Long Letter from John Hill Jacocks

This 8-page letter from John Hill Jacocks includes his thoughts on such topics as his pride in his heritage,  early history of Haywood County, Tenn., memories of visits during his childhood by distant relatives from Bertie County, N.C. and more.

It can be found in the Jonathan Jacocks Papers in The Southern Historical Collection at the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Although Jonathan Hill Jacocks is not in my direct ancestry line, he was close to many of those who were. Ancestry.com lists him as "the father-in-law of my great grand aunt."

Last week, I blogged about a letter that was written in 1854 by John's mother.

John's letter, which was written 26 Aug 1891, is packed with references to friends and family who were currently in his life as well as many of his known ancestors. This may be of interest to anyone researching Jacocks genealogy. Included were:

Thomas Jacocks of Bertie County, N.C.
Rev. James Jacocks of Hartford or New Haven, Connecticut
Grace, sister of Rev. Jacocks
Tom Jacocks, his cousin
Uncle Louis T. Bond, relative
Frank P. Bond, relative
Thomas E. Fanning
Colonel Richard Nixon, his great uncle and early leader in Haywood County
Nancy Jacocks, his great aunt
John and Jonathan Jacocks, his great uncles
Charles Jacocks his grandfather
Charles Worth Blount Jacocks, his brother
Jonathan Wyatt of Raleigh, N.C., gentleman to whom his father was apprenticed
Janet Young, paternal grandmother
Margaret Stevenson Clayton, his mother
Asher Clayton, his maternal grandfather
Mary Whidbee, his maternal grandmother
Janet Young, his paternal grandmother
James Leigh, second husband of his maternal grandmother, Mary
Rev. Hezikiah Leigh, son of James Leigh
Richard Leigh, son of James Leigh
Jonathan Jacocks, his brother
Augustus Jacocks, his brother
Hardy Jacocks, relative
Jas. T. Jacocks, nephew
Thomas Carter, his father-in-law
Sarah Catherine Carter, his wife
Jimmie Jacocks, his son
Ella Mae Jacocks, his granddaughter

According to "Descendants of Thomas Jacocks" by William Piccard Jacocks, John Hill Jacocks' grandfather, Charles Worth Jacocks III was born 16 Dec 1767. He married Janet Young on 13 Sept 1791. He had inherited "considerable property" and died 10 Dec 1803 at just 36 years old. His two children were placed under the guardianship of their uncle, Jonathan Jacocks III.

One of those children was John Hill Jacock's father, Jonathan Thomas Jacocks. He was born 10 Feb 1799 and married Margaret Stevenson Clayton. Jonathan followed his uncle, Colonel Richard Nixon, to Haywood County, Tenn. in 1823.

John Hill Jacocks was born 25 Nov 1831 in Haywood County. He married Sarah Catherine Carter on 14 April 1858. He was primarily a farmer. From 1882 - 1894 he was Justice of the Peace. He died 21 Dec 1902. He and his wife had five children: William Thomas (1 Feb 1860 - 1938), Richard Alfonso (27 Aug 1861 - 11 Mar 1908), James Alonzo (22 Mar 1864 - 11 Aug 1941), Joseph Theodore (11 Oct 1867 - 23 Mar 1928) and Catherine who died very young.

John Hill Jacocks is buried in the Jacocks Family Cemetery along with his wife and other relatives.

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John Hill Jacock's son and daughter-in-law, James Alonzo Jacocks
and Mary Jennie Castellaw with children around 1894.

Mary Jennie was the sister of my great-grandfather, Bob Castellaw.

Source: cwjacocks on Ancestry.com

The 1890 US Census was destroyed in a fire but we can jump ahead a decade and see what the John Hill Jacocks family was up to in the 1900 census.

John was 68, Sarah was 66. Living with them was their son, Joseph Theodore. (age 32), Myra Lou Moody (age 31) and their sons: Arthur Wayland (age 9), Robert T. (age 3), and Floyd Wilkes. (8 months). Also living with the family was John's widowed sister, Mary Janet Jacocks Shaw who was 73.

Arthur Wayland Jacocks, who was nine in 1900, was the father of my great uncle, J.T. Jacocks. Uncle J.T. and Aunt Cordelia lived next door to Arthur and Myra when I was very young and I have a very fuzzy memory of being in their kitchen with my cousin, Jesse Jacocks.

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John Hill and Sarah Jacocks inclusion in the 1890 US Census

In the 1900 census, the John Hill Jacocks family was living just two farms away from the homestead of Charles Buchanan and Nancy Jane Yelverton Lovelace, my second great-grandparents. My great-grandfather, James Luther Lovelace was 14 and living in the house with eight siblings.

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Charles B. and Nancy Jane Yelverton Lovelace

Below is John Hill Jacock's letter and then a transcription. I corrected some of the spelling and grammar while transcribing to allow for better comprehension of his meaning.

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Brownsville, Tennessee 8-26-91

Mr. J.J. Jacocks,

Dear Sir,

Before me lies a postal on which I see your name. A name as near and dear to me as to you. Yes as dear to me as life – I love it – and must entertain the kindest and best of feelings toward any and all of lineal descent who bear it.

I reverence it because my ancestors bore it. Because my father loved it, my brothers and lastly, my children bear it. And I am proud to say if any of them ones did anything to blot or tarnish it, I have never heard of it.

I have reverence to my father’s family, which is the only one in this state.

My father was visited once by one cousin Thomas Jacocks of your county. He was a noble-looking gentleman; one that I admired. I was small but I remember him well. He said his weight was 207 lbs.

Another cousin paid my father a visit whose name was James Jacocks. He was an Episcopal minister. I remember he had a sister whose name was Grace.

They lived in Hartford or Newhaven Connecticut. I disremember which.

One thing that occurred however while he was here - at least in Jackson, Tennessee. The evening after he left Father’s, Father sent him by my house goes brother to that point – Soon after supper said my brother some 15 or 20 people congregated at the private house of the family with whom cousin Jimmie stopped and, after a while, they had family prayers and whilst engaged in prayer after a short ceremony, all present responded, Amen. At that moment, brother got up, looking around, seeing all still kneeling, he bowed again – presently said he, they cried out, Amen. Again he arose but took position as before and thought, I would watch while they prayed.

