Richard Bennett, 1756-c1830, Appling County

Richard Bennett was born about 1756, allegedly, in Robeson County, North Carolina. Prior to July 1782, he relocated to Georgia, settling in Effingham County. It is claimed that his brothers, James and William accompanied him. Richard Bennett married Mary Cook around 1785, likely in Effingham County, Georgia. She was born in 1769 and died in 1847. Her parents were James and Margaret Cook of Effingham County, and is so shown in a deed of gift, dated 16 Sep 1786, to the Cook children ^[1]see Effingham County Deed Book A, page 13. It is alleged that both Richard and his wife, Mary, were buried at Flint Branch Baptist Church Cemetery in Jesup, Georgia. No gravestone marked either grave until 1996 when a military headstone was placed for Richard Bennett, based on his supposed Revolutionary War service in the North Carolina Line, which I dispute below.

Their children:

1. William Bennett, born about 1786 in Effingham County, married Nancy Ussery. Children.
2. Elizabeth Bennett, born 1787 in Effingham County, married before 1806, Rev. Moses Westberry. She died before 1860 in Appling County, Georgia.
3. Henry Bennett, born 1789, married Margaret Sheffield, daughter of William and Mary (Abbott) Sheffield, born 1785 and died after 1850. Henry died before 1830. Neither grave location is known. Children.
4. Wiley Bennett, born 1800 in Bryan County, married Matilda Robeson, July 8, 1832. She was born about 1817 and died 1 Sep 1896, a daughter of Frederick and Jane (Brown) Robeson. She is buried at Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery in La Crosse, Florida. Children.
5. Braxton Bennett, born 1807, married (1) 27 May 1832 in Wayne County, Martha Hopps, daughter of Richard and Margaret (Gibson) Hopps, she was born 4 Aug 1816 and died 20 Jun 1846; married (2) 6 May 1847 in Wayne County, Elizabeth Westberry, daughter of Josiah and Rachel (West) Westberry, born 27 Jan 1827 and died in 1861; married (3) 3 May 1863 in Wayne County, Caroline Bozeman, daughter of James and Emily Bozeman, born 1844 and died 1907. Braxton died 3 Apr 1881 and is said to be buried at the Flint Branch Baptist Church Cemetery in Jesup, though no marker remains. Children by all three wives.

In July 1782, both Richard and his brother William were amerced by resolution of the House of Assembly of Georgia for their conduct during the Revolutionary war. The English had controlled most of Georgia during the war and they required an oath of allegiance by those citizens who remained there. It appears that the brothers chose to stay in Effingham County and took the oath. We don’t know by the records, how much additional support they may have provided the British during their occupation of Georgia, but the conduct was significantly bad enough to require them to be amerced and fined by the Georgia Assembly in order to get their Georgia citizenship back. Generally the fines were either 8% or 12% of their property value.

A record from 1790 shows that Richard registered his stock-mark in Effingham County.

Around 1794, Richard moved his family to Bryan County. There, he served in the local militia and was commissioned as an ensign on June 12, 1801. Richard served on the jury for the court session held at White Oak Plantation, 7 Jun 1797. And a subsequent term on 4 Mar 1805. Terms were for 1 year.

In 1819, he moved again, this time to the newly established Appling County, where he settled near the Altamaha River in what is now Wayne County.

There were 4 Bennet families enumerated in the Appling County, Georgia 1820 census, two of them named Richard. The enumerations for the elder Richard Bennett is problematic. His age is given as under 45, his wife as over 45. If we were to believe this listing for his age, then he was born after 1775 and certainly too young to be the Richard Bennett who was amerced in 1782 and too young to have fought in the War. In his household he had a male under 10, a female under 10, and a female 11-16. If Braxton was born in 1807/1808 as alleged then he would likely be the “under 10” male. The two females would be a mystery though, as Elizabeth was married and out of the house by 1820. There are no other female children of Richard and Mary in any online listing that would fit for those individuals. Wiley is missing from the 1820 census but reappears in 1830. William and Henry are enumerated beside Richard, and the younger Richard is probably the nephew of Richard, via his brother William.

Richard Bennett remained in Appling County until his death before 1830.

