Seven children can be proven: 1) James, by guardianship appointment of George Smith in Wilson County Court. Appointment says James was "orphan" of Micajah; 2) Thomas, by guardian appointment of George Smith in Wilson County Court. Appointment says Thomas was "orphan" of Micajah; 3) John B. Vivrett, by mention in Elizabeth Vivrett's Sworn Statement in Wilson County Court, 3 Feb 54; 4) Bedy Brown, ibid.; 5) Larry Vivrett, ibid.; 6) Betsey Brown, ibid; 7) William B., by process as follows. The Sworn Statement states other children died before 1854. It also gives names of surviving children at that point. Deed from Smith to Elizabeth Vivrett and others contains name of William B. Vivrett. In Deed of Trust from William B. Vivrett to John B. Vivrett, William B. Vivrett refers to Deed from Smith to his "mother, brothers and sisters". I am transmitting these documents in a moment.
On this third day of January in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty four, personally appearing in the Court of the County & State aforesaid, the same being a Court of record, Mrs Elizabeth Vivrett aged about 76 years a resident of said County & State who being first duly sworn, in open court, according to law, doth, on her oath, make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provisions made by the law of the United States passed on the 3rd day of February 1833, That she is the widow of Micajah Vivrett who was a private in Capt Triggs company of the 7th Regiment of United States Infantry that she was married to the said Micajah Vivrett in Nash County in the State of North Carolina in the year Seventeen hundred and Ninety Seven to the best of her recollection, that her said husband the said Micajah Vivrett died at Fort Jackson (now Alabama) in the year 1816 on the day of in consequence of sickness while in the service of the United States and in the line of his duty. That she was a widow at the passage of the act and is still a widow. That she had by the said Micajah Vivrett the following children John B Vivrett 50 years old, Bedy Brown about 37 years, Larry Vivrett about 30 years old & Betsey Brown about 32 years of age besides others that have died all of whom all of whom were over sixteen years at the date of the passage of this act. She made a … declaration under Act of 4th July 1836 which was rejected.
Sworn to & subscribed
her
ELIZABETH (X) VIVRETT
Mark
J. S. McCLAIN
JOSEPH FREEMAN
In open court the day & year first written. It further appears to the satisfaction of the
Court from the oath of J. S. McClain the Clerk of the Court & Joseph Freeman who are respectable and disinterested certify that the said Elizabeth Vivrett is the widow of Micajah Vivrett decd who entered the service of the United States as reported & believed to have died in the service as stated, Said … having lived in the sdame neighborhood at the time & have known her the said Elizabeth ever since, She has never married but is still a widow. All of which the Court orders to be certified by the Clerk of this Court, Josiah S. McClain, Clerk of the County Court of said county and State certify that this is the original proceeding had in this case before the court. That I have no interest in the result of this Case and am not concerned in its prosecution.
In witness whence I have
hereunto set my hand and
affixed the seal of my office
at office in Lebanon this 3rd
day of January AD 1834.
J. S. McCLAIN CLERK
PROOF:
GENERATION #6:
MICAJAH VIVRETT
Micajah Viverette was born around 1775.1 Proving his death on 18 January 1816 at Fort Jackson, Mississippi Territory, is the copy of a letter sent to William H. Smith, an attorney representing Elizabeth Bond Vivrett, Micajah Vivrett’s widow, on 15 June 1850 from Washington, DC, by E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General of the United States Army.2
Presumably Micajah Vivrett was buried in the cemetery at the Fort, but in 1896 the United States Government arranged for the transfer of all remains in the cemetery to another location. Records of the final disposition of these transfers have been lost as have been the lists of those originally laid to rest at Fort Jackson.3
On 03 January 1854, Elizabeth Bond Vivrett declared on oath to the Court of Wilson County, Tennessee, pursuing a pension as the widow of a veteran of the War of 1812, that she and Micajah Vivrett were married in 1797 in Nash County, North Carolina.4
In a Deed dated 22 March 1802, recorded by the Nash County Court, "Micajah Vivret and Elizabeth Vivret his wife" conveyed to John Cockrill land acquired by Micajah Vivrett "from his father Thos. Vivret".5
In her January 1854 declaration to the Wilson County Court, Elizabeth Bond Vivrett stated she was at that time "aged about seventy-six years."6 This suggests that 1778 was the year of her birth. Her eventual death was unrecorded, although she appeared on the U. S. Censuses of Wilson County, Tennessee, in 18507 and 18608 but not in 1870. It is presumed that she died between 1860 and 1870, perhaps between 1861 and 1865 when the Civil War often considerably disrupted life, and official functioning, in Wilson County.
Family tradition maintains that she was buried in the Vivrett Cemetery in West Wilson County, Tennessee, but no marker of her grave or record of her interment exists.
