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Philip Lewis Alston
Born Feb 18, 1741 Bertie or Edgecombe Co. NC
Died 1809? Jefferson Co. MS or New Madrid, Spanish Louisiana

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Father

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Winifred Mildred "Milly" McCoy m. 1762 Anson Co. NC b. 1740 ?NC d. after Oct 3, 1786 ?Davidson Co. TN	Elizabeth (Elise or Elsie) b. 1764? ?NC d. 1827 Jefferson Co. MO	Frances "Frankey" b. 1766 Natchez Dist. d. 1807 Adams Co. Miss. Terr.	John McCoy b. 1767 GA? d. 1856 Claiborne Co. MS?
	Peter b. 1775? ?NC executed Feb 8, 1804 Greenville, Jefferson Co. Miss. Terr.	Philip Lewis (Jr.) "Lewis" b. after 1775? Natchez Dist. d. Apr 10, 1817 West Feliciana Parish LA	James b. after 1775? Natchez Dist. d. after 1799 ?Feliciana Dist. Spanish LA
Philip was born in Edgecombe Co. NC in the year it was formed in 1741 from Bertie Co. (Map), then became part of Granville Co. in 1754 (Map). Warren Co. was formed in 1779 (Map). Map of the region in 1746 from the Granville County 1746 Society's website.
In Oct or Nov, 1776 Philip was living in a house in Petit Gulf along the Mississippi River between Natchez to the south and Big Black and Bayou Pierre to the north. A boat transporting the Phelps family up the river had to stop there because of the illness of the wife, Jerusha Phelps, who died at Philip's house which he had "opened his home" to them [Journal of Capt. Mathew Phelps, McBee, pp. 591-2].
Joshua Howard was among those who petitioned the British Govt. of West Florida for land on Nov 6, 1776. He was given a warrant for 200 acres on Second Creek in the Natchez District and the receipt for surveying fees was dated Jan. 22, 1777. After the Spaniards took possession of the territory, Howard left the Natchez District for the Cumberland Settlement in an area of far western North Carolina that later became Nashville TN. He returned to Natchez at the end of 1788.
On Nov 11, 1776, the petition of Absalom Hooper for pardon,he being "accused of robbery on the Mississippi" was considered by the West Florida government. On the same day the land grant petition of Philip Alston was considered. On Dec 10 and 16, the land grant petition of John Alston was also considered [David Library of the American Revolution, West Florida Records, vol 593, no. 107].
On Oct 19, 1778 Philip bought 200 acres from Philip Barbour. The land was located just below Petit Gulf and above Natchez along the Mississippi River. He had asked for 1,100 acres five days earlier from West Florida. His brother John Alston had also requested land "but no locations were designated" [McBee, pp. 591-2].
Map of the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799, showing the locations of Petit Gulf and Second Creek.
In January and October 1779, Absalom Hooper signed Loyalist petitions to the governor of British West Florida. On 27 Oct 1780, he was named in a deposition now held in Seville, Spain. Several others named in depositions in the record series in late 1780 include Joshua Howard, Thomas Holmes, and Philip Alston, whose son John McCoy Alston married Hooper's daughter Sinia in 1795 [Papeles Procedente de Isla Cuba Records in the Archives of Seville, Spain relating to U.S. History in the Spanish Provinces of Louisiana, Illinois and Florida Occidental, microfilm].
Frederick Stump likely marched over land with his family toward the mountains after the British destroyed is home in Augusta GA and joined the Amos Eaton party that left the NC mountains in Dec 1779 for the Cumberland Settlement. The Eaton party arrived at the beginning of 1780, just a week after the leading James Robertson party of men, horses and dogs. Frederick received one of the Cumberland Settlement's 1,410 Pioneer Land Grants. This part of Washington Co. is now Middle Tennessee.
