Formation of Randolph County

Virginia colonists founded the Carolinas in 1653. In 1664, the first two counties were formed. Albemarle and Clarendon Counties were the original two counties. Albemarle comprised the northern part of the state, and Clarendon the southern part of the state. In 1667, the Clarendon settlement was abandoned; the county was thus discontinued.

By the time Albemarle County was six years old, in 1670, four precincts formed. Starting at the coast and working westward, the precincts were Currituck, Pasquotank, Berkeley, and Shaftesbury. Eleven years later, Berkeley precinct was renamed Perquimans precinct. Just four years later, in 1685, Shaftesbury precinct changed its name to Chowan precinct. In 1689, Albemarle County dissolved leaving behind the four independent precincts.

In 1696, Bath County formed just south of the existing precincts. Nine years later, in 1705, Bath gained its own precincts. Starting at the coast and going westward, the precincts were named Wickham, Pamptecough, and Archdale. (Archdale was slightly south of Pamptecough.)

North Carolina and South Carolina separated from one another into distinct colonies in 1710.

Seven years after Bath segregated in to its precincts, all three precincts changed names. From east to west again, the precincts were now Hyde, Beaufort, and Craven. (Craven was slightly south of Beaufort.)

North Carolina didn't see any changes for about 10 years after that, but in 1722, a couple more changes happened. Chowan precinct, located in the former Albemarle County, splintered into two. Chowan remained the eastern section, and the new precinct Bertie formed in the western section. In Bath County, Craven precinct split into two. Craven remained in the northwestern part of the region, and Carteret precinct took over the southeastern region.

Bath County and precincts of the former Albemarle County saw more changes in 1729. Before now, the northernmost precincts of North Carolina were Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan, and Bertie. Tyrrell precinct formed from the southernmost portions of Currituck, Pasquotank, Chowan, and Bertie. Because it took from all of those precincts, Tyrrell extended from the intracoastal waterway all the way to the precincts of Bertie and Beaufort. In Bath County, New Hanover precinct broke off from what was previously part of Craven precinct. New Hanover formed near what was originally Clarendon County.

Five years after the formation of New Hanover, the precinct split into three sections. Onslow precinct was the easternmost (and smallest) section, New Hanover remained in the middle, and Bladen was formed from the western most section.

In 1739, all of the "precincts" were redesignated as "counties." This meant North Carolina suddenly went from one county (Bath) and several precincts to having 13 counties. (Bath no longer had any designated area, so it ceased to function as a county.)

Edgecombe and Northampton Counties formed in 1741 from Bertie County. Northampton County claimed a small region in the northern part of the county, while Bertie County remained in the southeastern most section. Edgecombe County now consume the entire western part of the former County extending all the way down cutting off Beaufort County and sharing a new border with Craven County.

Over the next few years, North Carolina's counties saw many changes. In 1745, Hyde County expanded and claimed some of what was previously Currituck County. The next year, Edgecombe and Craven Counties both split. Granville County took over the westernmost part of Edgecombe, and Johnston County took over the westernmost part of Craven. In 1750, Anson formed out of the western part of Bladen and Duplin claimed the upper third of New Hanover.

In 1752, Orange County formed. It was made up of the northeasternmost part of Bladen and the westernmost parts of Granville and Johnston Counties. By now, all the counties in the state had definitive borders with the exception of Anson County, which comprised the western half of the state.

Anson divided into a northern and a southern section in 1753. Anson remained in the southern part, and Rowan County became the northern part. The next year, Cumberland formed in the top half of Bladen County.

Beaufort County took some land from its southern neighbor, Craven, in 1757. Halifax formed in the northeast section of Edgecombe County, and Dobbs County claimed the northernmost part of Johnston County by 1758. The following year, Hertford County formed from a combination of land from Bertie, Chowan, and Northampton. Pitt County formed in the western part of Beaufort County in 1760.

Mecklenburg County formed in 1762 from the western section of Anson County. In 1764, the southernmost tip of North Carolina became Brunswick County after taking land from both Bladen and New Hanover Counties. The same year, the eastern part of Granville County became Bute County. Tryon County took over the western part of Mecklenburg in 1768.

1770 brought a lot of sudden changes in the state. Guilford County formed from the western half of the Orange and the eastern part of Rowan. Wake County formed by taking pieces from Johnston, Orange, and Cumberland Counties. The remaining section of Orange County segmented further so that Chatham County formed out of the lower third of the county. The leftover Rowan County split into a northern and southern portion. The northern portion became Surry County; the lower remained Rowan. And Carteret County gained Ocracoke Island.

A couple of years later, in 1773, Surry took some additional land from Rowan County. Martin County took over the eastern portion of Halifax and the western portion of Tyrell in 1774. By 1776, the western border of the state started to take shape as the District of Washington formed at the ends of Surry, Rowan, and Tryon Counties.

