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Go back to the main page. Jason Duncan (jason@webjmd.com) William
Blackburn, Early Traphill Settler December
2001 William
Blackburn was an early settler in the Traphill area of northeastern Wilkes
County. His wife’s name was Sarah and
they were listed in the 1850 Wilkes Co census living with their daughter in house #813: Wm. (86, born
VA), Sally (85), and Sarah (38). Their
children were: 1. John Blackburn 1788 - 2. Polly Blackburn 1790 - 3. Nancy Blackburn 1791 – 4. Mary Blackburn 1792 -
3/ 1/1881 5. William Burton Blackburn 3/26/1796 -
6/17/1870 6. Lambeth T. Blackburn 1804 - 1840 7. *Eli Austin Blackburn, Sr.
1806 - 4/11/1900 8. Phoebe Blackburn 10/14/1807 – 11/26/1892 9. Sarah Blackburn 1812 - While
information on his family and descendants can usually be found, there is little
proof documenting when William came to the area. Was he born in the Wilkes area or did he
emigrate from Virginia? A widely held
belief is that William was born about 1764, the son of Augustine Blackburn
(born c1745), who was the son of Ambrose Blackburn (born c1720). In order to understand the earlier Blackburn
generation, here is some background information. 1768 Taxables for Rowan Co,
NC, Upper Dan (now Surry or Stokes Co): Ambrose
Blackburn, Sr. taxed for himself, son Ambrose, Jr, son Augustine,
and his four slaves: Franck, Jude,
Esther, and Kalchu. Surry Co DB A, p3: On 7/13/1771, Ambrous Blackburn sold
150 acres to his son Newman Blackburn for £60. The land was located on Town Fork Creek,
adjacent to Justes and James Hampton. Surry Co DB A, p13: On 12/31/1771, Ambrose Blackburn, Sr.
gave a deed of gift to "his son Augustine Blackburn" including
half of his land on the south side of Town Fork, one feather bed and furniture,
and one saddle. It was witnessed by
William Hill and John Halbert. Surry Co DB A, p12: On 12/31/1771, Ambrose Blackburn, Sr.
gave a deed of gift to Ambrouse Blackburn, Jr. including half of his
land on the south side of Town Fork, negro boy Cain, negro girl Amy, and one
sorrel mare. The witnesses were William
Hill and John Halbert. This
suggests that Ambrose Blackburn, living in the greater Surry Co area, had sons
Ambrose Jr, Augustine, and Newman. Surry
Co was formed from Rowan Co in 1771.
Later, Wilkes Co was formed from Surry Co in 1777. Also, Stokes Co was formed in 1789 from Surry
Co. Our William Blackburn would be about
the right age to be a son of one of these three sons of Ambrose Sr. Many
researchers name Augustine as William’s father. Augustine is said to be listed in the 1772
Surry Co tax list and in a Surry Co deed (DB A, p13-15). On 10/13/1783, he received a grant (#484) for
600 acres near both forks of Great Neatmans Creek (Surry Co DB B, p308-9). He is found on the 1787, 1788, and 1789
Wilkes Co tax lists. On 12/21/1789,
Benjamin Watson sold 600 acres to Augustine Blackburn (Surry Co
DB D). They were both living in
Wilkes Co at the time. On 4/6/1790
Augustine sold 100 acres on Oldfield Creek in Stokes Co and soon moved to the Pendleton
District near the Saluda River in South Carolina. He is mentioned in Pendleton records in 1791
and 1792. On 6/12/1793, he lost his land
in Stokes Co, NC, according to a deed describing it as 235½ acres sold on
5/7/1792 adjoining Ambrose Blackburn and Younger Blackburn (i.e. his nephew,
son of Newman). He later moved on to
Jackson Co, GA, where his estate was appraised on 11/9/1796. On 1/1/1798, an account of the sale of the
estate of Augustain Blackburn, late deceased, was given in Jackson Co. Augustine is said to have left a will dated
1794 in GA where he lists a son William who was a minor. However, according to census records, our
William would have at least been in his 20s at that time, not a minor. Also, our William was in Wilkes at that time,
and probably would not have been mentioned in a GA will. Therefore, it appears that the William listed
in Augustine's will must be someone else.
