The Plight of The Intuitive Genealogist

As I sit here at my computer, I am surrounded by piles of FAMILY BINDERS (about 38, to be exact), filled with family group sheets, Census, birth, marriage and death records, land deeds and court documents, photographs, family letters, email correspondence, printouts of digitized historical books . . .

 . . . BOXES of family archival materials, 
including five binders of 35mm slides 

which need to be converted to DVD . . .

 . . . BOXES of loose papers collected in rapid-fire printing sessions when on Family Reunion Committee assignments, which still need to be filed in FAMILY  BINDERS, 
many of which still need to have the gaps filled in to see where they fit into the family history puzzle . . .

 . . . not to mention the two filing cabinets and 
twelve plastic file boxes . . .

<< Sigh! >>

A good friend of mine, Julie Bartlett, Archivist of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum , recently sent me a copy of Wide Open Spaces (Rick Crume, Family Tree Magazine, November 2010, pp. 16-21). Rick shares “10 space-saving ways to get organized.” I came away with a few new ideas, but it all takes T-I-M-E no matter what you decide to do. I decided I was on the right path, just needed to keep at it and eventually I’ll be done . . .

. . .well, you’re NEVER done, but at least organized.

Yesterday I was reading through some of the blogs I follow and came across a topic that peeked my curiosity. Tonia Kendrick, of Tonia’s Roots, wrote: “Starting the NGS Home Study Course.  One of my unwritten genealogy goals has been to enroll in a formal course of study. . . .” 

. . . and that got me thinking.

Several times over the past few years I had contemplated certification through the Board for Certification for Genealogists. In the past, I had completed the Test Your Skills and Skillbuilding sections of the website, looked at the Work Samples and Educational Preparation sections. . . . For the most part, I was ready then, but the cost was prohibitive considering how “ready” I was to make a career shift of that nature. That’s a big step. I went back to those pages yesterday after reading Tonia’s blog post and downloaded BCG’s new Certification Seminar Video from the Become Certified page. That gave me something to think on overnight.

When I awoke this morning, I began thinking about certification once more, just as Tonia says she had looked at the educational programs several times before making a decision.


As I checked my emails, I noticed a message from Legacy News--Tips & Tricks, stating that Evidence Analysis with Karen Clifford was now available at Legacy Family Tree Webinars. 


I viewed the webinar and made the not so startling discovery of what kind of genealogist I am. Let's call it "The Intuitive Genealogist." For years now I have known about ranking evidence and the status of records, but have glossed over research calendars, timelines, drafting tables, creating To Do Lists, and keeping updated research journals recording the process and evaluating as I worked. It just seemed too time consuming.


Instead, I worked intuitively, keeping either mental notes or scribblings on emailed research requests, easily forgotten or mislaid months or years later, and which now require precious time trying to recapture those thought processes to make any sense of them.

Yes, now I could kick myself. . .

. . . but as my grandfather, Mark Silverman used to say,

"Better late than never, but better never late."

I guess that could be applied here as well. All I can do is laugh, shake my head, and determine to move on in the RIGHT direction from here on out.

I did learn one other thing from the webinar, though. BCG is not the only genealogist credentialing body out there. The other one is The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists, internationally recognized as ICAPGen.

Well, I guess that just gives me 
one more thought to chew on. . .

. . . until then, I guess I'll work on getting ORGANIZED!

Isaac Carter: Determining the Identity of Same Name Rev War Soldiers, Part 3, UPDATED in 2024

Now that it has been proven that Isaac Carter of Craven County was not a Revolutionary War pensioner, does that mean he didn't serve as a soldier in the war?

According to “FORTITUDE AND FORBEARANCE” THE NORTH CAROLINA CONTINENTAL LINE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 1775-1783 (Babits & Howard, 2004),

“State troops and militia were not regarded as Continental service, even if the unit served as a part of a larger entity, such as the Southern army under Lincoln, Gates, or Greene. . . The official table of organization for a military force. . . made clear distinctions between Continental, state troops, and militia, even if they were serving together in a common cause.” (Preface)

With that knowledge, I turned to COLONIAL SOLDIERS OF THE SOUTH, 1732-1774, by Murtie June Clark (1983). This book contains a listing of all the states' militias. I began looking for the muster roll for companies originating in Craven County, North Carolina. Altogether, there were  thirteen (13) Field Officers and Captains of the Craven County, North Carolina Regiment of Militia:

1. Colonel Edward Griffith
2. Lieut. Colonel Daniel Shine
3. Major Hardy Bryan
4. Captain Lewis Bryan
5. Captain Thomas Graves
6. Captain Joseph Bryan
7. Captain John Shine
8. Captain Solomon Kew
9. Captain Abner Neal
10. Arthur Johnston
11. John Curruther
12. John Islar

13. Cassin Brinson

Within the Muster Roll of Captain Lewis Bryan’s Company, [Craven County, North Carolina,] October 25, 1754, I found Private Isaac Carter, Number 61. I thought it was strange that none of the other names on the muster roll were associated with people living along the South Side of the Neuse River. And then I found a notation, stating: “[District: James MacKilwain’s to Marils Run and upwards to ye county line between Craven and Johnson Counties]” (p. 704).

This was not where Isaac Carter's family lived, along the South Side of Neuse River and the west side of Clubfoot Creek.

I kept looking through the lists, trying to find another Isaac Carter listed with residents of his neighborhood. In the Muster Roll of Captain Abner Neale’s Company, Craven County, North Carolina, October 4, 1754, I found some familiar names associated with our Isaac Carter:

96. Private Abel Carter
97. Private Jacob Copes
98. Private Peter George

99. Private John Carter

A notation states: [District: between the head of Slocomb’s Creek to the head of Turnagain Bay].

