Captain Andrew Pickens1

b. circa 1699, d. 1756
Captain Andrew Pickens|b. c 1699\nd. 1756|p6278.htm|William Pickens|b. c 1670\nd. c 1735|p6289.htm|Margaret (—?—) (Pickens)||p6290.htm|Robert (Andre) Pickens|b. c 1644\nd. 1699|p6315.htm|Esther J. Benoit|b. c 1644|p6316.htm|||||||

4th great-grandfather of William Lemuel Horn Jr.
6th great-grandfather of Laura Jane Munson.
Family Background:
Horn and Allied Families
Appears on charts:
Pedigree for William Lemuel Horn II
     Andrew Pickens was born circa 1699 in Northern Ireland.2,3 He was the son of William Pickens and Margaret (—?—) (Pickens).1 The names of his parents are traditional. Captain Andrew Pickens married Anne Davis (surname traditional) in 1728/29 in Pennsylvania.1 He died in 1756 or 1757 in Anson County, North Carolina, in the area from which Mecklenburg County was later formed.1 He was buried in Waxhaw Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lancaster County, South Carolina.1
     
     It is thought that Andrew Pickens came with his parents and siblings to Pennsylvania about 1719.1 Scots-Irish emigrants were flooding into Pennsylvania at that time, and finding the coastal land already taken, most pushed westward. Andrew's family, however, first settled in lower Bucks County north of Philadelphia where in 1719 his parents are recorded as "Newcomers from Earlandt" in the Dutch Reformed Church records in Bensalem.4

     Andrew is first found in American records about 1727 when his name appears as plaintiff in civil cases in the Court of Common Pleas in Bucks County.5 By 1735 he was in Paxton township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.1 Lancaster County was formed from the eastern part of Chester County in 1729, and is where most Scots-Irish immigrants to Pennsylvania settled.4 Paxton now falls wholly into Dauphin County and is divided into Lower, Middle and Upper Paxton.

     About 1739, Andrew Pickens moved to Augusta County, Virginia.5 The year before Virginia's Royal Governor William Gooch had made an attractive offer. In the Shenandoah Valley west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, two new counties, Augusta and Frederick, were authorized to be cut from Orange County. The Scots-Irish were invited to settle there, the idea being that they would serve as a buffer between the Indian tribes west of the Alleghenys and the English planters in the Virginia Tidewater region, a task for which they were particularly well-suited. The inducements were an exemption from taxes for ten years and land titles. Augusta County in particular became a haven for Scots-Irish Presbyterians. Though it had been officially established in 1838, it wasn't until 1745 that the first court was held. Therefore, pre-1845 records are kept in Orange County.6 The following Augusta County records are as transcribed in Chalkley's Chronicles. The original records have not been consulted, and it should be noted that Chalkley's contains many errors of transcription and omission.
County Court formed--First Justices: James Patton, John Buchanan, Peter Scholl, Robert Campbell, Robert Poage, Thomas Lewis, Robert Cunningham, Richard Woods, Robert Craven, Adam Dickinson, John Anderson, John Lewis, George Robinson, James Bell, John Brown, John Pickens, Hugh Thomson, John Finla, John Christian, James Kerr, Andrew Pickens, 9 December 1745.7

John Rusk--Constable vice Andrew Pickens Cap. Wilson's Co, 10 December 1745.8

9th December, 1745. Andrew Pickens to William McFeeters, £6 12-1/2 acres Wm. McFeeters' old survey. Witnesses, Thos. Chew, James Trimble, Jno. Madison. Acknowledged, 10th December, 1745.9

James Knox, Jno. Brown, Andrew Pickens, bond, 11th February, 1745 (1746). James Knox qualifies guardian of Ann Jenny Usher.10

Andrew Pickens, Peter Scholl, Richard Woods recommended coroners--and Pickens to act until appt, 12 February 1745/46.11

Andrew Pickens--Admr. Joseph Martin--and John Trimble, Wm. McFeters, Saml. Wallace and John Brown, Appraisers, 12 February 1745/46.12

Andrew Pickens qualifies administrator of Joseph Martin with sureties, viz: John Brown and Hugh Thompson. Bond, 12th February, 1745.13

Commission to John Anderson, Andrew Pickens, and Richard Woods to take deposition of Margaret, wife of Francis McCown, circa 18 June 1746.14

Report as to road from top North Mountain to Wm. King's and thence to C. H.--Robert Davis appointed overseer. The following tithables to work it: George Kill Patrick, James Young, James Young, James Mills, Robert McClellan, Andrew Pickens, Jacob Lockart, John Trishell, Hugh Young, Samuel Kinkead, William Mills, William McFeeters, James Clark, Henry Cristwell, 20 August 1746.15

