James J Hulsey History (continued)

 Early 1760’s        As a child, his family moved to Albemarle Co. VA.  They later moved to Halifax (later called Pittsylvania Co.) VA by 1766, where they remained until 1774 or later.  By 1776, the family had moved to Burke Co. NC., where the western boundary was the Cherokee Nation.  Some Cherokees remained east of the boundary and took on the cultural traits of their white neighbors, including white names, in addition to their Cherokee names.  There was one major difference, however.  The Cherokee men were skilled hunters, and as game disappeared, they were slow to learn agricultural skills.  Their white neighbors were much more skilled in agriculture, and the Cherokee women found more eligible white men in her community.  The Whites were much wealthier (comparably) than the Cherokees.  Thus, the Cherokee women entered into unions with white men.

This map shows the border of the Cherokee Nation, which eventually ended with the Trail of Tears. 

1775 or 1776      James entered into an unrecorded relationship with Sarah Ann (No Maiden Name) or Ann (NMN).  Her name is shown both ways.  Adam, their first child, was born in 1777 in Burke Co. NC.  The union of a white man and an Indian woman generally was not recognized as a legal marriage because a minister or judge would not marry a Christian to a non-Christian, and an Indian was not, by GA law at that time, a Christian.  This attitude did not begin to change until well into the 1830’s.  In the case of the Hulsey families, these unions generally lasted a lifetime.  A person of mixed blood was judged to be white based on their cultural traits more so than their ancestry.

1778       James purchased land on John’s River below William Stones near the Three Forks of the river and later signed a “Road Request from the Three Forks of the River to the Globe Clearing”.  This area is northwest of now Lenoir, NC.