The Morton Family in Caswell County, N
TheMorton Family in Caswell County, N.C.
The Morton Family had been living in Caswell County since the late1700's and married into the Lea Family who had settled in Caswell (then OrangeCounty) in the late 1740's or early 1750's. Meshack (Mesheck) Morton wasrecorded in the first Federal Census in 1790 in Caswell Co. and also the N.C.State Census of the 1784-1787 timeperiod Meshack appears in the N.C. Taxpayers List (1679-1790) in the years 1784and 1786. Meshack migrated to Caswell Co. from Prince Edward County, Virginia.Meshack purchased property from John Zachary in Prince Edward County. JohnZachary later appears in Caswell County records.
28May 1778--John Zachery of Charlotte County, VA sells land to Meshack Morton (100acres) of Prince Edward County, VA Meshack Morton Land Purchase A][PrinceEdward County, VA Deed Book C, pages 325-26
Abstractsupplied by Stephen Dennis a fellow Morton researcher.
Meshack then sold property in PrinceEdward County to Thomas Tatam at which time I feel he was preparing for themove to Caswell County, North Carolina. The following is a transcript of thedeed to Thomas Tatam. This may well have been the same property bought fromJohn Zachary.
Mesheck Morton Land Deed to Thomas Tatam
Deed Book 6 Page 186 October 19, 1778
Prince Edward County, Virginia
This indenture made the nineteenth day of October in the year ofour Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight between Mesheck Morton ofthe County of Prince Edward of the one park and Thomas Tatam of CumberlandCounty of the other park. Witnesseth that for and in consideration of thesum of seventy five pounds good and lawful money of Virginia to him the saidMesheck Morton in hand paid by the said Thomas Tatam the receipt whereof hedoes acknowledge and thereof does aquit ______ the said Thomas Tatam, his heirsassigns forever by this presents has granted, bargained and sold unto the saidThomas Tatam one certain track or parcel in the County of Prince Edward Countyon the waters of Bryer River containg one hundred acres more or less and isbounded as followeth, beginning at Blased pine at Daniel Daverson line alongthe beginning, the Beginning line of the _____of said 400 acres land fromthence to the white oak by a branch thence to a path known by the name ofDickson path along the path to Daniel Daverson’s line thence along his line tothe beginning together with all and singular the appurtenances to the said landbelonging or in any wise appertaining with the reversions remainders rents andprofit thereof to have and to hold the said one hundred acres of land andappurtenances to the same belong unto the said Thomas Tatam, his heirs andassigns for ever to the only proper use and behoof of this said Thomas Tatamhis heirs and assigns forever and the said Mesheck Morton does for himself andhis heirs covenant and agree to and with the said Thomas Tatam and his heirsshall and will warrant forever defend the right title fostered and property ofthe said land against the just claim of all and every person or personswhatsoever in witnesseth of the said Mesheck Morton has hereunto set his handand seal the day and year first above written. sealed and delivered in
Presence of______________ Meshech x Morton SEAL
At court held for Prince Edward County October 19, 1778. T-- with deed from Mesheck Morton to Thomas Tatam was presented andacknowledged in court by the said Mesheck party, thereto, Mary his wife,privily examined relinquished her dower to lands in said deed mentioned andordered to be recorded.
Meshack’sfirst record in Caswell County, N.C. was a deed from John Ashburn in 1782.Meshack could have been in Caswell before this time as settlers during thisperiod were often delayed recording their deeds because of the closing of theland office at the time of the Earl of Granville’s death and the RevolutionaryWar. The following is a transcription of the deed from John Ashburn.
John AshburnLand Deed to Meshack Morton
March 2nd1782
Deed Book A---- Page 616
CaswellCounty, North Carolina
This Indenturemade this second day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven &eighty two and in the seventh year of our American Independence John Ashburn ofthe State of North Carolina & County of Caswell of the one part &Mashak Morton of the State and County aforesaid of the other part. Witnesseththat John Ashburn for and in consideration of Fifty Pounds Proclamation Money ofthe said State to me in hand paid by the said Mashak Morton at or beforeSealing & Delivering of these presents the Receipt whereof he the said JohnAshburn doth hereby acknowledge hath given, granted, bargained Sold & bythese presents doth give, grant, bargain & sell_______,Release and Confirmunto the said Mashak Morton his Heirs Executors Administrators & Assignsforever a Certain Tract or Parcel of Land. Lying & being in the County ofCaswell aforesaid and on the Waters of North Hyco. Beginning on a Post Oak onThomas Kilgore’s line & Running Near a West Course to a point of a Ridgeabove the said John Ashburn’s spring & then down his Spring Branch to hisSouth West corner a Sycamore on William Moore’s line including AndersonAshburn’s Improvement, thence his line North twelve chains to a Hicory, thenEast fifteen chains to a White Oak, thence North thirty five chains to aPoplare, thence East twenty eight chains to a Pine on Thomas Kilgore’s___ line,thence his line to the Post Oak first Beginning Containing One Hundred Acres bethe same more or less it being part of a Tract of Land that the said JohnAshburn purchased of Richard Caswell Esq. then Our Governor Capt. General andCommander in Chief, with the Reversion & Reversions Remainder &Remainders Rents & Services thereof & also all the Estate RightTitle Claim or Demand whatsoever of him the said John Ashburn of in &unto the said premises of in & unto every part & parcel thereof. Tohave and to hold the said Tract or Parcel of Land & premises above Mentionedwith the Appurtenances unto the said Mashak Morton for himself his HeirsExecutors Administrators & Assigns to the only proper use & behoof ofthe said Mashak Morton his Heirs & Assigns forever & the said JohnAshburn for himself his Heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns dothCovenant and agree to & with the said Mashak Morton his Heirs & Assignsforever by these presents that he the said John Ashburn & his Heirs all& every other person & persons & his or their Heirs anything havingor Claiming in the said premises above mentioned or any part thereof by for orunder him shall & will warrant & forever Defend. In Witness whereof thesaid John Ashburn hath hereto set his Hand & Affixed his seal this day& year first above written.
JohnAshburn----*Seal*
Signed Sealed Published and Delivered in the
Presence of us. RobertLong
Transcribed by: Latham Mark Phelps 2003
Theforegoing deed tells of a family relationship with the Ashburn family. JohnAshburn’s wife was Sarah Anderson. Meshack’s only child that is of the age notto require a guardian at Meshack’s death was named “Anderson” Morton. I feelstrongly that John Ashburn may have been Meshack’s father-in-law.Meshack married Nancy (Mary) Ashburn. The next deed recorded in Caswell Countyrecorded by Meshack is in 1792 where he sold property to Thomas Boman. TheBoman family also came to Caswell County from Prince Edward County, Va. andthere are numerous records between the Morton’s and Boman’s in Caswell Countyduring this and later time periods. The following is an abstract of the deed toThomas Boman as I have yet to transcribe the entire deed.
Caswell County Deed BookH-Page 241-2
January 27th,1792
Meshack Morton of CaswellCounty to Thomas Boman of same, 100lbs, 220a on ReedyFork of N. HycoAdj:William Pleasant- Witness John Zachary, Simon Roberts
The following information about ThomasBoman and other Boman’s and Morton’s was supplied by Stephen Dennis a fellowMorton researcher.
Thomas Bowman---Thomas Bomanmay have inherited land in Caswell County, NC when his father Royall Boman diedin 1791. Thomas Boman purchased land in Caswell County, NC from Meshack Mortonon 27 January 1792. This appears tohave been Thomas Boman’s first land purchase in Caswell County, NC. Thomas Boman sold land in Caswell County, NCto Josiah Morton on 4 July 1797. (Itshould be possible to determine whether this was the land Thomas Boman hadpurchased in 1792 from Meshack Morton or instead land Thomas Boman hadinherited from his father Royall Boman in 1791.) Thomas Boman is enumerated in Caswell County, NC in the 1810Census. Thomas Boman sold land inCaswell County, NC in 1816.
Royall Bowman---RoyallBowman was a son of Robert Bowman, who died in Amelia County, VA in 1746. Royall Bowman married Elizabeth Morton, adaughter of Thomas Morton, in Prince Edward County 18 May 1756. Royall Boman died in Caswell County, NC in1791, survived by his widow Elizabeth Boman. His children appear to have been Leah Boman, Thomas Boman, Joseph Boman,Samuel Boman, Leonard Boman and Robert Boman, as well as a daughter NancyBowman married to Simon Roberts.
RobertBowman---Robert Bowman appears in the tax lists for Amelia County, VA in 1739,1740, 1741, 1743, 1744, and 1745. Robert Bowman’s will was probated in AmeliaCounty, VA in 1746; the will mentions four children: daughters Jane and Sarah,and sons John Sutton Bowman and Royall Bowman.
Elizabeth Morton---The Prince EdwardCounty, VA marriage record for the marriage of Elizabeth Morton, daughter of ThomasMorton, and Royal Bowman is dated 18 May 1756; Royall Bowman died in CaswellCounty, NC in 1791, and Elizabeth Bowman died in Caswell County, VA in1794. Their children appear to havebeen Leah Boman, Thomas Boman, Joseph Boman, Samuel Boman, Leonard Boman andRobert Boman, as well as a daughter Nancy Bowman married to Simon Roberts.
Leah Bowman---Leah Boman sold 70acres on Country Line Creek to Peyton Morton on 13 December 1797. (This was likely some or all of the landLeah Boman had inherited when his father Royall Boman died in 1791.) This is the only reference to Leah Boman inCaswell County, NC deeds. PresumablyLeah Boman left North Carolina shortly after this land transaction, or he maynever have lived in North Carolina at all.
JosephBowman--The marriage record for the marriage of Joseph Boman and ElizabethDixon in Caswell County, NC is dated 1 March 1790. Joseph Boman’s brother Robert Boman was a bondsman for thismarriage. Joseph Boman is notenumerated in Caswell County, NC in 1800 or in 1810. This could mean that the Joseph Boman family lived in thehousehold of Elizabeth Dixon Boman’s parents, or it might mean that JosephBoman lived elsewhere, either nearby in Virginia on in another North Carolinacounty. (The spelling of his nameshould also be checked closely, as variant spellings as possible.) Joseph Boman may have died in CaswellCounty, NC in 1818 as there is an estate record for a person of this name.
Samuel Bowman---The marriage recordfor the marriage of Samuel Boman and Betsey Carloss in Caswell County, NC isdated 30 June 1798. Simon Roberts, thebrother-in-law of Samuel Boman, was a bondsman for this marriage. Samuel Boman is enumerated in CaswellCounty, NC in the 1810 Census. He maybe the Samuel Boman listed as an insolvent in Caswell County, NC in 1812?
Robert Bowman---Robert Bowman was ason of Royal Bowman. He appears to havebeen born about 1760, as the marriage record for his marriage to Sarah Foster,a daughter of James Foster, is dated 7 November 1780 in Charlotte County,VA. The first evidence that RobertBowman had moved to Caswell County, NC is a deed dated 21 July 1789. Robert Bowman was a delegate from CaswellCounty, NC to a Constitutional Convention held in Fayetteville, NC in November1789 and voted in favor of ratification of the proposed federalconstitution. Robert Boman and hisbrother-in-law Simon Roberts sold a mill property in Caswell County, NC toBarkley Elam on 7 July 1799. (Theprevious history of this mill property is unknown, though it may have belongedto Royall Boman prior to his death in 1791.) Robert Bowman is enumerated in Caswell County, NC in the 1800Census. Robert Boman is enumerated inCaswell County, NC in the 1810 Census. Robert Boman witnessed a deed in Caswell County, NC in 1812.
NancyBowman---The marriage record for the marriage of Nancy Bowman and Simon Robertsin Charlotte County, VA is dated 3 January 1787. (Nancy Bowman Roberts likely inherited property in CaswellCounty, NC when her father Royall Boman died in 1791.) The first definite evidence that SimonRoberts had moved to Caswell County, NC (or owned property there) is areference in a deed dated 19 July 1791, though Simon Roberts may be a witnessto a deed dated 26 June 1791. SimonRoberts also sold land in Caswell County, NC to Peyton Morton in 1798. Robert Boman and his brother-in-law SimonRoberts sold a mill property in Caswell County, NC to Barkley Elam on 7 July1799. (The previous history of thismill property is unknown, though it may have belonged to Royall Boman prior tohis death in 1791.) Simon Robertswitnessed a deed in Caswell County, NC in 1801.
PeytonMorton---The marriage record for the marriage of Peyton Morton and NancyWimbish in Prince Edward County, VA is dated 5 May 1780. Peyton Morton appears in court proceedingsin Charlotte County, VA in both 1783 and 1784, but in 1785 Peyton Morton is onthe tax list for Prince Edward County, VA. Peyton Morton purchased land in Caswell County, NC from Leah Boman (abrother-in-law of Simon Roberts) in 1797. Peyton Morton purchased land in Caswell County, NC from Simon Roberts (abrother-in-law of Leah Boman) in 1798. There is a Census enumeration for Peyton Morton in Caswell County, NC in1800. There is a Census enumeration forPeyton Morton in Caswell County, NC in 1810. No estate record for Peyton Mortonhas been found in either North Carolina or Virginia.
JosiahMorton---Josiah Morton was born in Prince Edward County, VA 26 December 1760,according to a Revolutionary War pension application filed in Caswell County,NC in 1833. It is not known whereJosiah Morton lived between the conclusion of his Revolutionary War service andhis appearance in Caswell County, NC in 1796, or when or how many times he mayhave married. Josiah Morton madepurchases at the estate sale of Meshack Morton on 19 February 1796, and this isthe first documentary evidence that Josiah Morton was in Caswell County,NC. There appears to be a Censusenumeration for Josiah Morton in Caswell County, NC in 1800. There is a Census enumeration for JosiahMorton in Caswell County, NC in 1810. There is a Census enumeration for Josiah Morton in Caswell County, NC in1820. Josiah Morton is almost certainlythe elderly man aged 80-90 living in the household of his son Azariah GravesMorton in Rockingham County, NC in the 1840 Census. Josiah Morton died on 23 August 1844, according to the FinalPension Payment file for him at National Archives, which contains a letterauthorizing payment of the unpaid arrearage of Josiah Morton’s pension to anattorney for Azariah G. Morton, named as the “only child” of JosiahMorton. It is believed that AzariahGraves Morton may have been the sole child of a second wife of Josiah Morton.
Thefollowing Chronology of the Morton’s offers a very thorough look at the MortonFamily. This supplied again by Stephen Dennis and all Morton researchers owehim a debt of gratitude for his painstaking work.
MESHACKMORTON, JOSIAH MORTON
AND PEYTON MORTON CHRONOLOGY
1760-------26 December 1760-JosiahMorton born in Prince Edward County, VA [Statement in Revolutionary War pensionapplication filed in Caswell County, NC in 1833]
1764-------Charlotte County, VA created from Lunenburg County, VA
1778-------28 May 1778--John Zachery of Charlotte County, VA sells land to Meshack Morton(100 acres) of Prince
Edward County, VA Meshack Morton LandPurchase A][Prince Edward County, VA Deed Book C, pages 325-26]
19 October 1778--Meshack Morton and wifeMary, of Prince Edward County, VA sell land to Thomas Tatum of CumberlandCounty (100 acres on Brierly River)[Meshack Morton Land Purchase A][PrinceEdward County, VA Deed Book 6, page 186]
1780------ 5 May 1780--Peyton Morton marries NancyWimbish (witness Robert Bowman)[Prince Edward County, VA Marriage Records]
1782-------March1782[1]--MeshackMorton purchases 100 acres on N. Hico from John Ashburn [Meshack
Morton Land Purchase B][Caswell County, NC Deed Book A, page 616]
9 March 1782[2]--“Meshak”Morton and William Richmond witness a deed [Caswell County, NC Deed Book B,
page 54]
19 March 1782[3]--MeshackMorton and William Morton witness a deed [Caswell County, NC Deed Book A,
pages 579-80]
26 December 1782--Josiah Morton marries Mary Roberts[Amelia County, VA Marriage Records][But this may be the wrong Josiah Morton?]
1783------7 July 1783--Peyton Morton v. John Zachery(found for plaintiff)[Charlotte County, VA Court Order Book 5,
page 103]
1784------MeshackMorton listed in North Carolina tax list (Gloucester District, Caswell County)
Onewhite poll
Noblack slaves
320acres []Meshack Morton Land Purchase C]
206.13.4
3 May 1784--Peyton Morton v.John Zachery and Royal Bowman [Charlotte County, VA Court Order Book 5, page 154
4 June 1784--Peyton Mortonv. John Zachery and Royal Bowman [Charlotte County, VA Court Order Book 5, page 168]
20 July 1784[4]--“Meshag”Morton buys 320 acres on Reedy Fork from Jonathan Law adjoining WilliamRichmond and Matthew Richmond [Meshack Morton Land Purchase C][Caswell County,NC Deed Book E, page 79]
3 November 1784--Royal Bowman and PeytonMorton witnesses for James Foster [Charlotte County, VA Court Order Book 5,page 234]
1785-----PeytonMorton on tax list for Prince Edward County (3 souls)
A Josiah Morton on same taxlist (4 souls)
July Court 1785--Meshack Morton witnesses apower of attorney [Caswell County, NC Will Book B, page 83]
23 September 1785[5]--StateGrant No. 879 to Thomas Wiley for land adjoining Meshack Morton and JohnRichmond Sr. on Reedy fork of North Hico Caswell County, NC Deed Book D, pages352-53
16 October 1785[6]--MeshackMorton a witness to a deed for land sold by Jonathan Law to Thomas Wiley[Caswell County, NC Deed Book E, page 70]
1786-----MeshackMorton listed in North Carolina tax list
18 December 1786--Will of Bartholomew Zackery(names son John Zackery)[Prince Edward County, VA, Will book 2, page 135]
1787-----[CharlotteCounty, VA Will Book 1, pages 395+, Peyton Mirtin?]
