Ivey Records - Bladen County, North Carolina & Vicinity
1743-1790
The following records are in chronological sequence.
Comments are included in blue italics.
Sources are identified as either primary or secondary.
The records are split into three parts for clarity: Part
I includes references to Iveys in Edgecombe-Craven-Onslow counties,
because they appear to relate to the same people who resided at one time or
another in Bladen or Robeson. Part II includes references in
Bladen and the immediately surrounding counties. Part III includes a
few references post-1790 that appear to be crucial to understanding some
pre-1790 material. A Map is provided on another webpage.
A few Bladen County references circa 1790 have been omitted,
because they belong either to the unrelated group of Iveys moving south from
Lenoir County or to the Iveys of Duplin and Sampson counties transacting
business in Bladen County. A few Robeson County references, such as records of
witness or adjoining landowners, are omitted either because they are redundant
or have no genealogical significance.
Part I – Records from Edgecombe, Craven, and other counties that relate, or
may relate, to the Iveys later in Bladen County:
25 Oct 1726 At
a General Court held at Edenton, William Lewis Senior and Adam Ivy
appeared to “give evidence on behalf of our sovereign lord the King…” [Colonial
Records of North Carolina, Vol. VI, p327.]
This is presumably the Adam Ivey II, formerly of
Virginia. Note that eighteen months earlier he was still living in Isle of
Wight County when he mortgaged his patent “whereon he now lives” and a slave
on 6 April 1725. He sold that patent more that ten years later, on 10 December
1736, as a resident of Onslow Precinct, North Carolina. Where he was in the
meantime is unknown, but this puts him in North Carolina by late 1726. He does
not appear again for nearly eight years. He appeared on a road jury in Onslow
in April 1734 but failed to appear to answer a suit in January 1736.
This record is also of interest in that William Lewis Sr. may be the same
person who left a will in Beaufort Precinct in 1731. That person named two
sons in his will, one of whom moved to Bladen County and the other to what was
later Marion District, South Carolina.
8 Sep 1737 Adam
Ivey warrant for 150 acres in Beaufort Precinct… adjoining Timothy Harris’
Mill Swamp… includes his own improvements. Warrant to Robert Boyd, warrant
returned 21 February 1737/8. [North Carolina Land Entries 1735-1752,
A. B. Pruitt, p24, Entry #316]
Which Adam Ivey this is I don’t know, for this did
not result in a grant. Given the record below, it seems likely to be the last
sighting of Adam Ivey II. The reason I include it is that the land seems to
have been in the western part of what is now Pitt County not far from where we find
Adam and Thomas Ivey several years later. Timothy Harris operated a mill just
south of the Tar River west of Greenville. A 1748 Granville Grant mentions a
road from Harris’s mill to Contentnea Creek. Robert Boyd was the surveyor.
I would note that we have record of a Thomas Ivey in Beaufort Precinct in
1703. Further research into Beaufort and Bath records is clearly needed.
July 1741 The
Onslow County court clerk notes a presentment for some unknown offense against
“Adam Ivie, a melottoe”. [Onslow County Court Minutes 1732-43, p25]
This is probably the first sighting of the Adam
Ivey who died twenty years later in Edgecombe. Although he is not elsewhere
identified as a mulatto, his sons frequently were, making this too much of a
coincidence not to be the same person. The brief court record is presumably a
grand jury presentment for some offense, likely a moral one since that is
mainly what grand juries dealt in. This is the only Onslow record of a mulatto
Adam Ivey. However, Adam Ivey II, son of the immigrant Adam Ivey who had
earlier been in Virginia, was in Onslow Precinct by 1726 when he appeared in
court and when he sold land in Brunswick (later Greensville) County as an
Onslow resident ten years later in late 1736. He failed to appear to answer a
suit a month later.
22 Jul 1743 Jno.
Collins enters 200 acres in Craven County on south side of Contentnea Creek
bordering Thomas Ivi’s line and runs up the creek… [North Carolina
Land Entries 1735-1752, A. B. Pruitt, p44]
This may refer to the land granted to Thomas
Ivey the following year. Thus, this may be the first sighting of the Thomas
Ivey who was in Bladen County later this year. The name on the warrant at the
Archives is very difficult to read and may be “Ive” or “Ivi” or “Ives” or
something else entirely.
1 Dec 1744 Grant:
Thomas Ivey, 300 acres in Craven County on the south side Great Contentnea
Creek on the Mirey branch. [Colony of NC 1735-1764 Abstracts of Land
Patents, Margaret M. Hofman, Vol. 1, p11, Grant #2721]
Further research is definitely needed to identify
the precise location of this land. Mirey branch is a very commonly used stream
name and what that creek was called later isn’t known – this isn’t the
present-day creek of that name, which is nowhere near Contentnea Creek. This was
probably located in what would become Johnston County two years later (either
in present Wayne or Greene County), since the essentially all of Great Contentnea
lay there. (A small piece of Great Contentnea was retained in Craven county
and added to Greene in 1801.) Note that this is perhaps reasonably near Adam
Ivey’s later location in Edgecombe, depending on where this is located along
Great Contentnea.
Aug 1746 “Campbell
vs. Ivey order vs. security” and November court 1746 “Campbell vs. Ivey
judgment” [Edgecombe County, North Carolina County Court Minutes 1744-1762,
Weynette Parks Haun, p41 and p43]
Ms. Haun included the clerks’ fee book in her book
of transcripts, and these entries are from the fee book. This is one of
several suits, probably debt suits, by Campbell entered on the same dates –
another defendant was “Major Lockalier”, presumably the one later of Bladen
County. The “Ivey” is presumably Adam Ivey, since defendants had to be sued in
the county they lived in, and Adam Ivey is the only Ivey we can place in
Edgecombe County (though our first record is a survey seven years later).
1750/51 No
Iveys on the quit rents lists of old Johnston County, which are
incomplete.
ca1753-4 Lost
Deed: Thomas Ivey to John Williams. [Johnston County Grantee/Grantor
Index has this deed recorded in Deed Book 3, p338]
The deeds themselves were lost in a fire, but the
index was saved. The recording was in late 1754, but the date of the deed
itself is unknown. A plausible explanation is that this is a sale of the 1744
grant, which may by now have been in Johnston County.
4 Sep 1753 Survey
for Adam Ivey in Edgecombe County. [see below]
1750s Adam
Ive (sic) appears on an Edgecombe County militia list in Capt. Solomon
Alston’s company, probably dated sometime in the 1750s. [Colonial Soldiers
of the South, Murtie June Clark, p672]
Joshua, Solomon, Arthur, and Richard Lee, Simon and
John Daniel, and Joseph Simms are in the same company. The list in the NC
Archives is undated with no clues to when it was taken other than the names on
the list, which place it somewhere between 1749 and 1757. Militia service was
compulsory for men 16-60 at this time, so the list is likely dated before
Francis and Benjamin Ivey reached 16, thus very early 1750s.
23 Oct 1754 Granville
Grant: Adam Ivey, 285 acres in Edgecombe County on Contentnea Creek
joining Ivey’s Meadow and John Haywood. Survey for Adam Ivey dated 4 September
1753, chain carriers: Joshua Lee, Peter Bass. [Patent Book 11, p211]
This is actually on Little Contentnea Creek.
“Ivey’s Meadow” clearly implies that he already owned adjoining land.
9 May 1757 Granville
Grant: Adam Ivey, of Edgecombe County, 165 acres in Johnston County on Aycock
Swamp, adjoining John Weaver. Survey dated 6 June 1755. Chain carriers:
Robert Sims, John Redgester. [NC Patent Book 14, p221]
This appears to be just a few miles south of his
Edgecombe County land, very near the border of present Wilson and Wayne
Counties. According to the surviving Grantee/Grantor Indices this was recorded
in the lost Johnston County Deed Book 22, p292.
c1757 Deed:
Adam Ivy to Adam Ivy
This is another lost deed of Johnston County. The
Grantor Index show this deed recorded in Deed Book 5, p566 which is lost. This
was probably recorded in late 1757 or 1758. This might be a deed of Adam
Ivey’s Granville grant in Johnston County to his son Adam Ivey Jr.
Deed: Adam Ivey to Francis
Ivey
Still
another lost deed, recorded in Deed Book 22, p119 according to the surviving
Grantee/Grantor indices. Whether the grantee was the father or son is
uncertain. The timing of the recording is also uncertain.
-- Jun 1760 Petition
by Jesse Lee for a road “from Cotentney Road near Pecocks old Read field to Godwins
Bridge on Tosneot” granted and the court ordered the road laid out by a road
Jury of John Drew, Saml. Moore, James Farrier, James Barefield, Wm. Goodwin,
Wm. Hatcher, Nathan Barns, Joseph Simms, Richd. Sanders, Joseph Daniel, Simon
Daniel, Simon Daniel Junr., Jesse Lee, Adam Ivy, Frans. Ivy. At
the same court, it ws ordered that “Saml. Moore be overseer and that the
following persons do open & maintain the said road, viz: George Bruse, Oqin
Bisk, Jesse Lee, James Farrier, Genja. Richardson, Adam Ivy Junr., Robt
Hatcher, Wm. Hatcher, Joseph Daniel, John Woodward, Wm. Daniel, Thos. Edmundson
& Saml. Moore, Joseph Sims.” [Edgecombe County Court Minutes 1744-1762, Weynette
Parks Haun, p21]
Note that Jesse Lee, who later shows up in Bladen
County, owned land adjoining Adam Ivey.
27 Feb 1761 Implied
Deed: Francis Ivey to Jesse Lee. [On 16 Feb 1778 Jesse Lee of Bladen
sold 100 acres on Little Swamp in Edgecombe County, described as “part of” a
tract purchased from Francis Ivey 27 Feb 1761. [Edgecombe County Deed Book 3,
p224]
24 Apr 1761 George
Fort’s survey for 700 acres adjoins Adam Ivey, Frank Ivey [Francis
Ivey], Jesse and Joshua Lee, and Contentnea Creek. [Hofman’s Granville
Grants, Vol. 3, p120]
There is no record of Francis Ivey acquiring this
land. Could this be the land he sold to Jesse Lee implied above? Because Fort
is another family I’m interested in , I looke dup the grant file. The warrant
dated 3 February 1761 mentions Adam Ivey’s corner. George Fort later
transferred the warrant to Joseph Simms, who actually received the patent.
22 Sept 1761 Deed:
Joseph Daniel to Francis Ivey, both of Edgecombe County, £7:10s Virginia
money, 100 acres… the west part of a survey of 17 February 1761… both sides
Little Swamp. Witness: Charles Williams, Joseph Simms. [Edgecombe County Deed
Book 00, p348]
I didn’t see a deed for an eventual sale by Francis
Ivey.
