Joshua Jacobs North Carolina Circa 1740 - 1790

 

In the previous post we established a well known relationship between the Seminole County, Florida Jacobs family and the Columbus County Jacobs of North Carolina. I have photos of my 3rd great grandfather Needham Noah Jacobs (N.N.) hunting with the W.C. Jacobs family in Florida Circa 1920's. 

It was from William Canada's line that we gained this lineage path. Even if it is not 100% accurate, what I always believe is accurate in these stories is the names. The naming patterns of the 17th century were strict and not usually crossed. By the time of the Civil War, as our nation's pride was taking shape, many families loosened up and began naming their children on their own terms. 

But in the early 1800's the naming patterns were still fairly in tact. According to the story that was passed along at Gaston Jacobs 90th birthday party, Joshua Tilden Jacob's presented a history of the family all the way back to England 1500's.  The problem was that Gaston and later Tilden's house both burned taking much of the research family history. From this document we have: 

 William Canada Jacob's father was George Jacobs who died sometime after 1820 leaving a family of four children to be raised by other relatives and neighbors. 

George's father was Col. John Jacobs and he had Henry, Gabriel and George. 

John Jacobs father was Joshua Jacobs and he was from North Carolina. 

Before we  begin this discussion it needs to be noted that I have searched in every county in the state of North Carolina and have never been able to discover one record of George Jacobs. This would make sense if he died young, especially if he was living on his father's estate. 

I can find a John Jacobs who served in Wilmington during the Revolutionary War helping keep the town safe. 

I also happen to know that there is another Jacobs family that came to America and settled in Massachusetts. That is my Grandmother Geraldine Jacobs Jacobs line. She was a Jacobs when she married my grandfather W.O. Jacobs in Florida. 

It is quite the task to sort out the Joshua and John Jacobs from Massachusetts from the North Carolina Jacobs family. They are two very different families. 

I have a few clues that might connect John Jacobs to Noah Jacobs but the strongest lead I have at this time is the naming patterns that William C. Jaocbs, Noah, and Nathan Jacobs all followed. Their father was John, their grandfather was Joshua. 

So we are skipping over John for the moment and concentrating on Joshua Jacobs of North Carolina. 

The thing is we have most of our DNA from the 4th generation and occasional 5th gen. coming from South Carolina, Richland and other counties around the Columbia area. People traveled and moved especially after the Rev. War. 

But I digress. Back to Joshua Jacobs of North Carolina 

Our timeline is key here:

1. 1803 Noah Jacobs Born 

2. 1780's circa George Jacobs born   (these dates are approximate and used to help discover candidates)

3. 1750's John Jacobs born 

4. 1730's ish Joshua Jacobs born. 

During the Revolutionary War age did not matter. All men who wanted to fight could fight. I have a Joseph Jacobs (from Vermont and my Grandmother Geraldine Jacobs line who fought at the age of 13 as a drummer boy). Men of all color fought. Slaves fought in place of their masters. Indian and other free people of color fought for the promise of freedoms, land and voting rights. 

I found 2 Joshua Jacobs from North Carolina who fought in the Rev. War. 

Jacobs, Joshua	1st NC Regiment	1782		A Private under Capt. Peter Bacot for 18 months.
Jacobs, Joshua	5th NC Regiment	1777	1777	A Private under Capt. Simon Alderson.  Killed at the battle of Brandywine Creek, PA on 9/11/1777.	Brandywine Creek (PA).

Joshua Jacobs that fought in the 5th NC Regiment and died in 1777 at Brandywine Creek most likely also came from Hyde County, NC. His Regiment leader Captain Simon Alderson was from Hyde County NC and the 5th NC Regiment was recruited from the central and coastal plains of N.C. Since we do not know the ages of either of these Joshua Jacobs, it is possible that they are related. 

This post is about Joshua Jacobs who fought with Capt. Peter Bacot. I chose him as the likely candidate because of his enlistment in the 1st NC Regiment at Wilmington and because Capt. Peter Bacot had settled in the area of Lake Waccamaw in Brunswick County and was from the French Huguenots from Charleston SC. 

These documents tell us that Private Joshua Jacobs most likely lived in Hyde County, North Carolina. 

In doing the research about the Rev. War Land Grants I learned a few important things: 

1. New Bern was the capital of N.C until 1792. 

2. Because the newly formed United States Government was short on cash they paid their soldiers with bounty land. This bounty land for NC soldiers was its western lands in what later becomes the state of Tennessee. 

3. Soldiers received 1. A land warrant 2. Then a survey 3. Then a formal land grant

3. Privates received 640 acres

5. Bedford county is south of present day Nashville and was one of the counties that were used to pay war debts to the soldiers. 

6.  90% of soldiers who received land grants never relocated to their given land, but rather sold it for cash. 

7. There were many scams afoot by land speculators. 

With regards to Joshua Jacobs: 

1. He received his land grand on Dec 21, 1785 in New Bern, North Carolina.

2. He sells it  to Walter Braddy, who was from Hyde County NC and was most likely a land speculator. One document I have identifies him as a Esq. or lawyer. 

