"Dutchman's Creek also runs through Davie County, NC near the Yadkin Co. border, north of Mocksvile - it runs west to east" ----------------------------- Below are some extracts which if read carefully, may give some useful background on the people and churches of Dutchman's Creek area. (Keep in mind that spelling of names and various folks' recorded recollections may not always be 100% accurate). Hope this helps some... Regards, Rick ------------------------------------------------------------------ In August, 1793, James Chambers, Ebenezer Fairchild and Samuel Wilcoxon were sent as delegates to the assembly at Eaton's Meeting House, Dutchman's Creek near Daniel Boone's old home, while in February, 1793, James Tompkins and Richard Green were sent to the association at Brier Creek to "seek for union " In January, 1795, a brother was suspended for "drinking to excess, using profane speeches, singing vain songs and dancing." In March 1800, the first solemn protest was entered against double marriage," and in July following James Chambers, James McCaleb and Shadrack Brown were sent to the association at Fox Creek, Grayson County, Va. In November, 1800, John Brown and Elisha Chambers were elected singing clerks, and in August, 1802, Brother Boone laid an allegation against Brother Hartley for "not giving good usage at his mill," and in February following and again at a called meeting during same month Hartley was admonished. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Isaac Holeman (spelling of the name varies) as proved by his signature--moved about 1752 from Virginia, where he undoubtedly associated with the Holeman settlement in the Shenandoah valley, to the enterprising of the North Carolina colony; so the latter state, where he settled permanently stands out conspicuously by way of background. That he brought along His father and mother, whose first names, unluckily. are unrecorded, and when they died, buried them on his own land, produces eight generations as computed from the last offspring of today. Afterwards two of his younger brothers, William and James Holeman, followed him to North Carolina, and together they established another HoIeman settlement. The three obtained Iand-grants in that part of the then enormous Rowan County which was subsequently set aside as Davie county, and there they lived on adjoining plantations located among the foothills of the Brushy mountains, on the head waters of both Bear Creek and Dutchman's creek. As adherents of the sect called "Missionary Baptist," both he and his wife belonged to the Bear Creek Baptist Church, one of the oldest religious organizations in that section, with its meeting-house built on what was then called the Holeman road; while the names of their posterity, even to the present generation, have been regularly enrolled on its books. Though he continuously lived in the extreme northwestern corner of what is now Davie county, with Mocksville as county-seat, where he eventually acquired his permanent abode, he bought and sold, in the meantime, several other tracts of land in that region. In fact, when, he received his first land-grant from North Carolina on March 25, 1752, even the original Rowan county was non-existent, for it was not separated from Anson county until the following year; but the transaction was discovered on the records of the Secretary of State at Raleigh (Land Book 6,page 162). This 252 acres designated as "along the river," apparently meaning the Yadkin river, he transferred to Edward Williams on December 15.1754, according to the records of Rowan county (Deed Book 2, page 96). On December 21,1761, he obtained his second grant of 572 acres known as No. 41 (Deed Book 4, page 632), and situated on "both sides of Reedy branch, on the east side of Yadkin river," which was in tliat section of Rowan county subsequently set aside as Davidson county; and this propertv he disposed of in part to John Wood in 1766: and in part to Edward Dicas in 1782. On October 10,1783, he acquired, his third grant of 300 acres, No. 339 (Deed Book 9, page 339}, described as on the waters of Hunting Creek," being in the part of Rowan county that became Iredell county; and this he sold in 1798 to Benjamin Johnson. Then he secured the last three land-grants, constituting his extensive homestead of 700 acres, which were represented as "on the waters of Bear creek and Dutchman's creek": No. 1043, of 100 acres, In 1784 (Deed Book 10, page 369); No. 1411, of 200 acres, in 1786 (recorded only at Raleigh in Land Book 67, page 128), and No. 1828, of 400 acres, in 1787 (Deed Book 12, page 208). Ten years before his death, in 1798, he transferred this entire property to his two youngest sons, Jacob and David Holeman (Deed Book 16, pages 193 and 224); and in this connection it is particularly pleasant to relate that the half