10 Jun 1762 Will:
Adam Ivey of Edgecombe County (proved 28 September 1762). To sons Francis
Ivey and Adam Ivey 5s each “for I have advanced them as much as I
can afford.” Daughter Elizabeth Ivey household goods; daughter Sarah
Ivey £25; daughter Martha Ivey £25 to be paid when she reaches age
21; daughter Mary Ivey £25 when she reaches age 20; son Lewis Ivey
the 200-acre plantation “I bought of William Regerster” at age 21. To unnamed
wife, household goods, the use of dwelling house and land for five years, and a
loan of £50 until son George Ivey comes of age; George to receive £30 at
age 21 and the other £20 at the death of “his mother.” Son Benjamin Ivey the
285-acre plantation “where I now live”. Son Benjamin Ivey named executor.
Signed: Adam (x) Ivey [by his mark, a stylized “A”] Witness: Robert Simms,
Nathan Barnes, Joseph Simms [Edgecombe County Will Book A, p208]
Note that four of the children are under 21 and all
four daughters are unmarried. From later records, it appears that Adam,
Francis, and Benjamin were relatively young, suggesting that Adam Ivey had
married not much more than 25 years earlier. The unnamed wife was probably a
second wife, for this will is unusual in specifically abrogating her dower
right.
It is interesting that Adam Ivey could not sign his
name, but (as far as we know) his sons could.
28 Sep 1762 Will
of Adam Ivey proved by oaths of Nathan Barnes and Joseph Sims. 25
January 1763: Inventory of Adam Ivey exhibited. [Edgecombe County,
NC Abstracts of Court Minutes, 1744-46, 1757-1794, Marvin K. Dorman Jr.
(1968), p18, p19.]
I really should look at the loose records of
Edgecombe for the inventory and any other estate-related documents.
31 Dec 1773 Deed:
Benjamin Ivey and wife Edey Ivey of Bladen County to Joseph Lewis
of Edgecombe County, £100 proc., 285 acres being a Granville Grant to Adam
Ivey of 23 October 1754… being where Benjamin Ivey’s father lived… left to
Benjamin Ivey by the will of his father Adam Ivey… [same description as in the
grant] adjoining Lewis Ivey, John Haywood, Contentnea Creek, Hominey
Swamp… Signed: Benjamin Ivey, Edey (x) Ivey. Witness: Simon Lewis, John Sillivant?
[Edgecombe County Deed Book 2, pp154]
He has been in Bladen County for four years, but is
only now selling the land. Has Adam Ivey’s widow recently died?
2 Mar 1775 Deed:
Lewis Ivey of Bladen County to Joseph Sims of Edgecombe County, £55
proc., 200 acres which his father Adam Ivey willed to him… adjoining said
Joseph Sims… Witness: Benjamin Sims, John Sillevent. [Edgecombe County Deed
Book 3, p232]
Part II – Records from Bladen County and Vicinity:
Note on Geography: Bladen was formed in 1734 when settlers
began moving west of the North Carolina coastal counties. As settlements
progressed other counties were cut from Bladen – Anson in 1750, part of Orange
in 1752, Cumberland in 1754, and part of Brunswick in 1764. All the Ivey
references appear to be in present-day Robeson County (formed in 1787) with a
few in present-day Bladen County.
Note on Bladen County Records: Essentially all
Bladen County records were destroyed by fires in 1769, 1800 and 1893. Records
filed with the state, mainly tax lists and land grants, are all that remain.
The state census of 1784-7 was not returned by Bladen County, but portions of
the 1786 tax list survive and are in the format used by that census. Some lost
deeds were rerecorded after 1800 when necessary to establish title, but only a
handful involve Ivey grantors or grantees. The loss of court records is
particularly unfortunate, since essentially all probate records are missing.
Oct 1748 The
first land grants in what would later be Robeson County were made.
1750s ----
Ivey (the first name is blurred) appeared on Capt. Samuel Cobrin’s
militia list in Anson County. The list is undated but probably sometime 1751-1758.
This probably doesn’t relate to the Iveys of Bladen
County, but I include it on the off-chance. The list is completely undated,
but Anson County did not exist until it was carved from Bladen in 1750. To the
extent I can cross reference the names on the list to grants, most seem to be
in the northwestern part of the county, in what would later be Rowan and Tryon County
(mainly in modern Burke, Catawba, and Gaston). The list is separated into
“married men” and “younger men”. --- Ivey is on the list of younger,
presumably unmarried, men. It could be that some names are from southeastern
Anson, near Bladen County, but I doubt it.
31 Mar 1753 Grant: To Daniel Willis, 300ares in Bladen County on Saddletree Swamp
adjacent Thomas Ivey [Colony of NC 1735-1764 Abstracts of Land
Patents, Margaret M. Hofman, Vol. 1, p10, grant #111]
I could not find a land entry for Willis
corresponding to this patent, so don’t know if the original entry referenced
Thomas Ivey. It might be useful to look up the survey and grant in the patent
books. At any rate, Thomas Ivey is now in Bladen.
An early issue of the “Robeson Register” identifies Thomas Ivey as a squatter,
apparently based on this grant. That hardly seems fair. This is one of the
earliest grants in the area. Other than a single grantee in late 1748, the
earliest grants in the future Robeson County area begin in 1751. Thus it would
appear there was no rush to file claims in an area with vast amounts of available
land, especially when no land office was located nearby. Thomas Ivey would
claim this land the following year.
20 Feb 1754 Land
Entry: Thomas Ivey enters 150 acres including his own improvements, on
the 5 Mile Branch in Bladen County. [North Carolina Land Entries 1753-1756,
A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 2, p127]
This is apparently the land referred to in the
grant to Willis a year earlier. His “improvements” normally refers to
buildings, not to fields or fences. This is located just north of present
Lumberton and just north of Drowning Creek. He evidently sold the warrant, for
there is no grant to him for this land.
1754 With
the French-Indian War looming, Governor Dobbs requested reports from the militia
commanders of North Carolina’s counties. The Bladen militia submitted the
following: “Col. Rutherford’s Regimt. of Foot in Bladen County 441, a Troop
of horse 36... Drowning Creek on the Head of Little Peedee, 50 families, a mixt
Crew, a lawless People, filleth the Lands without patent or paying quit rents.
Shot a surveyor for coming to view vacant lands being inclosed in great
swamps. Quakers to attend musters or pay as in the Northern Counties. Fines
not high enough to oblige the militia to attend musters. No arms stores or
Indians in the county.” [Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. V,
p161 and a slightly different version in State Records of North Carolina,
Vol. XXII, p314]
I can’t resist including this. This is widely
quoted as the first evidence of Lumbee Indians in the county, but Rutherford
obviously made a distinction between the “mixt crew” and Indians. Dobbs had
specifically asked for the number of Indians in each county, and Rutherford
reported none. The “mixt crew” may, as some think, have been referring to a
population of new settlers which included Gaelic-speaking Scots.
The comment about “lawless people” and not paying quit rents was unique in that
none of the other county reports include such a comment. The reason is
explained by the author of the report. Colonel Rutherford was John Rutherford who
was also holding the office of Receiver-General at the time. His position as the
collector of quit-rents for the Colony almost certainly accounts for his
inclusion of this statement.
26 Sep 1755 Land
Entry: Anthony Ivey enters 150 acres in Bladen County on Middle Swamp,
a branch of Great Swamp and near Drowning Creek. Warrant dated 27 September.
[North Carolina Land Entries 1753-1756, A. B. Pruitt, p221, Entry #3266]
From the description, this probably isn’t what was
later called the Middle Swamp. The Great Swamp was later the dividing line
between Bladen and Robeson Counties, and if the land was near both it and Drowning
Creek, it must have been southeast of present Lumberton. This entry apparently
went no further, as I could not find a survey and there was no grant made to
Anthony Ivey. It may be coincidence, but the location is probably no more
than ten miles of Thomas Ivey’s entry the same day.
26 Sep 1755 Land
Entry: Thomas Ivey enters 300 acres in Bladen County on Drowning Creek
being where Jas. Roberts formerly lived. Warrant dated 27 September. [North
Carolina Land Entries 1753-1756, A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 2, p221, Entry #3256]
From later records, this is in present Robeson
County, very near the future town of Lumberton. See the following entry for
the grant a year later.
The earliest record of ”Drowning Creek” is in 1750, when the act creating Anson
County mentions “that branch of the Little Pee Dee River called Drowning
Creek”. The name was changed to the Lumber River by a act of the State
Legislature in 1809, apparently to emphasize the substantial local logging
industry. Contrary to legend, there is no record of it being called the “Lumbee”
River for another 150 years.
29 Sept 1756 Grant:
Thomas Ivey 300 acres in Bladen County, west side Drownding Creek, being
the place whereon James Roberts formerly lived. [Colony of NC 1735-1764
Abstracts of Land Patents, Margaret M. Hofman, Vol. 1, p355, grant #5005]
This is the only land owned by a Thomas Ivey on the
west or south side of Drowning Creek. All other land is on Five Mile and
Saddletree Swamps, which meet just north or east of Drowning Creek.
5 Dec 1757 At
an Executive Council held at Newbern, a petition dated November 1757 was presented
by Philip Wilkerson of Bladen County: The petitioner states that Anthony
Ivey shot the petitioner’s son William Wilkerson through the thigh,
apparently in October 1756. Anthony Ivey was put in jail to await trial for
“battery and bloodshed” at the next court meeting in January 1757. Philip
Wilkerson was induced “by his many fair speeches”, and his promise to stand
trial, to make bail for Anthony Ivey’s appearance at the trial, putting up a
£20 bond. “Now the said Anthony Ivey, being delivered out of confinement, has
absconded the county” and failed to appear at the court. Phillip Wilkerson is
now in default and the Bladen court has a judgment against him for the bond,
and an attachment against his land. Petitioner already paid damages to his son
and is willing to pay court fees, but asks that he be relieved of the
attachment on his land “being an old man past labour, being scarce able to walk
without a staff and {having) a wife and several small children to maintain...” He
was granted an injunction. [Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol.
IX, p48 and p356-7]
William Wilkerson [or Wilkinson] had patented land
in 1753 on the north side of the Pee Dee River on the Great Swamp “commonly
known by the name of Wilkinsons’s Swamp.” This is apparently the same creek of
the Shoeheel that bears this name today, just north of the South Carolina
border in western Robeson County, a couple miles west of Mitchell’s Swamp. This
does not, however, seem to be particularly close to the Anthony Ivey land entry
of 1755.
