Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Alfred WILKINS

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Descendants of Alfred WILKINS

Generation No. 1

1. ALFRED¹ WILKINS was born about 1800 in Robeson Co NC, and died Aft. 1870 in Johnston Co NC. He married (1) EDITH UNKNOWN about 1823. She died about 1860 in Johnston Co NC. He married (2) WILLEY PILKINGTON 14 December 1863 in Johnston Co NC. She was born about 1827, and died 19 March 1917 in Johnston Co NC.

Notes for ALFRED WILKINS:
      Alfred WILKINS, the first of the family to have settled in Boon Hill Township, Johnston County, North Carolina, appeared in the area about 1840 and was recorded in the Federal Census as Alfred WILKENS. He was the only head-of-household in the county named WILKINS at that time.
      The spelling of names (words of any kind) was a very hit-or-miss skill until just a few years ago. It was the usual practice that each person wrote names the way they sounded to them, phonetically. So, many different spellings of the same name will occur, sometimes in the same document. Therefore, when we search for early traces of Alfred WILKINS, we need to also look under WILKS, WILKES, WILKENS, WILKINS, WILKINGS, and even WILKENSON, WILKINSON and WILKERSON. Lucky for us, Alfred is a fairly uncommon first name.
      Very little is known about Alfred WILKINS. He was not a land-owner, so there are almost no references to him in the public records. Going by estimates of his age from the census records, he was born about 1790 to 1800. There was an Alfred WILKINS who was a soldier of the War of 1812 who might have been our Alfred.
      We do know that he lived in Robeson County before he came to Johnston County. In 1830, Alfred was counted in the Federal Census of Robeson County, N.C., where his name was written WILKINSON. Alfred WILKINS was a buyer at the sale of the estate of Josiah TAYLOR in Robeson County on 17 December 1830, and in December 1831, he was a buyer at the estate sale of Wm. BAXLEY, of Robeson County.
      In 1837, a tax list in Robeson County lists "Alford WILKS" as owner of 50 acres of land, "west side of Gum Swamp," valued at $50. His neighbors were Elias WILKS (with 300 acres) and William WILKS (with 50 acres). In this tax list, Alfred and William WILKS seem to be sons of Elias. I do not know if this is our Alfred, how Alfred acquired this land, or when he disposed of it. There is a chance that these people are related to our family.
      Isaac Wilkes was a Revolutionary Soldier of Bladen and Robeson Counties and the father of 12 children. Information from Ivan E. Bass, 3601 Connecticut Ave. Washington, DC. Information from John A. Wilkes of Rockledge, Laurens Co GA. Family Bible and Family History:
      "Isaac Wilkes was an Englishman who lived for a time in Virginia and later settled in that part of Bladen Co, NC that later became Robeson Co. Shortly after 1800, when Isaac Wilkes died (he lived near Lumberton, NC and is buried there), all the children except John, the oldest, left NC for Georgia and settled in Emanuel Co--the widow was with these children and all had sold their interest in the estate of Isaac Wilkes to John Wilkes. John Wilkes is reported to have remained in Robeson Co and to have had fifteen children. Solomon Wilkes is said to have moved to Berrian Co, GA. Some of the others went to Dooley and other counties. Isaac Wilkes is stated to have had Revolutionary Service.
      "First appears in Bladen Co, where he sold land on Gum Swamp. See Balden Co, NC Deeds p. 397, 398, 399 and 400. This writer believes that Isaac was married twice. The first time to Elizabeth Branch, the second to Tabitha (?). Isaac Wilks oldest son, John, left a family Bible which states that Isaac Wilks married Elizabeth Branch. The 1790 Census of Robeson Co, NC lists Francis Wilks as head of the house with one male over 16, five males under 16 and 5 females. ths Francis was the son of Isaac being born Dec. 30, 1768. The children in the house were the children of Isaac Wilks.
      "The 1800 Census of Robeson Co NC lists Tabitha Wilks as head of the house with six males and two females. Francis does not appear in the 1800 census. In the 1810 census of Robeson Co NC Elisha Wilks appears as head of the house with four sons 0-10 years old.
      "Isaac Wilks does not appear on any census record."
      There are two important items connecting Alfred indirectly with Robeson County. The first is the presence of a man named Theophilus WILKINS who was living next to Alfred WILKINS in Boon Hill Township, Johnston County in 1850. In 1839, Theophilus WILKINS and Nancy KING were married in Robeson County, N.C. In 1840 Theophilus WILKINS was head of a household in Robeson County. Sometime before 1850 he moved to Johnston County and became a neighbor of Alfred. Going strictly by his age, it is possible that he was Alfred's eldest son, but there is no proof of this. (The Theophilus WILKINS family will be presented in a separate section in this book.)
      The second item is the appearance of another of Alfred's neighbors. In 1860 a lady named Ann WILKINS, presumably a widow, and her children were living near Alfred. Ann WILKINS was in the Federal Census of 1850 in Robeson County, N.C. Ann and Alfred were approximately the same age. It is possible that her deceased husband had been Alfred's brother. At this time, there is no proof, and this is only a theory of mine. (The Ann WILKINS family will be presented in a separate section in this book.)