The land in Cumberland that Frederick Stump claimed bordered that of William White, the eldest son of John White and a private on the NC Continental Line, thereby receiving an original land claim in the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. NC, but may never have actually settled on the land. This may be why John Holloway was there in 1780. The claim John Holloway attempted with a James Scott the year before on Long ("Glady") Creek (shown on Map) appears to be the same as Whites Creek which ran through the lands claimed by Frederick Stump, William White, Joshua Howard and Absalom Hooper, before flowing into the Cumberland River. See Topolographical Map showing Whites Creek area Land Claims [Drake, p. 23 and map E7]. James Scott did receive a land grant but John Holloway never did.
By May 1780, Philip was in the new Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. in western NC territory (now TN). Philip, along with about 250 other men over the age of 16, signed the Cumberland Compact created May 1, 1780. It was finalized on May 13 and established a provisional government for the isolated area; provided for the election of twelve representatives from the eight stations or forts; provided for a Sheriff, a Clerk, a Militia that required service by all men over age 16, and for the adjudication of causes, the administration of estates, and the awarding of executions. Image of page 4 of what survived of the original Compact. The signature of "Philip Alston" is next to last of all signatures, just below that of "Howard Lucas". It appears to be written with his own pen and in perfect script.
A possible son or nephew of Philip also signed on a different page of the Cumberland Compact in May 1780. Image of page 3. The signature of "Thos. W. Alston" is the third signature on the page.
Statue of co-founders of the Cumberland Settlement, James Robertson and John Donelson, with the Compact signers listed below, is located above the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville TN. "Philip Alston" is listed next to last in the last column. "Thos. W. Alston" is listed near the middle of the fourth column.
Washington Co., previously Washington District, was formed by North Carolina in 1777 and extended west to the Mississippi River, mostly containing land inhabited by five different tribes of Native Americans, but mostly Cherokee. In 1779, the Cumberland Settlement was created by the granting of land by the NC government. In 1783 this settlement was mostly contained in the newly formed Davidson Co. and surrounded by Indian Lands, and Virginia and Kentucky to the North. Map of the Cumberland Settlements showing Forts, known as Stations, in present-day counties.
Map of the Cumberland Settlement in 1780 [Summerville].
While often described as a counterfeiter or robber, Philip was never convicted of any crime nor did he have any land confiscated by the Spanish Govt.
About a month after the Compact was signed there was a massacre of settlers by Indians at Renfroe's Station (previously known as Bledsoe's Station) on the Red River and the settlement was abandonned. A settler named Isaac Bledsoe also signed the Compact on the same page as Philip (six names above on page 4). Photo of Artifacts dating to 1780 found by a local relic hunter where Renfroe's was thought to have been located. Among the artifacts was a 1778 2-Real Spanish coin [Jepson, Clarksville Online website].
Joshua Howard arrived in the Cumberland Settlement from the Natchez District by the beginning of 1781. He eventually was assigned Captain of Freelands Station on Mar 15, 1783 [Clayton, p. 37].
On Jan 15, 1781 Freeland's Station, which was located west of Heaton's Station (but near the opposite bank of the Cumberland River), was heavily attacked by Indians, who were driven away [Freeland's Station Historical Marker, Nashville TN].
Philip had fled the Natchez District as part of a group that participated in the Apr 1781 attempt to take control of Fort Panmure at Natchez. About the time Spain took control of British West Florida, the group "consisting of Captain Thaddeus Lyman, Philip Alston, Christian Bingaman, John Ogg, Caleb Hansborough, John Watkins, William Case, John Turner [signed Cumberland Compact in May 1780], Thomas James, Philip Mulkey, Ebenezer Cossett, Thompson Lyman, and Nathaniel Johnson ... escaped to the Cumberland Settlements... The members of this party were pardoned and permitted to return to their homes in the Natchez district" by Jul 1784 [Siebert, Loyalists in West Florida, p, 13].
