6.12.07

James Cahoon (~1699-)

It is believed -- but no certain evidence proves -- that the James Cahoon who lived in New Bern in the early and mid-1700s belongs to the third generation of Cahoons in North America, being the son of Samuel Cahoon and the grandson of William Cahoone and Deliverance Peck.

William Cahoone is thought to be the first Scottish Cahoon to emigrate to the colonies (first working as an indentured servant in Massachusetts) in 1650, and his story is detailed widely among various Internet sources. He is the father of Samuel Cahoon of Nansemond County (now Suffolk), Virginia, whose family migrated to North Carolina around the turn of the eighteenth century. Among Samuel's children is a son named James.

James first appears in Craven County in the early 1700s, buying a plantation of 320 acres on the north side of the Neuse River between Northwest Creek and Broad Creek from William Handcock Jr. on 5 May 1730 for 50 pounds. Unfortunately for James's descendents, records show that he sold the plantation back to Handcock on 14 June 1733 for 100 pounds, doubling his initial investment. Colonial court minutes show that James was the plaintiff or defendent in several litigations through the mid-1700s but little else is known of him.

He is believed to be the father of John Cahoon, born in 1726 and first mentioned in Craven County court records in 1778.

[Please email corrections, clarifications or additional information to CarolinaCahoons AT gmail DOT com]

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