Nathaniel Aldridge Sr.

Name:	Nathaniel Aldridge
Born:	circa 1730s probably Virginia
Died:	between 1790 and 1800 probably Abbeville County, South Carolina
Married:	Rosamond (maiden name unknown)
Children:	Nathaniel Aldridge Jr.

Overview

Nathaniel Aldridge Sr. received land grants in colonial Orange County, North Carolina, in 1761 and 1762, on the waters of the Flat River in what is today Person County. He had the unfortunate coincidence of settling in the same colonial county at around the same time as William Alldredge and his family, and of being born close to the same time as William's son Nathan Alldredge (b. 1739). The has led to a great deal of genealogical confusion between Nathaniel and Nathan, both to records of Nathaniel being ascribed to Nathan, and vice versa; to Nathaniel and Nathan sometimes being conflated as the same person; and to both men being connected to the same family. Recent DNA research, however, has concluded that the two men were distinct, separate individuals, belonging to completely unrelated families.

Name

It is common for family trees online to identify Nathaniel Aldridge as Nathaniel Benjamin Aldridge. This is perhaps a family tradition, but I am concerned it is a case of name creep, the tendency of extra names to attach to individuals by conflation of records and other mistakes. Franklin Rudolph Aldridge wrote:

Nathaniel Aldridge appears to have removed to South Carolina. [He had land grants in Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, in 1786 and 1798, and appeared on the 1790 census in Abbeville County, South Carolina.] One Benjamin Aldridge also had two land grants in the Ninety-Six district, one for 200 acres 5th December 1785 and the other the exact date as Nathaniel, 5th February 1798 for 500 acres. No Benjamin is found in the 1790 census for this district and we may assume that Nathaniel and Benjamin are the same person, however this is not conclusive. An interview with a descendant of this family says the full name was Nathaniel Benjamin. This may be the answer for the absent Benjamin in 1790 census.

This is highly suspicious to me. Is Nathaniel Aldridge only called Nathaniel Benjamin because of this assumption that Nathaniel Aldridge and Benjamin Aldridge are the same person, because the latter cannot be found in 1790? This is a very shaky leap of logic. Isn't it just as likely that Benjamin Aldridge was missed on the census, was living in someone else's household (Nathaniel's household shows two adult males), or any other number of possible explanations? I have never seen a record of Nathaniel Aldridge using a middle initial. And why would someone making a legal claim to land use two different names on the same day? That makes absolutely no sense. Because of this conflation of names, I have seen other records of "Benjamin Aldridge" attached to Nathaniel Aldridge in cases where clearly they were two different people. As an extension of this conflation, the name "Nathaniel Benjamin Aldridge" has been mistakenly attached to my own Nathan Alldredge.

Origins

It is unclear where Nathaniel Aldridge was born. He appeared in North Carolina receiving a land grant in 1761. Based on the fact of his shared DNA with Francis Aldridge, supposed to have been born in Virginia, I consider it likely that Nathaniel Aldridge also came from Virginia.

Nathaniel Aldridge settled in what was then Orange County, North Carolina, with land grants adjacent to Joseph Aldridge, who appears to have been about the same age. It appears likely that Nathaniel and Joseph were brothers.

Spouse

Nathaniel Aldridge's wife, Rosamond or Rosemond, is named in one of the deeds of his land transactions. Her maiden name is unknown.

North Carolina

Orange County

Nathaniel Aldridge received two land grants in 1761 and 1762 in what was then Orange County, North Carolina, but by modern county lines, is in Person County:

• 220 acres to Nathaniel Aldrige, in Orange County, on the Bushy Fork of Flat River. Issued 6 February 1761.
• 700 acres to Nathaniel Aldrage, in Orange County, on waters of Flat River. Issued 8 December 1762.

These land grants adjoin the 1762 land grant of Joseph Aldridge, issued three days after Nathaniel's 1762 grant:

• 455 acres to Joseph Aldrage, in Orange County, on Flat River. Issued 11 Dec 1762.

These land grants, though they were at the time in the same county as the land issued to William Alldredge, were in actuality some forty-six miles and two modern counties away from William's land, his land today being in Randolph County.

Aldridge land grants in the of area of what was, in 1755-1765, Orange County, North Carolina, showing the distance between Nathan Alldredge's Sandy Creek settlement and Nathaniel Aldridge's Flat River settlement. 1760 county lines are thick green lines, while modern county lines are dotted blue lines. 1760 county labels are in green, while modern county labels are in blue.

