carpenter | Fourth Generation Inclusive

June 10, 2013

An apprentice to the house carpenter’s trade.

“Samuel Lemly (ca. 1790-1848) was a master carpenter, contractor, and planter in Rowan County, North Carolina who was responsible for several building projects in the western piedmont including a major bridge over the South Yadkin River (1825) and the first eight buildings at Davidson College (1836-1838). His career as a master builder in North Carolina covered the period from the 1810s through the 1830s, after which he moved to Mississippi, where he died and was buried in Jackson.

…

“Records suggest that Lemly was at his most active as a carpenter and builder in the 1820s. In August 1819 he took William Kent, a free Negro, as apprentice to the house carpenter’s trade, and during the 1820s he apprenticed six other youths: Alfred Huie (August 1822); Anderson Cowan (July 1823); Samuel Kent, a free Negro (February 1824); David Fraley (May 1824); Jeremiah Brown (November 1825); and Joseph Hampton (November 1827). …”

As published in North Carolina Architects and Builders: A Biographical Dictionary, http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu (All rights retained.) This web site is a growing reference work that contains brief biographical accounts, building lists, and bibliographical information about architects, builders, and other artisans who planned and built North Carolina’s architecture.

Leave a comment

May 9, 2013

And rapacious, to boot.

Superior Court, Edgecombe County

Fred Philips Administrator of Wright Locust

Against

Augustus Locust, Primmy Washington, Charity Battle, Isham Locust, Harry Locust, Martha Ann Woodley, Mourning Jones, George W. Locust, Jo Anna Locust, Zaney Barnes, and Eliza Daniel.

The Petition of Fred Philips the above named Plaintiff respectfully shows

1. That on the 8^th day of October 1881 Wright Locust died intestate and on the 12^th day of October 1881 he was appointed administrator and duly qualified as such upon his estate.

2. That from the best information and knowledge which he has been able to obtain the outstanding debts of the said estate amount to about One hundred and seventy five dollars

3. That the value of the personal estate is Forty nine 46/100 dollars, and consisted of household furniture and carpenters tools which have been sold. That the sum of Forty four 25/100 dollars has been expended in paying some of preferred debts of the estate. That the intestate died seized and possessed of the real estate hereinafter described to wit “A certain piece or parcel of land situate in the town of Tarboro and County of Edgecombe and being the North Western half of the lot designated in the plan of said town as lot no 132. The said half lot being about 150 by 75 feet and containing one fourth of an acre. The same being the land the said Wright Locust resided upon at the time of his death and which was purchased by him from John Norfleet on the 1^st day of Nov. 1858, and is estimated to be worth four or five hundred dollars.

4. That the defendant Augustus Locust is a child of the said Wright Locust, and claims to be the only heir at law and entitled to all his estate after paying the debts. But your petitioner has been informed and believes that Wright Locust and Tempy his wife the Father and Mother of the said Augustus were never married until the year 1866, many years after the birth of the said Augustus and that in Law he is a bastard and he has never been legitimized.

5. That the defendant Primmy Washington claims that the illegitimate brothers & sisters of the said Wright are his only heirs at law, and at the time of the death of said Wright Locust, he had no brothers or sisters living except herself and that she is the sole heir of the said Wright, and is entitled to all his estate after paying the debts.

6. That the defendants Charity Battle, Isham Locust, Harry Locust are the children of Mourning Locust, a sister of the said Wright who died in Nash County about 26 years ago. That the defendants Martha Ann Woodley, Mourning Jones, and George W. Locust are the children of Emanuel Locust who was a child of the said Mourning and died several years ago. That the said Charity, Isham, Harry and Martha Ann, Mourning, and George W., the children of Emanuel claim that they as representatives of Mourning Locust a sister of the said intestate are entitled to a share of intestates estate after paying the debts.

7. That the defendant Jo Anna Locust is the only surviving child of one Nancy Locust who died in March 1871 and who was the only child of Uny Locust a sister of the said Wright and who died many years ago in or near Nashville NC. That the said Jo Anna Locust claims that she as representative of Uny Locust is entitled to a share of intestates estate after paying the debts.

8. That the defendants Zaney Braswell who married [blank] Barnes and Eliza Braswell who married [blank] Daniel are the only surviving children of Jenny Locust who intermarried with one Jordan Braswell and died about 50 years ago. That the Defendants Zaney and Eliza claim that they as representatives of Jenny Locust a sister of the said intestate are entitled to a share of intestates estate after paying the debts.

9. That the said Wright Locust had other brothers and sisters to wit – Smith, Clem, Patience and Moriah but they are all dead and without issue as your Petitioner has been informed and believes.

