Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 1
DESCENT OF THE BUNCH FAMILY IN VIRGINIA AND THE CAROLINAS
1 JOHN1 PUNCH [BUNCH?] arrived in Virginia before 1640. He and two other men fled for freedom but were captured in Maryland and returned to their master, Hugh Gwynn1 of York County. The information is preserved in this court record dated 9 July 1640:2
1 In this section, names will be spelled out as they appear in the text of the document cited when the original records are quoted. There was no
standardized spelling during this time period, so it is not unusual to find surnames or the names of places spelled many different ways, even in the same document.
2 The shire called Charles River in Virginia’s earliest decades was renamed York County in 1642. Present-day Gloucester County was not settled
until the latter part of the 1640s, so Hugh Gwynn presumably lived closer to Jamestown when John Punch attempted his futile quest for freedom.
3 H.R. McIlwaine, Minutes of the Council and General Court of Colonial Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1979), page 468. This was published earlier in "Decisions of the General Court," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 5 (1898), page 236.
4 Cynthia Miller Leonard, The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978), pages 18, 25, 29, and 30.
5 Lyon G. Tyler, "Historical and Genealogical Notes,"
William and Mary College
Quarterly, 1st series, 18 (1910), page 60; William Waller Hening,
The Statutes at Large
…
(Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 1969), vol. 2, pages
323, 371, and 374. Leonard, The General Assembly of
Virginia, pages 18, 25, 29, and 30. Even evidence concerning Hugh Gwynn’s
children is problematic because of the destruction of records, in spite of his
being one of the most prominent citizens in the colony. A David Gwynn settled in
Hanover County near Charles Hudson. C.G. Chamberlayne, Vestry
Book of St. Paul’s, Hanover County, Virginia 1706-1786 (Richmond: Virginia State Library Board, 1940), pages 110, 167, 200,
274, 287, 295, and 305.
6 Virginia Land Patent Book 3, page 315, Family History Library, Salt Lake City (FHL) microfilm 29319. Whereas Hugh Gwyn hath by order from this Board Brought back from Maryland three
servants
formerly run away from the said Gwyn, the court doth therefore order
that the said three servants shall receive the punishment of whipping and to
have thirty stripes apiece one called Victor, a dutchman [sic], the other a Scotchman called James Gregory, shall first serve out
their times with their master according to their Indentures, and one whole year
apiece after the time of their service is Expired ... the third being a negro
named John Punch
shall serve his said master and his assigns for the time of his natural
Life here or elsewhere.3 (emphasis
added)
Hugh Gwynn was a justice and one of the relatively few members of the House
of Burgesses of that period, representing York County in 1639/40 and
1646.
4 He patented large tracts of land,
including what is now known as Gwynn’s Island in Mathews County. He was a
resident of Gloucester County when it was created in 1651, serving as burgess
for that county in 1652.5 Hugh Gwynn
was dead by 23 March 1654/5, when widow and executrix, Elizabeth, patented 700
acres in Southside Virginia (a tract Hugh had initially patented on 3 March
1640/1).6
Of the fewer than one hundred African men who resided in Virginia before
1640, John Punch is the only man who bears a surname similar to Bunch. John
Punch was an adult male living in
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 2
the period in which John Bunch I was born in Virginia, and resided in the
same county. Evidence strongly suggests that John Punch was the father of John
Bunch I.
The children of John Bunch III freely married neighboring white families. The
government of Virginia had focused directly on their father’s racial status in
1705 and decreed by statute that anyone with a great-grandparent who was African
or Native American was a mulatto and forbidden to marry a white
spouse.
7 This indicates that the children of
John Bunch III must have been great-great grandchildren of the immigrant from
Africa. Chronology does not allow them to be a generation closer. It is
concluded from these facts that John Bunch I was son of a white woman by an
African immigrant. In early Virginia the child followed the status of its
mother. If she were free, the child was free. If she were a servant, the child
had to serve a period of indenture.
7
Hening’s Statutes, 3:250-2.
8 See Figure 1 in this descendancy for an image and abstract of this record.
9
It is possible that John Bunch I, as an aged man, could still
have been holding on to 100 acres of land in New Kent County 1704, but he was
not found in any records of York County during the intervening period, nor in
records of St. Peter’s Parish that begin in 1684. The records of Blisland Parish
do not survive before 1721.
10
Richard Barnhouse obtained a grant of 900 acres in James City
County on Burchen Swamp on 7 February 1658/9 (renewed 26 February 1665/6).
Virginia Land Patent Book 4, pages 351–52, FHL microfilm 29322; also available
online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, pages 351-52, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0366.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. The 900 acre patent began on the west side of Burchen Swamp, ran west
south west 400 perches, thence south by east 300 perches, thence east by north
475 perches back to Burchen Swamp, thence up the swamp to the beginning, 380
acres of the grant being due by a previous patent dated 28 October 1656. The
patent bearing that date was recorded in Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 95,
FHL microfilm 29322; also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and
Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 95, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0109.tif, accessed 28 May
2012. Richard Barnhouse Jr. obtained land on the Mattaponi River adjacent land
of William Wyatt and Lt. Col. Robert Abrahall. Richard Barnhouse Jr. was granted
200 acres on the southeast side of Mattaponi River two miles above the Indian
Ferry. Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 33, FHL microfilm 29322; also available
online at "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 33, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0047.tif, accessed 28 May
2012. Virginia Land Patent Book 3,
Since John Bunch I acted as a legal adult in York County in 1658, he must have been born before 1637. As a new man (not inheriting land from his father), it would normally take a few years for him to establish himself. If there was no error when the clerk entered the facts about the lawsuit against John Bunch in 1658, then John had borrowed a sum in tobacco in order to plant a small crop in 1652, only to have the crop fail the following year.
8 If son of a free white woman, then
John Bunch I was probably born in the early 1630s, which would indicate that
John Punch, as his father, also resided in Virginia at that period as an
indentured servant. If Hugh Gwynn had refused to grant John Punch his freedom at
the end of his term of service, it could have provided him motive to seek
freedom elsewhere, which he sought in 1640.
2
JOHN2 BUNCH
I
(JOHN1 PUNCH) appears to have been
born about 1632-5. He died by 17049 (by which time he would have been about seventy years old). John
obtained a patent in New Kent County on 18 March 1662/3, adjacent the land of
Richard Barnhouse and not far from Blisland Church and Wahrani
Creek.10 The tract was also close by
land of Richmond Terrell, a planter Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 3
page 193, FHL microfilm 29319; also available online, "Virginia Land Office
Patents and Grants,"
Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 3, Page 193, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/002-2/002_0622.tif, accessed 28
May 2012.
11
Obama is a descendant of Richmond Terrell. The descent is
traced down through the generations from Richmond Terrell to his son William
Terrell, then to his daughter Anne Terrell (wife of David Lewis, born 1695, New
Kent County, died about 1779, Albemarle County), to her daughter Hannah Terrell
(wife of James Hickman), to her daughter Susannah Hickman (wife of James
Browning), to her daughter Ann Browning (wife of Robert Overall), to her son
George W. Overall (husband of Louisiana Duvall), to his daughter Susan Overall
(wife of Christopher Clark), to her daughter Gabriella Clark (wife of Henry
Ellington Armour), to her daughter Ruth Lucille Armour (wife of Ralph Emerson
Dunham), to her son Stanley Armour Dunham, father of Stanley Ann Dunham, the
president’s mother.
On November 28, 1656, Richmond Terrell was granted 640 acres … described as
lying on the southwest side of the York River, the northeast side of Cattail
Swamp and next to Diascund Swamp, near the Rockahock Path, and Charles Edmond’s
land (Eltham). This fixes this land about where Angel View Church now stands, at
the intersection of Route 33 and Route 168. In 1689, the line that was run,
dividing the Parishes of St. Peter’s and Blisland, began at Captain Bassett’s
Landing and ran between the lands of Joseph Foster and Mr. Richmond Terrell and
then Joseph Foster’s lines to the County bounds, which was "the Ridge that
turned the waters to the York or the Chickahominie Rivers." Malcolm Hart Harris,
Old
New Kent County: Some Account of the Planters, Plantations, and Places
(West Point, Virginia: Malcolm Hart Harris, 1977), vol. 1, page 54.
12 In this period, a wife would most frequently be found signing off dower
rights in the sale of land or in the will of a parent or relative. Few church
records survive for early Colonial Virginia, and almost no marriage bonds.
13
See footnote 28 in main article, "Documenting President Barack
Obama’s Maternal African-American Ancestry."
14
See "Documenting President Barack Obama’s Maternal
African-American Ancestry," Appendix B.
15
A non-suit and 50 pounds of tobacco damages is granted to John
Bunch vs. John Ripley attorney of Christopher Abbott, being arrested and now
prosecuted made to be paid. York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills,
Book 3, 1657–1662, page 40 (80), FHL microfilm 34403. See Figure 2.
16 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, page 61 (122),
FHL microfilm 34403.
who is also an ancestor of President Obama.
11 The name of John Bunch’s wife is not
known, but the fact that his great-grandchildren were able to freely marry white
neighbors suggests that she was white.12
This John Bunch received the land grant in Blisland Parish, and he appears to
be the same man who is named in records of York County in the previous decade.
Initially, John Bunch lived on land near the Mattaponi River, which he rented
from Dr. Francis Haddon, a resident of York County. Given the extreme rarity of
the surname Bunch in England and Scotland
13 one might reason that having traced
one white immigrant named John Bunch to his death (headright of Gervase
Dodson)14 would make it less likely
there were two more unrelated Bunch men living in the same thirty mile radius in
1659.
John Bunch I was non-suited by the York County Court on 17 November
1658.
15 He was brought before the York County
Court on 24 August 1659 for a bill of 429 pounds of tobacco, the said John
"suffering the loss of his crop the year following," so the bill was ordered to
be canceled.16 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 4
Figure 1 – 1659 Court Case concerning John Bunch I.
Whereas Mr Jonathan Newell Attorney of Capt. John Fox Attorney
of Mr John Catlin Arrested to this Court John Bunch for a bill of Foure hundred
twenty nine Pounds tobacco & co. … due in 1652 and the said Bunch suffering
the losse of this Cropp the year following by Mr Catlin’s note praying for [?]
coming in who by Condition engaged for the same Itt is ordered hee have his bill
in to be Cancelled & the p[lainti]ffe to pay Cost.
It would seem odd that Catlin would wait six years to sue for a bill due in
1652, but he sued two other men that same year for debts due in 1650 and
1653.
17 One possible explanation would be
that John Bunch inherited this obligation, but was legally underage until 1658;
thus, he could not be sued in court until he attained age
twenty-one.18 The other explanation
could be that he was born by 1632-37 and old enough to be planting a crop by
1653. The wording of the contract indicates that John Bunch borrowed what he
needed on condition that the crop he planted would be harvested the following
year.
17 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, 1657-1662, pages
61 and 70, FHL microfilm 34403.
18
Virginia inherited the Common Law of England, making its own
emendations (as published in Hening’s Statutes). The great legal treatise by the preeminent English jurist Sir Edward
Coke (died 1632), Solicitor General, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas, and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench (England),
had just been published in several parts between 1628 and 1644 (The
Institutes of the Laws of England).
These would have been brought to Virginia and used as reference and guidance.
There was technically no socage tenure in Virginia (the Virginia Company of
London had barred it in 1609), so all children were legally infants in the eyes
of the law until age twenty-one. The age of discretion occurred at fourteen (for
boys, twelve for girls, but eventually the two were merged and age fourteen
became the rule in Virginia), making boys able to serve as witness or make
contracts, but any contract entered into could be rejected as soon as they
attained the age of majority (twenty-one).
19 A non-suit and 50 lbs. tobacco damages is granted to John Bunch vs. John
Ripley attorney of Christopher Abbott, being arrested and now prosecuted made to
be paid. York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, 1657-1662,
page 40 (80), FHL microfilm 34403.
20 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, 1657-1662, page
61 (122), FHL microfilm 34403.
John Bunch was non-suited by the York County Court on 17 November
1658.
19 He was brought before the York County
Court on 24 August 1659 for a bill of 429 pounds of tobacco, the said John
"suffering the loss of his crop the year following" so the bill was ordered to
be canceled.20 Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 5
Figure 2 – The non-suit of John Bunch I vs. Christopher Abbott.
A nonsuit & 50 lb. tob. damages is granted to John Bunch
against John Ripley attorney of Christopher Abbott[,] being arrested & not
prosecu[ted] made to be paid …
On 10 March 1661/2, John Bunch I was non-suited and awarded 50 pounds of
tobacco in recompense for being brought to court because of Dr. Francis Haddon’s
claim.
21
21 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, page 150 (300),
FHL microfilm 34403. Francis Haddon occurs numerous times in the York County
records of this period.
22
York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 4,
1665–1672, page 342, FHL microfilm 34403. "Francis Haddon of Hampton Parish,
York County, Phisitian [physician] to Josias Moody, son of Mr. Gyles Moodey,
dec’d [deceased] late of the same parish for valuable consideration 200 acres
[of land] on Mattapony River being part of 1000 acres granted to said Gyles
Moodey and 200 acres more, part of same patent, adjoining it, formerly granted
by said Haddon and Jane his wife to said Josias Moody, and by him sold to
William Parker, in all 400 acres, and Moody to be possessed of said plantation
now in occupation of John Bunch at expiration of the lease granted by Haddon to
Edward Greene. Land is between Folly Creek Swamp and the next swamp, near horse
path to Capt. John Underhill’s. Josias Moody shall also enter and possess after
the death of said Francis Haddon and Jane his wife, the whole divident of land
upon Kings Creek, formerly belonging to said Giles Moody, containing 300 acres,
now in occupancy of said Haddon and Jane his wife, natural mother of said
Josias. Haddon also gives Josias a mare, now running at the glebe land formerly
purchased by Haddon of Edward Foliat." as abstracted in Benjamin B. Weisiger
III, York County, Virginia Records, 1665–1672
([Richmond]: by the author, 1987), page 202.
Figure 3 – The non-suit of John Bunch I vs. Dr. Francis Haddon
On 19 April 1671, Francis Haddon of York County sold Josias Moody (Haddon’s
stepson) 200 acres
on
the Mattaponi River that was "now in the occupation of John
Bunch at the expiration of the lease granted by Haddon to Edward
Greene"22 [emphasis added]. This
indicates that John Bunch I had initially (perhaps by 1661 when Haddon first
brought suit against Bunch) settled northward in the sparsely populated region
on the Mattaponi (then still part of York County).
The 1661 suit for which Haddon did not show up to court, and the knowledge
that his lease on Haddon’s land would eventually expire, might have provided the
impetus for John Bunch I to patent his own tract, which he could then work on
improving. John Bunch I, therefore, initially resided near where Paul Bunch is
first found. John I then patented land a few miles away in what became Blisland
Parish (not as far from civilization) where a later John Bunch intended to marry
Sarah Slayden. The associations are remarkably suggestive because John Bunch I
is the only known candidate who could be the father of John Bunch II and Paul
Bunch.
We have two descriptions of the tract John Bunch I obtained—one version was
recorded when Thomas Meredith was originally granted the land, the other version
when John Bunch I had
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 6
it recorded again. Comparing the two versions helps teach how descriptions
can vary and how errors can creep in depending on the skill of the clerk who
recorded the information:
Thomas Merridith [Meredith]…Four hundred and Fifty [450] Acres…in the County
of New Kent on both sides of Rickahock path, bounded as followeth,
Viz.
t Beginning at white oak corner by
Burchen Swamp running West northwest ¼ West 160 poles to three marked Trees by
the aforesaid path, thence southwest ½ 132 [sic] poles, thence South by East ½ 80 poles to an oak, thence South
Southeast ½ East 100 poles to Mr. Richard Barnhouse’s Land, thence East with
East 80 poles & southeast by East 100 poles by the said Barnhouse’s Land to
Burchen Swamp to the place where it Began...Dated the 25th
of February 1658 [1658/9 by modern reckoning, as the year
then began on March 26, not January 1].23
23
Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 386, FHL microfilm 29320;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 386, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0370.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
24
Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 15, FHL microfilm 29322;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 10, page 15, .tif image,
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/005/005_0169.tif, accessed 28 May 2012.
Paul Heinegg also speculated that this John Bunch was ancestor of the later
Bunch family in Free
African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina From the
Colonial Period to about 1820, Volume I,
5th ed. (Baltimore: Clearfield, 2005). Heinegg has done an extraordinary job
constructing the genealogies of free blacks and should be one of the first
sources people check for African-American ancestry in the colonial period. He
has also made resources available free online. Our research was conducted
entirely independent of his work, but we do not want it to appear that we are
not aware of his efforts.
25
Virginia Land Patent Book 6, page 369, FHL microfilm 29323;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 6, page 369, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/006/006_0379.tif, accessed 28 May
2012. Mr. George Smith was another neighbor. A grant on 3 February 1662/3 to
Thomas Mines (Mimes) of 800 acres in James City County on branches
The description was recorded as follows when entered into the patent book for
John Bunch I on 18 March 1662/3:
John Bunch…Four hundred and fifty [450] Acres…in New Kent County on both
sides of Rickahock path bounded as followeth Beginning at a white oak Corner by
Burchen Swamp running West North West one fourth West, One hundred and sixty
[160] poles to three marked trees by the aforesaid path, thence south west half
Two hundred and thirty two [232] poles, thence south by East half Eighty [80]
poles to a red Oak, thence East South East One half One hundred [100] poles to
Mr. Richard Barnhouse’s Land, thence East North East Eighty [80] poles, and
South East by East one hundred [100] poles by the said Barnhouse’s Land to
Burchen Swamp up the said swamp to the place where it Began...Dated the twenty
fifth [25
th] of February One thousand six hundred
and fifty eight [1658/9]. And by him sold I assigned to Philip Freeman and by
the said Freeman sold and Assigned to the said Bunch.24
Richmond Terrell was a neighbor of Thomas Meredith as described in Terrell’s
patent for 600 acres in New Kent County on branches of Chickahominy Swamp on 8
February 1670.
25 Thomas Meredith obtained a number of
patents, as did Phillip Freeman:26 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 7
of Chickahominy Swamp adjoined land of Thomas Meredith and George Smith.
Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 124, FHL microfilm 29322; also available
online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 5, page 124, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/005/005_0141.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. George Smith obtained a patent on 20 October 1662 of 592 acres in James
City before Westham Path adjacent Thomas Meredith, a branch of Chikahomany Swamp
called Beaver Quarter, the head line of Thomas Meredith, land of Richmond
Terrill, along his land, and back along land of Thomas Meredith. Virginia Land
Patent Book 4, page 325 (445), FHL microfilm 29320. See also his grant with
Edmond Price immediately following, and a grant on the following page with the
same date for 1,020 acres near Rickahock Path and Chikahomani Fort, with 170
acres on the north side of Dyascun Swamp from Pullam’s corner. Thomas Mimes
obtained a grant of 800 acres in James City County on branches of Chickahominy
Swamp beginning at a corner oak on Westham Path about a mile from Chickahominy
Swamp, land of Thomas Meredith, land of Mr. George Smith, Mr. [Richmond]
Terrill, Edmond Price, and back to Westham Path and along the path back to the
beginning. Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 218 (124), FHL microfilm. Edmund
Price obtained a patent of 600 acres in James City County on 3 May 1661 near
Towaywink Swamp by land of the late Mr. Francis Burnell, deceased, and Richard
Scruggs. Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 478, FHL microfilm 29320. Captain
John Underwood obtained a grant of 1,200 acres in James City County on 25
November 1661, bordering Tyascon [Diascund], easterly on land of Captain
Barne[house?] and Thomas Meredeth, northerly on Rockahock Path and Richard
[Richmond] Terril, northwest on Charles Edmon’s and Pullam, westerly on a branch
of Tyasum [Diascund], and southerly on William Hitchman and a branch of the head
of Burchen Swamp. Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 281 (384), FHL microfilm
29320; also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 281, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0399.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
26
There were no Meredith or Freeman patents in present-day
Hanover County. Their patents were in what is now New Kent County. Part of James
City County was added to New Kent County in 1767. That removed St. Peter’s
Parish from James City County and put it wholly in New Kent County. Charles
Francis Cocke, Parish
Lines, Diocese of Southern Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1964), page 65.
27 Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 61 (89), FHL microfilm 29320.
28 Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 100 (148), FHL microfilm 29320.
29 Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 197, FHL microfilm 29322. This tract was
on the north side of Chickahomany Main Swamp about 1.5 miles from Poewhite
Swamp, metes and bounds given, bordering in part Westham Path.
Thomas Meredith received a grant of 380 acres in New Kent County on 28
October 1656 on the south side of the freshes of York River by land of Mr.
Richard Barnhouse including 200 acres that had been granted to Major William
"Hoccoday" on 9 March 1654/5.
27
Thomas Meredith obtained a grant of 420 acres in New Kent County on the
southwest side of the narrows of York River on 1 July 1657. This tract began at
his own corner, by Mr. Hurd’s path, by a branch of Wahrani Swamp, and thence to
Captain
Richard Barnhouse.28
Thomas Meredith was granted 450 acres in New Kent County on 25 February
1658/9 (abstracted above).
Thomas Meredith received a grant for 1,370 acres in James City on 27 April
1661.
29
Thomas Meredith received a grant of 420 acres in New Kent County on 18
March 1662/3 on the narrows of York River beginning at the south most
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 8
corner of his own land, then running by Mr. Hurd’s path, along a branch of
Wahrani Swamp to
Captain
Richard Barnhouse,
and 380 acres on the south side of the freshes of York River by land of Mr.
Richard Barnhouse (including 200 acres granted to Major William "Hockady" on 9
March 1654/5 and assigned to Meredith).30 At least part of this seems to be a renewal of the 1657 grant.
Thomas Meredith Sr. obtained a patent of 523 acres in New Kent on 29
November 1682.
31
Phillip Freeman obtained a grant of 100 acres in New Kent County on 20
April 1660 bordering land of William Cox and John Woodington.
32
Phillip Freeman received a patent for 1,000 acres in James City County on 2
May 1661.
33 This seems to have been modified a
dozen years later. Phillip Freeman obtained a grant of 650 acres in James City
County on 10 March 1673/4.34
30 Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 197 (91), FHL microfilm 29322.
31
Virginia Land Patent Book 7, page 211, FHL microfilm 29324.
This tract was on the south side of York River by the mouth of Hammons Creek
(formerly patented by Col. Manwarring Hammond) by the name of Royall Fort [Fort
Royal], following meets and bounds to Mackdannells Path, the bank of the river
over against Pamamack Town, thence on the river downwards, down the river,
Rockahock landing, the Spring Branch, etc. Manwarring Hamon, Esquire, obtained a grant of 3,760 acres in York
County on 15 March 1649/50. Virginia Land Patent Book 2, pages 195 and 196, FHL
microfilm 29319. This was also described as lying on the south side of York
River commonly called Fort Royal alias Ricahock, along meets and bounds on the
river, into the woods, upon the mountains, upon Black Creek, a bay, etc.
32 Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 478, FHL microfilm 29320.
33
Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 470, FHL microfilm 29320.
The tract was on the north side of Chickahominy Swamp beginning at a corner
beech by the swamp on Thomas Meridith’s land, down Meridith’s line towards
Powhite Swamp, etc.
34
Virginia Land Patent Book 6, page 519, FHL microfilm 29323.
This was on the main swamp of Chickahominy River above Westham Path and adjacent
a tract of Thomas Meredeth and land of Thomas Landon. This appears to be
immediately northwest of Meredith’s 1661 patent.
35
Virginia Land Patent Book 8, page 321, FHL microfilm 29325;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 8, page 321, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/008/008_0326.tif, accessed 23
May 2012. This appears to be the same 736 acres granted to William Edwards on 23
October 1690. Virginia Land Patent Book 8, page 108, FHL microfilm 29325; also
available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 8, page 108, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/008/008_0133.tif, accessed 28 May
2012.
36
"The church was erected at the head of Warreneye Swamp, which
flows in a southerly direction to Chicahominy River and it became known as
Warreneye Church." Harris, Old New Kent County: Some
Account of the Planters,
vol. 1, page 10.
Later patents verify that Burchen Swamp was next to Wahrani Creek. Henry Duke
was granted 736 acres in James City County on 20 April 1694 beginning on
branches of Wahrani Creek at a white oak on the Burchen Swamp.
35 The 1662/3 patent of John Bunch I
certainly lay in Blisland Parish, not far from the chapel near the headwaters of
Wahrani Swamp.36 It is curious
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 9
that the widowed Amy Barnhouse, of Martin’s Hundred, James City County, was
the one who discharged Mihill Gowen
37 from service on 25 October
1657.38 This document offers the
name of Amy Barnhouse’s brother, Christopher Stafford, and the Stafford family’s
relevance becomes apparent later in this article.
37 He is also known as Michael Gowen. Additionally, his surname is presented
many different ways in original records, including Goins, Gowns, Going, Goings,
Gowin, etc.
38 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders and Wills, etc., Book 3, page 16,
FHL microfilm 34403.
39
The elder Richard Barnhouse was known as Captain Richard
Barnhouse; he was owner of the ship Samuel in 1639. "Virginia Colonial Records," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012) [High Court of Admiralty,
Examinations on Commission, 1638/39, Class HCA 13/242, Part I, HCA 1-23, page
60], .tif image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/VTLS/CR/11328/0002.tiff. He
patented 250 acres on Kethese Creek in James City County on 27 February 1638/9.
Virginia Land Patent Book 1, page 622, FHL microfilm 29318. This land on Kethes
Creek, in Martin’s Hundred, was taken up again in his patented on 20 March
1653/4. Virginia Land Patent Book 3, page 9, FHL microfilm 29319. He patented 33
acres on Kethes Creek in Martins Hundred on 23 November 1653. Virginia Land
Patent Book 3, page 230, FHL microfilm 29319. Since Amy Barnhouse was freely
devising rights on her own in September 1655, it would appear that the elder
Richard Barnhouse was dead by that time. William Stafford received 100 acres on
the west side of Kethes Creek on 23 August 1634. Virginia Land Patent Book 1,
page 154, FHL microfilm 29318.
Richard Barnhouse, Jr., patented 200 acres in Gloucester County on the south
side of the Mattaponi River two miles above the Indian Ferry on 27 April 1653.
Virginia Land Patent Book 3, page 193, FHL microfilm 21319. Richard Barnhouse,
Jr., patented 200 acres in Gloucester County on 17 March 1655/6, but this tract
was described as being on the southeast side of the Mattaponi River. Virginia
Land Patent Book 4, page 33, FHL microfilm 29322. He
Bee itt knowne unto all Christian people that whereas Mihill Gowen Negro of
late servant to my Brother Xopre [Christopher] Stafford dece[ase]d by his last
will & Testament bearing date the eighteenth of January 1654 had his
freedome given unto him after the expirac[i]on of ffoure yeares service unto my
unclkle Robert Stafford Therefore know all whom itt may concerne that I Anne
[Amie] Barnehouse for divers good causes mee thereunto moving doth absolutely
quitt & descharge the sai[d] Mihill Gowen from any service & for ever
sett him free from any claime of service either by mee or any one my behalf as
any part or parcel of my Estate that may be claimed by mee the said Amy
Barnhouse my heyres Exec[uto]rs Ad[ministrators] or Assignes as wittnes my hand
this 25:
th of October 1657/
The mark of Amy AB: Barnhous[e] Test: [witnesses] Arthure Dickenson[,] Joseph
Blighton[,] Rec[orded] 26
o Januarii 1657
Bee itt knowne unto all Xpian [Christian] people that I Amie Barnehouse of
Martins hundred widdow for divers good causes any [?] caused [____] mee
thereunto moving hath given unto Mihill Gowen Negro hee being att this time
servant unto Robert Staffo[rd] a Male child borne the 25:
th of August in the yeare of oure Lord
God 1655 of the body of my Negro Prossa being baptized by Mr Edward Johnson the 2:d
of Septemb[er] 1655 & named William & I the said
Amy Barnhouse doth bind myselfe my heyres & exec[uto]rs Adm[inistrato]rs
& Ass[ignee]s never to trouble or molest the said Mihil Gowen or his sonne
William or demand any service of the said Mihill or his said sonne William In
wittnes whereof I have caused this to be made & done & [___] hereunto
sett my hand & seale this pr[e]sent 16th day of
September 1655
the marke of Amy AB: Barnehouse noe seale Test [witnesses:] Edward Johnson
Minist[e]
r W Ingraham test Rec[orded]
26:o January 1657
Amy was the relict of Richard Barnhouse Sr.
39 Given the relationships she sets out
(sister of Christopher Stafford and niece of Robert Stafford), she and
Christopher would be children of Obama Bunch Descendancy
July 15, 2012 10
was not designated "Jr." thereafter. Richard Barnhouse patented 380 acres on
the west side of Burchen Swamp on 28 October 1656. Virginia Land Patent Book 4,
page 95, FHL microfilm 29322, and 900 acres on Burchen Swamp on 7 February
1658/9 (renewed 26 February 1665/6), when he was also called captain. Virginia
Land Patent Book 4, page 351, FHL microfilm 29322.
The grant of 484 acres in New Kent County to John Stark on 30 October 1686
states that 200 acres of his patent was originally granted to Richard Barnhouse
Sr. deceased, and on petition his son, Richard Barnhouse Jr. obtained a survey
before selling the tract to Stark. Virginia Land Patent Book 7, page 525, FHL
microfilm 29324.
40
His estate included a black man named Anthonio
[sic],
black women named Palassa and Couchanello, a black girl named Mary who was age
four, a black girl names Elizabeth, age three, an unnamed black boy age one, and
a black boy two weeks old. York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders and Wills, Book
3, 1657-1662, page 185, FHL microfilm 34402. They appear to have been purchased
from Charles Harmer. William Stafford patented 300 acres on Kethes Creek on 12
November 1635 (the same Creek on which Captain Richard Barnhouse patented land
in Martins Hundred), claiming his wife Rebecca and Christopher Stafford among
the headrights. Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers:
Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants…(Richmond: The Dietz Printing Company, 1934), vol. 1, page 33; also,
Virginia Land Patent Book 1, page 305, FHL microfilm 29318.
41 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders and Wills, Book 2, 1657-1662, page
19, FHL microfilm 34402.
42
"Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents: Notes," Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography,
2(1895), page 314. Paul Heinegg tracked down a more detailed account of this
event: "Phillip Cowen [sic] ‘a Negro’…etitioned the Governor and Council of
State for his freedom. He was the servant of Amye Beazleye whose 9 April 1664
will stated that he was to be free and receive three barrels of corn and a suit
of clothes after serving her cousin, Humphrey Stafford, for eight years.
Stafford sold the remaining years of his indenture to Charles Lucas who forced
Philip to acknowledge an indenture for twenty years before the Warwick County
court," citing Colonial Papers, Library of Virginia microfilm, p.19, fol. 2.
Paul Heinegg, Free
African Americans,
page 543. At that time, the term "cousin" meant uncle/nephew or aunt/niece.
43
McIlwaine, Minutes of the Council and
General Court of Colonial Virginia,
page 411.
44
McIlwaine, Minutes of the Council and
General Court of Colonial Virginia,
page 411.
45
"Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents: Notes," Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography,
2(1895), pages 314-315.
William Stafford of York County, whose inventory dated 3 March 1644/5
included eight slaves.
40 Christopher Stafford married
Elizabeth (who subsequently became the wife of William Purnell, and then, by 1
December 1656, Joseph Watkins),41 and left a son and heir named Humphrey Stafford. It appears that Amy
Stafford, widow of Richard Barnhouse of James City County, married again. Mrs.
[Amy] Beazley of James City County, by her will dated 1664, "left a negro to her
cousin, Mr. Humphrey Stafford, of Virginia."42
Phillip Gowen "negro" sued John Lucas for his freedom on
16 June 1675.43 The court ordered
that Phillip be free from service and that the indenture acknowledged in Warwick
County be invalid. Further, Mr. Lucas was to pay Gowen three barrels of corn
"According to ye Will of
Mrs Amye Boazlye [Beazeley]
dec[ease]d wth Costs."44
There was some blood kinship between Amy (Stafford)(Barnhouse) Beasley and
Hugh Gwynn’s family, because Humphrey and John Gwynn, in their own right and as
attorneys of Humphrey Stafford, petitioned the General Court on 30 September
1681 claiming that the three were the closest relations (Nearest allied") of
Colonel John Burnham of Middlesex County, Virginia.
45 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012
11
The grant of 30 or 40 acres that Mihill Gowen obtained in James City County
on 8 February 1668/9 had belonged to Captain Richard Barnhouse.
46 It seems extraordinary that the Gowen
and Bunch families were so intimately connected with Richard Barnhouse and his
wife Amy Stafford, and that they, in turn, were related in some way with the
children of Hugh Gwynn. It was not uncommon for servants or their children to be
passed around among relatives as Amy did with Mihil Gowen (later also freeing
Phillip Gowen by the terms of her will). John Punch had been a servant of
Humphrey and John Gwynn’s father, Hugh.
46
Virginia Land Patent Book 6, page 208, FHL microfilm 29323;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 6, page 208, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/006/006_0212.tif, accessed 23
May 2012. The land was sold by Barnhouse to John Turner, deceased, but
escheated. No metes or bounds are given in the grant. C.G. Chamberlayne,
The Vestry Book of Blisland (Blissland)
Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1721–1786
(Richmond: The Library Board, 1935), page ix, quoting a patent dated 13
October 1653 to Thomas Dunketon in Blisland Parish bordering Barnhouse’s land.
Nicholas Barnhouse was one of the residents of Blisland Parish who signed on to
the grievances presented to the government dated 2 April 1677 (page xliv and
Photostat facing page xlii).
47 Some records survive from 1822 and 1830. Personal property tax lists and
land tax lists in Virginia began in 1782 and were kept by the colony instead of
the local court, hence they do survive. Personal property tax lists are
invaluable for people searching in burned-record counties for that period as
they serve as a virtual census of adult males (similar to a listing of heads of
households).
48
We do not believe the "Sr." and "Jr." designation would have
been used to differentiate between this John Jr. and the son of Paul Bunch (who
is not known to have owned land and may have left for North Carolina).
The Gowen and Bunch families bear the same deep-clade yDNA, which means that
their origins were from the same region of Africa. Given that there were so few
African Americans in Virginia at that period, it may indicate that they traveled
from Africa together. They continued to live and move together in the following
centuries, from Virginia to the Carolinas, Tennessee, and beyond.
The fact that John Bunch I disappears from records of York County argues in
favor of the conclusion that he moved to New Kent County after he improved his
grant. Records of York County survive fairly intact for this period. No records
survive for New Kent County at the level of the local court before 1800.47
Children of John
2 Bunch I (wife unknown):
2 i Paul
3 Bunch, born about 1652–58 (see below).
3 ii John
3 Bunch II, born about 1655–60 (see
next).
4 iii [Henry?]
3 Bunch, born about 1660–70 (see below).
2
JOHN3 BUNCH
II, SR.
(John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) born about 1655–60, was presumably the man taxed for 100 acres in New
Kent County in 1704. He was still alive in 1723, when his son John III was
styled "Jr." in one of the patents.48 John
Bunch II probably had sisters and daughters, but since probate and marriage
records have been destroyed for this period, then short of the discovery of an
early Bible, their identities are forever lost. Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 12
The original 1704 quit rent of New Kent County was grouped by the first
letter of the surname (all last names beginning with "B" are listed
together).
49 This does not allow an analysis of
the list for John Bunch II’s close neighbors. However, it is clear that the
three persons listed before John Bunch II were Andrew Banks (50 acres), Richard
Baker (80 acres), and John Bowels (500 acres); the three persons following John
Bunch II’s entry for 100 acres were John Burnett (150 acres), Richard
Barnhouse (1,600 acres), and Thomas Barbar (500 acres).50
Figure 4 – 1704 Quit Rent
49 The National Archives (Kew, England), CO (Colonial Office) 5/1314, no. 63
viii.
50
Louis des Cognets Jr., English Duplicates of Lost
Virginia Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981), page 164.
51
John Bunch, Jr., of Hanover County, 18 February 1722, for 40
shillings, 400 acres in Hanover County, upper side of Taylor’s Creek, beginning
at a white oak on Taylor’s Creek a little above Edward Garland's corner, running
south 190 poles to a corner of several marked trees, thence south 57½ degrees
east 400 poles to another corner of several marked trees, thence north 190 poles
to a [blank] on the creek, thence down the watercourse of the creek, making upon
a straight line, 400 poles to the beginning. "Virginia Land Office Patents and
Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 11, page 162, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0666.tif and
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0667.tif, accessed 25 June
2012.
52
Edward Nix also owned land in the western region that would
become part of Louisa County. The churchwardens of St. Paul’s agreed in 1722
that two chapels should be built to service those who lived far away from the
existing churches, one to be at or near land of Edward Nix on the south side of
the South River. Edward Nix was paid for railing in the churchyard of this new
chapel that came to be called Allen’s Creek Church. Chamberlayne,
Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish,
1706–1786, pages 97, 113; George Carrington Mason, "The Colonial Churches of New
Kent and Hanover Counties, Virginia," Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography 53
(1945), page 257 and the map between pages 246 and 247. But Edward Nix’s
neighbors in other processioning records included John Bostock, Thomas Gibson
(Nix’s father-in-law), William Reynolds, Thomas Thorpe, Rowland Horsey
[Horsley], Henry Crumpton, William Walters, and John Bowles. Chamberlayne,
Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish,
1706–1786, pages 227 and 239.
The key to placing the neighbors in this district is Richard Brooks. It
appears that his land was near where he obtained a patent for 294 acres on 5
September 1723. Virginia Land Patent Book 11, page 223, FHL microfilm 29327. His
neighbors there were Nicholas Meriwether (north), Nathaniel West (west),
Christopher Clark and John Stone (southwest), and George Alves (east). Richard
Brooks also patented 120 acres a little to the southeast close to
It is extraordinary that John Bunch II was listed two entries before Richard
Barnhouse, the major landowner whose land bordered the 1662/3 patent of John
Bunch I. This clearly suggests that the 100-acre tract owned by John Bunch II in
1704 is a remnant of the 450 acres originally patented on 18 March 1662/3. This
also implies that John Bunch II’s son, John III, was making a fresh start into a
new region when he patented his land on Taylor’s Creek in 1721/2.
51
John Bunch II appears to have owned land in St. Paul’s Parish that was
processioned on 8 February 1719/20, with the other landowners in his district
being Edward Nix,
52 Richard Brooks, Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 13
the boundary between where Hanover, Henrico, and Goochland Counties now meet
on 17 September 1731. Virginia Land Patent Book 14, page 328, FHL microfilm
29330. His neighbors, then, were John Utley, Robert and Charles Anderson, John
Sims, and John Black. When Richard Brooks made his will on 8 October 1731, he
made his loving friends Edward Nix and Abraham Venables executors. Rosalie Edith
Davis,
Hanover
County, Virginia Court Records, 1733–1735: Deeds, Wills and Inventories
(Manchester, Missouri: by the author, 1979), page 30. Venables was a
neighbor of Brooks as early as 1711. Chamberlayne, Vestry
Book of St. Paul’s Parish, 1706–1786,
page 225.
53 From 1662, Virginia landowners were required to walk the boundary lines
between tracts every four years in an effort to prevent disputes in court. The
parish vestries were in charge of defining the precincts and directing the
parishioners charged with processioning the lands.
54
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 266.
55 It is not likely that their father had siblings born of the same early
mixed-race union, given the prevailing attitudes of the period.
56
It is possible that some of the other Bunch men of the next
generation were sons of John Bunch II, but moved to North Carolina in pursuit of
a better life (see the listing of possible nephews of John and Paul Bunch under
the account of no. 4 [?Henry]3 Bunch, in this descendancy). But if they were recognized as persons of
color, it may have made life in Virginia more difficult. If John Bunch II
married a white spouse, the he and his descendants might stay in Virginia and
manage well. If Paul or another brother married a wife who was also from mixed
family (be it African American or Native American), then it would to their
advantage to initially move out of Virginia to North Carolina, or South Carolina
(as the laws of North Carolina became less favorable), or finally moving into
regions like Tennessee, Kentucky, and elsewhere as those frontiers opened up.
57
Paul Bunch’s will is transcribed by John Anderson Brayton,
Transcription of Provincial North
Carolina Wills, 1663–1729/30, Volume 1, A–K (Memphis: by the author, 2003), pages 100–101.
58
No Bunch entry was found in the records of St. Peter’s Parish,
New Kent County, Virginia, which survive from 1684. This implies that the family
either still resided within the bounds of Blisland Parish, or Paul Bunch had
already moved into the area on the Mattaponi or Pamunkey Rivers that became
present day King William County.
59
Harris, Old New Kent County: Some
Account of the Planters,
vol. 1, page 608 (citing King William Records, no. 1, page 402). William
Clayborne gave his son, Thomas, the portion of his land in King William County,
Virginia that came to be known as "Sweet Hall" on 25 January 1673. William gave
the tract known as "Cohoke" to his son John Claiborne on 10 November 1676, and
the tract known as "Romancoke" descended to William’s eldest son William. Lolita
Hannah Bissell, Cliborn-Claiborne
Records (Nashville: by the author, 1986), page 185. Sweet Hall was just
northeast of Cohoke.
Captain Nathaniel West, John Stone, and Francis Stone (John Bowles was
apparently West’s overseer and refused to procession
53 the land because he had no orders
from West to do so).54
John Bunch II and Paul Bunch (below) were contemporaries who eventually
purchased tracts of land relatively near to one another. yDNA proves they were
related. It seems most likely that they were brothers.
55 yDNA also indicates that their common
ancestor was from Sub-Saharan Africa, and possibly Cameroon.
Child of John
3 Bunch II, wife not known:56
5 i John
4 Bunch III (see below), born about
1680–85.
3
PAUL3 BUNCH
(John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch), born possibly about 1652–58, married by 1679, and died shortly
before 16 November 1727, when his will was proved.57
He spent his earliest years in Virginia, in counties where
most of the records have been lost for the period he lived.58 The first surviving reference to Paul is in
1695, when he purchased 150 acres near Sweet Hall Road from John Claiborne on 29
July 1695.59 Paul Bunch was taxed on
150 acres in King Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 14
William County in the 1704 quit rent.
60 His land was near Cohoke Creek where
it flows into the Pamunkey River and just east of the Pamunkey Indian
Reservation.
60
des Cognets, English Duplicates of Lost
Virginia Records,
page 157. Paul Bunch was second on the list of "B" surnames in King William
County, Virginia (after Major Burwell, who was taxed for 4,700 acres, and before
John Baker, who was taxed for 250 acres). Colonel William Claibourne, Captain
Thomas Claibourne, and John Claibourne were the three men who began the list of
"C" surnames, which should indicate—knowing what we do from other sources—that
Paul Bunch lived near the Claibourne family.
61
King William County (Virginia), Record Book 1, pages 129–30,
FHL microfilm 1987186. The deed from West, recorded in court on 20 August 1703,
reads, "Know all men by these Presents that I John West Gent[leman] of the
parish of St. Johns …Doe hereby assign and make over unto Paul Bunch of the same
parish and County one Mullaito [sic] Servant Man Known and Commonly Called by the name of John Russell,
for whom I Doe acknowledged [sic] to have Received…wenty six pounds ten shillings ster[ling]…hus
27th day of Jan[uar]y 1700[/1]."
Richard Curteen, John Weatherford, and Derick Will[ia]mson were witnesses. "The
above sale was (upon the Motio[n] of John Russell & with the Consent of
Coll. John West) admitted to Record."
The deed from Paul Bunch to Elizabeth Russell followed immediately after on
the next page. "Know all men…hat I Paul Bunch Doe for myselfe my heires
Ex[ecutors] Adm[inistrators] Assigne and Make over all my Right and Interest of
the within mentioned John Russell until Eliz
a Russell with w[arranty?] from any
person whatsoe ever unto her the said Eliza Russell her Assigne[es] for ever Witness my hand this 27th Jan[uar]y 1700[/1]" Paul Bunch "his mark,"
witnessed by John West, Richard Curteen, and John Weatherford. Luckily the
record survives as it was recorded 20 August 1703.
