John Robert Maffett (1824-1908) and Mary Beeland Maffett (1831-1919)

J.R. arrived in Gwinnett County, GA from SC in 1925 at the age of one year. He married Mary in 1848. They had thirteen living children. In 1959 they had approximately 774 known descendents. This hand-tinted picture was probably done in the 1880's.

The J.R. Maffett home as it appeared in the 1890's. Those pictured from left to right are Ada Maffett Gunter, Fletcher Ellington Maffett, J.R. and Mary, Ora Maffett Stewart and Cora Maffett Wilson (twins). This house, although in very poor repair, still stands on Old Peachtree Road near Suwanee, GA. Pictures of the house in its present state are presented below.

The Maffetts in the Southeastern United States

The surname Maffett is a variation of the Scottish Moffat, a town located in southwestern Scotland (Dumfriesshire). The name appeared by at least 1100 as 'Movats' and 'de Movest' (indicating Norman descent) which then became 'de Moffett.' There is also suspicion the name may be linked to William de Monte Alto, who married Collobella Grant, whose ancestors came from Norway. It is also said that the name Robert de Movest was corrupted and given to the town of Moffatt. The Moffats appear to have rapidly risen in power and influence; in 1268 Nicolas de Moffet was Bishop of Glasgow, in 1336 William de Moffete was one of three ambassadors to the English Court, in 1337 Walter de Moffet was Ambassador to France and by 1342 was King's messenger to France, England and the Marches.

The principal Houses of the Family were:

Auldton (Alton House): Home of the Clan Chief

Grantoun (Granton House)

Wauchope

Knock

Gillesbie

Polmoodie (Poldean)

Moffats were among the first to join with William Wallace and were close allies of Robert the Bruce, Lord of Annandale and later King of Scots. The Moffats supplied 40 men and horses at the Battle of Bannockburn.

During the long conflict between England and Scotland over sovereignty (1314 - 1745), the lowlands of Scotland ("The Borders") bore the brunt of the fighting. This was compounded by the Protestant Reformation and ultimately the founding of the Church of Scotland (the Presbyterians). The Scots not only fought the English, they also fought among themselves.

Principle among the enemies of the Moffats were the Johnstones. In 1557, the then Chief, Robert Moffat of Auldton, was murdered in church by the Johnstones. In the same year - possibly the last act of this long-running feud - the Johnstones set fire to a building in which the principle Moffats had gathered, slaughtering those who tried to escape. Thus, the Clan became broken or leaderless. Following this disaster, most of the family fled Annandale, many settling in Glencairn, northwest of Dunfries.

The unsettled, lawless culture of the Borders combined with England's attempts to subjugate the Catholic Irish lead to the founding of the Ulster Plantation in 1605. Under this plan which lasted until 1697, landless, Protestant Scots were given land in Northern Ireland covering 9 counties. After an initial period of success, the Scots position between the Catholic Irish and the Church of England became untenable. The combination of constant warfare, famine, and religious persecution were motivations for leaving Ireland. The Scots-Irish diaspora began.

During this period of turmoil, variations in the original spelling appeared (there are now over 20 variations of Moffat). Evidently vowels were often interchanged in Ireland in the 17th & 18th centuries. One group of the Moffats immigrated from Sundaywell, Dumfriesshire to Farranfad, near Clough in County Down. The first known Moffat to write his name Maffett was Hugh Moffat who had three sons, the only one known being William Maffett. This probably occurred in the early 1700's. By the 1770's there are 3 Maffett's recorded in the Irish records. William's descendents include Alan and Gerard Maffett, both heroes with the RAF in the Battle of Britain.

Paraphrasing "Borderlands to Backcountry," page 605, Albion's Seed by David H. Fischer: The United States was settled by four waves of immigrants in the 1700-1800's. These waves were distinct in their composition and can be traced to discrete areas of the British Isles. The largest group came from the Borderlands of England - the so-called Lowlands of Southern Scotland and the northern counties of England. In turn the Protestant immigrants to Northern Ireland, the Scots-Irish, originated from the same homelands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Dumfries, a lowland county was the ancestral home of the Moffat Clan. The peak periods of immigration to America were 1718, 1729, 1741, 1755, 1767, & 1774. The total number of people that immigrated is estimated at 447,000.

