National Register of Historic Places (Caswell County, North Carolina)

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation's historic places worthy of preservation. The first Caswell County property to be listed in the National Register was the Milton State Bank in April 1973. Since then, two historic districts (Yanceyville and Milton) and twenty-three individual properties have been entered for a total of twenty-five National Register listings in the county. The Union Tavern (Thomas Day workshop) in Milton also has been recognized as a National Historic Landmark. See photograph.

County: Caswell (North Carolina)

1. Bartlett Yancey House

U.S. 158, Yanceyville
12/4/1973

2.
Brown-Graves House and Brown's Store
SW of Yanceyville on NC 150
Locust Hill
1974-07-15

Tobacco Cooperative Strife in Caswell County: 1908

 Caswell County Fears That Night Riders May Burn Tobacco Barns

Threatening Notice Posted on the Barns Terrify Tobacco Growers.

BARNS ARE FULL OF TOBACCO

Reidsville, N.C., Oct. 3 [1908] -- "Outrages similar to the deeds of the night riders in Kentucky are threatened in Caswell County, and the independent tobacco growers, especially in the neighborhood of Purley and Blanche, are greatly alarmed as a result of notices which have been posted on tobacco barns and other places where they might be read. While as yet no deed of violence has been reported, a number of the farmers have grave fears that their crop might be destroyed.

"The notices appear to have been freely posted for a distance of about eight miles by some unknown parties, and all of them warn the independent growers to pool their tobacco and not sell it at auction on the warehouse floor. 'If you do, you must bear the consequences.' Another notice reads: 'Pool your tobacco or you will smell fire.' Neither of the above notices was signed, but the supposition is that they were inspired and written by parties who are in sympathy with the movement of the Bright Tobacco Growers' Protective Association of Virginia and North Carolina, the object of which organization is to discontinue the placing of tobacco on the warehouse floors to be sold at auction, but to place it in warehouses operated under the auspices of the association, to be held until prices deemed just and reasonable can be secured. 

"In short, the union farmers hope by this method of pooling tobacco to advance the price and believe that they, as producers, should fix the price rather than the buyer. In justice, however, the Farmers' Association, it can be stated that neither as a body nor as individuals have any deeds of violence or threatening methods been countenanced. The officers of the association and the leading members in public speeches made on various occasions have violently opposed any rash act, and declare that the purpose of the association was to advance the price of tobacco only by honest and legal methods. The Tobacco Growers' Protective Association is backed by some of the most prominent and respected farmers of this section, as well as many substantial business men, and the body should not be held responsible for the act committed by any individual.

"The fact that practically all of this season's crop of tobacco is not in the barns increases the alarm of the Caswell farmers, who are inclined to take the notice seriously. All efforts to find out who are responsible for the threatening notices have proved futile."

Source: Daily News (Greensboro, NC), 4 October 1908.

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The photograph is not associated with the newspaper article. Click image to see a larger version.

Great Damage in Caswell County: 1908

 Great Damage in Caswell County. Special to The Observer.

Reidsville, Aug. 29. -- "It is learned that the damage in Caswell County resulting from the rain storms is very heavy. All of the corn crops located on the banks of the Dan River and the creek near Milton have been destroyed as well as the melon patches in the low grounds.

"The Country Line Creek, running between Rockingham and Caswell Counties, is about 30 feet above its normal height, the waters extending from 150 to 200 feet from the banks. The covered wooden bridge crossing the creek at Milton was in grave danger Wednesday of being washed away. One of the approaches was washed away, but the bridge was saved by the use of large cables, which were attached to trees. The toll bridge across Dan River at Milton is now out of danger."

The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), 30 August 1908.

The above photograph is not associated with the newspaper article. Click image to see a larger version.

The "Little Caswell County Child" - 1908

 The "Little Caswell County Child"

The Women Teachers Are Working to Rear Boys Who Will Be Successors of Murphey, Saunders, Yancey, Graves and Bedford Brown.

The following clipping from a Caswell newspaper will be interesting to teachers throughout the State:

"The Thanksgiving entertainment given by the Blackwell's school, near Quick, on the 26, we are advised, was a complete success in every particular. The day was an ideal one for the out of doors entertainment. The school house and grounds were beautifully decorated and arranged. Mrs. Graves, the teacher, and the children deserve great praise and commendation for their persistent and untiring efforts. Nothing was left undone by them that would add success and enjoyment for the occasion.

"It was indeed a great day for the 'Little Caswell County Child.' Among the teachers present were Mmes. Graves, Turner, and Misses Rice, King and Graves. Prof. Hickerson, of the Ruffin Graded School, was also in attendance.

"The children of Mrs Graves showed careful and painstaking training, and acquitted themselves with great credit. After the exercises by the children, Supt. Anderson was introduced. He took for his subject 'The Little Caswell County Child.' He paid a tribute to the little Caswell County child of the past, that develops in manhood into such lives and services as was given by Calvin Graves, Romulus Saunders, Bedford Brown, Archibald Murphey and Bartlett Yancey. In the course of his remarks he took occasion to say that North Carolina was possibly more indebted to Archibald Murphey and Bartlett Yancey than any other men, because it was the genius and wisdom of these Caswell County giants nearly a hundred years ago that made public education possible for all the children of all the people of North Carolina, and stated that if our people will respond to the cry of the little Caswell County child, as it begs for the light of learning and intelligence, there will arise worth successors of those men who in the past made Caswell matchless among counties."

Source: The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), 17 December 1908.

Yanceyville NC 9-11 Memorial

 By Debra Ferrell

The Caswell Messenger Editor 14 September 2023

It was an emotional day for many on Monday, September 11, as the Town of Yanceyville held the long awaited dedication service for the 9-11 Memorial that features a portion of a steel girder from Tower Two of the World Trade Center following the terrorist attack on September 11, 2011. Many eyes filled with tears as Mayor Alvin Foster welcomed the crowd for this "solemn remembrance of what the memorial means."

DH Griffin donated the core beam from salvage work the company performed on the Twin Towers. Senator Phil Berger, President Pro Tem NC State Senate, says he knew from the start that he wanted to help with the project to create this unique memorial in Yanceyville that is the third component of special memorials that includes monuments to veterans and fallen public service members. Those two monuments are directly in from of the Yanceyville Municipal Building. The 9-11 monument is across from them right next to Fidelity Bank.

Yanceyville council member Keith Tatum was relentless in pursuing funding for the project.

Interesting facts:

The beam weighs around 3,100 pounds per square foot.

The memorial is built upon the site of the old Ford building that DH Griffin demolished for the Town starting that relationship.

Mayor Foster pointed out that the memorial is part of the town's economic development that adds to the appeal of the area and promotes livability.

"The memorial reminds us of the attack on the United States by terrorists 22 years ago. Thousands have died whether from the attack itself or from the War on Terror that followed. Thousands still suffer from physical or mental ailments," said the mayor.

He asked the crowd if they remembered what they were doing on the day of the attack. "When the first tower was hit, we thought it was accidental. Minutes later when the second tower was hit, that illusion was shattered. Then came the flight crashing and the attack on the Pentagon."

VFW Post 7316 and American Legion Post 89 posted colors with Naomi Totten singing the National Anthem. Prayer was rendered by Rev. Paul Robinson.

Sen. Berger shared how his first idea of what the memorial would look didn't compare to the actual beauty of the beam and its setting. "I’m blown away with the design," he said as he complimented the landscape and visionary leadership that led to its creation. He pointed out that everyone was there to remember the lives lost and commended our country for demonstrating the resolve to stand against oppression.

"This is a piece of history whose purpose here is to signify strength and remind us of one of our darkest days. It will stand as a reminder to all of us. When I heard about it, I immediately went to work looking for funding."

Former Senator Hugh Webster was approached and said yes to showing strong support for Caswell County to acquire this coveted beam.