Paul Bunch also witnessed a deed of John Claiborne before the King William
County Court on 20 May 1704, signing with a mark that might resemble the letter
"P" each time. King William County (Virginia), Miscellaneous Record Book 1, page
181 (167), FHL microfilm 1987186. A white planter named John Russell purchased
[torn] 80 acres in King William County from Thomas West on 20 [torn] the
2
nd year of the reign of [torn]. King
William County (Virginia), Miscellaneous Record Book 1, pages 135–38, etc. John
West and Henry Winfrey were witnesses and it was recorded 20 August 1703. The
planter named John Russell was taxed for 550 acres in New Kent County in 1704.
des Cognets, English
Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records,
page 169. The inventory of William Clayborne, gentleman (deceased), appraised on
17 January 1706/7, included a mulatto boy named Thomas Russell. Ruth and Sam
Sparacio, King William County, Virginia,
Record Books, 1705–1721 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1996), page 90.
62
Hening’s, Statutes,
vol. 3, pages 87–8. Freed slaves were to leave the colony within six
months, and a penalty of £10 was imposed on the person freeing the slave.
63
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
pages 228 and 240.
Paul Bunch does not appear to have been literate, because he signed with a
mark on every record we have where he would have signed, including two in
Virginia: as a witness to a deed by John Claiborne on 20 May 1704, and also when
he purchased a mulatto named John Russell from John West, gentleman, on 27
January 1700/1 and immediately assigned him over to Elizabeth Russell.61
The Virginia Assembly had made it difficult to manumit slaves in 1691 by
requiring that freed slaves had to leave the colony shortly after obtaining
their freedom. Rather than freeing John Russell outright, granting his custody
to someone else avoided an additional fine of £10.62
Paul Bunch settled southward in Hanover County by 17 "9br" [November] 1711,
when his land became part of a district in St. Paul’s Parish to be processioned.
His neighbors included Emanuel Richardson, Nathaniel Hodgkinson, Captain Roger
Thompson, John Richardson, James Whitlock, Widow Clough, Thomas Graham, and
Thomas Lacy.
63 This represents a completely
different group of neighbors than those listed four years later, apparently
indicating that Paul Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012
15
Bunch moved from one location to another in Hanover County between 1711 and
15 "9br." [November] 1715.
64
64
Paul Bunch and Major Meriwether were assigned to procession a
district on 15 November 1715, Stephen Sunter refusing to sign the return because
he was a resident of Henrico County, Virginia. Chamberlayne, The
Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish, 1706–1786, page 252.
65 John Weatherford had acted as a witness to Paul Bunch in King William
County, Virginia a few years earlier.
66
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 75. Paul Bunch’s Quarter was added to Peter Haroldson’s Gang (for clearing
roads) on 2 March 1721/2 (page 101).
67 Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 437, FHL microfilm 29327.
68 Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page 33, FHL microfilm 29328.
69 Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page, FHL microfilm 29328. The land formed a
rectangle, 200 poles by 320 poles, tilted 45 degrees. Thomas Grant of Hanover
County received a grant of 800 acres on 17 August 1733. Virginia Land Patent
Book 15, page 113, FHL microfilm 29331. His land bordered Black Haw Swamp, a
branch of Grassy Swamp, the north side of Ashe Cake Road, and land of John
Crenshaw and Thomas Johnson. This was just east northeast of the present border
between Hanover, Goochland, and Henrico Counties on the road towards Ashland.
Black Haw Branch is now immediately south of Farrington, Hanover County.
70
Margaret M. Hofmann, Province of North Carolina,
1663–1729, Abstracts of Land Patents ([Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina], by the author, 1983), page 215 (no.
2359, page 203).
71 The Gibson-DNA Project: y-Results (Online: WorldFamilies.net, 2012),
online at http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/gibson/results, accessed June
11, 2012.
On 8 March 1715/6 (when Paul Bunch’s land was called "Paul Bunch’s Quarter"),
Francis Clark, John English, John Venable, John Corley, Samuel Sperring, William
Webb, Paul Bunch, Thomas Wetherford,
65 Gilbert Gibson, William Thacker,
Stephen Ragland, and John Hart (and all their male tithables) were ordered to
help clear the road from Stony Run to Half Sink Road.66
This would normally represent the landowners who lived
near that road. Paul Bunch was described as owning land adjacent to Gilbert
Gibson on 11 July 1719 when Gibson patented 224 acres in New Kent County (now
Hanover County), Virginia. Gibson’s patent was described as beginning on
Sunter’s corner patent line, bordering Captain Dangerfield’s line, a branch,
bordering on Paul Bunch’s line, and following his line back to Stephen Sunter’s
line to the beginning.67 William
Alsup Jr. became a neighbor on 9 July 1724, when he patented 400 acres that
bordered Dangerfield’s tract, Paul Bunch, Jeremiah Parker, Timothy Sullivant,
and others.68
Paul Bunch patented 400 acres in Hanover County on 9 July 1724, apparently
some distance west of his residence.
69 This tract was on both sides of Black
Haw (Swamp) in Hanover County. This was a few miles west of Paul’s residence
next to Gilbert Gibson. He probably turned around and sold the land soon after
in preparation for leaving Virginia to settle in North Carolina, but the deeds
of Hanover County are missing for this period.
Paul was granted 265 acres on the south side of Morattock River in Bertie
Precinct, North Carolina, on 1 January 1725/6 joining land owned by Simms,
Gideon
Gibson, Wilkins, and Quankey Pocoson (recall that Paul Bunch was Gilbert
Gibson’s immediate neighbor in Hanover County as well).70
The yDNA results of some living Gibson descendants also
indicate they have the E1b1a haplotype.71 It would make sense that mixed-race descendants of early
African-Americans in Virginia who spoke the same language and had the same
cultural background would stay together, move together, and probably intermarry.
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 16
Paul died soon after he moved to North Carolina. He made his will on 16
November 1726. He stated that he was of sound mind and perfect memory (the usual
preamble, but hopefully accurate). First, after ordering that his debts and
funeral charges be paid, he gave his son John Bunch "that part of this Land I
now live on which he now lives on" up to a line of marked trees, with "one Negro
fellow named Dick" and one iron pot. Paul gave the other part of his plantation
to Fortune Holdbee for life, remaining after her death to Keziah Holdbee and
Jemima Holdbee, to be equally divided between the two sisters, but "if these two
Children die without Heirs lawfully begotten [of their bodies]" then it was to
revert back to John Bunch.
72
72
Brayton, Transcription of Provincial
North Carolina Wills, 1663–1729/30, Volume 1, 100–101 (citing Secretary of State North Carolina Archives [SS] 876,
page 138). These spellings are consistent with the abstract published in Stephen
E. Bradley Jr., Early
Records of North Carolina, Volume V: Wills, 1723–1736 (From the Secretary of
State Papers) (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1993), page 13.
73
The transcription of one record, however, states that the
orphan was daughter of Thomas Holdbee. Weynette Parks Haun, Bertie
County, North Carolina County Court Minutes, 1740 thru 1743: 1758 thru 1762,
Book II (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1977), page 7. If Thomas
Holdbee was Fortune’s first husband, but they never divorced, then children of
Fortune by a common-law husband might have been considered legal orphans of her
legal husband. It may also be that in this instance the clerk confused the first
name of Thomas Bryant, the guardian, inserting Thomas as the name of the
orphan’s father. A William Holderbee was taxed for 100 acres in King William
County, Virginia, in 1704. des Cognets, English Duplicates of Lost
Virginia Records,
page 158. The surname is very rare. If Keziah and Jemimah were daughters of Paul
Bunch, and born about 1723 and 1725, they might have been born in Hanover County
and brought with their father to North Carolina, so the possible connection with
King William County may be worth investigating.
74 Fortune apparently had three legal marriages to white men. The only
common-law union was with Paul Bunch. If Fortune were white, then the fact that
one of her daughters was styled mulatto would indicate that it was well known
Paul Bunch was of mixed race.
75
This was a substantial grant, but it was not of the same level
of special care and property bequeathed to the two Holdbee girls. Thomas might
be Fortune’s legitimate son by her first (legal) husband.
76 This was normally the stipulation men required of their wives when making
a will.
The special favor Paul Bunch showed to Fortune and the two Holdbee children
might indicate that Fortune was Paul’s common-law wife.
73 A late marriage for Paul to a woman
of white race was forbidden in Virginia and outlawed in North Carolina in
1715.74 One might argue that a
tenuous bequest to children illegitimate in the eyes of the law would require
Paul to give something (even one shilling) to his other surviving children, so
they could not dispute his wishes.
In his will, Paul continued his bequests, giving Fortune Holdbee two feather
beds and half the household goods (the other half to go to Joseph Meacham—a
grandson?), and half of Paul’s stock (the other half to Joseph Meacham), except
two cows and calves that were to be given to
Thomas
Holdbee.75 Paul gave Fortune one
Negro named Frank as long as she lived single (unmarried).76 Paul bequeathed "my Negro fellow named Daw" to
Fortune Holdbee and Joseph Meacham to "help and assist [them] one as much as the
other" and gave "one Mullatto Wench named Pegg" to Keziah Holdbee, to be kept in
the care of her mother until Keziah reached age eighteen or got married. Paul
gave Jemima Holdbee "one Negro Girl named Betty" on like terms, and gave Joseph
Meacham "one Negro Wench named Moll and her child Fortune and one Negro Wench
[named] Rose and all my Land that I have over Roanoke River" belonging to the
plantation that Paul Bunch purchased from Thomas Wilkins. In addition, Paul gave
"one Survey Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 17
of Land only 100 Acres" to
Thomas
Holdbee. He gave his son John Bunch "one Buckaneer Gun." Paul Bunch appointed
Joseph Meacham and Fortune Holdbee his executors, the residue of his estate to
be equally divided between them. The last statement in his will reads, "I give
Eliza Bunch one Shilling Sterling
and my Daughter Russell I give one Shilling Sterling[,] this I appoint my last
Will and Testament as Witness my Hand and Seal this 16th
Day of Novr 1726." Paul Bunch signed with a mark, as he did in the records we have
of him in Virginia.77 Andrew Ireland
and John Cotton witnessed the will, and the name Henry Irby
is
appended (he became Fortune’s next husband).78
77
Paul Bunch witnessed the will of Alexander Cambrill of Chowan
Precinct on 1 February 1726/7, signing with a mark. Bradley, Early
Records of North Carolina, Volume V: Wills, 1723–1736, page 15.
78
Brayton, Transcription of Provincial
North Carolina Wills, 1663–1729/30, Volume 1, pages 100–101 (citing Secretary of State of North Carolina Archives, SS
876, page 138).
79
Laura Willis, Bertie County, N. C. Deeds, Vol.
3 (May 1727–Aug. 1728) (Melber, Kentucky: Simmons Historical Publications, 2001), page 17. The
sale including all the crop standing or growing on the land "or may yet thereon
grow." Mary Best Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, Abstracts of Deed Books B & C, 1725–1730 & 1739
(Windsor, North Carolina: by the author, 1963), page 56.
80
Robert J. Cain, ed., Records of the Executive
Council, 1735–1754, The
Colonial Records of North Carolina, 2nd series, vol. 8 (Raleigh: Department of
Cultural resources, Division of Archives and History, 1988), page 33.
81
Bradley, Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume V: Wills, 1723–1736,
page 42.
Fortune Holdbee sold the plantation upon which she lived (and that was
formerly Paul Bunch’s plantation) to William Little for £15 "silver money" on 5
July 1727.
79 Fortune sought out better
opportunities far away from Bertie and Chowan, moving to New Hanover County,
North Carolina, the southernmost point in the colony on the Atlantic Ocean. Her
petition to patent 640 acres there was recorded in 1735.80
Fortune had already married again—or at least had taken another husband—and
gave birth to two more children by 1733. Henry Irby, innholder, of Brunswick on
Cape Fear, North Carolina, made his will on 30 January 1733/4.
81 He declared that he was very sick and
weak in body. He gave his son William Irby, a minor living in Virginia, £40 when
he reached age twenty-one. He gave his daughter Ann Irby the same amount at age
18. He gave his son Henry Irby [there was a second son of the same name] "born
of the body of Fortune Holderby" £40 at age twenty-one. He gave his daughter
Elizabeth Irby, also his child by Fortune, the same amount at age eighteen. He
gave Fortune, Henry, and Elizabeth, his house and lot at Cape Fear and made
Fortune his executrix.
Henry Irby’s first wife, Hannah Irby, who was still living, was none too
pleased about his bequests, but there was not much she could do except sue for
her dower rights, even though she declared that Henry had "deforced her"
[
sic, divorced her]. On 6 February 1733/4, Hannah Irby (by her attorney
David Osheal) sued for the third part of one messuage and one tract of land that
had been assigned to her as dower by Henry Irby ("in times past her husband").
Two days later, order was made to the Provost Marshall to command the officer of
Edgecombe Precinct to render the widow her dower and appear before the General
Court at Edenton. A note dated 15 March 1734/5 states that Henry refused to
deliver the dower (if there had been a legal divorce she might not be entitled
to dower). Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 18
Henry Irby did not settle all his accounts before his demise. Fortune Holdbee
"of Onslow Precinct," as executrix of Henry Irby, was sued by William Wadill on
1 February 1734/5 and 21 August 1735 (for £30). Hugh Campbell, merchant, sued
Fortune Holdbee (then of New Hanover) on 26 May 1735 for £100.
82 On 14 August 1738, the entry calling
her Irby was crossed out ("Fortune Holderby alias Irby") and it was stated that
Fortune had since married Thomas Brown, so the court summoned him (once married,
a woman and her goods were the right of her husband during his lifetime). The
suit continued on 13 November 1738.83 John
Hodgson brought suit against her for £50 as executrix of Henry Irby on 26 June
1736 when her residence was described as Bladen Precinct. Again, it was stated
that she had since married Thomas Brown, who was duly summoned. This case was
continued until at least 20 November 1739.84 Records of New Hanover, Bladen, and Onslow Counties, North Carolina,
all suffered heavy losses from courthouse fires.
82
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume X: Colonial Court Records-Estate Papers, 1655–1775, Gilbert-Owen
(Lawrenceville, Virginia: by the author, 2000), pages 41–43.
83
Bradley, Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume X: Colonial Court Records-Estate Papers, 1655–1775,
pages 41–43.
84
Bradley, Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume X: Colonial Court Records-Estate Papers, 1655–1775,
pages 41–43.
85
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume VI: Wills, 1737–1749 (From the Secretary of State Papers)
(Keyesville, Virginia: by the author, 1994), page 14; The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register (Edenton, North Carolina: J.R.B. Hathaway, 1900), vol. 1, page 27.
86
A.B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., N.C. Books C, D, & E ([n.p.]: by the author, 2002), page 56 (referring to Deed Book C, page
276).
87
Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 92.
88
Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 101.
Thomas Brown, of Wilmington, North Carolina, made his will on 16 July 1748;
it was proved 10 May 1749. Being "very Sick and weak in Body," he gave his wife
Fortune 400 acres on the sound and two slaves ("Petter & Old Betty"), gave
his daughter Isabella Brown the plantation where he formerly lived and part of
the land he purchased from Richard Quince, gave his daughter Elizabeth Brown the
plantation he purchased from William Salter (the plantations to be delivered to
his daughters at age eighteen or marriage). Thomas Brown made his brother, John,
and Richard Quince executors.
85
Fortune married yet again and this time to Robert Stanton of New Hanover.
Robert Stanton, planter, of New Hanover County, sold John Sampson of Wilmington
a town lot on 14 September 1750. Robert’s wife Fortune signed off on the deed
(with an "x").
86 "Fortune Brown now Fortune Stanton,
the widow and devisor of the said Thomas Brown" obtained a grant of 350 acres
opposite Cabbage Inlet (land secured from Thomas Brown) on 26 February
1754.87 Fortune Stanton, of Bladen
County, sold William Brown of the same 300 acres on 22 April 1755 (again signing
with an "x").88
Fortune (Holdbee) (Bunch) (Brown) Stanton died sometime between 1755 and
1761. On 11 August 1761, Henry Irby, butcher, and his wife, Mary, sold James
Moran 100 acres at Cabbage Inlet formerly granted to James Hassell Sr., esquire,
and sold by him to Fortune Stanton in 1754.
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 19
Fortune Stanton, "mother of said Irby, had willed it to said Henry
Irby."
89 On 10 September 1760, William Brown
and his wife, Isabelle [sic], sold 200 acres bordering Henry Irby, which was described as being
part of Fortune’s land. This deed also stated that 100 acres had been willed to
him by Fortune, with the will having been recorded in Bladen County.90 Unfortunately, the will has since perished in
the destruction of early records of Bladen County.
89
Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 145.
90
. Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 142.
91
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., The Deeds of Halifax County,
North Carolina, 1758–1771 (South Boston, Virginia: by the author, 1989), page 43. William Bunch
and Temperance Bunch were among the witnesses.
92
Paul Heinegg, Free African
Americans, gives details of these families in North Carolina. This research
study did not try to exhaust all records of the Bunch family in North and South
Carolina beyond being certain there were no more likely alternative hypotheses.
93
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 99.
94
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 112.
95
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 94.
96
Walter Clark, The State Records of North
Carolina, 26
Volumes (Goldsboro, North Carolina: Nash Brothers, 1907), Miscellaneous Records,
vol. 22, page 240.
97
"Colonial Plat Books (Copy Series) S213184," South
Carolina Department of Archives and History (Online: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 2012),
http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/ Thumbnails.aspx?recordId=105520,
accessed 26 May 2012. John received a grant for the tract and lot on 16
September 1738. John Bunch Sr. and his wife [not named in the abstract] gave
John Bunch Jr. 175 acres and town lot 177 in Amelia Township in 1755–56. South
Carolina Department of Archives and History, Town Lot Sales, Series S372001,
Volume 02Q0, page 193.
98
South Carolina, Deed Book Q-Q, pages 193–94 as cited in Clara
A. Langley, South
Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1719–1772, Vol. III, 1755–1768, Books QQ-H-3
(Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1983), pages 6–7.
On 15 March 1763, Gideon Bunch, planter, of Berkeley County, South Carolina,
sold Montfort Eelbeck, gentleman, "565 acres [in Halifax County] of which 265
acres had been patented to Paul Bunch on 1 Jan[uary] 1725, the remaining acreage
having been purchased by Paul Bunch from Thomas Wilkins, on the south side of
Roanoke River, joining Quankey Pocoson, Sims, Gideon Gibson, Burgess, Quankey
Creek," etc.
91 That proves beyond any doubt Gideon’s
descent from Paul Bunch.
Children of Paul Bunch, wife not known:92
i
JOHN4 BUNCH, born about 1678–80, would have grown up in New Kent and Hanover
Counties, Virginia, but followed his father to North Carolina. William Stevens
Sr. sold John Bunch 270 acres on the south side of Morattuck Rover bounded by a
patent dated 1 February 1725/6.93 On
28 August 1728, John Bunch sold William Little (the man who purchased Fortune
Holdebee’s land) the tract "my father Paul Bunch bought of James Kelly on
Oceaneche."94 John Bunch purchased
100 acres on the south side of Morattuck River adjacent Tuckahoe Marsh in Bertie
County from Barnabee McKinne Jr. on 12 May 1729.95
John owed quit rent on 640 acres in Bertie Precinct on 12
June 1737 (he was listed next to Henry Bunch).96
John Bunch had a plat for 350 acres (on a bank of the
Santee River) and a half acre lot (No. 177) in Amelia Township certified 15
November 1735, when it was part of Berkeley County, South Carolina.97 John Bunch Sr. and his wife, MARY
(GIBSON?), gave their son John Bunch Jr. 175 acres (half the tract he patented)
with the town lot by deed of gift on 15 December 1755.98
It Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 20
appears that John Bunch died before 15 March 1763, when his son Gideon sold
inheritance that had passed down to him.99
99
Bradley, Deeds of Halifax County, North
Carolina, 1758–1771,
page 43.
100
Winthrop D. Jordan, "American Chiaroscuro: The Status and
Definition of Mulattoes in the British Colonies," William and Mary College
Quarterly, 19, no. 2 (1962), pages 189–90; Winthrop D. Jordan, White
over Black: American Attitudes towards the Negro, 1550–1812
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968), pages 171–72
(citing Parish Transcripts, Box II, bundle: S.C., Minutes of House of Burgesses
(1730–35), page 9).
101
Brunswick County (Virginia), Order Book 1, 1732–1741, page
253, FHL microfilm 30662. Brunswick County was technically formed in 1720, but
there was no functioning court house until 1732. Its parent county, Prince
George County, Virginia, suffered a heavy loss of records.
The identity of John Bunch's wife, Mary, is not clear. Naming patterns and
associations would suggest she could have been a Gibson, but a number of John
Bunch's neighbors moved with him because their wives were white. A number of
free men of color left Virginia to settle in South Carolina at this period (as
John Bunch, son of Paul, did). A member of the South Carolina Commons House of
Assembly related in 1731 that a number of free men of color with their white
wives had emigrated from Virginia with the intent to make a new life on the
Santee River. A committee was appointed to investigate the details, "The house
apprehending [this prospect] to be of ill Consequence to this Province." The
families involved were summoned to report to Governor Robert Johnson. The
governor was favorable to their cause:
The people lately come into the Settlements having been sent for, I have had
them before me in Council and upon Examination find that they are not Negroes
nor Slaves but free People, that the Father of them here is named Gideon Gibson
and his father was also free, and I have been informed by a person who has lived
in Virginia that this Gibson has lived there Several Years in Good repute and by
his papers that he has produced before me that his transactions there have been
very regular, That he has for several years paid Taxes for two tracts of Land
[in Hanover County—his two patents] and had seven Negroes of his own, That he is
a Carpenter by Trade and is come hither for the support of his Family.
The account he has given of himself is so Satisfactory that he is no Vagabond
that I have in Consideration of his Wife[’]s being a white woman and several
white women capable of working and being Serviceable in the county permitted him
to settle in this Country upon entering into Recognizance for his good behavior
which I have taken accordingly
100
The land that John
4 Bunch (Paul3
Bunch, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) obtained was curiously enough on the Santee River. His wife might
well have been white. Not allowed to marry in Virginia, it would be no wonder
that these free men would leave to settle somewhere they could reside in peace
and prosper on their own merits.
Children of John Bunch (perhaps by his wife Mary):
1.
Gideon5
Bunch
, born about 1704–05 (perhaps named after Gideon Gibson), first occurs
on record in Brunswick County, Virginia, on 7 June 1739, when William Gunn
brought suit against "Giddeon Bunch" for £3.0.11 guaranteed by a promissory note
dated 20 October 1738.101 At that
time Brunswick County covered a massive expanse, including most of southwest
Virginia. Thomas Jones sued Gideon Bunch on 2 October 1741, claiming he was
indebted for twelve pounds of good, merchantable deer leather by bill, but had
refused payment. Jones brought suit before the court of Brunswick County on 2
October 1741, but Gideon had not been properly served yet. Service was
apparently made in the next few Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 21
months, as the court ruled in Jones’s favor on 3 December 1741.
102 Twelve pounds of processed deer hide
was no small amount and probably reveals how Gideon earned much of his living.
Gideon was a defendant in Lunenburg County, Virginia, on 1 June 1747 (this time
for £1.8.6).103 Lunenburg was
created from Brunswick County in 1745. Gideon and Cage (Micajah) Bunch (his son)
were tithables in Lunenburg County in 1749.104
Gideon moved back into North Carolina soon afterwards. He
was taxed in Granville County, North Carolina, in 1750 (he was sometimes
recorded as Gibeon and is probably the Gibbe Bunch recorded in one
record).105 Gideon was taxed as a
mulatto in Orange County, North Carolina, in 1755 (with the Collins and Gibson
families).106 He was still in Orange
County in June 1756 and indebted to a man named Samuel Benton.107
Gideon Bunch had a plat for 100 acres on Four Hole Swamp,
Berkeley County, South Carolina, certified 20 January 1759.108 He had a grant of 100 acres on the north east
side of Four Hole Swamp in Berkeley County on 25 April 1765, and another 100
acres grant in Berkeley County on 17 May 1774.109
A plat for 200 acres owned by Gideon Bunch in Berkeley
County is dated 11 March 1773, and a memorial for 200 acres in St. Mathews
Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina, is dated 25 October 1774.110 Children: 1. Micajah
Bunch, born by 1726.111 2. Paul
Bunch, possibly born as
102
Brunswick County (Virginia), Order Book 2, 1741–1783, pages 41
and 64, FHL microfilm 30662.
103
Lunenburg County (Virginia), Court Orders, 1746–1748, page
209, FHL microfilm 32403.
104
Landon C. Bell, Sunlight on the Southside Lists
of Tithes Lunenburg County, Virginia (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974), page 114.
105
Timothy W. Rackley, Granville County, North Carolina
Tax Lists, 1747–1759 (Kernersville, North Carolina: by the author, 2003), page 8. Micajah
and Liddy Bunch were taxed in Granville in the household of John Stroud
(Rackley, Granville County, North Carolina
Tax, page 44).
106
Heinegg, Free African
Americans, vol. 1, page 221.
107
Weynette Parks Haun, Orange County, North Carolina
Court Minutes, 1752–1761, Book I (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1991), page 52.
108
Gideon Bunch’s petition for 100 acres on Four Hole Swamp was
recorded 5 December 1758. Brent H. Holcomb, Petitions for Land from the
South Carolina Council Journals, Volume V: 1757–1765 (Columbia, South Carolina: SCMAR, 1998), page 37. There are a number of
other Bunch entries in this volume.
109
Brent H. Holcomb, South Carolina’s Royal Grants,
Volume Two: Grant Books 10 through 17, 1760–1768 (Columbia, South Carolina: SCMAR, 2007), page 107 (citing 12:206, plat
certified 2 October 1764); also South Carolina Department of Archives and
History, Land Grants, Series S213019, Volume 0030, page 312 (17 May 1774).
110
"Gideon Bunch Plat for 200 acres in Berkly [sic] County," On-Line Records Index, South Carolina Department of
Archives and History (Online: State of South Carolina, 2011) [Series S213184, vol. 13, page
424, item 3, record 7],
http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/Thumbnails.aspx?recordId=105518;
also "Gideon Bunch Memorial for 200 acres in St. Mathews Parish, Berkly
[sic]
County," On-Line Records Index, South Carolina Department of
Archives and History (Online: State of South Carolina, 2011) [Series S111001, volume 0013,
page 00064, item 2, record 9].
111
Micajah witnessed a deed between William Lewis and Humphrey
Robinson in Chowan County on 17 February 1746/7. Weynette Parks Haun,
Chowan County, North Carolina, Deed
Books: A-1, E-1, F-1, F-2, G-1 [Deeds Dated 1701–1755], Vol. II
(Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1999), page 83. Micajah Bunch
served on a jury in Chowan County 18 January 1749/50. Weynette Parks Haun,
Chowan County, North Carolina, Court
Minutes, 1749–1754, Book III (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1992), page 15. Micajah Bunch
was taxed in Chowan County in 1746 (1 white), 1748 (2 whites and 6 blacks), 1750
(10 tithables), 1751 (8 tithables), 1753, 1765 (1 white, 5 black: Stephne, Tony,
Stephne, Murrear, Patt), 1768 (1 white, 5 black: Jeny, Doll, Stephney, Mariah,
Stephney), and 1770 (1 white, 6 black: Stepney, Stepney, Toney, Moriah, Doll,
Grace). David Barrett and Janet Searles Barrett, Chowan County, North Carolina
Tythables and Taxables, 1717 to 1770: A Compilation of 121 Tax
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 22
Lists and Records
(Elizabeth City, North Carolina: Family Research Society of
Northeastern North Carolina, 2009), pages 33, 43, 49, 63, 64, 91, 111, and 118.
The will of Micajah Bunch was proved in Chowan County (dated 6 December 1783).
He named his wife Mary, sons Micajah Bunch, Joseph Bunch, Edward Bunch, James
Bunch, Thomas Bunch, and daughters Penelope, Lydia, and Frances. Chowan
County Will Abstracts, 1707–1850 (Edenton, North Carolina: The Edenton Tea Party Chapter, Daughters of
the American Revolution, 1976), page 34 (Book B:62)
112
Frances Holloway Wynne, Wake County, North Carolina,
Abstracts of Wills, Inventories, and Settlements of Estates, 1771–1802
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Oracle Press, 1984), page 5. Paul Bunch’s will
was dated 18 December 1762 and proved 15 June 1771. He was a respectable
landowner more than 617 acres), and described himself as of Johnston County,
North Carolina, when he wrote his will (Wake County was created partly from
Johnston and Orange Counties, with a part from Cumberland County, in 1771). He
named his wife Ann, son Thompson Bunch, son David Bunch, carpenter’s and
cooper’s tools, his daughters Mary Macnatt, Anna Pace, Rachel Bunch, Sarah
Bunch, and Feroba Bunch, making his brother Micajah Bunch and James Thompson
(brother-in-law?) his executors. Paul’s inventory included books and a violin
(Wynne, page 7). "Danl." Bunch purchased land in Johnston County in January
1762. Weynette Parks Haun, Johnston County, North Carolina
Court Minutes, 1759 through 1766, Book I (Durham, North Carolina, 1974), page 43 (see also entries for Paul
Bunch on pages 49, 108, 144, and 174). Haun has made useful abstracts of many
records, but it is not uncommon to find misreadings of names in her work (which
she even cautions about in some of her prefaces). The original court minutes are
not available at the Family History Library. If "Dan’l." is actually "Dav’d" (no
Daniel Bunch is known in this period) it would indicate that Paul’s son was born
by 1741. Johnston County suffered a partial loss of records (the deed involved
does not survive). David Bunch had his mark recorded in May 1768. Weynette Parks
Haun, Johnston County, North Carolina
Court Minutes 1767 thru 1777 Book II (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1974), page 23. Thompson Bunch
appears to have joined distant relatives in Grainger County, Tennessee by 1816
when Thompson Bunch and a David Bunch were mentioned in deeds. "Grainger County,
Tennessee Deeds, Volumes C through F, Various Pages," Grainger
County Tennessee USGenWeb Archives (Online: TNGenWeb, 2012),
http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/grainger/land/land001.txt, accessed 24 May
2012. A Robert Bunch died testate in Johnston County making his will on 27
August 1787 and proved February 1788. He named his wife Mary, son Gideon and
daughter Leanath[?] Bunch. Moses Rainwater (from a family with Native-American
blood) was among the witnesses. Elizabeth E. Ross, Johnston
County, North Carolina Will Abstracts, 1746–1825, Vol. I (Clayton, North Carolina: by the author, 1975), page 2.
113
Timothy W. Rackley, Granville County, North Carolina
Tax Lists, 1760–1764 (Kernersville, North Carolina: by the author, 2004), pages 21 and 54.
Also transcribed by Paul Heinegg, "Free African Americans Taxable in Granville
County" (Online: by the author),
http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Granville.htm, accessed 24 May 2012.
114
Holcomb, South Carolina’s Royal Grants,
Volume Two,
page 90 (citing 11:712, plat certified 25 November 1764).
115
Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts,
1719–1772, Vol. IV, 1767–1773, Books I-3-E-4 (Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1984), page 10.
early as 1722, died testate in Wake County, North Carolina, in 1771 (making
his brother Micajah his executor).
112 3. William
Bunch, age 16 and more in 1761 (born before 1745), was taxed within his
father’s household in Granville County in 1761 ("Gideon Bunch [&] son
William") and 1762 ("Gibean [sic] Bunch [&] son William").113
2.
John5
Bunch
, born about 1710, was apparently an adult by 1735 when his parents
gave him half their tract and the town lot in Amelia Township, Berkeley County,
South Carolina. John had a grant of 250 acres on the Four Holes adjacent John
Oliver on 18 January 1765.114 John
Bunch, of Berkeley County, purchased 250 acres on Four Holes from William Heatly
and his wife Mary Elizabeth, on 13 and 14 August 1765. This tract bordered John
Bunch’s own land and land of John Oliver.115 John Bunch, planter, of St. Matthews Parish, purchased 150 acres from
John Oliver on the north side of Four Hole Swamp in Berkeley County on 28 and 29
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 23
December 1767.116
116
Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts,
1719–1772, Vol. IV, page 288.
117
Paul Bunch married Amy [Naomi?] Winigum on 28 April 1748 in
the church at Orangeburg[h], South Carolina. Mary, daughter of Paul and Naomi
Bunch, was born "71th" [17?] July 1750, and their daughter Elizabeth was born
"17th" April 1752, with Mary Bunch,
Joseph Joyner, and Winifred Joyner witnesses. Naomi Bunch married John Joyner
Jr. after the publication of banns on 23 December 1755. (Was this Paul’s widow
or his sister?) Gideon Bunch witnessed the baptism of Charles, son of Nathaniel
and Winifred Joyner, who was born on 27 September 1751. A.S. Salley Jr.,
The History of Orangeburg County, South
Carolina: From Its First Settlement to the Close of the Revolutionary War
(Orangeburg, South Carolina: R. Lewis Berry, 1898), pages 109, 119,
132, and 134. Paul’s (first?) wife might be the Amy Winningham born 11 August
1733 in Bristol Parish, Virginia, daughter of Thomas and Mary Winningham.
Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book and Register of
Bristol Parish, Virginia, 1720–1789 (Richmond: privately printed, 1898), page 389. Thomas Winningham sold
the land he lived on in Prince George County on 8 April 1718. Benjamin B.
Weisiger III, Prince
George County, Virginia Wills and Deeds, 1713–1728 ([Richmond]: by the author, 1973), page 27. The plat mapping out Thomas
Winningham’s 300 acres on Santee River in Amelia Township, Berkeley County, and
half acre Town lot #101 certified 2 June 1738 is now online through the
"Colonial Plat Books," South Carolina Department of
Archives and History (Online: SCDAH, 2011),
http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/Thumbnails.aspx?recordId=94975,
accessed 23 May 2012. It is curious that a number of the Bunch family in
Orangeburg were apparently Loyalists during the Revolution. Murtie June Clark,
Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the
Revolutionary War, Volume I (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981), page 203.
118
Weynette Parks Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina
County Court Minutes, 1724 thru 1739 (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1976), vol. 1, pages 60 and 64.
119
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, 1724 thru 1739,
page 68.
120
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book II,
page 15.
121
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book II,
page 26.
3.
[?] Naomi5
Bunch, born about 1720–22, married John Joyner Jr.
on 23 December 1754, both of Amelia Township, Orangeburg, South
Carolina (unless the Naomi in that record was actually widow of no. 4,
Paul5 Bunch).
4.
[?] Paul5
Bunch, born about 1720–25, married Amy [Naomi?] Winigum
on 28 April 1648 in Orangeburg, South Carolina, was described in the
register as a resident of Amelia Township.117 Some of the Gibson clan also settled in Amelia Township in 1735.
ii [
ELIZABETH]4 BUNCH, born about
1675–79, married JOHN
RUSSELL.
Children of Paul Bunch, perhaps by Fortune Holdbee:
iii [?]
KEZIAH
HOLDBEE, born about
1724, was still a minor in 1742 (so born after 1721). Captain Thomas
Bryant obtained guardianship of one of Paul Bunch’s orphans (who was "Entitled
to a considerable Estate in this Precinct…y the Will of Paul Bunch") by 13
August 1734. Bryant gave security for the same on 13 May 1734.118
Keziah Holdbee was called "a Molatto woman" on 14 May 1734
when her guardian Bryant was ordered to post £1000 security.119
Keziah Holdbee’s guardian, Mr. Dawson, was to give
security of £2000 on her estate in 1740.120 Thomas Bryant was dead by May 1742, when his executor Benjamin Bryant
pleaded to the court to allow him a sum for the expenses his father had in
caring for the orphan "Cashia Holbee, her Negro Wench," and six children for the
space of thirteen years. John Dawson, gentleman, was the guardian of Keziah
Holdbee at that time.121
iv [?]
JEMIMA
HOLDBEE, born circa 1726 (before Paul Bunch made his will) was called "orphan
of Thomas Holderby, deceased," on the second Tuesday in November 1740 when she
complained that Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 24
years ago the court had appointed Captain Thomas Bryan her guardian. Now that
she was of an age to choose (age 14), she prayed that John Edwards be appointed
in Bryant’s stead.
122
122
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book II,
page 7.
123
The given name Henry passed down in all branches of this
family so is suggested as a possible given name. There was a Henry "Birch"
listed in the 1704 quit rents of King William County, where Paul Bunch resided.
Birch, however, is normally a distinct surname not normally confused with Bunch.
124
Prince George County (Virginia), Deeds, 1713–1728, page 350,
FHL microfilm 33052. It is curious that Captain Samuel Harwood served as
security for the good behavior of George Gibson in December 1745, possibly for
failing to answer the suit of Phillis Goeing (Gowen). Paul Heinegg,
Free African
Americans, vol. 1, page 523. John Bunch was among the seven headrights claimed
by Robert Hix for land granted in Surry County on 31 October 1716. Virginia Land
Patent Book 10, page 307, FHL microfilm 29327.
125
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 76.
126
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 110.
127
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina
County Court Minutes, 1724 thru 1739,
page 54.
128
Clark, The State Records of North
Carolina, vol. 22, page 240.
129
Margaret M. Hofmann, Colony of North Carolina,
1735–1764, Abstracts of Land Patents, Volume One (Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina: by the author, 1982), page 278 (no.
4014).
130
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., The Deeds of Bertie County,
North Carolina, 1757–1772 (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1992), page 20.
4 [?
HENRY]3 BUNCH, born about 1660–70 in Virginia, was apparently the father of several
of miscellaneous early Bunch settlers who went to North Carolina (those who were
not named in Paul Bunch’s will, though they were also recorded as mixed race in
later records). The following Bunches are grouped here because they cannot be
shown to definitely descend from Paul Bunch or John Bunch II.123
There was also a slave who was probably not a Bunch by
blood, but who used the name John Bunch as a ruse to pass as free. A "runaway
Malatto Man Slave, named Jack" who belonged to Samuel Harwood, the younger, of
Charles City County, was in South Carolina in April 1719 according to the
testimony of George Rives, age fifty-nine, who said he talked with Jack many
times.124 In his testimony, Rives
recounted that Jack had gone into South Carolina in the company of Mr. Robert
Hix and other traders, disguising himself by using the name John Bunch. Jack
said he would have willingly returned to his master, but he was detained by a
man named Capt. How and other traders there. Rives further testified that he
knew Harwood’s runaway slave very well because they had lived on the plantation
of Poplar Swamp, swearing deposition on 6 September 1719.
i
HENRY4 BUNCH, born about 1685–90, purchased 200 acres at the mouth of Reedy Branch
in what was Chowan Precinct (Bertie County Deed Book), North Carolina on 18
December 1727.125 He purchased three
more tracts of land on Conaritstat Swamp (totaling 640 acres) on 30 May 1729
bordering his own land.126 Henry
Bunch served on a jury on 14 May 1734.127 Henry owed rent on 515 acres in Bertie Precinct on 12 June
1735.128 Henry Bunch had a patent of
200 acres in Bertie County on 14 February 1739/40. This joined his own land and
a branch running out of Coneyruckey Swamp.129 Land Henry sold to Media White on 23 July 1740 was mentioned in
1759.130 Henry Bunch died testate in
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 25
Bertie County in 1775. His will was dated 21 April 1775 and proved August
term 1775.
131 His son Jeremiah was married about
1740, so born about 1715. Henry Bunch was therefore certainly born by 1694–99.
The yDNA of his descendants matches the Bunch DNA of the descendants of John
Bunch III. If Henry is not son of Paul3 (John2 Bunch I), then he would fit well as Paul’s
nephew. This branch seems to be darker in complexion than the John Bunch II
descendants who remained in Virginia because they were intermittently recognized
as people of color. Henry was father of at least six children:132
1. Jeremiah Bunch
[Sr.] born about 1715–20,133 will
dated 8 March 1797, Bertie County, North Carolina.134
2. Tamerson Bunch
married Thomas Bass.135 3.
Susannah Bunch
married Lazarus Summerlin. 4. Rachel Bunch
married Joseph Collins. 5. Nancy Bunch
married Isaac Bass. 6. Embrey
Bunch, born about 1730, left a will dated 20 July 1780.136
131
Laura Willis, Bertie County, N. C. Wills—Vol.
Two (May 1774–Aug. 1784) (Melber, Kentucky: Simmons Historical Publications, 2000), pages 10–11;
and David B. Gammon, Abstracts of Wills, Bertie
County, North Carolina, 1774–1797 (Raleigh, North Carolina: by the author, 1991), pages 4–5.
132
For more on these families, see Heinegg, Free
African Americans,
vol. 1, pages 220–23.
133
Jeremiah Bunch was born before 1723, as his son Jeremiah Jr.
was an adult by 1765. Jeremiah Bunch Jr. was taxed for himself in Bertie County
in 1765 (indicating he was born by 1744). A.B. Pruitt, List
of Taxables 1765–1771, Bertie County, NC (by
the author, 2009), page 3. Jeremiah Bunch Jr., the elder Jeremiah’s son,
purchased land in Bertie County in 1769. Weynette Parks Haun, Bertie
County, North Carolina County Court Minutes, 1763 through 1771 Book III
(Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1978), page 79.
134
Sandra Lee Almasy, Bertie County, North Carolina
Wills, 1797–1805 (Joliet, Illinois: Kensington Glen Publishing, 1993), page 24; and
The North Carolina Historical and
Genealogical Register (Edenton, North Carolina: J.R.B. Hathaway, 1901), vol. 2, page 328.
135
David B. Gammon, Abstracts of Wills, Bertie
County, North Carolina, 1722–1774 (Raleigh: by the author, 1990), pages 79–80.
136
Laura Willis, Bertie County, N. C. Wills—Vol.
Three (Aug. 1784–Feb. 1791) (Melber, Kentucky: Simmons Historical Publications, 2000), pages 60–1;
Gammon, Abstracts of Wills, Bertie
County, North Carolina 1774–1797,
page 42; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 2, page 328. Embrey Bunch was taxed in Bertie County in 1765. Pruitt,
List of Taxables 1765–1771, Bertie
County, pages 2 and,3.
137
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume II: Probates, Administrations, Inventories, 1677–1790 (From the Secretary
of State Papers) (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1992), Book 2, page 49; John
Anderson Brayton, Abstracts of Beaufort County,
North Carolina Deed Book 2, 1729–1748 (Memphis: John Anderson Brayton, 2011), page 82.
138
Weynette Parks Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books …Deeds Dated 1723–1759 [a few dated before & After], Vol. III
(Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 2004), page 30; Haun,
Chowan County, North Carolina, Deed
Books, Vol. II,
page 9; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 2, page 446.
139
Weynette Parks Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books: W-1, 1729–1739, C-2, 1738–1740, D, 1748–1806 and Various Earlier and
Later Dates, Vol. I (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1998), page 7; The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 2, page 611.
140
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. III,
page 47.
ii
PAUL4 BUNCH, born about 1690–95, intended to settle in Beaufort County, North
Carolina, before his death, but died in 1741.137
He was the same Paul Bunch who purchased 640 acres on
Indian Town Creek in Chowan Precinct on 31 July 1729.138
Paul Bunch sold William Mackey 640 acres on Indian Town
Creek formerly belonging to Thomas Bray on 2 April 1734.139 Mackey sold it to Joseph Anderson on 5 June
1734.140 Samuel Woodward sold Paul
Bunch 640 acres in Bertie on Chinkapin Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 26
Creek on 6 September 1735.
141 Robert Hilton and Joseph Anderson
sold John Boyd 600 acres lately in possession of Paul Bunch on 12 October
1736.142 Paul Bunch was sued by
William Badham in Chowan County in 1736.143 Paul had been a planter in Bertie County in the 1730s, but had just
arranged before his death to purchase an island in Beaufort County to be planted
with an orchard and have a house built. This was to cost £100 (by agreement
dated 10 November 1737), so Paul Bunch was well established by 1741.144 His administrator was his adult son, who was
also named Paul Bunch. This youngest Paul was certainly born by 1720, so the
father Paul Bunch must have been born some years before 1699. He could therefore
be a brother of Henry Bunch (born about 1685–90).
141
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. I,
page 14; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 3, page 128.
