VI. North Carolina James families
Given census indications that John L. James was born in North Carolina, at a
date his gravestone gives as 4 October 1810, a reasonable hypothesis is that his
father should be listed in the 1810 census in that state.68 The William James who
later appears in the 1850 White County census would then have been about 28 and,
if he was by that time married to Cynthia, his wife would have been about 22.69
There are several William James families in the census in that year:
Anson County (also Hosey James, p. 34)
William James 2 males under 10; 1 male 26<45 (1 slave ?)
(p. 41) 1 female under 10; 1 female 16<26
Henry James 1 male 16<26; 1 male 45+
(p. 42) 1 female 45+
Cumberland County
William James 1 male <10; 1 10<16; 1 16<26; 1 26<45
(p. 604) 2 females <10; 1 26<45; 1 45+
Duplin County (difficult to read) (also Abram, Elias, Eliza, Mary and Nicanor
James)
Daniel James 3 males <10; 1 10<16; 1 26<45
(p. 659) 2 females <10; 1 10<16; 1 26<45
John James 1 male <10; 1 26<45
(p. 661) 2 females <10; 1 26<45; 1 45+
William James 2 males 10<16; 2 16<26; 1 45+
(p. 662) 1 female 26<45; 1 45+
Haywood County
William James 1 male 26<45
(p. 65) 1 female 10<16; 1 16<26; 1 26<45
Lincoln County (also Thomas James, p. 470)
William James 2 males <10; 1 16<26; 1 45+
(p. 447) 3 females <10; 2 10<16; 2 16<26; 1 45+
William James 1 male <10; 1 26<45
(p. 497) 1 female <10; 1 16<26
Montgomery County (also Bartlett James, p. 569)
William James 1 male 16<26
(p. 569) 1 female <10; 1 16<26
George James 2 males <10; 1 10<16; 1 26<45
(p. 569) 2 females <10; 1 16<26; 1 26<45 (1 slave)
Pitt County (also Holland, 3 Johns, Joshua, Robert and Thomas James)
William James 3 males <10; 2 10<16; 1 16<26; 1 26<45
(p. 486) 1 female 16<26; 1 26<45
Daniel James 3 males <10; 2 10<16; 3 16<26; 1 26<45
(p. 486, adj) 2 females <10; 2 10<16; 1 16<26; 1 26<45
Stokes County -- Bethenia & Yadkin (also Isabelly and 2 more John James)
William James 1 male 26<45
(p. 570) 4 females <10; 1 26<45
John James 1 male 26<45; 1 45+
(p. 570) 1 female <10; 1 45+; 10 slaves
Of these, the Anson County, second Lincoln County and Montgomery County Williams
are the most likely matches with the William James who was in White County,
Tennessee prior to 1820. Anson County is along the North Carolina/South Carolina
border, east of Charlotte. Montgomery County is immediately to the north of
Anson, and Lincoln County was along the North Carolina/South Carolina border to
the west of Charlotte. All three, especially Anson and Lincoln counties, are
reasonably likely places for a William James originally from Pennsylvania and
soon to move to Tennessee to be living, with a wife born in South Carolina. The
index provided by Ancestry.com indicates that in 1820, there were only five
William James families enumerated in North Carolina (in Burke, Craven,
Cumberland, New Hanover and Stokes counties), including none in Anson or Lincoln
counties. The 1820 census for Montgomery County and several other North Carolina
counties is lost.
The Anson County William is of particular interest, due to the presence of a
Henry James not far away of an apparent age to be his father. John James and
Tabitha James served as administrators of the estate of John Husbands estate in
Anson County. The estate sale account was rendered 17 May 1774. Among those
purchasing items were John James and William James.70 Among those granted land in
Anson County were John James, who was granted land along the NE Peedee on 5 Dec
1760. In addition, there was a Richard James who was granted land on the SW
Peedee on 29 Apr 1768.71 A Henry James left a will in Anson County in about 1818,
WB 2/75.72
Endnotes:
68. The 1810 census
survives for all NC counties except Craven, Greene, New Hanover and Wake.
69. A William James married
Cynthia Scarlett on 28 Nov 1821 in Orange County, NC; however, William James
appears to have been in White County by the end of 1813, and if his wife Cynthia
listed in the 1850 census was his first wife, then they had children well before
1821. See
www.ancestry.com; North Carolina marriage bonds, 1741-1868.
70. Brent H. Holcomb,
Anson County, North Carolina Deed
Abstracts, 1749-1766; Abstracts of Wills & Estates 1749-1795,
p. 139 (orig 222).
71. May Wilson McBee,
Anson County, North Carolina: Abstracts of Early Records, p. 11
(Genealogical Publ. Co. 1980; orig 1950).
72. Thornton W. Mitchell,
North Carolina Wills: A Testator
Index, 1665-1900 (Raleigh, N.C.:
1987). The only other James will listed is for a William C. James in 1892.
There are no James wills listed for either Lincoln or Montgomery counties.
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