Index

Union Flag of England and
Scotland (1606-1801)

Generation #1

Henry Overstreet was born about 1700 in Virginia. He was one of the earlier inhabitants of Bertie Co NC and is first documented on 8/4/1723 where he purchased lands from Lord Carteret.

On 11/9/1724 Henry is next recorded in Bertie Co NC where "Henry and Ann Overstreet" sold land on Cashie Swamp to John Edwards. From this deed, it is reasonable to conjecture that Henry married Ann sometime prior to this transaction.

From 1724 to 1735, there is a series of land transactions in Bertie Co NC where Henry and Ann bought or sold land or were listed as witnesses or owners of adjacent land. Sometime between 1735 and 1739, Henry and Ann and family migrated south to the new settlement at Ft. Augusta GA.

Henry Overstreet is first recorded in Georgia in a 1739 letter from James Oglethorpe to his accountants explaining a loan of £12. In this letter, Henry is described as "an industrious man with wife and six children in Augusta." And in 1743, Henry is cited as an Indian trader living near the fort at Augusta GA.

Henry Overstreet is next recorded in A List of Persons Who Went from Europe to Georgia on Their Own Account, or at the Trustee's Charge, or who Joyned the Colony or were Born in It, Distinguishing Such as Had Grants there or were only Inmates. This document is most important. It states that Henry settled in the Town of Augusta at the end of the year 1746. Additionally, it shows Henry with a wife and three children. From the title of this document, we can understand that Henry could have been a resident who "Joyned the Colony," not necessarily an immigrant from England. And, we learn that three of Henry's six children have died. We now can understand how the seemingly disparate records make sense.

Augusta GA is an interesting place. The Augusta community was effectively an outpost for the South Carolina Colony. The majority of their trade and commerce was through the port of Charleston by way of the ever expanding road network through Orangeburg District SC. Community members were regularly cited as having fled to South Carolina in fear of either the local Indians or the Spanish from Florida. And by the time of the Revolution, Augusta was the southern terminus of the Great Wagon Road. This road connected Augusta through Orangeburg SC with the primary port of Charleston SC. And, the Savannah River connected them to the smaller port of Savannah GA. This was the perfect location for a trading enterprise with the Indians of the hinterland.

The economy of the settlement at Ft. Augusta was centered on trade with the Creek Indians. Henry Overstreet was a fur trader, working in conjunction with Lachlan McGillivray and George Galphin, and is believed to have signed for the Creek Nation in a peace treaty with the Colony in 1763. One proof of this relationship is son Henry's 1765 application for land where he stated "he had been about four months in the Provence from South Carolina, about twelve miles from where Mr. Galphin lives, to whom he has been known from his childhood [c. 1741]."

George Galphin is an interesting character in American history. George arrived as a destitute immigrant from Ulster, Ireland, to Charleston in 1737. He is next found in 1741 as an Indian trader working for the distinguished Company of Brown and Rae along with Lachlan McGillivray. George Galphin would earn so large a fortune that he is cited as lending $50,000 to the State of Georgia during the Revolutionary War. George built a brick mansion on the bluffs south of Augusta. This formidable structure in a highly strategic location was used as a fort by both British and Colonial forces during the war.

These two partners, McGillivray and Galphin are an interesting combination. Lachlan McGillivray was a Tory and is cited having led Tory raids in South Carolina and Georgia. And, George Galphin was a Whig (colonial patriot) who was arrested for aiding the Committee of Safety for both South Carolina and Georgia. And, our Overstreet family was stuck in the middle. This explains why the State of Georgia would declare Henry Overstreet, Jr. guilty of treason but only assess a fine in lieu of other more serious punishment.

Sometime in the 1750s, Henry and family may have migrated to South Carolina. Son Henry Overstreet, Jr. is documented as living in South Carolina during this time. In 1765 Henry Overstreet, Sr. petitioned for land in the fork of the Savannah River and Briar Creek, stating he was a resident of the Province but had yet to be granted any land. This places him within a few miles of Lachlan McGillivray. Did Henry move south to live near his old business partner?