Peyton Morton not on tax lists for Virginia in any county
Two Josiah Mortons listed forPrince Edward County
Josiah Morton (page 1292) Taxedfor self and one slave, one horse and two cattle
1788-----JohnZachery in Caswell County, NC [Prince Edward County, VA Deed Book 8, page 100]
1790-----Censusenumeration for Josiah Morton
Census enumeration for PeytonMorton
16 November 1790[7]--StateGrant No. 1040 to John Law for 41 acres adjoining Meshack Morton, WilliamRichmond and Humphrey Donaldson [Caswell County, NC Deed Book G, page 301]
1791-------July 1791][8]--PeytonMorton a debtor to estate of Thomas Van Hook [Caswell County, NC Will Book B,page 422]
1792-------27January 1792[9]--MeshackMorton sells 220 acres on Reedy Fork of North Hico adjoining William
Pleasant[part of MeshackMorton Land Purchase C in 1784] to Thomas Boman (witnesses are John Zachery andSimon Roberts)[Caswell County, NC Deed Book H, pages 241-42]
27 April 1792[10]--“Paton”Morton witnesses deed from Meshack Morton to Jesse Carter (prominent CaswellCounty, NC store owner) (100 acres on Reedy Fork N. Hico)(could be eitherMeshack Morton Land Purchase B or more likely remainder of Land Purchase C in1784)[Caswell County, NC Deed Book J, page 254]
21 November 1792[11]--JohnLaw sells to Job Siddall 41 acres on Reedy Fork of Hico adjoining MeshackMorton and William Richmond (description would relate to Meshack Morton LandPurchase C in 1784) [Caswell County, NC Deed Book H, page 219]
1793-------11January 1793[12]--MeshackMorton and J. Zacherey witness a deed from Robert Kimbrough to
Samuel Morton for 86.9 acreson south fork of Country Line Creek adjoining John Kimbrough (the first of four1793 deeds from Robert Kimbrough in which he is partitioning his landholdings)[Caswell County, NC Deed Book H, pages 122-23]
28 January 1793[13]--“Paton”Morton and J. Zachery witness a deed from Robert Kimbrough to Thomas Wiley (thesecond of four 1793 deeds from Robert Kimbrough in which he is partitioning orselling his landholdings) [Caswell County, NC Deed Book H, page 140]
20 March 1793[14]--MeshackMorton a witness to a deed from Robert Kimbrough to John Kimbrough on Michael’sBr. (the third of four 1793 deeds from Robert Kimbrough in which he is partitioningor selling his landholdings) [Caswell County, NC Deed Book H, page 279]
20 November 1793[15]--RobertKimbrough sells land to Meshack Morton (448 acres on South fork Country LineCreek on Michael’s Br.) (the fourth of four 1793 deeds from Robert Kimbrough inwhich he is partitioning or selling his landholdings) [Meshack Morton LandPurchase D][Caswell County, NC Deed Book H, pages 268-69]
1794-------[OctoberCourt 1794][16]--MeshackMorton and Peyton Morton make cash payments to estate of John
Crisp [Caswell County, NC Will Book C, page 104]
1796-------19February 1796[17]--JosiahMorton purchases at estate sale of “Mesheck” Morton [Caswell County,
NC Will Book C, page 167]
10 March 1796[18]--ThomasWiley sells to Jesse Carter (prominent Caswell County, NC store owner) 50 acreson Reedy Fork of N. Hico adjoining Meshack Morton (description would relate toMeshack Morton Land Purchase C in 1784) [Caswell County, NC Deed Book J, pages210-11]
July Court 1796[19]--Inventoryof estate of Meshack Morton [Caswell County, NC Will Book C, page 168]
July Court 1796[20]--Salesof estate of Meshack Morton [Caswell County, NC Will Book C, page 167]
12 August 1796[21]--JosiahMorton witnesses a deed in Caswell County, NC for a sale by James Jones to StepRoberts of Nottaway County, VA (130 acres south fork of Country Line Creekadjoining the Ridge Path)[Caswell County, NC Deed Book K, page 7]
1797-------JanuaryCourt 1797[22]--Accountingfor estate of Meshack Morton filed by Jesse Carter (prominent
Caswell County, NC store owner) and Mary Morton,widow of Meshack Morton [Caswell County, NC Will Book C, page 214]
4 July 1797[23]--JosiahMorton purchases land in Caswell County, NC from Thomas Boman (75 acres onCountry Line Creek, adjoining Jesse Carter (prominent Caswell County, NC storeowner), Jonathan Starkey, Royal Boman decd.)[Josiah Morton Land Purchase A][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book K, page 90)
10 September 1797[24]--GabrielLea listed as Guardian to orphans of Meshack Morton (Lewis, William, Meshack,Paton, Any, Jacob, Martin, Ezekiel) and sells 448 acres on South Fork ofCountry Line Creek to Thomas Wiley [Meshack Morton Land Purchase D][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book K, pages 112-13]
23 November 1797[25]--JohnSiddall sells land in Caswell County, NC to Peyton Morton (97 acres on CountryLine Creek plus 200 acres?)(Josiah Boman a witness)[Peyton Morton LandPurchase A][Caswell County, NC Deed Book K, page 245][see earlier CaswellCounty Deed Book C, page 130, Harrel to Sidel in 1785]
13 December 1797[26]--LeahBoman sells land in Caswell County, NC to Peyton Morton (70 acres on CountryLine Creek adjoining Jesse Carter (prominent Caswell County, NC store owner),Josiah Morton, Slade)[Peyton Morton Land Purchase B][Caswell County, NCDeed Book K, page 246]
1798-------24October 1798[27]--JosiahMorton purchases land in Caswell County, NC from Jonathan Starkey
(150 acres on Country LineCreek adjoining same Morton and Jesse Carter [prominent Caswell County, NCstore owner]) [Josiah Morton Land Purchase B][Caswell County, NC DeedBook K, page 309]
Simon Roberts sells land in Caswell County,NC to Peyton Morton (75 acres adjoining Josiah Morton, Joseph Boman, ThomasBoman)[Peyton Morton Land Purchase C][Caswell County, NC Deed Book K,page 260][28]
1799-------20March 1799[29]--JesseCarter (prominent Caswell County, NC store owner) conveys 150 acres on
Rattlesnake Creek to Mary Morton (likely the widowof Meshack Morton) [Caswell County, NC Deed Book L, pages 80-81]
23 July 1799[30]--JosiahMorton purchases land in Caswell County, NC from Robert H. Childers (245 acreson Cabin Branch adjoining Lay and Thomas Slade)[Josiah Morton Land PurchaseC][Caswell County, NC Deed Book L, pages 88-89]
23 July 1799[31]--JosiahMorton sells land in Caswell County, NC to Barkley Elam (land adjoining JesseCarter [prominent Caswell County, NC store owner], Solomon Graves and landformerly belonging to Peyton Morton)[75 acres of Land Purchase A?][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book L, page 137][FIND EARLIER DEEDS]
14 August 1799[32]--PeytonMorton sells land in Caswell County, NC to Robert H. Childers (97 acresadjoining James Kitchen, Job Siddall)[Peyton Morton Land Purchase A][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book L, page 225]
1800-------Censusenumeration for Josiah Martin (Caswell County, NC)(appears on a page with verydarkish ink)
5
2
0
0
1
1
2
0
1
0
0
1slave
Censusenumeration for Payton Martin (Caswell County, NC)(next to Thomas Wiley)
0
1
1
0
1
4
2
0
1
0
0
2slaves
29 January 1800[33]--JosiahMorton sells land in Caswell County, NC to Lot Egmond (245 acres on Cabin Creekadjoining Lay and Thomas Slade)[Josiah Morton Land Purchase C][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book L, page 326]
3 March 1800[34]--PeytonMorton sells land in Caswell County, NC to Barkley Elam (145 acres on CountryLine Creek adjoining Jesse Carter [prominent Caswell County, NC store owner]) [PeytonMorton Land Purchase B and Peyton Morton Land Purchase C?][This land was subsequentlysold by Barkley Elam’s executor to Daniel Wilson in 1800, and sold by DanielWilson to Miles Wilson in 1801, who immediately sold it to Jesse Carter on thesame day][Caswell County, NC Deed Book L, pages 216-17]
29 October 1800[35]--JesseCarter (prominent Caswell County, NC store owner) and other executors ofBarkely Elam sell to John Wilson of Halifax County, VA 25 acres including millproperty, 150 acres adjoining Josiah Morton, and 75 acres adjoining JesseCarter [prominent Caswell County, NC store owner] and Peyton Morton)(threeseparate land sales?)[Caswell County, NC Deed Book L, pages 296-97]
5 November 1800[36]--JosiahMorton purchases at estate sale of Robert Bruce [Caswell County, NC Will BookD, page 27]
1801------ 23 January 1801[37]--BartholomewDameron, Sr. and Payton Morton sell to Jesse Carter (prominent
Caswell County, NC store owner) two slaves namedMassa and David [Does this suggest that Dameron and Morton’s wife were co-heirsto an estate that owned these slaves?][Caswell County, NC Deed Book L, page324]
5 December 1801[38]--JosiahMorton purchases land in Caswell County, NC from Robert H. Childers (97 acresadjoining James Kitchen, Jeb Siddal, Tobias Williams)[Josiah Morton LandPurchase D][Caswell County, NC Deed Book M, page 204]
1802------ 8 March 1802[39]--“Paton”Morton witnesses deed for Robert H. Childers for sale to Charnol
Hightower of 200 acres on Step Roberts line [Caswell County, NCDeed Book __, page ___]
27 September 1802[40]--LotEgmon sells land in Caswell County, NC to Josiah Morton (245 acres adjoining[Bird] Lay [Lea?], Thomas Slade)[Josiah Morton Land Purchase C][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book M, page 347]
1803------- List ofCaswell County Taxables - Josiah Morton (491 acres)
LandPurchase B 150 acres
LandPurchase C 245 acres
LandPurchase D 97 acres
PossibleTOTAL 492 acres
MaryMorton (150 acres)
MeshackMorton - No land, only poll tax
PeytonMorton, Sr. - No land, only poll tax
PeytonMorton Jr. - No land, only poll tax
22 April 1803[41]--JosiahMorton purchases land in Caswell County, NC from Luke Prendergast (146 acres onCountry Line Creek adjoining James Noel, Sol. Graves, Siddle)[This was themajority of State Grant No. 1174 to Luke Prendergast on 7 April 1801 for landentered 10 March 1779 (200 acres on Reedy Fork and Country Line Creek), CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book N, page 30][Josiah Morton Land Purchase E][CaswellCounty Deed, NC Book N, pages 14-15]
1 November 1803[42]--JosiahMorton sells land in Caswell County, NC to Lewis Evans (97 acres adjoiningJames Kitchen, Jeb Siddeall, Tobias Williams)[Josiah Morton Land Purchase D][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book N, pages 92-93]
1804-------18February 1804[43]--JosiahMorton purchases at estate sale of John Fargerson [Caswell County, NC
Will Book E, page 101]
16 November 1804[44]--JosiahMorton purchases at estate sale of Aldridge Rudd [Caswell County, NC Will BookE, page 186]
1806-------28January 1806[45]--ThomasWiley sells 148 1/3 acres on Country Line Creek to son Alexander Wiley,
it being Mary Morton’s dowerin lands of Meshack Morton, deceased [Caswell County, NC Deed Book O, pages182-83]
10 April 1806[46]--“Paton”Morton witnesses deed for John Warrick [Caswell County, NC Deed Book O, page203]
1807-------29August 1807[47]--JosiahMorton witnesses a land sale by John Harrill to John Richmond [Caswell
County, NC Deed Book P, pages 137-38]
1808-------4January 1808[48]--MeshackMoreton marries Patsey Boulton [this Meshack Morton may not be from
Caswell County, NC but could be a Virginia relative?][CharlotteCounty, VA Marriage Records]
1809-------10April 1809[49]--JosiahMorton sells land in Caswell County, NC to Nat Burton to pay debt to Jesse
Carter (prominent CaswellCounty, NC store owner) (with Peyton Morton as witness) (245 acres on CabinCreek and 82 ½ acres on Country Line Creek) [Josiah Morton Land Purchase C][CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book Q, pages 36-37]
11 August 1809[50]--BirdLay sells land to Thomas Slade, Sr. (adjoining land owned by Josiah Morton)[forearlier deed, see division of land of John Lay at Caswell County, NC Deed BookK, page 296 (7 October 1798), with Bird Law as grandson receiving 1/6 of hisdeceased father’s portion)[Caswell County, NC Deed Book Q, pages 131-32]
12 September 1809[51]--JosiahMorton witnesses sale by Benjamin Sewell and James Scott to William Kimbrough[Caswell County, NC Deed Book Q, pages 37-38]
1810-------Censusenumeration for Josiah Morton (Caswell County, NC, page 489)
1male under 10
3males 10 to 16
3males 16 to 26
0males 26 to 45
1male 45+
1female under 10
1female 10 to 16
1female 16 to 26
0females 26 to 45
1female 45+
0free blacks
3slaves
1loom
250measures of cloth
125gallons distilled spirits (?)
Censusenumeration for Peyton Morton (Caswell County, NC, page 489)
0males under 10
0males 10 to 16
1male 16 to 26
0males 26 to 45
1male 45+
1female under 10
1female 10 to 16
1female 16 to 26
0females 26 to 45
1female 45+
0free blacks
0slaves
0looms
0measures of cloth
0gallons distilled spirits (?)
Censusenumeration for Mary Morton (Caswell County, NC, page 489)
0 males under 10
0males 10 to 16
2males 16 to 26
0males 26 to 45
0males 45+
0females under 10
1female 10 to 16
1female 16 to 26
1female 45+ [presumably Mary Morton?]
0free blacks
0slaves
1loom
100measures of cloth
40gallons distilled spirits (?)
Censusenumeration for Mishack Morton (Caswell County, NC, page 489)[this ispresumably the younger Meshack Morton?]
0males under 10
0males 10 to 16
1male 16 to 26
1male 26 to 45 [presumably Meshack Morton?]
0males 45+
0females under 10
0females 10 to 16
1female 16 to 26
0females 26 to 45
0females 45+
0free blacks
1slave
1loom
70measures of cloth
30gallons distilled spirits (?)
1812-------10January 1812[52]--MaryMorton sells 50 ½ acres on Rattlesnake Creek to Anderson Morton
(probably part of land conveyed to her by JesseCarter in 1799) [Caswell County, NC Deed Book Q, pages 401-02]
31 August 1812[53]--NoelBurton to Jesse Carter (prominent Caswell County, NC store owner), by virtue ofJosiah Morton deed of trust, 245 acres on Cabin branch and 82 ½ acres onCountry Line Creek [Caswell County, NC Deed Book R, page 8]
1816---Peyton mentioned in will of JesseCarter (prominent Caswell County, NC store owner)
1817-------Estaterecords for Mary Morton (this may or may not be Meshack Morton’s widow)[CaswellCounty,
NC Will Book H, page 105]
Mary Morton estate [CaswellCounty, NC Will Book H, page 171]
Mary Morton Sale [CaswellCounty, NC Will Book H, page 203]
25 March 1817[54]--Leasburglots (#3 and #4) sold for judgment against Peyton Morton in favor of JohnGraves & Sons [Date of purchase of these lots is unknown? - were they giftor bequest or were they distributed via lottery?][Caswell County Deed Book R,page 436][Lots were immediately resold - Caswell County, NC Deed Book S, page49]
26 March 1817[55]--AlexanderMurphey sells to Gabriel Lea two town lots in Leasburg (#3 and #4) purchashedat sheriff sale against Payton Morton [Caswell County, NC Deed Book S, page 49]
1818-------21April 1818[56]--LukePrendergast sells land on Reedy Fork adjoining “Morton” (this description
relates to Meshack MortonLand Purchase C in 1784) (did Prendergast purchase or inherit this land, or wasit land inherited by his wife?) [Caswell County, NC Deed Book S, page 229]
5 May 1818--Possible death of Peyton Morton inVirginia? [No other information posted at LDS website, so this information ishighly suspect]
6 May 1818[57]--JosiahMorton is mentioned in connection with the settlement of Jesse Carter’s estate,and division of Carter’s real estate [Caswell County, NC Deed Book T, pages123-127]
1820------Census enumeration for Josiah Morton
1male 10-16
1male 16-26
1male 45+
1826-------9October 1816[58]--JosiahMorton land sold by Sheriff to James Chandler to satisfy debt to James Yanceybut
no deed every conveyed?[This fact mentioned in 1834 sale by Susan S. Carter Galloway]
1830-------Censusenumeration for Josiah Morton
1833-------JosiahMorton files Revolutionary War pension application in Caswell County, NC
1834-------7May 1834[59]-- Landpurchased from Josiah Morton by Jesse Carter is mentioned in sale by Susan S.
Carter Galloway (82 ½ acres,Wiley Tract)[Caswell County, NC Deed Book EE, pages 300-301][NO PREVIOUS DEEDFOR THIS LAND]
1838-------4December 1838[60]--Debt fromJosiah Morton is mentioned (deed from Luke Prendergast to Josiah
Morton)(55-60 acres on Country Line Creek) [CaswellCounty, NC Deed Book EE, pages 121-22] [check this reference carefully as itmay refer back to 1818 deed involving Luke Prendergast and likely nearbylandholdings]
1840-------Censusenumeration for Josiah Morton (living with son Azariah Graves Morton inRockingham
County, NC)
1844------- 23 August 1844--Josiah Morton dies,presumably in Rockingham County, NC [Final Pension
Payment papers]
MESHACKMORTON:
LandPurchase A (100 acres) 1778 SOLD 1778
LandPurchase B (100 acres) 1782
LandPurchase C (320 acres) 1784SOLD part 1792 SOLD 1792
LandPurchase D (448 acres) 1793
DowerSettlement (SOLD 1806 SOLD 1812 (50 ½ acres) to A. Morton
JOSIAHMORTON:
LandPurchase A 1797 (75 acres) SOLD1799
LandPurchase B 1798 (150 acres)
LandPurchase C 1799 (245 acres) SOLD1800 to Edmond REPURCHASED 1802 from Egmon SOLD 1809
to Burton SOLD 1812 by Burton to Carter
LandPurchase D 1801 (97 acres fromChilders) SOLD 1803 to Evans
LandPurchase E 1803 (146 acres fromPrendergast)
LandPurchase F (82 ½ acres) SOLD 1826
PEYTONMORTON:
LandPurchase A (97 acres) 1797 sold1799 to Childers
LandPurchase B (70 acres) 1797
LandPurchase C (145 acres) SOLD 1800 toElam
LeasburgLots #3 and #4 sold 1817
Again I thank Stephen Dennis for all thisInformation.