 "Daddy, what kind of folks are these Episcopalians?"

On his return home he related the circumstances to father and family. Said he, Daddy, what kind of folks are these Episcopalians? All the denominations around here, when they say amen rise – but cousin Jimmi’s folks didn’t do that. They said amen and continued until they had said had amen 3 or 4 times.

I have never heard from him since he left Jackson. Neither have heard from cousin Tom. Only through Mr. Lewis T. Bond and Thomas E. Fanning who moved out here before the war from your county. Uncle Lewis use to tell me that I ought to write to my relatives in N.C. That they were much more clever than these Jacocks here.

I would always tell him he did not know how clever we were – that if you all were more clever than we were, I was glad of it.

I have heard our distinguished Frank P. Bond speak of the Jacocks family there and he too, I am proud to say, speaks in praise of the family. And having said I love the name, I love it the more because all who have borne it, as far as my knowledge extends, were people of respectability. Some of them of note and occupied responsible and honored positions with credit to themselves and honor to their country.

And if that be true, why not be proud of the name?

My father came to this county in the year 1823, boarded at Colonel Richard Nixon’s who married his Aunt Nancy Jacocks who as well as I remember father said was the only sister his father had. My recollection is that there were three brothers: John, Jonathan and Charles. The latter being my grandfather. John I think was the father of Rev. James Jacocks of Connecticut. As to Jonathan, I think perhaps he remained there and doubtless you are his son as you being the father of eight children, I think too old to be his grandson.

Well as above stated, my father moved to this county in 1823. Col. Nixon who married to his aunt had a big tract of land out here of 3,840 acres and was in debt to father and prevailed on him to move out west, where he could live on game and raise children. He came, stayed at Uncle Nixon’s a few months and whilst there, my second brother (whose name was Charles Worth Blount after grandfather) was born.

Father took a lease on Uncle’s land, built a double rail pen and moved us in it. Made beadstead of forks and poles. The year 1821, he bought 500 acres of land from his uncle, built a log cabin and moved there and lived until his death which sad event occurred on the 9th of June 1863.

My father was a coachmaker by trade. Served as an apprentice 7 years under one Jonathan Wyatt in Raleigh, N.C. He married my mother, whose maiden name was Clayton – Margaret Stevenson Clayton. Her father’s name was Asher Clayton and her mother’s maiden name was Whidbee – Mary.

My parents were both orphan children at the age of seven years. My grandmother on Father’s side whose maiden name was (Janet) Young, never married after the death of Grandfather. My Grandmother Clayton married a gentleman named James Leigh. Said James Leigh had one son that was a noted minister Hezekiah G. Leigh (Methodist) and another whose name was Richard who moved to Georgia – died during the war.

My mother died 14th Aug 1874. Youngest brother Jonathan died after passing through the war 15th Jan 1879. My eldest brother who was born there passed through the war and died 10 July 1887.

Brother Augustus said he either met with or saw one Hardy Jacocks in Memphis, Tennessee during the war or he heard of him there. I have heard Jeface (?) – was told he went to Florida and proposed getting rich by raising oranges – have heard nothing since save that in your postal to my nephew, Jas. T. (?)

Was he not a brother of big Cousin Tom or were there 2 Jefesers? You said you had eight children.

I see that I have filled this sheet. Now if tired, you can rest. Rub your eyes and look at over what follows. If old like myself, you can read when plainly written better or easier than you can write.

You well know I can’t stop yet. If so, what would the fond loving mother of all those eight children think? She would say, “Strange Jacocks that write four pages of fool scrap paper to my husband and saying nothing of me.”

Well just tell her for me, I love her and all her children whether old or young, girls or boys – that I love them because of their name; and because they are descended out of good and honorable sires. Tell her I love because I think as your name was Jacocks, you were a man of sense and taste and such, you would never have loved her and sought her as a life companion unless she had been worthy – For all I know, she may be your superior in point of intellect. If so we will have no quarrel about that – how about affoter smiles? That makes a big difference.

Yes, tell her I love her because she is the mother of children who bear my name – yes, tell her I regard her as a good woman and will say to you if she has the qualities such as sought by me in mine you may set it down as a fact, you have a good wife. She may have others – but to my mind there is none more commendable – as I used to say – than industry, economy and good sense combined. Was the style of a wife I wished to find.

As regards, my wife will say I have no cause to or right to complain.

Had I the pick and choice of the fair ones of earth, I could never have found one more congenial – better fitted in every sense of the word than she for a life companion.

She is somewhat like her father. She has never approved of kissing though fashionable with many ladies – is one she abhors. Her father, whose name was Thomas Carter, was born and raised in Wake County, N.C. (He) moved to this county in 1831, the year I was born. (He) was never known to kiss but one of his children and that was when it was a corpse.

She says there is more deception in a kiss than anything – says our savior was betrayed by a kiss.

"...not as pretty to be sure, but other
qualities characteristic of beauty is still there." 

Well you and yours can believe it or let it alone – she is lovely and as loving now as when we first married – not as pretty to be sure, but other qualities characteristic of beauty is still there.

Well next to the name of Jacocks, Carter stands second with me. Why? Because it was the name of the one I loved in my palony (?) days the name of one who loved and still loves me. If she had left me – just so we had a few words Monday morning last and parted. Were I better acquainted, I would write you as I did this morning to my sister-in-law. 

I wrote as though Mama, as I call my wife, and myself had separated – the children was the cause of it, etc. Explained by telling that Mama was at my son Jimmie’s nursing Jimmie, his wife, Ella May his little 20-month old girl and another unknown to her. By me called Sallie. Just so, the children separate us sometimes – that hours is agreeable as should be.

The fond mother loves the children she bears and it is a rare thing for her to forsake them. In times of trouble, she is ever ready and willing to lend the helping hand and encourage them by words of kindness, gentleness, love and her presence.

Mother’s blessed name – more precious than gold. Like that of Jesus in heaven. The best to mortals given.

Fathers as well as mother dear we should ever love as well as fear. This it was with me. I loved my parents, they loved me. They were members of the Methodist church. My father held family prayer morning and night to his God first, then blessings. I have often heard my mother pray around the hearthstone of my old home – peace to the ashes of our beloved dead – and let us hope yea fondly hope their immortal spirits have winged their flight to that God who gave them. 

