Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Father '1st Gen' McBrayer

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Descendants of Father '1st Gen' McBrayer

23. DAVID⁴ MCBRAYER (SAMUEL³, WILLIAM², FATHER '1ST GEN'¹) was born February 15, 1772 in Tryon (Rutherford) Co., NC, and died January 06, 1855 in DeKalb Co., AL. He married MARY YOUNG 1793 in Rutherford Co., NC, daughter of JOHN YOUNG and MARY YOUNG. She was born February 02, 1779 in Tryon (Rutherford) Co., NC, and died June 10, 1859 in DeKalb Co., AL.

Notes for DAVID MCBRAYER:
David married MARY YOUNG, daughter of his step-mother (also named Mary Young), in 1793 in Rutherford Co. Mary was only 14 years old when she married. They moved from the Broad River area about 1794 to the Horseshoe community of Buncombe Co. (now Henderson Co.), where he later bought 100 acres of land on the headwaters of Shaw's Creek - on 3 Nov 1800 - from his brother-in-law, Amos Justice for $100, This had been part of a 200 acre grant awarded Justice on 27 Nov 1796.

On 25 Aug 1814 he entered claim for an additional 50 acres of land adjoining, which was granted on 4 Dec. 1815. The deed registering the sale of his land in North Carolina has not yet been located, but it is known that David left Buncombe County in the winter of 1818 and moved his family just over the mountains to the south into the Greenville District of South Carolina, where on 30 Jan. 1819 he bought 100 acres of land for $100 from ROBERT WARREN. The land was located on the north fork of the Saluda River. (The Saluda River flows near the city of Greenville, SC.)(Bk L, p 149, Records of Deeds, Greenville, SC.

It is believed that David's brother, John and his family, also lived near him in the Greenville area, since John sold his 100 acres of land in Buncombe Co.. to his half-brother, Andrew McBrayer, on 30 Nov 1816. There have, however, been no records to verify this assumption.

David left South Carolina about 1821 and migrated to Alabama. One unsubstantiated source reports that he spent one year in Tennessee, where they obtained supplies before beginning the final leg of their journey. They supposedly came down the Tennessee River on flat-bottomed rafts and landed at Guntersville, AL. They later migrated to the Bristow's Cove in Blount County in about 1822. In about 1835 David moved his family into the Little Wills Valley and settled on a spring which was located in the now northern portion of Attalla and Reese City, AL. The land at that time was still Indian land, but later came open to settlement in 1836-37. The Cherokees were removed to the west in 1836. (Ft. Payne, AL, was the county seat then.) (It is now in Etowah County.)

David, because he had settled the land prior to the removal of the Indians, became known as a "squatter". It is said that he, his sons, daughters and their descendants at one time "owned most of the land in Little Wills Valley from Attalla to the DeKalb County line and from ridge to ridge".

It was also David and his family who organized the Bethany Baptist Church in Reese City. This church celebrated its 150th birthday in 1985. David’s farm was located just to the east of the church.

David sold land on 9 July 1844 to Allen Avery for $15. The land was located in DeKalb Co.

David is buried in the Bethany Cemetery, Reese City, AL. Mary is buried beside David. Their grave markers can no longer be found.


The following is a copy of the will of David which was located in the files in the court house in Ft. Payne, AL. After this copy was made the original mysteriously disappeared and has not been located again. It was reportedly burnt.

