Semi-Weekly Standard (Raleigh, North Carolina)23 Dec 1857, Wed • Page 4
One of the falacies I've had to get past in the search of who my ancestor John Lambert, a Primitive Baptist minister, really was, is all of the misinformation most of his descendants who have established family trees have put out there, connecting him to the John Lamberts, who he was not.
He had a number of contemporaries, men named John Lambert who resided in North Carolina at the same time he did.
The two main victims were John Lambert of Randolph County and John Lambert of Chatham County.
The above ad was placed by Jehu B. Lambert concerning the estate of his father, John Lambert, of Randolph County.
In 1810, when I believe my Rev. John was in Johnston County, NC, this John Lambert's family appeared this way.
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1810 (City, County, State): | Randolph, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: | 3 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15: | 3 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : | 1 |
| Numbers of Slaves: | 2 |
| Number of Household Members Under 16: | 7 |
| Number of Household Members Over 25: | 2 |
| Number of Household Members: | 15 |
This John Lambert and his wife were over 45 by then. Mine was not. There were 2 slaves in the household. My John did not own slaves.
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1830 (City, County, State): | Regiment 2, Randolph, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: | 3 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 60 thru 69: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59: | 1 |
| Slaves - Males - Under 10: | 2 |
| Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23: | 1 |
| Slaves - Females - Under 10: | 2 |
| Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23: | 1 |
| Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35: | 3 |
| Slaves - Females - 36 thru 54: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Under 20: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: | 4 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 8 |
| Total Slaves: | 10 |
| Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): | 18 |
By 1830, Randolph County John was between 60 and 70, he had a large family and now had 10 slaves.
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1840 (City, County, State): | South Division, Randolph, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - 70 thru 79: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69: | 1 |
| Slaves - Males - Under 10: | 1 |
| Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23: | 2 |
| Slaves - Females - Under 10: | 4 |
| Slaves - Females - 10 thru 23: | 1 |
| Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35: | 3 |
| Slaves - Females - 55 thru 99: | 1 |
| Persons Employed in Agriculture: | 6 |
| No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write: | 1 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 2 |
| Total Slaves: | 12 |
| Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: | 14 |
By 1840, there were 3 John Lamberts in Randolph County. Two were young men, one in his 20's and the other in his 30's. Both owned slaves. The John I've been following here was in his 70's and still had many slaves. While I don't know where my John was in 1830 and 1840, he did not own slaves. Also, church records show that he was indeed in Stanly County before 1840, however he was not head of a household. He was either missed or was enumerated in the home of someone else.
The Greensboro Patriot
(Greensboro, North Carolina)03 Jun 1843, Sat • Page 2
This John Lambert of Randolph had died in October of 1840 and left a will. There were 5 different packets of information after his will concerning his properties, accounts and lawsuits between his heirs. It did not take too much research to realize that John Lambert of Randolph was John Lambert of Chatham. There in 1790 and 1800, he was in Randolph by 1810. He may have returned there by 1820 and then back to Randolph by 1830. He wasn't the only John Lambert there. One was his father. And we'll explore that in a minute. Of the 3 John's in Randolph in 1840, one was a son and another a grandson.
One of the Adminsitration papers begins:
Lloyd Foushee and wife, admin of Joseph Lambert, deceased, Nancy who intermarried with Jacob Hobson, children of Charity who intermarried with George R. Craven, Joshua Craven, admin of Sarah Craven, deceased
VS
Jehu B Lambert, Joab Lambert, Robert Lambert
Bill of Complaint
State Superior Court of Chatham County
John Lambert, Lloyd Foushee and Polly, Daniel H Lambert, Henry Lambert, Eli Lambert, Elwood Thompson and Elvira, Polly Hobson, John Hobson, Joseph Hobson, the last four children of Nancy (Lambert Hobson), deceased, John Brady and Rosanna, his wife, Isaiah H. Craven, Wesley Macon and Lydia, his wife, Joshua Craven, admin of Sally Craven, his wife.
