Writing Projects: Legends Revealed, Newfound Church Minutes, and Brookberry Farm

Since the Fall of 2018 I have been engaged in three separate writing projects. 

1) One project was a shorter, one-chapter historical record to be included a book by Debbie McCann on Brookberry Farm, located in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, NC. This 800-900 acre farm is located on the outskirts of what used to be the Moravians' Wachovia Tract, granted to them in 1753. Many of my relatives lived on land just to the NW of Wachovia, part of which overlaps with the modern-day Brookberry Farm. Debbie hopes to have her book published later this year (2019). I sent my completed chapter to Debbie in February.

2) Last Fall I began writing a long-overdue book on my PATTERSON ancestors. For years I have questioned how much content to include in a book or books on the Pattersons. Robert Patterson was my 6x-G-GF and he lived from the early 1700's until 1775. Writing about just him could fill multiple books. On the other hand, his grandson John Patterson - my 4x-G-GF - has long been a well-known figure in our family tree. There are thousands of his living descendants across the USA and Canada today. However, for decades, we could not figure out who John's parents were.

Therefore, I chose to focus this book on John's father, Thomas Patterson (son of Robert), and Thomas's family. Some details will be given on Thomas's parents and siblings, but the greater focus will be on Thomas and his immediate family, and their descendants. It will also focus on the family of Thomas's wife, Margaret HARRISON. It took many years to discover who John's father was, and who the legendary "brothers" were that my family has talked about for generations. Thus, "LEGENDS REVEALED..." is the beginning of the title of this book, as the legend of John's father is revealed, and the legend of the "brothers" is also revealed.

This work is still on-going, but thus far, well over 300 pages have been put together. My goal is to finish this book in 2019. 

3) Working on the "Legends Revealed" book has forced additional research in a few key areas, naturally. One such area involves the Church Minutes of Newfound Baptist Church from western NC, a church which began in 1802. My ancestors and many of their relatives began this church and were heavily involved in it through 1815. The third project I am finishing up now is an article to be submitted to the quarterly magazine called "A Lot of Buncom" or ALOB, which is published by the Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society. Harald Reksten (and Greg Brookshire) have been pushing me for years to get this work completed. This initial article will focus on the early years (1802-1815) with some introduction about the minutes themselves and the difficulty one has in reading the handwriting. Many attempts have been made over the years at interpreting the names therein, but many errors have been published. I have worked diligently to learn about these families and to get the names correct. I am finishing up the final editing now and hope to submit this article during April, 2019.

Once the ALOB article is completed, I will then be in a better position to leverage those edited  minutes and incorporate them into the "Legends Revealed" book. This book will continue to be my primary focus during the remainder of 2019.

More later,

Wes

Pattersons of Rabun Co GA - Timeline of Records from that county

Most of the following records are from online newspaper records - all but one. Also, almost all of them are from Rabun Co, but a couple are from Franklin and/or Clarke Co., GA as some of my Pattersons were there briefly. 

Key names from my family in Rabun were John Patterson, Joseph Patterson, George Patterson, Amos Patterson and Elijah Chastain. These were sons of John Patterson and Margaret Black, and most moved into Union Co GA by the early 1830's. Elijah Chastain was the brother-in-law of George Patterson (my 3x-G-GF). 

The 1830 Rabun Census included Joseph, John, and George Patterson (brothers), plus Roley Patterson was there too, but no known connection to him exists. I am still developing all of this, but here are the pertinent details, many of which have gone under the radar for decades for some of us. Notice the "Source" links to the online newspaper sources. My personal notes are after the "WP:" tags.

One final note - brothers Joseph, George and Amos owned land in Union Co fairly early in the mid and late 1830's. Brothers John Jr and Robert did not however. John Jr did acquire land in Union, just later than the others, and further west in the county in an area that later became the border area between Union Co and newly formed Fannin Co. Brother Robert moved further south into GA (married Franklin Co in 1835, possibly in Clarke Co in 1830) and then AL, AR, and finally Rusk Co., TX. Later, Amos joined Robert in TX. Joseph, John Jr., and George remained in Union Co GA along with their parents, John and Margaret. 

Wes

Timeline of Patterson Brothers in Rabun Co., GA prior to moving to Union Co GA:

1.      1828 Feb 22 – John Patterson, “NOTICE. GEORGIA, Rabun County, John Patterson of said county, and of Capt. Wood’s District, tolls before James Allen, Esq. Two mules, one a horse, a dark iron gray, supposed to be two years old last spring, branded on the front shoulder with the letter H 13 ½ hands high; the other a yellow bay mare, supposed to be two years old last spring, no brands perceivable, with a dark stripe across the shoulders, 13 hands high, appraised by Cleaveland Coffee and Hiram Gaines, the gray to sixty-five dollars, and the Bay to sixty. February 8. H. T. Mosely, Clerk.”
WP: John Patterson Jr., b. 1798, son of John and Margaret Black Patterson. Cleveland Coffee of Rabun Co., GA also a 4^th-Great-Grandpa of Wes Patterson. In the 1830 census of Rabun Co., GA, George Patterson was enumerated on page 226 line 1, and John Patterson was on page 230. However, Elizabeth Gains and Henry S. Gains were next to George Patterson on lines 2 and 3. Furthermore, the above appraisers were on page 225 lines 22 and 27, respectively, with line 27 being the last line. Therefore, Hiram Gains was enumerated next to George Patterson. Also, Hannah Chasteen and Elijah Chasteen were on the two lines prior to Hiram Gains. Hannah was George Patterson’s mother-in-law, Elijah was George’s brother-in-law. Clearly, the appraisal took place nearer to where George Patterson lived in 1830 than where John was living in 1830. Perhaps in 1828, John was living closer to George.
Source: Athenian, Feb. 22, 1828 -- page 3, http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/athnewspapers/id:ath1828-0031. Also ran Mar. 14, 1828 – page 3.
 

2.      1830 May 9 – John Patterson, Deed Book A, p. 240 (transcribed to Book R, p. 181) Deed dated 9 May 1830, recorded 5 Apr. 1831, from Jeremiah York, to Jeffrey York, Rabun Co., GA conveyed South half of Lot 43, First District, for $150. Witnesses: Elijah Brady and John Patterson. Signed: Jeremiah York.
WP: John Patterson Jr., b. 1798, son of John and Margaret Black Patterson. Lot 43 in First District was naturally next to Lot 42, which was occupied by the Pattersons. In later newspaper notices, Lot 42 was identified as Joseph Patterson’s, and later as John Patterson’s. Perhaps they shared it, considering that the lot contained 490 acres. However, in the 1830 census, Joseph and John were not enumerated next to each other. On page 230 of the census, witness Elijah Brady was recorded on line 7. Jeffrey York was on line 9 same page. John Patterson, the other witness, was on line 21 of the same page. The grantor, Jeremiah York, was on line 22 of the same page, right next to John Patterson. This confirms to me that John Patterson was living on Lot 42 of First District in 1830. Joseph Patterson was enumerated on page 234 of the census, and line 17 (out of 27 lines each page).