Flipping Over the Box of Legos

I have the sweetest, most amazing Three -year -old Grandson in the world. Honestly, I do. There are no 'terrible threes' here. I call him my 'Terrific Three'. But when he gets to playing....

Every parent and grandparent cringes at the sound of an overturned box of Legos, or Matchbox cars, either one. Sometimes though, you have to take that step,  to make sense of what you want to build, or find that one missing piece of your trainset,  so the train can go around the tracks. And, y'all, I've flipped over that box of Legos. I mean, I have pieces EVERYWHERE.

Just like my grandson when he's playing.

With my Faulkner research, I haven't found that one missing piece, but with every step, with every attempt to lay things out in a time line,  to see what makes sense, and what doesn't, I feel I'm getting closer to that missing piece, or an "ahah" moment.

A little background, for anyone who doesn't keep up with my blog and might come across, this post. I have a Third Great Grandfather named John Faulkner, who lived in Anson County, North Carolina. I'm 99 percent sure he was born there. He died there around 1877. He was married twice, and had a very large and colorful family. I know who the grandparents of both of his wives were, my direct line and his first wife. Yet, I have no clue who John's parents were.

With the usual resources yeilding no fruit, I have turned to the one place where clues may emerge, DNA.

Two male descendants of two of  my John Faulkner have taken Y-DNA tests, one from his son, Azariah, who was his youngest son by his first wife, Patience, and one from Constantine, who was by his second wife, Susan, a full-sibling to my second Great Grandmother, Sarah Francis. They match each other, of course, and their other close match is to a descendant of Francis Faulkner, Jr. whose family moved to Blount County,  Tennessee,  and then to the part of Knox County, Kentucky that became Whitley County in 1818. 

Basically, I can safely assume from my DNA research that our Faulkner line descends from the group of Faulkners who lived in Queen Anne's County, Maryland in the 1700's, specifically the ones who migrated to North Carolina to Bute and Granville, then to Cumberland and from there to Anson County. The sons of Francis Faulkner Sr. But there's no narrowing it down from there.

So I have been studying each and every Faulkner who graced the Motherland of Anson in her early days and following the trails of those who left, who was almost everybody but my John, and an Asa William Luther Faulkner who married Susannah Myers, daughter of Marmaduke Myers. And yeah, I'm turning over that toy box.

The above document, just the right side, reads:

"To All Ye To Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting.

Know Ye, by virtue of part of warrant No. 227 dated the 14th of May, 1813, issued by the Secretary of this State to Samuel Jackson and entered on the 15th day of  September, 1810 by No. 5119. 

There is granted by the State of Tennesee unto: Jonathan Falkner assignee,

a certain tract or parcel of land containing 24 acres by survey bearing date the 3rd of November, 1813 lying in Humphrey County in the first district on Little Richland Creek of Tennessee River and bounded as follows to wit Beginning at a Spanish Oak and ash marked 'J' the beginning corner of said Falkners tract of land he now lives on ,(emphasis mine), runs west sixty-nine poles to a stake in the Creek thence south fifty five poles and a half to a black gum then east sixty-nine poles to a poplar then north fifty-five and a half poles to the beginning.

It was signed by Govenor Willie Blount.

So, Jonathan Faulkner was an assignee of Samuel Jackson. That meant that Samuel Jackson had assigned his rights to or interest in, the property, to Jonathan Faulkner. And who was Samuel Jackson? Where had I heard that name before?

Oh yeah, in several transactions in Anson County involving the early Faulkner family. In my recent post "The Faulkners and Their Neighbors on Featherbed Branch Part Deaux", I had posted the following observances.

In Book D, P 68, dated Jan. 29, 1795, John Stanfield witnessed a deed between Thomas Shaw and Samuel Jackson.

No, not that Samuel Jackson. This one was related to the afore mentioned Jacksons, and to the other witness, Isaac Jackson, who lived on the North fork of Thompsons Creek.

The next year, on July 19, 1796, Isaac Jackson and John Stanfield, the two witnesses,  are seen as executors to the estate of John Jackson, deceased, and sold that property to Thomas Shaw. It was described as " all but a third of said land Mrs. Jackson is to have her life in and after the death to Thomas Shaw".  It was again, on Thompson's Creek and signed by Isaac Jackson and John Stanfield.

Samuel Jackson and his brother, Isaac Jackson, were sons of Col. John Jackson and John Stanfield had married his daughter, Sarah. John Stanfield was a member to the Stanfield/ Stanfill family who had migrated with the Faulkners from the Cumberland River area. Thomas Shaw was also a son-in-law of Col. John Jackson (Sr.) and had married his daughter, Phoebe. There was a John Jackson Jr., another son, who was known as Captain John Jackson.

Samuel Jackson turns out to be another crucial key to the study.