"I live in hope of meeting our loved
ones beyond the starry sky where
we shall live and never die."

When I retrospect the days of my youth the moments of childhood, mirth and glee, the pleasures of my life so made by fond loving parents, kind brothers as fond and loving sisters. I thought long this time from childhood to manhood just so with all children we know this apparently a long step from infancy to man and womanhood thence the grave Oh: how short Time flies and with it we away to that town from whence we ever returns. I live in hope of meeting our loved ones beyond the starry sky where we shall live and never die.

I hope my dear cousin if such I may call you, you will pardon me for having written such a lengthy communication which may or may not interest you. Otherwise, I shall expect nothing.

I don’t write often and even then tis short. But elated at the idea of hearing of you and seeing your postal and name so familiar and feeling interested in those who bore it. I have taken the ? of writing more than I would have ? to write to any one bearing any other name.

I see the space below is growing less and there are questions about the family I wish to ask – the name of your father, mother, your wife and children by way in short biographical sketch of the whole family of Jacocks.

Would like to know who they are, where they are and what they are doing. If there be any of them where they should not be for God’s sake keep it to yourself.

"We are poor but came by our poverty honest..."

I will say, as to those of my Father’s family here who are sure from the old block, we are a chip from the same. We are poor but came by our poverty honest and we don’t think honest poverty a disgrace and though poor we bear up under it.

Look and hope we may never beg bread will say we have never done it and God help us we won’t.

Answer and you will, if I am living, you will hear more from one John Hill Jacocks.

For more blog entries, visit my Blog Home Page or to check out the genealogy research about my specific family lines, go to my Haywood County Line Genealogy Website.

Trouble Comes Not Single-handed

This is my first blog post to include one of the many letters found during a recent genealogy road trip to Chapel Hill, N.C. to the University of North Carolina Southern Historical Collection.

This letter was in the "Jonathan Jacocks Papers, 1732-1908" collection. Included are letters to members of the Jacocks family in Bertie County, N.C. from their relatives in Haywood County, Tenn.

Because this particular two-page letter was never completed and doesn't include a name in the greeting, it was difficult to determine the author.

I transcribed it below but note that I corrected some of the punctuation and spelling to allow for better comprehension of her meaning.

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November 16, 1854
Haywood County, Tenn.

Dear Brother,

We received your letter some few weeks since. I feel truly thankful to learn you are all in good health, and from the tone and way of jesting, you must have been in fine spirits. A cheerful heart; what a blessing. Ah, that your sister could once more feel cheerful.

For several months, I mourned with a sad, aching heart, in a strait between hope and fear. Trouble comes not single-handed. The fears and uneasiness of mind that I experienced, none but an affectionate and loving sister and mother can form any idea. While watching my poor afflicted child, I was fearful that you were sore afflicted or gone to your long home. Daily I prayed if you still lived that you might be restored to health.

Our heavenly father required a sacrifice of the twaine. Elder brother was taken, we are yet in a gospel land. O let us improve the golden moments.

The 3rd of last November, Charles Blount was taken with a chill. On the 15 he came home. On his way home, his horse fell and threw him on the abutment of a bridge. He told me he lay a considerable time. He thought (he was) nearly killed.

Three times the horse fell with him on his way home owing to the stepping on the heel of the fore shoulder. He was much plagued with night sweats, (and) the return of chills and cough. 

He inquired several times if I had received a letter from any of your family. Learning we had not, he was much concerned and said he was fearful something serious had taken place.

No doubt he thought you dead.

About the 24th or 25th of November, we were sitting alone after the family retired to bed. I am much afflicted with the rheumatism in my left hand and am frequently rubbing and elevating it for relief. He was sitting near me and commenced to rubbing his right thumb and said it appeared like a thousand needles was sticking in it. He began to run his fingers (and) remarked that the same was running up his arm, rubbing with the left hand to the shoulder. (He) clapped his hand on the right jaw and said it appeared like ringing out his teeth.

He was so sensitive that I flattered myself it was only sympathy for me and told him he felt too much for me. Ah little did I think what would follow. The same feelings came on the next night (and) the evening after.

Then (he had) from three to six spells. In a few days, his speech was much altered. (He) could scarcely raise his right hand or foot. A few days before, his speech failed. He saw shedding tears (and) looked at me so inquiringly. I told him I could not help weeping to see him suffer…

The letter was never completed.

From some of the facts included in the letter, I am fairly certain it's from Margaret Stevenson Clayton Jacocks of Haywood County, Tenn. to a brother back in Windsor, Bertie County, N.C., the birthplace of both she and her husband.

Margaret was the wife of Jonathan Thomas Jacocks, who was a son of Charles Worth Jacocks (16 Dec 1767 – 10 Dec 1803) of Bertie County.

Jonathan was a coachmaker who was persuaded by his uncle, Colonel Richard Nixon, one of the earliest settlers of Haywood County, Tenn. to move his family to West Tennessee in 1823. Richard Nixon was the husband of Jonathan’s late aunt, Ann Jacocks Nixon. This is not my first introduction to this Jacocks who I included in a blog post last month.

Jonathan and Margaret had six children, one of which was Charles Worth Blount Jacocks who died at the age of 29 on 4 Jan 1854 in Haywood County.

In the 1850 Haywood County census, Jonathan Jacocks is 54 and Margaret is 52. Living with them is Charles B. who is 26, Mary who is 22, Joseph who is 20, John who is 19, and Jonathan who is 15.

The author of the letter refers to her son as “Charles Blount.”

She also refereed to him in the letter as "elder brother" which further corroborates this theory because Charles B. Jacocks is the next to oldest brother in the family of Jonathan and Margaret Jacocks.

The Jacocks and Blount families united when an earlier Jonathan Jacocks (1686 – 1735) married Mary Blount (1696 – 1735) in Bertie County. These were Jonathan Thomas Jacocks’ grandparents so it’s also reasonable to assume one of his sons would have “Blount” included in his name.

The Charles Blount in the letter received a head injury on 15 Nov 1853 and began having symptoms of a stroke by 24 or 25 of November 1853.

According to records, Charles Worth Blount Jacocks died 4 Jan 1854, shortly after the date of the accident of the Charles Blount in the letter.