MICAJAH VIVRETT was the son of THOMAS VIVERETTE
and ELIZABETH HICKMAN DEW VIVERETTE
A variety of documents prove that Micajah Vivrett was the son of Thomas Viverette and Elizabeth Hickman Dew Viverette.
These documents occur in the context of Elizabeth Bond Vivrett’s statement of 03 January 1854 to the Wilson County Court that Nash County, North Carolina, was the site of her marriage to Micajah Vivrett and their origin.
The Last Will and Testament of Thomas Viverette, received by the Court of Nash County, North Carolina, in November 1792, lists "my loving son Micajah Viveret".9
On 11 November 1795, the Court of Nash County, North Carolina, recorded the appointment of Cornelius Joyner as guardian for Micajah Viverette, "orphan of Thomas Viverette".10
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In an undated document, Micajah Vivrett and Lancelot Vivrett, his brother, another son of Thomas Viverette, petitioned the Nash County Court for relief in a complaint involving their father’s Estate. Each declared himself a son of Thomas Viverette.11 The North Carolina State Archives retains the Last Will and Testament of William Dew, son of Abraham Dew and Elizabeth Hickman Dew, and consequently the half-brother of Micajah Vivrett. Dated 08 September 1802, this Will referred to "my brother Micajah Vivrett"12 As already cited, the Deed of 22 March 1802 conveying property from Micajah Vivrett and Elizabeth Vivrett, his wife, to John Cockrill, in Nash County, North Carolina, identified Micajah Vivrett as the son of Thomas Viverette.13
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PROOFS:
1Luther J. Jordan, The John Randle Jordan-Fannie Lillian Viverette Family, Second Edition. (Luther J. Jordan 1977), Page 54. Tennessee State Library & Archives, 403 Seventh Avenue, North, Nashville, TN 37243-0312, CS 71, .J82, 1977, certified 14 August 1999.
---Mary Porter Vivrett Puckett, Vivretts of Wilson County Tennessee, op. cit., Page 3. (See proofs for Generation 4.)
2Pension Files, Old War WF #18,696. Claim of Elizabeth Vivrett, widow of Micajah Vivrett, op. cit. Letter of E. D. Townsend, Washington, DC, to William H. Smith, Nashville, TN, dated 15 June 1850. (See proofs for Generation 5.)
3Conversation of Owen F. Campion by telephone with Larry Gregory, Director, Fort Toulouse-Jackson Park, 2521 West Fort Toulouse Road, Watumpka, AL 36093, 02 September 1999.
4Pension Files, Old War WF #18,696. Claim of Elizabeth Vivrett, widow of Micajah Vivrett, op. cit. Sworn Statement of Elizabeth Vivrett to the Court of Wilson County, Tennessee, dated 03 January 1854. (See proofs for Generation 5.)
5Deed conveying land from "Micajah Vivret and Elizabeth Vivret his wife" to John Cockrill, 22 March 1802, Nash County, North Carolina, Real Estate Conveyances 1794-1816, Volume 7, Pages 90-91. North Carolina State Archives, 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC, 27601-2807, certified 20 July 1999.
6Pension Files, Old War WF #18,696. Claim of Elizabeth Vivrett, widow of Micajah Vivrett, op. cit. Sworn Statement of Elizabeth Vivrett to the Court of Wilson County, Tennessee, dated 03 January 1854. (See proofs for Generation 5.)
7U. S. Census of 1850, Wilson County, Tennessee, Page 327 (Printed Enumeration), Lines 7, 12. Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN, retained on Micrcopy M-432, Microfilm Roll No. 901.
8U. S. Census of 1860, Wilson County, Tennessee, Civil District No. 2, Page 30, Lines 25, 28. Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, retained on Microcopy M-653, Microfilm Roll No. 1280.
9Last Will and Testament of Thomas Viverette, dated 12 October 1791, proved in November 1792 Court, Nash County, NC. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 15 April 1999.
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10Appointment of Cornelius Joyner as guardian of "Micajah Vivrett orphan of Thomas Vivrett", by the Nash County, North Carolina, Court, dated 11 November 1795. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
11Petition of Micajah Vivrett and Lancelot Vivrett to Nash County, North Carolinas, Court, regarding administration of the Estate of Thomas Vivrett, their father, undated. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
12Last Will and Testament of William Dew, dated 08 September 1802. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
13 Deed conveying land from "Micajah Vivrett and Elizabeth Vivrett his wife" to John Cockrill, Nash County, North Carolina, dated 22 March 1802, op. cit.
PROOF:
GENERATION #7:
THOMAS VIVERETTE
According to at least one family tradition, Thomas Viverette was born in Ireland, the exact place unknown, around 1750.1 His name appears in no public record so far discovered until the last part of the Eighteenth Century in Edgecombe County and Nash County, North Carolina, adjoining counties in the Tar River basin.
