I am currently working on 'Our Brown Roots' which will be a book about my father's family.
This is a small portion of that book.
Note: This is a work in progress & may be changed as more evidence is collected.
Note: This is a work in progress & may be changed as more evidence is collected.
Julius Alford
Sep 1717 VA - Nov 1771 NC
Son of James Alford
Julius Alford, born September 1717 in New Kent, Virginia,
was the youngest son of James Alford and the grandson of John Alford.[i] He was in his teens when his father
died. By the time Julius was 30 he was in North Carolina with his wife, Lucy
and their first child, John. He and Lucy had seven children: John Alford, Isaac
Alford, Goodrich Alford, Polly Alford, Sarah Alford, Jacob Alford[ii] and Job Alford.
Like his older brothers, Lodwick and
Goodrich, Julius lived in Saint Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, Virginia. His
name is in the records of the parish. He was there in October 1735.[iii] Also, like his brothers, Julius
migrated south to North Carolina. In March 1753 he was in Granville County when he witnessed
a deed for his brother Lodwick.[iv]
The land known today as Granville County was once the home of
many Indian tribes, dominated mainly by the Tuscarora. After the Tuscarora War
of 1711, settlers mostly from Virginia began to populate this area, attracted
by the abundant game, well-watered woods, and rich land. By 1746, the area had
a population sufficiently large enough to merit becoming an independent county,
separating itself from Edgecombe County's western frontier.[v]
Difficulties
with the Tuscarora were not over. More people moved into the area. There was
less land and resources. The Indians were pushed out of their home. In 1754 there
was an Indian uprising “which affected the progress of the commercial life.”
Governor Dobbs arrived from England and found a war in progress and the
county’s “affairs in deplorable condition.” The Governor called for the
militia.[vi]
Edgecombe responded, reporting 1,317 men. On Roanoke River in
Bertie and Edgecombe there were still a hundred warriors of the Tuscaroras and
about two hundred women and children. In Granville County on the west there
were the Saporas with only fourteen men and fourteen women. The long struggle
with the Indians terminated after about seventeen murders and ten or twelve
captives being carried away.[vii]
Both
Julius Alford and his brother, Lodwick, were a part of that militia.
October 1754 saw both Lodowic [sic] and Julius
Alford marching and drilling as Privates in the Granville County Militia. In
those days every able-bodied free man was obligated to own a rifle or musket
and serve in the Militia. Judging by the trouble that the Colonies were having
with raiders, especially the Indians and the Spanish privateers around the
Sound, it’s probable that they saw some fighting.[viii]
In
1769 Julius Alford is among a list of taxpayers in Granville County.[ix]
County borders changed.
Edgecombe County had been divided to form Granville County. In 1764 a portion
of Granville County became Bute County. The county was short lived and
abolished in 1779 when it was divided into Warren County and Franklin County.[x]
Julius Alford can be
found in Bute County in 1769 in a land deed and in a description of the
location of a road. In 1771 his will was presented in court.[xi]
Are you connected to this family? I'd enjoy hearing from you.
[i] National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of
Virginia, The Parish Register of Saint
Peter's New Kent, County, Virginia 1680-1787 [Parish Record Series, No. 2]
(Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc.) 73.
[ii] Saunders, C. A., My
Alford Heritage [Limited Edition] (Texas: Morgan Printing, 2005).
[iii] The Vestry book of Saint Peter's Parish, 1682-1758; New Kent County,
Va., (Parish Record Series, No. 3). (1905). The National Society of the
Colonial Dames of America in the State of Virginia. Reprint by Southern
Historical Press, Greenville, SC, 2006. Page 172.
[iv] Alford, James P., Alford and
Their Kin in Early North Carolina, Part I, (AAFA Action, March 1990, Issue 8).
[v]Pam Thornton, Granville History,
The Early History; Granville County Museum; (granvillemuseumnc.org/granville.html:
accessed 2016).
[vi] Turner, Joseph Kelly
and John L Bridgers Jr., History of
Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Reprint (London: Forgotten Books, 2015)
34.
[vii] Turner, Joseph Kelly
and John L Bridgers Jr., History of
Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Reprint (London: Forgotten Books, 2015)
34.
[viii] Alford, James P., Alford and
Their Kin in Early North Carolina, Part I, (AAFA Action, March 1990, Issue
8).
[ix] Ratcliff, Clarence E., North Carolina Taxpayers
1701–1786. (Baltimore, MD:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984) 3.
[x] Corbitt, David
Leroy. The Formation of the North
Carolina Counties, 1663 – 1943 (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Division of
Archives and History, 1987).
[xi] Holcomb, Brent. Bute
County, North Carolina Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions
1767–1779. (Columbia, SC: no
publisher, 1988).
1 Julius
Alford b: Sep 1717 New Kent, VA, d: Nov 1771 Butte Co, NC
+Lucy Newton b: 1720, d: 1790
2
John Alford b: Abt. 1747 Bute Co, NC, d: Aft. 1830 Greene, AL
+Chloe
Pope b: 1756
2
Isaac Alford b: 1748 Bute County, NC
2
Goodrich Alford b: c. 1750 NC
2
Polly Alford b: c. 1753 NC
2
Sarah Alford b: c. 1756 NC
2 Jacob Alford b: 15 Aug 1761 Granville, NC, d:
16 Jul 1824 Washington Parish, LA
+Elizabeth
Bryant b: 20 Jun 1765, d: c. 1793, m: c. 1785 NC
+Frances
Seaborn b: 29 Sep 1766 V, d: c. 1860 Washington Parish, LA, m: c. 1792
Cumberland, NC
2 Job
Alford b: Abt. 1763 NC
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