142
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. I,
page 18; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 1, page 111; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 3, page 126. On 31 January 1735/6, Joseph Anderson sold John Boyd of Bertie
320 acres where Paul Bunch was living (part of land patented by Colonel Thomas
Pollock and given by him to Thomas Bray on 3 March 1716 as a marriage portion).
The North Carolina Historical and
Genealogical Register,
vol. 1, page 110.
143
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book I,
pages 27, 30, and 35.
144
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume 9: Colonial Court Records–Estate Papers, 1765–1775, A-Gibson
(Lawrenceville, Virginia: by the author, 1994), pages 36–37.
145
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, vol. 1, page 13; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 1, page 108.
146
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, vol. 1,
page 106.
147
Barrett and Barrett, Chowan County, North Carolina
Tythables and Taxables, 1717 to 1770, pages 10, 19, and 26.
148
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book I,
page 39.
149
Mrs. Watson Winslow, History of Perquimans County, As
Compiled from Records Found There and Elsewhere; Abstracts of Deeds from 1681
through the Revolution…(Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company, 1974), page 125 (referring to
Deed Book D, page 83).
150
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. I,
page 116; Haun, Chowan
County, North Carolina, Court Minutes, Book III, no. 17.
151
Weynette Parks Haun, Perquimans County, North
Carolina, County Court Minutes, 1738 thru 1754, Book II (with Deeds 1735 thru
1738) (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1987), page 111.
152
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 168 (citing Deed Book F, page 198).
153
The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 1, page 21.
iii
JULIUS4 BUNCH, born about 1700–10, first appears in records in Chowan Precinct on 16
April 1735, when Samuel Woodward deeded him land there.145
Julius Bunch purchased 100 acres in the fork of Indian
Town Creek Swamp (where Paul Bunch had purchased land in 1729) from Thomas Muns
Jr. on 2 July 174[0].146 Julius
Bunch was taxed in Chowan County in 1739, 1741, 1742, and 1743 but not in 1746
or later lists.147 Julius served on
a jury in Chowan October session 1741 (about an assault).148 For £50, Julius Bunch of Chowan, a planter,
purchased 200 acres in Perquimans County, North Carolina, from William Elliott
on 13 December 1742 (land bordering Nathan Newby).149
Julius moved to Perquimans County by 8 October 1748, when
he sold Thomas Archibald 50 acres on Rockahock Creek.150
Julius served on a jury in Perquimans on the 3rd Monday in
October 1753.151 Julius Bunch sold
31½ acres bordering land of Thomas Newby, Thomas Elliot, and Nathan Newby to
Caleb White on 12 April 1756.152 Julius had a grant of 383 acres in Chowan County on 7 September
1761.153 He purchased 120 acres in
Perquimans adjacent his own land and that of Zachariah Nixon on 19 January Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 27
1768.
154 Julius Bunch sold Miles Elliott 106
acres near John Williamson’s on 18 February 1787, with Julius’s wife,
JOANA, releasing her dower rights. Julius Bunch gave his son "Nazatherith
[sic]
Bunch, for love and affection," land he bought from Thomas Bonner on 20
September 1788. Joshua Bunch was witness. On 24 November 1788, out of love and
affection, Julius gave his son Joshua land he purchased from Thomas Bonner by
Yeopim River. Nazareth Bunch was witness to the deed.155
This appears to have been the settling of his estate,
because he left no surviving will. Nazareth Bunch was appointed administrator of
the estate of Julius Bunch in January 1789, the widow resigning her right of
administration.156 Julius was father
of Nazareth157 and
Joshua,158 but he might also have
been father of Solomon Bunch and Julius Bunch Jr. (this assertion needs to be
confirmed from independent documentation).159
154
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 211 (referring to Deed Book H, page 4).
155
Lori Higley White, Abstracts of Deeds, Perquimans
County, North Carolina, 1785–1791 (Boise, Idaho: by the author, 1995), pages 10, 16, and 17.
156
Raymond A. Winslow Jr., "Appointments of
Administrators/Executors, 1774–1801," Perquimans County Historical
Society Yearbook, 1977 (Hertford, North Carolina: by the author, 1977), page 21.
157
Nazareth Bunch married Peneloper Mackshehi in Perquimans
County on 4 September 1779. Perquimans County, North
Carolina Marriage Bonds (Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1943), page 14.
158
Joshua Bunch died testate in Perquimans County, will dated 25
March and proved May 1796. He named wife Sarah, sons David, Joshua, and Lemual,
and daughters Rachel, Elizabeth, and Levinah. Nazareth Bunch was a witness.
Raymond A. Winslow Jr., Abstracts of Perquimans County,
North Carolina, Wills 1761–1864 (Hertford, North Carolina: by the author, 1999), page 11.
159
Julius Bunch married Joanna Stacy in Perquimans County on 27
November 1782. Solomon Bunch was bondsman. Perquimans County, North
Carolina Marriage Bonds,
page 14. Julius Bunch [Jr.] died in Chowan leaving a will dated 11 March 1789.
He named his wife Priscilla, daughters Marian, Sarah, Miriam, and Abigail, and
sons Solomon, Lamachi, and Jacob, making his wife and brother Solomon Bunch
executors. Chowan County Will Abstracts,
1707–1850, page 19 (Book A, page 73).
160
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 22.
161
The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 1, page 120.
162
Clark, The State Records of North
Carolina, Vol. XXII,
vol. 22, pages 325–26.
163
Barrett and Barrett, Chowan County, North Carolina
Tythables and Taxables, pages 64, 91, and 95.
164
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume I: Probates, Administrations, Inventories, 1753–1790 (From the Secretary
of State Papers) (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1992), pages 7 and 30.
165
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 220 (citing Deed Book H, page 94).
iv
JESSE4 BUNCH, born by 1708, if the report that he was taxed for 50 acres in
Perquimans County in 1729 is accurate.160 He resided in Chowan County and appears to have been closely associated
with Shadrack and Ishmael Bunch. The chronology of their descendants needs to be
studied in detail to verify whether Jesse was father of Shadrack and Ishmael or
whether he might actually be younger than predicted and belong to the next
generation. Jesse had a patent of 640 acres in Chowan in 1753 and 720 acres on
the east side of Chowan River joining land of Thomas Hubbard, William Lewis, and
Shadrack Bunch on 11 May 1757.161 Jesse Bunch, Micajah Bunch, and Ishmael Bunch fought during the French
and Indian War in a company of men from Chowan County commanded by Captain Lewis
according to a list drawn up 25 November 1754.162
Jesse was taxed in Chowan County in 1753 (as was Ishmael),
1765 and 1768.163 Ishmael Bunch died
in Chowan County in 1763. Ishmael’s administration was granted to Josiah
Small.164 Jesse Bunch purchased 100
acres in Perquimans County on Yeopim River (part of 400 acres called Sturgin’s
Point on Broad Creek that William Wyatt had purchased) from Richard Banks on 15
December 1769.165 Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 28
v
SHADRACK
BUNCH, born about 1715–25, purchased 100 acres on the easternmost side of
Rockahock Creek in Chowan (called Patchets Next) from Luke White on 25 July
1746.166 Shadrack sold 100 acres on
the east side of Rockahock Creek, Chowan County, on Paget’s Neck at the mouth of
Grindles Branch Dam to Jesse Ambross on 6 July 1756. Micajah Bunch witnessed the
deed.167 Ishmael Bunch purchased 205
acres in Chowan County from Anthony Jones on 23 March 1757 (so was born by
1736). Micajah Bunch also witnessed this deed.168
Shadrack Bunch was taxed in Chowan County in 1746, 1747,
1748, 1750, 1762, 1765, 1768, and 1770.169 Shadrack Bunch died testate in Chowan County making his will on 17
October 1786. He named his wife SARAH, sons William and Collen Bunch, and daughters Rachael Goodwin and Mary
Bunch.170
166
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. II,
page 73.
167
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. III,
page 111.
168
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. III,
pages 111–12.
169
In 1765 Shadrack was taxed on 1 white tithe and 2 black
tithes. In 1768 Shadrack was taxed on 1 white tithe, 1 black tithe. In 1770
Shadrack was taxed on 1 white tithe and 1 black tithe. Barrett and Barrett,
Chowan County, North Carolina Tythables
and Taxables, pages 33, 38, 49, 78, 91, 95, and 120.
170
Chowan
County Will Abstracts, 1707–1850,
page 8 (Book A, page 73).
171
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 101. All the male tithables belonging to Mr. Thomas Johnson, Mr. David
Meriwether’s Upper Quarter, and neighbors including Isaac Johnson, John Bostick,
Mr. Richard Phillips, and Samuel Knuckols were to assist in the work.
172
The Slayden surname was almost unique in Virginia at that
period. A John Slaterne was claimed as a headright of Ralph Wormsley for land on
the Pamunkey River in King and Queen County, Virginia, on 25 October 1695. He
was not listed among the 1704 quit rents of New Kent, King William, or King and
Queen Counties. John Sladden was mentioned as a landowner in St. Paul’s Parish
in the processioners’ accounts in 1711 and 1716 (District 28) and 30 March 1720
(District 27). Slayden’s Branch of Meechump’s Creek was mentioned in one of the
few surviving deeds of the period in 1734. The land is between Ashland and
Hanover County Court House. It appears that John was father of Arthur Slayden,
of New Kent County, who purchased land in Goochland County from George Hilton on
14 September 1741 on branches of Lickinghole Creek. The vestry book of St.
Peter’s Parish records the birth of Arthur’s son John on 22 February 1730/1.
C.G. Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book and Register of
St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1684–1786
(Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing,
5
JOHN4 BUNCH
III
"Jr." (John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) of Hanover County, Virginia, born about 1680–85, and probably married
about 1705–10. It appears that John Bunch III died shortly before 14 March
1741/2 leaving a will that no longer survives. John Bunch III had already
settled on Taylor’s Creek by 2 March 1721/2 when he was ordered to help clear
the road in that area.171 He
obtained several tracts of land by patent in 1722, 1724, and 1725 on Taylor’s
Creek (see below). This land, which formed a contiguous tract, now crosses the
border between Hanover and Louisa Counties.
John Bunch III petitioned the General Court of Virginia, appealing a
minister’s decision not to allow him and his intended bride,
SARAH
SLAYDEN, to publish banns of marriage in Blisland Parish. This was a necessary
prerequisite for their intended marriage. Sarah Slayden was the daughter of a
neighboring white landowner, John Slayden, who gave his name to Slayden’s
Creek.172 Their petition reads as
follows: Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 29
Virginia State Library, 1937), page 493. Arthur fathered a large family, but
no mention of Sarah or the Bunch family was found in a search of records
relating to his life.
173
H.R. McIlwaine, Executive Journals of the
Council of Colonial Virginia, Vol. III (May 1, 1705–October 23, 1721)
(Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1928), pages 28, 30–31.
174
Hening, Statutes at
Large, vol. 3, pages 250-2.
The Petition of John Bunch and Sarah Slayden praying that the minister of
Blissland [
sic] Parish may be ordered to publish the Banns between the Pet[itione]rs
in order to their marriage, w[hic]h he hath hitherto refused on pretence of the
s[ai]d Bunch’s being a Mulatto, was read, and referred to Mr Attorney General to report his opinion whether
the Petitioners case be within the intent of the Law to prevent Negros &
White Persons intermarrying to ye next meeting of the Council.
[4 September 1705] ...Mr. Attorney Gen[era]ll reported his opinion on the
Petition of Jn
o Bunch & Sarah Slayden as
followeth[:] Upon perusal of a Petition of John Bunch & Sarah Slayden to his
Excell[en]cy Edwd Nott Esqr &c
[i.e., etc.] and upon perusal of an Act of Assembly of this Colony entitled an
Act for suppressing Outlying Slaves; I am of [the] opinion & do conceive
that ye s[ai]d Act being Penal is
Coercive or restrictive no further then the very letter
thereof, and being wholly unacquainted with the Appelations given to [the] issue
of such mixtures, cannot resolve whether the issue begotten on a White
woman by a Mulatto man can properly be called a Mulatto, that name as I conceive being only appropriated to the Child of a
Negro man begotten upon a white woman, or by a white man upon a negro woman, and
as I am told the issue of a Mulatto by or upon a white Person has another name
viz that of, Mustee; w[hi]ch if so, I conceive it wholly out of the
Letter (tho[ugh] it may be conjectured to be within [the] intent) of the
s[ai]d act, the which (as aboves[ai]d being Penal) is, as I conceive not to be
construed beyond [the] letter thereof. S. Thomson, A[ttorney] G[eneral]
Upon consideration of which Report, and that the Petition[e]rs Case is [a]
matter of Law, It is therefore ordered that the Petition of the said Bunch and
Slayden be referred till next General Court for Mr. Attorney to argue the
reasons of his opinion before his Excell[en]cy and [the] Council. The Council
adjourned till tomorrow morning 9 oclock.
173 (emphasis added)
By virtue of this marriage petition and the laws of the time, John Bunch III
was apparently the son of a white woman and a man with some degree of African
ancestry. This is what caused the legal conundrum, because John III was not
technically a mulatto; he would have been less than 1/8
th African. John Bunch may have
specifically disputed the letter of the law to the minister, which is why the
petition was brought to the court. The court’s ruling does not survive, but the
government issued a statute the next month that would define the status of John
Bunch III and what they termed mulattos for the next two centuries. As a direct
result of John Bunch’s petition, a mulatto was defined as someone who was child,
grandchild, or great-grandchild of a black or Native American.174
Returning the focus to John Bunch III, son of John Bunch II, it was known
that John III received the first of his three grants on Taylor’s Creek, Hanover
County, on 18 February 1722/3. He paid the standard 40 shillings for 400 acres.
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 30
unto John Bunch jun
r of Hanover County …lying and being on
the upper side of Tay[lors] Creek …and bounded as followeth to wit, Beginning at
a white oak on the said Creek a Little above Edward Garland’s corner on the Land
running South one hundred and ninety [190] poles to a corner of several marked
trees[,] thence south fifty seven and a half [57 ½] poles east four hundred
[400] poles to another corner of several marked trees[,] thence north one
hundred and ninety [190] poles to a [blank] on the Creek[,] thence down the
watercourses of the said Creek making upon a straight line four hundred [400]
poles to the beginning[.]175
175
Virginia Land Patent Book 11, pages 162–63, FHL microfilm
29327; also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of
Virginia, (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 11, pages 162-63,
.tif image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0666.tif and
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0667.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
176 Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 175, FHL microfilm 29327.
177
Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 316, FHL microfilm 29327.
His tract began on the southwest side of Taylor’s Creek, ran into the woods, ran
on a branch called Elk Creek, and then along Taylor’s Creek back to the
beginning.
178
In this period, "senior" and "junior" did not mean "father"
and "son" as it usually does now, it simply meant older and younger, to
differentiate two men of the same name who lived relatively near one another. In
this case, research surmises they were differentiating between two landholders
named John Bunch, the older John Bunch being the man listed in the 1704 quit
rents of New Kent County. There is no indication that Paul Bunch’s son John
owned land in Virginia.
This tract is now where Taylor’s Creek crosses from Louisa County into
Hanover County. The grant is roughly a trapezoidal shape (with the left and
right sides running parallel north-south). The left third of the grant is now in
Louisa County, the right two-thirds in Hanover County just north of route 610
between Hopeful Church and Taylor’s Creek. The Meriwether family (Nicholas,
William, and David) were John Bunch III’s neighbors to the southeast. The
Meriwethers had obtained a huge grant of 4,185 acres on 16 June 1714 on branches
of the Pamunkey River in St. Paul’s Parish (part of New Kent County until
1720–21 when Hanover County was created). The Meriwether grant also ran along
Taylor’s Creek and bordered land of Garland, George Alves, and Captain Nathaniel
West.
176 Edward Garland received a grant of
1,513 acres in St. Paul’s Parish on 1 April 1717.177
Garland’s grant was just southeast of John Bunch’s first
grant with Meriwether beyond that (on the south side of Taylor’s Creek).
The first land patent is especially important because it explicitly
designates the John Bunch who was obtaining his first patent on Taylor’s Creek
as "junior" (which meant
younger).178 John Bunch obtained a
second patent of 400 acres on Taylor’s Creek on 2 July 1724 (one week before
Paul Bunch obtained his patent), again for 40 shillings. This grant was
immediately northwest of his first grant. The first and second patents joined,
forming a new contiguous tract. It was roughly between Taylor’s Creek and Mt.
Zion Church:
Beginning at a white oak of John Bunch’s on the South side of the Creek,
running up the creek by the watercourses making in a Straight Line One Hundred
Thirty Eight [138] poles[,] Thence North Forty Eight [48] [degrees] West One
Hundred and Ten
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 31
[110] poles to several [saplings?] Thence South Forty One [41] [degrees] West
Two Hundred and Ten [210] poles to several marked Trees Thence South Fifty seven
[57] [degrees] East Four Hundred and Fifty [450] poles to several marked Trees
in
John Bunches Line Thence along
his Line North One Hundred and Sixty [160] poles to the Beginning.179
179
Virginia Land Patent Book 11, page 343, FHL microfilm 29327;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 11, page 343, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0849.tif, accessed 28
May 2012.
180
Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page 244, FHL microfilm 29328;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 12, page 244, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/011-1/011_0268.tif, accessed 28
May 2012.
181 Virginia Land Patent Book 15, page 1, FHL microfilm 29331.
182
Thomas Henderson’s patent dated 25 August 1731 of 400 acres
stated that his neighbors were Matthew Sims, George Alves, John Michie (Mickie),
Colonel Thomas Jones, Mr. James Whitlock, and John Bunch. Virginia Land Patent
Book 14, page 233, FHL microfilm 29330. James Whitlock also owned land next to
Paul Bunch according to the 17 November 1711 list of processioners in St. Paul’s
Parish. Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 228. Whitlock did not obtain any patents in Hanover or Louisa Counties, so
purchased his land.
This wording that this second grant joined "his" first patent indicates it is
the same John Bunch obtaining both tracts. He expanded this land with a third
grant on 17 August 1725, another 400 acres for 40 shillings. This tract wrapped
around his first grant, approximately two-thirds on the south of his first grant
and about one-third of the new grant abutting the first grant on the east.
Beginning at a White Oak of
John
Bunch’s line on
the south side of Taylor’s Creek Run[n]ing down the same by the watercourses
making in a straight Line Sixty Four [64] poles to an elm of Garland’s [line] by
the Mouth of a Branch Thence up the Branch being Garland’s Line south Twenty
[20] [degrees] West One Hundred Ninety six [196] poles to Matthew Sims’s Corner
White Oak in Meriwethers Line Thence along the said Sims’s Line North Eight Two
[82] [degrees] west at Two Hundred Eighty Four [284] poles [to] his [Matthew
Sims’s] several marked Trees by Tarepin Swamp Thence continued [along] the
[water]Course North Eighty Two [82] [degrees] west Two Hundred and [blot]teen
[21_] poles to a Corner of several marked Trees Thence North Fourteen [14]
[degrees] East Two Hundred Forty Eight [248] poles to John
Bunch’s former back Corner of
several marked Trees Thence along his Back line
North Fifty seven and half [57½] [degrees] West Four Hundred [400]
poles to his corner
Black Oak Thence south One Hundred and Ninety [190] poles to the
Beginning.180 (emphasis added)
It appears that the territory to the west of these three patents remained
virgin land for another decade. Colonel Thomas Jones (of Williamsburg) obtained
a patent of 6,690 acres on both sides of Taylor’s Creek on 9 October 1732,
including 325 acres John Bunch sold to Edward Chambers, who sold it to
Jones.
181 Thomas Henderson obtained a grant
southwest of John Bunch near the head of Terrapin Swamp,182 with John Mickie and George Alves as
neighbors, Matthew Sims Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15,
2012 32
owning two tracts on the south of John Bunch’s lands. Folly Creek (Maidlines
Folly Creek) was northwest.
John Bunch was granted 400 acres in the western part of what is Louisa
County, Virginia, on 28 September 1728. He paid 40 shillings for 400 acres of
new land:183
183
Virginia Land Patent Book 14, page 3, FHL microfilm 29330;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 14, page 3, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/011-2/011_0575.tif, accessed 23
May 2012. John Bunch, Captain Hudson, and Colonel Meriwether’s land on Camp
Creek was mentioned in a grant of 5,000 acres to Henry Power, William Kenney,
and William Morris on 14 December 1726. H.R. McIlwaine, Executive
Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, Vol. IV (October 25, 1721–October
28, 1739) (Richmond: The State Library, 1930), page 222.
184
Charles Hudson was granted 2,000 acres on both sides of
Hudson’s Creek and the south side of the South Anna River on 16 June 1727.
Virginia Land Patent Book 13, page 97, FHL microfilm 29329. This tract was
described as beginning at John Bunch’s corner and running along his line to
Bunch’s corner on the South Anna River, up the river, along various meets and
bounds back to Hudson’s Creek, crossing the creek to the beginning. Hudson
obtained three other grants in Louisa County between 1732 and 1745.
185
Alice Crandall Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West with Allied Families (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1975), page 208.
on both sides [of] the South Anna [River] joining to Col. Meriwethers line in
the County of Hanover.…eginning on the North side [of] the South Anna opposite
to Col
o Meriwethers Corner two
Birches[,]Running North five [5] [degrees] East one hundred and thirty [130]
poles to several marked Trees[,] Thence North twenty seven [27] [degrees] West
one hundred seventy three [173] poles to a Sweet Gum on the [South Anna]
River[,] Thence across the same West one hundred and seventy six [176] poles to
Several Marked Trees[,] Thence South two hundred and eighty [280] poles to
several markes Trees in Meriwethers line at two hundred and nineteen [219]
Hudsons Creek[,] Thence East at twenty [20] [degrees] Hudsons Creek in all two
hundred and forty [240] poles along Meriwethers line Corner two Birches and
across the River to the Beginning.
Many of the same neighbors who had lived near John Bunch III and Paul Bunch
in Hanover County, Virginia also moved to this new region in what is now the
southwestern corner of Louisa County. Charles Hudson was the principal grantor
and may have influenced others to follow.
184 John Smething patented three tracts
north and east of John Bunch. Michael Holland patented a tract to the east, and
Charles Norman south and west.
The name of John Bunch III’s wife is not certain. It appears that his son
David’s mother was named
REBECCA, and she might be the mother of all of John III’s children if he did
not end up marrying Sarah Slayden as his first wife. The death of Rebecca Bunch
is given in the family Bible immediately preceding David’s own birth record, but
she is not specifically stated to be his mother. Online accounts make guesses at
a surname for her, but no evidence of her surname has been uncovered. Rebecca
Bunch died 16 March 1770.185
Rebecca Bunch patented 400 acres on 15 March 1741/2 in what was then
Goochland County, Virginia (west of Louisa County), with the tract traversing
both sides of Ivy Creek on the county
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 33
line.
186 Robert Lewis, gentleman, and Michael
Holland were neighbors.187 This part
of Goochland County was later added to Albemarle County. Rebecca was therefore a
widow by 1742, acting in her own right just after John Bunch III died. Naming
patterns may also support the relationship, since Samuel Bunch named his eldest
daughter Rebecca. Rebecca Bunch’s land on Ivy Creek was again mentioned in 1766,
but at some point before her death in 1770, she had sold it to Alexander
McKey.188
186
Virginia Land Patent Book 20, page 241; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 20, page 241, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/018/018_0257.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. Rebecca Bunch’s land on Ivy Creek was mentioned in 1766. Ruth and Sam
Sparacio, Albemarle County, Virginia
Deeds, 1761–1764 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1989), vol. 4, page 80.
187
Rebecca’s land was mentioned in a patent of 300 acres by Jacob
Sneed (on both sides of Ivy Creek in Albemarle County) on 10 March 1756 adjacent
his own land and lands owned by [Robert] Lewis, Rebecca Bunch, and Michael
Holland.
188
Rebecca Bunch’s land on Ivy Creek was mentioned in 1766.
Sparacio, Albemarle County, Virginia
Deeds, 1761–1764,
vol. 4, page 81; Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Albemarle County, Virginia
Deeds, 1778–1780 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1997), vol. 8, page 97. The land is
in the central part of Albemarle County.
189 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm 32201.
190
Rosalie Edith Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785 (Bellevue, Washington: Heritage Trails, 1981), page 16.
191 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Books Book: D1/2, pages 432 and 433, FHL
microfilm 32202.
Children of John
4 Bunch III, wife not known (perhaps
Rebecca):
i
JOHN5 BUNCH, born about 1708, died shortly before 13 January 1777, when his will
was proved. John does not appear to have ever married. William Bunch and Henry
Bunch sold John Bunch their rights in 120 acres in Fredericksville Parish, 60
acres from William Bunch and 60 acres from Henry Bunch, for £15 (£7 10s to
William Bunch and £7 10s to Henry Bunch) on 14 March 1742/3. The 120 acres was
part of a survey of 400 acres patented by John Bunch, deceased, who by last will
and testament left 100 acres of land including the plantation unto his son John
Bunch ("this purchaser"), with the remainder bequeathed to be equally divided
between William Bunch, Henry Bunch, David Bunch, and James Bunch, also John
Bunch’s sons. The deed was acknowledged in court on 14 March 1742/3.189 This deed indicates that John Bunch was the
eldest son, receiving the larger portion including the plantation house
representing his family’s homestead. Note that there is an error since Samuel
was omitted by the scribe. The 400 acres, minus 100 acres, equals 300 acres, and
that divided equally represents the 60-acre parcels received by each son (since
William and Henry were selling their 60-acre part). William, Henry, David, and
James Bunch only represent 240 of the 300 acres (thus, Samuel represents the
other 60 acres). Since there was only one David Bunch in Virginia at this
period, the man born in 1722, who was brother of Samuel (and John called Samuel
his brother in his will), it is clear that Samuel Bunch was brother of William,
Henry, David, James, and John Bunch, all being sons of a John Bunch who died
testate before 1742 (if A=B, and B=C, then A=C).
John Bunch was listed among the tithables of Trinity Parish in Louisa County
in 1768, taxed for himself, James Meredith (his nephew?), and a slave named
Abram.
190 John Bunch sold Joseph Bunch
twenty-two acres between the South Anna River and Hudson’s Creek adjacent land
of Charles Moorman and James Bunch for £16 4s on 11 January 1773. That same day,
for £178, he sold James Bunch 182 acres on the south side of the South Anna
River adjacent to the river and to land of Hudson, Joseph Bunch, and James
Watson.191 Obama Bunch Descendancy
July 15, 2012 34
John Bunch, of Louisa County, made his will on 8 June 1774.
192 He gave his sister Lucretia Meredith
£15. He gave £10 to Nanny Bunch, daughter of William Bunch. John left the
remainder of his estate to be equally divided between "my three brothers"
Samuel, David, and James Bunch and appointed his three brothers Samuel, David,
and James Bunch administrators. Charles Moorman, George Bibb, and Micajah Davis
were witnesses. The will was recorded 13 January 1777. John Bunch’s estate was
appraised at £27.10.10 on 12 April 1777.193
192 Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, page 243, FHL microfilm 32192.
193 Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, page 278, FHL microfilm 32192.
194
Henry settled in Bedford County, Virginia, by 1754. Charles
Bunch of Bedford County, who appears to be Henry’s son, was an adult by 1752, so
born by 1731 (no other candidate has been found who could be Charles’s father).
Henry Bunch witnessed a power of attorney in Hanover County with Nicholas
Meriwether and Edward Nix (close neighbors of John Bunch II and Paul Bunch in
Hanover County) on 21 June 1734, which would indicate Henry was at least age
sixteen at that time, or born by 1718.
195
Rosalie Edith Davis, Hanover County, Virginia Court
Records, 1733–1735: Deeds, Wills and Inventories (Manchester, Missouri: by the author, 1979), page 91.
196
Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm
32201. This was also noted in the Order Book. Ruth and Sam Sparacio,
Order Book Abstracts of Louisa County,
Virginia, 1742–1744 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1999), page 10.
197
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
page 11. Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1999), page 2.
198
Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers:
Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants—Volume Five: 1741–1749
(Richmond: Virginia Genealogical Society, 1994), page 100.
199
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 28, page 292, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-3/094/094_0306.tif, accessed 23
March 2012.
200
Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers, Volume
Five, page 327; "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 30, pages 503, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/028/028_0512.tif and
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/028/028_0513.tif, accessed 23 May 2012.
201
Nathaniel Mason Pawlett, Historic Roads of Virginia:
Louisa County Road Orders, 1742–1748 (Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Highway and Transportation
Research Council, 1975), pages 5, 18, and 19.
ii
HENRY5 BUNCH, born about 1709–12,194 served as witness with Edward Nix, Valentine Nix, and Nicholas
Meriwether in a deed (of lease and release) dated 20–21 June 1734 from John
Dowell to Samuel Dolton (400 acres along Robert Anderson’s land), as well as the
widow’s dower.195 Henry Bunch joined
his brother William in selling their rights in their father John’s land on 14
March 1742/3.196 Henry was appointed
overseer of the road under construction from Coursey’s Road up to Rocky
Creek.197 Joseph Martin (the father
of General Joseph Martin, who would move from Albemarle County to Henry County,
Virginia, as did James Meredith and his nephews, Martin and David Bunch)
patented 500 acres in Louisa County on both sides of Rocky Creek adjacent land
of Henry Bunch, James Meredith, and William Keaton.198
William Keaton patented 331 acres on Rocky Creek on 12
January 1746/7 on both sides of the south fork of Rocky Creek bordering Henry
Bunch.199 Henry’s land was again
mentioned in Mosias Jones’s patent for 290 acres in Fredericksville Parish,
Louisa County, on branches of South Fork of Rocky Creek under the foot of the
Ragged Mountain on a spur of a mountain, and mentioned again on 24 October
1752.200 On 27 May 1746, Henry made
a report on the building of a road.201 Henry
Bunch settled in Bedford County, Virginia, by 1754, but eventually died
intestate. He is believed to be father of the various Bunches who attained Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 35
majority in Bedford County in the next generation.202
202
Henry Bunch is presumed to be father of eight sons, Zachariah
(adult by 1770), Joseph (adult by 1782), Richard (adult by 1783), Winston,
George (born ca. 1766), Calloway (born about 1769), James (born ca. 1771), and
Charles Bunch (born by 1752). All initially lived in Bedford County, Virginia, but by
various routes had relocated to Mercer County, Kentucky (before moving on),
where Charles Bunch, David, Richard, Joseph, and Calloway Bunch were taxed in
1795. See also Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, pages 211–14 and 225–27.
203 Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, page 243, FHL microfilm 32192.
204
Virginia Land Patent Book 18, page 242; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 18, page 242, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/016/016_0260.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
205
Virginia Land Patent Book 20, page 1; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 20, page 1, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/018/018_0013.tif , accessed 23
May 2012.
206 Virginia Land Patent Book 22, page 372, FHL microfilm 29338.
207 Virginia Land Patent Book 18, page 527, FHL microfilm 29334.
208 There was another James Meredith in Goochland County who should not be
confused with this man.
209
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
page 22.
210
Rosalie Edith Davis, Louisa County, Virginia Deed
Books A and B, 1742–1759 (Bellevue, Washington: by the author, 1976), page 6.
211
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Deed Abstracts of Albemarle
County, Virginia: Deed Book No. 4, 9 August 1764–12 August 1768
(McLean, Virginia: by the authors, 1989), page 81.
212
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Deed Abstracts of Albemarle
County, Virginia: Deed Book 3, 12 February 1761–9 August 1764
(McLean, Virginia: by the authors, 1988), page 98.
iii
NANCY5 BUNCH, born about 1712, was still unmarried and alive in 1777 when mentioned
in her brother John’s will.
iv
LUCRETIA5 BUNCH, born about 1715, married JAMES
MEREDITH and was mentioned in her brother John’s will in 1777.203
James Meredith received a grant of 350 acres on 26 March
1739. The tract was by the Goochland Road, Charles Moorman’s line, Randolph
Bobbitt’s, and crossed over the road.204 He received a grant of 400 acres on 15 October 1741 on both sides of
the North Fork of Rocky Creek and bordering Joseph Keaton, thus becoming a
neighbor of Henry Bunch.205 Louisa
County, Virginia was created from Hanover County in 1742, so one of his tracts
fell into that jurisdiction. Charles Hudson patented 400 acres bordering that
tract on 1 August 1745206 It was
next to what is now the Louisa–Fluvanna County line. Secretary John Carter
patented 1,350 acres on the head branches of Byrd Creek adjacent to Meredith and
Hudson’s tracts on 12 March 1739/40, but that land was then in Goochland
County.207 Albemarle County,
Virginia was created from Goochland County in 1744,208
with part of Louisa added in 1761. James Meredith’s other
tract fell into that jurisdiction. James Meredith occurs frequently in records
of both Louisa and Albemarle Counties. This article will only highlight the
events involving his wife, LUCRETIA
BUNCH. Lucretia relinquished her dower rights on 13 June 1742 for a tract
sold to John Goodall, having been privily examined.209
This was the 400 acres in the 1741 patent in
Fredericksville Parish between two ridges of mountains. David Mills and William
Bunch witnessed the deed.210 James
Meredith and his wife Lucretia, residents of Albemarle County, sold 100 acres in
Albemarle to Thomas Walker on 4 October 1766. Both signed with
marks.211
It appears that James and Lucretia had at least one child, named Bradley
Meredith, who witnessed a deed from David Mills to James Meredith on 6 [blank]
1764 (recorded 8 March 1764).
212 This was Obama Bunch Descendancy
July 15, 2012 36
100 acres on David Mills’s line. Lucretia’s death date is unknown. It appears
that James Meredith moved with his nephews, Martin and David Bunch (sons of
William), to Henry County, Virginia.
213 James Meredith was granted 200 acres
in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, on a branch of Orvin River adjacent Randolph
and Company on 1 March 1773.214 James and Lucretia might have also been parents of a son named James
who occurs as "Junior Meredith" in some records of Henry County (the younger
James Meredith living in the household of John Bunch in Louisa County in 1768).
Bradley Meredith purchased land in Henry County before 1784.215
Martin and David Bunch witnessed a deed from James
Meredith of Henry County to John Rowland on 12 April 1790, and James Meredith
sold David Bunch 68 acres on branches of Leatherwood Creek on 28 February 1791
(Martin Bunch witnessing).216 James
Meredith Sr. and James Meredith (following immediately after him) took the oath
of allegiance in Henry County, as did Martin and David Bunch.217
Bradley Bunch refused.218
213
We have not investigated this in-depth because it is
tangential to our quest. A David Meredith also lived in Louisa County in the
same vicinity as James Meredith between 1767–70. Davis, Louisa
County, Virginia Tithables and Census, 1743–1785, pages 10, 17, and 24 (David); pages 10, 16, 28, 36, 56, 62, and 72
(James).
214
Dennis Ray Hudgins, Cavaliers and Pioneers:
Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, Volume Seven: 1762–1776
(Richmond: Virginia Genealogical Society, 1999), page 305.
215
Lela C. Adams, Abstracts of Henry County,
Virginia Deed Books I and II (Bassett, Virginia: by the author, 1975), page 141.
216
Lela C. Adams, Abstracts of Henry County,
Virginia Deed Books III and IV (Bassett, Virginia: by the author, 1978), pages 108, 109, and 136.
217
Judith Parks America Hill, A History of Henry County,
Virginia with Biographical Sketches of its Most Prominent Citizens and
Genealogical Histories (Martinsville, Virginia: by the author, 1925), pages 304 and 307.
218
C.B. Bryant, "Henry County: From Its Formation in 1776 to the
End of the Eighteenth Century," Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography 9
(1902), pages 12-13. "James Meredith, senr" and "Juner Meredith" were mentioned and Martin Bunch with Bradley
Meredith refused to sign on 7 October 1777.
219
Ann K. Bloomquist, Goochland County, Virginia Court
Order Book 1731–1735 (Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2006), page 23.
220
Virginia Patent Book 18, page 175; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 18, page 175, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/016/016_0193.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. William Bell, of Orange County, sold 200 acres of the 1738 patent by
William Bunch to William Davis of Louisa County on 26 June 1753 (Davis was
living on the land). Davis, Louisa County, Virginia Deed
Books A and B, 1742–1759,
page 87 (see also page 111).
221
Ann Brush Miller, Orange County Road Orders,
1734–1749 (Charlottesville: Virginia Highway and Transportation Research Council,
1984), 41, others in the list including James Merrideth, James Keaton, and
Joseph Keaton.
222
Barbara Vines Little, Orange County Tithables,
1734–1782, Part One (n.p: by the author, 1988), page 15.
223
Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm
32201. This was also noted in Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
page 10.
v
WILLIAM5 BUNCH, born about 1718, was paid the bounty for two wolves’ heads (as was
John Bunch, William’s father or eldest brother) by the Goochland County Court on
17 November 1731.219 William Bunch
received a patent for 400 acres in what was then Hanover County, Virginia, and
adjoining land of George Webb on 1 February 1738/9.220
William was part of the gang ordered to clear the road
from the county line to Buffalo Meadow on 25 October 1739.221 William was taxed as a tithable in Orange
County, Virginia, in 1739 (as was James Meredith and James and Joseph
Keaton).222 On 14 March 1742/3,
William Bunch joined with his brother Henry in selling their eldest brother John
their part of land bequeathed them by their father in his last will and
testament.223 David Bunch’s family
Bible Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 37
indicated that William was father of a daughter named Nancy [Anna] Bunch,
born 18 September 1755.
224 William’s son Martin Bunch was
apprenticed as a carpenter on 10 October 1768.225
It appears that William also had a son named David Bunch,
who with Martin Bunch, renounced allegiance to Britain as residents of Henry
County, Virginia, in 1777, so he was probably born by 1756.226 A third son is also sometimes credited to
William; a son named Winslow Bunch, who was a resident of Albemarle County when
he married Celia Tudor there on 16 May 1783.227
FEEBEE ("Feabea") Bunch witnessed the will of Gilbert Gibson of Louisa County
on 7 June 1760.228 The entry for the
birth of Nancy Bunch in 1755 listed Feebee as William’s wife and Nancy’s mother.
224
David Bunch’s Bible records the birth of Anna, daughter of
William and Febee Bunch, on that date. Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 208.
225
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1768–1769 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 2001), page 74.
226
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 221, and sources cited therein. David Bunch apparently moved on
to Grainger County, Tennessee. See references to Martin and David Bunch under
the account of their uncle James Meredith in this article.
227
Evelyn Dollens, "Hudson Martin’s Register of Albemarle
Marriages, 1781–1785," Papers of the Albemarle County
Historical Society 6
(1946), page 57. Martin Bunch and Winslow Bunch were taxed (next to each other)
in Albemarle County in 1782. "Personal Property Tax List of Albemarle County,
1782," Papers of the Albemarle County
Historical Society 5
(1945), page 49.
228
Nancy Chappelear and Kate Binford Hatch, Abstracts
of Louisa County, Virginia Wills and Estates (Washington, DC: by the authors, 1964), page 14 (citing Will Book 1,
page 78). David Bunch was one of the purchasers at the estate sale (page 19). On
2 May 1767, Gilbert Gibson, age 53 (born circa 1714), swore that years ago he,
his father, and his brother George Gibson "went over some land." Gilbert Gibson
said to his son George that he would give him 200 acres on Halfway Branch.
George built a tobacco house, cleared land, and built a house on land he rented
from Captain Hudson and married. George paid his father quit rents on his land
for 15 to 20 years. Gibson Jones of South Carolina, late of Virginia, testified
that he was living with Gilbert Gibson in Louisa County in August 1758, that
Gibson was "privately removing himself to Carolina" with all his goods but was
overtaken by the sheriff about a quarter of a mile from his house. Gibson paid
the sheriff £10 to discharge a debt. Janice Luck Abercrombie, "Abstracts of
Louisa County Judgment Papers," The Louisa County Historical
Magazine 21 (1990), page 39.
229
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 208. David Bunch’s will was abstracted by Malcolm H. Harris,
"Early Quaker Families in Louisa," The Louisa County Historical
Magazine, 11 (1979), pages 7–24; and Chappelear and Hatch, Abstracts
of Louisa County, Virginia Wills and Estates, pages 46–47.
230
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 208.
6 vi
SAMUEL5 BUNCH, born about 1720 (see below).
vii
DAVID5 BUNCH, born 24 June 1722, died testate in Louisa County on 18 April
1776.229 His birth date is given on
a page of a family Bible passed down among descendants.230
David married MARY
"POLLY," born 29 August 1729, died 4 May 1807, by whom he was father of
eleven children, Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 38
including a son named Paul Bunch.
231 David Bunch witnessed a deed between
Jonas Lawson and John Bostick for land in Goochland County on 16 August
1737.232
231
The children are listed as John (born 1747), Joseph (born
1749), Pouncey (born 1750/1), William (born 30 November 1752—he moved to
Guilford County, North Carolina, so should not be confused with the other Bunch
family), Jane (born 9 December 1754), Mary (born 10 March 1757), David (born
1759, died 1835), Lucretia (born 7 January 1761), Anthony (born 19 November
1762), Thomas (born 17 February 1765), Nathaniel (born 25 July 1767), Winnie
(born 20 December 1769), and Paul Bunch (born 28 May 1772). Park,
Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, pages 214–17.
232
Benjamin B. Weisiger III, Goochland County, Virginia Wills
and Deeds, 1736–1742 ([Richmond]: by the author, [n.d.]), page 7.
233
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia Deed
Books A and B, 1742–1759,
page 49.
234
H.R. McIlwaine, ed., Journals of the House of
Burgesses of Virginia, 1752–1755, 1756–1758 (Richmond: Colonial Press E. Waddey Co., 1909), page 446. Hening’s
Statutes, vol. 7, page 130.
235
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
pages 10 and 17 (and see pages 21, 23, 35, 39, and 90).
236
Rosalie E. Davis, Fredericksville Parish Vestry
Book, 1742–1787 (Manchester, Missouri: Heritage Trails, 1981), vol. 2, page 29.
237 Bedford County (Virginia), Deed Book 8, page 107, FHL microfilm 1940989.
238
Bedford County (Virginia), Will Book 1, pages 370–5, FHL
microfilm 1941022. For further information on James’s children, see Park,
Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, pages 217–20.
viii
JAMES5 BUNCH, born about 1724–25 (definitely before 1728), purchased 208 acres
adjacent land to Charles Moorman and Bunch in 1749.233
He inherited 60 acres in his father’s will, making his
total holding 268 acres. On 2 May 1757, James Bunch made a claim on 315 pounds
of tobacco he had at Crutchfield’s Warehouse that went up in flames.234 James Bunch was listed as a tithable in
Trinity Parish (south side of South Anna River) in April 1767 (taxed for
himself, Joseph Goin, and slaves named Harry and Bett), and again in 1768 (this
time only for himself, Harry, and Bett, and 268 acres).235
Agnes Going had apprenticed her son Joseph and daughter
Sarah Going to James Bunch on 28 November 1759.236
James Bunch, like his brother Samuel, joined the Quaker
faith and settled in Bedford County (moving there from Louisa County). James
Bunch purchased 465 acres on the North Fork in Goose Creek in 1788.237
James Bunch died testate in 1802, making his will on 27 April
1795.
238 James stated that he had already
given his daughter Elizabeth Bunch 60 acres in Louisa County and also left her a
bed, a cow, and a calf. James gave his daughter Sukey Coil 120 acres on his back
line, having already given her a bed, cow and calf. James stated that he had
already given his daughter Sally Scott six cattle, a horse, a saddle, and a
feather bed before she removed to Kentucky. James gave his daughter Martha
Harris 100 acres adjoining William Vannerson (and had already given her a cow,
calf, and feather bed). He gave his daughter Priscilla Scott 120 acres on his
back lines (he had already given her a cow, calf, and feather bed). James
confirmed the gifts he had already given his daughter Margery Harris, 130 acres
adjacent his own land, a cow, calf, and feather bed. He gave his daughter Molly
Gentry 100 acres adjoining his own land and the tract he gave Margery Harris
(and had already given her a cow, calf, and feather bed). James gave his
daughter Nancy Bunch his Negro girl named Betty, the horse and saddle Nancy was
using, a cow, a calf, and a feather bed. James made his son James Bunch his
chief legatee, leaving him the rest of his land after the decease of his wife
MARY Bunch, along with his Negro woman named Sylvia. James specifically
praised his son as being industrious and dutiful to him in his old age, leaving
him three horses as a token of his affection. The testator left the residue of
his land to his wife, Mary, for life and then to his son James. The residue of
his estate was to be divided equally between his children, except that James was
to receive an extra share and Molly Gentry was to get an additional £10 (the
testator explained that he had accidentally caused her to lose one of her Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 39
fingers). He also mentioned his minor grandchild Walter Bunch. James executed
a codicil on 2 February 1798. The will was proved 27 September 1802.