Your petitioner represents that the personal estate is wholly insufficient to pay the debts of the said intestate and the costs of administering the estate and that a sale of said land is necessary to enable him to pay the debts of his intestate and the charges of administration. To the end that the said land may be sold by your petitioner under advice of this Court on such terms as the Court may direct, and that the proceeds of the sale may constitute assets in his hands for the payment of debts and charges your petitioner prays that a summons be issued to each of the above defendants to appear and answer and how their respective claims for any surplus after paying the debts judicially determined by a decree of this Court. H.L. Staton Jr. Atty for Petr.

Algood Locust and Polly Locust, children of Mariah Locust, eventually joined the action as defendants. Documents in the file show that Wright Locust owned chickens and a pig and received rental income from unnamed sources. His debts included medical bills owed to two doctors; $1.00 owed to a druggist; $2.00 owed to Charlotte Bells for washing; $16.50 owed to Jenny Jackson and $10.50 to Hilliard Locust for nursing him in his last illness; and $3.00 to Harry Redmond for digging his grave. His town lot was sold for $585.

Augustus Locust’s Answer to the action filed by the administrator of the estate of his father, Wright Locust, included these paragraphs:

“2^nd. That he denies that he is a Bastard – because he has been informed and believes that his father, the said Wright Locust, and his mother, Tempy Jones, free persons of color, were lawfully married in Halifax County before the birth of this defendant; but at this distant period (defendant himself being now in the 57^th year of his age) is it difficult if not impossible to obtain proper evidence of said Marriage, owing to the loose and negligent manner in which the record of all marriages was kept, and the death or removal of them who might have been personal witnesses. Nor does defendant think that the remarriage of the said Wright and Tempy in the year 1866 in the County of Edgecombe, was a denial of the validity of the first marriage, for in this they, in the extreme ignorance of their condition and color, were merely misguided imitators of other colored people who at that time were marrying, after having cohabitated as husband and wife in slavery, under a law the provisions of which were intended to apply only to those who had formerly been slaves and incapable of contracting marriage – but which free people of color might mistake as applying to their class also.

3^rd. That it is an undeniable fact that both in the counties of Halifax and Edgecombe the said Wright and Tempy openly and notoriously lived and cohabited together as husband and wife and hesitated not to avow the marital relationship existing between them, long before the birth of this defendant; and that, subsequently thereto, and up to the time of their deaths, they continued so to live & acknowledge each other, in the Town of Tarboro, where they owned Real Estate, and remained unmolested by the laws against fornication and adultery, — which in law is presumption of defendant’s legitimacy and capacity to inherit. And the fact that these parties were only ignorant colored people, tends to render the presumption only the more violent; and, if better proof of marriage were required, it is doubtful if it could be given in one case out of a hundred, where the marriage is alleged to have taken place sixty years ago. For himself Defendant further avows and is ready to verify that he has often heard both his said parents say that they were married in Halifax, and that his birth took place after their removal to the Town of Tarboro. …”

Locust went on to argue that Wright Locust bought his property and paid for it by the labor of “his own hands, assisted also by [Augustus’] mother,” from whom, even if he were illegitimate, he could inherit; that his parents had promised him repeatedly that the land would be his alone after their deaths – he was their “only child.” As to the other defendants, Augustus knew little except what was in the petition, i.e. that they were all “bastard collateral relations” of his father, and “rapacious” to boot.

Several men testified to their knowledge that Wright and Tempy Locust lived together as man and wife; that Augustus was their child; and they were free negroes. The court ruled in favor of Augustus Locust, and he was declared his father’s sole heir.

From the file of Wright Locust, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, https://familysearch.org. Original, North Carolina State Archives.

In the 1830 census of District 1, Edgecombe County: Wright Locus headed a household that included two males under age 10; one male aged 24-36; one female under age 10; and one female aged 24-36; all free people of color. In District 8: Clem Locus headed a household that included two white females under age 10; one white female aged 24-36; one white female aged 70-80; and one colored male aged 24-36.

In the 1850 census of Edgecombe County: Right Locust, 45, carpenter, Temperance, 37, and A. Locust, 14. In the 1860 census of Tarboro, Edgecombe County: Wright Locust, 50, Tempy, 45, and Hillard Locust, 3.

In the 1860 census of Winsteads, Nash County: Algood Locus, 23, farm laborer, Lizzey, 25, Jane, 10, Larkin J., 9, and Manda, 4. In Coopers, Nash County: Mourning Locus, 50. In Nashville, Nash County: Nancy Locus, 50, Uny L. Locus, 70, and Joanna Locus, 18.

2 Comments

May 3, 2013

Freedman’s Bank depositor, no. 4.

No. 7110. Record for Jno. Artis. Date July 14, 1873. Where born: Wilmington. Where brought up: ditto. Residence: Corner Brunswic & 7^th Sts. Age: 21. Complexion: dark. Occupation: carpenter for self. Wife: none. Children: None. Father: Elvin, dead. Mother: Lizzie. Brothers and sisters: Hildred, Eldred, Champ, Sylvester, Jane, Lizzie. /s/ John Artis.