By 1765, it appears Nathaniel Aldridge was selling his land and leaving the area:

• Deed, Orange County May Court 1765 (page 22). Nathaniel Aldridge to James Foster, 35 acres, proved by William Pryor.

Because Nathaniel Aldridge appears to have left northern North Carolina around this time, he was certainly not the Aldridge who signed the Regulator petition in 1768. This was Nathan Alldredge, who also lived in the same community where the Regulator foment took place.

Tryon County

Nathaniel Aldridge did not remain in Orange County for very long. By 1765, he was selling his land in Orange County, and by 1770, was receiving land grants in Tryon County (a now-extinct county in southwestern North Carolina).

• Tryon County. To Nathaniel Aldridge, 100 acres on waters of Little Cahawba Creek, surveyed 18 Jun 1769, issued 9 Apr 1770.
• Tryon County. To Nathaniel Aldridge, 180 acres on waters of Bridge Branch of Crowders Creek, entered July 1774, issued 28 Feb 1775.
• Tryon County. To Nathaniel Aldridge, 200 acres on waters of Falls Branch of Crowders Creek, entered July 1778, issued 3 Mar 1779.
• Tryon County. To Nathaniel Aldridge, 100 acres on a branch of Crowders Creek, joining land formerly belonging to James Scott, entered 1778, issued 13 Aug 1779.

Several deeds show Nathaniel Aldridge buying and selling land in Tryon County:

• Deed. Nathaniel Aldridge and wife Rosemond, to Robert Miller, 100 acres, 1 Jun 1774.
• Deed. Nathaniel Aldridge from Thomas Normon, ____ acres, 29 Jan 1779.

A 1774 court record notes Nathaniel Aldridge's service as constable in Tryon County in 1774.

South Carolina

By 1786, Nathaniel Aldridge had moved into South Carolina. He received a land grant in 1786:

• Ninety-Six District, South Carolina. To Nathaniel Aldridge, 250 acres, issued 6 Mar 1786.

The old Ninety-Six District covered much of western South Carolina, encompassing the current boundaries of Abbeville, McCormick, Edgefield, Saluda, Greenwood, Laurens, Union, and Spartanburg. The South Carolina website offering access to these land grants is currently down, so I can't say exactly where his land lay, but he appeared on the 1790 census in Abbeville County, alongside his son:

• Nathaniel Aldridge Sr.
  • 2 free while males over 16
  • 4 free white females
  • 2 slaves.

• Nathaniel Aldridge Jr.
  • 1 free while male over 16
  • 2 free while males under 16
  • 2 free white females.

Another land grant in the name of Nathaniel Aldridge — it is unclear which Nathaniel — was recorded in 1798:

• Ninety-Six District, South Carolina. To Nathaniel Aldridge, 315 acres, issued 5 Feb 1798.

Only one Nathaniel Aldridge — presumably this is Junior — appeared on the 1800 census in Abbeville County:

• Nathaniel Aldridge
  • 1 free white male aged 26 to 44
  • 1 free white female 26 to 44
  • 2 free white males 10 to 15
  • 3 free white males under 10
  • 2 free white females under 10
  • 3 slaves.

Death

Since both Nathaniel Aldridge Sr. and Nathaniel Aldridge Jr. were in Abbeville County, South Carolina, in 1790, but only Nathaniel Jr. was there in 1800, it is commonly presumed that Nathaniel Sr. died there in Abbeville County between 1790 and 1800. Franklin Rudolph Aldridge takes this position.

DNA evidence

Main page: Aldridge DNA Project

One documented descendant of Nathaniel Aldridge Sr. has tested his Y-DNA at the Aldridge DNA Project. Classified as haplogroup I-M223, Nathaniel's Y-DNA matches the lineage of Joseph Aldridge and Francis Aldridge, but not that of William Alldredge (b. 1702) of Randolph County, North Carolina, which is haplogroup R-U106.

It is clear that these two lines are not biologically connected. The fact that both lines have claimed descent from Nicholas Aldridge of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, continues to create some confusion and doubt; but given the fact that the William Alldredge Y-DNA also matches the Y-DNA of descendants of Thomas Aldridge, a son of Nicholas Aldridge whose descendants remained in Maryland for several generations, it appears likely to me that William's line is descended from Nicholas, while Nathaniel's line is an unrelated family.