Nottingham Monk (bef. 1720 – 1793) of Northampton County, Virginia, and Bertie County, North Carolina: Probable Wife — Elishea Belote

Will of John Beloat, 3 May 1722, Northampton County, Virginia, Record Bk. XXIII-R, Deeds, Wills, etc., 1718-1725, p. 152

Or, Subtitled: “I give them all my Hogs Corne & meat but if abigaile Should marry then to have no part of ye Hogs”

I’m going to interrupt my series tracking the children of Thomas Brooks (1775-1838) and wife Sarah Whitlock of Wythe County, Virginia, Wayne County, Kentucky, and Morgan County, Alabama, for a moment to share with you some information that connects to a previous series I posted on this blog about an entirely different family, the Monk family of Northampton County, Virginia, and Bertie and Martin Counties, North Carolina. I have promised you a posting on the children of Thomas and Sarah Whitlock Brooks’s daughter Margaret (1803-1855) and husband Ransom Van Winkle, and will return to that series after I discuss this new material I have to share with you.

An Account of the Life of George Monk (abt. 1707-1744), Northampton County, Virginia

Northampton County Courthouse
The 1899 Northampton County Courthouse (left) and earlier 1732 Courthouse on the historic court green in Eastville, Virginia; by JodyMBrummage, who has kindly uploaded the photo to Wikimedia Commons for online sharing.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to….

With my last posting, I told you I had finished sharing what I know of my Northampton County, Virginia, Monk line back to William Monk, who died there before July 1716. I also stated that I was now going to trace the Nottingham line that intersects with my Monk line in Northampton County, and I began that series by telling you what I know of William Nottingham (1669-1719), whose daughter Elizabeth (1700-1749/1750) married William Monk (abt. 1690-1750).

In my series on my Northampton County Monks, I have traced that line back to the father of William Monk who married Elizabeth Nottingham. He, too, was named William, and is the man who died before July 1716 in Northampton County. I have suggested to youthough this is only a guess!— that this William Monk might be the son of either Edward or William Monk, both immigrants to Northampton County by 1640/1. The immigrant William died by 1655 in Northampton County, and he seems to me the likelier candidate to be the father of the William Monk who died in 1716, and who was born in the 1660s, it appears. Continue reading “An Account of the Life of George Monk (abt. 1707-1744), Northampton County, Virginia”

The Nottingham Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787-1850/1860): William Nottingham (1669-1719)

Nottingham in Jennings Cropper Wise, Ye Kingdome of Accawmacke Or the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the 17th Century, p. 71
Jennings Cropper Wise, Ye Kingdome of Accawmacke Or the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the 17th Century (Richmond: Bell, Book, and Stationery Co., 1911), p. 71

Or, Subtitled: Silver Clasps, Sidor Presses, and Cows Named Clove

I’ve now posted eleven postings* tracking the ancestry of Strachan/Strahon Monk, who was born about 1787 in Bertie County, North Carolina, and who died between 1850-1858 in Hardin County, Tennessee. About 1805, Strachan Monk married Talitha, daughter of Jesse Cherry (1749-1808) and Elizabeth Gainer (abt. 1761-1836) of Martin County, North Carolina. Between 1810-1820, this couple moved to Tennessee, joining a number of Talitha’s brothers there, who were early land speculators in the daughter state of their native North Carolina.

Two of Talitha’s brothers — Jesse and Isham — settled in Hardin County, as Strachan and Talitha Cherry Monk did, while other of her brothers — Lawrence and Darling, who remained in Martin County, and Daniel, who settled in Haywood County, Tennessee — owned land there. As a previous series of postings about Strachan and Talitha Monk’s years in Hardin County demonstrated, they lived there on land on the Tennessee River loaned to them by Talitha’s brother Daniel (see herehere, and here).

Continue reading “The Nottingham Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787-1850/1860): William Nottingham (1669-1719)”

Tracing the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860) to Northampton County, Virginia: William Monk (abt. 1690 – 1750) (2)

Monk, William, Northampton Co., Va., Wills and Inventories 27-R, #19, 1740-50, p. 531 (1)
Will of William Monk, Northampton County, Virginia, Wills and Inventories 27-R, #19, p. 531 (part 1).

Or, Subtitled: Hand Mills, Small Swords, and Beds and Bolsters

In my last posting, I pointed you to the 18 September 1749 will of William Monk in Northampton County, Virginia, to show you that Nottingham Monk, who died before 20 July 1793 in Bertie County, North Carolina, was William’s son: the will names him as such.[1] The first record I find of William Monk in Northampton County is in another will: on 19 February 1708/9 William Munk and William Munk Jr. witnessed the will of Samuel Palmer, along with Robert Howsen and William Dyer.[2] The two Monk men signed by mark. Continue reading “Tracing the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860) to Northampton County, Virginia: William Monk (abt. 1690 – 1750) (2)”

Tracing the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860) to Northampton County, Virginia: Nottingham Monk Sr. (bef. 1720 – 1793) (1)

Monk, William, Northampton Co., Va., Wills and Inventories 27-R, #19, 1740-50, p. 531 (1)
Will of William Monk, Northampton County, Virginia (Wills and Inventories 27-R, #19, 1740-50, p. 531) (first half)

Or, Subtitled: So That’s Why the Name Sorrowful Margaret Pops Up in My Monk Research!

In my series tracing the ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), I’ve now told you almost all that I know about his parents Nottingham Monk (abt. 1755 – 1818) and Rachel Strachan (abt. 1755 – 1816). In this posting, I’m going to move on to the story of the older Nottingham Monk (bef. 1720 – 1793) who was father of the Nottingham Monk who married Rachel Strachan.

