Gathering Giddens: Jacob Giddens - Wayne County, North Carolina to Bienville Parish, Louisiana

In 1819, while living in Twiggs County, Jacob Giddens sold the land he inherited from his father to John Smith of Wayne County, North Carolina. The deed record, found in Wayne County Deed Book 11, did not mention that the land was land inherited from his father, John Giddens. However, when John Smith sold the land to John Casey that same year, in the deed, it was stated, " A certain piece or parcel of land lying or being the lands that the said John Smith bought off Jacob Giddens which fell to him the said Jacob Giddens in a Division of the Lands of his father, John Giddens, dec'd." Note that unlike the land of his siblings, Jacob's inherited land did not begin at Jethro's Marsh Branch.[1] 

Finding Jacob Giddens in Bienville Parish is what started my interest in genealogy in the late 1990s. 

My mother, from Long Island, New York, and my father, from the small town of Borger, Texas, were both interested in family history and asked me to look for their families on my new Internet. I was hooked when I found both families connected in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Jacob Giddens, brother to my mother's 2nd great-grandfather, and Reddick Bryan, my father's great-grandfather, settled in Bienville Parish. Their descendants married, and for that reason, I have several cousins connected to both families. 

Gathering Giddens: John Giddens, Another Son Who Moved from North Carolina to Alabama

In my mind, I imagined the Giddens brothers living and working together in Alabama. Knowing that Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob lived in the southern portion of Alabama, I was surprised to find John Giddens in Madison County. John's home, Madison County, is at the top of the state and borders Tennessee. Isaac and Abraham first lived in Conecuh County bordering Florida. Abraham later moved to nearby Monroe County. Jacob lived in Barbour County bordering Georgia and marked by the circle on the right.[1]

John Giddens is another Giddens who is thought to be the son of John Giddens, a planter and early settler, in Wayne County, North Carolina. There is no direct evidence showing John as a son of the senior Giddens, but a few documents do provide some convincing indirect evidence. In 1800, the census showed two males living in the senior John Giddens' home between the ages of 16 and 26. The younger John is thought to be one of those males as he was not named a minor in the senior John's probate file in 1802. This would give young John a birth year of no later than 1784.[2]