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"Old John" McPherson of the Argyll Colony

(May 2013)

A New Homeland

We assume that John McPherson came from Argyllshire but nothing is truly known of his life before 1739, the year he with some fifty other Scotsmen disembarked from the ship Thistle at Brunswicktown at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Unknown to any within this newest immigrant group to North Carolina, they would come to be called the Argyll Colony, the first and largest organized Scottish colonial venture ever undertaken. Their final settlement centered upriver around today's Fayetteville, and would in the century to follow be the destination for tens of thousands of desperate Scottish immigrants seeking a richer life. Brave Scots emigrants, enduring dangerous months on the Atlantic Ocean to gain their leaders' promised land, risked the lives of their families and loved ones in a cramped, damp, rolling ship on a roiling ocean. And some usually died on the way.

The colony was begun by its leaders on the western isles of Scotland about 1735.

After a brief stay in Brunswicktown toward their final destination one hundred miles upriver, the ocean-weary Scots stopped in the new city of Wilmington. There, after months asea, they made some disturbance causing concern by the authorities, so provisions were obtained there presumably, and from Wilmington they began their journey by pole-barges and flatboats up the churning currents of this wide river to the country that had been selected for settlement three years before by their leaders. The trip is said to have taken about a week, a week they likely hunted wild game along the river, fished, grasped for grapes that hung overhead near the banks, made camp as needed and perhaps stopped at ferry crossings and settlements along the way. But fall was coming and sightseeing was best done en route, for work was to be done on their arrival at Cross Creek.

One tradition — supported in fact by a letter dated 1737¹ — states that one Hector McNeill, son of Laughlin and Margaret Johnstone McNeill, remained behind at Cross Creek the year previous when the scouting expedition returned to Scotland with news of tempting river land for potential comers. Three years later upon the Argyll colonists' arrival, with our John McPherson amongst the heads of families totalling some 350 people, they again encountered this Hector McNeill. It is unlikely Hector was the only man who stayed behind but he is the only one of record.² It should be noted that there were two Hector McNeills with the Argyll Colony — "Bluff Hector" and "Carver Hector"³ — and it is not clear which Hector stayed behind.

They soon set about selecting their own lands. They were now one hundred miles up the Cape Fear, claiming virgin territory north of the mouth of Rockfish Creek and south of the confluence of the Deep and Haw Rivers. The land was rolling and green with ancient longleaf pines, elms and oaks, mulberry and dogwood. Numerous steams flowed into the river, and two large tributaries, called the Upper and Lower Little rivers, fed the Cape Fear from the west.

and All these men were now known as "the Argyll Colony" and with whom John's name first appears in the colonial records of North Carolina. In 1740 John McPherson, a tailor by trade, received two tracts miles apart totalling 640 acres on the river's west side — one in today's Harnett County and the other on the river near Cross Creek in Cumberland County — and he would make good use of those tracts.

The first arrivals of this colony sailed on the ship Thistle, docking in September of 1739 near the little port of Brunswicktown at the mouth of the Cape Fear. It is recorded that a second ship, the Charming Molly, had been docked in a Scottish port ready to take on immigrants at the same time as well. No records exist to prove this second ship indeed made the journey, but one must consider how 350 passengers, crew and total cargo might tax any single vessel of the time.

This initial immigration was fffffffffff, and its first decade, the 1740s, was to be a fruitful one for the colony. Before their arrival, the governor of North Carolina and fellow Scotsman, Gabriel Johnston, thought to entice immigration to his province by promising potential immigrants ten years without taxation. In addition, a grant of money was to be doled out to each of the heads of families for wider distribution amongst those who immigrated under their protection. There is no proof any money was given to this first wave of Cape Fear Scots, but the promise of no taxation was kept. Once settled, these colonists wrote home to their fellow Scots proclaiming the comparitively boundless opportunities of their new "Cape Fair" home. The desperate poor of Scotland's western coast and its isles — initially those distressed with Jacobite rule and later banishments after Culloden and its horrific aftermath, and finally those escaping "high rents and oppression" — responded with successive waves of immigrants for several decades, abating only during the years of the American Revolution.

The leaders of this colony were gentlemen of varying means in their native land, namely Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland, its prime leader who returned to Scotland in 1741, from whence he sold his vast tracts along the river through his agent "Bluff Hector" McNeill; "Black Neill" (or "Neill Dhu") McNeill who lived in Brunswicktown operating a tavern while his three sons lived around their river plantations, "The Bluff" and "Taylor's Hole" in the heart of the colony above Cross Creek; Dugald McNeill, after whose death in New Hanover County in early 1741 caused his river plantation, "Port Neil" far above Cross Creek, to be left in limbo for 30 years before its eventual sale; Daniel McNeill of Taynish whose financial worries appear to have followed him, forcing the sale of one thousand acres which included his riverside plantation "Tweedside" and his 1740 grant; and Col McAlester of Tarbert in Scotland, and of his river plantation "Barmore," whose son became a distinquished representative of the new government after the Revolution. All were named magistrates of Bladen County by the colonial government of North Carolina, and were granted lands in the thousands of acres, larger headrights than the other, lesser, heads of families. At this stage the term 'settlement' can include the shifting of lands amongst the landed, trading and resettling, carving choice tracts out of the pines, oaks and elms of the wilderness as the colony's population grew and cleared large plantations along the river which became the seats of families who would call the Cape Fear valley their home for generations to come. Old John McPherson emigrated most likely under the protection of one of these leaders, but under which leader is a question that will probably remain forever unanswered.

Despite the voluminous estate settlements of "Old John" McPherson and his sons and grandsons, John's wife's maiden surname is lost to us. The only hint to her first name is the fact that many of John's oldest granddaughters were named Flora. All that is known about her is that she was mentioned, without name, in his will in 1789. He brought her and their two oldest children to Cape Fear with the Argyll Colony. Research has shown that these two children, Katherine and Alexander, must have been born in Scotland in the mid-to-late 1730s. Two more children, Daniel and Minnie, were born to John and his wife and it is believed that both were born in the province between 1740 and 1750, although descendants in Robeson County in the 20th century claimed hearing their elders say Daniel was born in Jura. The oldest son, Alexander — known in Cumberland County as "Alexander McPherson, Sr." to distinquish him from another younger "Alexander McPherson, Jr."— is said to have married Emily McGill and resided all of their lives on his lands near the drains of Blount's Creek. John's daughter, Katherine, married twice. Her first husband was John Patterson who appears to have been in the colony as early as 1748 and who owned land very close to Katherine's father where he died in 1769. Within a year or so after Patterson's death, Katherine married Archibald Campbell, son of Duncan Campbell and Christian Smith who removed from Cumberland County to live in northern Bladen County, near today's Burnt Swamp in Robeson County. Katherine and Archibald Campbell also moved to Bladen County but resided on the Lumber River at what was licenced in 1785 as Campbell's Bridge. John McPherson's second son, Daniel McPherson, married Marian McNeill and moved down into Bladen County settling on the Raft Swamp almost due south of today's Shannon and not far from McLeod's Crossing. Mounting evidence points to Marian having been the daughter of another Argyll colonist, a Neill McNeill who eventually moved out of Cumberland County into northern Bladen County, settling on Jobe's Branch near what was then Raft Swamp Presbyterian Church. John's second daughter, Minnie, married Lewis Munroe who owned land in Cumberland County in the 1760s; they, too, moved into northern Bladen County to settle on the edge of the Great Desert south of Old John and Daniel McPherson along the Stagecoach road from Lumberton to Carthage.

John McPherson, like his peers in the colony, bought and sold many tracts of land. Early on, he likely lived on his river grant near Cross Creek, but by 1753 he appears to have moved from that first grant inland near the Underground Branch which today is at McPherson Church in Fayetteville. Near his death, decades later, John gave this property as a deed of gift to his grandson, Colin McPherson. It was on this land that Colin built his home "Colinwood" in 1790 (which stands in use today). However, by 1768, fifteen years after settling on the Underground Branch, official records prove John removed into northern Bladen County — upper Robeson County today — to live with his son Daniel who in 1767, received a 50-acre grant on the north side of the Raft Swamp. Old John and Daniel worked this land together for several decades. Daniel became a Tory during the Revolution and lost his holdings there, but Old John kept his and continued to receive grants and purchases around their homesites.

In 1778 "Alexander McPherson, Jr." (Alex of Jura, 1754-1821) in Cumberland County sold — to a recently-immigrated McPherson family from "Glenurcha", or Glen Orchy — lands near Old John's home tract on the Underground Branch between Beaver Creek and a northern branch of Cross Creek. In this small area, three families of McPhersons have arrived at different times yet settled quite close to one another. Other hints at Old John's origins come from the family lore from his Buie descendants in Robeson County, North Carolina (who knew only of their descendency from John McPherson's son Daniel). Mr. Lacy Buie of Red Springs in Robeson County said in the 1950s that Old John's son, Daniel McPherson and wife, came from the island of Jura off the western coast, but no research has proved this assertion. Peter Youngson, in his book Jura: Island of Deer, suggests that among certain other Argyll colonists John McPherson was not from Jura at all, claiming the McPherson name is not found in any collection of Jura inhabitants of the time. Dr. Scott Buie, however, through his research of Jura’s records found instances of the surname McPherson in the few baptismal records of Jura dating to the first thirty-odd years of the 1700s.

In 1774, Malcolm McPherson, his wife and two children arrived in North Carolina hailing from what the ship Ulysses’s passenger list states as “Glenurcha” in Scotland. It is likely Glenurcha was a misspelling of Glen Orchy, located in Argyllshire west of Oban. In 1778 Malcolm bought land from an Alexander McPherson, Jr. on Beaver Creek by deed. My research into McPherson land records revealed this grantee was Alexander McPherson of Jura. Immigrants who followed family and friends tended to settle near them if possible (called 'chain migration'), so in view of their shared surname it is not unreasonable to suspect that Alexander McPherson, Jr., and Malcolm McPherson, Sr., may have been related. Thus the question: Was Old John McPherson, who lived very near these McPherson men, from any place near Glen Orchy in Argyllshire and perhaps their relative? Other McPhersons of Cumberland County hailed from Argyllshire, Scotland. The tombstone of a John McPherson buried at McPherson Presbyterian Church who died September 21, 1823 aged 63 years, states he was from Argyllshire; this particular John has not been identified.

From the 1740s into the 1760s, John McPherson’s Cumberland County land holdings were concentrated around Cross Creek on the west side of the Cape Fear River, slightly north and west of the current heart of the city of Fayetteville. The home that today is known as "Colinwood" is very likely the home tract of Old John McPherson just before he left Cumberland for Bladen County. He bought and sold many tracts in the first twenty years of his residence in Cumberland, as is evidenced by the Cumberland County deed records. In addition, surviving surveyor's records show that in 1753 Old John entered a plat on a watercourse then called "the underground branch" (Is it named Hybarts Creek today?). It is my belief Old John lived on the Underground Branch because, just prior to his death, he deeded his grandson Colin McPherson "100 acres including his late dwelling." Two deeds from the mid 1750s reveal that John McPherson was a tailor at the time; subsequent deeds label him “planter.” According to a pre-1748 grant map of early Bladen County made by Malclom Fowler, John may have owned land far north of his Cross Creek holdings in what is today Harnett County, NC, on the west side of the Cape Fear River adjacent to Archibald Buie and "about a mile and a half from the great falls".

