Continuing the research discussion of the Delp family in Grayson County, Virginia, and their link to the rest of the Delps, my biggest manhunt has been locating Peter Delp in North Carolina before he appeared in Virginia in the late 1790s. Although North Carolina has not had as many devastating record losses as other southern states have languished from, it has been a frustrating enterprise locating Delp through the available records in that state. What pieces have been found put together pieces of a puzzle, which, if laid out as separate pieces, show possible relationships but do not fit properly, nor do they string together any direct links. However, the new evidence is conclusive enough that Peter Delph was part of a larger family of Delp’s in the frontier South.
As previously stated, it is shown that Peter Delp(h) has been linked to Johann George Delph and his wife, Barbara Moyer, of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (later Montgomery County when it was created in 1784). However, there is little to support this match, and the DNA evidence concludes that the two are related, but not necessarily father/son. The earliest record of Peter Delph shows him in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina; there, on 24 November 1777, Peter Delph and his wife Eve sold 150 acres of land there to Jacob Messonheimer for the sum of 80 pounds, the land lying on “Lick Branch of Buffalow Creek” (Mecklenburg Co Deeds, Vol1 10, p 240). The deed was signed by Peter and Eve, and proven in open Court at January term 1778 by Joseph Shenn, one of the witnesses; the other witness was John Nichler. It is the minutes of the Court of Common Pleas & Quarter Sessions for Mecklenburg Co (abstracted in Herman W. Ferguson’s “Mecklenburg Co NC Minutes of the Curt of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions 1780-1800,” p 98; from Book 2, p 324, July 1790 Session) that we learn the land was deeded to Peter “Delf” from Jacob Cline and his wife on 28 November 1776; it was not recorded until 1790, however.
The Delps sold this land, but where they end up between 1777 and 1783 is unknown. In 1783, Peter Dolph appears in Rowan County, North Carolina, to the northwest, where he appears on Captain John Lop’s list of taxables. Captain Lop’s District was one of several areas which later split to become Davidson County in December 1822 (Long’s NC Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, p 2). Peter “Dolph” was enumerated there as having been charged taxes on 2 horses and mules, 5 cattle, and a total tax valuation of 13 pounds.
The following year, in an adjacent district which also became Davidson County, was two men on the lists of Captain Davis. These two men were Daniel Delpp and Jacob Dolf; however, neither were enumerated with any land acreage nor are they shown for what they were assessed or taxed (Jo White Linn, Rowan Co, NC Tax Lists 1757-1800: Annoted Transcriptions,” 1995, p 221).
Before digging in the analysis, let it be known that Delp and Delph are common spellings of the same name. However, analysis of available records must also include other variations of names, some just corruptions of the name through spelling errors or accents. Therefore, name variations found include Dolph, Dalb, Delb, Delpp, and Delf. A common spelling seen in Rowan County, North Carolina was “Delap,” which also produced occasional results in neighboring counties. However, the relationship of this spelling (as well as “Delop”) has not been studied as well yet, given that the name could easily be a corruption of Dunlap, which can also be found in Rowan County.
Returning to Rowan County, as aforementioned, it is the two men, Jacob and Daniel where clues on other family members begin. They start earlier, however, as there is a Michael Delp in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in the same time frame that Peter and Eve Delph were living there. In fact, all we know about Michael is that he was referenced in the deed of James Potts and his wife Margaret on 9 June 1779, when Potts sold land to John Potts (Mecklenburg Co Deeds, Vol 12, p 248, Entry #711). This deed was for 400 acres of land “by supposition on the south side of Sixmile Creek adjacent the Indian Line…” Delp was one of two witnesses for the deed, the other being William Courtney; it was Courtney who proved the deed on 24 July 1783. Delp was also witness to another deed made by James and Margaret Potts on 9 June 1779, this deed for 600 acres of land “by supposition on the north side of Sixmile Creek on Stillhouse Branch…” William Courtney was again the second witness to the will, and also the man who proved the deed, in April 1784 term (Mecklenburg Co Deeds, Vol 12, p 272, Entry #721; abstracted in Herman W. Ferguson, “Genealogical Deed Abstracts, Mecklenburg Co, NC, Bks 10-14,” p 65). There is no further record in Mecklenburg County on Michael Delp, but it is known that both Michael and Peter Delp resided in the area of the county which later became Cabarrus County on 31 December 1792 (Long, NC Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, p 104). There, however, no Delp’s appear in records after that county’s creation. Therefore, we are left little to ponder about Michael’s age, status, or relationship to other Delp’s.
A Michael “Delps” appears in Caswell County, North Carolina as having married an Elisabeth Starkey there per a marriage bond on 29 January 1782, the bondsman being Jonathan Star. A thorough check into records for that county, however, has not pulled up any other mention of the name or surname in Caswell County, and therefore leaves this as a huge mystery. Considering Caswell County borders Virginia and its distance from Mecklenburg County, it is not presumed that the two men could have been the same man, as such a migration pattern (to the north-northeast) is otherwise inexplicable and odd. The presence of the surname Delap and Delop in the county may suggest a misreading of the record; however, these two surnames in Caswell County are also presumed to be corruptions of the surname Dunlap. If “Delap” were a true surname in Caswell County, there are men named John and Henry Delap there between the last decade of the 18th century and the first quarter of the 19th century.
