Jefferson Davis Corbett
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 30 Jul 1861 - Georgia
Christening:
Death: 10 May 1931 - ( at age 69)
Burial: in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Echols County, Georgia
Parents
Father: Franklin Corbett 182
Mother: Winnie Stuart
Spouses and Children
1. *Rachel Rebecca Copeland
Marriage:
Status:
2. Nancy Westberry
Marriage:
Status:
Notes
General:
Rachel Rebecca Copeland was his first wife and had four children, 3 raised by Nancy and one born in 1897 when Rachel Rebecca died was raised by the baby Rachel's Aunt Sarah Elizabeth Corbett Carter.
John Corbett
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
Parents
Father: Thomas Corbett Sr.
Mother: Mary DeVane
John B. Corbett
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 1841
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
Parents
Father: James Thomas Corbett Sr 70
Mother: Mary Elizabeth Peterson 70
John W. Corbett
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 1866
Christening:
Death: 1934 - ( at age 68)
Burial:
Parents
Father: James Thomas Corbett Jr
Mother: Jane Elizabeth Zipperer
Joseph Corbett
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
Spouses and Children
Children:
1. Brinkley Corbett
Notes
General:
Joseph Corbitt is the earliest Corbitt relative we can claim as a direct ancestor. We can be pretty sure that Joseph Corbitt is our ancestor based on an entry in the family Bible of Martin Corbett dated 1836.30 He added a note before one of the entries saying. "I enter this record of my grand-parents. Brinkley and Margaret Corbett's death as taken from my father, Isham Corbett's Family Bible Records." Martin's Bible also states that ""Joseph Corbett was born in the 1690s near Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England, and is the father of Brinkley Corbett." As I stated in the introduction, sometimes things just don't add up when dealing with records as old as the ones we are here. You will see later that a relative of Brinkley's named Joseph Corbitt died around 1803 and his heirs include Brinkley and some of Brinkley's siblings. If this is Brinkley's father Joseph, based on Martin Corbitt's Bible reference, he would have been over a hundred years old when he died. Since Brinkley was born in 1744 it is possible that his father Joseph could have been born as late as the 1720s. Tracing ancestors by name only is made more difficult because of naming customs of the time. A common custom was that of fathers naming their sons after their own brothers. The same was true for mothers naming their daughters after their sisters. This usually resulted in having multiple individuals with the same name in the same area during the same time period. Records do not tell us whether this Joseph who died in around 1803 is Brinkley's father or his brother. Records do show that Brinkley had a brother named Joseph and it is difficult to distinguish him from his father at times in that any suffix such as "Jr." was rarely used.
General belief among researchers is that Joseph Corbitt came to America and that he did so either to escape heavy taxes imposed by the feudal lords, escape religious persecution, or both. The problem in establishing an exact connection for where Joseph came from is that there are dozens of Joseph Corbitts on passenger arrival lists to America during the 1700s, and I cannot definitively identify any one of them as our Joseph. But, there was definitely a Joseph Corbitt related to our ancestor, Brinkley Corbitt, and based on the family Bible of Martin Corbitt, we assume it was his father.
I have read in several places that Joseph Corbitt settled in North Carolina and founded a site on the Black River known as Corbett's Ferry. The Black River runs for about 60 miles from its origins in North Carolina's southeastern coastal plain to where it joins with the Cape Fear River near the Atlantic Ocean in the Wilmington area. I finally found the tiny backwoods village of Corbett's Ferry on a hand drawn map in a book about the Revolutionary War: however, on this map the site is named Colbert's Ferry. I'm sure this is the same place and is mislabeled on the map because of some references to it mentioned in some official records pertaining to Revolutionary War soldiers' applications for pension that I found. Here is what one said:
"they were ordered to Moore's Creek Bridge where a piece of intrenchment was raised: that they were then ordered and marched on towards Corbett's Ferry on Black River to prevent the tones from crossing" .... "they went down Cape Fear to its junction with Black River, thence up Black River to where Bear Branch empties therein, at which place he embarked and marched from thence to Long Creek Bridge: that while he was at Long Creek Bridge he was ordered up to Moore's Creek Bridge: that when he arrived at Moore's Creek Bridge he commenced making intrenchments, and an express immediately came ordering the forces up to Corbett's Ferry: that he thereupon marched towards Corbett's Ferry as far as over Colven's Creek when another express arrived ordering us back to Moore's Creek Bridge"31
