Revolutionary Services of the Benjamin Bundy Family

of Pasquotank County, North Carolina:

Ruth (Jennings) Bundy, Jonathan Bundy, John Bundy, and David Bundy[1]

John D. Sinks

District of Columbia Society, Sons of the American Revolution

16 April 2021

Most Bundy families of Pasquotank County, North Carolina were members of the Society of Friends at the time of the Revolution.  An exception was the family of Benjamin Bundy and his wife, Ruth Jennings.  Although record of military service has not been found, Benjamin’s wife Ruth and sons Jonathan, John, and David provided support the Revolution.

Benjamin Bundy, husband of Ruth Jennings and son of John and Elizabeth Bundy, was born in Pasquotank Co., North Carolina on 12 December 1729 according to Pasquotank (Symons Creek) Monthly Meeting Records of the Society of Friends[2].  The family played an important role in the establishment and growth of the Society of Friends in North Carolina.  Benjamin, however, placed marriage above continuing the religious life of his father and grandfather.  Minutes of the Symons Creek Men’s monthly meeting succinctly tell the story.  On 6 September 1754 the minutes report, “…it appears by Reference to this Meeting that Benjamin Bundy having Joyned in Marriage with a young woman not of Pure Sosiety -[illeg]- Friends appoint Joseph Pritchard and Joseph Scott to prepare a paper of Denial against the s^d Benjamin and bring to next month meeting to be approved off---” (pp. 352-353).  On 3 October Pritchard and Scott read their paper and it was approved.  In short, Benjamin was excluded from the Society of Friends (p. 353).  Benjamin attempted a reconciliation on 7 August 1766 when he condemned his outgoings in marriage, but the attempt was not accepted (Hinshaw, p. 132).  Benjamin Bundy was living in Pasquotank Co. on 8 Aug. 1767 when he sold land to Joseph Morris (Bk. E, p. 421).  The Pasquotank Court in October 1767 appointed Isaac Jennings to oversee a road in place of Benjamin Bundy, decd.[3]  Benjamin resided in Pasquotank County at the time of his death and that county is his presumptive place of death.  There are no probate records for the estate.  Subsequent records name Benjamin’s wife, Ruth, as head of the household.

Ruth Jennings, wife of Benjamin Bundy, is named neither in Quaker records nor in the estate papers of Ruth’s father state Ruth’s name.  Her name can be deduced from  a combination of Pasquotank County records, however.  The will of John Jenins [Jennings], signed and proved in 1751, referred to six children.  Only Isaac was named.  All six were left cattle, the oldest four “…all the cattle called theirs” and the two youngest a cow and calf each.  Pasquotank Co. Births, Deaths, Marriages, Brands, and Fleshmarks record that on 4 December 1753 Isaac, Ruth, Ann, David, Demsy, and Lemuel Jennings registered earmarks (p. 20, folio 3).  The registrations were sequential, indicating that they appeared together in court.  The estate papers show that shares went to Isaac Jennings, David Jennings, Benjamin Bundy, Demcey Jennings, Lamuell Jennings, and Ann Jennings.  Benjamin Bundy married a daughter who was unnamed.  Ruth is the only one of the six who registered earmarks who was not named as receiving a share of the John Jennings estate.  Ruth Bundy is on the tax list of Frederick Blount in 1769 (p. 1), the year of the first extant lists after Benjamin’s death in 1767.  Ruth is on subsequent tax lists in proximity to the Jennings brothers.[4] 