6
SAMUEL5 BUNCH
(John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) of Louisa County, Virginia, was born about 1720 and presented a
wolf’s head for bounty to the county court on 13 November 1744.239 On 24 June 1745, Samuel Bunch was included in
a list of Louisa County residents who were accused of concealing tithables and
ordered to answer the presentment of a grand jury. Most of the other men on the
list were from families of mixed race.240 Samuel Bunch and Thomas Collins were summoned to testify against
William Hall and George Gibson (two of the men who were accused of concealing
tithables) but failed to appear before the Louisa County court in June 1746 and
were to be fined 350 pounds of tobacco unless they showed just cause. The fine,
however, was remitted in the next session.241
239
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
Book 1, page 100.
240
Louisa County (Virginia), Order Book 1742–1748, page 157, FHL
microfilm 32218. William Hall, Samuel Collins, William Collins, Samuel Bunch,
George Gibson, Benjamin Brannum, Thomas Gibson, and William Donathan pleaded not
guilty. Paul Heinegg intelligently queried whether this might represent wives
who were mixed race but not reported as tithable. But if this is the case it
would mean Samuel Bunch married before his union with Mary Hudson, against
Virginia statute. It may be the case in Samuel’s instance that he actually
possessed a slave.
241
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747,
pages 68 and 69.
242
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747,
page 27.
243
William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker
Genealogy (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973), vol. 6, page 285; Mary
Marshall Brewer, Quaker
Records of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting, Virginia, 1739–1793
(Lewes, Delaware: Colonial Roots, 2002), page 102.
244
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, pages 56, 106, 107, 118, etc; Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker
Genealogy, vol. 6, page 285.
245
John Hudson was dead by January 1733, when his widow,
Elizabeth, was granted administration on his estate, William Harris and Daniel
Patrick her sureties. F.M. Hudson, "Hudsons of Hanover and Some of their
Descendants," Genealogies
of Virginia Families from Tyler’s Quarterly Historical Magazine
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981), vol. 2, pages 252–62. A
descendant wrote in 1813 that her grandfather John Hudson was an Englishman and
that he and his brother Charles lived and died in Hanover County. John married
Elizabeth Harris, and they had eight sons: George, Christopher, John, William,
Charles (the writer’s father), David, Cuthbert, and Thomas. Elizabeth Harris was
still living at Hanover Town in 1770 when the granddaughter visited her. John
and Charles Hudson’s land was processioned by Christopher Hudson on 10 October
1719. A deed dated 5 May 1735 mentions land belonging to the late John Hudson in
Hanover County on Mechumps Creek (placing it in
Samuel Bunch served on a grand jury on 28 May 1745, hearing the case of a man
accused of declaring that the church was the work of the devil and those that
"join their faith in it" are damned.
242 In light of this it is almost ironic
that Samuel Bunch and his family (indicating he was then married) were received
into membership by the Friends at Camp Creek Monthly Meeting on 16 July
1748.243 Samuel Bunch and his wife
Mary served on a number of committees in the local monthly meeting beginning in
1752.244
M
ARY
HUDSON
, Samuel Bunch’s wife, belonged to a prominent family who owned large
tracts of land in that area. Mary was the daughter of John Hudson (who died in
Hanover County on 11 April 1732) by his wife Elizabeth Harris.245
John Hudson was son of the English Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 40
the immediate vicinity of Slayden Creek). John Hudson patented 400 acres in
Hanover on 24 March 1725/6, selling 100 acres to John Ragland. The tract
bordered Alves Creek. Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page 404, FHL microfilm
29328. The land was near patents by Charles Hudson, David Gwynn (Gwin/Guin),
Richard Harris, Michael Holland, John Ragland, George Vaughan, Daniel Mackgirt,
and others. It was a bit northwest of the patents by Paul Bunch and Gilbert
Gibson. John Hudson also patented 400 acres on both sides of Thomas Harris’s
corner and Harris’s Fork of Cubb Creek on 24 March 1725/6, this tract lying in
what would become the southeast section of Louisa County. Virginia Land Patent
Book 12, page 354, FHL microfilm 29328.
246
Hudson, Genealogies of Virginia Families
from Tyler’s Quarterly,
vol. 2, pages 252–62.
247 Virginia Land Patent Book 13, page 97, FHL microfilm 29329.
248
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747,
page 82.
249
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1766–1772 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 2001), page 57.
250 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book B, page 283, FHL microfilm 32201.
George Holland, John Moore, Mary Holland, Charles Moorman, and Mumford Robinson
witnessed the deed.
251 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm 32201.
immigrant William Hudson (died 27 November 1701).
246 Mary’s uncle Captain Charles Hudson
speculated widely in land, obtaining patents on thousands of acres in the
region. Charles Hudson patented 2,000 acres in Louisa County on both sides of
Hudson’s Creek (South Anna River) on 16 June 1727 bordering John Bunch’s land
and the South Anna River.247 It
appears that Samuel Bunch’s son Charles was named after Charles Hudson.
Samuel Bunch was paid for turning in two young wolves’ heads to the Louisa
County court on 25 November 1746.
248 Samuel had killed a wolf in 1742 and
on 19 October 1769 presented to the court a certificate for killing five young
wolves.249
Samuel Bunch purchased twenty-five acres from William Hudson on 23 February
1758 for £6. This tract bordered
Samuel’s
own land on the south side of the river by Bunch’s Spring.250 Samuel Bunch inherited 60 acres from his
father according to the terms of John Bunch’s last will and testament (now
lost). When William and Henry Bunch sold their brother John Bunch their two
60-acre portions on 14 March 1742[/3], the deed recorded that they were parts of
a 400 acre survey patented by John Bunch (their father), deceased, who by his
last will and testament left 100 acres to his (eldest) son, John.251 There is clearly a clerical error in this
deed (a scribe’s eye skipping between two instances of the word "son"). John
Bunch had been bequeathed 100 acres (forty extra acres presumably as eldest son
and heir), leaving 300 acres to be divided amongst the other sons. William and
Henry sold John their 60-acre parts, and David and James are also mentioned, but
that still left sixty acres wanting. The name Samuel was omitted from the
version of the deed recorded in the surviving register, but his 60-acre portion
is necessary to complete the last part of the 400 acres. Samuel was specifically
stated to be John’s brother in John’s will (as were other brothers), making the
scribal error clear. John Bunch made his brother Samuel one of his executors,
and Samuel posted bond on the estate to act as such.
The 400-acre tract John Bunch had patented in Louisa County was bordered on
the north by the 2,000-acre tract Charles Hudson patented on 16 June 1727,
northeast and easterly by two tracts patented by John Smething, to the west and
south by a tract patented by Charles Norman
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 41
(on the South Anna, Camp Creek, and Hudson’s Creek), with a patent by Michael
Holland lying southeast. Samuel Bunch patented 400 acres on 8 April 1767 on New
Found Fork (a branch of Camp Creek), Captain Michael Holland’s old line and
Morris’s line.
252 John Bellamy became a neighbor. This
tract was just southwest of John Bunch’s Louisa County patent.
252
Virginia Land Patent Book 36, page 1037, FHL microfilm 29354;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 36, page 1037, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-2/036/036_0495.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. David Bunch patented 25 acres south of Samuel’s patent on 9 June 1796
(Book 36, page 1).
253
Claudia Anderson Chisholm, Revolutionary Public Service
Claims of Louisa County, Virginia (Richmond: Expert Graphics, 1976), pages 5 and 75.
254
Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, pages 474–75, FHL
microfilm 32232.
255
Personal Property Tax Lists, Louisa County, Virginia,
1783–1792, FHL microfilm 511947. Mary (Hudson) Bunch, widow of Samuel, was
distinguished in the tax lists from Mary Bunch (widow of David), who also
resided in the immediate vicinity.
256
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 10.
Samuel Bunch was allowed £3 for a gun impressed for use by the militia during
the American Revolution. On 1 November 1781, Samuel was also allowed three pence
per pound on 355 pounds of beef delivered to William Anderson, Commissary of
Louisa County.
253 Samuel died less than two years
later as the war came to an end.
Samuel Bunch died testate, making his will on 30 January 1782. "[B]eing
Diseased of Body, yet of a sound mind and Perfect Memory," he bequeathed his
entire estate, both real and personal, to his beloved wife, Mary, for life or
widowhood. He gave his son Samuel 125 acres with the plantation John Moore was
living on (after the death of the testator’s wife or remarriage, a clause
repeated with the bequests to each child). Samuel gave his son George Bunch 200
acres, the upper part of the tract where the testator was living and the
plantation Benjamin Faris formerly lived on. Samuel gave his son Charles Bunch
125 acres with the plantation the testator was living on. Samuel gave his
daughter Judith Bunch 100 acres between Camp Creek and Found Fork Creek that he
purchased from Roger Thompson. Samuel gave his daughter Mary Bunch 124 acres in
Albemarle County at the place called North Garden. Samuel gave his son James one
bed with furniture (after his widow’s death or remarriage), gave his son John
five shillings, gave his daughter Rebecca Meredith five Shillings, and gave the
like sum to his daughter Ann Bunch. The remainder of his estate was to be
divided equally among his children Samuel, George, Charles, Judith, and Mary
Bunch. Lastly, Samuel Bunch appointed his wife, Mary, and his son Samuel to be
his executors (with Samuel Richardson). Samuel Richardson, William Payne and
Richard Morris proved the will on 9 June 1783. Samuel, Pouncey, and James Bunch
posted the bond on Samuel’s estate which amounted to £1,000.
254
Mary (Hudson) Bunch survived her husband and was listed in the personal
property tax lists of Louisa County from 1783 through 1792.
255 This matches the entry for the death
of Mary Bunch of Camp Creek on 31 January 1792, a few weeks after her youngest
son Charles married.256 Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 42
Children of Samuel
5 and Mary (Hudson) Bunch:257
257 The order of births of these children is not certain, so their estimated
dates of birth might be adjusted as more evidence is added.
258
Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker
Genealogy, vol. 6, page 231; Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 78.
259 As noted above, David and Bradley Meredith are the only other persons of
that surname found in Louisa County during that period, but she could easily
have married a more distant cousin in Hanover County where a number of
generations of men named Samuel Bunch succeeded the Thomas Meredith who is
listed in the patents above.
260
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
pages 10, 17, 23, and 28
261
Sparacio, Deed Abstracts of Albemarle
County, Virginia, 1772–1776, page 94.
262
Emory Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley,"
Virginia GenWeb (Online: Virginia GenWeb, 2012),
http://vagenweb.org/scott/IndianForaysMA.html, accessed 27 May 2012. This
narrative was taken from the Revolutionary War Pension Application of James
Kincaid.
263
Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley," Virginia
GenWeb (Online: Virginia GenWeb, 2012),
http://vagenweb.org/scott/IndianForaysMA.html, accessed 27 May 2012. The letter
by Bledsoe is preserved among the Draper Manuscripts; the Shelby Family Papers
are at the Library of Congress.
264
Emory Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley."
i
REBECCA6 BUNCH, born about 1744, might have been named after her father’s mother.
Rebecca was disowned by the Friends for marrying out of the faith (14 May 1765)
and hiring a priest contrary to the commands of her parents.258
Her married name was MEREDITH
by
30 January 1782, when she was given five shillings in her father’s
will.259
ii
JOHN6 BUNCH, born about 1748, was listed as a tithable in April 1767 and 1768
within the household of Samuel Bunch in Trinity Parish, Louisa
County.260 He was bequeathed five
shillings in his father’s will on 30 January 1782. John Bunch, "son of Samuel,"
was included in a list of dozens of debtors with accounts due to John Lisle of
Albemarle County dated 19 April 1774. John Bunch Sr., John Bunch Jr., James
Bunch, and Punchy (Pouncey) Bunch are listed next to him.261 John Bunch left for the frontier within the
next two years serving under Captain Joseph Martin in a campaign to extend
Virginia’s influence into Indian Territory. Accounts taken from early journals
provide details of John and James’s adventures. In the 1776–77 period, "Captain
Joseph Martin was stationed at the Rye Cove Fort on Clinch River in order to
guard the frontiers of Virginia. He kept two spyes [spies] who were brothers,
to-wit: John and James Bunch. When we got into the valley we met with these
spies. Then they returned with us down to what was called Martin’s Station …but
we found no one there—they had all fled …Five men were granted [for the use of
Captain David to go to Owen’s Station to investigate] one of whom was James
Bunch …[T]he Indians waylaid the path and fired upon them and wounded Bunch …as
Bunch related …Three of the party got in that night, two of whom were Bunch and
Davis." James Bunch had been shot a number of times through his flesh. "Bunch
grew very sick and we had to take him to his company at the Rye Cove. We were
then dismissed and returned home. As well as he can remember, this took place in
1776." 262 John Bunch was stationed
with the company at Fort Lee (Rye Cove Fort) in 1777, and then James Bunch
appears on the roster again from 1 May to 30 June 1777 at Fort Lee (the Shelby
Family Papers indicate that the brothers James and John Bunch were scouts from
19 March to 21 July 1777). Anthony Bledsoe, in a letter dated at Fort Patrick
Henry on 8 April 1777, related, "I much lament poor Bunch and could have sent
the doctor, but the waters prevented till there was a particular call for him
down the river."263 "The Bunch
brothers, John and James, who were Indian Scouts under Martin in Powell Valley
and at Rye Cove, both moved to Tennessee. James was made an ensign in 1793 and a
captain in 1794 in Knox County."264 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 43
iii
MARY6 BUNCH, born circa 1751, was bequeathed 124 acres in Albemarle County in a
place called the North Garden in her father’s will. Minutes of the Monthly
Meeting for 25 August 1787 state that Mary, daughter of Samuel Bunch, "hath for
sometime [sic] neglected the attendance of our religious meetings and hath been
guilty of frequenting places of diversion, as also giving too much way to the
vain fashions & customs of the world."265 Her disunion was approved the same day. Mary Bunch, daughter of Samuel,
age 26, married her cousin ANTHONY
BUNCH (son of her uncle David Bunch) on 28 June 1787 (bond 26
June).266 Anthony was born 19
November 1762 according to the family Bible. Mary was to have her dower in
Louisa County on 15 November 1827. They were parents of at least one
daughter.267
265
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, pages 17 and 154.
266
Louisa County (Virginia), Marriage Bonds, 1766–1861, page 36,
FHL microfilm 32190.
267
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 216.
268
Louisa County (Virginia), Marriage Bonds, 1766–1861, page 40,
FHL microfilm 32190.
269
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
page 28.
270
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 239. The Benge family was from Albemarle County, Virginia, but
is of special note because John Benge became a trader among the Cherokees.
271
John Redd, "Reminiscences of Western Virginia, 1770–1790,"
Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography 7
(1899), page 112.
272
Lewis Preston Summers, History of Southwest Virginia,
1746–1786, Washington County, 1777–1870 (Richmond: J.L. Hill Printing, 1903), page 246.
273
Emory Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley."
274
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 22, and the deed cited there.
275
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
pages 59, 80 and 136.
iv
GEORGE6 BUNCH, born about 1753, and in his father’s will was bequeathed 200 acres to
be laid off on the upper part of the land whereon the testator was then living,
along with the plantation whereon Benjamin Harris formerly lived. George married
SALLY SERGEANT
in
Louisa County on 18 July 1783 (bond dated 15 July).268
v
JAMES6 BUNCH, born 1755, was first listed as a tithable in his father’s household
in 1770.269 James Bunch was
bequeathed only a bed with furniture by his father, perhaps indicating he had
already been provided for. James is supposed to be father of William Bunch, born
in Tennessee circa 1787, who married Ann Benge, daughter of David Benge, in Clay
County, Kentucky, on 28 January 1812.270
James Bunch and his brother John went out on the Virginia frontier in the
1770s under Captain (later, General) Joseph Martin.
271 They forayed into the region of the
Clinch River (which runs parallel with the Holston River from western Virginia
into Tennessee). During one of these missions, shortly before 1 May 1777, James
Bunch was the target of Indian fire and "had five balls shot through the flesh."
Permanently debilitated, James was allowed a £30 pension plus half pay as a
soldier for three years.272 This
incident apparently occurred in Powell Valley, in what is now Lee County,
Virginia.273 That this James Bunch
is the man in the record is indicated because he and John are the only brothers
of those names known in this generation.
vi
JUDITH6 BUNCH, born about 1757, in her father’s will she was bequeathed 100 acres
lying between Camp Creek and the Creek called New Found Fork, which her father
purchased of Roger Thomson. She married her cousin DAVID
BUNCH, son of her uncle David.274
vii
SAMUEL6 BUNCH, born about 1759, was listed in his father’s household as a tithable
in 1775 and 1777, but apparently in his own household in 1780.275
In his father’s will, Samuel was bequeathed 123 acres
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 44
of land to be laid off with the plantation where "John Moore now lives."
Samuel was a patriot during the struggle with Britain. On 27 August 1779, the
Monthly Meeting records noted that he was "in the practice of exercising in
military duty."
276 He "deviated so far as to engage in
military service" so he was disowned 9 October 1779.277
276
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 125.
277
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 164.
278
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
page 93.
279
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 143.
280
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 166.
281
Personal Property Tax Lists, Louisa County, Virginia,
1788–1793, FHL microfilm 511947.
282
Louisa County (Virginia), Marriage Bonds, 1766–1861, page 57,
FHL microfilm 32190.
283 Louisa County, Deed Book: G, page 427, FHL microfilm 32204. Turner
Anderson, Charles Quarles, Thomas Brackett, and James Lawrence were witnesses.
viii
ANN6 BUNCH, born about 1764, was still unmarried in 1782 (unless she married a
Bunch cousin) when bequeathed five shillings in her father’s will.
7 ix
CHARLES6 BUNCH, born about 1767 (he first headed his own household in the personal
property tax lists in 1788), was bequeathed 125 acres to be laid off along with
his father’s plantation ("whereon I now live").
7
CHARLES6 BUNCH
(Samuel5
Bunch, John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) of Louisa County, Virginia, born about 1767, was apparently the
youngest of his parents’ children. He was favored by his father, and was
bequeathed his father’s residence in 1782. Charles continued to reside with his
widowed mother after Samuel’s death and was listed as a tithable in her
household in Trinity Parish, Louisa County in 1785.278
The minutes of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting on 28 August 1784 recorded that
Charles Bunch of Camp Creek "is in the practice of gaming and neglects
attendance of our religious meetings."
279 On 26 February 1785, the meeting
recorded that Charles "hath done out into several disorderly practices such as
gaming, cursing & swearing, we therefore disown him."280 He became a man of the world, even though his
mother still adhered to that faith. Charles first headed his own household in
the personal property tax lists in 1788 and continued to be taxed in Louisa
County through 1793.281
Charles Bunch married
MARY
BELLAMY in Louisa County by bond 9 January 1792.282
She was daughter of John Bellamy, a nearby landowner. The
death of Charles’s mother on 31 January 1792 freed him to follow his own
pursuits. Charles and Mary Bunch sold Thomas Whitlock 150 acres of land on 17
March 1794 for £150. The tract was bordered by land owned by Henry Martin and
Morris.283 It was not long
afterwards that Charles and his young bride left Virginia and followed relatives
into Tennessee. They disappeared from the personal property tax lists of Louisa
County in 1795. Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 45
There was one other Charles Bunch in the South at this period, his
first-cousin (son of Henry Bunch). Charles, son of Henry
5 Bunch (John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) moved with his father to Bedford County, Virginia, before finally
settling in Kentucky.284 Charles,
son of Samuel5 Bunch, left Virginia
for Tennessee, following relatives who had settled in Grainger County. The two
men therefore followed distinctly different migration routes by which they can
be distinguished.
284
Charles Bunch (son of Henry) first occurs of record on 22
March 1773 when he was appointed constable of a precinct in Bedford County.
Bedford County (Virginia), Index to Court Order Books, FHL microfilm 30573.
Charles was taxed for personal property from 1782, when the tax lists first
survive, through 1788, after which he disappears. Joseph Bunch was also taxed
there (1782–86), as was a Richard Bunch (1783–87). George Bunch was taxed in
Bedford County 1787–91. Their uncle, James Bunch, also left Louisa County and
settled in Bedford County. On 11 October 1788, Charles Bunch and his wife,
Judith, sold two tracts of land in Bedford County, one for 210 acres, the other
for 10 acres, both of which he had patented. Bedford County (Virginia), Deed
Book 8, page 198, FHL microfilm 198205; Bedford County (Virginia), Deed Book 8,
page 205, FHL microfilm 198205. This correlates with his disappearance from the
personal property tax lists. Charles Bunch (son of Henry) settled in Mercer
County, Kentucky. Charles Bunch, David, Richard, Joseph and Calloway Bunch all
initially settled in Mercer County, Kentucky, where they were taxed in 1795.
"Mercer County Tax Lists, 1795," The Register of the Kentucky
State Historical Society, 9
(1911), page 188. In 1788–89, Charles, Callaway, Clark, Joseph, Richard, and
Zachariah Bunch all petitioned for the creation of the new state of Kentucky.
James Rood Robertson, Petitions of the Early
Inhabitants of Kentucky to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1769 to 1792
(Louisville: Filson Club, 1914), page 193. Charles Bunch was taxed as a
resident of Mercer County in 1792 and 1799. Alma Ray Ison and James H. Miller,
Stray Book and Tax Records, Mercer
County, Kentucky, 1787–1806 (Harrodsburg, Kentucky: Harrodsburg Historical Society, 1994), pages
124 and 200. It appears that Charles removed Warren County, Kentucky, in 1800
and then on to Lincoln County, Kentucky, where he was taxed from 1802 through
1809. G. Glenn Clift, "Second Census" of Kentucky,
1800 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982), page 39; James F.
Sutherland, Early
Kentucky Householders, 1787–1811 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1986), page 41. It appears
that Charles died intestate before 1820.
285
Grainger County (Tennessee), Court Minutes, vol. 1, 1796–1802,
page 22, FHL microfilm 968587.
286 Grainger County (Tennessee), Deed Book A, page 30, Deed of Charles Bunch,
FHL microfilm 968597.
287
Grainger County (Tennessee), Court Minutes, vol. 1, 1796–1802,
page 51, FHL microfilm 968587.
288
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume 2
(Nashville: Historical Records Survey, 1939), page 40.
289 Grainger County (Tennessee), Deed Book A, page 333, Deed of Charles
Bunch, FHL microfilm 968597.
290
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume
2,
page 43.
Returning the focus to Charles Bunch, son of Samuel, Charles was in Grainger
County, Tennessee as early as 1797. He entered his cattle mark into record
before Grainger County Court on Tuesday, 14 March 1797 ("A Slit & under heel
in each Ear").
285 Three months later, he purchased 200
acres in Grainger County on the south side of Richland Creek of the Holston
River from Joseph Cobb on 12 June 1797 for $100.286
Charles Bunch served on a grand jury on Wednesday, 25
February 1798.287 On 17 August 1803,
the constable of Grainger County reported to the court that he had levied
against 200 acres of land owned by Charles Bunch (bounded by land of John Bunch)
for a debt of $31.60.288 Charles
Bunch sold his land to Valentine Morgan on 20 August 1803 for $150 (a $50 profit
over the initial purchase price).289 Charles served as a juror in Grainger County on 22 November
1803.290 John Elsey sued Charles
Bunch and William Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 46
Bunch on Wednesday, 23 November 1803 and Charles was put in the custody of
the sheriff.
291 The last record we have of Charles
Bunch alive is in May 1804, when the deed from Charles Bunch to Valentine Morgan
was entered into record on the oath of John Bunch.292
291
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume
2,
page 46
292
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume
2,
page 69.
293
Ella E. Lee Sheffield, Grainger County, Tennessee,
Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Record Book No 3, 1812–1816
(Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1983), vol. 3, page
56 (112 of the original). Alan N. Miller, Grainger County, Tennessee
Apprenticeships, 1797–1875 (Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1997), page 3.
294
Billie Wyrick Kennerly, Grainger County, Tennessee
Marriage Bonds and Licenses, 1796–1837, Book No. 1 (Houston: by the author, 1964), page 31.
295
John Bunch [son of Samuel Bunch’s son John], born 11 February
1786, moved to Polk County from Grainger County by 1830 (enumerated in Southwest
Missouri in 1830). He had married Margaret Clay in Grainger County on 25 August
1807. John Bunch died testate in Polk County 2 April 1837. Marsha Hoffman
Rising, Opening the Ozarks: First
Families in Southwest Missouri, 1835–1839 (Derry, New Hampshire: American Society of Genealogists, 2005), vol. 1,
page 297. It may be that Susan and Charles Bunch followed their cousins to Polk
County.
296
"Rev David Coffman," FindAGrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, 2000), memorial no. 5000616, Coffman Family
Cemetery, Aldrich, Polk County, Missouri,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=150208&GRid=5000616&,
accessed 18 June 2012.
297
1830 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 209, line 19, Charles Bunch household,
.jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M19, 201 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 22 May 2012.
298
1840 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Polk County,
Missouri, page 228, line 24, Charles Bunch Sr. household,
.jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M704, 580 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
Charles Bunch was dead by 17 August 1813, when his son Charles was bound out
as an apprentice to John Bunch until age twenty-one.
293 The record indicates that the
younger Charles was a ward of the court.
Children of Charles
6 and Mary (Bellamy) Bunch:
8 i
NATHANIEL7 BUNCH, born 23 April 1793, Louisa County, Virginia. (See below.)
ii
SUSAN7 BUNCH, born about 1795–6, Tennessee, married DAVID
COFFMAN (a Baptist preacher) in Grainger County, Tennessee on 20 August
1813.294 The couple moved to Polk
County, Missouri, where David was invited to help establish a
church.295 The family was enumerated
in District 71 of Polk County in 1850. David Coffman is supposed to have died 22
July 1838, buried on the family homestead at Aldrich, Polk County.296 Susan is supposed to have been buried on the
Coffman homestead there in 1854. She was mother of a large family.
iii
CHARLES
ALBERT7 BUNCH, born circa 1798, Grainger County, Tennessee, was apprenticed to John
Bunch on 17 August 1813. Charles left Grainger County upon finishing his
apprenticeship and settled near his brother in Overton County, Tennessee, where
he married KATHERINE
CARLOCK (they were parents of at least eight children). Their family was
enumerated in Overton County in 1830.297 Charles Bunch followed his sister to Polk County, Missouri, where his
family was enumerated in 1840.298 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 47
Charles and Catherine Bunch were still residing in Polk County, Missouri, in
1850.
299 Charles and Catherine Bunch moved to
Breckenridge County, Kansas, where they were enumerated in 1860.300 They had moved to Newton County, Missouri, by
1870.301 Charles Bunch is supposed
to have died on 25 May 1877, buried in Bowlus Cemetery, Umatilla County,
Oregon.302 A descendant of this
Charles has yDNA that matches the descendants of Nathaniel7 Bunch, triangulating these two branches back
through Charles6 Bunch.303
299
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), District 71,
Polk County, Missouri, page 25a, dwelling 315, family 315, Charles Bunch
household, .jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M432, 1009 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
300
1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Forest Hill,
Breckenridge County, Kansas Territory, page 534, dwelling 316, family 242, .jpeg
image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M653, 1438 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
301
1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Seneca, Newton
County, Missouri, page 795, dwelling 43, family 47, .jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M593, 1761), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
302
"Charles Bunch Sr.," Bowlus Cemetery, Umatilla County,
Oregon, FindAGrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2006), memorial 16360385, Bowlus Cemetery,
Umatilla County, Oregon,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Bunch&GSfn=
Charles&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=16360385&df=all&,
accessed 22 May 2012.
303
"Bunch Patriarch Page," The Bunch y-DNA Project
(Online: WorldFamilies.net, 2012),
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/bunch/pats, accessed 20 June 2012.
304
"Nathaniel Bunch Bible Record," Carroll County Historical
Quarterly, 6,
no. 1 (June 1961), page 15. This is apparently the official transcription made
by "Jas. P. Fancher," Clerk of the County Court of Carroll County on 27 October
1873 taken from a leather bound Bible published in 1832.
305
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule) , Osage, Newton
County, Arkansas, page 20b, dwelling 282, family 282, Nathaniel Bunch household,
.jpeg images, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M432, 1009 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 20 May 2012.
306
Sarah (Ray) Bunch, Widow’s Pension, application WC‐5995 for the
service of Nathaniel Bunch (Pvt., Capt. Abel Willis’s Co., Tennessee Militia,
War of 1812), consolidated with bounty‐land
warrant files 26602 and 43708;
8
NATHANIEL7 BUNCH
(Charles6
Bunch, Samuel5
Bunch, John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch), born 23 April 1793, Louisa County, Virginia, and went to Tennessee
with his parents when he was an infant. He grew up in Grainger County, Tennessee
(northeast of Knoxville), but married SARAH
WADE RAY
in
Overton County, Tennessee, on 15 November 1810 when he was only
seventeen.304 His birth and marriage
dates are given in his widow’s War of 1812 Pension File (copied from the family
Bible), so there is no reason to doubt the veracity of the dates. Census records
indicate that Sarah was born in 1792–93, so they were both young when they wed.
Nathaniel’s occupation in 1850 would suggest that he was apprenticed as a
blacksmith in his youth; this might explain why he traveled from Grainger to
Overton County, Tennessee, at a young age.305
Nathaniel Bunch enlisted in the War of 1812, volunteering in Overton County
for three months, but served four months, six days. Nathaniel was a private in
Captain Abel Willis’s Company, 2nd Regiment, West Tennessee Militia under
Colonel McCrory, serving in an expedition against the Creek Indians. His
Certificate of Discharge reads:
306 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15,
2012 48
Case Files of Pension and Bounty
‐Land
Applications Based on Service in the War of 1812 [Records of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
307
Jo Conners, Who’s Who in Arizona, Volume I:
1913 (Tucson: Arizona Daily Star, 1913), page 316.
308
1820 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 259, line 7, Nathaniel Bunch household.jpeg image,
Ancestry.com (Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M33, 142 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 23 May 2012.
309
There is no way of knowing if this older female could be his
mother, Mary, or perhaps his wife’s mother.
310
1830 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 208, line 9, Nathaniel Bunch household .jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M19, 201 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 23 May 2012.
311
Nathaniel’s brother Charles Bunch was enumerated on the
following page (209). They were the only Bunches in Overton County in 1830.
312
James L. Douthat, Overton County, Tennessee, 1836
Tennessee Civil District and Tax Lists (Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 2001), page 12.
313
1840 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 533, line 16, Nathaniel Bunch household, .jpeg image,
Ancestry.com (Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M704, 580 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
I certify that Nathaniel Bunch, a private in my company W[est] T[ennessee]
Militia under the command of Maj[o]r Gen[era]l [Andrew] Jackson in the
expedition against the Creek Indians, has served from the 4
th day of October 1813 to the
10th day of Febr[ua]ry 1814 And is
honorably discharged. [signed] Abel Willis, Cap t
2nd Reg[imen]t, W. T. M. Charles Sevier[,] Major, 2d
Reg[imen]t W. T. M.
The biography of his grandson states that Nathaniel Bunch fought under Andrew
Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans and that "the powder flask carried by him
during this battle is still in existence and much treasured for its historical
value."
307
Nathaniel Bunch was enumerated in Overton County in the 1820 U.S. Federal
Census with his wife (both age 26–45), four sons and two daughters under age
ten, and a female over age forty-five.
308 In the 1830 census of Overton
County, Nathaniel and his wife were both listed as aged 30–40 years, and they
still had an older female in the household (aged 50–60 years),309
along with six sons and two daughters.310
Nathaniel was listed immediately preceding Samuel Allred
and just after John Allred, Solomon Allred Sr., Solomon Allred Jr., and William
Allred.311 Nathaniel and John Bunch
were both listed in the 1836 tax lists in District 9 as were Samuel Allred and
at least ten other Allred households.312 Nathaniel Bunch was aged 40–50 years in 1840, but the age of the older
female was given as aged 80–90 years.313 The family moved to Arkansas according to the biography of his son
Bradley, which reads in part:
Capt. Nathaniel Bunch, a Virginian by birth, who was reared in Tennessee,
where he married Sally Ray, also a native of Virginia. Capt. Nathaniel Bunch
resided in Tennessee till 1841, when he removed to Arkansas and settled in
Carroll County. This county was afterwards divided, and the part in which he
resided was placed in
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 49
Newton County. There he resided until his death in 1858. While a resident of
Tennessee he served as captain in the State militia.314
314
History
of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian
Counties, Arkansas (Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing, 1889), page 1,048.
315
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Osage, Newton
County, Arkansas, page 20B, dwelling 282, family 282, Nathaniel Bunch household,
.jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M432, 1009 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 23 May 2012.
316
Sarah (Ray) Bunch, Widow’s Pension, application WC‐5995 for the
service of Nathaniel Bunch (Pvt., Capt. Abel Willis’s Co., Tennessee Militia,
War of 1812), consolidated with bounty‐land
warrant files 26602 and 43708; Case Files of Pension and Bounty‐Land Applications
Based on Service in the War of 1812 [Records of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
317
"Nathaniel Bunch, AR0960_.218" U.S. General Land Office Records
(Online: U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management,
2012), Document 5854, http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/
default.aspx?accession=AR0960__.218&doc&sid=hqmhnz54.pwg,
accessed 24 May 2012; also available U.S. General Land Office Records
1796-1907," Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, 2012), for Nathaniel Bunch, issued 15 Nov 1854,
AR0960_.218 at Fayetteville, http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/
View.aspx?dbid=1246&path=Arkansas.Newton.121, accessed 20 May 2012. This is
conveniently mapped out showing later grants to Samuel Whitley on the north
(1860), vacant land west and south, and a grant to Charles Bunch below that
(1860). Gary A. Boyd, Family Maps of Newton County,
Arkansas, Deluxe Edition (Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing, 2006), page 66.
318
The cemetery includes many Bunch and Allred burials. "Liberty
Cemetery," FindAGrave
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2012),
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=32267143&CRid=1230578&,
accessed 24 May 2012. The original tombstone of Nathaniel might have still
existed on 6 July 1959, when J.B. Bunch and two others recorded the gravestones
in that cemetery, including "Nathaniel [Bunch], Apr. 23, 1793–Feb. 16, 1859,"
according to "Tombstone Inscriptions, Liberty Cemetery, Madison County
[sic, Newton County], Arkansas," Carroll County Historical
Quarterly vol. 6, no. 1(June 1961), page 8.
319
The birth dates are from the official transcription in the War
of 1812 Pension Application. Family accounts give an eldest child named Mary or
Polly Bunch, born about 1811, but died young. We have not seen documentation of
this yet. Undocumented, but useful, accounts of this family and the children
submitted by descendants is available in Jim Lair, ed., Carroll
County Families: These Were the First, Carroll County, Arkansas, 1991
(Berryville, Arkansas: Carroll County Historical and Genealogical
Society, 1991), pages 77–90.
The 1850 U.S. Federal Census stated that Nathaniel was a mechanic and
blacksmith (both he and his wife, Sarah, were 58 and born in
Virginia).
315 Nathaniel Bunch was granted 80 acres
of bounty land in his application dated 27 December 1850 (Warrant 26602) and 80
acres on 5 May 1855 (Warrant 43708).316 Nathaniel
Bunch patented 39.420 acres in Newton County on 15 November 1854 (cash entry),
the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 19, Township 17 North,
Range 23 West (Fayetteville Land Office).317 Nathaniel Bunch died 16 February 1859 of pneumonia. Sarah Wade Ray died
in 1878 and was buried with her husband in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton
County, Arkansas.318 Newton County
was created from Carroll County in 1842, but, tragically, most records prior to
1865 have perished, so no deed or probate records survive for Nathaniel.
Children of Nathaniel
7 and Sarah (Ray) Bunch:319
i
JOHN8 BUNCH, born 1 December 1812, probably in Overton County, Tennessee, died 3
February 1892 and was buried in Rule Cemetery, Carroll County,
Arkansas.320 John Bunch married (1)
on 2 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 50
320
"John Bunch," Findagrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2012), memorial 24295017, Rule Cemetery,
Carroll County, Arkansas,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24295017, accessed 24
May 2012.
321
Lair, Carroll County
Families, pages 77–90. Richard Henry Bunch lists fourteen children of John
Bunch, stating that he married twice (page 62).
322
Kennerly, Grainger County, Tennessee
Marriage Bonds and Licenses, 1796–1837, Book No. 1, page 84.
323
Lair, Carroll County
Families, pages 77–90.
324
"Bradley Bunch," Findagrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2012), memorial 25844950, Bunch Cemetery,
Berryville, Carroll County, Arkansas,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25844950, accessed 24
May 2012.
325
History
of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian
Counties, Arkansas,
pages 1048–49.
326
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 533, gives the traditional dates of the death of husband and
wife, taken from a family journal. "Aunt Biddy and the baby died. Uncle Nathan
died a few days before Grandfather Bunch, & Aunt Biddie Allred died before
Aunty Biddie Selby were buried. Pneumonia."
November 1834,
CYNTHIA
NEWBERRY, born 5 October 1813, died 28 December 1835. John married (2) on 13
April 1836, LOUISA
JANE "ELIZA"
QUALLS, born 22 August 1818, Tennessee, died 1900 (buried with her husband in
Rule Cemetery), mother of fourteen children.321
ii
ANNA8 BUNCH, born 27 March 1814, probably in Overton County, Tennessee, married,
presumably also in Overton County, SAMUEL
THOMPSON ALLRED
(she is the ancestor of President
Obama’s mother, as outlined in the first section of this treatise, entitled
"Documenting President Barack Obama’s Maternal African-American Ancestry:
Tracing His Mother’s Bunch Ancestry to the First Slave in
America").
iii
CHARLES8 BUNCH, born 29 October 1815, Overton County, Tennessee, died 1880, possibly
buried with his wife in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton County, Arkansas (but
no tombstones survive). He married, on 2 October 1836 (James Bunch, bondsman),
in Grainger County, Tennessee, 322 MARY
‘POLLY’
COFFMAN, born 22 August 1818, died 1887. They were parents of six
children.323
iv
CALVIN8 BUNCH, born 4 March 1817.
v
BRADLEY8 BUNCH, born 9 December 1818, Overton County, Tennessee, died 1 August 1894,
buried in Bunch Cemetery, Berryville, Carroll County, Arkansas,324 married in Tennessee circa 1837,
JANE BOSWELL, born 5 October 1817, died 9 January 1890, buried with her husband.
Bradley became a legislator serving in the lower Arkansas General Assembly. An
1889 biography calls Bradley "one of the most prominent citizens of Northwest
Arkansas" and states that he was born in Overton County, Tennessee. Bradley
Bunch was elected Justice of the Peace in Carroll County in 1848, served six
years, and was Associate Justice of the County Court four years. He served as
representative to the state legislature in 1854 representing Carroll County for
four consecutive terms, elected state senator in 1862 (but did not serve on
account of the war), and elected again in 1866 when he was Speaker of the House.
He was delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1874. Bradley Bunch
was elected senator again the following September, serving two years as the
presiding officer in the deliberations. He was appointed probate judge in 1888.
His biography describes Bradley and his wife as "earnest Christians and
communicants of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South" and states he was a
Mason.325 Bradley Bunch fathered
thirteen children.
vi
OBEDIENCE8 ("Biddie") BUNCH, born 12 March 1820, Overton County, Tennessee, apparently died in
1857 in Osage Township, Carroll County, Arkansas,326
married NATHANIEL
(NATHAN)
SELBY, who Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 51
died 1857, in Newton County, Arkansas, leaving some type of
estate.
327 The family was living in Osage,
Newton County, Arkansas, in 1850.328 They were parents of eight children.329
327
Judy Tate, "Book A Will Index Newton County, Arkansas,"
Newton County, Arkansas
(Online: Ancestry.com, 2012), Will Book A, page 249, Estate of
Nathaniel Selby,
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~edgmon/wbooka.htm, accessed 23
May 2012.
328
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Osage
Township, Newton County, Arkansas, page 20B, dwelling 280, family 280, Nathaniel
Selby household, .jpeg image (Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012),
http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012. Nathaniel Selby was age 36, a
farmer born in Kentucky, his wife Obedience, was age 31, born in Tennessee,
neither could read or write, and they had four children (all born in Arkansas):
Sarah, age 8, Polly E., age 5, John C. B., age 8 [sic], and William J. Selby, age 1.
329
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 533.
330
"Tombstone Inscriptions, Liberty Cemetery, Madison County
[sic],
Arkansas," page 8. Nathaniel’s year of birth is mistakenly transcribed as 1826.
The preface states "Some stones could not be read and many graves are marked
only with a field stone. There are probably errors in the following."
331
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 640.
332
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 640.
333
Larkin’s birthplace is specifically stated to be Overton
County in the biography of two of his sons, which also relates the story of his
service and death in the Civil War and the second marriage of their mother.
History of Benton, Washington, Carroll,
Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties,
Arkansas, pages 1084–85 (Madison County). This is now online at GoogleBooks.
334
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 84. Civil War letters Larkin wrote are also abstracted in this
source.
335
"Tombstone Inscriptions, Liberty Cemetery, Madison County
[sic],
Arkansas," page 12.
vii
NATHANIEL8 BUNCH, born 14 June 1824, Overton County, Tennessee, died 27 February 1896,
buried in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton County, Arkansas,330
married ORLENA
NEWBERRY, born 13 February 1828, died 8/9 March 1898, buried with her husband.
viii
NANCY8 BUNCH, born 24 January 1826, Overton County, Tennessee, died 23 December
1853, married on 12 December 1846331 ANDREW
J. WHITLEY. Andrew was born 15 March 1827, Alabama, died 4 November 1905, Wylie,
Texas. Andrew married Phoebe Allred on 14 August 1859.332
Nancy was mother of three children.
ix
LARKIN8 BUNCH, born 24 October 1827, Overton County, Tennessee,333 killed 24 September 1864 at Pilot Knob,
Missouri (near St. Louis, carrying the company flag when he was
killed),334 buried on the
battlefield at Ironton, Missouri. He married on 24 October 1852, in Newton
County, Arkansas, ELIZA
MAXWELL, born 8 May 1835, Overton County, Tennessee, died of the grip and
pneumonia on 12 April 1891, buried in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton County,
Arkansas.335 Eliza married (2) on 28
November 1878, as his third wife, John G. Reeves, of Newton County, Arkansas,
born 8 June 1818 (his tombstone might have been faded, but his birth was
transcribed as 3 June 1813), died 29 October 1896, buried Liberty Cemetery with
his wife. Eliza’s obituary is abstracted online. Larkin and Eliza were parents
of five children.
Paul C. Reed, FASG, Natalie D. Cottrill, MA, Joseph B. Shumway, AG,
Professional Genealogists
Anastasia Harman, Lead Family Historian
DESCENT OF THE BUNCH FAMILY IN VIRGINIA AND THE CAROLINAS
1 JOHN1 PUNCH [BUNCH?] arrived in Virginia before 1640. He and two other men fled for freedom but were captured in Maryland and returned to their master, Hugh Gwynn1 of York County. The information is preserved in this court record dated 9 July 1640:2
1 In this section, names will be spelled out as they appear in the text of the document cited when the original records are quoted. There was no
standardized spelling during this time period, so it is not unusual to find surnames or the names of places spelled many different ways, even in the same document.
2 The shire called Charles River in Virginia’s earliest decades was renamed York County in 1642. Present-day Gloucester County was not settled
until the latter part of the 1640s, so Hugh Gwynn presumably lived closer to Jamestown when John Punch attempted his futile quest for freedom.
3 H.R. McIlwaine, Minutes of the Council and General Court of Colonial Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1979), page 468. This was published earlier in "Decisions of the General Court," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 5 (1898), page 236.
