The Fly-Flythe Family in Northampton Co., N.C. |
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Bonnie
Flythe ©1999 |
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Aug. 31, 1999 "I was born in east Virginia North Carolina I did roam…….." Traditional Folksong
Several Fly men appear in the records of Northampton Co. beginning in 1768 and it is thought that they came over the line from Southampton Virginia. The name is so rare and the counties are so close geographically that this seems most probable. During the 1980s, I was fortunate enough to meet and correspond with the Rev. Norman J. Flythe, a professional genealogist, and he provided me with much data which had resulted from his searches through the order books, minute books, files of loose bonds, petitions and deeds of Isle of Wight and Southampton Cos., Va. and also Hertford, Northampton, and Bertie Cos. of North Carolina. Not all of these are indexed so sometimes the researcher must read document by document to find mention of a possible ancestor. Rev. Flythe has been examining the records of Southside Virginia and northeastern North Carolina for 60 years! This makes my hunt of 20 years look brief although I have already collected quite a few documents and visited the Northampton county courthouse as well as the Southampton County courthouse in Courtland, Va. After all these years, I am describing here the earliest Fly family members in Northampton Co. and discussing their probable relationships. Assumptions have been kept to a minimum, but not eliminated entirely. Detailed documentary evidence of the following is available. Please e-mail Fly1776@nh.ultranet.com
This man first appears in N.C. records in 1762 as a witness to a deed from Julius Nichols to Joshua Ellis in Granville Co1. In 1760, this county bordered on Northampton Co to the west. In 1768 in Northampton Co., William Fly was a witness to three deeds2 and in a deed dated Sept. 15, 1772, William purchased his first land, 75 acres on the north side of Kirby's Creek with its houses and gardens3. William was a member of St. George's Parish and, in 1773, according to the Parish Vestry Book, took in Chloe Boyd and Robert Thorp, who were probably orphans4. It was a common custom then for some families, much in need of labor or willing to apprentice the young, to offer to provide training for these young people in exchange for the work they could perform as their skills developed. The church would supervise the process and pay for the support of the poor. That same year William also sold an acre of ground "whereon St. Paul's Chappel stands on"5. On Jan. 7, 1774, William purchased another tract of land near his first on Kirby's Creek not far from the Virginia-North Carolina border6. On March 25, 1775, William Fly and Mary Fly were witnesses to a deed7. This Mary was probably William's wife. Her parents are unknown. Since the middle name Nichols is found among the descendants of Jeremiah Nicholas Fly in Tennessee, it is sometimes stated that Mary was a daughter of Julius Nichols, but proof is lacking. The Nichols deeds and wills of Granville Co., N.C. and Lunenburg County, Va. have been examined by the Rev. Flythe and nothing connecting Nichols to Fly has been discovered. Julius Nichols, a land speculator, was a resident of Lunenburg Co., Virginia who received several land grants in N.C. The name Nichols is unknown among the many descendants of John (d.1804) and Peggy Allman Fly and very rare among the descendants of John (1772) and Jeremiah (1774). The 1780 Tax list includes William, John and Elisha8. In 1782, William was paid for services provided some time during the American Revolution (1775-1783).9 These particular pay vouchers do not automatically mean that the individual was a soldier. They were also used to compensate patriots for supplies (horses, flour, etc.) or services (ferrying men across a river, keeping records, etc.) rendered in support of the War effort. This pay voucher was issued by district auditors, in this case John Branch and John Bradford. Branch