Boardvine Braswell Family

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Boardvine R. Braswell

Boardvine R. Braswell was born in 1799 in North Carolina, according to the 1850 Clinton County, Kentucky, census. He married Lola Elizabeth Lawson (born in 1803 in North Carolina according to the 1850 Clinton County, Kentucky, census) on January 4, 1820, in Surry County, North Carolina. The bondsman was Martin D(ickenson) Word, son of Thomas Adams Word of Surry County. The bond at the top said "Brazeal." Boardvine signed it, "B R Braswell", so he apparently had been educated. Elizabeth's name was spelled "Lausen" on the bond.

Next door, in Guilford County, North Carolina, on Friday, May 7, 1819, appeared an article in the North Carolina Gazette: Counterfeiters.

"On the 19th ult. 3 men were taken up and committed to the jail of Guilford County in this state, named Bordvine Brassure, William Fortner, and John Marshall all of Surry County, charged with passing counterfeit money. There was found ____ (illegible) a considerable quantity of counterfeit notes in their possession, consisting of 20 notes of the Planters Bank of Georgia, 10 of the Georgia State Bank, 5 of the Union Bank of Georgetown, District of Columbia and 5 of the Bank of Virginia.

"It is believed Fortner is an old offender, that he has been for some time confined in the jail of Cumberland County and is at present under recognicance to answer a charge of passing counterfeit money in that county.

"The public are indebted to the zeal and activity of the Sheriffs of Randolph and Guilford, for the apprehension of these daring offenders." [In the 4 March 1812 Surry County court minutes, the State v. William Fortner. Nothing found for Boardvine Braswell, so perhaps he was an innocent bystander.] So, is Boardvine’s real name Brazier/Brassure, or did he just give that name to protect his identity? If his real name is Brazier/Brassure, why would he take on the name of Braswell? His name does not appear so far in any of the Brazier/Brassure records. And, what about the fact that the y-DNA of my Braswell second cousins test very close to that of the New Jersey Samuel Riggs family?

By 1830 they had moved to Cumberland County, Kentucky, where B. R. Brazil appeared in the 1830 Cumberland County, Kentucky, census. Clinton County was later formed out of Cumberland County and in 1940 Boardvine appeared in the Clinton County records.

The parents of Boardvine Braswell are still unknown. No records to show Braswells living in Surry County in 1800 have been found. See the Surry County timelines for my Surry County research. The y-DNA of my Braswell male second cousins test very closely to the Riggs family from Morristown, New Jersey. See the Family Tree DNA website, Riggs project.

Sadie Pauline Braswell Perry, daughter of Alexander Dallas Braswell, wrote on February 13, 1953, that Boardvine was of Huguenot descent.

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