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John Pendergrass is thought to be the son of William and Mary (Unknown) Pendergrass.
John's birth date is estimated as before 1736 based on his first appearance in records on the Granville County, North Carolina tax list in 1757. He must have been at least 21 to own property and pay taxes. He was living near present-day Vicksboro.
Sometime before about 1760 he married Hannah "Hanner," last name unknown, based on the age of his son Solomon. It is not known if they married before or after arriving in Granville County.
John and Hannah had five boys and one girl:
All were born on John's farm which -- by the time Moses was born -- had become part of Bute County and is now Warren County.
By April 1789 the family had moved 35 miles south to Wake County, North Carolina, where John bought 100 acres "on the drains of the Beaverdam Creek at Mockerson Creek" near the intersection of Wake, Franklin, Nash and Johnston counties, next to and on the same day as Hezekiah Massey.
Massey was in Granville County at the same time as John and it has been speculated that there was a family connection. No documentary evidence for that has been found but there are tantalizing DNA clues.
John would eventually leave the same 100 acres to his "well loved wife hanner" for life and to his youngest son Moses thereafter.
In 1790 he served on a road jury to improve a road from the Franklin County line.[2]
In 1792 and 1793 he was on the tax list for 100 acres but owed no tax, perhaps because of age.
John does not seem to have been a particularly successful farmer. He did not accumulate land beyond the 100 acres he bought in 1789 and is not known to have owned slaves.
John died in Wake County between 17 April 1794, when his will was written, and September, when it was proven in Wake County court.
His will only mentions his "well beloved wife hanner" and his sons Jesse and Moses and daughter Anney, but his oldest son Solomon witnessed and proved the will. Probably Solomon, John and Benjamin had already received gifts. In fact, Solomon, John, and Benjamin each were taxable for 100 acres beginning in 1792. Perhaps the land came from their father.
John's neighbor and "friend" Hezekiah Massey was the executor.[1]
Contrary to many unsourced trees on other sites, John's wife was Hannah Unknown, NOT Hannah Grady or Mary Ransom. The evidence for Hannah as John's wife is his will.[1] There is no evidence for Grady being her maiden name.
There is no evidence that this John Pendergrass served in the military, either during the Revolutionary War or at any other time. He would have been in his 40s when the war started and rather old to serve. The DAR erroneously has the service record for John Pendergrass of Chatham County, North Carolina, attached to this John Pendergrass' information. [3]
See, also:
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John is 24 degrees from Herbert Adair, 24 degrees from Richard Adams, 21 degrees from Mel Blanc, 28 degrees from Dick Bruna, 20 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 34 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 20 degrees from Sam Edwards, 17 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 20 degrees from Marty Krofft, 16 degrees from Junius Matthews, 17 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 20 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
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Categories: Wake County, North Carolina | Granville County, North Carolina | Estimated Birth Date | North Carolina Colonists