Joseph Hilbourn    1765 North Carolina     revised 11/14/2021

A Joseph Hilbourn is mentioned in two land records in Cumberland County, North Carolina, dated 1765.  The property of a Richard Carroll of Cumberland was seized and sold in order to satisfy judgment obtained by Joseph HILBOURN on April 15, 1763 in Wilmington District Superior Court.  Mr. Carroll was in debt to Mr. Hilbourn although these land records do not give details of that debt.  The two records are summarized below and the hyperlinks are at the bottom of the page.  They are a copy of the original documents which were downloaded from the Cumberland County Register of Deeds website.

In these two deeds Joseph Hilbourn is not identified by trade nor by residence.  The other men mentioned are identified by residence.  The only possible clue as to Joseph Hilbourn’s residence is that the debt owed to him was “106 lbs. of lawful money of Pennsylvania.”  There have been NO other records found of a Joseph Hilbourn in this county.

Further research into these documents reveals that both Richard Carroll and John Brownlow were merchants in the 1760’s and Mr. Carroll had a store in Fayetteville.  Source: http://www.historync.org/index.htm as  “Early Merchants of NC- before 1800.”

In addition, John Brownlow was listed as “Gent” in 1761 in Cross Creek, Cumberland County.  He was associated with Porterfields as “merchant and tavern keeper,” a “Merchant” in Cross Creek in 1763-75, 1767 Tax List & had one slave. He was a Juryman in 1773.

There are only two other records found of a Joseph Hilbourn or any other spelling of this name, in North Carolina during this time.  The first record is from 1767 in Chowan County in the Index of Deeds; William Jackson granted land to Joseph Hillborn.  The deed is found in Book N1, p. 45.  No other info is known.   In 1769, in Craven County, Joseph and Amos Hillburn, merchants from Pennsylvania, bought slaves from a Mr. Crawford; the abstract follows:

However, a merchant and “gentleman” named Joseph Hilbourn was prominent in Philadelphia between 1773-1779.  It appears that he was also the treasurer of the Pennsylvania Hospital.  The following is a timeline list of records found on a Joseph Hilbourn/Hilborn, Hillburn who resided in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

From the U. S. Quaker Meeting Records 1681-1935

• 1753 Joseph Hilburn applied for a certificate to go to Dublin on trade.
• 1759-1772- Rachel Hilburn and children, Joseph and siblings were members of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting.
• 1760 Friends’ leader visited Joseph Hilbourn to condemn him owning a slave
• 1761 Joseph Hilburn and others were warned against slave buying and keeping
• 1769 Philadelphia Tax list-  Joseph Hilburn in Southwark Dist.; Amos and Miles Hilburn in N. Ward District.

• From The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781-1784, Vol. 6-7, p. 516, we learn the following: Joseph Hilbourn- 1732-1802, Apparently a Quaker merchant who had been treasurer of the Pennsylvania Hospital from 1773-1780.  See Labaree and Willcox, eds.;  Franklin Papers, XX, 450n, 451.  516, 575.  And, page 515 states:  “Mr. Jos. Hilborn being possessed of Genl. Green’s Drafts on me Cabled for the Money which I am not able to pay at present but promised payment as fast as money came in…”

Robert Morris, 1734-1806 was an important figure in the politics of Pennsylvania, and was likely the most prominent businessman of his time.  He also was considered “the Financier of the American Revolution,” was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, and a committee chairman in the Continental Congress.  Mentions Jos. Hilborn on p. 515 and then in the Footnotes.        

• 1773- from Documents Relating to Colonial, Revolutionary & Post-Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey–  “For further information apply to Anthony Sykes, Esq; in Burlington county; Abel James & Joseph Hilborn, Merchants, in Philadelphia. ” 
• 1777-1779.  Joseph Hilborn, Philadelphia, a private in Capt. Robert Smith’s 5^th Company.
• 1780-1781  P. 90 in General Muster Book#1, in 8^th Company of Philadelphia.
• 1787- Joseph Hillborn & Christopher Marshall are executors in the Mar 31, 1787 will of Thomas Paschall, Philadelphia merchant, proved Apr 2, 1796. Will Book X, Philadelphia Co., Pa.

• 1788- The Independent Gazetteer, 25 Feb 1788, Mon,  1.  A Philadelphia paper…..”Mr Joseph Hilborn, Treasurer to the Society regarding American Manufacturing.”

• 1788 newspaper-  “From a desire of rendering the Philadelphia Dispensary more extensively useful, by informing the indigent sick where they may apply for medical assistance, the following list of contributors ….  are published by the managers of the institution:  Joseph Hilbourn”.  1788 January 19.  Pennsylvania Evening Herald (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Vol. V1, Issue 6, Page 3. Source: genealogybank.com

• 1790 Philadelphia, PA Census.  Joseph Hilbourn, Gent’n; 2 males >16, 3 females.
• 1791 Philadelphia City Directory: Joseph Hilbourn  Occupation: “gentleman” Address:  12 N. Fourth Street.

• 1798- Joseph Hillborn and others are executors in the July 17, 1798 will of Anna DeMorault, proved Feb 19, 1801. Will Bk Y, Philadephia Co., Pa.

• 1798 Jul 18- Joseph Hilbourn mentioned in a newspaper as adjoining landowner on 4^th in Philadelphia to a property being auctioned off. SOURCE: Aurora General Advertiser, Philadelphia, PA. Issue 2343, Page 1.  Source: Genealogybank.com 

• 1799- Joseph Hillborn named as an executor in the Dec 27, 1799 will of Christopher Marshall, druggist in Philadelphia, proved in 1807.  Will Book 2A, Philadelphia Co., Pa.

• 1802- Abstract of will of JOSEPH HILLBORN,  City of Philadelphia.  November 3, 1802.  Proved February 8, 1803.  Will book 1A, p. 77. Philadelphia Co., PA.  He died at age 70.
  Estate to sister Elizabeth Hillborn.  Nieces:  Elizabeth West, Rachel Roberts and their children Joseph Roberts, Hannah Good and Lydia Savill.
  Exec:  Elizabeth Hillborn, Isaac Wampole.
  Wit:  Henry K. Helmuth, John Pierie, Peter Wagner, Junr.
• Joseph’s parents were John Hillborn and Rachel Strickland; their children:
  • Elizabeth Hillborn b. 1731
  • Joseph Hillborn, b. 1732, died Bet. 1802 – 1803 in Philadelphia, Pa.
  •  Frances Hillborn b. 1734
  •   John b. 1736
  • Miles Hillborn b. 1738
  • Amos³ Hillborn- will of Nov. 1770, proved Jan 25, 1771. Names mother Rachel, brothers Miles and Joseph; sisters Elizabeth & Frances, nieces Elizabeth and Rachel Hillborn. Exec: Joseph Hillborn. Will bk P, Philadelphia Co., Pa.
  • Thomas b. 1744

This information about Joseph Hilbourn of Philadelphia actually suggests that he and Joseph Hilbourn in the North Carolina records were likely the same person.  The key to learning more about this Joseph Hilbourn in the Cumberland record would be to locate the Wilmington Superior Court Records which likely are in the North Carolina Archives.

Is Joseph Hilbourn the father of Frederick Hilburn, born in 1768?

My research on this Joseph Hilbourn has been fueled by my interest in proving or disproving the claims of some family researchers, found primarily on Ancestry.com, that Joseph Hilbourn of Pennsylvania is the father of my 4^th great-grandfather, Frederick Hilburn who was born in 1768 in North Carolina.  I have found absolutely NO evidence to support that claim.  If someone has evidence please share it with me. There is circumstantial evidence that the Joseph in 1765 North Carolina was the same Joseph in Pennsylvania, but Joseph Hilbourn of Philadelphia apparently did not have children as in his will of 1802 he only named his sister and nieces as heirs.

There are three references to a Joseph Hilbourn in North Carolina in the 1760’s, yet they are in three different counties.   It’s significant that there ARE more than a dozen records of other Hilburn men in the state prior to the Revolution, and the majority of those records are in Duplin and Sampson Counties.  It is most likely that Frederick Hilburn’s father was one of these men- John, Vaughn, William, and Hamblin Hilburn.  Since Frederick was born in 1768, his father would’ve had to have been born before 1750.  It’s obvious from records found on these men that they were related, although the exact nature of their relationship remains unknown.  It’s likely that Frederick’s father left North Carolina during or before the Revolutionary War as Frederick is first found in Georgia as a young adult in 1788.

TIMELINE of HILBUN/HILBURN men in NC 1750-1770:

1754 is the earliest date found of a Hilburn in North Carolina.  John Hilburn was a chain carrier for a land survey for a John Proctor in Edgecombe County.  Two years later, in 1756, a John Hilburn bought land south of there, in Duplin County.

1762-  Duplin- a William Hilbon was a witness to land sale from Jos. Baker to Benj. Lanier.

1763–  Dobbs- Vaun HILBORN– bought land on Nahunta swamp. In Duplin Hamblin HILBURN was a witness on a land deed.

1763 Wilmington, NC-Court case involving Joseph HILBOURN

1766   Duplin- John Hilbun was witness for a land deed and an adjoining landowner

1767  Duplin–  John HILBURN and Hamblin HILBURN both bought land.

1768  – Frederick Hilbun was born in North Carolina to whom?

1769  Duplin- John HILBUN and Hamblin HILBURN both sold land.  In Dobbs,  Vaughn Hilburn is on Tax list

(All Duplin County land records are online at Sampson County Register of Deeds website).

Lagniappe:

Likely not related to Joseph Hilbourn, but another Hilburn merchant from 1765 is Thomas Hillburn of South Carolina. Thomas’ will was filed in the same year in which Joseph Hilbourn collected on his debt in North Carolina.  All of we know about Thomas Hillburn is from his Will- he was a storekeeper and he lived in what is present day Marlboro County, less than 100 miles from Fayetteville.  No other Hilburn was named in his will and no other Hilburns have been found in this area during the 1760’s although William Hilburn did have land about 135 miles west on a branch of the Bush River.

1765 Apr 27.  Thomas Hillburn, will, Prince Frederick’s Parish, Craven Co., South Carolina. W253-254.  Storekeeper:  1). Widow Rebecca Tompling;  2). Susannah Mixon, daughter of Wm. & Abigail Mixon, part of land purchased of Jeremiah Rowell Sr. on Gachway (Cashaway) Neck on NE side of Pee Dee River.  3). William Watkins &  John McCall, Jr. to have remainder of estate. 16 Jan 1765, probated 21 Feb 1765.  R: md p 471.  Will book QQ 1760-67.  Source: Probate Records of SC. Estate quit rent-1768 on 200 A. in Craven paid by Wm Wilkins, Exectr.

Jeremiah Rowell and William Watkins are mentioned in the early history of the Cashaway Baptist Church which can be found online.  Rowell is documented as having left a Welsh Tract church in Pennsylvania (which was later in Delaware) to move to South Carolina.  Some of the early settlers came from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  More research is needed.

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