Another clue arises with the one documented son of Nathan Faulkner the elder and son of Francis Sr., Archibald. Archibald was a chain carrier in several of Nathan's early surveys in Anson County and is head of his own household in 1790. Archibald migrates twice in his life after leaving Anson and his first arrival is to Edgefield County, or District, in South Carolina, an area that was part of Old 96. There were other Faulkners (and various spellings) in Edgefield District. Were any of them related? Especially those who named their sons Asa Elijah, and Jonathan or Nathan? Quite possibly. Nathan showed in 1800 he could have had 6 sons in the home and Archibald was already grown and moved away by then, so there could have been other, older, sons and daughters who were closer in age to Archibald. 

I found a Kizziah (also spelled Keziah, Kesiah, Kessiah or nicknamed "Kizzy") Fortner (also Forkner, Falkner, Faulkner, Forker or Falconer) in 1810, in Edgefield County, living near a Willis and a (what do you know?) Nathan Fortner/Falkner. When a woman shows up as a head of household, it's usually a single woman or a widow. Most often, a widow. Kizziah, aged between 25 and 44, and the only adult in the household, appears to have been a widow.

Name:	Kizziah Fortner
Residence Date:	6 Aug 1810
Residence Place:	Edgefield, South Carolina, USA
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:	2
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:	1
Number of Household Members Under 16:	3
Number of Household Members Over 25:	1
Number of Household Members:	7

Now, write this down. In 1810, Kesiah (or any variant), is in Edgefield County, SC, with Archibald, known son of Nathan of Anson. Guess where she is in 1820?

Name:	Keziah Fortner
Home in 1820 (City, County, State):	Humphreys, Tennessee
Enumeration Date:	August 7, 1820
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over:	1
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture:	1
All Other Persons Except Indians not Taxed:	4
Free White Persons - Over 25:	1
Total Free White Persons:	4
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other:	8

Now, over 45, she's in Humphrey's County, Tennessee. Who just moved to Humphrey's County, Tennessee?

Oh yeah, Jonathan, who I believe is another son of Nathan. He was living next to Nathan in 1800, he witnessed several deeds with Nathan and in 1808, Nathan gave a bunch of personal items, like livestock and furniture to Jonathan and Warren. No, none of that says blatantly, 'this is my son', but it might be as close as we can get to the suggestion of it. 

Does this say Kesiah is a member of the same family? No, it doesn't. Does it seem to suggest she might be a member of this family? Certainly a strong possibility. Too much for coincidence? Very probably. Worth looking into further? No doubt about it. 

Land records cleary show the exodus of the family of Francis Jr. after his death. They sold property and show up in Blount County, Tennessee. This included the family of  Sampson Stanfield, (sometimes seen as Stanfill), who was in the beginning a son-in-law. John and Isaac Stanfield were neighbors of  the Faulkners when they lived along the Cumberland River in the eastern part of the State, and had followed them to Anson County, or came with them, more likely. Sampson's first wife was Easter Faulkner, and after her death, he married a Thomas girl. There's no document that states she was the daughter of Francis Jr., but all signs and arrows point towards it.

So like the fact that any evidence that Sampson Stanfield was the son-in-law of  Francis Faulkner Jr., is completely circumstantial, (ie, he moved to Tennesse and then to Kentucky with the known sons of Francis Jr; James, Joseph and Francis Ballenger Faulkner), one must take my findings as the theories that they are, and not fact. It's all based on circumstantial evidence. It's possibilities, based on facts that seem more than coincental.

By following leads on the younger generations to other states, I make discoveries. Look what name is two spaces up, that person who was living next to this other Faulkner from Anson who moved from Anson to South Carolina and then a decade later, the same person is living next to one who moved from Anson to Tennessee. 

Then there are those whose names pop up on with the removed Faulkners, whose names I recall from pouring over these old deeds, who it turns out, have children who listed Mom's maiden name as Faulkner (or any of it's various spellings). The pieces are beginning to fit.

A few things I am now sure of. One, the generations from Francis Sr to the children of A W.L. and Susan Myers Faulkner did NOT go Francis - Asa- A. W. L. Sr - A.W.L. Jr and siblings. It went Francis - Asa- ELIJAH - A. W. L. Sr to A.W.L. Jr. and siblings.

Another question I am looking at was, if Jonathan and John were one and the same, or were they two different men. I will posting on that conundrum later. 

A third project is attempting to assign the younger men to which of the two older men might be their fathers, based on whose land connected whose, who ended up living on land of the same description after the older man shows up no longer, whose name is connected to the other name most often and/or in ways that suggest a close relationship. It's all just coincidental, or maybe not. Maybe by looking closer into the generations down the road, there's an answer somewhere. Until then, I will keep flipping over those leggos.

