Fourth Generation Inclusive

Historical Documents of Genealogical Interest to Researchers of North Carolina's Free People of Color

Category: Property

Two tracts on Mumford Street.

Washington Winn to Lewis W. Levy.

This Indenture made this 15th day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand eight hundred and Fifty three between Washington Winn of the County of Wayne in the State of North Carolina of the one part and Lewis W. Levy of the County of Cumberland and State abovesaid of the other part. Witnesseth, that the said Washington Wynn for and in consideration of the sum of twelve hundred Dollars to him in hand paid by the said Lewis W. Levy at and before the sealing and delivering of these presents the receipt whereof he doth hereby acknowledge hath given, granted and bargained, Sold, aliened, remised, released, and confirmed, and doth by these presents, give, grant, bargain and sell, alien, remise, release, and confirm unto the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs & assigns all that tract or parcel of land, situate lying and being in the Town of Fayetteville in the South Side of Mumford Street and Beginning at the North East corner in the margin of Said Street and runs as the said Street about South 70 East to within three feet of Sampsons North West corner in said Street. Thence parallel with said line of Sampsons Lot to within three feet of Sampsons back on South West corner. Thence to a stake within about eight feet of the said Phillis Dennis South East corner of her back lot.  Thence to her corner, thence with her line to the beginning corner on the margin of Mumford Street. It being a lot of land Sold by Thomas J. Curtis to Phillis Dennis 13th Novr 1840 & registered in Book V, No. 2, page 475. Also one other tract of land Beginning at the intersection of Mumford and Robinson Streets on the South side of Mumford Street and runs thence South [illegible] East one chain and (50) fifty two links. Then South [illegible] West two chains & Sixty links to the corner of Lot No. 5. Thence North Seven and half degrees West one chain eighty four links to Robinson Street. Thence at Robinsons Street two chains to the Beginning. Being Lot No. 1 conveyed by Isaac Newberry to Phillis Dennis & Registered in Book K [illegible] 2, page 199. To Have and to Hold the said Land with its appurtenances to the proper use, behoof and benefit of the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs and assigns forever. And the said Washington Wynn for himself and his Heirs, Executors and Administrators doth covenant, promise and agree to and with the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs and assigns, that he the said Lewis W. Levy his heirs and assigns and every of them, shall have hold, occupy, possess and enjoy the said Land, with its appurtenances, without any let, suit, hindrance, molestation or eviction from or by the lawful claim or claims of any person or persons whatsoever, to warrant and forever defend. In testimony Whereof, the said Washington Wynn hath hereunto Set his hand affixed his seal, the day and year first above written.  Washington Winn

Sealed and Delivered in Presence of James Banks

State of North Carolina, Cumberland County  } April 18th 1854

Then was this Deed proved before me John McLaurin

Grantee Book 51, p. 542, Register of Deeds Office, Cumberland County Courthouse, Fayettevllle.

The Winns of Mount Olive.

On March 20, 1838 the county records show that in consideration of the sum of $19.00, Adam Winn deeded the railroad a right-of-way through his lands. In November, 1837 and again in February of 1838 the President and Directors of the railroad had appealed to the Wayne County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions to force Winn to sell them a right-of-way. At that point the railroad was getting near the county line. Winn sold in 1838. It is believed that  Winn’s land lies along present day Center Street.

The 1838 deed to the railroad stated that the adjoining lands to the north belonged to Basil Kornegay, a rich Duplin County planter, member of the state House of Commons in 1814, and brother-in-law of William Rufus King, Vice-President under Franklin Pearce. The adjoining land of Winn’s was owned by Charles Winn, who was a member of his family.

With Winn’s lands on the south, and Flowers’ and Slocumb’s on the north, the railroad had a clear right-of-way to Dudley. The railroad track begins at Wilmington, curves at Faison, and then runs in an almost direct line to Weldon. When it was finished in 1840, with 161 miles of track, it was the longest railroad in the world.

