Person:Thomas Bastin (1)

Timeline:

1775, 28 Nov The Continental Congress formally establishes the Continental Navy, predecessor of the US Navy.

1777 Thomas Bastin is listed on the Caswell Co, NC Tax List.

1783, 13 Oct Thomas Bastin purchases 600 acres on Little Wolf Island Creek in Caswell Co, NC.

1804, 10 Sep Thomas Bastin of Caswell County NC buys 100 acres of land for $120 from John Milby of Rockingham Co, NC.

1810 Caswell Co, NC Tax List lists Thomas Bastin along with his sons including Thomas Bastin, Jr.

30 Jan. 1817 Thomas Bastin dies intestate (without a will). Hannah receives the customary (by English Common Law) portion of 1/3 of the land; the remaining land is divided among his children (73 acres, each).

1834 Hannah Bastin's estate settlement is recorded in Caswell Co, NC.

Background:

About the time of the Revolutionary War, Thomas and Hannah Bastin lived on a farm through which Little Wolf Island Creek flowed. Their farm was located in what is today the far NW portion of Caswell County, NC, near modern-day Pelham, NC. They raised "corn, wheat, cotton and flax." They also 'tanned leather, spun cotton and wool and owned four head of horses, thirteen head of cattle, twenty-one head of hogs and fourteen head of sheep." It is possible that part of their farm was in modern-day Rockingham County, NC, since the present county line is nearly where Little Wolf Island Creek is located.

Shortly after Thomas arrived in NC, around the year 1771, Little Wolf Island Creek was one of four communities in the Caswell County area. Here, Thomas Bastin received a land grant in 1778. Other records indicate the Bastin family was affiliated with the Primitive Baptist church at this time. In 1791, Thomas Bastin was listed as a member of the Lick Fork Primitive Baptist Church and he is probably buried there. There is also a record that Thomas Bastin Jr., and his wife joined this church in 1814. Bastin also helped the Country Line (Branch) in 1791. (This latter church was near the Country Line Creek.)

Together with his farming on these 800 acres from about 1778, Thomas bought and sold other pieces of farm land and probably tried to raise tobacco as some neighbors did. In fact, the emergence of tobacco and slave labor coupled with Thomas' death in 1817 probably led all three sons, William, Thomas Jr., and John to migrate to KY between 1817 and 1820. Hannah, however, lived in the "mansion house" on the banks of Little Wolf Island Creek until her death in 1834. Some of the married girls probably stayed nearby. The girls included Elizabeth Powell, Temperance Newell, Amy Langwell, Milly Robertson and Sarah Nichols all married at the time of their father's death in 1817 and each received 73 acres upon Thomas' death according to state law. Hannah had to petition the court to give her enough provisions to last one year and possession of the house to live in.

Sources: The Heritage of Caswell Co, NC 1985 Filson Club #975 .6575 H548. Nell Langwell Gronberg.

Additional records: ---The first Federal Census of 1790 is not available but the County Tax list for Hillsborough District, Caswell County lists Thomas Bastin ---The State Census of 1786 for Caswell District lists Thomas Bastin (41 yrs. old). 3 white males under 20 and 7 white females (all ages) ---Thomas received 600 acres at the price of 50 shillings per 100 acres from the State, witness Alexander Martin, esq., our Govenor Captains General and Commander in Chief at Hillsborough in the 8th year of our independence, October 13, 1783 ---Thomas received land grant for 600 acres on October 1, 1772 on Little Wolf Creek ---In 1820 Federal Census only John (26-45), Hannah and Thomas Jr., (26-45) listed ---The tax list for Caswell District of 1797 shows both Thomas Bastin and William Bastin ---The estate of Thomas Bastin was probated in 1817 ---1835 Inventory of the Property of the Estate of Hannah Bastin

According to Janet Cochran (Hustonville Road, Stanford, KY on 24 May, 1987), Thomas Bastin was a Seaman in the Revolutionary War and received a land grant on Little Wolf Island Creek for his services. Thus far, no one I know of has been able to verify His service as a seaman in the Revolution. gfb (NOTE: President George Washington and Congress authorized the creation in 1794 of the U.S. Navy)

Thomas Bastin is said to have been a seaman in the Revolution but record searches have been fruitless.

Thomas Bastin entered a claim 1 October 1778 for 600 acres of land on Little Wolfe Island Creek, Caswell Co, NC Claim was granted. He bought additional land in Caswell County in 1790 and in 1811 according to deed records.

Thomas Bastin died intestate in January 1817 after which his widow Hannah, petitioned Caswell County Court for a year's provisions. In July, 1817, the court was ordered by jury to lay off and allot Hannah Bastin, widow of Thomas Bastin, deceased, her third of land containing 186 acres and including the Mansion House and other outhouses. She continued to live there until she died in 1834.

Some family researchers have claimed that Thomas Bastin was born in Pittsylvania Co, VA and that his three oldest children were born there as well.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Bastin Family File in Casey County (KY).