Chronicles of Pitt County, NC
(C. Avis Catalog entry #550)
p. 531
MOORING
961
John Mooring with his wife Jane White resided in Isle of Wight, England. Their son Christopher was born there in 1690. In 1710, 103 years after the settlement of Jamestown, Christopher Mooring came to Surry County, Virginia. In the records of Surry County we find "Certificate is granted Christopher Mooring to the secretary's office for 50A of land for the importation of himself into this colony, he having made oath as the law directs being free when he came in." These same county records show that he married Mary Simmons, and they had six children: Christopher, Jr., William, Lucy, Jane, Mary, and John. Christopher, Sr. died in 1750 and his will, probated on March 20, 1753 in Southwark Parish, Surry, deeded "estate in England to sons John, Christopher, and William." Of course, at that time daughters did not inherit land.
Although the record is not exactly clear, it appears as if his son John (b. 1720 — d. 1800) married twice, Elizabeth Harris and Sarah Harris. Also, according to Deed Book O (1797-1801) of Pitt County, John and his family now lived in North Carolina. According to the county records, he had seven children: Nancy who married Samuel Cherry, Christopher who married Mary Proctor, Elizabeth who married Benjamin Brown, William S. who married Elizabeth (?), Sukey who married John Williams, James L. who married Eliza Smith, and John, Jr. who married Gracey Llewellyn.
My father, James Llewellyn Mooring, often told me that the Llewellyn in his name came from his great-great grandmother and his grandfather, and that the Llewellyn family had come from Wales. Llewellyn is from an old Welsh word "llyw" meaning "leader." Ms. Sara Long Johnson of Martin County provides an interesting account of the Llewellyn family. She relates that they first settled in Maryland, moved south to Virginia, and later to Martin County, N.C. During the Revolutionary War one, named John Llewellyn, the father of Susannah and Gracey, was a Tory and was convicted of treason. He conspired to kill patriots as they traveled to and fro along the county roads. Although he was sentenced to be hanged, Ms. Johnson adds that Governor Caswell pardoned him due to the intervention of several prominent citizens in the area.
John H. Wheeler in “Historical Sketches of North Carolina 1584-1851” lists John Mooring, Jr. (d. 1826), who married Gracey Llewelyn, as a member of the General Assembly, the House of Commons, from 1804 through 1809. The Mooring property was in the northern part of the county, north of Tar River. He and Gracey had two sons, Jesse H. and John T. John T., who died one year after his father, left his estate to his wife, Elizabeth Smith Mooring, and his children. His brother, Jesse H., was executor for the estate. King's “Sketches of Pitt County” provides us with the following information about William Llewellyn Mooring (b. 1813 — d. 1892), John's son. He married Catherine Moore, and their son Guilford served as sheriff of Pitt County and as a member of the General Assembly. Whereas there had been a Tory in the family, there were also patriots. Catherine's great grandfather was Edward Moore, an ensign, and a member of the Safety Committee during the Revolutionary War. William L. and Catherine are buried near Stokes in Pitt County. They had seven children: John Norcott who was killed at Fort Fisher during the Civil War, Dolly who never married, Jane who married Theophilus Ross, Dave who married Sallie Isabelle Barnhill, Susie who married John Stanley Overton, Guilford who married Josephine Moore and after her death married Claire Bonner, and Alonza who married Susan Perkins.
Alonzo (b. Jan. 25, 1850 — d. Dec. 18, 1919) and Susan (b. Nov. 28,1858 — d. Aug. 23,1935) had two sons: James Llewellyn (b. Oct. 25,1880 — d. June 4,1940) and Benjamin Arthur (b. Nov. 8,1892 — d. June 4, 1965). Benjamin married Elizabeth Congleton and they had three children: Paul who is a nuclear physicist, Hurley who is a colonel in the Air Force, now retired, and Edith (Mrs. Coburn Griffin) who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. Alonza and Susan's other son, James Llewllyn, married Bertha Woolard and after her death, he married Lelia Stokes. James L. and Lelia had one daughter, LaRue Mooring, who married Alex Evans of Winterville. Alex and LaRue have one son, DeLyle Mooring Evans. He married Louise Bost of Clinton, and they live in Ayden where DeLyle is an attorney at law.
Sources: In story, personal knowledge.
— Mrs. LaRue Mooring Evans