This information on the ancestors of John Myatt Sr was provided through the courtesy of H. David Myatt. All of the early English generations and history are from Norman Myatt’s work as published by H. David Myatt in his book: “Myatt – England to America- 1400 to 1998“. Used with permission of the author. They are listed below.
The information as it appears in H. David Myatt’s book:
Generation 8
John Myatt was born about 1726 in England. He probably was born in the Horton Valley, Staffordshire. He married Elizabeth Allen in the early 1740’s. He was baptised at St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Staffordshire on October 10, 1726. Given the Anglican Church belief in infant baptism, John Myatt, Sr would have been born shortly before that date. His parents were Thomas and Sarah Myatt. There may be other children of Thomas and Sarah Myatt, but we do not have any information on them.
Generation 7
Thomas Myatt was born 1698 in the Horton Valley, Staffordshire, England. He marriedSarah Myatt(?). They lived 2-1/2 miles south-souteast of Leek, England. A will for Thomas Myatt was not found in England. There is speculation that Thomas came to America. A Thomas Myatt bought land in Edgecomb County, North Carolina in 1747, but it is not known if this is the same Thomas Myatt. They had one child:
1. John Myatt born about 1726 and died 1801.
Generation 6
Richard Mayott was born December 26, 1659 in Dunwood, Horton Parish, England. He died in april 1713 in Horton Parish England and was buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Horton Parish, England. He married Ellen Baddiley on January 6, 1681 in St. Giles’ Church, Newcastle, England. Children of Richard Mayott are:
1. Richard Mayott born 1690 in Horton Parish, England. He died March 25, 1772 in Horton Parish and is buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery, Horton Parish.
2. James Myatt.
3. Thomas Myatt, born 1698.
Generation 5
Richard Mayott was born in 1638 in Gratton, Horton Parish, England. He died June 16, 1707 in Park House, Horton Parish, Endland and is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Horton, England. He married Margaret (Mary) Mayott(?) about 1659 in Horton England. She was born about 1640 and died April 14, 1713 in Horton Parish, England. She is also buried in the St. Michael’s Cemetery. They had one child:
1. Richard Mayott, born December 26, 1659 and died in April of 1713.
Generation 4
Richard Mayott was born about 1618 in Lower House, Horton Parish, England. He died January 31 1682/83 in Horton Parish and is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Horton, England. He married Margaret Mayott(?).
Generation 3
Richard Mayott was born before 1600. He died in 1666. He married Ellen Mayott(?). They had six children:
1. William Mayott born in July 1612.
2. Marjorie Mayott born March 25, 1614.
3. Richard Mayott born about 1618, died January 31, 1682/83.
4. James Mayott
5. Jayne Mayott.
6. John Mayott, born 1632.
Generation 2
Thomas Mayott was born about 1575 in Horton Parish, England and died about 1631. He was married to Marjorie Mayott(?). She died about 1638 in Horton Parish, England. They had six children, one is known:
1. Richard Mayott, born about 1600 and died about 1666.
Generation 1
Richard Mayot was born about 1550 in Ashes, Horton, England. He died in 1627. He was the son of William Mayot. Richard married Elizabeth Mayot(?). They had one known child:
1. Thomas Mayott born about 1575 and died about 1631.
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Are these the true ancestors?
Well, this is a matter of some debate. I’m including a post by Tex Myatt on the Myatt mailing list on March 24, 2005 with some questions regarding this information.
I believe the basis for connecting John Myatt to Thomas Myatt of Horton Valley England is much too circumstantial to accept as fact, or even a probable theory. I will summarize my belief and then discuss the issues in detail:
SUMMARY:
JOHN MYATT’S BIRTH YEAR:
The key item used by David Myatt to connect our John Myatt to the Thomas Myatt is the “ca 1726” birth year of John Myatt. This year was estimated by Dr. Kennedy without any rational basis. It was just a guess.
a. TOO YOUNG FOR SON’S AGES: Dr. Kennedy thought Matthew was the oldest son. David thought Mark was the oldest son and gave a precise birth date of 17 March 1743/1744. John would have been only 17/18 years old when his first son was born if one accepts Mark’s birth date of 1743/1744, and would be only 21 years old if one accepts Matthew as the first son. I believe this is not credible especially in the mid-1700s.
b. TOO YOUNG FOR LAND GRANT AND RESPONSIBLE CIVIC DUTIES: In 1750 John had qualified for a land grant. At the same time John began appearing in the Johnston County Court Minutes and being assigned responsible civic duties. I believe John would have been too young for these responsibilities.
WHAT WAS JOHN’S NAME?
From the earliest documents there was much confusion about John’s name. The official Lord Granville’s documents used a number of names such as Miatt, Miate, and Myate. The land grant itself used the name Myate throughout. HOWEVER, John signed the land grant as John MIATE. In the Johnston County Court Minutes John was referred to as John MIOT almost exclusively. Yet, when Wake County was formed in 1771 from parts of Johnston, Orange and Cumberland counties John became a Myatt. John must have been literate. If he was the son of Thomas Myatt, raised in England or the Colony, he would have known his name was Myatt. It is not credible that he would have gone from 1750 to 1774 using so many different names and then suddenly realized he was really named Myatt.
JOHN’S SONS AND DNA TESTING:
We are not at all certain that all the Myatts in Wake County were the sons of John Myatt, as determined by Dr. Kennedy. The early DNA tests indicate that at least one of the men was not his son. It is very possible that some of the other early Myatts were not John’s sons. We can determine this only if we get enough participants in the DNA project. Unfortunately, there has not been adequate volunteers for the DNA project.
DETAILED DISCUSSION:
THE THOMAS-JOHN MYATT CONNECTION
As the Website states this father-son connection was made in David Myatt’s book. The bases for the connection were:
a. A baptism record for a John Myatt in Horton Valley in October 1726.
b. The absence of a Will or death records for Thomas or Sarah Myatt.
c. The land grant to John Myatt starting in 1750.
d. The purchase of land by a Thomas Myatt in Edgecombe Co. NC in 1747.
e. The estimated birth year of 1726 for our John Myatt.
The most significant of these is the estimated birth year for John Myatt.
David does admit (on page 24 of his book) that there is no conclusive proof that the John Myatt baptized in 1726 is the same person as our John Myatt.
THE 1726 BIRTH YEAR:
Dr. Kennedy established the John Myatt family tree with seven boys and three girls. All birth years are estimates. Dr. Kennedy assumed all of the other Myatts in Wake County in the late 1700s were sons/daughters of John Myatt. Dr. Kennedy states how he arrived at the order of birth, and to some extent the birth year of the sons. Basically he used the sequence in which they appeared in the Johnston and Wake County Court Minutes. There was a bible record which gave Matthew’s birth year as 1747. Matthew also started appearing in Court Minutes first and about the same time a William Myatt appeared (more about William later). Accordingly, Dr. Kennedy believed Matthew was the first born son.
Dr. Kennedy indicated John’s birth year was “ca 1726”, meaning “at, in, or of approximately” (my dictionary) 1726. Dr. Kennedy gave no reasoning for selecting this date. It seems he had very few facts available to make such an estimate. He had a document which gave Matthew’s birth year as 1747. He knew that John died in or before 1801. He had the 1790 and 1800 census records. He assumed that Matthew was the oldest son. There apparently was
nothing else to guide him.
David has this family tree in his book (including the error about William Myatt) with one major exception. David determined that Mark was the oldest son and that he was born on 17 March 1743/1744. This complicates the acceptance of 1726 as John’s birth year.
JOHN, BORN IN 1726 TOO YOUNG FOR THIS FAMILY:
Whether one uses the 1743/1744 birth of Mark or the 1747 birth of Matthew I believe John had to be older than 17 or 21 at the birth of his first son. Other Myatts were older when they started families. Matthew was 30 years old when his first son was born. Mark was married in 1772 at the age of 29/30. John Jr. was married in 1784 at the estimated age of 32. These ages to start a family seem much more logical.
JOHN, BORN IN 1726 TOO YOUNG FOR CIVIC DUTIES ASSIGNED:
Dr. Kennedy provided a detailed sequential listing of every entry found for any Myatt in both the Johnston County and the Wake County Court Minutes. Very early John Myatt (Miot) appeared in responsible positions. As an example he was on a jury to view and lay out a road. There was an order to record John Myatt’s “mark”. He served on several Grand Juries. He was “overseer Constable of ye high road”. John, if born in 1726, seems very young to be assigned such duties in the early 1750s. The other Myatt (believed to be his sons) started appearing in County records at a much later age. Matthew first appeared in 1777, age 30, as an overseer of a road. The elusive William Myatt started appearing in 1777 as a “tax gather”. Mark Myatt first appeared in the Court Minutes about 1779, over 30 years old.