and Bradford were auditors for the Halifax district that included Edgecombe, Franklin, Martin, Nash, Northampton and Warren Counties10. According to the N.C. Archives in Raleigh, the vouchers were not always signed by the payee. The signature on this voucher does not match those on bonds and some family stories state that this means there were two different Williams. However, one signature alone is not sufficient to state that a separate individual exists especially since we cannot be sure who signed the voucher. In 1784, William was a co-signer on two bonds and also appears in two other documents11. The state census of Northampton County was collected in 1786. William Fly had a household of 5 males over 21 & under 60, 0 males under 21 and over 60, and 2 females12. The August 1, 1790 Federal Census listed William with 1 male over 16, 3 males under 16, and 5 females13. Before 1805, the census did not distinguish between family members and boarders, friends, apprentices, or wards. This makes interpreting his differing household composition in the 1786 State Census and the 1790 Census Federal very difficult. Readers familiar with the 1850 and later census data, where all names in a household are listed, will be familiar with fact that people of differing surnames lived in the same household. The sheer numbers in the early census records do not prove that two different William's existed. In addition, the census taker may not have gotten his information directly from the head of household, but from a friend or neighbor and the numbers themselves may not be accurate. William's final deed for 10 acres was dated March 2, 1794 and was a conveyance from Nathan Garner to William Fly, Decd. for ten acres on the north side of Kirby's Creek14. The mention of William Fly as deceased is highly unusual in a deed. A search of the N.C. Archives and the will books of Northampton Co. did not uncover any will, inventories, accounts, guardian bonds or other estate papers for a William Fly who died sometime before the deed was proved in 1796. A will was probably written, but it has not survived. Its contents are, of course, completely unknown and any statements about these contents would be guesswork. Obviously, the three brothers who went to Tennessee were heirs of William probably because they were his sons. Some family genealogies have a William Fly, jr. as a son of this William. He is described as the husband of Peggy Allman Fly. The claim is also made that William Fly, jr. died before his supposed father William and that Peggy lived on 10 acres of land which had belonged to William Fly, jr. This land is stated to be part of the land purchased by William Fly and given to William, Jr. No estate records or deeds indicate this at all. In fact, there is no William Fly, jr. in the court records of Northampton Co. Peggy's 1802 deed of gift15 to her two sons, John Allman Fly and Aaron Fly, gives them personal property, but no land. This 1802 deed of gift is not indexed in the Northampton Co. index of Grantors or Grantees because no land was involved. John Allman and Aaron's land deeds have been carefully examined and all the land they owned was purchased by them after 1802. None of it was inherited! In addition, there is no record of a marriage between Peggy Allman and a William Fly in the Allman records of Southside Virginia or northeastern N.C. There is no documentary evidence at all to the effect that John (d.1804) or the elder Elisha were sons of William. William does not appear to be old enough. John and William were contemporaneous in the court records. It is much more likely that they were brothers. It is claimed also that Elisha the elder was the father of Elisha,jr., John and Jeremiah, but there are no wills, deeds, or court minutes which connect Elisha to these three men. The most probable sons of William were Elisha, jr. (b. ca. 1767), John (b. 1772), and Jeremiah (b. ca. 1774). In the hope of avoiding confusion of two men with the same given name, I have noted the estimated birth dates of these three.
