Brief Biography of Enoch Albritton
Enoch Albritton was born about 1771, the son of Peter Albritton Sr. In the mid-1750s, Enoch's father and grandfather, James Albritton Sr., had settled on land south of the Tar River along Cow and Cross Swamps near modern-day Black Jack in eastern Pitt County, North Carolina. Enoch's birth probably occurred there.

Enoch Albritton married Penelope Frizzle about 1793-1794. They settled on his father's Cow Swamp plantation in Pitt County, North Carolina and lived there for the next fifteen years.

Between late 1806 and about 1808, Enoch and Penny moved their family to Georgia, probably settling in the original Wilkinson County. By 1811, Enoch had purchased a farm that lay in Laurens County, formed on 10 December 1807 from Wilkinson and Washington Counties. They lived in Laurens County until September 1815, when Enoch sold their farm, after which they moved across the county line into Wilkinson County.

Enoch and Penny Albritton remained there until at least early 1821, and it appears that he moved with his family in late 1821 to Alabama. They may have gone directly to Wilcox County upon their arrival in Alabama, but certainly by September 1824, Enoch and his relatives had settled a short distance off the Federal Road on the west side of Cedar Creek, at the location that soon became Snow Hill Village, Wilcox County, Alabama.

In late 1832, Wilcox County residents elected Enoch Albritton as constable, and he began serving in this capacity beginning in January 1833. On October 2nd, Enoch and Penny sold their 141.8-acre farm for $350. Enoch Albritton died four months after selling his farm, on Valentine’s Day, 1834. His family buried him in what is now known as the Old Snow Hill Cemetery.

Enoch Albritton's Paternal Ancestry
Over the past seven decades, in published works, private correspondence, and on numerous internet sites, many Albritton researchers have stated unequivocally, without any justification or documentation, that Enoch’s father was James Albritton Jr., son of James Albritton Sr., better known as "The Saddler."

Some have used what they term a process of elimination to attribute Enoch as a son of James Albritton Jr., claiming that no connection of Enoch has been found to any of the sons of James the Saddler, except for James Albritton Jr. The logic in this argument then breaks down, as none of these claims identify Enoch’s precise connection to James Albritton Jr.

These faulty arguments continue by claiming that Enoch’s descendants stated that his parents were James Albritton Jr. and Mary Arnett. The "family tradition" argument for Enoch as the son of James Albritton Jr. and Mary Arnett might have some measure of legitimacy if we could attribute it to a specific descendant, say a grandchild or great-grandchild who recorded this family information during their own lifetime. Unfortunately, modern researchers merely repeat vague statements, e.g., “Descendants of Enoch say…,” without any documentary evidence.

The extensive proliferation of these “family tradition” claims – in written correspondence, in Albritton publications, and, in the past several decades, on innumerable genealogical websites – has made its origins murky, obliterating the already blurry boundary between the Enoch Albritton family’s potentially accurate oral history and the compilations of modern researchers who are simply repeating, over and over, what they have seen in other unsourced data. Thus, the “tradition” has lost any measure of validity as a documentary source it might otherwise have.

An in-depth analysis of Pitt County records completely disproves the oft-repeated claim that Enoch Albritton had no connection to any other son of James Albritton Sr. besides James Albritton Jr. In fact, the records show no connection between Enoch and James Albritton Jr. at all, but, instead, Enoch's strong connection with Peter Albritton.

Enoch Albritton and James Albritton Jr. lived in two different locations on opposite sides of the Tar River that bisects Pitt County. Enoch lived south of the Tar River on Cow and Cross Swamps near modern Black Jack, where Peter Albritton Sr., and his father, James Albritton Sr., had lived since 1755.

James Albritton Jr. lived north of the Tar River, on Grindle Creek. There is no record showing that Enoch ever owned land or lived on the north side of the Tar River.

In February 1797, Peter Albritton distributed portions of his Cow Swamp plantation to his sons. Although not every grantee was designated as a son in these deeds, they were treated equally in the property distribution, and the deeds were dated on the same day or the following day. These young men were James Albritton, William Albritton, Peter Albritton Jr., and Enoch Albritton. Enoch and his wife Penelope, who had married a few years before the deed date, lived on Cow Swamp land that had been part of Peter Albritton's plantation, until they sold it on February 20, 1802.

