The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Author: Frank Grady Hall III
Benjamin’s grandfather, John Poston, was born in 1686 near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. On April 26, 1703, at 17, he embarked from Liverpool, England for America and was bound over to Henry Brown until 1708 for his passage. It is believed that he landed at Leonardtown, St Mary’s County, Maryland. By 1727, he acquired Poverty Plantation which consisted of 245 acres, and in 1729 he purchased half of Goodwill Plantation. Both of these were in Charles County and were formerly owned by Thomas Overton. John’s fifth child, Edward, was Benjamin’s father. Edward was a planter in Charles County; he died in 1790/91 leaving six children.
Benjamin was born in Charles County in the mid 1700s (About 1750). He served in the Revolutionary War and was enlisted as Benjamin Postin by Captain Belain Posey in July 1776. He is listed as “No. 349-Benjamin Poston” with a rank of corporal in an enumeration of Captain Henry Clarkston’s company of Charles County Militia in 1778.
In the 1778 census, Benjamin Poston was a resident of Bryan Town Hundred, Charles County, Maryland, but there is no record of him owning land. In 1779, he was a subscribing member of Trinity Parish in St Mary’s County. When a number of Maryland families migrated to North Carolina in the early 1790s, the Postons were in the group. On April 25, 1795, he purchase 215 acres of land from Agnes Houston on the waters of Withrow Creek in western Rowan County near the Iredell County line.
It is believed that the Postons visited and were active in churches close to their home. There was not Episcopal Church closed to them; an Episcopal Church was not established in Western Rowan County until the 1820s. Later generations were members of Back Creek Presbyterian Church. Benjamin died in 1802 leaving his wife and five small children as his beneficiaries. The name of his wife is suspect; however, Rachel Carson, born about 1760 is a possibility. She was listed “the Widow Poston” on records after his death. Their children were John Jordan, Benjamin, Jr, Edward, Mary and Sophia. It is not known where Benjamin or his wife are buried.
Reference: Garrison, Nancy G., “A Poston Family of Rowan County, North Carolina’” Raleigh, NC 1991.
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Additional Information:
No DAR GRS record found - Sep 2022
Benjamin Poston and his wife, Susanna, whose will was probated in Rowan Co., Court, NC, 28 Jul 1853, appear in Microfilm Rowan Co., wills 1753-1900, Poston Genealogical Notes from Rowan and Iredell Counties NC by William D Kizziah, 1959 pg. 24, 25, 28 thru 31
Also, see Abstract Deed Books 20 - 24 of Rowan Co., NC, 1807-18, by Kluttz, pg. 143 & 144