All the facts seem to confirm Margaret wrote the letter about the death of her son, Charles Jacocks. However, it appears she was an only child and her husband had no brothers so I am stumped regarding the "brother" to whom she was writing the letter.

I have a couple of connections to this Jacocks family in my family tree.

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l to r: Robert Edward "Bob" Castellaw, Zula Zera Watridge Castellaw,
John Hilburn, Nora Castellaw Hilburn, Zach Fletcher Castellaw,
James Alonzo Jacocks and Mary Jennie Castellaw Jacocks.

Another of Jonathan and Margaret’s six children was John Hill Jacocks (24 Nov 1831 – 21 Dec 1902). He had a son named James Alonzo Jacocks (abt. 1865 – 11 Aug 1941). James was married to Mary Jennie Castellaw (19 Aug 1866 – 23 Jan 1946) who was a sister to my great-grandfather, Bob Castellaw (24 Dec 1868 – 15 Aug 1954). I included them in a blog entry last year.

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Guy Lovelace and J.T. Jacocks around 1939

Another of John Hill Jacocks’ sons was Joseph Theodore Jacocks (11 Oct 1867 – 23 Mar 1920) who was the father of Arthur Wayland Jacocks (22 Apr 1891 – Jul 1979). He was the father of Jessie Theodore “J.T.” Jacocks (7 Oct 1920 – 19 Jan 1988), who was my great-uncle. Uncle J.T. was married to my maternal grandmother, Virginia Brantley Lovelace’s sister, Cordelia Brantley Jacocks (06 Oct 1919 – 16 Jun 2005).

Uncle J.T and my maternal grandfather, Guy Lovelace were partners in a construction business. I rode home from Uncle J.T.’s funeral with my grandfather and, when we got in the car, he shook his head and said, “I buried my best friend today.”

Thankfully, when Margaret Jacocks was grieving for her son Charles, she wrote down enough information that nearly 160 years later, we would be able to figure out his identity and remember him more that just a name and a date on a chart.

For more blog entries, visit my Blog Home Page or to check out the genealogy research about my specific family lines, go to my Haywood County Line Genealogy Website.

50th Birthday Genealogy Road Trip

My 50th birthday last week was a great excuse to check out a few places I've read about for several years but never actually visited. I gathered content that I'll be posting in my blog for months to come but for now I wanted to post a quick overview and share some photos.

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Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Our first stop was the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill so I could check out the Southern Historical Collection on the 4th floor of the Wilson Library. From their website:

"The Southern Historical Collection is a vast collection of distinct archival collections. These collections are comprised of unique primary documents, such as diaries, journals, letters, correspondence, photographs, maps, drawings, ledgers, oral histories, moving images, albums, scrapbooks, and literary manuscripts."

The two collections I wanted to explore were letters to family members in Haywood County in the Jonathan Jacocks collection and letters from Penelope Johnston to her cousin Samuel Johnston in the Hayes Collection.

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Letters from family in Haywood County, Tenn.
to Jonathan Jacocks of Bertie County, N.C.

I only had four hours before we needed to check out of the hotel, so I photographed what I found faster than I could read it. I still don't exactly what content is in all these letters but it will be fun sorting them out and posting the names and dates in coming months.

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Letter from Penelope Johnston to her brother
written on 26 Jun 1758

I am still trying to connect John Dawson Castellaw's mother, Margaret Dawson, to Penelope Johnston Dawson beyond any doubt and I am hopeful her letters may provide some clues. I was able to get through two of more than 20 archival boxes and took photos of many letters and documents. I will be going through those in coming months and sharing those contents here on my blog also.

In multiple places online I have found comments that John Castellaw "married a Dawson from Eden House." If I can find proof, this would connect those of us with John Dawson Castellaw ancestry with Gabriel Johnston, a defining figure in early American history.

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Reproduction of early 19th-century library from Hayes Plantation

I found a library inside the library.

The possible family connection with Gabriel Johnston made this discover even more exciting.

Johnston and his brother, Samuel Johnston, who he brought to America from Scotland, both loved to collect books. Gabriel began the collection with books originally owned by Charles Eden, the first Royal Governor of North Carolina. Johnston was married to Eden's step-daughter, Penelope. Later generations continued the collection at Hayes Plantation in Edenton, N.C. and in 1999 it was donated to the Wilson Library by Gilliam and Annette Wood, the present owner of Hayes.

You can check out more pictures I took inside the library inside the library here.

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Meeting the Indian Chief Pemisapan who later in the evening
would be beheaded by the English. That's show business...

That night, after dropping off our things at our beach house on Nag's Head, we headed to catch a performance of "The Lost Colony" which is, according to their website, "America's longest running outdoor drama." It was a great experience all of us in my family would highly recommend. I was especially surprised by the level of quality in the production. I would suggest you take advantage of the behind-the-scenes tour that takes place before the show begins.

That's where you learn a lot more of the history of the actual colony that was lost and discover some interesting trivia about show itself. For example, what television actor got his start playing Sir Walter Raleigh in "The Lost Colony" in the early 1950s? Answer

You can check out a few of my pictures from the production here.

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Video from St. Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery, Edenton, N.C.

We began the next morning in Edenton, N.C. with a visit to St.  Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery. The early service was just ending so I got a quick video of the cemetery with music provided by the congregation.

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Charles Eden, is that you?

Charles Eden, Gabriel Johnston, Penelope Golland Johnston and other likely ancestors are buried in the cemetery but their headstones have worn away and I couldn't identify any of them.

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Wooden bridge to Hayes Plantation

Because I had seen the old library at UNC, I wanted to check out Hayes Plantation but you have to drive over a wooden bridge and down a driveway that is clearly marked, "Do not drive down our driveway." This was as close as I got but you can check out photos of the house here and here.

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"Salmon Creek and Eden House, Seedbed of the Colony"

On the way to Bertie County, we stopped by Eden House. Nothing remains but this historic marker. Erected in June 2001, the large marker replaced four older markers, all of which were scrapped when construction began on the US 17 bridge we used to drive across the Chowan River.

The text from the marker:

"Along the banks of the Chowan River and Salmon Creek, the seeds were planted for the colony and state of North Carolina. From these roots in the 1600s emerged the refined plantation life of the ruling colonial gentry in the 1700s, made possible by the displacement of Indians and with slave labor. The earliest settlers in this region, largely natives of the British Isles, transplanted their folkways, building techniques, agricultural methods, and adventurous spirit to these shores.

