Some thoughts about early John Swinsons in
North Carolina
This paper was written May 2002 and
revised September 2002
by
Thomas M. Byrd, 903 Washington St., Cary, NC 27511
My Swinson research began in the
early 1970s when my late father-in-law, Macon Swinson (1910-1980), asked me to
see what I could find out about the family.
“Mr. Swinson” knew that his father was Horace Jackson Swinson
(1881-1919) and that his grandfather was Nathaniel Macon Swinson (1835-1895). Beyond that he was not certain. Macon had limited contact with his direct
Swinson ancestors. His grandfather,
Nathaniel Macon, for whom he was named, died 15 years before Macon was
born. His father, Horace, died when
Macon was 8 and his mother, Mary Dixon Swinson (1888-1920) died when he was 9.
My initial Swinson research went
smoothly. By plowing through old records, mainly in the Department of Archives
and History in Raleigh, I soon learned that Macon Swinson’s great grandfather
had been Austin Swinson (1788-ca.1860) and that his great, great grandfather
had been Jesse Swinson (1759-1834).
Furthermore, I learned that Jesse Swinson had been a soldier in the
Revolutionary War and that he was buried within a mile of Macon Swinson’s
house. Macon Swinson lived on what is now Macon Swinson Lane in the Beautancus
Community of northern Duplin County and had a Route 2, Mount Olive, NC,
address.
Although I did not try to track them
all down, I soon realized that Jesse and other members of his generation left
scores of descendants. The Mount Olive area seemed to have the biggest
concentration, but others appeared in southern Duplin County, and some had
moved further east into Onslow County.
One line of the family had moved to Indiana, another to Texas.
But my goal was to determine who
Jesse Swinson’s ancestors were, not track all of his descendants. And this is
where I became stumped. The records
seem to show that two Swinson men arrived in Duplin County about 1770. One was
named John and the other Osten (Austin). The next generation of Swinsons in
Duplin County included at least six men: Jesse, John Austin, Theophilus,
Ebenezer, Richard, and Absalem.
Presumably, they were sons of John and Austin. But which of them were John’s sons and which were Austin’s? Also, one could not overlook the possibility
that other Swinsons had moved to Duplin after John and Austin.
Through deeds and other records I
learned that John and Austin Swinson moved to Duplin County from around
Tranters Creek, which flows through the area where Pitt, Martin, and Beaufort
counties now join. Furthermore, I learned that the first Swinsons on Tranters
Creek were a bricklayer named John, and
his wife Elsie, who moved there in 1744.
John and Elsie appeared to have had three sons: John, Jr., Austin, and Levi. John, Jr., and Austin moved to Duplin; Levi
remained on Tranters Creek until his death about 1795.
Further research showed that John
Swinson, the bricklayer, had moved to Tranters Creek from Kendricks Creek,
about 40 miles to the east. His old home was located in Tyrrell County at the
time, but the area became a part of Washington County in 1799. The Swinson land on Kendricks Creek was
about a mile south of the present town of Roper. John, the bricklayer, was a son of Richard Swinson, the first
known Swinson in North Carolina.
Richard had moved from Virginia to Kendricks Creek by 1711 and was
living there in 1716 when he made his will. Named in the will were three
sons: William, John, (the bricklayer)
and Richard (Jr.).
By this time I had with one exception
traced my father-in-law’s family back seven generations. Macon Swinson was the son of Horace, who was
the son of Nathaniel Macon, who was the son of Austin, who was the son of
Jesse. Then came the uncertainty in the
family line. Was Jesse’s father John or was it Austin? Both were sons of John,
the bricklayer, who was a son of Richard, the first Swinson in North Carolina.
By the time of my father-in-law’s
death in 1980, I had more or less ended the active phrase of my Swinson
research. But this didn’t mean I had
lost interest in the family’s history. When asked I would share Swinson
information. Occasionally I would quiz other people about what they knew. But regardless of whom I asked no one seemed
to know who Jesse’s father was.
One
day I was discussing Swinsons with Mrs. Pauline Swinson Wiggins of Mount Olive,
one of Macon Swinson’s first cousins. She told me about a paper done on the
family by the late Superior Court Judge Clifton Moore of Burgaw. Naturally, I wanted to see it, which Mrs. Wiggins
let me do. She also let me make a photocopy of it.
The
paper was based on research that Judge Moore did in the 1950s, some 20 years
before I began my research. Judge Moore was obviously a competent researcher.
Not only had he traced the early Swinsons from county to county, but had drawn
on his extensive knowledge of history and the legal system to describe the
times in which they lived. As far as I know, it is still the most comprehensive
report to date on early Swinsons in North Carolina. Thus, it is quoted widely. Judge Moore, like myself, had gotten
involved in the research because he had married a Swinson. My wife, Janet, was
Macon Swinson’s oldest daughter. Judge Moore’s wife was Hazel Swinson, a
descendant of Jesse Swinson through his son, John.
When
I studied Judge Moore’s paper, I saw we had plowed much of the same ground and
had reached the same conclusions about most of the family. But Judge Moore had some things in his paper
that I had not been able to prove. One thing that jumped out at me was his
statement that Jesse Swinson was the son of Austin Swinson. As pointed out
earlier, I could never determine if Jesse’s father was John Swinson or Austin
Swinson. But when I studied Judge Moore’s paper in detail, I could not find any
hard proof as to why he believed Jesse was Austin’s son. Since the Judge was
deceased by this time, I tried to contact his family in Burgaw to see if the
Judge might have found Swinson documents not cited in the paper. My efforts at
contacting the family were unsuccessful.
