James Albritton (2 July 1761–1797) is the eldest known child of Peter Albritton Sr. to survive to adulthood. James had reached the age for military service by 1778–1781, the period that coincides with the climax of the struggle for control of the Carolinas between the Patriots and British forces during the Revolutionary War. On 26 September 1782, James Albritton of Craven County was allowed the sum of £6 s4 for performing militia duty in Capt. Cannon's company, New Bern District. The only known Albrittons in eastern North Carolina of this era lived in Pitt County, the county adjoining Craven, and given the known strong Patriot feelings of Peter Albritton and his brothers, the man who served in the North Carolina Militia is believed to have been Peter's son, James Albritton.
James Albritton undoubtedly grew up on his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps adjoining the plantation of his grandfather, James Albritton Sr. During his childhood, James' paternal uncles, Thomas, Matthew, George, Richard, and Henry, all owned adjoining or nearby plantations on branches of Chicod Creek, on the south side of the Tar River. Only his uncle, James Albritton Jr., had settled elsewhere, on the north side of the Tar, along Grindle Creek.
Assuming his eldest-known child was not born out of wedlock, James Albritton had married no later than July 1782, probably between about 1779 and mid-1782. No known source gives any indication of the identity of James' wife, and claims made in one work identifying her maiden name as Cason are unsubstantiated.
Precisely what prompted James Albritton to leave his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps and join his uncle, James Albritton Jr., on the north side of the river remains unclear, but marriage to a Cason or another woman from that region would explain it. In any case, by 1783 or 1784 the younger James had settled beside his uncle. On 18 April 1784, for £100, Henry Cason sold James Albritton a 250-acre tract of land on the south side of Grindle Creek adjoining the plantation of his uncle, now referred to as "James Albritton Senr." The property's boundary was "Agreed upon" by Henry Cason and the elder James Albritton, who also witnessed the transaction. The descendants of the younger James Albritton would occupy and farm this plantation until the 1840s.
On 12 January 1790, Joshua James sold to Shadrack Perry a 100-acre tract of land on the north side of Grindle Creek "Begining [sic] at James Albritons Jur Corner tree a pine" and adjoining land of two of the neighbors of James Albritton Jr., John Cason and his grandson, Robert Lanier Daniels. The 1790 Pitt County Federal Census lists the household of James Albritton near those of his two married sisters, his uncle, James Albritton Jr., and his uncle's neighbors, Samuel Barrow, Sarah Leggett, John and Henry Cason, Thomas Daniel, Jacob Little, John Cherry, and John Whitchard. The younger James Albritton's household consisted of one adult male, one male under sixteen years old, and four females.
By the latter 1780s, James Albritton's brother, Adam Albritton, had also left their father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps south of the Tar River and joined his brother and uncle on Grindle Creek. In 1790, Adam lived alone in his own household in the Grindle Creek vicinity, possibly north of Grindle Creek towards Briery Swamp. He soon married Eleanor, daughter of John Cason, reportedly on 16 August 1791, and they settled on a farm near her father, Adam's uncle, and Adam's brother, James.
In 1791, reportedly upon the death of his wife, John Cason began his preparations to emigrate from Pitt County by putting his plantation and slaves into his daughters' names. On October 7th, Cason made numerous transactions involving James Albritton, his younger brothers, Adam and Jonathan, and their uncle, James Albritton Jr. For £15 "current money," Cason sold "James Albriton Junr" (meaning James, son of Peter) 15 acres of land that adjoined their farms. For £200 "current money," Cason sold his daughter, Eleanor Albritton, a 181-acre tract of land at the mouth of Mill Branch and on Grindle Creek, part of whose boundary John Cason described as
"…to James Albritons line, then with James Albritons line to the sd John Casons lower line…including the whole of the Land and plantation on which the sd. John Cason now lives…"
It appears that this tract adjoined the lands of both James Albritton and his uncle, James Albritton Jr. That same day, Cason sold his widowed daughter, Jane Cason Adams, a 20-acre tract of land adjoining the plantation on which he lived and "James Albritons Corner." Two months later, on December 15th, John Cason made additional dispositions of his property. For £150, he sold personal property to James Albritton, with the transaction witnessed by Cason's grandson, Robert Hatton, and James' brother, Adam Albritton.