The next recorded deed of MeshackMorton in Caswell County is in 1793 when he purchased property from RobertKimbrough. This tract would later be sold to Thomas Wiley in 1797 by GabrielLea guardian for the orphans of Meshack. The following is a transcription of that deed.
RobertKimbrough Land Deed to Meshack Morton
November 20th, 1793 Deed Book H Page 268
CaswellCounty North Carolina
This Indenturemade this twentyeth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundredand ninety three Between Robert Kimbrough of the County of Caswell and theState of North Carolina of the one part and Meshack Morton of the Said Countyand State of the other part. Witnesseth that the Said Robert Kimbrough for andin consideration of sum of two hundred and twenty four pounds VC to him in handpaid and made sum the receipt whereof he doth confess and acknowledgehimself therewith to be to be fully satisfied and paid of every part and parcelthereof and doth the Said Meshack Morton his heirs & fully Exonerate Aquitand discharge hath bargained and sold and doth by these presents Bargain sellAlienate make over and confirm to the said Meshack Morton a certain tract orparcel of land whereon the Said Morton now lives Situate lying and being in theCounty of Caswell on the waters of the south fork of Country Line Creek.
Beginning atan Ironwood by a branch a fork of _______ Branch, thence then up said Branch asit meanders North Easterly 66 chains to a Birch in the old line, then East alongsaid line 41ch & 50 links to a Stake and pointers, then South 41ch & 50links to a Black Jack, then West with Said Line 22ch & 50 links to a PostOak, then South with Said line 30 chains to a Pine, then West with Said line60ch & 60 links to the head of a Branch, then down said Branch to the mouththereof, then down the south fork of ______ Branch to the mouth thereof and upthe North Fork to the first Station. Containing by Estimation Four Hundred andForty Eight Acres of Land.
To haveand to hold to the Said Meshack Morton his Heirs & ExecutorsAdministrators, Meshack Morton his Heirs Executors & Assigns foreverfree from the Claim Right Title or Interest of him the Said Robert KimbroughHis Heirs Executors Administrators to the only proper use and behoof of him thesaid Meshack Morton his Heirs Executors and Assigns forever together with alland singular the Appurtenances Privileges and Endowments there unto belongingor in anywise Appurtaining to the Said tract or parcel of land and the SaidRobert Kimbrough against himself his Heirs Executors Administrators, or anyother person or persons whatsoever claiming from by or under him, the right ofthe aforesaid lands and premises will warrant and forever defend to the SaidMeshack Morton his Heirs etc. In Witness whereof the Said Robert Kimbrough hathhereunto set his hand and affixed his Seal the day and year above written.
RobertKimbrough----*Seal*
Signed Sealed& Delivered
In thepresence of:
Robt. Mitchell
His
John x Kimbrough------Jurat
Mark
Caswell CountyJanuary Court 1794
The Executionof this deed was duly proved in Court by the Oath of John Kimbrough
one of thesubscribing witnesses & on Motion ordered to be registered.
Test----A.Murphey C.C.
TranscribedBy Latham Mark Phelps -- November 16, 2003
The next deed inthe property trail of Meshack Morton involves Meshack’s purchase of a tract ofland from Jonathan Law in 1794. The following is a transcription.
Jonathan Law Land Deed toMeshack Morton
July 1784Deed Book E Page 79
Caswell CountyNorth Carolina
This Indenture made this 2_ Day of July 1784between Jonathan Lawof the County of Caswell and State of North Carolina of the one part and MeshagMorton of the County and State afore said of the other part. Witnesseth thatthe said Jonathan Law for and in cosideration of the sum of Sixty one poundsCurrent money of Virginia to him in hand paid by the said Meshag Morton at orbefore the Delivery and Sealing of these presents Whereof the said Jonathan LawAcknowledged Granted Bargained and Sold Alinated _____ Release and Confirm andby these presents Doth from himself and his Heirs and assigns Grant bargain andSell Alianate ____ and Confirm Unto the said Meshag Morton his Heirs andAssigns forever a Certain Tract or Parcel of land Situate Lying and being inthe County of Caswell and State afore said and on the Waters of the Redy forkand bounded as follows.
Viz: Beginninga Red Oak Corner at William Richmond’s on Matthew Richmond’s Line and Runningthence with his line South thirty nine chains to a White Oak, then West twelvechains to a Stake, then South to a Stake, then West thirty eight chains to aPost Oak, then North sixteen Chains to a Pine, then West twenty six chains to aPine, then North twenty three chains to a Pine, then East with WilliamRichmond’s Line to the first Station, containing Three Hundred and Twenty Acresof Land which said tract of land unto the said Meshag Morton. The said JonathanLaw do warrant and forever defend against the Claim or Claims of Me, my Heirsor any other person pretending Right of Title thereunto. With the Reversion andReversions, Remainder and Remainders and also all Rights Title Claim Interestand Demand of Me the Said Jonathan Law of in and to the Said premises abovementioned with Appurtenances unto the Said Meshag Morton his Heirs and Assignsforever and the Said Jonathan Law for himself and his Heirs ExecutorsAdministrators and Assigns doth Covenant and Grant to the Said Meshag Mortonhis Heirs and Assigns forever by the presents that the Said Jonathan Lawand his Heirs all and every other person or persons Whatsoever. And his ortheir Heirs anything having or Claiming in the said premises above mentioned orany part thereof by from and unto. Shall Warrant and Defend the Said parcel andpremises above mentioned with the Appurtenances there unto the Said MeshagMorton his Heirs and Assigns forever by these presents in Witness Whereof theSaid Jonathan Jonathan Law has hereunto set his hand and Seal the day and year aboveWritten.
Jonathan Law *Seal
Signed Sealedand Delivered
in thepresence of :
Alex Wiley
Thomas Wiley---Jurat
TranscribedBy: Latham Mark Phelps – November 16, 2003
The foregoing deedhas some relevant facts revealed within. Thomas Wiley a witness to this deedwould later be sold the 448 acres of land from the Robert Kimbrough deed tobenefit the Orphans of Meshack. This is the first record of Meshack being aneighbor of the Richmond family of Caswell County. Even today the Morton andRichmond descendants live within a mile of one another. I have known theRichmond family since my childhood as they were friends and neighbors of mygrandparents William Perry Lunsford and Hattie Belle Morton. My grandfatherPerry Lunsford owned and ran a country store and gas station for many years inthe Leasburg, N.C. community. The store was called “Four Points”as it sat atthe crossroads of Hwy.119 and Hwy.158. After years of running the store “FourPoints” became my grandfather’s nickname. They lived in the back of the store until they moved across the road toa house for their growing family. This house and the store was on Mortonproperty passed down to my grandmother Hattie Belle Morton, from her father James Monroe Morton, his fatherVincent Lea Morton, his father Elijah Morton who was a son of Meshack.
The Richmond family of today namely thefamily of Spencer Tribue “Cack” Richmond lives just up the road from the Mortonproperty. My aunt Pat Lunsford Cobb and her husband C.D. Cobb own the formerMorton farm today. My other aunt Linda Lunsford Kirby and her husband JonahKirby live on a parcel of land, which was once part of the Morton lands verynear where the old Morton home place used to stand. My uncle Dennis MortonLunsford owns the last parcel of the Morton property. The Morton home place wasa large home with at least 14 rooms. Family history says that there is a slavecemetery between my aunt Linda’s house and where the Morton house stood. Thisis highly likely as both Vincent Lea Morton and more so his father ElijahMorton were documented slaveholders. Union United Methodist Church established1820 is located between the Morton and Richmond property and it is said thatthe first person buried in the church cemetery was a Morton slave.
My mother RebaJean Lunsford Phelps was buried in this very cemetery on January 16th,2005 beside her parents Perry and Hattie on one side and the beloved “ Cousin”Annie Trollinger on the other side. My aunt and uncle Linda & Jonah Kirbygave this plot to my mother as a gift years ago which made my mother very happyto know she would have her final rest at “Home”.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
MeshackMorton served or gave support in the American Revolution as he was compensatedon two occasions by the State of North Carolina. Either way he was a Patriot ofthe American Revolution; See North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Vol.1,Page 60, Folio 4.
Meshack Morton died in late 1795 or earlyin 1796 as there are records of his Estate beginning in February 1796. Thefollowing documents cover the Inventory, Sales and Accounting of his Estate asno Will was found in the records of Caswell County. Jessie Carter was evidentlyappointed as the Administrator of the Estate. In later documents Gabriel Lea(my 4th Gr-Grandfather as well) was appointed as Guardian to theOrphans of Meshack. The spelling in these documents is my best attempt tofaithfully transcribe these as they appear in the original documents, howeverthis is a difficult task as any serious genealogist can attest.
Caswell County Will Book C Page 167
A List of Sales of Meshack Morton Decd.
Property sold 19th February, 1796
Sold to Jessie Carter Sundries
To the amount of Lbs. 34- 0- 6
Robert Kimbrough 26-16-0
Thomas Graves 3- 9- 0
James Turner 2- 7- 5
John Graves Sr. 0- 5- 6
Mary Morton 15- 5-11
Thomas Yancey 1- 4- 0
Robert Bowman 1- 9- 0
William Lea 0- 3- 8
Samuel Bowman 2- 0- 0
John Hightower 0- 8- 6
William Sawyer 3- 6- 0
Thomas Wiley 0- 8- 6
Anderson Morton 0-13- 6
John Kimbrough 0-11- 6
EdwardKing 0- 9- 0
----------------------------------------------------------------
Lbs 92-18- 0
Sold on March 12th 1796
Sold Mary Morton Sundries
To the amount of Lbs. 1- 0- 0
Jessie Carter 32-14- 0
Josiah Morton 2-17- 6
Anderson Morton 0- 2- 0
James Kitchen 0- 1- 6
John Kimbrough 4- 3- 0
William Sawyer 0- 1- 0
Major Lea 0-18- 1
February 19th 1796
Sold Robert Kimbrough three Bulks
Tobacco for 40/5 P. Hundred not weighed 2014 Lbs. 42-16-1
Sold Jessie Carter one Bulk Tobacco
For 55/ P. Hundred not weighed 807 Lbs. 22- 3- 7
---------------------------
Amount Sales Lbs. 199-14- 9
Sold Jessie Carter 1 large plow Amt. 2- 0- 0
-----------------------------
Lbs 201-14- 9
J. Carter Admr.
Caswell County July Court 1796
This Acct. of Sale was duly returned by the Admin. and on MotionOrdered to be recorded.
Test: A.Murphey C.C.
______________________________________________________________________
Caswell County Will Book CPage 168
JulyCourt 1796
Inventory of the Estate of Meshack Morton, Deceased. Propertytaken 19th Feb. 1796
Corn and Fodder, Meat, three Head Horses, six Head Cattle,fourteen Head Hogs, three Head Sheep, eighteen Geese, three Feather Beds andFurniture, four Bedsteads, one Cotton Wheel, one Flax Wheel, three pair CottonCards, one pair Steelgards, one Trunk, one Case and seven Bottles, three WaterPails, one Wash Tub, one Wheel Rim, 3 Pots two pair Hooks, one Dutch Oven, oneFrying Pan, one Table three pewter Basons, one pewter Dish, four pewter Plates,Spoons, two Earthen Dishes, six Earthen Plates, five Tea Cup and Saucers, oneMilk Pot, five Teaspoons, three Knives and Forks, two Flat Irons, one LockChain, one Handsaw, three Augers, two Drawing Knives, one Chisel, one Footaddz, one Whipsaw, Two Sythes and Cradles, one Mattock, one Grubbing Hoe, fourAxes, one pair Iron Wedges, ten Hoirs, one Candlestick, one pair Snuffers, oneChest, four Barrels, one Handmill, Crop Cotton, Crop Flax, one Grindstone, CropTobacco, seven Chairs, one Churn, one large Plow, Cutter Plow, two Dutch Plows,one Frow, one Loom and Gear, one Flax Hackle, Parcel Book, one Tea Canister,one Candle Mould, one Pepper Box, one Bee Gum, three pair Knitting Pins, oneReap Hook, one Meal Sifter, one Man’s saddle, one Gun Barrel and lock, fourQuart Bottles, Parcel Oats and Straw, one Gin, three pounds Feathers, one poundSalt Petre, one Sett Spools, Table Cloth and Towel, one pair Shears, one pairIron Traces, one Watts Hymn Book, one Wire Sive, two Runtells, two Sack Bags,Parcel Flax Seed, one Pickler____
J. Carter Adm.
Caswell County July Court 1796
This Inventory was Returned to Court by the Adm. And on MotionOrdered to be Recorded.
Test. A. Murphey C.C.
_____________________________________________________________________
Caswell County Will Book CPage 214
JanuaryCourt 1797
January 1797 TheEstate of Meshack Morton Deceased
The Amt. Of Jesse Carteras of Amt. Rendered Lbs 394—14—5 ¾
To T_______ due as of No.2 1--- 3---9
To Adm. Fees of Inventory andAmt. Of sales 0---18---0
Of and receiving this Amt. Of
To Crying the Sale 0---10---0
To Crays Attending Sale andDelivering Property 1—16---0
Subtotal Lbs 399--- 2---2 ¾
To Ballance due the Estate 23--- 4--11 ¼
Total Lbs422--- 7---2
Caswell County Will Book C Page215
JanuaryCourt 1797
In Acct. with J. Carter & Mary Morton Admrs. January Court 1797
By Sundry payments as____ in Acct. No. 1 Lbs 220—12---5
By Amount of Acct. of Sales of Estate 201---14---9
Total Lbs 422--- 7--- 2
Cr.Ball. LfContra Lbs 23---4---11 ¼
Onthe same page of the Caswell County Will Book referenced above, Page 215, theentry directly below just happens to be a Listing for the entire County ofCaswell as to the Taxable Property for the year 1796. I have included thisListing as it is valuable information for many researchers.
Taxable Property for the year 1796
District Names Acres White Black Value of the Season
of Land Polls Polls of StudHorses
Gloucester District-- 54, 952 188 177 Lbs 1—13--4
St. David’s District--55, 867 ½ 220 312 4— 8—4
Caswell District--- 44,873 174 173 1--- 9—4
Richmond District--73, 067 ¾ 239 380 … … …
Test.-- A.Murphy C.C.C.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Caswell County January Court 1797
Agreeable to the Order of ourOctober Court last that we have met and examined and settled the Accts. OfJessie Carter and Mary Morton Adm. & Admt. Of the estate of Meshack Morton,Deceased and find the Account as above stated that there is a ballance due the estate of Twenty three Pounds fourShillings and eleven Pence farthing.
Note William Rainey Appt.Commr. in room of James Williamson at January Court 1797-------
Alx. Murphey---Seal
Thos. Donoho----Seal
William Rainey---Seal
Caswell County
This Acct. was duly returned bythe Commr. Above mentioned & onMotion Ordered to be recorded.
Test--A. Murphy C.C.
The following Court Record was furnished to be by Cindy Morton who is also aMorton descendant. This provides the only mention of Elijah Morton connectedwith Meshack Morton’s estate. It is documented fact that Jesse Carter was theAdministrator of Meshack Morton’s estate and Gabriel Lea was Guardian to Mortonchildren in other Caswell County Court documents. Some records are no longeravailable in the present day Caswell County, much to the dismay of manyresearchers. Elijah Morton also married a daughter of Gabriel Lea, Mary (Polly)Lea, which seems likely as they probably had a close relationship as youths,with her father being the Guardian of her future husband.
Hello Mark,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you regarding where I found thereference of Elijah being the son of Meshack. I'm not sure if I mentioned toyou that I have copies of ~200 pages of hand written notes from Edythe RuckerWhitley, a genealogist who wrote many books. Her estate left ALL of hernotes to the Williamson County, Tennessee Genealogical Society. There are notes on 100's of families, and the whole lot takes up about 4 20'shelves, 3-4 shelves high. Since my line of MORTONs ended up inWilliamson/Davidson County, TN, I've done a lot of my research there. What you can find is folders with loose notes on family names. I was veryexcited to find her notes on the MORTON line, so I had my husband (wonderfulman), copy the entire file.
In it, I found her notes from the original estate papers CR 20.504.1 Box M,"Meshack Morton Estate Papers". Meshack Morton Estate Papers -CR 20.504.1 Box M (Original Papers): This is the only connection that shehas in her notes of Elijah, but I'm taking it as legit. She also listedout the children as:Anderson, Peyton, William, Asa, Jacob, (married AnnieFisher)Polly, Elijah m. Polley Lea, Martin m. Mary Fuller, Hezekiah, and Nancy.She also has a Meshack MORTON who marries Patsy Boulton (Boulden) on 1/4/1808in Charlotte County, VA., but no further info is provided.
Hope this helps.
