe Medlin, but that William was a white man, and the son of a William Honeycutt and Mary Fairley Love Honeycutt.. His father had passed away in the late 1840's.

Above is shown Mary's petition for her year's allowance as a widow, dated July term, 1850.

Name	Mary Honeycut
Gender	Female
Race	White
Residence Age	43
Birth Date	abt 1807
Birthplace	North Carolina
Residence Date	1850
Home in 1850	Union, North Carolina, USA
Line Number	38
Dwelling Number	1114
Family Number	1114
Inferred Child	Sarah Honeycut; Wm Honeycut; Dempsey Honeycut; Elizabeth Honeycut; Jane Honeycut; Susanna Honeycut

Household members

Name	Age
Jane Honeycut	8
Susanna Honeycut	6
Mary Honeycut	43
Sarah Honeycut	21
Wm Honeycut	20
Dempsey Honeycut	18
Elizabeth Honeycut	10

And this is Mary's household in 1850, with her six children, and William aged 20. He was not the "Indian" or "mulatto" William. William Monoe Honeycutt married Phoebe Ophelia Medlin in 1853. His year of death is unknown, but his descendants, some of them, have commandeered the death records of "Brown William", which is inaccurate.

Martha Honeycutt, who appears to have lived in both Union and Stanly County, appears to have had a great deal in common with Charlotte Melton from my earlier post. She gave birth to several darker-skinned sons, while she was white, outside of marriage. The father in both instances appears to have been Native American.

This leads back to the question of who Martha Honeycutt was, and where did this group of Honeycutt's come from? Searching for a Martha Honeycutt in the 1850 census of Union, Stanly, and even Cabarrus or Anson Counties, we find four Martha's, however, there was only one old enough, (or young enough), to have been the mother of these little boys. The others were just children, in the same age range of the boys, or far past their child-bearing years. This was Martha, the daughter of Lewis and Polly Rowland Honeycutt. She would shortly afterwards marry a Sides and have a lengthy marriage and many children. I do not believe this was the same Martha. There was no indication, and in this time and setting, she would have been a pariah among possible brides. 

The search for the origins of these boys appeared to be a dead end, but there were clues. 

GW Hargett

George Washington Hargett had applied with William Honeycutt on the marriage bond with Mary Richardson. There was only one man in the area that this shoe fit, the son of Daniel Hargett and Mary "Polly" Kesiah Hargett. He was born about 1830 and was a contemporary of William Honeycutt. I've found no other connection between George and William, and one can surmise they were probably just friends. 

Looking back to the 1840 census, for Honeycutt's that may have lived in this same area of Union County that neared the Stanly County border, we have to look in Anson County, as Union would not be founder until two years later. Union was born in 1842 as the child of Anson and Mecklenburg, with its portions from the west side of Anson and east side of Mecklenburg. Knowing Martha's children were born in Stanly, and then in Union Counties, the Anson County census was the one that held the part of Union that now borders Stanly. 

Here, of interest, we find the listing for "Bry T Honeycutt. While not definitive, I believe this given name may have been an abbreviation of "Bryant". I can't find anything else on Bryant, or anything close to this name or abbreviation, in Anson, Union, or any nearby counties in North Carolina. There was a Bryant Honeycutt, born June 15, 1828, in North Carolina, possibly Anson, who married Sureptia Bridges, and previously to a lady named Margaret, to Scott County, Tennessee prior to 1850. He was buried there in 1898.

The above clip shows B. Honeycutt on a list of the area that begins with Henry Marshall and Dominic Morton, both who would also show residence in Montgomery (Stanly) County during their lifetimes. There also is my ancestor Stark Ramsey, who lived around the Burnsville area, and a few Broadways, who did also. His name appears closest to my distant cousins, John and Milton Winfield, brothers, and sons of Edward Winfield, my fifth Great Granduncle. They lived along the Rocky River, which borders Anson and Stanly Counties. 