John Cason's numerous transactions as he prepared to leave North Carolina involved his married daughters, a few of their husbands, the grandchildren of his widowed daughters, and James and Jonathan Albritton, nephews of Cason's longtime neighbor, James Albritton Jr. Cason's transactions with James Albritton brings up the intriguing possibility that James Albritton, son of Peter, was another son-in-law of John Cason. Records indicate that James had one son and three daughters born during the 1780s, with his only other known child born about 1797. This could suggest that his first wife died about 1790 or 1791. Was his first wife possibly another daughter of John Cason, with Cason conveying property to James Albritton as her children's portion of Cason's estate?
By February 1797, James Albritton had resided on Grindle Creek north of the Tar River for more than thirteen years. Even so, as Peter Albritton Sr. began to disperse portions of his Cow and Cross Swamp plantation on the south side of the river to his three sons who remained there with him, William Albritton, Enoch Albritton, and Peter Albritton Jr., he gave an equal portion of land to James. On February 6th, for £10, Peter sold James land on the southwest side of Cross Swamp "now belonging to Peter Albrittons and deeded to His Sun James Albritton." On that same day, James Albritton witnessed his father's transfer of tracts the same size to James' brothers, Enoch and Peter Albritton Jr. While these transactions did not state the precise acreage sold, later records show all three as 50-acre tracts, all of which the elder Peter "sold" to his sons for £10. Other records indicate that this price is far below the going rate for this land, so the sales were more gifts than actual sales at market value. It is not entirely clear why Peter gave James a portion of his Cow and Cross Swamp farm while not making similar dispositions of his property to Adam, Jonathan, and Joel, his other sons who had also left his plantation years earlier and moved north of the river to Grindle Creek. Perhaps Peter made monetary advances to them as they left home, while he had failed to do the same for James, his eldest surviving son.
James Albritton did not retain possession of the 50-acre tract on the south side of the Tar River his father gave him for long, for by January 1799, the land was owned by James' first cousin, also named James Albritton, believed to be the son of Matthew Albritton, older brother of Peter Albritton Sr. This other James Albritton had settled beside his uncle, Peter Albritton Sr., in the latter 1780s, and between 1789 and the latter 1790s, he acquired a large plantation adjoining that of his uncle on Cross and Cow Swamp.
James Albritton did not live long after participating in the 6 February 1797 transactions with his father and brothers. He may have suffered from an illness or disease that gave him warning of his impending demise, for although a young man in his late thirties, he left a will that named his younger brother, Adam, as his executor. James Albritton died in about 1797, and evidence indicates that Peter Albritton Sr. left a will that included a bequest either to James or to James' heirs, allotting them an equal share in a tract of land along with his other children who had moved across the Tar River to Grindle Creek. On 1 July 1799, the Pitt County Court recorded its division of the lands of Peter Albritton Sr., allotting a 23½-acre portion of this tract to "the Heirs of James Albritton Jr. Decd…they being legatees Intitled [sic] to one seventh part."
James Albritton's older children retained their ownership in this 23½-acre of land for nearly two decades, selling their interest in it in 1817. James' youngest son, Peter Albritton, born about 1797, did not sign the 1817 document with his siblings, although he did witness it. Peter did not sell his interest in the land his father inherited until January 1839, after he had already moved to Muscogee County, Georgia.
Evidence indicates that the births of the four eldest children of James Albritton who survived to adulthood occurred between 1780 and 1790, followed by a seven-year gap before the birth of his youngest-known child, Peter Albritton. Combined with the dearth of documentation on his wife(s), this suggests the possibility that Peter may have had a different mother than his elder siblings.
The children of James Albritton, son of Peter, as documented by Pitt County deed records, include:
1) Samuel Albritton (23 Apr 1783–27 Aug 1831) married Tabitha Bell (13 Aug 1787–24 Aug 1865)
2) Susannah Albritton (c1784–1820/1830) married John Bowers Jr. (1774/1780–after 1830)
3) Dorothy Albritton (1780/1785–1817/1820) married Abel Moore (1770/1780–1820/1829)
4) Nancy Albritton (c1790–after 1850) married Allen Moore (1775/1784–1829/1830)
5) Peter Albritton (c1797–1860) married Hollan Moore (c1797–after 1860). They moved to Muscogee County Georgia in the 1830s, and the in the 1850s, on to Louisiana, where their children William R. Albritton, Howell Albritton, and Harriett Louisa Albritton Bryan settled.
