Jacob Hunter Trust
The Hunters of Nansemond
Hunter of Nansemond
William Hunter of Nansemond Co., Va., and his Descendants
“The first of this family,” reports John Bennett Boddie in Historic Southern Families (Vol. 7, pp. 100-104), “was William Hunter. It is not known when he first appeared in Virginia. The first public record pertaining to him is a patent dated 21 April 1695 for 200 acres ‘on the east side of the main cypress swamp that leads out to Bennett’s creek’ in the upper parish of the colony (Patent Book 8, p. 431 [rather, Virginia Patent Book 8, p. 309]. On 25 April 1702 he was granted 240 acres in the upper parish on the southeast side of the Meherrin Swamp adjoining his earlier patent for the transportation of himself, his wife, his daughter Alice, his son Nicholas, and Mary Cahon. In 1704 William Hunter appeared on the Nansemond Rent Roll with 800 acres. He was styled as ‘Capt.’ which indicates that he was probably captain in the county militia at that time. As the Nansemond records have been destroyed, there is no record of the division of the estate.”
An earlier record (Virginia Patent Book 7, p. 487) reports that Charles Rowntree (Rountree) was granted 350 acres in the upper parish of Nansemond County on 4 November 1685 for the transportation of seven persons: “Willm. Hunter, Nicho. Hunter, Joane Hunter, Rebecka Hunter, Charles Rountree, Robert Rountree, and John Sayer.”
Before 1729 William Hunter, a weaver by trade, died in the part of Nansemond County now designated as Chowan County, N. C. His will, mentioned in his son Nicholas’s legal papers, is lost. One source cites William’s daughter Alice as the wife of Job Randall. The Battle family of North Carolina claims descent from William Hunter’s daughter Sarah and William Battle.
Sons of William Hunter of Nansemond
Nicholas Hunter, m. Rebecca (Hardy?), d. 1749 in Carteret, N. C. Will dated 3 January 1749 and recorded in March court 1749.
- Isaac Hunter, evidently named for Nicholas’s brother Isaac of Chowan County, died between 1739 and 1749 and thus is not mentioned in his father’s will, 1749. See Chowan Deed Book C 2, pp. 45 – 47, for an indenture in which Isaac Jr. sells his uncle (called “Isaac Senr.,” who is the son of William) 164 acres that had been an original tract of William Hunter. Isaac Jr. was for a time a justice of the peace in Northampton County (see the will of John Cotton, 1742). His son Isaac Hunter of Wake County is the notable “Tavern Isaac” who owned the popular inn at Raleigh. Tavern Isaac’s brother Theophilus Hunter was married to Jane Lane. The city of Raleigh was established on former Lane land..
- Stephen Hunter, b. ca. 1708, d. 1796, N. C.
- Ezekiel Hunter (1769, 1779 tax records in Carteret Co.; 1769, 1771 tax records in Onslow Co.)
- Lebbeus Hunter, b. ca. 1719, served as an ensign in Capt. Thomas Lovich’s company, Carteret, n. d.., and died in 1798 in Carteret Co., m. Sarah Hadnot, and their son Lebbeus m. Clarky Davis in 1795.
- William Hunter, b. ca. 1710 in Nansemond Co., Va., m. Sarah Hardy in ca. 1730. William’s will, signed 21 Mar 1749 and recorded in April court 1750, mentions wife Sarah and sons John Hunter, Nicholas Hunter, Hardy Hunter, William Hunter, Job Hunter (who m. Martha Hardy and migrated to Lincoln Co., Ga.), James Hunter, Timothy Hunter, Charity Hunter, Sarah Hunter, and Priscilla (who m. Walton).
- Joab Hunter, b. ca. 1710 in Nansemond Co., Va., served in Col. John Starkey’s regiment, 1754, m. “Sabra” in Duplin Co., N. C., 1745
- E. Hunter (daughter)
- Zillah Hunter
- Kisiah Hunter
- Elizabeth Hunter
- Ruth Hunter
- Rachel Hunter m. Logan Daivs, 1796, Carteret
- Sarah Hunter
William Hunter
d. 1733. His will was signed 4 January 1732 and recorded 18 January 1733, Chowan County, mentioning wife Ann, sons William and Ephraim, and daughters Judith, Allise, Mary, Ann, and Easter. William reportedly was captured at sea by the French and taken to a French prison, from which he gained release. His wife Ann’s will, dated 24 May 1749, was recorded in October court 1751 in Chowan County, with executors being son William Hunter and son-in-law Edward Arnal.
