The Second Generation

Peter Kivett arrived in North Carolina as early as 1762, when he received land through a so-called McCulloh grant in the Granville District. As we have seen, he swore his allegiance to the British Crown in 1763, and in 1779, he appeared as "Peter Kibit" on the tax list for that year, the only Kivett in the newly-formed Randolph County. In 1785, he again appeared on the Randolph County tax list, this time as "Peter Kivet," along with his eldest son, Henry, who had apparently come of age.

The first federal census in 1790 enumerated three Kivett households in Randolph County that year, all of them in the Hillsborough District:

Son Henry and his wife were the parents of four young sons, and young Peter, Jr., was married with a daughter and two young sons. All four of Peter's daughters were apparently married by 1790, and only the two younger sons of our forbear, John and Jacob, still lived at home.

In 1794, Peter, Sr., died, followed in 1797 by his "beloved wife Anna Barbary." Three years later, in the 1800 federal census, all four of Peter's sons were duly recorded as heads of households, each married with a family of his own. They remained the only Kivett households in Randolph County and in North Carolina.

Tradition has provided us with the spouses of Peter's sons and daughters, and though little documentation exists, the circumstantial evidence appears to support the generally-accepted couples, with the exception of Peter, Jr.:

Let us begin examining the second generation with Peter's four sons: Henry, Peter, Jacob and John. Both Henry and Jacob died at relatively young ages, and their estates are concerned with the guardianships for their younger minor children. Henry's estate records tell us that he and his wife, Sarah Aldrich, had Peter, John, Jacob, Aaron, Henry, Anna Barbary and James. Likewise, Jacob's estate records list his children by his wife, Barbara Scotten: Jacob, Daniel, Peter, Mary, Rosanna, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, Henry and Anna Barbara. In similar fashion, we are fortunate to have John's will, from which we can establish the children of John and his wife, Rosa Aldridge (sister to Henry's wife, Sarah): Elizabeth, Henry, Rosanna, Nancy, Mary, Sophia, John, William and Nathan.

The wife and children of Peter [2g], however, have proved to be more elusive.  Presently, there is no proven listing of his children, but, since we know with near certainty the names of all third generation Kivetts, we can reasonably conclude that those children who are not of Henry, Jacob or John are, by default, of Peter. This gives rise to the following roster of Peter's offspring: Barbara, Henry, Hiram, John, George, Jacob, Joel, Rachel, Elizabeth, Peter, James, Nancy and Eli.

Although various sources have suggested that the wife of Peter [2g] was either a Sarah York or an Anna Scotten, no documentation has ever conclusively established her identity. However, new research by Larry W. Cates may finally lead us to the identity of Peter's wife. While Mr. Cates stresses that the line he proposes is speculative at present, he makes a strong argument, backed by thorough study and  well-reasoned deduction, that Peter in fact married a Gilliam. (See "Reading Between the Lines: The Gilliam Family of Randolph and Chatham [NC]," Randolph County, NC, Genealogical Journal, (Spring, 2002).

The families of the daughters of Peter [1g] are less well-established. Little is documented about the children of Elizabeth and John Scotten and those of Ann Margaret and William Wolfe. Known children of Elizabeth are Jonathan, James, Jacob, Elizabeth, Mary and Peter; known children of Ann Margaret are Peter, Barbara, John, Mary "Polly" and William. However, more thorough information is available for Charity and Mary Barbara through research of the Foust family lines in this country. The children generally attributed to Charity and Jacob Foust are Barbara, John, Christian, Daniel, Jacob, Peter, Charity and Judith. Those ascribed to Mary Barbara and George Foust are John Forrest, Catharine "Katie," Barbara, Daniel, George, Peter, William, Sarah "Sallie," and Henry.

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Copyright © Donna W. Martin