Subsequent
research has convinced me that the Judge was probably right about Jesse being
the son of Austin. Here is how I reached that conclusion. First, I learned that
Jesse had a brother named John Austin Swinson. This meant that if I could identify
the father of either John Austin or Jesse I would have the father of the other.
Next I learned that the John Swinson who came to Duplin with Austin had named a
son John Matchet Swinson. Since John would not likely have named one son John
Matchet Swinson and another John Austin Swinson, then John Austin Swinson must
have been the son of Austin Swinson.
Thus if Austin was John Austin’s father, he had to be Jesse’s father,
also, since John Austin and Jesse were brothers.
The
biggest surprise in Judge Moore’s paper pertained to the John Swinson who
migrated to Duplin County about 1770. I felt fairly certain that he was John
Swinson, Jr., the son of John, the bricklayer, and his wife, Elsie. Judge Moore said he was the son of Richard
Swinson, a brother of John, the bricklayer.
Thus, according to Moore, the John who came to Duplin was a nephew of
John the bricklayer. This meant that the first two Swinsons in Duplin, John and
Austin, were first cousins, not brothers.
When
I studied the sources cited in Moore’s paper, I could not understand why he
thought John and Austin were cousins, not brothers. Again I figured the Judge
must have found information that I had overlooked. Therefore, I set out to see
if I could find what the Judge must have found. My quest led me to new sources of information on the Swinsons,
but instead of confirming what Judge Moore wrote, the new information convinced
me he was wrong.
In
an effort to prove that the father of both of the early Swinsons in Duplin was
John the bricklayer, I have prepared a chronological listings of all the John
Swinsons that I can find in North Carolina in the 1700s. This chronology shows that both John the
bricklayer and his brother Richard had sons named John. The bricklayer’s son John spent his early
years on Tranters Creek in what is now Pitt County. He first moved to the Goshen Swamp area of Duplin County and then
to the Moores Creek area of what is now Pender County (then New Hanover) where
he died about 1800. Richard’s son,
John, lived his entire life on Kendricks Creek near what is now Roper in
Washington County, dying there about 1807.
By
comparison, Judge Moore said Richard’s son, John, was the only John Swinson
during this period. According to the
Judge, Richard’s son John spent his early days on Kendricks Creek. First, he moved to Tranters Creek, where he
associated with his Uncle John Swinson, the bricklayer. Next he moved to the
Goshen Swamp area of Duplin County. Then he moved to the Moores Creek area of
New Hanover (now in Pender). Finally,
he returned to Kendricks Creek where he died about 1807. The “wanderer” is what Judge Moore called
this John Swinson. It would have been an apt description if true.
Readers
are now invited to review the references that have been found to the early John
Swinsons and decide for them self if they pertain to one man who wandered back
and forth from place to place or if they refer to more than one John Swinson.
The chronology that I will present, like much genealogical research, may be
difficult to follow. This is mainly because so many different counties are
mentioned. Counties are important because most genealogical information that
can be found on Swinsons is in county records.
But the counties were changing rapidly during the period covered by this
chronology. New ones were being formed and boundaries were being redrawn for
the older ones. To wit: North Carolina
had only four counties in 1700, which is about the time the first John Swinson
appeared on the scene. The State had over 60 counties in 1800, which is about
the time of the last John Swinsons discussed in this paper. Thus, instead of dealing with Swinsons
exclusively in terms of the counties in which they lived, they will be grouped
in terms of the creeks on which they lived.
This is because the creeks, unlike the counties, have not changed.
The
John Swinsons covered in this paper lived on four different creeks. They are as
follows:
Kendricks
Creek. It rises in East Dismal Swamp in Washington
County and flows north by the town of Roper into Albemarle Sound. When the first known Swinson in North
Carolina, Richard, settled on this creek shortly after 1700, the area was part
of Chowan County. It became a part of Tyrrell County in 1729 and Washington
County in 1799.
Tranters
Creek. It rises in
southwest Martin County and flows south-southeast into the Tar River near where
the Tar becomes the Pamlico River. It now forms part of the boundary between
Pitt, Martin, and Beaufort counties. When the first Swinsons settled there in
the 1740s, the area was in the disputed bounds of Beaufort and Tyrrell
counties.
Goshen
Swamp. It rises in
northeastern Sampson County and flows east-southeast across about two-thirds of
northern Duplin County before emptying into the Northeast Cape Fear River
northeast of Kenansville. The area
along Goshen where the first Swinsons settled about 1770 was in Duplin County
at the time and it still is.
Moores
Creek. It rises in
northwest Pender County and flows south into Black River about two miles below
Moores Creek National Battlefield Park. The area was part of New Hanover County
when the first Swinsons settled there in the 1780s. It became part of Pender in
1875.