William McFeters and Patrick Martin report, viz: Processioned for James Bell, Maurice Ofrail; Wm. King, Samuel Wallace, Hugh Young, John Trimble, Wm. McFeters, Jacob Lockhart, Thos. Kirkpatrick, James Clerk, John McCery, Nathan Patterson, Capt. John Wilson, Robert Campbell, Andrew Pickens and Wm. Martin, Robert Campbell, David Campbell, James Lockhart, David Cunningham, Alex. Campbell, Patrick Cook, Patrick Martin. These not processioned, viz: Jas. Bell, John Risk, Capt. John Wilson, John McCutcheon, 1748.16

John Trotter's petition vs. Capt. Daniel McAnaire, 4th Tuesday in February, 1749-50. Certificate that John is a very poor man, but had lived honest some years in our neighborhood for what we know. Patrick Martin, John Trimble, Jacob Lockhart, Andrew Pickens, Alexander Crawford.17

28th February, 1749. Same to James Young, planter, 436 acres in Beverley Manor on Back Creek. Corner Robert Young; McFeeter's line; corner Andrew Pickens; corner Robert Campbell; corner Patrick Martin. Teste: John Wilson, John Gay.18

1st March, 1749. Andrew Martin's appraisement, by Andrew Pickens, James Walker, James Coulter.19

2d November, 1750. Andrew Pickins to John McPheeters, 400 acres in Beverley Manor; corner Rob. Campbell. Delivered: Wm. McPheeters, 1752. Signed, Anne Pickings. Teste: Pat Martin, Robt. Wilson.20

August, 1751. Andrew Pickens to William McPheetters. Power attorney to convey 211 acres to John McPheetters.21
All went well in Augusta until 1748, the last year the settlers were exempt from paying taxes. Montgomery writes:
     In 1748 Virginia resumed the collection of Tithes (Church Money) and the colony blew up like a bunch of firecrackers. They had had a 100 years of that stuff in Ireland and just would not stand for it in America. So, they just picked up and moved out. Some of them took the trouble to sell their land. Others were not so particular; they just walked off and left it.

     It just so happened in 1749 North Carolina was ready and waiting for them. The entire part of the Western colony was organized into Anson county [1750] - and no tithes - and there was a stampede to get into North Carolina. Whole colonies came together and - note this - most of those who came in between 1750 and 1760 were from the Shenandoah valley. Afterwards they came direct from Pennsylvania.

     In 1750 a group of thirty or forty families came there from Augusta County, Virginia and settled in Waxhaws. This group included most of the families we are interested in. The Pickenses, Davises, McCanes, Montgomerys, Nisbits, Craigs, etc. etc. too many to list and they ALL settled in North Carolina.

     Andrew Pickens, Sr. was appointed one of the first Justice's and bought five acres on which to build the first court house. Now, all the records of the Waxhaw settlers will be found in Anson county from 1749 to 1762.6
     Most other Pickens researchers approximate Andrew's move from Augusta County to the Waxhaws in the Carolina back country as about 1749, but 1750 seems a more logical estimation since that was the year he sold his Augusta land to McPheeters. In any case, he was in the Waxhaws before 1 October 1751 when he was allowed a grant of 551 acres on the north side of Waxhaw Creek.22,23,24

     The Waxhaws (named for the Waxhaw Indians) straddles the boundary between the two Carolinas, but at the time of Andrew Pickens' move, the state line had not been set. A later surveying error that cost South Carolina almost half a million acres, gave North Carolina most or all of the region. A resurvey in 1772 corrected the error and set the current boundary. The Waxhaw settlement then fell into North Carolina in what was at that time Anson County, later Mecklenburg County, and currently Union County, and the Waxhaw Presbyterian Church that the Pickens family attended, and where Andrew was an elder, fell into the Camden District of South Carolina, now Lancaster County. The Waxhaw settlers were very much opposed to the resurvey because those who found themselves in South Carolina were once again forced to pay tithes. The Carolina boundary "dispute" became famous after the War of 1812 when both Carolinas wanted to claim Andrew Jackson as a native son. Jackson, who was born in the Waxhaws in 1767 and became the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and seventh U.S. President, claimed many times during his terms in office that he was born in South Carolina. There is ample evidence, however, to suggest he was born in North Carolina, and that his claim was intended to curry favor with South Carolina who was at that time involved in a bitter dispute with the federal government. The question has been argued on the floor of the House of Representative, and to this day, both states claim him as their own.

