Chew Eureka Tobacco Trade Card

C. D. Vernon & Company, Yanceyville, North Carolina, Trade Card

Note that the 1850 US Census for Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina, listed a Calvin D. Vernon, born around 1818 in Virginia. He is the son of Ann Y. Vernon. No connection has been made with the C. D. Vernon of the above trade card.

The following is from When the Past Refused to Die: A History of Caswell County North Carolina 1777-1977, William S. Powell (1977) at 128:

In 1850 there were three tobacco peddlers in the county: Royal McKinney, Soloman Merritt, and William Whitmore. There were a dozen men, however, who declared their occupation to be that of a "tobacconist." They were Pinkney Burton, Joshua Butler, William F. Butler, Larkin S. Grinstead, William Lewis, Raleigh McLaughlin, Isley Phillips, R. H. Pritchett, James Read, Rufus Rainey, Williba Shelton, and Joseph M. Swift. In 1860 N. C. Motley and John Denny, both natives of Virginia but living in Caswell County, were described as "traders on tobacco." Sixteen tobacconists were listed: J. Q. Anderson, B. Brown, Jr., T. J. Brown, William Brown, Allen Gunn, G. W. Gunn. H. Harrell, J. H. McCaden, William D. Mitchell, H. M. Roan, W. N. Shelton. S. T. Sparks, William H. Vaden, C. D. Vernon, John L. Williamson, and A. G. Yancey.

C. D. Vernon also was appointed by the North Carolina legislature in 1877 to serve as an officer of the Yanceyville municipal government until an election could be held. Later, he was involved in unsuccessful efforts to secure a railroad to run between Danville, Virginia, and Yanceyville, North Carolina.