The sons of Benjamin and Ruth are inferred from their appearance on Pasquotank tax lists and the 1786 state census.  All but the youngest son appear in proximity with Ruth when they started heading households on tax lists in what became District 1, and the youngest first appears in District 1 after Ruth’s apparent death.  The timing of their appearance is consistent with young men coming of age.  Bundy families clearly related to other branches do not appear in District 1.  Jonathan is listed in Ruth’s household on Edward Everigin’s 1774 list (p. 1) and on Jonathan Banks’ 1776 list (p. 1).  In 1777 Jonathan was head of household (Banks’ list, p. 4) and in 1782 on the General Assembly list posted by the State Archives Jonathan (image 16), Ruth (image 17), and John (image 17) are heads of a household.  On that list Quakers were reported separately and subject to a treble tax.[5]  Four Bundy’s were among them.  Ruth and her children are not on the Quaker list.  (A Caleb Bundy was also listed as a non-Quaker (image 15).)  David Bundy is listed in District 1 along with Jonathan, Ruth, and John in 1784 (pp. 1, 3).  (There are no extant Pasquotank lists for 1783.)  The 1786 state census lists John, Ruth, Jonathan, and David in District 1, all on the first page and the last three adjacent to one another.  Ruth last appears in 1791.  Jonathan appears in District 4 in 1793, perhaps after his marriage to Dorcas Brothers.  There were nine Brothers men in the District 4 that year.  Demsey Bundy first appears on the 1788 District 1 tax list (p. 3).  Ruth, David, and John are also on that tax list.  On the 1790 census of Pasquotank County Demsey Bundy is listed on the same page with Ruth, John, and David (p. 235).  Demsey adjacent to Ruth on the 1791 District 1 tax list, with David and John on the same page. In 1794 William Bundy appears for the first time, taxed in District 1 for 17 ½ acres of land, the amount of land Ruth owned before she died.  Jonathan, William, David, and John, each aged 26 to 45, are found in Pasquotank on the 1800 census with teenage children in the household (pp. 634, 635, 638, 640).  This is consistent with ages one would expect for children of a man who married in 1754 and died in 1767.  Only Jonathan is found in Pasquotank for the 1810 census (p. 383).  No daughters have been identified.

Support for the American Revolution.  Ruth, Jonathan, John, and David all provided material support for the Revolution.  An examination of the extant 18^th Century Pasquotank tax lists, the grantor index, and the grantee index shows no evidence of more than one Ruth, Jonathan, or David Bundy in Pasquotank.  A search of Hinshaw’s six volumes of the Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy yields only one other Ruth Bundy who was born prior to the end of the Revolution who would not have been reported under her maiden name during the Revolution: the Ruth Bundy of Pasquotank county “liberated to marry” John Davis in 1747.[6]  (Ruth, wife of Benjamin was not a Quaker and is not mentioned by name in Quaker records.)  Moreover, only one Ruth, Jonathan, John, or David Bundy appears in the North Carolina state censuses of 1784-1787 and a search of the 1790 federal census[7] returns only one Ruth, Jonathan, or David Bundy in the United States, all in Pasquotank County.  There is evidence of more than one John Bundy in Pasquotank.  The 1790 census shows two men of this name in North Carolina, both in Pasquotank County.  Special care must be taken to determine that evidence of service of John Bundy is service by the correct man.

Ruth provided clothing valued at £0.6.0 specie (£120 currency) in the Edenton District, of which Pasquotank County was a part, July 1781.[8] The Edenton District Board of Auditors on 29 December 1783 authorized vouchers to David Bundy for £8.12.0 and to Jonathan Bundy for £8.12.0.[9]  What they provided was not specified.  A John Bundy was authorized a voucher by the Edenton Board for £9 specie on 16 April 1782, but there is no clear evidence which John Bundy of Pasquotank was issued the voucher.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacted a law on 13 April 1782 for determining what property was taxable, assessing that property, and collecting public taxes for 1782 and 1783 and on the same day a tax law “…for defraying contingencies and supporting the armies which are, or may be, employed in defending the United States.”[10]  The papers of the General Assembly in the North Carolina State Archives include a 1782 assessment list for Pasquotank County.[11]  The list was not alphabetical.  Quakers were listed separately.  Jonathan, Ruth, and John Bundy are all named on this list.  All three are listed in the main portion of the list reserved for those who were not Quakers and Ruth and John on the same page and Jonathan is on the previous page.  All but one other Bundy appear in the Quakers portion of the list.  