Bedford County Tenn

• Was formed from Rutherford County 
• is in Middle Tenn. below Nashville 
• Was Part of the former Military Reservation 
• Joshua's grant predates the formation of Bedford's formation and was later absorbed into it. 
• The land was in the Second district
• The land was on Cove Spring Creek, a branch of Elk River. 

If he had settled there, he would almost certainly appear in the 

1805-1815 tax rolls, 1810 census Tennessee , Early Bedford deed books. He does not. 

In the 1780's, land assignments were almost executed in the county where the soldier resided. 

Witnesses were usually neighbors, local justices, county court officials, 

We know from these documents that Joshua Jacobs 

• Served as a Private (likely through the end of the war) 
• Received 640 acres of military entitlement
• Sold his warrant very soon after he received it for cash
• Did not go to Tennessee to live on the land 
• Most likely remained and died in North Carolina 
• The land that Joshua Jacobs received in 1785 first sold to > Walter Braddy > he sold to Hart> he sold to Gillespie> He sold to Archibald Woods who settled there on 300 acres of the land. 
• The wording of the document states that the land is granted unto Archibald Woods, assignee of Joshua Jacobs. 
• When the land was surveyed it was surveyed for A. Woods.

The NC warrant number was 3219 

The Tennessee Grant No was 1708

The land was surveyed 30 July 1805

The land deed was entered 24 October 1808 and was granted to Archibald Woods, assignee of Joshua Jacobs 

Time Line 

1776-1783 - Joshua Serves under Capt. Peter Bacot's regiment, enlisted in Wilmington. At this time, the Tennessee lands are still part of western North Carolina. The land is in the Military District or future Middle Tennesee. 

1785-1805 - Dec 1785 Joshua sells teh warrant 1st to Walter Braddy. Braddy sells it to Hart who sells it to Gillespie who sells it to Woods. Archibald Woods is a known land speculator

30 July 1805 - Land is surveyed for Archibald Woods 

24 Oct 1808  - Land is entered under the Tennessee Act of 1807 ( occupant claim system). 

28 May 1810 - Tennessee issues final grant to Archibald Woods. Joshua is only mentioned because he was the historical as original warrant holder. 

If Joshua had moved to Bedford County he would have appeared in the 1805 survey as claimant, he would appear in an early tax lists in Beford county formed in 1807, and he would likely show up in the 1810 census in Tennessee. 

This strongly suggests: 

Joshua Jacobs most likely never went to Tennessee, that he sold his warrant while still living in North Carolina, and that he either died in NC or moved out of state.  Once he sold the land, he was out of the picture. 

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Hyde County Evidence 

1790 census for Hyde county does not list Joshua Jacobs.  If he was under 21 he would not yet appear independently, moved or died. 

When Joshua signs over his land grant to Walter Braddy, the witnesses are Jesse Latham and Joseph Keach. These two witnesses matter because they are historically very present in Hyde County, Tyrell County and Beaufort County, North Carolina. Jessee Latham's father was a well known Rev. War Hero who died in 1782. Colonel Rotheas Latham was appointed Colonel/commander of the Hyde County Regiment and before the war he served in the Colonial Assembly and later represented Hyde County in the NC House of Commons 

In searching the Hyde and Beaufort County records I found 

•  1763 - A land Deed for the Swann family where Joshua Jacobs and his wife Dianna sign as witnesses. Pasquotank County 
• 1762 - A land deed where Joshua Jacobs and William Swann sign as witnesses for deed. Pasquotank County 
• 1765 - Estate sell of most importance here is that a William Berry and Sellars, and Simmons, Swindall, Williams, Ruffs families are represented as well. We see all of these families in Brunswick County in the early 1800's. 
• 1772 - An Estate sell where Joshua Jacobs purchases  several items including 2 hogs and 2 pewter dishes. Hyde County  
• 1774 - Estate Sale Hyde County 
• 1775 - Justices to take the list of Taxables Joshua Jacobs for the Upper District in Currituck.

The above evidence is all I have of him before the war. But it suggests that if all of the Joshua Jacobs of the region are one and the same that his birth date would need to be Circa 1740 or before based on his being of legal age to sign land deed documents as witnesses. 

He does seem to disappear after he sells his land. Did he pass away? Did he go south? 

I did find this 1797 Newspaper clip in Augusta Georgia of a Joshua Jacobs that served in the local militia. But then it could be that this is the Joshua Jacobs from Edgefield SC who served in the war under Capt. Philemon Waters and moved to Warren Co. Ga. . Oh well.  Once we get the documentation settled I am certain that the DNA will help us sort the rest of it. 

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I will say before I close this post that for me the Hyde County Joshua Jacobs makes the most sense. The reasons being are: 

• Evidence given gives proof of his residence 
• This area was settled in the late 1600's by families from Virginia. 
• Many of the Jacobs of this area are known to have DNA haplogroups of EM2 which would tie them back to the original Jacobs ancestor of Colonial America, Gabriel Jacobs 
• The fact that I cannot find a land deed for Joshua Jacobs in any of these counties suggests to me that he was living on his father's plantation, he was a FPC (free person of color) and lived tribally, he was on the water often and traveled from county to county. More research is needed, but it appears that there might have been a migration down from Pasquotank and Perquimmons Counties to Currituck, Onslow, Duplin, Sampson, and Cumberland.