Francis Rountree was a resident of Nansemond County, Virginia in 1686 and moved to North Carolina by 1702. There, he and several other residents of Chowan Precinct submitted a petition to the North Carolina Council regarding a land boundary dispute between the colonists and the Chowanoke Nation. Though he continued to reside partially in Nansemond, Rountree owned land and did business in Chowan, near Catherine's Creek. He died in Chowan in 1734.