All: 1763, Halifax will indicating 3 sons.
DEATH: LDS records show he died about 1730 in Albermarle, NC.
TimeLine: * By 1723 he was married to Mary, daughter of John Fort and Elizabeth Jordan. The following year he and Mary removed from Isle of Wight County in Virginia to the Bertie Precinct in North Carolina and later to Fishing Creek in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
*1724 After 21 Oct, 1724, William and Mary (Fort) Bynum had moved from Isle of Wight County Virginia, to Bertie Precinct, North Carolina, then to Fishing Creek, Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
*20 November, 1733 - William Bynum, 300 acres, Great Britain money, joining Cypress Swamp. William had many more Edgecombe County deeds.
*17 August. 1741 - 100 acres south side Moratuck River (current Roanoke River) joining Bynum's Mill pond, all houses, buildings, etc. Probably William and Mary (Fort) Bynum, the supposed parents of Luke Bynum.
*1746 William Bynum died. His proven son was William Jr., and probable sons, James, John and *LukeBIOGRAPHY: William, Sr. BYNUM-817 is the 5th great grandfather of Jabe Joseph FINCHER Jr
BURIAL: Burial: Fishing Creek, Edgecombe, NC.
William Bynum was probably the eldest son of James and Elizabeth Bynum. The earliest record of him is a
deed recorded in Surry County from “William Bynam of the upper Parish of the Isle of Wight Co” to Edward
Grantham of Surry County dated 16 September 1723. The deed was signed by William and Mary Bynum,
and both appeared in court on 18 September when Mary relinquished her dower right in the land. The land
conveyed, 460 acres on the Blackwater in Surry County, seems to be the same as two parcels granted to
James Bynum in 1714[1].It seems likely that William Bynum was living on his father’s land in Isle of Wight County, which adjoined
Surry to the east. On 3 January 1724 he witnessed a deed for land in Isle of Wight[2]. By early 1724,
however, it appears he had moved south into what was then the Bertie Precinct of Albemarle County, North
Carolina. On 21 April 1724, as “William Binam of the prcink of bartye in the province of North Carilinah” he
sold to Joseph Franco 100 acres on Flatt Swamp in Isle of Wight County which had been “granted by patent
to James Bynum dect” in 1719[3]. Flatt Swamp was a creek of the Meherrin River located in present-day
Southampton County just a few miles above the North Carolina border. William Bynum appeared in the Isle
of Wight court on 25 May 1724 to acknowledge the deed.On 3 August 1724 he witnessed a deed in Bertie Precinct from Arthur Davis to Richard Killingsworth. The
following day, Arthur Davis deeded William Bynum 200 acres in Bertie, probably in what later became
Halifax County. William Bynum sold this land to Richard Killingsworth on 14 February 1728[4] and
apparently moved onto a 595 acre parcel on the south side of the Moratock River which he patented on 1
February 1726[5]. Following the sale, Arthur Davis sued William Bynum over a debt (possibly an unpaid
mortgage on the land sold) but the case was dismissed by the July court later that year[6].In the meantime, it was probably this William Bynum who witnessed the will of his probably father-in-law
John Fort on 21 October 1724 back in Surry County. In 1730, he also witnessed Mary Fort’s discharge of
dower in land conveyed by her husband John Fort, Jr. to Davis Hopper in Bertie Precinct.William Bynum’s 595 acre patent on the Moratock (later called the Roanoke) River was located in the part of
Bertie which became Edgecombe County in 1741 and Halifax County in 1758. He was William Bynum “of
Edgecombe precinct” on 20 November 1733 when he sold 300 acres of it to Elizabeth Jenkins[7]. (This
land, incidentally, was located in what is called the Scotland Neck area of present-day Halifax County within
a mile or two of the land his brother James Bynum purchased in 1733.) William Bynum retained 295 acres
of the land and his son William Bynum Jr. sold it forty years later.The 1735 Quit Rent roll for the Edgecombe precinct of Bertie County list William Bynum with 240 acres and