On Jun 17, 1782 two lands of brother John Alston were confiscated "for use of the King" of Spain. One was 800 acres on Second Creek in the Narchez District very near the British grants of Joshua Howard and Absalom Hooper.
On Nov 6, 1783 Absalom Hooper made a deposition in Davidson Co. regarding a Daniel Oglesby who lived in the Cumberland Settlement and previously in Natchez. A James Oglesby owned land on Second Creek prior to Nov 1794 [McBee, Book C, p. 105]. Daniel Olgesby made a deposition on Mar 23, 1821 that in 1785, he went to hunt with Absalom, and crossed "the Red River about two miles below where Phil Alston lived" [possibly Renfroe's fort] and met William Hooper [Absalom's son] at the Muddy River, an area now in Logan Co. KY [Logan Co. KY, Abstracts of Equity Cases, Vol 1, p. 20].
Daughter Frances married James Dromgoole (1758-1818) in 1782, in the Natchez District. They had a daughter "Hannah" (Mary Susannah) on Sep 8, 1782. She died in 1817. Her father James died Apr 14, 1818.
On Jan 6, 1784, "Phillip Alston of Farm Lands [probably Freeland's] Station, Davidson County, North Carolina" gave power of Attorney to his "trusty friend" Thomas Mosely or Mosley, "of the same place" and his son-in-law James Drumgoole was a witness [Davidson Co. TN Wills, website].
On Aug 14, 1784, Philip was described as a "planter" in Nashville, when he sold 20 slaves to a "John Turnbull, late of the Chickasaw Nation, trader" [Davidson Co. TN Wills, website].
According to the Historical Marker at the site of Dromgoole's Station in Adairville, Logan Co. KY just north of the TN State Line, James Dromgoole settled at "Alston's Station, on the Red River, about 1785" and established his own station 3 years later [photo by Mark Hilton, Sep 14, 2018].
Early on the morning of Jul 4, 1786, the McIntosh brothers William and James, administrators of the estate and guardians of the children of brother John Alston, declared to the Natchez District Commandant that a 20 year old slave named King had been stolen by James "Drum-Gold" and Philip Alston, "fugitives". King had "formerly belonged to the 'robber' Philip Alston" [McBee, p. 34].
On Oct 3, 1786 wife Mildred, daughter Frankey and her husband "James Drumgoole" were witnesses in Davidson Co. (TN) in a case against Joshua Howard [McBee, p. 592].
Daughter Elizabeth married John Gilbert (1758?-1807). They had a daughter Elizabeth Alston Gilbert born about 1789 in Edgecombe Co. NC, who married Edmund Duggan by Jul 1813 in Jefferson Co. MO.
On Dec 31, 1788, "Joucha Hayward" arrived in Natchez from "Cumberland/Tennessee", not listed among the flatboats and without family.
Marian Gray, the wife of son Lewis Alston, died in 1790 and left a "negro woman and two children" according to her brother Ruffin [McBee, p. 343]. Ruffin Gray (1767-1798) had married Lucy Alston (1772-1833) daughter of John Alston. Lewis Alston then married Rebecca Kimball (1772-1822) in 1793 [familysearch.org, website].
In a letter dated Mar 2, 1790, from Carlos de Grand-Pré, Natchez, Mar 2, 1790 to Governor Don Estavan Miro, the amount of tobacco was reported by growers of Natchez. A "Joshua Houvard" reported producing 5,000 pounds of tobacco. The Alston family reported as follows: brother John 11,000, son "Lewis" 13,000, son William 3,000, and brother James 1,000 [MDAH, website].
According to the 1792 Spanish Census for Natchez District, "Phelipe Luis Alston" was head of a household in the District of Buffalo Creek, which was replaced by parts of Adams and Wilkinson Cos. MS, along with households headed by brother "Juan" and "Guillermo" (brother John's son) in the same area [MSGenWeb, Head of Household Index]. A different translation has a "Thelyre Luce Alton" with 1300 arpents of land (about 1,100 acres) in the same area, which was south of Natchez. Only one white person with the 17 slaves were counted [Adams Co. Miss. Gen. & Hist. Network].