Following a ribbon cutting, everyone was invited next door at the Richmond-Miles History Museum where the Caswell County Historical Association hosted refreshments supplied by the Town of Yanceyville.

Rock Academy

Rock Academy

Perhaps the longest-lived and most influential school of this period was the Rock Academy and its successor. In 1867 James S. Dameron opened a school in northwestern Caswell County which he called the Ruffin Select School. Shortly afterwards a permanent building was erected and it came to be called the Rock Academy because it was constructed of rock.

Associated with Dameron at one time or another in the operation of this school were Miss Jennie Roberts, Miss Alden Combs, Miss Allen Courts, Elder P. D. Gold, and John W. Gilliam. A large number of young people in the neighborhood were educated here. Among them was John B. Cobb who afterwards left the county to seek his fortune. In 1921 he provided $20,000 for a school building nearby which became the first consolidated school in the county. The building was dedicated to the memory of Cobb's parents and was known as Cobb Memorial School. Cobb and his daughters made further gifts to the school and the plant was enlarged.

Coach Lindsey Philip Page

Former Bartlett Yancey Coach Lindsey Page has been selected for induction into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. As the 27th group of inductees to join the prestigious hall, bringing to 148 the number enshrined, Page joins seven others this year: Donnie Baxter of Asheboro, Ronnie Chavis of Pembroke, Lawrence Dunn of Raleigh, Doug Henderson of Greensboro, Larry Rhodes of Gastonia, Robert Steele of Salisbury, and Jim Taylor of Shelby. Page and the others will be honored during special halftime ceremonies at a football at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill on Saturday, Sept. 22, when North Carolina takes on East Carolina. The new class will be officially inducted at a special banquet next spring.

“I’m very humbled by this,” said Page. “As a coach, you never aspire to that.” The induction is two years in the making, and due in large part to the work of Donna Hudson and Kay Satterfield, and numerous local people who vouched for Page. “I share this honor with
the players I coached, the principals that supported me, and the superintendents. I share it not only with the professional people I’ve worked with, but with my entire family. It’s been a good run. So many people have helped me.”

Born in Caswell County and a 1962 graduate of Elon College, Page began his teaching and coaching career right after that at Bartlett Yancey. For 34 years, he was the head men’s basketball coach, winning seven conference championships and a North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3-A championship in 1988. His teams posted an outstanding 519-325 record during that stretch and the gymnasium was named in his honor in 1988. He also coached baseball at the school for 15 seasons and was athletic director for 20 years. He came out of his coaching retirement in 1999 to coach the women’s team at BY and posted 65 additional wins including a trip to the regional tournament coaching through 2006.

He has been recognized by the NCHSAA before, with a Special Person Award in 1997 and a Distinguished Service Award a year later. He also coached in the North Carolina Coaches’ Association East-West basketball all-star game in 1988. Page has a lot to reflect upon over his stellar career. After playing one year at Elon, he decided he wanted to be a high school teaching coach. “I never deviated from that goal,” said Page. Superintendent Tom Whitley offered him a job at BY, with Buck Page, one of his mentors. The two coach Pages decided the younger would coach girls the first year, and they’d switch the next year, giving him boys. He taught Spanish, math and science for a year, then just health and P.E.

“I started at BY in 1962, and within two years, all the high schools in the county were consolidated into one school. In the late 60s, we had a ‘freedom of choice plan’, and had six or seven black students at our school. And in 1969, we were totally integrated.” Page said everyone had a lot of adjustments to make, and it was the most difficult time of his career. “We had to blend in players from all the different schools, to function as a unit. I told them, ‘you don’t have to like each other, but you have to respect each other,” he said. “These athletes had played against each other. But we were very successful.”

The 1971-72 basketball team went 24-2. “We had a real good ball club. People really caught on to Sleepy (Claude Taylor). When you’re a superstar, you’re sometimes hard to coach. But he was very likeable. And it helped with integration, to be honest.”

By the 80s, Page was proud to have Keith Claiborne and Dana Elliott on his team. “We played in the Dean Dome. I believe everyone in Caswell County was there,” he laughed. “We had a tremendous following. The place would be full. That was the golden era of our basketball.”

Several BY athletes have had their jerseys retired, and have played some college sports. “I’ve always enjoyed watching and following them. I hope they do well. That’s the biggest thing, to be productive citizens. The fact that they’re good athletes just adds to it.”

Through the years, Page has had opportunities to leave Caswell County. “But there was always something that kept me here. Mainly my family He and his wife Myra have four children, Barry, Steve, Carla, and Leslie. “When you are a coach, it’s not a job, it’s a way of life. I spent an awful lot of time away from home. But Myra was very supportive, and my sons played for me. Leslie played basketball, and Carla cheered for a couple of years. So it was always a family affair. That’s what helped me survive as long as I did.”

For the last 15 years at BY, Page’s teaching load was lightened, and he served as industrial coordinator, keeping tabs on students with jobs. He retired in 1998 after being full-time for 38 years. But the new superintendent asked him to teach driver’s ed. “I’ve been doing that for 14 years, and enjoy it. I go to BY two to three afternoons a week.”

Still being involved with students, Page sees differences in the teens through the years. “This is the ‘me’ generation. But you gotta have collective goals to be successful.“ He offered some advice to the athletes. “You always want be a good representative of yourself, your family, and your school. You always want to be presentable. A pet peeve of mine is sagging britches.” And it brings back a memory from the 70s. “We were in the middle of the Vietnam war, which we couldn’t win. Hair got long. Our team was very good. It was Tim Jernigan and Sleepy’s last season. Tim had long hair. Now, I really liked the kid. But when the season was about to start, I asked him to cut it to a neat length. He said he’d cut it, but wouldn’t cut it again until we lost. But we won 18 in a row! His hair had gotten a little long!”

Page, who turned 73 a few weeks ago, said he doesn’t work for the money, but for good health. He participated in Senior Games, softball, and 3-on-3 basketball. “I’m really taking it one year at a time. I don’t want to be sitting in the house with a remote in my hand all day long. I enjoy getting out,” he said. “I hope to stay active. It would be nice to die at second base, or playing golf, said Page. “It shows you were productive until you passed away.”

Source: The Caswell Messenger (Yanceyville, North Carolina) 22 August 2012.

Womack's Mill

"Womack's Mill was a treasure--a memory for many people of the past. It was where we took our grains to be ground. The millpond was where we waded in the cooling waters and it was there I had my first real date with my future husband--we spread a checked tablecloth on the sandy edge picnicking on cheese sandwiches and cold Pepsi Colas in glass bottles. For our 25th wedding anniversary present, my brother Bill, a photographer, enlarged and framed a beautiful photo of the old mill that was in his archives. I remember well the miller's house across the road--mama would visit the lady of the house, passing the time of day, while the corn was being processed. I am told that Papa (Will Farthing) took bags of grain to Womack's Mill on the family wagon, and the trusty family mule was smart enough to take Papa there with nary a "giddap" ! The trip was so familiar to the four-legged critter that he knew exactly where to turn from the highway, proceeding on his own, the reins in Papa's lap. Such a loss for the community, and would have been a wonderful historical edifice if it could have been preserved...."

Source: Helen Jean Farthing Ledford 26 February 2014 Post to the Caswell County Historical Association Facebook Page.
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Caswell Correctional Center

Caswell Correctional Center

Probably due to the famous 1959 escape by Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart and many of his fellow inmates, Caswell County's Ivy Bluff Prison is well-known. Less well-known is Caswell County's other prison, which is much older than Ivy Bluff (now decommissioned and in private hands). This prison is the Caswell Correctional Center on the County Home Road just outside Yanceyville, North Carolina.¹

The following is from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety:

Caswell was one of 51 county prisons for which the state assumed responsibility with the passage of the Conner Bill in 1931. It was one of 61 field unit prisons renovated or built during the late 1930s to house inmates who worked on building roads. Like many of the era's prisons, Caswell also had a farm worked by the inmates to supply the prison kitchen. The prison farm operated into the 1960s.