Explorers venturing south from Virginia included John Pory who in 1622 visited the Chowan River area, reporting the natives friendly and prospects for settlement good. Among the first permanent European settlers was Nathaniel Batts, a trader in animal pelts. In 1655 he hired a carpenter to build a house about three miles south near the mouth of Salmon Creek. By the time Charles II of England granted a charter to the Lords Proprietors in 1663, a small but growing community was in place along this river. The area was designated one of three official ports of entry in 1676.

While the proprietors legally headed the government, power rested in the hands of the governor and the council. Six colonial governors lived nearby during the proprietary (1663-1729) and royal (1729-1776) periods:

*     Samuel Stephens, the first of the leaders to settle on Salmon Creek, encountered dissension and despair among the colonists during his term, 1667-1670.
*     Seth Sothel in 1678 acquired 4,000 acres where Batts and Stephens had lived. As governor beginning in 1682, Sothel incurred charges of oppression, tyranny, extortion, and bribery, leading to his conviction and banishment in 1689.
*     Edward Hyde also served a stormy tenure as governor, 1711-1712, witnessing the outbreak of the Tuscarora War that devastated the colony. Hyde, who took up residence on Salmon Creek in 1710, was the first governor of the separate colony of North Carolina, the division of Carolina taking place in 1712.
*     Thomas Pollock, who had been jailed by Sothel, served as acting governor, 1712-1714 and again in 1722. His plantation house, “Balgra,” was two miles south on the north side of Salmon Creek. There he and Hyde withstood a small naval attack in 1711 during Cary’s Rebellion.
*     Charles Eden, governor from 1714 to 1722, purchased the property in this immediate vicinity in 1719 and constructed “Eden House” a few yards north. His home in time became an elegant center of social life for the Albemarle aristocracy. Following his death in 1722, the “Town on Queen Anne’s Creek” was renamed Edenton and soon supplanted this area as the social and political center.
*     Gabriel Johnston, who served as royal governor from 1734 to 1752, married Eden’s stepdaughter Penelope Golland around 1740 and lived at Eden House. By the close of his term North Carolina was undergoing tremendous growth and settlement had extended to the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.

Over time the colonial estates along the Chowan River and Salmon Creek have been lost to shoreline erosion, fire, or decay. The area south of Salmon Creek, owned through most of the 1700s by three generations of the Duckenfield family, was acquired by the Capeheart family in 1829 and afterwards known as “Avoca.” Pollock’s grave at “Balgra” and those at Eden House were moved to Edenton around 1890. In 1996, prior to construction of the improved US 17 bridge, archaeologists excavated an area a short distance southeast uncovering remnants of two houses constructed in the late 1600s and later owned by the Eden family."

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Photo of Eden House approximately where it originally sat.

Although Eden House is no longer there, an interesting archaeological project came about as the result of a highway project designed to widen US 17 and replace the bridge over the Chowan River.

"After taking measures to avoid a cemetery and other parts of the site, NCDOT funded a major excavation at the Eden House site. Archaeologists from Coastal Carolina Research of Tarboro, North Carolina worked at the site during the summer and fall of 1996. There they uncovered the remains of one of the oldest settlements in the Albemarle region. Traces of two houses, a barn, a well, trash pits, fence lines, a privy (outdoor bathroom), and thousands of artifacts thrown away by those living at the site through the years."

Source

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Capeharts Baptist Church,

I've been reading about this church since I first became interested in genealogy. Located in Merry Hill, N.C. in Bertie County, Capeharts Baptist Church first began 10 Dec 1824. My fifth great grandparents, John Dawson Castellaw (possibly the son of Penelope Dawson, the granddaughter of Gabriel and Penelope Golland Johnston) and his wife, Zilpha Spruill Castellaw helped begin this church.

Other family names of original members who are also in my line include Cobb, Williams, Butterton, Demspey, and Hardy. Many of these families loaded up 10 years later and followed John Dawson Castellaw to Haywood County, Tenn. where they helped settle the area.

You can check out other photos, including the inside of the church, here.

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Colerain Baptist Church

Beginning as Wiccacon Baptist in 1757, Colerain Baptist Church was established as a mission of Cashie Baptist, Windsor. A few of my ancestors left this church to help start Capeharts Baptist Church.

Some of these same church members started Zion Baptist Church when they arrived in Haywood County and then later, Holly Grove Baptist Church.

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Sage growing in a field in Bertie County, N.C.

One thing I will always remember about this trip is sage. There was sage growing in nearly every field we passed and I had never even seen sage before. We had to google it just to figure out what it was. Bertie has to be the sage capital of the world. That, combined with all the old wood houses with tin roofs, created some amazing photo opportunities.

You can see more photos of sage, cemeteries and churches from our trip here.

For more blog entries, visit my Blog Home Page or to check out the genealogy research about my specific family lines, go to Haywood County Line Genealogy Page.

Headed to Chapel Hill Looking for a Dawson from Eden House on the Chowan River

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Source: An Architectural Monograph on Houses of the Southern Colonies

I'm trying to find more proof that my Castellaw family line can be traced back to Gabriel Johnston, the Royal Governor of North Carolina and it looks like I am going to need a road trip to do it.

This weekend I narrowed it down to one question. Is the Margaret Dawson who married my fifth great grandfather, John Castellaw, the same Margaret Dawson who was Gabriel Johnston’s granddaughter? 

The research required to get the question narrowed down was helpful in adding a few more details to my Castellaw family line while also giving me an opportunity to scan through several good books that include information about Bertie County, N.C.

In his book “Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina,” Paul Heinegg, includes research regarding John Castellaw’s relationship with a “free mulatto” woman named Martha.

In several online posts, others have noted that after Martha’s death, John Castellaw married "a Dawson from Eden House on the Chowan River." 

That is certainly a significant clue since Gabriel Johnston made his home for many years at Eden House on the Chowan River, as did many generations after him.

To find some corroborating evidence, I dug a little deeper into the life of my fifth great-grandfather, John Castellaw.

Born in 1727 and a second-generation American colonist, Castellaw was a wealthy planter and member of the "assembly" in Bertie Precinct, NC. His parents were James Castellaw from Paisley, Renfreshire, Scotland and Sarah Williams Castellaw from Isle of Wight County, VA.