including the site of his house and the family burying-ground, which went to David, who, in turn, sold it to Daniel Cain, has been recently purchased, after decades of ownership outside the family, by Camilla Holman-Steelman, granddaughter of Jacob—and, consequently, great-granddaughter of Isaac Holeman—who dwells in what is now Davie county at the small crossroads town called Holman. Thus the dead ancestors of long-ago have been restored to the keeping of their own kinsfolk. His house was constructed of logs, for though Salisbury, the county-seat of Rowan county, situated twenty-five miles away, had evolved from the "seven or eight houses" reported by the Royal Governor in 1754, the living conditions were still crude. It stood on the old Holeman road (since changed to Wilkesboro road), where the spring, two hundred yards to the south, continues to flow at the foot of a white oak. To the southwest, on the gently sloping side of a cedar-covered hill, the outline of ten graves, at least, may be discerned in the family burying-ground, but the inscriptions on the three tombstones which remain have been obliterated. The parents of Isaac Holeman were buried to the southeast of the house, with small rocks outlining a square DANIEL HOLEMAN, The first son of Isaac Holeman and Mary........ may have been a native of Virginia as the date of his birth, June 20,1750, antedated by two years the entrance of his father on the records of North Carolina. When he grew to manhood on the paternal plantation in that part of Rowan county which is now northwestern Davie county, in the latter state, he secured on October 25, 1786, a land-grant of 520 acres, No. 1214 (Deed Book 11, page 181), described as "on the waters of Dutchman's creek next to William Cook's," being mostly in that part of Rowan county which became the northeastern section of Iredell county, adjoining on the west. Previously he had married Nancy Saunders, whose parents, James and Sarah Saunders, owned 2 000 acres on Hunting creek in that part of Surry county, adjacent on the north, which was subsequently set aside as Yadkin County; so he was a near neighbor both of his father and his father-in-law. --------------------------------------------------- JACOB HOLEMAN, The ninth son of Isaac Holeman and Mary........, together with the youngest, David Holeman, who dwelt permanently in North Carolina, were naturally the ones to acquire, in that part of Rowan county which became Davie county, the plantation of their father, Isaac Holeman, in his declining years. According to the legal records (Deed Book 16, page 193), he purchased on May 5, 1798, the south half of the homestead containing 282 acres situated on the head waters of Bear creek. Three years previous to this transaction he was married, on November 26, 1795, to Lydia Pinchbeck, daughter of John Pinchbeck and Isabella........, who conducted a tavern on one of the stage-roads running through that section; and the newly-wedded couple, not possessing the part of the ancestral land with the house, established themselves in a home of their own a few miles to the southeast. This so-called Pinchbeck property, which in time was inherited by their daughter, Lydia Holeman-Ratledge, wife of Thomas Ratledge, has been the burying-ground for this line of the family. That he was born on May 2, 1776, and died in 1842, are facts which he inscribed in his Bible. Whether he belonged to the Bear Creek Baptist Church in his neighborhood, which his father attended, or the Eaton Baptist Church, situated about five miles away on Dutchman's creek and formerly designated as Dutchman Creek Baptist Church, is a subject for discussion among his descendants. Three of his sons, John, David and Isaac Holeman, married maidens by the name of Crenshaw, the wife of the first-mentioned being the cousin of two sisters. The charming water-color sketches in silhouette of John Holman, the oldest son, and his wife, Catherine Crenshaw-Holman— to give the modern spelling of the surname as espoused in later life—are otherwise interesting because they were done by a woman artist, well known thereabout at that period, who, having no hands, held the brush with her toes. This heirloom is owned by Camilla Holman-Steelman, granddaughter of Jacob Holeman, who resides at Holman, the small crossroads hamlet founded by her father, Isaac Holeman, in what is now Davie county, ----------------------------------------------------- Though he continuously lived in the extreme northwestern corner of what is now called Davie county, with Mocksville as county seat, where he eventually aquired his permanent abode, he bought and sold in the meantime, several other tracts of land in that region. In fact, when he received his first land-grant from North Carolina on March 25, 1752, even the original Rowan county was nonexistent for it was not