A Review of the Southern Colonial Lott Family

John C. Barron

Persons of the surname Lott were in the Virginia tidewater country before 1657 when a deed, witnessed by a John Lotte, was recorded in Surry Co.⁽¹⁾ Englishmen, rich and poor, flooded into this region for decades before and after this time including a William Lott who was transported in 1662 to settle on Roger Womsley's tract in James City or Charles City. At Bristol, England in 1667, a John Lott indentured himself for 4 years to Samuel Hatton of Virginia.⁽²⁾ In Charles City County in Oct 1679 John Lott, a servant of Col. John Hill, was "adjudged as ord. in Orphan's" book.⁽³⁾ He may have been a boy apprenticed to Hill or, perhaps, an indentured servant.

Possibly the above William Lott was in New Kent Co., Virginia, in 1680 and 25 years later in 1714 John Lott was listed there as a landowner.⁽⁴⁾ A John Joyner was also in the county in 1715 and a few years later Isreal Joyner received a grant on the Meherring River in Bertie Co., North Carolina.⁽⁵⁾ In 1733 the link between these families was tightened in a deed from Susanna Clark to James Joiner for 50 acres of land on the Meherring witnessed by John and Solomon Joyner with a jurat given by John Loth [Lott].⁽⁶⁾

By 1741 Solomon Joyner was shown in a deed as "of Edgecombe Co." along with John and Elizabeth Joyner "of Isle of Wight Co., VA."⁽⁷⁾ John Lott was already in Edgecombe Co. by this time as he was shown as administrator of the estate of Thomas Roberts in 1736.⁽⁸⁾ An additional connection between these families will be shown later. The above James Joyner, also listed as "of Edgecombe Co.", sold his 50 acres 10 Jan 1743/4 to Samuel Hayes.⁽⁹⁾

All genealogical projects eventually reach a point at which no further linkages can be made within acceptable rules of evidence. This occurs for a number of reasons, but in my experience it is mostly because the trail of records either ends or it does not sufficiently discriminate between similarly named individuals. Both of these problems severely plague researchers studying the Lott family of the Colonial south.

I believe that a major problem with Lott research stems from the use of the name suffixes Sr. and Jr. Genealogists learn, often belatedly, that these don't necessarily indicate father and son, and should always be interpreted as "the elder" and "the younger" until shown otherwise. And, furthermore, as time progresses juniors may well become seniors. However, Lott researchers have tended to identity almost any Colonial southerner named John Lott, Jr. as the John supposedly born in North Carolina in 1742.⁽¹⁰⁾ In this paper I will attempt to differentiate between the several men shown in the early records as John Lott, Jr. and draw conclusions concerning their linkages.

Most Lott researchers know about John, Jr. with wife Sally and John Sr. with wife Bethany as identified in the following renowned deeds taken from Screven Co., Georgia, Deed Record "A", Part I, pp 22-23 and pp 39-40 (abstracted here to show only the most relevant parts).⁽¹¹⁾

... we John Lott Junr son of John Lott Sr and Sally my wife ... grant to John Lott, Sr 900 acres, signed 13 Jan 1795 John Lott Junr and Sally (X) Lott [wit:] John Hatcher, Elyhu Wiggins ...

and

I John Lott Senr ... for love and affection toward my dutiful and loveing son John Lott, Jr. give 150 head of cattle, signed 11 Oct 1795 John Lott Senr and Bethany (X) Lott [wit:] Benjamin Richardson Junior, Benjamin Richardson J.P. ...

The above deeds are among the scant few records found which actually show any named family relationships for the Georgia Lott lines. We badly need probate records to answer many questions and even the early Georgia censuses, which are missing, would provide some help.

For many years, it never occurred to me to question the identity of a John Lott, Jr. However, if there were another John in the line, then the wife Elizabeth shown in North Carolina deeds⁽¹²⁾ would not have been the same woman as shown nearly 50 years later in 1795 and would not have had to carry what I considered the unlikely nickname of Bethany. Until recently I hadn't personally found any evidence that would support this argument, however, the following document, from Edgecombe Deed Book 1, p. 13, provides clear evidence that there were two adult John Lott men in Edgecombe Co., NC, as early as May, 1754.⁽¹³⁾

Deed Book 1, page 13, Edgecombe County, North Carolina

John Lott of Duplin County to Thomas Robins of Edgecombe County 1 May 1754 17 pounds of current money of Virginia 400 acres on the northside of Tosneot, joining the creek. Wit: Thomas Dixon, John Lott, Jr. Reg. Edgecombe Co. May Ct. 1754, B. Wynns, C. Ct.