James Albritton undoubtedly grew up on his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps adjoining the plantation of his grandfather, James Albritton Sr. During his childhood, James' paternal uncles, Thomas, Matthew, George, Richard, and Henry, all owned adjoining or nearby plantations on branches of Chicod Creek, on the south side of the Tar River. Only his uncle, James Albritton Jr., had settled elsewhere, on the north side of the Tar, along Grindle Creek.
Assuming his eldest-known child was not born out of wedlock, James Albritton had married no later than July 1782, probably between about 1779 and mid-1782. No known source gives any indication of the identity of James' wife, and claims made in one work identifying her maiden name as Cason are unsubstantiated.
Precisely what prompted James Albritton to leave his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps and join his uncle, James Albritton Jr., on the north side of the river remains unclear, but marriage to a Cason or another woman from that region would explain it. In any case, by 1783 or 1784 the younger James had settled beside his uncle. On 18 April 1784, for £100, Henry Cason sold James Albritton a 250-acre tract of land on the south side of Grindle Creek adjoining the plantation of his uncle, now referred to as "James Albritton Senr." The property's boundary was "Agreed upon" by Henry Cason and the elder James Albritton, who also witnessed the transaction. The descendants of the younger James Albritton would occupy and farm this plantation until the 1840s.
On 12 January 1790, Joshua James sold to Shadrack Perry a 100-acre tract of land on the north side of Grindle Creek "Begining [sic] at James Albritons Jur Corner tree a pine" and adjoining land of two of the neighbors of James Albritton Jr., John Cason and his grandson, Robert Lanier Daniels. The 1790 Pitt County Federal Census lists the household of James Albritton near those of his two married sisters, his uncle, James Albritton Jr., and his uncle's neighbors, Samuel Barrow, Sarah Leggett, John and Henry Cason, Thomas Daniel, Jacob Little, John Cherry, and John Whitchard. The younger James Albritton's household consisted of one adult male, one male under sixteen years old, and four females.
By the latter 1780s, James Albritton's brother, Adam Albritton, had also left their father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps south of the Tar River and joined his brother and uncle on Grindle Creek. In 1790, Adam lived alone in his own household in the Grindle Creek vicinity, possibly north of Grindle Creek towards Briery Swamp. He soon married Eleanor, daughter of John Cason, reportedly on 16 August 1791, and they settled on a farm near her father, Adam's uncle, and Adam's brother, James.
In 1791, reportedly upon the death of his wife, John Cason began his preparations to emigrate from Pitt County by putting his plantation and slaves into his daughters' names. On October 7th, Cason made numerous transactions involving James Albritton, his younger brothers, Adam and Jonathan, and their uncle, James Albritton Jr. For £15 "current money," Cason sold "James Albriton Junr" (meaning James, son of Peter) 15 acres of land that adjoined their farms. For £200 "current money," Cason sold his daughter, Eleanor Albritton, a 181-acre tract of land at the mouth of Mill Branch and on Grindle Creek, part of whose boundary John Cason described as
"…to James Albritons line, then with James Albritons line to the sd John Casons lower line…including the whole of the Land and plantation on which the sd. John Cason now lives…"
It appears that this tract adjoined the lands of both James Albritton and his uncle, James Albritton Jr. That same day, Cason sold his widowed daughter, Jane Cason Adams, a 20-acre tract of land adjoining the plantation on which he lived and "James Albritons Corner." Two months later, on December 15th, John Cason made additional dispositions of his property. For £150, he sold personal property to James Albritton, with the transaction witnessed by Cason's grandson, Robert Hatton, and James' brother, Adam Albritton.
John Cason's numerous transactions as he prepared to leave North Carolina involved his married daughters, a few of their husbands, the grandchildren of his widowed daughters, and James and Jonathan Albritton, nephews of Cason's longtime neighbor, James Albritton Jr. Cason's transactions with James Albritton brings up the intriguing possibility that James Albritton, son of Peter, was another son-in-law of John Cason. Records indicate that James had one son and three daughters born during the 1780s, with his only other known child born about 1797. This could suggest that his first wife died about 1790 or 1791. Was his first wife possibly another daughter of John Cason, with Cason conveying property to James Albritton as her children's portion of Cason's estate?