separated from Anson county until the following year; but the transaction was discovered on the records of the secretary of state at Raleigh ( land Book 6, page 162), this 252 acres designated as "along the river" apparently meaning the Yadkin River, he transferred to EDWARD WILLIAMS on Dec. 15, 1753. According to the records of Rowan county ( Deed Book 2, page 96). On Dec, 21 1761, he obtained his second grant of 572 acres known as no. 41 ( Deed Book 4, page 632) and situated on "both sides of Reedy Branch , on the East side of the Yadkin River", which was in that section of Rowan county subsequently set aside as Davidson county, and this property he disposed of in part to JOHN WOOD in 1766, and in part to EDWARD DICAS in 1782. On Oct. 19,1783 he acquired the third grant of 300 acres. No. 339 ( Deed Book 9, page 339) described as " on the water of Hunting Creek", being in the part of Rowan county that became Iredell county, and this he sold in 1798 to BENJAMIN JOHNSON. Then he second the last three land-grants, constituting his extensive homestead of 700 acres, which were represented as " on the waters of Bear Creek and Dutchman's Creek" no.1043 of 100 acres, in 1784 ( Deed Book 10 page 369);no.1411 of 200 acres in 1786, record only at Raleigh, in (Land Book 67, page 128 and no. 1828 of 400 acres, in 1787 ( Deed Book 12, page 208).Ten years before his death, in 1798, he transferred this entire property to his two youngest sons, JACOB and DAVID HOLEMAN, ( Deed Book 16 page 193 and 224 ), and in this connection it is particularly plesent to relate that the half including the site of his house and the family burying ground, which went to DAVID, who, in turn sold it to DANIEL CAIN, has been recently perchased, after decades of ownership outside the family by CAMILLA HOLEMAN-STEELMAN, grandaughter of JACOB and consequently, greatgrand-daghter of ISSAC HOLEMAN who dwells in what is now Davie county at the small cross-roads town called Holman. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Ancient Happenings- The last Saturday in April 1792 was set apart as a day of fasting and prayer and at the same meeting James Chambers was approbated to exercise his gift in preaching In August 1793 James Chambers Ebenezer Fairchild and Samuel were sent as delegatesto the assembly at Eaton's Meeting House Dutchman's Creek near Daniel Boone's old home while in February 1793 JamesTompkins and Richard Green were sent to the association atBrier Creek to seek for union In January 1795 a brother was suspended for drinking to excess using profane speeches singing vain songs and dancing In March 1800 the first ssolleemmnn protest was entered against double marriage and in July following James Chambers James McCaleb and Shadrack Brown were sent to the association at Fox Creek Grayson County Va In November 1800 John Brown and Elisha Chambers were elected singing clerks and in August 1802 Brother Hull was cited for going to law contrary to an act of this church In January 1815 Brother Boone laid an allegation against Brother Hartley for not giving good usage at his mill and in February following and again a called meeting during same month Hartley was admonished. ----------------------------------------------- JACOB HOLEMAN: The ninth son of ISSAC HOLEMAN and MARY... together with the youngest DAVID HOLEMAN, who dwelt permanently in North Carolina, were naturally the ones to acquire, in that part of Rowan county which became Davie county, the plantation of their father ISSAC HOLEMAN, in his declining years. According to the legal records (Deed book 16, pg. 193), he purchased on May 5, 1798, the south half of the homestead containing 282 acres situated on the head waters of Bear Creek. Three years previous to this transaction he was married on Nov. 26, 1795 to LYDIA PINCHBECK, daughter of JOHN PINCHBECK and ISABELLA..., who conducted a tavern on one of the stage-roads, running through that section; and the newly-wedded couple, not possessing the part of the ancestral land with house, established themselves in a house of their own a few miles to the southeast. This so-called Pinchbeck property which in the time was, inherited by their daughter, LYDIA HOLEMAN RATLEDGE, has been the burying-ground for this line of the family. That he was born on May 2,1776, and died in 1842, are facts which are inscribed in his Bible. Whether he belonged to the Bear Creek Baptist Church in his neighborhood, which his father attended, or the Baton Baptist Church, situated about five miles away on Dutchman's Creek, and formerly designated as Dutchman Creek Baptist Church, is a subject for discussion among his descendants. Three of his sons, JOHN, DAVID, and ISSAC HOLEMAN, married maidens by the name of CRENSHAW, the wife of JOHN being the cousin of two sisters. The charming water-color sketches in silhouette of JOHN