In September 1748 John McPherson is found as one of numerous petitioners to secure from the Argyll Synod the services of a minister from the Kirk of Scotland for the county of Bladen. It is known that John McPherson could not write; he signed official documents with his own special character, shown at left. Since the petition’s script is nearly the same throughout the body of the document, and matches many of the signatures, John’s name obviously is signed for him—as well as for many of the co-signers. In October, 1758, he is found again in Cumberland County (Cumberland formed from Bladen in 1754), where and when he and other "Presbyterian Gentlemen" signed a contract with Rev. James Campbell for "the sum of 100 pounds in good & lawful money of North Carolina . . . yearly" for Campbell's ministry. These other gentlemen were Hector (called "Bluff" Hector") McNeill, Gilbert Clark, Thomas Gibson, Alexander McAlister, Malcom Smith, Archibald McKay, John Patterson, Dushie Shaw, Neil McNeill, Archibald Buie, and Angus Culbreth. Old John's signature appears last on the list. The version of the contract I found is in the first issue of the Argyll Colony Plus publication. At the bottom of the page is hand-written by the article's author, "The Signers were Elders of Barbecue, Bluff and Longstreet Presbyterian Churches."

It is not known what church in early Cumberland County Old John attended, though many of the local Scots went to the home of Alexander McKay. Out of this association grew the congregation known as Longstreet. Owing to proximity, social association, ease of travel, and other considerations of a fledgling river settlement, I would say Old John came to attend Bluff Church since his holdings, limited to the western banks of the Cape Fear River near the Campbelltown settlement, were nearby. Later, however, records show his place of abode moved inland near today's McPherson Church, far closer to the area where congregations where meeting near McKay's on the Wagon Road.

Old John McPherson—a tailor by trade in his early land deeds in the province—had two grants in 1740, both on the western side of the North West River (an early name for the upper Cape Fear River). Both grants are several miles apart and both are along the Cape Fear River. The general location of the northernmost grant is now in southernmost Harnett County and was located adjacent Archibald Buie’s and some of Duncan Campbell’s grants (both Argyll colonists). Old John’s other grant was on the northern branch of Cross Creek and the Cape Fear River bank, and was also adjacent to an Archibald Buie grant, across the river from "Brooks Cabbin." However, aside from these grants, deeds and estate records reveal that Old John's home in Cumberland was on the "Underground branch" which was situated between Buckhead, Hybart and Blounts Creeks, all now in the Fayetteville city limits a stone's throw from McPherson Presbyterian Church. He had this land surveyed in 1753, and this tract was eventually bequeathed to his grandson Colin McPherson (son of Alexander) who lived on it until his death in 1835. When we find Old John in the 1755 Cumberland County tax lists residing with an Alexander McPherson (presumably, his son Alexander) Old John's residence at that time must have been upon the Underground branch, owing to the deed of gift by Old John to his grandson Colin in 1789. Additionally, if the Alexander living with Old John in the 1755 tax list is his son, then Alexander is over 18 years of age placing his birth probably in Scotland before the year 1737.

In the years following Old John's arrival in America, as his family grew in generations and took root in the region, he bought and sold many tracts in Cumberland and appears to have moved from a location on the Cape Fear River to settle near Beaver and Buckhead Creeks a few miles to the west. These trades and moves may reflect a restless nature which was shared by earlier English settlers whom the immigrant Scots called "Buckskins," due to their habit of wearing the skins of animals upon which they subsisted in the more remote areas farther inland, and certainly those of Bladen County to the south. The Buckskins had pressed into these wild areas in Bladen and were carving out a solid existence there. Around 1765, Old John left his Cumberland holdings in the care of his eldest son Alexander who by now had his own growing brood. So, along with his second son Daniel Old John settled into a new life in the thick swamps of Bladen County some twenty-five miles to the south. Perhaps Old John had known and decided to follow the example of the Scottish emigrant John McPhaul who lived on Rockfish Creek. In 1758, after two years on his royal grant, the widower McPhaul sold his acres on Rockfish, and with his son Neill, left Cumberland for the swamps of Bladen. Later, it was said they became the first Scots to ford from its north side the wide and treacherous Big Raft Swamp—finding on the other side American Indian wives from Virginia.

The tract Old John and son Daniel settled onto was not south of the Raft Swamp. According to records (Robeson County Civil Actions Concerning Land), Old John settled around March of 1765 at its northeast edge on Juniper branch just above and west of the current town of Red Springs. Old John's first land purchase there—referred to much later in court records as John McPherson's Old Plantation—was one hundred acres bought from one Moses Bass (Moses Bass, like John McPherson, is listed in the 1755 Cumberland County tax list). This one hundred acres was a grant to Bass in 1758, and was on the edge of what was called the "Big Pond", a body of water twice the size of Bass's grant. The Lumberton Road at that time skirted the Big Pond. Old John's son Daniel bought 50 acres on the Big Pond adjacent to this first tract. Old John bought four more such tracts, mostly grants, around the Big Pond and the nearby smaller Bear Pond. Old John's son Alexander in Cumberland managed his father's lands there, and bought some of his own in the same vicinity, but remained in Cumberland until his death in 1801. In 1767, Old John is found in the Bladen County tax lists for that year living with son Daniel and four slaves, and remained on his lands there until his death in early 1791. Old John’s wife’s name is lost to us, (although he was married at the writing of his will in 1789) and her name is not mentioned in the tax lists, as white women were not considered ’taxables.’ His four slaves in that year were all taxables. John and his son Daniel were polls, thus taxables, so their names are listed.

In the first half of the 19th century, there was a decades-long and greatly detailed legal dispute involving Old John’s grandchildren over his unsettled property on Raft Swamp, spearheaded by Catherine McPherson Brown, Old John’s granddaughter and widow of Rev. Daniel Brown who died in 1815. Mrs. Brown’s brother-in-law, Gilbert Gilchrist, was a central figure in these disputes and was the widower of Mrs. Brown’s sister, Nancy McPherson Gilchrist. Gilchrist swore to a Justice of Robeson, Peter McEachin, that he was "informed and believes that Old John McPherson the testator above named had three daughters who were married and had children, some of whom are at this time living and who he believes have never made any claim to any part of the real estate of said Testator...." In support of Gilchrist, his written argument was articulate, detailed, knowledgeable of McPherson family facts, and convincing enough to eventually win his own childrens’ share of the disputed lands. But more interestingly, he states that Old John McPherson had three daughters. My research has found only two. In her 1828 deposition, Polly Munroe Buie, who lived with her grandfather Old John and his family before her marriage, stated eight years prior to Gilchrist’s statement that Old John had "daughters," but she did not say how many, and that she herself was a "daughter of one of his daughters." Polly's mother was Minnie McPherson Munroe (perhaps Old John’s youngest daughter) who was the wife of Lewis Munroe of Cumberland County and later Robeson.

If Gilchrist’s statement was not entirely accurate, any error within it is based in fact. Whether there were two or three daughters born to Old John, research reveals that some 75 years earlier the oldest daughter of Old John McPherson, Katharine, married twice. She had sizable families by both marriages and appears to have been a progenitor of three branches of Robeson’s early clans—the Pattersons, McPhauls and Campbells. If careful readings of deeds and wills from old Robeson are correct, John McPherson’s daughter Katharine was a grandmother of the McPhauls of McPhaul’s Mill, a grandmother of the Campbells of the Bridge, and the "Beaverdam Daniel" Patterson family in the western corner of Cumberland County near Quewhiffle. I've recently found a hint that her Campbell children may have attended services—or perhaps even joined—Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church in Laurinburg, NC, and later Centre Church. If anyone has a copy of these records and locates the Campbells within those pages before I do, let me know. Also, I believe some of these Campbells joined Antioch Church in 1833, indicating they may have been members of Raft Swamp Presbyterian Church which was Antioch's mother church.

Katharine McPherson Patterson Campbell is completely forgotten, yet her name appears here and there in records of Bladen and Robeson counties. She was certainly one of Old John’s eldest children, and was married to a Patterson as early as 1758, that being the birth year of one of her daughters, Flora Patterson McPhaul, wife of Daniel McPhaul, Sr. of McPhaul’s Mill. Flora and husband Daniel McPhaul are family and benefactors in Katharine’s Robeson will of 1819. Flora’s birth date of 1758 would put her mother Katharine’s own birth around the time of the arrival of the Argyll Colony or just before—perhaps Katharine, like her brother Alexander, was a wee passenger aboard the Thistle. Katharine had another Patterson child, a son named Daniel, and painstaking deed research has determined that he was Daniel Patterson of Beaverdam Creek in Cumberland County. Daniel Patterson signed Old John’s will of 1789 which means he was of legal age (21 per NC law of 1784) so was born before 1768. In his father's will of 1769, Daniel was left his father's clothing and watch, items for a grown young man, not a child. It appears Daniel was likely born closer to 1753.

After the death of her Paterson husband, she remarried to a son of Duncan Campbell and Christian Smith. One child by the Campbell marriage was "John Campbell of the Bridge", born around 1772, though katherine's 1819 will indicates she may have had a daugher named Katherine Wilkinson. By 1784 Bladen County tax list, Katherine again was a widow.

Old John McPherson’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are listed below, and are color-coded:

1. Alexander McPherson. Born c.1730-1739 in Scotland. Little is known about Alexander, the oldest child and son of Old John McPherson. Alexander may have been aboard the Thistle in 1739 when she docked near Brunswick to disembark the passengers of the Argyll Colony because an Alexander is shown living with Old John McPherson in the 1755 Cumberland County tax list. Presumably this is our Alexander and, if so, his presence on this tax list means his age that year was 16 or over. A list of militia officers dated November of 1770 shows an "Alexander McPherson, Lieut." from "District 4 – From Daniel McDuffies to Archibald McKays". Other officers' names were Captain Collon (Colin) Shaw, Captain Daniel Campbell and Junior Ensign Alexander McKay, all from clans our Alexander and his family had connections with over the years. Alexander died between 1800 and July 1801 in Cumberland County, NC, and his sons John and Colin were named as his sons and his executors on the estate paper. Alexander could not sign his name and no deed or record has been found showing that he even had a cryptic mark to distinguish him from the other Alexander McPhersons in the community (e.g., Alexander McPherson of Jura [1754-1821], who lived on Beaver Creek, signed his name with a small, looped "a".). Alexander’s property was along Blounts Creek [or Blunt’s, and today is known as Branson’s Creek] which flowed into Cross Creek from its south side. Alexander’s wife’s name is unknown; however, some of Alexander’s descendants from Fayetteville, NC—namely Mrs. Sue McPherson Tillinghast of Texas whose mother was keenly interested in the McPherson family history—believe her maiden name was Emily McGill. The McGill clan was not large, but Archibald and Neill McGill were Argyll colonists. Alexander’s son, Colin McPherson, bought 100 acres on Cape Fear River from Neill McGill, and Archibald McGill had a 1740 grant very near Old John McPherson’s grant on the Cape Fear. Alexander’s children and grandchildren:
   
   
   1. Mary McPherson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, c.1755-62, and died 1846 in Cumberland Co., NC. Married c.1775 to John Buie [c.1755–1825], son of Duncan and Sarah ('Marian', per deed of 1775) Buie of Raiford’s Creek on Cape Fear River. Duncan Buie was one of the Argyll Colonists. Children:
      