Elisha, Jr. (b.ca.1767) - This man is referred to as jr. only once, in the 1790 Fed. Census. The use of Sr. and Jr. in the Census did not necessarily mean father and son, but could be applied to uncle and nephew or completely unrelated individuals of differing ages but the same name. Elisha the elder and Elisha,jr. are probably related since the name is so very rare, but the exact nature of the relationship is unclear. No documents of any kind refer to an Elisha, Sr., including the 1790 Census where he is mentioned as Elisha Fly. Only one Elisha appears in the 1786 State Census. In the1790 Census, Elisha,jr.'s household composition was made up of 1 male over 16, 1 male under 16, 2 females and 1 slave16. On March 14, 1796, Elisha and Eliza Fly sell to James Barnes of Southampton Co., Va. 85 acres of land on the north side of Kirby's Creek purchased by William Fly17. The deed mentions devisement conveyances so a will is implied. The will no longer exists. It appears that William's son Elisha is selling his inheritance. Eliza's name is on the deed in order to eliminate her dower right in the land. On March 5, 1796 in Davidson Co., Tenn. Elisha Fly purchased 480 acres from James Barnes18. It is possible that Elisha is related in some way to James Barnes, but no proof has ever been found. Eliza's surname is said to be Reed, but once again there is no evidence to that effect. The records of the Reed family near Northampton and also in Tenn. have been examined and nothing has turned up. It is also said that she was Native American, specifically Cherokee. If she married Elisha, jr. in Northampton Co., N.C., she would probably be a member of the Tuscarora, Meherrin, Chowan tribes. For any of the men in Northampton Co. to have married a Cherokee, a long trip to south western North Carolina would have been required, but we have no record of anything like that. The 1790 Federal Census required that Indians be counted in a category labeled "number of all other free persons", but none of the Fly households had a person listed that way. Because of the strong tradition that there was Native American blood in the Tennessee branches of the family, it might be useful to point out here that of all the men in Northampton County, William is the best candidate to have married Native American. This would produce children i.e. Elisha, jr., John, and Jeremiah who could claim Indian ancestry. The Fly men were not Native American, but white men of English descent. A check of the Mormon records will show numerous people by the name of Fly living in England for centuries before the late 1700s. Because of the fragmentary condition of the few Indian census listings for the 1750s and 1760s in this part of North Carolina, we will probably never know, but the search will continue. Elisha Fly, jr.'s household is also the only Fly slave-owning household
in this Census. Elisha and Eliza lived the rest of their lives in Tenn.
and had several children there who have left many descendants throughout
the mid-western and western states of the U.S.
This John Fly may be the John Fly who appears in Hertford County in the 1790 Census19, but there is also a John Fly listed in 1790 in the Tax Lists of Southampton Co., Va.20 According to his Tombstone, he was born in 177221, but he does not clearly appear in deeds or other major court documents until Jan.15, 1796 when he and wife Sarah Fly sell to John Mungar 85 acres of land on the north side of Kirby's Creek purchased by William Fly.22 This land is described as having dwellings and gardens on it and was probably made up of William's 1772 land purchase. John and Sarah again appear to be selling an inheritance. Sarah was reportedly Sarah Jane Trader. The Trader family lived in Hertford Co., N.C., but this is a "burned" county so records are not available. On July 25, 1799, Elisha Fly of Davidson Co., Tenn. sells 100 acres to John Fly23. John and Sarah lived the rest of their lives in Tennessee. Sarah's life was short and John married again- twice. Many of their descendants established families in Tenn., and states further south and west. This John died in 1855 and did not live to be 120 as some say.
Jeremiah (b. ca. 1774) - It is estimated from the first mention of his name in a court document that he was born about 1774. He does not appear in any Census records. In March of 1795, he takes on an apprentice planter, Jesse Turner, so he must have had land to work24. Then, on March 15, 1796, he sells to John Darden two tracts of land, one of 75 acres and one of 10 acres of land on the north side of Kirby's Creek, both purchased by William Fly25. In a deed selling land, it was a requirement that the seller specify the differing tracts of land if they were not all purchased at the same time as one tract. Jeremiah does this and appears to be selling his inheritance of part of William's early land purchase and also William's last purchase of 10 acres. The 10 acres is probably the land transferred in the deed mentioning William as deceased. On June 16,1798 in Davidson Co., Tenn., Jeremiah Fly married Zilpha Pipkin26. John Dixon Fly, son of John (d.1804) cosigned the marriage bond. Like Elisha,jr (1767)and John (1772) many families descend from this couple. Jeremiah died in Barry Co., Missouri in 1846. Jeremiah was the youngest of the three brothers who appear to be selling their inheritance and moving to Tenn., all in 1796. The elder Elisha from Va. was probably not their father. He did not own any land and they are in no way connected to him in any court papers. No family stories make that specific claim. Charles Fly died without heirs and has not been connected to the Northampton Co. group. Jesse Fly is a possible but not probable father to these men, but there is no evidence that Jesse was a son of William and therefore could not have left the land to the three men. Jesse actually does not appear in any Northampton Co. tax, census, deed, will, estate, bond, or court order records. William was most logically the father of Elisha, jr.(1769), John (1772) and Jeremiah (1774). D. John Fly (b.bef.1741-d.Feb. 1804 Northampton Co., N.C.)