Initially many of the immigrants departed from Newcastle, but later the primary ports of embarkation were Ulster (i.e. Belfast). Until 1760 most of the settlers entered America through Philadelphia. However, this changed with the passage of the Bounty Act (1761-1768) in South Carolina. This Act provided free land (100 acres per man, 50 for each woman or child). In the period 1771-1775 alone, about 25,000 people left Ulster, primarily Country Antrim, in the face of rising rents. The primary port of entry then became Charleston and by 1776 the Carolina backcountry held 83,000 settlers.

The Scots-Irish were unique as immigrants because they came as large extended families, often groups of families. They were poor, largely uneducated, and subscribed to a militant form of Protestantism. Many of these groups were led by Presbyterian ministers. These people were not culturally English and did not conform to the English model of settlement. Upon arrival they found all the coastal lands were occupied forcing them to move inland to western Pennsylvania and the Alleghany Mountains. From there they drifted south into the valleys of Virginia and by the 1730's were following the Great Wagon Road into the Piedmont Plateau and uplands of the Carolinas. In 1769 Daniel Boone found a way through the Cumberland Mountains and the Scots spread into Tennessee and Kentucky. They were the frontiersmen and the backwoods culture was of their own making. This culture became the predominant American culture in the Southeast, lower Mid-West, and throughout much of the far West. Andrew Jackson, the first President produced by the frontier, was Scots-Irish.

At least three lines of Maffetts began in America in the 18th century. The earliest was John Maffett born in Philadelphia 8 March, 1744 whose descendents moved on to Kentucky and then Kansas and Texas. The second line began with Henry Maffett in Virginia (1773) whose descendents moved on to Ohio. James Maffett settled near Newberry, SC in 1772. There are other references, such John Maffett who resided in Mecklenburg County, NC in 1767, but his line has yet to be traced.

Traditionally, many of the Maffett's in the Southeast have viewed James Maffett who purchased land and presented a petition of survey for 250 acres in Newberry County, South Carolina in 1772 as "the immigrant." However the evidence is scanty and confusing. For example: This James Maffett is often confused with James Moffat who received 400 acres under the Bounty Act in the Waxhaw Community near Charleston in 1767. James Moffat's name is spelled at least four different ways in the existing records leading to considerable confusion on the Maffett lines in South Carolina. James Moffat is said to have had 5 wives, several of whom he did not divorce.

Reverend John Renwick of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church lead three groups of immigrants to South Carolina in the years 1767, 1770, and 1772. The last date corresponds to the year of James Maffett's land application. These immigrants settled along the upper Cannon's Creek watershed in Craven County, Ninety-Six District which later became Newberry County in 1785. Reverend Renwick founded two A.R.P. Churchs during his brief life. However, the King's Creek and Cannon's Creek church records of that period are lost and there is no known recording of the immigrants that came with Reverend Renwick.

To confuse matters, John Maffett of Mecklenburg County, NC, bought 235 acres in Union County, SC, in 1767. There are also land records identifying a William Maffett of Camden District, SC, in 1775 and an intriguing land sale from William to James (Maffett?) in 1785. There are no family records on any of these men, but one might assume James and William were somehow related.

As previously stated, James Maffett's exact origin and date of arrival are unknown. However, Samuel Maffett, possibly his son, was said to have been born in County Donegal, Ireland (oral history). Samuel died in 1811 in Newberry. Samuel's brother Robert Maffett Sr. was also born in Ireland. He died in Newberry, SC on 17 Sept 1837 at the age of 72. Thus he was born in 1765. On the map of Newberry District in 1820 the site of the "Moffet" farm is clearly maked.

