General Notes

[basham.ged]
Information From Nona Williams Correspondence
Information From William Hunt Correspondence
There is proof that William Bracewell was the son of Robert Junior a
nd Su sannah Burgess Bracewell, and that he was born about 1680. The recor
ds sh ow that another William Bracewell witnessed a deed for this first Wi
lli am Bracewell as early as 1714. (Chowan County, North Carolina De
ed Bo ok B, page 179). This and later records of another William Bracewe
ll ha ve caused some confusion among genealogists. It seems that Richard B
racewe ll, brother of Robert Junior, also had a son named William. If s
o, he wou ld not have been included in the will of Richard as he had prece
ded his fa ther who made his will in 1725. Although there is some uncertai
nty as to w hich William is which, both are descendants of the Reverend Ro
bert Bracewe ll of the Isle of Wight County, Virginia.
In 1711 our William Braswell and his wife, Mary, were in Chowan Count
y, N orth Carolina, but was soon joined by four of Richard's sons; Richa
rd Juni or, Robert, Valentine, and Jacob, with whom he was closely associa
ted duri ng his short life there. Toward the latter part of the seventeen
th centur y, the vast unsettled lands of North Carolina had been opened f
or homestea ders. After the Tuscaroras Rebellion ws crushed in 1712, the
re was a ru sh to secure choice plantation sites along the rivers and cree
ks of the n ew territory. Many younger sons of prominent and wealthy famil
ies, w ho by law of primogeniture inherited no share in their fathers' est
ates, t ook advantage of the opportunity to make their fortunes.
New arrivals from England and indentured servants, who had worked out t
he ir period of servitude joined the throng of hungry land speculators. Wi
lli am and Mary Bracewell took advantage of the demand for land and beca
me la nd speculators. The first time they appeared in the records of Chow
an Coun ty, North Carolina was when they patented two 640 acre tracts of l
and on C ypress Swamp, issuing out of the Moratuck (Roanoke) River. (La
nd Grant Bo ok 2, pages 173-174). During the next nine years William and M
ary Bracewe ll patented four more large tracts of land in Chowan Precin
ct and purchas ed other parcels of land to over 5,340 acres and resold por
tions of it fr om time to time. there are numerous accounts of William a
nd Mary Bracdwell 's activities in the early records of Chowan and Bert
ie Counties from 4 M ay 1711 to 8 September 1722. (Patent Book 3, page 2
6; Patent Book 8, pa ge 220; Chowan Deed Book B, pp 19, 125, 135, 144, 17
8, 179, and 377. Hatha way Vol 1, pages 19, 287, and 3000).
William and Mary Braswell also assisted his relatives and friends in t
he ir business transactions by witnessing their deeds and acting as p
ow er of attorney (Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia; Bod
di e, p 651; Chowan Deed Book W, pp 166-167. Hathaway Vol I, p 154
). On 1 Apr il 1720 William Bracewell was listed among the members of Capt
ain Robert P atterson's militia. (Hathaway Vol 1, page 443).
Some time later during the latter part of 1720 William Bracewell died i
nt estate in Bertie County, North Carolina. His eldest son, William Bracew
el l, inherited all the lands of his father subject to his mother's dow
er rig hts. Mary Braswell, widow, paid poll tax on 1600 acres of land f
or the ye ar 1721. She must have continued their land speculations as ti
me went o n, for she purchased 190 more acres in 1721 and 300 acres in 172
2. (Chow an Deed Book C, page 182).
The children of William and Mary Bracewell were William Jr, James, a
nd Be njamin. There is definite proof that a William Bracewell Sr had a s
on nam ed James as a James Bracewell, son of William Bracewell, bought la
nd sou th of Roanoke River in Edgecomb County, North Carolina, on 4 Janua
ry 174 1. (Edgecomb Deed Book 5, p 51). There was a Benjamin Bracewell, w
ho mig ht have been a son of William Bracewell S