Princess Anne County history: where we fit in

Long time Virginia Beach City Councilwoman Barbara Henley gave a two-hour talk to the ILR this morning about the history of Pungo. It was fascinating, but I quickly realized that my family is not quite as deeply rooted in old Princess Anne County as I thought. Blucher Fletcher did not live at the property on Blackwater Road until about 1880. Before then, according to an old map, it was a 1500 acre estate owned by a man named Augustus C. Smith. The Fletcher family's migration northward from North Carolina was typical of the way that the southern part of county was populated.

My 2X great grandfather Eley Bryant bought the farm at Blackwater and Head of River Road around 1885. Eley died in 1895 so he was definitely not a long term resident of the county. Margaret lived there until around 1900, and shortly thereafter, the Fletchers moved to Ocean View. So, all in all, my family claimed citizenship in Princess Anne County for less than 20 years. 

UPDATE 9/20/21: I discovered that we had the incorrect location for the Bryant farm. Looking at the old handwritten map above - the Bryants purchased the land owned by Johnston Forbes. You can see his name hand written on the map at Head of River Road. Also, I learned that the Fletchers did not own the land on Pungo Ferry Road all the way back to the North Landing River. They owned the land along Blackwater Road on both sides of Pungo ferry Road, shown in the gray area on the map. Their property extended south to the mill.

There are many families "down county" whose roots go back to the 1600's.

The Bryant farm was where "John D. Lewis" 
is shown, next to the Cox farm at the corner of 
Blackwater and Head of River Roads.

The length of Blackwater Rd showing the area
of both family farms.