      1. "Red" Duncan Buie, born c.1776 and died 1864. Married Sarah Baker. Duncan lived near his mother in the 71st district of Cumberland Co., NC.
      2. Malcom Buie, born (?), alive in December 1842. Married (?). Administrator of his uncle Colin McPherson’s estate in 1836. In 1842, Colin McPherson’s estate contains a list of lands owned by Malcom who administered on Colin’s estate: "245 acres on Cape Fear River, 50 acres on Beaver Creek, 320 acres on Blounts Creek (saw mills, etc), 180 acres on Messers Creek joining John Howell, 200 acres joins McPhersons, 88 acres Raiford’s Creek" all in Cumberland County. Malcom was removed as administrator on Colin’s estate and his ownership of these lands was disputed.
      3. Ann Buie, born 1805 or 1806, died April 1846, unmarried. Her death is recorded in the Raleigh Register: "In Cumberland [County], Miss Ann Buie, aged 40 years, daughter of John and Mary Buie, dec'd. She had been for many years a member of the Presbyterian Church".
      4. Archibald Buie, unmarried, died c.1825.
      5. Alexander Buie, Capt., born c.1799, died unmarried at his uncle Colin McPherson’s home, "Colinwood," in 1831. His estate indicated he was wealthy, well educated, and unmarried at his death.
      6. Catherine Buie, born c.1800, died 1874. Married in 1836 to Alexander McPherson II, son of Alexander McPherson and Elizabeth Murray Baker (widow of John Baker of Cumberland County, NC, who died in 1783).
      7. Marian [or Mary Ann] Buie m. Alexander Watson. born about 1804-7. Alive in 1854 when she and her husband were part of Colin and Nancy McPherson’s estate division in that year. As reported in the Raleigh Register, she married Alexander Watson of Robeson County 17 April 1834 in Cumberland County, NC. Alexander may have been the son of John or Matthew Watson of Robeson County. Marian was probably one of John and Mary Buie's youngest children. Alexander and Marian Watson may have been the couple of the same name who were hotel keepers in Robeson County's northern division––at Smiths, now Hoke County, NC––in the 1850 census. Their children, according to 1850 and 1870 censuses:
         1. Mary Mac (Mae?) Watson, born c. 1836-39 probably in Robeson (now Hoke).
         2. Frances C. Watson, born c. 1841-42 probably in Robeson (now Hoke).
         3. Margaret A. Watson, born c. 1845-47 probably in Robeson (now Hoke).
      8. Margaret Buie [?], mentioned in 1825 division of estates of John and Archibald Buie, Cumberland County, NC.
      9. John Buie [?], mentioned in 1825 division of estates of John and Archibald Buie, Cumberland County, NC.
         
         
   2. John McPherson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, c.1760 - died between March and September 7, 1829 at his home near Race Branch on Rockfish and Stewarts Creeks in Cumberland Co., NC. The date of his marriage bond is Nov 9, 1812 to Sarah "Sallie" Black (1792–1850 in Lauderdale County, MS) and the bond was witnessed by John’s brother Colin McPherson. Sallie was the daughter of Archibald and Margaret (nee Black) Black, both of whom moved with children to Gadsden County, Florida, in the 1830s. Sallie Black McPherson, her son Thomas D. McPherson along with McNeill and McDougald relations, moved to Lauderdale County, Mississippi in 1833, where she died in 1849 or 1850. John and Sallie McPherson’s seven children:
      
      1. ?Archibald McPherson? no dates known. This Archibald may have been the Archibald who married Kitty Tew. From my perspective, this Archibald may have been John McPherson's 'natural' son who, as is evident in county court minutes, was born to one Catherine McPherson in 1790 in Cumberland County. No records have come to light to show Archibald was John and Sallie's son. Neither Archibald, Sarah Martha nor Thomas D. McPherson [see iv below] were mentioned in John's estate settlement as being his children; neither did either one of the three come forward after his death to claim any inheritance as John's estate was being settled. More research is needed.
      2. ?Sarah Martha McPherson? b. c. 1815? This child has not been proved a daughter of John and Sallie McPherson. The only indication Sarah Martha was their daughter is a deed of gift dated March 1829 in the county court records. The deed is from one John McPherson to Sarah Martha McPherson and witnessed by Christian Watson. An adjacent deed of gift in the same record, of the same date, is from one John McPherson to Catherine McPherson and is also witnessed by Christian Watson. Neither deed was recorded or copied to any deed book in the Cumberland County courthouse, nor in the microfilmed deeds of the NC State Archives. There were at least two John McPhersons in the county at this time so the assumption that Sarah Martha was John and Sallie’s daughter may be incorrect, but naming patterns can support the idea Sarah Martha is John and Sallie's daughter. Sallie Black McPherson apparently took one daughter with her to Lauderdale County, MS, but the daughter disappears from Sallie’s household after the 1840 census, possibly through marriage or death.
      3. Catherine McPherson, born 1819, died c.1853. She married her third cousin, Dr. Sidney Gilchrist (dentist, CSA, sometimes known as S.S. or "Sir" Sidney) in 1846, son of Archibald Gilchrist and Mary McPherson of Robeson County, NC. Sidney and Catherine moved to Gadsden County, Florida, in 1851. Sidney Gilchrist served as a Captain in Company L First Regiment (Reserves), Florida Infantry. Enlisted 15 April 1864 at Quincy, Florida. The company roster for 15 April 1864 to 30 April 1864, only roster on file, does not show him absent. He was surrendered by Major General Sam Jones and paroled at Quincy, Florida, 20 May 1865. During the war he won a medal for conspicuous gallantry in action – risking his life under fire to get ammunition and bring it back to his beseiged comrades after their supply had exhausted. Catherine and Sydney Gilchrist are mentioned in Lumber River Scots by Purcell—and Purcell even said the two may have been related—but Purcell knew nothing of Catherine’s parentage. Deeds and estates have revealed her background in detail, shown here. Children:
         1. John McPherson Gilchrist, born 10 Sept. 1848 in NC; died 20 June 1903 in Gadsden County, Florida. Moved with parents to Florida at a very early age. Married Mary Ella McDonald 20 Dec 1883. Mary Ella died in Gadsden County as well.
         2. Mary Gilchrist, born 27 Oct 1850; died in Kemp County, Texas, 9 Feb 1888. Moved with parents to Florida at a very early age. Married John McDougald II on 11 Dec 1883.
         3. Daniel Alexander Gilchrist, born 16 Apr 1852 in Florida. Death date unknown. Never married.
      4. Alexander McPherson "Jr.," born 1822, died 1881 in Fayetteville, NC and is buried in Cross Creek Cemetery. (He was called "Jr." in the county records because there was another Alexander McPherson in the community who was older than he.) Alexander was Clerk of Superior Court and Judge of Probate in Cumberland County for most of his professional life. Married in 1854 his first-cousin Mary A. Black, daughter of Angus Black and Margaret (nee Black) Black. They had five children, none of whom married, and four of whom died young. After her husband’s death in Fayetteville, Mary A. Black McPherson returned to her native Red Springs in Robeson County, where she died in 1899. She is buried in the McNeill cemetery in Red Springs, NC, with two of her children. Children:
         1. Wellington McPherson, born 14 Oct 1856 probably in Cumberland County, NC; died in Fayetteville, NC, 6 Mar 1882 and is buried in Cross Creek Cemetery in Fayetteville. Unmarried.
         2. Edward McPherson, born 17 June 1860 probably in Cumberland County, NC; died 28 Nov 1861 as infant.
         3. Alexander McPherson, born 1 Jan 1862 probably in Cumberland County, NC; died in Fayetteville, NC, 1 Feb 1862 as infant.
         4. Mary ("Mollie") McPherson, born 15 July 1865 probably in Cumberland County, NC; died in Red Springs, NC, 6 Apr 1937. Buried in McNeill cemetery in Red Springs, NC. Unmarried.
         5. John Calvin McPherson, born 19 June 1869 probably in Cumberland County, NC; died 7 Oct 1894 of tuberculosis. Buried in McNeill cemetery in Red Springs, NC. Unmarried.
      5. Edward McKay McPherson, born c.1826 and died in Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC in 1862. One county record shows his middle name to have been "McKay". He may have been named after Dr. Edward McKay of Fayetteville, NC, who died in 1826. Edward and his brothers were educated at Donaldson Academy in Fayetteville. He moved to New York City by 1854 and before leaving sold off his inherited land to his brothers. He was living in New York City in 1857. However, according to his New Hanover County estate settlement, by the time of the Civil War he owned a plantation on the northeast side of the Cape Fear River called "Renfew", previously known as "Rose Hill" that belonged to a Thomas J. Davis. He married a woman named Margaret whose maiden name is unknown (Was she the daughter of Thomas J. Davis?) After 1871 she remarried to a Garrett. She and Edward do not appear to have had any children who suvived Edward's death. Edward's estate lists his heirs as his widow Margaret, his brother Colin, and niece and nephew, children of his deceased sister Catherine McPherson Gilchrist and the children of his deceased brother Alexander McPherson, Jr.
      6. Colin McPherson, born c. 1828. In 1850 Colin was living in Cumberland Co., NC, near his aunt Nancy McPherson (widow of his uncle Colin McPherson) according to the 1850 census. According to the research of Liz Frano, Colin McPherson moved to Gadsden County, Florida before 1860 (census) and was a farmer there. He joined the Confederate Army early in the Civil War and was discharged for disability. In the 1870 census Colin is living with John and Flora McDougald (brother and sister) in Decatur County, Georgia, just across the state line from Gadsden County. In 1870 he is single and without occupation. In 1878, he married Emily Land (born about 1852 in Florida) in Decatur County, Georgia. Colin died in 1894 in Henderson County, Texas and is buried near Kemp, Texas, with the children of his sister, Catherine McPherson Gilchrist. The dates on his tombstone are 1823–1894. I believe this birthdate of 1823 is incorrect because: (1) he is always listed in Cumberland County court papers as the youngest of the four orphans of John McPherson, (2) he is stated as being a minor (under 21) in 1845, and (3) the Cumberland County, NC, 1850 census lists his age as 22. After Colin's death, Emily McPherson applied for a pension. In 1910, Emily is living in Florida with her 11-year-old daughter, Mary O. McPherson, who is listed as "colored" and was evidently born out of wedlock. Mary O. McPherson died unmarried.
         
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      7. ?Thomas D. McPherson? b. c.1833 in Mississippi to Sarah Black McPherson, and died between January and March 1858 in Leon Co., Texas. Sarah Black McPherson moved to Lauderdale County, Mississippi, in early 1833 with McNeill and McMillan cousins, and lived there with her son Thomas until her death in 1849-50. If the Sarah McPherson of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, is the same Sarah Black McPherson of Cumberland County and widow of John McPherson, it is likely that Thomas was born out of wedlock. (Thomas D. McPherson may have been named after Thomas Davis, a close neighbor of John’s and Sarah’s in the Rockfish district of Cumberland Co., NC. This Thomas Davis was in Lauderdale Co., Mississippi in 1838 during which year he and Sarah McPherson made motion in the courts of that county to remove a judgment against them both.) Thomas McPherson married Sarah Francis Winn and moved to Leon County, Texas. Thomas and Sarah had two daughters: Sarah Elizabeth McPherson [c.1854–June 1859] and Martha Ann McPherson (1857–1918) who married twice.
         
