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2008 2.pdfDavie Dossier Issued by Davie County Historical and Genealogical Society Mocksville, North Carolina April 2008 Issue SOCIETY NEWS Do not forget to make note of our April meeting day, time, and place.We are moving our usual Tuesday night meeting scheduled for April 22, to Thursday, April 24, at 7:00 p.m., as the Davie County Public Library has scheduled a visit by Robert Morgan, author of Boone: A Biography. He will talk about his book and Daniel Boone, and will sign copies of the book afterward the meeting. The presentation is free and open to the public. We are sure you will not want to miss this informative presentation. For any questions, the library can be contacted at 336-753-6030. + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + Bill Urdanick, a Society member, presented the program at the February 26th \meeting at the Library. He told of the Land Grant history and the number featured on Andrew Lagle’s Land Grant Map. He used an overlay of the map showing current roads and locations which brings it all together and up-to-date. There are about 62 Granville Land Grants from 1776-1780 and 400 from the State after the Revolutionary War. Bear Creek Baptist Church, organized in 1792, may be the only church with a land grant. The map and overlay will be on display in the History room at the Library. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + At the March 25th meeting, up-coming events were announced. May 10th will be the Boone Family Festival and Junker Mill presentations. Tours are being planned and an exhibit of antiques will be at our booth. Also, demonstrations using Boone items. Marie Roth, President of Friends of the Library, announced that there would be a book sale April 10th to 12th at the Library. We have received an invitation to attend the unveiling of a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker honoring the life of Dr. Hugh Talmage Leffler on Saturday, May 17, at 10:00 a.m. This will take place at the intersection of US Highway 601 South and NC Highway 801 South (also known as “Greasy Corner” near Cooleemee).Following the unveiling, there will be a celebration of Music and Tribute held at Liberty United Methodist Church. Dr. Jerry Cashion will be the Guest Speaker. If you would like to attend, RSVP (336) 284-6040. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DAVIE DOSSIER April 2008 Issue 2 Descendants of John Ballance For more information on this family, consult papers in the History Room of the Davie County Public Library 1 John Ballance -1820 ........2 Wilky Ballance 1804 - ............+David N. Austin 1799 - ...................3 Anna Jane Austin .......................+Unknown Davis ...................3 Pleasant Henderson Austin ...................3 Samantha Ann Austin ...................3 Elizabeth Carolina Austin ...................3 Margaret Samantha Austin ...................3 Sarah Elina Austin ...................3 Wilky Ann Austin ...................3 Samuel Elkanah Austin ...................3 Martha Edna Austin ........2 Zelph Ballance ............+Lemuel Kinyoun Descendants of John Ballance Generation No. 1 1.JOHN1 BALLANCE died 1820. Notes for JOHN BALLANCE: Will of John Ballance, Rowan Co., NC Will Book H, page 68 Devises: Edmund (or Edward) Ballance Amy Ballance -other children not named See Index to Rowan Co. Wills 1753-1837, page 17, Davie Co. History Room Children of JOHN BALLANCE are: 2.i.WILKY2 BALLANCE, b. 11 Mar 1804. ii.ZELPH BALLANCE, m. LEMUEL KINYOUN, 09 Sep 1827. Notes for ZELPH BALLANCE: Lemuel Kinyoun was the son of Joel from Currituck Co. Lemuel and wife Zelphia sold her 1/6 share in her father's estate in 1832. Were living in Bush Co., Indiana Generation No. 2 2.WILKY2 BALLANCE (JOHN1 )was born 11 Mar 1804. She married DAVID N.AUSTIN 15 May 1824. He was born 26 Aug 1799. Notes for DAVID N.AUSTIN: Deed for sale of property: Book 31, page 839, July 24,1832: Lemuel Kinyoun and wife Zelphy of Bush Co., Ind. to David N. Austin of Rowan Co., NC, Claim (one sixth part) in land of deceased John Balance, cont. 337 acres on Dutchman's Creek next Walter Etchison, Wm. Hawkins, David McMahan, Tennison Cheshire, Wm. Mock, George McClamrock and Wm. Sheek. Bk. 32, page 77, March 4, 183-, David Austin and wife Wilky lst Wm. Hawkins have 2 undivided shares in land of dec. John Ballance 337 acres next same as above, except change to John McMahan and John Mock and Thomas Smoot another adjacent line. (descended to daughters of John Ballance deceased, sd. Wilky, wife of sd. David N. Austin and Zelph wife of Lemuel Kinyoun. Children of WILKY BALLANCE and DAVID AUSTIN are: i.ANNA JANE3 AUSTIN, m. UNKNOWN DAVIS. ii.PLEASANT HENDERSON AUSTIN. iii.SAMANTHA ANN AUSTIN. iv.ELIZABETH CAROLINA AUSTIN. v.MARGARET SAMANTHA AUSTIN. vi.SARAH ELINA AUSTIN. vii.WILKY ANN AUSTIN. viii.SAMUEL ELKANAH AUSTIN. ix.MARTHA EDNA AUSTIN. DAVIE DOSSIER April 2008 Issue 3 Tips for Genealogists Working in ‘North Carolina’ Records By Jo White Linn, C. G. Continued from of Davie Dossier, October 2007 The editor, having compiled these tips from long experience, hopes they will be helpful to the reader, and will be delighted to include additional ones supplied by other genealogists. Often, working alone, we reach certain conclusions on the basis of our findings. In sharing our observations, we may help others. 