Complaint against
Jehu B. Lambert, John Lambert (notice this accounts for the 3 John Lamberts, all related, including John the deceased) Eli Craven, Ransom Craven and Nancy, his wife, Martha Jane Lambert, William B. Lambert, Franklin Lambert, Joseph Lambert, Elijah Moffitt and Martha,his wife.
Humbly complaining.......that John Lambert the elder, departed this life in the month of October 1840 after having made a last will and testament......no executors named. And then 240 pages of legal papers, receipts, etc. This was John of Randolph, but filed in Chatham. He left his children and grandchildren in fight.
Below is the will, found on ancestry.com attached to my John, who was NOT this John.
Twenty years after his death, his widow Mary passed and her estate was settled with much less fanfare.
The Greensboro Patriot
(Greensboro, North Carolina)10 Feb 1860, Fri • Page 4
The Mary Lambert in the above article was Mary Bray, daughter of Henry Bray of Chatham. Well, one of the Henry Bray's. There were more Henry Bray's than John Lamberts. All related from the original Henry Bray of Pasoquatank.
In nearly every family tree on ancestry, Phida Lambert is shown as "Nee Bray" or as "Mary Phida Bray. When I was researching along those lines and looking into the many, many documents found in Chatham County and online mentioning Mary Bray Lambert and her family, Never, Not Once, did I see her name as anything but just Mary. No middle intial of "P". Nothing. The combining of our Phida and this Mary was based on pure conjecture and fabrication. They simply married men of the same, not uncommon name.
The family tree of John Lambert (Jr.) and Mary Bray Lambert is as follows:
John Lambert Jr. born 1765 in Orange County died October 1840 in Randolph County.
Son of John Lambert Sr. 1730-1802 Chatham and Mary Hackney 1735-1800.
Married in Chatham to Mary Bray, daughter of Henry Bray III
Children:
1787 Sarah Lambert Craven
1790 Joab Lambert
1791 Charity Lambert Craven
1795 Eli Lambert
1796 Henry Lambert
1797 Mary "Polly" Lambert Foushee
1801 Jesse Lambert
1802 Joseph Lambert
1804 Jehu B Lambert
1810 Daniel Hackney Lambert
1810 Nancy Lambert Hobson
1812 Martha "Mattie" Lambert
1814 John R. Lambert
This family rivaled the Duggers, but they are NOT the Stanly County Lamberts.
To say that the Henry Brays were a wealthy family was an understatement. Just plundering through Chatham County land records and business transaction will atest to that fact. Between 1782 and 1812, when Henry III died, there were 31 land grants in Chatham attributed to Henry II and Henry III. They spawned a lot of clones as well. There are 6 wills for Henry Bray in North Carolina alone, not counting the scores of grandsons and great grandsons who migrated west.
1759 Pasquotank Henry Bray
1745 Henry Bray
1794 Chatham County Henry Bray
1815 Chatham County Henry Bray
1851 Randolph County Henry Bray
1874 Randolph County Henry Bray.
Mary's father was Henry Bray born in 1744 and died in 1812. He married Sarah Yokely Bray. His will was the one probated in 1815.
The children of Henry Bray and Sarah Yokely were: John, Mathew, James, William, Henry IV, Mary Lambert, Sarah Welch, Jesse, Eli, Solomon, Edward.
Below is his census appearance in 1810.
| Name: | Hinry Bray [Henry Bray] |
|---|---|
| Home in 1810 (City, County, State): | Chatham, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44: | 1 |
| Numbers of Slaves: | 13 |
| Number of Household Members Under 16: | 4 |
| Number of Household Members Over 25: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members: | 19 |
One branch of the Henry Bray Family kept a Bible. These are priceless in family research. Too many of them were not treated and saved as the priceless treasures they were. Others are still in cedar chests somewhere in a Grandma's attic.