It seems odd that Philip Wilkerson would stand the bail for Anthony Ivey, since
Ivey shot Wilkerson’s son. I wonder if they might have been related. (Also, I
can’t help but note that there is a Philip Wilkerson Ivey born 150 years later
in Texas – surely just a coincidence.)
30 Jun 1758 Land
Warrant: To John Lambert for 160 acres on the west side of Drowning Creek
between Benjamin Sherry and Thomas Ivey. [Colonial Land Entries in
North Carolina, A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 3, Part 1, p14, Entry #201]
It’s not completely clear where this was, but this
is evidently adjacent to the Thomas Ivey grant of 1756. Oddly enough, Charles
Ivey sold part of the Lambert grant forty years later.
19 Oct 1758 Land
Entry: James Ivey enters 100 acres in Anson County on north side of Pee
Dee River in the forks of Gum Swamp; includes his own improvements. [Colonial
Land Entries in North Carolina, A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 3, Part 1, p24, Entry
#359]
This is in what eventually became Richmond, and
finally Scotland County, less than five miles from both future Robeson County
and Marlboro District, South Carolina. The land is roughly two miles from the
later entries of John Turner and Allen Mc(blank) – see below. I don’t know if
a grant was recorded for this entry – there is a card file in the NC Archives
for Grant #324 to James Ivey in Anson County, but I have not yet looked for
it.
Note also that a William Driggers was living on Gum Swamp at about the same
time [see entry #3447 for instance].
20 Oct 1761 William
Russell survey for 100 acres in Bladen County adjoining John Blount on the east
side of Saddletree. Chain carriers: Thomas Ivey, Thomas Russell. [Abstracts
of Land Warrants: Bladen County, North Carolina 1778-1803, A. B. Pruitt,
Part 2, p320]
23 Oct 1761 Grant:
Thomas Ivey Jr. 203 acres in Bladen County on east side Saddletree Swamp
joining Pugh’s line and Holton’s line. (Hofman, Vol. 1, p416, grant #5884)
This seems to have been a warrant purchased from
someone else.
1763 Bladen
County tax list:
Thos.
Ivey & two sons – 3 white tithes, no blacks
Anson County tax list:
James Ivey – 1 white tithe
Anson and Bladen adjoined at this time. Both lists
are thought to be complete in that they are each the clerk’s copy of the
county-wide alphabetized list. White tithes were males who were 16 or older as
of January 1 (unlike Virginia’s definition), so Thomas Ivey’s two sons were
born 1746 or earlier. Since his presumed son Thomas Jr. had already patented
land and was over 21, he could have appeared as a responsible taxpayer himself this
year. Since he’s not on the list, he must have been one of the two sons.
The Anson County list is damaged and several names are unreadable [see the
SS837 file] Two names immediately follow James Ivey that are completely
unreadable. The number after James Ivey appears to be a 1, but is also too
damaged to be certain. The list is alphabetized, with no clue as to where he
lived in the county.
26 Jul 1766 Implied
Deed: Benjamin Davis to James Ivey [see 15 Sep 1769]
18 Apr 1767 Land
Entry: Adam Ivey enters 200 acres in Bladen County on [Indian] Swamp
including his own improvements. [Colonial Land Entries in North Carolina,
A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 3, Part 2, p14, Entry #3475]
The first record of the son of Adam Ivey arriving
in Bladen. Pruitt gives the location as
“Gordian” Swamp, but it is meant to be “Indian” Swamp. On the same date, James Inmans entered a claim on Indian
Swamp “below Adam Ivey” [Entry #3476]. And, when the grant was issued two
years later, 4 May 1769, it was for land on Indian.
18 Apr 1767 Land
Entry: Charity Crews enters 200 acres in Bladen County on the south side of
Indian Swamp; includes the plantation where Francis Ivey lives. [Colonial
Land Entries in North Carolina, A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 3, Part 2, p14, Entry
#3477]
Francis Ivey is also now in Bladen County. Benjamin
Ivey is probably also there (see 1768 tax list). Adam, Francis, and Benjamin -
the elder sons of Adam Ivey - seem to be the first to have migrated into Bladen
County. I would note that several people from the same area of Edgecombe
County migrated into Bladen at about his time.
Note on Ivey Locations: The Iveys lived in three
different areas of present Robeson County during the period covered by this
Chronology. Thomas Ivey’s presumed sons, Thomas and Isham, lived and are
mentioned only in the area just north of Lumberton on Five Mile and Saddletree
Swamps northeast of Drowning Creek. The sons of Adam Ivey – Francis, Benjamin,
and Adam – settled on Indian and Flowers Swamps in the southeastern corner of present
Robeson County, about 15 miles south of Thomas Ivey. Some later lived just to
the west on Hog and Ashpole (sometime called Tadpole) Swamps, but still roughly
15 miles south of Thomas Ivey’s children. James Ivey and Joseph Ivey lived 15 or
more miles from both groups, further west in Robeson. They are mentioned in
southwest Robeson on Mitchell’s, Wilkenson’s, Shoeheel, and Leith’s Creeks and
near the present Robeson-Scotland border.
18 Apr 1767 Land
Entry: Thomas Ivey Jr. enters 100 acres in Bladen County bordering his
own line and Joseph Begget [Bagget] on White Oak Branch. [Colonial Land
Entries in North Carolina, A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 3, Part 2, p16, Entry #3498]
”His own line” apparently refers to the 1761 grant.
Note that the 1761 grant and this land entry are the only references to a
Thomas Ivey Jr. (The eventual issuance of this grant is immaterial to the
point, since it would have been issued in the same name as appeared on the
application.) Note that the survey a few months later for land adjoining this
does not identify him as “Junior”. A Thomas Ivey appears fairly steadily from
now on as a witness, in land references, and in tax lists, never identified as
either Senior or Junior. The implication is that Thomas Ivey Sr. had either
died or left the area about this time. The 1812 court case (see below)
suggests that he moved several miles south across the state line.
20 Apr 1767 Petition
by of John Blount and Thomas Ivey to the Governor and Council: They own
“the majority” of a tract in Bladen County on 5 Mile Branch of Saddle Tree
Creek on the east side of Drowning Creek originally granted as 500 acres to
William Pugh. The marked lines “differ much” from the courses mentioned in the
grant. Petitioners ask for a resurvey to agree with the plat. [Colonial
Petitions for Land Resurveys, Land Warrants, & Caveats, A. B. Pruitt,
p9]
It is highly likely that this is Thomas Ivey Junior He and Blount both lived on Saddletree
and Thomas Ivey Jr.’s 1761 grant adjoined Pugh’s. Thomas Ivey Jr. later sold
part of this tract in 1787.
20 Dec 1767 Survey
for Thomas Ivey, 100 acres on White Oak Branch of Saddletree Swamp, east
side of Drowning Creek, beginning at his own and Joseph Bagget’s corner. [Abstracts
of Land Warrants: Bladen County, North Carolina 1778-1803, A. B. Pruitt,
Part 2, p272]
This is evidently the survey for the entry dated 18
April 1767. Note that he is not “Junior” from now on. Bagget’s land was
patented as adjoining Ivey and Hilton. The land entry was made in the name of
Thomas Jr. and the grant would eventually be issued in the same name. The
survey though does not specify “Jr.” From now on, there are no occurrences of
either “Senior” or “Junior”, thus presumably no need to differentiate two
Thomas Iveys. Most likely, the elder Thomas Ivey is either dead or has left
the county – and evidently the latter judging by the 30 Oct 1812 record. The
only reason to doubt that is the 1774 tax list, where the second Thomas Ivey
may be either double-counted or, more likely, a mulatto third-generation Thomas
Ivey as young as 12 that year.
26 Feb 1768 Thomas
Ivey and Henry Filby witness to deed in Bladen County from Joseph Fort to John
Hammond for 100 acres on the north side of Saddletree Swamp. Thomas Ivey signs
by mark. [Bladen County Deed Book 23, p137]
Yet another indication that Thomas Ivey Sr. is gone,
for there is no need to distinguish this witness from another Thomas Ivey.
1768 Bladen
County tax list: [all on list of Archibald McKissack]
Benjamin Ivey - 1 white tithable [consecutive with next entry]
Simon Cox & Adam Ivey – 2 mulatto tithables
Thomas Ivey - 1 white tithable
Joseph Ivey - 1 mulatto tithable
Some districts are missing from this tax list. We
know Francis Ivey was there at this time, as well as James Ivey and probably
Isham Ivey.
1769 Bladen
County tax list:
McKissack’s Dist: Thomas Ivey (1 white) & Obed---- (1 black)
Most districts are missing this year. McKissack’s
district appears to have had different boundaries each year, sometimes
including the area to the south and west and sometimes not.
4 May 1769 Grant:
Adam Ivey [see 18 Apr 1767 for description] [Hofman, Vol. 2, p130,
grant #1693]
15 Sep 1769 Deed:
James Ivey, planter of Bladen County, to James Adair, doctor [of Dobbs
County], £30 proclamation money, 200 acres in Bladen County in the fork of the Little
Pee Dee, on east side Mitchells Creek... granted to Jordan Gibson 1 July 1758,
conveyed to John Wootan 25 Sept 1761, then to Benjamin Davis 16 July 1762, and
by Davis to James Ivey 26 July 1766 and proved in Bladen County by the
oath of John Dunbar in November 1767... Signed: James (mark) Ivey. (The
mark a capital I or vertical line, with horizontal line.) Witness: John McLean,
Archd. McKissack. [Bladen County Deed Book 23, pp85]
This deed was among the lost deeds, and was
re-recorded many years later. Mitchell’s Creek is nearly 20 miles west of the
nearest other Bladen County Ivey (except perhaps Joseph) and is practically on
the state line. It begins just west of what is now the town of Rowland about
two miles above the state line and flows across the line into Dillon County,
South Carolina. It joins two other creeks roughly on the state line and the
result is called Hayes Creek in Dillon County.
Until 1777, when it was moved to the present Scotland-Robeson line, the county
line between Bladen and Anson started where the Little PeeDee (aka Shoeheel
Swamp) crossed the South Carolina line. James Ivey’s land ws therefore only
about three miles from Anson County at the time he owned it.
It appears that this land was adjacent to a 1762 patent by Benjamin Davis,
which Davis sold to Phillip Chavis at about the time James Ivey owned the
adjacent land. [See Robeson County Deed Book B, pp161] Archibald McGirt later
lived on Mitchell’s Creek, for he sold patented land there in 1782, which he
sold in 1786 (Robeson DB A, p279).
