18 Dec 2024 - See page on Womack Puckett - Grief Puckett was son of Isham Puckett Jr, son of Isham Puckett Sr, son of Womack Puckett. William Smith Puckett was likely Grief's younger half-brother.
Grief Puckett was on the 1800, 1810 and 1820 Federal Censuses of Chester Co, SC. He was then on the 1830 and 1840 Federal Census of Laurens Co, SC, one of the many confusing Puckett lines in Laurens.
He appears to be related to William Smith Puckett who married Delilah Knight.
Grief Puckett of SC was likely the same Grief Puckett mentioned in 1784 in a court record of Mecklenburg Co, VA: May 1784, For reasons appearing to the Court, It is Ordered that Grief Puckett an apprentice to Stephen Mabry be discharged from the said Mabry's service and that the Churchwardens bind out the said Puckett according to law. (OB 6:4, 008098391:22). There is no mention of Grief's family, and thus far, I have found no further records of Grief in Virginia.
Grief is a pretty rare name, so I am reasonably sure the Grief Puckett in VA in 1784 was the same individual later in SC. Grief had to be under 21 to be bound out, so was born after 1762. His age of 60-69 in the 1840 Census indicates he was born in the 1770s.
1800 Federal Census, Chester Co, SC - Grief Puckett - 01100 - 00101
1810 Federal Census, Chester Co, SC - Grief Pucket - 21010 - 00110
1820 Federal Census, Chester Co, SC - Grief Pucket - 310101 - 00010 - 4 in agriculture (handwritten page 6)
1830 Federal Census, Laurens Co, SC - Grief Puckett - 0022 001 - 0000 0001 - 6 total (stamped page number 240)
1840 Federal Census, Laurens Co, SC - Grief Pucket - 0000 00001 - 0000 0001 - 2 total (stamped page number 46) [Note: Wm Pucket (William Smith Puckett) family on line after Grief Puckett.]
Grief Puckett and his wife, name unknown, appear to have died before the 1850 Federal Census.
The name 'Grief Puckett' appears in the estate packet of William Puckett of Laurens Co, SC, 1836, Alfred Puckett administrator (Box 58, Pkg 9). Alfred Puckett was made administrator in Jan 1836. The inventory of the estate was very small, consisting of a horse, a mans saddle and a pair of saddle bags. Alfred Puckett filed a return of William Puckett's estate in Jan 1837, in which he paid his own account, and paid legacies to Thomas Puckett, Grief Puckett and Coleman Puckett. Nowhere in the estate records is it stated how Alfred, Thomas, Grief or Coleman Puckett were related to William Puckett.
Christine South Gee speculated this was William Puckett Jr of Lunenburg Co, VA who moved to South Carolina. I think that interpretation is completely wrong. William Puckett who died in Laurens Co, SC before Jan 1836 was likely a fairly young man who died with a very small estate. William died without children, so his estate passed to probable siblings, Alfred Puckett and Thomas Puckett. The Grief Puckett who inherited from William could be a brother named Grief, or could be William's father Grief - in some states, a parent could inherit an equal share with the decedent's siblings. Research needed on SC inheritance law at that time.
Census records:
1840 Federal Census, Laurens Co, SC - Albert Puckett - 4000 1 - 0100 1 - 7 total, 1 in agriculture (stamped page number 73)
1840 Federal Census, Laurens Co, SC - Thos T Puckett - 2100 01 - 0000 01 - 5 total, 1 in agriculture (stamped page number 32)
Thomas Puckett was in Monroe Co, MS by the 1850 census. He is listed as a shoemaker, age 45, born in NC. Subsequent censuses list him born in SC. With him are his apparent wife, Nancy 41, and children, all born in SC. The ages and genders of the family fit well with the Thos T Puckett in 1840 in Laurens Co, SC. Notably, in the 1880 census, Thomas Puckett is listed as born in SC, father born in VA, mother born in SC.
Alfred Puckett, listed as 'Alford', was in the 1850 census of Laurens Co, SC. He was a farmer, age 38, with apparent wife Martha 40, and children whose ages and genders match the 'Albert Puckett' in the 1840 census of Laurens. By 1860, he had joined brother Thomas Puckett in Monroe Co, MS, listed again as Albert Puckett, age 56, with same wife and most of the same children as 1850.