Chronology of John Swinsons in 1700s and
the creeks on which they were living at the time:
1716
– (Kendricks Creek) John is listed as a son of Richard Swinson in a will that
Richard made 24 April 1716. (NC Wills,
1690-1760, pp. 368-69) The will names three sons, and in the following order,
William, John, and Richard (Jr.). Children are usually named in wills in the
order in which they are born. Thus, John would have been the middle son. John
received 200 acres of his father’s land plus a cow called “Good Luck.” Since no conditions were placed on John’s inheritance,
some researchers have concluded that John had reached 21, the age of majority,
by the time of his father’s will. This
would suggest that he would have been born by about 1693 since he had a younger
brother, Richard, who appears to have been at least 21 also in 1716.
1722
– (Kendricks Creek) John Swinson witnessed a deed from John Edwards to Captain
John Powell on 30 October 1722. (Chowan Deed Bk. C, Vol. I, p. 309)
1727
– (Kendricks Creek) John Swinson, brick-layer, sold the 200 acres of land on
Kendricks Creek that he inherited from his father to James Brown on 27 November
1727. (Chowan Deed Bk. C, Vol. I, p. 310).
1729
– (Kendricks Creek) Tyrrell County was created out of that portion of Chowan
County lying south of Albemarle Sound where the Swinsons lived.
1735
– (Kendricks Creek) William Swinson and John Swinson were among person
appointed by Tyrrell County Court to help lay off road. (Court Minutes,
September 1735 Session). William and John were brothers.
1739
– (Kendricks Creek) John Swinson on Tyrrell Grand Jury. (Court Minutes,
September 1739 session)
1740
– (Kendricks Creek) John Swinson and Richard Swinson among persons appointed by
Tyrrell Court to help lay off road. (Court Minutes, March 1739/40) John and
Richard were also brothers.
1743
– (Kendricks Creek) John Swinson, bricklayer, sold 134 acres of land on
Kendricks Creek to Richard Draper on 2 March 1743. (Tyrrell County Deed Bk. 1,
p. 225) The record of how John obtained this land has not been found. It was
the last land that this John owned in the vicinity of Kendricks Creek.
1744
– (Tranters Creek) John Swinson, bricklayer, purchased 300 acres on the west
side of Tranters Creek from Benjamin and Elizabeth Sanders on 27 October 1744.
(Tyrrell Deed Bk. 1, p. 295) The
description of this property is too general for one to pinpoint its exact
location. Since it was west of Tranters Creek, it was in an area that became
(in 1760) a part of Pitt County. John’s
new home was about 35 or 40 miles as the crow flies from his previous home on
Kendricks Creek. Assuming that he was
born by 1693, John would have been at least 51 years old when he moved from
Kendricks Creek to Tranters Creek.
Thus, he was getting on up in years when he made the move.
1748 – (Tranters
Creek) The North Carolina General Assembly authorized work to continue on
running out the boundary between Beaufort and Tyrrell counties. This work had
been first authorized in 1741 but had not been completed and would not be for
many more years. Beaufort was established in 1712 and Tyrrell in 1729. Then came
Pitt in 1760 and Martin in 1774. But the boundaries of these counties were not
completely defined for many years. In fact, the General Assembly adjusted the
Martin-Beaufort line as late as 1937.
John, the bricklayer, and other Swinsons who lived in the vicinity of
Tranters Creek had land near where the boundaries of Pitt, Martin, and Beaufort
now join, and it is difficult to know just which county they were in at times.
1751 – (Tranters
Creek) John Swinson, Jr. applies for (enters) a 579-acre land grant on 19
October 1751. The application was
submitted to the agents of the Earl of Granville, who owned the vacant land in
that part of North Carolina. He was the Lord Proprietor who refused to sell his
land holdings in North Carolina back to the King in 1729. The land for John
Swinson Jr.’s grant was surveyed 5 February 1751/2 with John Swinson, Sr.,
serving as one of the chain carriers for the surveyor. The land was surveyed 5 February 1751 under
the old style Julian calendar. This would be 5 February 1752 under the new
style Gregorian calendar adopted by the English-speaking world in 1754. The
grant was issued 21 January 1761. (North Carolina Land Grant Bk. 12, p. 94. The
grant is listed as No. 01629 under the Granville records in State Archives. The
loose papers pertaining to the grant, consisting of the warrant and surveyor’s
plat, are in Tyrrell County Land Grant File No. 0177, also in State
Archives.) Note the 10-year delay
between the time John Swinson, Jr., applied for this grant and the time he received
it. While they were called grants, the land was not free, and it may have taken
John Swinson 10 years to pay all of the costs associated with the land. In the
meantime, it is fairly safe to assume that he had access to the land and
probably made it his home. The warrant states that the land was on “Pitch hole
branch on the West side of Tranters Creek.” The surveyor’s plat refers to it as
“lying in the bounds of Tyrrell and Beaufort counties, beginning at a pine on
Joseph Messer's line...”
(COMMENT: Why Judge Moore concluded
that the John Swinson, Jr., and the John Swinson, Sr., mentioned in the above
grant were nephew and uncle, and not son and father, is puzzling. In those days, senior and junior meant an
older man and a younger man with the same name, and not necessarily father and
son. However, in most case the older man and younger man were father and son,
and I believe this to be the case here.)
1755 – (Tranters
Creek) A tax list for Beaufort County in the State Archives shows:
John Swinson
John Swinson Jun
Thus, the Swinsons ended up on the Beaufort County side of the line when the
Tyrrell-Beaufort boundary dispute was settled.