In Oct 1792, the Stump distillery was burned down by one of the area tribes. Frederick Stump was the first to distill whiskey in the region. By 1795 the rebuilt distillery along Whites Creek was producing up to 600 gallons of whiskey per year. Absalom Hooper was also producing whiskey as he was taxed for doing so by the end of the century [Tenn. State Museum].
On Aug 2, 1793 son "Lewis Alston, Inhabitant and planter" in Bayou Sara, district of Baton Rouge, brought suit over a fight with a Col. Frederick Kimball. John Welton and his wife, Patience Welton, a William White "living at Mr. Barkley's plantation" and James Alston, "brother of Lewis, lame in one hand" gave depositions [McBee, Book D, p. 266].
Bayou Sara no longer exists because the Mississippi River now runs through it. In 1820 it was partly in Wilkinson Co. MS (formed in 1802 from a part of Adams Co.) and a part of West Feliciana LA, south of the town of Natchez (see present day map for location of Wilkinson Co. MS and present day map for location of West Feliciana Parish LA.
According to a 1799 land map of a portion of the "Feliciana District, Spanish Louisiana" the Alston family owned five tracts on or near the "Lac de la Croix" west of Thompson Creek. Son or brother John Alston owned 1070 acres on the lake, and 400 acres just west; son Lewis owned 400 acres between these two tracts, "Wm. and James Alston" owned 800 acres to the south, and nephew Solomon owned 400 acres to the east. Lewis and James were the same brothers involved in the Aug 2, 1793 suit. The "John Wilton" who gave a deposition in that suit also owned 400 acres nearby [Library of Congress ..., image of map online].
Son John McCoy Alston married Sinah Hooper, daughter of Absalom Hooper, on Jun 3, 1795 in Davidson Co. (TN) [Tenn. Co. Marriages, 1790-1950]. They named a son Absalom H. McCoy, who was born in Claiborne Co. MS in 1803 and was married and had children in St. Landry Parish LA. They had another son named Philip born in 1804.
A John M. Alston [son] was listed in Jefferson Co. MS records in 1805 and 1808. He was listed in the 1810 Claiborne Co. MS census.
Petit Gulf where the Alston family owned land is now part of Jefferson Co., created from Adams Co., Mississippi Territory, in 1796 (see present day map).
Joshua Howard had become "Conservator of the Peace for the Southern District, Mississippi Territory" by Oct 27, 1798 when two men swore to the truth of statements made re: suit involving Elizabeth Still Lee lending a slave girl Peg to her son-in-law Alexander Freeland in the Summer of 1796. She had made her deposition before Cato West, Howard's counterpart in the Northern District [Ragland p.6].
Son Peter was an associate of the outlaw Wiley Harpe and was hanged in Old Greenville in Jefferson Co. MS on Feb 8, 1804, after Wiley was identified when the two tried to collect a reward for Harpe's capture by bringing in the severed head of the leader, Samuel Mason, of the gang the two belonged to.
On Mar 24, 1804 Capt. John Stump claimed a lot in Natchez. Lot no. 4, Square no. 26 in the town of Natchez was originally granted on Oct 3, 1795 to Louisa Higdon before she became the wife of John Wylie. Louisa and John Wylie deeded the lot to John Stump "of Davidson Co. Tennessee" [McBee, p. 450]. John's sister, Anna Guice, named her daughter born in 1807 Louisa.
In the 1816 Franklin Co. MS Census, page 4 (line 17), there is a household headed by "Jonathan Guice" with: 2 males over 20 [Jonathan], 1 male under 20 [son Nathaniel], 1 female over 20 [Anna Stump, John's sister], 4 females under 20 [daughters Salome, Elizabeth, Barbara, Louisa], and 10 slaves.