Caswell initially housed misdemeanants until 1968, when medium and minimum custody inmates were housed together. In 1974, Caswell was converted into a medium security prison housing 118 inmates. With the addition of triple-bunking (three beds stacked on top of each other), the population rose to 168.

A new dining hall was built at the prison in the 1950s. In the 1970s, inmates supervised by correction engineers built a recreation building and a segregation unit with 24 single cells.

In January 1989, a 104-bed inmate dormitory and support buildings that included a programs building with classroom space and a recreation building, opened. This addition was funded by the legislature as part of a $28.5 million Emergency Prison Facilities Development program in 1987.

Lawmakers provided two 104-inmate dormitories, an administration building, operations center and dining hall as part of a $75 million prison construction program approved in July 1990. After a gatehouse and motion detection system was installed, security towers at the prison were removed. With the completion of these additions in January 1993, staff increased to 154 and the inmate population increased to maximum of 484.
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County: Caswell
Mailing and Street Address: 444 County Home Road, Blanch, NC 27212
Phone: (336) 694-4531
Fax: (336) 694-5098
Facility #: 4415
Courier #: 02-53-23
Inmate capacity: 460
Inmate gender: Male
Custody level: Medium
Staff Size: 188
Occupancy: 1930s

Caswell Correctional Center, near Yanceyville, is a medium security prison for adult males. Inmates may be assigned to work on one of seven Department of Transportation road squads clearing right-of-way under the supervision of armed correction officers. They may also work in the prison, typically as kitchen help or keeping the prison clean and in repair. For two years in the late 1990s, as many as 88 prisoners worked on inmate construction crews to build the 600-man housing unit at the nearby Dan River Prison Work Farm.

Piedmont Community College works with the prison to provide vocational courses including welding, HVAC technology, horticulture and industrial maintenance technology. Inmates with less than a high school education may participate in GED preparatory classes or remedial education. Inmates are also given an opportunity to participate in Bible study and worship services.

In 1997, Piedmont CC began to provide instruction in electrical and pneumatic tool repair. Inmates who complete this program are put to work in a small tool repair program, repairing tools for the Department of Transportation and other public agencies.
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The foregoing article referenced the 1931 Conner Bill. Here is more on that law from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety:

In 1931, the General Assembly enacted the Conner bill which enabled the state to take over control of all prisons and inmates. The condition of prison facilities and the need for inmate labor led the General Assembly to consolidate the State Highway Commission and the State Prison Department. This provided new construction money from the Highway Fund for prison renovation.

In the two years before consolidation, the State Highway Commission spent $850,000 for permanent improvements in the road camps that had been operated by the counties. With the help of WPA labor, the renovation and construction program continued after consolidation of the two agencies. In 1933, a $400,000 bond issue provided for establishing and equipping additional prison camps, farms and industries. Lawmakers authorized the State Highway and Public Works Commission to purchase, lease and erect buildings at new road camp sites. These permanent road camps were of a standard design and small capacity. The basic design was for 100 inmates. Camps were located throughout the state, primarily for the convenience of road building and repair.
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Thus, it appears that, at a minimum, a "road camp" was operating in Caswell County at the time the Conner Bill was enacted in 1931. Whether this facility was located on the site of the current Caswell Correctional Center on the County Home Road. What buildings occupied the site is not known.
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Yanceyville, North Carolina
Mar 10, 2016

The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Mark Carver as the new superintendent at Caswell Correctional Center in Yanceyville, replacing Judy Brandon, who retired.

Mark Carver most recently served as assistant superintendent for custody and operations at Caswell CC and is a 27-year veteran of the state prison system.  He began his career in 1989 as a correctional officer and sergeant in Orange County. He later served at state prisons in Craven and Pamlico counties before returning to Orange Correctional Center as an assistant superintendent.

He is a Caswell County native and graduate of East Carolina University and Bartlett Yancey High School.

Caswell Correctional Center is a medium-security prison housing approximately 480 male inmates in dormitory-style housing.  It employs a staff of about 170 people.
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¹Actually, there is another prison in Caswell County, but one with much less history: Dan River Prison Work Farm.
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Sources

North Carolina Department of Public Safety

Dan River Prison Work Farm

Dan River Prison Work Farm

County: Caswell
Mailing and Street Address: 981 Murray Road, Blanch, NC 27212
Phone: (336) 694-1583
Fax: (336) 694-4084
Facility #: 3080
Courier #: 02-53-24
Inmate capacity: 640
Inmate gender: Male
Custody level: Minimum
Staff size: 166
Occupancy: March 1996

Dan River Prison Work Farm is located on a 187.5-acre site in the west-central area of Caswell County, near Yanceyville. The prison was officially dedicated on March 25, 1996. On July 1, 1998, the prison was named part of the Piedmont Region.

The prison operates with a staff of 166 employees in the custody, food service, medical, programs, fiscal and administrative units, and has an annual operating budget of approximately $11.4 million.

The modern architecture of this facility differs markedly from traditional prisons and was designed to be built and maintained at less cost. The facility has an administration building, central complex building comprised of food service, staff offices, visiting area, clothes house and central control office, and segregation building. The dormitory building is 60,000 square feet that contains 10 inmate housing areas, 10 day rooms, two canteens, 10 shower and lavatory areas, medical and program departments, barber shop, library, classroom, chaplain's office and two control rooms.

Dan River houses felon and misdemeanant minimum custody adult male offenders. Inmate work assignments include food service, maintenance, janitorial and other institutional jobs. Dan River also has three litter crews that work in Alamance, Guilford and Randolph counties.

Other assignments include working at Correction Enterprises Laundry, maintenance work at Caswell Correctional Center and the inmate construction program.

A joint venture with the N.C. Wildlife Commission and Dan River has offenders working restoring forest land, parks and lakes all across North Carolina.

In cooperation with Piedmont Community College, the facility operates the Roxboro Satellite Training Center, which uses the building that once housed Person Correctional Center. The Training Center's programs include carpentry, masonry, information systems technology, horticulture, basic electricity, and human resource development for 130 inmates.

Visitation

Visitation takes place in alphabetical order three times a day on Saturdays and Sundays. Inmates in segregation are allowed visitors on an appointment basis Monday through Friday.

The visitation policy requires all visitors to complete an application prior to visitation.

Directions

From East/Raleigh, take I-40 west. Take the Hillsborough exit. Proceed through Hillsborough onto NC 86 N. Take NC 86 N to Yanceyville. In Yanceyville, turn right onto NC 86 N toward Danville, Va. At the second stoplight (intersection of NC 86 and 158), turn right onto County Home Road. Go approximately a quarter-mile and turn left onto Murray Road. Follow Murray Road for approximately 1 mile. Dan River Prison is at the end of Murray Road.

From West/Greensboro, take I-40/85 east, then get on NC 29 N toward Danville, Va. In Reidsville, take the NC 158 exit to Yanceyville. Proceed through the stoplight (intersection of NC 86 and 158), onto County Home Road. Go approximately a quarter-mile, turn left onto Murray Road. Follow Murray Road for 1 mile. Dan River Prison is at the end of Murray Road.

Source: North Carolina Department of Public Safety

Josiah Baker Bible

Perfect Information, Imperfectly Sourced Judy G. Russell, 11 Aug 08:15 AM

There is nothing The Legal Genealogist loves more than a good source of family information. Even when it’s not perfect.

Thanks to a family Bible, kept by my third great grand uncle Josiah Baker and passed down through his family, I can peg when Josiah and his full siblings were born — including my third great grandfather Martin Baker.