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      8. a child out of wedlock was born to John McPherson, Jr. and a woman named Catherine McPherson in 1790, according to a bastardy proceeding summons in the Cumberland County, NC court minutes for that year. Colin McPherson, John's brother, posted John's bond for the maintenance of the child and mother—indeed Colin and his brother are to be found cooperating and assisting one another in a number of deeds of this early period and up unto John's death in 1829. Regarding the mother of the child, Catherine McPherson, I have not been able to determine to which McPherson clan in the region she belonged; not even her age can be determined with any accuracy within 45 years. In the summons itself, where the name of the child could have been written is a blank line in the deed. Thirty years later in the 1820 Census (page 176), a Catherine McPherson, over 45 years of age, is found living with a male 10-16 years old as neighbors of John McPherson of the Rockfish District in that county, and in that record John's and Catherine's names are adjacent. Another interesting fact is that a Catherine McPherson and a Sarah Martha McPherson were both given a deed of gift on the same summer day in 1829 two months before John's death. Unfortunately neither of these two deeds survived in complete form; they are only found adjacent to one another in an abstracted list of all other deeds of the day in the minutes of the court, and apparently never were registered in the deed books. However, court minutes show both deeds were witnessed by a Christian Watson. See child ii above in the list above.
         
         
   3. Flora McPherson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, and was likely the second daughter born to her parents, as Old John's clan shows a strong tendency to reuse the name 'Flora' for eldest daughters (in accordance with old Scottish naming patterns). It is likely she died between 1801 and 1804, and was probably unmarried. She is mentioned in deeds, but no further information of her has been found. The court minutes of the county show a series of four deeds each from John McPherson to John, Mary, Duncan and Flora McPherson dated 1790—which is the time Old John, living in Robeson on the Raft Swamp, was doling out his properties to his grandchildren—but these deeds apparently were never entered into the record in their entirety as they are not found in the NC Archives’ records of Cumberland County deeds. Polly Buie stated in her 1828 Robeson County court deposition that her uncle, Alexander McPherson, was survived by "...three daughters." Also, the 1800 Cumberland County census reveals three older women in increasing age from one another living with one of the Alexander McPhersons on record in the county; Flora could well have been one of them as at that time unmarried daughters often lived with parents.
      
      
   4. Colin McPherson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, in 1763 – died 26 August 1835 in Cumberland Co., NC. Married between 1797 and 1800 to Ann "Nancy" Campbell (1770 – June 5, 1854), daughter of Daniel and Christian Campbell of Cumberland Co., NC. Descendants of this clan, now decseased, claimed Colin's and Nancy's marriage was not approved of by the family. Colin and Nancy had "no surviving children." Colin owned thousands of acres in Cumberland County on the Cape Fear River, Rockfish, Beaver, Buckhead, Dyer and Blount Creeks. He inherited the lands and homesite of his grandfather, Old John McPherson on the "Underground branch" which is recorded as surveyed for Old John McPherson in 1753. In 1802, Colin gave land to the "McPherson Meeting House" congregation on which McPherson Presbyterian Church was soon built. The original structure is gone but was rebuilt and is in use today. A monument in the church cemetery gives Colin's death date as 1834, but his death date is recorded in 1835 in a local newspaper which stated he died at the age of 72. From all accounts and records found concerning him, Colin’s generosity and kindly consideration were well appreciated by all who knew him. From extant records, he and his older brother John were apparently very close.
      
      
   5. Duncan McPherson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, c.1763-80 – died between 1792 and 1801 in Cumberland Co., NC. Duncan (with his brothers) was bequeathed large tracts of land from his grandfather, Old John McPherson in 1789. He was probably unmarried, but certainly had no children of record. Was this Duncan living in Robeson County in the 1790 Census, perhaps near his grandfather John McPherson? Duncan’s lands were combined with those of his father in the final division of their combined estates during the years 1804 to 1810. Owing to the fact that their estates were divided at the same time, it is possible that Duncan and his father, Alexander, lived together and died of the same illness. However, the 1800 Cumberland County census reveals two men of the same age group living in Colin McPherson's home, so it is possible Duncan lived with his brother Colin. Polly Buie stated in her 1828 Robeson County court deposition that her uncle, Alexander McPherson, died and "left ifsue two sons and three daughters." It is interesting to note that her statement doesn't include brother Duncan, and as both John's and Colin's depositions taken in the proceedings prove their existence to the court, one might infer that Duncan died with his father or preceeded him in death.
      
      
   6. Catherine McPherson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, c. 1770-80 – died 12 October 1810 in Cumberland Co., NC. Married John McRae of Augusta, Georgia; 1 June 1809 date of bond. One child, John, who died as a child in 1818. It appears that John McRae may have gone on to become a Cumberland County sheriff by 1818 and postmaster. He may have remarried. John McRae entered a 20 acre grant in 1813 adjacent to Colin McPherson's property near the path to McPherson's meeting house (Now McPherson Presbyterian Church).
      
      
2. Daniel McPherson. Born c.1738-40 in Scotland or in North Carolina, and died in December of 1803 at his father’s home on the Juniper branch [just north of McLean branch] near Raft Swamp a few miles northwest of the Great Desert in Robeson County, NC. For most of the 20th century, Daniel was referred to as "Reverend Daniel McPherson," but, within the hundreds of pages of official documents that entail his three estate settlements along with early tax lists, there is no proof Daniel was a minister. Rev. Hector McLean testified in a deposition concerning Daniel’s estate, and in this deposition Rev. McLean was addressed in the written record as a minister, whereas no written references to Daniel, anywhere in the same record, address him as a minister. Moreover, Daniel signed his mother-in-law’s will in 1790 [see his signature at left], and, again, the title of "Rev." did not preceed his name. Neither presbytery records nor local church records of the late 18th or early 19th centuries mention anyone by the name of Daniel McPherson as being a Presbyterian minister; had he been of that profession, his ministry would have been well noted. It is likely that oral historians, in the generations that succeeded him, innocently confused Daniel with his son-in-law, Rev. Daniel Brown. Also, Daniel’s wife is erroneously known as Sarah McNeill; her given name was Marian in all official court documents in which she is never once referred to as Sarah. Since Gaelic was spoken in the Cape Fear until it faded out around 1850, and the name Marion (the Gaelic Mòrag being its source) is a variant of Sarah, confusion by subsequent generations was inevitable. Marian’s father was a McNeill of Bladen (now Robeson) County, NC, and recent research and discoveries suggest strongly he may have been "Shoemaker John" McNeill, brother of "Sailor Hector" McNeill, both sons of Neill McNeill who obtained in the 1760s two royal grants on Job's branch not far from the Antioch community. Although Marian’s father is not yet positively identified, Marian’s mother’s name was Mary McNeill; "Shoemaker John" McNeill's wife was Mary Peterson, according to very old McNeill family tradition. Mary appointed Sailor Hector McNeill and James McNeill of Rockfish Creek executors in her 1790 will. In that will, she states “my daughter Marian McPherson,” and the will is witnessed and signed by Daniel McPherson with the very signature shown above.
   
   Lacy C. Buie was a respected local historian of Philadelphus, a community just southeast of Red Springs in upper Robeson County, North Carolina. To my knowledge he kept no written records. Much of Lacy’s information was related from memory, and apparently his memory was respectable as many local historians had him review their work. According to my brother, Jay Edgerton, who complied much of Daniel McPherson’s descendants’ information herein, “Cousin Lacy” always said that the parents of Alexander McPherson (Jay’s and my ggg-grandfather) were Reverend Daniel McPherson and Sarah McNeill McPherson, and that both of them were from Jura, Scotland. Jay accepted this information because of his great respect for Lacy’s keen interest in all things locally historic, and Jay was not alone in that feeling. Many respected local historians looked favorably on Lacy’s opinions and knowledge. So over the last 50 years, the title of ‘Reverend’ stuck to Daniel and the name ‘Sarah’ stuck to his wife. I have seen these names repeated often in printed and internet histories by amateur and professional genealogists alike, and I, too, am guilty of passing it on as fact—until my discoveries of the past two years. Yet, to this day I have found no written proof from his own time that Daniel was a ‘minister’ of anything more than trading land, planting and raising a typically restless brood.
   
   Our Daniel McPherson, for all we have understood—and misunderstood—about him, has been a shadowy figure. As stated, he has been believed by my generation to have been a clergyman. Without that mantle his image now is simplified to that of a Bladen/Robeson County layman and farmer with a large family, and son of an immigrant tailor-turned-planter. Yet at this point, a series of facts coalesce to form a more detailed picture of the man Daniel McPherson. The first piece of information is a 'bond for departure' and dates from the first year of the American Revolution. This document foreshadows the next several years of his life. The bond states that Daniel McPherson is to pay a £500 fine or leave the state within 60 days, a choice resulting from his having refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the newly formed State of North Carolina. The bond is dated the "5th Day of November 1777 & in the Second Year of our Independence." Daniel may have paid the hefty fine but he certainly did not bind himself to any oath. Perhaps he paid no fine and ignored the court's authority completely. Yet, as the records further show, Daniel remained in the state and cast his lot with local, marauding Tory forces throughout the American Revolution.
   
   The succeeding years of revolt in the Cape Fear region became a time of great anguish and strife for both Whig and Tory. Brutal murders, theft and fear reigned supreme, and were inflicted by both sides upon the other. Daniel McPherson with relatives and neighbors joined the mayhem. There is, of course, no complete record of Daniel's wartime exploits but the fact remains that while he is listed frequently in Bladen County tax records in the decade before the Revolution, he does not appear in the tax lists of Bladen throughout the years of the conflict. Some of his activity in this period is revealed in one recorded petition of 1782 by Patrick Travers to Bladen County court, the result of one of the most daring of local Tory heists in Whig-controlled Cumberland County in the spring of 1781. This event involved Daniel McPherson—and a Daniel Patterson who through circumstantial evidence appears to be his nephew Daniel Patterson—and a number of local men under the command of Hector McNeill. This band of Tories "did with force of Arms enter the House of Thomas Gadby in Cumberland County and did take & carry away fifty seven thousand five hundred pounds Continental currency, forty two thousand state dollars, twenty five thousand pounds in Loan office certificates, sundry clothing & Papers with a certain large bay horse the property of your Petitioner...." A second petition, at the head of which is Daniel McPherson's name, states that three months later in June 1781 Daniel and many of the same men raided the home of John Plummer, stealing only a few articles, all of which appear to have been of most value to a single soldier: a saddle, shirt, blanket and stock buckle. Daniel's name again heads the list of a third petition in which he and the same band wounded, robbed and abducted Zachariah Plumer.
   
   On September 2, 1781, mere weeks after these daring assaults and confiscations, Colonels Hector McNeill, Duncan Ray and Archibald McDougald assisted the cunning British Colonel David Fanning in the capture of North Carolina Governor Thomas Burke and other prominent patriot officials at the capital at Hillsboro, N.C. Having been under Colonels McNeill's and Ray's commands it is very possible that Daniel McPherson and his cohorts previously listed were in the thick of that event as well, though I've found to date no documents to prove his involvement therein. However, the likelihood of Daniel's having fought at the small battle at McPhaul's Mill in October of 1781 is far greater if only because of its close proximity to his local exploits during the Revolution.
   
   I have often wondered what political view was taken by the family of Old John McPherson during this era. We see now that Daniel, at least, was a loyal and active Tory from the beginning to the end of the Revolution in his region of the state.
   