By February 1797, James Albritton had resided on Grindle Creek north of the Tar River for more than thirteen years. Even so, as Peter Albritton Sr. began to disperse portions of his Cow and Cross Swamp plantation on the south side of the river to his three sons who remained there with him, William Albritton, Enoch Albritton, and Peter Albritton Jr., he gave an equal portion of land to James. On February 6th, for £10, Peter sold James land on the southwest side of Cross Swamp "now belonging to Peter Albrittons and deeded to His Sun James Albritton." On that same day, James Albritton witnessed his father's transfer of tracts the same size to James' brothers, Enoch and Peter Albritton Jr. While these transactions did not state the precise acreage sold, later records show all three as 50-acre tracts, all of which the elder Peter "sold" to his sons for £10. Other records indicate that this price is far below the going rate for this land, so the sales were more gifts than actual sales at market value. It is not entirely clear why Peter gave James a portion of his Cow and Cross Swamp farm while not making similar dispositions of his property to Adam, Jonathan, and Joel, his other sons who had also left his plantation years earlier and moved north of the river to Grindle Creek. Perhaps Peter made monetary advances to them as they left home, while he had failed to do the same for James, his eldest surviving son.
James Albritton did not retain possession of the 50-acre tract on the south side of the Tar River his father gave him for long, for by January 1799, the land was owned by James' first cousin, also named James Albritton, believed to be the son of Matthew Albritton, older brother of Peter Albritton Sr. This other James Albritton had settled beside his uncle, Peter Albritton Sr., in the latter 1780s, and between 1789 and the latter 1790s, he acquired a large plantation adjoining that of his uncle on Cross and Cow Swamp.
James Albritton did not live long after participating in the 6 February 1797 transactions with his father and brothers. He may have suffered from an illness or disease that gave him warning of his impending demise, for although a young man in his late thirties, he left a will that named his younger brother, Adam, as his executor. James Albritton died in about 1797, and evidence indicates that Peter Albritton Sr. left a will that included a bequest either to James or to James' heirs, allotting them an equal share in a tract of land along with his other children who had moved across the Tar River to Grindle Creek. On 1 July 1799, the Pitt County Court recorded its division of the lands of Peter Albritton Sr., allotting a 23½-acre portion of this tract to "the Heirs of James Albritton Jr. Decd…they being legatees Intitled [sic] to one seventh part."
James Albritton's older children retained their ownership in this 23½-acre of land for nearly two decades, selling their interest in it in 1817. James' youngest son, Peter Albritton, born about 1797, did not sign the 1817 document with his siblings, although he did witness it. Peter did not sell his interest in the land his father inherited until January 1839, after he had already moved to Muscogee County, Georgia.
Evidence indicates that the births of the four eldest children of James Albritton who survived to adulthood occurred between 1780 and 1790, followed by a seven-year gap before the birth of his youngest-known child, Peter Albritton. Combined with the dearth of documentation on his wife(s), this suggests the possibility that Peter may have had a different mother than his elder siblings.
The children of James Albritton, son of Peter, as documented by Pitt County deed records, include:
1) Samuel Albritton (23 Apr 1783–27 Aug 1831) married Tabitha Bell (13 Aug 1787–24 Aug 1865)
2) Susannah Albritton (c1784–1820/1830) married John Bowers Jr. (1774/1780–after 1830)
3) Dorothy Albritton (1780/1785–1817/1820) married Abel Moore (1770/1780–1820/1829)
4) Nancy Albritton (c1790–after 1850) married Allen Moore (1775/1784–1829/1830)
5) Peter Albritton (c1797–1860) married Hollan Moore (c1797–after 1860). They moved to Muscogee County Georgia in the 1830s, and the in the 1850s, on to Louisiana, where their children William R. Albritton, Howell Albritton, and Harriett Louisa Albritton Bryan settled.
