Pleasant Diggs (1757 - 1849)

Born 1757 in Louisa, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Hinson) Diggs — married 1789 in Anson, North Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 25 Sep 1849 at about age 92 in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Chrissy Locke [send private message] and Robert Diggs [send private message]

Biography

Pleasant was probably born about 1757 ^[1]to 1762.^[2]

He married Elizabeth Hinson,^[3] in 1789.^[4] They had ten children together.

He died Sep 1849 in Paris, Henry Co., Tennessee, at the impressive age of 92, and was buried there In the Palestine Cemetery.^[1]

^[5] PLEASANT DIGGS was the second son of William and Judith Diggs, probably born in Louisa County, Virginia. The records of the Ceder Creek meeting of the Quaker's list Pleasant as one of six children born to the family while they still lived in Virginia. The family (as shown in the meeting records, moved to Anson County, North Carolina in 1768. We know that Pleasant was married about 1792 to a non-Quaker as the records of the Cane Creek meeting in North Carolina reveal that he was dismissed on June 4, 1892 for marrying out of unity. DAR records state he was married first to Elizabeth Hinson, and second, before 1800, Elizabeth Jernigan. This information is not supported by any marriage or Bible records, consequently, there is some question of the accuracy of the DAR records. Pleasant Diggs is mentioned in various Anson County records until his departure from North Carolina about 1823 to Tennessee.

His father's land having gone to his older brother, William (the law of primogeniture was in effect until 1786) when his father died, Pleasant was still able to amass considerable land holdings including 480 acres and at least two slaves. On December 28, 1820 he sold 200 acres on Island Creek to John H. Diggs. He was a successful planter and an educated man- It was a general rule after the Revolutionary War that colonies with unsettled western lands would cede the land over to the central government to be doled out as bounty to the veterans of the war. In North Carolina politics and political favoritism seemed to have played an important role in delaying any such action. North Carolina was the last colony to cede their land and the state had already disposed of a sizable portion of it before it was ceded. The state had established pre-emption grants by a legislative act in April 1782. This act stipulated that any head of a family would receive 640 acres of land. It also stipulated that any single man over 21 would receive 640 acres. On October 20, 1783, the state opened a land office at Hillsboro where entry warrants of not more than 5000 acres could be purchased using either specie or depreciated paper money. This office was open seven months and disposed of four million acres of land. The state then appointed the University of North Carolina to sell off land that had been allotted to war vets but had not been claimed. North Carolina finally ceded their unclaimed lands to the central government in 1790.

The settlers came into N.W. Tennessee around 1800 by several different routes and used many modes of travel. Almost everyone who came from North Carolina came through the Cumberland Gap. The National Road, or Turnpike, was several years away so some of them made their way to the Ohio River where they either made or purchased flatboats and floated down the Ohio River. Almost all of the early settlers to Henry County, Tennessee came from North Carolina, their ancestors having arrived in the colonies from the British Isles during the 1600's or 1700's. It had been illegal for white people to live in Henry County prior to 1819, when Andrew Jackson and Issac Shelby negotiated the purchase of the land from the Chickasaw Indians. The white people had been waiting across the river in Stewart County and they flooded across the river into Henry County as soon as it was legal for them to do so seeking government land for as little as ten cents an acre. The territory included in the Jackson Purchase was defined by the Mississippi River on the west, the Ohio River on the north, the Tennessee River on the east and the Tennessee-Mississippi state border on the south. The signing of the Chickasaw Indian treaty in 1818 opened the vast fertile western section of Tennessee lying between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers.

The first of the Anson County, North Carolina Diggs family was John Harris Diggs who settled on 293 acres of land located in Range 4, Section 6 along the Middle Fork of the Obion River in the southwestern part of Henry County, Tennessee. Soon afterward, he was joined by his father, Pleasant, and brothers, Benjamin H., Pleasant Jr., and Harris. They were later joined by a cousin Elisha and the families of their sisters, William and Lucy Diggs McRae and Thomas and Nancy Diggs Jernigan. All of these Diggs men were listed in the tax list starting in 1827 and they were the only Diggs families listed in the entire 1830 Tennessee census. Pleasant and Elizabeth had at least six children which are named in his Will dated September 26, 1841, John Harris, Pleasant Jr., Benjamin H., Harris, Lucy (McRae) and Nancy (Jernigan). It is assumed that Pleasant died between September 1841 and January 1842. He is most likely buried at Palestine Cemetery in the Diggs plot next to the churchyard on the northwest side. At the time of his death, he owned over 200 acres of prime Henry County land as well as several slaves. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Find A Grave, database and images, memorial page for Pleasant Diggs (1757–Sep 1849), Find A Grave: Memorial #87055327, citing Palestine Cemetery, Palestine, Henry County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Bill Foster (W.L.Foster ) (contributor 47029276) .
2. ↑ U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I–VI, 1607–1943; Ancestry's U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Ancestry Record 3753 #187710?
3. ↑ Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008; Henry County, Tennessee Will Books; Author: Tennessee County Court (Henry County); Probate Place: Henry, Tennessee; Ancestry's Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records Ancestry Record 9176 #4172046
4. ↑ U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900; Ancestry's U.S. and International Marriage Records Ancestry Record 7836 #340155
5. ↑ Colonial Records of North Carolina Continental Line. (Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol 8, p. 80; DAR Lineage Book, 1933 Vol. 134; DAR Patriot Index, Vol I, p.193)].DAR members: Margret Marie Clark Lampkins, No. 596968. Diana Diggs Russell, No. 648632

Acknowledgement

WikiTree profile Diggs-33 created through the import of Foulks.ged on Jan 27, 2012 by Angela Montgomery.

• Diggin Up the Roots, By Billy H. Diggs