General Notes

[basham.ged]
Information From Nona Williams Correspondence
William Bracewell Jr was born about 1707 in Isle of Wight County, Virgi
ni a. His parents, William and Mary Bracewell, moved to Chowan County of N
or th Carolina when William was a young child. On 28 May 1728 the form
er Ma ry Bracewell and her second husband, Moses Guinn, quit-claimed to Wi
lli am Bracewell Jr the estate left by his father William Sr. This would i
ndic ate that William Jr had become of age at this date. (Bertie Deed Bo
ok C, p age 119).
Almost immediately William Jr. began to dispose of the land he had inhe
ri ted. On 31 July 1728 he sold 100 acres to Robert Bracewell, and on t
he sa me day sold 250 acres to John Wood. (Deed Book C, page 3). In Augu
st of t he same year he sold 240 acres to his stepfather, Moses Guinn. (De
ed Bo ok C, page 79). Then on 31 August 1728 William Jr and wife Margar
et Braswe ll, (changed spelling) he being the son and heir to William Brac
ewell, dec eased of Bertie County, sold 250 acres to Thomas Daughtry in ac
cordance wi th his father's bond. (Deed Book C, page 5). In February of 17
29, Willi am Braswell, planter of Bertie County, sold 603 acres "All the t
ract whe re my father last lived," north of Meherrin River to John Baud
e. (Boddi e) (Deed Book D, pp 9-10).
It is apparent that by this time William Braswell was planning to m
ov e. On 25 May 1734 he was living in Edgecombe Precinct when he sold t
he la st of his Bertie County land "To the Reverend John Boyd, Gentleman m
inist er of the gospel in Bertie County, 300 acres where the said Boyd do
th n ow live and dwell." (Deed Book D, pp 150, 313).
William Braswell's kinsman, Jacob Braswell, and his wife Elizabeth h
ad pr eceded him to Edgecombe County in 1728, having sold their land in Be
rtie C ounty in 1727. (Bertie County Book C, page 360). Braswell newcome
rs and t he descendants of the early Braswells soon began spreading out ov
er the su rrounding counties. In 1751 Peachtree Creek was written into t
he recor ds as Braswell Creek, due no doubt, to the increase of the Braswe
lls in th at section of the county. One of the more interesting patents c
an be se en in the North Carolina State Department of Archives and Histor
y. (Gra nt No. 7, File E, lg 12c) Lord Granville Grants Grant No 7 -- 25 M
arch 17 49 -- 200 acres Consideration 300 shillings proclamation mon
ey in hand pa id Joh Earl Granville by William Braswell, land on Little Cr
eek, a bran ch of Pigbasket, 200 acres, William Braswell paying therefo
re yearly, a nd every year, forever to the said Earl Granville 8 shillin
gs proclamati on which is at the rate of three shillings sterling forev
er one hundred ac res at or upon the two most usual feasts of days at St M
ichael (The Archan gel) to be paid at the courthouse in the County of Edge
combe, said Willi am Braswell within three years at the rate of three shil
lings for every hu ndred acres-- Signed -- William (X) Braswell Surveyed t
his 15th day of Apr il 1788 James Alston, Surveyor William Braswell Jr Jac
ob Braswell  Chain B earers William Braswell signed this patent wi
th an X which indicates th at he, unlike his forefathers, had not been edu
cated.
In those days surveyors used young boys to carry their equipment, and t
he ir names were recorded, on the deed or patents along with that of the s
urv eyors, the grantor, and the grantee. The above abstract shows that t
he t wo eldest sons of William Braswell; William Jr, and Jacob served as c
ha in bearers. They must have been about twelve or fourteen years of a
ge at t hat time. Pigbasket Creek rises in the northwestern part of Nash C
ounty ne ar Castalia and flows in a southeasterly direction, emptying in
to the Ston ey Creek a few miles northeast of Nashville, North Carolina. T
he above tra ct of land ws situated about two or three miles north where t
he town of Na shville now stands -- and became the home of several generat
ions of Braswe lls. Wi