Alfred Belote of early Lowndes County, Georgia

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Research dossier prepared: August 18, 2026
Subject: Alfred/Alford Belote, early Lowndes County settler, taxpayer, probable Army enlistee, and reported militia officer
Scope: Online and retained-source survey covering original Army, census, tax, newspaper, land, estate, genealogy, and cemetery evidence available as of August 18, 2026

Executive finding

Alfred Belote was an early settler of the part of original Irwin County that became Lowndes County, Georgia. Later histories consistently group him with Lawrence Folsom, James Rountree, and Drew Vickers as the first permanent white settler families of original Lowndes. That attribution is an old and credible local tradition, but it is not a contemporary finding. The earliest fully inspectable account located is William Harden's 1913 history. Folks Huxford repeated the quartet in 1922 and supplied an 1821 date, relying chiefly on newspaper sketches by Hortense W. Baker that have not been found.[1-2]

Original records document Alfred more securely than modern family trees do. An Army enlistment register records an Alfred Belote born in Bertie County, North Carolina, who enlisted in 1814 and was discharged at Raleigh in 1815 without joining his regiment or corps. The uncommon name and compatible migration pattern make this a strong probable match, although the age conflicts with the 1840 census.[3] Federal schedules place an Alford Belote household in Lowndes County in 1830 and 1840.[4-5] Original tax pages place Alfred on 490-acre Land Lot 55, District 12, in 1830 and 1834. The 1844 digest lists an agent for Alfred's estate on the same land, proving that he had died by that return.[6-8]

Lowndes legal notices establish the death boundary and the only verified child. William D. Griffin and John Belote applied to administer Alfred's estate in a notice dated September 24, 1844. A later notice shows that the estate included real property and enslaved people. In 1851 Griffin sought guardianship of Mary Ellen Belote, explicitly called Alfred's orphaned minor daughter. Griffin and John applied for dismissal from the administration in 1851.[9-12]

Much of the usual online genealogy remains unproved or wrong. Mary Ellen is the only child directly named in a reviewed contemporary record. John is a strong probable son because he co-administered Alfred's estate and a later tribute, preserved only in a memorial transcription, reportedly calls him Alfred's son. The other people in John's 1850 household may belong to that sibling group, but the census does not state their relationships.[13-14] Ann Hodges Belote is a probable widow of Alfred, yet Huxford gives her birth as 1813. She cannot have been the mother of John, born about 1823. Martha Hendley, sometimes named as an earlier wife, is only an unsupported tree lead.[15-17]

Alfred's exact birth date, parents, complete child list, precise death date, and burial place remain unknown.

Evidence standards

• Verified: read in an original image, contemporary public notice, or record that states the relationship or fact.
• Strong probable: several specific facts support the conclusion, but no single record states the entire identity or relationship.
• Probable: the evidence points in one direction but does not exclude a realistic alternative.
• Secondary-supported: stated in a later history, transcription, memorial, or compiled genealogy without inspected original proof.
• Possible: plausible and worth pursuing, but not established.
• Unresolved: the reviewed evidence does not settle the question.
• Contradicted: a stronger record or chronology conflicts with the claim.

Repeated public trees do not become independent proof by copying one another. Negative findings mean only that no record was found in the documented searches.

Identity and name controls

The record and published-source chain uses both Alfred Belote and Alford Belote:

The Lowndes tax and estate chain distinguishes the pioneer from later men of the same name. The uncommon name, Lowndes County continuity, tax chain, and later estate evidence make the 1830 and 1840 Alford Belote households a strong probable match to the pioneer. The conflicting adult-male age brackets prevent a verified identification. The 1844 tax entry is not a living Alfred; the manuscript explicitly lists an agent for his estate.

Later Virginia, North Carolina, and twentieth-century Alfred Belotes are excluded below.

Chronology

The first-four-settlers claim

The safest conclusion is that Alfred belonged to a four-family settlement tradition, not that a contemporary record proves the quartet's route and dates.

Harden's 1913 A History of Savannah and South Georgia is the earliest fully inspectable account found that names all four men. In a biography of Ashley Lawson and Cynthia Folsom, it says Lawrence Folsom, James Rountree, Drew Vickers, and Alfred Belote explored southern Irwin County on horseback in 1815, bought land, returned for their families, and became the first permanent white settlers of Lowndes County, especially its northern portion. It also says Alfred's land included the later village of Mineola.[1]

Harden wrote about ninety years after the event and cited no diary, deed, or public record. Its wording contains warning signs. It calls the purchases “government land,” although Lawrence Folsom's first verified tract was bought privately, and it says the men returned to Brooks County, which did not exist until 1858. The Mineola statement has not been tied to a deed or plat.

