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Then we find what appears to be his death year in the Hancock County Chancery case #38, dated May 11, 1859. In this case, Celia McArthur is suing her son, John McArthur, when he recorded 80 acres of land in his name that should have gone to Celia as a “homestead” claim. In her compliant, she says that “in the year 1855 in pursuance of her right as the widow of the same James McArthur, agreed with John McArthur of said County (the son of your oratrix) to repair to the District land office situated at Augusta, Mississippi to enter and pay for the land to which she was entitled to ....” Assuming this date is accurate, this will place James McArthur’s death in 1855. Until a more specific date can be found, we will use 1855 as James’s year of death. He, like his wife, is presumed to be buried in the old Mill Creek Cemetery without a head marker.
Records in Washington, D.C. show that our James McArthur fought in the War of 1812. He enlisted in “November or December of 1812” and continued until the end of the war. He was in Captain James Gaines Company from Hancock County. The record was an application for a “land bounty” grant in 1850 and continued thru 1856. It said he was 74 years old that year, or born in 1776. The application has his actual signature. Based on this application he was eventually granted 80 acres of land in Hancock County. Until we can find something more specific, we will use 1776 as his year of birth.
Now to the question of where in North Carolina did our James McArthur, who was born in 1776, come from? In the 1790 census of Robeson County, North Carolina, we find Peter McArthur with 3 males over age 16 and 6 females of all ages in his home. There was no other McArthurs living in the county that year.
Then in the 1800 census of Robeson County, we find three McArthur families living next to each other. Peter McArthur’s home had 1 male over 45, 2 females under 26, and 1 female over age 45. Next door is Duncan McArthur with 2 males under 10, 1 male under 45, 3 females under 10, and 1 female under age 45. Of most importance, we find James McArthur living next to the above with his age between 17 and 26, alone, with no one else living in his home. Thus, this person would have been bom between 1774 and 1783 — perfect for our James McArthur who was bom in 1776! By 1800 he was old enough to own land of his own, and he was apparently not married that year. It should also be noted that he was the only James McArthur living in North Carolina that year.
Moving to the 1810 census of Robeson County, we find Catherine McArthur living next to Neill McArthur and family. Also living in Robeson is Alex McArthur, Mary McArthur, and two Peter McArthurs - all head of their households. Of interest, James McArthur does not show up in this census. Could this be because he was now married and moved to Hancock County, MS? We think that is probably what happened. Remember our James McArthur married Celia Lott around 1803 in NC. Additionally, their first child, John was bom in 1805 in NC and the family was traveling on a “passport” thru Georgia in 1810.
After studying the work of various McArthur family researchers on the internet, we suspect our James McArthur was bom in Robeson County, NC and was of Scottish ancestry. Keep in mine that Celia Lott, wife of James McArthur, was also bom in North Carolina, probably in New Hanover County, which is not far from Robeson County. We will let someone else research this further. Possibly a visit to the State Archives in Raleigh, NC would provide additional information on this family.
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