If we can believe the 1742 birth date for the usually assigned "Junior", then he would have been a 12 year old boy in 1754. I don't know the Colonial North Carolina law for signing a legal document, but I presume that a witness had to be of "legal" age; therefore, there had to be another grown man named John Lott in the county.

I believe that the man in the above deed named John Lott, Jr. is the same man who in 1795 had the wife named Bethany and was the father of the John born in 1742 with wife Sally. If this is true and assuming he was in his early twenties when this son was born, than this would make him born about 1720. This date would make him 75 years old in 1795, so it's unlikely he was born much earlier. Let's call the 1795 father John₂ and the son John₃. Consequently, by the same assumption, the John Lott, Sr. in the 1754 deed might also be assumed to be the father of John₂ and be given an assigned birth date in the mid-1690's with wife Elizabeth. Let's call him John₁ hereafter. This latter assumption is, of course, in violation of the earlier Sr./Jr. admonition, but no evidence has been found which would seem to contradict it and it's validity is not totally germane anyway.

Since most of the Lotts left North Carolina about 1760 and immigrated to Georgia, the above brings to mind the identities of the John Lott Sr. and Jr. who received land grants in St. George's Parish beginning in 1764.⁽¹⁴⁾ Assuming that John₁ was still alive there, how can we be sure that the John Sr. wasn't him? And was John Jr. his son or his grandson? Without probate records, we're not likely to answer these questions to a high degree of satisfaction.

It seems clear that John₁ was alive in the 1760's, but whether he came to Georgia at this time is not known. John Lott was mentioned as owning adjoining land in numerous Duplin Co. deeds executed by neighbors, although none have been found showing him buying or selling land in this time period which signals a flag of caution to me since this man had been an inveterate land dealer for decades. He was, however, in Georgia in 1775 shortly before his death, when he fled to British West Florida with John Lott, Jr. apparently due to loyalist sympathies, as shown in the following records.⁽¹⁵⁾

John Lott, Sr. - 10 Dec 1776. 250 acres in family right on the west side of Tombecky [Tombigbee] River 110 miles above Mobile. He stated that he had come from Georgia on the 10th of October, 1775. On the 22 January 1778, his widow Emile stated that her husband had died and she was partitioning for 72 acres or therabouts on the Tombecky River, and 80 acres was granted to the daughter of the deceased above Mobile.

John Lott, Jr. - 22 January 1778. 300 acres on the west side of Tombecky River about 105 miles above Mobile.

Lacking what we need to make positive identifications as to which John is which at any particular time, I will proceed to examine the early Georgia grant records and try to draw conclusions from them since they do show some relationships. First, however, let me make the following hypotheses: 1) the John Sr. who received a grant in 1764 was the above identified John₂ and 2) not all the men who received grants were his sons. I will present evidence to show that it is reasonable to conclude that John Sr., Mark, and Daniel of St. George and Jesse of Colleton, SC, were sons of John₁ Lott.

On 6 Mar 1764, a John Lott (no Sr. or Jr.) received 300 acres on the north side of the Great Ogechee River above Buck Head Creek at Walker's Spring.⁽¹⁶⁾ He said he had been in the province 2 years (since 1762) had a wife and 3 children. On the same day, Jesse Wiggins received 200 acres on south of Buck Head adj. James Pugh. Later that year in November, John Lott, Sr. received 200 acres on Buck Head adj. "the lower line of his son John Lot."⁽¹⁷⁾ John Sr. said he had been in the province "some" years and had 7 children, but did not mention a wife.

On 3 Sep 1765, John Sr. requested 150 acres about 1/2 mile from Bark Camp. He said he already had received 200 acres and had 6 children at that time, but again mentioned no wife. The next day Solomon Lott, who said he had been in the province 2 years from North Carolina, requested 100 acres about 3 miles below Jesse Wiggins. Whether this was the same Solomon that was in Capt. Shaw's South Carolina militia company during the Cherokee Expedition of 1759 is not known.⁽¹⁸⁾

It seems reasonable to assume that the above John Lott Sr. was John₂, but at the same time we must conclude that his wife and the mother of his children had died. No one, least of all one of the land hungry Lotts, would have omitted a member of their household since it had a direct influence on the amount of land they were entitled to receive. Warren and Jones described the grant process as "[A man had to] be 21 and upward...[and]...as head of a household ... qualified for 100 acres, and received an additional 50 acres each for every other [household member]." This would give John Sr. 100 acres for himself and 250 for his household which at 50 acres each would add up to 5 members. It's not clear if the land could be accumulated in such an incremental manner, but it would appear to be the case. No doubt it took time to locate and survey a favorable tract of land before applying for it.

