Key Facts

Snapshot:	owned slaves
Parents:	824Moses Horn His mother's identity is uncertain.
Born:	sometime in the mid-1700's, perhaps circa 1745 probably either Edgecombe or Halifax county, North Carolina
Died:	before 15 October 1795 probably Edgecombe County, North Carolina
Buried:	unknown

412Abishai Horn is the son of 824Moses Horn (as proven by an estate division record for 824Moses' estate, copied below).1 His mother may have been 824Moses' wife Mary, but there is reason to doubt, as explained in the problem section below.

412Abishai must have been born sometime in the mid-1700's, perhaps circa 1745 (since his father seems to have been a young adult when he sold land in February 1744).2 He was probably born in either Edgecombe or Halifax county, North Carolina, since his father seems to have been living there in the mid-1700's.2,3

⅔ of 824Moses' estate was divided equally among his children. Since 412Abishai is listed as an heir, he must be 824Moses' child. Full pages: 339, 340.1

Problem: Unresolved Who is 412Abishai's mother? 412Abishai's mother certainly may have been 824Moses' wife Mary. Indeed, Mary's will explicitly describes 412Abishai as her son:4 However, 824Moses' estate records shows that he had several heirs with the surname Bunn.1 I suspect that these Bunn heirs are actually 824Moses' step-children, i.e. Mary's children from a previous marriage. 824Moses may have married Mary fairly late in life; interestingly, she co-signed three late deeds to which 824Moses was a party, but didn't sign his earlier deeds. Ultimately, without more evidence one can't be certain that Mary was the mother of any of 824Moses' children. Even though her will describes 412Abishai as a son, she may have meant step-son. For your reference, Mary's estate records are: a will (Edgecombe County, wills for the years 1758-1830, volume 5, Mary Horn); an inventory (Edgecombe County, inventories for the years 1783-1788, page 126); and an estate sale (Edgecombe County, inventories for the years 1783-1788, pages 225-229).

412Abishai married 413Mary Ricks.5,6

He inherited two slaves: one named Ben, inherited from Mary (his possible mother), whose will was probated in February 1785;4 and another named Snass[?], inherited from his father-in-law James Ricks, whose will was probated in May 1792.6

His 1790 census entry is below. The numbers represent: 2 white boys under age 16, 2 white men age 16+, 4 white females, 5 slaves, 8 family members total.7

1790: 412Abishai's household in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Full page.7

412Abishai died sometime before 15 October 1795, since some items from his estate were sold on that date.8 Below is a list of his estate records, all from Edgecombe County, North Carolina.

•	Division of land: Deeds book 8 (1794-1798), pages 611-613. I've written a partial transcription.
•	Inventory: Records of estates for the years 1795-1797, pages 34-35.
•	Estate sale: Records of estates for the years 1797-1798, pages 94-104.

Using the map from Deeds Book 8, page 611, I determined the location of 412Abishai's land and marked it on the master map. He lived in what is now western Edgecombe County, North Carolina just west of the Tar River.

Sources Cited:

1: Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Wills book B (1778-1785), page 338-341. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-JK54-6?i=375&cc=1867501&cat=299030> et seq., accessed 31 May 2020.

2: Halifax County, North Carolina. Deeds book 9 (1764-1767), pages 21-22. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99DD-6DG8?i=265&cat=328729> et seq., accessed 31 May 2020.

3: North Carolina patent, file #100[A], issued 6 April 1745 to Moses Horne for 350 acres On N. side Concho Creek. North Carolina MARS ID 12.14.59.2717. According to <nclandgrants.com>, the record is on North Carolina Archives microfilm S.108.709, although I have not seen it for myself.

4: Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Wills for the years 1758-1830, volume 5 (Ger-How), the will of Mary Horn, dated 5 October 1783. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-VD8R-6?i=252&wc=32LK-K68%3A169764201%2C170972001&cc=1867501>, accessed 2 May 2020.

5: A Horne family Bible described and abstracted in: Bess Vaughn Clark, Twiggs County, Georgia Records: A Reconstructed Heritage: A Collection from Newspapers, Deeds, Bible Records, Military Records, Wills, Personal Journals and Papers (Wolfe Publishing, 1999), pages 255-257.

6: Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Wills for the years 1758-1830, volume 8 (Phi-Sch), the will of James Ricks, dated 13 March 1792. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-V49M-XR?i=139&wc=32LK-4WG%3A169764201%2C170981601&cc=1867501>, accessed 2 June 2020.

7: 1790 U.S. Federal Census. Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Page 2 (= 383), line 2, Abishai Horn household. NARA microfilm publication M637, roll 7. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYY8-34SP?i=3&wc=3XTM-BX9%3A1584071002%2C1584071008%2C1584070607&cc=1803959&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHK1-3KM>, accessed 2 May 2020.

8: Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Records of estates for the years 1797-1798, page 94. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GCZ-9MT3?i=51&wc=32G7-VZC%3A169764201%2C170621401&cc=1867501>, accessed 2 June 2020.