HOLEMAN, the oldest son and his wife, CATHERINE CRENSHAW-HOLEMAN are otherwise interesting because they were done bt a woman artist, well known thereabout at that period, who, having no hands, held the brush with her toes. This heirloom is owned by AMELIA HOLEMAN-STEELMAN, grand daughter of JACOB HOLEMAN, who resides at HOLEMAN, the small crossroads hamlet founded by their father, ISSAC HOLEMAN, in what is now Davie county, --------------------------------------------------------- DANIEL HOLEMAN; (ISSAC HOLEMAN) The first son of ISSAC HOLEMAN and MARY... may have been a native of Virginia, as the date of his birth June 20, 1750, antedated by two years the entrance of his father on the records of North Carolina. When he grew to manhood on the paternal plantation in that part of Rowan county, in the latter state, he secured on Oct. 25, 1786, a land-grant of 520 acres, No. 1214 (Deed book pg. 181) described as "On the waters of Dutchman's Creek, next to WILLIAM COOK'S" being mostly in that part of Rowan county which became the north-western of Iredell county, adjoining on the west. Previously he had married NANCY SAUNDERS, whose parents, JAMES and SARAH SAUNDERS owned 2,000 acres on Huntington Creek in that part of Surry county, adjacent on the north, which was subsequently set aside as Yadkin county. So he was a near neighbor both of his father and father-in-law. ---------------------------------------------------------- Though the starting-point of this particular line in the southern group was Virginia, the majority of its progency assert a minority whose opinion is impressive insist that Maryland played a part. The first forbear to be presented, Issac Holeman for such was the spelling of the name at that period, as proved by his signature---moved about 1752 from Virginia, where he undoutedly associated with the Holman settlement in the Shenandoah Valley to the enterprising frontier of the North Carolina colony; so later state, where he settled permanently, stands out conspicuously by way of background. That he brought along his father and mother, whose first names, unluckily are unrecorded, and when they died, buried them on his own land, produce eight generations as computed from the last offspring of today 1948. Afterwards two of his youngest brothers, William and James Holeman, followed him to North Carolina, and together they established another Holeman settlement. The three obtained land-grants in that part of the then anormous Rowan county which was subsequently set aside as Davie County, and there they lived on adjoining plantations located among the foothills of the Bushy mountains, on the head waters of both Bear Creek and Dutchmans Creek. --------------------------------------------- Davidson County, Aug 21, 1830 by H. Eakels, JP, Bondsman David (x) Todd. 1830 - David Chesher of Davidson County, NC m. Jinney Todd, Davidson Co., NC Dec. 15, 1830. Bondsman: David ToddFeb, 1831 - Esq. Samuel Silliman (on a decree of the April term of Court 1830 for the clerk to sell the lands of the late deceased John Booe for the benefit of his heirs which was done on May 31 1830, but reserving a dower in it for the widow) delivers to William Dooling as the highest bidder at $300.00, 154 1/4 acres on Buffalo Creek (a Branch of Dutchman's Creek) next to Jonathan Chesher, Henry Cawl (Call?) David Sparks, Peter Sainer, ---- Howard, and between Wm. Dooling and the heirs of Benjamin Doolin, acknowledged in Feb., 1831. Feb, 1833 - Andrew Baggerly --no wife signs-- lets Thomas Cheshire, (both of Rowan Co., NC) have 300 acres on the waters of Bear Creek, beginnin on the line of Al--- Hadgaan at a chestnut and going east 47 chains to an alder in the line of Hablin Hays, north 20 chains to a balck oak, east 1 chain and 50 links to a black oak, north 5 chains to a black oak, east 21 chains and 50 links to a post oak, north 50 chains to a chestnut, west 15 chains and 37 links to a black oak on the corner of William Stephens, south 24 chains and 40 links to a stone on the corner of said Stephens, west 35 chains and 58 links to a stone on the line of Joseph Jones, south 28 chains and 30 links to a white oak on the corner of said Jones, west 20 chains to a hickory on the corner of said Jones, then south to the beginning, for $262.00. Witness: S L. Howell and Will F. Kelly and proved by the latter in Feb court of 1833. ---------------------------------------------------- Mar, 1837 - William Hawkins and Tennesson Cheshire to Wm. Hawkins for $180 21 acres in Forks of the Yadkin on Dutchmans Creek, part of the Ballance tract. Wit: Henry R. Call, Francis Hawkins -------------------------------------------------- Nov, 1839 - Rebecca Hayes sold to Thomas Cheshire for $100, 137 acres on Dutchmans Crk adj. John Harris on Iredell Co Line. Witness: P. H. (Patrick?) Cain and Wm. P. Cook -------------------------------------------------- Sep, 1847 - A. G. Carter to Tennison Cheshier for $396, 400 acres adj William Humphreys, John Hendricks and Nathan Stanley. Witness: G. A. BinghamFeb 1848 - Isaac Holman to Tennison Cheshier for $8, 3 3/4 acres on Dutchman's Creek. Witness J. Inglis Feb, 1848 - Tennison Cheshier to Isaac Holman for $2, 3/4 acres on Dutchman s Creek. Feb, 1848 - Isaac HOLMAN to Tennison Cheshire for $10, 4 3/4 acres adj. Cheshire. -------------------------------------------------- Nov, 1849 - John Cheshire to P H Cain for $500, 133 acres on Dutchman Creek adj. James HOLMAN and Wm. Cain and 92 acres on Dutchmans Creek adj. James Frost and Jesse Brown. 