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James - the First Broyhill |
James
Broyhill is the progenitor of the Broyhill family. The Broyhill
surname is exclusively American and every known natural born Broyhill
in the United States descends from him.
He was born James Broughill on April 29, 1760 or 1761,
in Caroline County, Virginia. Over the years he appears in various
records under the surnames Bray, Brayhill, Broughill, Braughill and
Broyhill. James was illaterte and dependent on county clerks to write
his name in various records. They seem to have used phoentic
spellings. James often went by the name Bray and this is
explored at some length. He adopted the Broyhill spelling
between 1800 and 1810, about the time he moved to Wilkes County, North
Carolina.
James was only fifteen years old when the American
colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. Virginia was
thrust into a war that would last five years. Enlistments were then
for very short terms, but James, like many other young men, would sign
up several times. In 1832, fifty-two years after the British
surrender at Yorktown, a tight-fisted American Congress finally
rewarded its patient veterans with pensions. They were then old men in
their seventies and eighties and their applications were narratives
describing their military service. James Broyhill was among those who
filed application. It is dated Sept. 6, 1837, and is located at the
Federal Archives in Washington, D.C.
(# 32360). It provides a great deal of information about his life.
To briefly summarize: his parents left Caroline County when he was
quite young. They settled in Lunenberg County located in
south-central Virginia, some 200 miles to the southeast. As the
population increased, the county was subdivied and part of it was used
to form Halifax County. It was later split resulting in the
formation of Pittsylvania County. James lived in the
Halifax-Pittsylvania area for over thirty years. Around 1805, he
migrated to Wilkes County, North Carolina. He remained there
until he and his wife followed two of their three sons to Illinois.
James gives no reason for the move, but his grandson wrote that his
father, James Jr. had moved to Illinois because of his opposition to
slavery.
James died in Tazewell County, Illinois ion January 7, 1842.
He and Rebecca had seven children:
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SPOUSE |
ID No. |
John Norman Broyhill |
1787??-1825> |
Polly Davis |
1 |
Polly (or Mary) Broyhill |
1789??-1810> |
Nathaniel Broun |
2 |
William Broyhill |
1792-1877 |
Nancy Johnson |
3 |
Sally (or Sarah) Broyhill |
1795??-1857> |
Isaiah Hampton |
4 |
Frances Broyhill |
1796??-1823> |
Elijah Hampton |
5 |
James Broyhill Jr. |
1798-1849 |
Clarissa Johnson |
6 |
Ann(e) Broyhill |
1800??- ? |
No further record |
7 |
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Information provided by
Illinois Broyhill's state that when James' estate was settled his son
John Norman Broyhill and the four girls were in North Carolina. This
author has been unable to locate those estate records. The Broyhills of
North Carolina and Virginia descend from John Norman Broyhill.
Those from the mid-west descend from James Jr., except for Roger
Broyhill of Illinois, who is the only living male descendant of William. |
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