According to the Bible, there were seven children born to my fourth great grandparents, David Baker and his second wife Dorothy Wiseman:

Susanah Baker was born Sept 6th 1795

Martin Baker was born Dec. 9th 1797

Dorothy Baker was born Aug. 11th 1799

David D. Baker was born Jan. 9th 1801

Josiah Baker was born, Oct. 20th 1802

Sophia Baker was born, July 6th 1804

Charles Baker was born Dec 2nd 1806.1

It’s not a perfect source, of course: the Bible was published years after any of these folks were born and the entries — likely made by Josiah, since they list his parents and siblings and not anything about his wife Julia’s family — made close to the end of his life. But as far as sources go, in my family, that’s a good source, and I’m grateful for it. Especially when I can take note of that family birthday — Dorothy Baker, my third great grand aunt, was born 219 years ago today.

But the Bible only gives birth dates for Josiah’s siblings. It doesn’t say who and when they married, or when and where they died. And there’s no surviving marriage record for Dorothy in North Carolina where she lived. Oh, there are unsourced published family histories that say she married their cousin David Davenport.2 Now if that’s right, then Martin and his family and Dorothy and her family picked up stakes and moved around the same time, to what was then Macon County (and later became Cherokee County), North Carolina — appearing one after the other on the same page in the 1840 census of the newly formed Cherokee County.3

Martin continued to be on the move, ending up in Texas,4 while Dorothy and her growing family stayed in North Carolina and set down roots, deep into the soil of the westernmost part of that state. They were there in 18505 and 18606 and 1870,7 after their area of Cherokee County became Clay County.8 

Dorothy was still there as a widow in 18809 and that’s where she died in 1885.10 From these we know David Davenport’s wife was named Dorothy. But how can we know whether the Dorothy who married David Davenport was Dorothy Baker — and not someone else? I’ll put my money on it, because, after all, there’s the letter.

1818 Baker Letter

It’s not the original letter, of course. It’s a transcription by a man who was a professional geologist — and an amateur genealogist. He was also the second president of Stanford University in California and — not for nothing — a cousin of mine (a third cousin three times removed or a fourth cousin four times removed, depending on which line you’re counting in). His name: John Casper Branner.11 Branner was born in Tennessee in 1850. His mother was a Baker cousin, and late in his life, after writing a history of his father’s family,12 he decided he wanted to know more about his Baker kin. His methods would curl the hair of any modern genealogist, but he used the tools he knew at the time: he wrote to everyone he thought he even might possibly be related to and gathered up whatever bits and pieces of information and documentation they had. The results, today, are in what is called the Baker genealogy, part of the John Casper Branner papers, 1882-1921, in the Stanford University Libraries. When I first arranged to acquire a copy, it cost me a fortune in copying costs. Today — sigh — they’re online, free. And one of those bits and pieces that Branner collected was a copy of a letter, from my fourth great grandfather David Baker — father of Martin and Dorothy and Josiah — to his brother Charles in Georgia. It’s dated the 27th of January 1818, and Branner carefully copied David’s signature.

Now… he may have made mistakes in his transcription. He may have missed something I wish he hadn’t missed. But, overall, the contents ring true to what I know of the family (old Martin Davenport was dead by 1818, for example), and his rendering of the signature matches examples we have of David’s handwriting. And as to the question of who Dorothy married, it says: “all my Children that is mared is living just by me my Second Daughter by Second wife is mared to David Davenport”.13 No, it’s not a perfect source. But as far as sources go, in my family, it’s a really good source, and yeah, personally, I’m going with it:

Dorothy — David Baker’s second daughter by his second wife — really did marry her cousin David Davenport.

SOURCES

Josiah and Julia (McGimsey) Baker Family Bible Records 1749-1912, The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (New York : American Bible Society, 1867), “Births”; privately held by Louise (Baker) Ferguson, Bakersville, NC; photographed for JG Russell, Feb 2003. Mrs. Ferguson, a great granddaughter of Josiah and Julia, inherited the Bible; the earliest entries are believed to be in the handwriting of Josiah or Julia Baker.

See e.g. John Scott Davenport, “Five Generations Identified from the Pamunkey Family Patriarch, Namely Davis Davenport of King William County,” in The Pamunkey Davenport Papers, CD-ROM (Charles Town, W.Va. : Pamunkey Davenport Family Association, 2009), 19.

See also Maribeth Lang Vineyard and Eugene M. Wiseman, William Wiseman and the Davenports (Franklin, NC: Genealogy Publishing Service, 1997), 42.

1840 U.S. census, Cherokee County, North Carolina, population schedule, p. 239 (stamped), line 7, David Davenport household, and line 8, Martin Baker household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 December 2002); citing National Archive microfilm publication M704, roll 357. Martin died in Parker County, Texas, in 1868.

Baker Cemetery (Baker Community, Parker County, Texas; on Baker Road approximately four miles south of the intersection with Doyle Road, Latitude 323503N, Longitude 0974338W), Martin Baker marker; photograph by J.G. Russell, 3 May 2003. 

1850 U.S. census, Cherokee County, North Carolina, population schedule, p. 25 (back) (stamped), dwelling/family 324, David Davenport household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Mar 2007); citing National Archive microfilm publication M432, roll 625.

1860 U.S. census, Cherokee County, North Carolina, Shooting Creek, population schedule, p. 168 (penned), dwelling/family 1098, David “Debenport” household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Apr 2007); citing National Archive microfilm publication M653, roll 892. 1870 U.S. census, Clay County, North Carolina, population schedule, Hayesville Post Office, p. 469(B)-470(A) (stamped), dwelling 40, family 40, David Devenport household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Oct 2011); citing National Archive microfilm publication M593, roll 1130.

David Leroy Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties 1663-1943 (Raleigh : Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 1987), 67.

1880 U.S. census, Clay County, North Carolina, population schedule, Shooting Creek Twp., enumeration district (ED) 64, p. 457(D) (stamped), dwelling 29, family 29, Dorothy Davenport household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Oct 2011); citing National Archive microfilm publication T9, roll 958.

Bethabara, Clay County, North Carolina, “Dorothay” Davenport marker; digital image, Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/ : accessed 27 Sep 2013). Wikipedia (https://www.wikipedia.com), “John Casper Branner,” rev. 23 Apr 2018.

John Casper Branner, Casper Branner of Virginia and his Descendants (Stanford, Cal. : p.p., 1913). 

David Baker to Charles Baker, 27 January 1818, transcription by John Casper Branner 1910 of original held by Mrs. Carrie Baker of Tishomingo, Oklahoma; Baker genealogy; John Casper Branner papers, 1882-1921, Stanford University Libraries; PDF of digital images, Stanford Digital Repository (https://searchworks.stanford.edu/ : accessed 10 Aug 2018). (Emphasis added)

Milton Buildings

Milton Buildings

This 1940 photograph shows two substantial buildings in Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina, at the east end of what is known as Milton's "Commercial Row."

The two-story building to the right (beside the large tree), which no longer stands, was the home of Albert G. Ferguson (1832-1905).

The 1893 Sanborn-Perris insurance map of Milton dated 1893 shows what appears to be a one-story brick building just down the street from the frame Albert Ferguson house in this photo (to the right, but not the building the roof of which can be partially seen). In Charles B. Motley’s book, Milton, North Carolina: Sidelights of History (1976) he provides the following:

"There are two schools of thought as to the location of the Milton Branch of the North Carolina State Bank. Some are of the firm opinion that it was in the Walker home, that the State of North Carolina erected this home as a State Bank with living quarters for the banker.

"Others are just as firmly of the opinion that the State Bank was never located in the Walker home but rather on the lot of the home which was later purchased by Albert G. Ferguson, on the corner of Broad Street and Warehouse Street (Sycamore St.). It is said that Ferguson dismantled the portion that was the Milton Branch of the State of North Carolina Bank when he renovated the home.

"The writer is simply passing along opinions and shall leave it to others to determine the location of the Milton Branch of the North Carolina State Bank."

