MILESTONE
EDITIO:
( AN INSTITUTI^ OF COMMUNITY SERVICE SINCE 1909 )
Hertford County 1759-1959
The Herald 1909-1959
8 Pages—This Section
Ahoskie, N. C.
Milestone Year—1959
Ante Bellum Years: A Time of Growth
1830-60: Hertford County in Days
Of Beaver Hats, Crinoline, Whigs
Life in Hertford County in the 1830-60 period was in
contrast to that of typical Ante Bellum counties around
it—but also bearing some of the typical marks of the era.
Hertford Countians looked typically ante bellum.
They dressed in frock coats, beaver hats and crinolines.
They rode horses, buggies, gigs. They chewed tobacco,
raised cotton, discussed politics, went to tiny schools.
By the time the period opened, an old colonial aristoc
racy had been replaced by many new families. The
Wynns, Murphrees, Maneys, Brickies, had died out, mov
ed to Tennessee, or migrated elsewhere, leaving only
offshoots of these famous 18th century families.
During the 30 years, the makeup of Hertford society
was typically composed of a few really wealthy families,
a large population of planters with small and middle-
sized holdings, and a significant segment of Free Negroes
in a population of about 8,000.
Many Slaves; Few Slave-Owners
During the entire period, the number of slaves slightly
outnumbered free persons. But the county’s slaves were
not gathered in big groups on large plantations, as was the
picture in most surrounding counties.
Most Hertford planters were medium-sized operators,
owning less than ten slaves. Less than half of the county’s
families owned any slaves at all.
Unique in the South, this small county had a Free
Negro population amounting to ten per cent of the total
population. Many of these pre-Civil War freemen had
been living as such since colonial days. Thus, the county
had a peculiar racial problem which it solved with amaz
ing common sense.
The 1830-60 period in Hertford was an era of growth,
as it was throughout North Carolina. During the 1800-30
period, North Carolina had sunk into a slough which won
it the name of the “Rip Van Winkle State.” But by the
I840’s, the state was picking itself up and moving toward
a growth that would make it one of the South’s most
progressive by the time of the Civil War.
This growth was reflected in Hertford County.
Whig Party: Favorite of Voters
The Whig Party, formed soon after 1835, was the party
which advocated sweeping reform and progressive action
in the state. Hertford quickly became an eastern strong
hold of the party and during the entire period the party
controlled Hertford politics.
Advances in education, religious organization, and eco
nomic fields characterized the period. In 1848-49, both
Baptists and Methodists established colleges in Murfrees
boro. During the same decade, the public school system
began and more than 20 small units were set up in Hert
ford.
During the period, the famed Buckhorn Academy con-
, tinned its long life and many of the county’s leading men
received their early training there.
Six new Baptist churches were formed in the county
during the period, and the denomination became a leader
in the growing religious life of the county.
Winton, Murfreesboro, Pitch Lending
During the entire period, urban life in Hertford was
confined to the small, older villages of Winton and Mur
freesboro and to busy Pitch Landing on Chinkapin Creek
near present-day Harrellsville.
When the period began the economy of the county
was based on products of its great pine forests. Cotton
was becoming the leading agricultural product, but the
county never became completely tied to a cotton econ
omy. Livestock and forest products remained important
economic factors.
Life in the period was almost completely rural. The
typical Hertford County man was the small farmer, who
with his family and three slaves or Free Negro helpers,
lived an isolated and somewhat lonely life.
The few village-dwellers lived a life approximating
the fabled descriptions of Ante Bellum southern living.
These were few, however.
Few Collegians, Many Unlettered
Educationally, the county was typical. In 1850, less
than half of the male population over 21 could read or
write. Less than 20 men of the county had attended col
lege. Most had gone either to the University or to Wake
Forest College. Some had attended northern colleges.
This then, was Hertford of the 1830-60 period, a time
of change and growth, unmarked by violence in either
ihat growth or change, but building toward a time of
greater promise for all its people.
(Articles on the 1830-60 period in Hertford County history
are based mainly on a significant book of official records—
the Minute Book of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions.
This book, now in the office of the County Clerk of Court, was
one of a handful of records saved when the courthouse was
burned in 1830. In detail, it tells of the official activity of the
county's governing body. Other sources which served as a basis
for articles included Winborne’s "History of Hertford County,"
usual standard textbooks on North Carolina history, maps of the
period, and sources used in other articles pertaining to post
offices and churches in Hertford County during the 1830-60
period.)
m
• I':'
I
Hertford Roads, Bridges, Ferries, Towns of 1830-60 Period
Extent of Trade Indicated
Transportation in 1830-60 Period
Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions:
Life Mirrored in Court's Actions
Transportation in Hertford
County during the pre-Civil War
period was focused on the coun
ty’s waterways.
The great bulk of traffic travel
ed on the streams, creeks, and
rivers.
The roads which crisscrossed
the county were little more than
paths. But when they came to
the many waterways, the two
modes of travel—land and water
—met. At these crossings, ferries
and bridges were, located to carry
the traveler and the wagonioads
of farm and forest products.
