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From: "Sharolynn Pyeatt" <>
Subject: John PYATT (the first) of South Carolina
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 18:03:06 -0700


South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772 / abstracted by Clara A.
Langley. Easley, SC : Southern Historical Press, c1984.



Vol. 2: 1740-1755, Books V-PP, p. 235.

Here there is a history of land transactions involving 200 acres on
Hilton Head Island, Granville Co., SC. This references Deed Book I-I,
p. 130, dated 1 Dec 1747, where Roger MOORE deeds as a gift "for love &
affection & other considerations" this property which bounds the River
May, as well as an additional 700 acres bounding Goose Creek. The
"tract was granted by the Lords Proprs. On 1 Sep. 1706 to John BARNWELL,
Esq., Arrdshill, Granville Co., SC, won on 26 Apr 1709 sold to JOHN
PIGHT, gentleman, of SC & conveyed by PIGHT on 6 June 1719 to John
BAYLEY, surveyor, of Goose Creek, Berkeley Co., SC & sold by said BAYLEY
to Roger MOORE."



In vol. 3, p. 321, John PIGHT is listed as a witness at the sale of land
on the Ashley River. This transaction appears in Deed Book B-3, p. 460
and is dated 7 Feb. 1712/3, Release.



In volume 1, p. 1, the executors of the estate of Bernard Christian
COOPER, surgeon, dispose of 500 acres at Goose Creek to pay his debts.
Cooper's acreage is bounded on the north by Goose Creek and on all other
sides by "William STEAD (formerly John PIGHT's) and adjoining 40 acres
of marsh. This deed is recorded in Book A, p. 17, and the transaction
is dated 29 & 30 July 1719.







So, is this John PIGHT the same person as the John PYATT (d. 1760) who
purchased land in Craven County, SC in 1737 and is listed as a witness
to other deed transactions in 1742, 1746, 1754? Land transactions dated
in 1757 refer to lands which bound Goose Creek on one side, also bound
lands owned by John PIGHT.



If this is only one person, then he must have been at least 20 years old
in 1709 when he first purchased land on Hilton Head Island. That would
make him at least 71 years old in 1760. This same 71-year old John,
would be leaving a younger wife and a 10-year old son.



It just seems odd to me that John PIGHT/PYATT would disappear between
1719 and 1737. John PYATT who died in 1760 appears frequently as a
witness to land transactions and was a member of the vestry for the
Prince Frederick Parish from 1742 to 1753. John PYATT was also fined
for refusing to answer a summons to jury duty in Charleston in 1754.
This seems to have been a common practice among the men of Craven
County, who apparently felt that the distance to Charleston was too far
and preferred to pay the fines (George C. Rogers, Jr. The history of
Georgetown County, South Carolina. Columbia, SC : University of South
Carolina Press, p. 66).



Another bit of circumstance is that Mary PYATT and Meredith HUGHES were
married 4 Dec 1734 in Prince Frederick Parish, Craven County. Meredith
Hughes was another early settler in Craven County (Rogers, p. 18).



I'm at least a bit suspicious that Mary PYATT may have been the widow of
the John PYATT who first bought land in 1709 and mother of the John
PYATT who married Hannah LABRUCE. The younger John most likely
inherited his father's property. It's also possible that Mary was
John's sister. I have yet to research Meredith and Mary PYATT HUGHES.



Sharolynn










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