Caswell County Court System

"This year in 2016 we are celebrating the beginning of the unified court system," Judge Osmond Smith told the crowd that gathered in the courtroom to celebrate the anniversary. "In 2016 we also celebrate 50 years since the creation of the district court."

"The court system of North Carolina has been in existence since it became a state in 1777. Caswell County is the first county of the state," explained Smith. "It was established when we became a state in 1777. We have had a variety of courts over those years."

Smith said that there were superior courts, municipal courts, court of supports, justice of the peace courts, and others before a constitutional amendment in 1966 unified all of the courts in North Carolina. "We should be celebrated around the country because our unified court system has been adopted as a model."

"I have been a lawyer 40 of those 240 years- so has George Daniels and Mike Gentry. Lee Farmer is the senior active lawyer with about 43 years," said Smith. "We also have a lawyer that has more than 50 years- Retired District Judge, Robert R. Blackwell."

John Satterfield, the Clerk of Superior Court, then spoke on Marlene Watlington who has been with the Unified Court System for all but 10 of its 50 years. "2016 brings many things. It brings the milestone of the unified court system," said Satterfield. "Of course it brings another milestone in that Marlene Watlington, who is the Assistant Clerk of Superior Court in Caswell County, is celebrating her 40 years of service with the North Carolina Judicial System. Marlene began her career in the court system in 1976 as a judicial assistant working for Judge James Long and then in 1981 she came over to the clerk's office."

Satterfield presented Watlington with a framed letter from Chief Justice Mark Martin and the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts Marion Warren who extended their congratulations. Satterfield then gave Watlington a clock that she had chosen as her service award.

"We look forward to your continued service and all of your efforts you have made for the state of North Carolina and the citizens of Caswell County," said Satterfield.

"This isn't a retirement ceremony," laughed Smith.

"Someone told me a long time ago that if I have a job that I enjoy, I will never work a day," said Watlington. "And I have enjoyed it."

"Marlene has been here as long as the courthouse has been here," added Smith. "And while she has seniority over all of us, she also has seniority over Mr. Lee Farmer in that she started in the law office of Judge Blackwell in his practice in 1972."

"I learned as a lawyer early on, the best friend you can have in the courthouse is the clerk," continued Smith. "They are the one that can save you from falling face first into something. She and her colleagues in the clerk's office have been great friends to the court system to the lawyers the judges as they mentor us and help us through. We thank you for your service. I appreciate your service and the citizens of Caswell County and North Carolina have benefited from it."

Caswell County Extension Service Reports

1946

The Extension personnel working in the county the entire year consisted of: Miss Louise Homewood, Home Agent; J. E. Zimmerman, Farm Agent, and Miss Helen Williamson, Secretary. Helen Payne was Negro Home Agent and Dewey Williamson, Negro Farm Agent.

M. Q. Plumblee, Principal of Anderson High School, worked as Assistant agent from June 3 until August 17. Mr. Plumblee worked with the 4-H club boys.

Ralph Aldridge, former Assistant Agent, returned as Assistant Agent October 1 following his honorable discharge from the Army.

The County Agricultural Council, while not an Extension organization, was effective in coordinating the activities of different agricultural agencies workin in the county. This council met on the third Monday of each month.

Source: Narrative Report (Caswell County) - 1946. J. E. Zimmerman, County Agent

Maud Florance Gatewood Works: Catalogue Raisonné

Maud Florance Gatewood

The purpose of this article is to list all the known works of Maud Florance Gatewood (1934-2004): a Catalogue Raisonné. This initial list is in no particular order. Later we may reorganize by date, medium, etc. Click image to see a larger version. Work in progress.

1. "Idyll" (1989), acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40"

2. "Figure in a Train Car" (    ), oil on paper, 19.5" x 20.75

3. "Abstraction No. 1" (    ), gouache on paper, 15" x 22.5"

4. "Abstraction No. 2" (    ), gouache on paper, 15" x 22.5"

5. "Beach Umbrella Day" (    ), watercolor on paper, 28.5" x 22.5"

North Carolina Clerks of Court Confusion

Caswell County History

For much of its judicial history, North Carolina counties had two "Clerks" -- a Clerk of the Superior Court and a Clerk of the County Courts. Over the years this has caused confusion. Even local historian M. Q. Plumblee conflated these positions.

Example: In 1841, Major John K. Graves was elected Clerk of the Superior Court, and Abisha Slade was elected Clerk of the County Courts. Slade, a Democrat, defeated long-serving Paul Anderson, a Whig. 

Today, there are no county courts.

Jeems Goslin

Jeems Goslin is the pseudonym used by Thomas Satterwhite Harrison (1842-1927).

Thomas Satterwhite Harrison (see photograph), buried in family cemetery on Ralph Harrison property, Old Blanch Road. Father Samuel Satterwhite Harrison, mother Louisa M. McDaniel. Source - family bible in possession of EDD, Jr. Obituary states that TSH was a veteran of Confederacy. "Possessing a most wonderful memory and writing with a facile pen, Mr. Harrison has contributed richly to the historic life of Caswell. Under the pen name of Jeems Goslin, J.P., Mr. Harrison's writings were widely read with the keenest pleasure."
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Ann of the Ku Klux Klan, Tom Henderson (1942)  at 9-10:

[Henderson attributed the following to George A. Anderson]

It was then that Governor Holden sent for Squire Thomas Satterwhite Harrison, a white Republican of high honor, who then represented Caswell in the legislature and said to him: "Mister Harrison, you enjoy the respect of all the Negros of Caswell and of the best of her white citizenship. Property is in jeopardy there and human life is unsafe. I need a personal representative on the grounds. Will you accept this responsible position?"

"Governor," replied Tom Harrison, "I thank you for your complimentary remarks, but I'm not hankering for the job and cannot accept."

"Can you not, then," continued the Governor, "recommend to me some man of our party in Caswell who is worth of my trust?"

"Governor," answered Tom Harrison, "there happens to be in Raleigh at this moment one John Marshal Wooding, from Milton. He is a courageous gentleman, a daring horseman and an unbeatable poker player. He might consent to serve you."

Governor Holden requested Tom Harrison to get in touch with Wooding, and have him come to the executive's office. This was quickly accomplished.

"Mister Wooding," opened up Governor Holden, after introductions, "you have been highly recommended to me by the Honorable Mister Harrison. Will you accept the responsible appointment of my personal representative in Caswell? You will have the backing of your Governor, the State Militia and President Ulysses S. Grant."

"I thank you, Governor," said the Milton man, "but I can't accept the appointment."

Then, showing considerable perturbment, Governor Holden gruffly demanded: "Why not?"

"Well, Governor," replied John Marshal Wooding, "you see, it's this way. You and the State Militia will be in Raleigh, President Grant will be in Washington, and I'll be in hell with my throat cut."

Milton Whiskey Manufacture: 1905

Milton Affected by 1905 NC Law

In 1903, at the urging of a newly organized Anti-Saloon League, the Democratic-controlled legislature passed the Watts Act, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of spirituous liquors except in incorporated towns. According to historians Hugh T. Lefler and Albert Ray Newsome, the law was designed "to get rid of the county distilleries," which Democratic Party leader Furnifold M. Simmons called "Republican recruiting stations."

In 1905 the Ward Law extended Prohibition to incorporated towns of fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, meaning that 68 of the 98 counties in the state had Prohibition.

Source: Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.

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Milton Whiskey Manufacture: 1905

When the Ward bill was being considered by the North Carolina legislature, one newspaper printed the following: "The Ward bill will affect a large majority of the little so-called 'towns,' incorporated by the last General Assembly after the enactment of the Watts law. Milton, in Caswell County, and Shore and Williams, in Yadkin County, are notorious examples of small towns manufacturing whiskey which will be affected by the bill."

Statesville Record And Landmark (Statesville, North Carolina), Friday, February 03, 1905.