      In November of 1842, Alfred WILKINS and a woman named Morning EDWARDS were both called as witnesses for the State vs Henry CAPPS. According to the Johnston County Court Minutes, they both failed to appear and were fined $40 each. These minutes do not detail the nature of the case.
      An 1850 petition to the Legislature of North Carolina is on file at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh. The petition reads:
      "The undersigned, memorialists citizens of the County of Johnston Respectfully recommend to your Honorable body, the propriety of refusing for the future, Charters of Incorporation to any religious or moral reform societies whatsoever. To do so, in their humble opinion, is to violate the Constitution of our State, and to encourage the encroachment of ecclesiastical despotism. The attention of your body is especially called to the order of the Sons of Temperance, in our State, who are desirous of law power to carry out their designs and who will likely importune your body for acts of favorite legislation. Your memorialists deprevate any such legislation, as being dangerous to human liberty. Believing the money loaned by the State to the Wake Forest College to have been improperly disposed of, and by reason of which loan, sectarian pride and prejudice have been fostered; the undersigned Suggest the propriety of withdrawing the arm of government from this sectarian Institution by collecting from it, if possible, the amount loaned. If religious Societies, Schools or Colleges cannot stand upon their own merits and sustain themselves without the legislation or money of human governments they should not stand at all, and the sooner they fall the better."
      The petition bore the names of eighty-one (81) men who were residents of Johnston County, including Alford (Alfred) WILKINS, Eli WILKINS, John WILKINS and Offie (Theophilus) WILKINS. It seems our ancestors were very interested in the politics of their day... and very much opposed to the mingling of "church and state." Eli and John WILKINS are known to be sons of Alfred. These names would seem to be those of Alfred and three of his sons ( if Theophilus is his son, but this is still only speculation ).
      There are several interesting stories, our family's folklore or legends, which have been handed down to us from our grandparents concerning the origin of Alfred WILKINS. My favorite story was told to me by my grandfather (Joseph Henry WILKINS), his brother (Ransom WILKINS) and his sister (Janettie WILKINS BUHRMAN). It goes like this:
      "The first WILKINS to come to America was named John WILKINS. He came into America near Norfolk, Virginia when he was about 12 or 14 years old as an indentured servant, since he had no money to pay for his trip to America. He made his way to the Edenton, North Carolina area where he was apprenticed to a master ship-builder and carpenter. When he was 21 years old his indenture was up and he was a free man. His former master gave him a mule and $100 when he left. He went on his way, met and married an Indian lady, and together they had 22 children! This John WILKINS was our Alfred WILKINS' father."
      If the first WILKINS was an indentured or bonded servant, he must have arrived in America before 1784. In that year, all bonded men were declared free and resident citizens of the United States by the Treaty of Paris.
      If our story is true, Alfred WILKINS was one-half Indian. There is no direct evidence to support this, but there is some indirect evidence. In the 1840 census of Robeson County, Theophilus WILKINS and his family members were listed as Free Colored Persons. All non-white-persons, including full blooded Indians and people who were part Indian, or mixed blood of any combination, were referred to in this way in this census. Other records use the term "mulatto." In 1850 and later years, this family was listed as White. Since it seems clear that Alfred and Theophilus were closely related, this lends some support to the claim that Alfred was part Indian.
      A manuscript entitled "Walking Upright: The Coharie People of Sampson County" (North Carolina), submitted by Dr. David Wilkins (Karonhiawakon) in 1980 to the Division of Archives & History, Department of Cultural Resources, Raleigh, N.C., details his research into the history of the eastern North Carolinian native American peoples. According to this manuscript, the WILKINS name has been asssociated with the Indian people of eastern North Carolina for more than two hundred years. The areas of their final settlement are in the Robeson and Sampson County sections of our state.
      As late as 1900 there were people in the records of Robeson County by the name of Wilkins who were continuing to refer to themselves as Indian, some of them using the word Croatan to describe themselves in their legal records. . An examination of the early marriage records and the first death certificates in Robeson County reveals that the Wilkins family intermarried exclusively with other known Indian families up to that time.