Another record from the Revolutionary War period uses the name Colbert's Ferry, but I believe, based on the descriptions of other surrounding landmarks, that this is the same Corbett's Ferry:
"On the earliest intelligence that the tories were collecting and embodying at Cross Creek, which I received on the 9th of February. I proceeded to take possession of Rocktish-bridge. Minutes of the New Hanover District Superior Court [Extract] Creator: New Hanover District. Superior Court, within seven miles of Cross Creek, which I considered as an important post . . . the night before, and that night, crossed the N. West River, at Campbelltown, with their whole army, sunk and destroyed all the boats, and taken their route the most direct way to Negro Head Point: I then dispatched an express to Col. Caswell, who was on his march to join us with about 800 men, and directed him to return and take possession of Colbert's Ferry over Black River, and by every means in his power to obstruct, harass, and distress, them in their march: at the same time I directed Col. Martin and Col. Thackston to take possession of Cross Creek, in order to prevent their return that way: . . . but if that could not be effected, to take possession of Moore's Creek Bridge, whilst I proceeded back with the remainder of our army to cross the North West at Elizabeth Town, so as either to meet them on their way to Corbert's Ferry, or fall in their rear and surround them there. . ."32
What made this tiny village so hard to locate is that it no longer goes by the name Corbett's Ferry. It is now known as Ivanhoe, North Carolina. The people of Corbett's Ferry decided to change its name in 1890 to rename it after the popular novel Ivanhoe, written by Sir Walter Scott. 34/35 The town is located about 40 miles northwest of Wilmington in what was originally New Hanover County (now Sampson County). The area was first settled by Scotsmen coming up Black River from where they arrived on the coast in the early 1700s. The Scots who settled on that area of Black River were the first part of many thousands of Scottish immigrants who came up through the lower Cape Fear Valley in the early 1700s. They were attracted to America and the Cape Fear Valley by the Royal Governor of the North Carolina colony who was also a Scotsman. This Governor, Gabriel Johnston, wanted the Cape Fear Valley to be settled by large numbers of Protestant Highland Scots, so he wrote enthusiastic letters to his influential friends back in Scotland inviting them to come to this land where they could get free land grants, possible exemption from taxation and grow two crops each year.36 Perhaps this is what enticed Joseph Corbitt to come to America. That is, if he was Scottish.
Ivanhoe, North Carolina, is not an incorporated town, but a community that the 2000 census shows as having 311 inhabitants in 113 households. Then telephone book shows 17 Corbett families still living there. Today no one seems to know exactly where the actual ferry for which Corbett's Ferry was named crossed the Black River, but I did find a description in a book written by a man who grew up there and wrote about his childhood. He wrote:
After a blistering hot day of working hi the tobacco fields, my uncles, like many other boys in the Ivanhoe community, would cool themselves at the old swimming hole. It was formed in a bend in Black River just above John Moore's house and near where some say "Corbett's Ferry" once crossed the river.37
Much of the length of the Black River is now included in the 3.000 acre Black River Preserve, a nature conservancy where the oldest known trees east of the Rocky Mountains can be found: a stand of 1,700-year-old bald cypress.
Since North Carolina was discovered and colonized by the British, the Crown of Great Britain claimed title to the soil under the principle that dominion belonged to the discoverer. Un-owned land in North Carolina in the 1700s could be obtained through land grants from the Crown of Great Britain, but a process had to be followed. The land was initially free with the exception of some "small fees".
The first step in the process was to determine the land you wanted and how much of it there was. Next you would take that information, a description of the land you wanted, to the secretary of the colony and make a petition for an entry to the land and pay your first small fee to have the claim entered on the record creating a "land entry". The secretary would announce all of the petitions at a public meeting and there was then a three month waiting period during which Obtaining Land in the New World others could determine if the land you are claiming included then land or if there were overlapping claims. If a conflicting claim did occur a trial was held to determine the winner of the dispute. If there was no conflicting claim filed, then a ''warrant of survey" was issued. This warrant gave the Crown surveyor authority to survey the land, which he would do provided you paid his fees. When done, two copies of a drawn map of the survey, called a plat, were made by the surveyor and the