In the early 1740’s, the English colony known as North Carolina was pristine wilderness, inhabited by Indians and wild life. North Carolina’s few thousand "white" settlers lived in the coastal region. To attract more white settlers and to populate the central section of North Carolina, in 1746, the English Crown began offering free land grants to any settlers who agreed to pay the annual property tax. At least six men, John, Thomas, and older Solomon and younger Solomon, an older William and younger William Allred took advantage of this offer and moved to North Carolina. The land they settled on is located in today’s Randolph County, North Carolina.

Circumstantial evidence shows these men were living in North Carolina by the mid 1740’s. The first documented evidence of these these men living in North Carolina is the land grant Solomon received dated March 10, 1752. This land grant, recorded in Anson County (sometimes called Bladen County) states Solomon received land located on the mouth of Sandy Creek, including his improvements. Improvements could mean buildings, a house, and/or cleared land, so Solomon had to be living on this land prior to 1752 in order to have made these "improvements". Solomon’s name was spelled "Aldricks" in this land grant, a clerical error. By following the land transactions from 1752 to 1778 when Solomon sold the last of his land in Orange County, we can prove that Solomon Aldricks and Solomon Allred were the same person.

I want to take a moment to explain the formation of today’s Randolph County. As you noticed in the above paragraph, Solomon’s first land grant was recorded in Anson (sometimes called Bladen) County, but he sold his land in old Orange County and you thought he lived in Randolph County. Confusing, right? Counties were being formed and county lines changed rapidly in the 1700’s. To the inexperienced researcher, the Allred family appears to have moved around quite a bit when they each actually found just one piece of land they liked and lived on throughout this time period. Bladen County was formed in 1734 and covered most of central North Carolina. As more and more people moved into the existing counties and local governments became over-whelmed with work, new counties were formed. Anson County was created from Bladen County in 1750. Orange County was created from Bladen, Johnson and Granville Counties in 1752. Rowan County was created from Anson County in 1753. Guilford County was created from Rowan and Orange Counties in 1770. Randolph County was created from Guilford County in 1779. To find all of the available land records on the Allred family in the mid 1700’s, you have to look at all of these counties even though the Allred men never moved and remained on the same pieces of land throughout this time period. (The information on county formations is taken from the "Handy Book For Genealogists (USA)" posted on the Randolph County page of usgenweb.com and on file in the NC State Archives in Raleigh, NC.)

John Allred received his first documented land grant March 15, 1755 which reads: "640 acres on the east side of Deep River on the mouth of Pleasant Run of Sandy Run; includes his and Thomas Alldrid’s improvements". Note John’s last name was spelled "Allrid" and Thomas’s last name was spelled "Alldrid". By following the land transactions from 1755 to 1792, we have proven that John and Thomas’ last names were actually "Allred". Again, the spelling of the names was most likely a clerical error. Illiteracy was very common in the 1700’s and most "literate" people spelled names according to how they sounded . Thus, when an illiterate man filed a court document such as a land record, he gave his name to the clerk who spelled it the best way he/she could since the illiterate man wouldn’t know how to spell it. This is one explanation for the mis-spelling of the Allred name that we confront as we research the family.

This land record is also more of the circumstantial evidence we have that the Allred men were living in North Carolina prior to receiving their land grants. As the record states, the land grant includes "his and Thomas Alldrid’s improvements". John and Thomas had to have been living on the land prior to March 1755 to have made these improvements.

Another land record filed the same day (March 15, 1755) was for Herman Husband who received land bordering John’s land. Husband’s land record reads "including a cabin built by Solomon Allred and claimed by Zach. Martin". This tells us that Solomon had built a cabin on land "next door" to John and Thomas, but later abandoned the cabin and land which Zach. Martin claimed. Later Herman Husband received the land grant for that same land. All of this happened prior to March 15, 1755, further evidence that the Allred men were living in North Carolina prior to the 1750’s. (Note Solomon’s last name was spelled "Allred" in Husband’s land grant.) (Land Grant information taken from the book titled "Orange County Records, Volume I, Granville Proprietary Land Office, Abstracts of Loose Papers" on file in the NC State Archives.)

Further study of the land grants of Solomon, John and Thomas allows us to pin-point their land’s exact locations as described in the land records. When looking at today’s map, you can find Solomon’s land which was located just north of where HWY 22 crosses HWY 64 in Ramseur, NC (Randolph County). John’s land was located just northeast of today’s Franklinville where Academy Road crosses Sandy Creek. If you stop on the Sandy Creek bridge on Academy Road and look north, you’ll see where Mt. Pleasant Creek branches off from Sandy Creek, about 50 yards from the bridge. Thomas lived with John for several years, then received a land grant for land on the southeast border of John’s. Today, John and Thomas’ land is considered part of the Patterson Grove Community of Randolph County. (See Map of Allred Sites in Randolph County, NC.)

William Allred received his first known (documented) land grant November 29, 1753 filed in Rowan County, NC (refer back to that paragraph on county formations). It reads "640 acres on east side of Deep River about 1/2 mile below where PD path crosses the river". Further study of this land grant and future land transactions allows us to pin-point it’s location between today’s Franklinville and Cedar Falls where Bush Creek branches away from Deep River. (See map of Allred Sites in Randolph County, NC.) 

(Added 12/19/2011)  Recent research documents the Allred men were the sons and/or nephews of Solomon Allred who was born 1680 in Eccles Parish, Lancaster, England. Per research documentation found, Solomon was living in Chester County, Pennsylvania by 1719.  He is listed on the 1724, 1726 and 1730  tax lists for Chester County, Pennsylvania.  Reports on this research will be published in the AFO Newsletter in 2012.  The Newsletter is a Member Benefit of the AFO.  Membership is $20 per year.  To join, click here,