The County Court of Pleas and
Quarter Sessions was in charge
of bridge building and ferry
keeping in these days. The
records of the county’s govern
ing body give detailed picture
of the bridges and ferries which
s.erved Hertford County in those
days, and provide an insight into
the transportation picture in the
county during the period.
From 1342 until 1860, the
County Court dealt with 17
bridges and five ferries. Most of
these ferries and bridges were
in existence when the period be
gan. During the 18-year period,
the County Court issued many
ordei-s for repairs to bridges and
ferries. It hired ferrykeepers and
County Court Maintained
Bridges Spanned Many Waterways
The “County Court’’ of ante
bellum North Carolina counties
was the ruling body of the coun
ties, clothed with complete pow
ers in fields that are today han
dled by many government of
ficials.
The court was officially the
“Court of Pleas and Quaider Ses
sions.’’
It was composed of all the
county’s justices of the peace sit
ting as a body.
In Hertford County during the
1830-65 period, there were from
20 to 35 justices in .the county at
any one time. Justices were elect
ed by the General Assembly.
Many men served for decades as
justices.
Later during the period, the
large group of justices usually
elected a “Special Court,’’ a sort
of executive committee of four or
five justices.
The County Court met once
each three months—hence the
“quarter sessions” part of the
name—and usually took two or
three days, maybe more, for its
work.
The court had executive duties:
it appointed tax officials, road
overseers, slave patrols, ferry
men, guardians, jurymen, and
other county officials. It had judi
cial duties: the “Special Court”
heard minor criminal and civil
actions. It had, of course, legis
lative duties: it set the tax rate
and decided on public improve
ments, named school officials,
election officials, and approved all
bills.
Some of the county officials of
the period included;
SHERIFF—This ancient office
was the county’s principal execu
tive office. The sheriff was tax
collector, process-server and gen
eral executive jack-of-all-jobs. He
was elected by the people re
ceived fees for his work.
COUNTY TRUSTEE—General
ly appointed by the County
Court, this official was in charge
of the county’s money.
REGISTER—The official who
registered deeds and other official
documents. He was appointed. All
deeds, conveyances, wills, and
other traditional courthouse pa
pers had first to be reviewed and
approved by the County Court.
CORONER — Another ancient
officer, he presided over inquests.
During this period, frequent in
quests were held.
CLERK OF COURT —During
the period, there were some
changes in Superior Court lines.
Hertford was generally in a dis
trict with Bertie County and oth
ers to the east. The Court Clerk
had general duties in probate
matters much as today.
There were other officials with
self-explanatory titles: surveyor,
entry-taker, county attorney,
standard keeper.
After 1839, when the first state
school law was passed, the Coun
ty Court appointed the “Board of
Superintendents of Common
Schools.” This group usually
elected its own chairman and dis
pensed local and state school
funds to district committees.
The “Wardens of the Poor”
were a group named to dispense
funds to indigent poor.
There were also district elec
tion, officials, district tax list tak
ers and constables to be appoint
ed. Constables were supposed to
be elected, but many districts
didn’t bother, and the County
Court regularly appointed about
half of the county’s constables.
Whigs Dominated Government
Vann Was Longtime Court Leader
During the entire 1830-61 peri
od, Hertford County had but
three men who served as chair
man of the County Court of Pleas
and Quarter Sessions.
John Vann, who had come to
Hertford County in 1800 at the
age of 33 from his native Gates
County, was named chairman in
1830 and held the office until
1850, when he died at the age
of 83.
John A. Anderson succeeded
Vann and served until he re
signed in 1857 during the turmoil
of the breakup of the Whig Party.
Democrat Dr. Godwin C. Moore,
a Democrat, succeeded him. An
derson was reelected as chairman
in 1861, but died shortly after
ward and was succeeded again
by Dr, Moore.
Vann was perhaps Hertford’s
most durable ante bellum poll-
•tician. He had been a young man
when the Revolutionary War end
ed, had served Hertford County
in the General Assembly’s Senate
three years after crossing the
Chowan from his native Gates
and again in 1835.
He was already 63 years old
when he was elected chairman of
tne County Court in 1830, but he
was to hold the position for 20
years.
Before election to the court
chairmanship, he served in the
Assembly’s House of Commons in
1823-4-5 and in the Senate in
1833 and 1835.
Vann was a Whig in politics
after the Whig Party was formed
in the 1830’s and became domi
nant in Hertford County politics.
He left the political battling to
younger men during his long ten
ure as court chairman, however.
He left a large family and a
large estate in Maney’s Neck
Township.
When he died in 1850, he was
eulogized by his County Court
colleagues and a special resolu
tion in his memory was spread
on the court minutes by order
of the county bar.
His successor, John A. Ander
son, was a strong member of the
Whig Party which was then at
its height of power. During his
term, the County Court under
took expensive public improve
ments in the field of roads and
schools. Such internal improve
ments were the hallmark of the
Whig Party.
