Josiah Cartwright was a resident of Pasquotank Precinct, North Carolina. In 1734 Daniel Chancey, the local overseer of the road, made a sworn deposition that Josiah, along with his parents and two brothers, violently assaulted and threatened Chancey when Chancey requested that the Cartwrights help him repair the road. While a jury later found that there was no enough evidence to charge William's mother and brother, the outcome of Josiah's case has not been located. He died sometime after 1754.