Henry and Ann are believed to have died after 7/1766 in St. Georges Parrish and are probably buried on lands which would become Screven Co GA.

Bertie Co NC Deed Book A, p. 300:
9 November 1724, Henry and Anne Overstreet gave Owen O'Daniel power of attorney to acknowledge the sale of 150 acres on north side of Casay Swamp to John Edwards Jun Witness: Martin Gardner, Edward Moore.

Bertie Co NC Deed Book B, p. 118:
1726. James WILLIAMS to Robt HOG 380ac on ROCQUIS and FLAGG BRANCH adj Henry OVERSTREET. wit: Theo WILLIAMS, Richard WASHINGTON

Bertie Co NC Deed Book B, p. 371:
1727 - John Edwards Jun. & Wife Elizabeth to Abraham Sheppard 20 pds for 200 acres on Roquist adjacent Martin Gardner Jun, Martin Gardner Sen, Henry Overstreet. Witness: Henry Overstreet, William Griffin. Feb Ct 1727 Edward Mashborne D. C. Ct. (B 371)

Bertie Co NC Deed Book B, p. 388:
1727 - August 2, John Williams & Wife Ann to Henry Overstreet 12 pounds for 135 acres on Casiah Swamp and Roquist "lying back of a survey of Martain Gardner." Witness: Isaac Williams, William Jones, Anne Herring. May Ct. 1728. Ed Mashborne.

Charles Stevens sold Henry Overstreet 240 acres on north side Morattock River on Deep Creek 7 November 1727; witness Theophilus William, Williams Gray

Bertie Co NC Deed Book C, p. 79:
1728/29 February 11, Henry Overstreet to Thomas Bunten 12 pounds for 100 acres on WS Deep Creek adjacent Theophilus Williams at Apple Tree Swamp. Witness: Needham Bryan, Edmond Wicking, Ed. Outlaw. Feb Ct. 1728/29 Ed Mashborne.

John and Elizabeth Blount sold Henry Overstreet 280 acres on Cashia Swamp adjoining James Blount 30 July 1728; witnesses William Jones and John Yelverton

Bertie Co NC Deed Book B, p. 488:
Chas STEVENSON to John CHESHIRE 6 July 1728 400ac part of 640ac granted to Wm GRAY in 1725, adj Henry OVERSTREET, James CASTELAW, John WILLIAMS, Village Swamp and FALLING RUN, adj Col Wm MAULE, Col JONES

George Stevenson sold Henry Overstreet 490 acres on north side of Morattock River and Village Swamp 26 June 1729; witness John Hart, Mary West

Henry and Anne Overstreet sold Sylvanna Stokes 280 acres on Cashy Swamp at Great Marsh adjoining James Blount 11 November 1729; witness Owen Mack Daniel, Rober Ivey

Bertie Co NC Deed Book C, p. 321:
Henry and Anne Overstreet sold Abraham Sheppard 235 acres on south side of Cashy Swamp and east side of Roquess Swamp 10 November 1730; witnesses Joseph Morre, Anne Morre, Thomas Whipple

Henry Jernigan sold Henry Overstreet 50 acres on north side of Marratock River at Appletree Swamp adjoining William Jones 7 May 1733/4; witnesses Needham Bryan, John Blackman, Samuel Dickens

1734. William Jones sold Henry Overstreet 50 acres on north side Marratock River adjoining Henry Jernigan on Appletree Swamp adjoining Thomas Barton; witnesses John Becton, John Blackman

Bertie Co NC Deed Book D, p. 152:
1735. Henry Overstreet sold Theophilus Pugh of Nansemond County VA two tracts, 150 acres on Appletree Swamp adjoining William Jones and Henry Jernigan, which he purchased of William Jones and Henry Jernigan and where Anne Overstreet lives, and 50 acres at the head of Roques; witnesses James Milliken, Joseph Morre, John Kirkpatrick

The Colonial Records of Georgia, Vol. XXII, page 245:
"There is an article of £12, which was a loan in cattle to one Overstreet, an industrious man with wife and six children in Augusta. The inhabitants recommended him to me, he having been afflicted with sickness, and answered that by the milk of the six cows, the wife would be able to maintain the family."