Cindy
Know all men by these presents that we Gabriel Leaand Jesse Carter, all of the County of Caswell and State of North Carolina areheld and firmly bound unto William Rainey, Archibald Samuel and Adam Saunders,Esquires and their fellow Justices of the County Court of Caswell in the sum of500 pounds to be paid to the said Justices and their successors in office andassigns in trust for the benefit of the child hereafter named, committed to thetuition of said Gabriel Lea.... To which the payment is well and truly to bemade. We find ourselves, our Heirs ... and Admininstrators jointlyand Serverally and firmly by these present sealed with our seals and dated this2nd day of January A.Dom. 1797.
The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the above boundedGabriel Lea ... is constituted and appointed Guardian for Polley Morton, ElijahMorton, Martin Morton, Hezekiah Morton and Nancy Morton, minor orphans. If therefore, the said Gabriel Lea and Jesse Carter shall faithfully executehis said Guardianship by securing and improving the estate of the said Orphans,... that shall come into his hands or possessions for the benefit of the saidorphans until they shall attain the full age or be sooner thereto required andrender up a plain and true account of his said guardianship on oath before theJustices of our said Court and deliver up pay unto or possess the said orphanswith all such estate or estates as they ought to be possessed o for such otherpersons or persons as shall be lawfully authorized to receive the same and theprofits arising there from then the above obligation shall be void otherwise toremain in full force and effect.
Gabriel Lea (seal)
J. Carter (seal)
signed sealed & Delivered
in presence of
A.E. Murphy Clerk
================================
On Sept 10th 1797 Gabriel Lea is listed asGuardian to orphans of Meshack Morton to wit: Lewis, William, Meshack, Paton,Any, Jacob, Martin, Ezekiel----to Thomas Wiley for 232lbs 448 acres South ForkCountry Line Creek Adj; Mitchell’s Branch---Deed also signed by Anderson Morton- Caswell County Deed Book K Page 112-3. The Gabriel Lea that was appointed asGuardian to the orphans of Meshack, was my 4th Great-Grandfather, with Meshackbeing my 4th Great-Grandfather as well. Gabriel Lea married Elizabeth Ashburn,who was very probably a sister of Meshack's wife Nancy (Mary), and wereprobably both daughters of John Ashburn. Reference a Deed Oct.23, 1810-CaswellCo Page 167-8: Gabriel Lea to Drury Burton For 200.00 45 acres on N. Hico beingpart of tract granted by state to John Ashburn.-Meshack's Son Elijah Mortonmarried Gabriel Lea's daughter Mary as well. On May 25th 1830 Gabriel Leadeeded 150 acres to Elijah Morton for the sum of 500.00. This transaction isalso mentioned in Gabriel Lea's Will of 1834.
Gabriel Lea (Guardian for Orphans of Meshack Morton) To Thomas Wiley
September 10th, 1797 Deed Book K Page 112
Caswell County, North Carolina
This Indenture made this tenth day of September in the year ofour Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Seven. Between Gabriel Lea asGuardian for the orphans of Meshack Morton-Dec’d. {To Wit} William, Meshack, Paton, Acey, Jacob, Martin, Ezeriah-Mortons the said Lea being appointed by the County of Caswell January Term1797, to sell a Certain Tract of Land Belonging to the orphans above mentionedan here under described with a reserve of the Widow’s Dowery during her naturallife the Said Lea in behalf of the orphans as above of the County of Caswelland State of North Carolina of the one part and Thomas Wiley of the Said Countyand State of the other part. Witnesseth that the Said Gabriel Lea as above forand in consideration of the sum of two hundred and thirty two pounds fiveschillings & six pence in hand paid and made sure the receipt whereof doth confess and acknowledge himselftherewith to be fully satisfied and hath Bargained Sold and doth by thesepresents bargain Sell alienate make over & confirm to the said Wiley aCertain tract or parcel of Land.Situate lying and being in the said County ofCaswell and on the waters of the South Fork of Country Line Creek.
Beginning at an Ironwood by a branch a fork of Mitchels Branch,thence up Said Branch as it meanders North easterly to a Birch in the old line,then East along Said line 41ch & 50 links to a Stake and pointers, thenSouth 41ch & 50 links to a Black Jack, then West with Said Line 22ch &50 links to a Post Oak, then South with Said line 30ch to a Pine, then Westwith Said line 60ch & 60 links to the head of Branch, then down Said Branchto the mouth thereof, thence down the South Fork of Mitchel’s Branch to themouth thereof and up North Fork to the first Station containing by EstimationFour Hundred and Forty Eight Acres of Land.
To have and to hold to the Said Thomas Wiley his Heirs Executors& or Administrators or Assigns forever free from the Claim Right Title orinterest of them the Said Orphans their Heirs Executors or Administrators tothe only the only proper use and behoof of him the Said Thomas Wiley his HeirsExecutors Administrators & Assigns forever together with all and singularthe appurtenances priviledges________ thereunto belonging or in anywise Appertainingto the Said Tract or Parcel of Land and the Said Gabriel Lea in behalf of theorphans as above his Heirs Executors & Administrators or any other personor persons whatever claiming from by or under him the right of the aforesaidLands and premises will warrant and forever defend to the Said Thomas Wileyetc. In Witness whereof the Said Gabriel Lea hath hereunto set his hand andaffixed his seal the day and year above written.
Gabriel Lea *Seal*
Guardian
his
Anderson x Morton
mark
Signed Sealed & Delivered:
William Richmond
John Langley
Caswell County October Court 1797
The Execution of this deed was duly acknowledged in open Court
By Gabriel Lea the Guardian and Anderson Morton for him self&
on motion ordered to be registered.
Test: A. Murphey C.C.
MeshackMorton left a Widow named Mary and the following children: Elizabeth, Anderson,John, William, Paton, Misheck, Asa, Mary(Polly), Jacob, Elijah, Martin,Hezekiah, and Nancy.
Thechildren listed above are accounted for in a document furnished to me by GlendaDyer and Nancy Travis, two descendants of Jacob Morton (Son of Meshack). Thefollowing is an excerpt from that document.
Mrs. Mary Morton Hester, Roxboro, Person County, North Carolina,has an old Bible in which are given the names and dates of birth of thechildren of Mesheck Morton and Mary Morton, such children being 13 in number,Their names being as follows:
Elizabeth
Anderson
John
William
Paton
Misheck
Asa
Mary
Jacob
Elijah
Martin
Hezkiah
Nancy
The date of Jacob Morton’s birth is given as 11thFebruary 1787
This old Bible together with these and other records, came downthrough the different generations fro William Morton, The son of Mesheck andMary Morton.
Regrettably no birth dates are listed inthe document except the reference to Jacob’s birth. I have not seen this Bibleyet but am on a quest to find it. I have a strong conviction that the Bibledoes exist as I have heard my mother and aunts talk of going with their mother tovisit a cousin with the last name of Hester during their childhood. The ownerof the bible being Mary Morton Hester makes this all the more credible. The document I refer to above has no dateslisted as to when it was compiled but it is definitely pre-computer age. Thisdocument was obtained by Glenda Dyer(descendant of Jacob Morton) on July 23,2002 from The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The title of the file asstated on the Photocopy Request Form is “Morton, Tn” and the entire folder wascopied consisting of 6 pages. Two of the six pages however are copies of aletter received from the Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, Ewin L.Davis on April 11th, 1941.
FEDERALTRADE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
EwinL. Davis
Commisioner April 11, 1941.
Mrs. ClarenceFoster Hand,
345 Aubrey Road,
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Dear Mrs.Hand:
I dulyreceived yours Of February 17th advising that you had received a letter fromMrs. William P. Cooper asking you to write to me for information about herMorton ancestry for verification of the tradition that she was descended fromJohn Morton, the Signer.
I beg yourpardon for the delay in answering‑your letter, which has been due to thepressure of official business, together with the fact that I was confined witha rather obstinate case of influenza.
Mrs. Cooperand I are first cousins, one of our grand mothers having been a Morton.
While there isand has been for a long time a well established tradition in the family thatour line of Morton’s is descended from John Morton, the Signer, and it is alsotrue that some of the members of the family have joined the D.A.R. and theS.A.R. in part on that line, yet I am not in possession of any official recordsdefinitely establishing the fact that John Morton, the Signer, was ourancestor.
I presume thatMrs. Cooper has explained to you her Morton line insofar as established andthereafter by tradition. However, for fear that she has not done so, I willexplain that it is well established by various records, citations to which canbe furnished if necessary, that Mrs. Cooper's father was Jacob Morton Shofner,that his mother was Sophronia Eglantine Morton, who married Michael Shoffner,and that she was a daughter of Jacob Morton, who was born February 17, 1787, inCaswell County, North Carolina, and moved to Bedford County, Tennessee, in1808. The said Jacob Morton was a son‑of Mesheck Morton born in Virginiaand who moved to Caswell County, North Carolina, when a young man, where hemarried, reared a family and died. All of these facts are established byrecords.
It is familytradition that the said Mesheck Morton was a son of George Morton, eldest sonof John Morton, the Signer; that the said George Morton was born inPennsylvania in 1745, and married, in 1765, his cousin, Sarah Morton, and thatsoon thereafter they moved to Virginia. As explained, I have no record
Page 2-- Mrs.Clarence Foster Hand.
evidenceestablishing the fact that Mesheck Morton was a son of‑George Morton orthat George Morton was a son of John Morton, the Signer. I have always thoughtthat those facts might be established by searching the old church and courthouse records in the Counties where John Morton resided during the time when hewas rearing his family and they were marrying‑off. However, I have had notime or opportunity for making such searches. So far as the children of JohnMorton are concerned, I have made no investigation beyond examining some of thepublications in the Congressional Library. There seems to be more or lessconflict in publications‑with respect to the family of John Morton, theSigner. Some commentators state that h had twelve children, of which eightsurvived him; some state that he had eight children, naming the eight' which hementioned in his will, to‑wit, ‑John, Sarah, Lydia, Elizabeth,Mary, and Ann. Aaron, Sketchley, In fact, the recitations that he had eightchildren are evidently based upon the fact that those are the only ones namedin his will. However, I do not regard that as at all conclusive, as I know of manyinstances in which a testator does not mention all of his children, eitherbecause they were dead, because they had been previously provided for, becausethey had moved away and perhaps lost sight of. In the present instance, GeorgeMorton was the eldest son and soon after marriage moved to Virginia, presumablyabout 1766 ‑‑‑ this was some eight years before his fathermade his will.
There is arecord of the Revolutionary service of Mesheck Morton in the latter part of thewar; see North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts, Vol. 1. Page 60, Folio 4.
I am enclosinga memorandum, which may be of some assistance to you.
If you wantmore specific data with respect to the line since Mesheck Morton, includingdates, marriages, and citations, I shall be glad to furnish same.
Yourssincerely,
Ewin L.Davis
Elijah Morton---my 3rd Great-Grandfather
Elijah was born February 5th,1789 in Caswell County, North Carolina. He would been 7 years old at the timeof his father Meshack’s death in 1796. In January of 1797 Gabriel Lea andJessie Carter entered into a Bond established to create Guardianship for somechildren of Meshack, with Elijah being one of them. Gabriel Lea was designatedas the actual Guardian. Gabriel Lea acted on behalf of other children ofMeshack in September of 1797 when he sold property of Meshack’s to Thomas Wileyfor the benefit of the orphans. Gabriel Lea who was also my 4th Gr-Grandfather,was to become Elijah Morton’s future Father-in-Law.
Elijah Morton (son of Meshack) married Mary (Polly) Lea (daughterof Gabriel Lea) November 5th, 1811. Mary was born February 20th,1789. A handwritten note in the Journal of Wilhelmina Lea says:
No attempt has been made totrace the daughters (of Gabriel Lea) except in a few instances. The task would be too great.Gabriel Lea, son of the first James, had several daughters. One who marriedElijah Morton has numerous descendants about here, who are well to do and goodlivers. The present generation is receiving an education, which has been quitelimited in that line heretofore.
This was a runaway marriage and not agreeable to the Lea family.
Wilhelmina Lea
Leasburg, N.C. Oct. 22nd 1908
Wilhelmina Lea (1843-1936) was the daughter of Solomon Lea, a notededucator of the time and grandfather of William Lea, brother of Gabriel. Shecompiled the records of her uncle Rev. Lorenzo Lea who had written down the Leafamily history and added her own notes to the backs of many pages.
Itis possible that Elijah and Mary were 1st cousins if both of theirmothers were indeed Ashburn sisters. Even though 1st cousinsmarrying was almost commonplace in those days, many families of the bride andgroom looked upon it with disfavor. Gabriel Lea was one of the most prominentcitizens of Caswell County, at one time owning over 5000 acres of land. He hadserved as a Captain in the Revolutionary War and later as Sheriff andRepresentative to the North Carolina House of Commons 1793-94 from CaswellCounty. Perhaps he had planned for Mary to marry someone else, perhaps a son ofanother leading citizen in Caswell, to further his stature in the community. Inany event the marriage took place and Elijah and Mary had 5 children.
Phoebe L.—(September 2nd 1812---1896) married aStanfield
Barbara H.—(October 25th1821---July 31st 1896) married Archibald Baynes—February 22nd, 1840
Maranda R. —( --- )---married John C. Love---May 15th , 1839
Vincent Lea—(April 30th1823---August 26th 1902)---Married Isabella FrancesOliver---December 4th , 1848
JamesM.—(October 19th 1831---April 10th 1849)---Died at 18years old
Barbara H. Morton (daughter of Elijah)Married Archibald Baynes (son of Thornton Baynes). The following is an excerptfrom a book concerning Archibald Baynes and a Union army trial.
Civil War History, March, 2003 by Thomas P. Lowry
Line upon line; line upon line; Here a little, and therea little. ---Isaiah 28:13
For ten years Manuel had been aslave of Archibald Baynes, a planter of Caswell County, North Carolina. Withemancipation, Manuel became a contract laborer. After several months of work hewent to Baynes and asked for his wages, which were refused. After some wordsManuel walked away and his employer shot him in the back, killing him almostinstantly. Baynes was tried by a court of the occupying Union army andsentenced to hang. A large number of local politicians and neighbors petitionedPresident Andrew Johnson, describing Baynes as a pillar of community and citingthe state law whereby the "insolence by a colored person" should beregarded as a battery. The president referred the case to Judge AdvocateGeneral Joseph Holt, whose blistering opinion branded the crime as cold-bloodedmurder, the defense testimony as perjured nonsense, and the state law on"insolence" as not only wrong but also unsupported by testimony. Thedeath sentence was approved. This case provides only one example of the richdetails contained within one of the most underused resources for Civil Warscholarship, the records of courts-martial for the Union and Confederate armiesand the Union navy.
In 1830 nineteen years after Elijah andMary’s wedding, Gabriel Lea deeded a tract of land to Elijah for the sum of$500.00 for 150 Acres. Notice that in the deed a point of reference is made bythe surveyor “to a Pine near a mud hole”. Lord help the poor property owner ifthe “mud hole” dried up and he couldn’t prove his boundary line.
Gabriel Lea to Elijah Morton Land Deed
Caswell County, N.C. May 25th 1830
This Indenturemade this twenty fifth day of May in the year of our Lord One thousand eighthundred and thirty, between Gabriel Lea of the County of Caswell and State ofNorth Carolina of the one part; and Elijah Morton of the County and Stateaforesaid of the other part, Witnesseth that the said Gabriel Lea for and inconsideration of the sum of Five hundred Dollars to him in hand paid by thesaid Elijah Morton, the Receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, hath given,granted, bargained and sold, and doth by these presents give grant, bargain andsell---- --------release and confirm unto the said Elijah Morton his heirs andassigns forever, a certain tract or parcel of Land situate, Lying and being inthe said County of Caswell on a prong of Killgore’s branch of North Hyco:Beginning at a white oak at said branch an running thence north forty fivedegrees East nine chains to a Red Oak. Thence South eighty three degrees Eastseven chains and fifty links to Pointers, Thence North sixty seven degrees eastfive chains to a Red Oak, Thence North forty five degrees East seven chains andfifty links to White Oak by a drain, Thence North seventy six degrees East fivechains to a small White Oak and pointers. Thence North fifty four degrees Eastthirteen chains and forty links to a Pine near a mud hole, Thence East fivechains and ten links to Hickory on William Lea’s line, Thence South with hisline twenty nine chains and eighty links to a Pine, Thence West four chains andtwenty links to pointers, Thence South five degrees east twenty one chains andfifty links to a stake in the road, Thence South eighty two degrees West twentysix chains to a Spanish Oak, on the said branch, Thence down the branch as itmeanders fifty chains and fifty links to the Beginning, Containing One hundredand fifty Acres, be the same more or less, and said Gabriel Lea doth hereby forhimself, his heirs executors etc. covenant with the said Elijah Morton that hewill warrant and forever defend the above bargained land and premises from theclaim of all other persons whomsoever to the only proper use and behalf of himthe said Elijah Morton his heirs and assigns forever. In witness whereof thesaid Gabriel Lea, hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day and year abovewritten.
Sealed anddelivered in the presence of: GabrielLea { Seal }
Solomon Lea
William LeaJr.
James Lea
Transcribedby: Latham Mark Phelps 2003
In Gabriel Lea’s Will in 1834 he chargedhis daughter $500.00 as part of his Estate stating it was the value of the landthat Mary now lived on and had never received any equivalent value for from herhusband Elijah Morton.
Gabriel Lea's Will
Caswell County Court - October Term 1834 - Book M Page 433
In the name of God, Amen. I Gabriel Lea of Caswell County and State ofNorth Carolina being of sound in perfect mind and memory blessed be God, dothis 17thday November in the year of our Lord, Eighteen hundred and twenty-six,do make and publish this my last Will and Testament in the manner following:
That is to sayI first will and bequeath to my beloved wife Elizabeth during her lifetime suchproperty as she and mine son's William and James may think proper toappropriate to her for her maintenance and support.