26. Not just anyone can file a caveat to a will –only a person who stands to inherit from the estate, and only then if he would receive more by the laws of intestate succession than from the provisions of the will. 27. When a widow dissents from a will, it is usually because she would gain more from intestate succession than from the terms of the will 28. If no executor is named in the will, the will is called an “unsolemn will”, and the Court appoints an administrator “clum testamento annexo”, or C.T.A., to carry out the provisions of the will. If an executor or administrator does not complete his duties, an administrator “de bonis non” may be appointed to complete carrying out the administration.\ 29. According to the laws of intestate succession, the widow receives 1/3 of all property, and the remainder goes to the children. 30. The law of primogeniture was legally abolished in NC in 1784 and applied only in cases of intestacy. It had fallen out of use before it was legally abolished. 31. In 1796 in NC, the widows of intestates were allotted a year’s provision to carry them over while the estate was being settled. 32. Until 1868, a husband had a life estate in all real property owned by his wife at the time of their marriage; this right is known as curtesy. 33. If an estate was debt-ridden, the personal property was first disposed of. The widow’s third was protected, and usually one-third for the children, against any claim for debt. 34. An “orphan” over the age of fourteen could select his own guardian; if he were younger, the Court appointed the guardian. Be careful to note the wording about guardianship. If an orphan was left little estate, he was often apprenticed by the Court to learn a trade. 35. When a wife signs a dower relinquishment when her husband is selling property in NC, and her name appears on the deed and she is examined privately, one often finds that the land came to her in her own right or, less often, that either the grantor or grantees were recently from a colony or state where common- law dower was in effect. 36. Taxable age for white men during the colonial period was 16; during the Revolutionary War, it varied from county to county; after 1784, it was 21. 37. Birth and death records were kept in NC after 1913 and are available in the office of the Register of Deeds where the event occurred and also from the Vital Records Branch of the NC Division of Health Services, Raleigh, NC DAVIE DOSSIER April 2008 Issue 4 38. One should be very cautious about accepting any information on a death certificate other than the date of death, as the information was given under stress and often by someone who did not have a full knowledge of the facts. The same warning holds true for obituary notices, for the same reasons. 39. Prior to 1760, all NC wills were supposed to have been filed with the Secretary of the province and are abstracted, sometimes erroneously and completely, in J. Bryan Grimes’ Abstract of North Carolina Wills (1910). Grimes missed about 100 wills. 40. All original NC wills prior to 1850 are housed at the NC Archives, 109 E. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27611. 41. Phonetic spelling can be tricky. The Clerk wrote down what he heard, i.e., Anne Eliza or Annie Liza, Synderalaugh or Cinderella. 42. It is well to be alert for occupations being capitalized as identification following a name without a comma. Very few people in the colonial period had three names. John Williams Carpenter in 1785 was probably John Williams, carpenter. John Henry Taylor may well have been John Henry, tailor. Some wills and deeds have been found to have been indexed by the occupation, not the name. 43. Many times there are no commas separating a list of children’s names in a will, and you may have either ten daughters with single given names or five daughters with double names or a wild mixture. 44. Watch for a man disposing of more land than you can find him purchasing. Did some of the land come to him through inheritance or through his wife’s right? 45. Often, when a widow remarried, her new husband was appointed guardian of her “orphans”. 