The Falkners and Neighbors of Featherbed Branch: The 1800's

 

For the past several months now, I've been trying to make head and tails of the land records involving the early Falkners who lived along Jones Creek, Featherbed Branch and Wilkey's Mill Creek, in Anson County, NC. I've yet to find mention or a definate connection to my ancestor, John L. Faulkner, who was born between 1807 and 1812. I know from DNA that he was related to them, although I have yet to connect the dots. I've found hide nor hair of him with any mention of a parent, or even a sibling, although I have discoverer his two wives and their parents, and even grandparents. 

In this post, I will continue on with the deeds of the early Faulkners, and some focus on connected families, like the Wisdoms, the Mays, the Buchanons and Chiles, whose property adjoined theres, and the Stanfields, who had migrated from Cumberland County, NC with them.

I begin with one mentioned in the last post dated Dec 2, 1800, Book H2, 250, wherein Nathan Faulkner, who was one of the older Falkners, sold his personal property, includind livestock, furniture and a corn crib, to Jonathan and Warren Falkner. Witnesses were Noah and William Rushing. This is worth noting because some people have Sarah, the wife of Nathan, as being a Rushing. I know her name was Sarah, as she and Nathan witnessed the Will of Benjamin Falkner, said to be his cousin, in 1783. His widow Elizabeth, appears only in the 1790 census, with her two small sons, John and Henry. I have no idea what happened to any of them. 

On Oct.14,1799, Nathan Faulkner, Planter, of Anson, sold to Richard Graves, of Chesterfield Couny, SC, 50 acres on Cedar Branch, which had beed granted to Phillip Dill in 1769 and through various conveyances , had came into the hand so Nathan Faulkner, or in the words of the document, "vested in" Nathan. Witnesses were John Cason, Richard Meeks, and Reddin Meeks. Below is a photo of Featherbed Branch, as it appears off of Teal Hall Road. Just past it is the old Cason Cemetery, where John Cason is buried.

As for Richard and Reddin Meeks, they're not in the 1800 census of Anson, taken just months after this transaction, but there is a Brtton Meeks and Frank Meeks, living side by side, right near Nathan and Jonathan Faulkner and next to John Cason, with Job Faulkner just above. The two were brothers, son of Francis Marion Meeks and wife Deana Darcus. Like John Cason, they were out of Pitt County, NC. Francis "Frank" Jr. would end up in Emmanuel County, Ga and Britton would end up in Baldwin County, Georgia. They had a brother named Reddin (and Britton had a son named Reddin, who wasnt' born yet), who had settled in Bladen County and had ended up in Dale County, Alabama. This could have been him, down for a visit, or traveling through. Richard had to have been related in some manner, but I'm not sure how. He may have been a family member who had slipped through the cracks. This is just one example of the diaspora that was taking place at the time, that makes it so difficult to determine who belongs to whom.

Jonathan Falkner appears in the 1800 census living near Nathan. Warren does not appear in the census. I believe he may have been living with Nathan. 

Name:	Nathan Folkner[]
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):	Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:	1 Warren
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over:	1 Nathan
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over:	1 Sarah
Number of Household Members Under 16:	5
Number of Household Members Over 25:	3
Number of Household Members:	9

Warren may have been the young man between 16 and 25 living with Nathan. 

Name:	Jonathan Folkner[]
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):	Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:	1
Number of Household Members:	2

Jonathan was already married and had a child, and head of his own household, near that of Nathan.

October 16, 1801, Book H2 P 249, a listing just before page 250 William Wisdom of Anson sold to his son, Thomas Wisdom 100 acres on the middle prong of Jones Creek to the mouth of Gum's Branch, first line of William Wisdom's 300 acre survey and was witnessed by neighbor James Childs and other son, Francis Wisdom.

The Wisdoms appear in may Faulkner related deeds. 

November 20, 1801, Nathan Falkner of Anson sold to Malcolm McCusick 74 acres on Cedar Creek for $160. Began at a persimmon tree on Rosses line, joins Cedar Creek and the upper corner of 'said' Falkner's Plantation, sold by Hugh Johnson to James Forehand. It was signed by Nathan Falkner and witnessed by Malcolm Campbell and Jonathan Falkner.  Oath Jan. 1802 by Jonathan Falkner.

In April of 1801,  Elijah Falkner witnesseed a transaction between Clement Lanier and Henry Marshall over the sale of a slave woman named Guander and her two children, in conjunction with Nathaniel Dabbs. So Elijah, who did not appear in any census, was still in Anson in 1801. Also, these were new names, not otherwise seen with the Faulkners.

On Dec 15, 1798, David Collins of Anson sold to Elijah 'Falkoner' two tracts. One was on the east side of Lowry's Branch near the mouth of the Dry Prong and the other mentioned Ready Branch, Lowry's and Collins new survey.  Witnesses were Job "Folkour", Merit Meek, and Jonathan Forkner. Book L Page 8.

On Oct 19, 1803 Elisha Falkner sold to Francis Wisdom, 500 acres, that he had been granted, on Morris's Branch. Witnesses were Elisha B. Smith and Job Falkner. Book L P 13.

