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About Johnson Driggers I
Johnson Driggers
MyHeritage Family Trees Blue, Richardson, Anderson Family Tree, managed by Shaquille Richardson
Birth: 1686
Death: 1752
Parents: Thomas Driggers, Sarah Driggers (born King)
Wife: Mary Driggers (born Winslow)
Son: Mark Driggers
Biography
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~flbakehs/DriggersFamilyResearch.pdf Page 13
Johnson Driggers is our first evidence of a Black heritage. He appeared in Northampton County, VA court on No- vember 8, 1702 when he, his brother John, and Samuel George were convicted of stealing a hog and then abusing and threatening several whites “in an insolent manner.” On May 15, 1718 he purchased 40 acres in Norfolk County, VA on the north side of the Northwest River known by the name of Horse Pool Point.
Called “Johnson Drigus, Senr.,” he was taxable in the Norfolk County district between Great Bridge and Sugg's Mill, and in the same district in 1731 was taxed together with his son Johnson as one tithe. On August 11, 1752 he claimed head rights in the Craven County, NC court: “Johnston Driggers Came into Court and made Oath that his family con- sisted of seven Black Persons [Haun, Craven County Court Minutes, V:103].” (Or, was this his son Johnson?)
Johnson married and had seven children: Johnson, Mark, Matthew, Thomas, Caleb, Winslow, and WILLIAM I. Johnson’s son, Winslow Driggers is reported to have first been an Indian fighter in the South Carolina Militia, then a notorious outlaw leader of a gang said to accept free African Americans as equals. He escaped from jail in Savannah, GA in the fall of 1770 and returned to the area of the Little Peedee River in North and South Carolina. The following year he was captured and hung on the spot near Downing Creek. His captors used the provisions of the Negro Act as an excuse to hang him without a trial.
There have also been vague references to a Native American link, but so far family DNA testing has not born this out.
Mary George
May have been Mary "Johnson." She was believed to have been born around 1700.
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Johnson Driggers I's Timeline
| 1686 |
1686
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VIRGINIA
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| 1705 |
1705
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North Carolina, USA
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| 1723 |
1723
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North Carolina, United States
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| 1725 |
1725
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Independent Cities, Norfolk, VA, United States
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| 1752 |
1752
Age 66
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Northampton, Virginia, USA
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