Tag: Land Grants

Derryberrys of North Carolina

January 2, 2012 Dennis No comments exist

When Burke County was formed in 1777 at the edge of the Appalachians about 75 miles below the Virgina line, it was North Carolina’s western frontier. The early settlers were Scotch – Irish and German Palatines, also known as Pennsylvania Dutch. They were from southeastern PA and NJ, and had migrated down the Appalachians into the North Carolina back country. They came with little but the clothing on their backs and had to make everything. They built log cabins and the tables, chairs and beds that went into them. The German settler was described as “robust, law abiding, industrious and scrupulously honest”. “Their farming habits were model for others. They were good citizens, participating actively in church, family, and communal affairs, rarely questioning authority, yet due to their language barrier, taking little interest in politics or public life.”

The Derreberrys, as it was spelled by then, were among the first settlers to claim this new land in Burke County, make improvements to it and file for land grants. Grants of typically 100 acres each were obtained by several Derreberry men between the years of 1778 and 1784 on Silver Creek in the area just south of Morganton, the county seat. They may have been already on the land as early as the 1750s as the grants often mentioned improvements to the land which indicates these Derreberrys were homesteaders and not newcomers on the scene. They had made improvements by clearing forests and building cabins, sheds and rail fences on their property. Those persons who had settled on the land without due title were still entitled to register their land through the grant system. In other words, squatters were allowed to register their land as much as someone who had obtained a previous grant. The early Derreberry settlers were named Michael, Adam, John Jr., and Jacob and they were probably brothers. One being named John Derryberry, Jr. leads to the assumption that there probably was a John Sr. Since the name John is Hans in the German form, John Sr. may have been the illusive Hans Michael Dürrenberger, whose wife’s name was believed to be Anna.

The Derreberry families firmly established themselves in Burke County and by 1790 there were six households shown in the census. Adam, Jacob, Michael, Andrew, Anne, and Hanna. It is believed that Anne was the widow of John Sr. and Hanna was the widow of John Derreberry Jr., our ancestor. John Derreberry Jr. and Hanna had three sons: George William, Michael (Micah) and another John. Everyone was a farmer.

Thomas Ayers in North Carolina

April 1, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Thomas Ayers, Nathaniels’ oldest son was born in Baltimore County, MD in 1734. Growing up, he and his brothers worked alongside their farmer father and eventually moved with him to Pittsylvania County, VA about 1755. However, Thomas initially ventured even further south into Surry County, North Carolina for a time before returning to Pittsylvania County. There, like his father, Thomas also became a landholder, obtaining a land grant of 400 acres on Double Creek in 1758 and another 200 acres on Wolf’s Hill Creek in 1763.

Thomas married first Ellender (or Eleanor), last name unknown, and later Barbary (Barbara) Murphy. He had four sons, Nathaniel, Elihu, Thomas Jr, and Joseph, along with three daughters, Elizabeth, Jane and Phoebe. In 1780, Thomas sent his son Elihu back down to Surry County to buy land, which he did, but then got caught up in the Revolutionary War (more in the next post). He did not return home until he had served his tour, believing his father would not move on account of the Tories (British sympathizers) raging in that country so violently. After receiving a letter from his father, Elihu returned home in 1780, and his father perhaps erroneously thinking the fighting had ended, immediately moved to the new land.

When Thomas moved to Surry County, his brother Moses also moved there with his family. In the very first U.S. census in 1790, we find a total of six Ayers households located near each other: Thomas Ayers along with two sons, Nathaniel and Elihu; and Moses Ayers along with two sons John and Samuel.

Of special note is that a tract of land belonging to Moses and Thomas Ayers on the Yadkin River was used to establish the town of Rockford, the original Surry County, NC, seat.

It seems that Thomas Ayers was always on the move. In 1791 he again moved, this time to Patrick County, Virginia which was a newly formed county just across the VA border from Surry County. There he purchased 100 acres on Johnson’s Creek. He died in Patrick County in November 1814. The inventory of his estate included household furniture, side-saddle, cotton, wheel, tomahawk, corn, sheep, cattle, horse, loom, books and hay for a total of $185.80.

Surrey County — **Surry County, NC where Thomas Ayers settled ……for a while**

Thomas Ayers in North Carolina

April 1, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

Of special note is that a tract of land belonging to Moses and Thomas Ayers on the Yadkin River was used to establish the town of Rockford, the original Surry County, NC, seat.

It seems that Thomas Ayers was always on the move. In 1791 he again moved, this time to Patrick County, Virginia which was a newly formed county just across the VA border from Surry County. There he purchased 100 acres on Johnson’s Creek. He died in Patrick County in November 1814. The inventory of his estate included household furniture, side saddle, cotton, wheel, tomahawk, corn, sheep, cattle, horse, loom, books and hay for a total of $185.80.

Nathaniel Ayers Migrates to Virginia

March 31, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

In 1746 Nathaniel Ayers began selling his land in Baltimore County, Maryland. By about 1755, he and his wife, Rhoda, and family had migrated to Halifax County in southern Virginia (near Danville today), on the border of North Carolina. Why did they leave what appeared to be a prosperous livelihood in MD? Why did they undertake such an arduous journey which took them over 300 miles to the south? The answers are not known for sure, but it is believed that religion was a primary factor along with a desire for more land, and perhaps opposition to slavery.