The above would seem to strongly imply that Bethany Lott of the 1795 deed was a second wife of John Sr. When they were married and whether she had any children by Lott is not known. With some exceptions, the family composition resembles that which has been historically assigned to John₂. Son John₃ was clearly on his own and apparent son Solomon had struck out on his on by 1765 which would perhaps leave the following children at home: Nathan, Absalom, William, Arthur, Pollie, and either Solomon or possibly another daughter.⁽¹⁹⁾

A Mark Lott was shown patenting land in Bladen Co., North Carolina, in Nov 1753 and in Cumberland Co. in Nov 1760.⁽²⁰⁾ These counties are adjoining and are one county south of Duplin where the Edgecombe Lott records were then shown apparently due to movements in county boundaries. In 1755 Mark was listed in Cumberland Co. as paying taxes as follows (1 white, 0 mulattoes, and 0 blacks). I don't know if these numbers represented polls or number of persons in the household, but he seemed to be a single young man. However, it seems reasonable to assume that Mark was 20 to 25 years old in 1753 when he tried to obtain land which would make him born in 1733 or before. He was certainly of legal age in 1756 when he served on the grand jury in Cumberland.⁽²¹⁾ If he was related to the Edgecombe Co. group and if our assigned ages are close to correct, it seems quite unlikely that he could have been the son of John₂ who would have only been in his early teens in 1733 and more likely to be the son of John₁.

In Dec 1766, a Mark Lott, apparently a single man due to the acreage of the grant, received a grant of 100 acres of land below the mouth of Little Beaver dam in St. George's Parish, Georgia.⁽²²⁾ This was the only land record found thus far in St. George's Par. for Mark Lott, but on 22 Feb 1771 he was evidently arrested and "hauled" to Savannah for non-payment of taxes.⁽²³⁾ This action occurred after England's passage of the Stamp Act and may have prompted Mark to leave Georgia and settle across the line in South Carolina. Persons who owed taxes but had left the colony were still considered fugitives. This presumption seems consistent with the fact that in that same month a Jesse Lott was granted 100 acres of land in Colleton Co., SC, adjoining Mark Lott. It seems reasonable to assume an association between these men and that Mark Lott was living in South Carolina prior to 1771. It also seems highly likely that the Cumberland Co. Mark Lott was the same man as the above because in July, 1772, a deed was executed in Cumberland Co. between Mark Lote (of S.C.) [sic] and John Graham.⁽²⁴⁾

On the other hand, Daniel Lott does not seem to have made any in records in North Carolina. However, on 3 Apr 1764 he received 150 acres on the north side of Buck Head in St. George's Parish.⁽²⁵⁾ He must have been the first Lott in the Georgia colony since he claimed to have been there for 6 years (since 1758) and had a son, but no wife was mentioned. Assuming again that he was a man in his 20's when arriving, that would make him born in the mid to late 1730's. If he too was related to the Edgecombe Co. Lott group, then it is more than likely that he was a son of John₁. He may have been the husband of Mildred Lott who received property from Dr. George Wells of St. John's Par., Georgia, in 1772.⁽²⁶⁾ Daniel must have stayed in Georgia for some years even during the revolution as he appeared in other St. George's Par./Burke Co. records. He died by 1783, however, when a probate record referred to him in a Savannah newspaper.⁽²⁷⁾ Daniel's executor was John Mann. It is notable that Luke Mann witnessed the 1772 deed of gift from Dr. Wells. It is possible, too, that it was Daniel's widow and 6 children who received 12 bushels of corn for relief from the colonial Georgia Assembly on 1 Feb 1782 implying that he was not a Tory.⁽²⁸⁾ Although she was referred to as widow Lott by Candler, other Burke Co. records listed her as widow Leith. Which is correct and who these children were should be primary research topics for Lott researchers.

