Problems with the Harvey Bottoms research
With all due respect, Harvey Bottoms has collected a vast amount of Longbottom/Bottoms data -- for which we all thank him from the bottoms of our hearts -- but there are some problems with the conclusions which I respectfully submit here.
William Longbottom bought land from Francis Hutchins in 1749 and William should have been at least 21 at the time so William Longbottom was born in or before 1728. He was William Longbottom of Surry Co VA and Sussex Co VA (as his land was apparently in Surry Co before Sussex Co was later created from part of Surry Co); and, he had a wife named Rebecca, per land records, etc.
The will of Joseph Harwood, written on 30 May 1769 in Edgecombe Co NC, listed a daughter Rebecca (no surname).
Other than that, after looking at the Harwood research I could find, I have found no suggestion of a William Longbottom/Rebecca Harwood marriage. Does anyone else have anything on this? Did I miss something?
At this point I hesitate to accept the William Longbottom/Rebecca Harwood marriage (as that is supposedly part of the “evidence” that some of the Nash Co NC Bottoms were born somewhere else).
Harvey Bottoms has consistently posted the statement that Longbottom individuals “travelled back and forth” from various NC counties to some VA counties but I found nothing that suggests that any Longbottom individuals “travelled back and forth” from Edgecombe Co NC to VA, from Nash Co NC to VA or from Granville Co NC to VA. Does anyone else have anything else on this? Did I miss something?
Likewise, I have found nothing that suggests that any Longbottom individuals “travelled back and forth” from Edgecombe Co NC to Northampton Co NC, from Nash Co NC to Northampton Co NC or from Granville Co NC to Northampton Co NC. Does anyone else have anything else on this? Did I miss something?
The above items are important because Harvey has said that some of Nash Co Bottoms were born in Northampton Co – and I see NO evidence to support that. Harvey has also said that John L. Bottoms of Nash Co married Mary Hunnicutt in Sussex Co VA in 1791 – ignoring the fact that John Bottoms in Nash Co showed one male and NO FEMALES in his 1800 federal census household. I have studied that particular census image, the original, many times because Harvey showed a female in the John L. Bottoms 1800 household.
The John L. Bottoms will of 19 Oct 1816, Nash Co NC, devised to: Wife Mary L. Bottoms, NIECE Tempy Olvy Williams and friend Hardy Flod (sic).John L. Bottoms was recorded with Sherrod Williams many times before he died and after John Bottoms died, 1819-1820, his administrator was also Sherrod Williams who sold his estate on 9 Mar 1820; then Sherod (sic) Williams became guardian of Tempy Olvy Williams on 14 Aug 1820 (Timothy Rackley, Nash Co NC Court Minutes). It looks to me like John L. Bottoms married Mary Williams, sister of Sherrod Williams, and that Sherrod Williams was the father of Tempy Olvy Williams (and, yes, a father had to go to court to become the guardian of his own child if that child stood to inherit something even if the child was inheriting something from the deceased mother of the child).
Please keep in mind that John L. Bottoms above bought all the lands, except for 3 acres, of Samuel L. Bottoms, Sr, in Nash Co NC (and that land was still in his possession when John wrote his will in 1816, including an additional 3 acres he did not legally purchase, according to existing records).
John L. Bottoms bought all the lands except three acres of Samuel L. Bottoms, Sr, in and before 1803, as a Bottoms/Longbottom. Samuel had bought 120 acres of that land as “Samuel Longbottoms” in 1774 (note the unusual S at the end of the name). In 1805, the will of Sarah Long Bottom was exhibited in court devising only to her brother and sisters, including her brother John Pitman; a few months after that, John Pitman went to court to legally change his name to “John Longbottoms.” Please note again the unusual repetition of the name “Longbottoms” with an S at the end. All the John records above were for the same person, as we know that Samuel L. Bottoms, Sr, married (1st) Mary Pitman in or before 1755 and married (2nd) Mary’s sister Cela/Celia Pitman in 1780.
It is very clear to me that Samuel L. Bottoms, Sr, had illegitimate children with Mary’s sister Cela/Celia Pitman before he formally married Cela/Celia in 1780 and that John Pitman Longbottoms was one of those children: he had to legally change his name to Longbottoms in 1805 to keep the lands he had bought in and before 1803 (as the 1805 will of Sarah Long Bottoms had identified him by his legal name, John Pitman, which might have challenged his ownership if he did not change his name to match the land records). There was no other Pitman family in that part of Nash Co NC at the time, nor any time previous (as I do Pitman research also), and the will of Sarah Long Bottom had to have been the will of an unmarried daughter of Samuel L. Bottoms, Sr, especially considering her scant and meager possessions listed in the inventory. Sarah L. Bottoms/Longbottom was, by the way, listed as a buyer at the estate sale of Samuel L. Bottoms, Jr, in 1795 more than once.
An adult legally changing a name in court at that time (as far as I know) meant most likely the person was born illegitimately and was taking the biological father’s surname. Please, please correct if I am wrong on this point.
In the 1790-1810 Federal census, Nash Co, I have found possibilities in Bottoms households for most of the early Bottoms recorded in Nash Co NC and I see no reason to believe that the early Nash Co NC Longbottom/Bottoms family members were born anywhere else except in Nash Co NC, or in Edgecombe Co NC before Nash Co was created from part of Edgecombe Co in 1777 (except for Samuel Longbottom, Sr, and his wife Mary Pitman Bottom, who was always recorded as Mary Bottom, as they were both born in VA).
Cela/Celia Pitman Bottoms was not in any records, as far as I know, after her marriage was recorded in 1780.
A final point concerning Northampton Co NC: Harvey has told me that Jones Longbottom died in Northampton Co NC, circa August 1767, and that it appears that he was married (as a Martha Longbottom administered his will).
We would all like to see that Jones Longbottom document if it has not already been posted somewhere -- and please excuse if I missed that posting, if it has already been made.
Thank you for your consideration and please note that I submit this with the utmost respect for the efforts Harvey Bottoms has thus made in the Longbottom research.
Guy
More Replies:
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John Bottom (NOT Longbottom) and Mary Hunnicutt, 1791
Guy Baker 4/20/11