Individual Details

Several different years are given for the birth of James Lea. If he is indeed the orphan son of John Lea of Spotsylvania Co, he was still a minor in 1731, perhaps even under the age of 14 since John Key himself was applying for guardianship - which would indicate he was born after 1719. Most databases place his birth some earlier.
Spotsylvania Co Order Book 2, p.89 7 Oct 1731. On motion of John Key that he might be guardian to James Lea, orphan of John Lea, dec'd, is granted. Key having entered into Bond with Zachary Taylor.

Zachary Taylor was the guardian of William Lea, probably James's brother. Their mother, Ann, married Thomas Creathers, as shown in court records.

"William Lea of Spots.Co. and Frances, his wife, to Thomas White of the same County, [pounds sterling sign] 55 curr. 100 a. whereon sd. Lea lives and part of a pat. belonging to sd. Thomas White in Spots. Co."
[Deed Bk. E, 1751-1761, Sept. 1, 17520. Crozier's Spotsylvania Co. Records, p. 191]
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"March 6, 1753, James Lea of St. Geo. Par. Spts. Co., and Ann, his wife, to John Chapman of afds. Par. and Co. [pounds sterling sign]
80 curr. 200 a. in Spots. Co."
[Deed Bk E, 1751-1761, Crozier's Spots. Co. Records, p. 192.]
James had purchased this land from Joseph Brock, 1 May 1739.

On Feb. 23, 1754, James Lea witnessed a deed from
"Thomas White and Betty, his wife of Spots. Co. to John Thornton and Wm. Waller, Gent., Church Wardens of St. Geo. Par., Spts. Co., 640 lbs tob. 144 sq. poles, being a square of 12 poles on each side, being lately laid off for a church yard at the New Church East North East, including the sd. Church, which stands in the centre thereof, etc., in trust for the Par."
[Deed Bk e - 1751-1761, Crozier's Spots. Co. Records, p. 195]

These records in Spotsylvania Co cannot be those of James Lea [Country Line] whose wife was also Ann, because they were living in Orange Co NC by 1752.



Note: There was both a James Lea Senior and Junior in Caswell. There may even have been a third generation James Lea who became "Jr" after the death of the eldest James. There may have been as many as five James Leas as seen on early tax lists. Certainly one of the James Leas lived on Country Line Creek; another lived on branches of the North & South Hico, on Kilgore and Cobbs Creek - much of this area became Person Co in 1791

From Caswell Co NC Deed Books, 1777-1817
First mention of James Jr:
p.45 DB B, p.157 5 Jan 1784 John Cooper Sr to James Lea Jun for 100 £, 345 acres on S. Hico adj his own corner, William Glen, crossing Cooper's Br.

[I believe these next three are a third generation James]
p.316 DB Q, p.369 28 Oct 1811 William Lea & Vincent Lea to Major Wallis, 60 acres on N Hico adj. Wallis, Thomas Phelps, Wm Stuart, John Wisdom. Wit: Elijah Morton, James Lea Junr.
p.327 DB Q, p.468 31 Oct 1812 Edward Swann to James Lea Jun for $1000, 432.8 acres on Rattlesnake Creek adj Donoho, formerly Roper's. Wit: Danl. S. Farley, William Lea [Rattlesnake Creek is West of Country Line - runs into the Dan River]
p.351 DB R, p.270 5 Oct 1815 Graves Howard to James Lea Jun for $2000, 517 1/2 acres on Country Line Cr adj Thomas Harrelson, Jacob Ahart, Rudd, Barzillai Graves. Wit: Azariah Graves, Barzillai Graves


Deeds of James Lea of Kilgore Branch of N. Hico, Cobbs Creek of S. Hico:

p.19 DB A, p.313 20 Nov 1779 Sarah Sargent to Daniel Sargent, 100 acres on S Hico & Cobbs Crk, adj James Lea, part of a large tract which Lea formerly sold to Thomas Bayley. Wit: Stephen Sargent, Joseph Gold.