Featherbed Branch and the trees around it, through a cow pasture 

February 17, 1806, Francis Wisdom to Asa Faulkner, both of Anson, 500 acres, beginning at Pleasant May's corner pine at the head drains of Morris's Branch. It joined the properties of John Falkner, Buchanon, and Asa Falkner. This property had been surveyed in 1802 for Elisha Faulkner, who had sold it to Francis Wisdom. It was signed by Francis Wisdom, witnessed by John Jackson and Elijah Faulkner, and recorded in January of 1809.

The Childs or Chiles family was another neighbor to the Faulkner collective. In Book M, P 356, we find a deed wherein James and Lydia Liles sold all of their share of the estate of Elizabeth Chiles, deceased, to James Miller Tindle, 'being land which fell to us from John Chiles estate".

On December 5, 1800, the Govenor, in Raleigh, granted (#1639) 100 acres to William Wisdom that joined his own line and that of Asa Faulkner. 

The Wisdoms were another family closely tied to Nathan, Asa, and the other associated Faulkners. William Wisdom would die just a few years from this transaction, leaving a will in Anson County, naming several children, including sons Thomas and Francis, who are mentioned in the transactions.

Book H2, p 275, dated June 16, 1801, John Ford, of Anson to Jacob Mangrem of Chesterfield County, SC sold 150 acres on Cedar Creek, bordering Abraham Jones,  Phillip Dill, that had been granted to Richard Worthen in 1779 and sold by William Worthen to John Ford. Witnesses were Nathan and Jonathan Faulkner. 

John Ford may have been a Faulkner relative. There were Ford and Faulkner connections harkening back to Maryland. Nathan's supposed Grandmother, Sarah, had been born a Ford and married a John Faulkner. They were the parents of Francis Faulker, Sr. 

Name:	John Ford
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):	Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:	1
Number of Slaves:	1
Number of Household Members Over 25:	1
Number of Household Members:	3

In 1800, John Ford was living next to Abraham Rushing and near Robert Huntley, William Wisdom and several of the Gulledge family.

In Book M, Page 286,  We find a transaction between Anson County Coroner, James Johnson, and Robert Huntley. He sold 300 acres of land that was included in two tracts. The two tracts we're located bordering each other and on Lowery's Branch and Dry Prong. The property was sold due to an execution from Anson County court against Elijah Faulkner, for the bail of Thomas Stake $8.19 due to suit by Reuben Pickett of Anson. Land sold because of no goods or chattels found. Witnesses were A.H.S.R. McGregor and Lawrence Moore. 

According to "The Letter" which I posted about previously,  Elijah Faulkner was the son-in-law of Robert Huntley. The question remains, was Elijah and Asa the same person. This was late 1805. 

The Letter

Four months later in February of 1806, Francis Wisdom sold to Asa Faulkner 500 acres at the head drains of Morris's Branch, that he had not long before bought of Elisha Faulkner, with an 'sh', which was Elisha's Grant. It bordered the property of John Faulkner, the Buchanan's, Asa Faulkner and had been surveyed on March 1802 by Elisha Faulkner.  Witnesses were John Jackson and Elijah Faulkner, with a 'j'. 

This was the last deed involving this generation of Faulkners, with the exception of John, and Elijah's widow, Elizabeth Huntley Faulkner. 

John, who is aka Jonathan,  has a lawsuit against him by Pleasant Mays in 1812. He then migrates the same year to Humphrey County, Tennessee. I will post more on Jonathan later.

The next deeds involving Faulkners are a few decades later and involve Asa, which is not the older Asa mentioned in the late 1700's and early 1800's. This is Asa William Luther Faulkner, born about 1802, who married Susan Myers, daughter of Marmaduke Myers. Later deeds involve his heirs and the distribution of his property, including a son named Elijah and another named Asa W. L. Jr.

My theory is that Elijah Faulkner, who was the same generation as Jonathan, was the father of Asa W. L. Sr, Job II and Susanna Faulkner Webb, not older Asa, son of Francis Sr.  Asa W L Faulkner, Sr., said as much in the letter to his Uncle, Job, who moved to Georgia and then Alabama. Job is a young man under 25 in 1800. Asa was an older man over 45. 

Job and Elijah were brothers. Asa and Nathan were brothers, and brothers of Francis Jr. Job and Elijah may have been sons of either Asa or Nathan. But Asa and Elijah were two different people.

Elizabeth Huntley Faulkner Webb next to her father, Robert Huntley in 1810. 

 

The Faulkners of Featherbed Branch

When digging through ancient, weathered deeds, one will come across many names, some who still color the hills on mailboxes and businesses, others who only graced the landscape with their presence for a brief era. Sometimes, when there is a lack of Wills, probate records, marriage bonds or Family Bibles, a story can be told in land records. Who was connected in some way or manner to who? Who lived on connecting properties? How was land divided? Who ended up with the property and how? Who sold the property and why?

