Ahnentafel #297 & #303 - Martha Cook, ver. 2

Martha Cook

Born: ca. 1735 probably in Virginia
Died: after 1804 in either North Carolina or Kentucky

Buried: unknown

Married:  1754 Richard Beasley in Caroline Co., Virginia

Research Log - 300 Years Ago

January

9 - Deborah Lathrop born in Norwich, Connecticut, the daughter of Samuel & Deborah (Crow) Lathrop

February

22 - 28 - Joshua Hobart died in Southold, New York age 88

March

31 - John Moss died in Wallingford, Connecticut age about 60

April

25 - Ann Backus married Nathaniel Lathrop 

Ahnentafel #296 & #302- Richard Beasley, ver. 2

Richard Beasley

Born: 1736, Essex or Caroline County, Virginia
Died: 1804 Francisco, North Carolina

Buried: Beasley Family Graveyard, Francisco, North Carolina

Married: 1754 Martha Cook in Caroline Co., Virginia

Occupation: farmer

Records:

1764 - August 9 - Caroline Co., VA - Andrew Anderson vs. Richard Beasley for trespass, Richard confessed and paid 3 pounds, 19 shillings, 93 farthings.

1765 - Lower Drysdale Parish, Caroline Co., VA - Richard worked road construction

Notebook - Connecticut No. 2

Cutter, William, ed. Genealogical & Family History of the State of Connecticut, Vol. II, New York, NY: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911.

Thomas Fitch, the English progenitor, was born in England about 1590, died in 1645. He inherited an estate near Braintree, Essex county, England.  He married, August 8, 1611, Annie Pew. After his death the widow and three sons came to New England, where two sons had already located. Children, mentioned in will: 1. Thomas, came to America in 1638, settled in Norwalk; in 1663 was one of the wealthiest citizens, from whom in three generations each bearing the name of Thomas Fitch, descended Governor Thomas Fitch, who was at the head of the colony of Connecticut from 1754 to 1760.  2. John, of Windsor; left no issue.  3. James, mentioned below. 4. Nathaniel. 5. Jeremy. 6. Samuel, of Hartford. 7. Joseph, settled in Norwalk in 1652; in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1655; of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1660; married Mary, daughter of Rev. Samuel Stone, a founder of Hartford; removed to Windsor. 8. Mary. 9. Anna. 10. Sara. The will of Thomas Fitch, of Bocking, Essex county, England, is dated 11 December, 1632, proved 12 February, 1632 (O.S.).

Ahnentafel #271 - Anne Fitch

Anne Fitch

Born: April 1675 in Norwich, Connecticut
Died: October 17, 1715 in Lebanon, Connecticut

Buried: Fox Cemetery, Oakdale, Connecticut

Married: Joseph Bradford on October 5, 1698 in Norwich, Connecticut

Research Log - 400 Years Ago

1617


March

2 - Margerie Skynner of Braintree, Essex England wrote her will:

To my daughter Margerie five pounds (and other goods) and to her son John Gill a bullock.  To my son William Skynner five pounds.  

To my son John Skynner twenty pounds.  

To my daughter Rachell five pounds.  I do give and bequeath further to my daughter Rachell three pewter platters of the greater sort and three of the best cushions in the great chamber and my warming pan.  

To Sara Taylcoat a flock bed and a flock bolster, a coverlet and a pair of blankets (and other effects). To Rachell Taylcoate a little kettle of a gallon, a brass pot, a posnet (&c.).  

And I will that the pewter which I had of my son in law

Ahnentafel #270 - Joseph Bradford, ver. 3

Joseph Bradford

Born: Apr. 18, 1675 Plymouth, Massachusetts
Died: Jan. 17, 1747 New London, Connecticut

Buried: Raymond Hill Cemetery, New London, Connecticut

Married:
1) Oct. 5, 1698 Anne Fitch in Norwich, CT
2) Feb. 25, 1716 Mary (Sherwood) Fitch, daughter of Matthew & Mary (Fitch) Sherwood and widow of Daniel Fitch.  

Religion: a member of the Congregational Church

Records:

1700 - Joseph Bradford was one of the 51 original proprietors of Lebanon, CT.

The people acted on these grants of privilege, and the town [of Lebanon, CT] was formally organized in 1700.  The church was embodied November 27th of the same year, and Mr. Joseph Parsons was ordained pastor of the church and minister of the town.  A military company called a "train band" was also formed, yet I find in the public records no mention of any officers commissioned until the May session of 1702, when Lieut. John Mason is appointed Captain of the "train band" in Lebanon, Ensign Jeremiah Fitch to be their Lieutenant, and Mr. Joseph Bradford to be their Ensign, and to be commissioned accordingly.  In 1708 there was a second train-band here, I conclude in that part of the town now called Goshen.

Notebook - Tennessee No. 1

Cartwright, Betty & Lillian Gardiner.  North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee 1778-1791, Memphis, TN, 1958.

North Carolina Land Grants in Tennessee, 1778-1791 has been reproduced because of its value to genealogists and historians as source material for the earliest period of Tennessee settlement.  early records of Tennessee are scarce.  Census schedules for 1790 of the Western Territory (Tennessee) were burned, so too were the 1800 and all but one county (Rutherford) for 1810. This list of land owners and/or settlers constitutes the only substitute for a 1790 census of the part of North Carolina which became Tennessee in 1796.

To understand this book one should know the procedure used: North Carolina issued Military Warrants for land as payment to many of her Revolutionary Soldiers. (Some payments were made in scrip which was used to purchase land.)  As these warrants, numbered consecutively, were surrendered for payment, land grants were issued with a different series of numbers (also consecutive.)  The list in this book gives the Grant Book number.  The Warrant number is found on the face of the Grant itself.  Comparison with the warrant shows whether or not the Grant issued to the soldier, his heir or to someone to whom he had assigned his Warrant.

Nothing is more complicated and exasperating than the Land Records of Tennessee -- the Courts were occupied for many decades settling disputes arising from the granting of some lands more than once through error, and through conflicts in interpretation of the North Carolina and Tennessee Land Laws.