John Oden vs. John Odum

 

Question: Who is the John Oden in Perquimans Precinct? Did he immigrate into the precinct from England? Could he possibly be the John Odum from Lower Norfolk?

This question really cannot be answered without seeing the original copy of the Precinct Court (Perquimans Precinct); January 11, 1697 - January 13, 1697; Volume 01, Pages 478-485. There have been transposition errors found in abstracts. The original could give both the location and acreage.

On January 11, 1697, John Oden (see above citation):

"John Oden proved Six Rits for Six persons Whos Names are under Wretten vis Himselfe Ann his wife Ann his Daughter Jan his Daughter Mary his daughter Rachel his Daughter."

Beginning in 1667, the Declaration of the Lords Proprietor states that every free person who came to the province was eligible to receive 40 acres under the system. Each servant entitled the owner to 20 additional acres, and rents were to be remitted for a period of three to five years to allow the settlers to establish themselves. Grants were gradually increased to 100 acres for a freeman with a gun and powder who could come on his own and 50 acres for a person who had to be transported. (1)

 The Declaration only states "a free person who came to the province", it does not state that the person had to immigrate from England. So, John could have entered the Carolinas from another Colony.

By 1697, John would have received 350 acres for himself and his family. The records does not tell us how many acres OR the exact location of the land. This is where it becomes tricky. 

John Oden is not listed in the following records (I scrolled through the originals of all the records except the immigration records): (2)

• Pre-1700 tax lists (2 of them)
• 1702 tax list
• 1712 tax list
• 1713 tax list
• 1714 tax and estate list
• 1715 tax list
• 1715 corn list 
• 1718/1719 Poll tax
• 1720 Tax list
• 1735 Quit rents
• 1740 Tax list
• Perquimans Precinct birth, death, marriage records and a record of flesh brands and marks, 1659-1739, vital statistics index, 1913-1960, 1659-1960 (3)
•  Immigration records. 

After the original record above, I did not find a John Oden in Perquimans Precinct. There is a John Snoden on the tax lists. Maybe the original is hard to read and all that was visible was "oden". The original records are a must! John could have died and his wife, Ann, remarried. She could have even married Richard Odum in Chowan. Lots of hypothesis without the original.

In Chowan Precinct before 1700, John Odum is listed on the Albemarle rent rolls for 350 acres. (4)

Without seeing both of the originals, this is an impasse. Are they the same John? Has there been a transcription error? Should Perquimans have been transposed as Chowan? Etc. 

Next up - more on John of Chowan.

Happy Hunting - Until next time.

(1) Encyclopedia of North Carolina:
https://www.ncpedia.org/land-grants-part-3-land-grants-and

(2) North Carolina State Archives, Colonial Court Records, Taxes & Accounts, 1679-1754, CCR 190, Tax Lists, Perquimans County, 1702-1754. Found at Genealogy 
Trails History Group; Perquimans County North Carolina Genealogy and History;
http://genealogytrails.com/ncar/perquimans/census.html

(3) Perquimans Precinct; Birth, death, marriage records and a record of flesh brands and marks, 1659-1739, Raleigh, North Carolina : North Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, 1942, 1960. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99D2-6VK?mode=g&cat=174657

(4) Bent, James Robert. "The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register." Vol. 1 No. 2 April, 1900, Edenton, N.C. : J.R.B. Hathaway, 1900, p. 304.