      WILL OF DAVID MCBRAYER

In the name of God, Amen. I, David McBrayer, of the county of DeKalb and State of Alabama, knowing the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death to all that are mortal, being infirm and frail of body but sound of mind and memory, do make and constitute and ordain this my last will and testament.
My body after my decease I wish to be decently intered in its mother earth at the descretion of my Executors.
I give unto my beloved wife, Mary McBrayer, all my land where I now live with all my stock, horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep, also all my farming tools, household and kitchen furniture during her natural life and widowhood.
Item 2nd: I give unto my daughter, Rebecca Gilliland, five dollars at her mother's decease.
Item 3rd: I give unto my daughter, Elizabeth Blythe, wife of William Blythe, five dollars at her mother's decease.
Item 4th: I give unto my daughter, Nancy Edwards, the wife of Lewis Edwards, an equal proportion of all my goods and chattels at her mother's decease.
Item 5th: I give my son, John Young McBrayer, an equal proportion of all my goods and chattels and five dollars to be paid to him by my son, Joseph Tally McBrayer.
Item 6th: I give my son Thomas Justice McBrayer, an equal proportion of all my goods and chattels and five dollars to be paid to him by my son, Samuel McBrayer, at their mother's decease.
Item 7th: I give unto my daughter, Jane Willson, wife of Elijah Willson, an equal proportion of all my goods and chattels at her mother's decease.
Item 8th: I give unto my daughter, Sarah Avery, wife of Allen Avery, an equal proportion of all my goods and chattels at her mother's decease.
Item 9th: I give unto my son, Samuel McBrayer, one half of the land on which I now live, to wit: the one half of NW Quarter Section Eight, Township Eleven, Range Six East of the lands at Lebanon Land Office containing together two hundred and thirty nine and 12/100 acres, with the exception of Twelve Acres previously conveyed to Allen Avery, part of Section Eight, beginning on the line near the Spring and thence with the spring branch to the mouth of the branch and thence with the lower of the Calahm Field so as to divide the two tracts which I now own in equal parts and his equal proportion of my other property at his mother's decease. He paying his brother, Thomas J. McBrayer, Twenty Five Dollars.
Item 10th: I give unto my son, Joseph Tally McBrayer, I give the other half of said land including the Calahm Field and where Preston Waldrop now lives and his equal proportion of my other property at his mother's death, he paying his brother, John Young McBrayer, Twenty Five Dollars.
Item 11th: I give unto my daughter, Dulcena Rink, an equal proportion of all my goods and chattels at her mother's death, and I appoint my friend, Humphrey P. McBrayer, and my son, Samuel McBrayer, Executors of this my last Will and Testament. As witness my hand and seal this ---- day of August in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and ---- .

      /s/ DAVID MCBRAYER
      Witness:
      Pleasant Barnes
      John Burnett
      (ed. note: David died 6 Jan. 1855, which leads us to believe this document was written in 1854.)

David's son, Samuel, and Humphrey McBrayer filed the will for probate on 'the second Monday of Feb A.D. 1855' as shown by the Probate Court records of DeKalb Co., AL, located in Ft. Payne. It was so ordered at that time that all named 'heirs of the estate' should appear in Probate Court 'on the second Monday in March next to shew cause if any ... why said will and testament of the said David McBrayer should not be admitted to probate in said court".

On the following court date of 'the second Monday of March 1855' David's daughter, Dulcena Rink and her husband, Andrew, and David's son, Thomas J., petitioned 'in writing' their objections to the 'purported will'. A trial date of the 9th of April, 1855, was set and it was ordered that a jury of "fifteen persons be summoned by the Sheriff". The date was later changed to the 28th day of June. However, on the 9th of April, in special term, the court named Mary McBrayer, David's widow, and Joseph T. McBrayer as special administrators to the estate 'for preservation and collection of said estate". By April 14th, 1855, they had completed the appraisal list of David's personal property and chattels and had submitted it to the court.

Then on the 28th of June 1855 a final hearing and trial was held on the petition. The jury of fifteen men found in favor of the plaintiff, Samuel McBrayer (Humphrey P., in the same court date, had admitted papers "renouncing the executorship of said will".), and declared that "the paper submitted" was the 'last will and testament of David McBrayer, decd". It was further stated that "the said plaintiff recover of the said defendants all the cost about the 'proving' of said will".

(The documentation leading to the settlement of the estate of David was located in Aug 1982 in the court house in Ft. Payne, DeKalb Co., AL.)

                  --------------------------

Patentee Name: Mcbrayer, David
Accession Number: AL3110__.135
State: Alabama
Volume: 3110
Page: 135
Document Number: 7209
Land Office: Lebanon
Aliquot Part Reference: E½NE
Section Number: 8
Township: 11 South
Range: 6 East
Meridian/Survey Area: Huntsville Meridian
Act/Treaty Authorizing Sale: Sale-Cash Entries
Date Signed: May 1, 1845
Acreage: 79.52

Signed: Yes, the document on file at the BLM contains a signature.
_______________________________________________________________

The date of birth and death for both David and Mary recorded in an old family Bible now owned by Mrs. Robert Noble, Attalla, AL. The front part of the Bible was missing, so no date could be obtained. It shows most burials in the Noble Cem. ***from Skipper's notes

2 Jan 1799 - Witness on land grant to Samuel McBrayer, Jr.
1800 - Census, Buncombe Co., NC
23 June 1800 - Witness on Land Grant to John McBrayer
November 03, 1800 - David bought land from Amos Justice, Shaw's Creek, Buncombe Co., NC
1810 - Census, Buncombe Co., NC
August 25, 1814 - Land Grant, 50 a., Shaw's Creek, Buncombe Co., NC
30 Jan 1819 - Land Deed, bought 100 acres, N. Fork Saluda River, Greenville Co., SC
1820 - Census Greenville Dist., SC
1830 - Census, Blount Co., AL
1840 - Census, DeKalb Co., AL
July 09, 1844 - Land Deed - David McBrayer to Allen Avery
1850 - Census, DeKalb Co., AL
February 1855 - Probate of Will - A
March 1855 - Probate of Will - B
April 09, 1855 - Probate of Will - C
April 14, 1855 - Inventory of Estate
June 28, 1855 - Probate of Will - D

