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| This land transaction shows the only record of John's occupation, a planter. [1] |
I first
started researching the Giddens family in 1998. My mother's mother, Edith
Giddens, was a descendant of Mitchell Giddens, the youngest son of John Giddens
and his wife, Sarah.
Much documented and undocumented information is found when searching for John Giddens on genealogy websites. In this post, I will highlight some of the conflicts and some of the many documents that tell about John and his family.
John
Giddens vs. John Jacob Giddens
The Birthplace and Parents of John Giddens
On the 1800 U.S. Census, John Giddens' age is that of a male 45 years and upward, giving him a birth year of 1755 or earlier.[4]
Many say that John Giddens was born in Maryland. My great-grandfather, Charles Giddens, wrote a letter about family to Lina Giddens, his half-sister, in 1952. The following excerpt tells what he knew about his early Giddens family. [5]
He didn't
name John, but the fact that John was the one that came to North Carolina from Maryland may or
may not be correct. Lewis D. Giddens, a grandson of John, died in 1909, so it
was over 40 years since my great-grandfather had talked to Lewis.[6] If John
was the first to come to North Carolina, I could not imagine that he would
emigrate by himself.
William Giddens, of Hyde County, North Carolina, has been hypothesized to be the father of John Giddens.[7] There are other possibilities, but there is not yet any documentation giving the answer.
John Giddens, Landowner
The first record found naming John Giddens was in Duplin County, where John witnessed a land sale in 1779. He witnessed another deed that same year, and then John was not seen again until 1782.[8] State of North Carolina Entries of Claims for Lands within the County of Wayne 1780-1795 showed that in 1782, John owned land adjoining William Reave's land, and in 1784, Thomas Bass received land adjoining both William Reaves and Giddens land.[9]
By 1786, John Giddens owned 285 acres in Wayne when he appeared on the Wayne County tax list.[10]
In 1787, John received 100 acres between Reaves, Dunkins, and Taylor's lines in Wayne County.[11] That same year he received 130 acres of land from Gabrial Stevens and then purchased about 150 acres of land from Thomas Bass, both adjacent to his properties in Wayne County.[12]
There were land purchases and sales that followed, and at the time of his death, it was reported that he owned 1000 acres. However, after looking at his wife's dower and the amount of land most children received, it can be surmised that the amount was at least 1500 acres.[13]
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| Wayne, Sampson, and Duplin Counties ca. 1870 [14] |
Land records indicate that most of the land found was in Wayne County in the area of Mount Olive, and some land was just across the county line in Duplin.[15] The earliest land transactions were not found, and the record I would most like to have, documentation dividing the land among heirs, appears to be nonexistent.
Military Service
A John Giddens was issued a pay voucher for 1140 pounds by the Wilmington District for service in the Revolutionary War. [16] He served in the North Carolina Militia, Wilmington District with men from Bladen, Brunswick, Cumberland, Duplin, New Hanover, and Onslow counties. Captain Nicolas Bowden led his Duplin County Regiment.[17] At least two men in this regiment had dealings with John well after the war. John Charles Slocumb was a close neighbor and assisted with John's estate settlement.[18] William Taylor can be found as witnesses to some of John Giddens' land transactions.[19]
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| Pay Voucher - 27 October 1781[20] |
His Wife and Children
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This is an excerpt from Lina Letisha Giddens' handwritten notes detailing the family of Mitchell Giddens and Letisha Britt.[25] To see the complete notes read George Lullen |
I have no
marriage record that shows John Giddens wife's surname was Taylor. My
great-grandfather indicated it was Taylor in his letter.[21] Probate records show
that her first name was definitely Sarah, and she used the name, Salley.[22] John
had land adjacent to land in Wayne County that Jacob Taylor received in 1780.[23]
A William Taylor served in the North Carolina Militia with John Giddens and
served as a witness for at least two of John's land transactions.[24]
Her name was Sallie Taylor in a handwritten record shared by Lina Letisha Giddens, John's great-granddaughter, in 1952. That record appears to have been copied from a Bible record, but the source was not revealed.[26] If there was a Bible, its whereabouts are unknown.
In 1800,
John and Sarah had eight children. One child must have died before 1802 as, at
the time of John's death, the probate indicated that there were eight children in the family and Mitchell had been born in 1802. [27]
At the time of John's death, his sons Mitchell, Abraham, David, and Jacob were minors and were found named in John's probate records. [28] Elizabeth was named in a land record as his daughter.[29] Other children are thought to be John, Isaac, and Jemima.
John
Giddens died in 1802 without a will, so he died intestate. Sarah Giddens was
the administratrix of the estate. A committee was appointed to divide and
settle the estate. Committee members were John Charles Slocumb, Durham Graddy,
and Ezekiel Slocumb.[30]
The inventory of the estate is now found online. Much stock, farming tools, shoemakers tools, hatters implements, ten books, a desk, ten guns, three wool wheels, two linen wheels, and a trumpet were a few of the many items on the inventory. [31]
A sale
was held on 10 December 1802. Most
furniture and household tools were not a part of the sale. Isaac Giddens bought
the hatters tools, sheep, hogsheads, and some barrels of corn. He was probably
John's 20-year-old son. There were not many Giddens in North Carolina at the
time. Other buyers included William Taylor, Jacob Taylor, Adam Reaves, Lovett
Reaves, Sampson Edwards, David Slocumb, Thomas Brown, Stephen Hines, Jonathan
Taylor, Hardy Bizzell, and John Jones.[32]
The probate record named the minor children and showed that Sarah Giddens married Jesse Flowers sometime between 1806 and 1808. No mention of enslaved persons was found on the probate record.[33]
John's burial place is unknown. John lived in Wayne County near Mount Olive, so it is suspected that he was probably buried on land he owned near his home. Some think he might be buried in the Troublefield Cemetery, but the Giddens family did not own land near the cemetery until the late 1850s or 1860s.[34] For more about the area near the Troublefield Cemetery, which was eventually called Giddensville, read one of my first posts, Giddensville.
Next
Steps
In 1790, there were only 28 Giddens listed as heads of families on the United States census - a new investigation of these families might be warranted.[35] Geography is guiding my research but, I would love to see some more Giddens YDNA tests to compare at FamilyTreeDNA (a 37 marker test is currently $119 but watch for sales). If you are a male Giddens, please consider taking a YDNA test and joining Giddens/Giddings Group Project. You might find more about your Giddens line and help others make connections as well.[36]
Lewis D. Giddens was the son of David Giddens and grandson of John. According to my great-grandfather, Lewis' hobby was genealogy.[37] Did Lewis know the identity of John's parents? Newspaper articles indicate that Lewis may have collaborated with Professor Lucian P. Giddens in Alabama, and they may be related.[38] Finding the research of Lewis or Lucian Giddens might be extremely helpful.
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