As a side note, James Adair was a fairly famous interpreter, trader, author, and
surgeon who later served as the surgeon for General Francis Marion. He was at
this time living in Dobbs County, apparently on land bought from Christopher
Reynolds [see Reynolds family pages on this website] but died at Mitchell’s
Creek in 1787. There is a historical marker at his supposed grave on the east
side of Mitchell’s Creek.
14 Dec 1769 Land
Entry: John Smith enters 200 acres between John Blount and Benjamin Ivey…
[Colonial Land Entries in North Carolina 1769-1774, A. B. Pruitt, Part
1, p38, entry #568]
This land was later sold by John Smith to John
Phillips, when he described it as being on Flowers Swamp.
7 May 1770 Reuben
Ivey and Willis Grimes witness to deed from Needham Tyler to Luke
Pryor, both of Duplin County, 420 acres in two parcels willed to Luke Pryor by
his father Moses Pryor, one on South River, the other on Black River. [Bladen
County Deed Book 23, p102]
This is almost certainly not the Reuben Ivey
of Bladen, son of Thomas Ivey Jr. The land is in present Sampson County nowhere
near the Iveys residing in Bladen County. Both of the principals, as well as
the other witness, are residents of Duplin County. This Reuben Ivey is
probably a son of Thomas Ivey of Duplin.
1770 Bladen
County tax list:
Barnes’ Dist: Adam Ivey 1 mulatto tithable
Benjamin Ivey (1 white) & John
Phillips (1 mulatto)
[these entries consecutive]
McKissack’s Dist: Thomas Ivey 1 white tithable
James Ivey 1 white tithable
Joseph Ivey 1 white tithable
[these last two entries consecutive]
Several districts are missing this year.
25 Apr 1771 Deed:
James Blount, planter of South Carolina, to John Flowers, planter of Edgecombe
County, £64 proc., 200 acres on west side of Drowning Creek being the place
where James Roberts formerly lived, the lower part of 300 acres patented by Thomas
Ivey on 29 Sept 1756, and conveyed to said James Blount and “the deed left
in the office which deed is said to be Burnt...” Signed: James (J mark) Blount.
Witness: Jesse Pitman, Edward Flowers. [Bladen County Deed Book 23, pp263]
25 Apr 1771 Deed:
Martha Blount, widow of South Carolina, to John Flowers of Edgecombe County., £36
proc., 100 acres on the west side of Drowning Creek, being part of the land
where James Flowers [sic] formerly lived, the upper part of a 300 acre patent
to Thomas Ivey of 29 Sept 1756, which he conveyed to James Blount “which
deed was left in the clerks office & is said to be burnt & then
conveyed to the said James Blount by a deed to Martha [unreadable] of Bladen
County which is the aforesaid Martha Blount now of South Carolina, the deed
bearing date 3 Feb 1769. Martha (x) Blount. Witness: Jesse Pitman, Edward
Flowers. [Bladen County Deed Book 23, pp272, abstracted ]
Thomas Ivey Sr. evidently sold his 1756 patent
around 1767-8. The deeds stored at the county clerk’s house burned in 1769, so
the deeds by Thomas Ivey must have been dated prior to 1769. Note that he does
not appear on the 1768 tax list. In addition, James Blount’s wife Sarah did
not release dower as she had in a 1770 sale of James Blount’s 1769 grant,
suggesting that the sale by Thomas Ivey may have taken place prior to her
marriage to James Blount. Assuming that the references ca1767 and later in
Bladen are to his son Thomas Ivey Jr., it appears that Thomas Ivey Sr. sold his
land in Bladen and moved to South Carolina. [See 30 Oct 1812 below.]
1771 Bladen
County tax list:
Thomas Ivey (name only)
Several districts are missing this year.
1 Nov 1771 Land
Entry: Isom Ivey enters 200 acres on White Oak Swamp of Saddletree
Swamp. [Colonial Land Entries in North Carolina 1769-1774, A. B.
Pruitt, Part 1, p142, entry #2063] The grant is recorded two months later to Isham
Ivey in Robeson County Deed Book E, p95 dated 20 Dec 1771.
This is our first sighting of Isham Ivey, who must
be of age by now. Note that he is acquiring land next to Thomas Ivey Jr.,
suggesting they are perhaps brothers. Also note that Isham Ivey is not a
tithable in 1768-1771 in this district, indicating that he was taxed
elsewhere. A plausible explanation is that he accompanied his father when he
left the area ca1767 but returned to live near his brother in 1771.
1772 Bladen
County tax list:
McKissack’s Dist: Adam Ivey 1 white tithable
Thomas Ivey 1 white tithable
Isom Ivey 1 white
tithable
[Thomas & Isom consecutive]
James Ivey & Gideon Grant 2
mulatto tithables
Joseph Ivey 1 mulatto
tithable
[one name between James & Joseph]
Benjamin Ivey 1 white tithable
Once again, several districts are missing this year.
4 Apr 1772 Deed:
Farquard Campbell, gentleman of Cumberland, to Adam Ivey, planter of
Bladen, £30 proc., 200 acres on Hogg Swamp… being a patent to Campbell of 6
May 1760. Witness: John McKey, Danl. Willis. [Bladen County Deed Book 23,
p286]
Hogg Swamp is just west of Indian Swamp.
May 1772 Land
Entry: John Turner enters 100 acres in Bladen County on the north side of Leith’s
Creek; includes improvements be bought of James Ivey. [Colonial Land
Entries in North Carolina 1769-1774, A. B. Pruitt, Part 2, p1, entry #2375]
What is now called Bridge Creek was then known as a
continuation of Leith’s Creek in Anson County. It ran from Anson through a
tiny sliver of the southwestern corner of Bladen (now Robeson) County and on
across the state line. This is just a couple miles west of Mitchell’s Creek. I’d note that William Sweat, another of
the mob of 18 free negroes and mulattos, had a 1775 patent for land on Leith’s
Creek in “Bladen or Anson” as well.
May 1772 Land
Entry: Joseph Ivey enters 100 acres in Bladen County on Cowpen Branch;
includes Wm. Wilkerson’s improvement. [Colonial Land Entries in North
Carolina 1769-1774, A. B. Pruitt, Part 2, p2, entry #2387]
This may be the same William Wilkerson who was shot
by Anthony Ivey in 1756. See below for the grant.
22 Jan 1773 Grant:
Joseph Ivey, 100 acres in “Bladen or Anson” County joining the south
side of Cow Branch west of Shoeheel. [Hofman, Vol 2, p320, Grant #4227]
The reason for the uncertainty is that the original
county line between Anson and Bladen was several miles east of the present
Scotland-Robeson county line. The line was moved west to its present location
in 1777. Before that, it began where Shoeheel Creek crossed the South Carolina
border. This patent was almost certainly in Anson County at the time but,
thanks to the movement of the boundary, was in Bladen County by the time Joseph
Ivey sold it. I note that this would conveniently explain Joseph Ivey’s
absence from the tax lists of 1774 and 1776, and his reappearance on the 1784
tax list. When he sold the land to Angus McGill in 1785, it was then in
Bladen County. Note that the abstract shows “Cow” branch, but the land entry
and the later deed show “Cowpen”. Neither appears on in this location on any
map of Bladen or Robeson County.
It seems fairly clear that both James Ivey and Joseph Ivey are both located at
this time in the far western portion of Bladen County, or just over the line in
Anson, both of them just over the South Carolina line.
13 Oct 1773 On
18 December 1773 the Governor sent a message to the Assembly enclosing a letter
from Archibald McKissack, a justice of Bladen County, “relative to a number of
free negroes and mulattoes who infest that county and annoy its inhabitants.” McKissack’s
letter of the same date includes a list entitled “A list of the rogues: a list
of the mob raitously assembled together in Bladen County October 13th
1773.” The eighteen “rogues” are listed in order as: Captain James Ivey,
Joseph Ivey, Ephraim Sweat, William Chavours Clark commonly called Boson
Chevers, Richd. Groom, Bengman [Benjamin?] Dees, Willm. Sweat, George Sweat,
Benjamin Sweat, Willm Groom Senr., Willm, Groom Junr., Gideon Grant, Thos.
Groom, James Pace, Isaac Vaun, --- Stapleton, Edward Lockelear, and Ticely Lockalear.
On the list is “Harbourers of the rogues as follows Major Lockalear, Richer
Groom, Ester Cairsey”. At the bottom: “The above list of rogues is all free
negroes and mullatus living upon the King’s land.” [General Assembly Sessions
Records, December 1773, Box 6, reproduced in Bladen County, North Carolina
Tax Lists 1768-1774, Volume I, William L. Byrd, p143]
The title of ”Captain” given to James Ivey probably
indicates his leadership of the mob. Note the references elsewhere to James
Ivey and Gideon Grant, James Ivey and Boson Chevers, and the implied reference
to James Ivey and William Sweat. The reference to “living upon the King’s
land” means they did not hold title to their lands and therefore didn’t pay
quit rents. This may have been partly intended to make the point that the
titled landowners, freeholders, deserved the King’s protection. I would note,
though, that this comment was incorrect in the case of a few of these men who
either now or so=on afterward held patents or warrants for their lands. How
Locklear, Groom and Kersey were “harbouring” the group is unclear to me but all
are evidently themselves mulattos. Locklear is living very near Thomas Ivey
and Richard Groom was evidently living over the South Carolina line at the
time.
James Ivey and Joseph Ivey were almost certainly not living in the county at
this time. Joseph Ivey’s patent a year earlier was in Anson County (though it
would fall into Bladen by 1779) and neither he nor James Ivey are in the 1774
or 1776 county-wide tax lists. There is some evidence that at least two of the
other names on the list may have been living in Anson at the time as well.
One wonders exactly how they were annoying the inhabitants, and why they
assembled as a group. Or why so few of the mulattos in the area were singled
out as members of this group. I would note that October would have brought a
quarterly meeting of the Bladen Court, and that the 13th fell on a
Wednesday – perhaps they assembled at the court to protest something. The fact
that even those living in Anson were significantly closer to the Bladen
courthouse than to their own is perhaps a point in favor of this notion. Too
bad the court records are lost. At any rate, there’s no evidence that either
the Governor or Assembly did anything about it.
31 Dec 1773 Deed:
Benjamin Ivey and wife Edey Ivey of Bladen County to Joseph Lewis
of Edgecombe County, £100 proc., 285 acres being a Granville Grant to Adam
Ivey of 23 October 1754… being where Benjamin Ivey’s father lived… left to
Benjamin Ivey by the will of his father Adam Ivey… [same description as in the
grant] adjoining Lewis Ivey, John Haywood, Contentnea Creek, Hominey
Swamp… Signed: Benjamin Ivey, Edey (x) Ivey. Witness: Simon Lewis, John Sillivant?