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Edward Moseley Map of North Carolina featuring Bertie Precinct
including notation of "J. Castellaw" on the Cashie River
Source

It can be proven Sarah’s family had been in the colonies at least as far back as her great-grandfather, Robert Williams who was born in Isle of Wight in 1626. This was only 20 years after the first permanent English colony, Jamestown, was established in Virginia.

So through his mother, John Castellaw had roots back to the very beginning of the nation.

John's father James, although not born in America, was a man with a significant role in shaping the North Carolina colony.

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Permission from the King of Great Britain for James Castellaw
and Nathanial Hill to build a water grist mill in Bertie Precinct in 1736.

Source

“Nicholas Cobb Descendants” by Joe H. Cobb includes an article printed in the “Bertie Ledger Advance” on November 2, 1972 by Mary Best Bell in which she includes some detail about my sixth great-grandfather that sheds more light on his position within the community and provides an interesting additional connection to Gabriel Johnston.

According to Bell's article, James Castellaw:

• was treasurer of Bertie Precinct from 1735 – 1748
• served as juror in 1719 and on the Grand Jury in 1722 and 1724
• was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly representing Bertie Precinct from 1725 until at least 1745
• was very active in introducing bills for the improvement of the colony including efforts to obtain sound currency, navigation laws, and the handling of public debt
• sold to Bertie one acre of land for the building of a courthouse around which a town called Cashy was formed
• acted as an attorney in many court cases in the area
• built a mill at what is now called Hoggard’s Mill which operated for more than 200 years
• owned land in Bertie, Hertford, Northampton and Duplin Counties
• was named to the post of Treasurer of Bertie in 1735 by Governor Johnston.

That last point is another small connection of the Castellaw family to the Johnston family.

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Castellaw's Mill became Hoggard's Mill as the property passed from
one family to another. These two photos are of the restored original buildings.
Harry Louis Thompson and his family were instrumental in restoring the buildings.

Source

James died around 1749 and Sarah lived until around 1770.

James and Sarah had seven children.

Their son, John Castellaw who is my fifth great-grandfather and possible connection to Gabriel Johnston was born around 1727 in Bertie Precinct.

Although they were prevented from being married because of her race, it appears John began a relationship with Martha Butler around 1758 when he was in his early 30s and she was 19. In records, Martha is referred to as "mulatto." During the time, law forbade interracial marriages and any minister or Justice performing one lost his license so it’s interesting that Castellaw, who was from a family of great importance, chose such a controversial mate.

In “History of the Ancestors in America of Latham Lee Miller” by Latham Lee Miller, he states that Martha Butler had two sons by John Castellaw and includes the detail, “most likely before he married Margaret Dawson.”
 
Those two sons, who used the Castellaw surname, remained in Bertie County while most of the children of John and Margaret: Charlotte, Thomas, Bartholomew, John Dawson (my fourth great-grandfather), Henry D., Nancy and John W., migrated to Haywood County, Tennessee together in the early 1830s. One other brother, Thomas moved to Duplin County, North Carolina.

In his book, “Pell Mellers: Race and Memory in a Carolina Pocosin,” K. Paul Johnson includes the detail that “colonial tax lists identify Martha Butler as a mulatto or Negro woman in the household of John Castellaw.”

From a variety of sources, it appears John Castellaw married Margaret Dawson around 1775 when he was around 48 and she was 20.

Martha Butler possibly died around 1784 when she was 45 so it could be assumed he was no longer with Martha when he married Margaret, he maintained an “unofficial” relationship with Martha while he married Margaret Dawson or Martha died earlier than thought. John and Martha’s last child together seems to have been born in 1775.

John and Margaret lived many years together until his death in 1816 at the age of 86. Margaret Dawson Castellaw lived until at least 1813.

The website Appalachian Aristocracy notes John Castellaw's will was dated December 11, 1813 and was proved May 1816. His will included his children Charlotte, Thomas, Bartholomew, John Dawson, Henry D., John William and Nancy C. All were left beds and furniture. His property was left to his wife Margaret Dawson Castellaw. When she died, it was to go to his son John Dawson Castellaw. The executors were his wife, Margaret, and Benjamin Hardy.

Joe Cobb’s book notes the fact that John Castellaw’s wife was a Dawson can be determined from the will of Richard Dawson, dated 25 Mar 1796, in which he names his “brothers” John Castellaw and William Dawson as the executors. Brother-in-laws were often referred to as "brother" in legal documents during this time.

Was Margaret Dawson a daughter of John Dawson and Penelope Johnston, the daughter of Governor Gabriel Johnston and Penelope Golland?

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Robert Dinwiddie (1693 – 27 July 1770) was a
British colonial administrator who served as
lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia from 1751 to 1758

Source

“The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography: D-G, Volume 2” includes this entry about the couple:

“A young heiress, Penelope Johnston, the orphaned daughter of Governor Gabriel Johnston of North Carolina, had been living in Williamsburg for a year or more with Governor Dinwiddie’s family, sharing the instructions of the Dinwiddie’s tutor and absorbing the amenities of life in the governor’s palace. Her elopement with young John Dawson in 1758 caused consternation, certainly on the North Carolina side of the border. But the match was a happy one. The couple lived at Eden House, Bertie County and had four children: Mary, who married Nathaniel Allen; Penelope, who married Tristram Lowthler; William who died unmarried; and Lucy, who evidently died young.”

What...no Margaret?

Remember that will mentioned by Joe E. Cobb in his book that connects John Castellaw to the Dawson family? A copy of it is included in “The North Carolina Historical Register.”

Dawson, Richard
March 25, 1796; May Term 1796
Susanna Evans daughter of Michael and Margaret Evans, six silver table and six silver tea spoons marked R. P. D. nephew George Dawson, sisters Ann Sebree and Elizabeth Dawson, brother George Dawson’s children, viz.: Jane, Hannah, James and George Dawson, brothers John Castellaw and William Dawson
George Outlaw and David Tavloe Exrs.
Test, Miles Bonner, James Yeats, H. Hardy.

So -- is this "my" John Castellaw mentioned as a brother?

I found an online entry that provided a few clues. From this, it can likely be determined:

Michael Evans who is mentioned in the will is the son of Richard Evans and Susanna Cautanche Evans.