James Albritton (2 July 1761–1797) is the eldest known child of Peter Albritton Sr. to survive to adulthood. James had reached the age for military service by 1778–1781, the period that coincides with the climax of the struggle for control of the Carolinas between the Patriots and British forces during the Revolutionary War. On 26 September 1782, James Albritton of Craven County was allowed the sum of £6 s4 for performing militia duty in Capt. Cannon's company, New Bern District. The only known Albrittons in eastern North Carolina of this era lived in Pitt County, the county adjoining Craven, and given the known strong Patriot feelings of Peter Albritton and his brothers, the man who served in the North Carolina Militia is believed to have been Peter's son, James Albritton.
James Albritton undoubtedly grew up on his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps adjoining the plantation of his grandfather, James Albritton Sr. During his childhood, James' paternal uncles, Thomas, Matthew, George, Richard, and Henry, all owned adjoining or nearby plantations on branches of Chicod Creek, on the south side of the Tar River. Only his uncle, James Albritton Jr., had settled elsewhere, on the north side of the Tar, along Grindle Creek.
Assuming his eldest-known child was not born out of wedlock, James Albritton had married no later than July 1782, probably between about 1779 and mid-1782. No known source gives any indication of the identity of James' wife, and claims made in one work identifying her maiden name as Cason are unsubstantiated.
Precisely what prompted James Albritton to leave his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps and join his uncle, James Albritton Jr., on the north side of the river remains unclear, but marriage to a Cason or another woman from that region would explain it. In any case, by 1783 or 1784 the younger James had settled beside his uncle. On 18 April 1784, for £100, Henry Cason sold James Albritton a 250-acre tract of land on the south side of Grindle Creek adjoining the plantation of his uncle, now referred to as "James Albritton Senr." The property's boundary was "Agreed upon" by Henry Cason and the elder James Albritton, who also witnessed the transaction. The descendants of the younger James Albritton would occupy and farm this plantation until the 1840s.
On 12 January 1790, Joshua James sold to Shadrack Perry a 100-acre tract of land on the north side of Grindle Creek "Begining [sic] at James Albritons Jur Corner tree a pine" and adjoining land of two of the neighbors of James Albritton Jr., John Cason and his grandson, Robert Lanier Daniels. The 1790 Pitt County Federal Census lists the household of James Albritton near those of his two married sisters, his uncle, James Albritton Jr., and his uncle's neighbors, Samuel Barrow, Sarah Leggett, John and Henry Cason, Thomas Daniel, Jacob Little, John Cherry, and John Whitchard. The younger James Albritton's household consisted of one adult male, one male under sixteen years old, and four females.
By the latter 1780s, James Albritton's brother, Adam Albritton, had also left their father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps south of the Tar River and joined his brother and uncle on Grindle Creek. In 1790, Adam lived alone in his own household in the Grindle Creek vicinity, possibly north of Grindle Creek towards Briery Swamp. He soon married Eleanor, daughter of John Cason, reportedly on 16 August 1791, and they settled on a farm near her father, Adam's uncle, and Adam's brother, James.
In 1791, reportedly upon the death of his wife, John Cason began his preparations to emigrate from Pitt County by putting his plantation and slaves into his daughters' names. On October 7th, Cason made numerous transactions involving James Albritton, his younger brothers, Adam and Jonathan, and their uncle, James Albritton Jr. For £15 "current money," Cason sold "James Albriton Junr" (meaning James, son of Peter) 15 acres of land that adjoined their farms. For £200 "current money," Cason sold his daughter, Eleanor Albritton, a 181-acre tract of land at the mouth of Mill Branch and on Grindle Creek, part of whose boundary John Cason described as
"…to James Albritons line, then with James Albritons line to the sd John Casons lower line…including the whole of the Land and plantation on which the sd. John Cason now lives…"
It appears that this tract adjoined the lands of both James Albritton and his uncle, James Albritton Jr. That same day, Cason sold his widowed daughter, Jane Cason Adams, a 20-acre tract of land adjoining the plantation on which he lived and "James Albritons Corner." Two months later, on December 15th, John Cason made additional dispositions of his property. For £150, he sold personal property to James Albritton, with the transaction witnessed by Cason's grandson, Robert Hatton, and James' brother, Adam Albritton.