More About DAVID MCBRAYER:
Burial: Bethany Cem, Reese City, AL
Fact: Will
Fact 1: 1800, Census, Buncombe Co., NC
Fact 1A: November 03, 1800, David bought land from Amos Justice, Shaw's Creek, Buncombe Co., NC
Fact 2: 1810, Census, Buncombe Co., NC
Fact 2A: August 25, 1814, Land Grant, 50 a., Shaw's Creek, Buncombe Co., NC
Fact 3: 1820, Census Greenville Dist., SC
Fact 4: 1830, Census, Blount Co., AL
Fact 5: 1840, Census, DeKalb Co., AL
Fact 5A: July 09, 1844, Deed - David to Allen Avery
Fact 6: 1850, Census, DeKalb Co., AL
Fact 7: February 1855, Probate of Will - A
Fact 8: March 1855, Probate of Will - B
Fact 9: April 09, 1855, Probate of Will - C
Fact 10: April 14, 1855, Inventory of Estate
Fact 11: June 28, 1855, Probate of Will - D

Notes for MARY YOUNG:
On July 6, 1855, Mary was one of the charter members of the Fairview Baptist Church which was organized on Lookout Mountain in what is now Etowah Co., (AL) *Jerry B Jones, Ltr of July 15, 1959

More About MARY YOUNG:
Burial: Bethany Cem, Reese City, AL

More About DAVID MCBRAYER and MARY YOUNG:
Marriage: 1793, Rutherford Co., NC

Children of DAVID MCBRAYER and MARY YOUNG are:

115.	i.		REBECCA⁵ MCBRAYER, b. March 05, 1794, Horseshoe, Buncombe Co., NC; d. July 1849, Etowah Co., AL/Dekalb Co., AL.
	ii.		ELIZABETH MCBRAYER, b. October 07, 1796, Buncombe Co., NC; d. Aft. 1855, AL; m. WILLIAM BLYTHE³², July 26, 1823, St Clair Co., AL.

More About ELIZABETH MCBRAYER:
Burial: Etowah Co., AL

Notes for WILLIAM BLYTHE:
They were living in St. Clair County, AL, in Feb 1855. They had no children.

Marriage Notes for ELIZABETH MCBRAYER and WILLIAM BLYTHE:
Surity for the marriage was Richard Blythe.

More About WILLIAM BLYTHE and ELIZABETH MCBRAYER:
Marriage: July 26, 1823, St Clair Co., AL

iii.

NANCY MCBRAYER, b. November 15, 1799, Buncombe Co., NC; d. Aft. 1855; m. LOUIS EDWARDS.

Notes for LOUIS EDWARDS:
They moved to Missouri and were living there in Feb of 1855 - no further data.

116.	iv.	JOHN YOUNG MCBRAYER, b. April 05, 1801, Horseshoe, Buncombe Co., NC; d. September 19, 1869, St Clair Co., AL.
117.	v.	THOMAS JUSTICE MCBRAYER, b. May 14, 1803, Horseshoe, Buncombe Co., NC; d. Bet. 1870 - 1880, AL.
118.	vi.	JANE F. MCBRAYER, b. March 30, 1805, Horseshoe, Buncombe Co., NC; d. Aft. 1855, AL.
	vii.	PEGGY MCBRAYER, b. December 02, 1807, Buncombe (Henderson) Co., NC; d. November 07, 1814, Buncombe (Henderson) Co., NC.
119.	viii.	SARAH 'SALLIE' MCBRAYER, b. September 03, 1809, Horseshoe, Buncombe Co., NC; d. January 01, 1890, St. Clair Co., AL.
120.	ix.	JOSEPH TALLY MCBRAYER, b. May 30, 1815, Buncombe Co., NC; d. Aft. 1892, Lee Co., MS.
121.	x.	DULCENA MCBRAYER, b. April 27, 1819, Greenville, SC (?); d. February 02, 1892, AL.
122.	xi.	SAMUEL MCBRAYER, b. May 02, 1812, Buncombe Co., NC; d. April 11, 1900, Ashville, St. Clair Co., AL.

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