More development came in 1777. Camden formed in the northern section of Pasquotank. Edgecombe's western half became Nash County. Caswell claimed the top part of Orange County. Wilkes County formed out of Surry and the District of Washington. Rowan split, and the western portion became Burke County. And District of Washington became Washington County, located in what is today's Tennessee.

The next year, Gates County formed from pieces of Chowan, Hertford, and Perquimans. The southwest portion of Craven County became Jones. Anson's northernmost part became Montgomery County. And, finally, in 1778, Randolph County formed in the lower portion of Guilford County.

Map highlighting Randolph County, North Carolina from ncpedia.org

North Carolina's counties have changed a lot since 1778, meaning Randolph's bordering counties changed a few times in the coming 100 years, but Randolph County's borders haven't changed much themselves. Today, Randolph County shares its borders with Alamance, Chatham, Davidson, Guilford, Montgomery, and Moore.

Sources:

• History of County Formations in North Carolina, 1664-1965
• North Carolina History Project: Randolph County

James C. and Martitia Stout

My husband's fourth great-grandmother was a Stout. (Sarah Stout, born about 1807 in North Carolina, to be specific.) His Stout family is actually proving to be rather difficult to research. (All I have is a name and an estimated birth from a census!) To help try and figure out the family, I started working researching all the Stouts in the area hoping I may come across the right Stout family. That's how I found this branch.

James Calvin Stout is an in-law of an in-law of an in-law in my husband's tree. I actually have two James Calvin Stouts in the tree, but for this post I'll stick to the younger one. He was born about 1862 to Calvin Newton Stout (son of the older James Calvin Stout) and Emily J. Bray.

James married Susana Martitia Brown on 25 September 1881 in Randolph County, North Carolina.

Clipping from the Randolph County, North Carolina Marriage Record Book

I don't know anything about her except her estimated birth (about 1862) from census records. I do know that, together, they had at least four children.

• William Oscar Stout, born about 1884
• Fannie Stout, born about 1893
• Leslie Stout, about 1897
• Annie Stout, about 1902

Clipping from the 1900 Census

Clipping from the 1910 Census

It seems from the census that for his entire life, James lived in Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina. (I have yet to find him in the 1880 census, but I have a feeling if I comb page-by-page through the Columbia census of that year, that I will find him.)

He was listed as a farmer, as was his father before him. Since he was too young in the 1870 census to be a farmer in his own right, and I have yet to find him in the 1880 census, I do not have any agriculture census records for James. I hope to look into his father's records a little more to see if I can guess what kinds of crops James may have tended, but that's a post for another day.

James died on 8 March 1935 in Columbia, North Carolina. His cause of death was myocarditis, but I can't read one of the contributing factors. I can tell it says "and broncho-pneumonia," but I can't make out the first word.

Clipping from Death Certificate of James Calvin Stout

I hope to ask someone with more of a medical background about this later to see if they can make it out.

Sources:

• 1870 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1900 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1910 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1920 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1930 Columbia, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Death Certificate, James Calvin Stout (accessed on Ancestry)
• Marriage Records for Randolph County, North Carolina (accessed on Ancestry)

Daniel and Sarah Elizabeth Tickle

I realized I never hit "publish" on this post! Rather than back post it, I have simply replaced this week's scheduled post with what was supposed to be last week's post. Sorry for the technical glitch!

The last few weeks' posts have featured families and topics in North Carolina. This week, I thought I would take us back to Virginia.

Sarah Elizabeth ("Betsey") Lineberry was born about 1802 in North Carolina. She was the third of 12 children born to Jacob Lineberry, IV and Mary Elizabeth Fanning. 

Betsey married Daniel Tickle on 22 November 1819 in Guilford County, North Carolina. Daniel was born about 1800 in North Carolina to John W. Tickle, Jr. and Elizabeth Cockelress.

Daniel and Betsey's Marriage Record

Betsey and Daniel had at least the following children:

• Salome Tickle, born about 1820
• Hezekiah C. Tickle, born about 1825
• Peter Conrad Tickle, born 25 August 1830
• Solomon Tickle, born about 1831
• Daniel Lineberry Tickle, born 13 October 1833
• Mary Tickle, born about 1835
• Harvey Bennett Tickle, born 26 November 1839
• Molly Adaline Tickle, born about 1840

All of the children were born in North Carolina, but it seems the entire set of children moved to Virginia when Daniel and Betsey did. (Salome is the only child that stayed in North Carolina since she was married by 1848.) Family legend says they moved to Bland County, Virginia in 1846. In reality, it looks as though they moved around a little bit before finally ending up in Bland County.

For the 1850 census, they were living in Giles County, Virginia.

Clipping from 1850 Census

In 1860, they are living in Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia.

Clipping from 1850 Census

Then, in 1870, they finally end up in Seddon, Bland County, Virginia. By 1880, they have settled in Mechanicsburg, Bland County, Virginia.