Of course, it is possible that Augustine actually had two sons named
William: one born c1764 who stayed in
NC, and another born in the 1780s who went to GA. It is also possible that the Augustine found
in SC and GA records is someone else. I
have not seen any of those records first hand. If
Augustine was not the father of our William, what about Ambrose Jr? On 9/10/1778, he received a grant of 200
acres near Mill Creek (Surry Co, NC, DB A, p244-5). On 10/31/1778, he sold 100 acres to Mack Ship
for £60, land located near Townfork Creek, crossing Oldfield Creek (Surry Co DB
A, p259-60). Deeds dated 7/21/1785 and
10/16/1785 show Ambrose selling 100 and 450 acres (Surry Co DB C, p287, DB D,
p103-4). It appears that he was in SC by
1787 and was a Justice of the Peace in Greenville Co. Ambrose was a witness to a deed for 200 acres
sold by Reuben Stringer and his wife Elizabeth on 7/16/1787 in Greenville Co,
SC. He moved to Maury Co, TN, about 1803
where he died. The family homestead is
in Lewis Co, TN. Upon the death of
Ambrose Jr, his son John Blackburn inherited it. In the 1840s the house served as the Lewis Co
Courthouse. The farm has since been
turned into a museum. Our William would
have been in his 20s when Ambrose Jr moved to SC. This information does not seem to support or
counter the notion that Ambrose could be his father. However, I have not seen any sources which
list Ambrose Jr having a son named William. What about Newman Blackburn, possibly the
oldest son of Ambrose Sr? He is listed
in the 1768 Rowan Co Taxables with three taxables including himself, slave
Juniker, and wench Sall. He left a Surry
Co will on 12/18/1771 naming five children including one named William. Another son, named Younger, was the executor
of the will which was received in the February 1772 court. This places a William Blackburn of the right
age in the right general area to be our Traphill settler. However, there are still some unanswered
questions. The problem is that there were too many William
Blackburns in the Wilkes/Surry/Stokes area in the late 1700s and early
1800s. Here are all the Blackburns found
in the following records up until 1800. 1787
Wilkes Census #336
William Blackborn, Ferguson's Dist, 2M(21-60), 2 females #2905
Auston Blackbour, Gordon's Dist, 1M(21-60), 1M(not 21-60), 6F, 2 blacks (12-50) 1790
Wilkes Census Jas
Blackburn, 13th Company: 2M(over 16),
1M(under 16), 2F Wm
Blackburn, 6th Company (Traphill area):
1M(over 16), 1M(under 16), 3F 1790
Surry Census Susanna
Blackburn: 2M(under 16), 3F Jeremiah
Blackman: 1M(over 16), 1M(under 16), 5F John
Blackman: 1M(over 16), 1M(under 16), 5F Solomon
Blackmon: 1M(over 16) 1790
Stokes Census Younger
Blackbern: 1M(over 16), 3M(under 16),
5F, 1 slave Elizabeth
Blackbern: 2M(over 16), 2F, 2 slaves John
Blackbern: 1M(over 16), 4M(under 16),
4F, 3 slaves William
Blackbern: 1M(over 16), 5 slaves 1800
Wilkes Census William
Blackburn (appears to be Traphill area):
3M(under 10), 1M(over 45), 1F(under 10), 3F(10-16), 2F(26-45), 1 F(over
45) 1800
Stokes Census: Blackborn,
Elizabeth Blackborn,
Isarel Blackborn,
William (age 26-45) Blackborn,
Younger Blackburn,
Bryson Blackburn,
Lucy Before
any conclusions are drawn from the census information alone, the Wilkes Co tax
lists should be considered. There is a
William Blackburn listed in Wilkes Co tax lists in Hammon’s District in 1792,
1793, 1795, 1796, 1797, and 1799. This
district includes the Traphill area.
However, another man by the same name is also listed in tax lists for
Ferguson’s District from 1786 to 1793.
This district was changed to “Wm. Blackburn’s District” in 1795. Ferguson’s District was located in the
western part of the county in what is now Watauga Co. The William Blackburn of Ferguson made an
application for pension (S14967) dated 10/15/1831 in Caldwell City, KY. He stated that he was 75 years old and born
on 2/12/1757 in Fairfax City, VA, where he enlisted. After the war, he “lived a good many years in
Wilkes Co, NC, then several years in TN, and then to Caldwell, KY, to live with
children since 1828”. He died on
3/13/1841. The pension record states
that he was married to “Sara Baird”, living with Harrison Blackburn in
1840. Several members of the Baird
family were listed in Ferguson’s District, located in the western part of the
county. However, he is not our William
Blackburn, since our William lived out his life in Traphill. The
tax lists indicate that there were two William Blackburns in Wilkes Co between
1792 and 1795. Wilkes Co land records
can be found for the William of Ferguson District from 1788 to 1794. However, the first land record for William of
Traphill appears to be in a deed dated 8/3/1807 where “Wm. Blackburn” bought 70 acres on the south side of Elk
Spur Ridge from Thomas Billings for £50.