[Edgecombe County Deed Book 2, pp154]
He has been in Bladen County for four years, but is
only now selling the land. Has Adam Ivey’s widow recently died?
1774 Bladen
County tax list:
On a county-wide alphabetical list:
Thomas Ivey – 1 white
Isham Ivey – 1 white
Jeremiah Ivey – 1 white
Benjamin Ivey – 1 white [this line is crossed out]
On a separate page of the county-wide list, headed “Mixed Bloods”:
Adam Ivey – 2 males
Thomas Ivey – 1 male
Benjamin Ivey – 1 male
A separate list of Thomas Owen’s District has Thomas Ivey and Isham
Ivey listed consecutively, but none of the other Iveys are in that
district.
A separate list for McKissack’s district “on Drowning Creek” this year has Adam
Ivey, self & brother (2 mixed blood), Thomas Ivey (self, mixed
blood), and Benjamin Ivey (self, mixed blood).
Jeremiah Ivey does not appear on Owen’s or MicKissack’s
lists, only on the county-wide copy, indicating that he lived elsewhere in the
county. There appear to be two Thomas Iveys, one on Owen’s list and the other
on McKissack’s list. I suppose it is possible that he was double-counted. It
is also possible that Thomas Ivey Sr. was temporarily located in Bladen this
year – note that he is listed in the southern part of the county rather than
near Lumberton. White tithables were 16 and up, mixed-bloods were 12 and up.
Joseph would have been in Anson this year if he’s living on his patent. James
Ivey is likely there are well.
July 1774 Land
Entry: John Flowers enters 150 acres in Bladen adjoining James Blount and Thomas
Ivey; includes the lower part of plantation where said Thomas Ivey
formerly lived. [Colonial Land Entries in North Carolina 1769-1774, A.
B. Pruitt, Part 2, p158, entry #4773]
This is clearly Thomas Ivey Jr. He has apparently
either abandoned or sold part of his former “plantation”.
2 Mar 1775 Deed:
Lewis Ivey of Bladen County to Joseph Sims of Edgecombe County, £55
proc., 200 acres which his father Adam Ivey willed to him… adjoining said
Joseph Sims… Witness: Benjamin Sims, John Sillevent. [Edgecombe County Deed
Book 3, p232]
This is the first sighting of Lewis Ivey in Bladen
County. Since he had not been on the county-wide 1774 tax list, he has
presumably been in Edgecombe County since his father’s death. It is possible
he is the brother in Adam Ivey’s 1774 household, though that seems more likely
to have been George Ivey.
6 Mar 1775 Grant:
Isham Ivey, 100 acres Bladen County on White Oak Branch of Saddletree
northeast of Drowning Creek adjoining Thomas Robinson and Thomas Ivey.
[Hofman, Vol 2, p594, Grant #7885]
31 Jul 1775 Deed:
Adam Ivey to John Starling, both of planters of Bladen, £50 proc., 200 acres
on Indian Swamp, east of Ashpole? Swamp, (being the land entered in 1767 and
granted 4 May 1769.) Wit: Daniel Willis, John Willis. [Bladen County Deed
Book 23, p286]
1776 Bladen
County tax list:
Barnes’ Dist: Thomas Ivey 1 white tithable
Jeremiah Ivey 1 white tithable
Isham Ivey 1 white tithable
George Ivey & Adam Ivey 2
white tithables
Francis Ivey 1 white tithable
Benjamin Ivey 1 white tithable
Lewis Ivey 1 white
tithable
[these three names consecutive]
This year, though most individual districts are
missing, there is also a separate, roughly alphabetical, county-wide list that
probably contains all tithables in the county. All of these names are
duplicated on that list, and there are no other Iveys listed on the county-wide
list. Apparently all of the Iveys in Bladen were on Barnes’ list this year.
13 Nov 1776 On
the petition of Solomon Mercer, Henry Pope, Benjamin Ivey, Solomon
Mercer Jr., Charles Baker, Malcom Brice, Gilbert Cox, William Chaviss, Isaac Sterling,
Miles Barfield, Benjamin Harper, Murrel Bath and Christopher Mercer who are all
“confined in Newbern Gaol for Misdemeanors”, ordered that they be brought
before [the State of North Carolina] Congress… Commanding Officer of the
regular soldiers now at Newbern be directed to send them under a sufficient
guard to Halifax.” [State Records of North Carolina, Vol. X, p918]
Most of these names, perhaps all of them, are Bladen
County residents. Solomon Mercer and his two named sons are from Bladen
(later Robeson). Gilbert Cox and William Chavis surely are as well. So this
is probably Benjamin Ivey of Bladen County. They are in jail for some offense
against the state, now petitioning to be heard by the state legislature. Could
not find any further record of the case.
I note that this is several months after hostilities commenced. The Bladen
County area was a relative hotbed of Tory activity, with Tories actually in the
majority. No battles had taken place in the area yet, but it could be that these
persons were either overt loyalists, or had participated in one of the early
skirmishes.
1777-78 No
Bladen tax list exists for 1777 and only one district (with no Iveys) in 1778.
1777 Petition
to divide Anson County signed by James Ivey, John Ivey.
[abstracted in Anson County, North Carolina Abstracts of Early Records,
Mary Wilson McBee (1950), pp136]
The signers lived east of the Pee Dee River in present
Richmond and Scotland counties and, complaining about the time and expense of
traveling to the Anson courthouse, requested a new county be formed to serve
them. Precisely when the signing
occurred is uncertain, but the petition was complete by May 1777. This places
both Iveys in what would later be Richmond County ca1776-7. It would be most
interesting to see the original document for James Ivey’s signature or mark.
In response to the petition, by act of 23 October 1779, Richmond County was
formed from all of Anson that lay east of the Pee Dee River, so that Richmond
and the part of Bladen that was later Robeson adjoined. (Richmond County
included what is now Scotland County for more than a hundred years thereafter.)
30 Jun 1778 Land
Entry: Warrant to Adam Ivey for 100 acres on Juniper Bay, begins on
Simon Cox’s line, runs down toward Lewis Ivey’s… entered 23 March 1778,
surveyed 13 October 1778 by John Yates; James Carter & James Ivey
chain carriers. Grant #315 issued 12 November 1779. [Abstracts of Land
Warrants: Bladen County, North Carolina 1778-1803, A. B. Pruitt, Part 1,
p37, Entry #464]
Who is this James Ivey? It makes no sense that
this is the same James Ivey as earlier since the land was 25 miles from Anson
County. Could this be “James Ivey Jr.”? The survey itself should be consulted
to be sure this abstract is correct, and that the name is not “Lewis” or
“Jeremiah” or something else. The land is not far from Adam Ivey’s original
land on Indian Creek.
23 Aug 1778 Land
Entry: Lewis Ivey enters 300 acres on the east side of Indian Swamp,
“including my own improvement”. Surveyed 30 November 1778, chain carriers: Adam
Ivey, John Cox. [Abstracts of Land Warrants: Bladen County, North
Carolina 1778-1803, A. B. Pruitt, Part 1, p218]
2 Nov 1778 Land
Entry: Daniel Thomas enters 100 acres in Anson County on a branch of Jordan’s
Creek on the east side; above James Ivey one mile. [Abstracts of
Land Entries, Anson County 1778-1795, A. B. Pruitt, p40, Entry #600]
Jordan’s Creek is a branch of Shoeheel that roughly
parallels Leith’s Creek, in eastern present Scotland County, a few miles from
the Robeson County line. It runs into Shoeheel east of Laurinberg, roughly
five miles from the entry mentioned below.
21 Dec 1778 Land
Entry: Warrant issued to Wm. Thompson Jr. for 200 acres including James
Ivey’s old improvement where one Harderson lives, just above the head of
Bull Br. in the fork of Shoeheel & entered 14 September 1778; surveyed 16
October 1778, grant #125 issued 11 November 1779. [Abstracts of Land Warrants,
Bladen County, North Carolina 1778-1803, A. B. Pruitt, Part 1, p22, entry
#275]
As a legal land term, “improvement” referred
specifically to a structure, not to cleared land or fences. This usually means
a dwelling of some kind. As a point of interest, Benjamin Dees, another of the
mob of 18 free negroes and mulattos had two patents on Bull Branch, and Ephraim
Driggars had a patent there as well. Coincidently, so did Alexander McRae
whose brother witnessed James Ivey’s will forty years later.
The head of Bull Branch would place this land just inside Bladen County about
one mile east of the Bladen-Anson border. I note that this would have been in
Anson county before the border was moved in 1777, thus probably explaining the
appearance of James Ivey on the petition of early 1777. (This is just west of
the village of Turnout. Bull Branch begins west of Turnout and runs southwest
into Leith’s Creek – now called Bridge Creek - just north of the Little Pee Dee
where it crosses the Dillon-Marlboro county line.)
These two entries would appear to explain the citations for James Ivey in Anson
County. The “old improvements” would have been just over the line in Anson
County, and he evidently had moved by now a few miles or so further into Anson
County.
23 Jan 1779 Petition
by Jacob Alford, a justice of Bladen County, “and the inhabitants of upper
Bladen County”, to the Governor: “…Your petitioners are in constant dread
& fear of being robbed and murdered by a set of robbers and horse thiefs,
which have been among us this week to the number of about forty, who have committed
a great deal of mischief already, & we understand by some of them, they
soon intend to ruin us altogether in the borders of our District and Anson
County, some have had their houses broke and all their cloaths taken from them,
even their babes and infants were stripped naked, women were knocked down with
stakes & tommyhakes in their husband's absence, many had all their cattle
taken away from them, & their corn robbd out of their cribs, by which many
of them are entirely undone & ruined, the most part of the robbers are Molattoes,
and chiefly came from the south province when the Vagrant Act came among them. We
lay our distress and our unhappy case before your honourable Assembly. and
hopes you will take our unfortunate situation unto your humain consideration and
grant us such relief as your goodness may think proper whether you may allow us
to get arms to defend ourselves, or you will order some others to protect us…”
[NC General Assembly Sessions, January 1779]
I am not suggesting that any Iveys
are among the “robbers and horse thieves”. However, I can’t help but be struck
by the general similarity to the 1773 “mob”. Upper Bladen County means what
was later Robeson County, and the south province is presumably South Carolina.
The reference to the Vagrant Act is beyond me; I’m not familiar with South
Carolina laws..
