Identifying the Wives of James Wyatt Jr. of Spartanburg District, South Carolina

James Wyatt Jr. (1752-c.1818), a native of Northumberland County, Virginia, migrated with his documented parents, James (c.1726-c.1795) and Bethlehem Wyatt to Tryon County, North Carolina, where his father was granted 392 acres in October 1767. The family seems to have moved to Spartanburg District, South Carolina by 1788, when James Jr. appears in a juror list.

James Wyatt Jr.'s wife is called Mary or Molly in various deeds beginning in June 1790, with her final appearance in a September 1795 sale to Job Sosbree in Spartanburg District. She doesn't seem to appear in any wills and there don't seem to be any strong clues as to her parents.

Some genealogists believe her father was Thomas Massingale, who named a daughter Mary in a deed witnessed by James Wyatt on January 2, 1794 in Spartanburg District. While this is certainly possible, the evidence is thin. Just because James Wyatt witnessed the deed doesn't mean Massingale was his father-in-law. Massingale doesn't give last names for any of his children, so it isn't clear if his daughter Mary was Mary Wyatt. Furthermore, there are no Massingales in the deed books of Tryon and Lincoln County, North Carolina in the 1770s and 1780s, when the Wyatts and Massingales should have been acquainted.

Often overlooked is a marriage bond in Lincoln County, North Carolina between James Wyatt and Mary "Wyrim" (possibly Wyman), dated March 19, 1787. James Wyatt's wife isn't named in deeds prior to 1790 and there doesn't seem to be any other James Wyatt in this generation in either Lincoln County, North Carolina or Spartanburg District, South Carolina, so this is almost certainly the same James and Mary Wyatt.

Census records indicate however that James Wyatt Jr. married and had children long before 1787... and so he must have had a wife before Mary Wyrim.

Interestingly, the identity of this first wife may have been hinted at in a deed from James Wyatt Jr. to his son, dated March 29, 1815. James Wyatt "to son Elisha Jones Wyatt... for love and affection... give... at James death and not before...", 200 acres, border Peg's Old Field (in Lincoln County, NC).

That name "Elisha Jones Wyatt" is pretty specific. He was almost certainly named in honor of someone named Elisha Jones.

Fortunately, its no mystery who Elisha Jones (c.1765-aft.1830) was. He was constable of Lincoln County, North Carolina, where the Wyatts lived from 1779 (when the county was formed from old Tryon County) to 1788. He didn't migrated into South Carolina with the Wyatts, but remained in Lincoln County through at least the 1830 US census and likely died there.

While its possible Elisha Jones was simply a beloved family friend, there is a strong possibility that he was a younger brother of Mary Wyatt. The fact that the Wyatts left the state while Elisha Jones was still very young, possibly a teenager, and named a child after him years later strongly suggests he was a relative.

There is no question that the Wyatts knew him. In fact, James Wyatt and his son John Wyatt were buyers at the estate sale of Thomas Hawkins in Lincoln County, North Carolina in February 1793, which was administered by none other than Elisha Jones.

While it doesn't prove Jones was Wyatt's brother-in-law, it may be the best clue we have to the identity of his wife.

So who were Elisha Jones's parents? A thorough analysis of the Joneses of Tryon and Lincoln Counties don't reveal any relevant deeds or wills that might shed light on this question. But we do have a couple of decent clues:

1. Elisha Jones appears next door to a Charles Jones (born before 1755) in the 1800 US census of Lincoln County, North Carolina. Charles is at least a decade older than Elisha (who married in 1794, and was probably born in the late 1760s or early 1770s) and could be either his father or older brother.

2. Elisha Jones's papers for the estate of Thomas Hawkins reveal a note dated October 8, 1795 where Jones informs the court that he could not locate an important account book pertaining to a John Whiteford but noted he believed Benjamin Jones of Maryland also had the right of administration.

3. Zachariah Spencer granted security for Elisha Jones for the administration of the Hawkins estate.

Zachariah Spencer (1761-1835) of Lincoln County, North Carolina, was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, the son of a senior Zachariah Spencer (1732-1789), who also migrated to Lincoln County; this Zachariah was the son of another Zachariah Spencer (c.1705-c.1783) and his wife Christina Cobb of Maryland.