4 Cynthia Miller Leonard, The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978), pages 18, 25, 29, and 30.
5 Lyon G. Tyler, "Historical and Genealogical Notes,"
William and Mary College
Quarterly, 1st series, 18 (1910), page 60; William Waller Hening,
The Statutes at Large
…
(Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia, 1969), vol. 2, pages
323, 371, and 374. Leonard, The General Assembly of
Virginia, pages 18, 25, 29, and 30. Even evidence concerning Hugh Gwynn’s
children is problematic because of the destruction of records, in spite of his
being one of the most prominent citizens in the colony. A David Gwynn settled in
Hanover County near Charles Hudson. C.G. Chamberlayne, Vestry
Book of St. Paul’s, Hanover County, Virginia 1706-1786 (Richmond: Virginia State Library Board, 1940), pages 110, 167, 200,
274, 287, 295, and 305.
6 Virginia Land Patent Book 3, page 315, Family History Library, Salt Lake City (FHL) microfilm 29319. Whereas Hugh Gwyn hath by order from this Board Brought back from Maryland three
servants
formerly run away from the said Gwyn, the court doth therefore order
that the said three servants shall receive the punishment of whipping and to
have thirty stripes apiece one called Victor, a dutchman [sic], the other a Scotchman called James Gregory, shall first serve out
their times with their master according to their Indentures, and one whole year
apiece after the time of their service is Expired ... the third being a negro
named John Punch
shall serve his said master and his assigns for the time of his natural
Life here or elsewhere.3 (emphasis
added)
Hugh Gwynn was a justice and one of the relatively few members of the House
of Burgesses of that period, representing York County in 1639/40 and
1646.
4 He patented large tracts of land,
including what is now known as Gwynn’s Island in Mathews County. He was a
resident of Gloucester County when it was created in 1651, serving as burgess
for that county in 1652.5 Hugh Gwynn
was dead by 23 March 1654/5, when widow and executrix, Elizabeth, patented 700
acres in Southside Virginia (a tract Hugh had initially patented on 3 March
1640/1).6
Of the fewer than one hundred African men who resided in Virginia before
1640, John Punch is the only man who bears a surname similar to Bunch. John
Punch was an adult male living in
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 2
the period in which John Bunch I was born in Virginia, and resided in the
same county. Evidence strongly suggests that John Punch was the father of John
Bunch I.
The children of John Bunch III freely married neighboring white families. The
government of Virginia had focused directly on their father’s racial status in
1705 and decreed by statute that anyone with a great-grandparent who was African
or Native American was a mulatto and forbidden to marry a white
spouse.
7 This indicates that the children of
John Bunch III must have been great-great grandchildren of the immigrant from
Africa. Chronology does not allow them to be a generation closer. It is
concluded from these facts that John Bunch I was son of a white woman by an
African immigrant. In early Virginia the child followed the status of its
mother. If she were free, the child was free. If she were a servant, the child
had to serve a period of indenture.
7
Hening’s Statutes, 3:250-2.
8 See Figure 1 in this descendancy for an image and abstract of this record.
9
It is possible that John Bunch I, as an aged man, could still
have been holding on to 100 acres of land in New Kent County 1704, but he was
not found in any records of York County during the intervening period, nor in
records of St. Peter’s Parish that begin in 1684. The records of Blisland Parish
do not survive before 1721.
10
Richard Barnhouse obtained a grant of 900 acres in James City
County on Burchen Swamp on 7 February 1658/9 (renewed 26 February 1665/6).
Virginia Land Patent Book 4, pages 351–52, FHL microfilm 29322; also available
online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, pages 351-52, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0366.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. The 900 acre patent began on the west side of Burchen Swamp, ran west
south west 400 perches, thence south by east 300 perches, thence east by north
475 perches back to Burchen Swamp, thence up the swamp to the beginning, 380
acres of the grant being due by a previous patent dated 28 October 1656. The
patent bearing that date was recorded in Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 95,
FHL microfilm 29322; also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and
Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 95, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0109.tif, accessed 28 May
2012. Richard Barnhouse Jr. obtained land on the Mattaponi River adjacent land
of William Wyatt and Lt. Col. Robert Abrahall. Richard Barnhouse Jr. was granted
200 acres on the southeast side of Mattaponi River two miles above the Indian
Ferry. Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 33, FHL microfilm 29322; also available
online at "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 33, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0047.tif, accessed 28 May
2012. Virginia Land Patent Book 3,
Since John Bunch I acted as a legal adult in York County in 1658, he must have been born before 1637. As a new man (not inheriting land from his father), it would normally take a few years for him to establish himself. If there was no error when the clerk entered the facts about the lawsuit against John Bunch in 1658, then John had borrowed a sum in tobacco in order to plant a small crop in 1652, only to have the crop fail the following year.
8 If son of a free white woman, then
John Bunch I was probably born in the early 1630s, which would indicate that
John Punch, as his father, also resided in Virginia at that period as an
indentured servant. If Hugh Gwynn had refused to grant John Punch his freedom at
the end of his term of service, it could have provided him motive to seek
freedom elsewhere, which he sought in 1640.
2
JOHN2 BUNCH
I
(JOHN1 PUNCH) appears to have been
born about 1632-5. He died by 17049 (by which time he would have been about seventy years old). John
obtained a patent in New Kent County on 18 March 1662/3, adjacent the land of
Richard Barnhouse and not far from Blisland Church and Wahrani
Creek.10 The tract was also close by
land of Richmond Terrell, a planter Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 3
page 193, FHL microfilm 29319; also available online, "Virginia Land Office
Patents and Grants,"
Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 3, Page 193, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/002-2/002_0622.tif, accessed 28
May 2012.
11
Obama is a descendant of Richmond Terrell. The descent is
traced down through the generations from Richmond Terrell to his son William
Terrell, then to his daughter Anne Terrell (wife of David Lewis, born 1695, New
Kent County, died about 1779, Albemarle County), to her daughter Hannah Terrell
(wife of James Hickman), to her daughter Susannah Hickman (wife of James
Browning), to her daughter Ann Browning (wife of Robert Overall), to her son
George W. Overall (husband of Louisiana Duvall), to his daughter Susan Overall
(wife of Christopher Clark), to her daughter Gabriella Clark (wife of Henry
Ellington Armour), to her daughter Ruth Lucille Armour (wife of Ralph Emerson
Dunham), to her son Stanley Armour Dunham, father of Stanley Ann Dunham, the
president’s mother.
On November 28, 1656, Richmond Terrell was granted 640 acres … described as
lying on the southwest side of the York River, the northeast side of Cattail
Swamp and next to Diascund Swamp, near the Rockahock Path, and Charles Edmond’s
land (Eltham). This fixes this land about where Angel View Church now stands, at
the intersection of Route 33 and Route 168. In 1689, the line that was run,
dividing the Parishes of St. Peter’s and Blisland, began at Captain Bassett’s
Landing and ran between the lands of Joseph Foster and Mr. Richmond Terrell and
then Joseph Foster’s lines to the County bounds, which was "the Ridge that
turned the waters to the York or the Chickahominie Rivers." Malcolm Hart Harris,
Old
New Kent County: Some Account of the Planters, Plantations, and Places
(West Point, Virginia: Malcolm Hart Harris, 1977), vol. 1, page 54.
12 In this period, a wife would most frequently be found signing off dower
rights in the sale of land or in the will of a parent or relative. Few church
records survive for early Colonial Virginia, and almost no marriage bonds.
13
See footnote 28 in main article, "Documenting President Barack
Obama’s Maternal African-American Ancestry."
14
See "Documenting President Barack Obama’s Maternal
African-American Ancestry," Appendix B.
15
A non-suit and 50 pounds of tobacco damages is granted to John
Bunch vs. John Ripley attorney of Christopher Abbott, being arrested and now
prosecuted made to be paid. York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills,
Book 3, 1657–1662, page 40 (80), FHL microfilm 34403. See Figure 2.
16 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, page 61 (122),
FHL microfilm 34403.
who is also an ancestor of President Obama.
11 The name of John Bunch’s wife is not
known, but the fact that his great-grandchildren were able to freely marry white
neighbors suggests that she was white.12
This John Bunch received the land grant in Blisland Parish, and he appears to
be the same man who is named in records of York County in the previous decade.
Initially, John Bunch lived on land near the Mattaponi River, which he rented
from Dr. Francis Haddon, a resident of York County. Given the extreme rarity of
the surname Bunch in England and Scotland
13 one might reason that having traced
one white immigrant named John Bunch to his death (headright of Gervase
Dodson)14 would make it less likely
there were two more unrelated Bunch men living in the same thirty mile radius in
1659.
John Bunch I was non-suited by the York County Court on 17 November
1658.
15 He was brought before the York County
Court on 24 August 1659 for a bill of 429 pounds of tobacco, the said John
"suffering the loss of his crop the year following," so the bill was ordered to
be canceled.16 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 4
Figure 1 – 1659 Court Case concerning John Bunch I.
Whereas Mr Jonathan Newell Attorney of Capt. John Fox Attorney
of Mr John Catlin Arrested to this Court John Bunch for a bill of Foure hundred
twenty nine Pounds tobacco & co. … due in 1652 and the said Bunch suffering
the losse of this Cropp the year following by Mr Catlin’s note praying for [?]
coming in who by Condition engaged for the same Itt is ordered hee have his bill
in to be Cancelled & the p[lainti]ffe to pay Cost.
It would seem odd that Catlin would wait six years to sue for a bill due in
1652, but he sued two other men that same year for debts due in 1650 and
1653.
17 One possible explanation would be
that John Bunch inherited this obligation, but was legally underage until 1658;
thus, he could not be sued in court until he attained age
twenty-one.18 The other explanation
could be that he was born by 1632-37 and old enough to be planting a crop by
1653. The wording of the contract indicates that John Bunch borrowed what he
needed on condition that the crop he planted would be harvested the following
year.
17 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, 1657-1662, pages
61 and 70, FHL microfilm 34403.
18
Virginia inherited the Common Law of England, making its own
emendations (as published in Hening’s Statutes). The great legal treatise by the preeminent English jurist Sir Edward
Coke (died 1632), Solicitor General, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas, and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench (England),
had just been published in several parts between 1628 and 1644 (The
Institutes of the Laws of England).
These would have been brought to Virginia and used as reference and guidance.
There was technically no socage tenure in Virginia (the Virginia Company of
London had barred it in 1609), so all children were legally infants in the eyes
of the law until age twenty-one. The age of discretion occurred at fourteen (for
boys, twelve for girls, but eventually the two were merged and age fourteen
became the rule in Virginia), making boys able to serve as witness or make
contracts, but any contract entered into could be rejected as soon as they
attained the age of majority (twenty-one).
19 A non-suit and 50 lbs. tobacco damages is granted to John Bunch vs. John
Ripley attorney of Christopher Abbott, being arrested and now prosecuted made to
be paid. York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, 1657-1662,
page 40 (80), FHL microfilm 34403.
20 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, 1657-1662, page
61 (122), FHL microfilm 34403.
John Bunch was non-suited by the York County Court on 17 November
1658.
19 He was brought before the York County
Court on 24 August 1659 for a bill of 429 pounds of tobacco, the said John
"suffering the loss of his crop the year following" so the bill was ordered to
be canceled.20 Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 5
Figure 2 – The non-suit of John Bunch I vs. Christopher Abbott.
A nonsuit & 50 lb. tob. damages is granted to John Bunch
against John Ripley attorney of Christopher Abbott[,] being arrested & not
prosecu[ted] made to be paid …
On 10 March 1661/2, John Bunch I was non-suited and awarded 50 pounds of
tobacco in recompense for being brought to court because of Dr. Francis Haddon’s
claim.
21
21 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 3, page 150 (300),
FHL microfilm 34403. Francis Haddon occurs numerous times in the York County
records of this period.
22
York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders, and Wills, Book 4,
1665–1672, page 342, FHL microfilm 34403. "Francis Haddon of Hampton Parish,
York County, Phisitian [physician] to Josias Moody, son of Mr. Gyles Moodey,
dec’d [deceased] late of the same parish for valuable consideration 200 acres
[of land] on Mattapony River being part of 1000 acres granted to said Gyles
Moodey and 200 acres more, part of same patent, adjoining it, formerly granted
by said Haddon and Jane his wife to said Josias Moody, and by him sold to
William Parker, in all 400 acres, and Moody to be possessed of said plantation
now in occupation of John Bunch at expiration of the lease granted by Haddon to
Edward Greene. Land is between Folly Creek Swamp and the next swamp, near horse
path to Capt. John Underhill’s. Josias Moody shall also enter and possess after
the death of said Francis Haddon and Jane his wife, the whole divident of land
upon Kings Creek, formerly belonging to said Giles Moody, containing 300 acres,
now in occupancy of said Haddon and Jane his wife, natural mother of said
Josias. Haddon also gives Josias a mare, now running at the glebe land formerly
purchased by Haddon of Edward Foliat." as abstracted in Benjamin B. Weisiger
III, York County, Virginia Records, 1665–1672
([Richmond]: by the author, 1987), page 202.
Figure 3 – The non-suit of John Bunch I vs. Dr. Francis Haddon
On 19 April 1671, Francis Haddon of York County sold Josias Moody (Haddon’s
stepson) 200 acres
on
the Mattaponi River that was "now in the occupation of John
Bunch at the expiration of the lease granted by Haddon to Edward
Greene"22 [emphasis added]. This
indicates that John Bunch I had initially (perhaps by 1661 when Haddon first
brought suit against Bunch) settled northward in the sparsely populated region
on the Mattaponi (then still part of York County).
The 1661 suit for which Haddon did not show up to court, and the knowledge
that his lease on Haddon’s land would eventually expire, might have provided the
impetus for John Bunch I to patent his own tract, which he could then work on
improving. John Bunch I, therefore, initially resided near where Paul Bunch is
first found. John I then patented land a few miles away in what became Blisland
Parish (not as far from civilization) where a later John Bunch intended to marry
Sarah Slayden. The associations are remarkably suggestive because John Bunch I
is the only known candidate who could be the father of John Bunch II and Paul
Bunch.
We have two descriptions of the tract John Bunch I obtained—one version was
recorded when Thomas Meredith was originally granted the land, the other version
when John Bunch I had
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 6
it recorded again. Comparing the two versions helps teach how descriptions
can vary and how errors can creep in depending on the skill of the clerk who
recorded the information:
Thomas Merridith [Meredith]…Four hundred and Fifty [450] Acres…in the County
of New Kent on both sides of Rickahock path, bounded as followeth,
Viz.
t Beginning at white oak corner by
Burchen Swamp running West northwest ¼ West 160 poles to three marked Trees by
the aforesaid path, thence southwest ½ 132 [sic] poles, thence South by East ½ 80 poles to an oak, thence South
Southeast ½ East 100 poles to Mr. Richard Barnhouse’s Land, thence East with
East 80 poles & southeast by East 100 poles by the said Barnhouse’s Land to
Burchen Swamp to the place where it Began...Dated the 25th
of February 1658 [1658/9 by modern reckoning, as the year
then began on March 26, not January 1].23
23
Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 386, FHL microfilm 29320;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 386, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0370.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
24
Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 15, FHL microfilm 29322;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 10, page 15, .tif image,
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/005/005_0169.tif, accessed 28 May 2012.
Paul Heinegg also speculated that this John Bunch was ancestor of the later
Bunch family in Free
African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina From the
Colonial Period to about 1820, Volume I,
5th ed. (Baltimore: Clearfield, 2005). Heinegg has done an extraordinary job
constructing the genealogies of free blacks and should be one of the first
sources people check for African-American ancestry in the colonial period. He
has also made resources available free online. Our research was conducted
entirely independent of his work, but we do not want it to appear that we are
not aware of his efforts.
25
Virginia Land Patent Book 6, page 369, FHL microfilm 29323;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 6, page 369, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/006/006_0379.tif, accessed 28 May
2012. Mr. George Smith was another neighbor. A grant on 3 February 1662/3 to
Thomas Mines (Mimes) of 800 acres in James City County on branches
The description was recorded as follows when entered into the patent book for
John Bunch I on 18 March 1662/3:
John Bunch…Four hundred and fifty [450] Acres…in New Kent County on both
sides of Rickahock path bounded as followeth Beginning at a white oak Corner by
Burchen Swamp running West North West one fourth West, One hundred and sixty
[160] poles to three marked trees by the aforesaid path, thence south west half
Two hundred and thirty two [232] poles, thence south by East half Eighty [80]
poles to a red Oak, thence East South East One half One hundred [100] poles to
Mr. Richard Barnhouse’s Land, thence East North East Eighty [80] poles, and
South East by East one hundred [100] poles by the said Barnhouse’s Land to
Burchen Swamp up the said swamp to the place where it Began...Dated the twenty
fifth [25
th] of February One thousand six hundred
and fifty eight [1658/9]. And by him sold I assigned to Philip Freeman and by
the said Freeman sold and Assigned to the said Bunch.24
Richmond Terrell was a neighbor of Thomas Meredith as described in Terrell’s
patent for 600 acres in New Kent County on branches of Chickahominy Swamp on 8
February 1670.
25 Thomas Meredith obtained a number of
patents, as did Phillip Freeman:26 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 7
of Chickahominy Swamp adjoined land of Thomas Meredith and George Smith.
Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 124, FHL microfilm 29322; also available
online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 5, page 124, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/005/005_0141.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. George Smith obtained a patent on 20 October 1662 of 592 acres in James
City before Westham Path adjacent Thomas Meredith, a branch of Chikahomany Swamp
called Beaver Quarter, the head line of Thomas Meredith, land of Richmond
Terrill, along his land, and back along land of Thomas Meredith. Virginia Land
Patent Book 4, page 325 (445), FHL microfilm 29320. See also his grant with
Edmond Price immediately following, and a grant on the following page with the
same date for 1,020 acres near Rickahock Path and Chikahomani Fort, with 170
acres on the north side of Dyascun Swamp from Pullam’s corner. Thomas Mimes
obtained a grant of 800 acres in James City County on branches of Chickahominy
Swamp beginning at a corner oak on Westham Path about a mile from Chickahominy
Swamp, land of Thomas Meredith, land of Mr. George Smith, Mr. [Richmond]
Terrill, Edmond Price, and back to Westham Path and along the path back to the
beginning. Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 218 (124), FHL microfilm. Edmund
Price obtained a patent of 600 acres in James City County on 3 May 1661 near
Towaywink Swamp by land of the late Mr. Francis Burnell, deceased, and Richard
Scruggs. Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 478, FHL microfilm 29320. Captain
John Underwood obtained a grant of 1,200 acres in James City County on 25
November 1661, bordering Tyascon [Diascund], easterly on land of Captain
Barne[house?] and Thomas Meredeth, northerly on Rockahock Path and Richard
[Richmond] Terril, northwest on Charles Edmon’s and Pullam, westerly on a branch
of Tyasum [Diascund], and southerly on William Hitchman and a branch of the head
of Burchen Swamp. Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 281 (384), FHL microfilm
29320; also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 4, page 281, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/004/004_0399.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
26
There were no Meredith or Freeman patents in present-day
Hanover County. Their patents were in what is now New Kent County. Part of James
City County was added to New Kent County in 1767. That removed St. Peter’s
Parish from James City County and put it wholly in New Kent County. Charles
Francis Cocke, Parish
Lines, Diocese of Southern Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1964), page 65.
27 Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 61 (89), FHL microfilm 29320.
28 Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 100 (148), FHL microfilm 29320.
29 Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 197, FHL microfilm 29322. This tract was
on the north side of Chickahomany Main Swamp about 1.5 miles from Poewhite
Swamp, metes and bounds given, bordering in part Westham Path.
Thomas Meredith received a grant of 380 acres in New Kent County on 28
October 1656 on the south side of the freshes of York River by land of Mr.
Richard Barnhouse including 200 acres that had been granted to Major William
"Hoccoday" on 9 March 1654/5.
27
Thomas Meredith obtained a grant of 420 acres in New Kent County on the
southwest side of the narrows of York River on 1 July 1657. This tract began at
his own corner, by Mr. Hurd’s path, by a branch of Wahrani Swamp, and thence to
Captain
Richard Barnhouse.28
Thomas Meredith was granted 450 acres in New Kent County on 25 February
1658/9 (abstracted above).
Thomas Meredith received a grant for 1,370 acres in James City on 27 April
1661.
29
Thomas Meredith received a grant of 420 acres in New Kent County on 18
March 1662/3 on the narrows of York River beginning at the south most
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 8
corner of his own land, then running by Mr. Hurd’s path, along a branch of
Wahrani Swamp to
Captain
Richard Barnhouse,
and 380 acres on the south side of the freshes of York River by land of Mr.
Richard Barnhouse (including 200 acres granted to Major William "Hockady" on 9
March 1654/5 and assigned to Meredith).30 At least part of this seems to be a renewal of the 1657 grant.
Thomas Meredith Sr. obtained a patent of 523 acres in New Kent on 29
November 1682.
31
Phillip Freeman obtained a grant of 100 acres in New Kent County on 20
April 1660 bordering land of William Cox and John Woodington.
32
Phillip Freeman received a patent for 1,000 acres in James City County on 2
May 1661.
33 This seems to have been modified a
dozen years later. Phillip Freeman obtained a grant of 650 acres in James City
County on 10 March 1673/4.34
30 Virginia Land Patent Book 5, page 197 (91), FHL microfilm 29322.
31
Virginia Land Patent Book 7, page 211, FHL microfilm 29324.
This tract was on the south side of York River by the mouth of Hammons Creek
(formerly patented by Col. Manwarring Hammond) by the name of Royall Fort [Fort
Royal], following meets and bounds to Mackdannells Path, the bank of the river
over against Pamamack Town, thence on the river downwards, down the river,
Rockahock landing, the Spring Branch, etc. Manwarring Hamon, Esquire, obtained a grant of 3,760 acres in York
County on 15 March 1649/50. Virginia Land Patent Book 2, pages 195 and 196, FHL
microfilm 29319. This was also described as lying on the south side of York
River commonly called Fort Royal alias Ricahock, along meets and bounds on the
river, into the woods, upon the mountains, upon Black Creek, a bay, etc.
32 Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 478, FHL microfilm 29320.
33
Virginia Land Patent Book 4, page 470, FHL microfilm 29320.
The tract was on the north side of Chickahominy Swamp beginning at a corner
beech by the swamp on Thomas Meridith’s land, down Meridith’s line towards
Powhite Swamp, etc.
34
Virginia Land Patent Book 6, page 519, FHL microfilm 29323.
This was on the main swamp of Chickahominy River above Westham Path and adjacent
a tract of Thomas Meredeth and land of Thomas Landon. This appears to be
immediately northwest of Meredith’s 1661 patent.
35
Virginia Land Patent Book 8, page 321, FHL microfilm 29325;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 8, page 321, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/008/008_0326.tif, accessed 23
May 2012. This appears to be the same 736 acres granted to William Edwards on 23
October 1690. Virginia Land Patent Book 8, page 108, FHL microfilm 29325; also
available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 8, page 108, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/008/008_0133.tif, accessed 28 May
2012.
36
"The church was erected at the head of Warreneye Swamp, which
flows in a southerly direction to Chicahominy River and it became known as
Warreneye Church." Harris, Old New Kent County: Some
Account of the Planters,
vol. 1, page 10.
Later patents verify that Burchen Swamp was next to Wahrani Creek. Henry Duke
was granted 736 acres in James City County on 20 April 1694 beginning on
branches of Wahrani Creek at a white oak on the Burchen Swamp.
35 The 1662/3 patent of John Bunch I
certainly lay in Blisland Parish, not far from the chapel near the headwaters of
Wahrani Swamp.36 It is curious
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 9
that the widowed Amy Barnhouse, of Martin’s Hundred, James City County, was
the one who discharged Mihill Gowen
37 from service on 25 October
1657.38 This document offers the
name of Amy Barnhouse’s brother, Christopher Stafford, and the Stafford family’s
relevance becomes apparent later in this article.
37 He is also known as Michael Gowen. Additionally, his surname is presented
many different ways in original records, including Goins, Gowns, Going, Goings,
Gowin, etc.
38 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders and Wills, etc., Book 3, page 16,
FHL microfilm 34403.
39
The elder Richard Barnhouse was known as Captain Richard
Barnhouse; he was owner of the ship Samuel in 1639. "Virginia Colonial Records," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012) [High Court of Admiralty,
Examinations on Commission, 1638/39, Class HCA 13/242, Part I, HCA 1-23, page
60], .tif image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/VTLS/CR/11328/0002.tiff. He
patented 250 acres on Kethese Creek in James City County on 27 February 1638/9.
Virginia Land Patent Book 1, page 622, FHL microfilm 29318. This land on Kethes
Creek, in Martin’s Hundred, was taken up again in his patented on 20 March
1653/4. Virginia Land Patent Book 3, page 9, FHL microfilm 29319. He patented 33
acres on Kethes Creek in Martins Hundred on 23 November 1653. Virginia Land
Patent Book 3, page 230, FHL microfilm 29319. Since Amy Barnhouse was freely
devising rights on her own in September 1655, it would appear that the elder
Richard Barnhouse was dead by that time. William Stafford received 100 acres on
the west side of Kethes Creek on 23 August 1634. Virginia Land Patent Book 1,
page 154, FHL microfilm 29318.
Richard Barnhouse, Jr., patented 200 acres in Gloucester County on the south
side of the Mattaponi River two miles above the Indian Ferry on 27 April 1653.
Virginia Land Patent Book 3, page 193, FHL microfilm 21319. Richard Barnhouse,
Jr., patented 200 acres in Gloucester County on 17 March 1655/6, but this tract
was described as being on the southeast side of the Mattaponi River. Virginia
Land Patent Book 4, page 33, FHL microfilm 29322. He
Bee itt knowne unto all Christian people that whereas Mihill Gowen Negro of
late servant to my Brother Xopre [Christopher] Stafford dece[ase]d by his last
will & Testament bearing date the eighteenth of January 1654 had his
freedome given unto him after the expirac[i]on of ffoure yeares service unto my
unclkle Robert Stafford Therefore know all whom itt may concerne that I Anne
[Amie] Barnehouse for divers good causes mee thereunto moving doth absolutely
quitt & descharge the sai[d] Mihill Gowen from any service & for ever
sett him free from any claime of service either by mee or any one my behalf as
any part or parcel of my Estate that may be claimed by mee the said Amy
Barnhouse my heyres Exec[uto]rs Ad[ministrators] or Assignes as wittnes my hand
this 25:
th of October 1657/
The mark of Amy AB: Barnhous[e] Test: [witnesses] Arthure Dickenson[,] Joseph
Blighton[,] Rec[orded] 26
o Januarii 1657
Bee itt knowne unto all Xpian [Christian] people that I Amie Barnehouse of
Martins hundred widdow for divers good causes any [?] caused [____] mee
thereunto moving hath given unto Mihill Gowen Negro hee being att this time
servant unto Robert Staffo[rd] a Male child borne the 25:
th of August in the yeare of oure Lord
God 1655 of the body of my Negro Prossa being baptized by Mr Edward Johnson the 2:d
of Septemb[er] 1655 & named William & I the said
Amy Barnhouse doth bind myselfe my heyres & exec[uto]rs Adm[inistrato]rs
& Ass[ignee]s never to trouble or molest the said Mihil Gowen or his sonne
William or demand any service of the said Mihill or his said sonne William In
wittnes whereof I have caused this to be made & done & [___] hereunto
sett my hand & seale this pr[e]sent 16th day of
September 1655
the marke of Amy AB: Barnehouse noe seale Test [witnesses:] Edward Johnson
Minist[e]
r W Ingraham test Rec[orded]
26:o January 1657
Amy was the relict of Richard Barnhouse Sr.
39 Given the relationships she sets out
(sister of Christopher Stafford and niece of Robert Stafford), she and
Christopher would be children of Obama Bunch Descendancy
July 15, 2012 10
was not designated "Jr." thereafter. Richard Barnhouse patented 380 acres on
the west side of Burchen Swamp on 28 October 1656. Virginia Land Patent Book 4,
page 95, FHL microfilm 29322, and 900 acres on Burchen Swamp on 7 February
1658/9 (renewed 26 February 1665/6), when he was also called captain. Virginia
Land Patent Book 4, page 351, FHL microfilm 29322.
The grant of 484 acres in New Kent County to John Stark on 30 October 1686
states that 200 acres of his patent was originally granted to Richard Barnhouse
Sr. deceased, and on petition his son, Richard Barnhouse Jr. obtained a survey
before selling the tract to Stark. Virginia Land Patent Book 7, page 525, FHL
microfilm 29324.
40
His estate included a black man named Anthonio
[sic],
black women named Palassa and Couchanello, a black girl named Mary who was age
four, a black girl names Elizabeth, age three, an unnamed black boy age one, and
a black boy two weeks old. York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders and Wills, Book
3, 1657-1662, page 185, FHL microfilm 34402. They appear to have been purchased
from Charles Harmer. William Stafford patented 300 acres on Kethes Creek on 12
November 1635 (the same Creek on which Captain Richard Barnhouse patented land
in Martins Hundred), claiming his wife Rebecca and Christopher Stafford among
the headrights. Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers:
Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants…(Richmond: The Dietz Printing Company, 1934), vol. 1, page 33; also,
Virginia Land Patent Book 1, page 305, FHL microfilm 29318.
41 York County (Virginia), Deeds, Orders and Wills, Book 2, 1657-1662, page
19, FHL microfilm 34402.
42
"Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents: Notes," Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography,
2(1895), page 314. Paul Heinegg tracked down a more detailed account of this
event: "Phillip Cowen [sic] ‘a Negro’…etitioned the Governor and Council of
State for his freedom. He was the servant of Amye Beazleye whose 9 April 1664
will stated that he was to be free and receive three barrels of corn and a suit
of clothes after serving her cousin, Humphrey Stafford, for eight years.
Stafford sold the remaining years of his indenture to Charles Lucas who forced
Philip to acknowledge an indenture for twenty years before the Warwick County
court," citing Colonial Papers, Library of Virginia microfilm, p.19, fol. 2.
Paul Heinegg, Free
African Americans,
page 543. At that time, the term "cousin" meant uncle/nephew or aunt/niece.
43
McIlwaine, Minutes of the Council and
General Court of Colonial Virginia,
page 411.
44
McIlwaine, Minutes of the Council and
General Court of Colonial Virginia,
page 411.
45
"Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents: Notes," Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography,
2(1895), pages 314-315.
William Stafford of York County, whose inventory dated 3 March 1644/5
included eight slaves.
40 Christopher Stafford married
Elizabeth (who subsequently became the wife of William Purnell, and then, by 1
December 1656, Joseph Watkins),41 and left a son and heir named Humphrey Stafford. It appears that Amy
Stafford, widow of Richard Barnhouse of James City County, married again. Mrs.
[Amy] Beazley of James City County, by her will dated 1664, "left a negro to her
cousin, Mr. Humphrey Stafford, of Virginia."42
Phillip Gowen "negro" sued John Lucas for his freedom on
16 June 1675.43 The court ordered
that Phillip be free from service and that the indenture acknowledged in Warwick
County be invalid. Further, Mr. Lucas was to pay Gowen three barrels of corn
"According to ye Will of
Mrs Amye Boazlye [Beazeley]
dec[ease]d wth Costs."44
There was some blood kinship between Amy (Stafford)(Barnhouse) Beasley and
Hugh Gwynn’s family, because Humphrey and John Gwynn, in their own right and as
attorneys of Humphrey Stafford, petitioned the General Court on 30 September
1681 claiming that the three were the closest relations (Nearest allied") of
Colonel John Burnham of Middlesex County, Virginia.
45 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012
11
The grant of 30 or 40 acres that Mihill Gowen obtained in James City County
on 8 February 1668/9 had belonged to Captain Richard Barnhouse.
46 It seems extraordinary that the Gowen
and Bunch families were so intimately connected with Richard Barnhouse and his
wife Amy Stafford, and that they, in turn, were related in some way with the
children of Hugh Gwynn. It was not uncommon for servants or their children to be
passed around among relatives as Amy did with Mihil Gowen (later also freeing
Phillip Gowen by the terms of her will). John Punch had been a servant of
Humphrey and John Gwynn’s father, Hugh.
46
Virginia Land Patent Book 6, page 208, FHL microfilm 29323;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 6, page 208, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/006/006_0212.tif, accessed 23
May 2012. The land was sold by Barnhouse to John Turner, deceased, but
escheated. No metes or bounds are given in the grant. C.G. Chamberlayne,
The Vestry Book of Blisland (Blissland)
Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1721–1786
(Richmond: The Library Board, 1935), page ix, quoting a patent dated 13
October 1653 to Thomas Dunketon in Blisland Parish bordering Barnhouse’s land.
Nicholas Barnhouse was one of the residents of Blisland Parish who signed on to
the grievances presented to the government dated 2 April 1677 (page xliv and
Photostat facing page xlii).
47 Some records survive from 1822 and 1830. Personal property tax lists and
land tax lists in Virginia began in 1782 and were kept by the colony instead of
the local court, hence they do survive. Personal property tax lists are
invaluable for people searching in burned-record counties for that period as
they serve as a virtual census of adult males (similar to a listing of heads of
households).
48
We do not believe the "Sr." and "Jr." designation would have
been used to differentiate between this John Jr. and the son of Paul Bunch (who
is not known to have owned land and may have left for North Carolina).
The Gowen and Bunch families bear the same deep-clade yDNA, which means that
their origins were from the same region of Africa. Given that there were so few
African Americans in Virginia at that period, it may indicate that they traveled
from Africa together. They continued to live and move together in the following
centuries, from Virginia to the Carolinas, Tennessee, and beyond.
The fact that John Bunch I disappears from records of York County argues in
favor of the conclusion that he moved to New Kent County after he improved his
grant. Records of York County survive fairly intact for this period. No records
survive for New Kent County at the level of the local court before 1800.47
Children of John
2 Bunch I (wife unknown):
2 i Paul
3 Bunch, born about 1652–58 (see below).
3 ii John
3 Bunch II, born about 1655–60 (see
next).
4 iii [Henry?]
3 Bunch, born about 1660–70 (see below).
2
JOHN3 BUNCH
II, SR.
(John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) born about 1655–60, was presumably the man taxed for 100 acres in New
Kent County in 1704. He was still alive in 1723, when his son John III was
styled "Jr." in one of the patents.48 John
Bunch II probably had sisters and daughters, but since probate and marriage
records have been destroyed for this period, then short of the discovery of an
early Bible, their identities are forever lost. Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 12
The original 1704 quit rent of New Kent County was grouped by the first
letter of the surname (all last names beginning with "B" are listed
together).
49 This does not allow an analysis of
the list for John Bunch II’s close neighbors. However, it is clear that the
three persons listed before John Bunch II were Andrew Banks (50 acres), Richard
Baker (80 acres), and John Bowels (500 acres); the three persons following John
Bunch II’s entry for 100 acres were John Burnett (150 acres), Richard
Barnhouse (1,600 acres), and Thomas Barbar (500 acres).50
Figure 4 – 1704 Quit Rent
49 The National Archives (Kew, England), CO (Colonial Office) 5/1314, no. 63
viii.
50
Louis des Cognets Jr., English Duplicates of Lost
Virginia Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981), page 164.
51
John Bunch, Jr., of Hanover County, 18 February 1722, for 40
shillings, 400 acres in Hanover County, upper side of Taylor’s Creek, beginning
at a white oak on Taylor’s Creek a little above Edward Garland's corner, running
south 190 poles to a corner of several marked trees, thence south 57½ degrees
east 400 poles to another corner of several marked trees, thence north 190 poles
to a [blank] on the creek, thence down the watercourse of the creek, making upon
a straight line, 400 poles to the beginning. "Virginia Land Office Patents and
Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 11, page 162, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0666.tif and
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0667.tif, accessed 25 June
2012.
52
Edward Nix also owned land in the western region that would
become part of Louisa County. The churchwardens of St. Paul’s agreed in 1722
that two chapels should be built to service those who lived far away from the
existing churches, one to be at or near land of Edward Nix on the south side of
the South River. Edward Nix was paid for railing in the churchyard of this new
chapel that came to be called Allen’s Creek Church. Chamberlayne,
Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish,
1706–1786, pages 97, 113; George Carrington Mason, "The Colonial Churches of New
Kent and Hanover Counties, Virginia," Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography 53
(1945), page 257 and the map between pages 246 and 247. But Edward Nix’s
neighbors in other processioning records included John Bostock, Thomas Gibson
(Nix’s father-in-law), William Reynolds, Thomas Thorpe, Rowland Horsey
[Horsley], Henry Crumpton, William Walters, and John Bowles. Chamberlayne,
Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish,
1706–1786, pages 227 and 239.
The key to placing the neighbors in this district is Richard Brooks. It
appears that his land was near where he obtained a patent for 294 acres on 5
September 1723. Virginia Land Patent Book 11, page 223, FHL microfilm 29327. His
neighbors there were Nicholas Meriwether (north), Nathaniel West (west),
Christopher Clark and John Stone (southwest), and George Alves (east). Richard
Brooks also patented 120 acres a little to the southeast close to
It is extraordinary that John Bunch II was listed two entries before Richard
Barnhouse, the major landowner whose land bordered the 1662/3 patent of John
Bunch I. This clearly suggests that the 100-acre tract owned by John Bunch II in
1704 is a remnant of the 450 acres originally patented on 18 March 1662/3. This
also implies that John Bunch II’s son, John III, was making a fresh start into a
new region when he patented his land on Taylor’s Creek in 1721/2.
51
John Bunch II appears to have owned land in St. Paul’s Parish that was
processioned on 8 February 1719/20, with the other landowners in his district
being Edward Nix,
52 Richard Brooks, Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 13
the boundary between where Hanover, Henrico, and Goochland Counties now meet
on 17 September 1731. Virginia Land Patent Book 14, page 328, FHL microfilm
29330. His neighbors, then, were John Utley, Robert and Charles Anderson, John
Sims, and John Black. When Richard Brooks made his will on 8 October 1731, he
made his loving friends Edward Nix and Abraham Venables executors. Rosalie Edith
Davis,
Hanover
County, Virginia Court Records, 1733–1735: Deeds, Wills and Inventories
(Manchester, Missouri: by the author, 1979), page 30. Venables was a
neighbor of Brooks as early as 1711. Chamberlayne, Vestry
Book of St. Paul’s Parish, 1706–1786,
page 225.
53 From 1662, Virginia landowners were required to walk the boundary lines
between tracts every four years in an effort to prevent disputes in court. The
parish vestries were in charge of defining the precincts and directing the
parishioners charged with processioning the lands.
54
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 266.
55 It is not likely that their father had siblings born of the same early
mixed-race union, given the prevailing attitudes of the period.
56
It is possible that some of the other Bunch men of the next
generation were sons of John Bunch II, but moved to North Carolina in pursuit of
a better life (see the listing of possible nephews of John and Paul Bunch under
the account of no. 4 [?Henry]3 Bunch, in this descendancy). But if they were recognized as persons of
color, it may have made life in Virginia more difficult. If John Bunch II
married a white spouse, the he and his descendants might stay in Virginia and
manage well. If Paul or another brother married a wife who was also from mixed
family (be it African American or Native American), then it would to their
advantage to initially move out of Virginia to North Carolina, or South Carolina
(as the laws of North Carolina became less favorable), or finally moving into
regions like Tennessee, Kentucky, and elsewhere as those frontiers opened up.
57
Paul Bunch’s will is transcribed by John Anderson Brayton,
Transcription of Provincial North
Carolina Wills, 1663–1729/30, Volume 1, A–K (Memphis: by the author, 2003), pages 100–101.
58
No Bunch entry was found in the records of St. Peter’s Parish,
New Kent County, Virginia, which survive from 1684. This implies that the family
either still resided within the bounds of Blisland Parish, or Paul Bunch had
already moved into the area on the Mattaponi or Pamunkey Rivers that became
present day King William County.
59
Harris, Old New Kent County: Some
Account of the Planters,
vol. 1, page 608 (citing King William Records, no. 1, page 402). William
Clayborne gave his son, Thomas, the portion of his land in King William County,
Virginia that came to be known as "Sweet Hall" on 25 January 1673. William gave
the tract known as "Cohoke" to his son John Claiborne on 10 November 1676, and
the tract known as "Romancoke" descended to William’s eldest son William. Lolita
Hannah Bissell, Cliborn-Claiborne
Records (Nashville: by the author, 1986), page 185. Sweet Hall was just
northeast of Cohoke.
Captain Nathaniel West, John Stone, and Francis Stone (John Bowles was
apparently West’s overseer and refused to procession
53 the land because he had no orders
from West to do so).54
John Bunch II and Paul Bunch (below) were contemporaries who eventually
purchased tracts of land relatively near to one another. yDNA proves they were
related. It seems most likely that they were brothers.
55 yDNA also indicates that their common
ancestor was from Sub-Saharan Africa, and possibly Cameroon.
Child of John
3 Bunch II, wife not known:56
5 i John
4 Bunch III (see below), born about
1680–85.
3
PAUL3 BUNCH
(John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch), born possibly about 1652–58, married by 1679, and died shortly
before 16 November 1727, when his will was proved.57
He spent his earliest years in Virginia, in counties where
most of the records have been lost for the period he lived.58 The first surviving reference to Paul is in
1695, when he purchased 150 acres near Sweet Hall Road from John Claiborne on 29
July 1695.59 Paul Bunch was taxed on
150 acres in King Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 14
William County in the 1704 quit rent.
60 His land was near Cohoke Creek where
it flows into the Pamunkey River and just east of the Pamunkey Indian
Reservation.
60
des Cognets, English Duplicates of Lost
Virginia Records,
page 157. Paul Bunch was second on the list of "B" surnames in King William
County, Virginia (after Major Burwell, who was taxed for 4,700 acres, and before
John Baker, who was taxed for 250 acres). Colonel William Claibourne, Captain
Thomas Claibourne, and John Claibourne were the three men who began the list of
"C" surnames, which should indicate—knowing what we do from other sources—that
Paul Bunch lived near the Claibourne family.
61
King William County (Virginia), Record Book 1, pages 129–30,
FHL microfilm 1987186. The deed from West, recorded in court on 20 August 1703,
reads, "Know all men by these Presents that I John West Gent[leman] of the
parish of St. Johns …Doe hereby assign and make over unto Paul Bunch of the same
parish and County one Mullaito [sic] Servant Man Known and Commonly Called by the name of John Russell,
for whom I Doe acknowledged [sic] to have Received…wenty six pounds ten shillings ster[ling]…hus
27th day of Jan[uar]y 1700[/1]."
Richard Curteen, John Weatherford, and Derick Will[ia]mson were witnesses. "The
above sale was (upon the Motio[n] of John Russell & with the Consent of
Coll. John West) admitted to Record."
The deed from Paul Bunch to Elizabeth Russell followed immediately after on
the next page. "Know all men…hat I Paul Bunch Doe for myselfe my heires
Ex[ecutors] Adm[inistrators] Assigne and Make over all my Right and Interest of
the within mentioned John Russell until Eliz
a Russell with w[arranty?] from any
person whatsoe ever unto her the said Eliza Russell her Assigne[es] for ever Witness my hand this 27th Jan[uar]y 1700[/1]" Paul Bunch "his mark,"
witnessed by John West, Richard Curteen, and John Weatherford. Luckily the
record survives as it was recorded 20 August 1703.
Paul Bunch also witnessed a deed of John Claiborne before the King William
County Court on 20 May 1704, signing with a mark that might resemble the letter
"P" each time. King William County (Virginia), Miscellaneous Record Book 1, page
181 (167), FHL microfilm 1987186. A white planter named John Russell purchased
[torn] 80 acres in King William County from Thomas West on 20 [torn] the
2
nd year of the reign of [torn]. King
William County (Virginia), Miscellaneous Record Book 1, pages 135–38, etc. John
West and Henry Winfrey were witnesses and it was recorded 20 August 1703. The
planter named John Russell was taxed for 550 acres in New Kent County in 1704.
des Cognets, English
Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records,
page 169. The inventory of William Clayborne, gentleman (deceased), appraised on
17 January 1706/7, included a mulatto boy named Thomas Russell. Ruth and Sam
Sparacio, King William County, Virginia,
Record Books, 1705–1721 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1996), page 90.
