John PLEDGER

                   Historical information included in notes.



According to the book, The History and Genealogy of Fenwick's Colony byThomas Shourds, Joseph left Salem, NJ and went to North Carolina. It isunknown why he went there but it could be because of his marriage out of theQuaker faith, and his disownment from the religion which happened on April 1,1765. Or maybe he just wanted a change in life. In 1767 and again on April24, 1769 an ad was placed in the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, number913, by his uncle, Robert Johnson Jr.. The 1769 ad said, "Where as JosephPledger, ship-joiner, left the town of Salem, West New Jersey some time inthe month of June or July in the year of 1765, and has not been heard ofsince; if the said Pledger be living, and will return, he may hear ofsomething greatly to his advantage, by applying to the subscriber, living inthe said town." It seems they did find him, for on July 27, 1769 Joseph andhis wife Mary signed a deed for the sale of the Netherland Farm to his uncleRobert Johnson for 1700 pounds, which also included the home that his fatherbuilt in 1727. This deed has one interesting bit of information and in partit says ...Thos Mary Pledger being separated apart from her husband examinedby me at the same time did declare that she executed the same of her own freewill and accord without the thereat or compulsion of her husband thos JosephPledger. It is unknown why they were separated or if they got back together.Joseph Pledger of Salem County New Jersey is probably the father of Murrelland Thomas Pledger of North Carolina. There are however no hard documents toprove this, but there are some clues however. One of them is a story that wastold to me by an aunt and she says that an ancestor of mine (Steven C.Pledger) named Joseph was kicked out of a church back east. The only otherancestor that I have named Joseph Pledger was my great grandpa Pledger and hewasn't disowned from any churches. Also there is Thomas naming his sonJohnson Pledger (Joseph's mother's maiden name was Johnson). The separationof Joseph and Mary maybe a clue also. In a time of very large familiesMurrell and Thomas had no other known siblings except possibly an unknownbrother. In the 1806 Georgia Land Lottery a Sally Pledger of Elbert Co., GAhad one draw. For a woman to participate in the lottery she had to be widowwith one minor child. The child would seem to be Eliza O. Pledger who marriedJohn P. Beard on 05 FEB 1818 for there are no records of her in eitherMurrell's or Thomas's family. Also if Thomas and his siblings were livingwith Mary, that could be why it looks like they just showed up in the countyone by one. Women of the 1700s usually didn't appear in records.