Huxford's 1922 quarterly gives the precise version: “In 1821, four settlers moved to what is now Lowndes county,” followed by the same four names and their families.[2] Huxford says his sketch depended chiefly on recent Valdosta Times articles by Hortense W. Baker. Baker's article, notes, and sources were not located.

“First permanent white settlers” is the terminology of those later histories. It describes Euro-American settlement and is not evidence that the land was previously uninhabited. The claim is also safest when applied to original Lowndes County, created from southern Irwin in 1825 and later divided.

Finding: strong for Alfred's membership in the old tradition; probable that he settled in the region by the early 1820s; unresolved for the 1815 expedition, exact 1821 family move, and Mineola land claim.

Army and militia service

Federal Army register

The original enlistment register gives an unusually detailed entry for Alfred Belote:[3]

• private, 10th U.S. Infantry, under Colonel J. Wellborn;
• age 21; laborer; born in Bertie County, North Carolina;
• 5 feet 6 inches; blue eyes; fair hair and complexion;
• enlisted July 4, 1814 at Fayetteville by Lieutenant Hill, for the war;
• attached in the remarks to Captain H. N. Caswell's company at Raleigh;
• discharged April 24, 1815 at Raleigh because his term expired, “without joining Regt or Corps”; reference to a pension case.

The name and geography make this a strong probable record for the Lowndes pioneer. The age implies birth about 1792-1793 and agrees broadly with the 1830 household's male age bracket. It conflicts with the 1840 schedule, where the oldest male was fifty through fifty-nine. One source may contain an age error, but the conflict cannot be solved from the records reviewed.

The entry does not prove combat duty. Its own wording says he did not join his regiment or corps.

Lowndes militia

Huxford's 1948 History of Brooks County lists Alfred as first lieutenant of the 658th Lowndes Militia District, commissioned August 9, 1827. Francis Rountree appears as captain and Lewis Vickers as ensign on the same date.[18] Huxford supplies no image or item-level archive reference for the commission list.

Finding: strong published evidence for the 1827 first-lieutenant commission; the original executive or militia record remains a priority target.

Census households and enslavement

1830 Lowndes County

The original schedule records "Alford Belote", household 83, stamped page 82.[4] The household contained seven free white people and no enslaved people:

• males: three under five, one aged five through nine, and one aged thirty through thirty-nine;
• females: one aged five through nine and one aged twenty through twenty-nine.

These unnamed children cannot be assigned to a published child list from the census alone.

1840 Lowndes County

The schedule records twelve people: eleven free white household members and one enslaved woman aged twenty-four through thirty-five.[5]

• males: two under five, one five through nine, one ten through fourteen, two fifteen through nineteen, and one fifty through fifty-nine;
• females: one under five, one five through nine, one fifteen through nineteen, and one thirty through thirty-nine;
• four people employed in agriculture;
• one white person over twenty recorded as unable to read and write.

The census does not identify Alfred's wife, children, or the enslaved woman. Her name and later fate are unknown.

1850 continuity

Alfred does not appear in an age-compatible 1850 household because he was already dead. The Lowndes household headed by John Belote, twenty-seven, included Phereby, twenty-six; Henry, twenty-two; William, twenty; Eliza, eighteen; James, sixteen; and Mary E., twelve.[13] The schedule does not state relationships. John’s later obituary says he was left young in charge of many brothers and sisters, which makes a sibling group likely, but only Mary Ellen has been tied directly to Alfred.

Land, tax, and the 1827 lottery

Land Lot 55, District 12

The best property chain is the 490-acre tract on Land Lot 55, District 12, Lowndes County:

• 1830: Alfred paid tax on the full 490 acres, originally granted to Nathan Brinson.[6]
• 1834: the digest again lists Alfred on Lot 55.[7]
• 1844: an unnamed “Agent for Estate of Alfred Belote” returned the same 490-acre lot.[8]

This proves taxable ownership or responsibility and continuity into the estate. It does not locate Alfred's house within the lot. No deed into Alfred, deed out of the estate, estate sale, or heir conveyance was found. The public historical KML also reports Alfred on the lot in 1835, 1838, and 1840 and identifies an August 29, 1842 plat, but those underlying images were not inspected.[19]

Harden's later statement that Alfred's land included Mineola remains unproved. Lot 55's official geography can be checked in the Georgia land-lot layer, but geography alone does not prove a village claim or residence site.[20]

Lee County lottery tract

The 1827 lottery index identifies Alfred of Underwoods District, Irwin County, as a fortunate drawer on April 2.[21] Ray City History Blog, citing the official-register reprint, gives Lot 125, District 25, Lee County.[22] Alfred's 1830 tax page instead lists 202 1/2 acres in District 25 as Lot 121.[6]

The two numbers must remain in conflict. The tax tract could be the lottery land with a transcription error, or a separate tract. The original official-register page and grant file were not obtained.