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Query whether the above newspaper item is correct with respect to the incorporation of Milton.

Tragedy in Caswell County: 1904

 Tragedy in Caswell County: 1904

Green [Berry] Evans was shot and killed by Tom Rice in Caswell County last night. Evans is about 45 years of age, and is survived by a wife and several children and Rice is a young man about 20 years old. The men quarreled over a crop of tobacco, Rice resorting to drastic measures. The homicide created much excitement -- large crowds from the neighboring section visiting the scene of the tragedy today. Rice immediately surrendered himself to the county authorities. Both men are well known and highly respected in Caswell, and the tragedy is generally regretted.

The Weekly High Point Enterprise (High Point, North Carolina), 6 September 1904.

Baseball, BBQ, and Politics in Caswell County: 1904

 Baseball, BBQ, and Politics in Caswell County: 1904

Saturday will be a notable day at Bayne's Store, Caswell County. There will be a free dinner and barbecue; a reunion of Confederate Veterans to be addressed by General Julian S. Carr; a baseball game between Corbett and Stony Creek teams. Prof. W. T. Whitsett will deliver an address on education; and political addresses will be made by Hon. Robert. B. Glenn, North Carolina's greatest orator and our next Governor, and by Hon. H. A. Foushee, "the silver-tongue speaker of Durham," and by the county candidates.

The day will begin with the baseball match game at 8:30 a.m. The great meetings of the day are under the management of a committee composed of Dr. J. Alex. Pinnix, chairman; George Anderson, secretary; and Julius Johnson [Johnston].

The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 27 September 1904.

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Dr. John Alexander Pinnix, M.D. (1846-1931)

George Andrew Anderson (1869-1945)

Julius Johnston (1856-1914)

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Julian Shakespeare Carr (October 12, 1845 – April 29, 1924) was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and white supremacist. He is the namesake of the town of Carrboro, North Carolina.

Julian Carr played an essential role in bolstering white supremacy in North Carolina during the era of Jim Crow. He publicly endorsed the Ku Klux Klan, opposed the 15th Amendment (1870) giving the vote to African-American men, and promoted racial unrest and turmoil in the late 19th century to defeat an interracial "Fusion" political party.

Carr promoted his racial views through the News & Observer newspaper, which he bought, setting up white supremacist Josephus Daniels as its editor. He celebrated the Wilmington Massacre of 1898, in which an elected government was overthrown by force (the only such incident in American history), and where at least 60 black North Carolinians were murdered. In numerous speeches, he suggested that African Americans were better off enslaved and celebrated violence, even lynching, against black citizens.

Source: Wikipedia

Milton Whiskey Tax Woes Continue: 1904

 Milton Whiskey Tax Woes Continue: 1904

"The amount of the frauds on the Government at Milton, Caswell County, by a rectifier [distiller] in collusion with internal revenue officials, grows daily. At first they amounted to a few thousand dollars, last week [Internal Revenue Agent] Mr. Bouldin estimated them to be $30,000, and now the Greensboro Patriot estimates that they will aggregate $100,000."

The Progressive Farmer (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), 26 April 1904.

Caswell County, North Carolina Marriage Bonds: 1778-1868

Caswell County, North Carolina Marriage Bonds: 1778-1868

Compiled by Katharine Kerr Kendall (1981; reprinted 1990) Introduction

In 1741, North Carolina enacted a law requiring a prospective groom and his bondsman to post a bond with the Clerk of the Court certifying there was no legal impediment to the marriage.* This remained law until 1868 when a new North Carolina constitution changed the marriage laws. The Caswell County marriage bonds are in the custody of the North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. Although Caswell County began its history in 1777, the first extant bonds are dated 1778.

The bonds are filed in boxes. In the 1930s they were alphabetized by the staff of the Archives who soon found it necessary to prepare a card file of the bonds in order to preserve the originals. The Genealogical Society of Utah typed the first index and prepared a cross index to brides. One copy of this is at the State Archives, and a second copy at the Caswell County Courthouse, Yanceyville. I am grateful to the State Archives for allowing me to update its copy. Not all the marriage bonds remain. 

The 5,700 bonds of Caswell County in this compilation include fifty-nine bonds that had been filed erroneously with bonds of Stokes County, North Carolina. In addition to brides, the index includes bondsmen, witnesses, and names other than bride and groom found on the bonds. All names on the bonds are included in this edition, but in some cases the names of county officials or issuing officers are omitted to avoid repetition.

Katharine Kerr Kendall

2814 Exeter Circle Raleigh, NC. 27608

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 * Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly 1741 

March 1741 Volume 23, Pages 158-204

An Act Concerning Marriage

Signed by GABRIEL JOHNSTON, ESQ., Governor. William Smith, President. JOHN HODGSON, Speaker

Source: Documenting the American South [https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr23-0012; accessed 7 April 2023]

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VI. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all Licences for marriages shall be issued by the Clerk of the Court of that County where the Feme shall have her usual Residence, and by his only, and in such Manner, and under such Rules and Directions, as are herein after provided; that is to say, He shall take Bond, to our Sovereign Lord the King, his Heirs and Successors, with good Securities, in the Penalty of Fifty Pounds, Proclamation Money, under Condition, That there is no lawful Cause to obstruct the Marriage for which the Licence shall be desired; And if either of the Persons intended to be married shall be under the Age of Twenty One Years, and not theretofore married, the Consent of the Parent or Guardian shall be personally given before the said Clerk, or signified under the Hand and Seal of the said Parent or Guardian, and attested by Two Witnesses; all which being done, the Clerk shall write the License and shall certify specially the said Bond:

And if the Persons in the Licence, or either of them, be under the age of Twenty One Years, he shall also certify the Consent of the Parent or Guardian of such Person so under Age. and the Manner thereof, to the first Justice of the Commission of the Peace for the County, or to such other Person as shall be thereto Commissioned by the Governor or Commander in Chief for the Time being; which premises being performed, the Justice of the Peace or other Person commissioned as aforesaid, is hereby authorized, impowered, and required, to sign and direct the said Licence; and a Licence so obtained and signed, and no other whatsoever, is declared to be a lawful Licence, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, and if any County Court Clerk shall, in any Manner, issue any Licence or Marriage, or, Contrary to this Act make any Certificate of any Licence or Marriage, and if any Person whatsoever shall sign or direct a Licence in any other Manner than is by this Act permitted and allowed; all and every Person or Persons so offending, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Fifty Pounds, Proclamation Money: to be recovered and applied as herein after is directed.

Caswell County School Books for White Students in 1901

Caswell County School Books for White Students in 1901

The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), 9 June 1901.

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W. N. Harrelson most likely is Walter Nathaniel Harrelson (1859-1933) who built and operated the store on the Yanceyville Square that became "Watlington's."

R. L. Mitchell most likely is Robert Lee Mitchell (1866-1935) who served as Clerk of Court and President of the Bank of Yanceyville (eventually training a young Samuel Murphey Bason (1894-1986)).

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Click image to see a larger version.

Keynote Speaker at 2023 Caswell County Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet: Simon Jones

 Keynote Speaker at Caswell County Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet: Simon Jones

The keynote address topic was tourism in rural communities. Speaker Simon Jones advised:

"Determining what are the key selling points of each community and what are unique stories tied to specific areas is very important to setting up a good way to design your tourism package. Igniting visitors' imaginations and curiosity is critical!

"Stories, legends, history, cultures, specific foods, that's what people tell friends and get excited about.

"Why would someone want to come here?"

That is the question he is attempting to determine for Caswell County to make it more attractive to tourism, which will result in more money being spent at local stores.

The Caswell Messenger (Yanceyville, NC) 29 March 2023.

Photograph courtesy The Caswell Messenger.