his brother John Bynum with 270 acres. How William acquired this parcel is unknown, but it was
apparently the same 240 acres on Looking Glass swamp and Panther poccosin “where said Bynum now
lives” which he sold to John and Robert Whittaker on 19 October 1744[8]. This deed was executed by
William Bynum and “Mary his wife”. Looking Glass swamp was a creek of the Roanoke River located in the
southeastern part of what is now Halifax County near the present site of the town of Spring Hill.A few months later on 3 December 1744, William Bynum bought from Thomas Drake 300 acres in
Edgecombe County on the upper side of Fishing Creek[9]. This was several miles west of Looking Glass
swamp on the Halifax side of what became the border between Halifax and Edgecombe Counties. He
apparently lived on this land until his death.On 30 December 1745, William Bynum witnessed a deed from William Mearness to “William Bynum Jr. of
Fishing Creek” for land on the south side of Fishing Creek, the Edgecombe County side. This is the last
record for William Bynum, and the first record of his (apparently) eldest son.On 20 May 1746 the will of William Bynum was proved in the Edgecombe County court and the widow Mary
Bynum was confirmed as executor. Unfortunately, the will no longer exists. Only court records survive. In
fact, other than the court entry noting the proving of the will, I found only one surviving document, an
inventory of the estate by the widow. This is a loose, undated paper found in the North Carolina
Archives[10]. The inventory is a lengthy list of the goods of a moderately well-to-do planter: “…six
Negroes, 40 head of cattle, 2 horses and 3 mares, 16 sheep, 6 feather beds and furniture, 4 bedsteads, 3
chests, 1 box, 2 tables, 6 chairs, 2 pails, 2 piggons, 1 tub, 2 spinning wheels, 6 pairs of casks, 1 lume, 5
sleys and harnesses, 3 plow hoes, 10 weeding hoes, 1 iron wedge, 1 grindstone,…12 bottles, 3 stone jugs,
1 butter pot, 2 vials, some shoemakers tools, some carpenters tools, 1 adds, [many other tools listed]…1
sword, 4 guns and one barrel of a gun,9 pounds of powder and 10 pounds of shot…[a long list of farm
implements]…“117 pounds of cotton, 6 pounds of feathers, 51 pounds of wool, 89 pounds of pewter…some
books (on) the duty of man and 3 testaments and one psalter.” This paper is signed by Mary Bynum’s
mark.Since the will itself no longer exists, we are forced to speculate about the children. William Bynum Jr.
seems to have inherited his father’s land on Fishing Creek, which he later sold, as well as the Scotland Neck
land granted in 1726, which he sold as “son and heir of William Bynum”. William’s other children must be
deduced. If William Bynum Jr. were the eldest, which seems likely, the other children would have been
born after about 1725. This is also consistent with a marriage date in the mid 1720s. His ownership of six
feather beds suggests a large family. It seems quite likely that there were several children, likely born in the
mid-1720s through the 1730s.William’s wife, Mary Bynum, was almost certainly the daughter of John Fort and Elizabeth Jordan. John
Fort made his will on 21 October 1724 in Surry County. It named his children, among them a daughter
named Mary Bynum. It was witnessed by John Phillips, a son-in-law, and William Bynum. John Phillips,
who lived in Isle of Wight County, also witnessed the 1723 deed by William and Mary Bynum. Further,
most of the rest of John Fort’s children also migrated to Edgecombe County. Two sons, John Fort Jr. and
Elias Fort, lived on Looking Glass Swamp near William and Mary Bynum. Another son, Richard Fort, made
a will in 1746 in Craven County which named his sister Mary Bynum. Finally, I note that, of William
Bynum’s brothers and cousins, all their wives can be accounted for except for his first cousin John Bynum –
whose wife was also named Mary. I strongly suspect John’s wife was Mary Gray of Surry. Based simply on
the much closer association with the Forts, I believe it is a near certainty that Mary Fort was William’s wife.
(Coincidently, William Bynum’s first cousin, also named William Bynum, married Elizabeth Shugars Fort.
