Capt. Christopher Nation

Biography

Capt. Christopher Nation was born in 1721 in Upper Freehold Township,, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Colonial America. His parents were Captain John Nation and Bethiah Nation (Robins). He was a Justice of the peace, planter.

Christopher married Elizabeth Nation (Sharp) in 1739 in Orange County, Virginia, Colonial America. Together they had the following children:

1. Christopher "the Regulator" Nation;
2. Nancy Nation;
3. Abraham Nation;
4. John A. Nations.

Christopher married Elizabeth Nation (Swaim) in 1747 in Frederick County, Virginia, Colonial America. Together they had the following children:

1. Thomas Nation;
2. Joseph Nation;
3. William Nation;
4. Amos Nation;
5. Elizabeth Jones (Nation);
6. Bethia Love (Nation).

He died on November 11, 1799 in Rowan, Randolph County, North Carolina, United States and was buried in November 1799 in Randolph, North Carolina, United States.

4. CAPT CHRISTOPHER5 NATION, SR (JOHN4, JOHN3, JOHN2, HENRY1)11,12,13 was born 1717 in Upper Freehold Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey14, and died 11 Nov 1799 in Randolph County (Old Rowan County), North Carolina15. He married ELIZABETH SHARP16,17 Abt. 1737 in Frederick County, Virginia, daughter of JOHN SHARP and ANN HAINES. She was born 1719 in Greenville County, South Carolina, and died Aft. 1789 in Randolph County, North Carolina

brief biography

Christopher Nations was born in New Jersey but mostly raised in Virginia. He left Virginia for North Carolina about 1750, and first appeared on Rowan Co., North Carolina tax rolls in 1759. He was soon appointed a Justice of the Peace. He was among the leaders of the Regulator rebellion movement in North Carolina just prior to the Revolutionary War, but was later pardoned by the Royal Governor. He probably was not a Quaker, but was associated with Quakers and married a Quaker girl (Elizabeth Sharp, his first wife).

Christopher Nation was apparently married twice (to two women named Elizabeth):

• 1st to Elizabeth Sharp, daughter of Thomas Sharp and Elizabeth Harrison. (sic: Elizabeth Smith)
• 2nd to Elizabeth Swaim, daughter of Michael Anthony Swaim and his 1st wife Elizabeth Cortelios.

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Was described in a letter from a Londoner Henry Eustace McCulloh to Col. John Harvey in NC:

"I thank you for the journal of Political Proceedings . . . the madness of the people must be great indeed, to trust such wretches as Harmon Hubbard and Christopher Nation, as their representatives . . . But it is a comfort that violent mad fits seldom last long." 4 5

From http://ourtexasfamily.com/Alford-Green-Williams/Nation-Family.html

Politically, Christopher was a controversial figure. He along with 21 other Regulars assembled, petitioned the Governor, his Excellence, William Tryon, in 1768,

">Whereas through the exactions and extortions of several officers of Orange, we have involved ourselves in many difficulties and by means of reports, false spread, the condition has arose to a great extremity and being desirous to submit ourselves to the clemency of your excellence, and to lay aside all method of redress of our grievances, but by a due course of law, and beg that your excellence will forgive all our past offenses by your gracious proclamation, that peace and tranquility may be restored agin, to all the inhabitants of this province, and confiding in your assistance and favor to execute the laws against said exactions and extortions and conclude."

It is unknown how Christopher Nation avoided arrest and imprisonment, but he seems to have gone on with "business as usual." Within seven years the Revolution had begun and Governor Tryon fled to New York to take up the Royal Governorship there. (see comments below)

• from http://www.nationstudy.com/histories/RegJunior.php

" History seems to have merged the lives of Christopher Nation and his son known by the same name ... There is no doubt both men were active in the Regulator Movement but the wise old Christopher tried to bring about reform in the Law whereas the passionate young Christopher preferred to demonstrate his objections.".

From http://newsfeed.rootsweb.com/th/read/VICKERY/2000-01/0946855263

The Regulators episode, like Bacon's Rebellion, in Virginia, is generally regarded as a precursor of the Revolutionary War. Descendants of Regulators are entitled to no small measure of pride in such ancestry. The punishment was severe enough that most of the former Regulators remained loyal to the crown during the Revolution.

