John Dennis, Sr. born in about 1725 in Gloucester County, New Jersey, migrated to Orange County, North Carlina. John Dennis was an early settler on the Wrightsborough reserve in Georgia. He died in Georgia before 20 Jul 1797.
John Dennis, Sr. was born in about 1725 in Gloucester County, New Jersey. He was a son of Samuel Dennis, Sr. and Ruth (Tindall) Dennis. Samuel Dennis immigrated to the New Jersey Colony from Ireland; Ruth Tindall was born in New Jersey.
Soon after 6 Aug 1742, John Dennis married Mary Slater. The 6 Aug 1742 minutes of the Kennett Monthly Meeting of Chester County, Pennsylvania record John Dennis again stating his intention to marry Mary Slater (1137).
Before 1752, John Dennis and his brother Samuel Dennis, Jr. migrated from New Jersey to Orange County, North Carolina. John and Samuel Dennis appear on a transcription of a 1752–1753 Orange County, North Carolina tax list (294). On 11 Mar 1755, the Orange County Court granted John Dennis a license to keep an Ordinary (293, Page 15), and on 7 Apr 1755, in room of Isaac Jackson, the court appointed John Dennis Overseer of Roads (293, Page 23).
During the Mar 1758 session of Orange County, North Carolina Court, “John Dennis, a Quaker, claims that a horse delivered by John Frohawk to Thomas Capper—was the property of said Thomas Capper and supposed to be takeaway by the Indians some time ago (293, Page 42).
On 27 Feb 1759, John Dennis was issued a patent for 507 acres of land on Buck Quarter Creek in Orange County, North Carolina (1049), and on 2 Oct 1761, John was issued a patent for an additional 375 acres of land in Orange County, North Carolina (1050).
In court convened at Childsburg in Orange County, North Carolina on 7 Aug 1764, the court “Ordered that Naomi Fisher an Orphan, Base born Daughter of Samuel Sell, be bound to John Dennis until she arrives to the age of 18 years—she being now 8 years and 3 months old” (293, Page 104).
By May 1765, Abraham Dennis was also in Orange County, North Carolina, where in county court, in May 1765, James Young and Company brought a claim against Abraham Dennis and John Dennis for debt (293, Page 128). In the same court session John Meherg also brought a claim against Abraham Dennis and John Dennis for debt (293, Page 128).
On 1 Sep 1767, Quakers living in Orange County, North Carolina petitioned the Governor and Council of Georgia to make land available for Quaker settlement. The Governor and Council created a reserve of 12,000 acres, and on 18 Feb 1768, Quakers settlers informed Governor Wright that 10 families from North Carolina had arrived in the Georgia Province to settle on part of the reserve along the Little River. In Dec 1768, Joseph Maddock and Jonathan Sell notified the governor that 70 families had by then settled on the reserve and requested a larger tract for further settlement and that “their lands be laid out, grants passed, and a road run.” Joseph Maddock was the husband of Rachel Dennis, a sister of John Dennis, Sr.
In Jul 1769, 100 acres of land were reserved for each unmarried man of the Wrightsborough colony, including Jacob Dennis, a brother to John Dennis, Sr. On that date, land was also granted to heads of families, including Abraham Dennis and John Dennis. On 4 Jul 1769, John Dennis was issued a warrant to survey 200 acres of land in the Wrightsborough Township of the Georgia Colony (829). In 1774, Creek Indians threatened the Quaker colony at Wrightsborogh, and many Quakers sought safety in the Carolinas and elsewhere.
John Dennis may have remained on his original land grant. On 28 Jan 1789, he signed a petition to the Speaker and House of Assembly from the inhabitants of Rockey Comfort and the upper part of Burke County seeking a more convenient place to pay taxes (875).
John Dennis appears on a 1794 tax list for Gray’s District of Warren County, Georgia (876).
John Dennis died before 20 Jul 1797 when “Mary, a widow of John Dennis, renounced her role as administrator of the estate of John Dennis.”
Notes and Comments
John Dennis migrated to Orange County, North Carolina before 27 Feb 1759 when he received a patent to 507 acres of land (1049). On 22 Feb 1759, the husband of his sister Rachel, Jospeh Maddock, received a patent to 507 acres of land on both sides of the Enoe River in Orange County, North Carolina. John Dennis probably with some or all of his brothers and their families and with Joseph Maddock, his wife Rachel, and their family to Orange County.
In Jul 1769, John Dennis and Abraham Dennis petitioned to obtain land within the Quaker Reserve in Wrightsborough Township of St. Paul’s Parish, Georgia. John Dennis and Abraham Dennis were likely brothers and sons of Samuel Dennis who died in Orange County, North Carolina in 1754.
The Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting in Georgia was established in 1773. The families who established the Wrightsborough meeting came to Georgia from North Carolina to settle on a 12,000 acre reserve allotted by Colonial Governor James Wright. The Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting was laid down in 1807.
Columbia County, Georgia was created on 10 Dec 1790 from parts of Burke and Richmond Counties.
Warren County, Georgia was created on 19 Dec 1793 from parts of Burke, Columbia, Richmond, and Wilkes Counties.
Sources
293. Shields, Ruth Herndon. Abstracts of the Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Orange County in the Province of North Carolina: September 1752 through August 1766. Published personally. (PDF file on file.)
294. Orange County, North Carolina Tax List, 1752–1753. (Images of a transcription on file.)
829. Warrant Issued to John Dennis to Survey 200 acres, Wrightsborough Township, Georgia, 4 Jul 1769. Surveyor General, Survey Records, Colonial Plats and Warrants, RG 3-3-56, Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia. (Images: Georgia Archives. Image on file.)
875. Petition to the Speaker and House of Assembly, Burke County, Georgia, 28 Jan 1789. Telamon Cuyler Collection, Manuscript #1170, Hargrett Library, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Call Number: Box 23, Folder 8, Page Number: 2, Family Number: 12. (Database: Ancestry.com)
876. John Dennis, Tax List, Gray’s District, Warren County, Georgia, 1794. Page 173 (Database: Ancestry.com)
1049. Patent Issued to John Dennis, Orange County, North Carolina, 27 Feb 1759, 507 acres on Buck Quarter Creek. Book 14, Page 387. File Number 546, MARS 12.14.95.543. (Images: North Land Grant Images and Data. Image on file.)
URL: http://www.nclandgrants.com/home.htm
1050. Patent Issued to John Dennis, Orange County, North Carolina, 2 Oct 1761, 375 acres. Book 14, Page 388. File Number 550, MARS 12.14.95.547. (Images: North Land Grant Images and Data. Image on file.)
URL: http://www.nclandgrants.com/home.htm
1137. Intention to Marry, John Dennis and Mary Slater, Minutes of the Kennett Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 6 Aug 1742. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)