Redheadkelly at 01:19, 12 August 2026

2026-08-12T01:19:21Z

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{{SHORTDESC:Beaufort County, North Carolina landowner and Revolutionary War-era militiaman}}
{{Infobox Ross ancestor
| given_name = Francis
| middle_name = 
| surname = Ross
| surname_prefix = 
| pre-nominals = 
| post-nominals = 
| title_type = 
| title_ordinal = 
| title_role = 
| title_particle = 
| title_object = 
| honorific_suffix = 
| nickname = Frank
| date_format = mdy
| portrait = 
| landscape = 
| alt = 
| other_image = 
| birth_date = 
| baptized = 
| death_date_circa = circa
| death_date = 1830
| flourished_begin = 
| flourished_end = 
| burial_place = 
| gravestone = 
| residence = Long Acre, Beaufort County, North Carolina
| years_active_beg = 
| years_active_end = 
| organization = 
| title = 
| height = 
| weight = 
| father = John Ross the Immigrant (c1727-)
| mother =
| spouses = {{partner|Mary Jones}}
| children = 
| family = Rosses of Beaufort County
| immigration_date = 
| immigration_place = 
| sex_chromosomes = XY
| y_matched_group = 
| familysearch = 
| rin = 72729
}}

'''Francis "Frank" Ross''' was a son of [[John Ross the Immigrant]], traditionally counted among the six sons who emigrated from Scotland in 1774, and the recipient of the earliest documented Ross land grant in Beaufort County, North Carolina.

== DNA evidence ==

=== Y-DNA ===
No documented direct male-line descendant of Francis Ross has taken a Y-DNA test as of this writing. See [[John Ross the Immigrant#Y-DNA|John Ross the Immigrant]] for the status of Y-DNA testing within this family cluster generally.

=== Autosomal DNA ===


== Biography ==
<div class="leafletmap">{{#display_map: layers=Thunderforest.Pioneer|service=leaflet|
35.6028,-76.9030~Land grant, 1779; land sale to Elijah Ross, 1785;
35.1085,-77.0441~1779 indictment and trial
}}</div>

=== Early life ===
Francis Ross was born in Scotland; no specific birth date has been found for him. He married Mary "Ann" Jones in 1778 in North Carolina.

On August 19, 1779, one hundred acres on Long Acre Ridge, Beaufort County, North Carolina, were surveyed and commissioned to Francis Ross — the earliest documented land record for this Ross family in North Carolina, and issued just four years after John Ross the Immigrant's well-documented 1774 arrival at Wilmington.{{sfn|Brewer|2022|p=[9]}} The chain bearers on that survey were Elijah Ross and Benjamin Ross, evidence generally read within the family as supporting a brotherly relationship among the three men.{{sfn|Brewer|2022|p=[9]}} Francis and Elijah Ross both appear on the 1779 Beaufort County tax list.{{sfn|Brewer|2022|p=[21]}}

On December 5, 1785, Francis Ross sold 200 acres in Long Acre, Beaufort County, to his brother Elijah Ross; their brother Benjamin Ross witnessed the deed.<ref name="deed-elijah">"Index to Real Estate Conveyances, 1696–1959; Deeds & Mortgages, 1700–1960," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89DR-FKMJ), Francis Ross to Elijah Ross, December 5, 1785, Long Acre, Beaufort County, North Carolina, witnessed by Benjamin Ross.</ref> In a separate transaction, Francis Ross sold property in Long Acre to Alexander Redditt, again witnessed by his brothers Benjamin and Elijah Ross.<ref name="deed-redditt">"Index to Real Estate Conveyances, 1696–1959; Deeds & Mortgages, 1700–1960," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9DR-FVNJ), Francis Ross to Alexander Redditt, Long Acre, Beaufort County, North Carolina, witnessed by Benjamin Ross and Elijah Ross.</ref>

=== 1779 indictment and Misprision of Treason ===
Francis Ross was among the twenty-three men indicted at New Bern on November 10, 1779 alongside his brothers Elijah and Benjamin Ross and several members of the Van Daniel family, for freeing an accused militia deserter from custody and for resisting militia service and taxation; see [[Elijah Ross Sr. (c1754-1817)#1779 indictment and Misprision of Treason|Elijah Ross Sr.]] for the fuller account of the case. Francis Ross was convicted, along with his brothers, of the lesser charge of misprision of treason after being acquitted of high treason, and was sentenced to confinement and forfeiture of half his estate — a sentence with no evidence of having actually been carried out.{{sfn|Brewer|2022|pp=[41-42]}}

=== Ancestors ===
{{Ancestors & descendants chart
|2=John Ross the Immigrant (c1727-)
|3=
|4=Angus Ross
|6=James McKenzie
|7=Isobel Unknown
|descendants=
*'''Francis Ross (-c1830)'''
** m. [[Mary Jones]]
}}
Francis Ross is traditionally identified as a son of [[John Ross the Immigrant]]. See [[John Ross the Immigrant#Disputed origins|Disputed origins]] for the state of the evidence.

=== Marriage and children ===
Francis Ross married '''Mary "Ann" Jones''' in 1778 in North Carolina. Francis Ross is enumerated on the 1820 census, but on the 1830 census "Mrs. Francis Ross" is listed instead — possibly reflecting his death between the two enumerations. Only three persons are noted in the 1830 household: one male under 9, one female under 14, and a female under 39; the names of any children are not given in the sources reviewed for this article.{{sfn|Brewer|2022|p=[8]}}

=== Occupation ===


=== Military ===
Francis Ross's only documented militia-related record is his indictment and conviction described above; see [[Elijah Ross Sr. (c1754-1817)#Military|Elijah Ross Sr.]] regarding the Beaufort County militia roll of April 1781 on which his brothers appear.

=== Death & burial ===
Francis Ross's death is dated to about 1830, on the basis of the 1830 census entry for "Mrs. Francis Ross" discussed above. No place of death or burial has been documented.

=== Timeline ===
{{Show timeline|person}}

== Disputed origins ==
See [[John Ross the Immigrant#Disputed origins|John Ross the Immigrant]] for the discussion of which six men are traditionally counted as sons of the Immigrant. Francis Ross's identification as a brother is supported by the same body of Beaufort County land-deed, tax-list, and court evidence that ties Elijah and Benjamin Ross together — indeed, the 1779 land grant to Francis, surveyed with Elijah and Benjamin as chain bearers, is the earliest piece of that evidence.

== Common discrepancies ==


== Sources ==
<references />

'''Bibliography'''
* {{cite book |last=Brewer |first=Cathy |title=Granddaddy was a Patriot |title-link=Granddaddy was a Patriot |publisher=Self-published family history |year=2022}}

{{Disclaimer}}

Francis Ross (-c1830) - Revision history

Redheadkelly at 01:19, 12 August 2026