Christina Cobb was sister-in-law to Charles Jones of Baltimore County (1703-1767), who had sons Benjamin Jones (1728-1797), likely the Benjamin Jones mentioned in the above note; and Charles Jones (1731-aft.1752), who disappears from Maryland records after 1752, and is likely father of the Lincoln and Rutherford County Jones families, which may include Benjamin Jones (bef.1755-1809), Charles Jones Jr. (d. aft.1830), James Lee Jones (d.bef.1790) and Littleberry Jones (d. aft.1810), all of Rutherford County, North Carolina.

The Hawkins family likewise migrated with the Spencer and Jones families from Baltimore County, Maryland to North Carolina and the families show repeated intermarriages through the generations.

This makes Elisha Jones of North Carolina a second cousin of Zachariah Spencer, and a nephew of "Benjamin Jones of Maryland." 

Interestingly, "Zechariah Spencer of Delaware County, Maryland" was deeded land by James Wyatt Sr. in Tryon County, North Carolina in a deed dated December 26, 1772, showing another link between the Wyatts and this Jones-Spencer-Hawkins family group.

So if Elisha Jones was a younger son of Charles Jones and Hannah Nichols of Baltimore County, Maryland who married on December 26, 1752, it seems possible that James Wyatt's first wife was one of their older children, born c.1753-54.

Research and documentation by Jason M. Farrell

Identifying the Lost Suttons of Albemarle County, North Carolina, Part II

In Part I, I laid out the case that Samuel Sutton (c.1722-1764) of Perquimans County, North Carolina was an undocumented son of Nathaniel Sutton (1681-c.1743) by an unknown first wife. Samuel is one of four Sutton men of his generation who seem likely to be brothers. The other three are:

John Sutton (c.1702-aft.1741) appears in Bertie County 1723-1741, wife Mary;

James Sutton (c.1712-1770) married Anne Penrice (Perquimans, Granville & Bertie County 1753-1770);

Ephraim Sutton (c.1720-bef.1772) was a neighbor of James Sutton in Perquimans County.

There is further circumstantial evidence that these men are potentially brothers, and further evidence that James's descendants migrated west into what is now Rutherford County, North Carolina.

JOHN SUTTON (c.1702-aft.1741)

An unidentified John Sutton was the Clerk of Court in Bertie County, North Carolina from at least August 1723 and was a witness to about a third of the deed written over the next two decades. John was himself  recorded buying land in Bertie County in 1725, 1726 and 1739. A 1737 deed identifies his wife as Mary. 

Not much else is known about this John Sutton, who disappears from Bertie County after 1741. Given his status as a local clerk, it seems unlikely that he died around then with no mention in court records. It seems more likely that he simply moved away, though where to isn't clear.

He could be the John Sutton who appears in the records of Dobbs County, North Carolina in 1748 and died there in 1773. No wife was recorded, but he had three documented sons: Benjamin Sutton (born about 1752; died 1837); John Sutton, Jr. (born about 1758; died 1820-1830); and William Sutton (born about 1760; died 1813-1820). All three sons were born and lived in Bucklesberry, which is about 100 miles southwest of Perquimans County. 

There were four other possible sons living in the county as well: Thomas Sutton (born before 1758; death year unknown); James Sutton (born 1755-1767; death year unknown); Richard Sutton (born 1755-1773; died 1800-1810); and Simon Sutton (born 1765-1767; died before 1813). John likely had daughters, too, but no document evidence to date has emerged to identify their names.

Given the age difference between John Sutton of Bertie County and the children born to John Sutton of Dobbs, it is possible that John of Bertie was the father of John of Dobbs; or they may be unrelated. For further information on the Dobbs County John Sutton, see https://suttonancestry.com/john-sutton-first-in-bucklesberry/

JAMES SUTTON (c.1712-1770)

James was extensively documented in Perquimans County, beginning with a deed of 100 acres from Francis Penrice in April 1753.

The following year, James appears in tax list of Perquimans County, with just 1 tithable (himself). On this same list are Samuel Sutton (5), Joseph Sutton Esq., Joseph Sutton Jr. and Edward Penrice, indicating they lived in the same part of the county.

Sometime during that year, James seems to have moved to Granville County, North Carolina, being named along with a John Sutton in a muster roll of the Granville County militia in October 1754. The following year he appears in the Granville County tax rolls, again claiming only himself as tithable. James disappears from Granville County after 1755, but appears in Bertie County beginning in the tax census of 1757.

While these could be different men named James Sutton, the scarcity of the name in this Sutton clan suggest they are the same man. Also, Robert Allen appears with James Sutton in the Granville County 1755 tax census just 11 households away from Sutton. In the 1757 tax list of Bertie County, James Sutton shared a household with Robert Allen, indicating co-migration among these eastern counties.