A petition to the Nash County Court seeking relief after the administration of Thomas Viverette’s Estate by his sons, Lancelot Vivrett and Micajah Vivrett, stated that Thomas Viverette died "on or about 18 October 1791."2 In any case, the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Viverette, dated 12 October 1791, was received by the Nash County Court in its November 1791 session.3
Seemingly, no primary record of the marriage of Thomas Viverette to Elizabeth Hickman Dew exists. However, secondary public records clearly prove that this marriage occurred.
Elizabeth Hickman was the daughter of Nathaniel Hickman, so stated in the Last Will and Testament of Nathaniel Hickman.4 When she married Abraham Dew, the marriage bond of 02 December 1765 bore the names of Abraham Dew and Nathaniel Hickman.5
Abraham Dew died around 1774. On 19 April 1774, the Edgecombe County Court referred to Elizabeth Dew as administratrix of the Estate of Abraham Dew, deceased.6 On 07 July 1775 or 1776, the handwriting on the document is difficult to decipher, the Edgecombe County Court cited "Thomas Vivret + Wife Adm. Of Abraham Dew, deceased".7 These two references indicate that the marriage of Thomas Viverette and Elizabeth Hickman Dew occurred on a date between 19 April 1774 and 07 July 1776.
On 18 October 1774 the Edgecombe County Court appointed Thomas Vivret guardian for the "orphans of Abraham Dew, deceased". Nathaniel Hickman secured his bond.8
The Nash County Court on 08 November 1790 summoned "Thomas Vivrett + Elizabeth his wife" to appear in court in February 1791.9
The Last Will and Testament of Nathaniel Hickman, proven in the Edgecombe County Court in November 1795, mentions "my loving daughter Elizabeth Vivrett".10
In the U. S. Census of 1790 for the Halifax District, Nash County, North Carolina, one household under the name "Viverette" appeared.11 The head of this household was Thomas Viverette,12 further secondarily suggesting that Elizabeth Viverette was his wife as no other adult male with the name was in the vicinity.
The exact date of the death of Elizabeth Hickman Dew Viverette is not known. In its session of May 1807, however, the Nash County Court considered an administration for the "Estate of Elizabeth Vivret, deceased".13 On 11 August 1807, Arthur Dew secured a bond to act as Administrator for the Estate of "Elizabeth Vivrett, deceased".14
Thomas Viverette and Elizabeth Hickman Dew Viverette are buried in the Viverette-Williams Cemetery located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, north of State Highway 97 opposite the Rocky Mount Municipal Airport.15
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PROOFS:
1Luther J. Jordan, op. cit., Page 54. (See proofs for Generation 6.)
2Petition of Micajah Vivrett and Lancelot Vivrett to Nash County, North Carolina, Court, regarding the administration of the Estate of Thomas Viverette, their father, op. cit.
3Last Will and Testament of Thomas Viverette, op. cit. (See proofs for Generation 6.)
4Last Will and Testament of Nathaniel Hickman, dated 10 March 1790, proved in the November 1795 Court, Edgecombe County, NC. North Carolina State Archives, 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601-2807, certified 20 July 1999.
5Marriage Bond, Abraham Dew and Elizabeth Hickman, dated 02 December 1763. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
6Summons to Elizabeth Dew, Administratrix of the Estate of Abraham Dew, deceased, by the Court of Edgecombe County, NC, dated 19 April 1774. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
7Summons to Thomas Vivret and wife, Administratrix of the Estate of Abraham Dew, deceased, by the Court of Edgecombe County, NC, dated 07 January 1775 or 1776. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
8Appointment of Thomas Vivret as guardian of the "orphans of Abraham Dew, deceased", by the Court of Edgecombe County, NC, dated 18 October 1774. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
9Summons to Thomas Vivrett and Elizabeth his wife, by the Court of Nash County, NC, dated 08 November 1790. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
10Last Will and Testament of Nathaniel Hickman, op. cit.
11U. S. Census of 1790, Halifax District, Nash County, North Carolina. Page 24. Allen County Public Library, 900 Webster Street, P. O. Box 2270, Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270, retained on Microcopy 637, Microfilm Roll No. 7.
12Ibid.
13Citation to James Vivrett regarding Estate of Elizabeth Vivrett, deceased, by the Court of Nash County, NC, dated 11 March 1807. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
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14Appointment of Arthur Dew as Administrator of the Estate of Elizabeth Vivrett, deceased, by the Court of Nash County, NC, dated 11 August 1807. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, certified 20 July 1999.
15Timothy W. Rackley, Editor, Nash County, North Carolina, Church & Family Cemeteries. "K-Z". Page 89. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. GR 929.3, N8n, N248c, v. 2.