A variant view of the 1840 census of Union County shows a family of five, with the Head of Household being a young man in his 20's, three females: one in her 20's, a teen between 15 and 19 and a younger girl between 10 and 14. The final family member was a male under 10 who was a free person of color who could have been William. What was this family makeup? A young man whose parents were deceased and his sisters? A married couple in their twenties with two young sisters or boarders? This can't be determined, but one of the older two females could have been Martha, and the little boy, William.

The 1870 census of Scott County, Tennessee, shows an older Bryant Honeycutt, with his family, surrounded by other Bridges (his wife Surepta's family) and other Honeycutt's. Could this have been the same family?

And then there was Sam.

1830 West Pee Dee

In the 1830 census of West Pee Dee, we find a Samuel Honeycutt, listed near William Wall, Lewis Springer and the John Furrs, Junior and Senior, in an area that would become Stanly. 

A different view of the same family reveals a family of seven, two adults and five children, all free whites. 

Name	Saml Honeycut
Home in 1830 (City, County, State)	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5	1 ?
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9	2 Mike & ?
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49	1 Sam
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9	2 Mary & ?
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39	1 Nancy
Free White Persons - Under 20	5
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49	2
Total Free White Persons	7
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored)	7

However, ten years later, this same family has relocated temporarily to Cabarrus County. 

1840 Cabarrus

Name	Samuel Henrycutt
Residence Date	1840
Home in 1840 (City, County, State)	Cabarrus, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14	1
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39	1
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49	1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19	1
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49	1
Free Colored Persons - Males - Under 10	3
Free Colored Persons - Females - Under 10	2
Persons Employed in Agriculture	2
Free White Persons - Under 20	2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49	3
Total Free White Persons	5
Total Free Colored Persons	5
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves	10

The ages match up somewhat exact with where Sam's family will appear later, with one exception, they have five free children of color in their home, all under the age of ten. Was Martha Honeycutt a member of this family, and were these her children? Did she have more than three?

1850 Burnsville, Anson County.

Jumping ahead another decade, they have relocated once again to the Burnsville area of Anson County. They are living next to James Ramsey, a son of the afore mentioned Stark Ramsey, my kin. This puts them in the same area that had been occupied by Bryant (?) Honeycutt. 

Sam is 70 and his wife, Nancy, is 60. An older, known son, Tillman Michael Honeycutt, was already an adult with his own family, living in the same general area. The others found in the Honeycutt home, in addition to Samuel and his wife, Nancy, were an 8-year-old Lucy, possibly a grandchild, and likely daughters, Mary, 25, Betsy, 16 and son, Ander, 13. 

1860

This year, Sam and Nancy are accompanied by a daughter or granddaughter, perhaps, named Margaret, age 19 and an infant, 6-month-old, Sarah, who may have been her daughter. Margaret is a day laborer, and it is noted that Sam was a pauper, and while it was showing him as 65, although he was counted as 70 a decade prior, this was the same family. I've seen hundreds of instances in my years of research proving that age was tentative and variable in these documents. 

The neighborhood was much the same in 1860. The family is still in the Burnsville District of Anson County. He's still on the same page as James Ramsey and with several Carpenters, descendants of Thomas Carpenter, shown at the bottom of the page in 1850. There is also Ben Hudson, a brother of Stanly County's infamous Joshua Hudson Jr. of Ugly Creek in Stanly County, and Stokes McIntyre, who was the estranged husband of my second Great Grandmother's sister, Elizabeth Murray McIntyre and had resided on the other side of the Rocky River, in Tyson Township, Stanly County, prior to moving to Anson County. He is buried at Rocky Mount Baptist Church, just across the river. On the same page was another Murray sister, Rebecca, and her husband, Richard Poplin. 

Sam Honeycutt apparently died between 1860 and 1870.

His widow, Nancy, is shown as 68, having been enumerated as 66 in 1860. Margaret, who was seen as 19 in 1860, has advanced 12 years instead of 10, and shown as 31. There are two small children living in the home now, possibly the children of Margaret; Clementine, 6, and Melinda, 2. Nancy was living in the household of Marion Blackman, who had married her daughter, Mary. 

