I’m sure many of you Joyner researchers have already sorted this out, but I’m still trying to make sense of who’s who. I’m going to start posting information about the Joyner family of Pitt County, primarily focusing on items spanning the colonial era to the mid-to-late-1800s. All of the following items come from the Pitt […]
Pitt County Genealogy
The Pitt County Genealogy category features posts and various records, including deeds, wills, land records, census records, tax lists, bastardy bonds, Bible records, apprenticeship bonds, estate records, and more.
For even more information on Pitt County Genealogy, check out the East Carolina Roots Forum, where you'll find surname-specific forums, as well as a General Discussion forum.
Select items from the estate records of Amon Joyner of Pitt County
There were at least two Amon Joyner living contemporaneously in Craven and Pitt Counties. How they are related is a complete mystery to me. I do know they are not the same man nor is one the father of the other, or at least if he is, not legitimately so. The Amon Joyner in Craven County is […]
Is this the mother of Laban Morris?
Formation of Pitt County, North Carolina
Pitt County was formed after Beaufort and Craven Counties, but the establishment of its border wasn’t a one-time thing. Below, you can read about the formation of Pitt County, North Carolina from David Leroy Corbitt’s book, The Formation of North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. See if it helps some pieces start falling into place with some […]
Formation of Craven County, North Carolina
Read the descriptions below for Craven County’s shifting borders and see if it helps some pieces start falling into place with some of your ancestors who seem to appear and vanish from this and neighboring counties inexplicably in the mid-to-late 1700s and into the 1800s. Remember, The Formation of North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943 by David […]
Formation of Beaufort County, North Carolina
The Formation of North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943 by David Leroy Corbitt is available for free at Archive.org, but for convenience’s sake, over the next few days I’m going to post the sections on the formation of Beaufort County (including Bath County), Craven, and Pitt Counties here at East Carolina Roots, since the bulk of the […]
Is Harriet Morris a relative of Laban Morris?
More interesting things turning up in some of our family’s DNA matches over at Ancestry… a few matches to descendants of Harriet MORRIS (specifically through her daughter, Alvana MORRIS). There aren’t enough for me to say that Harriet is a daughter of Laban, although based on her age, she certainly could be. She might be […]
Family Tree Fact Check: Richard Furney Gaskins & Saphronia “Fanny” Venters
This new series will attempt to correct records, one family branch at a time, that have mushroomed across the online genealogical communities. Ok… I’m not going to claim that I don’t have any mistakes in my enormous tree on Ancestry. I’ve been working on it for many years now and I have a number of “working theory” […]
Select Craven County Griffin Items (Court minutes, deeds, wills, etc.)
I do descend from the GRIFFIN family of Pitt County, though I’ll admit I haven’t spent much time researching them beyond my direct line (If you’re curious: James GRIFFIN > Josiah GRIFFIN + Patsey WHITEHEAD > James GRIFFIN + Rebecca Ann SMITH > Harriet A.E. GRIFFIN + Allen MILLS > James Allen MILLS + Ann […]
Research Hodge Podge – Part 1
I’ve been researching a bunch of different things lately and I’m trying to compartmentalize them into a handful of posts that might be helpful (and easily accessible) in the future. This will be the first in a series of random items for random families I’ve spent time researching. Items below include abstracts from Dr. A.B. […]
If your people come from the Craven County, Pitt County, or 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 […]
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 […]
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 William Wallace of Martin County (1775)
After reading through the brilliant genealogy work of Pam F. Bennett at Ancestry.com on our shared Mills line, I am very interested in the Wallace family, who she suspects is the family of which Keziah, wife of Nasby MILLS of Pitt County, belongs. She suspects that William Wallace, who died in Martin County circa 1775, […]
Two Deeds: William and Susan MORRIS (of Craven County) to James ADAMS (of Pitt County)
William MORRIS and his wife, Susan McINTOSH MORRIS, were my 4th-great-grandparents. James ADAMS, Sr. was the father-in-law of Thomas MORRIS, the brother of William MORRIS and husband of James’s daughter, Nancy ADAMS. These deeds are between William and Susan MORRIS and James ADAMS. The land being sold was apparently something Susan either inherited or received as […]
Will of Starling Averitt (1855) – Pitt County
The following is the will of Starling AVERITT, son of David AVERITT of Pitt County. He was born about 1778 and died in 1855. He names his wife, Penny, his daughter Polly BLANDIFORD, and his grandson “William H. BURNETTE sometimes called William H. AVERITT.” The Last Will & Testament of Starling Averitt Decd In the […]
Starling AVERETT, Arpy AVERETT, Clary AVERETT, and Seley AVERETT to Jordan AVERETT (1825) – Pitt County
Below I have transcribed a deed from four of the heirs of David AVERITT, Sr. They are selling the land they inherited from their father. In his will, David said he had eight children. I think one of the girls below must be using a different name than he used for her in his will, but otherwise, this […]
Will of David Averitt, Sr. (1808) – Pitt County
Below I have transcribed the will of my 6th great-grandfather David AVERITT. In it he mentions some, but not all of his children. In the will he says he wants all of his land divided between his eight children after their mother’s widowhood or after her death — which would suggest that he was married […]
Lydia ARNOLD to Henry ARNOLD’s Heirs Deed, 1823 (Pitt County)
The following was found in Pitt County Deed Book CC, page 221. This Indenture made and entered into this fourth day of August in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight hundred and Twenty-three between Lydia ARNOLD of the State of North Carolina and County of Pitt of the one part and Ormond ARNOLD, Sally […]
Did you know online deed searches are available in several eastern North Carolina counties?
A growing list of Eastern North Carolina counties now have their deeds and other records online. From now on links to all of the following Register of Deeds databases can be found via the Research Databases link in the top menu of this site. Interestingly, some counties also have Slave and Co-Habitation Records, as well as detailed land […]