Michael Cotench Evans was born around 1755 and married Margaret Dawson who was the sister of Richard Dawson and together, they had a daughter named Susanna Cotench Evans. According to his will, Michael died 17 Dec 1795.

That means the Susanna first mentioned in the will was Richard Dawson's niece by his sister, Margaret. Also, from the post, you can deduct that Richard and Margaret had a brother George Dawson and he had four living children: Jane, Hannah, James and George and they had a sister named Ann Dawson who married a Sebree and another sister, Elizabeth who was unmarried.

Finally, he included two "brothers" John Castellaw and another Dawson, William.

This post also notes Richard Dawson was a ship carpenter.

A dead-end. No solid connection between my John Castellaw and Gabriel Johnston's Margaret Dawson. And I can't find any more meaningful research that would help me out.

Except for this.

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Samuel Johnston (1733-1816), prominent voice for the Patriot
cause, lived at “Hayes,” the family estate at Edenton.
He was born on December 15, 1733, in Dundee, Scotland,
the son of Samuel Johnston and the former Helen Scrymsoure.
While still an infant, Johnston emigrated with his family
to North Carolina and Onslow County, probably at the
invitation of their kinsman, Gabriel Johnston,
royal governor of the colony from 1734 to 1752.

Source

It seems Penelope Johnston Dawson was close to her cousin, Samuel Johnston, and wrote many letters to him about her life. Much of that correspondence is located at the University of North Carolina’s Southern Historical Collection in Chapel Hill.

“Correspondence with Penelope Johnston Dawson, Samuel Johnston's (1733-1816) cousin, begins in the late 1750s and continues throughout this sub-series. Her letters detail family and social life, social customs such as marriage and courtship, education of children, and health concerns, particularly the ague fever and an outbreak of small pox at Hayes in 1773. Following the death of her husband, Penelope also sought Johnston's advice in regards to plantation business, such as the selling of tar and livestock and the purchase of sundry goods. In 1772, she wrote several letters criticizing an overseer's ill treatment of slaves and asked Johnston to intercede.”

If Margaret Dawson is the daughter or some other relative of Penelope Johnston Dawson, she possibly will be included in these letters.

So look out Chapel Hill. Here I come. Genealogy road trip!

For more blog entries, visit my Blog Home Page or to check out the genealogy research about my specific family lines, go to Haywood County Line Genealogy Page.

Connecting the Bibles of Leonard D. Cobb and Will Williams

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William Lafayette Williams, born Feb 13, 1858
Eva Iris Williams, born July 29, 1896

Old Bibles that include genealogy information seem a little to me like a time machine that allows me to have a written connection to my ancestors. This blog entry, back in September, included the pages of an Outlaw family Bible. I've since been sent photos from a couple of other family Bibles and want to include them here as well.

I think about the men and women who took the time to write in these Bibles and their motivation for recording the milestones of their family. Of course, they were assuming someday someone would want to know the births, marriages and deaths that took place. By writing these things down, they were communicating with those curious family members who would come along many years later.

And here I am...taking what they wrote and hopefully preserving it here for present and future generations.

The Bible of Leonard Decatur Cobb

 
The first Bible I am sharing here originally belonged to Leonard Decatur Cobb. Two of his siblings are in my direct line: William Thomas Cobb who married Elizabeth Temperance "Bet" Outlaw (maternal third great-grandparents) and Morning Adeline Cobb who married Daniel Washington Watridge (paternal second great-grandparents).

Leonard Cobb, William Thomas Cobb and Morning A. Cobb were three of the 11 children of Hardy and Harriet Castellaw Cobb. Hardy and Harriet were both born in Bertie County, N.C. and departed for Haywood County, Tenn. on April 22, 1834.

According to Joe H. Cobb’s book, "Nicholas Cobb Descendants," another of Leonard's sons, John Monroe Cobb, was “quite a scholar but could never adjust himself to the practical things in life.” John died at Western State Mental Hospital on 24 Jan 1920 and was buried in Zion Baptist Church Cemetery. According to his death certificate, he died of Psychosis brought on by Pellegra, a niacin malnourishment, also called "poor man's diet."

It's sad to think he went to his grave with people thinking he was "impracticable" when his real problem could have possibly been solved with a balanced diet. Although, perhaps the malnourishment came after he was put into Western State.

It does sound like there was a little eccentricity running in the family.

One of John Monroe Cobb’s daughters, who was also recorded in the Bible, seems to have marched to the beat of a different drummer, herself. Lura Cobb, who was called "Miss Lura" by her Haywood County neighbors, never married and is said to have worn long dresses and, even in the summer, a long overcoat, galoshes, a scarf around her face and a bonnet. She was a member of Holly Grove Baptist Church and lived very close to my father, Bob Williams. He remembers being afraid of her as a boy and if he ever saw her coming down the road he would hide until she passed. My mother, Shirley Lovelace Williams, has fonder memories and remembers Miss Lura frequently expressing interest in what and how her family members were doing.

Back to the Bible...you'll notice Leonard and Mary's daughter, Mary Catherine Cobb married John Nowell Williams who was a son of George Solomon "Sol" Williams and Catherion A. Nowell, my third great grandparents. 

Their daughter, Zelma Aurene Williams married Roy Earl Simpson who was one of the sons of William B. Simpson and his wife, Mary Ann Belle Watridge (Mary Ann Belle Watridge is a daughter of my third great-grandparents Daniel Washington Watridge and Mourning Adeline Cobb Watridge). It's so confusing, I can't keep it all straight.

Leonard D. and  Mary Amanda Rooks are buried in Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Haywood County.

Note: As closely as possible, I typed the information as it was written in the Bibles.