   “Those old McPhersons were a tough bunch of people,” said Mr. Bus McConnaughey of Red Springs, back in the 1970s. Bus was one of Lacy Buie’s cousins, and he, too, had a fiery interest in local history. Bus claimed that the McPhersons “loved their liquor,” and were “tough fighters.” He claimed that Daniel McPherson's daughter-in-law, Nancy Dallas McPherson, “drank liquor and smoked a corncob pipe.” You’d never know it to see her round face in her ambrotype, an endearing grandmother’s visage framed by a lacey bonnet. Her husband Alexander also liked his spirits, having been brought up before the church session more than once for intemperance. But, to me, they sound like pretty good folks.
   
   Daniel and Marian had a son named Colin, born in 1795. In Colin’s Robeson county estate settlement of 1823 is found Col. Neill Buie’s deposition about McPherson family relationships. In it Col. Buie mentioned under oath the funeral of Daniel and Marian’s young son Archibald in 1790, commenting on the “small coffin,” and that the interment was at the “Neill McNeill burial ground”. This cemetery may have been on Neill McNeill's grant on Job's Branch, quite possibly the cemetery that was in front of "Big Will" McNeill's home west of Red Springs near Greenbriar. Perhaps Daniel and his wife Marian rest there as well. The documents in Colin's estate settlement further state that a few months after young Archibald’s death his grandfather, Old John McPherson, died in January of 1791 at his home on the Raft Swamp in Robeson County. Then Neill, the deceased Archibald’s young brother, died a few weeks later. Two years previous in 1789, Old John had written his will in which he bequeathed all his Robeson County property to these two McPherson grandsons. Yet, the two boys died with Old John in the winter of 1790-91. With this bequest, Old John bypassed all his surviving children and other male and female Munroe, Campbell and Patterson grandsons. For some of his grandchildren and their offspring, Old John's 1789 will became a source of legal wrangling for some 20 years of the early 19th century.
   
   Further research in various McPherson estate records reveals that after Old John’s death in 1791, Daniel and Marian moved themselves and their five surviving children into Old John’s “log house” on the Raft Swamp in Robeson. Daniel and family lived there “peacefully” for nearly twelve years at the end of which Daniel died in December 1803. About two years previous, in 1801, Daniel had three of his daughters, Flora, Mary and Catherine McPherson (all of legal age and using their maiden names, though Flora was married by that year) sign a quit-claim deed to the property left to their deceased little brother, Neill, by their grandfather, Old John McPherson. But two of these three young women were soon wed to legally savvy men—Mary married Archibald Gilchrist in 1802 and Nancy married in 1806 to Archibald’s brother, Gilbert Gilchrist. Both these men were sons of John Gilchrist, Sr, a prominent legislator of the region. Flora, however, the eldest daughter, possessed a shrewd business sense and managed, after her intestate husband’s death in August 1823, to maintain her share of the family lands. Catherine, described as a “vexatious and teasing woman " by her brother-in-law Gilbert Gilchrist in later litigation, married in 1806 to Reverend Daniel Brown who left her a widow nearly ten years later. In March of 1804, a few months after Daniel's death, having died intestate, Daniel McPhersons’s estate was divided and monies doled out to the heirs. His remaining unmarried daughter, Nancy, or "Nannie," and her three younger brothers are listed in his estate records as orphans.
   
   However, the legal wrangling went on for years, up into the 1840s. From all accounts, Daniel’s family, living in Old John McPherson’s log house on the Juniper branch, consisted of Marian, “Nannie,” (who would marry Gilbert Gilchrist very soon) youngsters Hugh, Colin, and Alexander ( “Sandy”) born in 1798. Hugh appears to have been in the county militia in the war of 1812, married Christian Ferguson around 1815 and moved to Richmond County where he soon died, leaving young Christian widowed with two little children. Around 1817 Alexander married Nancy Dallas, daughter of Peter Dallas of Black Fork, and soon left the cabin to begin his own numerous brood. Perhaps Old John’s widow was living on the Juniper then as well, but I cannot imagine she would have survived into the 1810s. The records do say that Marian McPherson died in 1819, and a year later in 1820 Gilbert Gilchrist moved onto the plantation by right of his wife, Nancy, and promptly began to control its operation. Young Colin was still living there, and had co-owned with his now-dead brother Hugh 1100 acres bordering the north side of the Raft Swamp and the southern side of the Lumberton-Carthage Road near the bridge over the Raft Swamp. Interestingly, their father Daniel had bought this huge tract at auction for them in 1796 when they were mere toddlers: Daniel had lost all of his older sons at a young age and probably wanted to leave his surviving sons something in the face of his own advancing years.
   
   By 1823 Gilbert Gilchrist had made some improvements to Old John’s property, cleared much acreage, and kept the farm working until 1835, the year he left with his second wife for Alabama according to Gilchrist himself. Some claimed he had not tended the property well, but most agreed he did not decrease its value. It is this and other arguments that Gilbert’s sister-in-law, Catherine McPherson Brown, used in her relentless, decades-long pursuit of her share of her grandfather’s, father’s, and four dead brothers’ considerable estates.
   
   Daniel’s and Marian’s children and grandchildren:
   
   
   1. Flora McPherson. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c.1775; died 1859 in Robeson Co., NC. Married after May 1801 to Daniel Buie [17?? – Aug.1823], son of Malcolm Buie and Ann McRainey. Daniel and Flora McPherson Buie’s children, all born in Robeson County, NC:
      
      1. Malcolm Buie, went to Mississippi 1832/33. Married 1825 to Ann. A. Clark.
      2. Sallie Ann Buie, Married Duncan Brown, son of Col. William Brown and Mary Campbell, daugher of Duncan Campbell and Christian Smith of Robeson County. Went to Alabama "seven or eight years after their marriage."
      3. Archibald Buie, 1807–1887. Married 1832 to Flora McInnis.
      4. Mary Buie, 1803–1883. Married 1829 to Neill McCorvey, son of Finlah McCorvey and Nepsy Buie. Went to Union County, Mississippi.
         1. Daniel Buie McCorvey
         2. Taylor McCorvey
         3. Catherine McCorvey
         4. Caroline McCorvey
         5. Flora Laura Jane McCorvey
      5. Rebecca Buie, died 1841. Married [1834 date of marriage bond] Daniel Little. Daniel’s second wife was Mary Evans by whom he had 3 daughters.
      6. Effie Buie, died 1877, unmarried.
      7. Neill Buie, 1814–1880. Married [1846 date of marriage bond] Caroline McCallum, daughter of John McCallum and Lovdy Brown.
      8. Daniel McPherson Buie, 1816–1900. Married 1854 to Catherine McPherson, his first cousin, daughter of Alexander McPherson and Nancy Dallas.
      9. John Buie, 1819–1885. Married 1855 to Annie Jane McPherson, his first cousin, daughter of Alexander McPherson and Nancy Dallas.
      10. Annabelle Margaret Downing Buie, 1821–1905. Married "Squire Neil" McNeill, son of Daniel McNeill and Mary Buie Brown.
          
          
   2. Mary McPherson. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c.1784; alive in 1845 in Robeson Co., NC. Married 1802 to Archibald Gilchrist [c.1777–1839], son of John Gilchrist and Effie McMillan. Children:
      
      1. Daniel Gilchrist, dentist, 1806–1875. Married 1834 to Elizabeth Johnson.
      2. Angus Gilchrist, no dates. Never married. Lived on Drowning Creek (Lumber River in Robeson Co., NC).
      3. John Gilchrist, no dates. Married Miss Hall.
      4. Sydney Gilchrist, dentist, 1818–1901. Married Nov. 1846 to Catherine McPherson, his fifth cousin, daughter of John McPherson and Sarah "Sallie" Black.
      5. Sarah "Sallie" Gilchrist, no dates. Married Rev. Daniel C. Henderson, Presbyterian minister of Alabama. According the Archibald Gilchrist's estate records, Sallie's and Rev. Daniel Henderson's children were:
         1. John Archibald Rice Henderson, living in Texas in 1833; living in Mississippi in 1845. Alive 1853.
         2. Sarah Ann Cameron Henderson, living in Mississippi in 1853.
      6. Mary Gilchrist, no dates. Married 1841 to Archibald McGirt.
      7. Flora Gilchrist, no dates. Married John McKay.
      8. Catherine Gilchrist [twin], no dates. Married Laughlin McKay.
      9. Margaret Gilchrist [twin], no dates. Married Laughlin McKay before Fall of 1845.
         
         
   3. Nancy McPherson. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c. 1785; died c. 1823 in Robeson Co., NC. Married after May 1801 to Gilbert Gilchrist [1780–1857], son of John Gilchrist, Sr., and Effie McMillan. After Nancy’s death about 1823, Gilbert married Mary Currie and had many more children. Gilbert and Nancy’s children:
      
      1. Flora Gilchrist, 1808–1892. Married 1827 to John Little.
      2. Effie Gilchrist, 1810–1890. Married John Hughes.
      3. Sallie Gilchrist, 1811–1905. Married 1833 to Alexander H. Currie.
      4. Daniel Gilchrist, 1813–1902. Married 1847 to Elizabeth Williams.
      5. Mary Gilchrist, 1814–1855. Married David McNeill and moved to Mississippi. No children.
      6. Malcolm Gilchrist, 1815–1882. Married 1846 to Eliza Jane Head.
      7. Margaret Gilchrist, died May 1857 in Alabama. Married a Mr. Quattlebaum. No children.
      8. Isabella Gilchrist, died young.
      9. Catherine Gilchrist, 1820–1901. Married 1846 to Samuel DeLoach.
         
         
   4. Archibald McPherson. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c.1775-85, died April/May 1790 in Robeson Co., NC. Unmarried. Being one of Old John's grandsons who bore the family surname, this young boy was bequeathed the lion’s share of Old John’s Robeson County property in his will of 1789. All of Old John’s grandsons by his son, Daniel McPherson, who were alive in 1789 were given his lands in Robeson to the exclusion of all other grandsons—Patterson, Campbell and Munroe—of Robeson. Young Archibald preceeded his grandfather, Old John, in death by a few weeks in December 1790. Before having a chance to revise his will, Old John died in January of 1791, sowing the seeds of decades of litigation to come. Archibald was buried "in a small coffin at the burial ground at Neill McNeill’s" according to Col. Neil Buie’s deposition in Robeson County court documents. I thought at one time that the Neill McNeill burial ground was perhaps an early name for what today is called the Patterson cemetery but now believe that the Neill McNeill burial ground was the cemetery in front of what was the home of "Big Will" McNeill west of Red Springs, NC. I believe this because it appears young Archibald's mother, Marian McNeill McPherson, was from this McNeill family who descend from the settler Neill McNeill of Job's Branch.
      
      
   5. Catherine McPherson. Born probably in Robeson County, NC, 1787; died 3 November 1868 in Robeson Co., NC. Married 14 October 1806 to Rev. Daniel Brown [died 1815], son of "Tory Neil" Brown and Sarah McPhaul (daughter of John McPhaul and his first wife). Many children:
      
      1. George Burder Brown, 1807–1881. Unmarried.
      2. Susannah Brown, 1809–1890, Married 1833 to Rev. Hector McLean. No children.
      3. John Witherspoon Brown, 1811–1834. Unmarried.
      4. Sarah Jane Brown, 1814–1885. Married [1st] 1835 to Archibald McLean; [2nd] 1847 to Daniel B. Smith.
      5. Mary Catherine Brown, 1816–1860. Married Allen McCormick. Both buried at Antioch Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Hoke County.
      6. Neil Washington Brown, 1812–1827. Unmarried.
         