James Sutton seems to appear in no further records until April 15, 1770, when his estate entered into probate in Perquimans County. Samuel Penrice, his brother-in-law, was administrator and a James Sutton was the only Sutton at his estate sale. This is his son. Evidently there was a will but it doesn't seem to have been recorded.

James Sutton Jr. appears in a 1771 deed clarifying some of the relationships in this family:

Oct. 21, 1771 - James Sutton to Benj Scarbrough - 15 pds for 30 acres - NW Yeopin Creek near bend of a swamp out of Franks Creek - sd land given by my grandfather Francis Penrice to my father James Sutton Sr and by his will to me. (Perquimans Co. NC deeds, Book H, #183)

And in a further deed he shows a relation to the late Ephraim Sutton, probable brother of James Sr.:

Feb. 6, 1772 - James Sutton to Joshua Skinner - 25 pds for 50 acres - NS Yeopim Creek adj to land belonging to orphans of Ephraim Sutton to a branch issuing out of Albemarle Sounty. Witnesses Samuel Penrice, Elizabeth Penrice. (Perquimans Co. NC deeds, Book H #198)

James Sutton and Ann Penrice (named daughter in the will of Francis Penrice of Perquimans County, in April 1756) had four likely sons who migrated into western North Carolina:

1. John Sutton (c.1734-1817), who appears in the Granville County militia rolls in 1754 and was noted "absent" in rolls of 1771. He appears in court in Granville County in 1755 and 1757. He is likely the same John Sutton who begins appearing in deeds in Anson County, North Carolina in 1768 and evidently married Eleanor Ashley, daughter of John Ashley of Anson County, who names a daughter "Elianer Sutton" in his 1759 will. In 1772, John Sutton was a witness for John Ashley (Jr., son of above John Ashley) in a deed in Tryon County, North Carolina; by 1779, he had been granted 50 acres on Floyd's Creek in Rutherford County, North Carolina, where he would remain the rest of his life. He sealed his will in March 1814 naming children Elizabeth Sutton, Robert Sutton, William Sutton, John Sutton, Sarah Sutton and James Sutton, among other legatees. His will was recorded July 6, 1817.

2. James Sutton (1751-aft.1834), a Revolutionary War veteran who self-reported being born in Granville County, North Carolina in April 1751 in his veteran's pension application. In 1771-1772, he sold off his father's property and (by his own account) removed to Halifax County, North Carolina where he lived until 1780, though contemporary records actually place him back in Granville County during this period, serving under Capt. William Gill during the Revolutionary War. James reported living in Rutherford County, North Carolina from 1780 to 1805, when he finally settled in Lincoln County, North Carolina. He reported being poor and illiterate and evidently wrote no will. No wife is known, but he seems to be father to James Sutton, William Sutton, Colby Sutton and others who later migrated from Rutherford County, North Carolina to Smith County, Tennessee. Colby was named legatee in the will of the above John Sutton.

3. Samuel Sutton (1750s-aft.1800), about whom little is known. In 1788 he appears with John Sutton in a suit against James Kincaid in Lincoln County, North Carolina. Samuel, who was likely named for Samuel Sutton (d.1764) of Perquimans County, North Carolina, appears in census records of Lincoln County through 1800. He may be the father of William and James Sutton who appear in Lincoln County marriage bonds in 1818 and 1832, respectively.

4. Dempsey Sutton (bef.1765-aft.1820), another brother about whom little is known. He does appear to have initially migrated with the other Suttons to Lincoln County, North Carolina where he appears as "Densy Sutton" in a suit by the state of North Carolina in January 1788. After being found guilty, he seems to have returned to Granville County where he was sold property near Low Ground Creek by David Blalock in 1801. He last appears in the 1820 census of Granville County. No name found for his wife. He may be the father of Edward Sutton, a War of 1812 veteran who also appears in Granville County in the 1820 census.

EPHRAIM SUTTON (c.1720-c.1772)

Ephraim Sutton is only mentioned in three deeds between 1757 and 1772, the earliest of these confirming he was more likely to be a brother than a son of James Sutton (c.1712-1770). In February 1757, Ephraim bought 100 acres in Perquimans County on Franks Creek, "adjacent James Sutton." In a final deed of October 1772 the "orphans of Ephraim Sutton" were mentioned, but there appears to be no record of their names. It is possible he is the father or grandfather of another Ephraim Sutton (1768-1819) who genealogists believe was from Chowan County, North Carolina.

Research and documentation by Jason M. Farrell