The Anson County, North Carolina Faulkner family was a tangled web of unidentifiable relationships. They landed in the Jones Creek and Wilkey's Mill Creek area, just off the Pee Dee River, and not far from the South Carolina border, early on in the Revolutionary War era, and nearly all of them were gone by 1820. Only the son and daughter of Asa Elijah Faulkner and wife, Elizabeth Huntley remained, and that of my ancestor, John Falkner, born around 1807. He is the mystery.

 The line of one Francis Falkner has been reasonably well traced. Both Sr. and Jr. ended up spending the final years of their life in Anson County. Then, most of children of Francis Jr. seem to have migrated to Kentucky via Tennessee. But there were others, many others. One of them had to be the parents of John Faulkner. DNA confirms it. Two descendants of sons of John Faulkner have taken YDNA tests that point to them being descendants of Francis Falkner Sr., and out of the Queen Ann's County, Maryland group of Falkners. Keep in mind the surname can be seen as Faulkner, Falkner, Forkner, Falconer, Fortner, even for the same individual. Some Faulkners moved to Tennesse or South Carolina and became Fortners to this day.

Nathan Falkner is one of those phantom Falkners. He obviously had plenty of children, but in family trees, only one, Abraham, is tied to him. To me, there obviously appears to have been more. People have tied individuals I would think were certainly his sons, to a couple from elsewhere, who never even graced the area.  I can find no semblance of record, or even idea, on why one would think or link the two together. On the other hand,.....

Nathan Faulkner first appears in the 1771 tax record of Butte County, North Carolina, which no longer exists, but became Franklin and Warren Counties. He was a young man then, so thought to have been born between 1745 and 1750. Nathan is supposedly one of the younger sons of Francis Falkner, Sr.

He arrived in Anson County as soon as 1777, as is found in the following transaction.

On April 2, 1786 Richard Odem sold a tract of land to John Johnson, both of Anson County, a tract of land on the upper fork of Jones Creek that had been granted on January 2, 1772 by the King to Thomas Mitchell, who had sold it on March 18, 1774 to John Mitchell, who sold it on November 1, 1777 to Nathan Falkner, who sold it on April 10, 1778 to Henry Wilson, who sold it on Feb. 26, 1779 to Thomas Jones, who sold it on Sept 17, 1779 to Thomas Mitchell. Signed by Richard Odem and witnesses by John and Jonah Jackson. Book 2 Page 459.

They really played hot potato with that tract of land. Makes one wonder what was wrong with it. The same surnames pop up around the lands of the Faukners; Mays, Chiles or Childs, Wisdom, Buchanon or Bohannon, and Jarmin or German. The Standfields or Stanfills, were a family known to have migrated from the Cumberland River to Anson on the Pee Dee River, with the Faulkner family. There may have been an intermarriage or two between the families at some point. I do not know. I've included some deeds with their names as well. 

Book 7 P 29,  Oct 3, 1778 Gideon Brown, a farmer from Anson County, sold to James Brooks, also of Anson, 108 acres on the southwesst side of the Pee Dee River that bordered Robert Edwards lower corner of land that he had sold to James Brooks on the North side of Wilkey Mill Creek of Jones Creek and Drury Sims, part of a grant dated March 4, 1775 by the King to William May, deceased and sold June 27, 1778, by his heir, William May, to Gideon Brown. Witnesses were Nathan 'Falker' and Nathan Melton, oath Oct 1778.

Book 7 P 31 June 27, 1778 William May, planter to Gideon Brown, both of Anson, 640 acres on the south side of the PeeDee River and a fork of Jones Creek that bordered Robert Edwards lower corner of land he sold to  James Brooks on the North side of Wilkey's Creek of Jones Creek and Drury Sims, being where Gideon Brown lives; granted by the King to William May, signed William May Sr and witnesses by John Hurley and Nathan Melton in October of 1778. 

So William May, son of William May promptly sold this tract and then the very next page -

Book 7, P 32  Oct. 5, 1778 William May, Planter and wife Lucy of Anson to Sarah Flandemagem, spinstress, 200 acres bordering a small drain that's the first line of land of which it is a part of a 640 acres granted July 25 by the King to William May. Signed by William May with no witnesses.

Book 7, Page 166 On Sept. 30, 1779 Mr. Nathan Falkner appeared before Stephen Miller, Justice of the Peace and swore ' about 4 years since he bought 34 acres from William Eddins and paid Eddins for the land', (this would put it at about 1775) that he sold the land to Mr. Robert Hall, Falkner returned the deed to Eddins and Eddins gave Robert Hall a deed for 34 acres with Falkner as witness. The land was part of a grant to Mr. Lewis Lowery and joins Nathan Melton, John Stanfelt & Thomas Myers, signed by Nathan Falkner and Stephen Miller. 