13 Feb 1779 Land
Entry: Allen Mc(blank) enters 200 acres in Anson County in the fork of Juniper
and Jordan Creeks; includes James Ivey’s improvements. [Abstracts of
Land Entries: Anson County 1778-1795, A. B. Pruitt, p67, Entry #997]
This is in the area of the land entered earlier by
Daniel Thomas. The fork of the two creeks is about a mile due north of the
head of Leith’s Creek, in present Scotland County about two miles west of the
Robeson County line. This suggests the possibility that James Ivey was living
here in late 1778 when Daniel Thomas entered his claim but had left by the time
this claim was made. Note that James Ivey is not on the first tax list of
Richmond County later in 1779.
1779 Richmond
County Tax List: Amous Ivey, 50 acres
Richmond County had just been formed from the
eastern part of Anson County. At this time it adjoined Bladen County, and by
1787 would adjoin Robeson County. The tax list appears to be complete. If
James Ivey or Anthony Ivey was still there, they were probably not taxed
because (as far as we know) they had no title to land.
1779 Bladen
County tax list:
Jacob Alford’s Dist: Francis Ivey – 150 acres, 1 horse, 8 cattle
Lewis Ivey – 300 acres, 1 horse, 9
cattle
Henry Ivey – 1 horse, 12 cattle
Other districts are missing this year. This is the
only appearance of Henry Ivey, who may be a young son of another Ivey. Or “Henry”
might be a mis-transcription of ”George” – they could be similar when
handwritten. Should check the original tax list to be sure.
3 Aug 1779 Deed:
Anthony Ivey to John Powers, both of Anson County, £150, 150 acres on
the north side of the Little Pee Dee River adjoining the river, Skipper, and
Thomas… being part of a 300-acre grant to Hopkin Howell of 25 July 1774.
Signed: Anthony Ivey. Witness: Thomas Curtis, Israel Medlock. [Anson County
Deed Book 7, p155]
Could this be the same Anthony Ivey in Bladen 23
years earlier? The land is in what would become Richmond County a few months
later, very close to later Robeson County. Skipper is apparently George
Skipper, who had land on the north bank of the river. I could not find any
record of the sale of this grant by Hopkin Howell. [See next entry]
29 Aug 1779 Mary
Ivy baptized at the Welsh Neck Baptist Church. On 5 September 1779 she
would sign the charter and join the church. [from minutes online at http://www.rootsweb.com/~scmarlbo/church/Welsh_Neck_Baptist2.htm]
Since she is later the widow of Anthony Ivey, it
appears that he moved from Anson County to the vicinity of what was later
Marlboro County, South Carolina. The Welsh Neck Church was located in Marlboro
County until 1798 when it moved across the river to Darlington County. [See
entry for June 1790.]
22 Jan 1780 Francis
Ivey and Joel Pittman witnesses to deed of Thomas Rowland to Jesse Lee for
land on Indian Swamp adjoining patents to John Sterling and John Willis.
[Robeson County Deed Book A, p308, abstracted in Williamson]
1 Sep 1780 Land
Entry: Warrant issued to Hack Gin for 100 acres on the west side of Ashpole
Swamp… surveyed 24 May 1785 by J. Rhodes; Ephraim Driggers & Joseph Ivey,
chain carriers. [Abstracts of Land Warrants: Bladen County, North Carolina
1778-1803, A. B. Pruitt, Part 1, p82, Entry #1050]
West of Ashpole covers a lot of territory, and
could easily be quite near Joseph Ivey’s land. Ephraim Driggers is a mulatto
tithable in 1776, is in Georgetown District in 1790 and Marion District in 1800-1820.
10 Apr 1780 Deed:
Britain Smith to Francis Ivey, £2,000 [sic!] 150 acres in Bladen County on
the southwest side of Drowning Creek by the Creek swamp adj. Daniel Williams [Willis],
patented by Britain Smith on 11 March 1775. Witness: Samuel Smith, William
Ward. [re-recorded in Robeson County Deed Book B, pp183, abstracted in
Williamson]
£2,000 has got to be an error or I copied this
wrong. Francis Ivey sold this ten years later for £50. Perhaps the price was stated
in some other form, like pounds of tobacco. He sold the land in 1790.
c1780? Deed:
Samuel Andrews Sr. to Reuben Ivey [Bladen County Deed Book 37, p6]
I have not yet read this deed, just noted it in the
grantee index. The early part of Deed Book 37 apparently consists of deeds
recorded in the 1770s and 1780s. In 1800, Thomas Ivey Sr. and Thomas Ivey Jr.
sold land on Five Mile Branch described as a patent to Jacob Pope who sold to
Samuel Andrews who sold to Reuben Ivey and descended to Thomas Ivey (Jr.) as
the brother and heir of Reuben Ivey. [See Robeson DB M, p261] Reuben Ivey is
the son of Thomas Ivey who died in the Revolution (see below). Note that
Reuben Ivey does not appear on any tax list, unless he was the same person as “Jeremiah
Ivey”.
1 May 1781 Certificate
“…that Reuben Ivey soldier in the North Carolina line drove a public
team in the Southern Army from 1 November 1781 (sic) until the 30th
of April following at four dollars Specie pr month being six months amounting
to $24.” Deposition of Thomas Ivey (mark) of Robeson County that “his son
Reuben Ivey, deceased, was enlisted in the army… that he served 12 months and
was discharged… gives power of attorney to Jacob Rhodes to receive all
allowances due said Ivey’s son for services…” [North Carolina Genealogical
Society Journal, Vol. X, p241]
The certificate date appears to be incorrect. Obviously,
Reuben Ivey was a son of Thomas Ivey Jr., perhaps the eldest. Note that he is
not an earlier tithable and therefore likely was in his late teens, at most 21,
when he enlisted. This is apparently not the same Reuben Ivey as below.
25 May 1781 Reuben
Ivey enlisted for one year in Bailey’s company of 10th North
Carolina Regiment. Left service 25 May 1782. Musd. April 1782, destd. 13 June
1783. [State Records of North Carolina, Vol. 16, p1087]
1782 Army
Accounts of the North Carolina Line: Reuben Ivey owed £32:10, received
by G. Jno. McRee. [State Records of North Carolina, Vol. 17, p223]
The receiver was “Griffith John McRee”, a Major in
Curtis Ivey’s regiment and a Bladen County resident at the time. It is not
clear if there are one or two Reuben Iveys referred to by the above records. I
suspect there were two, given the 1770 witness by a Reuben Ivey located near
Curtis Ivey and this tie to McRee. The 10th regiment was comprised
of men from southeastern North Carolina and included another Ivey, David Ivey
(a “man of color”), in a different company. Curtis Ivey of Sampson County was a
Lieutenant in the 5th regiment, McRee his Major.
Note on Revolutionary Accounts: The North Carolina
revolutionary account books have 12 entries for Reuben Ivey, another 12 entries
for Thomas Ivey and several more for Lewis Ivey, James Ivey, Anthony Ivey, and
other Iveys. Whether any of these entries are for the Bladen County Iveys is
unknown, and the question may not be answered by looking through the account
books. These volumes are accountings of issuance and redemptions of vouchers
and specie certificates, and generally have little to do with army service. I
have not looked up any of those entries.
12 Aug 1782 Deed:
Lemuel Williamson to John Ivey ( being 150 acres on the south side of
the Little Pee Dee River and west branch of Flat fork of Brown Creek – the land
sold in 1786). Witness: Jesse Ivey, John Bloodworth, George Harrell.
[Anson County Deed Book H, p124 abstracted]
Need to read this. This is apparently the land he
sells in 1786 and suggests a relationship with Jesse Ivey.
1783-4 James
Ivey Jr. appears on a list of Bladen County land entries made between 4
November 1783 and 1 April 1784 that were caveated and “to be disputed”. His
entry is not identified, other than its size of 100 acres. [Petitions for
Land Grant Suspensions in North Carolina 1776-1836, A. B. Pruitt, Part 1,
p8]
This appears to be the son of the James Ivey in the
area earlier, probably called “Junior” because his father is in the general
area. This may explain his appearance in
the 1784 tax list, where he is in the same district as Joseph Ivey, a district
covering present southwestern Robeson County. The record means that he had requested
a warrant for a specific piece of property that was disputed by someone else. The
patent process allowed for a period during which another claimant could claim
prior rights by virtue of residence or a conflicting claim. The caveat must
have been effective, for there was no grant issued and James Ivey Jr. evidently
went elsewhere.
24 Dec 1783 Land
Entry: John Forley enters 100 acres in Richmond County on Watry Branch; includes
improvement made by James Ivey and Boson Cheves and about a mile from
Gum Swamp. [Richmond County, NC Land Entries 1780-1795, A. B. Pruitt,
p12, Entry #171]
Note that both
James Ivey and Boson Chevers were among the 18 names on the list of “free negroes
and mulattos” in 1773 in Bladen County. That suggests these were the same two
persons. The land is very near the land of James Ivey mentioned in 1778 and
1779, certainly within a few miles. Watery Branch is unknown, but since Gum
Swamp is in southeastern Scotland County, it appears to be north of Little Shoeheel.
15 Jun 1784 Deed:
John Willis to Francis Ivey, 300 acres south side of Drowning Creek and
both sides of Indian Swamp… being a patent to John Willis of 12 November 1779 (see
27 February 1786) [Bladen County Deed Book 36, p274, re-recorded]
1784 Bladen
County tax list:
Capt. Barnes’ Dist: Adam Ivey 450 acres, 1 white poll
Lewis Ivey 300 acres, 1
white poll
[these two names consecutive]
Francis Ivey 450 acres, 1
white poll
Edith Ivey 565 acres, no
polls
Capt. Cade’s Dist: Joseph Ivey 100 acres, 1 white poll
James Ivey Jr. 1 white poll
[one name separates the two]
Capt. Regan’s Dist: Isham Ivey 1 white poll
Thomas Ivey 640 acres, 1 white
poll
[five names separate the two]
Edith Ivey is clearly the widow of Benjamin Ivey,
whose death records must be among the lost records of Bladen County. Our last
sighting of him was in 1776. Edith is thought to be the daughter of John
Phillips and Hannah Fort, neighbors of Adam Ivey back in Edgecombe County,
though whether they married there or in Bladen is unclear.
”Capt. Regan” is the John Regan who testified in the Thomas Hagans case in 1812
[see below].
Note that Joseph Ivey’s land, which had been in Anson County, is now back in
Bladen County thanks to the boundary line change of 1777.
1784-7 The
North Carolina State Census was ordered in 1784 to be completed by 1787. Anson
and Bladen County both failed to return a census, so they are missing entirely from
the state census. The 1786 Bladen tax list appears to have the same format as
the census, but it is not complete. Richmond County returned a census in 1785,
but with names only.