As a further indication that Enoch Albritton was not the son of James Albritton Jr., but rather a son of Peter Albritton, all available records suggest that James Jr. had no descendants. Certainly James Jr. had no sons, since at his death, his brother and nephew inherited his lands.

Enoch Albritton's Maternal Ancestry
There is no known documentation that proves or even suggests Enoch Albritton's maternal ancestry. None of the records on Peter Albritton give his wife's name.

Despite the widespread claims by modern researchers that Enoch's mother was named "Mary Arnett," that female name appears in no original record associated with Enoch and his family. IN fact, there is a complete lack of documentation suggesting any connection between the Pitt County Albrittons and an Arnett family.

There were no Arnett families with an extended presence in eastern North Carolina in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The only Arnett who can be documented in Pitt County is William Arnett, listed on the 1762 Pitt County tax list, and he is found in no other record of the county. Only three Arnett males are found in eastern North Carolina in any county near Pitt during the latter few decades of the eighteenth century (Philemon, Peter, and John Arnett are documented as living in Dobbs County in a 1778 land grant and the 1790 Federal Census). However, their names appear in no records associated with the Albrittons.

Enoch named a son "Silas White Arnett Albritton," but this appears to be a case of naming his son after a popular politician, rather than from any familial connection. The noted regional political figure, Silas White Arnett, who was a lawyer, Craven County court clerk, and U.S. constitutional convention delegate, made a land investment in Pitt County between 1789 and 1794, but he never lived there. Children were named for him as was often done in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; note sons being named for George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and other famous/prominent individuals.

Research in original source documents clearly indicates that references to Enoch's maternal line as "Arnett" are unsupported by any contemporary documentation.

Children of Enoch Albritton & Penelope Frizzle
Enoch and Penny’s sons are documented by Bible records and his estate records following his death in 1834, while strong circumstantial evidence identifies three daughters. The known and presumed children of Enoch Albritton and Penelope Frizzle include:

1) Allen Albritton (17 Nov 1794–8 Dec 1861) married Susannah Ford
2) John Frizzle Albritton (15 Sept 1796–2 June 1843) married Mary Polk
3) [male] Albritton (1790/1800–after 1800) may have been named Enoch Albritton Jr. although no proof of this is known
4) Levincy Albritton Lee (15 Mar 1800–12 June 1864) married Martin Batte Lee
5) Silas White Arnett Albritton (2 July 1802–17 July 1888) married Eunice Polk, Sarah Adkins Griffin, and then Mary A. Capps
6) Mary Albritton Stokes Funderburk (19 Sept 1804–15 Sept 1856) married John Stokes and Henry Funderburk
7) Susannah Albritton [Susan] Skinner (1807/1809–c1844) married John Skinner
8) George Washington Albritton (23 Oct 1810–28 Oct 1867) married Milly Fowler and Sarah Ann Fowler

Sources
• Pitt County, NC deeds
• Laurens County, GA deeds
• Wilcox County, AL deeds
• Wilcox County, AL probate records
• 1821 Georgia Land Lottery records

The following three works in print are the most commonly-cited sources by those who give incorrect information on Enoch Albritton's ancestry. The first two do give much useful information on earlier generations of Albrittons. None of these authors conducted a thorough, detailed analysis of the surviving records of Pitt County, North Carolina.
• Lomas, Fran Wylie. Book of Albrittons: 1609–1979. San Angelo, TX, 1979.
• McSwain, Eleanor Davis. Some Descendants of Francis Albrighton (1609–1667), Mathew Jones of Mulberry Island, Virginia (1643–1712), and Ralph Albritton of York County, Virginia (1656–ca1701), and Connecting Families. Macon, GA: Jones and Grissom, 1984.
• Albritton, Bobby G. Albrittons of the Second Millennium, Revised ed. Alpharetta, GA: Balbritt, 2004.