Grant Genealogy Volume 1, Issue 5 July-August 2002

Grant Genealogy

Volume 2, Issue 1

January 2003

Editor: Marty Grant, Kinston, NC, USA
E-Mail: public@martygrant.com
Website: http://www.martygrant.com

Welcome to this issue of "Grant Genealogy", a newsletter devoted to Grant Genealogy in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia (and other states to a lesser extent).

Please visit my Grant web pages at: http://www.martygrant.com/gen/grant.htm for documented web pages for numerous Grant families in NC, TN and VA.

To change your subscription information (change your e-mail address, or unsubscribe) refer to the instructions at the bottom of this newsletter.

This newsletter is devoted to Grants in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, and it seems to me that most of the Grants in these states are from Scotland originally, but some could be English or Irish. Perhaps many of the diverse lines we are studying have common ancestry back in Scotland. (Perhaps a Grant Surname DNA Study would help identify related lines).

In this Issue:

Introduction

This and that. Grants in the American Revolution.

Grants in Virginia in 1704

Only one Grant land owner in Virginia that year.

18th Century Anson County, North Carolina Grants

Who were Duncan and Dempsey Grant?

18th Century Grant Marriage Bonds in North Carolina

I got most of these from the North Carolina Archives.

What's New on the Grant Web pages?

New pages, and recently updated pages.

Expert Advice:

Analyzing Cemetery Information

Web Links

Introduction

Hi, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and I hope you haven't broken your New Year's Resolutions already!

I've been busy with various projects and day to day life. I've read several books including an excellent one on the American Revolution. Many Grants participated in this war, and on both sides. I was surprised to see mention of a General James Grant (on the side of the British, probably a Scottish Highlanders). I'm not sure if this is the same General James Grant who defeated the Cherokees about 20 years earlier, and who later became Governor of Florida. No other Grants were mentioned in the book. However, I happen to know that many southern Grants fought against the British.

It is said that many of the American Highland Scots were Loyalists, but so far I have not found records showing any Grants fighting as Tories or as loyalists. There may be some, but I haven't seen it yet.

If you are interested in this book, it is called "The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789". It covers the war quite well as well as the political and social reasons it happened.

I am going to spend some time trying to found out more about Grant participation in the Revolutionary War. I know that my ancestor William Grant (of Rutherford Co, NC) served as a Sergeant, and his two oldest sons (Alexander and William Jr) served as Privates, all in Tryon County, North Carolina, which at that time was bordering Indian country. Grants in central and eastern North Carolina also served as Patriots.

Grants in Virginia in 1704

"Quit Rents" were a tax where land owners paid an annual or periodic tax to the "true" owners of the land (the British Crown). It is interesting to note that the 1704 quit rents for Virginia show only one Grant, a William Grant in Princess Anne County. This does not mean that he was the only one in all of Virginia at that time, but he was the only one who owned land there. I am not sure if the quit rent records for 1704 are complete, but I think they are.

Keep in mind that in 1704, Virginia was still only settled along the major rivers and along the Chesapeake Bay. Princess Anne County was on the extreme eastern portion of Virginia with only Norfolk County bordering in on the west, North Carolina on the South, and water on all other sides.

I have no solid information on this William Grant. More research is needed on the early Grants in Virginia.

Grants in Anson County, North Carolina

Anson County was formed in 1750 from Bladen County, and at that time was the westernmost county in North Carolina. I found that there were a couple of Grants found there in the early records. I have not made any progress on identifying them. Duncan Grant was there in 1748 and 1751, and a Dempsey Grant there in 1775. Anson County borders Chesterfield County, South Carolina, so these Grants could have left Anson for South Carolina.

These entries are from a book written by Brent H. Holcomb. The notes are my own.

Anson Co, NC Deed Abstracts 1749-1766, Abstracts of Wills and Estates 1749-1795 by Brent H. Holcomb.

Deed Book A page 17.

13 Feb 1748 Robert Humprhis of Anson Co, NC to Duncan Grant of same, £10, 100a North Side Great Pee Dee, south side Little River. Wit: Charles Robinson, Benjamin B. Vines

* Note 1: Duncan Grant sold this same land in 1751 (see below). Today the Great Pee Dee River forms the eastern boundary for Anson County with Richmond County, North Carolina. The Little River is in Richmond County, so it would appear that this particular tract of land is within present day Richmond County.

* Note 2: Several of us have noted that the Grant and Humphries families have several connections. It may be entirely coincidental, but in 1764, a William Grant witnessed a deed in Mecklenburg County for a Joanna Humphries. Later on in Rutherford County, the Robert Humphries family (not the same Robert from the above 1748 deed) had a daughter to marry into the Grant family there in the 1820's. These three Humphries - Grant connections may be coincidental, or it may signify some sort of earlier relationship.

Deed Book B page 195.

11 Jan 1751 Dunkin Grant of Anson Co, NC, Planter, to Henry Downs of same, for £10, 100a North side of Great Pee Dee, Little River. Wit: Richard Yarborough, William (x) Stone, John Smith

* Note: This is Duncan Grant selling the same land he bought in 1748 from Robert Humphries. I have not found any additional information on Duncan Grant.

Will Book 1 page 24

14 Mar 1775 Will of Samuel Snead of Anson. Wit: Charles Medlock, Nicholas (x) Green, Dempse (x) Grant

* Note: Dempsey Grant witnessed this Will of Samuel Snead of Anson County. I don’t know anything about Dempsey Grant. This is the only record I've found for him so far.