7 Nov 1784 Land
Grant: To Adam Ivey [see 10 Nov 1787]
8 Jan 1785 Inventory
of Jesse Ivey returned by Mary Ivey. Estate sale on 29 January;
buyers included Mary Ivey, John Ivey. [Anson County Will Book 1,
p158, p214 abstracted in Anson County, North Carolina Abstracts of Early
Records, Mary Wilson McBee (1950)]
Who is this? Jesse Ivey does not appear to have
owned land in Anson County, and neither Mary nor John are in the1790 census of
Anson. John Ivey is apparently the one in Georgetown District, SC by 1786 who
sells land in Anson County (see below). Assuming that Jesse Ivey lived near
John Ivey, that would place him in present Anson County a few miles west of the
Richmond County line.
26 Feb 1785 Deed:
Joseph Ivey to Angus McGill, £30, 100 acres on the south side of Cow
Swamp west of the Great Shoeheel... a grant to Joseph Ivey of 22 Jan 1773. Signed:
Joseph (mark) Ivey. Witness: John Cade, Mary McGee. [Bladen County Deed Book
1, p175 and re-recorded in Deed Book 25, p116]
1785 Richmond
County returned a State census, listing names only. There are no Iveys
listed.
26 Dec 1785 Writ
issued to Sheriff of Richmond County “to take the bodies of [34 names including
Micajah Ivey, James Ivey Jr., Julius Driggars, John Bethea,
Gibson Grooms, Isaac Grooms, George Sweat, Robert Lockalear, Jonathon Dees, etc.]
and them safely keep so that you have them before the justices… to answer unto
John Cole Sr. on a plea of trespass…” [Our Native Heath: Richmond County,
North Carolina 1779-1899, Myrtle N. Bridges, pp4-5]
Many of these surnames were on the 1773 list of
“free negroes and mulattos in Bladen County – Ivey, Groom, Lockalear, Sweat,
Grant, Dees, and Clark. It’s not clear if the Sheriff managed to find these
people within the bounds of the county, for there is no further mention of this
case. “Trespass” refers to the occupation or use of land owned by another;
most likely John Cole was suing a group of people living on the large tracts of
land he had claimed in the eastern part of the county. I’d note that Cole
owned considerable land in the vicinity of the “improvements” of James Ivey
mentioned elsewhere. The following year John Cole Sr. sued Daniel Campbell and
John Ray Sr., the only names of the 34 that appear further.
Note that there were no Iveys in the county in the 1785 state census, nor are
there any further mentions of any Iveys in Richmond County for more than thirty
years after this.
18 Jan 1786 Deed:
Frances Ivey, planter, to Thomas Rowland, cooper, both of Bladen County,
£100, 300 acres on the south side of Drowning Creek and both sides of Indian
Branch… a patent to John Willis and conveyed by him to Frances Ivey on
15 June 1784. [Bladen County Deed Book 1, p151 and Book 25, p91]
This is clearly a deed by Francis Ivey, though both
entries in the grantee index read “James Ivey” and the copy in the deed book
does as well. Apparently a clerk’s error since it was Francis Ivey who
purchased the land only two years earlier and whose name appears often in the
deed itself. See the purchase of this land by Francis Ivey in DB 36, p274.
29 Mar 1786 Francis
Ivey and Thos. Little witnesses to deed from John Starling to Thomas
Pittman for 200 acres in Bladen County on west side of Indian Swamp. [Robeson
County Deed Book A, pp128]
1786 Bladen
County tax list:
Adam Ivey – 1 white male over 21, 1 white male under 21 or over 60, 8
white females
Lewis Ivey - 1 white male over 21, 1 white male under 21 or over 60, 4
white females
Frances Ivey - 2 white males over 21, 3 white males under 21 or over 60,
5 white females
The other districts are missing this year. Note
that the format matches the state census format for 1784-7, which was not
returned by Bladen County.
1786 Prince
George Parish [Georgetown District], South Carolina tax list
Micajah Ivy 100 acres, no slaves
21 Apr 1786 Deed:
John Ivey of Georgetown District, South Carolina, to David Jameson of
Anson County, £75, 150 acres on the south side of the Little Pee Dee River and
west branch of Flat fork of Brown Creek… part of a 1767 grant to James
Stephens. Signed: John (mark) Ivey. Witness: Christian Hettmon?, Jameson
Anders, Stephen Thompson. [Anson County Deed Book B2, p68, abstracted by
Pruitt]
There is no purchase by John Ivey in the Anson
County books. The land is about two miles west of the present Richmond County
border, thus considerably west of most other Ivey references in Anson County.
Whether this person is related to the other Iveys is uncertain, but he has now
moved into an area occupied by other Iveys.
29 Mar 1786 Francis
Ivey (mark) and Thos. Little witnesses to deed of John Starling to Thomas
Pittman for 200 acres on the west side of Indian Swamp. [Robeson County Deed
Book A, pp128]
10 Mar 1787 Survey:
For Nathan Horn in Bladen County, chain carriers: Micajah Ivey, Josiah
Davis. [Abstracts of Land Warrants: Bladen County, North Carolina 1778-1803,
A. B. Pruitt, Part 1, p144]
This is evidently near the South Carolina state
line (with what would become Marlboro), for some of Nathan Horn’s lands were
south of Ashpole Swamp and one parcel bounded the line itself. Note that
Nathan Horn also owned land in Marion County and would shortly move there.
22 Jul 1787 Implied
Deed: John Harrison to Isham Ivey, 250 acres east side of Drowning
Creek, west side of the Great Swamp. [referenced in Robeson County Deed Book G,
p186]
Isham is moving east of Thomas Ivey.
13 Aug 1787 Land
Entry: Thomas Ivey enters 100 acres north of Drowning Creek on Five
Mile Branch, bordering Jacob Pope. [Land Entries in Robeson County
1787-1795, A. B. Pruitt, p6, entry #82]
27 Sep 1787 Deed:
Thomas Ivey and Thomas Russell to Philip Blount, £10, 40 acres in
Saddletree Swam, the upper part of a 500 acre patent to William Pugh of 9 May
1753. [Robeson County Deed Book A, pp147]
This is part of the tract referenced in the 1767
petition by Thomas Ivey. Why is Russell participating in this deed?
10 Nov 1787 Deed:
Adam Ivey to William Thompson, £40, 50 acres on south side Drowning
Creek and south side of Hog Swamp… a patent to Adam Ivey of 7 November 1784.
Witness: Josiah Barnes, John Rowland. [Robeson County Deed Book A, pp233]
10 Nov 1787 Deed:
Adam Ivey to William Thompson, £60, 200 acres on Hog Swamp, a patent to Farquard
Campbell of 6 May 1760, conveyed by Campbell to said Adam Ivey. Witness: J.
Barnes, John Rowland. [Robeson County Deed Book A, pp240]
13 Nov 1787 Land
Entry: Adam Ivey enters 100 acres on southeast side of Hog Swamp
bordering his own line and runs up the said swamp. [Land Entries in Robeson
County 1787-1795, A. B. Pruitt, p11, entry #165]
Hog Swamp is just west of Indian Swamp. It is
possible for land on one to touch land on the other.
20 Nov 1787 Deed:
David Braveboy to Robert Willis, £80 coin, 100 acres on 5 Mile branch… being
the complement of land bought of Thomas Ivey, which said Ivey bought of
William Moore, which Moore bought of John Ivey, which said Ivey bought
of Jacob Blount, and which said Blount bought of Gowen Morgan, which was 640
acres patented by Morgan 25 September 1766 (on Saddletree east of Five Mile
Branch). [Robeson County Deed Book A, pp134 abstracted in Williamson]
The referenced deeds were not re-recorded in
Bladen, but there apparently are four lost deeds sometime after 1766 to and
from John Ivey and to and from Thomas Ivey. Is John Ivey a typo? There is not
a single mention of a John Ivey other than in Anson County. Need to check the
original deed – perhaps this is an abstracting error. It would make more sense
if this were Isham Ivey. If this is the 640a on which Thomas Ivey was earlier
taxed, he must have sold whatever land remained from the Pugh grant.
1788 Bladen
County tax list: Isham Ivey 250 acres, 1 free poll
He is listed in the district “south side of the
Great Swamp.” The reason he is the only Ivey left in Bladen County is that the
initial dividing line between Bladen and Robeson in 1787 lay just west of this
land. The county line was redrawn in 1788 to be the east side of the Great
Swamp, thus putting this land into Robeson County by the end of 1788. The land
is indirectly mentioned in Robeson County Deed Book G, p186 when Isham Ivey
sells land on the west side of the Great Swamp that he purchased in 1787.
6 Jun 1788 Land
Entry: Thomas Ivey enters 100 acres on Five Mile Branch bordering Jacob
Blount, Ishmael Roberts, Philip Blount, and his own line. [Land Entries in
Robeson County 1787-1795, A. B. Pruitt, p16, entry #253]
12 Jul 1788 Land
Grant: Jacob Blount, 160 acres of the head of White Oak Branch between the
Five Mile Branch and Saddletree Swamp adjoining Ishmael Roberts, near John Bagget
and Thomas Ivey. [Robeson County Deed Book A, p282, abstracted in
Williamson]
12 Jul 1788 Land
Grant: Jacob Blount, 23 acres on east side of Saddletree Swamp adjoining John
Blount, Thomas Ivey, and Richardson. [Robeson County Deed Book A, p283,
abstracted in Williamson]
If we needed it, this confirms the location of
White Oak Branch.
18 May 1789 Land
Grant: Stephen Glare, 38 acres on west side of Flowers Swamp adjoining Charles
Ivey & Zachariah Lee. [Robeson County Deed Book B, p326, abstracted in
Williamson]
This is the first mention of Charles Ivey. Note
that his is not in the 1790 census. Family lore, and circumstantial evidence,
makes him the son of Benjamin and Edith Ivey. He is evidently the male over 16
in her 1790 household. He is surely the Charles Ivey who gives his age as 83
in the 1850 census. In 1796 Charles Ivey sold 100 acres adjacent to Stephen
Glare which was itself a grant to Stephen Glare.
8 Jun 1789 Land
Entry: Francis Ivey enters 100 acres on Indian Swamp adjacent Thomas
Rowland. [Land Entries in Robeson County 1787-1795, A. B. Pruitt, p26,
entry #414]
26 Nov 1789 Land
grant: Thomas Ivey, 100 acres adjoining his own line. [Robeson County
Deed Book B, p218, abstracted in Williamson]
This is the land entry above.
