The following is a transcription of a letter from David K. ROACH to his mother, Mary “Polly” (Sommers) ROACH. His father was Charles ROACH. It was written in July 1822 and it refers to other Swift Creek friends: Charles KINION (married Elizabeth DUBBERLY or Elizabeth PRITCHETT) Hannah & Pearce (probably David’s sister, Hannah ROACH, and […]
If your people come from the Craven/Pitt/Beaufort County area, please read this!
Surnames mentioned: KING, FORNES, BOYD, HODGES, WILLIAMS, MORRIS, WITHERINGTON, RIGGS, LEE, KEMP, MCCAFFERTY, SMITH, DRAKE, BARTLETT, SUMMERELL, ROBERTSON, HOLLAND & MORE Have you tested yet at either AncestryDNA or FamilyTreeDNA? If so, please comment below with your name (or the name associated with your kit), or if you prefer, you can send a private message […]
Mark Your Calendars: The Official Blackbeard 300 Tricentennial is in October.
This autumn marks the 300th anniversary of the final battle of the man who was arguably the most famous pirate who ever lived. The Blackbeard 300 will take place in Bath, North Carolina — his home town — the weekend of Oct. 19-20, 2018. And Blackbeard wasn’t the only one from Bath. Some of his […]
Craven County Bastardy Bonds & related items in County Court Minutes (1764-1791)
I have the complete set of Craven County Court Minutes books by the late Weynette Parks Haun, and while I LOVE them— and I recognize them as an amazing resource — there are some index items that I wish she would have included, for instance, bastardy items. There are plenty of them in the court […]
King mentions in Craven County Court Minutes 1767-1791 & other items of interest
As was the case with the FORNES court minute items, this is not a comprehensive list of every mention of KINGS in Weynette Parks Haun’s Craven County Court Minutes series, but this list does include many items that seem to reveal something about times and relationships. KING Items in Craven County Court Minutes Jun 1751 […]
Mystery: Who is Mary Fornes?
Alright, we have yet another mystery on our hands. I’m hoping some of you might actually have some pieces of information that can fill in the blanks for me. Below are two deeds from Pitt County. The first item below is a deed in which Mary FORNES gives land to her son, John FORNES. The […]
Fornes mentions in Craven County Court Minutes 1765-1785 & other items of interest
Can you tell I’ve taken special interest in the FORNES family now? 😀 After all, I’m trying to learn all I can about the family of my 5th great-grandmother Elizabeth FORNES (?), wife of Emanuel EDWARDS of Beaufort County. (You’ll notice I have the question mark after her name only because I’m basing my assumption on […]
Ransom B. Campbell, Emanual Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards & John Fornes, Jr. to John Fornes, Sr. (Pitt, Craven, Beaufort Counties)
I’m excited about this one! This finally tells me the likely surname of my 5th great-grandmother, Elizabeth, wife of Emanuel EDWARDS of Beaufort County. It appears from this deed that she is probably a FORNES… but I’m still not 100% certain about the identity of her father, although at least this helps me zoom in […]
Will of Elias Stallings (Perquimans County), 1778/1785
Below I’m transcribing the will of Elias Stallings of Perquimans County in an effort to better understand the relationships between the Rountrees, the Stallings, and the Wallaces (whatever they may be). Some researchers claim all of Elias Stallings’ children were born to him and Elizabeth Rountree. The problem is, Elias has at least one son […]
Will of Thomas Rountree (Chowan County) – 1748
In trying to make sense of the connections between the Rountree and Wallace families, I’m finding I need to dig deep into the available documents. It appears there is some erroneous information on Ancestry and other sites relating to Thomas Rountree, his children, and grandchildren — in particular, relating to Thomas’s daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Rountree […]