Family

Mary Ellen Belote

Mary Ellen is Alfred's only verified child. The February 1851 legal notice calls her the orphan and minor of Alfred Belote and records William D. Griffin's guardianship application.[11] She is a strong probable match to Mary E. Belote, twelve, in John's 1850 household. Public-tree, memorial, and census evidence identifies her as the later wife of Ezekiel Parrish and Matthew Vickers; those links were not independently proved here by marriage records. Her photographed marker gives October 13, 1839 to September 28, 1908.[23-24]

John Belote

John is Alfred's strong probable son. He co-administered Alfred's estate from 1844 through the 1851 dismissal application.[9,12] Tributes transcribed on John's Find a Grave memorial say he was born upward of sixty years earlier, was left young in charge of a large family of brothers and sisters, and supported them until they could support themselves. One reportedly calls him Alfred's son, but the original newspaper image was not inspected.[14] That family account fits the estate chronology and the 1850 household.

Compiled genealogy says John married Henrietta Folsom in 1851. The later census and public-tree chain supports a probable child group including Nancy/Elmore, Anthony Wain, Israel Putnam, Martha, and Joel. It also reports that Anthony married Piety Vickers and Israel married Rachel Ann Folsom. These are regional Folsom and Vickers connections, but they do not add independent proof of John's father.[16,25]

Other proposed children

The remaining people in John's 1850 household are possible members of Alfred's child group, not proved children:

The missing estate distribution, family Bible, deed recitals, church record, or guardianship file could change these grades.

Wives and the Ann Hodges contradiction

Huxford's Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia says Richard H. Burkhalter married “Mrs. Ann Hodges Belote of Lowndes County” on October 12, 1848. It gives Ann's birth as January 16, 1813 and death as May 10, 1867, and says she transferred from Friendship Church to Union Primitive Baptist on October 13, 1849. The sketch places Burkhalter and both wives at Fender Cemetery.[15] Ann's memorial repeats the dates and burial but has no marker photograph.[17]

Ann is a probable widow of Alfred based on surname, place, chronology, and later family tradition, but no reviewed marriage, estate, church, or deed record identifies her former husband.

Her birth date exposes a common public-tree error. Ann was about ten when John was born around 1823. She cannot have been John's biological mother if both dates are substantially right. WikiTree's John profile claims Alfred and Ann in prose, but its linked parent fields are blank and its census citations do not name John's parents.[16]

An Ancestry tree snippet names Martha Hendley as Henry Belote's mother and Alfred as his father.[26] No reviewed marriage, probate, deed, Bible, church, or census record supports that pairing. Martha is a possible earlier-wife lead, nothing more.

Finding: Alfred may have married more than once. Ann is a probable later wife and widow. The mother of John and the older children remains unknown.

Parents and origin

Ray City History Blog says Alfred was a son of Revolutionary War soldier Noah Belote.[22] Noah's Virginia service is documented, but the reviewed bounty-land material does not connect him to Alfred.[27] A sourced WikiTree profile places Noah in Accomack and Northampton counties, Virginia, and lists Ann W., James, and Perry Leatherbury Belote as children, not Alfred.[28]

Absence from a compiled child list does not disprove another son. It does mean the parentage has not been established. No reviewed probate, Bible, deed, marriage, pension, or guardianship record names Alfred's parents.

Finding: Bertie County, North Carolina is a strong probable origin only if the Army identity match is accepted; Noah Belote as father remains unresolved.

Death, estate, and burial

The earliest death boundary is clear. A notice dated September 24, 1844 says William D. Griffin and John Belote sought administration of Alfred's estate.[9] The 1844 digest already lists an agent for the estate on Lot 55.[8] The exact date of death is not stated.

A February 1845 notice says the estate included real estate and enslaved people.[10] It does not give names, counts, sale terms, or buyers. The 1840 census listed one enslaved woman, but no record establishes whether she remained in the estate or was among the people contemplated by the generic plural wording of the notice.

No will, letters, inventory, appraisal, sale bill, annual return, final return, guardian packet, heir receipt, or estate deed was located online. Lowndes's early deed books burned in the 1858 courthouse fire, and the Ordinary's office burned in 1869, which may explain some gaps.[29]

No obituary, funeral notice, cemetery register, photographed grave, or Alfred memorial was found. His burial place is unresolved.

