Henry B. Laurence and
Elizabeth Prewitt
Henry Bassett Laurence, son of William IV and Margaret, was born ca 1787 and on Sept. 2, 1808, married Elizabeth Prewitt in Granville County, where they continued to live until 1824, when they moved to Carroll County, Tennessee. Records indicate Henry B. sold property in N.C. in 1824 and bought property in Tennessee, in 1826. It took two years to move from N.C. to Tennessee by covered wagon at that time.
Henry B. and Elizabeth Laurence settled first in Carroll County and were there at the time of the 1830 and 1840 census. It appears from the 1840 census that Elizabeth was still in the home. By the mid 1840’s Henry B., Tom, Jasper and R.J. were showing up in Benton county records. Henry B. and Elizabeth Laurence had the following children: Thomas B., Bassett Goode, Jasper J., Robert Jones, and Henry Bassett.
By 1850 Henry B., was living along with another son Bassett Goode, in northern Mississippi at Holly Springs in Marshall County. By 1860 though, Henry moved back across the state line from Mississippi to Fayette County, Tennessee. While in Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi, Henry appears to be without his older wife Elizabeth. Residing in his home, according to census records, was Elizabeth (Betsy) who is the right age to be his daughter, and also several younger children with Indian sounding names. So we can assume that either Henry married a younger Indian maiden or his daughter married and/or had children by an Indian. So he is, perhaps, the colorful ancestor in our line. Children of Henry B. and Betsy in the 1850 and 1860 census were Araan Elizabeth P., Esperan Harriet, Sarah T. and Benjamin Franklin. In a later census Benjamin shows to have been born in Mississippi. Henry B was 73 at the time of the 1860 census and did not appear in the 1870 census, so I assume he died during the 1860’s. I have searched unsuccessfully to find a record of death and/or a will.