2nd after the first appropriation is made aspointed out in the 1st clause. It is further my Will and desire that thewhole of property and estate of every description whatsoever be divided andappropriated in the manner herein, after pointed out, To Wit:
I first will and bequeath to my son Jamesthat partial or part of my land of which he has made his improvements on somuch there of as in here in specified here in to say, beginning at the corner neara large white oak at the east in of my peach orchard and running from there duenorth until it intersects William A. Lea's land. All my land east of saidline be it more or less I will give and bequeath to him as in the articleherein specified.
It is furthermore my Will and desire in thesettlement of my estate that my daughter Mary Morton shall be charged with fivehundred dollars as a part of my estate which she has already received thatbeing the estimated value of the tract of land on which she now lives and forwhich I have made her husband Elijah Morton a deed to the same without havingreceived any equivalent value for the same.
It is furthermore my Will and desire that theremainder of my estate of every description whatsoever be divided in thefollowing manner To Wit:
I will and bequeath to my beloved children asfollows:
To my sonWilliam two equal shares of my estate
To my sonVincent nothing saving my love and affection
To my sonGabriel B. one equal part
To my daughterElizabeth one equal part
To my daughterMary one equal part
To my sonJames one equal part
To my daughterPhoebe one equal part
To my daughterBarbara one equal part
Making in thewhole eight parts, and I hereby make and ordain my son's William and James myexecutors this my last Will and Testament in witness where of I the saidGabriel Lea have to this my last Will and Testament have set my hand and sealthis day and year above written.
In thepresence of: Gabriel Lea (Signed)
James Darby
James M. Lea
Willis M.Lea
Transcribed byLatham Mark Phelps
In1825 when the Racetrack opened north of Leasburg, Elijah Morton enjoyedregional fame for his five Arabian stallions known as “Morton's Bays.”Accordingto Wiiliam S. Powell, who wrote a book on the history of Caswell County ElijahMorton also owned this Racetrack. He was also a Caswell District Patroler,meaning he chased down runaway slaves. In a December 1856 Court record he paidthe Clerk 15.00 for old timbers from Love's Ford on Hyco. In October 1857Elijah was a bondsman (witness) for William Lea as administrator for the estateof William Lea Jr. Along With Elijah was Solomon Lea also as bondsman. InOctober Court 1825 he was Administrator in account current with the estate of MartinMorton, deceased. (his brother) Caswell Co. Wills Book K Page 289.
Below is the Census listing for thehousehold of Elijah Morton and Vincent Lea Morton in the year 1850
CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE or TERRITORY: NC COUNTY: Caswell DIVISION:
* REEL NO: M432-623 PAGE NO: 232b
REFERENCE: Enumerated onthe 14th day of Nov. 1850 by Wm. P. Graves
============================================================
LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BORN IN
_________________________________________________________________________________
13 881 884 Morton Elijah 62 M W Farmer 3,415 Caswell
14 881 884 Morton Mary 62 F W Caswell
15 881 884 Morton Phoeby 38 F W Caswell
16 882 885 Morton Vincent 26 M W Farmer 260 Caswell
17 882 885 Morton Isabella 16 F W Caswell
There is reference made to Elijah Morton in the List of Taxables in theRichmond District of Caswell County of 1838,the listing reads as follows:Elijah Morton 723 acres valued $2.75 per acre, total landvalue $1988.00. He also had 5 slaves and his tax that year was $5.49.
Inthe List of Taxables for the year 1863, his property was less in acreage, butsubstantially more valuable. However this being 25 years later and in the midstof the Civil War we see this listing:
Elijah Morton
530 [email protected] per acre--$4770.00
63 [email protected] per acre--$945.00
104 [email protected] per acre---$624.00
25 Slaves valued at ----$15,702.00
His tax that year of 1863 was: $88.26 State Tax
$66.20County Tax
$154.46Total
As a point of historical reference, TheBattle of Gettysburg took place in July 1863, the year of this Tax Listing. Inthe Census of 1860 of Caswell County, one year prior to the start of the CivilWar, Elijah Morton is listed in the District of Milton. His wife Mary died thefollowing year, three months after the beginning of the War Between the States.The household is listed as:
ElijahMorton---71-Male-Farmer
Mary Morton-----71-Female
V. Lea----------82-Male-Farmer
E.Love---------16-Female
A. Love---------11 or 14-Male
Value of Real Estate--------$10,100
Value of Personal Estate--$27,400.00
The V. Lea shown in the Census above was most probably Vincent Lea, Mary’solder brother and the Love children were grandchildren of Elijah and Mary,children of Maranda Morton who married John C. Love. Why they were living withElijah and Mary is unknown at this time. Vincent Lea was elderly and probablyalone as his wife had probably died and they had no children during theirmarriage and came to live with his sister.
Last Will ofElijah Morton
Caswell CountyCourt 1875
I, ElijahMorton, being of sound mind and memory and calling to mind the uncertaintyof Life do make publish and declare my last Will and Testament as follows:
My desire isthat all just debts and funeral expenses be paid and all my other property,Money and estate be divided between my four children, Vincent L. Morton, PhoebeL. Stanfield, Maranda R. Love and Barbara Baynes I hereby appoint my sonVincent L. Morton my executor to this my Last Will and Testament.
Signed andacknowledged in the presence of this 21st day of January 1869.
William PaylorJr. Elijah Morton (Signed)
A. W. Graves
Record ofWills Caswell County Page 173
Vincent L.Morton being sworn, doth say that Elijah Morton late of said county, is dead,Having first made and published his last Will and Testament and Vincent L.Morton is The executor named therein. Further that the property of thesaid Elijah Morton Consisting of Lands, Goods, Chattels, Bonds, andMonies, is worth $4000.00 so far As can be ascertained at the date of thisapplication and this V. L. Morton, Phoebe L.Stanfield, Maranda R. Love andBarbara H. Baynes are the parties entitled under said Will to the saidproperty.
V. L. Morton (Signed)
May 1875
G. H. Kerr
Probate Judge
Transcribed By: Latham Mark Phelps
Vincent Lea Morton--My 3rd Great-Grandfather
Vincent Lea Morton (son of Elijah) was born April 30th, 1823 inCaswell County, N.C. He married Isabella Frances Oliver (daughter of RuebenOliver and Nancy Lea) December 4th , 1848 when Isabella was only 14years old and remarkably would not only become a child bride of 14 but would goon to have 14 children as well.
Isabella’s father Rueben Oliver (son of Stephen Oliver) was killed bylightning while fishing on the banks of Country Line Creek in Caswell County inthe summer of 1837. Rueben’s wife Nancy Lea Oliver after the estate was settledand her children provided for, re-married James Eli Murray of the CrossroadsChurch community in neighboring Orange County, present day Alamance County. TheOliver’s had come to Caswell County from Caroline County, Va. in the late1700’s.
Isabella’s mother Nancy Lea was adaughter of James “ Jimmy Shoo-Boot” Lea and Frances “Frankey” Rucker. James“Shoo-Boot” Lea was a grandson of James “Country Line Lea” a pioneer settler inCaswell County as was James “Kilgore’sBranch” Lea (father of Gabriel Lea). In those days there so many James, Williamand John Leas that they needed another distinction to be able to tell themapart, thus the use of “Shoo-Boot”, “Country Line”, “ Kilgore’s Branch” etc.One of the most trying tasks for researchers of the Lea family is sorting outwhich James Lea you are related to. Luckily in my case I am related to both“Country Line” and “Kilgore’s Branch” James Leas.
Isabella’s grandmother Frances “Frankey” Rucker was a daughter of AmbroseRucker and Mary Tinsley of Amherst County, Va. On their marriage bond James wascalled “James Lea, Batchelor of Caswell County” and Frances was called “FrancesRucker, Spinster of Amherst County.” The Rucker and Tinsley families were bothprominent families in Colonial Virginia. The following is some informationabout “Frankey” Rucker’s father Ambrose Rucker and his two brothers Anthony andBenjamin Rucker, who invented a new kind of river transportation that evencaught Thomas Jefferson’s attention.
Ambrose Rucker was born 13 April 1735in Orange Co, VA and died 14 December 1807 in Amherst Co, VA. He served asCaptain in the French and Indian War and the Revolution. He was a veryinfluential citizen of Amherst Co, and was said to be 6'6" tall andweighed 300 pounds.
His brothersAnthony and Benjamin Rucker were inventors of the James River batteau, whichsuperseded the double dugout canoe and rolling road for transporting tobaccohogsheads. Each hogshead weighed about two tons, and each bateau could haul anaverage of ten hogsheads. These long (about 50 or 60 feet), double-endedvessels dominated the commercial traffic on the James River and other Southernupland waterways between the 1770s and 1840s. A dispute arose in 1821 when the Ruckerbrothers' heirs sought to patent the design. A letter from Thomas Jeffersontestifying to his presence at the first batteau's launch resolved the matter inthe Rucker’s favor. There is now a batteau festival held each year on the JamesRiver to celebrate this invention.
Rucker'sChapel was one of the first Anglican (present-day Episcopal) churches inAmherst County. Also known as Harris Creek Church and later as St. Matthew's,the church was founded by Col. Ambrose Rucker before 1751. It stood on part ofa 5850-acre tract his father, John Rucker, patented in 1745. The church servedits congregation until 1817, when the members moved to Ascension Church, inAmherst. Logs from the chapel were later used to construct a corncrib at SweetBriar College, two miles north.
1778 –AmbroseRucker served as Sheriff of Amherst Co, VA
RUCKER'S "BATTOE"
A Study of the James River Batteau
By Thomas D. Mackie
Director, Amherst County Historical Museum
In the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, the inlandrivers of Virginia and surrounding states teemed with graceful river boatsknown as Batteaux. Flat-bottomed and pointed at each end, these craft were theinvention of two brothers from Amherst County, Virginia. Although nearlyforgotten for over a century, the Batteau has been the object of revivedinterest in the 1980's.
The two Amherst Brothers credited with inventing theBatteau, Anthony and Benjamin Rucker, were part of a large, influential familyin Amherst and Nelson Counties. Five Rucker brothers who settled in Amherst inthe mid-18th Century became very active in the public life of the community.Benjamin Rucker was a lawyer, justice of the peace, trustee of WarminsterAcademy, a member of the Amherst County Committee of Safety, and a captain inthe Revolutionary War. Anthony Rucker, the youngest brother, was also aRevolutionary War captain, as well as Amherst's Commissioner of Provision Lawin 1781 and Tobacco Inspector in 1792.
The first Batteau was launched in April 1775. The primarypurpose of this craft was to move tobacco, packed in hogsheads, down the JamesRiver and its tributaries to Richmond. The earliest known reference to theBatteau comes from Thomas Jefferson's account book, dated April 19, 1775.Jefferson had been at that first launching and forty-six years later was towitness the successful patenting of the Batteau by heirs of the Rucker’s.
The Lynchburg Virginian newspaper disputed the patent,issued on April 3, 1821. It was thought that the Batteau was too common a craftto have been developed from a single source. By August of that same year,however, the editors of the Virginian retracted their attacks and statedtheir belief in the Rucker’s' patent claim:
When we first heard that such a patent had been obtained,we were also inclined to the belief that it had been granted improvidentlyeither from inattention on the part of the keeper, or some defect in the lawson the subject of Patent rights Nevertheless, when we came to inquire moreparticularly into the circumstances under which the Messrs. Rucker’s, claim theprivilege of Patentees . . . (t)here can be no doubt, that Anthony Rucker theElder, was the original inventor and constructor of the James River Batteau,and that it was a species of boat essentially different from any before thattime used on the waters of America.
The article goes on to state that Thomas Jefferson, whohad been in attendance at the original launching, would be willing to testifyto the Rucker’s claims. Anthony Rucker is named and is given sole credit forthe Batteau, but in Deed Book "P" at the Amherst County Courthouse,dated November 23, 1821, is a document according equal credit to Benjamin andAnthony Rucker.
While the primary historical sources clearly reveal theidentity and importance of the inventors of the Bateau, only scant detail isgiven regarding the design of the craft. Thomas Jefferson made notes in hisaccount book describing this new river boat in 1775: "Rucker's battoe is50 f. long 4 f. wide in the bottom & 6 f. wide at the top. she carries ll.hhds.& draws 13 ½ water." Twenty years later, Isaac Wald described theseboats as "from forty-eight to fifty-four feet long, but very narrow inproportion to their length.
Another major source of contemporary references to theBateau is the Calendar of Virginia State Papers, a collection ofmilitary and civilian correspondence dating from the 17th to early 19thCenturies. Although there is no direct description of a Bateau in these papers,they do give a fairly clear picture of the boat's uses. One 1780 letterrecords, “ The commandant at Pittsburg has. informed me that there was about 50Light Batteaux at Fort Pitt, which might be had by an order from the War BoardI think it (Bateau) is much better calculated for these rivers than barges, asthey run over shoals where a keeled vessel must be carried.”
According to this letter, five years after the Rucker’s'launching, boats called Batteaux were used in numbers on shallow rivers in theNorth. They were not a keeled vessel but flat, to enable them to "run overshoals". Several references in the Calendar of VirginiaState Papers highlight the construction and use of Batteaux by theContinental Army. Batteaux were used to move troops, munitions and supplies onthe shallow inland rivers during the Revolutionary War. They were carefullybuilt craft as they were often mentioned as being built by a boat builder or"ship's carpenter." Thisevidence infers that the crafts known as "James River Batteaux" werestrong, shallow-drafted vessels. They were a valuable military asset and wereconsidered a major loss if captured by the enemy.
Another military communication mentions that two Batteauxleft Kaskaskia on November 15, 1779. They carried twelve men and "three orfour" families west toward the Ohio Falls. From this we observe that bothcargo and significant numbers of passengers were sometimes transported longdistances on the inland river system by means of Batteaux. Unfortunately forsettlers, the boats apparently appealed to Indians as well, for this particulargroup suffered an attack along their voyage. One of the Batteaux was seized andits crew killed. During more peaceful periods, the Batteau was described bytravelers and scholars along the James River. The earliest illustration of aboat believed to be a Bateau is in a book about the tobacco trade, written byWilliam Tathams in 1800. The boat is labeled with the vague term "uplandboat." Tathams states that "there are a number of boats (similar tothose upon the Grand Trunk Canal) which carry on this businessprofessionally."
A first-hand description of a Batteau and Batteau life,is given by Porte Crayon (David Strother) in Virginia Illustrated. Whilevisiting Lynchburg in the 1850's Crayon reminisced about his Batteau journeytwenty years earlier. During the narration of his adventures he described theBateau as gliding down the current controlled by three men who "poledtheir batteau through the shallows, or bent to the sweeps on the long stretchesof still water." (11) His sketches show the Batteaux with rounded bowscoming to a peak and tall arched awnings covering the center of the boats. Theoars in the sketch on page 231 indicate that the bateau was at times rowed.
Another noted traveler, Mrs. Ann Royal was impressed bythe freight boats (Batteaux) at Lynchburg and their ability to carry heavyhogsheads on shallow waters. After some questioning Mrs. Royal was told thateach hogshead weighed 1500 pounds and that a Bateau could transport 9000 poundsof cargo or more, depending on river conditions. (12) During this time(1820-1840), there were at least 500 Batteaux and more than 1500 Batteaumenoperating between Lynchburg and Richmond alone. (13)
The primary sources describing the Batteaux declinesharply after the 1840's, when the James & Kanawha River Canal reachedLynchburg. When David Strother was in Lynchburg in the 1850's he bemoaned theloss of the "picturesque". "There are no boats on the river now…This cursed canal has monopolized all that trade, I suppose." (14) Apparentlywith the coming of the packet boat and rail the Batteaux were relegated to thebackwaters and continued to fade from use. Eventually even the appearance ofthe Batteau, once commonplace, was forgotten.
The reproduction Batteaux of the 1980's have begun toillustrate one aspect of Virginia's heritage and to stimulate a popularinterest in its River culture. Though the era of the famed James River Bateauis past, it is once more being remembered and celebrated.
Isabella OliverMorton’s great-grandmother Mary Tinsley, came from another influential familyof Virginia. Mary Tinsley’s parents were Edward Tinsley and Margaret Taylor.The Taylor’s and their descendants were yet another prominent Virginia family.Margaret’s father Col. James Taylor II was great-grandfather to two Americanpresidents, James Madison and Zachary Taylor. Margaret’s sister Frances Taylormarried Ambrose Madison, grandfather of President James Madison. Margaret’sbrother Zachary Taylor, was grandfather to President Zachary Taylor. PresidentZachary Taylor’s daughter Sarah Knox Taylor was the first wife of JeffersonFinis Davis, President of the Confederate States of America.
Children of Vincent Lea Morton and Isabella Frances Oliver are:
1) James Monroe Morton, b. 02 Sep 1850, d. 19 Jul 1924 married. Cannie Elizabeth Blackwell b.
1888, Caswell County NC d.1909 Married 18 May 1905, Caswell County NC
James Monroe and Cannie were myGreat-Grandparents
2) Quinn Eli Morton, b. 16 Apr 1852, Caswell County NC; d. 27 Mar 1920
Quinn Eli Mortonwas a Commissioner of Person County, N.C.
3) Mary Ann "Nannie" Morton, b. 21 Feb 1854, Caswell County N.C. d. 28Oct 1938, Caswell County NC; m. Thomas Josiah Stephens, 19 Dec 1878, Caswellcounty NC; b. 22 Jun 1846; d. 07 Feb 1893.
Nannie Morton and Thomas Stephenshad a daughter named Annie who married George W. Trollinger. She was called bymy mother’s family “Cousin Annie Trollinger” and dearly beloved by the family.My mother and aunt have told me stories about how “Cousin Annie” used to takethem with her to the mountains of North Carolina to visit her daughter-in-lawwho had remarried a gentleman that owned some diamond mines and was apparentlywealthy. They would be furnished with a car and driver the whole time and hadsome wonderful adventures during their stays there. “Cousin Annie” was adamantthat the young girls were properly attired and on their best behavior wheneverthey traveled with her. I was told that if the proper shoes, dresses, hats,etc. were not available that she would provide them. Even when not travelingshe would admonish my grandmother if their dresses weren’t properly pressed ortheir hair not properly kempt. Fittingly my mother is buried between “CousinAnnie” and her parents Perry and Hattie Belle at Union United Methodist Churchin Leasburg, N.C.