1756 - (Tranters Creek) John Swinson
served on the grand jury on 2 June 1756 at Bath Town, according to Beaufort
County Court Minutes. (State Archives)
1757 - (Tranters Creek) Jno Swinson is
described in the March 1757 Beaufort Court Minutes (State Archives) as a
delinquent taxpayer. Also, Joseph
Turton filed a petition against Jno. Swinson at the same court session. Case
was continued with notation "not to be found."
1757 – (Tranters
Creek) Beaufort Court Minutes for the June 1757 session state that the case
against John Swinson was continued with notation that says debt and costs paid
to Thomas Williams, the late deputy sheriff. (Many parts of these court minutes
are too faded to read.)
1757 – (Tranters
Creek) Levi Swinson enters 600 acres in Tyrrell County on 26 October 1757. The land was surveyed 3 January 1760 with
John Swinson and John Swinson, Jr., serving as chain carriers. These two men are believed to have been
Levi’s father and brother. The grant was issued on 22 January 1761. (Land Grant Bk. 12, p. 92; Tyrrell County
File No. 60). The exact location of the
land is not given in the description of it in the grant book. It is only described as being in Tyrrell
County “beginning at Cowplay place.”
Later deeds given for parts of the land suggest it was west of Tranters
Creek.
1759 – (Kendricks
Creek) Richard Swinson recorded stock marks for his son, John, and daughter,
Hannah. (Tyrrell Court Minutes, June 5, 1759) The following day, Richard
Swinson recorded stock marks for his son, Richard, and his daughter, Elizabeth.
This is the earliest proof that has been found that Richard Swinson had a son named
John. But this John appears to have been younger than the John, Jr., who
entered a land grant in 1751 in the Tranters Creek area. In fact, Richard’s son
John must have been a minor in 1759 or why would his father have recorded a
stock mark for him?
1760 – (Tranters
Creek) Pitt County was formed out of Beaufort County, effective January 1,
1761. The 300 acres purchased by John Swinson the bricklayer in 1744 and the
579 acres entered by John Swinson, Jr., in 1751 and granted in 1761were in the
new county of Pitt. Unfortunately, no county court records for Pitt County
prior to 1858 have survived. They, no doubt, would have been a rich source of
information on the Swinsons living there.
1761 – (Tranters Creek) John Swinson Senr. was
issued a warrant on 9 January 1761 for 700 acres "in the disputed
bounds of Tyrrell and Pitt counties. The date this land was entered has not
been found and nor has a surveyor’s plat for it. The grant, which was issued 20
June 1761, was for 689 acres. (Land Grant Bk. 12, p. 93. Tyrrell Deed Bk. 4, p.
329) Apparently the surveyor did not find quite as much vacant land in the area
as anticipated, as sometimes occurred. This land can be located on a present
day map because the description makes references to several creeks. It was east
of Tranters Creek, south of Beargrass Swamp, north of Log Branch, and west of
Calf Branch, and joining Joseph Gaines' line.
The land currently lies along both sides of the Beaufort-Martin County
line, but at the time people were not certain if it was in Tyrrell County or
Pitt County.
1762 – (Tranters Creek) John Swinson Senr.
"for the love and good will which I have and do bair" gave
(his son) Oston Swinson 200 acres of land on the east side of Tranters Creek on
1 March 1762. (Pitt Deed Book B, p. 379) Witnesses were John Swinson Junr. and Elizabeth "x" Carnell. Osten
(Austin) received the lower part of the 689-acre grant John Swinson, Sr.,
received 20 June 1761. Austin Swinson
of Duplin County sold his 200 acres of land in 1782. (Pitt Deed Bk. I, p.
10). This is the only land Austin
Swinson is known to have owned in the vicinity of Tranters Creek, and the deed
of its sale is taken as proof that Austin moved to Duplin County.
1762 – (Tranters Creek) Pitt list of taxables include John Swinson and Levi
Swinson listed together on p. 19 and John Swinson listed on p. 23. (Journal of
NC Genealogy, pp 2216-2217)
1763 – (Tranters Creek) Pitt list of taxables include John Swinson and Levi,
who are listed together, and John Swinson, Jr., who is listed separately.
(State Archives)
1764 – (Tranters Creek) Pitt list of taxables include John Swinson and Levi
Swinson, who are listed together, and John Swinson Jr., who is listed
separately. (State Archives)
The name of Osten Swinson does not
appear on these lists because his land is believed to have been mostly, if not
all, in Tyrrell County at the time. The
county line business is terribly confusing because of the way the lines in that
area have changed over the years. It would be interesting to talk to a local
historian who could draw out on a map just where the lines were at various
times.
1764 – (Tranters Creek) John Swinson of Pitt County sold 200 acres to Joseph
Jolley Sr. on 28 August 1764. (Pitt Deed Bk. C, p. 198) Beginning east side
Riches old field and joining Messer's line.
It was part of tract of 579 acres granted to John Swinson, Jr., on 21
January 1761.
1764 – (Tranters Creek) John Swinson, John Swinson, Jr., and Levi Swinson
witnessed deed of James Howel to John Persey on 25 September 1764. (Pitt Deed
Bk. C, p. 173). Land was 50 acres on west side of Tranters Creek that had been
first settled by Benjamin Sanders, deceased.