- William Hunter
- Ephraim Hunter, b. ca. 1732? On Bertie Co., N. C., tax list in 1757, inherited his father’s water mill.
- Judith Hunter, m. Bland
- Ann Hunter, m. Winbourne
- Easter (Hester) Hunter, m. Knight
- Allise (Alice) Hunter, m. Edward Arnal (Arnold?)
- Mary Hunter
Robert Hunter, d. 1753 in Bertie Co., N. C., m. (2) Mrs. Elizabeth Bryan Whitmell (widow of Thomas Whitmell). Will signed 3 June 1752 and recorded in August court 1753 in Bertie County.
- Henry Hunter, b. 14 Mar. 1725, d. 1760 in Bertie Co., N. C., m. Sarah Whitmell, his stepsister
- Moses Hunter, b. ca. 1737 (son of Robert Hunter and Elizabeth Whitmell)
- Sarah Hunter, b. ca. 1730, m. Jacob Docton
- Mary Hunter, m. Gordon
- Judith Hunter, m. Perry
- Susannah Hunter, m. Benton
Isaac Hunter, the earliest Isaac Hunter in this family and a planter and vestryman of Chowan Co., N. C., m. Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Richard Parker of Chowan, and d. 1753. Will: Chowan County, April 17, 1752, recorded in April court, 1753. (James A. Hunter of Abbeville Dist., S. C., and Choctaw Co., Miss. (1796 – 1844) is a descendant in this line).
- Elisha Hunter (1723 – 1786) served as a private in the Chowan militia company of John Sumner, 1754. m. Ann Walton and had 8 children: Thomas Hunter, who m. Mrs. Mary Walton in 1771. A Thomas Hunter served as a private in Col. Robert Murden’s regiment, Pasquotank. Mary Hunter, who m. Benjamin Sanders on March 2, 1775, Christian Hunter, Celia Hunter, who m. David Harrell, Elizabeth Hunter, Rachel Hunter, Asenith Hunter, who m. Abraham Eason, and Sarah Hunter, who m. Amos Freeman. Elisha Hunter’s Brick House Plantation is mentioned in a deed of John, Josiah, and James Granbury of Gates County, N. C. (Deed Book A-5, p. 295).
- Col. Jacob Hunter (1737 – 1784) served in the N. C. General Assembly 1777, inherited his father’s water mill in 1753, m. Sarah Pugh Hill (d. Nov. 19, 1793), dau. of Abraham Hill, and had 3 children: Rev. Isaac Hunter of Gates County, who m. Sophia Riddick, Leah Hunter, who married Seth Riddick on Jan. 6, 1772, and Elizabeth Hunter, who married Robert McCullough
- Jesse Hunter (1736 – 1786), m. Ann Alston, daughter of Solomon Alston and Ann Nancy Hinton, in 1758 in Bute Co., N. C., and resided on his plantation on Shocco Creek in Warren Co., N. C., before migrating to Wilkes Co., Ga., and dying in Wake Co., N. C., in 1786. Jesse and Ann had four children: Philip Hunter, who served in North Carolina Continental Line during the Revolutionary War and who migrated to Wilkes Co., Ga., marrying (1) Mary Watson and (2) Mary Jackson, Elisha Hunter, who m. Rebecca Sparks and resided in Wilkes Co. and Greene Co., Ga., Ruth Hunter, who married William Green, Jr., in 1784 and resided in Greene Co., Ga., and Nathaniel Hunter.
- Isaac Hunter (1735 – 1815), who married Martha Alston, daughter of Solomon Alston and Ann Nancy Hinton, in 1760 in Bute Co., N. C., resided on his plantation on Shocco Creek in Warren Co., N. C., and had seven children: Solomon Alston Hunter, James Alston Hunter, Ann Alston Hunter, Martha (Patsy) Hunter, Sacky Clark Hunter, and Sarah (Sallie) Hunter. (James A. Hunter of Abbeville Dist., S. C., and Choctaw Co., Miss. (1796 – 1844) is a descendant in this line).
