It's difficult to find the origin of our name when you don’t know the original spelling. The earliest spelling found was about 1695 when Zachary JERKIN was the third husband of Elizabeth Walker. In 1715 this same Zachary, (or his son's) name was spelled JURKIN in two documents. A year later in 1716 it was spelled JURKIN, JIRKIN and then GERKIN twice in four documents. It was spelled GERKIN when he was deeded 60 acres by his father-in-law in 1718, then GIRKEN when he died in 1754, with various spellings in between including GIRKIN, GIRKINGS and GERKINGS. Signing documents with his mark indicated he could not write, so the name was spelled as it sounded.

The name was spelled GIRKIN when Zachariah's son Benjamin came to near Pinetown (about the Washington-Beaufort County line)in 1758. The first time it was spelled GURKIN was in 1780 when Benjamin witnessed a deed. Then in 1788 the State of North Carolina granted land to Jeremiah GURKIN. From that time on the name was spelled GURKIN fairly consistently in deeds and wills, with few exceptions. You can't go by the census records because it was spelled as it sounded to the census taker.

A little perspective here. The lost colony was discovered to be lost in 1597. The first permanent English settlement in America was in 1607 at Jamestown, Va. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Mass. in 1620. Our ancestor, Zachariah Gurkin, or his father, was in North Carolina In 1695. Most of the people known to be in America at that time, other than the British, were the American Indians, the Spanish in Florida, and the French in Canada, and most of the time the British were fighting all of these people, trying to colonize America. When the Constitution was ratified in 1788, after the Revolutionary War, THE ORIGINAL COLONIST WERE CHIEFLY FROM THE BRITISH ISLES.

The New Dictionary of American Names by Harper and Row points out that JERKINS, the earliest spelling of our name, is an English word standing for the son of Little Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jerome and Gerald. So, a study of the earliest spelling, the time, the location, the neighbors, and the associates of Zachariah Gurkin, indicates that our name may be of English origin. I have, at this time, not determined the origin of our name.

Zachariah Gurkin is our earliest documented ancestor. He raised his family near Conaby Creek near Plymouth, NC.. Pinetown, Jamesville and Dardens are located within about 30 miles of his homeplace. Zachariah had three sons; Joshua, Benjamin and Zachariah. Jr.. All three were listed in the militia in 1747, before the Revolutionary War.

Benjamin's descendants are pretty well documented. In 1758 he moved to a location near the Washington-Beaufort County line where he raised five children. One of his children, Benjamin, Jr. also had five children. One of those children, Zachariah, married Sally Mizzelle and they raised their family in Williams Township near Jamesville, NC. Their children included Laura Dianthia Gurkin, Great Grandmother of Jennifer Sheppard, and Zachariah Taylor Gurkin. Zachariah Taylor raised his family about 8 miles south of Williamston, NC, off Highway 17 on Fire Dept. Rd.. Two of Zachariah Taylor’s children, Callie Irene and David Clarence, live near the old home-place. The Zachariah Taylor Gurkin family cemetery is nearby.

The first Benjamin also had a son named Charles. This Charles had three children; Henry, Sarah and Harmon. Charles died in 1794 and Harmon must have gone to live with his uncle Zachariah, because when Zachariah died about 1801 his estate was left to his sister Nelly and to his nephew Harmon. The 1830 census shows Harmon with four sons. Their names were not listed but after a process of elimination I decided they were Horace, William A., Henry B. and James. Notice that Horace named one of his children Henry, another Charles, and yet another Warren William. William A. named his son William Harmon. His first grandchild was named Charles Gray. The naming of the children and a number of land transactions between Horace and his brothers were the reasons for showing Harmon and Charles to be their father and grandfather.

Horace Gurkin was born in 1812. Numerous land transactions between he, William A. Gurkin and others are recorded for property on Welch's Creek, the boundary between Washington and Martin Counties. The early transactions were in Washington County and adjoined property owned by William A. and James Gurkin. He apparently sold this property in 1847-48 and started buying land in Martin County in 1847. His first purchase was for 450 acres of the Bald Gray Tract. Horace's family cemetery is located on this property in Martin County between Dardens and Jamesville, just off Hwy 64 on SR 1563, known as the Gray Farm Rd. The cemetery of his son Warren William is located on the same road about 1/4 mile away toward Hwy 64 behind a mobile home. The occupants of the mobile home are doing a good job of maintaining that cemetery. The cemetery of his sons Henry A. and Charles is located about 1/2 mile from his at the intersection of Hwy 64 and Gray Farm Rd, across Hwy 64 in the edge of the woods. The woods are about to take this cemetery over.

William A. Gurkin was born about 1820 and first appeared in a Washington County deed transaction in 1844. His son William Harmon and grandchildren, Will Harmon, Carrie Ann and Colon Lee are buried in Windley Cemetery and Memorial Gardens in Plymouth. His grandson Charles Gray is buried in Jamesville.

In determining the origin of the Pinetown Gurkins, I went back to Zachariah’s son Joshua. He was deeded 141 acres on Davises Island in 1761. He had four children named Joshua, John, Hannah and Jeremiah. Joshua, John and Hannah seemed to have stayed near the family farm and there is no record of any of their male descendants. Jeremiah was deeded 100 acres in Beaufort County in 1788 on the north side of Pungo Swamp. I haven’t located this property on the map, but Pinetown is located between the north and south branches of Pungo Creek, so Jeremiah’s property must have been near Pinetown. The 1800 census shows Jeremiah with two males 16-26 which could only be Frederick and Richard. Frederick’s son William married Mary Harrison and they were deeded a tract of land next to the school in Pinetown which William deeded to his grandson William A. This is where Milton Gurkin lived. Miltons father was named Hoyt Milton. That, and the fact that William’s first daughter, Elizabeth named her son Hoyt, makes me think that Eli Hoyt Gurkin was William’s brother, and Frederick’s son. E. S. Guirkin was most probably either Frederick or Richard’s son.

Eli Hoyt Gurkin evidently moved to Hyde County and raised his family there, evidenced by numerous land transactions in that County. His son James Edmund, and James's wife Henrietta are buried there, near Pantego.

E. S. Guirkin and his son Edwin Stanton are buried in the Elliott Cemetery in Hyde County near Bath. Edwin Stanton married Mary J. Elliott. They had a son named Eli Sherman who is buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Washington NC, along with his wife and some of their descendants.

Most of The present Pinetown Gurkins are descended from Frederick's son William. William's children included Elizabeth, Rufus, William Wylie, Horace Oden, Emily and Martha Missouri. I have most of their descendants. He had four other daughters for which I have some information.

I would like to Thank Jim for giving me permission to list this. Please stop by and check out Jim's webpage at

Gurkin Family History Site

 

I said that it is JERKIN !!!

"NO" it is GURKIN !!!

 

 

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