He is in the N.C. State Census of 1786 with a household of 1 male age 21-60, 4 males under 21 or over 60, and 3 females29. Between 1786 and the 1790 Federal Census, his name appears on several documents. The Federal Census shows for him a household of 2 males over 16, 2 males under 16 and 4 females.30 According to family stories, he was married more than once and there is weak evidence for that. The identities of his wives are not definitively proven. One of John's wives according to family stories was a Johnson, sister of Elisha Johnson. John Fly's daughter Millicent did marry Elias Johnson, a son of Elisha Johnson and it is possible that in telling this story, the descendants mixed things up a bit. One court document (1795) refers to both Susannah Fly and Polly Johnston31. Is this a reference to John's wife? Probably so. His next wife was a Mary, possibly Hutchings. His estate papers name all his children and appoint William Hutchings as guardian of the younger ones. Close kin are usually selected to be guardians of underage children. In 1794, John Fly purchased slaves Leah and her child Bedford from William Bass Cheatham32. By the time of his death, John had also acquired the slave Ryke. William Bass Cheatham sued John in 1795 and it may have been over these sales.33 In 1795, John purchased his second tract of land, this one from Carolus Judkins. It consisted of 75 acres. His previous purchase was for 50 acres so now John's plantation was 125 acres in size. This does not quite match the acreage granted to the widow Mary Fly by the courts as her widow's dower, but I have often seen discrepancies in the description of the sizes of tracts of land. John Fly's household on the 1800 Federal Census was made up of 1 male under 10, 1 male 16-26, 1 male over 45, 1 female under 10, 1 female 10-16, 1 female 16-26, 2 females 26-45 and 4 slaves34. Obviously, he has acquired another slave who does not appear in his estate inventory. In 1804, his widow Mary had to go to court in order to enforce her dower right to 1/3 of John's land35. John's first child, John Dixon Fly was probably born about 1765 in Virginia and Mary, his last wife, may have been pregnant with his youngest when he died "sometime in the month of Feb." 1804 as Mary says in her petition for her dower. John Fly's inventory is extensive. Five different auctions between 1804 and late 1805 were required to dispose of all of it36. The estate inventory indicates that John was probably literate. The inventory included a "parcel of old books". It also included 5 feather beds, a shoemaker's bench and tools, carpenter's tools, a looking glass, a man's saddle, a woman's saddle (side saddle- FGF), a sun dial, 2 spinning wheels, an indigo tub, one loom, one umbrella, one still, and one bayonet. This is only a partial list. His domestic animals included 11 geese, some fowls, two horses, 14 cattle, 9 sheep and 14 hogs. Enoch Fly purchased the books, the side-saddle and the umbrella at the estate sales. The widow Mary Fly purchased the Hymn Book and a cradle among other things. John's son-in-law Elias Johnson purchased the shoemaker's bench and tools. The widow Mary Fly purchased Leah. Enoch purchased Ryke and Bedford went to Fred Long. Enoch Fly did not take 200 slaves to Tennessee as the family story claims! In 1808, all of John's land was divided and distributed to each of his 10 children. They are all mentioned in the division and in later deeds when they sell the land they inherited. Emelius, one of John's sons, is sometimes listed as a son of the John buried in the Fly Cemetery in Williamson County, Tennessee, but this is not correct. Emelius was one of John's (d.1804) ten children as shown in the estate papers. E. Elisha Fly (b.bef. 1746-d.bef.1800Northampton Co., N.C.)