- Hannah Hunter, who married (1) Joseph Riddick and had two children: Joseph Riddick and Mary Riddick, and (2) Benjamin Perry and had two children: Benjamin Perry and Drucilla Perry
- Jane Hunter, who married Philip Perry and had four children: Jesse Perry, Philip Perry, Sarah Perry, and Rachel Perry
- Elizabeth Hunter, who married Joseph Perry and had three children: Elisha Perry, Hannah Perry, and Susan Perry
- Rachel Hunter, who married William Walton and had nine children: Timothy Walton, a vestryman in St. Paul’s Parish of Chowan, William Walton, a vestryman in St. Paul’s Parish of Chowan, John Walton, Isaac Walton, Sarah Walton, Rachel Walton, Mary Walton, who m. Jacob Eason, Nancy Walton, and Celia Walton
- Sarah Hunter, who married Charles Moore of Perquimans County on Feb. 1, 1753, and had nine children: Nancy Moore, Isaac Moore, Millicent Moore, Elizabeth Moore, Charles Moore, John Moore, Edwin Moore, Leah Moore, and Sally Moore
- Daniel Hunter (bachelor), d. intestate in Granville Co., N. C., 1797.
A Roster of Ten “Nansemond Hunters” Named Isaac
- Isaac Hunter of Chowan Co., N. C., d. 1753
- Son of William Hunter of Nansemond Co., Va., and the first Isaac in this lineage
- Husband of Elizabeth Parker
- Father of Elisha, Jacob, Jesse, Isaac of Warren Co., N. C., Daniel, Hannah, Jane (Joan), Elizabeth, Rachel, Sarah
- Brother of Nicholas, William, Robert, Joan, and Alice
- Owner of a tract on southeastern side of Bennett’s Creek, near Costen’s Chapel (See Edward Moseley’s map of North Carolina 1733, which designates the location of the Hunter property, and see the Mouzon map, which locates Costen’s, or Constant’s Chapel.)
- Vestryman and church warden of St. Paul’s Parish and reader at Costen’s Chapel
- Will, Chowan Co., N. C., 1752-53
- Estate papers of Isaac’s son Daniel (d. Granville Co., N. C., 1797), which provide genealogical history
- Isaac Hunter of Bute and Warren Co., N. C., d. 1815
- Son of Isaac of Chowan
- Husband of Martha Alston and son-in-law of Solomon Alston and Ann Nancy Hinton
- Father of Solomon Alston Hunter, James Alston Hunter, Jacob Hunter, Ann Alston Hunter, Martha (Patsy) Hunter, Sacky Clark Hunter, and Sarah (Sallie) Alston Hunter
- Migrated to Bute County from Chowan County with brothers Jesse and Daniel ca. 1756
- Owner of a plantation located along Shocco Creek in Bute/Warren County
- Signer of the N. C. Oath of Allegiance, 1778, Bute Co., N. C.
- Militia captain, Bute County, 1771
- Will, Warren County, signed in 1811, recorded in 1815
- Isaac Hunter of Northampton Co., N. C., d. between 1742 and 1749
- Son of Nicholas Hunter, who d. 1749, Carteret Co., N. C. (Isaac d. before his father and thus is not mentioned in the father’s will, 1749)
- Called “Isaac Jun.” in a deed transfer to “Isaac Sen.”(his uncle, Isaac Hunter of Chowan), 26 March 1723, Chowan Deed Book C2, p. 338
- Brother of Stephen, Ezekiel, Lebbeus, William, Joab, E. (sister), Zillah, Kisiah, Elizabeth, Ruth, Rachel, and Sarah
- Identified as Justice of the Northampton County court, will of John Cotton, 1742
- Father of “Tavern Isaac” Hunter of Wake County, Theophilus Hunter of Wake County, Reuben Hunter of Northampton County, and Ferribe Hunter
- Isaac Hunter of Wake Co., N. C. (“Tavern Isaac”)
- Son of Isaac Hunter of Northampton Co., N. C.