This was found at the NC Archives
The Greensboro Patriot
(Greensboro, North Carolina)27 Sep 1851, Sat • Page 4
The divisions and suits continued as other members of the family passed away. By the above newspaper ad, you can see many of the younger generation were moving west.
John of Chatham
In 1790, the year of the first census, there were 2 John Lamberts in Chatham County. One of them was called John Lambert Jr. We can readily assume that one of these was John who married Mary Hackney and that the other was his son John, who married Mary Bray.
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1800 (City, County, State): | Hillsborough, Chatham, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: | 3 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members Under 16: | 4 |
| Number of Household Members Over 25: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members: | 6 |
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1800 (City, County, State): | Hillsborough, Chatham, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: | 3 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members Under 16: | 4 |
| Number of Household Members Over 25: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members: | 6 |
In 1800, there are 3 John Lamberts, but one appears to be an exact duplicate of the other. I'm going to wager he got counted twice, perhaps by two different census takers. It happened, just as it happened that a lot of people were missed. This was probably John who married Mary, who as I know from his list of descendants, had already begun on his long list of children
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1800 (City, County, State): | Hillsborough, Chatham, North Carolina |
| Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over: | 1 |
| Number of Slaves: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members Under 16: | 1 |
| Number of Household Members Over 25: | 2 |
| Number of Household Members: | 4 |
The other one in Chatham County appears to be John the Elder. Both he and the female in the home, likely his wife Mary Hackney Lambert, were over 45.
Now, I know that John who married Miss Bray was in Randolph in 1810. There were no John Lamberts in Chatham in 1810, so I checked. There was no 1810 census for Chatham. Like the 1820 for Montgomery, it did not survive.
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1820 (City, County, State): | Chatham, North Carolina |
| Enumeration Date: | August 7, 1820 |
| Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 18: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: | 3 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : | 1 |
| Slaves - Males - Under 14: | 2 |
| Slaves - Females - Under 14: | 2 |
| Slaves - Females - 14 thru 25: | 2 |
| Slaves - Females - 26 thru 44: | 1 |
| Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture: | 5 |
| Free White Persons - Under 16: | 5 |
| Free White Persons - Over 25: | 2 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 11 |
| Total Slaves: | 7 |
| Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other: | 18 |
Now in 1820, there is no John Lambert in Randolph, but still two in Chatham. The first is over 45, has a large family of 9 children and 7 slaves. 1820 is the first census I can not find MY John Lambert, if he indeed was the one in Johnston County.
| Name: | John Lambert |
|---|---|
| Home in 1820 (City, County, State): | Chatham, North Carolina |
| Enumeration Date: | August 7, 1820 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 18: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: | 1 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: | 2 |
| Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : | 1 |
| Slaves - Males - 14 thru 25: | 1 |
| Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture: | 4 |
| Free White Persons - Under 16: | 4 |
| Free White Persons - Over 25: | 2 |
| Total Free White Persons: | 9 |
| Total Slaves: | 1 |
| Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other: | 10 |
The second one had a large family as well, as was also over age 45. Now, Chatham was not very far from Johnston. Rev. John Lambert was no doubt preaching by then and there is a John Lambert showing up in the early church records of Bear Creek Church in Chatham County, which was also a Primitive Baptist Church and was also on the Sandy Creek Circuit at this time. The only problem I see is that this person owned one young male slave. Could our Rev. John have improved himself by this point to be able to afford this or had his church body gifted him a servant for assistance with his large family and a subsistence farm. The answer came in looking at the form itself and the neighbors. Right in a row were William Hackney, William Hackney Jr., John Lambert and John Lambert, but wait a minute, one of the "John's" looked more like "Jehu" to me. The vowel after the J had a slit and the small letter on the end appeared to be open on the top. Could one have been an older Jehu Lambert, as Randolph John named one son Jehu? It looks like a transcription error and these Lamberts appear to have been related to the Hackney family.