Freedman’s Bank Records, National Archives and Records Administration.

“Elvin Artis, a free man of color, was the carpentry contractor for the [Bellamy Mansion] project [in Wilmington].” See http://teachingamericanhistorync.org/pages/BellamyMansionVirtualTour/BellamyMansion.html

In the 1850 census of Wilmington, New Hanover County: Elvin Artis, 37, “carpt,” wife Eliza, 22, and children E.A., 8, Champion, 6, Silvester, 4, twins Hildred and Eldred, 9 months, and John Henry, 17.

Leave a comment

April 24, 2013

Robbery.

A ROBBERY. In the night of the 31^st of December last, my son William Sugg, was robbed on the Road between Raleigh and Joshua Sugg’s, supposed by a free black man named JOHN BLACK, who is well known in this neighborhood, and who has since escaped. The money taken consisted of one or two ten dollar Bank Notes, one five dollar note, and three forty shilling Bills of State Currency. With the money was taken my pocket knife, a small part of both blades of which had been broken. Black is about 25 years old, low and well made – is a Carpenter by trade, and had with him a copy of his former masters will, (Moses Parker,) of Franklin – Any person apprehending said Black, so that he may be brought to justice, shall be well rewarded for their trouble. WM. SUGG. Wake county, January 5, 1815.

Star, Raleigh, 6 January 1815.

Leave a comment

January 30, 2013

James Boon.

“James Boon (1808-1850s or later) was a free black carpenter active in North Carolina from the 1820s through the 1850s. As historian John Hope Franklin relates, the rare if not unique survival of the personal papers of this free black artisan provides an important window into the ‘common experiences, the fortunes, both good and ill, which all free Negroes had.’ Boon was evidently born to a free mother and was apprenticed at 18 to Franklin County carpenter William Jones until the age of 21. In 1829, he received a paper that served as a pass, stating ‘James Boon, a boy of colour who was bound to William Jones by this court’ was ‘ordered to be liberated and set free.’

“Boon led a mobile life and carried with him passes and letters of reference from employers and prominent citizens to affirm his free status and good work. He worked first around Louisburg in construction and furniture making. In the mid-1830s, he went to Raleigh, possibly to help build the Duncan Cameron House (1835-1836). He traveled to Littleton in 1839 and to rural Halifax County in 1842. A reference to ‘Boon’ in Skinner family correspondence suggests that he worked on the Greek Revival style plantation house Linden Hall (1841-1844) near Littleton for Charles and Susan Little Skinner; there are also references to ‘Mr. Bragg’ (probably Thomas Bragg, Sr.) and ‘Jones’ (possibly Albert Gamaliel Jones). One of his employers, R. H. Mosby, affirmed in 1842 that Boon was ‘an orderly and well behaved man, and attentive to his business. His work is executed better and with more taste than any persons within my knowledge in this section of country.’ In 1848, James Boon joined his brothers and a friend seeking work in Wilmington. He then went to Raleigh in 1849, where he was employed by the prominent builder Dabney Cosby on various projects. There he hired other workmen to help on ‘Mr. D. Cosby’s work.’ On October 27, 1850, Cosby wrote him a reference stating that ‘Jim Boon’ had been in his employ ‘for some time’ and was ‘a good workman.’

“Boon sometimes worked alone but also hired as many as nine workmen, including whites, slaves, and free blacks. He charged $1.25 a day for his own time and $0.50 cents to $1.00 for his employees. He owned one slave, Lewis, and land in Franklin County, which he occasionally mortgaged. Boon did not learn to read and write, but William Jones, who remained a friend, helped him in business matters. Various receipts note payment for such jobs as ‘Mill House 30 by 36, Ten feet pitch, Two stories, three floors, 12 windows and ten doors, weatherboarding dressed plain strong work,’ or for a more finished project, ‘24 lights glass, 12 x 15, Pilasters rose blocks–inside double architraves.’

“James Boon’s family included a brother, Carter Evans. Boon’s first wife was Sarah, a literate slave who belonged to Maria Stallings. They had a son who went to Raleigh with his father in 1849. (James Boon does not appear in the 1850 census.) In 1854, Boon married Mahaly Buffalo in Raleigh. His last record was in 1857; his death date is unknown.”

Author: Catherine W. Bishir. Published 2009.

Leave a comment

January 21, 2013

Thomas Sheridan.

“Thomas Sheridan (ca. 1787-1864) was an emancipated mulatto carpenter active in Bladen County during the antebellum period, whose only documented building is the Brown Marsh Presbyterian Church (1828) in that county.