46. Spelling can be very confusing, i.e., “hairs purchaced waggins at Estate sail”, possible spelling. 47. When checking an index, say the surname over and over and envision every possible spelling. Vowels are often interchanged and used loosely. 48. Some names were shortened through usage. Mr. Reade Pickler of New London had difficulty with his line until he realized the name of the immigrant was Blanketpickler. 49. Jo White Linn eventually identified her sainted husband’s ancestor Lewis Redwine as the immigrant, Ludwig Rheitweil. 50. In examining a Bible record, always look at the date of publication of the Bible. No entries can be made prior to that date. If the handwriting is the same throughout the record, all entries can be assumed to have been made at the time of the latest entry. Entries made at the time of the event actually occurred, or close to it, are more apt to be accurate. 51. In NC, the marriage act of 1741 forbade “the abominable Mixture” between white men and women and Indians, negroes, mustees, and mulattoes, or any person of mixed blood. The act was revoked in 1976. 52. Most family tradition proves to be true in the main. It is an unimaginative family that has not embroidered a few minor details. DAVIE DOSSIER April 2008 Issue 5 53. Words denoting relationship, such as “in-law” and “step”, often had different meanings from what they have today. Nephew sometimes meant grandson or grandchild, such as “to my nephew Rebecca Hayes”. “Brother” might also mean brother-in-law or brother in Christ or a minister. 54. Watch for the surname Clark. This could be the occupation, that of clerk, pronounced as if it were spelled Clark, and capitalized. 55. Non-jurors or non-swearers were people who refused or failed to take the oath of allegiance, i.e., Loyalists or Tories. Many, when faced with the possible confiscation of their property, vigorously embraced the Revolutionary cause, and some became super patriots. 56. Inventories and estates sales reveal much about the occupation and status and lifestyle of the deceased and often suggest other records that might be searched. 57. The administrator’s bond can set within a reasonable time the date of death when otherwise unknown and its amount the approximate size of the estate. The administrator’s bond was commonly twice the estimated value of the decedent’s estate. The appointment of a fiduciary was generally made at the next sitting of the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions following the decedent’s death. 58. Naming patterns can give clues. Analyze the naming patterns in the generations you have constructed as a possible clue for the given name of an earlier male or the maiden name of a wife. For example, the widow Hartwell Hodges Drake almost certainly had a mother whose maiden name was Hartwell. When the name Parker, for example, appears as a first name among men who are first cousins, it is likely that their grandmother was a Parker. 59. The seventh son was sometimes named “Doctor.” 60. Often, a later child was given the same name as a sibling who had died earlier. 61. Often, the first daughter of a second wife was named for the deceased first wife if no daughter previously had that name. 62. Look for an age-gap between births of children when trying to determine which children belong to which marriage when there is no marriage record to set the date of the second marriage. 63. Men generally migrated to an area where the terrain was similar to that which they were accustomed to farming. Men accustomed to farming hilly land might pass right over good bottom land on their way to a hilly patch on which they felt more comfortable. 58. All original estates papers generated prior to 1900 are in the NC Archives in Raleigh and should be examined whether a will has been found or not. 59. It is generally accepted that births to a woman over the age of 45 are questionable and must be substantiated by additional proofs, as they are the exception to the rule. 60. As Sir Francis Bacon wrote, “True identify is collected from a multitude of signs. 61. There is no logical reason to believe that evidence written in a Bible is universally more reliable than if written in another book, such as a journal or ledger. DAVIE DOSSIER April 2008 Issue 6 62. If age is given on a tombstone, it has doubtless been computed by a survivor, and he may not have been equal to the task, which would challenge even a mathematician, especially if the life extended over the period of the calendar change in 1752. 63. If there are family pictures, the photographer’s address may suggest a place of residence at a particular time. Studio photographs may also suggest the relative ages and family positions of children when otherwise not known.. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TERMINOLOGY FROM AN INTERNET SOURCE [VA-SOUTHSIDE] While the term hundred may have once meant a 100 acre tract of land, it has not been precisely so defined since mediaeval times and long before 1755.In that year, Johnson (citing Brown) defines it as the term that describes as .... intended that a hundred holder have control on the order of feudal times, which design, for the most part failed here by reason of the wilderness and distance from the colonial government. Preferring to look to the early writers who lived with and used the term, "hundred" seems to have had more than one definition. Two of those early definitions are, first by Dr. Samuel Johnson ("Dictionary of the English Language",1755)"....a canton or division of a county, perhaps once containing one hundred "manors". (Latin; "hundredum"), and quoting Bacon, and again by Johnson (same title, 1802), "a rule or government which a man has over such as (people who) hold land within his fee" , and (citing Corvel) "...touching the original of these manors, it seems, that in the beginning, there was a certain compass or circuit of ground granted by the king to some man of worth, for him and his heirs to dwell upon, and to exercise some jurisdiction." And citing Arbuthnot as to the earliest times; ".... lands taken from an enemy were divided into centuries (hundreds) and distributed among the soldiers".Then as found in "Black's Law Dictionary" a manor is defined as: from Saxon times, "...each county or shire comprised an indefinite number of hundreds, each hundred containing 10 tithings or groups of ten families of freeholder or frankpledges.... the division was probably known to the ancient German people...." and again in Black's, a manor is rather clearly defined, and, citing "People vs.. Van Rensselaer" (9 N.Y. 291), "A manor is a tract held of a proprietor by a fee-farm rent in money or in kind, and descending to the oldest son of the proprietor, who, in NY, was called a patroon". Perhaps the most reliable description by early writers will be found in "Blackstone's Commentaries" under "incorpor eal hereditaments", Section 49.Actually, a "hundred" never had anything to do with a hundred acres, and had a fairly specific meaning although its size varied.Here is a definition of it from the Dictionary of Genealogical and Archaic Terms. "HUNDRED –a military and administrative district, dating to the 10th C. under King „thelred, but in use as late as the 17th C., in early British colonial America. A hundred is not 100 acres but 100 HYPERLINK’s, one of which will support a family of that day. Each HYPERLINK varied from 60 to 120 acres depending on the quality of the land . Famous American hundreds were Bermuda Hundred, and Martin's Hundred which had at least 21,500 acres in the first settlement and 200 settlers. The hundred held its own HYPERLINK Hundred Court, dating back to these early days." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DAVIE DOSSIER April 2008 Issue 7 D C H G S 2008 OFFICERS President -Linda Leonard Vice-President - Secretary/Treasurer -Frances Beck Board of Directors -Dale McCullough, Diane Webb, Bill Urdanick Dossier Editors -Nancy Murphy, Doris Frye ITEMS FOR SALE Postage and handling included in price Davie County...A Brief History (Wall) Paperback 7.50 The Daniel, Squire, and John Boone Families in Davie County (Wall, Boone, & Martin)5.00 Davie County Marriages 1836-1900, by Nancy K. Murphy 25.00 Davie County Marriages 1901-1959, by Nancy K. Murphy 25.00 Davie County Cemeteries, a two-volume set 55.00 by D.C. Historical & Genealogical Society 1860 Federal Census-Davie County, by Murphy & Sain 17.00 1870 Federal Census-Davie County, by Murphy & Sain 17.00 1880 Federal Census-Davie County, by Murphy & Sain 22.50 Maps -Lagle Land Grant 6.50 -Hughes Historical 6.50 -1887 Alderman 2.50 Postcards (set of 8 )2.50 Davie County Heritage Book 45.00 These items can be ordered from the Davie County Historical and Genealogical Society Office. North Carolina residents need to add 7% sales tax to the total. Membership for Calendar year 2008 is still just $5.00/year. The number following your name on the address label indicates the year through which your dues are paid. Below is a registration form for your use; checks are to be made payable to the Society. DAVIE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY Frances Atkinson Beck 1131 Wagner Road Mocksville, North Carolina 27028 NAME _____________________________________________________________ ADDRESS ____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ EMAIL ADDRESS _______________________________________________________