4) Eugenia "Jenny" Demarius Morton, b. 28 Jul 1856, CaswellCounty NC; m. (1) David Wells; m. (2) -------- Smith.
5) David Lea "Cap" Morton, b. 27 Sep 1858, Caswell County NC; m. Ida Scott.
6) William Elijah "Uncle Will" Morton, b. 11 Oct 1860, CaswellCounty NC; d. 10 Aug 1912; m. FannieWagstaff.
William and Fannie had adaughter named Mae who married Thee Hester Sr. “Cousin” Mae had beautiful flowersand a large Japanese pool with large golden Japanese Carp fish. She also had ahouse out back where she raised Guinea Pigs. I don’t know why but I loved to goout there as a child and play with them. Margie Monk Thomas, a granddaughter ofGlendora Belle Morton, relayed this story to me. My mother and my aunts alsotold me of going with their mother Hattie Belle Morton Lunsford to visit theirHester cousins when they were children. There is a road in present day PersonCounty, NC just over the Caswell County line called “Thee Hester Road”
7) Lizzie Polly Morton, b. 03 Dec 1862, CaswellCounty NC; m. ------- Paylor.
8) Lula Phebe Morton, b. 01 Feb 1865, CaswellCounty NC; m. Oscar Vanhook
9) John Alvis Morton, b. 16 Apr 1867, Caswell County NC; d. 04 Sep 1932.
10) Emma Caroline "Kattie" Morton, b. 26 Jun 1869, CaswellCounty NC; m. John Murray.
11) Edward Vincent Morton, b. 06 Oct 1871, CaswellCounty NC; d. 28 Aug 1937; m. Sally Winstead.
12) Charles Wheeler Morton, b. 20 Oct 1873, Caswell CountyNC; d. 23 Dec 1912.
WheelerMorton died from a wound received while cutting mutton, he bled to death laterafter falling down some steps andre-opening the wound.
13) Glendora Belle "Glennie" Morton, b. 29 Mar 1878, CaswellCounty NC; d. 1943; m. Nathaniel Harris.
14) Rosa Matilda Morton, b. 30 Jun 1881, CaswellCounty NC; d. 06 Feb 1887.
Rosa on her first day atschool fell into a large open fireplace at the schoolhouse and burned to death.She was brought home wrapped in a sheet. This story was told to me by mygrandmother Hattie Belle Morton and confirmed by Margie Monk Thomas, agranddaughter of Glendora Belle Morton. This must have been a tragic occurrencefor the whole family to lose their baby daughter in such a way.
In 1869 Vincent was deeded by his father Elijah 500acres of land with the consideration to support and
MaintainElijah. As Vincent was the only living son this was a common practice to deedover the family lands
beforeone’s death and to be cared for by the family after that. At the time of thisdeed Vincent and Isabella were
expectingthe 10th of their 14 children
Elijah Morton to Vincent L. Morton
January 21st, 1869
Caswell County, North Carolina
State of North Carolina Caswell County
This Indenture made and_______this the 21st day of January 1869. Witnesseth that for and inconsideration the natural love and affection which Elijah Morton bears his SonVincent L. Morton and for and in consideration of a bond executed and deliveredby said Vincent L. Morton to support and maintain the said Elijah Morton andfor other good causes and considerations the said Elijah Morton hath givengranted bargained Sold & delivered to the said Vincent L. Morton his heirsand assigns the tract of land whereon he the said Elijah Morton now livescontaining five hundred 500 acres more or less adjoining the lands of John S.,Wm. Peterson, William______and others to have and to hold the Said tract ofland to the only proper use & behoof of the said Vincent L. Morton hisheirs and assigns forever.
Elijah Morton *Seal*
Witnesses
Wm. Paylor Jr.
A.W. Garner
Elijah’s wife Mary Lea Morton, had died in 1861 and the Civil War had takenit’s toll on Caswell County’s
Property owner’s and their families. Many sons, fathers, and brothersnever returned to the homes and fields of
Caswell, putting yet another hardship on the widows and families leftwithout the head of the family to provide
for their needs and help raise the children. By this time theScalawags and Carpetbaggers from the North were
firmly in control of local politics and were ready to reap the victor’sspoils wherever they could. The Confederate
soldiers who did manage to return home foundit hard to be under the heel of the Union Army and their
appointed officials, The Union League that were now controlling Caswell County.
Vincent’s wife Isabella Frances Oliver’s familywere heavily involved in the clandestine resistance to the Union
Army’sbeing there along with their northern sympathizers. Two of Isabella’s cousinsJohn G. Lea and James T.
(Tom)Oliver were intimately involved in the now infamous murder of Senator John“Chicken” Stephens in the
Caswell County Courthouse in 1870. John G. Lea andTom Oliver were both Confederate veterans and had no
love forthe Union. John G. Lea organized and became the head of the Ku Klux Klan inCaswell County and
Tom Oliveractually delivered the Killing blows to John “Chicken” Stephens. This was anunsolved murder for
65 years until the sealed confession as well asaccount of the murder, written by John G. Lea and opened after his
death when he was in his 90’s.
The Murder of“Chicken” Stephens and Confession of John G. Lea
The Confession of John G. Lea as to his involvement inthe murder of John “Chicken” Stephens at the Caswell Court House just after theCivil War. John G. Lea was the son of Thomas L. Lea(former Sheriff of CaswellCounty), the grandson of John “Canebrake” Lea, The great grandson of John“Country Line” Lea, the great-great grandson of James “Country Line” Lea, andmy 2nd Cousin 4 times removed. Alas, another 2nd cousinof mine was the one who actually delivered the killing blows—James Thomas Oliver,son of Lindsay Oliver, grandson of Durette Oliver (brother of Reuben Oliver-my3rd great-grandfather),with Durette and Rueben being great-grandsonsof Stephen Oliver. James Thomas Oliver and John G. Lea both served in the CivilWar from Caswell County. Tom Oliver was in the same unit, the 6thRegimentCompany H “The Caswell Boys” as was Payton L. Lunsford and Joseph R. Lunsfordmy 2nd great-grandfather and 2nd great grandunclerespectively
Latham Mark Phelps--2005
The North CarolinaHistorical Commission
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
RALEIGH
J. BRYAN GRIMES, RALEIGH J. BRYAN GRIMES, CHAIRMAN
T. M. PITTMAN, HENDERSON R. D. W. CONNOR, SECRETARY
W. J. PEELE, RALEIGH
M. C. S. NOBLE, CHAPEL HILL
D. H. HILL, RALEIGH
July 2, 1919.
At the requestof the North Carolina Historical Commission, I have written the true story ofthe events of the Reconstruction Period in this State, which centered mainly atYanceyville in Caswell County, where the killing of the notorious, John W.Stevens,* took place in the courthouse. I have given all the facts of which Ihave full knowledge as a participant in the stirring events of that time.
(Signed) John G. Lea
Witness to the reading of the storyand to this signature
(Signed) Fred. A. Olds
*(Note: Last name usually spelled S‑t‑e‑p‑h‑e‑n‑s.JDW)
JOHN G. LEA'SCONFESSION
To
THE KU KLUX KLANMURDER OF JOHN W. STEPHENS
Immediatelyafter the surrender of General Lee, in April, 1865, a bummer named Albion W.Tourgee, of New York, from Sherman's army came to Caswell County and organizeda Union League, and they were drilling every night and beating the drums, andhe made many speeches telling the negroes that he was sent by the governmentand that he would see that they got forty acres of land. He succeeded ingetting J. W. *Stevens and Jim Jones appointed justices of the peace of CaswellCounty and they annoyed the farmers very much by holding court every day,persuading the darkies to warrant the farmer, &c Stevens was run out ofRockingham County for stealing a chicken. *(Other records show his name,spelled Stephens. JDW)
The first trialthat Jim Jones had, a negro stole Captain Mitchell's hog. He was caughtcleaning the hog by Mitchell's son and by a darky whose name was Paul McGee. Hewas carried before Jones and Jones turned him loose and said he had beenappointed by Governor Holden to protect the negro and he intended to do it.Soon thereafter I formed the Ku Klux Klan and was elected county organizer. Iorganized a den in every township in the county and the Ku Klux whipped Jonesand drove him out of the county.
J. W. Stevensburned the hotel in Yanceyville and a row of brick stores. He also burned Gen.William Lee's entire crop of tobacco, and Mr. Sam Hinton's crop. Ed. Slade, adarky, told that he burned the barn of tobacco by an order of Stevens andanother darky told about his burning the hotel, also by an order. Stevens wastried by the Ku Klux Klan and sentenced to death. He had a fair trialbefore a jury of twelve men. At a democratic convention he approached ex‑sheriffWiley and tried to get him to run on the republican ticket for sheriff. Wileysaid he would let him know that day. He came to me and informed me of that factand suggested that he would fool him into that room in which he was killed Hedid so and ten or twelve men went into the room and he was found dead next morning
.
A democraticconvention was in session in the court room on the second floor of thecourthouse in Yanceyville, to nominate county officers and members of theLegislature. Mr. Wiley, who was in the convention, brought Stevens down to arear room on the ground floor, then used for the storage of wood for thecourthouse. I had ordered all the Ku Klux Klan in the county to meet atYanceyville that day, with their uniforms under their saddles, and they werepresent. Mr. Wiley came to me and suggested that it would be a better plan, asStevens had approached him to run on the republican ticket for sheriff and hehad told him that he would let him know that day, to fool him down stairs, andso just before the convention closed, Wiley beckoned to Stevens and carried himdown stairs, and Captain Mitchell, James Denny and Joe Fowler went into theroom and Wiley came out. Mitchell proceeded to disarm him (he had three pistolson his body). He soon came out and left Jim Denny with a pistol at his head andwent to Wiley and told him that he couldn't kill him himself. Wiley came to meand said, "You must do something; I am exposed unless you do."
Immediately Irushed into the room with eight or ten men, found him sitting flat on thefloor. He arose and approached me and we went and sat down where the wood hadbeen taken away, in an opening in the wood on the wood‑pile, and he askedme not to let them kill him. Captain Mitchell rushed at him with a rope, drewit around his neck, put his feet against his chest and by that time about ahalf dozen men rushed up: Tom Oliver, Pink Morgan, Dr. Richmond and Joe Fowler.Stevens was then stabbed in the breast and also in the neck by Tom Oliver, andthe knife was thrown at his feet and the rope left around his neck. We all cameout, closed the door and locked it on the outside and took the key and threw itinto County Line Creek.
I may add that it was currently believed thatStevens murdered his mother while living with him. Stevens kept his house,within sight of the courthouse and now standing, in a state of war all the timewith doors and windows barred with iron bars and a regular armory with a largesupply of ammunition.
Col. A. K.McClure of Philadelphia, Pa., came to Yanceyville. He was for Horace Greeleyagainst Grant. Wilson Cary, a colored man, better known as the "Archivesof Gravity," replied to Col. McClure and said that Senator Stevens, whohad been elected to the State Senate by the negroes, stole a chicken and wassent to the State Senate and if he would steal a gobbler he would be sent toCongress, and you could have heard the negroes yell for miles around and therewere at least 2000 negroes present.
The firststate election we had in North Carolina, when Gov. Holden was elected, we had a2800 negro majority. The Freedmen's Bureau Agent from Michigan, Captain Dawes,came down to take charge of the election. I carried him down home with me. Heand I fought each other in the Civil war. I carried him out fox hunting and hada beautiful chase, and on the day of the election he came to me and said thathe was sent to carry the election by the government and if it was found out onhim he would be courtmartialed and possibly shot. He told me where he put theballot box, so I worked on the ballot box until twelve o'clock at night andthen rode to Locust Hill, nine miles distant, and counted until day, and weelected a ticket by twenty‑seven votes. Caswell's bonds stood at par,while Person and Rockingham, adjoining counties, went down to five and sixdollars. They went Republican.
2
Toshow the feeling, I may say, at the first State election after the War, in1866, Tom Lea, colored, voted the democratic ticket. A great mob of negroesgathered in Yanceyville and we learned that they had seized him. There were hundredsin the mob, and when we came up we found that they had Tom on a rail and werecarrying him around, singing and shouting as they went. With me were SheriffGriffith, Thos. L. Lea and Weldon Price. We rushed upon the crowd and thesheriff struck several of the mob and knocked them down and we took Tom fromthem, unhurt.
GovernorHolden was born in Caswell County and knew the situation. That was why he wasso prejudiced against the county. He declared martial law and had everyprominent citizen arrested by a regiment of cutthroats, who could neither readnor write, from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, commanded by Col.Geor. W. Kirk. Col George Williamson got a writ of habeas corpus from JudgeMitchell of Salisbury but Col. Kirk and Governor Holden did not obey it. Hethen went to Chief Justice Pearson, with the same result. I then came toRaleigh with Col. Williamson and saw General Matt. W. Ransom and told him ofour troubles and he said that he would go that night to Elizabeth City and seeJudge Brooks, U.S. District Judge. He issued the writ, and we went back toDanville. Captain Graves and Col. Williamson served the writ. Lt. ColonelBurgin of Kirk's regiment told Col. Williamson that if he ever put his foot inYanceyville again he would shoot his head off.
Theyfailed to arrest me on the day of the general arrest, so I went home and thenext day they came and arrested me and brought me to Raleigh. Major Yates cameto my house with ten or twelve men and when he came to the house I was lyingdown, asleep. It was raining and my sisters came running into the house andtold me there was a crowd of Kirk's men out in the yard. I rushed to a drawerand got my pistols, but my sister grabbed me and told me not to go out in theyard, nor to try to use my pistols. The major came to the door and said:"I came to arrest you and take you to Raleigh as a witness." I said,"By what authority do you make this arrest?" and he said, "byauthority of the Governor of the State." I told him that I could not walkto Yanceyville, seven miles distant. He told me to have my horse sent up to thechurch that he had more prisoners up there. When I arrived at the church LilGraves, a colored man, said: "Mars' John, I didn't bring them. "Theymade me come. They have sent Mars' Nat on." They sent me with one man, ayouth of 24, with a rifle slung at his back, on an old horse twenty‑fouryears old belonging to Dr. Garner, while I was on my speedy fox hunting mare, Icould have made my escape easily but on account of my younger brother I thoughtit best for me to go.
WhenI got to Yanceyville, to my surprise I found my brother in great glee,laughing. I asked him what was the matter. He said that a threshing machine hadjust come into town and Kirk's men thought it was a cannon and they rushed intothe courthouse and grabbed their guns. The soldier that carried me begged meall the way to Yanceyville not to let anybody shoot him. He also asked me tolet him get behind me. He then unslung his gun and we went into the town. Thisguard begged me to let him come to my house and work for me, saying he did notexpect to find so many kind people and that he would be glad to live in theneighborhood; that he had been brought down from the mountains, not knowingwhere he was going nor what he was to do, or what sort of people he would beamong. When Kirk's men arrived in Yanceyville, Old Aunt Millie Lee was sellingice cream at the courthouse. It was the first they had ever seen and several ofthem said, "Ain't this the best frozen victuals you ever tasted?"
Aman by the name of John Spellman, editor of a Raleigh paper, went to GovernorHolden and had me released on my own recognizance. I then went over to thehotel at Raleigh and found Judge Kerr, Col. Williamson, Sam Hill and others.Judge Kerr advised me to take the first train out and go to Arkansas, saying ifI stayed here they would hang me. I told him that I had two uncles living nearLittle Rock, Ark., who came to my father's every summer and they looked so muchlike a corpse that I was like General Grant, "I believe I had rather behung here than die of slow fever in Arkansas." So the next day theyarrested Capt. Mitchell, Sheriff Wiley, Felix Roan and myself and tried usbefore the Supreme judges, Dick, Settle and Pearson. The trial lasted for aweek. Ex‑Governor Bragg and Judge Battle defended us. Bailey and Badgerprosecuted and they never did prove that there was a Ku Klux Klan in CaswellCounty.
Theday that Kirk arrived in Yanceyville I went to Judge Bowe and said to him thatthere were enough ex‑Confederate soldiers there to whip Kirk's regimentand Judge Bowe said that that would never do, that we had better go into thecourt room, where the candidates were speaking. We went and he took his seatinside the bar. I sat down behind him. Col Kirk marched his men, four abreast,up the steps. He walked in front of Bowe and asked if this was Bowe. Bowe toldhim it was. He said "I arrest you." Judge Bowe asked him by whatauthority. With an oath he shook his pistol at him and said, "Bythis," whereupon Judge Bowe shoved him back and told him that was noorder. I had a large hickory stick in my hand. I raised the stick to hit him,when Tobe Williamson caught it and kept me from striking him, and you hadbetter believe I was glad he did. I left Yanceyville that evening and went overto Danville and got the writ of habeas corpus as above stated.
Theday I was arrested I was carried to Yanceyville and all the prisoners had beensent over to Graham except a few from Alamance who had confessed being Ku Klux.I was carried over to Graham the next day and all the other Caswell boysstarted to Raleigh next morning. Late that afternoon Judge James Boyd, UnitedStates Judge, came and asked me how I would like to take a walk; that he hadpermission to take me out provided I would agree to come back. I agreed, so wewalked awhile, finally coming to his house. He asked me to have a seat on theporch. In a few minutes the bell rang for supper. I told him I had plenty toeat at the courthouse, that my friends had sent it to me, Mr. Banks Holt andothers, but he insisted on my taking a warm supper and as soon as we finishedeating he said to me,
"Lea, Iwas a Ku Klux. I have disgraced myself and my little wife." I asked himhow. "I turned State's evidence." Why did you do it? He replied"Moral cowardice. When Kirk's men hung Murray up by the neck and they lethim down he was apparently dead (he lived 20 year after this, but really diedfrom the effects of this injury), they then came to me and put the rope aroundmy neck and I wilted." He and his young wife both cried like a baby andBoyd said, "Lea, I will never expose you. I know you are the countycommander in Caswell." I said, "Oh no, there are a great many Leas inCaswell; I am not the one."
