Holbrook line: Christopher Nation 1717-1799

I've hesitated for quite some time to write about Christopher Nation.  The reason is not that I am not proud of him.  The reason is that I am not sure of his wife's maiden name.  So I'll get this out here early, in case someone wants to read only the first paragraph of this blog.  Some sites say his wife was Elizabeth Sharpe, and some say his wife was Elizabeth Swaim.  Some say he was married to both, but none give a date for a second marriage.  At this point I lean toward our connection being the Swaim one, but I am more than willing to look at documentation for either marriage, or for both.  I just want to know the truth.

But back to what we do know:  Christopher Nation was born in 1717 in Upper Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey to John and Bethiah Robbins Nation.  He was one of at least seven children born to the couple.  They apparently traveled down through Virginia, with possibly a stop of several years there, before moving on to what was then Guilford County, North Carolina, where John and Bethiah both died. 

Somewhere along the line, Christopher married Elizabeth, whatever her name was.  Christopher was the father of at least nine children, including our ancestor, Joseph.  Although we typically focus more on colonial history from the middle Atlantic and New England states, life was lively in North Carolina, too.  During the French and Indian War, North Carolina had to protect the frontier against native American attacks.  Christopher was a lieutenant in the militia and by 1766 was a captain.  He is mentioned as being a part of the "Regulator" movement in the early 1770's, but this was more likely to have been his son, Christopher, born about 1744.  At any rate, our Christopher suffered no ill effects from his son's rebellion.

He seems to have stayed out of the Revolutionary War, although by now he would have been in his middle fifties.  He's not listed as a patriot on the DAR website, nor is he listed as a Tory in the list of men from Guilford County who were subject to having their estates confiscated for being a Tory (supporting the British against the Americans who were fighting for independence).  Randolph County was formed from Guilford County in 1779, and his name is on the first tax list for that county, in 1779. 

He was a planter and possibly a delegate to the state assembly, although this could have been the son Christopher, in 1789.  At any rate, we can see that he raised his family well, to have American values.  Although he was not a Quaker (note his military record), he seems to have associated with Quaker families, perhaps tracing back to his time in Frederick County, Virginia or even further back to his time in New Jersey.  I haven't yet found church records for him, nor have I found a burial location.

Christopher died November 11, 1799 in Randolph County, NC.  In his will, he leaves almost everything to his oldest son, Abraham, leaving one shilling each to his other surviving children.  Perhaps Abraham had been promised the home place and Christopher helped the other children get established or purchase land as the need arose.  I haven't found an inventory yet, so I don't know whether Christopher had slaves or not.  He seems to have been a farmer with mostly smaller tracts of land, 120 acres at the end of his life, so perhaps he didn't "need" slaves.  He may have hired labor to help put the last crops in and harvest them, or perhaps his sons and sons in law were able to help.

So the questions are: Who was his wife when our ancestor was born? What religion, if any, did he practice?  Did he contribute in any way to either side in the Revolutionary War?  What were his experiences during the French and Indian War?  Did his family have to worry about attacks from the Native Americans?  I need to read more about North Carolina during this time period, as we have several families who were in this area during the 1700s.  It's another part of our family history to explore.

Our line of descent is:

Christopher Nation-Elizabeth possibly Swaim
Joseph Nation-Jerretta Vickery
Elizabeth Nation-Christopher Myers
Phoebe Myers-John Adam Brown
Phoebe Brown-Fremont Holbrook
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants