Birth
James Brittain, possibly the son of James Brittain Sr and Lydia, was born in about 1769 in Georgia. Supposedly, either James Jr or James Sr served as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War. This would have surely been the latter, unless the former's birth year estimate is incorrect.
On the waters of the Little Ogeechee River, a 300 acre parcel was surveyed for James Brittain at Washington (now Hancock) County, Georgia 17 Sep 1785. 9 Apr 1789 another parcel of land was surveyed on the waters of Turkey Creek for Robert Sanderlin at Washington (now Hancock) County, bordering the land of James. Remember that Hancock County was formed from Washington and Greene Counties in 1793. Whether these records are regarding James or his father I cannot say at this time, but they do indicate that the family lived in this locale.
Marriage
James Brittain Jr married Frances "Frankey" Pound, daughter of Reuben Pound and his wife, Frances Merriman, in about 1794. They started their family in Jefferson County, Georgia, an area that became Clarke County in 1801. The livelihood of this region's residents was based mostly upon agriculture and, more specifically, the production of cotton, as well as manufacturing and textiles. Their first child, William R Britton, was born there in about 1795.
His Wife's Ancestry
Frankey's 3rd great grandfather immigrated from England in 1635 to the Virginia Colony. Her father was a Patriot in the Revolutionary War, serving in the Georgia Continental Line under Captain George Hancock and Colonel Samuel Elbert. Reuben Pound was also a 3rd cousin, on his mother's side, to Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Reuben received a bounty land parcel, amounting to 230 acres, along the Oconee River in Washington County, Georgia for his service in the war. This river was, at that time, the border between those early settlers and their Native American counterparts.
 |
Oconee River near Millidgeville, Georgia
Source - Myself |
Life in Frontier Georgia
 |
Marker for the old Rock Landing Garrison
Source - Myself |
There was a great deal of unrest between these two parties at times, resulting in the Oconee Indian Wars of the 1790s. At least one of Frankey's brothers, of necessity, fought in this region and, perhaps, the rest of the family sometimes lived at a fort for safety. Merriman Richard Pound served two terms at Rock Landing Garrison on the Oconee in about 1793-1795.
According to a cousin, James Sr and Lydia, and James Jr and Frankey, sold land 18 Oct 1796 in Hancock County, from James Brittain's land grant of 1790. James and Frankey also either received or sold a land grant in Hancock County ca. 1797/1798. It is unclear from the explanation which is the case, and I have not yet located this record.
Another son, James Wesley Britton was born in Jefferson (later Clarke) County in about 1800. Wilburn Jones Britton arrived in about 1802, and Bedford ca. 1804, both in Clarke County, Georgia.
Moving to Missouri
The Louisiana Purchase would soon greatly affect this family. In 1803 the United States purchased 828,000 square miles from France, the land including present day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and part of Minnesota, North/South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Alberta and Saskatchewan. This region was known as the Louisiana Territory. It was controlled by France from 1699, transferred to Spain in 1762, returned to France in 1800, then sold to the United States in 1803. Thomas Jefferson was the president at this time.
The Brittain/Britton family moved to Missouri between 1804 and 1805. At this time, counties were unformed, as was the state of Missouri, from this vast territory. Thus, we see that the Britton family were one of the first families to pioneer this region. James Jr and Sr, as well as Newman P, signed a petition 16 May 1805 to President Jefferson which was printed in the Louisiana-Missouri Territory papers. Thus, we know that they lived there by this date. Presumably, this would have been James Brittain Sr (b. 1745 in Georgia), James M Brittain Jr (b. 1769 in Georgia). Perhaps Newman P was a brother of James Jr. James Jr also had a son named Newman, but he was not yet born.
Nathaniel was born there, in what was then the District of St. Louis in the Territory of Louisiana, in about 1806. Richard came along in about 1808, born in what became Crawford County, Missouri. Elizabeth was born there ca. 1810, and Riley C Britton, my 3rd great grandfather, in about 1814. Mahala was born in Crawford County in about 1816 and Newman ca. 1818.