62
Hening’s, Statutes,
vol. 3, pages 87–8. Freed slaves were to leave the colony within six
months, and a penalty of £10 was imposed on the person freeing the slave.
63
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
pages 228 and 240.
Paul Bunch does not appear to have been literate, because he signed with a
mark on every record we have where he would have signed, including two in
Virginia: as a witness to a deed by John Claiborne on 20 May 1704, and also when
he purchased a mulatto named John Russell from John West, gentleman, on 27
January 1700/1 and immediately assigned him over to Elizabeth Russell.61
The Virginia Assembly had made it difficult to manumit slaves in 1691 by
requiring that freed slaves had to leave the colony shortly after obtaining
their freedom. Rather than freeing John Russell outright, granting his custody
to someone else avoided an additional fine of £10.62
Paul Bunch settled southward in Hanover County by 17 "9br" [November] 1711,
when his land became part of a district in St. Paul’s Parish to be processioned.
His neighbors included Emanuel Richardson, Nathaniel Hodgkinson, Captain Roger
Thompson, John Richardson, James Whitlock, Widow Clough, Thomas Graham, and
Thomas Lacy.
63 This represents a completely
different group of neighbors than those listed four years later, apparently
indicating that Paul Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012
15
Bunch moved from one location to another in Hanover County between 1711 and
15 "9br." [November] 1715.
64
64
Paul Bunch and Major Meriwether were assigned to procession a
district on 15 November 1715, Stephen Sunter refusing to sign the return because
he was a resident of Henrico County, Virginia. Chamberlayne, The
Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish, 1706–1786, page 252.
65 John Weatherford had acted as a witness to Paul Bunch in King William
County, Virginia a few years earlier.
66
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 75. Paul Bunch’s Quarter was added to Peter Haroldson’s Gang (for clearing
roads) on 2 March 1721/2 (page 101).
67 Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 437, FHL microfilm 29327.
68 Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page 33, FHL microfilm 29328.
69 Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page, FHL microfilm 29328. The land formed a
rectangle, 200 poles by 320 poles, tilted 45 degrees. Thomas Grant of Hanover
County received a grant of 800 acres on 17 August 1733. Virginia Land Patent
Book 15, page 113, FHL microfilm 29331. His land bordered Black Haw Swamp, a
branch of Grassy Swamp, the north side of Ashe Cake Road, and land of John
Crenshaw and Thomas Johnson. This was just east northeast of the present border
between Hanover, Goochland, and Henrico Counties on the road towards Ashland.
Black Haw Branch is now immediately south of Farrington, Hanover County.
70
Margaret M. Hofmann, Province of North Carolina,
1663–1729, Abstracts of Land Patents ([Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina], by the author, 1983), page 215 (no.
2359, page 203).
71 The Gibson-DNA Project: y-Results (Online: WorldFamilies.net, 2012),
online at http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/gibson/results, accessed June
11, 2012.
On 8 March 1715/6 (when Paul Bunch’s land was called "Paul Bunch’s Quarter"),
Francis Clark, John English, John Venable, John Corley, Samuel Sperring, William
Webb, Paul Bunch, Thomas Wetherford,
65 Gilbert Gibson, William Thacker,
Stephen Ragland, and John Hart (and all their male tithables) were ordered to
help clear the road from Stony Run to Half Sink Road.66
This would normally represent the landowners who lived
near that road. Paul Bunch was described as owning land adjacent to Gilbert
Gibson on 11 July 1719 when Gibson patented 224 acres in New Kent County (now
Hanover County), Virginia. Gibson’s patent was described as beginning on
Sunter’s corner patent line, bordering Captain Dangerfield’s line, a branch,
bordering on Paul Bunch’s line, and following his line back to Stephen Sunter’s
line to the beginning.67 William
Alsup Jr. became a neighbor on 9 July 1724, when he patented 400 acres that
bordered Dangerfield’s tract, Paul Bunch, Jeremiah Parker, Timothy Sullivant,
and others.68
Paul Bunch patented 400 acres in Hanover County on 9 July 1724, apparently
some distance west of his residence.
69 This tract was on both sides of Black
Haw (Swamp) in Hanover County. This was a few miles west of Paul’s residence
next to Gilbert Gibson. He probably turned around and sold the land soon after
in preparation for leaving Virginia to settle in North Carolina, but the deeds
of Hanover County are missing for this period.
Paul was granted 265 acres on the south side of Morattock River in Bertie
Precinct, North Carolina, on 1 January 1725/6 joining land owned by Simms,
Gideon
Gibson, Wilkins, and Quankey Pocoson (recall that Paul Bunch was Gilbert
Gibson’s immediate neighbor in Hanover County as well).70
The yDNA results of some living Gibson descendants also
indicate they have the E1b1a haplotype.71 It would make sense that mixed-race descendants of early
African-Americans in Virginia who spoke the same language and had the same
cultural background would stay together, move together, and probably intermarry.
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 16
Paul died soon after he moved to North Carolina. He made his will on 16
November 1726. He stated that he was of sound mind and perfect memory (the usual
preamble, but hopefully accurate). First, after ordering that his debts and
funeral charges be paid, he gave his son John Bunch "that part of this Land I
now live on which he now lives on" up to a line of marked trees, with "one Negro
fellow named Dick" and one iron pot. Paul gave the other part of his plantation
to Fortune Holdbee for life, remaining after her death to Keziah Holdbee and
Jemima Holdbee, to be equally divided between the two sisters, but "if these two
Children die without Heirs lawfully begotten [of their bodies]" then it was to
revert back to John Bunch.
72
72
Brayton, Transcription of Provincial
North Carolina Wills, 1663–1729/30, Volume 1, 100–101 (citing Secretary of State North Carolina Archives [SS] 876,
page 138). These spellings are consistent with the abstract published in Stephen
E. Bradley Jr., Early
Records of North Carolina, Volume V: Wills, 1723–1736 (From the Secretary of
State Papers) (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1993), page 13.
73
The transcription of one record, however, states that the
orphan was daughter of Thomas Holdbee. Weynette Parks Haun, Bertie
County, North Carolina County Court Minutes, 1740 thru 1743: 1758 thru 1762,
Book II (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1977), page 7. If Thomas
Holdbee was Fortune’s first husband, but they never divorced, then children of
Fortune by a common-law husband might have been considered legal orphans of her
legal husband. It may also be that in this instance the clerk confused the first
name of Thomas Bryant, the guardian, inserting Thomas as the name of the
orphan’s father. A William Holderbee was taxed for 100 acres in King William
County, Virginia, in 1704. des Cognets, English Duplicates of Lost
Virginia Records,
page 158. The surname is very rare. If Keziah and Jemimah were daughters of Paul
Bunch, and born about 1723 and 1725, they might have been born in Hanover County
and brought with their father to North Carolina, so the possible connection with
King William County may be worth investigating.
74 Fortune apparently had three legal marriages to white men. The only
common-law union was with Paul Bunch. If Fortune were white, then the fact that
one of her daughters was styled mulatto would indicate that it was well known
Paul Bunch was of mixed race.
75
This was a substantial grant, but it was not of the same level
of special care and property bequeathed to the two Holdbee girls. Thomas might
be Fortune’s legitimate son by her first (legal) husband.
76 This was normally the stipulation men required of their wives when making
a will.
The special favor Paul Bunch showed to Fortune and the two Holdbee children
might indicate that Fortune was Paul’s common-law wife.
73 A late marriage for Paul to a woman
of white race was forbidden in Virginia and outlawed in North Carolina in
1715.74 One might argue that a
tenuous bequest to children illegitimate in the eyes of the law would require
Paul to give something (even one shilling) to his other surviving children, so
they could not dispute his wishes.
In his will, Paul continued his bequests, giving Fortune Holdbee two feather
beds and half the household goods (the other half to go to Joseph Meacham—a
grandson?), and half of Paul’s stock (the other half to Joseph Meacham), except
two cows and calves that were to be given to
Thomas
Holdbee.75 Paul gave Fortune one
Negro named Frank as long as she lived single (unmarried).76 Paul bequeathed "my Negro fellow named Daw" to
Fortune Holdbee and Joseph Meacham to "help and assist [them] one as much as the
other" and gave "one Mullatto Wench named Pegg" to Keziah Holdbee, to be kept in
the care of her mother until Keziah reached age eighteen or got married. Paul
gave Jemima Holdbee "one Negro Girl named Betty" on like terms, and gave Joseph
Meacham "one Negro Wench named Moll and her child Fortune and one Negro Wench
[named] Rose and all my Land that I have over Roanoke River" belonging to the
plantation that Paul Bunch purchased from Thomas Wilkins. In addition, Paul gave
"one Survey Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 17
of Land only 100 Acres" to
Thomas
Holdbee. He gave his son John Bunch "one Buckaneer Gun." Paul Bunch appointed
Joseph Meacham and Fortune Holdbee his executors, the residue of his estate to
be equally divided between them. The last statement in his will reads, "I give
Eliza Bunch one Shilling Sterling
and my Daughter Russell I give one Shilling Sterling[,] this I appoint my last
Will and Testament as Witness my Hand and Seal this 16th
Day of Novr 1726." Paul Bunch signed with a mark, as he did in the records we have
of him in Virginia.77 Andrew Ireland
and John Cotton witnessed the will, and the name Henry Irby
is
appended (he became Fortune’s next husband).78
77
Paul Bunch witnessed the will of Alexander Cambrill of Chowan
Precinct on 1 February 1726/7, signing with a mark. Bradley, Early
Records of North Carolina, Volume V: Wills, 1723–1736, page 15.
78
Brayton, Transcription of Provincial
North Carolina Wills, 1663–1729/30, Volume 1, pages 100–101 (citing Secretary of State of North Carolina Archives, SS
876, page 138).
79
Laura Willis, Bertie County, N. C. Deeds, Vol.
3 (May 1727–Aug. 1728) (Melber, Kentucky: Simmons Historical Publications, 2001), page 17. The
sale including all the crop standing or growing on the land "or may yet thereon
grow." Mary Best Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, Abstracts of Deed Books B & C, 1725–1730 & 1739
(Windsor, North Carolina: by the author, 1963), page 56.
80
Robert J. Cain, ed., Records of the Executive
Council, 1735–1754, The
Colonial Records of North Carolina, 2nd series, vol. 8 (Raleigh: Department of
Cultural resources, Division of Archives and History, 1988), page 33.
81
Bradley, Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume V: Wills, 1723–1736,
page 42.
Fortune Holdbee sold the plantation upon which she lived (and that was
formerly Paul Bunch’s plantation) to William Little for £15 "silver money" on 5
July 1727.
79 Fortune sought out better
opportunities far away from Bertie and Chowan, moving to New Hanover County,
North Carolina, the southernmost point in the colony on the Atlantic Ocean. Her
petition to patent 640 acres there was recorded in 1735.80
Fortune had already married again—or at least had taken another husband—and
gave birth to two more children by 1733. Henry Irby, innholder, of Brunswick on
Cape Fear, North Carolina, made his will on 30 January 1733/4.
81 He declared that he was very sick and
weak in body. He gave his son William Irby, a minor living in Virginia, £40 when
he reached age twenty-one. He gave his daughter Ann Irby the same amount at age
18. He gave his son Henry Irby [there was a second son of the same name] "born
of the body of Fortune Holderby" £40 at age twenty-one. He gave his daughter
Elizabeth Irby, also his child by Fortune, the same amount at age eighteen. He
gave Fortune, Henry, and Elizabeth, his house and lot at Cape Fear and made
Fortune his executrix.
Henry Irby’s first wife, Hannah Irby, who was still living, was none too
pleased about his bequests, but there was not much she could do except sue for
her dower rights, even though she declared that Henry had "deforced her"
[
sic, divorced her]. On 6 February 1733/4, Hannah Irby (by her attorney
David Osheal) sued for the third part of one messuage and one tract of land that
had been assigned to her as dower by Henry Irby ("in times past her husband").
Two days later, order was made to the Provost Marshall to command the officer of
Edgecombe Precinct to render the widow her dower and appear before the General
Court at Edenton. A note dated 15 March 1734/5 states that Henry refused to
deliver the dower (if there had been a legal divorce she might not be entitled
to dower). Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 18
Henry Irby did not settle all his accounts before his demise. Fortune Holdbee
"of Onslow Precinct," as executrix of Henry Irby, was sued by William Wadill on
1 February 1734/5 and 21 August 1735 (for £30). Hugh Campbell, merchant, sued
Fortune Holdbee (then of New Hanover) on 26 May 1735 for £100.
82 On 14 August 1738, the entry calling
her Irby was crossed out ("Fortune Holderby alias Irby") and it was stated that
Fortune had since married Thomas Brown, so the court summoned him (once married,
a woman and her goods were the right of her husband during his lifetime). The
suit continued on 13 November 1738.83 John
Hodgson brought suit against her for £50 as executrix of Henry Irby on 26 June
1736 when her residence was described as Bladen Precinct. Again, it was stated
that she had since married Thomas Brown, who was duly summoned. This case was
continued until at least 20 November 1739.84 Records of New Hanover, Bladen, and Onslow Counties, North Carolina,
all suffered heavy losses from courthouse fires.
82
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume X: Colonial Court Records-Estate Papers, 1655–1775, Gilbert-Owen
(Lawrenceville, Virginia: by the author, 2000), pages 41–43.
83
Bradley, Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume X: Colonial Court Records-Estate Papers, 1655–1775,
pages 41–43.
84
Bradley, Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume X: Colonial Court Records-Estate Papers, 1655–1775,
pages 41–43.
85
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume VI: Wills, 1737–1749 (From the Secretary of State Papers)
(Keyesville, Virginia: by the author, 1994), page 14; The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register (Edenton, North Carolina: J.R.B. Hathaway, 1900), vol. 1, page 27.
86
A.B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., N.C. Books C, D, & E ([n.p.]: by the author, 2002), page 56 (referring to Deed Book C, page
276).
87
Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 92.
88
Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 101.
Thomas Brown, of Wilmington, North Carolina, made his will on 16 July 1748;
it was proved 10 May 1749. Being "very Sick and weak in Body," he gave his wife
Fortune 400 acres on the sound and two slaves ("Petter & Old Betty"), gave
his daughter Isabella Brown the plantation where he formerly lived and part of
the land he purchased from Richard Quince, gave his daughter Elizabeth Brown the
plantation he purchased from William Salter (the plantations to be delivered to
his daughters at age eighteen or marriage). Thomas Brown made his brother, John,
and Richard Quince executors.
85
Fortune married yet again and this time to Robert Stanton of New Hanover.
Robert Stanton, planter, of New Hanover County, sold John Sampson of Wilmington
a town lot on 14 September 1750. Robert’s wife Fortune signed off on the deed
(with an "x").
86 "Fortune Brown now Fortune Stanton,
the widow and devisor of the said Thomas Brown" obtained a grant of 350 acres
opposite Cabbage Inlet (land secured from Thomas Brown) on 26 February
1754.87 Fortune Stanton, of Bladen
County, sold William Brown of the same 300 acres on 22 April 1755 (again signing
with an "x").88
Fortune (Holdbee) (Bunch) (Brown) Stanton died sometime between 1755 and
1761. On 11 August 1761, Henry Irby, butcher, and his wife, Mary, sold James
Moran 100 acres at Cabbage Inlet formerly granted to James Hassell Sr., esquire,
and sold by him to Fortune Stanton in 1754.
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 19
Fortune Stanton, "mother of said Irby, had willed it to said Henry
Irby."
89 On 10 September 1760, William Brown
and his wife, Isabelle [sic], sold 200 acres bordering Henry Irby, which was described as being
part of Fortune’s land. This deed also stated that 100 acres had been willed to
him by Fortune, with the will having been recorded in Bladen County.90 Unfortunately, the will has since perished in
the destruction of early records of Bladen County.
89
Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 145.
90
. Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, New Hanover
Co., page 142.
91
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., The Deeds of Halifax County,
North Carolina, 1758–1771 (South Boston, Virginia: by the author, 1989), page 43. William Bunch
and Temperance Bunch were among the witnesses.
92
Paul Heinegg, Free African
Americans, gives details of these families in North Carolina. This research
study did not try to exhaust all records of the Bunch family in North and South
Carolina beyond being certain there were no more likely alternative hypotheses.
93
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 99.
94
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 112.
95
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 94.
96
Walter Clark, The State Records of North
Carolina, 26
Volumes (Goldsboro, North Carolina: Nash Brothers, 1907), Miscellaneous Records,
vol. 22, page 240.
97
"Colonial Plat Books (Copy Series) S213184," South
Carolina Department of Archives and History (Online: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 2012),
http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/ Thumbnails.aspx?recordId=105520,
accessed 26 May 2012. John received a grant for the tract and lot on 16
September 1738. John Bunch Sr. and his wife [not named in the abstract] gave
John Bunch Jr. 175 acres and town lot 177 in Amelia Township in 1755–56. South
Carolina Department of Archives and History, Town Lot Sales, Series S372001,
Volume 02Q0, page 193.
98
South Carolina, Deed Book Q-Q, pages 193–94 as cited in Clara
A. Langley, South
Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1719–1772, Vol. III, 1755–1768, Books QQ-H-3
(Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1983), pages 6–7.
On 15 March 1763, Gideon Bunch, planter, of Berkeley County, South Carolina,
sold Montfort Eelbeck, gentleman, "565 acres [in Halifax County] of which 265
acres had been patented to Paul Bunch on 1 Jan[uary] 1725, the remaining acreage
having been purchased by Paul Bunch from Thomas Wilkins, on the south side of
Roanoke River, joining Quankey Pocoson, Sims, Gideon Gibson, Burgess, Quankey
Creek," etc.
91 That proves beyond any doubt Gideon’s
descent from Paul Bunch.
Children of Paul Bunch, wife not known:92
i
JOHN4 BUNCH, born about 1678–80, would have grown up in New Kent and Hanover
Counties, Virginia, but followed his father to North Carolina. William Stevens
Sr. sold John Bunch 270 acres on the south side of Morattuck Rover bounded by a
patent dated 1 February 1725/6.93 On
28 August 1728, John Bunch sold William Little (the man who purchased Fortune
Holdebee’s land) the tract "my father Paul Bunch bought of James Kelly on
Oceaneche."94 John Bunch purchased
100 acres on the south side of Morattuck River adjacent Tuckahoe Marsh in Bertie
County from Barnabee McKinne Jr. on 12 May 1729.95
John owed quit rent on 640 acres in Bertie Precinct on 12
June 1737 (he was listed next to Henry Bunch).96
John Bunch had a plat for 350 acres (on a bank of the
Santee River) and a half acre lot (No. 177) in Amelia Township certified 15
November 1735, when it was part of Berkeley County, South Carolina.97 John Bunch Sr. and his wife, MARY
(GIBSON?), gave their son John Bunch Jr. 175 acres (half the tract he patented)
with the town lot by deed of gift on 15 December 1755.98
It Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 20
appears that John Bunch died before 15 March 1763, when his son Gideon sold
inheritance that had passed down to him.99
99
Bradley, Deeds of Halifax County, North
Carolina, 1758–1771,
page 43.
100
Winthrop D. Jordan, "American Chiaroscuro: The Status and
Definition of Mulattoes in the British Colonies," William and Mary College
Quarterly, 19, no. 2 (1962), pages 189–90; Winthrop D. Jordan, White
over Black: American Attitudes towards the Negro, 1550–1812
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968), pages 171–72
(citing Parish Transcripts, Box II, bundle: S.C., Minutes of House of Burgesses
(1730–35), page 9).
101
Brunswick County (Virginia), Order Book 1, 1732–1741, page
253, FHL microfilm 30662. Brunswick County was technically formed in 1720, but
there was no functioning court house until 1732. Its parent county, Prince
George County, Virginia, suffered a heavy loss of records.
The identity of John Bunch's wife, Mary, is not clear. Naming patterns and
associations would suggest she could have been a Gibson, but a number of John
Bunch's neighbors moved with him because their wives were white. A number of
free men of color left Virginia to settle in South Carolina at this period (as
John Bunch, son of Paul, did). A member of the South Carolina Commons House of
Assembly related in 1731 that a number of free men of color with their white
wives had emigrated from Virginia with the intent to make a new life on the
Santee River. A committee was appointed to investigate the details, "The house
apprehending [this prospect] to be of ill Consequence to this Province." The
families involved were summoned to report to Governor Robert Johnson. The
governor was favorable to their cause:
The people lately come into the Settlements having been sent for, I have had
them before me in Council and upon Examination find that they are not Negroes
nor Slaves but free People, that the Father of them here is named Gideon Gibson
and his father was also free, and I have been informed by a person who has lived
in Virginia that this Gibson has lived there Several Years in Good repute and by
his papers that he has produced before me that his transactions there have been
very regular, That he has for several years paid Taxes for two tracts of Land
[in Hanover County—his two patents] and had seven Negroes of his own, That he is
a Carpenter by Trade and is come hither for the support of his Family.
The account he has given of himself is so Satisfactory that he is no Vagabond
that I have in Consideration of his Wife[’]s being a white woman and several
white women capable of working and being Serviceable in the county permitted him
to settle in this Country upon entering into Recognizance for his good behavior
which I have taken accordingly
100
The land that John
4 Bunch (Paul3
Bunch, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) obtained was curiously enough on the Santee River. His wife might
well have been white. Not allowed to marry in Virginia, it would be no wonder
that these free men would leave to settle somewhere they could reside in peace
and prosper on their own merits.
Children of John Bunch (perhaps by his wife Mary):
1.
Gideon5
Bunch
, born about 1704–05 (perhaps named after Gideon Gibson), first occurs
on record in Brunswick County, Virginia, on 7 June 1739, when William Gunn
brought suit against "Giddeon Bunch" for £3.0.11 guaranteed by a promissory note
dated 20 October 1738.101 At that
time Brunswick County covered a massive expanse, including most of southwest
Virginia. Thomas Jones sued Gideon Bunch on 2 October 1741, claiming he was
indebted for twelve pounds of good, merchantable deer leather by bill, but had
refused payment. Jones brought suit before the court of Brunswick County on 2
October 1741, but Gideon had not been properly served yet. Service was
apparently made in the next few Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 21
months, as the court ruled in Jones’s favor on 3 December 1741.
102 Twelve pounds of processed deer hide
was no small amount and probably reveals how Gideon earned much of his living.
Gideon was a defendant in Lunenburg County, Virginia, on 1 June 1747 (this time
for £1.8.6).103 Lunenburg was
created from Brunswick County in 1745. Gideon and Cage (Micajah) Bunch (his son)
were tithables in Lunenburg County in 1749.104
Gideon moved back into North Carolina soon afterwards. He
was taxed in Granville County, North Carolina, in 1750 (he was sometimes
recorded as Gibeon and is probably the Gibbe Bunch recorded in one
record).105 Gideon was taxed as a
mulatto in Orange County, North Carolina, in 1755 (with the Collins and Gibson
families).106 He was still in Orange
County in June 1756 and indebted to a man named Samuel Benton.107
Gideon Bunch had a plat for 100 acres on Four Hole Swamp,
Berkeley County, South Carolina, certified 20 January 1759.108 He had a grant of 100 acres on the north east
side of Four Hole Swamp in Berkeley County on 25 April 1765, and another 100
acres grant in Berkeley County on 17 May 1774.109
A plat for 200 acres owned by Gideon Bunch in Berkeley
County is dated 11 March 1773, and a memorial for 200 acres in St. Mathews
Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina, is dated 25 October 1774.110 Children: 1. Micajah
Bunch, born by 1726.111 2. Paul
Bunch, possibly born as
102
Brunswick County (Virginia), Order Book 2, 1741–1783, pages 41
and 64, FHL microfilm 30662.
103
Lunenburg County (Virginia), Court Orders, 1746–1748, page
209, FHL microfilm 32403.
104
Landon C. Bell, Sunlight on the Southside Lists
of Tithes Lunenburg County, Virginia (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974), page 114.
105
Timothy W. Rackley, Granville County, North Carolina
Tax Lists, 1747–1759 (Kernersville, North Carolina: by the author, 2003), page 8. Micajah
and Liddy Bunch were taxed in Granville in the household of John Stroud
(Rackley, Granville County, North Carolina
Tax, page 44).
106
Heinegg, Free African
Americans, vol. 1, page 221.
107
Weynette Parks Haun, Orange County, North Carolina
Court Minutes, 1752–1761, Book I (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1991), page 52.
108
Gideon Bunch’s petition for 100 acres on Four Hole Swamp was
recorded 5 December 1758. Brent H. Holcomb, Petitions for Land from the
South Carolina Council Journals, Volume V: 1757–1765 (Columbia, South Carolina: SCMAR, 1998), page 37. There are a number of
other Bunch entries in this volume.
109
Brent H. Holcomb, South Carolina’s Royal Grants,
Volume Two: Grant Books 10 through 17, 1760–1768 (Columbia, South Carolina: SCMAR, 2007), page 107 (citing 12:206, plat
certified 2 October 1764); also South Carolina Department of Archives and
History, Land Grants, Series S213019, Volume 0030, page 312 (17 May 1774).
110
"Gideon Bunch Plat for 200 acres in Berkly [sic] County," On-Line Records Index, South Carolina Department of
Archives and History (Online: State of South Carolina, 2011) [Series S213184, vol. 13, page
424, item 3, record 7],
http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/Thumbnails.aspx?recordId=105518;
also "Gideon Bunch Memorial for 200 acres in St. Mathews Parish, Berkly
[sic]
County," On-Line Records Index, South Carolina Department of
Archives and History (Online: State of South Carolina, 2011) [Series S111001, volume 0013,
page 00064, item 2, record 9].
111
Micajah witnessed a deed between William Lewis and Humphrey
Robinson in Chowan County on 17 February 1746/7. Weynette Parks Haun,
Chowan County, North Carolina, Deed
Books: A-1, E-1, F-1, F-2, G-1 [Deeds Dated 1701–1755], Vol. II
(Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1999), page 83. Micajah Bunch
served on a jury in Chowan County 18 January 1749/50. Weynette Parks Haun,
Chowan County, North Carolina, Court
Minutes, 1749–1754, Book III (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1992), page 15. Micajah Bunch
was taxed in Chowan County in 1746 (1 white), 1748 (2 whites and 6 blacks), 1750
(10 tithables), 1751 (8 tithables), 1753, 1765 (1 white, 5 black: Stephne, Tony,
Stephne, Murrear, Patt), 1768 (1 white, 5 black: Jeny, Doll, Stephney, Mariah,
Stephney), and 1770 (1 white, 6 black: Stepney, Stepney, Toney, Moriah, Doll,
Grace). David Barrett and Janet Searles Barrett, Chowan County, North Carolina
Tythables and Taxables, 1717 to 1770: A Compilation of 121 Tax
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 22
Lists and Records
(Elizabeth City, North Carolina: Family Research Society of
Northeastern North Carolina, 2009), pages 33, 43, 49, 63, 64, 91, 111, and 118.
The will of Micajah Bunch was proved in Chowan County (dated 6 December 1783).
He named his wife Mary, sons Micajah Bunch, Joseph Bunch, Edward Bunch, James
Bunch, Thomas Bunch, and daughters Penelope, Lydia, and Frances. Chowan
County Will Abstracts, 1707–1850 (Edenton, North Carolina: The Edenton Tea Party Chapter, Daughters of
the American Revolution, 1976), page 34 (Book B:62)
112
Frances Holloway Wynne, Wake County, North Carolina,
Abstracts of Wills, Inventories, and Settlements of Estates, 1771–1802
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Oracle Press, 1984), page 5. Paul Bunch’s will
was dated 18 December 1762 and proved 15 June 1771. He was a respectable
landowner more than 617 acres), and described himself as of Johnston County,
North Carolina, when he wrote his will (Wake County was created partly from
Johnston and Orange Counties, with a part from Cumberland County, in 1771). He
named his wife Ann, son Thompson Bunch, son David Bunch, carpenter’s and
cooper’s tools, his daughters Mary Macnatt, Anna Pace, Rachel Bunch, Sarah
Bunch, and Feroba Bunch, making his brother Micajah Bunch and James Thompson
(brother-in-law?) his executors. Paul’s inventory included books and a violin
(Wynne, page 7). "Danl." Bunch purchased land in Johnston County in January
1762. Weynette Parks Haun, Johnston County, North Carolina
Court Minutes, 1759 through 1766, Book I (Durham, North Carolina, 1974), page 43 (see also entries for Paul
Bunch on pages 49, 108, 144, and 174). Haun has made useful abstracts of many
records, but it is not uncommon to find misreadings of names in her work (which
she even cautions about in some of her prefaces). The original court minutes are
not available at the Family History Library. If "Dan’l." is actually "Dav’d" (no
Daniel Bunch is known in this period) it would indicate that Paul’s son was born
by 1741. Johnston County suffered a partial loss of records (the deed involved
does not survive). David Bunch had his mark recorded in May 1768. Weynette Parks
Haun, Johnston County, North Carolina
Court Minutes 1767 thru 1777 Book II (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1974), page 23. Thompson Bunch
appears to have joined distant relatives in Grainger County, Tennessee by 1816
when Thompson Bunch and a David Bunch were mentioned in deeds. "Grainger County,
Tennessee Deeds, Volumes C through F, Various Pages," Grainger
County Tennessee USGenWeb Archives (Online: TNGenWeb, 2012),
http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/grainger/land/land001.txt, accessed 24 May
2012. A Robert Bunch died testate in Johnston County making his will on 27
August 1787 and proved February 1788. He named his wife Mary, son Gideon and
daughter Leanath[?] Bunch. Moses Rainwater (from a family with Native-American
blood) was among the witnesses. Elizabeth E. Ross, Johnston
County, North Carolina Will Abstracts, 1746–1825, Vol. I (Clayton, North Carolina: by the author, 1975), page 2.
113
Timothy W. Rackley, Granville County, North Carolina
Tax Lists, 1760–1764 (Kernersville, North Carolina: by the author, 2004), pages 21 and 54.
Also transcribed by Paul Heinegg, "Free African Americans Taxable in Granville
County" (Online: by the author),
http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Granville.htm, accessed 24 May 2012.
114
Holcomb, South Carolina’s Royal Grants,
Volume Two,
page 90 (citing 11:712, plat certified 25 November 1764).
115
Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts,
1719–1772, Vol. IV, 1767–1773, Books I-3-E-4 (Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1984), page 10.
early as 1722, died testate in Wake County, North Carolina, in 1771 (making
his brother Micajah his executor).
112 3. William
Bunch, age 16 and more in 1761 (born before 1745), was taxed within his
father’s household in Granville County in 1761 ("Gideon Bunch [&] son
William") and 1762 ("Gibean [sic] Bunch [&] son William").113
2.
John5
Bunch
, born about 1710, was apparently an adult by 1735 when his parents
gave him half their tract and the town lot in Amelia Township, Berkeley County,
South Carolina. John had a grant of 250 acres on the Four Holes adjacent John
Oliver on 18 January 1765.114 John
Bunch, of Berkeley County, purchased 250 acres on Four Holes from William Heatly
and his wife Mary Elizabeth, on 13 and 14 August 1765. This tract bordered John
Bunch’s own land and land of John Oliver.115 John Bunch, planter, of St. Matthews Parish, purchased 150 acres from
John Oliver on the north side of Four Hole Swamp in Berkeley County on 28 and 29
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 23
December 1767.116
116
Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts,
1719–1772, Vol. IV, page 288.
117
Paul Bunch married Amy [Naomi?] Winigum on 28 April 1748 in
the church at Orangeburg[h], South Carolina. Mary, daughter of Paul and Naomi
Bunch, was born "71th" [17?] July 1750, and their daughter Elizabeth was born
"17th" April 1752, with Mary Bunch,
Joseph Joyner, and Winifred Joyner witnesses. Naomi Bunch married John Joyner
Jr. after the publication of banns on 23 December 1755. (Was this Paul’s widow
or his sister?) Gideon Bunch witnessed the baptism of Charles, son of Nathaniel
and Winifred Joyner, who was born on 27 September 1751. A.S. Salley Jr.,
The History of Orangeburg County, South
Carolina: From Its First Settlement to the Close of the Revolutionary War
(Orangeburg, South Carolina: R. Lewis Berry, 1898), pages 109, 119,
132, and 134. Paul’s (first?) wife might be the Amy Winningham born 11 August
1733 in Bristol Parish, Virginia, daughter of Thomas and Mary Winningham.
Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book and Register of
Bristol Parish, Virginia, 1720–1789 (Richmond: privately printed, 1898), page 389. Thomas Winningham sold
the land he lived on in Prince George County on 8 April 1718. Benjamin B.
Weisiger III, Prince
George County, Virginia Wills and Deeds, 1713–1728 ([Richmond]: by the author, 1973), page 27. The plat mapping out Thomas
Winningham’s 300 acres on Santee River in Amelia Township, Berkeley County, and
half acre Town lot #101 certified 2 June 1738 is now online through the
"Colonial Plat Books," South Carolina Department of
Archives and History (Online: SCDAH, 2011),
http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/Thumbnails.aspx?recordId=94975,
accessed 23 May 2012. It is curious that a number of the Bunch family in
Orangeburg were apparently Loyalists during the Revolution. Murtie June Clark,
Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the
Revolutionary War, Volume I (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981), page 203.
118
Weynette Parks Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina
County Court Minutes, 1724 thru 1739 (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1976), vol. 1, pages 60 and 64.
119
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, 1724 thru 1739,
page 68.
120
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book II,
page 15.
121
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book II,
page 26.
3.
[?] Naomi5
Bunch, born about 1720–22, married John Joyner Jr.
on 23 December 1754, both of Amelia Township, Orangeburg, South
Carolina (unless the Naomi in that record was actually widow of no. 4,
Paul5 Bunch).
4.
[?] Paul5
Bunch, born about 1720–25, married Amy [Naomi?] Winigum
on 28 April 1648 in Orangeburg, South Carolina, was described in the
register as a resident of Amelia Township.117 Some of the Gibson clan also settled in Amelia Township in 1735.
ii [
ELIZABETH]4 BUNCH, born about
1675–79, married JOHN
RUSSELL.
Children of Paul Bunch, perhaps by Fortune Holdbee:
iii [?]
KEZIAH
HOLDBEE, born about
1724, was still a minor in 1742 (so born after 1721). Captain Thomas
Bryant obtained guardianship of one of Paul Bunch’s orphans (who was "Entitled
to a considerable Estate in this Precinct…y the Will of Paul Bunch") by 13
August 1734. Bryant gave security for the same on 13 May 1734.118
Keziah Holdbee was called "a Molatto woman" on 14 May 1734
when her guardian Bryant was ordered to post £1000 security.119
Keziah Holdbee’s guardian, Mr. Dawson, was to give
security of £2000 on her estate in 1740.120 Thomas Bryant was dead by May 1742, when his executor Benjamin Bryant
pleaded to the court to allow him a sum for the expenses his father had in
caring for the orphan "Cashia Holbee, her Negro Wench," and six children for the
space of thirteen years. John Dawson, gentleman, was the guardian of Keziah
Holdbee at that time.121
iv [?]
JEMIMA
HOLDBEE, born circa 1726 (before Paul Bunch made his will) was called "orphan
of Thomas Holderby, deceased," on the second Tuesday in November 1740 when she
complained that Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 24
years ago the court had appointed Captain Thomas Bryan her guardian. Now that
she was of an age to choose (age 14), she prayed that John Edwards be appointed
in Bryant’s stead.
122
122
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book II,
page 7.
123
The given name Henry passed down in all branches of this
family so is suggested as a possible given name. There was a Henry "Birch"
listed in the 1704 quit rents of King William County, where Paul Bunch resided.
Birch, however, is normally a distinct surname not normally confused with Bunch.
124
Prince George County (Virginia), Deeds, 1713–1728, page 350,
FHL microfilm 33052. It is curious that Captain Samuel Harwood served as
security for the good behavior of George Gibson in December 1745, possibly for
failing to answer the suit of Phillis Goeing (Gowen). Paul Heinegg,
Free African
Americans, vol. 1, page 523. John Bunch was among the seven headrights claimed
by Robert Hix for land granted in Surry County on 31 October 1716. Virginia Land
Patent Book 10, page 307, FHL microfilm 29327.
125
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 76.
126
Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North
Carolina: Volume II, page 110.
127
Haun, Bertie County, North Carolina
County Court Minutes, 1724 thru 1739,
page 54.
128
Clark, The State Records of North
Carolina, vol. 22, page 240.
129
Margaret M. Hofmann, Colony of North Carolina,
1735–1764, Abstracts of Land Patents, Volume One (Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina: by the author, 1982), page 278 (no.
4014).
130
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., The Deeds of Bertie County,
North Carolina, 1757–1772 (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1992), page 20.
4 [?
HENRY]3 BUNCH, born about 1660–70 in Virginia, was apparently the father of several
of miscellaneous early Bunch settlers who went to North Carolina (those who were
not named in Paul Bunch’s will, though they were also recorded as mixed race in
later records). The following Bunches are grouped here because they cannot be
shown to definitely descend from Paul Bunch or John Bunch II.123
There was also a slave who was probably not a Bunch by
blood, but who used the name John Bunch as a ruse to pass as free. A "runaway
Malatto Man Slave, named Jack" who belonged to Samuel Harwood, the younger, of
Charles City County, was in South Carolina in April 1719 according to the
testimony of George Rives, age fifty-nine, who said he talked with Jack many
times.124 In his testimony, Rives
recounted that Jack had gone into South Carolina in the company of Mr. Robert
Hix and other traders, disguising himself by using the name John Bunch. Jack
said he would have willingly returned to his master, but he was detained by a
man named Capt. How and other traders there. Rives further testified that he
knew Harwood’s runaway slave very well because they had lived on the plantation
of Poplar Swamp, swearing deposition on 6 September 1719.
i
HENRY4 BUNCH, born about 1685–90, purchased 200 acres at the mouth of Reedy Branch
in what was Chowan Precinct (Bertie County Deed Book), North Carolina on 18
December 1727.125 He purchased three
more tracts of land on Conaritstat Swamp (totaling 640 acres) on 30 May 1729
bordering his own land.126 Henry
Bunch served on a jury on 14 May 1734.127 Henry owed rent on 515 acres in Bertie Precinct on 12 June
1735.128 Henry Bunch had a patent of
200 acres in Bertie County on 14 February 1739/40. This joined his own land and
a branch running out of Coneyruckey Swamp.129 Land Henry sold to Media White on 23 July 1740 was mentioned in
1759.130 Henry Bunch died testate in
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 25
Bertie County in 1775. His will was dated 21 April 1775 and proved August
term 1775.
131 His son Jeremiah was married about
1740, so born about 1715. Henry Bunch was therefore certainly born by 1694–99.
The yDNA of his descendants matches the Bunch DNA of the descendants of John
Bunch III. If Henry is not son of Paul3 (John2 Bunch I), then he would fit well as Paul’s
nephew. This branch seems to be darker in complexion than the John Bunch II
descendants who remained in Virginia because they were intermittently recognized
as people of color. Henry was father of at least six children:132
1. Jeremiah Bunch
[Sr.] born about 1715–20,133 will
dated 8 March 1797, Bertie County, North Carolina.134
2. Tamerson Bunch
married Thomas Bass.135 3.
Susannah Bunch
married Lazarus Summerlin. 4. Rachel Bunch
married Joseph Collins. 5. Nancy Bunch
married Isaac Bass. 6. Embrey
Bunch, born about 1730, left a will dated 20 July 1780.136
131
Laura Willis, Bertie County, N. C. Wills—Vol.
Two (May 1774–Aug. 1784) (Melber, Kentucky: Simmons Historical Publications, 2000), pages 10–11;
and David B. Gammon, Abstracts of Wills, Bertie
County, North Carolina, 1774–1797 (Raleigh, North Carolina: by the author, 1991), pages 4–5.
132
For more on these families, see Heinegg, Free
African Americans,
vol. 1, pages 220–23.
133
Jeremiah Bunch was born before 1723, as his son Jeremiah Jr.
was an adult by 1765. Jeremiah Bunch Jr. was taxed for himself in Bertie County
in 1765 (indicating he was born by 1744). A.B. Pruitt, List
of Taxables 1765–1771, Bertie County, NC (by
the author, 2009), page 3. Jeremiah Bunch Jr., the elder Jeremiah’s son,
purchased land in Bertie County in 1769. Weynette Parks Haun, Bertie
County, North Carolina County Court Minutes, 1763 through 1771 Book III
(Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1978), page 79.
134
Sandra Lee Almasy, Bertie County, North Carolina
Wills, 1797–1805 (Joliet, Illinois: Kensington Glen Publishing, 1993), page 24; and
The North Carolina Historical and
Genealogical Register (Edenton, North Carolina: J.R.B. Hathaway, 1901), vol. 2, page 328.
135
David B. Gammon, Abstracts of Wills, Bertie
County, North Carolina, 1722–1774 (Raleigh: by the author, 1990), pages 79–80.
136
Laura Willis, Bertie County, N. C. Wills—Vol.
Three (Aug. 1784–Feb. 1791) (Melber, Kentucky: Simmons Historical Publications, 2000), pages 60–1;
Gammon, Abstracts of Wills, Bertie
County, North Carolina 1774–1797,
page 42; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 2, page 328. Embrey Bunch was taxed in Bertie County in 1765. Pruitt,
List of Taxables 1765–1771, Bertie
County, pages 2 and,3.
137
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume II: Probates, Administrations, Inventories, 1677–1790 (From the Secretary
of State Papers) (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1992), Book 2, page 49; John
Anderson Brayton, Abstracts of Beaufort County,
North Carolina Deed Book 2, 1729–1748 (Memphis: John Anderson Brayton, 2011), page 82.
138
Weynette Parks Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books …Deeds Dated 1723–1759 [a few dated before & After], Vol. III
(Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 2004), page 30; Haun,
Chowan County, North Carolina, Deed
Books, Vol. II,
page 9; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 2, page 446.
139
Weynette Parks Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books: W-1, 1729–1739, C-2, 1738–1740, D, 1748–1806 and Various Earlier and
Later Dates, Vol. I (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1998), page 7; The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 2, page 611.
140
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. III,
page 47.
ii
PAUL4 BUNCH, born about 1690–95, intended to settle in Beaufort County, North
Carolina, before his death, but died in 1741.137
He was the same Paul Bunch who purchased 640 acres on
Indian Town Creek in Chowan Precinct on 31 July 1729.138
Paul Bunch sold William Mackey 640 acres on Indian Town
Creek formerly belonging to Thomas Bray on 2 April 1734.139 Mackey sold it to Joseph Anderson on 5 June
1734.140 Samuel Woodward sold Paul
Bunch 640 acres in Bertie on Chinkapin Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 26
Creek on 6 September 1735.
141 Robert Hilton and Joseph Anderson
sold John Boyd 600 acres lately in possession of Paul Bunch on 12 October
1736.142 Paul Bunch was sued by
William Badham in Chowan County in 1736.143 Paul had been a planter in Bertie County in the 1730s, but had just
arranged before his death to purchase an island in Beaufort County to be planted
with an orchard and have a house built. This was to cost £100 (by agreement
dated 10 November 1737), so Paul Bunch was well established by 1741.144 His administrator was his adult son, who was
also named Paul Bunch. This youngest Paul was certainly born by 1720, so the
father Paul Bunch must have been born some years before 1699. He could therefore
be a brother of Henry Bunch (born about 1685–90).
141
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. I,
page 14; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 3, page 128.
142
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. I,
page 18; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 1, page 111; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 3, page 126. On 31 January 1735/6, Joseph Anderson sold John Boyd of Bertie
320 acres where Paul Bunch was living (part of land patented by Colonel Thomas
Pollock and given by him to Thomas Bray on 3 March 1716 as a marriage portion).
The North Carolina Historical and
Genealogical Register,
vol. 1, page 110.
143
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book I,
pages 27, 30, and 35.
144
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume 9: Colonial Court Records–Estate Papers, 1765–1775, A-Gibson
(Lawrenceville, Virginia: by the author, 1994), pages 36–37.
145
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, vol. 1, page 13; The North Carolina Historical
and Genealogical Register,
vol. 1, page 108.
146
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, vol. 1,
page 106.
147
Barrett and Barrett, Chowan County, North Carolina
Tythables and Taxables, 1717 to 1770, pages 10, 19, and 26.