This man was the last to move to Northampton Co. and never purchased any land. He was in Southampton Co., Va. as late as April 8, 1773 when he appears there in two court records. Although he provided service in the American Revolution from N.C., he first appears in Northampton Co. on the 1780 Tax list37. He may have rented farmland or had another occupation unidentified to date. In 1785, he was required to appear in court for damaging 11 boxes "made in pine trees in order to collect turpentine belonging to John Parker"38. His household composition in the 1786 State Census was 1 male between 21 and 60, 3 males under 21 and over 60 and 5 females39. In the 1790 Census, his household was 4 males over16, 2 males under 16, and 4 females40. He apparently died without leaving a will or estate papers. The date of his death is not known, but it was probably between 1790 when he appears in the Federal Census and 1800 when he is gone. I must mention here that Elisha was not married to Sequoia's aunt! That claim has no basis in fact at all! Elisha was in Isle of Wight in 1769 and living in Southampton Co., Va. in 1772 & 1773. Celia Fly Williamson lived in Southside Virginia and there is not a shred of evidence that she was Cherokee. She has been mentioned as Elisha's wife, and sister of Sequoia's mother. An examination of the dates of the various events in her life will show that the entire account is not valid at all. Margaret Allman Fly is described next because the likelihood is very high that she was Elisha's wife. However, it must be emphasized that this is not proven.
On March 1, of 1802, Peggy signed an unusual deed mentioned previously. It is a deed of gift to her sons, John Fly and Aaron Fly. John may have just come of age having been born about 1781. Aaron was born in 1792 according to the 1850 Census42. What was unusual about the deed was that it gave personal property, but not land. Almost all deeds of gift I have seen have been of land, rarely personal property. Nor is there mention of any dower right in land. By this time in N.C., a widow did not have a dower right in the personal property of her deceased husband, but only in the land. It seems that Peggy's deceased husband owned no land and therefore she had none to pass on. Peggy herself may have been the daughter of Aaron Alman (Almond, Allman, etc.) of Nancemond Co., Va. or one of his brothers Moses or Lewis Allman. She was granddaughter of James Allman of Isle of Wight County, Virginia43. In view of the fact that Peggy deeded no land over to her sons, I conclude that her deceased husband was the elder Elisha. Although a supposed William Fly, jr. has been listed as her husband, there is no indication at all that a William, jr. ever existed. Peggy could not have been the older William's widow since William had a son John (1772). Nor could she have been the widow of Charles because Charles died before Aaron was born and with no heirs! F. Jesse Fly (b. bef. 1752-aft. 1773) No data Jesse actually does not appear in any Northampton Co. Court documents and he is mentioned here because according to one branch of the family there was a Jesse Fly born 1789 in Northampton Co., N.C44. This Jesse is said by some to be the son of a Jesse, Sr. and was an orphan. Jesse the younger appears in association with John Dixon Fly in various court records in Tennessee. He is not, apparently, a son of John Dixon, but his tombstone has the 1789 date on it and indicates that he was born in N.C. Nothing in the North Carolina records proves or disproves Jesse of Virginia as father of Jesse, Jr. A Charles Fly fought in the American Revolution from North Carolina and the only documentary evidence of his existence is associated with that. He was in the Continental Line and in order to receive a land grant, he must have fought for 84 months45. He died about 1785 and his bounty land in Tennessee reverted eventually to the University of North Carolina because he had no heirs. He was obviously not the father of Elisha, John and Jeremiah. There is actually no proof that he was ever in Northampton Co. and he may be from the Samuel Fley family that settled in South Carolina in the mid-1700s. There is no evidence to connect the above individuals to any branch