Jonathan Bundy, son of Benjamin and Ruth, was the first son of Benjamin and Ruth to appear on a Pasquotank tax list, 1774 in Ruth’s household.  The 1779 General Assembly tax lists identifies him as a single man subject to the poll tax (p. 25).  The 1790 census of Pasquotank County shows him with two males over 16 in the household, two under 16, and two females (p. 236).  On 6 March 1799 Jonathan Bundy and wife Dorcas, Richard Brothers and wife Rebekah, Caleb Casper and wife Lucea, Joshua Brothers in his own right and as guardian of Enoch, Peggy, Robert, Micajah, Mary, and Joseph Brothers, minor children of Joseph Brothers, Sen., decd., sold 60 acres of land to Edmond White (Bk. O, pp. 345-346).  In 1800 Jonathan is listed on the census aged 26 to 44, with 5 male children and one female child in the household (p. 624).  The eldest female was 16 to 26.  He owned five slaves.  Jonathan departed for Sumner Co., Tennessee where he resided with other kin before moving to Illinois, according to accounts posted on the internet.  He settled in the Walnut Hill area of what is now Marion Co. and died there in 1819.  The 1820 census of Jefferson Co. lists the household headed by his widow, Dorcas (p. 109).  They were buried in the Little Grove Cemetery with their graves marked by field stones bearing their initials.  Jonathan was the first of the family to settle in Southern Illinois.[12]  

David Bundy, son of Benjamin and Ruth, first appears on a public record when he was issued a Revolutionary pay voucher in 1783 in the Edenton District.  He appears on Pasquotank tax lists in District 1 from 1784 through 1798 in District 1.  In 1784 he was on John Blackstock’s list with John, Jonathan, and Ruth Bundy (pp. 1, 3).  The 1790 census of Pasquotank show one white male over 16, one under 16, and 2 white females in the household (p. 235).  David purchased 50 acres of land “exclusive of the swamp therein” on the Albemarle Sound in March 1792 (Bk. M, pp, 100-102).  He sold this land on 1 January 1799 to Jesse Trueblood (Bk. O, pp. 362-363).  Although he is not found on Pasquotank tax lists after selling this land, David was listed on the 1800 census of Pasquotank, aged 26 to 45 (p. 638).  The eldest female was also that age.   Five male children and four female children also in the household.  This David is the only man of the name found in Pasquotank County until long after he departed to Tennessee.  The next census on which a David Bundy is found in Pasquotank is 1850 (p. 313 right). 

David Bundy appears on the 1809 Sumner Co. Tax List.  Anna was David’s wife, according to the Wilson Co. will of one of the sons, Henry Bundy, signed on 6 December 1834 (Bk. 1834-1837, pp. 84-85).  (The balance of Henry’s estate was to be divided among his brothers and sisters.)  On 9 March 1812 David Bundy purchased 130 acres of land in Sumner Co. on Goose Creek on 9 March 1812 (Deed Bk. 6, p. 160).  Three of his sons, Henry, Thomas, and Nathan served in Sumner County companies in the War of 1812.  David Sr. as well as sons David Jr. and John are on the 1823 and 1824 Sumner Co. Tax Lists.  David died in 1825 in Sumner County.  Heirs filed suit in the Smith County Chancery Court over David’s sale of this land.  Those heirs were Henry, Thomas, Nathan, John, James, David, Anna, and Pembro (a minor).  The Smith Co. Chancery Enrollment Book provides some details about David’s life in Tennessee (pp. 375-382).  The bill of complaint states that David became “addicted to intoxication.”  In January 1820 when he was 60 to 70 years old two men got him drunk and purchased his land with notes they knew to be worthless, leading to the accusation of fraud.  David’s estate was settled by the Wilson County Circuit Court on 13 July 1837 (Minute Bk. 1837-1839, p. 122). The heirs were Primbro, David, Nathan, Thomas, James, John, and Evertt Bradley and wife Anna.[13]  Henry Bundy was deceased by this time.[14]