There is the name of one of the Standfields that had migrated with the Faulkner clan and then again, Nathan Melton, another neighbor who had co-witnessed the May deed. Lewis Lowery is another name seen often in these transactions. 

Then.. "Robert Hall before    ----- swears he bought a tract of land from Nathan Falkner and made full satisfaction to Falkner, he recieved a deed from William Eddins and receipt for the money, Edens repealed Hall's deed, in the deed, John Street gave him for the tract adjoining John Stanfield, Nathan Melton and Thomas Myers on the north prong of Jones Creek of (the) Pee dee River  called Wilkes Mill Creek both Streets deeds to Edens and Edens deed to Hall were consumed by fire in his house with all his other writings. Witnessed by Michael Auld, clerk of Anson Court Oct. 1779

Book 4 Page 138. On Jan 25, 1780 James Mathews of Orange County to Nathan Faulkner of Anson County, 200 acres on the south side of Wilkey's Mill Creek, a fork of Jones Creek, near William May's line and granted to Drury Sims who had sold it to Zachariah Moorman. Signed James Mathews and witnessed by William May and Jeremiah Lewis.

Book 4, P 142. On August 9, 1780 Henry Wilson of Anson sold to Richard Odom of the same 100 acres on the south side of  Jones Creek bordering Thomas Mitchell and his two fields, granted to Thomas Mitchell by the King and sold by his son John to Nathan Falkner, who had sold it to Henry Wilson in 1778. Signed by Henry Wilson and witnessed by William Gulledge, Elisha Breeler and Sukey Granade 1783

Book 4, P 43 Dec. 20, 1780 Joshua Hodges, a farmer from Orange County, NC to Patrick Boggan, a farmer from Anson County, sold 100 acres on the SW side of the Pee Dee River. Other names mentioned were McNatt, Hurley, William May, Francis Thompkins, Joshua Hodges and wife "Liv". Witnessed by William Vaughn and Nathan Falkner in January 1782.

Anyone familiar with Anson County history is familiar with the name Patrick Boggan, a Revolutionary War hero. Next to this deed is another one involving William May and William Wood a 'wood joiner' and this one names 'William May, carpenter, son of William May, Sr.', which leads me to think they are referring to his trade to differetiate him from his father, not naming an individual 'William May Carpenter' which I've seen addressed as a full name.

Book 4 P 103 William McDaniel sold 300 acres on the east side of the Middle Prong of Jones Creek to Richard Odam  on Jan. 28, 1782, witnessed by Nathan Falkner "Jurat" and William Mays.

In October of 1782, Gov. Alexander Martin granted 100 acres on Featherbed Branch to Lawrence Franklyn.

Book 4, P 140. William McDaniel, Planter sold to Timothy Haney, a blacksmith, both of Anson, 150 acres on the Featherbed Branch of Jones Creek and bordering Robert Granade. Had been granted to William McDaniel in 1773. Witnesses were Nathan Falkner and Thomas Hutson. Oath on Oct 1782 by Nathan Falkner.

Featherbed Branch is a very important clue.

Book C p 456 On July 23, 1784, Timothy Haney, blacksmith, sells to Asa Faulkner, planter, 150 acres that began at a hickory in Malachi Watts line near a drain of Featherbed Branch of Jones Creek and joined the lands of Robert 'Jerman'. The lot had been granted to William McDaniel in 1773. Signed Timothy Haney. Witnesses were Nathan Falkner, Reubin Phillips & Sarah 'Boslick".

Now we see that Asa Faulkner has joined his brother Nathan in Anson County. In October of 1782, Asa had been in Granville County, NC, the first mention of him, and witnesses the wedding of his cousin, Moses Faulkner, who had married Sussanah Salter or Saulter. This was also one year after Nathan and his wife had witnessed the will of Benjamin Falkner. 

The land being transferred was the very same lot that William McDaniel had sold to Timothy Haney just two years earlier, that Nathan had been a witness to.

Book 2 p 305, on Jan. 5,1785, Nathan Falkner and John Lowery witnessed a deed between Abraham Strickland and Malachi Watts concerning a property on Little Brown Creek.

Book 2 p 302 , just a month later, on Feb. 15, 1785, both of these same men, Nathan and John Lowery, witnessed a deed between John Duncan and Malachi Watts on the same creek and bordering the property of Abraham Strickland. Malachi might have been a friend of Nathan or might have even married a Falkner.

Book 2, p 15 Robert Hall of Anson sold 100 acres to Benjamin Buchanan Sr. of Chatham County, NC that crossed the road to Robert Hall's place. Witnesses were Benjamin Buchanon, Jr. and Stephen Pace. 

On April 11, 1785 Charles 'Lizenbee' and wife Elizabeth, of  'Camblin' (Camden) District, SC sold 322 acres to Benjamin Buchanon Sr. of Chatham County, NC. This lot joined Tyson Meador Jr's and was on the southside of Jones Creek and had been granted by the King to Lewis Lowery. Witnesses were Stephen Pace, who now is mentioned several times, and Ben Jr..