Public role and court activity

The 1827 militia appointment is Alfred's only located public office. Published 1833 Lowndes grand-jury presentments do not name him.[30] No inspected legislative act, election return, justice record, court minute, road appointment, or civil suit establishes another office or civic role.

Namesake exclusions and malformed trees

1. Alfred Belote, born January 22, 1810, in the Abel Belote-Dezire Egelsten family: too young for the 1814 enlistment, reported 1815 expedition, 1827 militia office, or likely fatherhood of John.[31]
2. Geni Alfred Belote, “1809-1844,” linked to Bertie, North Carolina: the profile also carries Ann and Mary Ellen, consistent with a malformed version of the Georgia family rather than independent evidence.[32]
3. Youmans RootsMagic Alfred, born about 1809 in “Lowndes, GA”: the place label is anachronistic because Lowndes County was created in 1825, and the birth year is incompatible with the early records.[33]
4. Alfred Bynum Belote (1903-1924) and Alfred Thomas Belote (1927-1973): twentieth-century memorials and chronologically excluded.[34]

Evidence grades at a glance

Research coverage and negative findings

The search covered census, land, military, tax, probate, newspaper, cemetery, and published local-history sources, using Belote surname variants and associated places and relatives.

Authenticated Ancestry work covered the 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850 federal censuses; the U.S. Army enlistment register; Georgia tax digests; the 1827 lottery index; Georgia probate; and broad military results. Original images were downloaded and reopened for the Army entry, 1830 and 1840 censuses, and 1830, 1834, and 1844 tax pages.

Georgia Historic Newspapers was searched from 1790 through 1925 for "Alfred Belote", with spelling variants and estate, guardian, obituary, militia, land, and settlement terms. The exact name produced 25 pages, all in the 1844-1845 estate or 1851-1852 guardianship/dismissal clusters. No contemporary expedition account, obituary, or funeral notice was found.

Internet Archive page images and OCR were checked for Harden and Huxford. Ray City History Blog's Alfred tag, Rountree article, land-lottery page, and grand-jury page were checked. FamilySearch public ancestor pages, WikiTree and its API, Find a Grave, Geni, Youmans RootsMagic, English Lass, and Ancestry tree snippets were used only at the level their evidence justified.

The 1941 DAR History of Lowndes County was not available in publicly inspectable full text. Hortense W. Baker's Valdosta Times sketches were not found. The original 1827 lottery register page, 1827 militia commission, 1842 plat, 1835/1838/1840 tax pages, Lot 55 deeds, estate packet, Bible, church membership record for Alfred, and grave remain unavailable.

Reproducible search ledger

Best next records

1. Obtain the original August 9, 1827 militia commission or executive-minute entry for the 658th District.
2. Inspect the official 1827 lottery register page and state grant to settle Lot 121 versus 125.
3. Retrieve Alfred's August 29, 1842 plat and all surviving 1835, 1838, and 1840 tax pages.
4. Search reconstructed deed indexes and later deed recitals for Lot 55, especially conveyances by Griffin, John Belote, Mary Ellen, Ann Burkhalter, or named heirs.
5. Search Georgia Archives loose-name, Inferior/Superior Court, guardianship, land-grant, and county files for Alfred's estate and Mary Ellen's guardianship.
6. Locate Hortense W. Baker's Valdosta Times pioneer sketches and determine whether she cited a family manuscript or public record.
7. Obtain Friendship and Union Primitive Baptist records for Ann's 1849 transfer and any earlier Belote membership.
8. Search private Bibles, cemetery surveys, and descendant papers for Alfred's wife or wives, child list, death date, and burial.