Caswell County, North Carolina, Tobacco History: Collectivism Among Buyers, Sellers, and Manufacturers

Caswell County, North Carolina, Tobacco History

Over the years Caswell County tobacco farmers had to deal with tobacco warehouse trusts, experimented with collectivism, and saw manufacturer trusts control the end product. Here we will explore part of that history.

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Tobacco Warehouse Trust (said to have been formed in Danville, Va., comprising eight warehouses. Common Stock: $1,000,000. Source: Chicago Daily News Almanac For 1900, p. 74.

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"Yanceyville News: The farmers of Caswell County had an anti-trust meeting in the court house in Yanceyville on Monday, the 3rd day of July [1899]. Mr. T. H. McCrary was called to the chair and Mr. R. S. Mitchell was elected secretary. Mr. Thos. L. Lea made a motion that the chair appoint three committeemen to draw up resolutions against the warehouse trust, which is about to be formed in Danville, Va. D. Y. Mebane, Monroe Oliver and John B. Worsham were named as the committee."

The Semi-Weekly Messenger (Wilmington, North Carolina), 28 July 1899.

Names Mentioned

1. T. H. McCrary is Thomas Hinton McCrary (1867-1958).

2. R. S. Mitchell may be Robert S. Mitchell (born c.1845) - Confederate soldier; served in North Carolina Senate.

3. Thos. L. Lea may be Thomas Lewis Lea, Jr. (1847-1905.

4. D. Y. Mebane most likely is  DeBerniere Yancey Mebane (1848-1938).

5. Monroe Oliver (1832-1909)

6. John B. Worsham most likely is John Blackwell Worsham (1852-1941).

Here are the resolutions drafted by the committee:

"Whereas, at a called meeting of the farmers of Caswell County for the purpose of entering into ways and means to retard or hinder a trust upon the warehouses in Danville, as we believe for the damage and injury of the farmers in all adjacent counties of Danville which deal and trade therein, we do therefore

"Resolve 1st. That we will use our influence with the farmers of Caswell and adjoining counties not to sell their tobacco at any warehouse controlled by the trust.

"2nd. That we ask the adjoining counties to co-operate with us in opposition to this great trust which is being formed in the town of Danville to further oppress the down-trodden farmers, and that we may speedily have district meetings in regard to this matter that all the farmers may cooperate in said matter."

Source: The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, North Carolina), 27 July 1899.

Caswell County Constable

 

Caswell County Constable

North Carolina Statutes
Chapter 151.

Constables.

§§ 151-1 through 151-8. Repealed by Session Laws 1969, c. 1190, s. 57.

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In the mid-nineteenth century, the North Carolina General Assembly (the state legislature) revised the laws regarding municipalities. Under an act passed in 1855, all municipalities were given the same powers. They could tax real estate, liquor dealers, tickets to shows, dogs, and freely roaming hogs, horses, and cattle. They could appoint a town constable, regulate public markets, prevent public nuisances, protect public health, keep streets and bridges in repair, and regulate the quality and weight of loaves of bread baked for sale. As time passed, the General Assembly took away some authority and gave additional authority to individual municipalities and groups of municipalities. As a result, each North Carolina municipality may now have a somewhat different set of powers and responsibilities.

Image: Caswell County Constable badge offered 28 March 2023 on EBay with a minimum starting bid of $200. 

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North Carolina Constitution of 1776 (“there shall be a Sheriff, Coroner, or Coroners, and Constable, in each County in this State”).

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Independence brought little change in local government in North Carolina. Under the Halifax constitution of 1776 the county court continued to exercise both judicial and administrative functions. The Justices of the Peace were commissioned by the governor on recommendation of the general assembly. "The constitution provided that there should be in each county a sheriff, coroner or coroners, and constables, but it did not specify how they should be chosen. At first they were appointed by the county court, but later the sheriffs were elected by the voters of the county and the constables by the voters in a smaller division known as a captain's district . . . . The court appointed a clerk, a register, a county attorney, a county trustee (equivalent to treasurer), inspectors of tobacco and other products, rangers for estrays, entrytaker and surveyor, overseers of the roads, standard-keeper, and seven freeholders as overseers of the poor."

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Possible Caswell County Constables

Sam Hamlett

Edward Vernon, Sr

Linwood Harold Hamlett

John Graves Yancey

Peter Hairston Williamson

James H. Owens

Ambrose Arnold

John C. Totten

Milton Spencer Pinnix

James Barker

William Brown Swann

James Pattillo

Benny McKinney

Snake Ashby

Tom Buck

Ben Blaylock

Melvin Cobb

Carlton Reagan

Ben Rowland

William A. Langley

Teddy Willis

Philman W. Walker, Jr.

Oscar Akles (Slim) Worsham (1905-1986)

Representative Thomas Settle III and Maurice Nathaniel Corbett 1896

 "Mr. W. E. Christian, the versatile correspondent of the Raleigh News and Observer, has taken our young Congressman under his special care and is watching over him with the fidelity of a fond parent. Mr. Christian declares most emphatically that Settle has appointed a Caswell County negro named Corbett his private secretary. Mr. Settle declares there is 'nothing in it' (the report) but Mr. Christian offers to prove it by sworn testimony. All of which is of some interest to Mr. Settle's 20,000 constituents."

The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, NC), 7 February 1896.

Thomas Settle III (10 Mar. 1865–20 Jan. 1919) was born in Rockingham County, educated at Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., passed the bar in 1885, and began practicing law in Wentworth. He was solicitor of the Seventh Judicial District (1886–94), a Republican congressman for two terms (1893–97), and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1912. He later resided in Asheville but was buried in Wilmington, the home of his wife, Eliza Potter.

Source: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, William S. Powell, Editor. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press (1994).

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Maurice Nathaniel Corbett (1859-1931) [see photograph]

The schism in the Afro-American community reflected both the rifts among white Republicans and the philosophical differences among Negro leaders. In general these leaders were professional men or tradesmen who belonged to the black middle class and took an active role in black social organizations. In varying degrees they displayed a sense of race pride. During the campaign of 1892, Maurice N. Corbett, a black politician from Caswell County, explained to Thomas Settle that the Negro community could no longer afford to support candidates opposed to "Afro American political equality." Blacks could not quietly follow the GOP when their "brethren" were being lynched with "no howl against it. . . . We have followed blindly the leadership of Mott and Judge Russell," complained Corbett, "and now we find them the worst enemies the negro has had in the state, having used their utmost influence against the appointment of any colored men . . . to positions in the state."

This was in a July 22, 1892 letter from Corbett to Settle.

Source: Crow, Jeffrey J. and Durden, Robert Franklin. Maverick Republican in the Old North State: A Political Biography of Daniel L. Russell. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1977.

Re-Union of Confederate Veterans in 1895

 Re-Union of Confederate Veterans [1895]

"All the Confederate Veterans who enlisted in the various companies in Caswell County, all resident Veterans irrespective of command, are requested to go into camp with one day's rations at Harrison's church on Monday and Tuesday, July 29th and 30th, 1895. We go into camp Monday at noon and break camp Tuesday afternoon. Everybody, ladies especially, invited to come and bring rations and have a 'good old time.'"

H. S. Thaxton, Com. of Confederate Veteran Asso., of Caswell County

Geo. M. Burton, Secretary

The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, North Carolina), Friday, July 26, 1895.

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H. S. Thaxton most likely is Henry Speck Thaxton (1834-1919).

Geo. M. Burton most likely is George Moses Burton (1845-1909).

__________

Purley United Methodist Church, a little more than a mile south of the old Harrison's Meeting House, is a direct outgrowth of the meeting house.