         
   6. Neil McPherson. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c. mid 1780s; died February/March 1791 in Robeson Co., NC. Unmarried. Died a few weeks after his grandfather, Old John McPherson, died. Probably buried in the burial ground at Neill McNeill's.
      
      
   7. Hugh McPherson. Born in Robeson County, NC, 7 May 1793; died around 1818 in Richmond Co., NC. Hugh is believed to have been enlisted in the local militia during the War of 1812. Married Christian Ferguson about 1815. Christian was alive in 1842. Hugh's estate records are found in Richmond Co., NC. As stated by his sister, Catherine Brown, Hugh had "two legitimate children":
      
      1. Daniel McPherson, born October 1816 and was alive in Robeson County in 1844 per a deed dated that year in Robeson wherein he is selling the property of his father Hugh McPherson. Estate records say he bought a horse and gun from his gruardian, Archibald Gilchrist, went west about 1836. He returned off and on for his father's estate proceedings until 1842 after which time he is only found in the deed mentioned above. He may have moved to Mississippi. No further information.
      2. Sarah Ann McPherson, born c.1818–1819. Married in 1839 at the home of her and her brother’s guardian, Archibald Gilchrist in Robeson County, NC, to Emmen Parker. Emmen (Emon or Emmon) was the son of Moses Parker of Revolutionary War fame and Nancy Thomas, both of Marlboro District, South Carolina. Emmen and Sarah Ann had four sons known: William, Henry, Moses, Jesse.
         
         
   8. Colin McPherson. Born in Robeson County, NC, 14 April 1795 ­ died November of 1823 on the Raft Swamp in Robeson Co., NC, on the Old John McPherson land on Raft Swamp. Unmarried. Owned over 1000 acres at his death. According to court depositions, Gilbert Gilchrist, his brother-in-law, moved onto Colin’s land in 1820 — presumably with family — and apparently assisted Colin in its management. Owing to the concurrent dates of death of Gilbert Gilchrist's wife Nancy and her brother Colin, coupled with the knowledge that Gilchrist and Nancy moved in with Colin before his death, it is possible Nancy and Colin may have died concurrently of the same affliction, a common occurence in those days.
      
      
   9. Alexander "Sandy" McPherson. Born in Robeson County, NC, 12 February 1798; died 27 June 1879 in Robeson Co., NC. Married Nancy Dallas, daughter of Peter [or Hugh?] Dallas. They had many children as is evidenced by the Alexander McPherson family bible:
      
      1. Daniel McPherson, October 1818 – 1885. Went west about 1843-46. Married [1st] 1840 to Mary Ann Munroe, believed to have been the daughter of William Munroe [mother unknown]. Her brother would have been William R. Munroe, the nephew of Col. Neil Buie’s wife, Mary Ann "Polly" Munroe Buie of Robeson County. During the Civil War, Daniel served in the Confederate Army as a private in Company D, Fourth Alabama Reserves. After Mary Ann’s death between 1860-66, Daniel married [2nd] to Annie J. __?__, and [3rd] to Martha Riley. Lawrence McPherson and Miss Ruby McPherson of Beatrice, Alabama, descendants of Daniel and Mary Ann McPherson, provided the following list of children of Daniel McPherson:
         1. Catherine McPherson, born c.1842 in NC. Married William Kiester.
         2. Sarah McPherson, born c.1843 in NC. Left Munroe County, Alabama about 1867-68 for Missouri.
         3. Lewis Nathaniel McPherson, born 1846 in Ala.; died c.1900. Married Mary F. Gordon 25 Sept. 1869; moved to VanZandt Co, Texas.
         4. Jane McPherson, born 1848 in Ala; died before 4 Oct 1877. Married George Washington Stuckey.
         5. William Robert McPherson, born 3 Sept 1849 in Ala; died 12 July 1823. Married Anne Abney 26 Oct 1873.
         6. Lalitha McPherson, born c.1850 in Ala. Married a Mr. McKenzie.
         7. Daniel Wesley McPherson, born 25 Nov 1852 in Cokeville (Skinnerton), Ala; died 6 July 1901. Married Polly Abney (sister of Anne) 28 March 1877.
         8. Ann McPherson, born c.1856 in Ala. Married George Washington Stuckey 4 Oct 1877.
         9. Cornelius A. "Neil" McPherson, born 25 May 1858 in Ala; died 17 February 1911. Married (1) Frances Ferguson, (2) Amanda Deloach, (3) Lula Smith.
         10. James Alexander McPherson, born 1860 in Ala. Married Lula D. Pittman 31 July 1885.
             
             Children by Daniel's second wife, Annie J. (__?__):
             
         11. Lizzie McPherson, born 1864 in Alabama, perhaps died young.
         12. Mary Elizabeth, born 1866 in Alabama, married 11 January 1888 to Samuel Peacock.
         13. Minnie McPherson, born 1871 in Alabama, died 1958. Married 31 December 1900 to Lee Jones.
      2. Hugh McPherson, 1820 – alive 1860 in Suwannee County, Florida working as a farmer. He is not found after 1860. May have been killed in Civil War. In January 1839 was living in Little River, Arkansas. A letter reveals his whereabouts and level of education, and shows he had a family, married to a woman named Catherine (born c.1822 in NC), very likely Catherine Ray of Cumberland County, NC. A Hugh McPherson with wife Catherine is living next door to Duncan Ray in the 1850 Cumberland County, NC, census as a turpentine worker. Children:
         1. Martha Jane McPherson, born c. 1847, alive 1905.
         2. Duncan McPherson, born c. 1849 in NC.
         3. Mary A. McPherson, born c. 1851 in NC.
         4. Flora P. McPherson, born c.1854 in NC.
         5. Hugh McPherson, born c. 1858 in Florida.
      3. Sarah McPherson, 1822 – died 1873 probably in Taledega County, Alabama where she and her family are found in 1860 census. They are not in the 1870 or 1880 censuses. Married in Robeson Co., NC, 1846 to Malcolm Leach (sometimes shown as 'Lytch') born c.1825. Children:
         1. Mary Ann Leach/Lytch, born c. 1847.
         2. Flora Catherine Leach/Lytch, born 16 April 1850.
         3. Sarah Margaret Leach/Lytch, born c.1852.
         4. Neill A. Leach/Lytch, born c.1853.
         5. Duncan Leach/Lytch, born c.1859.
         6. Malcolm Eliza Leach/Lytch.
      4. Gilbert Gilchrist "Gib" McPherson, 1824 – 1906. CSA. Married 1845 to Sophia Flora Johnson, dau. of Neil B. Johnson, Esq., and Flora Currie (dau. of Randal Currie and Nelly Johnston). Neil B. Johnson, son of Daniel Johnson, Esq. and Isabella Brown, was a Senator in the North Carolina State Legislature for one term in 1829. During the Civil War, Gilbert served as a private in Company E, Fortieth Regiment, NC Heavy Artillery. My grandmother said he was stationed at Fort Caswell, NC, and his war records bear this out. The records show also he was on detached leave as a carpenter to Fort Anderson in 1863. I have all his furlough papers in my possession, one of which is a small ragged piece of paper, a detached leave order for "collecting all free negroes" in Cumberland County, NC, in 1864. I recently found a lock of Gib's hair saved at his death in 1906 by his granddaughter with a note written at the time as to who the lock came from. Gib's and Sophia's children:
         1. Mary Jane McPherson, born c.1845 in Robeson Co., NC; died 1927, Robeson Co., NC. Married 28 October 1869 to John McIntosh Brown, son of Hugh Brown and Catherine Black. John McI. Brown and his father-in-law Gib McPherson were in the same regiment in the Civil War.
         2. Ann Flora McPherson, born 1850 in Robeson Co., NC; died 1929, Robeson Co., NC. Married James Franklin McKay 24 March 1874 at the home of Ann's sister Mary Jane at Philadelphus. Nine children. Parents of Dr. William Peter McKay of Fayetteville and Dr. Samuel R. McKay of Lillington.
         3. John Archibald McPherson, born after 1850, and died of typhoid fever with his mother as a little boy in 1856 according to the diary of Father Hector McLean's who also said they were buried (grave unmarked) at Antioch Presbyterian Church cemetery (now in Hoke Co., NC).
         4. Neil Alexander McPherson, born after 1850, and died of typhoid fever with his mother as a little boy in 1856 according to the diary of Father Hector McLean's who also said they were buried (grave unmarked) at Antioch Presbyterian Church cemetery (now in Hoke Co., NC).
      5. John Archibald McPherson, 1827 – 1885. CSA. Married Lovdie Priest 13 September 1860 in Robeson County, NC. Lovdie was probably from Cumberland County, NC. John and Lovdie are found living in Cumberland County in 1860 census; he as a turpentine laborer. They are found in the 1870 census with 3 children in Cumberland County. John and Lovdie eventually settled in the Philadelphus area of Robeson County, NC, and are buried at Philadelphus Presbyterian Church cemetery. Children:
         1. Jefferson Davis "Jeff" McPherson, born. c.1861 probably in Cumberland Co., NC; alive in 1904 in Robeson County. Married 17 December 1891 to Effy Belle McRae.
         2. William H. "Willie" McPherson, born c.1865 probably in Cumberland Co., NC; died 23 July 1936. Married Mae Faircloth. Both are buried at Philadelphus Presbyterian Church cemetery.
         3. John A. McPherson, dates unknown; married (Margaret?); moved to Florida.
         4. Hector G. McPherson, dates unknown; married unknown; moved to Florida. 10 children, names unknown.
      6. Catherine McPherson, 1828 – 1870. Married Daniel McPherson Buie (called "McPherson Buie"), her first cousin.
      7. Colin Alexander McPherson, 1831 – 1879. Never married. CSA. Died in Robeson County, NC.
      8. Ann Jane McPherson, 1834 – 1912. Married 1853 to John Buie, her first cousin.
      9. Neil Archibald McPherson, 1837 – 1840. Died at age 3 according to bible records in my possession. (There is a grave at Antioch Presbyterian Church for a a Neil Archibald McPherson with slightly different dates—1835-1849. If this is the same child, this tombstone is likely incorrect.)
      10. Mary Eliza McPherson, 1839 – 1904. Married 1884 to Malcolm C. Brown. No children.
      
      
3. Catharine [or Katherine, Katharine] McPherson. Born c.1735-38 probably in Scotland, died c.1819–1823 in Robeson County, NC. Catharine married John Patterson of Cumberland County around 1750-53. From his Cumberland County will dated June of 1769, John Patterson and Katharine McPherson had one son and four daughters: Daniel, Effie (oldest daughter), Mary, Marian and Flora, names which match Katherine McPherson Patterson Campbell's will of 1819 as her Patterson children (without Mary's name). John Patterson's will was written when he was in failing health in 1769; she married a Campbell around 1770-1771. A name scribbled in a copy of the McPhaul History (a copy of which belonged to my deceased brother who researched many families of Robeson County) states that the father of Flora Patterson McPhaul of McPhaul’s Mill in Robeson was John Patterson, but neither note nor history mentions a source for the claim and does not say who Flora’s mother was. However, our Katharine McPherson Paterson Campbell’s will of 1819 in Robeson lists all her daughters and two of her sons, which includes John Campbell. One of these daughters was Flora McPhaul and one of the executors was Daniel McPhaul, Sr.
   
