Fly, Flye, & Flythe  Family
of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee

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Bonnie Flythe ©1999
 

This site is dedicated to the Reverend Norman J. Flythe of Raleigh, a highly respected professional genealogist. He began researching the Fly & Flythe family in 1936 and has continued to pursue this interest ever since. He retired as a Methodist Minister in 1979 and since then has devoted more of his time to researching the Fly family along with many other family lines in northeastern North Carolina and Southside Virginia. His daughter, Mary Catherine Flythe, prepared some of these pages. I cannot thank him enough for providing me with documents, advice, and encouragement. Rev. Flythe descends from John Allman Fly probable son of Elisha Fly and Peggy Allman Fly.

I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the contributions and assistance of James Whitney Fly, Ralph Hill, Mary Catherine Flythe, Joyce Ford, Carla Whitehurst Odom, Arthur Harris, jr. Their patience and generosity is very much appreciated and will never be forgotten. Thanks for sharing

Virginia- Part I (1656-1735)

This section is about William Fly, his son Jeremiah, and his son John, all of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. William was born before 1656 and died about 1679. He married Mary Smith daughter of Arthur Smith. His son Jeremy was born about 1679 and died before December 1736. Jeremiah married Mary the widow of Henry Bulls. John, their son, is the mystery! He probably was born between 1712 and 1715, but disappears after 1736.

Virginia- Part II (1756-1791)

Between 1756 and 1791, the names of several members of the Fly family appear in church and court records of Isle of Wight and Southampton Counties, Virginia. Celia and her children Winney & Sally Fly, Jeremiah, John, Elisha, Jesse are all mentioned. Celia, Jeremiah, John, Elisha, Jesse and William are probably siblings, children of the mysterious John. This section describes what we know of each one of them from these church and court records.

North Carolina- Part I (1762-1808)

In 1762, William Fly's name appears on a deed in Granville, Co. North Carolina. By 1780, William, John, and Elisha are listed on the tax list of Northampton Co. This section describes each one of them. Jesse Fly and Peggy Allman Fly are also described as well as William's probable sons Elisha,jr.(b.ca.1767), John (b.1772), & Jeremiah (b.ca.1774). Documents have been analyzed carefully and as much meaning as possible extracted and presented. These individuals are the founders of various branches of the family to be found in the records of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Missouri, California, West Virginia, & Georgia.

Migrations of North Carolina Families

This section presents a brief descendancy chart of the probable sons of John Fly (b. ca. 1715) with individual life spans, where available. The chart is not complete, but shows the states where the Fly family descendants died. This gives an idea of the geographical movement of various branches of the family to other states.

Fly & Flythe in N.C. Census

Mary Catherine Flythe compiled this table information from the 1780 N.C. Tax List and 1787 State Census as well as the U.S. Census for Northampton County for the years 1790 through1850. This information was provided by Norman J. Flythe and James W. Fly. It shows the appearance and disappearance of each head of household in those records.

Family Group and Detailed Data Sheets

For those interested in more documentary detail about each family member, this section will provide that. It includes William Fly (d.1679), Jeremiah Fly (b.ca.1679), John Fly (b.ca. 1712), William Bulls (b.ca.1702), Celia Fly (b.ca. 1735), Jeremiah Fly (b.bef. 1738), William Fly (b.bef.1741) John Fly (d.1804), Elisha Fly (b.bef.1746), & Jesse Fly (b.bef.1752).

African American

This section briefly provides some information on the African Americans who were freed from the plantations of various members of the Flythe family in Northampton Co., N.C. Rev. Norman J. Flythe and Mary Catherine Flythe have been very diligent in their search for this data and more will be posted here as it becomes available.

Notable, Famous and Infamous!:

This section has brief biographical sketches of members of the family who have made their mark on history whether for positive or negative reasons. It now includes William Fly the Pirate and Camillus Fly, the Tombstone Arizona photographer. More to be added in future.

Just for Fun:

These are amusing or interesting tales about early members of the family.

Photo Gallery:

People- The individuals pictured here are descendants of some of the people described in the sections on Virginia and North Carolina. 1. Descendants of John Fly (d. 1804)-Thomas Jefferson Flythe, his 1^st. wife Mary Gilliam Flythe, his 2^nd. wife Minnie Chesterfieldia Crump, Frederick Flythe, Minnie Flythe, Clarence Flythe, John Thomas Flythe and Cary P. Fllythe. 2-Descendants of John Allman Fly (1781-bef. 1865)-Ada Louise Barkley Flythe, Travers Norman Flythe and Norman Jason Flythe.
Places- 1.Courthouse of Southampton Co., Va. 2. Tombstone of Lovey Willia Flythe Johnson. 3. Scene in Southampton County

Bibliography

List of sources used in the preparation of these reports.