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Leonard D. Cobb was borned A.D. November 2nd 1825

Mary A. Cobb was borned November 24 A.D. 1830

Elizabeth A. Cobb daughter of L.D. and Mary A. Cobb was borned December the 5th 1850

John M. Cobb son of L.D. Cobb and Mary his wife was borned December 31 of 1852

Mary C Cobb daughter of L.D. Cobb and Mary his wife was borned April 8th 1857

Bonnie Lura Cobb daughter of J.M. and N.R. Cobb was born Feb 10th 1887

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Zelma Aurene Williams Daughter of John A. Williams and Mary C. Williams his wife was born January the 20th 1895

Mattie Evelyn Cobb daughter of John M. Cobb and Mary R. Cobb his wife was born September the 30th 1895 {Died Jan 13, 1929 Hay-Wood County Tennessee

Johnnie Bee Simpson son of Roy Earl Simpson and Zelma (A.) Simpson his wife was born Februray 14th, 1917 In Hay-Wood County Tennessee

Emma Lee Simpson daughter of Roy Earl Simpson and Zelma Arlene Simpson his wife was born April 4th 1919

Lelane Earl Simpson born March 9 son of Roy and Zelma Simpson in Hay-Wood County Tennessee

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L.D. Cobb son of J.H. Cobb and Harriet A. Cobb his wife was borned November 2nd 1825 Departed this life April the 9th 1906

John Monroe Cobb departed this life January 24th 1920

Elizabeth A Cobb departed this life on the XXth day of November 1854

Mary A. Cobb Daughter of John Rooks & C.C. Rooks his wife was borned Nov 24th 1830 Departed this life Oct. the 10th 1907

Herman Cobb was born Aug the 14th and died Aug the 15 1885 A.D.

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Mary Katherine Cobb was married to John N. Williams the 14th day of December A.D. 1881 Rev J.J. Turner officiating

John M. Cobb and Mary R. Sweeney was married Nov the 30th 1884 in madison co Tenn by Rev James Blackmun

Zelma A. Williams was married to Roy Earl Simpson the 14th day of Feb 1916. Esq. E.B. Bowen officiating near Jones Tennessee in Hay-Wood County

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John Nowell Williams and Mary Katherine "Molly" Cobb Williams' obits were also included in this Bible. Interesting to note, the obit listed John's middle initial as "A" rather than "N." John died in 1928 and Molly died in 1938.

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Also in this Bible were some pressed flowers and a piece of paper that noted, "'Cousin Hardy Cobb died Oct 18 1942 and was buried 20." John Hardy Cobb was the son of John Charles Warren Cobb and Penelope Trottman White. 

Hardy Cobb was a farmer, sawmill operator, store owner and school teacher. He lost one arm in a corn shredder and several of his fingers on the other hand at his sawmill. He donated the land for and taught at the Centerville Elementary School.

In his book, "Nicholas Cobb Descendants," Joe Cobb makes note of an incident that is a testament to Hardy Cobb's character. 

He and the son of one of his brothers, Carlos Cobb, purchased some land in Louisiana. During the depression, Hardy Cobb was heavily in debt because of the money he owed on the land and spent the rest of his life paying it off. He repaid the debt in full a year before he died in 1942.

The Bible of Will Lafayette Williams

This Bible belonged to my great-grandfather, Will Williams. I suspected from U.S. census records that he was called Willie as a young man but the earliest entries in this Bible confirm that.

There are several connections between the Bibles of Leonard Cobb above and this one, but one of the most interesting to me relates to Will's childhood. Will's mother, Martha Jane Watridge died in 1888 at the age of 36 leaving her husband a widower with five children.

Will, the youngest, was less than a year old at the time. Whether he began living with them right after his mother's death, or at some point during his childhood, according to the 1900 U.S. census, Will was 12 years old and living with his maternal aunt and uncle, George W. Castellaw and Mary E. Watridge Castellaw (his mother Martha Jane Watridge Williams and Mary E. Watridge Castellaw were sisters). 

However, his father wasn't far away.

Right next door was Will's father, George W. Williams, along with his third wife, Virginia Estelle "Essie" Cobb Williams and their 15-year-old daughter Elberta. Essie was a daughter of John Charles Warren Cobb and Penelope Trottman White.

Living next door to the George and Estelle Williams household were George's brother and his wife, John Nowell Williams and Mollie Cobb Williams, whose obits were in the Bible above.

All the families included in these Bibles, including Williams, Watridge, Castellaw, White and Cobb, migrated to Haywood County together from Bertie County, N.C. around 1834.

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This is to certify that Willie Lafayette Williams and Janie Elizabeth Williamson were united by me in the bonds of Holy Matrimony at my residence on the 6 day of Feb in the year of our Lord 1910 in the presence of  ? (W.L.) Russell and ? B. Castellaw

Sadly, Will Williams' marriage to Janie Williamson would not be a long one. She died just four years later on 19 Aug 1914. Their second-born child, a daughter they named Ruth, also died that year. I can find no indication of whether Ruth died when she was born or a lived for a short time. Janie died 17 days after her daughter.

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Jessie Lloyd Williams Born Nov 27 1910
Ruth Williams Born Aug 2 1914
Martha Ladonia Williams Born June 1 1916
Mary Elizabeth Williams Born Sep 4 1918
W.L. Williams Jr. Born Oct 28 1821
Douglass Maxwell Williams Born May 6 1920
Hardy Dempsey Williams Born Sep 15, 1929
Betty Iris Williams Born May 26, 1932
Billie Dean Williams Born June 13, 1935
Bobby Jean Williams Born June 13, 1935

Eva Iris Williams, born July 29 1896
William L. Williams born 2-13-88

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Willie Lafayette Williams and Eva Iris Overton were united by the bonds of matrimon at my residence on the 28 day of Feb in the year of our Lord 1915 in the pressence of Aulsey Byrum and Pearl Overton.
Signed Esq. T. J. Castellaw

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Will's first wife Janie Elizabeth Williams Died Aug 19, 1914
Ruth Williams Died ____________, 1914
W.L. Williams Sr. Died Apr 1, 1962
W.L. Williams Jr. Died June 5, 1966
Will's second wife Eva Iris Williams Died Sept 5, 1970
Martha Ledonia Williams Chandler Died Nov 1979
Mary Elizabeth Williams Hudgens 9-4-18 -- 6-25-99
Billy Dean Williams 6-13-35 -- 11-18-95
Jessie Lloyd Williams 11-25-10 -- 5-27-2008

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Inserted in this Bible was the Tennessee Public Schools elementary diploma of my grandmother, Elizabeth Williams. It was given to her at Holly Grove in Haywood County on 12 Apr 1929.

For more blog entries, visit my Blog Home Page or to check out the genealogy research about my specific family lines, go to Haywood County Line Genealogy Page.