Robert Maffett Sr. (1765 - 1837) of Newberry, South Carolina, the brother of Samuel married Barbara Hair (1767-1844). She was the daughter of Peter Herr Sr. and Anna Maria Herman. The Herr's were probably among the German Lutheran immigrants to the Dutch Fork (S. of Cannon's Creek). Anna married a Buzhart (various spellings) and Barbara is sometimes listed bearing this maiden name. The Maffett family cemetery is six miles southeast of the Newberry Court House near the Phillips Church. It's location has been lost. The surname is well known in that part of South Carolina where at one time the "e" was often interchanged with and "i". Robert had four sons, John, James, Samuel (who may be a duplicate or nephew of Samuel above), and Robert Jr. Robert Jr. remained in Newberry County, dying there in 1879. His prominent gravestone is still to be seen in Cannon's Creek Cemetery.

Robert Jr.'s son, David Theodore moved to Montezuma, GA in the late 1850's with the family of his wife, Elizabeth Sligh. He was a Captain in Lee's Army at Appomattox. A second son, John (J1), is thought to have moved to Gwinnett County, GA in 1825 {seebelow}. The third son of Robert Sr., Samuel, died in 1811 in Newberry, but his wife, Jane Canon, and son, also named John (J2), moved to Meriwether County, GA. A fourth son of Robert Sr., James (b. 18 March, 1795-20 Jan 1880) married Rebecca Cannon (1798-25 June, 1848). They were the parents of the Civil War hero, Lt. Col. Robert Clayton Maffett, who commanded the 3rd South Carolina Infantry at Gettysburg. Jane and Rebecca Cannon were cousins. In addition on the monument to the Civil War dead in Newberry are the names of six Maffetts, Lt. Col.(also Captain) James Middleton, Lt. Col. Robert Clayton, Lt. Dan Smyley (whose grave is in Cannon Creek Cemetery), Robert Drayton , Jacob Lawson and Theodore Adolphus.

Another period of confusion appears here in the Maffett line. John (J2), son of Samuel, was born 12 Feb, 1799 and died 13 April,1838 and is buried in Meriwether County, Greenville, GA. He was married to Rebecca Gallman. Many Maffetts are buried in the old Presbyterian Cemetery in Greenville.

In the same period, another John Maffett (J1) arrived in Gwinnett County, GA. In 1830 he recorded as owning two slaves and had drawn land lot number 332 in the Cherokee land lottery of 1838. He is also believed to be the same man who served on the jury of the famous trial of the Cherokee missionaries in 1831. Although there is presently no direct evidence of this, I feel this second John is the second son of Robert, Sr. and uncle of the John in Meriwether County. By oral history from my uncle Norris Maffett, his son, John Robert came to Gwinnett County at the age of one year in a covered wagon (1825) from South Carolina.

In the census of 1850, Gwinnett County, GA, John Maffett is listed as 63 yo (dob 1787) and is married to Margaret Garmany. They had one child at home, 16 yo Nancy. There is no mention of John Robert (30 July, 1824, Newberry, SC - d. 10 Sept, 1908 Atlanta, GA), his presumed son, but then John Robert (J.R.) was married on December 31, 1848 to Mary Belande (29 July 1831 - 5 April, 1919), and would not have been viewed as a dependent. Mary was from Milledgeville, GA. In another source John and Margaret are listed as having 9 children: Hamilton, Robert (John Robert?), George Washington, Marg, Elizabeth (married Wilson Kemp), Rebecca, Margaret, and Nancy.

Hamilton Maffett is the father of Robert N. Maffett (b. 1845, married Sarah Ivie) who was county surveyor 1875-76 & 1881-1891. He received a Civil War pension in 1879.

To create further confusion Samuel Maffett drew land lot 107 in the 1827 lottery and lots 492 & 467 in the lottery of 1838. If Samuel, son of Robert Sr. died abt. 1810, who was this Samuel other than John Maffett's (J2) son (Samuel's grandson)? The lottery was restricted to white males over 18 yo or who had resided in GA 3 years (or widows or orphans of war veterans). If you were married you were eligible for two lots. Many of the lots were never occupied, but were quickly sold to other settlers.