The earlier stated hypothesis that John₁ was the father of most of the Lott men receiving Georgia land grants is further supported by the Colonial Census of Edgecombe Co., North Carolina, of Feb 1742.⁽²⁹⁾ John Lott (no Sr. or Jr. designation) was shown as a man with a household composed of 7 whites and 2 blacks. Also in this respect, it would be difficult to think that the Edgecombe Co. Lott group does not include the James Lott who served in Capt. West's Edgecome Co. militia in the 1750's.⁽³⁰⁾ Assuming again that the census numbers were for persons and not polls, than the family composition might have consisted of the following:

1. John₁ Lott,

2. Elizabeth Joiner (wife of John₁),

3. John₂ Lott,

4. James Lott,

5. Mark Lott,

6. Daniel Lott,

7. Jesse Lott.

It also seems probable that the family included an older daughter or two who married into the Williams, Wiggins, Moore, or Phillips families, but no such marriage records have been located. There is no question that these families were closely associated as they stayed together for several generations and migrations. It seems likely that blood relationships were formed in this generation in North Carolina.

This review would not be complete without examining the roll of the Lott family in the American Revolution. A couple of items in this respect have been touched on earlier, but these need to be revisited. For one thing, it is abundantly clear that this family was split as to their loyalty with some members taking the side of the American rebels and others remaining loyal to England.

In the years leading up to the war, we are again plagued by scant and/or missing records, but there are enough to allow us to piece together an account. I showed where Mark Lott was embroiled in a tax dispute with the English government in 1771, but two years later Arthur Lott, apparant son of John₂, had the same problem. Candler reported in his Tax Act chapter the following:⁽³¹⁾

To Hugh Magee for apprehending and bring [sic] Arthur Lot to Savannah Goal p^r Acc^tt dated 16^th June 1773 Three pounds Eighteen Shillings and Sixpence

While the above could hardly be presented as evidence of disloyalty to the English government, it is consistent with feelings by the colonists of being put upon by the Crown which lead to the revolution. While this Arthur has been reported as a Revolutionary Soldier, I have discovered no evidence of such service or even his where-abouts during these years. The same can be said for brother Solomon although census records for his children clearly show that he was living in North Carolina during the war. It is possible that several of the grown children of John₂ did not share his political views did not go to the Florida territory with him. They may have gone back to North Carolina with Solomon and, perhaps, lived with family members who had remained there.

On the other hand, the actions of John Lott "Sr." and "Jr." during the revolutionary war are contradictory at best. Huxford claimed that the Lott family left Georgia for South Carolina during the war because it was taken over by the Tories loyal to the English government. However, that statement seems ludicrous when contrasted previously quoted records from British West Florida and with the following document dated 16 Feb 1778.⁽³²⁾

George The Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, ... grant, unto John Lott Junior, his heirs and assigns, all that tract of land situated on the west side of the river Tombigbee, distant above the town of Mobile about one hundred and five miles, bounded on the west by land surveyed for Jesse Wall, north by the river Tombigbee, southeastwardly by land surveyed for Arthur Moore, and southwestwardly by vacant land, in our said province of West Florida

Since the above man, described as John Lott Jr., was shown earlier in this paper in conjunction with the apparent John₁ in the West Florida records of the Tory stronghold of Mobile, it seems reasonable that he was John₂ and not the John₃ Lott supposedly born in 1742. The where-abouts of John₃ during the war are unknown, but it is possible that he did relocate in South Carolina. John Lott was listed in a Spanish census of the Mobile area shortly after its takeover, but was later shown as a former landowner who had abandoned his claim about 1780⁽³³⁾

The above grant the John Lott, Jr. was presented by William Vardeman in support of his claim on the property in 1803 when the United States assumed jurisdiction of the territory after Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. Testimony was also given that Lott conveyed the land to Hubard Rees and John Whitehead in September, 1780, and that Whitehead assigned it to Vardeman in October, 1800. Vardeman's claim was rejected.

England had taken over administration of the Mobile area some years before the Revolutionary War from the French who had kept a tenuous hold on it for a generation or so by appeasing the Indians. No doubt the British wanted to use the port and the area for the war effort, but rebel ally Spain put an end to these plans when it seized Mobile and East Florida in early 1780. This may have prompted John₂ to leave, although on 17 Mar 1780, apparent son Absalom Lott signed an oath of allegiance to Spain in Mobile.⁽³⁴⁾ It seems that loyalties within the family were still divided.

Soon after the war in 1784, John₃ and his father both filed claims against South Carolina to recover expenses incurred in the war.⁽³⁵⁾ John Jr. wanted 2 pounds, 2 shillings, 10 pence for 30 days of militia service. John the elder asked for 14 shillings for the use of 5 bushels of wheat by the Continental army. For these rather modest services and without regard to their earlier seeming disloyalties, both men have been widely heralded by Lott researchers for their participation in the American Revolution. However, since both claims were approved, there does seem to be something of a contradiction and a topic of further research. It's very interesting to note, however, that none of family, with the possible exception of the widow of the Tory, James Lett (Lott?), seems to have applied for a Revolutionary War land grant in Georgia after the war.⁽³⁶⁾ I don't mean to be judging the contribution of the fascinating Lott family in the revolution by these words, but would simply like to bring to light by sides of the issue.