Enter the Buchanons. A Benjamin Buchanon appears in many of the later dealings with the Faulkners, and even with my John Faulkner. 1785 must have been the year they moved from Chatham County. It must also be around the year that Charles Lisenby relocated from Anson County to Chesterfield County, SC. I'm also researching my genetic connection to a set of Lisenby's, who, as fate would have it, descend from this Charles Lisenby.

Book 2 P55 December 2, 1786 Stephen Pace, Esquire, of Anson to 'Stalin' May of the same, 200 acres on the South Side of Wilkey's Mill Creek and fork of Jones Creek. It bordered William May and was part of an older grant sold by Drury Sims and Zachariah Moorman who had sold it to James Mathis, who had sold it to Nathan Faulkner , who had sold it on Feb. 10, 1784 to Stephen Pace. Witnesses were William May and Jonah Jackson.

Book 2, Page 20 Jan. 19, 1788, James Farr of Anson sells to Asa Faukner, 50 acres on Jones Creek, on George 'Londsell' Rudds lines, borders Thomas Jones, Bexley John Lamden and Morrises' Branch, including a mill seat. Witnesses were Peter Bond and William Ricketts.

Asa has purchased his mill.

1790, the first census of the United States of America is taken. Five households of the Faulkner family is found in Anson County, NC.

Name:	Nathan Falkner
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:	2
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16:	5
Free White Persons - Females:	4
Number of Household Members:	11

First there is Nathan. He has 2 males over 16 in the home, and 5 under 16, which appears to mean that he was the father of several sons, and possibly 3 daughters, as there are 4 females in the home and one would be Sarah.

Name:	Archd Falkner
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:	1
Free White Persons - Females:	2
Number of Household Members:	3

Nathan's son, Archibald, is already head of his own household. He must have been the oldest son. Archibald is the one son attributed to Nathan. He has a young family, probably his bride and their first little baby girl. He's living near John Culpepper, Sterling May and the Granades.

Name:	Asa Falkner
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:	1
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16:	3
Free White Persons - Females:	3
Number of Household Members:	7

Then there's Asa, he has a household of 7, himself, three males under 16 and 3 females. It is unknown who they would be, as his three known children were not born yet. Perhaps siblings.

Name:	Francis Falkner
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:	3
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16:	1
Free White Persons - Females:	4
Number of Household Members:	8

Then there is Francis. This is Francis, the brother, as Francis the father supposedly died in 1783. He has a household of 8, four females, three males under 16, and himself. Actually, Francis was enumerated twice, or there were two Francis's. In this record he was sandwiched in between Gilchrist Johnson and Edward Lloyd.

Name:	Francis Falkner[]
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):	Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:	3
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16:	1
Free White Persons - Females:	4
Number of Household Members:	8

In the next one, he's sandwiched between Ruth Conner and  Isom Melton, Benjamin Rudd is nearby. The family dynamics are the same. Exactly.

The other household is that of Elizabeth, widow of Benjamin Faulkner, with her two sons, John and Henry, and an extra female in her home.

Francis had two Land Grants in Cumberland County. Elisha Faulkner had one in Anson on the head 'drains' of Morris's Branch, dated 1801. Elisha has not been mentioned yet. Nathan had two.

Nathan Faulkner Anson 1790-11-16 1784 50 Beg. in Jermans line in a pine in Cunninghams line on the waters of Gold Fork 4781

One on the waters of Gold Fork and Jermans line dated 1784.

Nathan Faulkner

Anson

1790-11-16

1787

100

Beg. at a stake on Wm. Mays line

4875

Another on William May's line dated 1787.

Jno. Faulkner

Anson

1799-07-26

1797

150

Beginning at a hickory on the Feather bed Branch

5380

There's also a John, who hasn't shown up yet. And he lived on Featherbed Branch.

None for Francis in Anson County. 

Yet on May 10, 1789, just before 1790, David Jameson, 'late' Sheriff of Anson County sold to John May (those dang Mays!) 62 acres on Wilkey's Mill Creek of Jones Creek that bordered Lowery's, part of a tract involving Thomas Myers and Nathan Melton that was sold during a "fieri facais", which is a levy on goods due to a judgement against a debtor. This action was due to a suit dated April of 1789 in the Anson County Pleas and Quarters Sessions between John May and Francis Falkner. Witnesses were James jameson and Isaac Lanier.

Book F Page 152. This one is a really confusing deed to me. In my previous post, 'The Letter', I examined the family of Asa Falkner, who married Elizabeth Huntley, and died in 1806. They had three named children: Job, Asa William Luther, Sr. (who married Susan Myers) and Sarah Susannah, (who married Willam Webb). In the letter from Asa W. L to his 'Uncle' Job, in Georgia, he called his father, Elijah. In this deed, Asa and Elijah are obviously two different people. 

