Greene County, NC - Charles Holloman letter to Lucie Clift Price ----¤¤¤---- Charles R. Holloman, Sr. Attorney At Law 2307 Euston Street Raleigh, NC Nov. 10, 1960 Mrs. L. Clift Price 502 Texas Avenue Austin 5, Texas Dear Mrs. Price: At last I have found time to reply to your letter of October 21. The "Story Of Kinston and Lenoir County" is out of print except for nine copies which I have left. I would let you have one of these for $10 but you may be able to get a second hand copy for $7.50 from Southern Book Publishers, Philadelphia, Pa. My copies are, of course, new, if you would prefer a new copy sent to you postpaid. Dobbs County was formed from Johnston County 1746 and began operating April 10, 1759. Wayne was formed from Dobbs Dec. 1779. Dobbs was abolished 1791 and the territory divided between Lenoir and Glasgow Counties. Glasgow was renamed Greene in 1799. Records 1746-40 (807) were burned at Kinston 1880. 1778 would be the Dobbs section of the old Index of Deeds. Now, about the PIPKIN family of Dobbs County and particularly LEWIS PIPKIN. According to my notes one LEWIS PIPKIN of Dobbs County was a Captain of a Militia Company and died in the year 1763. However, we have lists of wills probated and Letters of Administration issued from 1763 (including half of that year) to 1772 and LEWIS is not shown on it at all. I take it he died very early in that year, 1763. (Governor's Office papers-G.O.146 in NC Archives) The list of officers for 1764 shows him as having died in the past year. He was replaced by JETHRO McKINNE'S being promoted from lieutenant to Captain and ensign JAMES PIPKIN was promoted to replace McKINNE as lieutenant. JOSEPH PIPKIN was appointed a Justice of Dobbs in April 23, 1761, but refused to qualify. (Quakers would not take the required oaths. He might have been one.) One JOHN PIPKIN paid his license fee to marry in Dobbs Jan. 22, 1787, as is shown by the receipt stubs for that year. Wayne was then already a separate County, having been formed from Western Dobbs, Dec. 1779. The tax list of Dobbs for 1769 (ten years before Wayne was separated off) shows the following PIPKIN males of age 16 and upward: JOSEPH PIPKIN and his son ELISHA WILLIS PIPKIN JESSE PIPKIN JOHN PIPKIN and his son JESSE (thus two JESSES) LUKE PIPKIN (not LEWIS according to 1790 census) ARTHUR PIPKIN The Dobbs census of 1790 was taken on a house to house basis by the Assistant U.S. Marshal. Thus, it is possible to locate families "geographically" quite closely, if one is intimately familiar with the plantations of the period (many of which are even owned by descendants of the same family name). I find that a LEWIS PIPKIN was living near the present town of Walstonburg in Greene County. Greene County is the former area called Glasgow County. Glasgow was formed from dobbs in 1791. (Dobbs was abolished its southern part being named Lenoir County, and its northern part, Glasgow County. (Greene) I was born in Greene county at Hookerton but my father was born at the site of the present town of Walstonburg and so was my Grandfather HOLLOMAN. The PIPKINS who were living in that community (between Walstonburg and the community now called Lizzie - near Farmville) were shown in the census as households of: LEWIS PIPKIN 1 free white male of age 16 and up, 2 free white males under 16; 3 white females, all ages, no slaves JOHN PIPKIN 2 free white males of 16 and up; 3 free white under 16; 3 free white females all ages, no slaves SARAH PIPKIN 3 free white females all ages and one black slave If you have not had the Glasgow County land grants checked, it might be well to do so. I would also suggest to writing our State library to check possibly of an Edgecombe Co. reference to LEWIS as this LEWIS PIPKIN lived very near the then Edgecombe Co. line and there are some excellent printed and indexed Edgecombe records. The Pitt Co. line is also nearby but Pitt records other than deeds have been burned also. Why these PIPKINS were located there, I do not know, but I feel sure they came there from the Grantham Area community in Southern Wayne County where the LEWIS PIPKIN died in 1763. One other important item is the case papers of the case reported in the 6th volume of NC Supreme Court Records and cited 6 NC (329) The parentheses refer to a marginal page numbering inasmuch as the case is now found usually in a reprint edition which has new and different page numbering at the top and given the old print page numbering in parentheses on the margin. The printed record of the case says that ELISHA PIPKIN of Wayne County died intestate at a time between Dec. 21 1784 and Jan. 1 1795. He left lands and other property. He left sons names, JOSEPH, ELISHA, CHARLES and JAMES PIPKIN. The son JAMES died after 1794 but before 1808 intestate and without issue leaving JOSEPH, ELISH and CHARLES as brothers of the whole blood and JOHN COOR as a half brother on his mothers side. The suit is brought by JOSEPH PIPKIN and others against HENRY COOR. The printed case does not state a relationship of said HENRY COOR according to my notes. The original case papers ordinarily give much more information and family data. They can be seen on microfilm at the NC State Records center (a Division of NC Archives). The originals themselves can be seen in NC Supreme Court Library. Another case which might possibly turn up something of interest is Trustees of the Quaker Society of Contentnea v. WILLIAM DICKERSON cited as 12 NC (189) in which JOSEPH BARDIN and fourteen others styling themselves "Trustees of the Religious Society of Congregation of Christians, called Friends or Quakers of the Contentnea Quarterly Meeting", etc. are involved. This