1767 – (Kendricks
Creek) Richard Swinson gave his son John Swinson 100 acres of land on Kendricks
Creek in Tyrrell County. (Tyrrell Deed Bk. 4, p. 123, Vol. 2) This is the second reference that has been
found to John Swinson, the son of Richard.
It would appear that he “came of age” between 1759, when his father
recorded a stock mark for him, and 1767 when his father gave him land. He could have been born in the 1740-1745
period. John, Jr., the son of John the
bricklayer, would have been born by at least 1730 based on the fact that he
applied for a land grant in 1751.
1770 – (Goshen Swamp-Tranters Creek) John Swinson of Duplin County sold 350
acres to Levi Swinson of Tyrrell County on 29 January 1770. (Pitt Deed Bk. D,
p. 135). Land joined that of John Butler. This was part of land granted to John
Swinson Jr. on 21 January 1761. This is
the earliest reference that has been found to a Swinson in Duplin County, and
it is my belief that he was John Swinson, Jr., son of John the bricklayer. Judge Moore believed he was the son of
Richard Swinson.
1772 – (Goshen
Swamp) John Swinson and Charles Ward witnessed a deed in Duplin County from
Richard Miller to Borthick Gillespie on 16 January 1772. (Duplin Deed Bk. 3, p. 286). The land was
south of Goshen Swamp and west of Northeast Cape Fear River, the first area in
which John Swinson is known to have lived after moving to Duplin. The area was
about 60 miles as the crow flies from where the Swinsons had lived along
Tranters Creek.
1774 - (Tranters Creek) John Swinson,
bricklayer, of Pitt County, and Elsie Swinson, his wife, sold 300 acres to John
Holaday Hudson on 1 October 1774. (Pitt Deed Bk. F, p. 48) The description
shows this was the land John Swinson had purchased in 1744 when Pitt was still
part of Tyrrell County. Note that the
deed states that John Swinson is of Pitt County. Some people believe that John
the bricklayer moved to Duplin, also. If he did, he did not move as early as
his son, who was in Duplin County by 1770. Elsie signed this deed (with an
“x”), suggesting that this was the last land John and Elsie owned and she was
relinquishing her dower rights to it.
1774 – (Goshen
Swamp) John Swinson bought 3 axes, 8 grubbing hoes, 1 bridle, 1 hatchet, and 1
hat from the estate of John Matchet at sale held on 13 August 1774 in Duplin
County. (Matchet Estate Papers, State Archives) The estate also paid Swinson 20
pounds for unspecified services.
Matchet lived on the south side of Goshen Swamp north of the present
town of Kenansville.
1774 – (Kendricks
Creek) John Swinson and his wife, Lurana, sold 100 acres of land on Kendricks
Creek to Samuel Blount on 10 October 1774. (Tyrrell County Deed Bk. 6, p. 168,
Vol.2) This is the same land given to John Swinson by his father Richard in
1767.
(COMMENT: The above two entries for
1774 show a John Swinson buying personal items in Duplin in August and a John
Swinson selling land in Tyrrell County in October. The two places where these activities occurred were about 100
miles apart as the crow flies. The distance on the ground would have been much
greater, especially in those days when roads were few. What roads that existed were usually in
terrible condition. There were few
bridges and many swamps. A roundtrip between Duplin County and Tyrrell County
in 1774 would likely have taken many days or even weeks. This is one reason I believe we are dealing
with two Johns, not one, as Judge Moore believed.)
1774 – (Tranters Creek) Martin County is formed from Halifax and Tyrrell. The 200 acres of land that John Swinson,
Sr., the bricklayer, gave his son, Austin, in 1762 appears to have been at
least partly in the new county of Martin.
1775 – (Goshen
Swamp-Tranters Creek) John Swinson of Duplin County sold 489 acres to Wm.
Mizzell on 2 January 1775. (Beaufort County Deed Bk. 29, p. 124; also recorded
in Martin County Deed Bk. A, p. 96) This was the remainder of the land that
John Swinson, Sr., received by patent on 20 June 1761. The deed states the land
joined Austin Swinson's line. The new Martin County line passed through this
property, which is why the deed was recorded in both counties. People take this
deed as proof that John Swinson, Sr., the bricklayer, moved to Duplin with his
sons, John, Jr., and Austin. There is no doubt that John, Sr., owned the land
originally, but could he have passed it on to John, Jr., in some way that is
not clear? The answers to these questions may never be found since John, Sr.,
did not leave a will and no court minutes for that period survive. Assuming
that John, Sr., was born by 1693, he would have been at least 81 by this time.
While two of his sons, John and Austin, moved to Duplin, his third son, Levi,
did not. Thus, he still had family in the Pitt-Martin area.
1779 – (Kendricks
Creek) Richard Swinson and John Swinson signed a petition in October 1779
asking that Tyrrell County be divided into two parts. (Journal of NC Genealogy,
p. 2043)
1782 – (Goshen
Swamp) John Swinson sold two tracts of land in Duplin County to Elizabeth
Foley. (Duplin Deed Bk. 7, p. 366) The deed is not dated but it was ordered
registered by the July 1782 Court. It is not known how Swinson obtained this land.
One tract consisted of 100 acres that had been granted to Benjamin Folsom on 13
October 1765. The other tract consisted of 20 acres that Swinson said he
purchased from Folsom and Folsom had purchased from John Matchet, Sr. The land
was located south of Goshen Swamp near present-day Pearsall Chapel. John Matchet owned land on two sides of it.
