Mentioned in his father’s will.

Nicholas Fennel, which one?, listed on 1786 Census in Black River.

1790. Nicholas Fennel lives in New Hanover County, a neighbor is his father Nicholas.

1800. Nicholas Fennel lives in New Hanover County. I think there is an extra older woman present, is it Loxey?

1820. Nicholas Fennel lives in New Hanover County, age 45+. A daughter 10-15 is present, presumably Mary Jane and two females over 45, one of which is wife Margaret and the other unknown but perhaps Loxey?

The DAR lists him as “Nicholas Fennell: b.15 Feb 1762 NC d.6 Jan 1828 NC m Margaret Robinson Pvt NC WPNS”

The dates of his service are a little confusing. It says he was discharged from the Continental Army 10 July 1779, being unfit for further duty (presumably injured). It further says he entered the Continental Army (5th NC Continental Line) at age 18 (1780) as a private and rose to become a captain before he left service at age 25. So it looks like he was in, got injured, got out then got back in.

There are two versions of this man’s ancestry. One says he was the son of Nicholas Fennell and Jane Doan. The other says there was another Nicholas between the Nicholas married to Jane Doan and the one married to Margaret Robinson, father of Mary Jane.

My first solution was to eliminate that middle Nicholas, making this guy the Jr and his son the III. But then the dates became a little uncomfortable since Nicholas (I) was supposedly born in 1700 and this Nicholas in 1762.

Nicholas Fennell, father of Mary Jane, was born 15 Feb 1762 in New Hanover County. He was called Nicholas Jr. though possibly was the son of a man who at times was also possibly called Nicholas Jr. This is the way people were named in the old days. When the original Nicholas Sr. died, his son who had been called Jr. “steps-up” and becomes Sr., especially if he in turn also names a son Nicholas.

Nicholas married Margaret Robinson 27 Mar 1786. He was a Revolutionary War soldier and died 8 Jan 1828 at Fennell’s Cove, Sampson County. He is buried at Harmony Presbyterian Church outside of Harrell’s, Sampson County. There is an original tombstone (largely unreadable) there and a newer stone as well. The newer one commemorates his Veteran’s status. The dates of birth and death for him come from this newer tombstone.

Nicholas and Margaret lived on a plantation on the Black River near Tomahawk. Nicholas, the soldier, was the son of Nicholas who some sources say was the son of Nicholas Fennell of Brunswick, VA. But I have never been able to prove that such a man existed. I sort of wonder whether the confusion stems in part from the varying use of the term Jr. versus Sr. and in part from the name of the father’s wife or possibly two wives. All I’m sure of is that Nicholas the soldier was the son of Nicholas who died in 1792.

As stated above, the appearance of the suffix Jr or Sr in old records does not yield much helpful information because of the step-up that occurred. The use of Roman Numerals -- e.g. Nicholas Fennell III – didn’t seem to be common practice until more recent times. We assign such Roman Numerals to people in genealogies to keep them straight (e.g. TA I, TA II and TA III) but it was not a part of their name as it was never found in official records. The step-up custom unfortunately leads to much confusion.

There supposedly was a Nicholas Fennell born about 1700 who lived in Brunswick County, VA and who married Jane Doan. And there definitely was a Nicholas Fennell who died in New Hanover County in 1792 and whose will named his wife as Loxey. So, did Nicholas live to be 92? Was Loxey a nickname for Jane? Or, did Nicholas marry first Jane and second Loxey? Or, were there two different men named Nicholas? I can’t be certain, but here is the version of the ancestry that I believe.

My version of the facts is generally consistent with information available through the New Hanover County website about Nicholas Fennell, the Revolutionary War soldier. Since the soldier was, at times, called Jr, we can assume his father was also named Nicholas. (I won’t go into here the fact that sometimes a person named William might name a son John Jr so the son would not be confused with, say, William’s brother, also named John and after whom he named his son.)

His pension application and his tombstone say he was born in 1762. His pension application says he married in 1786.

In her 1839 widow’s application for a Revolutionary War pension, she stated that the record of her birth and marriage were transcribed from her father’s family bible which has since “been burnt when her brother James Robinson’s house was burnt several years ago”.

I believe since she names children George, James and Tabitha that in fact she was the daughter of George Robinson and granddaughter of James and Tabitha Robinson -- but that is far from proven. I have ruled out James and Tabitha as her parents and the evidence makes it seem unlikely that she was the daughter of George’s brother Benjamin, though that remains a slim possibility.

The only fact though I know about George was that he died young and left six children. If she is not of the James and Tabitha line, then there are some other Robinsons whose daughter she might be -- all named William -- and that seems less likely.

1830. Marguerite Fennel lives in New Hanover Co, age 50-60 with two older sons and 3 other children living with her. A neighbor is Owen Fennel.

1840. I cannot find Margaret in 1840, she is probably living with a son. George and Owen Fennel are the two heads of households in New Hanover County.

1850. Margaret Fennel is reported twice. Margaret Fennel is living with head-of-household Owen – called Owen Jr. – and Hardy (probably a brother) – both single males in New Hanover County and she is age 78. Margaret is listed third in the household and then several younger children are listed: Margaret age 10, John G 8 and Dallas M 3. Now according to the Sampson County Heritage book, Owen Fennell, son of Nicholas (1762, the veteran), had 4 children including Owen Jr., Hardy, Dallas and Gaston. So Margaret seems to be heading up this household though 19-year-old Owen Jr. is named as such.

But we also find the household of Milton Fennel in Sampson County. He is 40 and lives with his wife and a few children and also Margaret age 80. Since Margaret and husband Nicholas had sons named Owen and John Milton, both listings appear to be her. She may have simply been in transition moving from the household of one son to the other.

Margaret Robinson was born 13 Jan 1772 and died at Ivanhoe, Sampson County 19 May 1854. Both of those dates come from her tombstone at Harmony Presbyterian Church Cemetery (she is beside her husband). The dates are quite consistent with what else I know about her from Census listings and the date of her will.

Margaret’s will was written 30 May 1846 and probated Aug 1854. She names her children including Mary Jane Herring, stating she is the wife of Amos. Another child named is John M Fennel – and that is surely the J Milton Fennell found in the 1850 Census with whom Margaret, age 80, is living. Witnesses to her will were G W Robinson and John Robinson, perhaps her brothers.

The Robinsons were a distinguished family and among the very earliest settlers of the Wilmington area and I am sure Margaret ties into them somehow. The Robinson history tells another part of Sampson County history. Clearly, many early residents of Sampson came there by drifting down from VA and northeastern NC and they settled in the various parts of Sampson County. But the tail of Sampson County was originally part of New Hanover County and later annexed to the already existing Sampson and it was settled by immigrants (often via or from Barbados) who came up the Cape Fear River to the Wilmington area and some traveled even further up the Cape Fear and branched off onto the Black River – and that is the area and probably the route that brought the Robinsons to New Hanover/Sampson County to get mixed up with these other people down from VA. The Margaret Robinson that married Nicholas Fennell is most certainly a Robinson of this family and for awhile I thought the most likely candidates to be her parents were James Robinson and Tabitha Larkins but subsequently I have determined that they were her grandparents.

In a book of Sampson wills, a footnote says that a Margaret Fennel was listed in the 1850 Census living with J Milton Fennell and she was 80 --so born 1770. That's pretty consistent with what I have.

Margaret and Nicholas name a daughter Tabitha and I have always taken that as a clue that Margaret may have been the daughter of James and Tabitha (Larkins) Robinson. But susbequently I have figured out she was born later than their children would have been, so I need to rethink her lineage.