John Cason's numerous transactions as he prepared to leave North Carolina involved his married daughters, a few of their husbands, the grandchildren of his widowed daughters, and James and Jonathan Albritton, nephews of Cason's longtime neighbor, James Albritton Jr. Cason's transactions with James Albritton brings up the intriguing possibility that James Albritton, son of Peter, was another son-in-law of John Cason. Records indicate that James had one son and three daughters born during the 1780s, with his only other known child born about 1797. This could suggest that his first wife died about 1790 or 1791. Was his first wife possibly another daughter of John Cason, with Cason conveying property to James Albritton as her children's portion of Cason's estate?
By February 1797, James Albritton had resided on Grindle Creek north of the Tar River for more than thirteen years. Even so, as Peter Albritton Sr. began to disperse portions of his Cow and Cross Swamp plantation on the south side of the river to his three sons who remained there with him, William Albritton, Enoch Albritton, and Peter Albritton Jr., he gave an equal portion of land to James. On February 6th, for £10, Peter sold James land on the southwest side of Cross Swamp "now belonging to Peter Albrittons and deeded to His Sun James Albritton." On that same day, James Albritton witnessed his father's transfer of tracts the same size to James' brothers, Enoch and Peter Albritton Jr. While these transactions did not state the precise acreage sold, later records show all three as 50-acre tracts, all of which the elder Peter "sold" to his sons for £10. Other records indicate that this price is far below the going rate for this land, so the sales were more gifts than actual sales at market value. It is not entirely clear why Peter gave James a portion of his Cow and Cross Swamp farm while not making similar dispositions of his property to Adam, Jonathan, and Joel, his other sons who had also left his plantation years earlier and moved north of the river to Grindle Creek. Perhaps Peter made monetary advances to them as they left home, while he had failed to do the same for James, his eldest surviving son.
James Albritton did not retain possession of the 50-acre tract on the south side of the Tar River his father gave him for long, for by January 1799, the land was owned by James' first cousin, also named James Albritton, believed to be the son of Matthew Albritton, older brother of Peter Albritton Sr. This other James Albritton had settled beside his uncle, Peter Albritton Sr., in the latter 1780s, and between 1789 and the latter 1790s, he acquired a large plantation adjoining that of his uncle on Cross and Cow Swamp.
James Albritton did not live long after participating in the 6 February 1797 transactions with his father and brothers. He may have suffered from an illness or disease that gave him warning of his impending demise, for although a young man in his late thirties, he left a will that named his younger brother, Adam, as his executor. James Albritton died in about 1797, and evidence indicates that Peter Albritton Sr. left a will that included a bequest either to James or to James' heirs, allotting them an equal share in a tract of land along with his other children who had moved across the Tar River to Grindle Creek. On 1 July 1799, the Pitt County Court recorded its division of the lands of Peter Albritton Sr., allotting a 23½-acre portion of this tract to "the Heirs of James Albritton Jr. Decd…they being legatees Intitled [sic] to one seventh part."
James Albritton's older children retained their ownership in this 23½-acre of land for nearly two decades, selling their interest in it in 1817. James' youngest son, Peter Albritton, born about 1797, did not sign the 1817 document with his siblings, although he did witness it. Peter did not sell his interest in the land his father inherited until January 1839, after he had already moved to Muscogee County, Georgia.
Evidence indicates that the births of the four eldest children of James Albritton who survived to adulthood occurred between 1780 and 1790, followed by a seven-year gap before the birth of his youngest-known child, Peter Albritton. Combined with the dearth of documentation on his wife(s), this suggests the possibility that Peter may have had a different mother than his elder siblings.
The children of James Albritton, son of Peter, as documented by Pitt County deed records, include:
1) Samuel Albritton (23 Apr 1783–27 Aug 1831) married Tabitha Bell (13 Aug 1787–24 Aug 1865)
2) Susannah Albritton (c1784–1820/1830) married John Bowers Jr. (1774/1780–after 1830)
3) Dorothy Albritton (1780/1785–1817/1820) married Abel Moore (1770/1780–1820/1829)
4) Nancy Albritton (c1790–after 1850) married Allen Moore (1775/1784–1829/1830)
5) Peter Albritton (c1797–1860) married Hollan Moore (c1797–after 1860). They moved to Muscogee County Georgia in the 1830s, and the in the 1850s, on to Louisiana, where their children William R. Albritton, Howell Albritton, and Harriett Louisa Albritton Bryan settled.
