Researching the Family Trees of Eastern North Carolina.
Dewitt Sumrell was born circa 1825 in Lenoir County. This date is a guessimate based upon the birth dates of his two known sons in the mid to late 1840s. The place, though, comes from the death certificate of his son, James Henry Sumrell. According to James’s son, the informant, both James and Dewitt were […]
The word “brother-in-law” is becoming the bane of my research. In earlier times, the term “in-law” had a broader scope than is now the case. Pretty much anyone related to you by marriage was an in-law. Therefore, a brother-in-law could be one in the modern sense, a stepbrother, or even the brother of your brother’s […]
I was reading through some court records yesterday, when I came across this entry dated 9 Dec 1799: Ordered that notice issue to Mary Gaskins to appear at the Next Term and show cause to why the nuncupative will of Joseph Gaskins decd. should not be Established. Who was Mary Gaskins? My 6th great-grandfather, Joseph […]
I’m really excited about this Family Tree Fact Check! I’ve been curious about who the parents of Turner Nelson were ever since I realized he wrote a letter from Indiana back home to Craven County in which he kindly mentioned my ancestor Laban Morris and expressed his concern for him. All over the internet people […]
A really cool feature of the Duplin County Register of Deeds site, duplinrod.com, is the land grant map. How many times have you read a grant or deed and tried to figure out where the land was located? Well, when it comes to grants made in Duplin County and are now Sampson and Wayne Counties, […]
On 26 Apr 1796, Richard Johnson of Craven County, wrote his will (Will Book B, pg. 13), making bequests to, among others, his three sisters. The Will In the Name of God Amen I Richard Johnson of Craven County in the State of North Carolina, being sick and weak in body, but of sound mind […]
I don’t descend from Thomas Respess Crawford, at least not that I’m aware of, however some of our AncestryDNA matches do and I was scratching my head at the woman who was recorded as his wife. A Mary Tuton of Beaufort County, SOUTH Carolina. I didn’t even know any members of the Tuton / Tuten family […]