survey and survey warrant were sent to the secretary who would then forward them to the Court of Claims letting the Court know that you had petitioned for a patent. If the Court agreed, the governor would sign the patent and you had a land grant. The grant was then recorded in the giant books, for a small fee of course, so the Crown would know who was to pay the annual quit rent.38 Even though the land was initially free, the small fees required at every turn were expensive. Typical costs started with as much as £12 for the grant (currency at the time was in Pound Sterling), which was divided out to the governor for signing the papers, the governor's secretary for putting a wax seal on the document, the undersecretaries for registering the giant, the clerk of the Court for his trouble, and some to the state, in addition, the attorney general received £2 for examining the paperwork, the auditor got £3 to enter the grant in his records, and the colonial secretary received £5 for having written the original document. All totaled, these "small fees" added up to as much as £22 per land grant. The average fanner at the time earned about £100 per year, so the process cost a few months' earnings, but it was the only way to get clear title to the land.39
I mention the above facts because Joseph Corbett paid taxes as a land owner in New Hanover County, North Carolina, in 174240 and must have gone through this process several times. Bladen County was created from land formerly part of New Hanover County and according to the tax lists for 1770, Joseph Corbett owned property in that county valued at £86-6. The tax list for 1770 included only three Corbitts. Bunkley (I assume this is a misspelled Brinkley) and Joseph are in one household, and Abel Corbit is in another. Several more Corbitts followed into the county and beginning in 1778 there were many land transactions involving Corbitts. Listed in the index to land warrants from 1778 to 1803 were Joseph and Brinkley, plus Abel, George, James, James Jr., James R., Judieth, Mary, and Thomas. Following are some land transactions that I found in the records of North Carolina and South Carolina for Joseph Corbett. The border between North Carolina and South Carolina moved around a lot in the early days and the area where Joseph Corbitt lived was claimed by both states at different times. Because of the dates involved, some, or maybe all, of these transactions were likely for Brinkley's brother Joseph and not his father. I do not see the use of the suffix "Jr." in many public records of that time period so it is not possible to tell if this is father or son (or nephew, cousin, etc.). Also note that other Corbitts are mentioned in the property descriptions as adjoining land owners and chain carriers for the surveyors.41
November 19. 1772, Joseph Corbett received a Land Grant from King George III for 100 acres in Craven County. South Carolina.42
Joseph Corbett was granted a warrant on May 7, 1778 for 100 acres in Bladen County, North Carolina. The land was surveyed on July 15, 1778 and the grant was issued November 12, 1779. The land was described as "100 ac on or near waters of Rockfish Cr. within about 0.25 miles of Gille's Br, near "Judieth" Corbett's line, near McGahan's line"43 (It is interesting that in this case one of the surveyor's chain earners was Mary Corbet)
Joseph Corbet was granted a warrant on June 8, 1778 for 78 acres in Bladen County, North Carolina. The land was surveyed on July 15. 1778 and the grant was issued November 11, 1779. The land was described as "100 ac on a branch of Rockfish Cr. between Judieth Corbett's & where Joseph Corbett lives, including his own improvements E of the right & left ponds".44 (Again, one of the surveyor's chain earners was Mary Corbet. Although the warrant was for 100 acres, the survey concluded it was 78 acres.)
Joseph Corbett was granted a warrant on June 8, 1778 for 100 acres in Bladen County, North Carolina. The land was surveyed on July 14, 1778 and the grant was issued November 11, 1779. The land was described as "100 ac on head of West prong of Gilley's Br, on Legett's "wagen" road".45 (Again, one of the surveyor's chain carriers was Mary Corbet.)
Joseph Corbett was granted a warrant on July 10, 1779 for 100 acres in Bladen County, North Carolina. The land was surveyed on April 3, 1779 and the grant was issued October 23, 1782. The land was described as "100 ac on the E side of Dunns Marsh, within 0.5 miles of the marsh, on E side of a pond".46 (In this case, the surveyor's chain earners were Abel Corbett and Mary Corbett. On the same dates of warrant, survey and grant was a 100 acre parcel to Abel Corbett for which the surveyor's chain carriers were Joseph and Mary Corbett.)47
Joseph Corbett was granted a warrant on July 10, 1779 for 100 acres in Bladen County, North Carolina. The land was surveyed on August 23, 1779 and the grant was issued October 23. 1782. The land was described as "'100 ac on the E side of Cole Camp Swamp, about .75 miles above "the" bridge".48 (In this case, the surveyor's chain carriers were Joseph Corbett and James Corbett.)