Coleman Puckett was in Spartanburg Co, SC in the 1850 census (indexed by ancestry as 'Tuckett') as a 40, a shoemaker, with apparent wife Mary. He is on the 1860 census of Greenville Co, SC as a shoemaker, age 50, with apparent wife Mary, and several children including a son named Coleman, all born in SC. A few households down the page is Miles Puckett, a shoemaker aged 24, with apparent wife Martha 20. This family seems to disappear after this census, other than a Civil War record for Coleman Puckett Jr.
Additionally, the Benjamin Puckett in the 1820 census of Fairfield Co, SC may have also been a son of Grief Puckett. Fairfield Co is just to the south of Chester Co, SC. Benjamin Puckett married Frances Mabry, daughter of Daniel Mabry, see his Revolutionary War Pension - https://revwarapps.org/r6570.pdf. The pension record says Frances had one child, a son. Other researchers have asserted she was the widow of Daniel Thomas Burns when she married Benjamin Puckett, and her son (mentioned but not named in her father's pension application) was Marion Burns. There was a Francis [sic] Puckett, female, aged 37 [very likely an error for 57] living with the family of Marion Burns in the 1850 census of Fairfield Co, SC. I have not followed this research, but it appears Benjamin Puckett died before 1836 without children of his own, and was thus not a legatee of William Puckett of Laurens Co, SC. Note the possible Mabry connection - Grief Puckett was an apprentice to Stephen Mabry in VA, and Benjamin Puckett married Frances Mabry.
To recap, Grief Puckett, born in VA between 1770 and 1780, and his unknown wife or wives had children:
POSSIBLY Benjamin Puckett who married Frances Mabry (Fairfield Co, SC)
Thomas Puckett married Nancy LNU (Monroe Co, MS)
Alfred Albert Puckett married Martha LNU (Monroe Co, MS)
Coleman Puckett married Mary LNU (Greeneville Co, SC)
William Smith Puckett
The SC death certificate of Catherine Delia Reeves, died 1 Apr 1915, Laurens Co, SC, says she was born 28 Nov 1838 in Laurens, and that her parents were William Smith Puckett and Cath. Delia Knight, both born in Chester [County], SC.
Christine South Gee believed that William Smith Puckett briefly moved from Laurens Co to Chester Co, SC where he married Delilah Knight, but according to this death certificate, he was born in Chester Co.
William Smith Puckett appears to have been accidently enumerated twice in the 1820 census of Chester Co, SC:
1820 Federal Census, Chester Co, SC - Wm Puckett - 300010-00020 - 1 in agriculture (handwritten page 18)
1820 Federal Census, Chester Co, SC - Wm Puckett - 300010-00010 - 1 in agriculture (handwritten page 29)
The two listings of William Puckett are the same, except for an extra white female 26-44 in the first listing. This may have been a sister of Delilah Knight Puckett; her sister Elizabeth Knight was with the family in the 1850 census.
By 1830, both Grief Puckett and William Puckett had moved to Laurens Co, SC (Grief's census records above).
1830 Federal Census, Lauren Co, SC - Wm Puckett - 2400 01 - 1100 01 - no slaves - 10 total (stamped page 225) [Note: 5 lines after Jno Knight]
1840 Federal Census, Lauren Co, SC - Wm Pucket - 0212 10100001 - 3220 011 - 3 slaves - 20 total - Revolutionary War Veteran John Knight age 98 with family. [Note: Grief Puckett on line preceding Wm Puckett.]
We know for certain the 1840 Census listing for 'Wm Pucket' was William Smith Puckett, because the 1840 census listed the names and ages of Revolutionary War Veterans in each household, and veteran John Knight, age 98, was with this Wm Pucket. John Knight (his pension application - https://revwarapps.org/r6026.pdf) was William Smith Puckett's father-in-law.
There were multiple Puckett families in Laurens Co, SC, but it likely NOT coincidental that William Smith Puckett was listed in the 1840 census right after Grief Puckett. Also, William Smith Puckett and his wife were both born in Chester Co, SC, where Grief Puckett was living in 1800, 1810 and 1820.
It appears Grief Puckett had a son named William Puckett who died before Jan 1836, see analysis above. William Smith Puckett was not named as a legatee (heir) in the estate packet of William Puckett.