Robert Ivey Jr. was born on 15 February 1769 according to a family Bible.[1]   That makes him one of his younger children of his parents, born while his father was living in Dobbs County.  Thus he is likely to be one of the three males over 16 in his father’s household in the 1790 census of Dobbs County, located in the part of Dobbs that would shortly become Lenoir County.  The loss of all Lenoir County records means we have citations for him only in the records of the surrounding counties.

He married Elizabeth West in neighboring Craven County by bond dated 9 August 1793.  That this was the same Robert Ivey is confirmed by the same Bible record, which identifies Barna Ivey’s mother as Elizabeth West.  It appears that he and his wife lived on his father’s land in Lenoir County, since Robert Ivey Jr. was deeded land in Lenoir by Robert Ivey Sr. sometime in the late 1790s.[2]  He was probably the same Robert Ivey who was a grantee of Michael Herring about 1799, since his father was in Bladen County by then.[3]  By the 1800 census he was the only Ivey left in Lenoir County, with a household of two males and two females, all under 10.[4]

On 2 October 1800, Robert Ivey witnessed the nuncupative will of his father-in-law John West of Craven County, which left a legacy of £150 to John West’s daughter Elizabeth Ivey.[5]  Among others, the will also mentioned a son named Joseph West, who married Sarah Stanley and later moved to Baldwin County, Georgia, and a daughter named Sarah Stanley, the wife of Moses Stanley and a neighbor of Robert Ivey’s in Lenoir County. 

Since there are no surviving deed or court records of Lenoir County, our next record for Robert Ivey is the 1810 census, in which he appears with a household of three males under 10, two males 10-16, a male 26-45, a male over 45, one female under 10, two females 10-16, one female 16-26, one female 26-45 and a female over 45.[6]    This household implies a son and daughter not identified by later records.  It also suggests his brother Charles Ivey , and perhaps Charles Ivey’s wife, was living with him.  We know that Charles Ivey was residing in Lenoir County in early 1810[7], and the fact that he does not appear in the census suggests he may have been enumerated in his brother’s household. 

In August 1811 Robert Ivey’s older brother John Ivey died intestate in neighboring Wayne County.  Robert Ivey and Grady Herring were appointed administrators of the estate, filed an inventory later that year, and a final settlement in 1814.[8]  Robert Ivey (now called “Senior” to differentiate him from his nephew of the same name) was named guardian of Elizabeth and Edith, two minor children of John Ivey.[9]  On 12 September 1814, as Robert Ivey of Lenoir County, he bought land in Bladen County from his brother-in-law Josiah Stafford, and sold it to his brother Turner Ivey the following day.[10]

Robert Ivey moved to Baldwin County, Georgia sometime in mid or late 1817.  There are two lost deeds in the Lenoir County grantor index from Robert Ivey to William Gray[11] and to James Carter[12] that probably reflect the sale of his land in Lenoir County.  Unfortunately, all deed records of Baldwin County are also lost, so we have no clear record of his arrival there.  However, we know he was still in Lenoir County when he filed an accounting as guardian of his niece Elizabeth Ivey in February 1817, and that he relinquished the guardianship to Graddy Herring by 20 May 1817.[13]  The final settlement between Robert Ivey and Grady Herring is dated 13 August 1817.[14]  It seems likely that Robert Ivey was preparing to move by mid-1817.  This is confirmed by the statement by his grandson Malachi Ivey that his grandfather “in 1817 removed to Baldwin County”.[15]  A history of Baldwin County, Georgia contains an undated list of early members of the Camp Creek Baptist Church.[16]  Although some researchers have assumed this list to be dated in 1817, thus further confirming the migration, it was more likely compiled sometime after 1822.[17]

It appears that several Lenoir families went to Baldwin County at about the same time – including James and Joseph West and several members of the Davis family.  Although the deeds are missing, court records still exist (I have not read them.)  Robert Ivey appears in the 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses of Baldwin County.[18]  He died there leaving a will dated 26 October 1843 and proved 3 May 1847.[19]  It named his wife Elizabeth, sons Barna, Furna, James, Robert Dorsey, William and Charles, and daughters Gatsy [Leeves], and Mary.  His daughter Elizabeth was not mentioned, perhaps due to her pending divorce, but her marriage record identifies her as another daughter.[20]

Elizabeth West Ivey, his widow, was in the household of her son Charles in 1850.  She was born 22 March 1775 and died 24 June 1853 according to the Ivey-Garland Bible record.  Several Ivey descendants of the early 20^th century believed she was his second wife.  This was apparently based on the (relatively modern) gravestone of his eldest son Barney Ivey, which gives a birth date of 22 September 1792, nearly a year prior to prior to the marriage to Elizabeth West.  The Ivey-Garland Bible record, however, gives his birth date as 22 September 1795, more than two years after the marriage.  The latter date seems more likely correct, as Barna is under 16 in the 1810 census and gives his own age as 54 in 1850.  However, see the conflict with the birth date of Gatsey Ivey below.

Excursus: Did Robert Ivey serve in the Revolution?

No, but his father qualifies as a DAR patriot.   Several people, including my late aunt Virginia Redfearn, joined the DAR on the strength of Robert Ivey’s supposed service in the Revolution.  In doing so, they committed a cardinal sin of genealogy – assuming that two people with the same name were the same person.  There is no evidence for the claim, other than the coincidence that someone with the same name served in South Carolina.  There were at least four, perhaps five, Robert Iveys alive at the time of the Revolution, and no reason to suppose that any given military record applies to our Robert Ivey rather than to one of those four men.[21]   In fact, it is extremely unlikely that our Robert Ivey served the cause, since he was barely fourteen years old when the war ended and not eligible for military service.[22]    

A search of North Carolina Revolutionary War records uncovered no service records for anyone named Robert Ivey.[23]  Nor do the North Carolina revolutionary accounts contain any payments of script or warrants to any soldier of that name.  North Carolina’s revolutionary army accounts do mention a payment by the Committee of Safety in Dobbs County in 1776 to Robert Ivey “for hire of a man and horse”.[24]   However, this is clearly his father, who was then living in Dobbs.[25]   Since Robert Ivey was too young to serve, and no records of any service exist, we must conclude that he did not serve.  Further, I note that he never applied for land in the Georgia lotteries as a Revolutionary veteran, which he would have been entitled to do if he had served. 

The only Revolutionary service records for anyone named Robert Ivey are in South Carolina.  A Robert Ivey, apparently from Beaufort County, served in the 2^nd Regiment of South Carolina Infantry from 8 July 1775 thorough 8 July 1778 (when our man was barely six years old).[26]  A Robert Ivy, perhaps the Robert Ivey of Lancaster District, served 31 days in 1782 as a lieutenant in Francis Marion’s militia (when our man was thirteen).[27]