20 Dec 1779: Widow Lea mentioned as a neighbor in state land grant toThomas Wilson on North Hico, also Robert McFarland, Samuel Johnston.
p.24 DB A, p.419 [The widow Lea is mentioned again in the same deed with James Lea, DB B, p.188, in 1783. I believe she is likely Mary Lea, who administered the estate of William Lea who died intestate in Orange Co NC, ca 1762.]

p.37 DB B, p.17 20 Dec 1779 State of NC to William McDaniel, 200 acres on Kilgore Br adj James Lea, Andrew Gibson's old line, John Johnston.

p.38 DB B, p.378 29 Oct 1782 State of NC to James Lea SENR, 600 acres both sides east fork Killgore's Br adj Will Lea's corner, Thomas Killgore, claim of William McDaniel, William Moore, Thos. Langley

p.39 DB B, p.49 17 Jun 1783 James Lea SENR, to Gabriel Lea his son, 260 acres both sides Kilgore's br of N. Hico, part of tract granted Lea by State, adj William McDaniel, Widow Gibson, ABrahm Fulkerson, Thomas Evans, William Moore.


p.39 DB B, p.53 17 Jun 1783 James Lea to Thomas Evans, 327 acres both sides Killgore's Br of N. Hyco, part of tract granted Lea by State, adj. William Moore, John Johnston, James Sargent, Abraham Fulkerson

p.46 DB B, p.188 13 Oct 1783 State of NC to Richard Escridge 195 acres on Cobb Cr adj James Lea, John McFarland, Thomas Wilson, widow Lea's line.

p.56 DB B, p.410 16 Jul 1784 James Lea to Henry Cooper for 100£, 340 acres on S Hico adj Cooper, James McCarver, James Johnson, 2 grants from the State, #104 and 182. Wit: James Lea, George Huston
[There are obviously two James Leas living at this time since one witnessed for the other. They were not necessarily father and son]

p.75 DB D, p.819 10 Nov 1784 State grant to Richard Lea, 125 a Cobbs Crk of Hico adj the Moravian land and James Lea.


DB B, p.36 16 Mar 1784 There is supposed to be a power of attorney from James Lea, son and heir of William Lea, dec'd of Caswell, when he appointed Thomas Phillips his attorney to obtain title to a tract in King & Queen Co in VA, 25 acres on the Mattapone, near Madison Mill. Reference is given to Caswell DB B, p.36, but this cannot be correct - there is no such abstract in the book of Caswell Deeds and the dates concerned in Book B are much too early for this to have been recorded in Book B - I have not found the abstract of this power of attorney. I suspect it was in the deeds of another county, or in the court records. This has been assumed by many researchers to have been the James Lea who lived on Country Line Creek. The above power of attorney said to have been witnessed by Herndon Haralson, who was a grandson of the James Lea of Country Line Creek - which confuses the issue of which James Lea issued the power of attorney.

However, there are also some Caswell deeds which refer to a James Lea as son of William Lea, but it may not be the same two men given the number of James & Williams that appear with the surname Lea. These deeds on Cobbs Creek would appear to be relatives of Capt William Lea [who was very much still alive in 1785] and James Lea of Kilgore's Branch who had always lived near the Sargents.


p.67 DB C, p.107 16 Jul 1785 James Lea son of William Lea Dec'd to George Lea, 268 acres both sides Cobbs Crk adj Stafford's line. Wit: James Lea, Stephen Sargent
p.67 DB C, p.116 16 Jul 1785 James Lea son of William dec'd to Barnet Lea, 112 acres east side Cobbs Crk. Wit: James Lea, Stephen Sargent
p.67 DB C, p.117 16 Jul 1785 George Lea to James Lea, for 5sh, 1/2 acres, West side Cobb Crk. Wit: Jno McFarland, Richard Eskridge

p.91 DB E, p.80 11 Oct 1786 James Lea & Joseph Gold witness deed, John Asborn to Gabriel Lea, 50 acres on N Hico, part of larger tract granted Asborn from the State, adj Thomas Kilgore.

p.92 DB E, p.104 Oct 1786 Joshua Carney to William Lea, 88 acres on Kilgore's Br on east of Wm Lea's line which Lea bought of Abram Fulkerson, Thomas Evans, James Lea

p.115 DB F, p.302 5 Aug 1789 Thomas Willingham to James Lea, 200 Acres on S Hico adj Samuel Johnston, James Johston, Cooper, George Huston. Wit: Benjn Douglass, John Douglass.

p.136 DB H, p.40 23 Jul 1791 Jesse Evans to Staples Malone, 122 acres on Killgore's Br, part of tract granted James Lea by State adj Daniel Malone. Wit: Gabriel Lea, Lewis Evans.