Plug Tobacco in North Carolina

Plug Tobacco in North Carolina

"As a professor of history, I do not know where subscribers got the idea that in the 19th Century there was no difference between chewing and smoking tobacco. It is true that some late 19th Century tobacco manufacturers sold their smoking tobacco in small cans that were marked "For smoking or chewing" but these were not really considered chewing tobaccos by the average person. They were just an "emergency" source. Plug tobaccos were always intended solely for chewing and the process to make them goes back to the 1500's. The Days O Work brand is one of the oldest brands of plug tobacco, having its origin in the 1700's. Plugs were intended to fit in a man's vest pocket and were consumed by Eastern gentlemen cutting off a small piece at a time with a tiny tobacco knife. Pioneers carried the tradition westward where the common pocket knife took the place of the specialty pocket knife. The inner tobacco has always been Grade B but included smaller leaf stems, while the outer wrapper (described as paper here) was made from the finest cigar wrapper leaf. Original manufacture was by stacking leaves in a door sized form and covering it with a flat board. Weights were then added to press the tobacco over several weeks time, where it could then be cut into plugs with a roller knife before wrapping in the finer grade leaf. Today they use hydraulic pressing to speed up production but the remainder of the process remains the same as in the 1700's."

Source: Tobacco Reviews  [accessed 12 March 2023].

__________

Plug tobacco is made up of tobacco leaves that have been pressed together and bound by some type of sweetener, resulting in a dense, square tobacco mass. (Some compare the look of plug tobacco to a brownie or similar pastry.) One can then bite directly from the mass or slice the tobacco into portions. Some types of plug may either be chewed or smoked in a tobacco pipe, and some are exclusive to one method of consumption or the other.

Plug tobacco was once a much more common product, available to many American consumers during the 19th century. Two tobacco companies that historically manufactured plug are Liggett and Lorillard. (The latter was known for its Climax brand of plug.)

Modern brands of chewing plug include "rustic" and simple packaging, as is the case with popular plugs like Apple Sun Cured, Brown's Mule, Cannon Ball, Cup, Days Work, and Days O Work. Some well-known loose leaf chewing tobacco brands, such as Red Man and Levi Garrett, have their own versions of plug tobacco, as well.

Source: Public Encyclopedia  [accessed 12 March 2023].

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"Outside Intervention in Monopolistic Price Warfare: The Case of the 'Plug War' and the Union Tobacco Company" by Malcolm R. Burns in The Business History Review, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Spring, 1982), pp. 33-53 (23 pages). https://www.jstor.org/stable/3114974 [accessed 12 March 2023].

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Workers making plug tobacco (chewing tobacco) in a Winston, North Carolina tobacco factory. Several men in suits observe. Boxes, possibly finished product, are stacked on both sides of the room. Reproduced from: Heimann, Robert K. “Tobacco and Americans.” New York : McGraw-Hill, 1960. 173. Date of photograph: 1880-1910. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/945# [accessed 12 March 2023]; https://library.ecu.edu/specialcollections/2007/08/10/storm-center-of-plug-tobacco/ [accessed 12 March 2023].

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Chewing Tobacco [accessed 12 March 2023].

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Reynolda  [accessed 12 March 2023].

__________

R. J. Reynolds 1850-1918  [accessed 12 March 2023]. In the late 1880s he added saccharine to plug chewing tobacco.

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Chewing Tobacco  [accessed 12 March 2023].

__________

Plug Tobacco Mill Patent Application  [accessed 12 March 2023].

__________

Plug Tobacco Cutter Patent Application  [accessed 12 March 2023].

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Plug Tobacco Press Patent Application  [accessed 12 March 2023].

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North Carolina Tobacco Factories Pre-1865 

There were 97 tobacco factories in North Carolina reported in the 1860 Census, with $646,730 in invested capital, and producing $1,117,099 in goods annually. These companies employed 1,461 people. The total number of firms include one cigar manufacturer in Forsyth County, and two stemmery operations in Person County.

In 1860, tobacco manufacturers were located in the following counties: Alamance (4), Burke (2), Caswell (11), Chatham (1), Davie (3), Forsyth (2), Granville (16), Iredell (3), McDowell (1), Orange (2), Person (2), Rockingham (25), Rowan (1), Stokes (17), Surry (5), Wilkes (1) and Yadkin (1).

Source: North Carolina History  [accessed 12 March 2023].

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Glass, Brent, Editor. North Carolina, An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites [North Carolina] (1975). Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, Historic American Engineering Record.

North Carolina Governor William Woods Holden Impeachment 1870-1871

 North Carolina History: Governor Impeached and Convicted

In 1870, Republican North Carolina Governor William Woods Holden (1818-1892) was impeached by the North Carolina House of Representatives. In his 1871 trial in the North Carolina Senate he was convicted and removed from office.

While the proceedings generally were partisan, he was not convicted by a strict party-line vote. A few Democrats voted not guilty on one article of impeachment [Article 1], and a few Republicans voted guilty on other articles of impeachment [Articles 5 and 6].

At the time, the North Carolina Senate was comprised of 50 senators. During the Holden impeachment proceedings one senator was absent (Republican Jesse Blythe from Northampton County). A two-thirds majority was required to convict (33 senators).

Here are the eight articles of impeachment and the vote:

1. Unlawfully, wickedly, corruptly and falsely proclaimed and declared the county of Alamance to be in a state in insurrection. [30/19: not guilty]

2. Unlawfully, wickedly, corruptly and falsely proclaimed and declared the county of Caswell to be in a state in insurrection. [32/17: not guilty]

3. Unlawfully ordered and procured the arrest of Josiah Turner of Orange County. [37/12: guilty]

4. Unlawfully ordered and procured the arrest of John Kerr and other citizens of Caswell County. [33/16: guilty]

5. Unlawfully sent an armed force [Kirk's troops] to Alamance County and there arrested A. G. Moore, and refused to obey a writ of habeas corpus issued on Moore's behalf. [40/9: guilty]

6. Unlawfully sent an armed force [Kirk's troops] to Caswell County and there arrested John Kerr and others, and refused to obey a writ of habeas corpus issued on their behalf. [41/8: guilty]

7. Unlawfully recruited an armed force [Kirk's troops] and ordered the State Treasurer to pay $70,000 for the services of this army. [36/13:guilty]

8. Unlawfully disregarded and disobeyed a writ of injunction issued by Judge Anderson Mitchell forbidding the payment of any money out of the State Treasury for Kirk's army. [36/13:guilty]

Deposed and removed from office and forever disqualified from holding office under the State of North Carolina. [36/13: removed from office]

Had Republican Senator Blythe been present and voted along party lines, it is likely that Holden would have been found not guilty of Article 4 involving Caswell County. However, had the other votes remained the same his absence would not have affected the overall outcome.

Milton Baptist and Methodist Churches

 For the Advocate, Looking Backward by Rev. E. L. Perkins, M.D. [1891] *

"Fifty years ago (Oct. 9th, 1841), I preached my first sermon, in a new brick church in the town of Milton, in Caswell County, N.C. The church was afterward sold under a mortgage, and went into the hands of the Baptist denomination. My text was Luke IV-18. 'The spirit of the Lord is upon me, etc.'

"Wm. Anderson, who had charge of the Caswell circuit that year, was in the pulpit with me. Since then the changes which have taken place, both in church and state, have been very great.". . . .

"The church too has had its changes. In 1841 there were five bishops serving the undivided church, North and South. . . .

"Numbers who were school boys when I preached my first sermon have entered the Conference, finished their course, and are resting from their labors. Of such I can call to mind Numa F. Reid . . . .

"The N. C. Methodists had no college previous to 1841. The Greensboro Female College [now Greensboro College] was beginning to be talked about, and James Reid and S. S. Bryant were putting forth their energies to work up a sentiment in favor of the movement.

"Trinity College [now Duke University] was unknown; I think a log school house occupied the ground where Trinity was afterward built. All that has been done by the Conference in the way of college building has been done since the time of which I write."

Raleigh Christian Advocate (Raleigh, NC), 7 October 1891.

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* Dr. Edgar Laurens Perkins, M.D. (1818-1895).

Photograph of the Milton Baptist Church [Meeting House] is not associated with the newspaper article.