From Encyclopedia of North Carolina: Regulator Movement

Regulator Movement in mid-eighteenth-century North Carolina was a rebellion initiated by residents of the colony's inland region, or backcountry, who believed that royal government officials were charging them excessive fees, falsifying records, and engaging in other mistreatments. The movement's name refers to the desire of these citizens to regulate their own affairs. An unfair system of taxation prevailed under which less productive land, such as that in the western and Mountain regions, was taxed at the same rate as the more fertile, level soil of the Coastal Plain. These and other hardships contributed to the Regulators' feelings of sectional discrimination and deep distrust of authorities rooted in eastern North Carolina. Led by men such as Rednap Howell, James Hunter, and Herman Husband—considered the movement's chief spokesman—the Regulators organized a resistance to these abuses, first through protest and ultimately through violence.

Events

• Colonial Soldiers:

• Lieutenant - North Carolina Militia
  
• Captain - 21 Nov 1766 Muster Roll (Col. Alex Osborn) 
  

• In 1769 the members of the Assembly from Rowan were Griffith Rutherford and Christopher Nation.

From http://genforum.genealogy.com/nation/messages/568.html

Christopher NATION (The Regulator) died and left a Will in 1799 Randolph Co. NC.

• In 1757 Christopher receives a grant and promptly sells 216 acres on Polecat Creek.
• In 1759 Christopher receives 174 acres from his father.
• In 1769 Christopher sells the 174 acres to brother John.
• in 1779 Christopher is on the tax list for Randolph Co. NC
• In 1787 Christopher receives a grant of 100acres.
• In 1788 Christopher sells 100 acres on Polecat Creek.
• In 1791 Christopher receives another grant for 100 acres on Polecat Creek.
• The Polecat Creek / Deep River area was originally in Rowan Co. then Guilford Co. and finally Randolph Co.

I do not think that Christopher ever left this area.

Will of Christopher Nation

Will: 11 JAN 1799 Randolph Co., NC

Will of Christopher Nation ~ In the Name of God, Amen! I, Chrisopher Nation of Randolph Co. and the state of Noth Carolina, being in a weak state of health, but of sound mind and good memory, thanks be to God! Calling to mind the Immortality of the body, and knowing that it is appointed unto man, once to die, do make and ordain this, my Last Will and Testament, that is to say, principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul unto the Hands of God, that gave it; and my body I recommend to the earth, to be buried in a Christian manner, at the discretion of my executors, herein after named, nothing doubting but at the general resurrection, I shall receive again, by the mighty power that gave it, and as touching such worldly estate as it hath pleased God to bless me with in This life. I give and devise and dispose of the same in the following manner:

• Item, I give unto my son, ABRAHAM NATION, 240 acres of land, including the buildings and improvements, to him, his heirs, forever, provided he shall pay or cause to be paid unto my son CHRISTOPHER NATION, or his heirs or assigns, the just sum of $100; but he case he should fail to pay the said money, the CHRISTOPHER NATION, or his heirs, is to have just right and title to 100 acres of land, south of said buildings.
• Item, I give unto my five sons (Viz) JOHN, THOMAS, ____, WILLIAM and AMOS NATION, one shilling apiece.
• Item, I give, also, to my two daughters, ELIZABETH and BETHIAH NATION, the sum of one shilling apiece.
• Item, I give unto my beloved wife ELIZABETH NATION all the rest of my moveable and personal estate, including the cash and cash notes, during her natural life, and at her disposal; and I also ordain and appoint my son ABRAHAM NATION and my friend CHRISTOPHER VICKERY to be my whole and sole executors, of this my Last Will and Testament. In witness whereof, I have set my hand and seal, this 11th day of January 1799.

Witness present: ABSOLAM VICKERY.(signed) CHRISTOPHER NATION (Seal) Jurst J. Harper (copy), Nov term The foregoing will was proven in open court by ABSOLAM VICKERY (Abstract): land to sons Christopher Jr., John, Thomas, Joseph, William Amos (one shilling each); daughter Elizabeth and Bethiah; wife Elizabeth; Executors: son Abraham and a friend Christopher Vickery. Recorded November term of 1799. Witnesses: Absolam Vickery and John Vickery [1, 2]

Family

Disputed wives

Elizabeth (wife) shown by North Carolina land records

Notes for ELIZABETH SHARP:

James Dewey O'Brien, in his book Our Colonial Ancestors page 110, questions the fact that Christopher Nations' wife was a Swaim, indicates she may have been a Vickery. Others have said she could have been a Sharp.??