of the family in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia or Maine. Records in those states would have to be searched carefully in order to prove any connection. The signatures on Revolutionary War pay vouchers do not, by themselves, prove the existence of a particular individual. I have tried in my research to accumulate and analyze as much documentary evidence as possible for each individual and am always very interested in newly discovered records. I still have not found absolute proof of the identity of the father of my ancestor John who died in 1804. I am convinced by the preponderance of the evidence that he came from Isle of Wight or Southampton Co. Virginia and was a son of the John who is mentioned in the will of Jeremiah Fly in Isle of Wight Co. It is likely that Jeremiah (b.bef. 1738), William (b. bef. 1741), Elisha (b. bef. 1746) and possibly Jesse (b. bef. 1753) were his brothers and obviously sons of Jeremiah's son John. This would make chronological sense and would be consistent with the naming pattern of William, Jeremiah and John in Virginia. It also does not require many, many guesses or a reliance on unsubstantiated stories. Migration patterns of the period make this plausible also. More data is obviously needed to actually prove these relationships beyond doubt. I hope it is found one day. Footnotes1 Letter of Norman J. Flythe, Granville County, N.C.,Deed Book E, pg. 359-360 2 Dr. Stephen J. Bradley, Jr. The Deeds of Northampton County North Carolina 1759-1774 (Keysville, Va.: Dr. Stephen J. Bradley, Jr., 1990), pg. 53, 49,54 3 Northampton County, N.C. Deed Book #5, pg. 392 4 Letter of Norman J. Flythe, photocopy 6 Northampton County, N.C. Deed Book #5, pg. 344 7 Dr. Stephen J. Bradley, Jr. The Deeds of Northampton County North Carolina 1759-1774 (Keysville, Va.: Dr. S.J. Bradley, Jr., 1990), pg. 6 9 "Revolutionary Pay Vouchers" (Raleigh, N.C.: N.C. Archives, nd) 10 Hofman, Margaret M. An Intermediate Short, Short Course in the Use of Some North Carolina Records in Genealogical Research (Rocky Mount,N.C. Margaret M. Hofman, 1990) pg. 38 11 Letters of Norman J. Flythe 12 Mrs. Alvaretta Kenan Register State Census of North Carolina 1784-1787 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealocical Publishing Co., 1983) pg. 113 13 Fly Households, First Census of the United States: Heads of Families- North Carolina, Halifax District, Northampton County, pg. 75 14 Northampton Co., N.C. Deed Book #10, pg. 219 15 Letters of Norman J. Flythe 16 Fly Households, First Census ..... pg. 75 17 Northampton Co., N.C. Deed Book #10, pg. 246 18 Davidson County, Tennessee Deed Book Vol. D, pg. 111 19 Fly Households First Census of the United States: Heads of Families- North Carolina, Edenton District Hertford Co. pg. 25 21 Photo of Tombstone taken by Ralph Hill (descendant of Spencer Hill) circa 1985 22 Northampton Co., N.C. Deed Book # 10, pg. 243 23 Davidson Co., Tenn. Deed Book _____, pg. _____ 24 David B. Gammon, Records of Estates Northampton County, North Carolina Volume II Estates Found in Court Records 1792-1816 (Raleigh, N.C.; David B. Gammon, 1988) pg. 96 25 Northampton Co., N.C. Deed Book #10, pg. 216 27 Northampton Co., N.C. Deed Book #6, pg. 110 28 "Revolutionary Pay Vouchers" (Raleigh, N.C.: N.C. Archives, nd.) 29 Register, State Census...., pg. 113 30 Fly Households First Census....., pg. 75 31 Letters of Norman J. Flythe 32 Northampton Co., N.C. Deed Book 11, pg. 17 33 Northampton Co., N.C. Court Papers, "Executions to 1800" 34 Fly Households, Census Federal 1800, pg._____ 35 Northampton Estates Records, 1785-1929, John Fly- 1804, (Raleigh, N.C.; N.C. Archives, nd.), Sept. 18, 1979 39 Register, State Census..., pg. 113 40 Fly Households, First Census...., pg. 75 41 Fly Households, Federal Census 1800... pg. ____ 42 Fly Households, Federal Census 1850 Va. 43 Blanche Adams Chapman, Wills and Administrations of Isle of Wight County, Virginia 1647-1800 (Baltimore, Md.; Genealogical Publishing Co., 1975), pg. 186 44 Photo of Tombstone taken by Walter b. Fly 45 "Revolutionary Pay Vouchers" (Raleigh, N.C.; N.C. Archives, nd.) |
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Bonnie Flythe
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