After 1735, as the supply of land grew short in colonies farther north, numerous farmers from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia began packing their possessions and making the long journey to the Southern Piedmont in the Virginia colony.

In addition, it seems that Nathaniel converted to the Quaker religion in Maryland, perhaps when he married Rhoda. The Quakers were one of the first groups to oppose slavery, which was heavily employed by most tobacco farmers. In the 1750s, there was a large Quaker migration to the frontier areas of Virginia and North Carolina, and Nathaniel’s family probably joined in with others from Pennsylvania and Maryland moving southward. The proceedings of the Quaker South River Monthly Meeting (held near what is today Lynchburg, VA) show that Nathaniel Ayers was accepted into membership in 1758. This Quaker Meeting covered many of the southern VA counties including Halifax County.

Also, in 1758, Nathaniel purchased 116 acres of land on Little Double Creek. In 1767, the western part of Halifax County where Nathaniel and his family lived became Pittsylvania County, and not long after that he was granted 200 acres on branches of the Dan River. Before he died, he also acquired another 600 acres of adjoining land. In 1760, Nathaniel and several of his neighbors are credited with “laying a road”.

Nathaniel Ayers died in early 1777, and his will was probated at the courthouse in Chatham, in Pittsylvania County. His oldest living sons, Thomas and Moses were the executors. Mentioned in the will were his wife Rhoda and 5 surviving children.

Pitts County — **Nathaniel Ayers in Pittsylvania County, VA**

The map above shows the general Piedmont area where Nathaniel settled. I have been to this area on a research trip in 2006. Pittsylvania County and the surrounding counties in both VA and NC contain beautiful gently rolling farmland as far as the eye can see. One can certainly understand why northern colonists migrated to this area.

Nathaniel Ayers of Maryland

March 29, 2011 Dennis 1 comment

John Ayers of New Jersey died in 1732. He left no will but did record the births of his nine children, including a son named Nathaniel born in 1700. Unfortunately, no other records are available to help define Nathaniel’s life in NJ.

Instead, in 1723, a young man by the name of Nathaniel Ayers appears in Maryland where he is named in Baltimore County court records. He is about the right age to have been the Nathaniel born in NJ, but is he in fact the same person? The DNA test results previously mentioned indicate this is highly probable. Although Nathaniel is listed as an immigrant in one reference book, I believe it was because he came to Maryland by sailing ship from NJ. He probably sailed up the Chesapeake Bay into the Patapsco River and disembarked at Elk Ridge Landing. At that time, the Maryland colony had about 70 thousand residents, but Baltimore City would not be founded at the mouth of the Patapsco until 1729.

By about 1729, Nathaniel Ayers is married to Rhoda, last name unknown, and by 1733 they have three children, Ruth, John and Thomas who are registered in St. Paul’s Parish, one of 30 such territorial units established in colonial Maryland associated with the Anglican (later Episcopal) Church.

In the new colony of Maryland, all land was originally owned by Lord Baltimore and only at his discretion or his representatives could it be assigned to any tenant. Between 1663 and 1683, every adventurer who could claim to have brought five persons to settle in Maryland became entitled to a grant of 2000 acres. After 1683, however, land patents (titles) were issued only against payment of money or tobacco. At first the rate charged was 200 lbs. of tobacco for every 100 acres granted, but that rate increased with time.

Three separate documentary processes were required to authenticate new grants of land: (1) warrants, which were instructions to lay out a specified number of acres for a named person, (2) certificates of survey, which stated the exact location and boundaries of the new tract, and (3) patents, or essentially titles of ownership.

It appears that Nathaniel was actually in Baltimore County several years before he initiated the process for obtaining land. Perhaps he didn’t have enough money when he first arrived. Then between 1727 and 1745, Nathaniel obtained 4 separate grants of land on the north side of the Patapsco River in Baltimore County, and he is listed as a farmer and a carpenter in the records. Since tobacco was the primary medium of exchange, it appears Nathaniel was farming successfully on his early land acquisitions and using his extra tobacco to add to his land holdings. It is not known if he employed the use of slaves or not.

In those days, it was customary to name tracts of land after the owner or with whimsical names. Nathaniel’s purchases, two of which are shown in the map below, were called:

Ayers Lott – 100 acres – 1727 Ayers Desire – 28 acres – 1734
Bucks Range – 45 acres – 1745 Nathaniel’s Hope – 15 acres – 1745

Balt Co Nathanial Ayres' Land — **Nathaniel Ayers’ Land in Baltimore County**

As can be seen, the land purchases of Nathaniel in Baltimore County were all near the Patapsco River not far from where the Ellicott brothers would later establish the new town of Ellicott Mills in 1772.

My father, Ira Ayers, knew nothing about his ancestors beyond his grandfather. It is an ironic twist that in 1950 he purchased land only 4 miles upriver from where Nathaniel, his 6th great grandfather, purchased and farmed land 200 years earlier!!