Franklin Co. MS was founded in 1809 (see present day map for location).
In the 1816 census for Claiborne Co. MS, on line 3 of the left side of page 5 son Philip headed a household of: 1 male aged over 21 (Philip Jr.), 6 males under age 21 2 females aged over 21 (wife,?), 3 females under age 21, and 16 slaves [MDAH, microfilm].
In the 1820 census for Claiborne Co. MS, on line 25 of page 15 son Philip headed a household of: 1 male aged 26-45 (Philip Jr. born after 1775), 2 males under age 10, 1 male aged 18-26, 2 females aged 18-26, 3 females aged under 10, 1 females aged 26-45 (wife), and many slaves [MDAH, microfilm].
In 1823, "Phillip Alston" was listed on page 10, line 21 as paying tax on 304 acres (under a US title) in "Big Sand" (Big Sandy Creek) in Claiborne Co. MS with 1 poll (Philip, Jr.) and 22 slaves, in the Claiborne Co. Tax Roll for 1823. No tax record existed for any Alstons in 1810 for that county. The same Philip Alston was taxed on page 1, line 14, of the 1825 Tax Roll for Claiborne Co. [usgwarchives,net]. There were no Alston households in the 1830 or 1850 Claiborne Co. Censuses [USGenWeb website].
Sources: Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. Claiborne Co. MS, Genealogy Trails, Claiborne Co. (MS) 1823 Tax Roll, website, transcribed by Lee Kohler, updated May 9, 2018. Clayton, Prof. W.W., History of Davidson County Tennessee, reprod. 1971 by Charles Elder, Nashville TN. Corbitt, D. L., The formation of the N.C. counties, 1663-1943, Dept. Arch. & Hist, Raleigh NC, 1950, 323 pp. Cumberland Compact, original document signed May 13, 1780, Washington County NC, website. David Library of the American Revoution, "British Colonial Office Records CO5 West Florida Reords", website, vol 593, item 107. Drake, Doug, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear, Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas, 1779-1804, Warioto Press, 2009, pp. 23, map E7. Jepson, Tracy, "History of Renfroe Station on the Red River, 1780 Part 2", article on Clarksville Online, website, Jan 23, 2017. Genealogy Trails, Claiborne County 1823 Tax Rolls, website, transcribed by Lee Kohler, updated May 9, 2018. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Wash. DC, "Portion of a map of Feliciana District, Spanish Louisiana ... 1799", image, var. websites. Logan Co. KY, Abstracts of Equity Cases, Vol 1, p. 20. MDAH, Territorial Census Records, mdah.ms.gov, website, microfilm box 17981-1801-1816, pp. 1-9. McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book F, p. 21. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, pp. 34, 343, 450, 541, 591-2, Book D, p. 266. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790. MSGenWeb, Natchez District 1792 Census Index, comp. by Ellen Pack, Head of Household Index, transcribed and translated from Spanish. Rowland, Dunbar, "1816 Census for Franklin Co. Miss.", taken from The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi,Centennial Edition, 1917, rootsweb website. Siebert, Wilbur H., Loyalists in West Florida, vol II, no. 4, p. 13. Summerville, James, Southern Epic, Gloucester Point VA, Hallmark, 1996. Tennessee Co. Marriages, 1790-1950. Tennesse State Museum, Tennessee Distillery Tax Ledger, years 1795-1802, inside display case. Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950, "John Alston" Marriage Record, p. 8. U.S. Census 1820, Claiborne Co. MS, skcensus.com website, S-K Publ., 1995. USGenWeb Archives, contr. by Houston Tracy Jr., "Deposition of William Wall, 20 Dec 1780", microfilm folio 458-9. Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151, Will Books 3 and 4, Wilkes County, North Carolina, 1811-1848, The Genealogical Society of "Original" Wilkes County), Will Book 3, "Estate of Joshua Howard", Oct 1814, page 89, 120.