Narrative #9
-
In reply to:
Narrative #8
Terri England 5/29/12
North Carolina - December 10, 1770
The Deposition of Robert Jarman of Anson County in the Province aforesaid, Deputy Surveyor, aged about thirty eight years, who being sworn upon the Holy Evangelists, deposeth and saith that about two hours after sunset in the evening of the twenty ninth day of November last past, as this Deponent was riding the road from Blewet's Ferry on Peedee River to Cole's Bridge on Drowning Creek near an old deserted cabin on a branch of Hitchcock's Creek commonly called the Chalk Fork, he the Deponent was robbed of five or six shilling in small pieces of silver, forty pounds six shillings in Proclamation Money, and fifteen Portugal pieces of gold commonly called Half Joe's, in the following manner, to wit, As this Deponent had passed the said Branch about twenty or thirty yards from the ford thereof, he this Deponent saw three men all armed with guns, rush suddenly out of the said cabin and run towards this deponent, whereupon this Deponent put forward and spurred on his horse with all his might, and the said three men advancing toward the road aforesaid to meet this Deponent, some of them cried out heatedly D--n your soul, Stop, or we will blow your brains out, whereupon this Deponent immediately attempted to take a pistol out of his pocket, but hearing at the same instant two of them cock their guns as they came within about six or seven yards from this Deponent, he desisted from making any defense, and stopped his horse under the greatest shock and surprise, and thereupon one of the said men immediately stopped, and presented his gun at this Deponent, another of them seized this Deponents horse by the bridle, and the third man seized hold of this Deponent, pulling and striving to get him off his horse, and at the same time cursing this Deponent in the most shocking manner, and ordering him to deliver up his money, or they would instantly kill him, he who held the Deponent's horse by the bridle, said d--n him, leave off pulling him, and get his money, whereupon the other desisted from pulling this Deponent, and began to search his pockets on the side he then stood, but finding no money there he went round on the other side of this Deponent , and took out of this Deponent's fob about five or six shillings in small silver, and then took hold of this Deponent's saddle bags and began to search them, and from thence took out one parcel of this Deponents Proclamation Money, and at the same time cursed this Deponent, and said, I have got some of your money, and I'll be d--ned if we don't kill you if you don't tell us where your gold is, whereupon this Deponent told him he had none, but the other replied, I know you have, Yes d--n him said the other who held this Deponent's horse by the bridle, and we will have his clothes too, I do insist on't. No d--n him said he that was searching this Deponent, we will take nothing but his money, and finding another parcel, here, said he, I have got a other bundle of his Proc and we will have all he has got, or d--n him we will kill him, and then immediately finding the fifteen Half Joe's, took them out of the Deponent's saddle bags and swearing by his Maker said, Boys, we have got it, and seemed then to be contented, and began to return and began to put up into the saddle bags some of this Deponents clothes and things which had been taken out in the search, and taking up a bottle of rum belonging to this deponent, held it up between himself and the moon (which at this time shone very bright,) and swore that if they did not take the bottle they would have the rum, and then drank to him who held this Deponents horse by the bridle, and taking the bottle again, carried it to him who had stood with his gun presented at the distance aforesaid, and after drinking two drams apiece, the same person who had been searching this Deponent, drinking to him that held this Deponents horse by the bridle, said D--n me boys, we have done it. No, said he that held this Deponents horse, I want his clothes too. No said he that searched this Deponent, we have got what we wanted, and I'll be d--ned if we will have any of his clothes, and then put the said bottle again into this Deponents saddle bags, and thereupon the said two persons who had seized hold of this Deponent and his horse, left this Deponent and went to the other person who had stood with his gun presented at the distance of about five or six yards from this Deponent as aforesaid, and then all three of the said persons advanced about four or five steps further from this Deponent, and then stood talking together. Whereupon this Deponent pleaded with them not to leave him destitute of any money to bear his expenses, and in answer thereby one of them said, d--n your blood, go off this minute, or we will take everything you have, for I will be d--ned continued he, if there shall ever go as much money again out of Anson to the d--ned sons of b--ches below, as there has gone, if we can help it, and thereupon this Deponent left them and proceeded as fast as he could to John Cole's at the bridge on Drowning Creek aforesaid, then being in such concern terror and confusion, that he scarce knew what course to take. And this Deponent further saith, that the said three men that robbed this Deponent as aforesaid are all unknown to this Deponent, their faces being all blacked and disguised, and that those two who seized him and his horse in the manner aforesaid, were smallish or rather under a middle size, and that he who stood off at some distance with his gun presented at the time of the robbery committed as aforesaid, appeared to be a tall stout man, who never spoke during the whole action, and all wore their hair, the two former had their hair tied, the latter had his hair short and loose about his neck. And this Deponent further saith that at the time when this Deponent desired and intended to have set out on his journey from home with company, his wife was in labour, and in such circumstances as humanity forbade him to leave her in, but that the day after she was brought to bed, he set out on his journey, and rode late at night at the time he was robbed, as aforesaid, in order to overtake the company which were on the road before him, and further this Deponent saith not. Robt Jarman Sworn the tenth day of December 1770 before R. Cogdell.
Isaac "of Chalk Fork" makes another appearance in the records in the spring of 1783 when he was arrested on a charge of murder and treason but whom he supposedly murdered the record does not indicate and further research shows he probably was not actually tried. We do find court records during March of the same year where Isaac brings suit against that Charles Goodon and Wilham Cook in which the record mentions these men with “force and Armes in and upon one Isaac Brigman in the peace of God and this said state, then and there being an assault did make upon him the said Isaac Brigman, then and there did beat, wound, and ill treated to that his life was disparod [desperate].In 1787 Isaac also brought charges against James Bounds, saying with “force and arms made an assault on Isaac Brigman….[and] did beat wound and ill treat to his great damage and against the peace and dignity of Said State.”
