Person:Jonas Bedford (1)

- Jonas Bedford Sr.: File contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Debbie Fowler. The following is from the Taylor and McCurrey Genealogy, written in 1937, by Judge Wilson Taylor, St. Louis, MO; pp 142-153. "None of the Bedfords are akin to the Taylors or McCurrys or to William Hunt, the father of Elizabeth Hunt, who married Joseph Taylor, or grandfather, except where descendants of the Bedfords intermarried with Taylors. The name Bedford is one of the finest old English names in history. The Earls and Dukes of Beford, of which there were thirteen, had much to do with the making and moulding of English progress. In America the name Bedford is honored, in English settle communities, by fifteen states with a city named Bedford, and Massachusetts has a New Bedford. Jonas Bedford was not of this rayalty, he was of the lay Bedfords, of which there were many in England from Whence he came. He attained some distinction as a trained soldier, maybe an officer in the British Army, but this attainment also gave him some trouble, hereafter stated. I could not obtain the date of his birth or death, but have facts by which they may be determined approximately. His will, set out presently, was written May 1820. It was probated in 1823. He died between those dates, I will guess in 1822. In 1779 he sold a tract of land, hereafter referred to, in the _____ of which it is stated that the tract was patented by Jonas Bedford in _____. He was undoubtedly of legal age at that time. I will say 23, placing his birth in 1741. This would fix his age at 81 when he died, and this would not miss his age very far. He was one of the pioneer settlers of Tryon County, antedating in age Absolem Hunt, born in 1760, and William Wat Hunt, born in 1770, by 19 years, respectively. Tryon County took in all the Western part of North Carolina until 1779. Johas Bedford lived on the First Broad River, about 9 or 10 miles below first Smith McCurry place, and about the same distance east of the First Broad Baptist Church in Rutherford County. The given name of his wife was Mercy. He was the grandfather of Elizabeth Bedford who married Elijah, a son of Absolem Hunt. When the American Revolution fo 1776 was approaching, he was a justice of the peace in Tryon County, and the court records at Rutherfordton mentions his name frequently. By reason of his position as justice of the peace at the beginning of the Revolution he became a member of the Committee of Safety, which assumed all civil authority for the first eighteen months of the Revolution. In connection with his appointment to this Committee of Safety, I found in the Library of the Daughter of the American Revolution in Washington, the following official act:" 'North Carolina State Records, Volume 10, Page 120. Minutes of a meeting of the Freeholders in Tryon County, North Carolina. North Carolina, Tryon County. Pursuant to Notice. At a meeting of the Freeholders of the County of Tryon at the Court House of said County on the 26th day of July, 1775, in order to elect a committee for said County the following persons were chosen to wit: For Captain McKinney's Company, ____ McKinney and Jonas Bedford.' He was evidently expelled from the Committee of Safety later, as his name does not appear after the first few months of the proceedings of the Committed. Presumably his return to England was the reason for his removal. As stated above Jonas Bedford had some status in the British Army when the Revolution came on. Before the Revolution, England was his country as it was that of everone else who lived here. He was called to duty in the army of his country and returned to England to serve. When the war closed he was banished from this country for seven years because of his activities against it. During his absence, the Legislature of North Carolina entered the following Act, which I also found in the Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington:" 'An act for the relief of Mercy Bedford, and to vest in the heirs of Jonas and Mercy Bedford the landed estate of the said Jonas Bedford.. Whereas it has been made to appear to the satisfaction of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, that Jonas Bedford, formerly of the County of Rutherford in this state, did, in the year 1780, abandon said wife, Mercy Bedford, and her children by joining the British Army, with whom the said Jonas did leave the states and has not yet returned, leaving his said wife and children in very great distress; and as it is reasonable and just, that the real and personal estate of the said Jonas Bedford should be appropriated to the payment of his debts, an to the ____ and support of his wife and children: `I. Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same; that the said Mercy Bedford be enabled and empowered to the personal estate of the said Jonas Bedford and to collect the debs owed to her said husband, together with the said personal estate or amounts owed thereof, to the support of herself and children. II. And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the heirs of the said Jonas and Mercy Bedford, be and ther are hereby vested with absolute right in free simple, of and to all the landed estate of the said Jonas Bedford, in as full and ample a manner as they could have been by a deed of gift to them for the same from their father, Jonas Bedford.

  Passed December 29, 1785
  North Carolina State Records,
  Volume 34, Pages 761-762

After remaining away from tthis country for seven years, he returned to his family, and was thereafter elected by the people a member of the House of Commons from Rutherford County, that is, the lower house of the state legislature, for three terms of one year each - two being elected from each county - in 1795, 1796, and 1797. The legislature was established in and by the Constitution and was modeled after the British Parliament. He was also County Trustee from April 1798 to January 1801. The duties of the Trustees were not comprehensive. They were appointed by the justices of the court and their term of office was one year. The compensation was small and the office was neither attractive nor remunerative. The duty of the trstees was to receive all monies collected from the sheriff, county tax collection and others, and pay out the same as ordered by the County Judge.

After Jonas Bedford came to North Carolina, land could be gotten y P___ from the King of England prior tho the Revolution, for fifty shillings for 100 acres, and after the Revolution from the State of North Carolina for %5.00 for 100 acres, this sum being equivalent to fifty shillings, English money. His notion, it seems, was to acquire land, hold it a while, maybe improve it a little, and then sell it at a profit. The records at Rutherfordton show that he entered eighteen different tracts of land and acquired sixteen different tracts by purchase. In an alphabetical index to record book A. D., the first eleven transfers to persons whose name began with the letter "B" were made to Jonas Bedford. This shows that he had acquired eleven tracts of land before any other person in the county whose name began with a "B" had acquired any. The eleven transfers were as follows:

    GrantorBookPage    Grantee

George Winters AD172Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD371Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD373Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD 372Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD 372Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD373Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD374Jonas Bedford George Winters AD377Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD378Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD378Jonas Bedford State of N. C. AD379Jonas Bedford

Extract from the first two deeds indexed follow: "George Winters to Jonas Bedford xxx land on a branch of Floyd's Creek, Broad River, patented by said George Winters Oct 27, 1774 xxx consideration 150 pounds, etc."

"North Carolina to Jonas Bedford, County of Tryon, fifty shillings for every 100 acres. It is hereby conveyed to Jonas Bedford on hundred acres lying in Tryon County. In testimony whereof, we have caused our great seal to be hereunto affixed. Richard Casell, Esq., our Governor, Captain, General and Commander-in-Chief at Kingston, the 13th of August, in the fourth year of our independence, and in the year of our Lord 1779, by his Excellency came."

The following are excerpts from some of the deeds made by Jonas Bedford:

1796 - "Jonas Beford to John Melton, Dec 8, 1796 in the year of our independence, land on First Broad River, patented by Jonas Bedford Oct 28, 1782

• • Note** This John Melton was John Martin Melton I, the grandfather of John Martin Melton III, who married Olivine Taylor, father's sister. He acquired this land from Jonas Bedford shortly before he came to Rutherford County. He is spoken of in the story of Olivine (Taylor).

1779 - Jonas Bedford to George Williams, July 28, 1779, deed of release, consideration 150 pounds.

 witness:  Richard LedbetterJonas Bedford
 Witness:  William Ledbetter

1790 - Jonas Bedford to James Murray, quit claim deed. Deed signed Jonas Bedford and Mercy Bedford, his wife. Her name is not mentioned in the body of the deed.

1794 - Jonas Bedford to William Hawkins of Hallifax City, VA, April 24 1779, tract of land for 1100 pounds, patented to Jonas Bedford in 1764.

1789 - Jonas Bedford and Mercy Bedford, his wife, Dec 3, 1789 to Thomas _____ Lincoln County, 200 acres of land on the east side of Breyer Creek ab)))) ford, for 240 pounds, Current money.

Land conveyances are recorded for Raymond Bedford, Stephen Bedford, James Bedford, and Jonas Bedford Jr., sons of Jonas and Mercy Bedford. Additional information on land recrods for grandchildren are on record dating to 1904.

Census of the Bedfords:

1790 - Morgan District, 9th Company, Rutherford County, N.C. - Jonas Bedford: two males 16 and up; two females under 16.

Residences: Essex, NJ; Cumberland, PA 1763-1768; Mecklenburg, NC 1768; Tryon, NC 1769; Burke, NC 1778.

Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Rutherford County, North Carolina, January 1783: Jonas Bedford was charged with treason and his estate was confiscated.

WILL: Will Book D, Pages 10-11 April 1823 Term of Court. In the name of God, Amen. I, Jonas Bedford, of Rutherford County, State of North Carolina, Planter, in perfect health of body & of perfect mind & memory, thanks be given unto God; calling unto mind the mortality of my body and know that it is appointed for all men once to die, that is to say principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul unto the Hand of Almight God who gave it, and my body I recommend to the Earth to be buried in a decent Christian burial at the direction of my Executors, nothing doubting buth at the general Resurrection I shal receive the same again by the mighty power of God. And as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life, I give, dispose, devise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form: First, I give and bequeath to Unice Lyles, my dearly beloved daughter, all debts, dues or demands, also all lands that prove to be my property and provided the debts and land is recovered I give to my son Raymond Bedford five Pounds. Likewise I give to my son Jonas Bedford five Pounds, also I give to my son Stephen Bedford five Pounds, also I give to my daughter Elizabeth Byars one hundred dollars and to my daughter Rebecca Hunt one hundred dollars. And I do hereby constitute, make and ordain the Sole Executors of this my last will and testament David Lyles and Thomas Lyles, and I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke and disannul all and every other former testaments, wills, legacies, bequests and Executors by me in anyways before named, willed and bequeathed, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this fifth day of May, in the year of Our Lord, on thousand eight hundred and twenty and the forty-fifth year of the Independence of America. Jonas Bedford (Seal) Signed, sealed, published, pronounced and declared by the said Jonas Bedford as his last will and testament in presence of us, Andrew Shurer, John Lyles, April 1823 Term of Court