      The "Wilson Daily Times" (Wilson, NC) published on November 23, 1982 contained an article entitled "Tuscaroras Want Legal Recognition." This article details efforts on the part of contemporary Robeson County Indians, now called the Lumbee Indians, to gain federal recognition as an Indian tribe. According to this article, "In the late 1960s, a smaller, more rural group of Indians in the area detached themselves from the Lumbees and began calling themselves the Tuscaroras... The Tuscaroras say they are descended from an old North Carolina tribe, remnants of which moved north more than two centuries ago to join the Iroquois in New York. Some of the Lumbees say the Lumbees are descended from Indians and members of The Lost Colony, the English settlement on Roanoke Island that disappeared in the 1580s."
      And of course, there are our family traditions. All of the older members of our family have heard Alfred WILKINS referred to as "the Old Indian." That nick-name stuck with Alfred many years after his death, and about 1975 our cousin Azile WILKINS had it inscribed on a stone for the family graveyard. It also got him a front page article in the History Section of The Smithfield Herald on July 29, 1977. The newspaper story quoted Bud WILKINS (David Jordan WILKINS): "Bud WILKINS recalled that Alfred WILKINS "acted like an Indian." He was fleet-footed, and once in the woods could not be located unless he wanted to be. He didn't think much of roads built by the white settlers, and when he went to Smithfield for supplies he would send a wagon around the road, go through the woods on foot, and beat the wagon there." This story must have been told to Bud Wilkins many times when he was a child, since Alfred Wilkins died before he was born, but Bud Wilkins did say that he remembered Alfred's son, Henry W. Wilkins.
      I have heard two stories of how Alfred WILKINS and his sons came to live in Johnston County. The first was related to me when I was a teenager, by James Ruffin "Jim" Wilkins. He said he was taught that "Alfred WILKINS accidentally killed a man in a fight in South Carolina, and he came to Johnston County to escape from the law."
      The second version of the story was told to me by by a grandson of Owen C. WILKINS. Here is the way James Thomas WILKINS Jr of Clayton, N.C., tells the story: "John WILKINS, the immigrant, came from SCOTLAND and lived first around Edenton, N.C. He worked there as a ship-builder for a few years and then went down to Robeson County on the way to South Carolina. In Robeson County, he married an Indian woman and moved on down to Cheraw, S.C. There he had several children, of which Alfred was one. After Alfred married and had children of his own he came up to N.C., around Bagley, to Lowell Factory, and he and his sons built the cotton mill there. This was before the Civil War. Near the end of the war the mill was burned down, and Alfred and his family moved over to the area around Princeton on the Neuse River near Richardson's Bridge. The house they lived in there was where Owen WILKINS and his family lived. They ran a ferry on the river."
      In several census records, Alfred was referred to as a farmer, a chair maker, and a turner. There is no evidence that he ever owned any land in Johnston County.
      Alfred WILKINS married a lady named Edith. There is no record of her last name. Edith and Alfred must have married about 1820, as their son Henry was born about 1825 (perhaps earlier, if Theophilus turns out to be Alfred's eldest son.) Alfred seems to have been living in the Robeson County area during those years, but there is evidence that the Wilkins family had been in the northeastern counties of N.C., specifically Perquimans and Gates County, before settling in Robeson. We know from the census records that Edith was about the same age as Alfred, and that she died after 1860 when the census was taken and before 1863 when Alfred married his second wife. Edith's burial place is not known.
      Alfred WILKINS was married on 14 December 1863 to Willie / Willey PILKINGTON. She was a daughter of Hardie PILKINGTON and Sallie COCKRELL of Johnston County. The last record of Alfred is in the 1880 census of Johnston County, when he was a resident of Selma Township. At that time Alfred's daughter Sally WILKINS and her two children, Georganna and Thomas, were living with Alfred and Willie. Also in the household in 1880 were: Jenethia WILLIAMS, a 16 year old black "servant;" Betsey WILSON, aged 40, who worked for the Hilbert PEEDIN family; and, Salley WILSON, aged 20, who worked for the Joshua CREECH family. The relationship of these two WILSON women to Alfred is unclear.
      Willie PILKINGTON WILKINS lived until 17 March 1917, when her death was recorded in Johnston County. According to her death certificate she is buried in the "family cemetery" near Princeton, so she must have been buried next to Alfred. He is believed to be buried in the Wilkins Family Cemetery, known to the family as the Brown's Creek Cemetery (which will be called the Alfred Wilkins Cemetery in this book), the burial place of many of his descendants. However, the original grave-markers would have been made of wood, and have long since disappeared. The new stone, which reads "Alfred Wilkins, the Old Indian," marks his traditional burial site. The cemetery is located just outside of Princeton, N.C., and about 12 miles east of Smithfield, N.C., on State Road 2523, now known as Baker's Chapel Road (Route 1), Princeton, N.C.