The neighborhood reveals that Nancy and her remaining family were still in the same place as they had been since 1850.

They were still among the descendants of my ancestors, Thomas Carpenter and Stark Ramsey, as well as the Ledbetters, again. They lived right next to Stokes McIntyre, now, who was back with his wife, Elizabeth. Living in their home were two Huneycutt children, Levi, 12 and Elizabeth, 8. Future records would show that these were the illegitimate children of Stokes McIntyre and Margaret Honeycutt. Like other Civil Wars Veterans who had returned alive, Stokes McIntyre seems to have maintained, or generated, two families simultaneously. 

The 1880 census was the last one for most of Sam and Nancy's children. 

It would also reveal relationships, showing that Nancy had passed away, and Mary's husband had abandoned her to return to South Carolina, where he was from. She was now the Head of Household and had returned to her maiden name of Honeycutt. Margaret is shown as her sister, and although Margaret was not in the 1850 census, the child, Lucy was, and born within a year of Margaret's probable age, so I believe Margaret and Lucy was one and the same. She had continued to have more children, adding John W. Honeycutt, aged 7, to Tiney (Clementine), now 15 and Melinda, now 11. They seem to have been living in the Honeycutt homeplace, and while Stokes McIntyre had passed away in 1875, this last child, John William Honeycutt-McIntyre claimed him as father as well. It appears that Margaret Honeycutt was the mother of six children with Stokes McIntyre.

Marriage License of John William (Honeycutt) McIntyre, naming his parents as Stokes McIntyre and Margaret Honeycutt. 

The younger son of Sam and Nancy Honeycutt, Ander or Andrew, despite not showing up with them in the 1860 census, died on August 30, 1862, in Richmond County, Virginia, a Civil War Casualty. 

Elizabeth "Eliza" or "Betsy" Honeycutt in 1860

Daughter Elizabeth "Betsy" Honeycutt, struck out on her own, finding work and refuge among the Burnsville Lee family. 

Name	John W. Honeycut
Age	22
Birth Date	Abt 1858
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Burnsville, Anson, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number	181
Race	White
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Son
Marital Status	Single
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Name	Eliza Honeycut
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Farmer hand
Months Not Employed	3
Neighbors	View others on page

Household members

Name	Age
John W. Honeycut	22
Eliza Honeycut	50

She is last seen in the 1880 census, living with her own son, John W. Honeycutt, not to be confused with her nephew of the same name, who was twenty years younger than his cousin. 

Mary Honeycutt remained childless. 

Oldest son, Michael "Mike" Honeycutt was first married to a woman named Lavina. He is also found in Cabarrus County in 1840, like his father. 

He would marry Lucinda "Lucy" Ramsey in 1871, daughter of Holden Ramsey, another Stark Ramsey son, after the family had relocated to Burnsville, Anson County. He was the father of five. I believe this is the family that Martha Honeycutt sprang from, due to circumstance, location, and the process of elimination. 

The Daily Standard Raleigh, North Carolina • Thu, Apr 16, 1868Page 4

There was another, large Honeycutt family who had settled in the "Winchester" area of Union County, and that was the family of Dempsey J Honeycut (1807-1867), who had married Tabitha Helms and moved to Mississippi. They were the parents of 11 children that bore many of the same names that ran through the Samuel Honeycutt line, including oldest son, Samuel Wilburn Honeycut (1836- 1905). This line has been much better documented, and Dempsey was a common given name among the Honeycutt's hailing back to an earlier Dempsey.  He was supposedly the son of a Dempsey Jr. (1787-1856). They may have been related to Samuel. 

Martha Honeycutt and her sons were square pegs among the Rocky River community in the 19th century. She joins the club of the women who didn't exist, except that they did. While I found no answers, I found possibilities. I wonder who these Indigenous fathers were that left free brown children among the Rocky River population of settlers and crossed the color-lines along with that flooded ditch.