     Andrew Pickens received his grant on 13 April 1752.1 Although it is recorded in North Carolina, not everyone agrees the land was in Anson County. Most notably, authors Sharp and Day both believed the Pickens land was in Lancaster County, South Carolina.1 Wherever his land may have actually been located, it is evident that the area was considered to be in Anson County at that time because in 1756-57, during the French and Indian War, Captain Andrew Pickens commanded a militia company of Anson County colonial troops.25 Click to view image

     Andrew Pickens made a will on 5 November 1756 in Anson County, North Carolina. Mentioned were William Davis, Nancy Pickens, Andrew Pickens, Joseph Pickens, John Pickens and Jean Pickens.26,27 Click to view image Andrew's widow Ann and son-in-law William Davis presented an inventory of the estate for record in the office of the Clerk of Court of Anson County in 1757.28 Click to view image In 1762 Mecklenburg County was constituted from Anson County, and the Pickens plantation fell into the former. On 4 March 1763, the heirs of Andrew Pickens sold the property: "Deed: Andrew and Joseph Pickens, both of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, convey to Robert and Joseph Craford of the same county and state . . . Andrew and Joseph Pickens, heirs of the estate of Andrew Pickens, Esq. deceased . . . for 30 pounds . . . 551 acres, by virtue of the last will and testament of the above mentioned Andrew Pickens, Esq. beginning at a hickory on the north side of Waxhaw Creek, etc . . . with house, orchards, fields, meadows, water and water courses, etc. . . signed Andrew Pickens, Joseph Pickens, Wit: Robert McClenachan, John Bogg."29

Children of Captain Andrew Pickens and Anne Davis

Citations

  1. [S674] Terry Pickens McLean, online <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~tmclean/…>, Terry Pickens McLean (e-mail address), downloaded 2004.
  2. [S674] Terry Pickens McLean, 2004, estimates 1690-1699.
  3. [S674] Terry Pickens McLean, 2004, citing Waring who estimates 1699.
  4. [S675] E.M. Sharp, Pickens Families of the South (Memphis, Tennessee: E.M. Sharp, 1963), 10.
  5. [S671] Monroe Pickens, comp., Cousin Monroe's History of the Pickens Family (Easley, South Carolina: Kate Pickens Day, 1951), 37.
  6. [S675] E.M. Sharp, Pickens Families of the South, 10, citing an Historical Record prepared by W. Vaughn Montgomery, P.O. Box 115, Selma, Ala.
  7. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800, 3 volumes (Rosslyn, Virginia: n.pub., 1912-1913; reprint Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1965). Online at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~chalkley/> with the following disclaimer: "Chalkley is not without its problems, as Daphne Gentry of the Publications and Educational Division of the Library of Virginia has pointed out. Not all documents are included. There are not only errors of omission, but errors of transcription have also been documented. This simply means that the careful researcher should send for a copy of the original document, as with any secondary source, and should not assume that because it doesn't appear in Chalkley it does not exist.", I: 13, citing Order Book No. I, p. 1.
  8. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, I: 13, citing Order Book No. I, p. 4.
  9. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 251, citing Augusta County Deed Book No. 1, p. 1.
  10. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 5, citing Augusta County Court, Will Book No. 1, p. 1.
  11. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, I: 14, citing Order Book No. I, p. 13.
  12. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, I: 15, citing Order Book No. I, p. 16.
  13. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 5, citing Augusta County Court, Will Book No. 1, p. 4.
  14. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 255, citing Augusta County Deed Book No. 1, p. 93.
  15. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, I: 20, citing Order Book No. I, p. 72.
  16. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, II: 435, citing Circuit Court Records, Section "I", p. 22.
  17. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, 1: 433.
  18. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 283, citing Augusta County Deed Book No. 2, p. 645.
  19. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 16, citing Augusta County Will Book No. 1, p. 228.
  20. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 289, citing Augusta County Deed Book No. 3, p. 19.
  21. [S676] Lyman Chalkley, Chalkley's Chronicles, III: 297, citing Augusta County Deed Book No. 3, p. 457.
  22. [S671] Monroe Pickens, Cousin Monroe's History of the Pickens Family, 37 (Day writes that the grant was for 800 acres; all other sources say 551 acres).
  23. [S675] E.M. Sharp, Pickens Families of the South, 11.
  24. [S674] Terry Pickens McLean, 2004, citing W.V. Montgomery, a descendant, who cited Raleigh Land Grants File 649, Book 10, page 312.
  25. [S677] North Carolina, The Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, Vol. XXIII (Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History, unknown publish date), 381.
  26. [S675] E.M. Sharp, Pickens Families of the South, 11-12, citing a photostatic copy of the original will made by the State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, N.C. on Oct. 2, 1957. North Carolina Wills, Volume XXIV, page 42.
  27. [S674] Terry Pickens McLean, 2004, citing Lois K. Nix and Mary Kay Snell, Thomas Boone Pickens - His Ancestors; Wolfe City Texas, Hemington Publishing Company, 1989; pp 45-50, who cited Anson County, North Carolina, Will Book I, 1757, p. 115.
  28. [S671] Monroe Pickens, Cousin Monroe's History of the Pickens Family, 38, citing Anson County Deeds, Book B No. 1, page 294.
  29. [S675] E.M. Sharp, Pickens Families of the South, 12, citing Mecklenburg Co., N.C. Deed Bk. 2, pg 213.