John Nation, Immigrant 1697-1772

John Nation would have quite an interesting story to tell us, if he were able.  He is believed to be the John Nation who was born in North Petherton, Somerset, England and christened on March 28, 1697.  If this is he, his parents were John and Frances Parsons Nation.  We don't know how he arrived in the Colonies, or when, but in 1710 he is considered an asset as a "servant boy" in the will of William Beakes in Nottingham, Burlington County, New Jersey.  At the time, he had eight years of service left, which means he was likely 13 at the time.  Indentured servants who were minors earned their freedom at the age of 21.  The years match very closely to the date of John's christening, so I think John and Frances were likely his parents.  John, the subject of this blog post, may have come to America willingly, but there is a family story that he was kidnapped.  This is not beyond the realm of possibility, as ship captains and masters were well paid to deliver young men and women to America who didn't necessarily want to go there. 

At any rate, John was a free man at age 21.  We lose track of him for a few years but he married Bethiah Robins, who was born in 1702 at Crostwekes, Monmouth County, New Jersey, the daughter of Joseph Robins and Hanna or Anna Pack.  Their first child was born in 1717 so Bethiah would have been a very young bride indeed, perhaps only 14 years old.  The couple had seven known children, six born in Monmouth County, New Jersey and the seventh in Orange County, Virginia in 1729.  It appears that they went to Virginia sometime between 1725 and 1729, based on the birth locations of their children. Traveling that far with six children under the age of 11 proves that our ancestors had determination and resilience, among other qualities.  (We think it's hard to put that many children in a van or SUV and drive for a couple of hours!)

Frederick County, Virginia was formed from Orange County, Virginia in 1733 but for a time John was still noted more frequently in Orange County, where he witnessed the will of Hezekiah Vickery in 1736.  It's possible that he settled on land that wasn't legally his because in 1749 he is granted land by Lord Fairfax, but earlier he was made overseer of a road "from the run by his house to Kerseys Ferry", and was ordered to keep it in good condition.  The land Lord Fairfax sold him was on Opekon (Opequon) Creek, but soon after he acquired the land he sold it back to Lord Fairfax.  Perhaps he wasn't happy with the land for some reason, or perhaps he already was restless and wanted to move on. 

By 1754 he and the family were living in Rowan County, North Carolina.  In 1757 he had two grants of land from Lord Granville.  He sold one tract to Robert Fields in 1759, so it appears that he lived on 401 acres on Polecat Creek.  It may be that he sold or gave land to his son Christopher Nation in 1761, to help him get established.  We should remember that this was basically frontier country and that the whole frontier was often threatened by various tribes and coalitions of native Americans.  It took hardy souls to stay on their land and survive.  I strongly believe there are stories here that we don't know. 

John wrote his will in 1772, and probably died shortly after December 15, 1772. The will was filed in Guilford County, North Carolina. His son Joseph received the land John lived on, and son John was to have some personal property after his wife Bethiah died, with Joseph receiving the rest. Bethiah was to live on the land as long as she was a widow.  It appears that Joseph may have been a caregiver for his mother, who died in 1774.  At that time, Joseph sold the land.  John's other children were acknowledged with one shilling each.  Christopher had received land earlier, and the daughters may have received cash or goods as each married. 

I'm sure that John had an interesting life.  However he arrived in New Jersey, whether by choice, by agreement, or by kidnapping, he was there at an early age.  Somehow he acquired the skills he would need to build homes on the frontier and to raise enough food to feed seven children.  Bethiah also deserves our admiration.  She likely not only made clothes for the family, but made the fabric and perhaps the threads that were used to make the fabric, in addition to all the other chores she would have had.  Our pioneer ancestors continue to amaze me.  The more I learn, the more I wonder how they did it. 

We have at least two lines of descent from John and Bethiah, because Joseph Nation and Jeretta Vickery were cousins.  This was not unusual for the time and place. 

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

also
John Nation-Bethiah Robins
Elizabeth Nation-Marmaduke Vickery
Jeretta Vickery-Joseph Nation