Incidentally, Theophilus Swinson, another early Swinson in Duplin, had
purchased 250 adjoining acres from John Matchet in 1773. (Duplin Deed Bk. 5, p.
266) He sold this land back to Matchet in 1785 and moved farther south in the
county. (Duplin Deed Bk. 1A, p. 136) Theophilus Swinson is believed to have
been a son of John Swinson. It is believed that John Swinson sold his land
south of Goshen because he was marrying a widow who owned land on the north
side of Goshen and intended to live there. (See entry for 1787).
1782 – (Kendricks
Creek) John Swinson witnessed marriage of Richard Swinson to Chloe Burnham in
Tyrrell County on 20 December 1782. (Tyrrell County Marriage Bonds, State
Archives)
1782 – (Kendricks
Creek) John Swinson listed on Tyrrell County Tax List. Owned 120 acres of land,
two negroes, two horses, and eight cows. (Tyrrell County Tax List, State
Archives)
1783 – (Goshen
Swamp) John Swinson witnessed deed of
Frederick Glisson to Jesse Brock on 6 December 1783. (Duplin Deed Bk. 4A, p.
141). This deed was for land on the north side of Goshen where Swinson moved
after selling his land on the south side of the swamp.
1784 – (Kendricks
Creek) Tyrrell County Tax List includes John Swinson with 235 acres and 2 black
polls.
1785 – (Goshen
Swamp) John Swinson is one of the inhabitants living along Goshen Swamp in
Duplin County who is ordered to help clear the swamp for navigation. (Duplin
Court Minutes, July 1785)
1786 – (Kendricks
Creek) Tyrrell County Tax List includes John Swinson with 120 acres and 2 black
polls
1786 – (Kendricks
Creek) State Census of Tyrrell County
John Swinson (next to Richard)
2 females all ages
3 blacks under 12 or over 50
1786 – (Goshen
Swamp) State Census of Duplin County
John Swinson
1 male 21-60
2 males under 21 or over 60
1 female
1 black 12-50
(COMMENT: The fact that a John
Swinson appears on the census rolls of both Tyrrell and Duplin strongly suggest
to me that we are dealing with two men, not one, as Judge Moore concluded. The John Swinson in Duplin was living in
Captain Bowden’s District, which puts him north of Goshen.)
1787 – (Goshen
Swamp-Moores Creek) John Swinson sold Jesse Branch a tract of land he owned in
Duplin County and Jesse Branch sold John Swinson a tract of land he owned in
New Hanover County for the same price. In others words, they swapped land.
(Duplin Deed Bk. F, p. 117 & New Hanover Deed Bk. H, p. 583) The Duplin land came into Swinson’s
possession when he married Susannah Parker, widow of William Parker. The date
of their marriage is not known, but it is believed to have been around 1782
when he sold his land on the south side of Goshen. Parker made his will on 7
March 1779 and it was probated at the April 1780 Duplin Court. The will names
two daughters, Mary Jenkins and Jerusha Parker, and a granddaughter, Easter
Cherry. The land Swinson got in New
Hanover consisted of two tracts, totaling 283 acres.
The land of John Swinson was in that
portion of New Hanover that was cut off in 1875 to form Pender County. More specifically, it was in what is now
northwestern Pender County about five miles southwest of Penderlea and about
five miles east of the Sampson County line. The property was west of Moores
Creek and in the vicinity of Bull Tail Branch. Highway 421 passes to the east
of it. Thus, John Swinson’s new home
was about 35 air miles southwest of his home near Goshen Swamp. This would have made it about 15 miles
beyond where his son, Theophilus, moved (south of Maxwell Creek in Duplin) when
he sold his land on Goshen in 1785.
1790 – (Kendricks Creek) Federal Census of Tyrrell
County
John
Swinson (spelled Sevinson)
1
white male over 16
1
white female
4
slaves
No Swinsons have been found in the
1790 Federal Census for New Hanover. In
fact, only five Swinson heads of houseolds are found in the entire state: John
in Tyrrell, Levi in Martin, Richard in Bertie, and John A. and Theophilus in
Duplin. An estimated 25% of the population was missed in this first federal
census and, apparently, some of them were Swinsons.
1793 – (Moores
Creek) John Swinson of New Hanover bought 100 acres of land from Jesse Peacock
on 27 May 1793. (New Hanover Book N, p. 396)
1793 – (Kendricks
Creek) Ann Burns makes her will in Tyrrell County on 8 September 1793. (No
probate date). She left one-third of her estate to her son, John Swinson. Ann Burns was the widow of Richard Swinson,
who died about 1770. She apparently remarried.
1795 – (Kendricks
Creek) John Swinson bought slaves in Tyrrell County from Robert Cushing.
(Tyrrell Deed Bk. 12, p. 122)
1795 – (Moores
Creek) John Swinson sold the 100 acres of land in New Hanover that he purchased
in 1793 from Jesse Peacock to John Madock Matchet “for Matchet’s lifetime and
his eldest son forever.” Deed is dated 19 Dec 1795. (New Hanover Book L1, p.
263)
1797 – (Moores Creek) John Swinson of New Hanover County sold 440 acres of land
in Pitt County to George Jenkins of Bertie County on 13 January 1797. (Pitt
Deed Bk. N, p. 518) The land was on Meadow Branch Pocoson and formerly belonged
to Levi Swinson. Witnesses were Joseph Eakins and Wm. Jenkins. This is an interesting deed because it
proves that the John Swinson in New Hanover was the same John that had lived earlier
in what became Pitt County. Although
the acreage is different, this is the same tract that John Swinson sold to Levi
Swinson in 1770 as 350 acres. (Pitt Deed Book D, p. 135). In his will drawn up on 2 January 1785, Levi
left the property to Milley Percey.
(The will was probated in 1795, indicating about when Levi died.) The Pitt land records do not show that
Percey disposed of the property, yet in some way it reverted to John
Swinson. Again the missing court
records might help explain how. Jenkins,
to whom John Swinson sold the land in 1797, sold it in 1801. The acreage in
that deed (Pitt Deed Book P, p. 91) is listed as 340, which is near the
original acreage cited in the deed that John Swinson gave to Levi Swinson.
Thus, the 440 acres in the 1797 deed from John Swinson to Jenkins must be a
clerical error.
1798 – (Kendricks
Creek) John Swinson entered 86 acres on Hawkins Br. and Kendricks Creek in Tyrrell County. This land was
granted in 1802. (Washington County Deed Bk. B, p. 138)
1798 – (Moores
Creek) New Hanover Court Minutes for 21 September 1798 show that a deed from
John Swinson to Joseph Starr was ordered registered. This deed has not been
found. A younger John Swinson, who is later identified as John Matchet Swinson,
enters the picture about this time. He
is believe to have been the son of the John who married the Parker widow and
moved to New Hanover about 1787. It is not known if the John selling land to
Starr was the older John or John Matchet Swinson.
1799 – (Moores
Creek) In a deed (New Hanover Book P, p. 287) given in 1806 by Bryan Buxton to
John Futch the chain of title states that the land had been sold by John Futch
to Ebenezer Swinson in 1799 and that Swinson had sold it to Bryan Buxton in
1801. The deeds to and from Ebenezer
Swinson have not been found. Ebenezer
is believed to have been a son of the John Swinson who moved to New Hanover
about 1787.
1799 – (Kendricks
Creek) Washington County was created out of Tyrrell County.
1800 – (Moores
Creek) On February 21, 1800, John Swinson, Sr. gave his “beloved son”
(son-in-law) John Maddock Matchet a total of 400 acres of land in two tracts
while reserving for himself and his wife, Susannah, lifetime rights to the
property. The deed also includes several items of personal property. (New
Hanover Deed Bk. M, p. 183) This is an
important deed. First, the use of Sr. shows that a younger John is now on the
scene. Second, it shows that John, Sr., is making arrangements for someone to
look after him and Susannah during their final days. In fact, this is the last sure reference that I can find to this
John, the first one being when he applied for a land grant in 1751 in what was
then Tyrrell County.
1800 – (Moores
Creek) Federal Census of New Hanover County shows:
John Swinson
1 WM to 26
2 WF to 10
1 WF to 26
Ebenezer Swinson
1 WM to 10
1 WM to 45
2 WF to 10
1 WF to 45
These are believed to be sons of the
John Swinson who moved to New Hanover in 1787. They are definitely younger men
than he would have been. Ebenezer was still living in 1850, when the census
gave the actual age of people. He was listed then as 85, meaning he was born in
1765. The John Swinson listed above was still younger. The question is why
their father, John, Sr., is not listed. Could he have died between 21 February
1800 when he gave his land to his son-in-law and the first Monday in August
1800, which was Census Day? Could John
and his wife Susannah have been living in the household of his son-in-law or
another family member? Only the heads
of household were listed by name in that Census. In 1805, John Maddock Matchet sold to Swinson Gurganus part of
the land that John Swinson, Sr., gave to him in 1800. (New Hanover Deed Book N,
p. 176) Since John, Sr., retained a
life estate in the property, does that mean he was deceased by then? Also, how did Swinson Gurganus relate to
the family?
1800 – (Kendricks
Creek) Federal Census of Tyrrell County shows:
John Swinson
1 WM over 45
1 WF over 45
(COMMENT: Judge Moore said this was
the John Swinson missing from the New Hanover census. Does it sound reasonable that John Swinson would have arranged a
life estate in his New Hanover property in February and then moved by August to
Tyrrell County, some 130 air miles away? Also, one must remember that the John
Swinson who moved to New Hanover would have been at least 70 years old in
1800.)
1800 – (Kendricks
Creek) John Swinson bought 50 acres of
land on the south side of Albemarle Sound at a sheriff’s sale. (Washington
County Deed Bk. B, p. 109) He sold this land in 1803. (Washington Deed Bk., B,
p. 131)
1802 – (Moores
Creek) The New Hanover County Court ordered a deed from John Swinson to Jacob
Powell to be registered. This deed has not been found, and it is not known if
this was John, Sr., or John Matchet Swinson.
Also, it should be pointed out that deeds were sometimes presented for
registration (probate) long after they had been drawn up.
1803 – (Kendricks
Creek) John Swinson sold 2 acres of land joining Swinson’s line on Hawkins
Creek to Thomas Stubbs (his brother-in-law?). (Washington County Bk. B, p. 115)
1804 – (Moores
Creek) John Swinson sold 150 acres of land in New Hanover County to John Morgan
on November 15, 1804. (New Hanover Bk, O, p. 519) The fact that Sr. is not used
after the name leads me to believe that this was John Matchet Swinson.