The day thearrest was made in Yanceyville, late that afternoon, Lt. Col. Burgin with eightmen went down after ex‑sheriff Wiley, nine miles from Yanceyville; wentin his tobacco field where he was standing and told him they had come to arresthim. He asked them by what authority. Burgin shook his pistol at him and said,with an oath, "This is my authority. His men rushed on Wiley, who knockeddown seven of the, but one slipped up behind him with a fence rail and knockedhim down; they then put Wiley on a horse, bare back, tied his feet to thehorse and whipped him nearly all the way to Yanceyville. The blood flowedfreely, he being in his shirt sleeves. Burgin told me that Wiley was thebravest man he ever saw. When they arrived in Yanceyville, that afternoon,Burgin took him into a room in the courthouse, ordered his men to draw theirguns on him, and told him that if he did not tell who killed Stevens they wouldkill him. With his head straight as could be, he opened his coat, slapped hischest and dared them to shoot.
The night Ireached Graham they put Sheriff Wiley and Josiah Turner in jail with a crazynegro who hollered all night long. They didn't sleep a wink. Next morning theywere taken out to go to Raleigh and Mr. Turner kept repeating that the powersof the judiciary were exhausted and Col. Kirk told him to shut his mouth. Hethen flapped his arms and crowed like a rooster and said, ""Well, Ireckon I can crow." Kirk then said, "Hush up that, fool" Themilitia detachment were terribly frightened, thinking that they would beattacked in Durham. They closed all the windows and barred all the doors.
The nightafter Jones was whipped the Ku Klux went up to see if he had moved, having beenordered to do so. There were three very worthy darkies living in theneighborhood, named Stephen Taylor, William Garland and Frank Chandler. Theywere carried up to the graveyard by the Ku Klux, where we had left our horses.I walked through the graveyard, placed my hands on Will's naked shoulder and itnearly scared him to death. He shook all over. The next day Will came by myhouse and Capt. Graves, my brother‑in‑law, asked him where he wasgoing. Will said, "Lordy, Mars' Billy, I'm going across the creek.""What's the matter, Billy?" asked Capt. Graves. "Dem things gotme last night. They were as tall as the eaves of this house. I knows they cameout of the graves, for I saw them with my own eyes and one came up and put hishand on my shoulder and his hands chilled me clean through. "
WhileI and the three others referred to were being tried before the Supreme Court,on the lower floor of the Capitol, on the bench warrant issued for us, thetrial of the prisoners from Caswell County taken by the writ of Judge Brooks,which was the third writ, was being held in the Senate Chamber, directly overus. Our case was dismissed and we left at once for home. They had a greatdemonstration in Raleigh. There was a street Parade, cannon were fired, tarbarrels burned and speeches by a great many prominent men were made. JudgeKerr's speech created great excitement and enthusiasm. Only Wiley and JosiahTurner went to jail. When I reached home, Sheriff Griffith, who had been aprisoner, came and summonsed me to go with him and we ordered the heads of theUnion League of America to leave the county within twenty‑four hours andthey did so without exception, going to Danville.
As one can see this gives a first hand account ofthe Reconstruction period in Caswell County and what many of it’s citizensfaced on a daily basis. Even though some could not consider the actions taken anoble act, the majority of the inhabitants of Caswell County probably felt itwas entirely justified at the time.
Nowthat you’ve read the true story from the lips of the person who knew the actualdetails of the murder, the following article from The Richmond Times-Dispatchin 1934, a year before John G. Lea died and the truth story revealed.
Richmond Times-Dispatch October 21st 1934
Who Were the Killers of John Stephens?
Danville Nonagenarian May Be Last Living Witness
Of Execution of Yanceyville's Public Enemy
No. 1 in Stirring Days of Reconstruction
By Gerard Tetley
A gentleman of the old Southern school who a few months agoentered his ninety-second birthday sat in a chair by his bedside in Danvillethe other day and slowly but deliberately combed his memory for vivid events inthe era of Reconstruction. It was a mental game of chess in which the agedConfederate veteran, now frail of limb but firm in purpose, resisted areportorial onslaught for hitherto unwritten facts, more especially the longprotected details concerning the assassination of John W. Stephens atYanceyville, N. C., which played an important part in the future of NorthCarolina and Virginia history and of which, there is good reason to believe thenow aged man is the last living witness.
The man was Captain John Lea who for 60 years has kept thepledge he made in youthful days when, as the accepted leader of the InvisibleEmpire of Caswell County, he risked his life with other bold spirits to combatNegro supremacy, and embarked on a course which brought the country into astate of insurrection and, finally, the impeachment of a governor who imposedhumiliation on a free people until they cowed him by the strength of theirdefiance.
It was a curious interview, with knowledge of the part of theyounger man that within the scope of the Confederate's telling repose the truefacts of an important chapter in Carolina history--so far told only with broadreliance on insinuation and a chapter so clothed with fallacious legend as toraise historic doubts concerning all but the main elements of an expedienthomicide.
Captain Lea was conscious of all this and , if frail of body andwith no illusions as to the security of life, an admirable mental poise broughtQueens and Pawns to check openings to the recess of his mind whence couldemanate the real truth of the Stephens episode. Here and there he shed a touchof color to illuminate the factual record of the putting to death of a mandeemed a public enemy in his day, and he would approach the very essence of thefateful hour in which history was written in blood, and then veer away from itwith all the wiles of a diplomat.
* * *
But, if unassailable in an interview, Captain Lea let it beknown that eventually the full story will be told, but not so long as anymember of the band which did away with John Stephens is living. He does notadmit that he was present, but there is abundant reason to believe that he was,since only 10 years ago he went to Raleigh and admits making a"deposition" to State authorities, carefully surrounded bysafeguards. This will tell the story of what actually happened, without admittingany names and preserving the bond of brotherhood on which rested the securityof the Ku Klux Klan during the days when it performed real and essentialservice to the Southland and when it was not blemished by the alleged inferiorideal of bigotry to which it descended in imitatory latter day phases. The factthat this deposition exists and is surrounded by pledges of security gives itunusual status in that it promises to fill out the present uncertain record ofthe times, will dissipate legend and constitute an important chronicle.
Nothing is known precisely about the circumstances surroundingthe death of Stephens. On only one point is there agreement, that seven men sawhim come to his end privately, expeditiously, within the walls of the temple ofjustice itself.
De Roulhac Hamilton, North Carolina's learned historianattributes it unquestionably to the Klan and the broad suspicion deepens withthe realization that Captain Lea, who knows more than he cares to tell, hasbeen historically recorded as the head of the Caswell Den, as it was called.Some, however, have contended that Masons did away with Stephens and othersthat a group of white men decided to rid the state of him in a politicalemergency, which afforded the opportunity and one taken only with courage.
* * *
Southern loyalty has never deprecated the acts of violence whichwere committed in the name of the people which, after losing the war at untoldcost of physical suffering and mental anguish was subjected to the tortures ofa Reconstruction by the agents of the Republican party who lacked understandingof southern ideals and who practiced a vicious punishment not only through thereviling but by robbing them of the security of the courts.
The picture in Caswell County during the spring of 1870 was darkand ominous. Governor W. W. Holden's administration was in full swing--a regimemarked chiefly by efforts to remove the last vestige of power from the whiteDemocrats. The elections were coming on and it was important that the liberatedNegro vote be effectively allied with that of the Republicans, in order thatthe position of that party could be entrenched throughout the State.
The situation was very much what "The Birth of theNation" and the works of Thomas Dixon have proclaimed it to be. The UnionLeague, which had been founded in 1860 was assuming more and more executivefunctions. Men of courage but of small scruple were chiefly in demand, tomingle with the Negroes, to animate them with political ambition and to whip theminto active participation as new American citizens.
Caswell had suffered from the activities of these men and chiefamong them was John W. Stephens, generally understood to be acting in detectivecapacity for Governor Holden in a county, which, like Alamance, was lessresponsive to Republican blandishments than had been hoped.
His background has never been adequately treated. Captain Learecalls that he was a native of Rockingham County, formerly a farmer, ofdoubtful political faith, and not above stealing chickens--witness the factthat he was known through the section as "Chicken" Stephens.
* * *
To Yanceyville came this man armed with an arrogance born of themandate he bore from the Governor of the State. He came preaching a policy ofviolence among the Negroes, instilling into the doctrine that they were equalto the white race and were accorded the same privileges. Once, he gave to eachof 20 Negroes a box of matches, a rarity in those days, and bade them go abroadfiring barns. Nine were burned that night--one instance in policy of attemptedwhite intimidation.
The Caswell Ku Klux came into being when Negro suffrage and itsultimate effect were seen to be inevitable, in 1866, and gained strides sorapidly that during most of the Holden regime it plagued him, finally causinghim to take the step to suppress it which led to his political downfall andimpeachment. When the activities of Stephens had reached their zenith and whenit was realized that this man was exerting a subversive influence on Negroeswho were being cajoled or threatened to perform the duties of citizenship whichfew of them wished to enjoy, he became the special subject of Klanconsideration.
Whether this is legend or truth cannot be said, but a cross wasburned one night in the Clan Convocation ground, a spot overlooking CountryLine Creek, not far from Yanceyville at which the solemn determination wasreached that Stephens, thrice warned to leave the county only to bring hotdiatribes from him, must be removed for the benefit of white women's virtuespecially, and the welfare of the county citizenship generally. His fate wassealed, so the story goes (Captain Lea does not vouchsafe endorsement butsmiles on hearing it), the fiery cross burned low and it was left to pickedleaders to determine the means of his end.
* * *
The crucial date was May 21, 1870, with the campaign for theAugust election already in full swing and with a steadily mounting tide ofvitriolic campaign oratory. Conservative Republican candidates were exhortingthe Negroes to stand by the party that had liberated them. Democrats acceptedthe challenge and called on the real bulwarks of the county constituency tomeet the race menace while some of them warned the colored people againstself-evident exploitation, urging them to stay with those who best understoodthem.
Yanceyville was little different in that day to what it istoday. The courthouse today is the same, a substantial stone two-storystructure faced by a large public quadrangle where, on that day, was gathered amultitude of people fully conscious of the dangerous currents of thoughtpropelling Democrats to a realization that only through desperate measurescould white supremacy be maintained. Negroes, under the extravagant promises ofthe white Northern carpetbaggers, or renegade Democrats, were being spurred tounaccustomed liberties designed to establish the feeling of citizenship. Theair was full of pending trouble that May day. Governor Holden was utteringsharp threats of punishment toward the Klan for numerous whippings. Only a fewweeks previously Caswell had been electrified by the action of Frank Wiley, aretired Democratic sheriff, who had called Stephens a "damned chickenthief" to his face, when the latter he charged had sought to seduce himfrom his political faith by offering him Republican support if he would run onthe Republican ticket.
Midday came. White men and Negroes mounted the curving staircaseto the high pitched courtroom with its fluted ceiling, its high judicialrostrum and the pewlike benches of the day. The spellbinders in their longcoats and wearing their thin black ties gathered with supporters on separatesides and exchanged thin smiles of forced cordiality.
Judge John Kerr was speaking as a preliminary and below himseated on the floor of the rostrum was Stephens, taking copious notes. He wasnot to speak but, was to prepare a special report of things said, to beforwarded to Governor Holden.
The name of the messenger who worked his way to the front of thecourtroom has escaped memory at this late day, but he whispered to Stephensthat Wiley wished to confer with him on an important matter downstairs.Stephens, sensing compromise and strategic advantage stuffed his papers intohis pockets and followed the messenger out of the courtroom and down the steps.The building was filled with Negroes. Some of them were boasting loudly oftheir new day while white Democrats in grim silence listed taxes for theprivilege of casting a vote they felt would be stolen from them.
* * *
There can be small doubt that the whole enterprise, even thoughswiftly determined upon, had been carefully rehearsed, for in the long corridorwere Klansmen who, on hearing the first outcry from Stephens, were suddenly tobecome embroiled among themselves. It was to be a noisy fight among goodDemocrats with heavy imprecations to drown the sound of the business on foot.
Stephens was never aware of the plot until he reached thechamber that was to be the scene of his execution. As the door opened, he wasconscious that he was surrounded by seven strange men who were crowding him andin the press he felt the significant thrust of blunt metal about his body, andhe was hustled into the room, to outsiders as though in the midst of a group ofurgent conferees. The room itself was not being used and in it was a quantityof lumber and other equipment in storage.
There are two versions of the killing, the accepted recordsholding that Stephens was at once told that he must die and that unless he heldhis peace it would be immediate. He was swiftly gagged and bound, his bodybeing rolled behind a pile of lumber so as to be beyond the range of vision ofa window, slightly above head level on the south side of the building. Threeseven-shooters were removed from convenient holsters underneath his coat andthus helpless he remained under the trained revolver of a guard who alsosecreted himself. The other six men left the room within a few moments.
To pursue this version further, one must believe that the plotfor Stephens' assassination provided for his hanging at midnight from a treelimb in the public square, his swinging form to be a silent gesture ofDemocratic contempt for his activities and defiance to the master he represented,but, the plan was changed for within a few minutes the same six men retracedtheir steps, re-entered the room and charged Stephens formally with the sinsattributed to him. He was garroted without delay by a rope, a sharp blade foundhis throat and another penetrated his heart. Who the executioner was for half acentury has been a speculative subject. The six who have died never revealedhim, nor has any confession been recorded.
* * *
The other story--and this comes from traditional testimony--isslightly different. Stephens, on being shown the open door, pulled back againsthis captors but a flying noose caught his neck in the doorway and before a crycould be uttered his body was hurled over the pile of lumber where his neck wasbroken, his throat being immediately cut.
Authors of the deed slipped out one by one and the door waslocked. Tradition has it that the key was taken to Country Line Creek anddropped in the stream.
Stephens was not missed for hours. Vigorous oratory swept thecrowd upstairs to foot stamping or derisive cries and Stephens' absence was notmaterial for he was mysterious in his goings and comings. But after the publicspeaking, certain Republican leaders had important business with the Governor'sfactotum and he was hunted high and low. Foul play was not suspected, forStephens had been seen during the speaking among a great crowd a majority ofwhom were his Negro acolytes who fawned on him for promised favors. It is amatter of dispute if Stephens had a stalwart bodyguard since the warningreached him to leave the county. Captain Lea says that this was not the case,because Stephens with his strong and rugged face was a man of personal courage.One well-authenticated detail is that Frank Wiley during the murder of Stephenswas riding a white horse outside the courthouse in full view of the crowd,establishing a carefully laid alibi and safeguarding himself from proceedingsas an accessory, at least, before the fact.
The next morning vague rumors were current that Stephens haddisappeared and search for him was redoubled, Governor Holden being informed ofhis vanishing. It remained for a boy of doubtful identity peering through thewindow in which the slain man lay to see red stains emanating from the loose endof rope, the other end of which still incased Stephens' neck. Through the ropecame seepage and telltale evidence. The door was broken down and the body longin rigor mortis was carried out.
A great cry of rage went up from the Republican entourage of Holdenfor this new evidence of accepted Klan audacity--for the crime at once wassaddled on the invisible empire. It was a powerful blow. The Negroes were beingwon by the Republicans through cajolement into active usage of the franchiseand the fact that the Governor's agent, the man who had told them that theywere "the same as white folks" had been boldly slain sobered them andthrew them into doubt.
While Stephens' body lay in his home which stood where todaystands Yanceyville's Negro public school--a grim play of fate--and while he wasbeing laid in the town cemetery where two boxwoods mark the head andfootstones, Governor Holden was preparing for avenging his death and summarytreatment of the suspected groups composing the Klan.
Holden had a double motive in exerting all the force at hiscommand. Whispers reached him of the belief entertained in certain quarters ofthe party that Stephens had been done to death by members of his own party. Asurprisingly large number of white active Democrats seemed to be of the sameopinion. This grew out of a previously quoted remark of Holden that "wemust get rid of Stephens." What the Governor meant, undoubtedly was thatsince Caswell County was rapidly falling under the domination of the Klan thatStephens must be recalled and more adroit political leadership exerted.
* * *
It has been the understanding that great affection fell upon thepeople of Caswell County at once, but it came only after spies had flooded thearea, none of them succeeding in securing one iota of evidence against theKlansmen nor against the seven men who accomplished Stephens' end. But whenHolden struck, he struck hard. On July 8 he declared Caswell County in a stateof insurrection and he dispatched Colonel George W. Kirk to Yanceyville with300 of his "lambs," an evil assortment of freebooters, recruited fromthe Tennessee and Carolina mountains and forming a police force which Holdenfound he could use more to his own advantage than the occupationary and disciplinedtroops of General Grant.
Kirk was a savage character, brutal by instinct and just the manto visit harrowing punishment on the people of Caswell resisting the nowflagrantly preached doctrine of "all men are equal." The regimentmade its way to Caswell, leaving a trail of plunder and rapine behind it. IntoYanceyville they stormed and were quartered all about the public square,striking terror into womanhood and openly threatening to pistol anyone whothwarted them. Some time later when Captain George Rodney was sent toYanceyville with a small detachment of Federal regulars, more as a precautionagainst open rebellion than to preserve the Holden regime, he wrote that Kirk'smen ran riot in the Caswell County seat, roaming the town, trying to stir uphostility. Described as ignorant Jacobins, they were prone to undress and bathein public and no white woman was safe so long as they remained.