Note, however, that October 4, 1754, was during the French and Indian War, not the Revolutionary War. Abel Carter was Isaac Carter's father (b. 1732, age 22), and this particular John Carter was his grandfather (b. 1714, age 40), and not his brother John (b. 1754.) Jacob Copes and Peter George had descendants who married into the Carter family. 

This was the correct family group, just a different generation in a different military era.

Even though the original information I had read in both Free African Americans of North Carolina and Virginia and The Black Experience in Revolutionary North Carolina proved to be incorrect, I came away from the investigation with four connections to the North Carolina State Militia, serving during the French and Indian War.

So, I have yet to prove Isaac Carter of North Harlowe's Revolutionary War Militia service.

Isaac Carter: Determining the Identity of Same Name Rev War Soldiers, Part 2

Regimental Histories

Starting with the reference in Jeffrey Crow’s The Black Experience in Revolutionary North Carolina that Isaac Carter of Craven County enlisted in 1777, was taken prisoner, and was discharged in 1780, I began looking for information on the 8^th North Carolina Regiment. 

In all there were three regiments that had enlisted men from New Bern:

Regiment	Organized	No. Companies	Districts Enlisted	Disbanded
2nd North Carolina	Fall 1775	10	Salisbury, Edenton, New Bern	November 15, 1783
5th North Carolina	Spring 1776	8	New Bern, Edenton, Hillsborough	January 1, 1781
8th North Carolina	Spring 1776, Halifax	8	New Bern, Wilmington	June 1, 1779, Valley Forge, PA

The 7^th, 8th and 9^th Regiments were authorized on September 16, 1776,  assigned to the Southern Department of the Continental Army, and joined the Main Army during the spring of 1777. . . just in time for the march north to embark on the Philadelphia Campaign. 

The Philadelphia Campaign

North Carolina Units in the Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War Pension 

and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files

 

The next place I looked was the Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications, published by the National Genealogical Society, in 1966. Three Isaac Carters were listed:

Isaac Carter, Mass., Priscilla, W1023
Isaac Carter, N.C. S8147

Isaac Carter, N.C., Charity, W4912

For a Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant to be granted, the applicant had to give an oral account of their residence and a recollection of their military service. The questions their testimony was required to satisfy were:

1. where they were born,
2. record of age,
3. where they were living when called into service,

4. how they were called into service: drafted, a substitute, and if a substitute for whom.

Then a witness gave a sworn statement, verifying that this was indeed the man.

The first Isaac Carter, Mass. W1023, was immediately eliminated because his residence at the time of enlistment was in Massachusetts.

The second Isaac Carter, N.C. S8147 was not our Isaac either. The following was taken from his original testimony:

"I was living in Cumberland County, North Carolina and remained there nearly three years after the Close of the War, then moved to South Carolina, Orangeburgh District and lived there until the spring of 1810, then moved to the State of Mississippi (then a territory), Pike county where I now live."

This Isaac Carter never lived in Craven County, North Carolina, so he was eliminated as being our Isaac.


The third Isaac Carter was deceased in 1843 when his widow, Charity Carter, appeared before Justice Jas Bridgus. In her testimony she states that she is the widow of. . .

". . . Isaac Carter who was a private soldier in Captain Welshes company of the 8th regiment of the continental line in the Revolutionary War and enlisted on the 1st of September 1777 for the term of three years, that he was taken prisoner on the 1st of June 1779 and discharged the 14th of February 1780. The said Isaac Carter being a citizen of the county of Gates and aforesaid state during his service in the revolutionary war. She further states that she was married to the said Isaac Carter in the county of Gates in the year 1781 in which county they continued to line until the year 1803 when they moved to the county of Edgecomb where they resided together as man and wife up to the time of the death of Isaac Carter which occurred the 26th of August 1829..."

This is what the actual document looks like:

HeritageQuest Online - Revolutionary War Print

This third Isaac Carter was the one whom both Heinegg and Crow identified as being of a Craven County household of 5 in 1790. 

Looking at the 1790 Census Index I found four (4) Isaac Carters:

1. Isaac Carter, Craven County, 5 Free Persons of Color
2. Isaac Carter, Gates County, white with 2 slaves
3. Isaac Carter, Hertford County, white without slaves

4. Isaac Carter, Hertford County, white with 23 slaves. 

The first Isaac Carter is ours, but none of the military records for men serving in the North Carolina Continental Line were for our Isaac.

The 1840 U.S. Federal Census

The 1840 Census was the first to record whether the enumerated person was a Pensioner for Revolutionary or Military Services. 

There were 49 Isaac Carters enumerated in the United States in that year, and 7 of them resided in North Carolina.

Of the Isaac Carters recorded in the 1790 Census, only one Isaac from Hertford County and our Isaac enumerated on the South Side of the Neuse River in Craven County are recorded among the 49 in 1840. 

You will see that the person who transcribed the enumeration made an error by recording his name as "Isaac Castin." Transcription errors are common, especially when dealing with  penmanship which is difficult to read. But this is the a copy of the 1840 enumeration of the 4th Isaac Carter listed above for the 1790 Census. I can identify him as the second Isaac from Hertford County because he was a white slave holder.

This Isaac Carter, although his name is transcribed as "Isaac Castin," is our Isaac. There are 6 Free Colored Persons living in the household along the South Side of the Neuse River, Craven County, NC; however, this Isaac is not recorded as a pensioner.

At this point I felt that perhaps our Isaac Carter never served in the Revolutionary War. . . or did he?

Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900, available at both HeritageQuest Online and Ancestry.com.