Clipping from 1880 Census

Betsey is listed in the Virginia Deaths and Burials Index as having died 15 January 1880 in Bland County, Virginia. If that is the case, however, that would leave me to believe the Elizabeth, age 70, living with Daniel in the 1880 census is actually a second spouse of Daniel's. (It is possible that Elizabeth died in June instead of January if it was a mis-transcription. I have not been able to locate a copy of the actual record yet, so I can not say one way or the other what the situation is.)

I have not found a death record for Daniel yet. I assume he died some time between 1880 and 1900. Without a copy of the 1890 census, I think that may be as narrow as I can get that date range for now.

Sources:

• 1850 Giles County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Wythe County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia U.S. Federal Agricultural Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Seddon, Bland County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 Mechanicsburg, Bland County, Virginia U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Guilford County North Carolina Marriage Records, Daniel Tickle and Betsey Linebury (accessed on Ancestry)
• Orange County North Carolina Marriage Records, John C. Low and Sally Tickle (accessed on Ancestry)
• Virginia, Deaths and Burials Index, Elizabeth Tickle (accessed on Ancestry)

The Unknown Solomon Lineberry

Sometimes, in genealogy, you come across a mystery. Maybe someone recorded or assumed something incorrectly online and that myth was perpetuated over and over again until people believed it to be truth. Then, as a thorough research, you come across the undocumented name, date, place, or relationship, and you realize there was no basis whatsoever for the initial assumption. The rest of your searches all seem to be focused around proving or disproving what that one person said before you.

The biggest mystery in my husband's family revolves around a man named Solomon Lineberry.

Here's what I know about Solomon. He was born sometime between 1805 and 1810. I know he married a Katharine (or Catharine) M. at least before the 1850 census. Together, they had at least the following children:

• Mebane Lineberry, born about 1831
• Lavinia or Levina Lineberry, born between 1834 and 1839
• Delphine or Delphina Lineberry, born about 1839
• Peter Lineberry, born between 1833 and 1835
• Sophronia or Sophia Lineberry, born between 1838 and 1841
• Leonard Lineberry, born between 1840 and 1842
• Angeline Lineberry, born between 1843 and 1844
• Madison Lineberry, born between 1845 and 1849
• Oliver "Adison" Lineberry, born 15 November 1846

Clipping from the 1850 Guilford County, North Carolina Census showing household of Solomon Lineberry

The first time I came across this family, it was recorded that Solomon was the son of Jacob Lineberry, III, the Revolutionary War Patriot, whom I showcased a few months ago. While Jacob did have a son named Solomon, that Solomon was born about 1800 according to the 1850 census, though most believe him to be born in 1787.

Clipping from the 1850 Randolph County, North Carolina Census showing the household of the older Solomon Lineberry. (He is living next door to his son, Jacob, and two doors down from his nephew, Emerson, here.)

While it was not uncommon for a family to reuse a name when another child previously died, the older Solomon never died. He lived at least until the 1850 census and married and had children of his own.

Another family researcher, Frances Harding Casstevens, wrote a book about her ancestor, the mysterious Solomon Lineberry.

Photo of book cover as found at Randolph Room, Asheboro Branch, Randolph County Public Library

This is her description of how she thinks her ancestor fits in with the rest of the Lineberry family.

"From what information we have been able to gather, I and other members of the family believe that our ancestor, Solomon Lineberry, was the son or grandson of Jacob Lineberry of Randolph county who married Mary Catherine Youngblood. It is known that Mary Catherine Youngblood was of German and Indian descent. The Indian blood appears even yet in the descendants. A picture of Eliza Lineberry Bowman shows this quite clearly. It appears elsewhere in the book.

 Jacob Lineberry's will names a son 'Solomon' but as there were two Solomon Lineberrys in Randolph county it is difficult to determine which was Jacob's son and which was the grandson. A book on the Lineberry family by Capt. W. S. Lineberry, written in 1918, gives all of the children and grandchildren of Jacob Lineberry, except those of John who is named in the will but left entirely out of the genealogy written by Capt. W. S. Lineberry who relied mostly on memory in compiling his family history. If our theories are correct, then our Solomon is the son of this John and Solomon's brothers and sisters were Eva (Moss); Macklen; Peter; and possibly others. As the 1820 Randolph County census is lost we may never be able to correctly determine this."

It is my opinion that Frances' Solomon could very well be the child of John, but I have not found solid evidence of that yet. I am fairly certain, however, that her Solomon was simply too young to have been Jacob's son.

If you know anything about this family or if you descend from either of these two Solomons, please send me a message or comment on this post. I would love to share information and attempt to untangle this particular portion of the family tree.

Sources:

• 1850 Northern Division, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1850 Southern Division, Guilford County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Flint Hill, Yadkin County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Casstevens, Frances Harding "The Descendants of Solomon Lineberry" (accessed at the Randolph Room, Asheboro Branch, Randolph County Library)
• Tombstone, Ad Lineberry (as viewed on Find-A-Grave)