Arrests were made right and left soon after the riffraff troopsarrived. Some two hundred of the county's outstanding Democrats were seized andmarched to the courthouse, which became a prison for weeks. There was brutaltreatment for the sheer invisibility of the invisible empire made every whiteman of Democratic leanings suspect.
* * *
While this was going on, Mayor "Pink" Graves ofDanville, a dozen miles away, sent word that he would raise a band of 500 menand would come over as a posse to liberate the county leaders held in thecourthouse, some of them in the very room where Stephens died. Kirk heard ofthis and sent back word that he would turn his guns on the hostages the firsttime a Virginian turned the corner into the square. The posse remained at home.
But Holden's retaliation was his own undoing. The judiciary wasstill functioning, if lamely, and there were fearless and honest men on theSupreme Court bench at Raleigh. Captain Lea played an important role insecuring writs of habeas corpus but Kirk and George Bergen, his chieflieutenant, who later fled to Danville, only to be run down by bloodhounds as acommon thief and who, after escaping trial, went to Washington to win anappointment as American consul to Pernambuco, refused to recognize the courtwrits.
Eventually the Caswell hostages were removed to Raleigh andthere indicted and tried for the murder of Stephens and other Klan activitiesby three Federal judges.
The Republicans won the August election and won it with theNegro vote, but the Holden administration was weakening and it was a chastenedform of carpetbaggery, which prevailed from that time on in Caswell County. TheKlan was riding high, wide and broad across the hills.
The following December Governor Holden was impeached. A long,corrupt and unsavory administration was behind him. The judiciary committee ofthe Legislature voted 60 to 46 for his ousting. He was tried on five counts,one of them being his action in declaring Caswell County in a state ofinsurrection and another for recruiting his own legion unconstitutionally, topromote his own policies. Still another was for the arrest of John Kerr"and three others," one of the latter being Captain Lea. Holden wasconvicted on every count, the vote ranging from 3 to 6 for conviction. Beforethe impeachment, Holden was converted and baptized and, during the trial the evidencecaused him to groan aloud and to shudder, as he listened to a recital of hishigh crimes and misdemeanors.
* * *
No record of the stormy era would be complete without referenceto the broken coping over the portico of the Caswell Courthouse--a permanentrelic of Josiah Turner, the tempestuous publicist who defied Holden, stinginghim with his writings in the Burlington Sentinel and who did much to whet thecourage of the long-suffering white people. Throughout the rise of thecarpetbaggers he had been a thorn in the side of the State government. Holdenfinally decided to arrest him and he was taken to Yanceyville for imprisonment.Long a popular idol among the Democrats, a general melee threatened when hearrived and one of Kirk's men became so excited, the story has it, that hedropped his rifle, bayonet down on the upper galley of the courthouse,splitting one of the coping stones which remains un-repaired to this day. ButJosiah Turner went to jail with a smile on his lips for he had just printed thefollowing personal communication to the Governor:
You say you will handle me in due time. You white-liveredmiscreant, do it now. You dare me to resist you, I dare you to arrest me. I amhere to protect my family; the Jacobins of your club, after shooting powder inthe face of Mrs. Turner, threw a five-pound rock in her window near one of mychildren. Your ignorant Jacobins are incited to do this by your lying chargesagainst me that I am king of the Ku-Klux.
"You villain, come and arrest a man and order your secretclubs not to molest women and children.
"Yours with contempt and defiance, habeas corpus or nohabeas corpus,
"JOSIAH TURNERJR."
This is the story of the murder ofJohn W. Stephens with its frenzied aftermath and the fight, which Caswell madefor the preservation of its integrity. It is all still clear to the last livingman who went through all of its turmoil. The missing pages could be supplied,with many unknown incidents, from his memory, but the pledge he took 62 yearsago in the ruddy light of a blazing pine-knot still holds good, and Captain Leaintends to pass on with the badge of honor untrammeled.
These Historical events that took place in CaswellCounty exposed the harassment and punitive practices of the Union League and causedthe resignation of Governor Holden and his Union cronies. I felt it wasimportant to include this history in this narrative as it took place during thelives of Vincent and Isabella and involved members of their family. After thisthe citizens of Caswell and other counties of North Carolina complaints nolonger fell on such deaf ears as before. For a hundred years Caswell Countyprospered as one of affluence, culture and grace, yet after the Civil Warbecame one of the poorest and downtrodden. The words of William S. Powellattest to this very distinctly:
"Caswell County, formed in1777 from Orange, was the home of many distinguished people whodeveloped a plantation economy equal in importance to that of almost any othercounty in North Carolina. People from Caswell assumed positions of leadershipin the state and in the nation. From among them came important militaryleaders, U.S. cabinet officers andambassadors, Congressmen, and Senators, teachers, ministers, and businessmen.Before the Civil War the economy of Caswell County was based on tobacco, andthe development of Bright Leaf Tobacco there was one of the notable events ofthe time. Wealth resulted and made possible the construction of large andhandsome houses, public buildings, and churches, investments in mills andrailroads, and the development of schools and academies. After the Civil Warchaos reigned for a time as people adjusted to the drastic changes, which itbrought. Race relations and political conditions were problems of great concern;Ku Klux Klan activity and the Kirk-Holden War were the result. Agriculturedeclined, many people abandoned the county for more promising places, andCaswell County ceased to be the center of culture and wealth that it once had been. With the coming ofthe twentieth century, however, great improvements were anticipated. In duecourse schools were reestablished, improved roads were built, and erodedfarmland was reclaimed. Through local efforts industry was developed andmanufacturers encouraged to come to the county. Services for the people were improved through theefforts of the county government, and plans were made for a revitalization ofthe county that might well make its third century equal in greatness to itsfirst."
Extracted from the cover fly of"When the Past Refused to Die, THE HISTORY OF CASWELL COUNTY, NORTHCAROLINA 1777-1977", William S. Powell, Moore Publishing Company, DurhamNC, 1977.
Last Will of Vincent Lea Morton
Stateof North Carolina
Leasburg,Caswell County
March10th 1898
IVincent Morton being of sound mind and recognizing the uncertainty of humanlife, do make and declare this to be my last will and testament namely: My wishis first that all my just debts and burial expenses be paid, after which I bequeathto my wife, Isabella F. Morton, my entire estate, to have and to use during herlife.
VincentL. Morton
GeorgeConnally
J.A. Wade
James MonroeMorton—My Great-Grandfather
JamesMonroe “Pug” Morton was born September 2nd , 1850 in Caswell County,NC. The firstborn child of Vincent Lea Morton and Isabella Frances Oliver.James married Cannie Elizabeth Blackwell May 18th , 1905 in CaswellCounty. At the time of the marriage James was 54 years old and Cannie was only17 years old as stated on their marriage certificate. James and Cannie had twochildren , Hattie Belle and Gladys Elizabeth.
Canniewas afflicted with what they called in the old days “spells”, which was mostprobably epilepsy. This was not a very socially acceptable condition to have inthose days as it was thought of as being “touched” , “demented” or“possessed” in some way. I have heardfamily members relate stories of how when Cannie would feel a “spell” coming onshe would run into the woods so her children or others wouldn’t see her whenshe was having a seizure. It was obviously a great source of embarrassment toher and she went to great lengths at these times to conceal her affliction. Inthose days the medicine of choice for this malady was Laudanum, which was a powerfulnarcotic and could be very addictive. On one fateful day perhaps after having a“spell” when my grandmother Hattie Belle was perhaps 3 years old and her sisterGladys still a baby, family members found Cannie lying unconscious on the floorwith her little girls at her side rubbing her face trying their best to wakeher. Sadly she never awoke having taken too much Laudanum, which overpoweredher vital functions and caused her death. More than one family member passeddown this story to me and I feel it to be an accurate portrayal of the death ofmy great-grandmother.
Thisleft my great-grandfather James Monroe Morton, now approaching 60 years oldwith two small children and no mother to raise them. My great-great-grandmotherIsabella took in the little girls and after her death their Aunt “ Nannie” Morton Stephens , sister of James MonroeMorton, raised the girls. Tragically their father James Monroe Morton fifteenyears after their mother’s death, was kicked in the head by a horse and layupon his bed for a couple of months and finally died from the injury. Now thegirls were true orphans, having lost both parents. He was apparently was ableto make a will before he died to provide for his girls after his death.
Last Will and Testament of James Monroe Morton—April 1924
North Carolina
Caswell County
I , J.M. Morton of the aforesaid County and State, being ofsound mind but considering the uncertainty of my earthly existence, do make anddeclare this to be my last will and testament.
First: My executor herein after named shall give my body adecent burial suitable to the wishes of my children, and pay all funeralexpenses, together will all my just debts, out of the first moneys which comesinto his hands belonging to my estate.
Second: Whereas my two daughters Hattie Belle and Gladys E.Morton are both minors of the ages of about eighteen and sixteen yearsrespectfully, neither being old enough to handle my estate legally, andWhereas, I have encumbered my lands with a deed of trust in the sum of EightHundred & Fifty Dollars and am desirous of paying off the debt as early aspossible so that my daughters may not be paying interest on the aforesaid note,I do hereby authorize my executor hereinafter named to sell privately or atpublic auction that portion of land lying on the east side of my land andcontaining about forty or fifty acres, and if he can not sell the land forenough to satisfy the claims, then in lieu thereof I do authorize and empower him to sell all that portion of mylands lying on the south side of a plantation road leading from the public roadknown as the Semora and Hightowers road, said plantation road running betweenthe feed barn and another barn nearby, and running in an easterly direction andout of the proceeds of the sale of either of the described lands he will paythe note that is secured by the deed of trust on the place.
Third: After all my just debts are paid, I give devise andbequeath the residues of my estate shall be equally divided between my twodaughters, Hattie B. Morton and Gladys E. Morton share and share alike, saiddecisions to be made when Gladys E. Morton shall arrive at the age oftwenty-one years of age, until this division can be made it is my will anddesire that R. L. Mitchell be and he is hereby appointed and constitutedtrustee of my estate which I will to my two daughters to have and to hold thecustody of the estate until the said Gladys E. Morton shall arrive at the fullage of twenty-one years.
Fourth: I herby constitute and appoint my trusty friend R. L.Mitchell, my lawful executor and trustee to all intents and purpose to executethis my last will and testament according to the true intent of meaning of thesame, and every part and clause thereof, hereby revoking and declaring utterly voidall other wills and testaments heretofore made by me.
In Witness whereof, Ithe said J. M. Morton do here unto set my hand and seal the____ day of April,1924
Signed: J. M. Morton
Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said J. M. Mortonto be his last will and testament in the presence of us, who act at his requestand in his presence do subscribe our names as witnesses thereto.
Signed: G. R. Lunsford
A.H. Wilkins
Record of Executors and Guardians, Caswell County, in theSuperior Court before B. L. Graves, Clerk of Superior Court, August, 1924
In the Matter of the Will of J. M. Morton
R.L. Mitchell being dulysworn, doth say that that J. M. Morton, late of said county is dead, havingfirst made and published his last will and testament, and that R. L. Mitchellis the executor named herein.
Further that theproperty of the said J. M. Morton, consisting of Real and Personal property, isworth about $3000.00 , so far as can be ascertained at the date of this application,and that Hattie Morton and Gladys Morton are the parties under said willentitled to said property.
Signed: R. L. Mitchell
Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 1st day ofAugust, 1924
Signed: B. L. Graves
Clerk of Superior Court
Transcribed by: Latham Mark Phelps 12-14-2002
The property of James Monroe Morton was obtained primarily in two deeds.The first was from his father Vincent Lea Morton, from the lands of his fatherElijah Morton.
VincentLea Morton To James Monroe Morton
Caswell County, N.C. June 28th 1877
Know all men by by these presents that I, V. L . Morton Executorof Elijah Morton and for and in consideration of the sum of Twelve Hundred& Ten dollars to me as Executor aforesaid in hand paid the receipt whereofis hereby acknowledged by J. Monroe Morton all of Caswell Co., N.C. do herebygive grant bargain & sell unto the said J. M. Morton his heirs &assigns forever a certain tract or parcel of land lying & being in theCounty of Caswell on the waters of North Hyco adjoining the lands of the saidV. L. Morton, J. W. Stephens & Mrs. Shanks containing by estimation SixtyThree acres be the same more or less to have and to hold the aforesaid premiseswith all & singular the privileges & appurtenances thereunto belongingto him the said J. M. Morton his heirs & assigns executors &administrators to his and their use and be hoof forever & I the said V. L.Morton as Executor aforesaid do covenant with the said J. M. Morton that he hasa right to sell & convey the same and will for himself his heirs &assigns executors & administrators warrant & defend the title to thesame to the said J. M. Morton his heirs & assigns forever against thelawful claim of any & all persons whatsoever. In witness whereof I as Executoraforesaid hereto set my hand & affix my seal this the 28th Dayof June, 1877.
V. L. Morton ----- SEAL
Executor of Elijah Morton-Decd.
Test:
George N. Thompson
State of N.C.} InSuperior Court
Caswell Co}. Nov.17, 1885
The execution of the written deed is this day duly proven by theoath & examination of Geo. N. Thompson the subscribing witness and isadjudged to be correct let the deed & certificate be registered.
S. B. Adams---C.S.C.
Transcribed By: Latham Mark Phelps 2004
The second deed was years later conveyed by his younger brother Quinn EliMorton who was in 1917 a Commissioner of neighboring Person County. The name ofJames Monroe Morton’s brother may provide a clue as yet unproven to theforbearers of Meshack, as the name “Quinn” appears in the early Prince Edward County, Virginia Mortons onmore than one occasion beginning with the marriage of Richard Morton and JudithQuinn. Richard Morton was a son of Thomas Morton and Elizabeth Woodson ofPrince Edward County, Virginia.
Q.E. Morton Commissioner To J. M. Morton
North Carolina
Caswell County
This deed made this 5th day of September, 1917, by Q.E. Morton, Commissioner of Person County, North Carolina, party of the firstpart, and J. M. Morton of Caswell County, North Carolina, of the second part.
WITNESSETH:
That whereas, thesaid Q. E. Morton, commissioner, under and by virtue of the authority vested inhim by a decree of the Superior Court of Caswell County, in that certainspecial proceeding entitled “ Q.E. Morton and others versus D. L. Morton andothers ”, did, on the 30th day of December 1916, at the store of S.P. Newman in Leasburg North Carolina, after first having advertised the saidsale by publishing notice thereof in the Caswell County Democrat, a newspaperpublished weekly in Caswell County, for four successive weeks immediatelypreceding the date thereof, and by posting notices of the same at the courthouse door and four or more other public places in Caswell County for thirtydays immediately preceding the said date, did expose the land hereinafterdescribed at public sale to the highest bidder, when and where the said J. M.Morton became the last and highest bidder for same, /- and was declared thepurchaser thereof for the sum of $1330.
And whereas the saidsale has been duly confirmed by the said court and it has been ordered that thesaid Q. E. Morton Commissioner, shall, upon the payment to him of the saidpurchase price, make, execute / and deliver a good and sufficient deed conveyingthe said land to the said J. M. Morton in fee simple, and the said J. M. Mortonhas paid the said purchase money.
Now therefore, inconsideration of the premises, and of the sum of one dollar to the party of thefirst part paid by the party of the second part, the receipt whereof is herebyacknowledged, the said Q. E. Morton Commissioner, has bargained and sold and bythese presents does bargain, sell and convey unto the said J. M. Morton and hisheirs and assigns that certain tract of land situated in Leasburg township,Caswell County, North Carolina, being tract No. 4 of the V. L. Morton Land, asshown on the plat prepared by E. H. Copley, surveyor and described by metes andbounds as follows, to-wit :
Beginning at a stakein the Pinson road, corner of tract No. 3 thence south 86 ½ o east 4465 feet tostake in Cora Stephens line; thence with her line north 4 ¾ o east 660 feet tohickory stump in the King’s Mill and Leasburg road; thence with said road 514feet to stake; thence north 75 o west 1175 feet to red oak; thence north 7 ½ owest 290 feet to a mulberry; thence north 73 o west 2060 feet to a rock in thePinson road; thence with said road 2250 feet to the beginning containing 127acres more or less.
To have and to holdthe said land, together with all privileges and appurtenances thereuntobelonging unto him the said J. M. Morton and his heirs and assigns forever infee simple, in as full and ample manner as the said Q. E. Morton, Commissioneris authorized and empowered to convey the same.
In testimony whereofthe said Q. E. Morton Commissioner, has hereunto set his hand and affixed hisseal.
Q. E. Morton, Commissioner—(Seal)
North Carolina
Caswell County
I, R. L. Mitchelle,Clerk of the Superior Court of Caswell County, do hereby certify thatpersonally appeared before me this day Q. E. Morton, Commissioner, andacknowledged the due execution of the foregoing deed, therefore let the deed,together with this certificate, be registered
.
Given under my hand andseal, this 10th day of Sept. 1917
R.L. Mitchelle C.S.C.
Filed for registration at 9:30 A.M. Sept. 10th , 1917and registered.
Robt. T Wilson
Register of Deeds.
Transcribed By: Latham Mark Phelps February 2004
Hattie BelleMorton, my grandmother, married William Perry Lunsford and they had sixchildren:
Edward HaroldLunsford married “Micky” Ashford
RebaJean Lunsford married Wilford Latham Phelps
PatriciaAnn Lunsford married Carl Dean Cobb
MalcolmPerry Lunsford died as an infant
MalindaJane Lunsford married Jonah Benjamin Kirby
DennisMorton Lunsford married Tina Capps
My Mother, Reba Jean Lunsford, born May 3rd1930—died January 14th 2005, married
Wilford LathamPhelps, son of Lewis Elmo Phelps and Catherine James Walker. Three childrenwere born to Reba and Latham:
Latham Mark Phelps
Gary Lynn Phelps
Susan Denise Phelps
Thisis a “Work in Progress” and I willupdate with much more at a later date
Latham Mark Phelps--- May 2005
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