148
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
County Court Minutes, Book I,
page 39.
149
Mrs. Watson Winslow, History of Perquimans County, As
Compiled from Records Found There and Elsewhere; Abstracts of Deeds from 1681
through the Revolution…(Baltimore: Regional Publishing Company, 1974), page 125 (referring to
Deed Book D, page 83).
150
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. I,
page 116; Haun, Chowan
County, North Carolina, Court Minutes, Book III, no. 17.
151
Weynette Parks Haun, Perquimans County, North
Carolina, County Court Minutes, 1738 thru 1754, Book II (with Deeds 1735 thru
1738) (Durham, North Carolina: by the author, 1987), page 111.
152
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 168 (citing Deed Book F, page 198).
153
The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 1, page 21.
iii
JULIUS4 BUNCH, born about 1700–10, first appears in records in Chowan Precinct on 16
April 1735, when Samuel Woodward deeded him land there.145
Julius Bunch purchased 100 acres in the fork of Indian
Town Creek Swamp (where Paul Bunch had purchased land in 1729) from Thomas Muns
Jr. on 2 July 174[0].146 Julius
Bunch was taxed in Chowan County in 1739, 1741, 1742, and 1743 but not in 1746
or later lists.147 Julius served on
a jury in Chowan October session 1741 (about an assault).148 For £50, Julius Bunch of Chowan, a planter,
purchased 200 acres in Perquimans County, North Carolina, from William Elliott
on 13 December 1742 (land bordering Nathan Newby).149
Julius moved to Perquimans County by 8 October 1748, when
he sold Thomas Archibald 50 acres on Rockahock Creek.150
Julius served on a jury in Perquimans on the 3rd Monday in
October 1753.151 Julius Bunch sold
31½ acres bordering land of Thomas Newby, Thomas Elliot, and Nathan Newby to
Caleb White on 12 April 1756.152 Julius had a grant of 383 acres in Chowan County on 7 September
1761.153 He purchased 120 acres in
Perquimans adjacent his own land and that of Zachariah Nixon on 19 January Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 27
1768.
154 Julius Bunch sold Miles Elliott 106
acres near John Williamson’s on 18 February 1787, with Julius’s wife,
JOANA, releasing her dower rights. Julius Bunch gave his son "Nazatherith
[sic]
Bunch, for love and affection," land he bought from Thomas Bonner on 20
September 1788. Joshua Bunch was witness. On 24 November 1788, out of love and
affection, Julius gave his son Joshua land he purchased from Thomas Bonner by
Yeopim River. Nazareth Bunch was witness to the deed.155
This appears to have been the settling of his estate,
because he left no surviving will. Nazareth Bunch was appointed administrator of
the estate of Julius Bunch in January 1789, the widow resigning her right of
administration.156 Julius was father
of Nazareth157 and
Joshua,158 but he might also have
been father of Solomon Bunch and Julius Bunch Jr. (this assertion needs to be
confirmed from independent documentation).159
154
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 211 (referring to Deed Book H, page 4).
155
Lori Higley White, Abstracts of Deeds, Perquimans
County, North Carolina, 1785–1791 (Boise, Idaho: by the author, 1995), pages 10, 16, and 17.
156
Raymond A. Winslow Jr., "Appointments of
Administrators/Executors, 1774–1801," Perquimans County Historical
Society Yearbook, 1977 (Hertford, North Carolina: by the author, 1977), page 21.
157
Nazareth Bunch married Peneloper Mackshehi in Perquimans
County on 4 September 1779. Perquimans County, North
Carolina Marriage Bonds (Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1943), page 14.
158
Joshua Bunch died testate in Perquimans County, will dated 25
March and proved May 1796. He named wife Sarah, sons David, Joshua, and Lemual,
and daughters Rachel, Elizabeth, and Levinah. Nazareth Bunch was a witness.
Raymond A. Winslow Jr., Abstracts of Perquimans County,
North Carolina, Wills 1761–1864 (Hertford, North Carolina: by the author, 1999), page 11.
159
Julius Bunch married Joanna Stacy in Perquimans County on 27
November 1782. Solomon Bunch was bondsman. Perquimans County, North
Carolina Marriage Bonds,
page 14. Julius Bunch [Jr.] died in Chowan leaving a will dated 11 March 1789.
He named his wife Priscilla, daughters Marian, Sarah, Miriam, and Abigail, and
sons Solomon, Lamachi, and Jacob, making his wife and brother Solomon Bunch
executors. Chowan County Will Abstracts,
1707–1850, page 19 (Book A, page 73).
160
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 22.
161
The
North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 1, page 120.
162
Clark, The State Records of North
Carolina, Vol. XXII,
vol. 22, pages 325–26.
163
Barrett and Barrett, Chowan County, North Carolina
Tythables and Taxables, pages 64, 91, and 95.
164
Stephen E. Bradley Jr., Early Records of North Carolina,
Volume I: Probates, Administrations, Inventories, 1753–1790 (From the Secretary
of State Papers) (Keysville, Virginia: by the author, 1992), pages 7 and 30.
165
Winslow, History of Perquimans
County, page 220 (citing Deed Book H, page 94).
iv
JESSE4 BUNCH, born by 1708, if the report that he was taxed for 50 acres in
Perquimans County in 1729 is accurate.160 He resided in Chowan County and appears to have been closely associated
with Shadrack and Ishmael Bunch. The chronology of their descendants needs to be
studied in detail to verify whether Jesse was father of Shadrack and Ishmael or
whether he might actually be younger than predicted and belong to the next
generation. Jesse had a patent of 640 acres in Chowan in 1753 and 720 acres on
the east side of Chowan River joining land of Thomas Hubbard, William Lewis, and
Shadrack Bunch on 11 May 1757.161 Jesse Bunch, Micajah Bunch, and Ishmael Bunch fought during the French
and Indian War in a company of men from Chowan County commanded by Captain Lewis
according to a list drawn up 25 November 1754.162
Jesse was taxed in Chowan County in 1753 (as was Ishmael),
1765 and 1768.163 Ishmael Bunch died
in Chowan County in 1763. Ishmael’s administration was granted to Josiah
Small.164 Jesse Bunch purchased 100
acres in Perquimans County on Yeopim River (part of 400 acres called Sturgin’s
Point on Broad Creek that William Wyatt had purchased) from Richard Banks on 15
December 1769.165 Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 28
v
SHADRACK
BUNCH, born about 1715–25, purchased 100 acres on the easternmost side of
Rockahock Creek in Chowan (called Patchets Next) from Luke White on 25 July
1746.166 Shadrack sold 100 acres on
the east side of Rockahock Creek, Chowan County, on Paget’s Neck at the mouth of
Grindles Branch Dam to Jesse Ambross on 6 July 1756. Micajah Bunch witnessed the
deed.167 Ishmael Bunch purchased 205
acres in Chowan County from Anthony Jones on 23 March 1757 (so was born by
1736). Micajah Bunch also witnessed this deed.168
Shadrack Bunch was taxed in Chowan County in 1746, 1747,
1748, 1750, 1762, 1765, 1768, and 1770.169 Shadrack Bunch died testate in Chowan County making his will on 17
October 1786. He named his wife SARAH, sons William and Collen Bunch, and daughters Rachael Goodwin and Mary
Bunch.170
166
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. II,
page 73.
167
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. III,
page 111.
168
Haun, Chowan County, North Carolina,
Deed Books, Vol. III,
pages 111–12.
169
In 1765 Shadrack was taxed on 1 white tithe and 2 black
tithes. In 1768 Shadrack was taxed on 1 white tithe, 1 black tithe. In 1770
Shadrack was taxed on 1 white tithe and 1 black tithe. Barrett and Barrett,
Chowan County, North Carolina Tythables
and Taxables, pages 33, 38, 49, 78, 91, 95, and 120.
170
Chowan
County Will Abstracts, 1707–1850,
page 8 (Book A, page 73).
171
Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 101. All the male tithables belonging to Mr. Thomas Johnson, Mr. David
Meriwether’s Upper Quarter, and neighbors including Isaac Johnson, John Bostick,
Mr. Richard Phillips, and Samuel Knuckols were to assist in the work.
172
The Slayden surname was almost unique in Virginia at that
period. A John Slaterne was claimed as a headright of Ralph Wormsley for land on
the Pamunkey River in King and Queen County, Virginia, on 25 October 1695. He
was not listed among the 1704 quit rents of New Kent, King William, or King and
Queen Counties. John Sladden was mentioned as a landowner in St. Paul’s Parish
in the processioners’ accounts in 1711 and 1716 (District 28) and 30 March 1720
(District 27). Slayden’s Branch of Meechump’s Creek was mentioned in one of the
few surviving deeds of the period in 1734. The land is between Ashland and
Hanover County Court House. It appears that John was father of Arthur Slayden,
of New Kent County, who purchased land in Goochland County from George Hilton on
14 September 1741 on branches of Lickinghole Creek. The vestry book of St.
Peter’s Parish records the birth of Arthur’s son John on 22 February 1730/1.
C.G. Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book and Register of
St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1684–1786
(Richmond: Division of Purchase and Printing,
5
JOHN4 BUNCH
III
"Jr." (John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) of Hanover County, Virginia, born about 1680–85, and probably married
about 1705–10. It appears that John Bunch III died shortly before 14 March
1741/2 leaving a will that no longer survives. John Bunch III had already
settled on Taylor’s Creek by 2 March 1721/2 when he was ordered to help clear
the road in that area.171 He
obtained several tracts of land by patent in 1722, 1724, and 1725 on Taylor’s
Creek (see below). This land, which formed a contiguous tract, now crosses the
border between Hanover and Louisa Counties.
John Bunch III petitioned the General Court of Virginia, appealing a
minister’s decision not to allow him and his intended bride,
SARAH
SLAYDEN, to publish banns of marriage in Blisland Parish. This was a necessary
prerequisite for their intended marriage. Sarah Slayden was the daughter of a
neighboring white landowner, John Slayden, who gave his name to Slayden’s
Creek.172 Their petition reads as
follows: Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 29
Virginia State Library, 1937), page 493. Arthur fathered a large family, but
no mention of Sarah or the Bunch family was found in a search of records
relating to his life.
173
H.R. McIlwaine, Executive Journals of the
Council of Colonial Virginia, Vol. III (May 1, 1705–October 23, 1721)
(Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1928), pages 28, 30–31.
174
Hening, Statutes at
Large, vol. 3, pages 250-2.
The Petition of John Bunch and Sarah Slayden praying that the minister of
Blissland [
sic] Parish may be ordered to publish the Banns between the Pet[itione]rs
in order to their marriage, w[hic]h he hath hitherto refused on pretence of the
s[ai]d Bunch’s being a Mulatto, was read, and referred to Mr Attorney General to report his opinion whether
the Petitioners case be within the intent of the Law to prevent Negros &
White Persons intermarrying to ye next meeting of the Council.
[4 September 1705] ...Mr. Attorney Gen[era]ll reported his opinion on the
Petition of Jn
o Bunch & Sarah Slayden as
followeth[:] Upon perusal of a Petition of John Bunch & Sarah Slayden to his
Excell[en]cy Edwd Nott Esqr &c
[i.e., etc.] and upon perusal of an Act of Assembly of this Colony entitled an
Act for suppressing Outlying Slaves; I am of [the] opinion & do conceive
that ye s[ai]d Act being Penal is
Coercive or restrictive no further then the very letter
thereof, and being wholly unacquainted with the Appelations given to [the] issue
of such mixtures, cannot resolve whether the issue begotten on a White
woman by a Mulatto man can properly be called a Mulatto, that name as I conceive being only appropriated to the Child of a
Negro man begotten upon a white woman, or by a white man upon a negro woman, and
as I am told the issue of a Mulatto by or upon a white Person has another name
viz that of, Mustee; w[hi]ch if so, I conceive it wholly out of the
Letter (tho[ugh] it may be conjectured to be within [the] intent) of the
s[ai]d act, the which (as aboves[ai]d being Penal) is, as I conceive not to be
construed beyond [the] letter thereof. S. Thomson, A[ttorney] G[eneral]
Upon consideration of which Report, and that the Petition[e]rs Case is [a]
matter of Law, It is therefore ordered that the Petition of the said Bunch and
Slayden be referred till next General Court for Mr. Attorney to argue the
reasons of his opinion before his Excell[en]cy and [the] Council. The Council
adjourned till tomorrow morning 9 oclock.
173 (emphasis added)
By virtue of this marriage petition and the laws of the time, John Bunch III
was apparently the son of a white woman and a man with some degree of African
ancestry. This is what caused the legal conundrum, because John III was not
technically a mulatto; he would have been less than 1/8
th African. John Bunch may have
specifically disputed the letter of the law to the minister, which is why the
petition was brought to the court. The court’s ruling does not survive, but the
government issued a statute the next month that would define the status of John
Bunch III and what they termed mulattos for the next two centuries. As a direct
result of John Bunch’s petition, a mulatto was defined as someone who was child,
grandchild, or great-grandchild of a black or Native American.174
Returning the focus to John Bunch III, son of John Bunch II, it was known
that John III received the first of his three grants on Taylor’s Creek, Hanover
County, on 18 February 1722/3. He paid the standard 40 shillings for 400 acres.
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 30
unto John Bunch jun
r of Hanover County …lying and being on
the upper side of Tay[lors] Creek …and bounded as followeth to wit, Beginning at
a white oak on the said Creek a Little above Edward Garland’s corner on the Land
running South one hundred and ninety [190] poles to a corner of several marked
trees[,] thence south fifty seven and a half [57 ½] poles east four hundred
[400] poles to another corner of several marked trees[,] thence north one
hundred and ninety [190] poles to a [blank] on the Creek[,] thence down the
watercourses of the said Creek making upon a straight line four hundred [400]
poles to the beginning[.]175
175
Virginia Land Patent Book 11, pages 162–63, FHL microfilm
29327; also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of
Virginia, (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 11, pages 162-63,
.tif image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0666.tif and
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0667.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
176 Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 175, FHL microfilm 29327.
177
Virginia Land Patent Book 10, page 316, FHL microfilm 29327.
His tract began on the southwest side of Taylor’s Creek, ran into the woods, ran
on a branch called Elk Creek, and then along Taylor’s Creek back to the
beginning.
178
In this period, "senior" and "junior" did not mean "father"
and "son" as it usually does now, it simply meant older and younger, to
differentiate two men of the same name who lived relatively near one another. In
this case, research surmises they were differentiating between two landholders
named John Bunch, the older John Bunch being the man listed in the 1704 quit
rents of New Kent County. There is no indication that Paul Bunch’s son John
owned land in Virginia.
This tract is now where Taylor’s Creek crosses from Louisa County into
Hanover County. The grant is roughly a trapezoidal shape (with the left and
right sides running parallel north-south). The left third of the grant is now in
Louisa County, the right two-thirds in Hanover County just north of route 610
between Hopeful Church and Taylor’s Creek. The Meriwether family (Nicholas,
William, and David) were John Bunch III’s neighbors to the southeast. The
Meriwethers had obtained a huge grant of 4,185 acres on 16 June 1714 on branches
of the Pamunkey River in St. Paul’s Parish (part of New Kent County until
1720–21 when Hanover County was created). The Meriwether grant also ran along
Taylor’s Creek and bordered land of Garland, George Alves, and Captain Nathaniel
West.
176 Edward Garland received a grant of
1,513 acres in St. Paul’s Parish on 1 April 1717.177
Garland’s grant was just southeast of John Bunch’s first
grant with Meriwether beyond that (on the south side of Taylor’s Creek).
The first land patent is especially important because it explicitly
designates the John Bunch who was obtaining his first patent on Taylor’s Creek
as "junior" (which meant
younger).178 John Bunch obtained a
second patent of 400 acres on Taylor’s Creek on 2 July 1724 (one week before
Paul Bunch obtained his patent), again for 40 shillings. This grant was
immediately northwest of his first grant. The first and second patents joined,
forming a new contiguous tract. It was roughly between Taylor’s Creek and Mt.
Zion Church:
Beginning at a white oak of John Bunch’s on the South side of the Creek,
running up the creek by the watercourses making in a Straight Line One Hundred
Thirty Eight [138] poles[,] Thence North Forty Eight [48] [degrees] West One
Hundred and Ten
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 31
[110] poles to several [saplings?] Thence South Forty One [41] [degrees] West
Two Hundred and Ten [210] poles to several marked Trees Thence South Fifty seven
[57] [degrees] East Four Hundred and Fifty [450] poles to several marked Trees
in
John Bunches Line Thence along
his Line North One Hundred and Sixty [160] poles to the Beginning.179
179
Virginia Land Patent Book 11, page 343, FHL microfilm 29327;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 11, page 343, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/010-2/010_0849.tif, accessed 28
May 2012.
180
Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page 244, FHL microfilm 29328;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 12, page 244, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/011-1/011_0268.tif, accessed 28
May 2012.
181 Virginia Land Patent Book 15, page 1, FHL microfilm 29331.
182
Thomas Henderson’s patent dated 25 August 1731 of 400 acres
stated that his neighbors were Matthew Sims, George Alves, John Michie (Mickie),
Colonel Thomas Jones, Mr. James Whitlock, and John Bunch. Virginia Land Patent
Book 14, page 233, FHL microfilm 29330. James Whitlock also owned land next to
Paul Bunch according to the 17 November 1711 list of processioners in St. Paul’s
Parish. Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Paul’s
Parish, 1706–1786,
page 228. Whitlock did not obtain any patents in Hanover or Louisa Counties, so
purchased his land.
This wording that this second grant joined "his" first patent indicates it is
the same John Bunch obtaining both tracts. He expanded this land with a third
grant on 17 August 1725, another 400 acres for 40 shillings. This tract wrapped
around his first grant, approximately two-thirds on the south of his first grant
and about one-third of the new grant abutting the first grant on the east.
Beginning at a White Oak of
John
Bunch’s line on
the south side of Taylor’s Creek Run[n]ing down the same by the watercourses
making in a straight Line Sixty Four [64] poles to an elm of Garland’s [line] by
the Mouth of a Branch Thence up the Branch being Garland’s Line south Twenty
[20] [degrees] West One Hundred Ninety six [196] poles to Matthew Sims’s Corner
White Oak in Meriwethers Line Thence along the said Sims’s Line North Eight Two
[82] [degrees] west at Two Hundred Eighty Four [284] poles [to] his [Matthew
Sims’s] several marked Trees by Tarepin Swamp Thence continued [along] the
[water]Course North Eighty Two [82] [degrees] west Two Hundred and [blot]teen
[21_] poles to a Corner of several marked Trees Thence North Fourteen [14]
[degrees] East Two Hundred Forty Eight [248] poles to John
Bunch’s former back Corner of
several marked Trees Thence along his Back line
North Fifty seven and half [57½] [degrees] West Four Hundred [400]
poles to his corner
Black Oak Thence south One Hundred and Ninety [190] poles to the
Beginning.180 (emphasis added)
It appears that the territory to the west of these three patents remained
virgin land for another decade. Colonel Thomas Jones (of Williamsburg) obtained
a patent of 6,690 acres on both sides of Taylor’s Creek on 9 October 1732,
including 325 acres John Bunch sold to Edward Chambers, who sold it to
Jones.
181 Thomas Henderson obtained a grant
southwest of John Bunch near the head of Terrapin Swamp,182 with John Mickie and George Alves as
neighbors, Matthew Sims Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15,
2012 32
owning two tracts on the south of John Bunch’s lands. Folly Creek (Maidlines
Folly Creek) was northwest.
John Bunch was granted 400 acres in the western part of what is Louisa
County, Virginia, on 28 September 1728. He paid 40 shillings for 400 acres of
new land:183
183
Virginia Land Patent Book 14, page 3, FHL microfilm 29330;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 14, page 3, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/011-2/011_0575.tif, accessed 23
May 2012. John Bunch, Captain Hudson, and Colonel Meriwether’s land on Camp
Creek was mentioned in a grant of 5,000 acres to Henry Power, William Kenney,
and William Morris on 14 December 1726. H.R. McIlwaine, Executive
Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, Vol. IV (October 25, 1721–October
28, 1739) (Richmond: The State Library, 1930), page 222.
184
Charles Hudson was granted 2,000 acres on both sides of
Hudson’s Creek and the south side of the South Anna River on 16 June 1727.
Virginia Land Patent Book 13, page 97, FHL microfilm 29329. This tract was
described as beginning at John Bunch’s corner and running along his line to
Bunch’s corner on the South Anna River, up the river, along various meets and
bounds back to Hudson’s Creek, crossing the creek to the beginning. Hudson
obtained three other grants in Louisa County between 1732 and 1745.
185
Alice Crandall Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West with Allied Families (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1975), page 208.
on both sides [of] the South Anna [River] joining to Col. Meriwethers line in
the County of Hanover.…eginning on the North side [of] the South Anna opposite
to Col
o Meriwethers Corner two
Birches[,]Running North five [5] [degrees] East one hundred and thirty [130]
poles to several marked Trees[,] Thence North twenty seven [27] [degrees] West
one hundred seventy three [173] poles to a Sweet Gum on the [South Anna]
River[,] Thence across the same West one hundred and seventy six [176] poles to
Several Marked Trees[,] Thence South two hundred and eighty [280] poles to
several markes Trees in Meriwethers line at two hundred and nineteen [219]
Hudsons Creek[,] Thence East at twenty [20] [degrees] Hudsons Creek in all two
hundred and forty [240] poles along Meriwethers line Corner two Birches and
across the River to the Beginning.
Many of the same neighbors who had lived near John Bunch III and Paul Bunch
in Hanover County, Virginia also moved to this new region in what is now the
southwestern corner of Louisa County. Charles Hudson was the principal grantor
and may have influenced others to follow.
184 John Smething patented three tracts
north and east of John Bunch. Michael Holland patented a tract to the east, and
Charles Norman south and west.
The name of John Bunch III’s wife is not certain. It appears that his son
David’s mother was named
REBECCA, and she might be the mother of all of John III’s children if he did
not end up marrying Sarah Slayden as his first wife. The death of Rebecca Bunch
is given in the family Bible immediately preceding David’s own birth record, but
she is not specifically stated to be his mother. Online accounts make guesses at
a surname for her, but no evidence of her surname has been uncovered. Rebecca
Bunch died 16 March 1770.185
Rebecca Bunch patented 400 acres on 15 March 1741/2 in what was then
Goochland County, Virginia (west of Louisa County), with the tract traversing
both sides of Ivy Creek on the county
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 33
line.
186 Robert Lewis, gentleman, and Michael
Holland were neighbors.187 This part
of Goochland County was later added to Albemarle County. Rebecca was therefore a
widow by 1742, acting in her own right just after John Bunch III died. Naming
patterns may also support the relationship, since Samuel Bunch named his eldest
daughter Rebecca. Rebecca Bunch’s land on Ivy Creek was again mentioned in 1766,
but at some point before her death in 1770, she had sold it to Alexander
McKey.188
186
Virginia Land Patent Book 20, page 241; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 20, page 241, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/018/018_0257.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. Rebecca Bunch’s land on Ivy Creek was mentioned in 1766. Ruth and Sam
Sparacio, Albemarle County, Virginia
Deeds, 1761–1764 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1989), vol. 4, page 80.
187
Rebecca’s land was mentioned in a patent of 300 acres by Jacob
Sneed (on both sides of Ivy Creek in Albemarle County) on 10 March 1756 adjacent
his own land and lands owned by [Robert] Lewis, Rebecca Bunch, and Michael
Holland.
188
Rebecca Bunch’s land on Ivy Creek was mentioned in 1766.
Sparacio, Albemarle County, Virginia
Deeds, 1761–1764,
vol. 4, page 81; Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Albemarle County, Virginia
Deeds, 1778–1780 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1997), vol. 8, page 97. The land is
in the central part of Albemarle County.
189 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm 32201.
190
Rosalie Edith Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785 (Bellevue, Washington: Heritage Trails, 1981), page 16.
191 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Books Book: D1/2, pages 432 and 433, FHL
microfilm 32202.
Children of John
4 Bunch III, wife not known (perhaps
Rebecca):
i
JOHN5 BUNCH, born about 1708, died shortly before 13 January 1777, when his will
was proved. John does not appear to have ever married. William Bunch and Henry
Bunch sold John Bunch their rights in 120 acres in Fredericksville Parish, 60
acres from William Bunch and 60 acres from Henry Bunch, for £15 (£7 10s to
William Bunch and £7 10s to Henry Bunch) on 14 March 1742/3. The 120 acres was
part of a survey of 400 acres patented by John Bunch, deceased, who by last will
and testament left 100 acres of land including the plantation unto his son John
Bunch ("this purchaser"), with the remainder bequeathed to be equally divided
between William Bunch, Henry Bunch, David Bunch, and James Bunch, also John
Bunch’s sons. The deed was acknowledged in court on 14 March 1742/3.189 This deed indicates that John Bunch was the
eldest son, receiving the larger portion including the plantation house
representing his family’s homestead. Note that there is an error since Samuel
was omitted by the scribe. The 400 acres, minus 100 acres, equals 300 acres, and
that divided equally represents the 60-acre parcels received by each son (since
William and Henry were selling their 60-acre part). William, Henry, David, and
James Bunch only represent 240 of the 300 acres (thus, Samuel represents the
other 60 acres). Since there was only one David Bunch in Virginia at this
period, the man born in 1722, who was brother of Samuel (and John called Samuel
his brother in his will), it is clear that Samuel Bunch was brother of William,
Henry, David, James, and John Bunch, all being sons of a John Bunch who died
testate before 1742 (if A=B, and B=C, then A=C).
John Bunch was listed among the tithables of Trinity Parish in Louisa County
in 1768, taxed for himself, James Meredith (his nephew?), and a slave named
Abram.
190 John Bunch sold Joseph Bunch
twenty-two acres between the South Anna River and Hudson’s Creek adjacent land
of Charles Moorman and James Bunch for £16 4s on 11 January 1773. That same day,
for £178, he sold James Bunch 182 acres on the south side of the South Anna
River adjacent to the river and to land of Hudson, Joseph Bunch, and James
Watson.191 Obama Bunch Descendancy
July 15, 2012 34
John Bunch, of Louisa County, made his will on 8 June 1774.
192 He gave his sister Lucretia Meredith
£15. He gave £10 to Nanny Bunch, daughter of William Bunch. John left the
remainder of his estate to be equally divided between "my three brothers"
Samuel, David, and James Bunch and appointed his three brothers Samuel, David,
and James Bunch administrators. Charles Moorman, George Bibb, and Micajah Davis
were witnesses. The will was recorded 13 January 1777. John Bunch’s estate was
appraised at £27.10.10 on 12 April 1777.193
192 Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, page 243, FHL microfilm 32192.
193 Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, page 278, FHL microfilm 32192.
194
Henry settled in Bedford County, Virginia, by 1754. Charles
Bunch of Bedford County, who appears to be Henry’s son, was an adult by 1752, so
born by 1731 (no other candidate has been found who could be Charles’s father).
Henry Bunch witnessed a power of attorney in Hanover County with Nicholas
Meriwether and Edward Nix (close neighbors of John Bunch II and Paul Bunch in
Hanover County) on 21 June 1734, which would indicate Henry was at least age
sixteen at that time, or born by 1718.
195
Rosalie Edith Davis, Hanover County, Virginia Court
Records, 1733–1735: Deeds, Wills and Inventories (Manchester, Missouri: by the author, 1979), page 91.
196
Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm
32201. This was also noted in the Order Book. Ruth and Sam Sparacio,
Order Book Abstracts of Louisa County,
Virginia, 1742–1744 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1999), page 10.
197
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
page 11. Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 1999), page 2.
198
Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers:
Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants—Volume Five: 1741–1749
(Richmond: Virginia Genealogical Society, 1994), page 100.
199
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 28, page 292, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-3/094/094_0306.tif, accessed 23
March 2012.
200
Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers, Volume
Five, page 327; "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library
of Virginia (Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 30, pages 503, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/028/028_0512.tif and
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/028/028_0513.tif, accessed 23 May 2012.
201
Nathaniel Mason Pawlett, Historic Roads of Virginia:
Louisa County Road Orders, 1742–1748 (Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Highway and Transportation
Research Council, 1975), pages 5, 18, and 19.
ii
HENRY5 BUNCH, born about 1709–12,194 served as witness with Edward Nix, Valentine Nix, and Nicholas
Meriwether in a deed (of lease and release) dated 20–21 June 1734 from John
Dowell to Samuel Dolton (400 acres along Robert Anderson’s land), as well as the
widow’s dower.195 Henry Bunch joined
his brother William in selling their rights in their father John’s land on 14
March 1742/3.196 Henry was appointed
overseer of the road under construction from Coursey’s Road up to Rocky
Creek.197 Joseph Martin (the father
of General Joseph Martin, who would move from Albemarle County to Henry County,
Virginia, as did James Meredith and his nephews, Martin and David Bunch)
patented 500 acres in Louisa County on both sides of Rocky Creek adjacent land
of Henry Bunch, James Meredith, and William Keaton.198
William Keaton patented 331 acres on Rocky Creek on 12
January 1746/7 on both sides of the south fork of Rocky Creek bordering Henry
Bunch.199 Henry’s land was again
mentioned in Mosias Jones’s patent for 290 acres in Fredericksville Parish,
Louisa County, on branches of South Fork of Rocky Creek under the foot of the
Ragged Mountain on a spur of a mountain, and mentioned again on 24 October
1752.200 On 27 May 1746, Henry made
a report on the building of a road.201 Henry
Bunch settled in Bedford County, Virginia, by 1754, but eventually died
intestate. He is believed to be father of the various Bunches who attained Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 35
majority in Bedford County in the next generation.202
202
Henry Bunch is presumed to be father of eight sons, Zachariah
(adult by 1770), Joseph (adult by 1782), Richard (adult by 1783), Winston,
George (born ca. 1766), Calloway (born about 1769), James (born ca. 1771), and
Charles Bunch (born by 1752). All initially lived in Bedford County, Virginia, but by
various routes had relocated to Mercer County, Kentucky (before moving on),
where Charles Bunch, David, Richard, Joseph, and Calloway Bunch were taxed in
1795. See also Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, pages 211–14 and 225–27.
203 Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, page 243, FHL microfilm 32192.
204
Virginia Land Patent Book 18, page 242; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 18, page 242, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/016/016_0260.tif, accessed 23 May
2012.
205
Virginia Land Patent Book 20, page 1; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 20, page 1, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/018/018_0013.tif , accessed 23
May 2012.
206 Virginia Land Patent Book 22, page 372, FHL microfilm 29338.
207 Virginia Land Patent Book 18, page 527, FHL microfilm 29334.
208 There was another James Meredith in Goochland County who should not be
confused with this man.
209
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
page 22.
210
Rosalie Edith Davis, Louisa County, Virginia Deed
Books A and B, 1742–1759 (Bellevue, Washington: by the author, 1976), page 6.
211
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Deed Abstracts of Albemarle
County, Virginia: Deed Book No. 4, 9 August 1764–12 August 1768
(McLean, Virginia: by the authors, 1989), page 81.
212
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Deed Abstracts of Albemarle
County, Virginia: Deed Book 3, 12 February 1761–9 August 1764
(McLean, Virginia: by the authors, 1988), page 98.
iii
NANCY5 BUNCH, born about 1712, was still unmarried and alive in 1777 when mentioned
in her brother John’s will.
iv
LUCRETIA5 BUNCH, born about 1715, married JAMES
MEREDITH and was mentioned in her brother John’s will in 1777.203
James Meredith received a grant of 350 acres on 26 March
1739. The tract was by the Goochland Road, Charles Moorman’s line, Randolph
Bobbitt’s, and crossed over the road.204 He received a grant of 400 acres on 15 October 1741 on both sides of
the North Fork of Rocky Creek and bordering Joseph Keaton, thus becoming a
neighbor of Henry Bunch.205 Louisa
County, Virginia was created from Hanover County in 1742, so one of his tracts
fell into that jurisdiction. Charles Hudson patented 400 acres bordering that
tract on 1 August 1745206 It was
next to what is now the Louisa–Fluvanna County line. Secretary John Carter
patented 1,350 acres on the head branches of Byrd Creek adjacent to Meredith and
Hudson’s tracts on 12 March 1739/40, but that land was then in Goochland
County.207 Albemarle County,
Virginia was created from Goochland County in 1744,208
with part of Louisa added in 1761. James Meredith’s other
tract fell into that jurisdiction. James Meredith occurs frequently in records
of both Louisa and Albemarle Counties. This article will only highlight the
events involving his wife, LUCRETIA
BUNCH. Lucretia relinquished her dower rights on 13 June 1742 for a tract
sold to John Goodall, having been privily examined.209
This was the 400 acres in the 1741 patent in
Fredericksville Parish between two ridges of mountains. David Mills and William
Bunch witnessed the deed.210 James
Meredith and his wife Lucretia, residents of Albemarle County, sold 100 acres in
Albemarle to Thomas Walker on 4 October 1766. Both signed with
marks.211
It appears that James and Lucretia had at least one child, named Bradley
Meredith, who witnessed a deed from David Mills to James Meredith on 6 [blank]
1764 (recorded 8 March 1764).
212 This was Obama Bunch Descendancy
July 15, 2012 36
100 acres on David Mills’s line. Lucretia’s death date is unknown. It appears
that James Meredith moved with his nephews, Martin and David Bunch (sons of
William), to Henry County, Virginia.
213 James Meredith was granted 200 acres
in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, on a branch of Orvin River adjacent Randolph
and Company on 1 March 1773.214 James and Lucretia might have also been parents of a son named James
who occurs as "Junior Meredith" in some records of Henry County (the younger
James Meredith living in the household of John Bunch in Louisa County in 1768).
Bradley Meredith purchased land in Henry County before 1784.215
Martin and David Bunch witnessed a deed from James
Meredith of Henry County to John Rowland on 12 April 1790, and James Meredith
sold David Bunch 68 acres on branches of Leatherwood Creek on 28 February 1791
(Martin Bunch witnessing).216 James
Meredith Sr. and James Meredith (following immediately after him) took the oath
of allegiance in Henry County, as did Martin and David Bunch.217
Bradley Bunch refused.218
213
We have not investigated this in-depth because it is
tangential to our quest. A David Meredith also lived in Louisa County in the
same vicinity as James Meredith between 1767–70. Davis, Louisa
County, Virginia Tithables and Census, 1743–1785, pages 10, 17, and 24 (David); pages 10, 16, 28, 36, 56, 62, and 72
(James).
214
Dennis Ray Hudgins, Cavaliers and Pioneers:
Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, Volume Seven: 1762–1776
(Richmond: Virginia Genealogical Society, 1999), page 305.
215
Lela C. Adams, Abstracts of Henry County,
Virginia Deed Books I and II (Bassett, Virginia: by the author, 1975), page 141.
216
Lela C. Adams, Abstracts of Henry County,
Virginia Deed Books III and IV (Bassett, Virginia: by the author, 1978), pages 108, 109, and 136.
217
Judith Parks America Hill, A History of Henry County,
Virginia with Biographical Sketches of its Most Prominent Citizens and
Genealogical Histories (Martinsville, Virginia: by the author, 1925), pages 304 and 307.
218
C.B. Bryant, "Henry County: From Its Formation in 1776 to the
End of the Eighteenth Century," Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography 9
(1902), pages 12-13. "James Meredith, senr" and "Juner Meredith" were mentioned and Martin Bunch with Bradley
Meredith refused to sign on 7 October 1777.
219
Ann K. Bloomquist, Goochland County, Virginia Court
Order Book 1731–1735 (Westminster, Maryland: Heritage Books, 2006), page 23.
220
Virginia Patent Book 18, page 175; also available online,
"Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants," Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 18, page 175, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/016/016_0193.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. William Bell, of Orange County, sold 200 acres of the 1738 patent by
William Bunch to William Davis of Louisa County on 26 June 1753 (Davis was
living on the land). Davis, Louisa County, Virginia Deed
Books A and B, 1742–1759,
page 87 (see also page 111).
221
Ann Brush Miller, Orange County Road Orders,
1734–1749 (Charlottesville: Virginia Highway and Transportation Research Council,
1984), 41, others in the list including James Merrideth, James Keaton, and
Joseph Keaton.
222
Barbara Vines Little, Orange County Tithables,
1734–1782, Part One (n.p: by the author, 1988), page 15.
223
Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm
32201. This was also noted in Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
page 10.
v
WILLIAM5 BUNCH, born about 1718, was paid the bounty for two wolves’ heads (as was
John Bunch, William’s father or eldest brother) by the Goochland County Court on
17 November 1731.219 William Bunch
received a patent for 400 acres in what was then Hanover County, Virginia, and
adjoining land of George Webb on 1 February 1738/9.220
William was part of the gang ordered to clear the road
from the county line to Buffalo Meadow on 25 October 1739.221 William was taxed as a tithable in Orange
County, Virginia, in 1739 (as was James Meredith and James and Joseph
Keaton).222 On 14 March 1742/3,
William Bunch joined with his brother Henry in selling their eldest brother John
their part of land bequeathed them by their father in his last will and
testament.223 David Bunch’s family
Bible Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 37
indicated that William was father of a daughter named Nancy [Anna] Bunch,
born 18 September 1755.
224 William’s son Martin Bunch was
apprenticed as a carpenter on 10 October 1768.225
It appears that William also had a son named David Bunch,
who with Martin Bunch, renounced allegiance to Britain as residents of Henry
County, Virginia, in 1777, so he was probably born by 1756.226 A third son is also sometimes credited to
William; a son named Winslow Bunch, who was a resident of Albemarle County when
he married Celia Tudor there on 16 May 1783.227
FEEBEE ("Feabea") Bunch witnessed the will of Gilbert Gibson of Louisa County
on 7 June 1760.228 The entry for the
birth of Nancy Bunch in 1755 listed Feebee as William’s wife and Nancy’s mother.
224
David Bunch’s Bible records the birth of Anna, daughter of
William and Febee Bunch, on that date. Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 208.
225
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1768–1769 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 2001), page 74.
226
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 221, and sources cited therein. David Bunch apparently moved on
to Grainger County, Tennessee. See references to Martin and David Bunch under
the account of their uncle James Meredith in this article.
227
Evelyn Dollens, "Hudson Martin’s Register of Albemarle
Marriages, 1781–1785," Papers of the Albemarle County
Historical Society 6
(1946), page 57. Martin Bunch and Winslow Bunch were taxed (next to each other)
in Albemarle County in 1782. "Personal Property Tax List of Albemarle County,
1782," Papers of the Albemarle County
Historical Society 5
(1945), page 49.
228
Nancy Chappelear and Kate Binford Hatch, Abstracts
of Louisa County, Virginia Wills and Estates (Washington, DC: by the authors, 1964), page 14 (citing Will Book 1,
page 78). David Bunch was one of the purchasers at the estate sale (page 19). On
2 May 1767, Gilbert Gibson, age 53 (born circa 1714), swore that years ago he,
his father, and his brother George Gibson "went over some land." Gilbert Gibson
said to his son George that he would give him 200 acres on Halfway Branch.
George built a tobacco house, cleared land, and built a house on land he rented
from Captain Hudson and married. George paid his father quit rents on his land
for 15 to 20 years. Gibson Jones of South Carolina, late of Virginia, testified
that he was living with Gilbert Gibson in Louisa County in August 1758, that
Gibson was "privately removing himself to Carolina" with all his goods but was
overtaken by the sheriff about a quarter of a mile from his house. Gibson paid
the sheriff £10 to discharge a debt. Janice Luck Abercrombie, "Abstracts of
Louisa County Judgment Papers," The Louisa County Historical
Magazine 21 (1990), page 39.
229
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 208. David Bunch’s will was abstracted by Malcolm H. Harris,
"Early Quaker Families in Louisa," The Louisa County Historical
Magazine, 11 (1979), pages 7–24; and Chappelear and Hatch, Abstracts
of Louisa County, Virginia Wills and Estates, pages 46–47.
230
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 208.
6 vi
SAMUEL5 BUNCH, born about 1720 (see below).
vii
DAVID5 BUNCH, born 24 June 1722, died testate in Louisa County on 18 April
1776.229 His birth date is given on
a page of a family Bible passed down among descendants.230
David married MARY
"POLLY," born 29 August 1729, died 4 May 1807, by whom he was father of
eleven children, Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 38
including a son named Paul Bunch.
231 David Bunch witnessed a deed between
Jonas Lawson and John Bostick for land in Goochland County on 16 August
1737.232
231
The children are listed as John (born 1747), Joseph (born
1749), Pouncey (born 1750/1), William (born 30 November 1752—he moved to
Guilford County, North Carolina, so should not be confused with the other Bunch
family), Jane (born 9 December 1754), Mary (born 10 March 1757), David (born
1759, died 1835), Lucretia (born 7 January 1761), Anthony (born 19 November
1762), Thomas (born 17 February 1765), Nathaniel (born 25 July 1767), Winnie
(born 20 December 1769), and Paul Bunch (born 28 May 1772). Park,
Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, pages 214–17.
232
Benjamin B. Weisiger III, Goochland County, Virginia Wills
and Deeds, 1736–1742 ([Richmond]: by the author, [n.d.]), page 7.
233
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia Deed
Books A and B, 1742–1759,
page 49.
234
H.R. McIlwaine, ed., Journals of the House of
Burgesses of Virginia, 1752–1755, 1756–1758 (Richmond: Colonial Press E. Waddey Co., 1909), page 446. Hening’s
Statutes, vol. 7, page 130.
235
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
pages 10 and 17 (and see pages 21, 23, 35, 39, and 90).
236
Rosalie E. Davis, Fredericksville Parish Vestry
Book, 1742–1787 (Manchester, Missouri: Heritage Trails, 1981), vol. 2, page 29.
237 Bedford County (Virginia), Deed Book 8, page 107, FHL microfilm 1940989.
238
Bedford County (Virginia), Will Book 1, pages 370–5, FHL
microfilm 1941022. For further information on James’s children, see Park,
Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, pages 217–20.
viii
JAMES5 BUNCH, born about 1724–25 (definitely before 1728), purchased 208 acres
adjacent land to Charles Moorman and Bunch in 1749.233
He inherited 60 acres in his father’s will, making his
total holding 268 acres. On 2 May 1757, James Bunch made a claim on 315 pounds
of tobacco he had at Crutchfield’s Warehouse that went up in flames.234 James Bunch was listed as a tithable in
Trinity Parish (south side of South Anna River) in April 1767 (taxed for
himself, Joseph Goin, and slaves named Harry and Bett), and again in 1768 (this
time only for himself, Harry, and Bett, and 268 acres).235
Agnes Going had apprenticed her son Joseph and daughter
Sarah Going to James Bunch on 28 November 1759.236
James Bunch, like his brother Samuel, joined the Quaker
faith and settled in Bedford County (moving there from Louisa County). James
Bunch purchased 465 acres on the North Fork in Goose Creek in 1788.237
James Bunch died testate in 1802, making his will on 27 April
1795.
238 James stated that he had already
given his daughter Elizabeth Bunch 60 acres in Louisa County and also left her a
bed, a cow, and a calf. James gave his daughter Sukey Coil 120 acres on his back
line, having already given her a bed, cow and calf. James stated that he had
already given his daughter Sally Scott six cattle, a horse, a saddle, and a
feather bed before she removed to Kentucky. James gave his daughter Martha
Harris 100 acres adjoining William Vannerson (and had already given her a cow,
calf, and feather bed). He gave his daughter Priscilla Scott 120 acres on his
back lines (he had already given her a cow, calf, and feather bed). James
confirmed the gifts he had already given his daughter Margery Harris, 130 acres
adjacent his own land, a cow, calf, and feather bed. He gave his daughter Molly
Gentry 100 acres adjoining his own land and the tract he gave Margery Harris
(and had already given her a cow, calf, and feather bed). James gave his
daughter Nancy Bunch his Negro girl named Betty, the horse and saddle Nancy was
using, a cow, a calf, and a feather bed. James made his son James Bunch his
chief legatee, leaving him the rest of his land after the decease of his wife
MARY Bunch, along with his Negro woman named Sylvia. James specifically
praised his son as being industrious and dutiful to him in his old age, leaving
him three horses as a token of his affection. The testator left the residue of
his land to his wife, Mary, for life and then to his son James. The residue of
his estate was to be divided equally between his children, except that James was
to receive an extra share and Molly Gentry was to get an additional £10 (the
testator explained that he had accidentally caused her to lose one of her Obama
Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 39
fingers). He also mentioned his minor grandchild Walter Bunch. James executed
a codicil on 2 February 1798. The will was proved 27 September 1802.