“A List of the Whole Inhabitants of the township of Augusta in Georgia”
                           M/ W/ C
Mr. Kennedy O’Brien        5  3  0
Thomas Smith               1  1  0
Messrs Mackenzie & Frazer  5  1  0
John Miller                2  1  1
Thomas Goodale             2  1  2
Samuel Brown               2  1  1
Sanders Ross               2  0  0
A. Sadler                  1  1  1
A. Taylor                  1  1  0
William Clark              1  1  0
Henry Overstreet           1  1  4
Locklan McBean             2  2  1
William Gray               4  0  0
William Calabern           0  2  2
Total                     29 16 12

"A List of Persons Who Went from Europe to Georgia on Their Own Account, or at the Trustee's Charge, or who Joyned the Colony or were Born in It, Distinguishing Such as Had Grants there or were only Inmates," Manuscript 6/9/1732 to 9/29/1741. Athens: The University of Georgia, 1949.

Part II: "Persons Who Went from Europe to Georgia on Their Own Account":
936 Overstreet, Hen. - Settled in Augusta. In the Colony the end of the year 1746.
937 _____, ? , w.
938 _____, ?, child
939 _____, ?, child
940 _____, ?, child

The Township of Augusta, outside the garrison seems to have embraced only a small colony of Indian Traders. The list of settlers at the fort shows sixteen names, among them Henry Overstreet.

1762, May 4 - At a meeting of the Council of Savannah, was read a petition of Henry Overstreet, setting forth that he was lately come into the Province with his family, consisting of a wife and six children, in order to settle and was desirous to obtain a piece of land for cultivation. Therefore, praying for one hundred and fifty acres about three miles above the mouth of Briar Creek in Halifax District, and adjoining the land granted John McNeis; petition granted

Dixon Hollingworth, Earliest Families in the Brier Creek Area (vic Midville GA) p. 10:
The early settlers of the county were looking for bottom lands, with land fertile enough to cultivate, so they claimed land along the streams, and stayed away from pine barrens of the interior. They settled first along the Savannah River, then moved up Brier Creek and Beaver Dam Creek, and finally, just before growing unrest put an end to royal grants, began to claim land on the banks of the Ogeechee River. They were too scattered to organize themselves into towns or villages, but I have arbitrarily identified several communities. . . .
2. Burton's Ferry to Brier Creek. Lachlan McGillivray, 1761; Henry Overstreet, 1762.

1765, January - Petition of Henry Overstreet, Sr., setting forth that he had lived in the provinces, had had no land granted him and was desirous to obtain land, having a wife and child. Therefore praying for 200 acres in the fork of Savannah River and Briar Creek, at the bank of land border John Pettygrew, deceased; order granted.

Grant Book E, page 93: Overstreet, Henry 150 acres in St. George Parish. Granted on January 1, 1765. 150 acres bounded on the northeast by Savannah River, southeast by William Erven and northwest by John Macknie.

WERTSCH, John, storekeeper, St. Matthews Par., GA., sold a mortgage from Henry OVERSTREET, planter, St. George Par., for slaves and 300 acres where Overstreet lives, to Benjamin WILLIAMSON, planter, St. George Par. Wit.: Isaac FORD, Nath. MILLER, John CONYERS, Andrew GRINER, J.P July 16, 1766 (R, p.143)

Children

Caveat
This site is provided for reference only. Except where specifically cited, information contained is conjecture and should not be considered as fact.
Home	Index	About Me

Descendants of Overstreet of North Carolina

Generation #1

Children

Caveat