- Grandson of Nicholas Hunter of Carteret
- Owner of the popular tavern near Raleigh favored by state legislators
- Brother of Col. Theophilus Hunter, whose gravestone is said to the oldest in Wake County
- Husband of Rebecca Hart
- Isaac Hunter of Duplin Co., N. C., d. 1789
- Son of Job Hunter, whose father, William Hunter of the Virginia House of Burgesses, died in 1749
- A great-grandson of Nicholas Hunter I
- Husband of Priscilla Burton
- Father of Isaac Hunter II, who m. Patience Williams and d. in 1822
- Listed in N. C. state census of 1786, Duplin County (1 M 21-60, 2 M 21 & over 60, 4 females, 3 blacks 12-50, 4 blacks under 12 and over 50)
- Soldier in militia company of Captain Gillespie, 1786
- Rev. Isaac Hunter of Gates Co., N. C., 1759-1816
- Son of Jacob Hunter and Sarah Hill Pugh
- Grandson of Isaac Hunter and Elizabeth Parker of Chowan County
- Husband of Sophia Riddick (m. 8 June 1785), then of two wives named Mary Gordon
- Father of Isaac Riddick Hunter, Jacob, Edward R., Sophia, John Omega, Jacob Benjamin, Sarah, Edna, Adeline, and Barsha E.
- Private in Revolutionary War
- Called “Captain Isaac Hunter” in Gates County tax list of 1789
- Resident of Gates Co., N. C., on old Hunter tracts along Bennett’s Creek
- Sheriff in Gates County (formerly part of Chowan)
- Isaac Riddick Hunter, b. 1791
- Son of Rev. Isaac Hunter and Sophia Riddick
- Rev. Isaac Riddick Hunter II, b. ca. 1817 Gates County
- Grandson of Rev. Isaac Hunter of Gates County
- Moved from Gates to Huntersville, Va.
- Is described negatively in the slave narrative of Armaci Adams (Weevils in the Wheat)
- Enumerated in Elizabeth River Parish, Norfolk, Va., 1860 U. S. census
- Enumerated in Tanners Creek Township, Norfolk, Va., 1870 U. S. census
- Isaac Hunter of Wilson Co., Tenn.
- Son of James Alston Hunter and Ann Walker of Warren Co., N. C., and Wilson Co., Tenn.
- Grandson of Isaac Hunter of Warren Co., N. C., and Martha Alston
- Great-grandson of Isaac Hunter of Chowan Co., N. C.
- Isaac Hunter of Gates Co., N. C.
- Son of Thomas Hunter and his first wife Sarah Gordon
- Grandson of Elisha Hunter and Ann Walton of Gates Co., N. C.
This interpretation by Hunter McKelva Cole and Martha Cole Rester, 2004 – 2007, is their attempt to filter genealogical information from wills and estate records, land records, military records, census reports, and family histories.
Sacky Hunter’s Version of Nansemond Hunter History
Sacky Hunter was the next-to-youngest child of Isaac Hunter and Martha Alston. She was born in Warren Co., N. C., in 1783 and died in Maury Co., Tenn., in 1873. Family information that Sacky recorded in a letter now owned by William H. Kittrell of Mt. Pleasant, Tenn., was published by Marise P. Lightfoot in Historic Maury (July-September, 1972, p. 99).
One wonders what sparked Sacky to recount this account of her genealogy. Since the date of the letter does not appear in Lightfoot’s article, Sacky’s age at the time is not known. Evidently she was an elderly woman suffering from slips of memory as she wrote down family names and facts about marriages and kinships. Although her report is useful for documenting this Nansemond line, she is not an entirely reliable witness. North Carolina deeds, wills and estate records, military histories, and tax reports refute some of her claims, while underscoring the truth of others.
