Thomas Eatman, Jr. (1755-1840), the DNA says, is my 4th great-grandfather. Raymond Cone, my newly discovered grandfather, is the child of Willis Cone and Sarah Eatman (1850-1935). Sarah’s parents were Alfred Eatman (1812-1880) and Mahala Price. Alfred’s folks were Kinchen Eatman (1783-1860) and Susannah Gaines.
Kinchen was a son of Thomas Eatman, Jr. His mother’s identity is unclear to me. What IS obvious is that Thomas Eatman was white and Kinchen’s mother was probably black. The nature of this relationship is fuzzy.
I have 13 4th to 6th cousins in Ancestry.com with whom I have a common ancestor. Six of them are related to Thomas Eatman, Jr., and they are 5th half cousins once removed. This means that their 4th great-grandmother is not the same woman as my 4th great-grandma. The former woman was almost certainly white.
A couple more cousins I’m related to via Thomas Eatman, Sr. and his wife Frances Robinson. It is through the Robinson line that my daughter found that heraldry linkage.
My more distant cousins are largely through Thomas Eatman, Jr. (8 of 14), Thomas Sr. (1), or Sarah Eatman/Willis Cone (3). It’s strange that the family line I didn’t even know about six months ago has been so genealogically fruitful.
Last will
Thomas Eatman, Jr.’s will, which I found on Archives.com, bequeaths his son Kinchen the sum of one dollar. His daughters Zilla, Delily, and Isley, and his son John also received a dollar each.
More favored were Liby (?) Eatman, who got five head of hogs, a dutch oven, an earthen pot, a pewter basin, three pewter plates, a table, a loom, three bee hives, a feather bed, and more. Daughter Cally Boykin got 100 acres of land, five hogs, one flax wheel and one bee hive.
Tealy Eatman, another daughter received 175 acres. Her son Calvin Eatman got 10 cider casks, all of Thomas’ working tools and three head of cattle. Calvin and his cousin John Boykin got to share the use of the blacksmith shop.
“I also leave my negro Peter to be equally divided between my two daughters Cally Boykin and Liby Eatman.” Ideally, they came up with a Solomon-like solution.
my goodness Rog..what a find.!!!
Sending you love and peace be unto you friend.
Alice
Kincheon Eatman is my fourth great grandfather. His daughter Nancy was my third great grandmother. I’d wondered if Celah Bailey was Kincheon’s mother, seeing he was born before she married his father, Thomas Eatmon. I think he received the single dollar in Thomas’ will so that legally he couldn’t claim he was left out of the will. And no one seems to know the maiden name of Kincheon’s wife, Susannah. Some list it as Gaines with no source to show where the information came from.
Hi, Laura – I’d love to know more!
I researched probate records on Familysearch.org for the elder Thomas Eatman to see if he, like his son, owned any slaves. He passed away right around 1770 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Among the probate records he had no will, but his estate was inventoried in February 1770 and by 1771 the contents thereof were sold. He did not appear to have any slaves. I had looked because if Kincheon’s mother was part African, perhaps she had been owned by Thomas Eatman’s father and inherited by him. So far I have not been able to find out who this woman was. I am on Ancestry DNA and have 1% Nigerian in me, and none of my closest and known family members on there had it. I did some searching through their Thrulines feature and that was what led me in the direction of my Hall and Eatman ancestors. They did appear to have Nigerian ancestry , too, though not all of my DNA matches on there seem to have it, just a few.
Do you know what county this will was filed in? Also, do you happen to know the date of the will?