John Bundy, son of Benjamin and Ruth, was one of two men of the name who resided in Pasquotank County during the American Revolution.  The elder John Bundy was on John Lowry’s 1770 Pasquotank tax list (p. 2).  This is presumably the same John Bundy was dismissed from the Pasquotank Monthly Meeting on 19 August 1772 (Hinshaw: Vol. 1, p. 132).  The older John is on the 1778 tax list of William Robins, Joshua Jackson, and Seth Cox (p. 2).  Other Bundy’s on this list are Demsey, Samuel, and two men named Caleb.  The younger John Bundy appears the l782 list that among the papers of the General Assembly (image 17).  Ruth and Jonathan are on the same list.  There is no 1783 list, but all three along as well as David Bundy are on the 1784 list for District 1 (pp. 1, 3).  The 1786 state census of Pasquotank lists John Bundy with one male member of the household between 21 and 60 and four under 21 or over 60.[15]  He is in District 1.  Ruth, Jonathan, and David are also in District 1 on the same page of the original manuscript.  He continues to be listed on District 1 tax lists through 1791.

Demsey, son of Benjamin and Ruth, appears in District 1 tax list in 1788 (p. 3), well after the Revolution.  Ruth, David, and John are also on the 1788 District 1 tax list.  Demsey should not be confused with a man of the same name who appears on earlier Pasquotank tax lists in District 6 and the 1782 General Assembly list in the Quaker portion.  On the 1790 census of Pasquotank County Demsey Bundy is listed on the same page with Ruth, John, and David (p. 235).  This census is alphabetical by the first letter of the surname, limiting the value of proximity.  The Quaker Bundy households are on the next page.  Demsey adjacent to Ruth on the 1791 District 1 tax list, with David and John on the same page.  Demsey moved to District 4 and is on the 1793 list with Jonathan Bundy (p. 1).  On the 1786 state census Ruth was listed with 3 white males under 21 or above 60 in her household—males born no earlier than 1765.  Demsey Bundy died intestate.  Jonathan Bundy posted bond to administer the estate on 5 January 1795 (Loose Estate Papers).  Evidence points to this Demsey Bundy being the son of Benjamin and Ruth, but too young to have Revolutionary service appropriate for an adult.

William Bundy, son of Benjamin and Ruth, first appears on the District 1 1793 tax list (p. 1).  He was taxed for 17 ½ acres of land, precisely that amount for which Ruth was taxed during her lifetime. David Bundy is on the same list.  It was not unusual for a son to remain at home caring for an aging parent in this time period.  Ruth had three male children under 21 in her household at the time of the 1786 state census.  The 1790 federal census of Pasquotank County shows one male under 16 in Ruth’s household.  It is likely that the age is in error, but perhaps not a great one.  Even a posthumous child of Benjamin’s children would have attained their majority no later than 1789.  As in the case of Demsey, evidence points to this William Bundy being the son of Benjamin and Ruth, but too young to have Revolutionary service appropriate for an adult.  No William Bundy is found on the census of Pasquotank County for 1800.

Summary.  Benjamin Bundy and Ruth Jennings married shortly before 4 September 1754.  Ruth was not a Quaker and Benjamin’s marriage to her resulted in his exclusion from the Society of Friends.  Benjamin died about September 1767, leaving Ruth with a young family to raise.  An examination of Pasquotank records, especially tax lists, provides evidence that there was only one adult named Ruth, Jonathan, or David in the county during the Revolution and the 1784-1787 state censuses and the 1790 federal census yield only one person of each of the names in North Carolina, all in Pasquotank County.  Ruth supported the Revolution by providing clothing.  Sons Jonathan and David were issued Revolutionary pay vouchers by the Edenton District, which included Pasquotank County.  Although a Revolutionary Pay Voucher was issued to a John Bundy, there were two men of the name in Pasquotank during the Revolution.  However, Ruth, Jonathan, John, and David were in proximity to one another in what became District 1 after the Revolution.  Three of the four were proximate with one another on the 1782 Pasquotank County assessment that is among the records of the General Assembly and support the 1782 North Carolina tax to support the armies defending the United States.  Two other sons of Benjamin and Ruth have been identified: Demsey Bundy and William Bundy.  No evidence of Revolutionary service has been found for them and they were almost certainly too young to have supported the Revolution in a way appropriate for an adult.