   Through my research, I have come to believe that after the death of John Patterson, Catharine married the Archibald Campbell of Cumberland County who bought 640 acres "on the east side of Drowning Creek about a mile below the old ford" from Francis Bottis (or Bettis) in 1774. Francis Bottis's name was probably 'Beatties' as there was a Beatties Bridge on the Lumber River (later known as Gilchrist's Bridge). This Archibald may have been a son of Duncan Campbell and Christian Smith who in the mid to late 1700s lived in the vicinity of Philadelphus and Burnt Swamp near the current town of Red Springs. Furthermore, owing to Scottish naming patterns, Catharine’s oldest Campbell grandson was named Archibald, to whom she left property in her will. It is my belief that Catharine McPherson Patterson, as a young widow, married Archibald Campbell and was the mother of the Campbells of the bridge over Drowning Creek (a license for the bridge was granted in 1785 to an unnamed Campbell according to Robeson County bridge records) just north of the current location of Maxton, NC. The Bladen County tax list of 1784 indicates Catharine is again a widow by that year. The location of Catharine’s daughter’s family — the Daniel McPhauls — at McPhaul’s Mill and the location of her new family at Campbell’s Bridge were only a few miles apart, and were on the same road during these early years of the county. Both the McPhaul and Campbell clans were well-landed, owing possibly to the reason Catharine’s father, Old John McPherson, did not leave his Campbell or Patterson grandsons any property.
   
   In her 1819 Robeson County will, Catherine Campbell names daughters Flora McPhaul, Katharine Wilkinson, Marron Watson, and Effy McLain (sic). I have little information on the last three, though I strongly suspect Marron Watson was the wife of either John Watson or Major Alexander Watson who lived in the vicinity of present day Maxton, not far from Campbell’s Bridge. There are McLean families in the vicinity as well, but there is no indication of which McLean family Effy married into—and there seem to be many Effy McLeans. The only Katherine Wilkinson I’ve found is in the 1837 Robeson County Tax List, living as a widow on Wilkinson Swamp and I strongly suspect this widow is Catherine's daughter. Much more research is needed on these women, and indeed they may be found in neighboring counties. I have seen a letter, since lost, that mentions a court case wherein two or more of these women are attempting to prove they are the sisters of Daniel Patterson; I have been searching for this court case for a number of years now.
   
   Catharine’s children by John Paterson:
   
   1. Effie Patterson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, circa 1755. Oldest daughter of John and Catherine McPherson Patterson. Effie is alive in 1819, having married a "McLain" (spelling is from her mother's will of 1819). Children by Effie and her McLain husband are unknown, but a deed from a Daniel Patterson to McLain brothers may reveal a path of research to indentify Effie's family.
      
      
   2. Daniel Patterson, Jr. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, circa 1753 and died c.1833 in Cumberland County on Beaverdam Creek between Buffalo and Toneys Creeks in the western corner of the county. Nothing much is known of his early life other than he was a Tory in the Revolution and fought with this uncle Daniel McPherson under the command of Colonel "Leather-Eye Hector" McNeill. After the war he was found guilty of crimes of brutality and grand larceny against the State of North Carolina resulting in Bladen County court writs of fieri facias dated 1782 and thereby the eventual confiscation of his lands on Raft Swamp and in Cumberland County. Within weeks before the confiscation he managed to sell much of his landed inheritance from his deceased father, property on the long branch of Cross Creek and tracts on the Cape Fear River. The Cumberland County Sheriff sold the confiscated acreage to Patrick Travers. In the Bladen County writs against him, his wife is stated as living on the land on Raft Swamp in 1782, but to date her name is unknown and she was probably dead in 1833 as she is not mentioned in his will. After the confiscation, he bought a few hundred acres of land in the far western corner of Cumberland County around Beaver Dam, and thus his family later became known as the "Beaverdam Pattersons". His children per his will:
      
      1. Daniel Patterson, Jr., born c. 1775-90, and who died in 1827 in Cumberland County. His wife's name may have been Margaret, but had no children in his estate settlement of 1844.
      2. Archibald Patterson born c. 1800, living in Quewhiffle township in 1870, and who lived on Beaverdam Creek near the Malloy and Shaw families on land he inherited from his father and brother Malcolm. He is alive in 1878 in Cumberland County. Archibald is an heir in his two deceased brothers' estate settlement of 1844 but there is no mention of a wife for him.
      3. Malcolm Patterson, born c. 1775-90, and who died in 1838 in Cumberland County. Malcolm's death and the previous death of his brother Daniel sparked the estate settlement from which this information is compiled. Malcolm had no wife or heirs in his estate settlement.
      4. Sarah Patterson, born c. 1775-90 and alive 1848 in Georgia, married to James Murphy.
      5. Elizabeth Patterson, born c. 1795 in NC and alive 1860 in Georgia census. Married Shockley Gibson (born c. 1785-87 in South Carolina and was alive in 1860 in Spalding Co., Georgia; believed to have had a brother named Nathan who lived in Richmond County, NC) whose family appears to have come out of Richmond County, NC. They appear to have moved to Georgia by 1830 and were in Henry County, Georgia in 1850, and were in Spalding County, Georgia in 1860. Children:
         1. B________ Gibson, (female) born. c.1826 in NC; alive in 1850 in Henry County, GA.
         2. S______ L_____ Gibson, (male) born c.1828 in NC; alive in 1850 in Henry County, GA.
         3. Mary Gibson, born c.1829 in NC.
         4. I______ P_____ Gibson, (male) born c.1830 in NC; alive in 1850 in Henry County, GA.
         5. Elizabeth Gibson, born c.1832 in GA.
         6. Patterson Gibson, born c. 1834 in GA. CSA. Died in the Wilderness Campaign, 1864.
         7. W_______ Gibson, (male) born c.1836 in GA.
         8. N_______ (Nathan?) (male) Gibson, born c. 1838 in GA.
         9. Harrison Gibson, (male) born c.1840 in GA.
      6. Loveday Patterson, born c. 1801 and alive 1848 in Mississippi. Married John S. Harrell, born c. 1793 in North Carolina. Living in Lauderdale Co., Mississippi in 1860.
      7. Flora Patterson, born c. 1804, living in Quewhiffle township in 1870, and alive 1878. Married Angus McRae of Cumberland County who was dead by 1870.
      
      
   3. Mary Patterson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, circa 1755-60. Mentioned in her father's will of 1769. Robeson County deeds hint that this Mary Patterson married Duncan Little: Duncan Little's son, John Little, may have been the John Little to whom Mary's mother Catherine McPherson Patterson Campbell left five dollars in her will. John's first four children were named according to Scottish naming patterns and their names correspond to both John's and his wife's (Flora Gilchrist) parents' names: Nancy, Duncan, Mary and Gilbert. Mary may have died by 1819, the date of her mother's will.
      
      
   4. Marian Patterson. Born probably in Cumberland County, NC, circa 1755-60. Married a Watson (Alexander or John Watson of Shoe Heel?). Alive in 1819.
      
      
   5. Flora Patterson. Born 1758, probably in Cumberland County, NC ­ died 26 September 1825 in Robeson Co., NC. Married Daniel McPhaul, Sr. [1762 – 1844], son of Neil McPhaul and Mary "Pretty Polly" Perkins of McPhauls Mill in Bladen/Robeson County. Daniel and Flora Patterson McPhaul’s children, all born in Robeson County, NC:
      
      1. Neill McPhaul, born c.1788. Married 1837 to Margaret (Kelly) McFatter.
      2. John McPhaul, dead in March 1848. Married [Nelly?]. Moved to Florida.
      3. Daniel McPhaul, born c.1790 – 26 February 1849. Married Jane McKay.
      4. Duncan McPhaul, alive in March 1848. Married Mary McFadden.
      5. Malcolm McPhaul alive in March 1848. Moved to Mississippi.
      6. Mary McPhaul, 16 February 1795 – 13 September 1884. Married Archibald Smith, Jr.
      7. Catherine McPhaul, born c.1803 – 2 March 1831. Married Sion Alford.
      8. Effie McPhaul, no dates. Married John McLean.
      9. Sarah McPhaul, 6 June 1809 – 1 Dec 1862. Married 1831 to James L. Alford.
      10. Alexander McPhaul, alive in March 1848. Married Mary McNeill, dau. of Daniel and Jane McNeill.
      
      
      Catherine McPherson’s children by Mr. (Archibald?) Campbell:
      
      
   6. Katherine Campbell. Born probably in Bladen County (now Robeson), NC, circa 1774. Married a Wilkinson. Alive in 1819; mentioned in her mother's will of that year but not specifically named as a daughter. She may be the widow Katherine Wilkinson listed in the 1837 tax lists of Robeson County.
      
      
   7. John Campbell. Born probably at in Bladen County (now Robeson), NC, c.1772­ died c.1846 in Robeson Co., NC. Lived at Campbell's Bridge on the Lumber River. Married Catherine (surname unknown) born c.1770-75 in NC and died January 1860. Children:
      
      1. Duncan Campbell, born c.1797, alive 1872. Moved to Jefferson in Ashe County, NC.
      2. Flora Campbell, born c.1799, alive 1872. She and her brother Hugh, a dwarf, lived together. Never married.
      3. Archibald Campbell, born c.1804 and died 1875 in Robeson County, NC. Records show he lived in Texas in 1872. Married 19 January 1843 to Catharine J. McNeill daughter of Alexander McNeill the Carpenter and Mary "Polly" McEachern. Alexander McNeill was the son of Godfrey McNeill and Catherine "Kitty" McDougald. Polly McEachern was the daughter of Daniel McEachern and a Miss (Flora?) McNeill who was a daughter of James McNeill of Rockfish Creek. A Mary McNeill was living with Archibald and Catherine in 1860 in Robeson County. Children:
         1. Mary Caroline Campbell, born c.1844
         2. Daniel Campbell, born c.1846
         3. Ann Campbell, born c.1848
         4. Alexander Campbell, born c.1851
         5. Catherine J. Campbell, born c.1854
      4. Daniel Campbell, born 1804, alive March of 1863. Married (Jennett McBryde in 1822? who was dead by 1860?). Children:
         1. John Archibald Campbell, born 1839; inherited lands adjacent to Floral College. Soldier in the Confederate Army. Never married, no children.
         2. Matthew James Campbell, born 1839; also inherited lands adjacent to Floral College. Soldier in the Confederate Army. Never married, no children.
         3. Henry Alexander Campbell, born 1843. Soldier in the Confederate Army. Killed in war?
         4. Sarah Margaret Campbell, born 1846, alive 1860. No further information.
      5. Hugh Campbell, born 1814 [dwarf, 3 1/2 feet], alive but blind in 1872. Lived with unmarried sister Flora.
      6. Neill Campbell, born 1816, died between 1860 and 1872. Married 29 March 1843 to Isabella McLauchlin who was born about 1807. Children:
         1. John A. Campbell, born 1844 and died 1920 in Robeson County, NC. Married Penelope McKenzie (daughter of Murdock McKenzie), 1848-1924. Both are buried with their children at Centre Presbyterian Church in Robeson County. Children:
            1. Sallie Campbell, 1872-1905.
            2. John C. Campbell, 1875-1947.
            3. David McBryde Campbell (twin) 1878-1959.
            4. Frank L. Campbell (twin) 1878-
            5. Arch Luther Campbell, 1884-1967. Married Lavelle Alexander. Lavelle Campbell was for several decades the Bible school teacher at Red Springs City Schools.
            6. Lillian Campbell, 1887-1927.
         2. Nancy C. Campbell, born c. 1845, alive 1872. Married George C. Mills of Anson County, NC.
         3. Duncan H. Campbell, born c. 1847, alive 1872. Moved to Eden, Georgia.
      7. Janet Campbell, alive 1872. Married a Stewart, moved to Mississippi, then perhaps to Coffee County, Alabama.
      8. Mary Campbell, alive 1872. Married a Douglas, moved to Coffee County, Alabama.
      9. Christian Campbell, born c. 1810. alive 1872. Married Daniel Baker, born c. 1802. Both living in Robeson County in 1872. A printed version of the 1850 census shows their children:
         1. John H. Baker, born c. 1838 in Robeson County, NC.
         2. Mary A. C. Baker , born c. 1841 in Robeson County, NC.
         3. James A. Baker, born c. 1844 in Robeson County, NC.
         4. William C. Baker , born c. 1848 in Robeson County, NC.
      10. Catherine M. Campbell, born c. 1814, alive 1872. Married Alexander McBryde in 1839 in Robeson County; both living in Robeson County in 1872. A printed version of the 1850 census shows 'Catherine P.' as Alexander McBryde's wife, but the Daniel Campbell estate settlement gives her names as 'Catherine M. Campbell'. Their children listed in 1850 census:
          1. Mary McBryde, born c. 1841 in Robeson County, NC.
          2. James McBryde, born c. 1843 in Robeson County, NC.
          3. John A. McBryde, born c. 1846 in Robeson County, NC.
          4. Flora J. McBryde, born c. 1848 in Robeson County, NC.
   