Januay 29, 1799, Benjamin Duckworth to Alexander McRea, for $100 NC money sold 150 acres on Lowrey's Branch that bordered the property of Thomas Dickson, a Dry fork, Rainey, the Great Branch and 'Odoms old line' that had been granted to Charles Lisenby. Signed by Benjamin Duckworth and witnessed by Asa Faulkner and Elijah Faulkner. Witness oath July, 1799 by Elijah Falkner. Book F Page 152.

Elijah did not appear in the 1790 census. Was he living with Asa or Francis? How does he fit in?

Book F P. 159  Marianne Jarman, spinster (or single woman), sold 200 acres to John Cason. The property began at a stake in Boyd's third line and was part of a tract of land that was patented to Robert Jarman on the south branch of Jones Creek. Marianne signed with an "M" mark and the witnesses were William Wisdom, Asa Fallkner and Nathan Falkner. Witness oath in July 1779 by Asa Falkner.

Enter the Wisdom family, and Marianne must have been a daughter of Robert Jarman. Quickly, who were the Jarman/ Jerman/ German family? 

According to online information on the family, they had came from England and originally settled in Calvert County, Maryland on the Patuxent River. Quite interestingly enough, one of their neighbors there was a William Lowery. A John and Robert Jarman, brothers, then sold their land and moved across the Chesapeake Bay to Queen Anne's County, Maryland, on Tuckahoe Creek. Coincidentally, Queens Ann's County, Maryland is where the Faulkner family originated. Francis and possbily Nathan, too, had been born there. Could they have migrated with the Jarman's? From there, the Jarmans migrated to Craven and Onslow County, NC and like the Faulkners, eventually to Anson County, where they settled in the same general area as the Faulkners.

Map of Queen Annes County, Maryland

Book C2 dated April 30, 1793, 'Samson' Stanfield  and Easter Stanfield of Anson County to John May, Sr., 58 acres on the North Bank of Wilkeys Mill Creek of Jones Creek in Lewis Lowrey's upper line and joins Nathan Melton. Signed by Sampson Stanfield and Easter Stanfield. Witnesses were Joseph Falkner and 'Ede' Falkner. Witness Oath July 1793 by Josesph Falkner.

Ok, here are two new, before unmentioned Falkners, Joseph and Ede, in association with Sampson Stanfield, whom we know had migrated several times with the Faulkners already. Sampson Stanfield, was the son of John Franklin Stanfield and Mary Sherod. The Stanfields had migrated from Virginia to Cumberland County, North Carolina, where they had made association with the Francis Faulkner Sr. family and had migrated with the Faulkners to Anson County, NC. John Stanfield died in Anson County, as did Francis Falkner. Sampson Stanfields wife Easter, was in all liklihood, a Faulkner. She died before 1799, when he remarried to a Nancy Thomas. He had 5 children with Easter and 9 with Nancy. Together with children of Francis Falkner Jr., including son Francis Ballenger Faulkner, Sampson and Nancy migrated through East Tennesee to Knox County, Kentucky. 

Joseph was a son of Francis Falkner, Jr. and 'Ede' may have been his sister Edith, who married a Price. Joseph and Sampson Standfield were among the group that would move soon, after this, to Blount County, Tennesse, and then, by 1810, to Knox County, Kentucky and Whitley County, which was carved out of Knox in 1818.

Another deed involving the Stanfields was the following: Book C2 Page 301 was a transaction dated Jan. 22, 1794 wherein William Johnson of Anson County sold 300 acres to Isaac Shepherd and wife, Margaret, John Baily and wife, Elizabeth and James Stanfield and wife, Mary. The land was on the Pee Dee River near Island Creek, sold to William Johnson by Mary Cox "for and during" her lifetime. The land had descended to her after the death of her husband, William Cox and her son, William Cox (Jr.) . It was signed by William Johnson, Benjamin Carter and Mary Carter, with the witnesses being Rufus Johnson and Arthur Davis. 

Just a week or so later, on Feb 7, 1794, Book C2, P 290,  John Bailey, Isaac Shepherd and James Stanfield of Anson, sold to Lot Strickland of Richmond County, NC, the same above mentioned tract at the mouth of Island Creek. It was said to be the original tract of a division line between Jacob Paul and William Cox and a dividing line between John Hornbeck and William Hoggat, part of a 500 acres tract granted in 1747 to John Newberry, who sold it to John Hornbeck, who sold it to a Chambers, who sold it to William Cox, Sr., who had bequeathed it to his 3 daughters, Elizabeth, Margaret and Mary, who had 'since intermarried' with John Bailey, Isaac Shepherd and James Stanfield. It was signed by the Cox sisters and their husbands and witnessed by William Jurnigan, Sampson 'Stanfill', Nevel Bennett, and William Shepherd. 

I will exit here and continue with more from the late 1790's and early 1800's on the Faulkners of Featherbed Branch, their neighbors and associates.