Wake County NC was cut from corners of Orange, Johnston and Cumberland counties in 1771. The town of Raleigh was not yet conceived as in 1788 the site was chosen specifically to become the state’s new capital. Raleigh wasn’t incorporated as such until 1792. There’s no real reason to tell you this other than during the time period 1772 and 1800 there seemed to be a steady migration from the area of Wake County to what’s now the areas between Anson and Cabarrus Counties NC. That, and as a teacher in 1980’s Wake County, I remember the name Garrott or Garrett as being common.

In early winter, on 17 Dec 1771, Burdig Howell sold his 68 acres encompassing present day Rocky River bridge to Peter Ciser/Kiser/Keiser (Deed 6-128, Mecklenburg NC). Peter sold the land to Joseph Garrott on 1 April 1772. Joseph didn’t hold on to it long as he and wife Susana sold the tract on 10 Jan 1774 to William Mitchell (Deed 7-385, Mecklenburg NC). Of special interest, William Mitchell owned land adjoining William Haynes, the likely namesake of Haynes Baptist Meeting House. William Haynes removed to Burke County in western North Carolina where he founded Bill’s Baptist Church near Chimney Rock in present day Lake Lure NC.

There’s no further record for Joseph Garrott in the area of Cabarrus or old Mecklenburg NC. There is however a family of that name that expanded out of Maryland along numerous routes through North Carolina. About the time Joseph sold his land in Mecklenburg NC a Joseph Garrott and others appear in Laurens County SC. I don’t have access to the best of records for SC though online, descendants indicate that family may have passed earlier through Pitt County NC. If so, and only as a what-if, early Cabarrus County would have made for a timely stopping point in their migration south.

Were there others from Cabarrus who moved to Laurens County SC?   Yes, apparently a David Templeton from Coddle Creek made the move. One of his family married the daughter of a person named Joseph Garrott in Laurens County.

And how about Adam Garmon? All Garmon histories line up a bunch of Michaels punctuated by a George early on. There must have been more branches than just those named Michael!

Dated 7 Apr 1779, Thomas Polk (Attorney for David Oliphant) sold land to Adam Garmon (Deed 7-84, Mecklenburg NC). Shaded in darker green below, this tract of 72 acres lies on the “waters of Rockie River neigh the Baptist Meeting House.” The deed is the definitive document used to identify Haynes Meeting House as an early church located just up the hill from the Rocky River bridge.

Living on the land for less than a year, on 12 Sep 1779, Adam Garmon and wife sold the land around Haynes Meeting House to Henry Kent of Wake County (Deed 11-31, Mecklenburg NC). In a corresponding deed in Wake County, Henry Kent of now Mecklenburg sells his land on Utley Creek in Wake to Davie Straight. There’s no record of Henry selling his land in Cabarrus though he does appear in the 1800 Kershaw County SC census. Henry’s not alone as others also moved from Cabarrus and Anson to Kershaw SC. And note there are many in Anson County who once lived in the area of Utley Creek, Wake County.

Selling his land near the Baptist meeting house, Adam Garmon magically disappears and is no longer found in the area. There’s no known family ties or other information clearly locating his whereabouts. But just as quickly as he disappeared, another person named Adam Garmon shows up on Rabon Creek in Laurens County SC. And this Adam had a son named (surprise surprise) …Micheal, but of course!

Could Adam Garmon and Joseph Garrott have moved to Laurens County SC together or as part of the same migration?   I dunno though I’ve marked the following 1825 map of Laurens County with possible locations they settled upon. There’s a Garrott mill in the northeast corner on Copper Creek (marked by a red star). Further south and west we know Adam Garmon acquired land on Rabon’s Creek (marked by a blue star). The map is courtesy of the Library of Congress.

As my ancestor Jonah Love married Sally Garmon, the history of this family has always been important to me. And knowing of Adam, and of so little out there on him, it would be wonderful to identify him and his descendants as kin. To make this happen, I hope for DNA testing by members of both the Cabarrus County NC and Laurens County SC families. It’s easy to do and just requires action by those who are truly interested to know about their past.   Together we can do great things; let’s work together and tear down that wall!