   
   
4. Minnie McPherson. Born c.1740-50, perhaps in North Carolina, died after 1795 probably in Robeson County, NC. Married c.1765-70 to Lewis Munroe. Minnie may not have been her name and it appears only once in official records. Minnie is named as administratrix on Lewis’s single estate record in Cumberland County, an administrator's bond dated 1795 with Colin McPherson, her nephew, as co-administrator. An administratrix is usually the wife of the deceased, but could sometimes be a sister or older daughter. It is more likely, however, that Minnie was indeed Lewis's wife's name and that she was the daughter of Old John McPherson.
   
   Lewis’s name appears off and on in colonial records in early Cumberland County, and he owned 100 acres on the Wagon Road and 640 acres on Little Cross Creek adjacent some Patterson property; perhaps he and Minnie lived with the McPhersons in Cumberland during their life in that county. As early as 1765 in Cumberland County, Lewis engaged an apprentice, a McCarter boy; and in 1772 Lewis signed as witness to a deed involving his father-in-law, Old John McPherson, who was grantor to grantee David Reid for 100 acres on Cross Creek. Before his death in 1795, Lewis held a few grants near Raft Swamp and Great Desert in Robeson—a mile or so south from Old John's house—and some of his Cumberland property remained in his children's hands in 1803. Also, just prior to his death, Lewis entered 20 acres on the Gum Branch in Robeson County near Neill McEachern. Just which Gum Branch this was is unknown. Lewis died just previous to the issuing of the plat so the 20 acres were patented to his son, William. A Cumberland County deed from the late 1800s mentions Lewis Munroe's property line in its call numbers, and this probably refers to his son, Lewis. Lewis’s and Minnie’s children:
   
   
   1. Lewis Munroe. So far, the only records found proving his existence are one grant with Uriah Lambert dated 1802 in Cumberland County adjacent Robert Raiford's property, and one deed dated 1803 wherein his brother and sister William and Marian are selling land which is part of their father Lewis Munroe's estate on Ellison Spring Branch in Cumberland County, also adjacent Raiford's property.
      
      
   2. William Munroe. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c.1770, but was of legal age in 1804 putting his birth year certainly before 1783. In 1784 the legal age in North Carolina for males and females increased from 16 years of age to 21.William probably died in Mississippi. I have recently found William Munroe in the Robeson County court minutes which stated his residence in 1804 as having been in "Capt Buies (tax) district" and owing to the proximity of William's land to district boundaries it was possibly liable for taxes due on his property to the neighboring McNeill district. He and his sister Mary Ann ("Polly") sold twenty percent of their father's Cumberland County land in 1803. William's wife’s name is unknown. He acquired 20 acres of land in 1793 on Gum Swamp in Robeson County (near McPhaul's Mill in what is today Hoke County, NC) that was originally surveyed for his father, Lewis Munroe. William sold these twenty acres to Peter McGeachy in February 1810. Three months later, passport records reveal that William Munroe and the Alexander McKenzie families were well on their way to Mississippi. Two of William’s children are believed to have been:
      
      1. William R. Munroe, born probably in Robeson County, NC, c.1805-10. William R. Munroe was reared by his aunt and uncle, Col. Neil Buie and Polly Munroe Buie, presumably to get an eastern education as his father and mother had moved west in 1810. He married Harriett McPhatter of Robeson County in November 1838. William R. Munroe moved west after 1841, the year he sold 300 acres of land he had purchased from his uncle Col. Neil Buie in 1834. (Neill James Buie is a co-buyer of this land from Col. Neill Buie in the same deed dated 1834.) Though William and Harriet may have been estranged at one time (a woman named Harriett Munroe was brought up before the session of Antioch Church for fornication), nevertheless Harriet Monroe, born in NC c.1810-20, is found as head of household in Rienzi, Tishomingo County, Mississippi in the1860 census (they are found in Alcorn County in 1870) with the following children in 1860 (their ages differ greatly in 1870):
         1. Lewis Monroe (sic), born c.1839 in NC.
         2. William Monroe, born c.1842 in Mississippi.
         3. Mary Monroe, born c.1847 in Mississippi. Living with her mother in 1870.
         4. Thomas Monroe, born c.1848 in Mississippi. Thomas and Neill living together in 1870.
         5. Neil Monroe, born c.1850 in Mississippi. Thomas and Neill living together in 1870.
         6. Harriet Monroe, born c.1851 in Mississippi. Living with her mother in 1870.
         7. James Monroe, born c.1855 in Mississippi.
      2. Mary Ann Munroe, born c.1815-20 – died between 1861 and 1863 and is buried in the McCall cemetery near Beatrice, Alabama. Married Daniel McPherson (buried in Indian Spring cemetery near Beatrice, Alabama), son of Alexander McPherson and Nancy Dallas, and moved to Coosa County, Alabama. Daniel remarried twice after Mary Ann's death. Mary Ann and Daniel had many children, and Daniel had children with one of two subsequent wives. The following children were born to Mary Ann Munroe and Daniel McPherson:
         1. Catherine McPherson, born c.1842 in NC. Married William Kiester.
         2. Sarah McPherson, born c.1843 in NC. Left Munroe Co., Alabama about 1867-68 for Missouri.
         3. Lewis Nathaniel McPherson, born 1846 in Ala.; died c.1900. Married Mary F. Gordon 25 Sept. 1869; moved to VanZandt Co, Tex.
         4. Jane McPherson, born 1848 in Ala; died before 4 Oct 1877. Married George Washington Stuckey.
         5. William Robert McPherson, born 3 Sept 1849 in Ala; died 12 July 1823. Married Anne Abney 26 Oct 1873.
         6. Lalitha McPherson, born c.1850 in Ala. Married a Mr. McKenzie.
         7. Daniel Wesley McPherson, born 25 Nov 1852 in Cokeville (Skinnerton), Ala; died 6 July 1901. Married Polly Abney (sister of Anne) 28 March 1877.
         8. Ann McPherson, born c.1856 in Ala. Married George Washington Stuckey 4 Oct 1877.
         9. Cornelius A. "Neil" McPherson, born 25 May 1858 in Ala; died 17 February 1911. Married (1) Frances Ferguson, (2) Amanda Deloach, (3) Lula Smith.
         10. James Alexander McPherson, born 1860 in Ala. Married Lula D. Pittman 31 July 1885.
         
         
         
   3. Marian/Mary Ann/Ann "Polly" Munroe. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c.1773 ­ died 15 January 1837 in Robeson Co., NC. By her own statement, she married on 11 April 1793 to Col. Neil Buie. Col. Buie was the son of Malcolm Buie and Annie McRainey of Cumberland County, NC. Neil and Polly had no children of their own, but adopted two sons (one of them may have been Neill James Buie) and probably raised Polly’s nephew, William R. Munroe.
      
      
   4. Margaret Munroe. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c.1775 ­ died probably in Alabama or Mississippi. Margaret went west with her brother William and sister Charlotte and her husband on their way to Mississippi, but letters in the Buie family indicate Margaret may have only gone only as far as Alabama. Margaret is mentioned in a letter from Malcolm Buie dated 1833 in Mississippi to his mother, Flora McPherson Buie, in Robeson County, NC. A section of the letter is addressed to "Aunt Polly" and in it Polly is told that her sister Margaret came to visit them. There is no further information on Margaret but it is believed she died unmarried.
      
      
   5. Charlotte Munroe. Born probably in Bladen County, NC, c.1780 ­ died probably in Mississippi. Charlotte married ca. 1808-09 to Alexander McKenzie of Robeson County, NC, and moved to (Perry County?) Mississippi in 1810 with one child, according to lists of passports through Indian territory granted at the time. Charlotte’s sister, Margaret Munroe, went with them. David McKenzie of Mississippi provided the following information: From History of Mississippi by Lowery and McCardle p. 554-5: 1808-1815 - Alexander McKenzie moved his household goods from North Carolina to Perry County in a hogshead made of oak, with a steel axle and drawn by a horse. Alexander settled in Green County, Mississippi Territory. From Mississippi Archives: Alexander McKenzie was appointed Justice of the Peace by the territorial governor. From tax records: Alexander McKenzie paid taxes in Green County, in 1812, 1816, and 1817. In 1817 Mississippi was admitted to the union. In 1820, Perry County was formed from Green County and he was in every census for Perry County from 1820 to 1860. Charlotte died in 1861-2. With regards to Alexander's birthdate, an entry in Robeson County court minutes states that Alexander McKenzie and Hector McKenzie (brothers perhaps?) were both exempt from working on public roads in January of 1800; in order for them to be considered hands for the county they both would have to have been of legal age, placing their birthdates before 1779. Alexander died in 1866. Alexander McKenzie is alive and well in 1833, according to a letter written from Jefferson County, Mississippi. Children and information taken from Bible records in the McKenzie family:
      
      1. John Buie McKenzie, born December, 181[?]. John B McKenzie left home as a young man and was never heard from. Presumably went west. John B. McKenzie may have been born in Robeson County, NC. It is known from passport records that one child went with Alexander and Charlotte Munroe McKenzie to Mississippi in 1810.
      2. Sarah "Sary" McKenzie, born January 12, 1812.
      3. Jinnette McKenzie, born July 5, 1813.
      4. Margaret McKenzie, born May 31, 1815.
      5. William David McKenzie, born March 25, 1817. Married Catherine McSwain in 1846 and lived in Perry County, Mississippi.
      6. Lewis McKenzie, born May 1, 1819. Married Sarah McLendon and lived in Choctaw County, Alabama.