1804 – (Moores
Creek) The New Hanover Court on 17 December 1804 ordered the sheriff to sell
125 acres of land belonging to John Matchet Swinson levied on by virtue of an
execution issued from a Justice of the Peace wherein Ebinezor Swinson is
plaintiff and John M. Swinson is defendant.
1804 – (Moores
Creek) The Wilmington Gazette for Tuesday, May 1, 1804, reported that the New
Hanover sheriff would sell at the Courthouse on the third Monday in June many
tracts of land to satisfy taxes for 1802 and 1802. Slated to be sold were 408
acres belonging to John Swinson, Jr., who owed 15 shilling, 4 pence. The same newspaper reported on July 17,
1804, that 25 acres of Swinson’s land were sold at the sale.
1804 – (Moores
Creek?) John Swinson received 200-acre land grant in Bladen County. No. 0715.
(Have not examined) This is believed to
be the younger John from New Hanover County.
1806 – (moores
Creek) The New Hanover Court ordered to be registered an affidavit of Susannah
Swinson taken before Samuel Ashe, Esq, respecting a gift from James Rogers to
his children. Thus, Susannah Swinson, the wife or widow of John Swinson, Sr.,
was still in New Hanover County. However, we only have the date the affidavit was
presented to the court (10 April 1806) and not the date it was taken. Once might presume it was taken near the
time it was presented.
(COMMENT: If Judge Moore was correct
about John Swinson leaving New Hanover County and going back to the Kendricks
Creek area, does this mean that he left his wife, Susannah, in New Hanover? )
1807 – (Kendricks Creek) James Jones, executor of
will John Swinson, sold 130 acres of land on Kendricks Creek in Washington
County to John Bembridge on 13 May 1807.
Washington Deed Bk. C, p. 43.
This deed proves that John Swinson, the son of Richard, was dead by this
date. The will itself has not been found.
1810 – Federal
Census of Bladen County includes
John
Swinson
1
male 26-45
3
females under 10
4
females 10-16
1
female 26-45
1830 Census of
Cumberland County
John Swinson
1 male 5-10
1 male 10-15
1 male 50-60
1 female 15-20
1 female 50-60
These two entries are believed to be
for John Matchet Swinson, the son of the John who moved to New Hanover.
This
is as far as I have taken the John Swinsons.
There were later ones. In fact, some were on the scene by the time John
Matchet Swinson received his land grant in Bladen County in 1804, but they do
not appear relevant to this chronology.
In
summary, it is my contention that four John Swinsons reached adulthood in North
Carolina during the 1700s. There were
as follows:
John the bricklayer.
Probably born before 1693, he
was the middle son of Richard, the original Swinson in North Carolina. He lived
most of his life on Kendricks Creek, where his father had left him land. Located south of Albemarle Sound, the area
was part of Chowan County until 1729, and then part of Tyrrell County until
1799, when it became a part of Washington County. About 1744, when he was at least
50, John and his wife, Elsie, moved to the Tranters Creek area of what is now
Pitt County. The names of three other
Swinson men later appear in the Tranters Creek area: John, Jr., for the first
time in 1751, Levi for the first time in 1760, and Osten for the first time in
1762. They are all believed to have
been sons of John the bricklayer.
John Jr., son of
John the bricklayer. His name first appears in the public
records in 1751, suggesting that he was born by 1730. Since he is believed to
have been a son of John and Elsie Swinson, he was likely born on Kendricks
Creek in what is now Washington County. He lived in the Tranters Creek area
until about 1770 when he moved to the south side of Goshen Swamp in Duplin
County. The distance would have been about 60 air miles from his old home.
Between 1780 and 1782, he married a widow, Susannah Parker, who lived on the
north side of Goshen Swamp, where John then moved. He had grown children at the time, so this was not his first
marriage either. About 1787 he traded land with someone in New Hanover and
moved there. The land, which is now in
Pender County, was about 35 miles from his home on Goshen. He lived there until
his death, which is believed to have been about 1800. His trail from Tranters Creek, to Goshen Swamp, to Moores Creek
can be traced through deeds.
John Matchet
Swinson, son of John Swinson, Jr.
He first appears in the public
records about 1800 while his father
was living in the part of New Hanover County that was cut off in 1875 to form
Pender County. He is believed to have left the area in the early 1800s, living
first in Bladen and then in Cumberland.
No effort has been made to trace him.
John Swinson, son of
Richard Swinson.
This paper contains 15 references to him, beginning with the first one
in 1759 when his father recorded a stock mark for him. The last one is dated
1807 when the executor of his will sold property from the estate. These references show him buying and selling
land, buying slaves, signing a petition, witnessing a marriage, appearing on
tax lists, and listed in census records.
Additional references can probably be found in the Tyrrell County Court
Minutes (in the State Archives), but reading them is a long, slow, tedious process.
The references that have been found so far are consistent with someone living
in one place. He was involved in too
many activities in his home county of Tyrrell (Washington after 1799) for him
to have been the same John who lived on Tranters Creek, Goshen Swamp, and
Moores Creek. The distances were too great, and travel was too difficult, for a
man with wife and children to have kept “wandering” back and forth even at an
advanced age.