Update of John Washington Womble Neighborhood Project

I braved the 90°+ heat to resume my research on my John Washington Womble neighborhood project.  The microfilm I looked at contained petition files that were mainly settling estates for those who died intestate.  What I found interesting about these files were that they were cataloged with the land records and not with probate records in the FHL online catalog as is the case with Edgecombe County, North Carolina.  So basically, if you weren’t going through the FHL online catalog with a fine toothed comb you might miss these records.

I’d gone there with the mindset of obtaining copies of only two petition files.  One for Mahala Grantham and the other for Lazarus Johnson; even though, in the back of my mind was the plan to look through the whole roll of film and make note of other petitions that might pertain to my project.  It was a good plan to keep on the lookout for other petitions as I found other familiar names and noted down to make copies of those files.

The petitions varied in length from only being under 10 images or to over 50 or more in length.  Because I was carefully looking through the entire roll of microfilm and noting down which files interested me, my time was limited at my local FHC.  When it came time to make copies of the petitions on my list I pared down the number I would copy that day to 5 out of the 12 that seemed to pertain to my project.  I’ll make copies of the remainder at a later date.

Upon returning home, I began transcribing the file for Mahala Grantham in order to better understand what was happening.  Also while the index indicated that the petition was for Mahala Grantham, she wasn’t the initial person making the petition to settle an estate and divide land.  The main petitioner was a Sarah Grantham, and whose name I hadn’t encountered until looking at the name on the file.

Mahala is mentioned in the petition file as being a widow, but as to who she was married to it’s unclear in the file.  Perhaps, when I complete the transcription all of this will become clear.  If not I’ll have to research Mahala and those mentioned in order to make sense of the petition and those involved.

It’s not clear to me how this Grantham line connects with that of John Washington Womble’s neighbor, Chalkley Grantham.  Obviously, they’re likely related and somewhere in my records I had located an old copy of a Grantham family newsletter that seemed to give an overview of the familial connections.

My plan after transcribing the Mahala Grantham petition is to then transcribe all the rest of the petitions that I copied on Saturday.  Hopefully, they’ll contain land descriptions that can be added to my plats, essentially adding more pieces to the “jigsaw puzzle.”