Joseph Corbett was granted a warrant on July 10. 1779 for 100 acres in Bladen County. North Carolina. The land was surveyed on August 23. 1779 and the grant was issued October 23. 1782. The land was described as "'100 ac on the W side of Galberey Swamp". 49
Joseph Corbit was granted a warrant on January 10, 1780 for 100 acres in Bladen County, North Carolina. The land was surveyed on August 16, 1780 and the grant was issued November 7, 1784. The land was described as "100 ac between his new entry and Abel Corbett. joins each line on head of Ashpole Swamp".50
Joseph Colbertt (later in the same document spelled Corbet) was granted a warrant on November 30., 1779 for 100 acres in Bladen County. North Carolina. The land was surveyed on August 16, 1783 and the grant was issued November 7, 1784. The land was described as "100 ac on N side of head of Cow Camp Br, on E side of a large "thick" pond, in the fork of Legget Road" .51
I didn't find any entries of sales of land by Joseph, so all together he could have amassed 878 acres from 1778 - 1784.Joseph Corbitt appears to have been a literate person, and he had a very distinctive signature which shows up in some of the documents I looked at. The distinction is that he placed the second letter "o" inside the first letter "C". It is most surprising and amazing that he could write. Most adults in this time period could not and signed then names with an "X". Joseph Corbett is mentioned in a Bladen County Colonial Coroners' Inquest as a juror for judgment in the accidental drowning on March 24, 1756. of William Hamilton after he fell from his canoe into the river. Based on the date of this proceeding, this must be the Joseph who was Brinkley's father, since the Joseph who was Brinkley's brother is said to have been born in 1744. All the jurors signed the document with 13 of them signing with an "X". Joseph signed his name.52
I was able to obtain some documentation regarding Joseph Corbett wherein he was petitioning the State of South Carolina for compensation for disabling injuries he received from "the Enemies" during militia service in 1776. This Joseph is more likely Brinkley's brother in that brothers Joseph, Brinkley and James were all Revolutionary War soldiers. Their father Joseph Corbett would likely have been too old to serve. These petitions were made in 1798.53
Sometime around 1800, the Corbitts appear to have moved to the Barnwell District of South Carolina. The area was situated inland about 100 miles and north of the Savannah River. Land surveyed and Plat tiled for Joseph Corbitt for 100 acres in the Camden District of South Carolina on the Samey's Swamp Waters of Black River. Certified February 25. 1785.54
A Joseph Corbett related to Brinkley appears to have died sometime after 1793 but before 1805. There is a deed dated October 14, 1805, in which several Corbetts, as joint owners of a tract of land in Barnwell District of South Carolina, sell 200 acres of land originally granted to Joseph Corbett on February 4. 1793.55 It is possible that these are the heirs to Joseph Corbett's estate and likely consist of his children and other heirs. The deed reads as follows:
State of South Carolina
Know all men by these presents that we Mary Corbett, John Carr, Peggy Carr, Preciller Corbett, Brinkly Corbett & Judith Corbett of the District of Barnwell in the State afor'sd for & in Consideration of the full sum of three Hundred Dollars to us in hand paid by Jacob Free of the State & District aforesd have granted bargained Sold & Released and by this Presents do Grant bargain Sell and Release unto the sd Jacob Free all that Plantation & Tract of Land Containing two Hundred Acres (being part of a Tract of two hundred & forty acres) Situate in the District aforesd Near George's Creak Waters of big Salkatches Originally Granted to Joseph Corbett the 4 day of February anno-dominy one thousand seven hundred & Ninety three and bounded all sides by Vakent Land at the time of Survey together with all and Singular the Rights. Members. Hereditaments and Appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise Incident or Appertaining To have & to hold all & Singular the Premises above mentioned unto the Sd Jacob Free his Heirs and Assigns forever and we do hereby bind Ourselves Our Heirs Executors Sc Administrators to Warrant and forever Defend all and Singular the Sd Premises unto the sd Jacob Free his Heirs and Assigns against all other Persons lawfully Claiming ourselves & against all other Persons lawfully Claiming the Same or any part thereof.
Witness our hands & seals this 14 day Ocbor 1805 in presents of
Daniel Collins
Elizabeth Fla?tos
(Signed):
Mary (her mark) Corbett [Seal]
John Carr [Seal]
Peggy (her mark) Carr [Seal]
Priciller (her mark) Corbett [Seal]
Brinkley Corbett [Seal]
Judith Corbett [Seal]
Another of Joseph's sons about whom we have some documentation is Benjamin, born in about 1750. He moved to Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, sometime around 1800 and made his fortune growing cotton.56 Benjamin lived in or near the town of Harrisonburg in Catahoula Parish, which is near Natchez. Mississippi. Harrisonburg was a commercial hub due to its location on the Ouachita River with easy access to the Mississippi River. The 1820 Census of Catahoula Parish shows that Benjamin has eight people living hi his household, plus 20 slaves.57 When Benjamin died sometime around 1824 he died without a will. Dying intestate in Louisiana caused a process by which potential heirs could file a claim for a share of the estate.58
Louisiana had many oddities in its system of laws, and still does. One of them is the handling of the estate of a deceased. Documents relating to an estate are called "Succession Papers" instead of Probate. Louisiana law provided at that time that in the absence of a will, property was inherited in a unique inheritance order unlike that in most other states. That order was somewhat complicated, and its unusual provisions often came as an unwelcome surprise to the surviving family members. Based on Benjamin's Succession Papers, he and his wife, Prisilla, owned their estate in what is known as "indivision". This type of ownership means a state of undivided wholeness, or the state of being owned by two or more co-owners, each having an undivided interest in the whole. Eventually Benjamin's heirs petitioned the Court to sell the plantation so there could be some division of the estate among them. The judge had the property divided into two lots and ordered that the heirs of Benjamin and the widow were to draw for the lots, in the end. Prisilla drew lot #1 and the heirs of Benjamin drew lot #2. It is unclear how the assets in lot #2 were liquidated, but there are records showing several monetary payouts to individual heirs of Benjamin. One nephew is shown receiving $598.
