State

The Oldest Family In North Carolina The Blounts of Chowan aiul Beau¬ fort have spread over the face €»f the earth; both founders and de¬ scendants of the family were numerous and active. By CARL GOLRCII There arc few, if any. states in the Union in which you will find a greater degree of family pride than in North Carolina. If you want definite proof of this fact, all you have to do is to attend some of the scores of family reunions that take place every summer, partic¬ ularly during the month of August. They extend from the Outer Banks clear across the state to the mountain country. There arc many well-known family names dating back 2(H) years or more — Barringer. Haywood. Pfiffer, Clark. DeR osset, Harvey, etc.. — but there is one name that it seems to be generally agreed is the oldest of them all — Blount. According to individuals who have given this subject some study, no family whose name is still extant as a family name in North Carolina, came into the province as early as James Blount, who settled in Chowan in 1669. This James Blount is said to have been a younger son of Sir Walter Blount of Sodington. Worcestershire. England, and a captain in the Life Guards of Charles I. His coat of arms, engraved on a copper plate which he brought with him, was in the posses¬ sion of his descendants until about 1840, when it was destroyed by its possessor, James B. Shepard of Ra¬ leigh. Two Branches For convenience, the family may be divided into two branches; the de¬ scendants of James — the Chowan Blounts — and the descendants of his younger brother who settled around Chocowinity in Beaufort County — the Taw River Blounts. The latter is much the more numerous branch of the family and has spread extensively throughout the southern and south¬ western states. Down in the eastern part of the state, particularly in Pitt and Beaufort counties, there are still a large number of families that bear the name of Blount. In addition to these, of course, there are many other families that arc descendants of the two original Blounts. Among them you'll find these names: Bryan. Pettigrew. Shepard. Hill. Connor. Littlejohn, Bonner. Hoyt. Treadwell. Cheshire, Webb. Myers. Branch. Grimes. Blackledge. Warren and many others. No telling how many thousands of descendants there arc living in North Carolina and elsewhere today. James Was Prominent James Blount, who settled in Chow¬ an in 1669 on a tract of land which remained in the possession of his de¬ scendants until the death of Clement Hall Blount in 1842. was a man of some prominence in his day. He is spoken of in contemporary documents as a member of the Governor's Coun¬ cil. as one of the officials of Chowan and as a leading character in the in¬ fant and then very disorderly colony. He left one son. John, born in 1669 and died in 1725. John left ten chil¬ dren — six daughters and four sons. Three of the daughters married and left descendants in Hyde County and around Roanoke Island. They were the Worleys, Midgetts and Manns. The younger brother of James Blount is thought to have settled on the Taw (Tar) or Pamlico River about 1673. He left six sons, among COLOR PRINTS Handsome pictures by a famous mountain photographer. See classified column, page ten. Blount Coat of Arms. them being a pair of twins who were named Jacob and Esau. The Tuscaro- ra chief. King Blount, a valuable ally of the whites in the Indian war of 1711. is said to have assumed that name from his attachment to one of these brothers. Thrice Married Nothing is known definitely of the descendants of any of the six except the oldest. Thomas. This Thomas mar¬ ried Ann Reading and left four sons, Reading. James, John and Jacob. Only the descendants of the last named can be traced. He was an officer under Governor Tryon in the Battle of Ala¬ mance and a member of the Halifax Congress of 1776. Among his children were William, John Gray. Thomas. Jacob. Willie and Sharp. He was mar¬ ried three times. Of these children. William. John Gray, Reading, Thomas and Willie be¬ came prominent and distinguished men; among the most eminent in North Carolina and Tennessee for their high talents, public spirit, enter¬ prise and wealth. They owned tre¬ mendous acreages of land and also had many slaves to serve them. As a matter of fact, we believe that William Blount was given a grant that ex¬ tended all the way out to the Mississip¬ pi River. Blount County, Tennessee, was named for him. A Numerous Tribe There have been Blounts who served as officers and enlisted men in every war in which the United States has participated, and many made dis¬ tinguished records of service. There (Continued on pave 10) THE STATE. NOVEMBER 3. 1951 7