Blount, Frederick

1778–5 Sept. 1823

Frederick Blount, physician, the oldest son of James and Ann Hall Blount, was born at Mulberry Hill Plantation, Edenton. He is not to be confused with his uncle, Frederick Blount. His maternal grandfather was the noted colonial clergyman Clement Hall; his mother had been a participant in the Edenton Tea Party, 25 Oct. 1774. His aunt, Mary Blount, married the Reverend Charles Pettigrew, first bishop-elect of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. He had one brother, Clement Hall (d. 1843), and one sister, Sarah Porter (d. 1837), who married James Fuller.

When Frederick indicated a desire to study medicine, his uncle Wilson Blount, by selling two horses, gave him financial assistance to attend medical lectures in Philadelphia. He returned to North Carolina and settled in Hillsborough but apparently failed to establish himself, for in 1806 he moved to New Bern to become the fifth physician to reside there. Here he lived a genteel life, practicing medicine, visiting relatives and friends, attending sporadically to a plantation, traveling to Edenton to see his relatives, and pursuing other leisurely occupations. Presumably reared as an Episcopalian, he became interested in Methodism later in his life. In 1812 he and his siblings were involved in court action in Edenton to settle the estate of their father, who had died intestate.

Blount married a widow, Rachel Whitfield Bryan, on 1 Oct. 1807. A son, Frederick, mentioned several times in correspondence with Ebenezer Pettigrew, appears to have died in early youth; a second son, Alexander Hall, and several unnamed daughters were mentioned in his will. Blount was buried in the family cemetery at Mulberry Hill; the date 5 Apr. on his tombstone appears to be an error.