case began in 1817 but has to do with the history of the Congregation. The case was settled in 1826. I involved corporate rights of a congregation to church property. I mention this because so many of the PIPKINS who today live in that area of Wayne (Grantham Community) are Quakers and had Quakers Ancestors. this Quaker Meeting house was put up in or about 1767. Mr. ARTHUR PIPKIN of Goldsboro must be all of 90 years old. His sister a Mrs. MORGAN lives in Raleigh (about age 74). She is mother of Mrs EUGENE UPCHURCH, 1337 Canterbury Road Raleigh and would perhaps be a good contact. She has a younger sister who is a school teacher interested in family history, who lives at Goldsboro and also one more older brother. One lives at the old PIPKIN Plantation near Goldsboro and would be a good one to check Bible or Cemetery records still existing in the vicinity. My collection of Bible and Cemetery records does not happpen to include any for the PIPKIN Family. Though I have heard Mrs. MORGAN'S folk speak of one or more old Bibles of that family line. I believe I have heard her older brother ERNEST PIPKIN (age about 78) of Goldsboro RD Route, who at my last hearing of him still owned a part of the old plantation, speak of a very old family Bible. [Note to reader: the Arthur Pipkin referred to above was not a member of this Pipkin family. This was my grandfather's family and Arthur wasn't one of them. Guy Potts] The name ASHUR (sometimes ASIA, ASA, nowdays) is the given name of 2 PIPKIN men heading households in 1790 in NC both in Sampson County, southwest of Wayne. LEWIS appears once only (Dobbs). PHILLIP appears next to ARTHUR in Wayne but voted in Glasgow in 1793 where LEWIS is shown in 1790. A second JOHN PIPKIN and a JESSE PIPKIN are in the Dobbs census (Lenoir Co. section near Wayne line near modern La Grange NC in 1790. At the election held for Dobbs County members to the State legislature March 10 and 11 1779 (before Wayne separated from Dobbs) the following PIPKIN men voted JOHN PIPKIN, STEPHEN PIPKIN, ARTHUR PIPKIN, JESSE PIPKIN, ELISHA PIPKIN, LUKE PIPKIN, JESSE PIPKIN (a second one) In the election for Glasgow County for member of the Legislature on Aug. 8 1793 the following PIPKIN men voted: PHILLIP PIPKIN, JOHN PIPKIN. these had to be free holders, i.e. own land. Their names appear on the list along with men from Walstonburg area (then called Speight's Bridge vicinity). There are two copies of the Glasgow votes that year. One was made by the Sheriff and the other by the Judge of the election so we have a good cross check. The LEWIS of 1790 census must not have been much over 21 as he was not a poll taxable on the Dobbs County list for 1780 (however Wayne was then-out but he did not vote in 1779 when Wayne was in-thought he might not have been a free holder, He was not in 1769 tax list so could not have likely have been as much as age 16 by then. Even if age 15 by then (1769) to young to be a poll taxable, he would have only been age 36 in 1790, and since then he had apparently, children under age 10 (2 sons it would seem and perhaps daughters) his age is perhaps estimated at age 36 and under. Note: The LEWIS who died in 1763 probably was not father of the LEWIS of 1793 but more likely Grandfather. MARTIN comes as a given name to the vicinity from MARTIN CASWELL a brother of Governor RICHARD CASWELL. The CASWELL'S came from Maryland in 1745. MARTIN was very prominent and was clerk of the court for the period ca. 1755 to 1789. The courthouse long stood at Walnut Creek near present Goldsboro and adjacent to the old plantation of BARNABAS McMINNE. STEPHEN McKINNE lived near and so did the PIPKINS. The Dobbs deed to LEWIS (he must mean STEPHEN as that is the date he got land from JOSEPH) could not have been of later date than 1779 as LEWIS was not in Dobbs in 1780. (STEPHEN in Wayne) Wayne was separated 1779 December. This deed was likely made when he was 21, being his first and other indications are that he was not over 25 when Wayne was formed. He was under 16 in 1769 but 21 when the deed was made which serves to pin down his age fairly well, born circa 1759. (STEPHEN says in the Revolution War Pension application that he was born August 2, 1757. STEPHEN PIPKIN states in his pension application that he fought in the battle of Widow Moores Creek. He made application from Conecuh Co. Ala. in 1836, was refused. Widow Moores Creek (where was fought the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge on Feb. 27 1776,) when Governor RICHARD CASWELL (prior to his holding that office, however) led the Dobbs County Minute men and Minute men of surrounding counties against an army of Tories marching on Wilmington to join the British Army there, is located in Bladen county near the village of Currie about twelve miles to the southwest of Burgaw, I would estimate and some 30 to 40 miles up Cape Fear River from Wilmington. We have a wonderful Park there now. Have you checked the 26 very large volumes of North Carolina Colonial and State Records for more of STEPHEN in the Militia? They were printed years ago. Your state Library almost certainly has a set. There is four volumes index. Col. RICHARD CASWELL'S personal papers, which had information about Dobbs militia, were lost in 1837 when the steamer HOME was sunk in a hurricane off Ocracoke, NC. CASWELL'S biographer, HARDY B. CROOM, had them aboard the ill fated vessel. Cordially Yours, CHARLES R. HOLLOMAN I hope you can decipher this. I usually use the typewriter but cannot do so late at night. CRH ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by K. Mitchell ___________________________________________________________________