Continue reading “Tracing the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860) to Northampton County, Virginia: Nottingham Monk Sr. (bef. 1720 – 1793) (1)”

Select Documents from the Estate File of Nottingham Monk, Jr. , Bertie County, North Carolina — The Estate Inventory, Complaint of Amos Rayner, and Answer of William Anderson Transcribed

Monk, Nottingham Estate File, Amos Rayner Complaint
Complaint of Amos Rayner to Bertie County, North Carolina, Equity Court , re: estate of Nottingham Monk, 17 January 1825 (opening paragraphs), from loose-papers estate file of Nottingham Monk held by North Carolina archives.

The following are select documents from the loose-papers estate file of Nottingham Monk Jr., Bertie County, North Carolina, which I have transcribed and which were cited in the previous posting, to which I’m attaching these transcriptions. In addition to these documents from the estate file, I’ve transcribed the account William Anderson made as estate administrator on 9 March 1830, the various store accounts of Nottingham Monk discussed in the previous posting linked above, the widow’s allotment to Nancy Monk, and the accounts of the sale and hire of enslaved people belonging to the estate in 1818, 1819, 1820. I am not publishing those other transcripts here, because the resulting posting would be very lengthy. But if any reader of this posting would want copies of the transcripts, I would gladly provide them, if you’d contact me via the messaging system of this blog. Continue reading “Select Documents from the Estate File of Nottingham Monk, Jr. , Bertie County, North Carolina — The Estate Inventory, Complaint of Amos Rayner, and Answer of William Anderson Transcribed”

Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (5)

Monk, Nottingham , Share to Heirs, 1830
William Anderson’s 9 March 1830 account as administrator of Nottingham Monk showing distibutive shares paid to Monk’s heirs: Amos Rayner was paid the shares of Monk’s widow Nancy, son Nebuchadnezzar, and daughter Rachel; Thomas Bond received the shair of Monk’s daughter Elizabeth; Strachan/Strahon Monk received a share; and William Anderson received a share on behalf of wife Jennet — original in Monk’s loose-papers estate file, North Carolina archives.

Or, Subtitled: How to Have Fun with Old Estate Records

The loose-papers estate file held by the North Carolina archives for Nottingham Monk is an extensive, genealogically rich collection of documents — 319 items in all. I went through the file some years ago, before such records began to be digitized and made available through websites like Family Search or Ancestry, and had large portions of the file photocopied, making notes on it. For anyone researching this or other Bertie County, North Carolina, families in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the digitized copies of this estate file available at Family Search and Ancestry are a treasure trove of material with valuable information. Continue reading “Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (5)”

Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (4)

Monk, Nottingham Receipt, Estate File of John Pender, Bertie
28 December 1802 promissory note by John Pender and Nottingham Monk for a payment to the orphans of James Leggett, from loose-papers estate file of John Pender, Bertie County, North Carolina.

In this posting documenting the ancestry of Strachan/Strahon Monk (1787-abt. 1858), son of Nottingham Monk (abt. 1755-1818) and Rachel Strachan, I’ll begin winding up my account of the life of Nottingham Monk, which I began in two previous postings (here and here). Those discussed his birth about 1755 in Northampton County, Virginia, his Revolutionary service in North Carolina, and his marriage to Rachel, daughter of George and Elizabeth Strachan of Bertie County, North Carolina, between 22 February and 23 November 1786. Rachel had previously married 1) George Kittrell and 2) Benjamin Ward, both of whom died before she married Nottingham Monk. My previous postings also discuss Nottingham Monk’s involvement in the administration of the estate of his father Nottingham Monk elder, who died in Bertie County between 1790 and 20 July 1793. Continue reading “Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (4)”

Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (3)

Purrington Monk Family Bible Births.png

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley: life has gotten in the way of my fulfilling my plans to spend time sharing my family history materials on this blog. When I fell silent about a year ago without having finished my series about the ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), I hadn’t yet fulfilled my promise to trace his ancestry through his father Nottingham Monk (abt. 1755 – 28 Jan.-10 Feb. 1818) and Nottingham’s father Nottingham Monk elder (bef. 1720 – bef. 20 July 1793). In my previous two postings (here and here), I did focus on the story of the younger Nottingham, but without carrying his story or that of his ancestry — such that I have been able to trace it — to its conclusion. Continue reading “Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (3)”

Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (2)

Strachan, Rachel Monk, 17 Dec. 1818 Land Division, Estate File (2)
Division of land of Rachel Strachan Monk, Bertie County, North Carolina 17 December 1818, from her loose-papers estate file held by North Carolina Archives.

Strachan, Rachel Monk, 17 Dec. 1818 Land Division, Estate File (1)

I ended my previous posting about Nottingham Monk (1755/1760 – Feb. 1818) with an account of his Revolutionary War service and the documents this generated. I promised that I’d then tell you about his life from that point to his death, which occurred in Bertie County, North Carolina, between 28 January and 10 February 1818, and I’d then conclude my series about him with a posting examining some key documents from his extensive loose-papers estate file held by the North Carolina Archives. My previous posting was the first in a series building on an initial posting showing you that Strachan (or Strahon and Strawhorn) Monk (1787 – 1850/1860) of Martin County, North Carolina, and Hardin County, Tennessee, was the son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan. My intent in this series is to trace Strachan Monk’s ancestry, about which quite a bit of totally incorrect information has long been circulated.  Continue reading “Will the Real Strawhorn Monk Please Stand Up? Documenting the Ancestry of Strachan Monk (1787 – 1850/1860), Son of Nottingham Monk and Rachel Strachan (2)”