p.138 DB H, p.81 25 Jun 1792 James Lea to Samuel Nealey for 100£, 200 acres on S Hico adj Samuel Johnston on James Johnston's line, Cooper, Huston. Wit: John Crisp, William Malone [bought from Thomas Willingham 5 Aug 1789]

p.150 DB H, p.337 James Lea to Richard Hamblet, 148 acres on Kilgore's Br of N Hico adj Kilgore. Wit: Gabriel Lea.

p.196 DB L, p.37 26 Oct 1798 Lawrence Lea to Thomas Evans, 200 acres on S Hico adj Thos. Vanhook, James Currier. Wit: Gabriel Lea, William Lea

p.280 DB P, p.88 10 Aug 1804 Robert Hamlett, Wm Hamlett, Richard Hamlett, Bird Hamlett, Lewsi Ashburn all of Caswell, Mark Malone of Person So, Sarah/Sally Wall of Halifax Co VA, devisees of Richard Hamlett dec'd to James Lea, 211 acres on head waters Kilgore Br of N Hico adj Joshua Carney. Wit: Vincent Lea, Gabl. Lea, Robert Hamlett, Thomas Riggs.

p.349 DB R, p.250 27 Oct 1814 Joshua Carney to Richard H. Hayes, 462 on N & S Hico adj Joseph Currie, widow Jackson, Lewis Malone, Wm. B. Brooks, James Lea. Wit: Gabl. B. Lee, Gabriel Lee

p.360 DB R, p.375 30 Aug 1815 Richard H. Hayes to James Lea, 26.4 acres on N & S Hico adj Lea. Wit: Elijah Jacobs, Gabl. B. Lee

This James Lea's wife was also said to be an Ann - sometimes even recorded as Ann Tolbert, thought to be incorrect [see the discussion of Ann Herndon, wife of James Lea of Country Line Creek]. A deposition found online appears to indicate his wife was instead Ann Bankston. This deposition does not state in which county the statements were made - probably Person or Caswell Co NC. [The deposition took place at the home of Gabriel Lea - further support for this James Lea to be the one who married a Bankston daughter.]

James "Lee" deposed on 1 Jan 1797 that he had married a wife out of the family of Lawrence Bankston, his bosom friend. Andrew was the oldest son and heir of Lawrence, dec'd, and had lived on Lynches Creek of Hico, but he moved to the south. Lawrence Bankson died before the war [Revolution] and James Lea does not know of any will. He believes Andrew was the oldest, next Daniel, then Lawrence Jr and Jacob, the youngest. Lea stated he was incapable of attending Superior Court by infirmity of old age. Witnesses were Samuel Johnston, Gabriel Lea, James Lee.
Another deposition dated 1793 ??? stated that 47 years ago he had married into the family of Laurance Banckston Senr. He had often heard Banckston say he held a claim of land on the south side of a larger tract where he was residing on the waters of Panther Creek in Caswell Co. He didn't know whether Banckston had ever obtained any right. He believes Banckston died in Anson Co before the War and never knew of any will. Andrew Bankston was the eldest son and heir at law; Peter the second son, Laurance the third son of the said Laurance Senr. Daniel Bankston was the 4th son - Jacob was the fifth son and the youngest.

One of the problems with the above depositions is that a genealogy of the Lea family, written by Rev. Lorenzo Lea in 1879, in which he gives the date of death for James Lea as 1788 - earlier than the depositions. However, no will or tombstone, or any court record citing the death of James Lea has been found.

NC Archives, State Records A. Granville Proprietary Land Office
There is a Warrant, 3 Nov 1753 for Laurance Bankston, Orange Co NC. 640 acres on N Hyco Creek, Panther Branch. A descriptive reference says: N. Hyco Creek Plat: 595 acres 12 Jul 1754. Chain Carriers: Andrew Caddell, Laurance Bankson.

Birth	Abt 1720
Marriage	Abt 1746	Ann Bankston

Spouse	Ann Bankston ( - )
Child	William Lea (1747 - 1806)
Child	James Lea ( - 1830)
Child	Polly Lea ( - )
Child	Phoebe Lea ( - )
Child	Gabriel Lea (1758 - 1834)

Father	John Lea ( - 1731)
Mother	Ann ?Taylor ( - )
Sibling	Living
Sibling	John Lea [Richland] ( - 1781)
Sibling	Elizabeth Lea ( - )
Sibling	Capt William Lea (1715 - 1804)