Where there is a presence of the Delps, however, is in Lincoln County, North Carolina, a county which was created in 1779 from the former and abolished Tryon County, and neighbor to both Mecklenburg and Cabarrus Counties (north of the latter, west of the former). There, in the second half of the 18th century is Jacob Delf (also spelled Delph), who appears in a civil case there in April Term 1794. At the time, Jacob “Delb” was brought forth as defendant against Adam Darr and charged the sum of 2.5.9 pounds, in a case that appears to have originated from a debt (found in Anne Williams McAllister & Kathy Gunter Sullivan, “Civil Action Papers, 1771-1806, of the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Lincoln Co, NC”, 1989, p 68). A writ of fieri facias was declared and ordered to be produced at the July Session in 1794 (no further record). In that same year, there were two deeds of sale from Jacob “Delb,” both being acknowledged to Henry and George Yount. One of the deeds was for the land he now lives on, and the second was for sundries (Anne Williams McAllister & Kathy Gunter Sullivan, Lincoln Co NC Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, 1789-1796, 1987, p 81).
Jacob Delp did not live long, for in October Court 1796 in the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, it was “ordered by Court that Letters of Administration on the Estate of Jacob Delb, Decd, issue to Catharine Delb, widow and relict of the Decd, and Abraham Moyer, who qualified and gave Bond and Security, George Young in 100 pounds” (Anne Williams McAllister & Kathy Gunter Sullivan, “Lincoln Co NC Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, July 1796 – January 1805”, 1988, p 11). Three years later, the same court ordered John Wilfong, Michael Cline, and Philip Whitener (all Esquires) to be a committee “to settle the Estate of Jacob Delph, deceased & to make return thereto our next Court” (McAllister, 1796-1805, p 69). However, later that year, in July Court, the court ordered yet again that John Wilfong, Michael Edwards, and Jones Abernethy be the committee to settle Delp’s estate (McAllister, 1796-1805, p 100).
The estate records of Jacob Delf in Lincoln County total nearly 60 pages of documents. An inventory of the estate shows that his widow, Catherine Delph, purchased quite a bit of the personal property. Other names on the inventory list were George Yont (Yount), Isaac Justice, Peter Little, Thomas Justice, Levalt Honsecker, Henry Yont (Yount), George Deel, Frances Moser, Jacob Lagle, Roodolph Coonrod, John Drum, Christian Fender, Benjamin Rector, Valentine Monsour(?), and David Miller. One receipt on the inventory was for “support of the widow and Children,” which totaled 143.10 pounds. The inventory was drawn and returned by the administrator, Abraham Moyer; the inventory is dated 4 November 1796, and portions of the four pages are in frail shape to where the tops and bottoms of the pages have faded or clouded names on the list. The estate records also include receipts from Jacob Dalb/Delp himself, as early as 1791, showing money he owed to various people.
While Delp’s estate settlement does not name any heirs to any property he held beside his wife, and naming his administrator, Abraham Moyer, the 1790 Census shows that Jacob Delph resided in Lincoln County and was the only male over the age of 16 years. There was one male under the age of 16 years, and there were five females in the home (Lincoln Co, NC, M637_7, p 113, img 74), which supports the fact that his inventory states there were children to support in the home. While not named, a few candidates in Lincoln County are very likely his children. A Salley Delp was married to William Wasson per a marriage bond dated 1 December 1815 in that county, the bondsman being James Wilson, and the witness being “V. McBee.” Sarah “Sally” Wasson died on 11 June 1867, per her tombstone near Lineville, Iowa, aged 72 years, 1 month, and 3 days, proving that she was born in 1795.
A county history for Izard County, Arkansas, published in the late 19th century, compiled a biography on Ephraim Sipe. In it, he states he was the son of Jacob Sipes and Mary Delp, both natives of Lincoln County, North Carolina. A tombstone in Lincoln County exists for this Mary “Mollie” Sipe, who died 20 May 1843, aged 61 years old; this puts her birth as being in 1782. If Mary were Jacob Delp’s eldest child, and granted Jacob married and had children in an orderly time frame according to English law (marrying at the age of 21 years old, having a child nine months later at the earliest, etc), Jacob was born in circa 1760. This could support evidence that Jacob Delph of Lincoln County, North Carolina, was brother to Peter Delp, the man who went from Mecklenburg to Rowan County, North Carolina, and later to Grayson County, Virginia.
Another possible child of Jacob Delf/Delph was John Delph, who appears to have been enumerated as “John Duph,” in the 1830 Census. In that year, that John Delph was enumerated in Iredell County, North Carolina, aged 30-39 years. He appears to have been unmarried and living alone at the time (1830 Census, Iredell, NC, M19_122, p 55). There is no further record on this man, however, and the theory he is of this Delph family is only part of an analysis at this stage.
As mentioned before, in 1784, a Jacob Dolf appears in Rowan County tax lists. Therefore, the migration patterns support the fact that Peter and Jacob were possibly brothers. Who Michael Delp was remains a mystery to this day, as he does not appear in an earlier Mecklenburg County references. Linking Jacob and Michael Delph to Peter Delph, however, is a very possible scenario, given that Peter Delph had two sons named Jacob and Michael Delph. The biggest puzzle at this time, however, remains connecting these Delp’s/Delph’s to the Pennsylvania and German Delp family. The next part of the puzzle, which will be published soon, regards the known immigrations of Delp’s in the 18th Century.
The Ancestral Clark 