While having no will complicated the situation for Benjamin's heirs, his lack of a will helps us out in our research because when he died many of his heirs applied to the court for a share of his estate. From the various petitions submitted to claim a part of his estate, we have the following list of relatives and then relationship to Benjamin:
Carr. Gideon: hen
Carr, John: heir
Carr, Vincent; heir
Compton. Mrs: MS. heir
Corbett. Benjamin: nephew
Corbett, Brinkley; SC; brother (dec'd)
Corbett. James: SC: brother (dec'd)
Corbett. Joseph: brother (dec'd)
Corbett. Mary: niece, (daughter of Brinkley Corbett: sister of Walter J. Corbitt)
Corbett. Walter J. of SC: nephew
Dodd, Hannah (represented by son Joseph N. Dodd. atty). SC; sister
Dodd, Joseph N.; SC: nephew
Edwards. Mary Aim: Jefferson Co.. MS: heir
Flower, Luranah: nephew: heir
Flowers, Susan: heir
Goodail (or Goodall), Eliza: Jefferson Co.. MS: grandnephew
Goodail, James: JeffersonCo. MS: grandnephew
Goodail, Julian: Jefferson Co.. MS: grandnephew
Goodail, Louisa: Jefferson Co. MS: grandniece
Goodail, Samuel: Jefferson Co.. MS: grandnephew
Goodail, Samuel: Jefferson Co.. MS: nephew
Gudsel, Huldy: (now King) niece
Powers, Mary; sister
Richardson, Margaret (Richardson. Benjamin, atty): Copia Co. MS: niece
Rider, Elizabeth (daughter of George W. Rider)
Slater, Mary (wife of James Slayter); heir
Stampley, Julia: Jefferson Co.. MS: heir
Stampley, Sousan: Jefferson Co.. MS; heir
Daley, Mary: niece, (daughter of Precilla Corbett)
Smith, Zilphey: niece, (daughter of Precilla Corbett)
From this list of heirs hi Benjamin's Succession Papers we have the names of seven of Joseph's children.
So, with that level of confidence in the facts. I can state that research shows that Joseph Corbitt was married and he and his wife had several children. In other Corbitt family histories I have seen that Joseph's wife was named Judith Brinkley, but no documentation was cited so the basis for her name is unknown. Based on the information accumulated it is probable that Joseph and his wife had at least seven children. Those I have been able to identify are Brinkley, James, Benjamin, Joseph, Mary, Abel, Precilla and Hannah.59/60
Martha Ann Corbett
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth Date: 31 Aug 1854 - Georgia 125
Christening:
Death: 14 May 1932 - Lowndes County, Georgia ( at age 77) 125
Burial: in Hickory Grove Cemetery, Lowndes County, Georgia 125
Parents
Father: Franklin Corbett 182
Mother: Winnie Stuart
Notes
General:
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62176582/martha_a-corbett: accessed December 27, 2024), memorial page for Martha A. Corbett (1854\endash 1932), Find a Grave Memorial ID 62176582, citing Hickory Grove Cemetery, Lake Park, Lowndes County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by Robert Strickland (contributor 47110874).
Mary Ann Corbett
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth Date: 1851 - Georgia
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
Spouses and Children
1. *John M. Carter
Marriage:
Status:
Children:
1. Homer Jackson Carter
2. John Ivey Carter
Mary Edna Corbett
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth Date:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
Spouses and Children
1. *Asbury Carl Waldron
Marriage: 13 Oct 1939 - Lake Park, Lowndes Co., Georgia, USA
Status:
Mary Elizabeth Corbett
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth Date: 4 Oct 1838 - Stewart County, GA 190
Christening:
Death: 6 Jul 1924 - Valdosta (Lowndes) GA ( at age 85) 190
Burial:
Parents
Father: James Thomas Corbett Sr 70
Mother: Mary Elizabeth Peterson 70
Spouses and Children
1. *S. H. Zipperer
Marriage:
Status: