JESSE HARPER OF LENOIR COUNTY, N.C.

Jesse Harper of Lenoir County (born before 1765, died after 1820), was married several times. I seem to be the only one to know about one wife named Ann Roberts. She was my aunt, and they married sometime ca 1803-1805, probably in neighboring Wayne County where her family lived. They had three children when Ann Roberts died. The children were Isabella Harper, Kinyon Harper, and James Harper.

The proof of this is found in the John Roberts estate records. Ann Roberts Harper was a daughter of John Roberts (c1748-1803) and Nancy Smith of Wayne Co, NC. John Roberts died in 1803, and he died possessed of thousands of acres of land in Lenoir, Wayne, Duplin and Johnston Counties, and the division records are very informative (all filed in Wayne County, and also in his Loose Estate records found at the NC Archives).

One record dated July 1803 was filed in New Bern District Court and concerned the division of the estate and this record named "Ann Roberts" as an heir of John Roberts, deceased.

The next record was dated 23 Nov 1803 (John Roberts' Loose Estate File, NC Archives) and was where Henry Roberts (Ann's brother) was appointed guardian for her, so she was under 21 at that time.

The next record was dated 10 Sep 1805 (also in John Robert's Loose Estate File) shows Jesse Harper listed among the heirs, and Ann Roberts not listed by name, so it seems they married between 23 Nov 1803 and 10 Sep 1805.

The next record was undated (John Robert's Loose Estate File), but mentioned a court order dated April 1814, so it was from that time frame, and mentioned "Anne, wife of Jesse Harper" and further stated "Anne has died leaving Isabella Harper, Kinyon Harper and James Harper, infants".

The above records also show that Ann inherited 670 acres of land on Trent River in Lenoir County.

My conclusion from the above, and from the scant census evidence is that Jesse Harper of Lenoir County married Ann Roberts (born ca 1782-1784 in Wayne County) between 1803 and 1805, and moved into Lenoir County where she died sometime before ca 1814. I have not done much research on the other Harpers, but it appears that Jesse Harper was born before 1765 (per 1820 census) and that he was married twice, or perhaps 3 times, Ann Roberts being the 2nd wife (or 3rd).

I've been in touch with one or two other Jesse Harper researchers, and none of them were aware of this marriage to Ann Roberts, nor of the three children named as her heirs. These are not my ancestors, but I am certainly interested in them. Ann Roberts Harper was 5th Great Aunt of mine, so I am interested in her family. I have not found any additional record (so far) on her three children.