Elizabeth Yelverton

https://haywoodcountyline.com/chief-tom-blount-and-the-tuscarora-wa...

John Yelverton, my seventh great grandfather, joined the colonial settlers in what would become Bertie County, North Carolina in 1703 when he was in his early 20s. Through his wife, Elizabeth Blount, he was connected to the fascinating leader of the Tuscarora Indians, Chief Tom Blount.

Yelverton, who shows up in records in 1704 as a juror, was likely well respected and a wealthy land owner himself because his young wife, Elizabeth Blount was from one of the most important families in the region at the time. Elizabeth was the granddaughter of Captain James Blount who had settled in North Carolina in 1669, become a member of the court and one of the Lords Proprietors’ Deputies.

By 1711, John and Elizabeth had three of their children; James, Elizabeth and Ann, and the family lived on Queen Ann’s Creek in Edentown, NC.

The settlers began building plantations and farming the land and quickly encroached upon the hunting grounds and villages of the Tuscarora Indian Tribe. Additionally, many of the villages were raided by European settlers and young men and women were gathered up and sold as slaves.

The Tuscarora villages around John Yelverton’s plantation were led by a chief who was extremely close to Yelverton’s wife’s family; an Indian who had been baptized and given the name Tom Blount. Just how close the chief was to the Blount family is a matter of debate.

Some think Tom Blount was an orphan who had been adopted by one of Captain James Blount’s sons while others think he was actually the illegitimate offspring of a Blount and an unknown Indian woman. One interesting fact from Beverly A. Ramesy’s book “The Blounts of Mulberry Hill” is that, “in addition to the children named in his will, family tradition indicated that James Blount had a natural son to whom he left no real property.” Could that have been Chief Tom Blount?

Regardless of the exact relationship, Chief Tom Blount was a good connection for Yelverton to have considering what was coming for the settlers. Chief Tom Blount led the northern Tuscaroras but unfortunately for the Europeans, the southern tribe was led by an Indian named Chief Hancock.