She was the young widow of Mary Fort’s first cousin, Elias Fort and the daughter of John Shugars.)There must have been several children, including:
1.William Bynum (c1723 - ?) He was likely the eldest son, and is the only one we can identify with
certainty. See below.2.James Bynum (1725/30 - ?) He was probably another son, as in 1757 he sold 300 acres that had
belonged to William Bynum Sr. to John Bynum, probably his uncle. Oddly enough, the land was
described as land where Edward Tatum lived – Tatum later showed up as a neighbor of Luke Bynum
in Chatham County. He was living on William Bynum Jr.’s land when William sold him a portion of it
in 1761. It appears this was the James Bynum to whom William Bynum Jr. sold his Fishing Creek
land in 1752 – his uncle James lived a few miles away on Deep Creek. James sold the land he bought
from William Bynum three years later in 1764, to Edward Tatum. In 1767 he bought 456 acres in the
part of Orange County that became Chatham County, just south of William and Luke Bynum. He
appears in the Chatham County records through 1774 when he disappears from North Carolina. It
was apparently the same James Bynum who appeared on the 1772 militia roster of Elisha Cain’s
company. We have a deed from John Hatley Jr. dated 27 January 1772 of some household goods
“for and in consideration of the love, good will and affection that I have and do bear towards my
loving friend Elizabeth Bynum, daughter of James Bynum and Rebecca”. This implies James Bynum
was old enough to have had a mature daughter who needed household goods. James Bynum was
one of the famous Regulators, a militant agitator against severe local government corruption. In
1770, he was successfully sued for slander by Edmund Fanning, perhaps the most corrupt and hated
local official in the area, and was a participant in the “Hillsborough riot” later that year in which
demonstrators seized the courthouse and conducted their own court; he was one of 50-odd people
indicted by the governor for this riot in early 1771. A fine of £110 was assessed, he defaulted, and
his land was sold by Sheriff Elisha Cain in late 1773. Our last citation is his witness of a deed on 8
November 1774, after which he disappears from the local records. What became of him and his
family is a mystery. I think he may have accompanied the others to Wilkes County, Georgia and later
crossed the Savannah River county line into Abbeville County, South Carolina. It seems likely he was
the James Bynum who was granted land in Abbeville on the Savannah River in 1787, 1790, and 1798,
and who witnessed a will in Abbeville in 1792. He therefore was probably the “James Binom” who
appeared alone in the 1790 census of Abbeville County near a “Jesse Binom”. This James Bynum
apparently died shortly thereafter. The Jesse Bynum, probably his son, later moved into Pendleton
where he lived with the children of William Bynum, and ended up in Blount County, Alabama. He is
the Jesse Bynum identified by Jasper E. Bynum (q.v.) as a “relative”. I believe James Bynum had a
son named James as well as Elizabeth and Jesse.3.Luke Bynum (c1730 – 1810) This is purely speculative, but we can’t identify any other likely
candidates to be Luke’s father. Luke Bynum was on the 1755 tax list of Orange County (with two
slaves which he may have acquired from his father’s will), but not on the tithables list for that year.
He was enumerated in the part of Orange that had been carved out of Johnston County. He was
appointed to a grand jury for Orange in 1757 and again in 1760. I was told many years ago that a
correspondent had found a note in the court records of Luke Bynum selling land to Benjamin
Clements, but I could not find this reference when I searched the records. There is, however, a
record of Luke Bynum registering a deed from Clements in 1762. As noted above, Luke received a
patent on 30 June 1762, recorded in 1763, which appears to adjoin the land William Bynum bought a
year later. Luke and William Bynum thus appear to have been neighbors from roughly 1763 through
1775 when William left the area. Luke Bynum is a DAR line, on the strength of his having rendered
“patriotic service” in the form of furnishing supplies. A statement by his great-grandson, Alvis Jesse
Bynum in 1893, says Luke “immigrated to this country [meaning Chatham County] from Pa. or Va.
