To the group: I went to the library this morning and found a new book, "Johnston County: 1746-1996," by Thomas J. Lassiter and Wingate Lassiter. The book doesn't circulate, so I jotted down a few notes that might be of interest. 1. There was only one mention of a Sasser (p. 61). The Smithfield Academy opened in 1813, and the commissioners were Daniel Boon, David Turner, *William Sasser*, W. W. Hopkins, Robert H. Helme, Henry Guy, Ellick Sanders, W. W. Bryan, and Samuel Mitchnor. [I would speculate that this is William Sasser, son of Josiah. That is purely a personal opinion.] 2. From 1705-1746, the area covered by Johnston County was within the jurisdiction of Craven County, where New Bern was the county seat. The first courthouse was at Walnut Creek [about 8 miles southeast of Goldsboro]. It moved to Hinton's Quarter in 1759 [just east of where Clayton now is], and then in 1771 to the area where Smithfield arose [founded 1777]. pp. 7-9,12-13,23. 3. "The earliest settlers of Johnston County were mainly English families." After 1745, heirs of Scot-Highlanders moved in [p. 10]. 4. Migration into the area came from two main routes: 1) upstream from the tidal regions adjacent to New Bern, and 2) down from VA through northeast NC (Albermale Country). [p. 10]. 5. Johnston County was by law in St. Patrick's Parish of the Church of England in 1746. In 1758, it became St. Stephen's Parish. The Parish ceased to exist at the end of the American Revolution. Baptists began organizing a church in 1756. In general, there was not much organized religion in the area before 1800. The area became predominantly Baptist, with some Methodist and a little Presbyterian influence later on [pp. 41-43] Doug Sherman dougsherma@aol.com ------------------------------