It was witnessed by Thomas Walsh and Jeremiah Cardwell. (Wilkes DB F2, p42 and p56). There is also a deed from 1821 and two from
1840 that appear to involve William of Traphill (Wilkes DB P, p364; Wilkes DB
R, p121; Wilkes DB P, p163). Before
we continue, here are later listings for William Blackburns in Wilkes and
Stokes Co censuses. 1810 Wilkes William Blackburn: 2M(under 10), 2M(10-15), 1M(16-25),
1M(26-45), 1F(under 10), 2F(16-25), 1F(26-45), 1F(over 45) --his neighbors indicate he was in the
Traphill area 1820
Wilkes
William Blackburn: 1M(under 10),
1M(16-25), 1F(16-25) William
Blackburn: 1M(10-15), 1M(16-18),
1M(19-25), 1M(over 45), 1F(under 10), 1F(10-15), 1F(16-26), 1F(over 45) 1830 Wilkes William Blackburn: 1 M(20-29), 1 M(60-69), 1 F(15-19), 1
F(60-69) William
Blackburn, Jr: 1M(under 5), 1M(10-14),
1M(30-39), 1F(under 5), 1F(5-9), 1F(30-39) 1840 Wilkes William Blackburn: 1M(under 5), 1M(5-9), 2M(10-14), 1M(15-19),
1M(40-49), 1F(under 5), 1F(10-14), 2F(15-19), 1F(40-49)
William Blackburn: 1M(under 5),
1M(5-9), 2M(10-14), 2M(15-19), 1M(20-30), 2F(5‑9), 1F(20-29), 1F(40-49) William
Blackburn Sr: 1M(70-79), 1F(20-29),
1F(70-79) 1810
Stokes William Blackburn: (over 45) 1820
Stokes Wm. Blackbourn: (over 45) 1830
Stokes William Blackburn: (60-70 living with old man in his 90s) William Blackburn Jr 1840
Stokes William Blackburn: (50-60, must be Jr.) 1850
Stokes William Blackburn: (age 10, born NC) So, what have we learned? At first glance it appears that our William
was the son of Newman who died in Surry Co in 1772. At the time, this area included what later
became Wilkes and Stokes Co. Early
Stokes Co censuses include Younger Blackburn, a known son of Newman. These same Stokes Co censuses include a
William Blackburn who was very possibly the brother of Younger. But our William can be found in Wilkes Co at
the time! It appears that William, son
of Newman, remained in Stokes Co, and therefore is not the man we are looking
for. When is our William first documented
in Wilkes Co? The tax lists include two
Williams between 1792 and 1795. While
one was living in the western part of the state, it seems likely that the other
would be our William of Traphill.
However, in each of the censuses of 1787, 1790, and 1800, there is only
one William Blackburn listed. In 1787,
it was the William in Ferguson District.
In 1790 and 1800, it appears to be the William in Traphill. Perhaps one William was overlooked in 1787
and 1790. By 1800, the William of
Ferguson District had probably moved on to TN. Also worth noting, there was another family of
Blackburns living in the Ashe Co area in the late 1700s. In Wilkes Co Heritage Volume 2, on
page 121, there is an article on a Benjamin Blackburn "born before
1755" who fought in the Revolutionary War.
He married Elizabeth Adkerson.
While they are not listed as having a son named William, could they
still be related somehow? Of course it is always possible that
our William came from VA and was actually the first in his family to settle in
Wilkes Co. There is no definitive proof
that he is related to any other Blackburns in the area. However, the names of his children may be a
clue. His first son was named John. Could that have been William’s father’s name? One son named Eli Austin could have been
named after his grandfather Augustine whose name was often spelled Austin or
Auston in early records. Son William
Burton may have been named after his mother’s maiden name which may have been
Burton. Son Lambeth T. (Tye?) is not a
very common name and may yield additional clues as to the parentage of our William
Blackburn of Traphill. Much more research is necessary
before the origin of William Blackburn of Traphill can be determined. Other records which could be helpful are
Surry Co tax lists, the Surry Co 1784/87 census, or possibly some early church
records. Since he lived in the vicinity
of Old Roaring River Baptist Church, perhaps there is some mention of him in
their early records. Hopefully this
report will generate new ideas and theories which will lead to the discovery of
the parentage of William Blackburn. |