Can anyone shed any light on Duncan Grant and Dempsey Grant? Since there is 24 years between the last record for Duncan, and the first for Dempsey, there is no reason to believe they are closely related to each other, though they certainly could be.

Grant Marriage Bonds in North Carolina before 1800

I obtained most of these from the North Carolina Archives on Microfilm. Others were from various published sources. Marriage bonds were required before a couple could marry. It was necessary for to insure that there was no legal impediment to the marriage. The bondsman and the groom took on a legal obligation for a certain sum of money (the bond amount) saying in effect that there were no legal reasons they could not be married. An alternate route (and one often taken) was to publish in the local newspaper or church marriage "banns" announcing in advance that a couple was to be married, and inviting any objections before hand. These marriage banns are no longer extant, though some of the newspaper notices might be. Marriage Bonds then are often the only available public source for a marriage record. Keep in mind that the date of the marriage bond was not the wedding date. The marriage generally took place very shortly after the bond was made (sometimes the same day). The bonds were made in the county where the bride resided. Some marriage bonds list the father or mother of the bride if she was under age (under 21). The Bondsman for the marriage was often a close relative or close friend of either the groom or bride. Sometimes it was an unrelated person, perhaps a local person of wealth to whom the family could look to borrow money and so forth.

CASWELL CO, NC

John Dennis and Rachel Grant, dau of James Grant Sr 3 Feb 1796

Thomas Jeffreys, bondsman

Neely Grant and Lucy Perkins 23 Sep 1793

Alexander Murphy, bondsman

Alexander Lemon and Sarah Grant 11 Mar 1786

James Grant Jr, bondsman

William Maayhon and Sarah Grant 19 Dec 1781

Peter Fuller, bondsman

DUPLIN CO, NC

Jesse Grant and Jean Burnes 17 Jan 1794

John Gibbs, bondsman

LINCOLN CO, NC

Charles Grant and Sarah Wyatte no date* (1795-1798)

John Smith, bondsman

* Note: There was no date on the bond, but it had Governor Samuel Ashe’s name on it, and he was Governor from 1795-1798.

Fredrick Slinker and Barbara Grant* 1 Apr 1794

Peter Grant Jr*, bondsman

* Note: Although these names were written as "Grant", they were actually "Grounds", which is Germanic, and occasionally anglicized as "Grant" or "Grunt".

NORTHAMPTON CO, NC

Absalom Grant and Elizabeth Rutland 3 Mar 1790

ONSLOW CO, NC

Abram Comson and Elizabeth Grant 13 Jul 1793

Robert Dickson and Experience Grant 9 Jul 1793

Richard Oldfield and Ferebee Grant 2 Apr 1792

Thomas Wilson and Elizabeth Grant 25 May 1793

ROWAN CO, NC

Joseph Burke and Margret Grant 29 Dec 1766

John England and James Burke, bondsmen.

Charles Perle and Sarah Grant 22 Sep 1779

Henry Winkler, bondsman

WILKES CO, NC

John Grant and Margaret Sail 13 Apr 1784

William Allen, bondsman

What's New on the Grant Web pages?

I have made no Grant page updates since the last newsletter, except for e-mail address corrections.

Expert Advice: The Cemetery Community

Reprinted with permission from Family Tree Magazine Email Update, copyright 2002 F&W Publications Inc. To subscribe to this free weekly e-mail newsletter, go to
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter.asp. For a free sample copy of the print Family Tree Magazine, America's #1 family history magazine, go to
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EXPERT ADVICE: THE CEMETERY COMMUNITY

By surveying the cemetery and reading all the gravestones (in small cemeteries and graveyards), or a good number surrounding your ancestors' graves, you might be able to determine the following information:

* Migration patterns
On some headstones, you may find where people in the community originated, such as places of birth or evidence that a person moved to the area from another state or country.

* Family groupings
Even if the names aren't familiar to you now, record the inscriptions in these markers. Further research might reveal a connection. Another clue to family relationships is similar looking stones placed around the same time period.

* Ethnicity
A search of a Colorado cemetery near Steamboat Springs, Colo., revealed a number of different ethnic groups, from Chinese to Italian to Spanish. This was an old mining town that drew a number of people of different origins to work in the mines.

* Epidemics
If you see a lot of markers with a death year of 1918, for example, you can infer that these people probably died in the Spanish influenza epidemic of that year.

* Disasters
Often you'll find the catastrophe carved on some of the victims' markers. If you find a number of stones with the same death date, check the local newspaper to see what disaster caused so many deaths.

Excerpted from "Your Guide to Cemetery Research" by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, $19.99. Reprinted here with permission from the publisher, Betterway Books. Available in bookstores or online at:
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/specialoffers.asp?FAMbk70527_011603

Web Links

Marty and Karla Grant website: http://www.martygrant.com

What's New at Marty and Karla Grant?: http://www.martygrant.com/gen/whats-new.htm

Grant Genealogy - North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia: http://www.martygrant.com/gen/grant.htm

What's New on the Grant pages? http://www.martygrant.com/gen/grant/grant-new.htm

Grant Census Transcriptions 1790-1870: http://www.martygrant.com/gen/grant/grant-census.htm

Grant Discussion Forum (North Carolina Grants only): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GrantGenealogyNC/

Other Grant websites: http://www.martygrant.com/gen/grant/grant-links.htm