3:143 Nov, 1849 - John Cheshire to P. H. Cain for $500, 133 acres on Dutchman's Creek adj James Frost (previously John Beeman's land) and 148 acres on Dutchman's Creek adj. James HOLMAN and William Cain and 92 acres on Dutchmans Creek adj. James Frost and Jesse Brown. ---------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Boone, a Pennsylvania youth of English stock, Quaker persuasion, and Baptist proclivities. Seen through a glorifying halo after the lapse of a century and three quarters, he rises before us a romantic figure, poised and resolute, simple, benign--as naive and shy as some wild thing of the primeval forest--five feet eight inches in height, with broad chest and shoulders, dark locks, genial blue eyes arched with fair eyebrows, thin lips and wide mouth, nose of slightly Roman cast, and fair, ruddy countenance. Farming was irksome to this restless, nomadic spirit, who on the slightest excuse would exchange the plow and the grubbing hoe for the long rifle and keen-edged hunting knife. In a single day during the autumnseason he would kill four or five deer; or as many bears as would snake from two to three thousand pounds weight of bear-bacon.Fascinated with the forest, he soon found profit as well as pleasure in the pursuit of game; and at excellent fixed prices he sold his peltries, most often at Salisbury, some thirteen miles away, sometimes at the store of the old "Dutchman," George Hartman, on the Yadkin, and occasionally at Bethabara, the Moravian town sixty odd miles distant. Skins were in such demand that they soon came to replace hard money, which was incredibly scarce in the back country, as a medium of exchange. Upon one occasion a caravan from Bethabara hauled three thousand pounds, upon another four thousand pounds, of dressed deerskins to Charleston. So immense was this trade that the year after Boone's arrival at the Forks of Yadkin thirty thousand deerskins were exported from the province of North Carolina. We like to think that the young Daniel Boone was one of that band of whom Brother Joseph, while in camp on the Catawba River (November 12, 1752) wrote: "There are many hunters about here, who live like Indians, they kill many deer selling their hides, and thus live without much work." -------------------------------------- The superlative skill of one of these hunters, both as woodsman and marksman was proverbial along the border. The name of Daniel Boone became synonymous with expert huntsmanship and almost uncanny wisdom in forest lore. The bottoms of the creek near the Boone home, three miles west of present Mocksville, contained a heavy growth of beech, which dropped large quantities of its rich nuts or mast, greatly relished by bears; and this creek received its name, Bear Creek, because Daniel and his father killed in its rich bottoms ninety-nine bears in a single hunting-season. After living for a time with his young wife, Rebecca Bryan, in a cabin in his father's yard, Daniel built a home of his own upon a tract of land, purchased from his father on October 12, 1759, and lying on Sugar Tree, a tributary of Dutchman's Creek. Here he dwelt for the next five years, with the exception of the period of his temporary removal to Virginia during the terrible era of the Indian war. Most of his time during the autumn and winter, when he was not engaged in wagoning or farming, he spent in long hunting-journeys into the mountains to the west and northwest. During the hunting-season of 1760 he struck deeper than ever before into the western mountain region and encamped in a natural rocky shelter amidst fine hunting-grounds, in what is now Washington County in east Tennessee. Of the scores of inscriptions commemorative of his hunting-feats, which Boone with pardonable pride was accustomed throughout his life time to engrave with his hunting-knife upon trees and rocks, the earliest known is found upon a leaning beech tree, only recently fallen, near his camp and the creek which since that day has borne his name. This is a characteristic and enduring record in the history of American exploration ------------------------------------------------ Among these insurgents there was a