6
SAMUEL5 BUNCH
(John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) of Louisa County, Virginia, was born about 1720 and presented a
wolf’s head for bounty to the county court on 13 November 1744.239 On 24 June 1745, Samuel Bunch was included in
a list of Louisa County residents who were accused of concealing tithables and
ordered to answer the presentment of a grand jury. Most of the other men on the
list were from families of mixed race.240 Samuel Bunch and Thomas Collins were summoned to testify against
William Hall and George Gibson (two of the men who were accused of concealing
tithables) but failed to appear before the Louisa County court in June 1746 and
were to be fined 350 pounds of tobacco unless they showed just cause. The fine,
however, was remitted in the next session.241
239
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1742–1744,
Book 1, page 100.
240
Louisa County (Virginia), Order Book 1742–1748, page 157, FHL
microfilm 32218. William Hall, Samuel Collins, William Collins, Samuel Bunch,
George Gibson, Benjamin Brannum, Thomas Gibson, and William Donathan pleaded not
guilty. Paul Heinegg intelligently queried whether this might represent wives
who were mixed race but not reported as tithable. But if this is the case it
would mean Samuel Bunch married before his union with Mary Hudson, against
Virginia statute. It may be the case in Samuel’s instance that he actually
possessed a slave.
241
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747,
pages 68 and 69.
242
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747,
page 27.
243
William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker
Genealogy (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973), vol. 6, page 285; Mary
Marshall Brewer, Quaker
Records of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting, Virginia, 1739–1793
(Lewes, Delaware: Colonial Roots, 2002), page 102.
244
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, pages 56, 106, 107, 118, etc; Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker
Genealogy, vol. 6, page 285.
245
John Hudson was dead by January 1733, when his widow,
Elizabeth, was granted administration on his estate, William Harris and Daniel
Patrick her sureties. F.M. Hudson, "Hudsons of Hanover and Some of their
Descendants," Genealogies
of Virginia Families from Tyler’s Quarterly Historical Magazine
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981), vol. 2, pages 252–62. A
descendant wrote in 1813 that her grandfather John Hudson was an Englishman and
that he and his brother Charles lived and died in Hanover County. John married
Elizabeth Harris, and they had eight sons: George, Christopher, John, William,
Charles (the writer’s father), David, Cuthbert, and Thomas. Elizabeth Harris was
still living at Hanover Town in 1770 when the granddaughter visited her. John
and Charles Hudson’s land was processioned by Christopher Hudson on 10 October
1719. A deed dated 5 May 1735 mentions land belonging to the late John Hudson in
Hanover County on Mechumps Creek (placing it in
Samuel Bunch served on a grand jury on 28 May 1745, hearing the case of a man
accused of declaring that the church was the work of the devil and those that
"join their faith in it" are damned.
242 In light of this it is almost ironic
that Samuel Bunch and his family (indicating he was then married) were received
into membership by the Friends at Camp Creek Monthly Meeting on 16 July
1748.243 Samuel Bunch and his wife
Mary served on a number of committees in the local monthly meeting beginning in
1752.244
M
ARY
HUDSON
, Samuel Bunch’s wife, belonged to a prominent family who owned large
tracts of land in that area. Mary was the daughter of John Hudson (who died in
Hanover County on 11 April 1732) by his wife Elizabeth Harris.245
John Hudson was son of the English Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 40
the immediate vicinity of Slayden Creek). John Hudson patented 400 acres in
Hanover on 24 March 1725/6, selling 100 acres to John Ragland. The tract
bordered Alves Creek. Virginia Land Patent Book 12, page 404, FHL microfilm
29328. The land was near patents by Charles Hudson, David Gwynn (Gwin/Guin),
Richard Harris, Michael Holland, John Ragland, George Vaughan, Daniel Mackgirt,
and others. It was a bit northwest of the patents by Paul Bunch and Gilbert
Gibson. John Hudson also patented 400 acres on both sides of Thomas Harris’s
corner and Harris’s Fork of Cubb Creek on 24 March 1725/6, this tract lying in
what would become the southeast section of Louisa County. Virginia Land Patent
Book 12, page 354, FHL microfilm 29328.
246
Hudson, Genealogies of Virginia Families
from Tyler’s Quarterly,
vol. 2, pages 252–62.
247 Virginia Land Patent Book 13, page 97, FHL microfilm 29329.
248
Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1744–1747,
page 82.
249
Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Order Book Abstracts of Louisa
County, Virginia, 1766–1772 (McLean, Virginia: Antient Press, 2001), page 57.
250 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book B, page 283, FHL microfilm 32201.
George Holland, John Moore, Mary Holland, Charles Moorman, and Mumford Robinson
witnessed the deed.
251 Louisa County (Virginia), Deed Book A, page 48, FHL microfilm 32201.
immigrant William Hudson (died 27 November 1701).
246 Mary’s uncle Captain Charles Hudson
speculated widely in land, obtaining patents on thousands of acres in the
region. Charles Hudson patented 2,000 acres in Louisa County on both sides of
Hudson’s Creek (South Anna River) on 16 June 1727 bordering John Bunch’s land
and the South Anna River.247 It
appears that Samuel Bunch’s son Charles was named after Charles Hudson.
Samuel Bunch was paid for turning in two young wolves’ heads to the Louisa
County court on 25 November 1746.
248 Samuel had killed a wolf in 1742 and
on 19 October 1769 presented to the court a certificate for killing five young
wolves.249
Samuel Bunch purchased twenty-five acres from William Hudson on 23 February
1758 for £6. This tract bordered
Samuel’s
own land on the south side of the river by Bunch’s Spring.250 Samuel Bunch inherited 60 acres from his
father according to the terms of John Bunch’s last will and testament (now
lost). When William and Henry Bunch sold their brother John Bunch their two
60-acre portions on 14 March 1742[/3], the deed recorded that they were parts of
a 400 acre survey patented by John Bunch (their father), deceased, who by his
last will and testament left 100 acres to his (eldest) son, John.251 There is clearly a clerical error in this
deed (a scribe’s eye skipping between two instances of the word "son"). John
Bunch had been bequeathed 100 acres (forty extra acres presumably as eldest son
and heir), leaving 300 acres to be divided amongst the other sons. William and
Henry sold John their 60-acre parts, and David and James are also mentioned, but
that still left sixty acres wanting. The name Samuel was omitted from the
version of the deed recorded in the surviving register, but his 60-acre portion
is necessary to complete the last part of the 400 acres. Samuel was specifically
stated to be John’s brother in John’s will (as were other brothers), making the
scribal error clear. John Bunch made his brother Samuel one of his executors,
and Samuel posted bond on the estate to act as such.
The 400-acre tract John Bunch had patented in Louisa County was bordered on
the north by the 2,000-acre tract Charles Hudson patented on 16 June 1727,
northeast and easterly by two tracts patented by John Smething, to the west and
south by a tract patented by Charles Norman
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 41
(on the South Anna, Camp Creek, and Hudson’s Creek), with a patent by Michael
Holland lying southeast. Samuel Bunch patented 400 acres on 8 April 1767 on New
Found Fork (a branch of Camp Creek), Captain Michael Holland’s old line and
Morris’s line.
252 John Bellamy became a neighbor. This
tract was just southwest of John Bunch’s Louisa County patent.
252
Virginia Land Patent Book 36, page 1037, FHL microfilm 29354;
also available online, "Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants,"
Library of Virginia
(Online: Library of Virginia, 2012), Patent Book 36, page 1037, .tif
image, http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-2/036/036_0495.tif, accessed 23 May
2012. David Bunch patented 25 acres south of Samuel’s patent on 9 June 1796
(Book 36, page 1).
253
Claudia Anderson Chisholm, Revolutionary Public Service
Claims of Louisa County, Virginia (Richmond: Expert Graphics, 1976), pages 5 and 75.
254
Louisa County (Virginia), Will Book 2, pages 474–75, FHL
microfilm 32232.
255
Personal Property Tax Lists, Louisa County, Virginia,
1783–1792, FHL microfilm 511947. Mary (Hudson) Bunch, widow of Samuel, was
distinguished in the tax lists from Mary Bunch (widow of David), who also
resided in the immediate vicinity.
256
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 10.
Samuel Bunch was allowed £3 for a gun impressed for use by the militia during
the American Revolution. On 1 November 1781, Samuel was also allowed three pence
per pound on 355 pounds of beef delivered to William Anderson, Commissary of
Louisa County.
253 Samuel died less than two years
later as the war came to an end.
Samuel Bunch died testate, making his will on 30 January 1782. "[B]eing
Diseased of Body, yet of a sound mind and Perfect Memory," he bequeathed his
entire estate, both real and personal, to his beloved wife, Mary, for life or
widowhood. He gave his son Samuel 125 acres with the plantation John Moore was
living on (after the death of the testator’s wife or remarriage, a clause
repeated with the bequests to each child). Samuel gave his son George Bunch 200
acres, the upper part of the tract where the testator was living and the
plantation Benjamin Faris formerly lived on. Samuel gave his son Charles Bunch
125 acres with the plantation the testator was living on. Samuel gave his
daughter Judith Bunch 100 acres between Camp Creek and Found Fork Creek that he
purchased from Roger Thompson. Samuel gave his daughter Mary Bunch 124 acres in
Albemarle County at the place called North Garden. Samuel gave his son James one
bed with furniture (after his widow’s death or remarriage), gave his son John
five shillings, gave his daughter Rebecca Meredith five Shillings, and gave the
like sum to his daughter Ann Bunch. The remainder of his estate was to be
divided equally among his children Samuel, George, Charles, Judith, and Mary
Bunch. Lastly, Samuel Bunch appointed his wife, Mary, and his son Samuel to be
his executors (with Samuel Richardson). Samuel Richardson, William Payne and
Richard Morris proved the will on 9 June 1783. Samuel, Pouncey, and James Bunch
posted the bond on Samuel’s estate which amounted to £1,000.
254
Mary (Hudson) Bunch survived her husband and was listed in the personal
property tax lists of Louisa County from 1783 through 1792.
255 This matches the entry for the death
of Mary Bunch of Camp Creek on 31 January 1792, a few weeks after her youngest
son Charles married.256 Obama Bunch
Descendancy July 15, 2012 42
Children of Samuel
5 and Mary (Hudson) Bunch:257
257 The order of births of these children is not certain, so their estimated
dates of birth might be adjusted as more evidence is added.
258
Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker
Genealogy, vol. 6, page 231; Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 78.
259 As noted above, David and Bradley Meredith are the only other persons of
that surname found in Louisa County during that period, but she could easily
have married a more distant cousin in Hanover County where a number of
generations of men named Samuel Bunch succeeded the Thomas Meredith who is
listed in the patents above.
260
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
pages 10, 17, 23, and 28
261
Sparacio, Deed Abstracts of Albemarle
County, Virginia, 1772–1776, page 94.
262
Emory Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley,"
Virginia GenWeb (Online: Virginia GenWeb, 2012),
http://vagenweb.org/scott/IndianForaysMA.html, accessed 27 May 2012. This
narrative was taken from the Revolutionary War Pension Application of James
Kincaid.
263
Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley," Virginia
GenWeb (Online: Virginia GenWeb, 2012),
http://vagenweb.org/scott/IndianForaysMA.html, accessed 27 May 2012. The letter
by Bledsoe is preserved among the Draper Manuscripts; the Shelby Family Papers
are at the Library of Congress.
264
Emory Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley."
i
REBECCA6 BUNCH, born about 1744, might have been named after her father’s mother.
Rebecca was disowned by the Friends for marrying out of the faith (14 May 1765)
and hiring a priest contrary to the commands of her parents.258
Her married name was MEREDITH
by
30 January 1782, when she was given five shillings in her father’s
will.259
ii
JOHN6 BUNCH, born about 1748, was listed as a tithable in April 1767 and 1768
within the household of Samuel Bunch in Trinity Parish, Louisa
County.260 He was bequeathed five
shillings in his father’s will on 30 January 1782. John Bunch, "son of Samuel,"
was included in a list of dozens of debtors with accounts due to John Lisle of
Albemarle County dated 19 April 1774. John Bunch Sr., John Bunch Jr., James
Bunch, and Punchy (Pouncey) Bunch are listed next to him.261 John Bunch left for the frontier within the
next two years serving under Captain Joseph Martin in a campaign to extend
Virginia’s influence into Indian Territory. Accounts taken from early journals
provide details of John and James’s adventures. In the 1776–77 period, "Captain
Joseph Martin was stationed at the Rye Cove Fort on Clinch River in order to
guard the frontiers of Virginia. He kept two spyes [spies] who were brothers,
to-wit: John and James Bunch. When we got into the valley we met with these
spies. Then they returned with us down to what was called Martin’s Station …but
we found no one there—they had all fled …Five men were granted [for the use of
Captain David to go to Owen’s Station to investigate] one of whom was James
Bunch …[T]he Indians waylaid the path and fired upon them and wounded Bunch …as
Bunch related …Three of the party got in that night, two of whom were Bunch and
Davis." James Bunch had been shot a number of times through his flesh. "Bunch
grew very sick and we had to take him to his company at the Rye Cove. We were
then dismissed and returned home. As well as he can remember, this took place in
1776." 262 John Bunch was stationed
with the company at Fort Lee (Rye Cove Fort) in 1777, and then James Bunch
appears on the roster again from 1 May to 30 June 1777 at Fort Lee (the Shelby
Family Papers indicate that the brothers James and John Bunch were scouts from
19 March to 21 July 1777). Anthony Bledsoe, in a letter dated at Fort Patrick
Henry on 8 April 1777, related, "I much lament poor Bunch and could have sent
the doctor, but the waters prevented till there was a particular call for him
down the river."263 "The Bunch
brothers, John and James, who were Indian Scouts under Martin in Powell Valley
and at Rye Cove, both moved to Tennessee. James was made an ensign in 1793 and a
captain in 1794 in Knox County."264 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 43
iii
MARY6 BUNCH, born circa 1751, was bequeathed 124 acres in Albemarle County in a
place called the North Garden in her father’s will. Minutes of the Monthly
Meeting for 25 August 1787 state that Mary, daughter of Samuel Bunch, "hath for
sometime [sic] neglected the attendance of our religious meetings and hath been
guilty of frequenting places of diversion, as also giving too much way to the
vain fashions & customs of the world."265 Her disunion was approved the same day. Mary Bunch, daughter of Samuel,
age 26, married her cousin ANTHONY
BUNCH (son of her uncle David Bunch) on 28 June 1787 (bond 26
June).266 Anthony was born 19
November 1762 according to the family Bible. Mary was to have her dower in
Louisa County on 15 November 1827. They were parents of at least one
daughter.267
265
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, pages 17 and 154.
266
Louisa County (Virginia), Marriage Bonds, 1766–1861, page 36,
FHL microfilm 32190.
267
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 216.
268
Louisa County (Virginia), Marriage Bonds, 1766–1861, page 40,
FHL microfilm 32190.
269
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
page 28.
270
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 239. The Benge family was from Albemarle County, Virginia, but
is of special note because John Benge became a trader among the Cherokees.
271
John Redd, "Reminiscences of Western Virginia, 1770–1790,"
Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography 7
(1899), page 112.
272
Lewis Preston Summers, History of Southwest Virginia,
1746–1786, Washington County, 1777–1870 (Richmond: J.L. Hill Printing, 1903), page 246.
273
Emory Hamilton, "Indian Forays in Powell Valley."
274
Park, Park/e/s and Bunch on the Trail
West, page 22, and the deed cited there.
275
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
pages 59, 80 and 136.
iv
GEORGE6 BUNCH, born about 1753, and in his father’s will was bequeathed 200 acres to
be laid off on the upper part of the land whereon the testator was then living,
along with the plantation whereon Benjamin Harris formerly lived. George married
SALLY SERGEANT
in
Louisa County on 18 July 1783 (bond dated 15 July).268
v
JAMES6 BUNCH, born 1755, was first listed as a tithable in his father’s household
in 1770.269 James Bunch was
bequeathed only a bed with furniture by his father, perhaps indicating he had
already been provided for. James is supposed to be father of William Bunch, born
in Tennessee circa 1787, who married Ann Benge, daughter of David Benge, in Clay
County, Kentucky, on 28 January 1812.270
James Bunch and his brother John went out on the Virginia frontier in the
1770s under Captain (later, General) Joseph Martin.
271 They forayed into the region of the
Clinch River (which runs parallel with the Holston River from western Virginia
into Tennessee). During one of these missions, shortly before 1 May 1777, James
Bunch was the target of Indian fire and "had five balls shot through the flesh."
Permanently debilitated, James was allowed a £30 pension plus half pay as a
soldier for three years.272 This
incident apparently occurred in Powell Valley, in what is now Lee County,
Virginia.273 That this James Bunch
is the man in the record is indicated because he and John are the only brothers
of those names known in this generation.
vi
JUDITH6 BUNCH, born about 1757, in her father’s will she was bequeathed 100 acres
lying between Camp Creek and the Creek called New Found Fork, which her father
purchased of Roger Thomson. She married her cousin DAVID
BUNCH, son of her uncle David.274
vii
SAMUEL6 BUNCH, born about 1759, was listed in his father’s household as a tithable
in 1775 and 1777, but apparently in his own household in 1780.275
In his father’s will, Samuel was bequeathed 123 acres
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 44
of land to be laid off with the plantation where "John Moore now lives."
Samuel was a patriot during the struggle with Britain. On 27 August 1779, the
Monthly Meeting records noted that he was "in the practice of exercising in
military duty."
276 He "deviated so far as to engage in
military service" so he was disowned 9 October 1779.277
276
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 125.
277
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 164.
278
Davis, Louisa County, Virginia
Tithables and Census, 1743–1785,
page 93.
279
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 143.
280
Brewer, Quaker Records of Cedar
Creek, page 166.
281
Personal Property Tax Lists, Louisa County, Virginia,
1788–1793, FHL microfilm 511947.
282
Louisa County (Virginia), Marriage Bonds, 1766–1861, page 57,
FHL microfilm 32190.
283 Louisa County, Deed Book: G, page 427, FHL microfilm 32204. Turner
Anderson, Charles Quarles, Thomas Brackett, and James Lawrence were witnesses.
viii
ANN6 BUNCH, born about 1764, was still unmarried in 1782 (unless she married a
Bunch cousin) when bequeathed five shillings in her father’s will.
7 ix
CHARLES6 BUNCH, born about 1767 (he first headed his own household in the personal
property tax lists in 1788), was bequeathed 125 acres to be laid off along with
his father’s plantation ("whereon I now live").
7
CHARLES6 BUNCH
(Samuel5
Bunch, John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) of Louisa County, Virginia, born about 1767, was apparently the
youngest of his parents’ children. He was favored by his father, and was
bequeathed his father’s residence in 1782. Charles continued to reside with his
widowed mother after Samuel’s death and was listed as a tithable in her
household in Trinity Parish, Louisa County in 1785.278
The minutes of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting on 28 August 1784 recorded that
Charles Bunch of Camp Creek "is in the practice of gaming and neglects
attendance of our religious meetings."
279 On 26 February 1785, the meeting
recorded that Charles "hath done out into several disorderly practices such as
gaming, cursing & swearing, we therefore disown him."280 He became a man of the world, even though his
mother still adhered to that faith. Charles first headed his own household in
the personal property tax lists in 1788 and continued to be taxed in Louisa
County through 1793.281
Charles Bunch married
MARY
BELLAMY in Louisa County by bond 9 January 1792.282
She was daughter of John Bellamy, a nearby landowner. The
death of Charles’s mother on 31 January 1792 freed him to follow his own
pursuits. Charles and Mary Bunch sold Thomas Whitlock 150 acres of land on 17
March 1794 for £150. The tract was bordered by land owned by Henry Martin and
Morris.283 It was not long
afterwards that Charles and his young bride left Virginia and followed relatives
into Tennessee. They disappeared from the personal property tax lists of Louisa
County in 1795. Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 45
There was one other Charles Bunch in the South at this period, his
first-cousin (son of Henry Bunch). Charles, son of Henry
5 Bunch (John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch) moved with his father to Bedford County, Virginia, before finally
settling in Kentucky.284 Charles,
son of Samuel5 Bunch, left Virginia
for Tennessee, following relatives who had settled in Grainger County. The two
men therefore followed distinctly different migration routes by which they can
be distinguished.
284
Charles Bunch (son of Henry) first occurs of record on 22
March 1773 when he was appointed constable of a precinct in Bedford County.
Bedford County (Virginia), Index to Court Order Books, FHL microfilm 30573.
Charles was taxed for personal property from 1782, when the tax lists first
survive, through 1788, after which he disappears. Joseph Bunch was also taxed
there (1782–86), as was a Richard Bunch (1783–87). George Bunch was taxed in
Bedford County 1787–91. Their uncle, James Bunch, also left Louisa County and
settled in Bedford County. On 11 October 1788, Charles Bunch and his wife,
Judith, sold two tracts of land in Bedford County, one for 210 acres, the other
for 10 acres, both of which he had patented. Bedford County (Virginia), Deed
Book 8, page 198, FHL microfilm 198205; Bedford County (Virginia), Deed Book 8,
page 205, FHL microfilm 198205. This correlates with his disappearance from the
personal property tax lists. Charles Bunch (son of Henry) settled in Mercer
County, Kentucky. Charles Bunch, David, Richard, Joseph and Calloway Bunch all
initially settled in Mercer County, Kentucky, where they were taxed in 1795.
"Mercer County Tax Lists, 1795," The Register of the Kentucky
State Historical Society, 9
(1911), page 188. In 1788–89, Charles, Callaway, Clark, Joseph, Richard, and
Zachariah Bunch all petitioned for the creation of the new state of Kentucky.
James Rood Robertson, Petitions of the Early
Inhabitants of Kentucky to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1769 to 1792
(Louisville: Filson Club, 1914), page 193. Charles Bunch was taxed as a
resident of Mercer County in 1792 and 1799. Alma Ray Ison and James H. Miller,
Stray Book and Tax Records, Mercer
County, Kentucky, 1787–1806 (Harrodsburg, Kentucky: Harrodsburg Historical Society, 1994), pages
124 and 200. It appears that Charles removed Warren County, Kentucky, in 1800
and then on to Lincoln County, Kentucky, where he was taxed from 1802 through
1809. G. Glenn Clift, "Second Census" of Kentucky,
1800 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982), page 39; James F.
Sutherland, Early
Kentucky Householders, 1787–1811 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1986), page 41. It appears
that Charles died intestate before 1820.
285
Grainger County (Tennessee), Court Minutes, vol. 1, 1796–1802,
page 22, FHL microfilm 968587.
286 Grainger County (Tennessee), Deed Book A, page 30, Deed of Charles Bunch,
FHL microfilm 968597.
287
Grainger County (Tennessee), Court Minutes, vol. 1, 1796–1802,
page 51, FHL microfilm 968587.
288
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume 2
(Nashville: Historical Records Survey, 1939), page 40.
289 Grainger County (Tennessee), Deed Book A, page 333, Deed of Charles
Bunch, FHL microfilm 968597.
290
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume
2,
page 43.
Returning the focus to Charles Bunch, son of Samuel, Charles was in Grainger
County, Tennessee as early as 1797. He entered his cattle mark into record
before Grainger County Court on Tuesday, 14 March 1797 ("A Slit & under heel
in each Ear").
285 Three months later, he purchased 200
acres in Grainger County on the south side of Richland Creek of the Holston
River from Joseph Cobb on 12 June 1797 for $100.286
Charles Bunch served on a grand jury on Wednesday, 25
February 1798.287 On 17 August 1803,
the constable of Grainger County reported to the court that he had levied
against 200 acres of land owned by Charles Bunch (bounded by land of John Bunch)
for a debt of $31.60.288 Charles
Bunch sold his land to Valentine Morgan on 20 August 1803 for $150 (a $50 profit
over the initial purchase price).289 Charles served as a juror in Grainger County on 22 November
1803.290 John Elsey sued Charles
Bunch and William Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 46
Bunch on Wednesday, 23 November 1803 and Charles was put in the custody of
the sheriff.
291 The last record we have of Charles
Bunch alive is in May 1804, when the deed from Charles Bunch to Valentine Morgan
was entered into record on the oath of John Bunch.292
291
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume
2,
page 46
292
Grainger
County, Tennessee, Minutes of the Court of Pleas, 1801–1812, Volume
2,
page 69.
293
Ella E. Lee Sheffield, Grainger County, Tennessee,
Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Record Book No 3, 1812–1816
(Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1983), vol. 3, page
56 (112 of the original). Alan N. Miller, Grainger County, Tennessee
Apprenticeships, 1797–1875 (Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 1997), page 3.
294
Billie Wyrick Kennerly, Grainger County, Tennessee
Marriage Bonds and Licenses, 1796–1837, Book No. 1 (Houston: by the author, 1964), page 31.
295
John Bunch [son of Samuel Bunch’s son John], born 11 February
1786, moved to Polk County from Grainger County by 1830 (enumerated in Southwest
Missouri in 1830). He had married Margaret Clay in Grainger County on 25 August
1807. John Bunch died testate in Polk County 2 April 1837. Marsha Hoffman
Rising, Opening the Ozarks: First
Families in Southwest Missouri, 1835–1839 (Derry, New Hampshire: American Society of Genealogists, 2005), vol. 1,
page 297. It may be that Susan and Charles Bunch followed their cousins to Polk
County.
296
"Rev David Coffman," FindAGrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, 2000), memorial no. 5000616, Coffman Family
Cemetery, Aldrich, Polk County, Missouri,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=150208&GRid=5000616&,
accessed 18 June 2012.
297
1830 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 209, line 19, Charles Bunch household,
.jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M19, 201 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 22 May 2012.
298
1840 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Polk County,
Missouri, page 228, line 24, Charles Bunch Sr. household,
.jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M704, 580 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
Charles Bunch was dead by 17 August 1813, when his son Charles was bound out
as an apprentice to John Bunch until age twenty-one.
293 The record indicates that the
younger Charles was a ward of the court.
Children of Charles
6 and Mary (Bellamy) Bunch:
8 i
NATHANIEL7 BUNCH, born 23 April 1793, Louisa County, Virginia. (See below.)
ii
SUSAN7 BUNCH, born about 1795–6, Tennessee, married DAVID
COFFMAN (a Baptist preacher) in Grainger County, Tennessee on 20 August
1813.294 The couple moved to Polk
County, Missouri, where David was invited to help establish a
church.295 The family was enumerated
in District 71 of Polk County in 1850. David Coffman is supposed to have died 22
July 1838, buried on the family homestead at Aldrich, Polk County.296 Susan is supposed to have been buried on the
Coffman homestead there in 1854. She was mother of a large family.
iii
CHARLES
ALBERT7 BUNCH, born circa 1798, Grainger County, Tennessee, was apprenticed to John
Bunch on 17 August 1813. Charles left Grainger County upon finishing his
apprenticeship and settled near his brother in Overton County, Tennessee, where
he married KATHERINE
CARLOCK (they were parents of at least eight children). Their family was
enumerated in Overton County in 1830.297 Charles Bunch followed his sister to Polk County, Missouri, where his
family was enumerated in 1840.298 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 47
Charles and Catherine Bunch were still residing in Polk County, Missouri, in
1850.
299 Charles and Catherine Bunch moved to
Breckenridge County, Kansas, where they were enumerated in 1860.300 They had moved to Newton County, Missouri, by
1870.301 Charles Bunch is supposed
to have died on 25 May 1877, buried in Bowlus Cemetery, Umatilla County,
Oregon.302 A descendant of this
Charles has yDNA that matches the descendants of Nathaniel7 Bunch, triangulating these two branches back
through Charles6 Bunch.303
299
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), District 71,
Polk County, Missouri, page 25a, dwelling 315, family 315, Charles Bunch
household, .jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M432, 1009 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
300
1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Forest Hill,
Breckenridge County, Kansas Territory, page 534, dwelling 316, family 242, .jpeg
image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M653, 1438 rolls), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
301
1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Seneca, Newton
County, Missouri, page 795, dwelling 43, family 47, .jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M593, 1761), http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
302
"Charles Bunch Sr.," Bowlus Cemetery, Umatilla County,
Oregon, FindAGrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2006), memorial 16360385, Bowlus Cemetery,
Umatilla County, Oregon,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Bunch&GSfn=
Charles&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=16360385&df=all&,
accessed 22 May 2012.
303
"Bunch Patriarch Page," The Bunch y-DNA Project
(Online: WorldFamilies.net, 2012),
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/bunch/pats, accessed 20 June 2012.
304
"Nathaniel Bunch Bible Record," Carroll County Historical
Quarterly, 6,
no. 1 (June 1961), page 15. This is apparently the official transcription made
by "Jas. P. Fancher," Clerk of the County Court of Carroll County on 27 October
1873 taken from a leather bound Bible published in 1832.
305
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule) , Osage, Newton
County, Arkansas, page 20b, dwelling 282, family 282, Nathaniel Bunch household,
.jpeg images, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M432, 1009 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 20 May 2012.
306
Sarah (Ray) Bunch, Widow’s Pension, application WC‐5995 for the
service of Nathaniel Bunch (Pvt., Capt. Abel Willis’s Co., Tennessee Militia,
War of 1812), consolidated with bounty‐land
warrant files 26602 and 43708;
8
NATHANIEL7 BUNCH
(Charles6
Bunch, Samuel5
Bunch, John4
Bunch III, John3
Bunch II, John2
Bunch I, John1
Punch), born 23 April 1793, Louisa County, Virginia, and went to Tennessee
with his parents when he was an infant. He grew up in Grainger County, Tennessee
(northeast of Knoxville), but married SARAH
WADE RAY
in
Overton County, Tennessee, on 15 November 1810 when he was only
seventeen.304 His birth and marriage
dates are given in his widow’s War of 1812 Pension File (copied from the family
Bible), so there is no reason to doubt the veracity of the dates. Census records
indicate that Sarah was born in 1792–93, so they were both young when they wed.
Nathaniel’s occupation in 1850 would suggest that he was apprenticed as a
blacksmith in his youth; this might explain why he traveled from Grainger to
Overton County, Tennessee, at a young age.305
Nathaniel Bunch enlisted in the War of 1812, volunteering in Overton County
for three months, but served four months, six days. Nathaniel was a private in
Captain Abel Willis’s Company, 2nd Regiment, West Tennessee Militia under
Colonel McCrory, serving in an expedition against the Creek Indians. His
Certificate of Discharge reads:
306 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15,
2012 48
Case Files of Pension and Bounty
‐Land
Applications Based on Service in the War of 1812 [Records of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
307
Jo Conners, Who’s Who in Arizona, Volume I:
1913 (Tucson: Arizona Daily Star, 1913), page 316.
308
1820 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 259, line 7, Nathaniel Bunch household.jpeg image,
Ancestry.com (Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M33, 142 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 23 May 2012.
309
There is no way of knowing if this older female could be his
mother, Mary, or perhaps his wife’s mother.
310
1830 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 208, line 9, Nathaniel Bunch household .jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M19, 201 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 23 May 2012.
311
Nathaniel’s brother Charles Bunch was enumerated on the
following page (209). They were the only Bunches in Overton County in 1830.
312
James L. Douthat, Overton County, Tennessee, 1836
Tennessee Civil District and Tax Lists (Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press, 2001), page 12.
313
1840 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Overton
County, Tennessee, page 533, line 16, Nathaniel Bunch household, .jpeg image,
Ancestry.com (Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M704, 580 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012.
I certify that Nathaniel Bunch, a private in my company W[est] T[ennessee]
Militia under the command of Maj[o]r Gen[era]l [Andrew] Jackson in the
expedition against the Creek Indians, has served from the 4
th day of October 1813 to the
10th day of Febr[ua]ry 1814 And is
honorably discharged. [signed] Abel Willis, Cap t
2nd Reg[imen]t, W. T. M. Charles Sevier[,] Major, 2d
Reg[imen]t W. T. M.
The biography of his grandson states that Nathaniel Bunch fought under Andrew
Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans and that "the powder flask carried by him
during this battle is still in existence and much treasured for its historical
value."
307
Nathaniel Bunch was enumerated in Overton County in the 1820 U.S. Federal
Census with his wife (both age 26–45), four sons and two daughters under age
ten, and a female over age forty-five.
308 In the 1830 census of Overton
County, Nathaniel and his wife were both listed as aged 30–40 years, and they
still had an older female in the household (aged 50–60 years),309
along with six sons and two daughters.310
Nathaniel was listed immediately preceding Samuel Allred
and just after John Allred, Solomon Allred Sr., Solomon Allred Jr., and William
Allred.311 Nathaniel and John Bunch
were both listed in the 1836 tax lists in District 9 as were Samuel Allred and
at least ten other Allred households.312 Nathaniel Bunch was aged 40–50 years in 1840, but the age of the older
female was given as aged 80–90 years.313 The family moved to Arkansas according to the biography of his son
Bradley, which reads in part:
Capt. Nathaniel Bunch, a Virginian by birth, who was reared in Tennessee,
where he married Sally Ray, also a native of Virginia. Capt. Nathaniel Bunch
resided in Tennessee till 1841, when he removed to Arkansas and settled in
Carroll County. This county was afterwards divided, and the part in which he
resided was placed in
Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 49
Newton County. There he resided until his death in 1858. While a resident of
Tennessee he served as captain in the State militia.314
314
History
of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian
Counties, Arkansas (Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing, 1889), page 1,048.
315
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Osage, Newton
County, Arkansas, page 20B, dwelling 282, family 282, Nathaniel Bunch household,
.jpeg image, Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012) [National Archives microfilm
publication M432, 1009 rolls], http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 23 May 2012.
316
Sarah (Ray) Bunch, Widow’s Pension, application WC‐5995 for the
service of Nathaniel Bunch (Pvt., Capt. Abel Willis’s Co., Tennessee Militia,
War of 1812), consolidated with bounty‐land
warrant files 26602 and 43708; Case Files of Pension and Bounty‐Land Applications
Based on Service in the War of 1812 [Records of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
317
"Nathaniel Bunch, AR0960_.218" U.S. General Land Office Records
(Online: U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management,
2012), Document 5854, http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/
default.aspx?accession=AR0960__.218&doc&sid=hqmhnz54.pwg,
accessed 24 May 2012; also available U.S. General Land Office Records
1796-1907," Ancestry.com
(Online: Ancestry.com, 2012), for Nathaniel Bunch, issued 15 Nov 1854,
AR0960_.218 at Fayetteville, http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/
View.aspx?dbid=1246&path=Arkansas.Newton.121, accessed 20 May 2012. This is
conveniently mapped out showing later grants to Samuel Whitley on the north
(1860), vacant land west and south, and a grant to Charles Bunch below that
(1860). Gary A. Boyd, Family Maps of Newton County,
Arkansas, Deluxe Edition (Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing, 2006), page 66.
318
The cemetery includes many Bunch and Allred burials. "Liberty
Cemetery," FindAGrave
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2012),
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=32267143&CRid=1230578&,
accessed 24 May 2012. The original tombstone of Nathaniel might have still
existed on 6 July 1959, when J.B. Bunch and two others recorded the gravestones
in that cemetery, including "Nathaniel [Bunch], Apr. 23, 1793–Feb. 16, 1859,"
according to "Tombstone Inscriptions, Liberty Cemetery, Madison County
[sic, Newton County], Arkansas," Carroll County Historical
Quarterly vol. 6, no. 1(June 1961), page 8.
319
The birth dates are from the official transcription in the War
of 1812 Pension Application. Family accounts give an eldest child named Mary or
Polly Bunch, born about 1811, but died young. We have not seen documentation of
this yet. Undocumented, but useful, accounts of this family and the children
submitted by descendants is available in Jim Lair, ed., Carroll
County Families: These Were the First, Carroll County, Arkansas, 1991
(Berryville, Arkansas: Carroll County Historical and Genealogical
Society, 1991), pages 77–90.
The 1850 U.S. Federal Census stated that Nathaniel was a mechanic and
blacksmith (both he and his wife, Sarah, were 58 and born in
Virginia).
315 Nathaniel Bunch was granted 80 acres
of bounty land in his application dated 27 December 1850 (Warrant 26602) and 80
acres on 5 May 1855 (Warrant 43708).316 Nathaniel
Bunch patented 39.420 acres in Newton County on 15 November 1854 (cash entry),
the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 19, Township 17 North,
Range 23 West (Fayetteville Land Office).317 Nathaniel Bunch died 16 February 1859 of pneumonia. Sarah Wade Ray died
in 1878 and was buried with her husband in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton
County, Arkansas.318 Newton County
was created from Carroll County in 1842, but, tragically, most records prior to
1865 have perished, so no deed or probate records survive for Nathaniel.
Children of Nathaniel
7 and Sarah (Ray) Bunch:319
i
JOHN8 BUNCH, born 1 December 1812, probably in Overton County, Tennessee, died 3
February 1892 and was buried in Rule Cemetery, Carroll County,
Arkansas.320 John Bunch married (1)
on 2 Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 50
320
"John Bunch," Findagrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2012), memorial 24295017, Rule Cemetery,
Carroll County, Arkansas,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24295017, accessed 24
May 2012.
321
Lair, Carroll County
Families, pages 77–90. Richard Henry Bunch lists fourteen children of John
Bunch, stating that he married twice (page 62).
322
Kennerly, Grainger County, Tennessee
Marriage Bonds and Licenses, 1796–1837, Book No. 1, page 84.
323
Lair, Carroll County
Families, pages 77–90.
324
"Bradley Bunch," Findagrave.com
(Online: Find A Grave, Inc., 2012), memorial 25844950, Bunch Cemetery,
Berryville, Carroll County, Arkansas,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25844950, accessed 24
May 2012.
325
History
of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian
Counties, Arkansas,
pages 1048–49.
326
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 533, gives the traditional dates of the death of husband and
wife, taken from a family journal. "Aunt Biddy and the baby died. Uncle Nathan
died a few days before Grandfather Bunch, & Aunt Biddie Allred died before
Aunty Biddie Selby were buried. Pneumonia."
November 1834,
CYNTHIA
NEWBERRY, born 5 October 1813, died 28 December 1835. John married (2) on 13
April 1836, LOUISA
JANE "ELIZA"
QUALLS, born 22 August 1818, Tennessee, died 1900 (buried with her husband in
Rule Cemetery), mother of fourteen children.321
ii
ANNA8 BUNCH, born 27 March 1814, probably in Overton County, Tennessee, married,
presumably also in Overton County, SAMUEL
THOMPSON ALLRED
(she is the ancestor of President
Obama’s mother, as outlined in the first section of this treatise, entitled
"Documenting President Barack Obama’s Maternal African-American Ancestry:
Tracing His Mother’s Bunch Ancestry to the First Slave in
America").
iii
CHARLES8 BUNCH, born 29 October 1815, Overton County, Tennessee, died 1880, possibly
buried with his wife in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton County, Arkansas (but
no tombstones survive). He married, on 2 October 1836 (James Bunch, bondsman),
in Grainger County, Tennessee, 322 MARY
‘POLLY’
COFFMAN, born 22 August 1818, died 1887. They were parents of six
children.323
iv
CALVIN8 BUNCH, born 4 March 1817.
v
BRADLEY8 BUNCH, born 9 December 1818, Overton County, Tennessee, died 1 August 1894,
buried in Bunch Cemetery, Berryville, Carroll County, Arkansas,324 married in Tennessee circa 1837,
JANE BOSWELL, born 5 October 1817, died 9 January 1890, buried with her husband.
Bradley became a legislator serving in the lower Arkansas General Assembly. An
1889 biography calls Bradley "one of the most prominent citizens of Northwest
Arkansas" and states that he was born in Overton County, Tennessee. Bradley
Bunch was elected Justice of the Peace in Carroll County in 1848, served six
years, and was Associate Justice of the County Court four years. He served as
representative to the state legislature in 1854 representing Carroll County for
four consecutive terms, elected state senator in 1862 (but did not serve on
account of the war), and elected again in 1866 when he was Speaker of the House.
He was delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1874. Bradley Bunch
was elected senator again the following September, serving two years as the
presiding officer in the deliberations. He was appointed probate judge in 1888.
His biography describes Bradley and his wife as "earnest Christians and
communicants of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South" and states he was a
Mason.325 Bradley Bunch fathered
thirteen children.
vi
OBEDIENCE8 ("Biddie") BUNCH, born 12 March 1820, Overton County, Tennessee, apparently died in
1857 in Osage Township, Carroll County, Arkansas,326
married NATHANIEL
(NATHAN)
SELBY, who Obama Bunch Descendancy July 15, 2012 51
died 1857, in Newton County, Arkansas, leaving some type of
estate.
327 The family was living in Osage,
Newton County, Arkansas, in 1850.328 They were parents of eight children.329
327
Judy Tate, "Book A Will Index Newton County, Arkansas,"
Newton County, Arkansas
(Online: Ancestry.com, 2012), Will Book A, page 249, Estate of
Nathaniel Selby,
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~edgmon/wbooka.htm, accessed 23
May 2012.
328
1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Osage
Township, Newton County, Arkansas, page 20B, dwelling 280, family 280, Nathaniel
Selby household, .jpeg image (Online: Ancestry.com, Inc., 2012),
http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 24 May 2012. Nathaniel Selby was age 36, a
farmer born in Kentucky, his wife Obedience, was age 31, born in Tennessee,
neither could read or write, and they had four children (all born in Arkansas):
Sarah, age 8, Polly E., age 5, John C. B., age 8 [sic], and William J. Selby, age 1.
329
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 533.
330
"Tombstone Inscriptions, Liberty Cemetery, Madison County
[sic],
Arkansas," page 8. Nathaniel’s year of birth is mistakenly transcribed as 1826.
The preface states "Some stones could not be read and many graves are marked
only with a field stone. There are probably errors in the following."
331
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 640.
332
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 640.
333
Larkin’s birthplace is specifically stated to be Overton
County in the biography of two of his sons, which also relates the story of his
service and death in the Civil War and the second marriage of their mother.
History of Benton, Washington, Carroll,
Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties,
Arkansas, pages 1084–85 (Madison County). This is now online at GoogleBooks.
334
Lair, Carroll County
Families, page 84. Civil War letters Larkin wrote are also abstracted in this
source.
335
"Tombstone Inscriptions, Liberty Cemetery, Madison County
[sic],
Arkansas," page 12.
vii
NATHANIEL8 BUNCH, born 14 June 1824, Overton County, Tennessee, died 27 February 1896,
buried in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton County, Arkansas,330
married ORLENA
NEWBERRY, born 13 February 1828, died 8/9 March 1898, buried with her husband.
viii
NANCY8 BUNCH, born 24 January 1826, Overton County, Tennessee, died 23 December
1853, married on 12 December 1846331 ANDREW
J. WHITLEY. Andrew was born 15 March 1827, Alabama, died 4 November 1905, Wylie,
Texas. Andrew married Phoebe Allred on 14 August 1859.332
Nancy was mother of three children.
ix
LARKIN8 BUNCH, born 24 October 1827, Overton County, Tennessee,333 killed 24 September 1864 at Pilot Knob,
Missouri (near St. Louis, carrying the company flag when he was
killed),334 buried on the
battlefield at Ironton, Missouri. He married on 24 October 1852, in Newton
County, Arkansas, ELIZA
MAXWELL, born 8 May 1835, Overton County, Tennessee, died of the grip and
pneumonia on 12 April 1891, buried in Liberty Cemetery, Dinsmore, Newton County,
Arkansas.335 Eliza married (2) on 28
November 1878, as his third wife, John G. Reeves, of Newton County, Arkansas,
born 8 June 1818 (his tombstone might have been faded, but his birth was
transcribed as 3 June 1813), died 29 October 1896, buried Liberty Cemetery with
his wife. Eliza’s obituary is abstracted online. Larkin and Eliza were parents
of five children.
Paul C. Reed, FASG, Natalie D. Cottrill, MA, Joseph B. Shumway, AG,
Professional Genealogists
Anastasia Harman, Lead Family Historian