Which Mary Was the Mother of Benjamin Albertson?

Yesterday I wrote about my 5th great-grandfather, Benjamin Albertson and his two wives named Mary. I believe that Benjamin married Mary Small in 1760, then married a second time to Mary Wyatt in 1769. I had come to this conclusion a number of years ago and asked for a second opinion from Raymond Winslow, a well-respected North Carolina researcher. He agreed it appeared probable. But then he noted that to determine which Mary was my ancestor, I needed to try to find when my 4th great-grandfather, Benjamin Albertson, was born. Was he born before or after 1769?

Of course the births of the children of Benjamin and Mary (both of them) are not recorded in the Quaker records. So using the suggestion of Mr. Winslow, I researched the 1800 to 1830 censuses for Perquimans County North Carolina to try to discover the approximate date for Benjamin's birth.

I located a Benjamin Albertson that I believe was my 4th gt-grandfather in the 1800, 1810 and 1820 censuses. When his son was married in 1824 it stated his father was deceased, so he was not in 1830. Since those censuses do not give an age, but a range, my calculations have to be an approximate. These are the results:

1800 -- age 16-26 = birthdate 1774 - 1784

1810 -- age 26-45 = birthdate 1765 - 1784

1820 -- age 26-45 = birthdate 1775 - 1794

Using all these censuses together it indicates he was born between 1775 and 1784. Therefore he would have been born after 1769 and his mother was Mary Wyatt. I do have one more clue to substantiate this belief. One of Benjamin's grandsons was named Nathan Wyatt Albertson.

But what about Benjamin's brothers and sisters. How do they fit? I will try to write about that tomorrow.