Charles and Levi Winn were both blacksmiths, a vital service in a community which moved almost entirely on hoof. Adam Greenfield, Samuel Parker, George Simmons, Henry Coleman, Edward Griffin and Branson Merritt were coopers. A cooper is a man who makes and repairs barrels. Eastern North Carolina had long been famous for its tar and pitch, commonly called “naval stores.”

The Winn Family

The Winn family is one of the most interesting in the area. In 1836 Ginny Winn purchased a hundred acres of land from Ezekiel Norris in the lower part of Wayne. This is the first land transaction by Winns in Wayne County, though John Kornegay of Duplin County deeded Adam Winn, also of Duplin, land on the northeast “precosin” (swamp) on September 18, 1834. This land ran into Wayne County at one point near present-day Mount Olive.

In the 1850 census the Winn family is listed as “mulatto”, but in the 1860 census they were listed as “black”. The Winn family were free blacks from Duplin County who had received their freedom prior to 1834. The Artis, Simmons and Greenfield families of Mount Olive were also free blacks, according to the1860 census.

Adam Winn was himself a slave owner, for in April 1849 he borrowed money from Benjamin Oliver of Duplin, and put up three slaves, Bethana, Martha and Oliver, as security, along with 133 acres of land. The Winns did business with the most prominent and respected white families, and through the years have generally been considered the most outstanding family of their race in the area. They have produced farmers, school teachers and tradesmen and have been leaders in the black community of Mount Olive. Adam Winn who was also one of the first magistrates of Mount Olive, had sons, William, Charles and Levi. Charles and Levi were blacksmiths, the first to be located in the village of Mount Olive. Levi Winn owned land west of the railroad which was later purchased by Dr. Roberts, and transferred in 1854 to William W. Loftin and Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cobb. William and Charles Winn also owned land in the Mount Olive area.

Extracted from John Baxton Flowers III, “Early History of Mount Olive,” Mount Olive Tribune, 7 September 1979, posted in http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/wayne/history/other/earlyhis8ms.txt

Polly is to have the crop raised on the land.

State of North Carolina, Duplin County }

In the name of God amen

I Kenan Millard being in a low state of health but of sound and perfect mind & memory do make publish & declare this my last will & testiment in manner and form following to wit: Knowing that it is appointed for all men to die First I commend my body to the dust and my soul to God that gave it

Item 1st I give and bequeath unto my brother Isaac Millard my home plantation whereon I now live to him and his heirs forever and my two negro women Phillis and Caty to him & his heirs forever

Item 2nd I loan to my brother in law Joseph Williams and his wife Nancy my Charles Bennett land for the term of ten years and after that ten years shall expire from that time I give and bequeath the aforesaid land to my nephew Kenan Williams to him & his heirs forever also one leather trunk to him & his heirs forever

Item 3rd I give and bequeath unto my nephew Jesse Millard my George Reasons tract of land lying in Wayne County & State aforesaid to him & his heirs forever

Item 4th My will and desire is that my Nancy Reasons tract of land the Calvin Simmons land which he holds a bond against me for a title two years hence if he fails to pay, for the same at the end of two years and the Lydia Smith land the Nancy Reasons and Lydia Smith land to be sold by my exer. which I shall hereafter appoint and the mony arising from the sale of said land to be equally divided between my three sisters & Charles Millard to wit — Nancy Williams, Mary Glisson and Sarah Porter to them & their heirs forever the Calvin Simmons land to be sold by the same if not paid for within the two years as before mentioned and the money arising from the same to go to Sarah Porters two sons that she had of George Craddock names not recollected

My will and desire is further that my crop as it is now pitched to remain as it is untill it is made and Polly Simmons is to have the crop that is raised on the Nancy Reasons land and Bass land, all the balance of crop and stocks of all kinds to be sold at a six months credit all my lumber gathered together and inspected and negro man Moses to be sold by my exer. at six months credit and all any just debts to pay out of the same the balance & residue if any to be equally divided between my three sisters to wit — Sarah Williams Mary Glisson  Sarah Porter & Charles Millard  to share and share equal alike to them and heirs forever

