John Chavers filed claim #17736 with the Southern Claims Commission. Chavers, age 72, a farmer, lived in Richmond County near Rockingham. He was born in Brunswick County. The Union took a mule, corn, bacon and tobacco from him in 1865.
Harrett Jacobs, age about 30, corroborated the theft of Chavers’ property.
Allowed: $145.00.
A CASE OF KIDNAPPING. – A few weeks ago there came to Smithville, in Brunswick county, from Moore county, three white men, whose names are Alex. McLeod, Joseph Crawley, and _____ Crawley, bringing with them a free, bright mulatto woman, named Katy Chavers, and her three children, the oldest not being over five years of age. The woman was brought there, as she said, for the pretended purpose of keeping house for the man. Shortly after their arrival, the men managed to get the woman drunk, and whilst she was in that state, they took the three children and put off with them for Charleston, on board one of the Steamers. At Charleston they were arrested, having remained there until the Steamer hence of the next day carried on the intelligence of their villainy. They got clear from the arrest, however (in what way we never understood.) when Joseph Crawley took the children and went on by the way of the Rail Road to Augusta. Arriving there, he was confronted with a hand-bill of particulars which had been dispatched South by a gentleman of Smithville immediately upon the men’s leaving there with the children. He was placed in jail at Augusta, and now awaits the requisition of the Governor of this State, which will be made doubtless as soon as the Grand Jury of Brunswick shall return a bill of indictment. There will be no Court in Brunswick until the first Monday in June. The woman was sent from Smithville to Augusta, to rejoin her children, who had been kindly taken care of there. Wil. Chronicle
Carolina Watchman, 14 May 1847. NC Newspaper Digitization Project, North Carolina State Archives Historic Newspaper Archive.
Jared Peavey v. William A. Robbins et al., 48 NC 339 (1856).
Election inspectors refused to receive a vote from Jared Peavey. At trial in Brunswick Superior Court, Peavey called a witness who testified that Peavey’s mother and grandmother were white women, that his father was a dark colored man with straight hair, and his grandfather was a red-faced mulatto with dark straight hair. The judge charged the jury that, if Peavey’s grandfather “was half and half, that is, half white and half black,” then Peavey was “within the fourth degree,” i.e. within four generations of a black ancestor, and could not prevail. Moreover, election inspectors are, under the law, the exclusive judges of voter qualifications and, no corruption being charged here, were not responsible for mere error in judgment.
Jerod Peavy, 20, and wife Elizabeth, 18, appear in the 1850 census of Brunswick County. Both are described as mulatto.
ADAMS, ALLEN, ARCHY, BAKER, BARK, BELL, BOWEN, BROWN, CHAVIS, COMBY[CUMBO], DAVIS, FREEMAN, HANKINS, HAYS, HOOPER, JACOBS, JONES, JORDAN, LAMBERT, LAW, LLOYD, McQUILLEN, MOORE, NEAL, PATRICK, PHILLIPS, RANSOM, SHADE, SKIPPER, SMITH, SWAIN, WEBB, and YOUNG.
Fourth Generation Inclusive 