26 Nov 1789 Land
grant: Robert Willis, 21 acres on est side of Saddletree Swamp on the Five
Mile Branch, adjoining Thomas Ivey, Blount, and Roberts. [Robeson
County Deed Book B, p42, abstracted in Williamson]
26 Nov 1789 Thomas
Ivey witness to deed of Agerton Willis to William Gilbert. [Robeson County
Deed Book B, p237, abstracted in Williamson]
1790 Census Robeson
County, NC:
p144 Adam Ivey 2-3-7-0-0
p145 Francis Ivey 2-3-5-0-0
p146 Edey Ivey 1-0-4-0-0
p146 Luke Ivey 1-0-0-0-0
p147 Thomas Ivey 4-2-5-0-0
p148 Isam Ivey 2-3-4-0-0
p148 Austin Ivey 1-0-0-0-0 [consecutive]
Brunswick County, NC
p189 Lewis Ivey 1-1-6-0-0
Georgetown District, SC
p55 James Ivy 2-6-3-0-1 [Prince Georges Parish]
p51 John Ivey 1-1-1-0-0 [Prince Frederick
Parish]
Cheraws District, St. Thomas Parish, SC:
p 48 Joseph Ivy (“mulatoe”) 3-0-3-0-0 [all 6 are “free
other”]
Combined with other records, the identities of the
Robeson County Iveys are obvious, with the exception of Luke Ivey. Adam,
Francis, and Edey (widow of Benjamin) represent the sons of Adam Ivey
(d1762). Lewis Ivey of neighboring Brunswick County may be the fourth living
son. Isham and Thomas Ivey are apparent sons of Thomas Ivey, and Austin Ivey
is the son of Isham Ivey. Luke Ivey is a mystery, but is enumerated closer to
The Adam Ivey children than to Thomas Ivey.
Cheraws District is one of the few 1790 census districts that used a separate
set of columns for “other free persons”. Joseph Ivey of Cheraws (later
Marlboro) is apparently the same person who sold out Bladen County in 1785.
James Ivey of Georgetown (later Marion) is apparently the elder James Ivey who
was earlier in Anson and Bladen. The two are likely brothers, or at least
related. The John Ivey of Prince Frederick Parish is apparently the person who
sold out in Anson County in 1786.
Note that later Marion District included parts of both Prince Fredericks and
Prince Georges parishes, thus both Iveys may have been in what was later Marion
District. The area immediately opposite Robeson County was the Georgetown
District of South Carolina, split into two parishes divided by a line roughly
bisecting the later Marion District -- Prince George Parish to the east and
Prince Frederick Parish to the west.
26 Jan 1790 Land
Entry: Isham Ivey enters 100 acres in Great Swamp near his own line on the
east side. [Land Entries in Robeson County 1787-1795, A. B. Pruitt,
p31, entry #496]
June 1790 Administration
on the estate of Anthony Ivey granted to Mary Ivey. Securities: Enoch
Evans Senior, Evander M'Iver. From “A List of all probates and administrations
granted by the Justices of the County of Darlington…entered upon record in the
Clerks office of the Aforesaid County from the 1st day of January Anno Domini
1789 until the 10th day of January Anno Domini 1790…” [South Carolina
Magazine of Ancestral Research, Vol. VII, No. 2, p72]
This is obviously the same Anthony Ivey who sold
land in Anson County in 1779, for “Mary Ivy” joined the Welsh Neck Baptist
Church a month after that sale. Both of her securities were members of the
same church, one of them (McIver) joining on the very same day. The Welsh Neck
church operated at this time in Marlboro County, but near where the counties of
Darlington, Marlboro, and Chesterfield meet. Anthony Ivey evidently was located
in Darlington County somewhere in or near the town of Long Bluff on the
opposite side of the Pee Dee River from Welsh Neck in Marlboro County. The
securities, Evander McIver and Enock Evans Sr., both lived in Log Bluff and are
listed consecutively in the 1790 census of St. Thomas Parish, Cheraws District.
Note that Mary Ivey is not a head of household in the 1790 census, though there
is a Mary Ivey in Marlboro in 1800 who seems too young to be this person. The
Welsh Baptist church minutes do not mention her dismissal, transfer, or death
through 1803, so she was presumably still alive through that date.
A periodical called the “Darlington Flag” has a table of contents entry for “The
Estate of Anthony Ivey” in 1791 which I have not read, but which might be very
useful. It’s in Volume VIII No. 8 (Fall 2001).
6 Oct 1790 Deed:
Francis Ivey to John Flowers Barrett, £50, 150 acres on the southwest
side of Drowning Creek adj. Daniel Willis, pat. by Britain Smith on 11 March
1775, conv. by Britain Smith to Francis Ivey on 10 Apr 1780. Witness: John
Willis, Aseneth Willis. [Robeson County Deed Book B, pp180, abstracted in
Williamson]
15 Oct 1790 Deed:
Lewis Jenkins to Ishmael Roberts, £60, 185 acres on east side of Saddletree
Swamp adjacent Pugh & Holton, part of a patent granted to Thomas Ivey
Jr. on 1 Oct. 1761 & by sd Ivey sold to Lewis Jenkins. [Robeson County
Deed Book B, pp166, abstracted in Williamson]
Another indirect reference to a lost Bladen County
deed. The reference to Pugh and Holton sounds like a very old survey, perhaps
the original one. Thomas Ivey must have sold to Jenkins prior to the 1784 tax
list.
10 Dec 1790 Land
Grant: Francis Ivey, 100 acres on Indian Swamp, adjoining Thomas
Rowland. [Robeson County Deed Book B, p327, abstracted in Williamson]
Part III - Some Important Post-1790 Records
The following later records have particular bearing on the
earlier persons and records:
30 Oct 1812 In
Marion District, South Carolina Thomas Hagans refused to pay his 1809 tax
levied on “free negroes, mulatoes, and mestizos” on the grounds that he was
white. Three years later, at his trial, two white men testified on his
behalf. Robert Coleman deposed that he was personally acquainted with Thomas
Ivey and his wife Elizabeth Ivey “eight or nine years immediately
before their death… that the said Thomas this deponent understood was of
Portuguese descent, that his complexion was swarthy, his hair black and strait…
that his wife Elizabeth was a free white woman… that Kesiah Ivey was the
daughter of Elizabeth Ivey and always held & reputed [to be white]…
intermarried with Zachariah Hagans and lived with the said Zachariah as hs wife
till her death… that Thomas Hagans… is the son of the said Kesiah Hagans…” John
Regan appeared in court and stated that “he was from the time he could first
remember to the time he was grown (viz. for twelve or thirteen years) well
acquainted with Thomas Ivey and Elizabeth Ivey… that Thomas Ivey was in
appearance of sallow complexion and was generally reputed to be of Portuguese
descent, his hair was long black and strait… Elizabeth Ivey the wife… was a
free white woman of very clear complexion and always held and reputed to be a
free white woman… Kesiah Ivey was the daughter of [Thomas and Elizabeth]… that
they lived at the time this deponent knew them on Drowning Creek in what was
then Bladen County… the said Thomas and his wife afterwards removed as this
deponent believes to the State of South Carolina…” The court decided that
Thomas Hagans was “of Portuguese descent” and therefore not subject to the
tax. [Partially reproduced in North Carolina Genealogy Society Journal,
Vol. IX, pp259 and in South Carolina Indians, Indian Traders, and
Other Ethnic Connections: Beginning in 1670, Theresa M. Hicks, p298-9]
This is an extremely significant record for several
reasons. First, it is fascinating that Thomas Hagan was apparently basing his
case his maternal line. Yet his father Zachariah Hagans was himself listed in
the 1810 Marion census as head of a household of 4 “other free persons”.
Zachariah Hagans appears in the 1786 tax roll of Price Frederick Parish, South
Carolina in 1786, the Georgetown District 1790 census, the Liberty County 1800
census, and the Marion District 1810 census. Thomas Hagans appears in Marion
from 1810 through at least 1850, when his age is given as 85 (born c1765) and
birthplace as South Carolina. If we can trust this, Kesiah Ivey Hagans was
evidently old enough to bear a child ca1765 and was living in South Carolina at
the time.
Second, the testimony of John Regan (c1740-1814), a resident of Robeson County,
is particularly important. He was evidently chosen by Hagans because he had
been a member of the NC General Assembly and a former clerk of court, thus had considerable
credibility. And there’s no doubt he knew the family, for he lived within a
mile or so of Thomas Ivey Jr. for nearly 50 years. He testified that he knew
Thomas Ivey “from the time he could first remember to the time he was grown” or
for 12-13 years. John Regan, whose father had been in Bladen County since
1753, was probably born around 1740 or so as he was having children by the
early 1770s, and was executor of his father’s Bladen County will dated January
1773. His testimony suggests that he knew Thomas Ivey from roughly the early or
mid 1750s (when “he could first remember”) through perhaps the mid or late 1760s
(when “he was grown”) after which he thought Thomas Ivey “removed to South
Carolina”. Note that this fits perfectly with the apparent disappearance of
Thomas Ivey Sr. from Bladen County about 1767. Clearly, it would be important
to confirm this with South Carolina records, but this seems to plausibly explain
his disappearance from the Bladen records.
Robert Coleman (c1755-1825) of Marion District, the other witness, testified
that he knew Thomas and Elizabeth Ivey for 8 or 9 years before their deaths.
Robert Coleman’s background is less well known, but he does not appear in
Bladen or Robeson records. His widow’s Revolutionary War pension application (W
23858) states that he enlisted in the Revolution while living in what was later
Marion District. He appears in Georgetown District in 1790 and Marion 1800-1820.
Thus it appears that Thomas and Elizabeth Ivey must have been living in Marion
District when Coleman knew them, and his testimony suggests that they died
there. There are no clues to their date of death, but their absence from the
1790 census suggests they died prior to 1790. Further, if Coleman knew them
for only 8-9 years, it could be that they died sometime around the time of the
Revolution.
Third, this helps to clarify (or maybe just confuse) some Ivey relationships.
We know that Thomas Ivey was old enough to have had a son of age in 1761 and a
daughter having children about 1765. His apparent removal to South Carolina in
the late 1760s makes him the prime candidate to have been the father of the
Adam Ivey whose pension application states he was born in Robeson (sic) County
about 1761 and moved to South Carolina about nine or ten years later [see
pension application below]. That is, Thomas Ivey is the only Ivey we know of
whose migration pattern fits that pension declaration. The sons of the Adam
Ivey who died in 1762 did not arrive in the area until several years after 1761
and were still in Bladen long past 1771. And, if Thomas Ivey was indeed the
father of that Adam Ivey, we have very strong evidence of some relationship
with the Adam Ivey who died in Edgecombe County in 1762.
Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet
II