James Albritton undoubtedly grew up on his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps adjoining the plantation of his grandfather, James Albritton Sr. During his childhood, James' paternal uncles, Thomas, Matthew, George, Richard, and Henry, all owned adjoining or nearby plantations on branches of Chicod Creek, on the south side of the Tar River. Only his uncle, James Albritton Jr., had settled elsewhere, on the north side of the Tar, along Grindle Creek.
Assuming his eldest-known child was not born out of wedlock, James Albritton had married no later than July 1782, probably between about 1779 and mid-1782. No known source gives any indication of the identity of James' wife, and claims made in one work identifying her maiden name as Cason are unsubstantiated.
Precisely what prompted James Albritton to leave his father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps and join his uncle, James Albritton Jr., on the north side of the river remains unclear, but marriage to a Cason or another woman from that region would explain it. In any case, by 1783 or 1784 the younger James had settled beside his uncle. On 18 April 1784, for £100, Henry Cason sold James Albritton a 250-acre tract of land on the south side of Grindle Creek adjoining the plantation of his uncle, now referred to as "James Albritton Senr." The property's boundary was "Agreed upon" by Henry Cason and the elder James Albritton, who also witnessed the transaction. The descendants of the younger James Albritton would occupy and farm this plantation until the 1840s.
On 12 January 1790, Joshua James sold to Shadrack Perry a 100-acre tract of land on the north side of Grindle Creek "Begining [sic] at James Albritons Jur Corner tree a pine" and adjoining land of two of the neighbors of James Albritton Jr., John Cason and his grandson, Robert Lanier Daniels. The 1790 Pitt County Federal Census lists the household of James Albritton near those of his two married sisters, his uncle, James Albritton Jr., and his uncle's neighbors, Samuel Barrow, Sarah Leggett, John and Henry Cason, Thomas Daniel, Jacob Little, John Cherry, and John Whitchard. The younger James Albritton's household consisted of one adult male, one male under sixteen years old, and four females.
By the latter 1780s, James Albritton's brother, Adam Albritton, had also left their father's plantation on Cow and Cross Swamps south of the Tar River and joined his brother and uncle on Grindle Creek. In 1790, Adam lived alone in his own household in the Grindle Creek vicinity, possibly north of Grindle Creek towards Briery Swamp. He soon married Eleanor, daughter of John Cason, reportedly on 16 August 1791, and they settled on a farm near her father, Adam's uncle, and Adam's brother, James.
In 1791, reportedly upon the death of his wife, John Cason began his preparations to emigrate from Pitt County by putting his plantation and slaves into his daughters' names. On October 7th, Cason made numerous transactions involving James Albritton, his younger brothers, Adam and Jonathan, and their uncle, James Albritton Jr. For £15 "current money," Cason sold "James Albriton Junr" (meaning James, son of Peter) 15 acres of land that adjoined their farms. For £200 "current money," Cason sold his daughter, Eleanor Albritton, a 181-acre tract of land at the mouth of Mill Branch and on Grindle Creek, part of whose boundary John Cason described as
"…to James Albritons line, then with James Albritons line to the sd John Casons lower line…including the whole of the Land and plantation on which the sd. John Cason now lives…"
It appears that this tract adjoined the lands of both James Albritton and his uncle, James Albritton Jr. That same day, Cason sold his widowed daughter, Jane Cason Adams, a 20-acre tract of land adjoining the plantation on which he lived and "James Albritons Corner." Two months later, on December 15th, John Cason made additional dispositions of his property. For £150, he sold personal property to James Albritton, with the transaction witnessed by Cason's grandson, Robert Hatton, and James' brother, Adam Albritton.
John Cason's numerous transactions as he prepared to leave North Carolina involved his married daughters, a few of their husbands, the grandchildren of his widowed daughters, and James and Jonathan Albritton, nephews of Cason's longtime neighbor, James Albritton Jr. Cason's transactions with James Albritton brings up the intriguing possibility that James Albritton, son of Peter, was another son-in-law of John Cason. Records indicate that James had one son and three daughters born during the 1780s, with his only other known child born about 1797. This could suggest that his first wife died about 1790 or 1791. Was his first wife possibly another daughter of John Cason, with Cason conveying property to James Albritton as her children's portion of Cason's estate?