I further nominate & appoint my brother Isaac Millard & brother in law Joseph Williams executors to this my last will & testament In Witness whereof the said Kenan Millard have hereunto set his hand and affixed his seal April 28th day AD 1847  /s/ Kenan Millard {seal}

Witness D. Jones, Willis Williamson

———-

North Carolina Duplin County Court January term 1848 Now in open Court the within paper writing is propounded for probate as the last will & testament of Kenan Millard and the due execution thereof is proved to the satisfaction of the Court by the oaths of Daniel Jones & Willis Williamson subscribing witnesses thereto it is considered by the Court that the within paper writing and every part thereof is the last will & testament of said Kenan Millard sufficient in law to pay his [illegible] & personal estate and it is accordingly admitted to probate & ordered to be recorded Test J H Jermans Clk by B F Grady L Clk

Valuable property.

VALUABLE REAL ESTATE AT AUCTION.

The following valuable property will be sold on SATURDAY, 9th of MAY, at Eleven o’clock, at the Market House in Fayetteville: …

Dwelling House on North side of ____ Street, joins Abel Payne.

Fayetteville Observer, 11 May 1863.

Napoleon Hagans house.

ImageNapoleon Hagans (1840-1896) built this house near the south bank of Aycock Swamp, near Fremont in northern Wayne County, between 1870 and 1885. “The house, a single-pile center-hall-plan dwelling, has retained much of its charming original hip-roofed front porch, now supported by replacement square columns. Windows are surmounted by moulded peaked arch surrounds. … One original single-shouldered exterior end chimney was plastered; the other was replaced by a concrete-block flue. …” A stone monument marking the graves of Napoleon and his wife Apsilla Ward Hagans stands in a cornfield about one hundred yards west of the house.

Detail from J. Daniel Pezzoni and Penne Smith, Glimpses of Wayne County, North Carolina: An Architectural History (1998).

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2010.

How Napoleon recouped.

In the 1850 census of the North Side of Neuse, Wayne County: Aaron Seaberry, 32, farmhand, wife Louisa [Eliza], Napoleon, Frances and Celia Seaberry.

On 18 Jan 1860, in Wayne County, Bryan Minshew sold Eliza Seaberry a certain parcel of land for $109.37, beginning at a stake “in the run of a small branch in the new road and runs with the run of the same to a small whortleberry” then to the stake, measuring 3 1/2 acres.  The parcel was conveyed in the presence of James M. Gardner and Martin Sauls, but the deed, found at Book 27, page 255, was not registered until 1862.

On 13 Feb 1867, Aaron Seaberry filed a mortgage deed conveying to Napoleon Hagins [his stepson, see above] a “tract of land lately conveyed by Bryant Minshew to Louisa Seabery, wife of Aaron, all interest therein, also one grey mare, four head of cattle, nine head of hogs, all household and kitchen furniture … and 12 barrels of corn, about one thousand two hundred pounds of fodder & about nine hundred pounds of pork, one wagon & cart,and all the farming implements of every description of the said Aaron Seaberry” for $500.  “The condition of this deed is such that whereas, the said Aaron Seaberry is justly endebted to the said Napoleon Hagins in the sum of one hundred & seventy dollars with interest from the first of February 1866, money paid by the said Hagins to William J. Exum for the said Seaberry and at his request and also the sum of two hundred dollars, loaned by the said Hagins to the said Seaberry, the precise date whereof is not remembered, but which the said Seaberry thinks was about eighteen months prior to the date hereof, and whereas the said Seaberry is justly indebted to the said William J. Exum as agent for J.M. Caho in the sum of thirty six dollars & twenty some cents, with interest from 1st January 1861 due by open account & also in the sum of sixty one dollars and thirty eight cents, due by note, the date of whereof is not now remembered by the said Seaberry, but supposed to have been given about two years ago…”  The deed carried a condition that Hagans sell the conveyed property to pay off Seaberry’s debts, with the balance to be paid to Seaberry.

 Federal population schedule; Deeds, Register of Deeds Office, Wayne County.