about 1750…He had two brothers who immigrated with him; one went to Stokes Co. and the other to
Edgecombe Co…He was of English or Irish descent, In religion a Methodist…”[11] Luke Bynum’s
descendants are among the best-researched Bynums. He married Martha Patterson around 1760 and
had children named Tapley, Mark, James, William, Sarah, Martha, Milly, and Edith. Luke died testate in
Chatham County in 1809.4.Mary Bynum (c1725 – aft1792) This is pure speculation. Two sons of Richard Bell of Surry County,
Virginia – William and Joseph – settled in Edgecombe County, NC. One of them, Joseph Bell
(1722-1792?) is said to have married a Mary Bynum about 1745. They had a son, James Bell
(1747-1809), who was later associated with William Bynum in Orange/Chatham Counties, and in
Georgia, and who died in Wilkes County, Georgia. Another son was named Thomas, who also settled
in Chatham County. A Bell family history gives the wife’s name as “Mary Fort Bynum”, and claims she
was the widow of William Bynum Sr., not the daughter. This is clearly an error. It is obvious that
Mary was far more likely to have been a daughter.[1] Surry County Deeds & Wills, p477
[2] Isle of Wight County Deeds & Wills., Vol. II, Part 1, p533 and p536
[3] Isle of Wight County Deeds & Wills, Vol. II, Part 2, p655
[4] Colonial Bertie County, Bell, p63
[5] North Carolina Land Patents 1663-1729, Margaret M. Hoffman, 1979 (also described in deed of sale)
[6] North Carolina Higher Court Minutes 1724-1730, Robert J. Cain, 1981, p464 and p468
[7] Halifax County Deed Book 1, p46 (which inherited Edgecombe deeds)
[8] Halifax County Deed Book 5, p316 and p318
[9] Halifax County Deed Book 5, p343
[10] Edgecombe County Inventories, Accounts and Sales 1730-1747, NC Archives File Number 037.514.1
(loose papers in box)[11] There are many old letters written among the descendants of Gray Bynum (a son of John III), those of
Luke Bynum, and between the descendants of Gray and Luke, mostly after the turn of the century.
Although they are not consistent with regard to ancestry, they tend to assume that the Bynums who
remained in North Carolina and gained prominence there were descended from brothers. These people all
were evidently unaware that these people were cousins, not brothers, and that large numbers of Bynums in
every branch had left the area in the late 1790s and early 1800s. In the case of this 1893 letter, it seems
likely that Luke had two brothers who came with him, but they almost certainly were not those implied. I
would note that this letter identifies the “original” homestead of Luke Bynum incorrectly, and contains a few
other errors, so it should probably not be taken too literally with regard to Luke Bynum.
All: Caroline BUSBY-86 is the great grand aunt of Jabe Joseph FINCHER Jr.-1. Their common ancestors are John Zachariah BUSBY-878 and Sarah STREET-1175.
CENSUS: 1860-Mobile Co., Al census-in house of Zachariah Busby-born La.;age-16-(M653\17\42)
MARRIAGE: Note the date for the first four children-before the marriage date. Apparently William M. Broadus or Clarissa Sullivan had an earlier marriage???
DEATH: Obit: Mobile Register 11/13/1964, page 7B
???Buried in Miller Cemetery, Lott Road, Mobile, Alabama
Austin still alive in 9 Sept.1919-Listed as informant for Thomas' death.MARRIAGE: At the time of his marriage to Kittie Louis A. Fincher was 22 years old, 6 ft. tall, 175 lbs. He was born in Alabama and was a Blacksmith by trade. He was a Catholic and resided in Whistler. This was his first marriage.
MARRIAGE: When Kittie married Louis she was 22 years old, 5'3" tall and 110 lbs. She was born in Alabama and was Protestant by religion. She reided in Whistler and this was her first marriage.
All: John Wesley GANN-569 is the great grand uncle of Jabe Joseph FINCHER Jr.-1. Their common ancestors are Nathan Wilson GANN-1174 and Aletha Jane ALDREDGE-326.
BIOGRAPHY: John Wesley, along with his father Dr. Nathan Wilson Gann, was one of the first physicians in Angelina County, practicing until about 1900. {Gann Book-page 247}
CENSUS: 1880 Angelina Co., Texas Federal Census Index-page 240 E.D. 9-(John W. Gann).
All: Listed on Tax List Bedford Co., TN-1812
All: see http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/b/Bynum,William_Preston.html