It was to a Indian slave of Agerton Willis that his only son, Joseph Willis, was born. The relationship of Agerton and Joseph's mother can only be speculation, but under the North Carolina laws of 1741 all interracial marriages were illegal. Since Joseph's mother was a slave he was born to a slave status. It is clear that his father considered him as an only son and loved him as one. This fact did not sit well with some other members of the family. In her book, "North Carolina Indian Records," Donna Spindel writes about the Indians of this area of the state: "The Lumbee Indians, most of whom reside in Robeson County, constitute the largest group of Indians in eastern North Carolina. Although their exact origin is a complex matter, they are undoubtedly the descendants of several tribes that occupied eastern Carolina during the earliest days of white settlement. Living along the Pee Dee and Lumber rivers in present-day Robeson and adjacent counties, these Indians of mixed blood were officially designated as Lumbees by the General Assembly in 1956. .Most of the Indians have Anglo-Saxon names and they are generally designated as 'black' or 'mulatto' in nineteenth-century documents; for example, in the U.S. Censuses of 1850-1880, the designation for Lumbee families is usually 'mulatto." According to one of North Carolina's top genealogists and historians, the late William Perry Johnson, " . . . In North Carolina, American Indians up until Mid 1880's, were labeled Mulattos." Joseph's mother may have very well been related to these Indians. Randy Willis www.randywillis.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "John" <longstrt@gs.net> To: <WILLIS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 4:43 PM Subject: Four Willis brothers > Hi Randy, > > I can't let your last paragraph go unchallenged. The state coordinator > for > USGenWeb in NC said that there were no records of Indians being slaves. > All the > slaves were, at least partially, of African descent. > > Agerton had a bastard son Joseph, by one of his slave women. After > Agerton's death, his nephew John, son of his brother Daniel, tried to > emancipate Joseph and make him a free man. > John > -------------------- > > Randy Willis wrote: > > > From: Randy Willis > > www.randywillis.org > > randy@randywillis.org > > > > My research begins in Southeast Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay area, > the > > same area that the pilgrims first settled. There in the 1740's, in > Isle of > > Wight County and Nansemond County (now the city of Suffolk) was the > place > > that Joseph Willis' father, three uncles and one aunt called home. The > > > family had come to America from Devonshire, England. I believe, but I > cannot > > prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt, > ........................Agerton, > > Daniel, Benjamin, James, and Joanna were neighbors on the Northwest > > Cape Fear River. The other brother, George Willis, came first to New > > Hanover, obtaining a land grant on Widow Creek in 1761 and selling out > in > > 1767. He then moved to Robeson County (formerly part of Bladen County) > not > > very far west from the rest of the family. > > > > The four brothers were all well-to-do planters with large land > holdings. As > > a planter, Agerton owned slaves many of which were Indian. At this > time in > > North Carolina many slaves were Indian; in fact as late as the 1780's > in > > North Carolina a third of all slaves were Indian. Indians were made > slaves > > by the whites from the very beginning. > > > > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! > >