Bucklesberry, Back in the Day: Other Early Settlers
Other Early Settlers
Dr. Joe Sutton
Ancestors of present-day Sutton and Herring descendants of Lenoir County were among the first settlers of greater Bucklesberry in the early to mid-1700s. Joined by many others, an extensive online search (primarily at NClandgrants.com) identified 131 archived deeds and surveys dated 1729 to 1759 for tracts of land in or near Bucklesberry.
The geographic features referenced in these records included branches, streams, pocosins, landings, and the like that were known to be located in, or within close proximity to, Bear Creek and the Neuse River, which constituted greater Bucklesberry back then. The county affiliation for Bucklesberry varied throughout the eighteenth century, from old Craven County (established in 1712), to old Johnston County (formed from Craven in 1746), to old Dobbs County (formed from old Johnston in 1758), and finally to current Lenoir County (formed from old Dobbs in 1791).
A total of 92 principal and adjoining landowners are named in the 131 land patents and surveys. Their contributions to the colonization of the Bucklesberry area rightly have earned them an honorable place in what may be referred to as the "Settler Hall of Fame." A roster of the 92 landowners (listed alphabetically by last name) follows:
Atkins, Robert / Ayers, Ambrose / Baxter, Theopholis / Belk, William / Blackman, John / Blackman, Stephen / Boyd, Abraham / Boyet, Thomas / Boykin, Thomas / Burnet, Thomas Sr. / Busley, [Unnamed] / Byrd, Richard / Cade, Stephen / Carruthers, Joseph / Caswell, Richard Jr. / Cox, Thomas / Creel, John / Croason, John / Croom, Major / Daniel, James / Dawson, Joseph / Dean, Richard / Faris, William / Fisher, Thomas / Fryer, John / Fryer, Martin / Gainer, [Unnamed] / Giles, John / Grant, John / Ham, William / Harrison, Christopher / Harrison, Thomas / Herring, Abram / Herring, Anthony / Herring, Benjamin / Herring, Henry / Herring, Jacob / Herring, John Jr. / Herring, John Sr. / Herring, Joseph / Herring, Joseph / Herring, Joshua / Herring, Michael / Herring, Samuel / Herring, Simon / Herring, Stephen / Hines, Robert / Hopton, Charles / Howell, Joseph / Howell, Thomas / Howell, William / Hughes, Caleb / Hughes, Thomas / Ipock, Christian / Jones, Richard / Jones, Thomas / Jordan, William / Mackilroy, Archibald / Mann, John / Manning, [Unnamed] / Mulkey, Jonathan / Palmer, William / Parker, James / Parks, Robert / Ratcliff, Moses / Roach, John / Roberson, John / Roberts, George / Rouse, John / Sarsnat, Richard / Smith, Judge / Stanley, John / Stone, Philip / Sutton, John / Thompson, Jacob / Turner, John / Turner, Lazarus / Uzzell, Elisha / Uzzell, Thomas [Jr.] / Vining, William / Waters, John / Whitfield, Luke / Whitfield, Matthew / Whitfield, William / Wiggins, George / Wiggins, Gersham / Wiggins, John / Wiggins, Richard / Wiggins, William / Williams, Edward / Williams, John / Young, Lovick
The 92 landowners represented 64 surnames. Those with the same surname were likely related and allowed for a determination of landowners who accrued the most acreage as indicated on the land records. Below is the rank-ordered, top-ten list (settler surname, number of landowners, number of land patents and surveys issued, and total acreage):
#1. Herring–12 landowners, 30 land records, 8,757 acres / #2. Wiggins–5 landowners, 9 land records, 2,192 acres / #3. Jones–2 landowners, 4 land records, 1,871 acres / #4. Byrd–1 landowner, 7 land records, 1,260 acres / #5. Williams–1 landowner, 4 land records, 1,246 acres / #6. Rouse–1 landowner, 7 land records, 1,051 acres / #7. Boyd–1 landowner, 1 land record, 1,000 acres / #8. Turner–1 landowner, 2 land records, 930 acres / #9. Hughes–2 landowners, 5 land records, 906 acres / #10. Blackman–2 landowners, 4 land records, 830 acres
The Herring family not only amassed the most acreage, they were the family with the largest number of landowners. Observably absent from the top ten list were the Suttons, whose patriarch John Sutton arrived in Bucklesberry by 1745-1750. Of note, John and his descendants eventually accumulated more than 7,000 acres by the mid-1850s.
The land documents averaged 238 acres per record. Upwards of half (44%) were small to medium tracts of land that ranged from 16 to fewer than 200 acres. One of the land documents was an outlier for 1,000 acres. Below are the number and percentage of land documents per one hundred acre increments:
Fewer than 100 acres–8 land records, 6.1% / 100 to 199 acres–50 land records, 38.2% / 200 to 299 acres–35 land records, 26.7% / 300 to 399 acres–21 land records, 16.0% / 400 to 499 acres–5 land records, 3.8% / 500 to 599 acres–1 land record, 0.8% / 600 or more acres–11 land records, 8.4%
The 92 settlers did not migrate at the same time, nor did they do so in large mass. The various dates of the land records over the thirty-year period suggests instead that they trickled in individually, and possibly in small groups at times. It is reasonable to assume that land occasionally changed hands through sale and trading. Thus, some of the 131 records may represent duplication of the same tracts of land.
Next month's article will discuss the migration and arrival of the early settlers. Interested readers may enjoy reading a previously published Bucklesberry article titled "Politics and Plows" available at https://t.ly/S2Ldh.
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