By February 1797, James Albritton had resided on Grindle Creek north of the Tar River for more than thirteen years. Even so, as Peter Albritton Sr. began to disperse portions of his Cow and Cross Swamp plantation on the south side of the river to his three sons who remained there with him, William Albritton, Enoch Albritton, and Peter Albritton Jr., he gave an equal portion of land to James. On February 6th, for £10, Peter sold James land on the southwest side of Cross Swamp "now belonging to Peter Albrittons and deeded to His Sun James Albritton." On that same day, James Albritton witnessed his father's transfer of tracts the same size to James' brothers, Enoch and Peter Albritton Jr. While these transactions did not state the precise acreage sold, later records show all three as 50-acre tracts, all of which the elder Peter "sold" to his sons for £10. Other records indicate that this price is far below the going rate for this land, so the sales were more gifts than actual sales at market value. It is not entirely clear why Peter gave James a portion of his Cow and Cross Swamp farm while not making similar dispositions of his property to Adam, Jonathan, and Joel, his other sons who had also left his plantation years earlier and moved north of the river to Grindle Creek. Perhaps Peter made monetary advances to them as they left home, while he had failed to do the same for James, his eldest surviving son.
James Albritton did not retain possession of the 50-acre tract on the south side of the Tar River his father gave him for long, for by January 1799, the land was owned by James' first cousin, also named James Albritton, believed to be the son of Matthew Albritton, older brother of Peter Albritton Sr. This other James Albritton had settled beside his uncle, Peter Albritton Sr., in the latter 1780s, and between 1789 and the latter 1790s, he acquired a large plantation adjoining that of his uncle on Cross and Cow Swamp.
James Albritton did not live long after participating in the 6 February 1797 transactions with his father and brothers. He may have suffered from an illness or disease that gave him warning of his impending demise, for although a young man in his late thirties, he left a will that named his younger brother, Adam, as his executor. James Albritton died in about 1797, and evidence indicates that Peter Albritton Sr. left a will that included a bequest either to James or to James' heirs, allotting them an equal share in a tract of land along with his other children who had moved across the Tar River to Grindle Creek. On 1 July 1799, the Pitt County Court recorded its division of the lands of Peter Albritton Sr., allotting a 23½-acre portion of this tract to "the Heirs of James Albritton Jr. Decd…they being legatees Intitled [sic] to one seventh part."
James Albritton's older children retained their ownership in this 23½-acre of land for nearly two decades, selling their interest in it in 1817. James' youngest son, Peter Albritton, born about 1797, did not sign the 1817 document with his siblings, although he did witness it. Peter did not sell his interest in the land his father inherited until January 1839, after he had already moved to Muscogee County, Georgia.
Evidence indicates that the births of the four eldest children of James Albritton who survived to adulthood occurred between 1780 and 1790, followed by a seven-year gap before the birth of his youngest-known child, Peter Albritton. Combined with the dearth of documentation on his wife(s), this suggests the possibility that Peter may have had a different mother than his elder siblings.
The children of James Albritton, son of Peter, as documented by Pitt County deed records, include:
1) Samuel Albritton (23 Apr 1783–27 Aug 1831) married Tabitha Bell (13 Aug 1787–24 Aug 1865)
2) Susannah Albritton (c1784–1820/1830) married John Bowers Jr. (1774/1780–after 1830)
3) Dorothy Albritton (1780/1785–1817/1820) married Abel Moore (1770/1780–1820/1829)
4) Nancy Albritton (c1790–after 1850) married Allen Moore (1775/1784–1829/1830)
5) Peter Albritton (c1797–1860) married Hollan Moore (c1797–after 1860). They moved to Muscogee County Georgia in the 1830s, and the in the 1850s, on to Louisiana, where their children William R. Albritton, Howell Albritton, and Harriett Louisa Albritton Bryan settled.
Inscription
Unmarked grave.
Gravesite Details
Known in the mid-1900s as the "Harris-Albritton Cemetery," this is the old family graveyard on the farm bought in 1784 by James Albritton and passed down to his son, Samuel, grandson, Benjamin B., and great-granddaughter, Henrietta Louisa Harris.
Family Members
Parents
Children
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