remarkable element, an element whose influence upon the course of American history has been but imperfectly understood which now looms into prominence as the vanguard of the army of westward expansion. There were some of the Regulators who, though law-abiding and conservative, were deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, personal independence, and the freedom of the soil. Through the influence of Benjamin Franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the group, Herman Husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic ideas then rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the inspiration to action. As early as 1766, the Sandy Creek leaders, referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each neighborhood to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of investigating the question "whether the free men of this country labor under any abuses of power or not." The close connection between the Sandy Creek men and the Sons of Liberty is amply demonstrated in this paper wherein the Sons of Liberty in connection with the "stamp law" are praised: for "redeeming us from Tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in Parliament in behalf of true liberty." Upon the records of the Dutchman's Creek Church, of "regular" Baptists, at the Forks of the Yadkin, to which Daniel Boone's family belonged, may be found this memorable entry, recognizing the "American Cause" well-nigh a year before the declaration of independence at Philadelphia: "At the monthly meeting it was agreed upon concerning the American Cause, if any of the brethren see cause to join it they have the liberty to do it without being called to an account by the church. But whether they join or do not join they should be used with brotherly love. ------------------------------------------------------- BENJAMIN CUTBIRTH. This name was pronounced Cutbaird according to the recollection of Cyrus Grubb, a prominent citizen of Watauga, and Benjamin Cuthbirth's name appears on the records of Ashe county as having conveyed 100 acres of land on the South Fork of New river to Andrew Ferguson in 1800. This is the same "Scotch-Irishman" who had married Elizabeth Wilcoxen, a neice of Daniel Boone, at the close of the French and Indian war, and when he was about twenty-three years old. In 1767 he and John Stuart, John Baker and John Ward crossed the mountains and went to the Mississippi river, where they spent a year or two, going even to New Orleans. [4] HOLMAN'S FORD. About this time Daniel Boone moved sixty-five miles west from the Yadkin settlement near Dutchman's creek, "choosing his final home on the upper Yadkin just above the mouth of Beaver creek.[5] Col. James M. Isbell's grantfather, Martin, told him that Daniel Boone used to live six miles below James M. Isbell's present home near the bank of the Yadkin river, on a little creek now known as Beaver creek, one mile from where it flows into the Yadkin river, near Holman's ford. The Boone house was in a little swamp and canebrake surrounding the point of a ridge, with but one approach-that by the ridge. The swamp was in the shape of a horse-shoe, with the point of the ridge projecting into it. The foundations of the chimney are still there, and the cabin itself has not been gone more than 52 years. Alfred Foster who owned the land showed Col. Isbell the cabin, which was still there during his boyhood, and he remembered how it looked. His grandmother, the wife of Benjamin Howard, knew Boone well as he often stayed with her father, Benjamin Howard, at the mouth of Elk creek, now Elkville.[6] ---------------------------------------------------- Daniel and Rebecca were married in the spring of 1756. Squire Boone, in his capacity as justice of the peace, tied the knot; and in a small cabin built upon his spacious lands the young couple set up housekeeping. Here Daniel's first two sons were born. In the third year of his marriage, when the second child was a babe in arms, Daniel removed with his wife and their young and precious family to Culpeper County in eastern Virginia, for the border was going through its darkest days of the French and Indian War. During the next two or three years we find him in Virginia engaged as a wagoner, hauling tobacco in season; but back on the border with his rifle, after the harvest, aiding in defense against the Indians. In 1759 he purchased from his father a lot on Sugar Tree Creek, a tributary of Dutchman's Creek (Davie County, North Carolina) and built thereon a cabin for himself. The date when he brought his wife and children to live in their new abode on the border is not recorded. It was probably some time after the close of the Indian War. ------------------------------------------------------------- The book, “Carolina Cradle,” by Robert W. Ramsey, 1964, provides a well documented sketch of Morgan Bryan, however, it does not include any information on Morgan’s son, John Bryan or his family. Another widely available book “Notable Southern Families” by Zella Armstrong, 1974, introduces a major error on John Bryan and his family. It states that John Bryan married Frances Battle and that John was a Captain in the Revolution who was killed at his own door by Colonel Fanning. This John Bryan died many miles away from where Morgan Bryan and his children lived while John Bryan (1), believed to be Morgan’s son, lived nearby. The will of John Bryan was signed in 1797 and probated in 1801. This will clearly establishes that the wife of John Bryan was named Sarah. Land associated with this will clearly establish that this was the will of the John Bryan who lived on or near Bear Creek and Dutchman’s Creek (this is approximately eight miles southwest from where Morgan Bryan last lived). Also, several children of John Bryan (1) are known to resided in this same area. To date, this author has never seen any primary documentation that links John and Frances Bryan (or any of their known children) to the area around where Morgan Bryan last lived. ---------------------------------------------------- John Bryan, Sr. lived in an area of Rowan County, North Carolina that, in 1836, became west central part of Davie County, North Carolina. Through numerous land transactions, it has been determined that John Bryan (1) lived in Rowan County, North Carolina from 1778 to 1800 and that he had the following neighbors (some deeds from the probate records): Benjamin Gaither (1778 - 1803), Thomas Pennery (1778 - 1796), William Williams (1778 - 1787), Robert Luckey (1778 - 1787), John Van Eaton (1778), Valentine Huff (1783 - 1802), John Adams (1784), Mary Luckey (1784 - 1796), Ralph Vaneleave (1784), John Hughey (1784), George Wilcoxon (1784), John Bryan, Jr. (1787 - 1797), Daniel Sutherland (1787), John Pinchback (1787), Richard Speaks (1787), William Patrick (1787), Jacob Nichols (1787), Samuel Reed (1787), Jacob Trout (1796 - 1801), John Little, Sr. (1801), Beal Ijams (1801) and Jacob Coon (1802). It is also known from these deeds that they all lived near the following Creeks: Bear Creek (great majority of deeds), Hunting Creek and Dutchman’s Creek. ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are several sources that show another John Bryan, probably John Bryan (1), living about one or two miles northeast of where Morgan Bryan and Martha Bryan last lived in 1762. This land is now situated in the north central part of Davie County, North Carolina. According to an abstract of a deed listed in the McCubbins collection, “Earl Granville let John Bryan of Rowan County, North Carolina have 646 acres of vacant land on both sides of Morgan’s Creek on a branch of Cedar Creek, waters of Dutchman’s Creek.” This abstract further states that this deed was recorded in book 5, page 146. The “Davie County Land Grants” map by Andrew Lagle and the “Davie County, North Carolina Historical Documentation” map by the Custom House both indicate that this land was granted to John Bryan in 1762. Apparently, both maps were based on the the McCubbins abstract and the McCubbins abstract is definitely in error. The actual deed (Book 5, Page 146) shows that Morgan Bryan, Jr. acquired this land in 1762, not John Bryan. However, a John Bryan did live on this land in 1780 -------------------------------------------------------------- The 1787 State Land Grant Number 1532 was issued to Benjamin Gaither for “303 acres on Hunting Creek and Bear Creek next to Robert Luckey, John Bryan, Sr., William Williams, Daniel Sutherland, John Pinchback, Richard Speaks, William Patrick, John Bryan, Jr., Jacob Nichols and Samuel Reed.” This implies that John Bryan, Jr. had a plantation and owned land near John Bryan (1) in 1787. On December 7, 1797, State Land Grant Number 2513 was issued to “John Bryan (the son of John Bryan)” for 115 acres “on the original line and Dutchmans Creek, it being surplus of his father’s old tract (the warrant was dated June 22, 1795).” ------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1797, “Margaret” Allen was listed in her father’s will and Thomas Allen was a witness for the will. In November of 1800, Thomas Allen lets Brumbly Coker have 162 acres on Elisha’s Creek for 200 pounds. On December 27, 1806, John Bryan and wife Rebekah let Thomas Allen have 105 acres on Muddy Creek next to Edward Yarbory and Phillip Hanes for $300. In 1807, Thomas Allen let James Baxter have 105 acres on Muddy Creek next to Matthew Jones and Valentine Fry for 150 pounds. On April 8, 1811, John Fox let Joseph Dial have 270 acres on Elisha’s Creek waters of Dutchman’s Creek next to land owned by Joseph Allen, said Joseph Dial, Thomas Allen, John Cheshier, Brumble Coker and Nicholas W. Gaither.