No Large Number
Of Slaves Ever
Held In County
Hardly Fourth of Families
Had Human Chattels in
Late 18th Century
Many histories have been writ
ten and at least one war baa been
(ought over slavery in this coun
try. While Martin County had its
slaves and a part in recorded his
tory and the war, it was never a
large slave-holding county. In
fact, there were more common
whites who fared little better than
slaves.
The first official United States
census placed the number of
slaves at 1,889 in this county back
in 1790, the number reaching 4,
309 just before the war.
Back in 1790 less than a dozen
families owned nearly a third of
the slaves. Whitmill Hill, one of
the early political leaders in the
county, owned the largest num
ber?140. William Williams, the
man whom Williamston was nam
ed for, owned 94. Thomas Hunt
er, the man who gave the site for
Williamston. owned 44 slaves.
Others owning 30 slaves or more
were, Blake Williams, 43; John
Anthony, 33; Francis Ward, 32;
Samuel Smithwick, 31, and
Hodges Moore, 30. A few owned
between 20 and 30, but in most of
the other cases there was seldom
more than one or two slaves own
ed by a single family. Altogether
there were 254 slaveowners, but
541 of the 795 families owned no
PROHIBITION
Apparently they had prohi
bition la Martin County one
hundred yean ago. At
nixed by the official United
Statae census for the year
ISM. The census report defi
nitely states that no wine was
made in the county and rec
ords as liquor manufactur
ing for the period.
Possibly the illicit trade
was present, but like the il
licit trade of today there were
no official records kept and
the type and extent of the
business, if any, were not pre
served for posterity.
slaves.
While the number of slaves was
almost doubled from 1790 down
to the Civil War, the number of
free colored persons was more
than three times greater in 1860
than in 1790 in this county.
In 1790 there were only thir
teen other counties in the State
with more free colored persons
than there were in Martin.
Seventy years later the popu
lation had almost doubled, but
the number of slave owners had
increased from 254 to only 368.
The small slave owner was grad
ually passing out of the picture
during that period, while the
number of large owners was more
than three times greater in 1860
than in 1790. Just before the war,
the 368 persons owned slaves in
the following numbers: 59 had
one each: 36 had two, 22 had
three each. 25 had four, 19 had
AT SAME OLD STAND
Picking op where they left off last year, Messrs. S. Clauds
Griffin, left, and Jimmie Taylor, right, are all set for another
tobacco marketing season at the same old stand?The Roan
oke Dixie Warehouse in Williamston. Backed by experience
and what it takes to ran a tobacco warehouse, these tiro men
are looking forward to a successful season.
five, 20 had six, 17 had seven, 22
had eight, 12 had nine, 52 had be
tween 10 and 15; 33 had between
15 and 20; 30 had between 20 and
30; 14 had between 30 and 40; six
had between 40 and 50; six had
between 50 and 60; three had be
tween 70 and 100, and two had
between 100 and 200.
The late Maj. Gen. Smedley D.
Butler of the U. S. Marine Corps,
predicted in 1937 that World War
II would start within two years.
It did.
Flutists Troy To
Make Pete Tweet
History records that once the
United States Marines did not
have the situation well in hand.
Pete, a canary bird, was sched
uled to perform with the U. S.
Marine Corps Band, but he went
on a sit down strike. Forty-five
minutes of persuasion by the flut
ists of the band failed to produce
results.
Slaves Lived To
/ A Ripe Old Age
? <<?
No one thinks much shout it,
but one will hare to admit that it
is a bit unusual lor former ilsw
to outlive their masters and their
other contemporaries of the white
population. There ate quite a
number of former slates livinf
in Martin County today. After all
the Confederate soldiers had
passed on to their reward in this
county there were quite a few
former slaves still struggling
along. There were Pompey Wil
liams, Carey Moore and others,
and they were older than many
of those who had seen service in
battle.
Back fti 1840 there; were Ul'l
slaves in this county. More than
200 of them were between 55 and
100 years of age, but well over a
third was under ten years of age.
It would appear that the slave
owners in this county preferred
or found it cheaper or necessary
to raise their own slaves ratto
than enter the market.
The following figures show the
slave population in the county'in
1840 by age groups:
Mala TmJnm
Under 10 years 502 814
Between 10 and 24 375 4lt
Between 24 and 38 313 >22
Between 38 and 55 183 188
Between 58 and 100 . 122 88
2818 1481
As far a sit can be determined
from the records, slaves attained
a greater age than did the free
colored, few of the free group
being listed over 55 years of i
Prescription
Two Registered Druggists To Serve You
In compounding Prescriptions, it is extremely necessary that the
work be done accurately and as quickly as possible. With at least
one registered druggist in our store at all times, you are assured of
no delay when you bring your prescriptions here.
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Medicines, Toilet Articles
And Numerous Other Items . . . We Deliver!
When in Town ? Make CLARK'S Your Headquarters
SELL YOUR TOBACCO in WILLIAMSTON
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Clark'sPharmacy,Inc.
WILLIAMS T O N
PHONES 52 and 5J
NORTH CAROLINA