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William Broughill Jr.
1735??-1808? |
William Broughill Jr. was dragged into the Court Orders on Aug. 11,
1758, when Charles Story brought suit against him for back debts. His
father agreed to be responsible for the debt in the event that William
Jr. lost the case. Interestingly, that same day, Edmond Taylor brought a
suit against Benjamin Lankford in debt and William Sr. also guaranteed
his performance.
William Jr. was living in Caroline County when
his son James was born in April of 1761. He was still in Caroline
on Oct. 12, 1765, when he acknowledged a debt to Colin and William
Dunlop and Company, Plaintiff, as did his brother John. He does not
appear in the Caroline County Court Orders for 1766 and 1767.
By 1771, he was living on the south branch of
Bruck Creek, New Plantation, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, because on
November 9th of that year, he sold 100 acres on Bruck Creek to John
East. The deed was recorded and names his wife as Sarah. No record
has been found as to how this property was obtained. According to Steve
White, a Virginia attorney who often performs title searches, early
settlers often conveyed land through hand written deeds, which often
were not recorded. On March 27, 1772, John East filed suit against
William Broyhill in Halifax County. This case has not been
researched, but may have involved the land that William sold him the
previous year. The resulting court record is the first documented
use of the "Broyhill" spelling.
William Jr. was apparently the father of James
Broughill, but it is not known how many other children he may have
fathered. The only clue lies in the Halifax Tax Lists. The one for 1783
lists James Braughill as head of a household containing 5 whites and 0
blacks. Yet the one for 1785 lists William Broy with 7 whites and 0
blacks. Apparently in 1783, William Jr. was not at the homestead when
the Tax List was taken, so James, being the eldest son, was listed as
the head of household, which probably consisted of James, his mother,
and James' three siblings. William Jr. had returned home to be listed as
head of household in 1785. James married that year, so the household
probably consisted of William Jr., his wife, James, James' wife Rebecca
and James' three siblings. Who were the siblings? This is discussed in
Chapter 5, The Bray Connection.
James and William were certainly not wealthy. The 1787 State Census
shows that James had two horses and three cattle; William had one
horse and five cattle. The 1785 Tax Lists shows that they had one
dwelling and two other buildings. William Jr. may have returned to
Caroline after his father's death in 1789, perhaps to help settle his
estate. The 1791 "Nunn versus Broughills" case denotes more than one Broyhill. Could
they have been John and William Jr. and possibly their sisters, if any.
If William did visit Caroline, he returned to Halifax in 1802, because
he acknowledged a deed before the Court that year. In 1806,
William transferred his land on Childrey Creek to his son James.
Assuming he was born around 1738, William Jr.,
was 68 years old in 1806. He does not appear in the indexes to
later Halifax and Pittsylvania estate records. His son James moved to
Wilkes County, North Carolina around 1807. Although it is possible that
William went with him, no record of him has been found in Wilkes County,
nor does he appear in Mitchell's Index to North Carolina Wills.
Caroline Court Orders show that a William Broughill was exempted from
the county and Poor Tax Levy in 1802, which was 13 years after the 1789
death of William Sr. This could be William Broughill Jr., who returned
home to Caroline. He is not listed on the 1810 Virginia Tax Lists,
published to replace the missing 1810 Census, so he probably died
between 1806 and 1810. |
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