Another interesting Brigman named William "the Tory" (due to his inclinations during and around the Revolutionary War) starts showing in the court records beginning in 1784 through 1786 where he is shown as being indebted to Robert Thomas for non-payment of twelve gallons of whiskey valued at the enormous sum of £21.Although an arrest warrant was issued it was noted that William had fled the state and was apparently in hiding until he showed up again in late 1786 and Sarah Crowson brought charges against William for theft of another £23.William "the Tory" becomes notorious and continues showing up various times in court records and always dodging some claimant's demand for payment of debt.
Although thorough research has been done specifically of the particular areas of Richmond, Anson, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, as well as Marlboro, Marion and Georgetown counties South Carolina, much later both Anson and Georgetown completely lost all of their records (removed and hidden for safety at Cumberland County, North Carolina) when Sherman returned from his march to the Atlanta.
William "the Tory" is most likely the son of Thomas "the Frontiersman" or his maybe even his grandson.Whatever the case William is shown in the Revolutionary War Pension record of Tillotson O’Bryan where O’Bryan notes that during his service as a private in 1780 he and his fellow soldiers hunted down tories in Richmond County capturing William Brigman along with several others, some of which were hanged.William Brigman does not show up in the historical record after the late 1780s.
Just prior to the Revolutionary War we get a glimpse of things to come when Thomas "the Frontiersman" sold his land in April of 1774 to one Darby Henagan.Only three months later Thomas died and his will was presented before the Anson County court on 17 July 1774.Thomas was one of the very few Brigmans who left a will but the contents of his last will and testament will always remain a mystery because although his will remained in the Anson courthouse for almost one-hundred years no one ever looked at it or made notes.To the great regret of Thomas’ descendants, Sherman -- the Confederacy's most hated man -- was fastidious in his mission and burned the Anson courthouse documents to ashes. The only thing we know about this will is Thomas appointed William Brigman, Isaac Brigman and Solomon Dearman as executors.Because the Revolutionary War was looming Thomas’s will would not probated until 1779.
The “black hole” this lack of various county records left is not the only difficulty we have in discerning who belonged to which parentage.Nonetheless, if one can set aside the desire to untangle the very exact line of descent through this period as being absolutely necessary then all is not lost.Brigman is such an unusual name on the whole (at least to those no longer living in the area) and since we can easily see who went into the "black hole" and who came out the other side there is absolutely no question whatsoever that all the Brigmans in the general vicinity of the counties in question (within North Carolina and Marlboro, South Carolina) were related.
While the overarching goal in genealogy is to decipher one’s exact line of descent this will likely never happen for the Brigmans using existing records. Perhaps others will come behind us and add these facts at a later date. Despite this lack, every single Brigman in the area in question is directly descended from both Thomas "the Adventurer" and Thomas "the Frontiersman." Each Brigman had (or, in some cases, did not have) dignity in their own right and although space does not permit discussion of all the Brigmans who went before us, a few of the more colorful Brigmans are highlighted throughout these documents.Special note is given that because the Brigmans left almost no wills and certainly no bible records or diaries, most of the documentation has been located in civil and criminal files -- which admittedly colors or taints the Brigmans as a ruffian lot -- something that could surely not altogether be true for each and every Brigman.The preponderance of such documentation still takes the breath away and tickles the imagination.
Thomas "the Frontiersman's" inventory of estate tells us a great about not only the value of his household goods but what occupied his life before the time of his death.We find him with a complete outfitting of a home, but little to show any tools of industry -- giving the impression that his own industry had come to an end.All told, the value of Thomas’ estate was valued at about £43.While Richmond County did break off from Anson in 1779 the county was so new that accurate record keeping did not include a copy of Thomas "the Frontiersman’s" Anson County will, but it does contain the conclusion of the inventory of estate and the auction block sale of his goods:
July 13, 1774, County Court Minutes: “Will of Thos. Brigman, decd., exhibited by Solomon Dearmon, Isaac Brigman, exor, qualified” (Anson County, Abstracts of Early Records, May Wilson McBee)
Estate Sale: 1779: Anson, North Carolina, Estate Settlement, Thomas Brigman, Sale of Estate of Thomas Brigman, Deceased, Anson Co, pg 320, 1779-1780.
John Bounds, 1 walnut table, 1.1.
More Replies:
-
Narrative #10
Terri England 5/29/12
-
Narrative #11
Terri England 5/29/12
-
Narrative #11
Terri England 5/29/12
-
Re: Narrative #11
Lena Truster 5/29/12
-
Solomon Brigman Family
Terri England 6/05/12
-
Re: Solomon Brigman Family
Joan Flatt 7/09/12
-
Joshua "of Joe's Creek" Brigman Family
Terri England 6/07/12
-
Lula Lavina Brigman - First Brigman Woman to Graduate from College
Terri England 6/08/12
-
Kansas Brigman - A Hoax as Big as the State of Texas
Terri England 6/10/12
-
Fighting Brigmans: Revolutionary - Civil War
Terri England 6/17/12
-
Roberson Brigman Family of Texas
Terri England 6/26/12
-
Brigman DNA Studies
Terri England 6/27/12
-
Brigman DNA Studies
-
Roberson Brigman Family of Texas
-
Fighting Brigmans: Revolutionary - Civil War
-
Kansas Brigman - A Hoax as Big as the State of Texas
-
Lula Lavina Brigman - First Brigman Woman to Graduate from College
-
Re: Solomon Brigman Family
-
Re: Narrative #11
-
Narrative #11
-
Narrative #11