WHAT WAS JOHN’S REAL NAME:
The earliest Lord Granville document about John was an order to survey a plantation for John Miatt containing 500 acres. This was to “include the improvements thereon”. (This indicates John was there on the property before 1750.) The second document was the actual survey document also dated 1750 which used the name John Miate. The official grant to John was dated 1753 and use the name John Myate. But, this document is signed, presumably by John himself, as John Miate. Very strange.
In the Johnston County Court Minutes from 1750-1766 John was referred to almost always as John Miot. There are two cases where he is named John Myat and one case where he is named John Myott. Dr. Kennedy states that John believed his name was Miot. However, there are no documents to support this belief.
In 1771 Wake County was formed from Johnston and other counties and the Myatt lands ended up in Wake County. In the Wake Co. Court Minutes for 1771-1773 John was named Miot, as in the Johnston County records. In 1774 the name suddenly changed to Myatt or Myott. Strangely, the Court Minutes used Myott in 1777 and early 1778. In 1778 and thereafter the name was spelled Myatt with minor exceptions. It is also interesting the illusive William Myatt started appearing in the Court Minutes, first as a “tax gatherer” in 1778.
We can assume John was literate. It is difficult to believe he would be assigned such responsible civic duties otherwise. Being literate one would assume he knew how to spell his last name. The Thomas Myatt in Edgecombe County knew his name was Myatt. If John was the son of this Thomas he would have known to spell the name as Myatt, not Miate, Miot, or other variations of the name.
SONS OF JOHN MYATT:
Dr. Kennedy assumed that all the Myatts appearing in the Court records were sons of John. He made one large error which was carried over into David’s book. Dr. Kennedy had a William “Willie” Myatt listed as John’s son born ca 1763. Obviously this could not be the William Myatt appointed tax gatherer in 1778. Instead, this was Wiley Myatt, the oldest son of Matthew. This is obvious by reviewing the 1790 and 1800 census records. Recognizing this error Wade changed to Website to reflect William Myatt as the third son of John.
We are not certain which of the Myatts were the sons of John. The only record I have seen which connects any of them to John is Matthew’s Will which requested that he be buried next to his father, John Myatt, Sr. The initial DNA test results indicate that at least one of them may not be John’s son. It is entirely possible that some of the others were not sons.
The names of the alleged sons of John do not follow the pattern seen in his alleged ancestors. Then, as in the descendants of John and even today, there was a tendency to name sons after ancestors. The most popular name in the alleged ancestors of John were Richard, Thomas and John. John Myatt did not name any of his sons Richard or Thomas.
THE ILLUSIVE WILLIAM MYATT:
As stated William first appeared in County records as a tax gatherer in 1777/1778 in Capt. John Myatt’s district. Also in 1778 William was appointed a tax gatherer in two other districts. After that William Myatt is not mentioned in any of the Court Minutes, land transactions, auctions, or other documents.
William does appear in the Wake Co. 1790 census with a significant family. That record shows 1 male over 16 (himself) 4 males under 16 (sons), and two females (wife and one daughter). He did not own a slave – all other Myatts did. William did not appear in the 1800 census – all the other Myatts did. William Myatt and his family just disappeared. We have never uncovered later families that could be tied back as descendants to this William Myatt.
One could speculate wildly about this William Myatt. He appeared on the scene at almost the exact time the name was finally changed from many variations to Myatt. Then he disappears. Could he have been the catalyst which caused the adoption of the name Myatt? Who knows.
OTHER NOTES:
The Family Tree section of www.ancestry.com includes a tree for Mark Myatt. This tree the ancestors of Mark as reflected in our Website. However, this record gives Mark’s birth date as 1740 and his father’s birth date as 1727. This would mean John was only 13 when his son Mark was born. Further, if John was born in 1727 he could not be the John Myatt baptized in 1726.
CONCLUSIONS:
I believe we have no basis whatever to continue to reflect Thomas Myatt as the ancestor of our John Myatt.
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