Prepared: December 5, 1996

Revised: March 2, 1998

End Notes

1. ____, Surry County Records, Book 1 1652-1672. p 32.

2. Daniel F. Lott, The Web of Kinship (Descendants of John L. Lott) (n.p.: unpublished manuscript, 1997), p. 18.

3. Margaret M. Ayers, Charles City County, Virginia Order Book 1676-1679, (1968), p 112.

4. Hilton Wayne Lott, The Story of My Lotts. (n. p.: unpublished manuscript, 1988), p. 4. Wayne gave no sources for his information, however.

5. Mary B. Bell, Colonial Bertie County, North Carolina, III (Winsor, N.C.: Colonial Bertie, 1964), p 158.

6. ibid. p 136.

7. ibid. p. 249.

8. ____, "N.C. Administration Bonds, 1680-1778," North Carolina Genealogist, 20, (1974), p. 2985.

9. Margaret M. Hofmann, Abstracts of Deeds Northampton County, N.C. p 21.

10. Application for Membership to the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Frances Smith Blitch of Homersville, Georgia, submitted August 8, 1958; photocopy supplied by D.A.R. in possession of writer. She claimed that John Lott, Jr. died in July, 1810 at age 68 and gave her source as the Mark Lott Bible record published in two 1954 newspaper articles from "The Coffee County Progress" of Douglas, GA.

11. ____, "John Lott, Sr., and John Lott, Jr. in Screven County Georgia," The Lott Family Newsletter, 1 (1983), pp. 83-85.

12. Hugh B. Johnston, "The Lott family in the 1700's," The Lott Family Newsletter. 1 (1983), p. 4. Elizabeth and her husband, John Lott, were listed as selling a water mill and land in Edgecombe Co., NC, 23 Feb 1748/9.

13. ____, "Edgecombe County Records," The Lott Family Newsletter, 1 (1983), p. 76.

14. Mary B. Warren and Jack M. Jones, Georgia Governor and Council Journal 1761-1767, (Athens, Georgia: Heritage Papers, 1992).

15. Mary A. Petersen, "British West Florida Abstracts of Land Petitions," Louisiana Genealogical Register, 31 (June, 1984), p. 145.

16. Warren and Jones. op. cit. p. 82.

17. Warren and Jones. op. cit. p. 96.

18. Effingham P. Humphrey, Jr., "Lott Family Selected Bibliography," The Lott Family Newsletter. 1 (1983), p. 128.

19. Johnston. op. cit. Using his list of children of John Lott, Sr. less Daniel, Mark, and Jesse.

20. Johnston. op. cit. p. 6.

21. William C. Fields (editor), Abstracts of Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Cumberland County, October 1755 - January 1779, 1 (n.p.: Cumberland County Bicentennial Commission, 1977), p. 3.

22. Warren and Jones. op. cit. p. 155.

23. Allen D. Candler, The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia, XIX, Part 1 (Atlanta, Georgia: Chas. P. Byrd, State Printer, 1911), p. 479.

24. Fields, op. cit., p 202.

25. Warren and Jones. op. cit. p 85.

26. ____, The Lott Family Newsletter, 1 (1983), p. 67.

27. Elizabeth H. Taylor, "Contributed Lott Material from Georgia Quarterlies," Lott Family Newsletter, 1 (1983), pp. 127-8.

28. Candler, op. cit., vol. II, p 314-315.

29. ____, "Colonial 'Census' of North Carolina, " North Carolina Genealogy, 8, p. 1829.

30. Taylor. op. cit. p. 129.

31. Candler, op. cit., XIX, p. 478.

32. Walter Lowery (ed.), Early Settlers of Mississippi as Taken from Land Claims in the Mississippi Territory, (1986), p 676.

33. ____, "Index to the W.P.A. Transcripts of the Mobile Land Records 1715-1812," Deep South Genealogical Quarterly, 24, p. 187.

34. Winston De Ville, "Early Anglo-Americans in the Deep South: Mobile, Alabama in 1780," The Genealogical Helper, 37 (1983), pp. 11-12.

35. Alexander S. Salley, Stub Entries to Indents Issued in Payment of Claims Against South Carolina Growing out of the Revolution, 1 (Columbia, S.C.: 1939), p. 63.