Two questions arise, did Randolph County have an 1820 census and did Johnston County have an 1820 census? The answers were No for Randolph and Yes for Johnston. John who married Mary Bray was probably in Randolph. Rev. John Lambert was no longer in Johnston County, and these John's or John and Jehu in Chatham were another John entirely.
It turns out that there was a transcription error in Chatham County in the 1820 census. One of the was Jehur. He passed away in 1847 and left a will.
CHATHAM COUNTY, NC - WILLS - Jehu Lambert, 23 Dec 1846
----いい----
Probated February Sessions 1847
Pg. 199, Vol. C., Chatham County, NC Wills
North Carolina
Chatham Co.
"I Jehu Lambert of the county and State aforesaid being of sound mind
and memory but considering the uncertainty of my earthly existence do
make & declare this my last will & testament in manner & form following
that is to say=
First - That my Executors hereinafter named shall proved for my body
decent burial suitable to the wishes of my relatives and friends and pay
all funeral expenses together with my just debts however and to
whomsoever owing out of the money that may first come into their hands
as a part of parcel of my Estate.
2nd - I give and devise to my beloved wife Martha, the tract of land
whereon I now live.
3rd - My will is that my Executors pay over to each and every one of my
children and my granddaughter Athanasia Foushee the child of my daughter
Rachael the sum of ten dollars each & that they pay my daughter
Elizabeth ten dollars extra for her attentions to me during my sickness.
4th - My will is that the residue of my property remain in the hands of
my beloved wife Martha at her disposal. And lastly I do hereby
constitute and appoint my two sons John (Jehu?) Lambert and Robert
Lambert my lawful executors to all intents and purposes in witness
whereof I the said Jehu Lambert do hereunto set my hand and seal this
23rd day of December A.D. 1846
Signed sealed published and declared by the said Jehu Lambert to be his
last will & testament in the presence of us who at his request & in his
presence do subscribe our names as witness thereto.
Jno. R. Marsh
Joseph J. Hackney
Chatham County February Sessions 1847
This certifies that the foregoing last will & testament of Jehu Lambert
dec'd was proved in open court by the oath of Jno. R. Marsh, a
subscribing witness thereto & ordered to be recorded whereupon Robert
Lambert one of the Executors therein named appeared in open court & was
duly qualified.
Test: N. A. Stedman, C. C. C.
He mentions wife Martha, a granddaughter, Anastasia Foushee and sons John and Robert, so the other "John" Lambert was probably his son, John.
A look at 1850, which would have been the next census after his death, shows his son Robert was born about 1807.
| Name: | Robert Lambert | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age: | 43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Year: | abt 1807 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Home in 1850: | Upper Regiment, Chatham, North Carolina, USA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | ||||||||||||||||||
| Family Number: | 1097 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Household Members: |
|
His son John is shown in 1850 as being born in 1805. This identifies the Chatham County John's, and they were not our John.
Name:John LambertAge:45Birth Year:abt 1805Birthplace:North CarolinaHome in 1850:Upper Regiment, Chatham, North Carolina, USAGender:MaleFamily Number:748Household Members:
| Name | Age |
|---|---|
| John Lambert | 45 |
| Martha Lambert | 41 |
| Robert P Lambert | 18 |
| Brantley J Lambert | 17 |
| Hannah B Lambert | 13 |
| Mary A Lambert | 11 |
| James L Lambert | 8 |
| Nancy J Lambert | 6 |
| Martha E Lambert | 4 |
I will continue to search for where my John Lambert may have been between 1820 and 1850. I am certain he was in Stanly County at least during the 1840 census, from church records, and from the fact that his son is desginated as a "Junior", which meant there was an older John Lambert somewhere in the area. He was either living with someone else, therefore not a head of household, or they missed him completely.
The one thing I do know, he was not a member of the wealthy, large land and slave-holding Lamberts of the Chatham/Randolph Lambert/Hackney/Bray bunch.