For instance, she misidentifies her great-grandfather (William Hunter of Nansemond Co., Va.) as “Theophalus Hunter.” Theophilus Hunter of Northampton Co., N. C., and Wake Co., N. C., was a grandson of William’s eldest son Nicholas and son of Isaac Hunter of Northampton. Possibly the full name of the progenitor was “William Theophilus Hunter.” It may be the source name of later descendants named Theophilus, although all known documents report him as William Hunter or Captain William Hunter. Sacky states further that her great-grandfather “had learned the weaving business as a youth, but was a merchant at the time of his marriage to a Miss Clark.” It is true that William Hunter was a weaver, but it is more likely that it was Sacky’s maternal great-grandfather John Alston who was married to “Miss Clark.” “They settled,” Sacky continues, “in Perquimans Co., lower N. C., where he died.” William Hunter’s original tracts were in Nansemond Co., Va., before the state boundary was redrawn and re-established in 1728. Thereafter his land was mapped in Chowan Co., N. C. The historical Moseley map of 1733 locates the Hunter property on Bennett’s Creek in Chowan and shows it abutting Perquimans. Thus Sacky is nearly correct about the location.
She continues by stating erroneously that her grandfather was named Jacob. He was, instead, Isaac Hunter, of Chowan County. One of Isaac’s sons was named Jacob. Sacky remembers correctly Isaac’s wife as Elizabeth Parker, but she states that they settled in Gates County. Isaac’s will was probated in 1754. Not until 1778 did the portion of Chowan in which the Hunter land was located become the new county called Gates.
“My father Isaac [son of Isaac Hunter and Elizabeth Parker] and his brothers Jesse & Daniel,” Sacky continues, “moved to what was then Bute and is now Warren County, N. C.” This statement is true, although when the Hunter brothers arrived (ca. 1757), Bute was still a part of Granville County.
Sacky seems the first to leave written documentation of William Hunter’s immigration. She recalls that “about the same time that my great grandfather Hunter came from England my great grandfather Alsten [John Alston] came from Scotland and settled in Virginia, where he died.” John Alston, rather, died in Chowan in 1758. Sacky may have reversed the country origins of the two immigrant ancestors. The Alstons were English, not Scottish. “My grandfather Solomon [son of John Alston and Mary Clark] moved to Bute, now Warren Co., N. C., and settled near my father Isaac Hunter.” This is true, although Alston seems to have arrived first. Both families had plantations along Shocco Creek, in the southern part the county. Sacky states correctly that Solomon Alston’s wife was Ann Hinton, adding “Intermarriage of Hunters and Alstens – My father Isaac Hunter married Martha Alsten, and his brother Jesse married her sister Anne Alsten. Daniel, his other brother, never married.” This statement is true.
She next reports on herself and her siblings: “Isaac and Martha had six children.” Sacky’s numbering goes awry. Actually there were seven. Sacky omits two brothers. Solomon Alston Hunter, the eldest of the children, was born in 1761. He moved away in 1784, when Sacky was a year old, and thus she had no memory of him. He died in Abbeville Dist., S. C., in 1799. She also omits her brother James Alston Hunter, who married Ann Walker, left Warren Co., N. C., in 1789, and settled in Wilson Co., Tenn. The first sibling she mentions is her brother “Jacob, who married Patience Williamson, moved near Memphis Tenn., where he died.” Probate of his estate occurred there in 1823.
Next, she lists her sister “Ann Alsten who married Isham Kittrell, lived and died in Granville Co., N. C.” After Ann’s husband Isham died, she married Lewellen Jones. They lived in Sumner Co., Tenn.
“Patsy Hinton,” the next sister enumerated, was Martha “Patsy” Hinton Hunter. “She married Green Williamson lived and died in Maury Co., Tenn.”
The sixth in the list is “Sarah Alston [‘Sallie’ Alston Hunter, the youngest sibling], who married Ludnell B. Estes [Lydell Bacon Estes] lived and died in Maury Co., Tenn.” Later Sallie married Burford Turner.
Sacky lists herself last. “I Sacky Clark [Hunter], who first married Osburne Pope Nicholson, by whom I had three children, Maria, Calvin and Alfred and then [married] Garrett L. Voorhies, by whom I had three, Emily James and Wm Millin.”
She concludes with “My sisters Patsy, Sarah and I came to Maury Co. together. I am the sole survivor of my father’s family. The Hunter family.” Lightfoot notes that Sacky attached a final comment on a separate page. It implies a mystery: “I do not know they settled in Perquimans Co lower N. C., where he died.”