1850 Census Johnston Co NC 829 Alfred Wilkins 50 M farmer b NC
      Edith 48 F, John 22 M, Eli 21 M, Owen 18 M, Sally 15 F, Alfred 13 M, Edith 8 F, Polly 4 F
1860 Census Johnston Co NC Boon Hill Twp 79 Alfred Wilkins 59 M chair maker b NC
      Edith 58 F, Sally 24 F, Alfred 21 M, Mariah 18 F, Polly Ann 14 F
1870 Census Johnston Co NC Selma Twp 208 Alfred Wilkins farmer and turner b NC
      Willey 40 F, Salley 30 F, Edith M 23 F, Polly 20 F, George Anna 2 F
1880

> PRIMARY RECORD= FEDERAL CENSUS, Johnston Co NC: 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870. Robeson Co NC: 1830;
> PRIMARY RECORD= MARRIAGE RECORD, Johnston Co NC: Alfred Wilkins & Willy Pilkington;
> PRIMARY RECORD= DEATH CERTIFICATE, Johnston Co NC: Willie Pilkington Wilkins;

Children of ALFRED WILKINS and EDITH UNKNOWN are:

2.	i.	HENRY W. 'SHAD'² WILKINS, b. about 1825, Robeson/Johnston Co NC; d. about 1910, Johnston Co NC.
3.	ii.	JOHN WILKINS, b. about 1826, Robeson/Johnston Co NC; d. 16 December 1899, Johnston Co NC.
4.	iii.	ELI WILKINS, b. about 1829, Robeson/Johnston Co NC.
5.	iv.	OWEN C. WILKINS, b. 3 June 1833, Robeson/Johnston Co NC; d. 12 June 1906, Johnston Co NC.
6.	v.	SARAH D. "SALLY" WILKINS, b. July 1835, Robeson/Johnston Co NC; d. Aft. 1900, Johnston Co NC.
	vi.	ALFRED WILKINS, b. about 1837, Robeson/Johnston Co NC.
7.	vii.	EDITH MARIAH WILKINS, b. 7 April 1842, Johnston Co NC; d. 19 July 1914, Pine Level, Johnston Co NC.
8.	viii.	MARY ANN WILKINS, b. 8 August 1847, Johnston Co NC; d. Aft. 1886, Johnston Co NC.

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