The Gwinnett County Courthouse burned in 1871 and many records were lost. The relationship of John (J1) to John Robert is largely circumstantial. For instance by ancient Scottish-English custom, the eldest son was named for his father. John R. Maffett is listed as owning 1200 acres in the Goodwins Section of the county in 1860. Also, the deed records of Gwinnett County show many land sales from John to John R. beginning in 1848 (the date of J.R.'s marriage). This is found in Book S, Land Deeds, Gwinnett County, 173 acres for $175 on 18 Nov 1848, recorded 7 April, 1884.

Other miscellaneous information includes:

J.R. and Mary Belande (also Beeland) Maffett are listed as founding members of the Rock Springs Methodist Church in 1866. Later J.R. helped construct the First Christian Church, known at the Hopewell Church, which housed a school, the Maffett Academy. In the Civil War there is a Sgt. J.R. Maffett listed in Company E, Eight Infantry, State Guards, also known as the Gwinnett Grays. They were armed with Belgian Rifles and swords and were assigned along the fall line from the Savannah River to Columbus. His muster rolls for 1863 and 1864 are on record in the GA State Archives. His house (built 1850's?) still stands on Old Peachtree Road, south of the Rock Springs Methodist Church, near Suwannee, GA.

Although the origins of John (J1) are uncertain, oral history given by James (Jimmy) Maffett of Montezuma, GA states that he remembers clearly that his great uncle, Robert Irving Maffett, when traveling to Atlanta would speak of visiting "his cousin, Fletcher" Maffett. This would assume that Robert Irving knew of some relationship dating back to the Maffett's SC roots. Fletcher also stated in his History of Georgia biography that his father was born in Newberry.

In 1959 there were almost 774 known descendants of John Robert and Mary Belande (Beeland) Maffett. Their 14 children and corresponding birth dates are as follows:

Rebecca Bursheba Maffett 3 Nov 1849

Cicero Sidney Maffett 28 Jan 1851

George Henry Maffett 28 March 1853

Margaret Mary Maffett 7 Dec 1853

David Wordlaw Maffett 11 Oct 1855

Francis Josephine Maffett 27 Sept 1857

Lorenzo Brownlow Maffett 11 Dec 1859

Benjamin Franklin Maffett 29 May 1862

Sara Lutishia Maffett 9 Dec 1865

Ulysses Grant Maffett 22 May 1868

Ada Julia Maffett 2 March 1871

Cora and Ora Maffett 9 March 1873

Fletcher Ellington Maffett 4 April 1876 - 21 May 1953

Fletcher E. Maffett moved to Atlanta in 1899 and began work with the Atlanta Street Railway Company. He later became involved in the motorcar business and sold the first Dodge Brothers Automobile to Atlanta in 1914. He later owned F.E. Maffett Motors and was a member of Peachtree Christian Church.

Fletcher was married twice and had 7 children:

Married Sadie Born - 19 May 1883 - 18 June 1910 - three children - died in childbirth.

Robert Fisher - 4 April 1905 -

Mary Lucy -

Fletcher E. Maffett Jr. - 18 June 1910 - 26 June 1910

Eva Jane Norris Maffett -13 Sep 1885 - 6 Feb 1934 - four children - died of "double" pneumonia.

Jane Norris - 7 July 1919?

Fletcher Norris -

Peggy Elaine - 7 November 1927

Phillip Wayne - 6 May 1923 -

This photo is probably of a Maffett family renunion taken about 1915. Many of the old time reunions were held at the home of Brownlow Maffett in Roswell, GA. Mary B. Maffett is third from the left and is of advanced age (she died in 1919). Fletcher, her youngest child, sits on the extreme right. Presumably, the other persons are Mary's children, but they remain unidentified other than by speculation.

A view of the J.R. Maffett home from Old Peachtree Road. The gentleman who owns the house is in poor health and restoration work stopped years ago. The Gwinnett County Historical Society has been alerted to the plight of this historic property.

TheJ.R. Maffett house (circa 1850) as it stands today (2004) near Suwanee, GA. The rear wing of the house that housed the kitchen has collapsed. The land around the house is now being densely developed as metropolitan Atlanta continues to grow.

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