R. H. Nations, on his website, claims that Elizabeth's parents were William and Mary Larzalere Swaim.??

From “Descendants of John Nation l” page 5-6:

Children of CHRISTOPHER NATION are:

1. ABRAHAM6 NATION, b. 1738, probably North Carolina, perhaps Virginia; d. Aft. 1820, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama.
2. CHRISTOPHER NATION, JR., b. 1741, Guilford County, North Carolina; d. 1818, Greenville County, South Carolina.
3. NANCY NATION, b. Abt. 1742.
4. JOHN A NATION, b. 1744, Virginia; d. 17 Oct 1810, Greenville County, South Carolina; m. CATHERINE ?.
5. THOMAS NATION, b. Abt. 1747, Surry County, North Carolina; d. 28 May 1816, Maury County, Tennessee; m. REBECCA RIGGS, 05 Jun 1814, North Carolina.
6. JOSEPH NATION, SR, b. 1750, Randolph County, North Carolina; d. 12 Apr 1803, Claiborne County, Tennessee.
7. WILLIAM NATION, b. 1752, Randolph County, North Carolina; d. Abt. 1807, Claiborne County, Tennessee.
8. BETHIA NATION, b. 1760, North Carolina; d. Aft. 1840, Wayne County, Indiana.
9. AMOS NATION, b. 176020.
10. ELIZABETH NATION, b. 1762, Rowan County, North Carolina; m. SOLOMON JONES.

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Michael Swaim’s first marriage was to Elizabeth Cortelyou831 (bp 2 Mar 1711, d 1737) in ~1729 based on Rebecca Swaim Jones family information previously covered. Elizabeth Cortelyou was supposedly Michael’s cousin and born in New Utrecht (King’s County), New York.

Michael Swaim and Elizabeth Cortelyou had the following children:

1. Elizabeth Swaim (b 1730, d 1789). 832 <Michael<Willem<Thys]

Elizabeth was born in New York and remained with her grandparents (Courtelyou) for several years while Michael Swaim made a suitable home in North Carolina. Elizabeth then moved to North Carolina. Elizabeth married Christopher Nation (b 1721, d 11 Nov 1799) in 1747.

Christopher was a son of John Nation (b 28 Mar 1697, d 15 Dec 1772) and Bethiah Robbins (b 1701, d May 1774). This was Christopher’s second marriage. His first marriage was to Elizabeth Sharp (b 1717, d 26 Dec 1787). There is no record of Elizabeth Sharp’s death around 1747 as she died in 1787 so this may have involved a divorce.

Christopher was a Justice of the Peace. Christopher was elected to the North Carolina Colonial House of Representatives in 1769. Christoper was part of the group that petitioned Governor Tryon following the Battle of Alamance in 1771. Elizabeth died in 1789. Christopher’s will was dated 11 Nov 1799 and went to probate later that month so we infer he died not long after he made his will.

If Elizabeth Swaim married Christopher Nation in 1747 then the following is my estimated split of children between mothers Elizabeth Swaim and Elizabeth Sharp.

Children – Christopher Nation and Elizabeth Sharp: - Abraham – born in Frederick, VA

• - Christopher – born in Frederick, VA
• - John – born in Frederick, VA

Children – Christopher Nation and Elizabeth Swaim

• : - Thomas – born in Yadkin County, NC
• - Joseph
• - William
• - Amos
• - Elizabeth -
• Bethiah

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Citations

• 4. The Fairfax Proprietary. Dickinson, Josiah Look Page: Vol. VII, pp. 850-851, and Vol. VIII, pp. 183, 813
• 5. Colonial Records of North Carolina. Page: Vol. III, p. 183

Sources

1. The following will found in Guilford County, NC. book A, page 277, file #0276, will of John Nation, was made 15 December 1772. The will was proved in May Court 1774. ... "Item - I give to and Bequeath unto the Rest of my children to wit: Christopher Nation and Elizabeth Vickery, anna Buller, Bithiah Robins and Frances Robins each and severally the sum of one shilling sterling and no more ----"

Links

• http://davenation.com/gene/jnation.html
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ourtexasf...
• http://www.nationstudy.com/getperson.php?personID=I6550&tree=Nation...
• http://www.megjohn.info/genealogy/Henry_Nation_Descendants.pdf
• “The Swaim Family of Indiana and Oklahoma.” by Jack S. Swaim. Compiled by Jack Stuart Swaim, January 7, 2021. Extracted from http://www.jswaim.com/family/Swaim_Genealogy.pdf on 9 September 2021 Page 147 link

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• Residence: Rowan, North Carolina, British Colonial America - 1768
• Residence: Stokes, North Carolina, United States - 1790
  • Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 18 2022, 21:32:05 UTC
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 18 2022, 21:34:18 UTC