“Thomas Sheridan’s family background illustrates the complexities of race and status in his era. Probably born in Bladen County, he may have been the son of Nancy Sheridan (a woman of color who was emancipated after his birth) and Joseph R. Gautier, a wealthy Bladen County planter and merchant of French Huguenot background. Gautier, who was frequently listed among the leading men of the Cape Fear region, was a political figure in Elizabethtown, a state senator (1791), and an early supporter of the University of North Carolina noted for having left his library of some 100 volumes (mostly in French) to the university’s library. Gautier was the owner of several slaves, including Thomas Sheridan and his brother Louis Sheridan, and probably Nancy Sheridan. Circumstantial evidence also indicates that Joseph Gautier and Nancy Sheridan had a long-term domestic relationship: many white men who had such relationships with their enslaved women often freed their enslaved family members and provided for them (although emancipation became increasingly difficult in the early and mid-19th century).

“In 1799, Joseph Gautier of Elizabethtown petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly to emancipate “two mulatto boys belonging to him.” Gautier explained that, “as their childhood would render fruitless a recourse to the county court, he prays the aid at the Legislature to establish by a law the freedom of said boys.” (Laws governing emancipation by county courts required demonstration of meritorious service, which a child could not have earned; thus Gautier appealed to the legislature. No matter what the status of the father, a child born to an enslaved mother was born a slave.) Gautier’s petition succeeded, and the legislature enacted a law that “the said mulatto boys be emancipated and set free from slavery, and henceforward be called and known by the names of Thomas Sheridan and Louis Sheridan.” In 1799, Thomas was about twelve years of age and Louis was about six. In the 1800 census of Bladen County, J. R. Gautier was listed as head of household with one white male, three “other” free persons–probably Nancy, Thomas, and Louis–and seven slaves. His will of 1800 left his plantation “at the marsh,” his household and plantation utensils, and five slaves to Nancy Sheridan, “my emancipated black woman” (suggesting that he himself had freed her, though no record has been found). He left three slaves to “her child” Louis Sheridan, a small amount of property to his (presumably white) nephew, Joseph Gautier, Jr., and £500 to Thomas Sheridan, no relationship specified. The terms of the will make it uncertain as to whether Thomas as well as Louis Sheridan was the son of Nancy Sheridan: Thomas might have been the son of Gautier with another woman, or even of Nancy and another father. In any case, Gautier freed and provided for young Thomas. Gautier died in 1807.

“Louis Sheridan (ca. 1793-1844), probably Thomas’s brother or half-brother, gained a good education and became an important merchant and large property owner in Elizabethtown with business connections throughout the state and even the nation. He owned as many as sixteen slaves. He also acquired many town lots in Elizabethtown, including those he sold as sites for the courthouse and for the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. Probably because of his father’s position and connections, Sheridan was aided by former governor John Owen and other leading men of the region and traveled widely for business to Philadelphia, New York, and elsewhere. Although he had initially opposed colonization, after the state placed tighter restrictions on free people of color in the 1830s, Louis Sheridan joined the Liberian colonization movement. He sold his slaves and moved with his family to Liberia in 1837, where he found a situation far less rosy than he anticipated and wrote (often negative) reports back to the United States. He remained there nevertheless and died there in 1844.

“Thomas Sheridan pursued the carpentry trade and remained in Bladen County. Although he doubtless built other structures, he is remembered chiefly as builder of Brown Marsh Presbyterian Church. The plainly finished, weatherboarded building is one of the few intact examples still standing of the state’s once numerous simple frame churches. A board in the church ceiling retains the chalked signature, “Thos. Sheridan,” and the date, probably 1828, possibly 1818. Within several years, in 1834, the Presbyterians in the county seat of Elizabethtown built a more substantial church on land deeded to the congregation by Louis Sheridan. Possibly the congregation employed Thomas Sheridan to build it, but this is not documented.

“According to the United States census of 1850, unlike his brother Thomas Sheridan did not become wealthy. He was listed as a mulatto carpenter, aged 62, with $30 worth of real estate. He headed a household that included his wife Agnes and their adult daughter, Martha. They lived in a rural neighborhood among primarily white farmers, plus a few other free artisans of color. In 1851 Sheridan remarried, to Lucy Oxendine of Robeson County, of a large Native American family. In 1860, Thomas Sheridan was listed as a farmer with a farm worth $200 and personal property worth $170, with his wife Lucy, aged 55. In his will of 1863 (probated in 1864), Sheridan left his farm, livestock, and household goods to his wife, then to his daughter Martha. He specified that his gun (for which in most areas a man of color had to obtain a special license) and his carpentry tools should be sold to pay for his funeral; and he left the lumber in his shop “to make my coffin.”

Author: Catherine W. Bishir. Published 2009.

1 Comment

Tag: carpenter