Sources

1. William Harden, A History of Savannah and South Georgia, vol. 2 (1913), pp. 863-864: https://archive.org/details/histsavanna02hard/page/863/mode/2up
2. Folks Huxford, ed., South Georgia Historical and Genealogical Quarterly, vol. 1 (1922), pp. 1-2: https://archive.org/details/southgeorgiahist00huxf/page/n9/mode/1up
3. U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, Alfred Belote, Ancestry collection 1198, record 3263, image MIUSA1798_102860-00278; record and image.
4. 1830 U.S. census, Alford Belote, Lowndes County, Ancestry collection 8058, record 1850861, image 4409522_00162; Ancestry record.
5. 1840 U.S. census, Alford Belote, Lowndes County, Ancestry collection 8057, record 1792754, image 4411334_00507; Ancestry record.
6. 1830 Lowndes tax digest, Alfred Belote, collection 1729, records 3439841 and 3439844: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1729/records/3439841 and https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1729/records/3439844
7. 1834 Lowndes tax digest, Alfred Belote, collection 1729, record 3477740: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1729/records/3477740
8. 1844 Lowndes tax digest, agent for estate of Alfred Belote, collection 1729, record 3367489: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1729/records/3367489
9. Administration application, Southern Recorder, October 15, 1844, image 4: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82016415/1844-10-15/ed-1/seq-4/
10. Leave-to-sell notice, Southern Recorder, February 4, 1845, image 3: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82016415/1845-02-04/ed-1/seq-3/
11. Mary Ellen guardianship notice, Albany Patriot, February 21, 1851, image 3: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82014211/1851-02-21/ed-1/seq-3/
12. Administrators' dismissal application, Albany Patriot, October 24, 1851, image 4: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82014211/1851-10-24/ed-1/seq-4/
13. 1850 U.S. census, John Belote household, Ancestry collection 8054, record 18779760, image 4193244-00480: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/records/18779760
14. John Belote memorial with transcriptions of three 1885-1886 Valdosta Times tributes: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/228719661/john-belote
15. Folks Huxford, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, vol. 2, Richard H. Burkhalter sketch, reproduced at memorial 157459368: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157459368/richard-hampton-burkhalter
16. WikiTree, John Belote, profile Belote-179: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Belote-179
17. Find a Grave memorial 157459454, Ann Hodges Belote Burkhalter: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157459454/ann-burkhalter
18. Folks Huxford, The History of Brooks County, Georgia, 1858-1948, printed pp. 54-56, especially the militia roster on p. 56; access-limited HathiTrust catalog https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uva.x000002988 and Open Library catalog https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3021387W
19. Public historical land/tax KML: https://www.google.com/maps/d/kml?mid=1uAP1zA0ExqRb01-n1PrZCuaiQDo&forcekml=1
20. Georgia official land-lot layer: https://services7.arcgis.com/Za9Nk6CPIPbvR1t7/arcgis/rest/services/Georgia_Landlots_and_Militia_Districts/FeatureServer/1
21. Georgia Land Lottery, 1827, Alfred Belote, Ancestry collection 2072, record 8235: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2072/records/8235
22. Ray City History Blog, 1827 lottery and pioneer context: https://raycityhistory.wordpress.com/2019/01/19/georgia-land-lottery-of-1827/ ; Army and family claims: https://raycityhistory.wordpress.com/2018/05/05/james-rountree-1787-1834-pioneer-settler-of-old-lowndes/
23. WikiTree, Mary Ellen Belote, profile Belote-204: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Belote-204
24. Mary Ellen Belote Parrish Vickers marker and memorial 25117894: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25117894/mary-ellen-parrish ; image https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2008/201/25117894_121654624687.jpg
25. 1870 and 1880 John Belote census records, Ancestry collection 7163, record 3625061, and collection 6742, record 40930722: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/records/3625061 and https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/records/40930722
26. Ancestry tree-search lead for Henry Belote, Alfred Belote, and Martha Hendley: https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Henry_Belote&birth=1828_georgia-usa_13&father=Alfred_Belote&mother=Martha_Hendley&searchMode=advanced
27. Noah Belote Revolutionary War bounty-land transcription VAS2476: https://www.revwarapps.org/VAS2476.pdf
28. WikiTree, Noah Belote, profile Belote-176: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Belote-176
29. Georgia Archives, Lowndes County record inventory: https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/countycards/id/545
30. Ray City History Blog, 1833 Lowndes grand jury, with published roster: https://raycityhistory.wordpress.com/2018/06/09/lowndes-grand-jury-of-1833/
31. English Lass, Abel Belote-Dezire Egelsten family record: https://www.englishlass.com/p489.htm
32. Geni, Alfred Belote profile 6000000185030746822: https://www.geni.com/people/Alfred-Belote/6000000185030746822
33. Youmans RootsMagic, Alfred Belote profile 6512: https://sites.rootsmagic.com/jmsfamilygenealogy/individual.php?p=6512
34. Find a Grave exact-name results and later namesakes: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/search?firstname=Alfred&lastname=Belote ; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12500070/alfred-bynum-belote ; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116860141/alfred-thomas-belote

Citation audit note

Original images, contemporary notices, later histories, memorial transcriptions, and public trees are labeled separately. Conflicts in Alfred's age, lottery lot, wife or wives, child list, parents, death date, and burial remain visible. The dossier does not convert a repeated family-tree assertion into proof.