In 1830, Mary Bennett is enumerated in Appling County as head of household and living beside Margaret Bennett, her daughter-in-law, widow of Henry. She is listed as 50-60 in age, and had 1 male aged 15-20 residing with her.

In 1840, Mary Bennett is enumerated in Wayne County, residing with her son Braxton, where she is listed as 80-90 years of age.

Land Records

The first three land entries below were in Effingham County when granted to Richard, but was placed in Bulloch County in 1796 when it was formed out of part of Effingham.

• Richard was granted 200 acres of headright land on 2 Jan 1786, north of Ogeechee River in Effingham County.
• 200 acres of headright land on 19 May 1789 in Effingham County.
• An additional 200 acres on “vacant land” in Effingham County was granted on 14 Mar 1791 and executed on 23 Apr 1791.
• He received 200 acres of “family headright” land in Bryan County on 1 Jun 1818, executed 25 Sep 1818.
• He received 200 acres of “family headright” land in Bryan County on 5 Oct 1818, executed 11 Nov 1818.

Conflict Resolution

Children

There are plenty of gaps in the list of children’s birth years for Richard and Mary to have had additional children born. Genealogists on both Ancestry and FamilySearch have attributed additional children, but they are clearly combining two different Richard Bennett families into one.

Miscredited Revolutionary War Service

For at least 75 years it has been purported that Richard Bennett was a Revolutionary Soldier. A Richard Bennet does appear on Pierce’s Register and it has been attributed to this Richard by Huxford, DAR and SAR. That Pierce Register states that a Richard Bennet served in the North Carolina line during the American Revolution under Captain Thomas Clark. He was paid for his service on November 15, 1783, and received Certificate No. 89843. This is also confirmed on page 4 of the Roster of Soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution. There is no linchpin to make the connection between Richard Bennett of Effingham County, Georgia, and that service record.

Furthermore, we know that this Richard Bennett was living in Effingham County when he was amerced along with about 100 other Effingham County residents in July 1782. Therefore, he likely^[2]See How I Describe Levels of Conviction in Genealogical Research was not the Richard Bennett who partook in the North Carolina Line in 1783.

Being amerced by resolution further supports that Richard had not served in the Revolutionary War.

Genealogists on FamilySearch, FindAGrave, and Ancestry have attributed the service record of Richard Bennett, who served in the 8th Virginia Regiment, to this Richard. That is also incorrect, as that Richard Bennett applied for a pension in 1832 and showed he was living in Lunesberg, Virginia at the time. He died later that year. While Mary, Richard Bennet’s widow was enumerated in Appling County in 1830 as head-of-household, showing he was already deceased.

Missing Census Listings

Huxford claims from family tradition that Richard and his brothers James and William were born in Robeson County, North Carolina. I can find no evidence for that fact. The 1790, 1800, and 1810 census were lost for Georgia. This loss of record contributes greatly to the dearth of records available in the Wirerass region during this time period. As a result, genealogists, unaware that the records were lost, presume people by the same name in other states were their ancestor, with nothing to link the two entities together except a common name.

Sources

• Huxford, Folks, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, vol. 1, p. 16-17; vol. 3, p. 357-358; vol. 4, p. 335; Jacksonville, Florida : Cooper Press, 1951-1967.
• “Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, 1783-1909”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CQY8-8JMM : Mon Mar 31 14:17:39 UTC 2025), Entry for Richard Bennett, 2 January 1786.
• “Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, 1783-1909”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Z7CH-5G2M : Wed Jan 22 18:00:32 UTC 2025), Entry for Richard Bennett, 19 May 1789.
• “United States, Census, 1820”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLX-NTT : Thu Jan 16 18:47:29 UTC 2025), Entry for Richard Bennet, 1820.
• “United States, Census, 1830”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPX-YV3 : Wed Mar 06 03:22:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Mary Bennet, 1830.
• “United States, Census, 1840”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHBN-1VQ : Sat Mar 09 21:19:17 UTC 2024), Entry for Braxton Bennett, 1840.
• McCall, Mrs. Howard H. Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia. Vol. I, p. x, 39. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004. This land was granted in the current Georgia counties of Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Greene. The acreage granted to a private on the Georgia line was 264.5 acres, not 200. Certainly then, these Georgia records do not reflect service of Richard Bennett of Effingham County.