Anderson resigned his post in
1857 as the Whig Party broke up
over the slavery-secession ques
tion. Dr. Godwin Cotton Moore
of Saint Johns, who had been the
leader of the minority Democratic
Party during the entire period,
was named chairman as a vigor
ous group of new young Demo
crats took control of county
politics.
Anderson was named chairman
again for a short period in 1861,
but died a few months later. He
was succeeded by Dr. Moore.
All members of the County
Court were important landhold
ers, leaders in their communities.
Many served for decades as
members of the court, From the
membership of the court, nearly
all county officials were chosen.
The party in control of the Gen
eral Assembly could change the
makeup of the court.
Seventeen bridges in Hertford
County are mentioned in County
Court Minutes for the 1842-60 pe
riod.
These ranged from small foot
bridges crossing swamps, to the
bridge across the Meherrin River
at Murfreesboro, which was a
draw bridge and apparently one
of the section’s most elaborate.
The County Court continually
paid for repairs and ordered new
bridges built. During the entire
period of 1842-60, it spent $4,-
835.27 on repairs to bridges,
docks and for construction of
new bridges.
Most of the bridges in exist
ence during the period had been
built earlier, although the 1850’s
saw a spurt of bridge-building
which added several new ones
and replaced older bridges.
These bridges were simple af
fairs, narrow, made of planking
that often wore out quickly. Dur
ing the entire period, there was
a continual job of repair on even
the Murfreesboro drawbridge,
“Guardians” were appointed for
some of the bridges. They were
charged with keeping them in re
pair and reporting when they be
came unusable.
Some idea of what a typical
bridge consisted of is indicated
in an order of the County Court
in 1846 that no bridge was to be
accepted for upkeep by the coun
ty unless made of planking “at
least two inches thick.”
Most of the bridges crossed the
Wiccacon or Meherrin Rivers, or
the larger creeks in the county.
The bridges of Hertford Coun
ty in the 1841-60 period included
BONNER'S BRIDGE — This
small bridge crossed Ahoskie
Swamp south of Frazier’s Cross
roads. It was mentioned in 1845
when its “guardian” resigned. It
was ordered repaired in 1848 and
again in 1854, when George As
kew was named guardian. In
1856, Joseph Newsom was allow
ed $198 for repairs to Bonner’s.
MURFREESBORO BRIDGE -
First mentioned in 1848 when the
County Court was seeking
guardian, this bridge had been
built some years earlier. By 1848,
the County Court was ordering
repairs for its draw. By 1851.
commission was named to decide
whether a new bridge was not
needed. .In 1852, a commission
was named to overseer building
of a new bridge. The new bridge
cost $690. But by 1853, the draw
on the new bridge needed repair.
Jesse Jackson and Wade Adkins
were named to build the draw
for $200 and keep it in repair for
ten years. Thomas Davis was
named guardian of the bridge in
1857. A year later, $50 was allow
ed for additional repairs. In 1857,
$400 more was allocated for re
pair, and again in 1859, a commit
tee was named to examine the
bridge and make recommenda
tions for repair. It said the bridge
was “ a common nuisance.” The
bridge was to be burned by Union
forces in 1863.
BENTHALL’S BRIDGE —
Across Potecasi Creek between
See BRIDGES, Page 7
Ferry Rotes: 1844,1858
An insight into the transportation picture in Hertford County
during the decades before the Civil War is found in the schedules
of costs charged by ferries which operated across the county's
waterways.
It was the day of the horseback traveler, the buggy. It was
a day when wagons hauled farm products and forest products
through the twisting roads.
Two schedules of ferry rates for the 1830-61 period are pre
served in the minutes of the Hertford County Court of Pleas
and Quarter sessions.
They are schedules for the Wiccacon River Ferry in the year
1844, and schedules for costs of Chowan River ferries in 1858.
In 1844, Wiccacon ferry rates were:
For man and horse.....
For man and gig.
Single man
Two men, horse and buggy.
Buggy or two horses
Two-horse wagon
One-horse wagon 18 ;
Two-horse closed carriage....
...6 and a fourth cents
12 and a half cents
three cents
18 and % cents
31 and a half cents
20 cents
nd three-fourths cents
37 and a half cents
In 1858, prices for ferry travelers had generally doubled ftrom
those of 14 years before.
The Chowan River ferry rates list not only the types of
passenger carriers which one was likely to meet on an Ante
Bellum road, but show some of the economic traffic which
used the roads, ferries, and bridges of the period.
The rates included:
Single person....
One person, horse and sulky
Two-horse rockaway or buggy.
Four-horse carriage
One-horse wagon
Horse and cart...
One person on horse
One person, horse and buggy.
Two-horse carriage
Four-horse wagon
Two-horse wagon
Drove horse, less than 5 6 and
Loose horses, more than five
Cattle
Sheep and hogs..
and a fourth cents
25 cents
50 cents
one dollar
.37 and a half cents
25 cents
12 and a half cents
-.37 and a half cents
75 cents
one dollar
so cents
a fourth cents each
five cents each
5 cents each
2 cents each
The small flalbottom boats used as ferries in these days
usually could, not accommodate more than one or two of the
larger carriers on a single trip.
paid them for their work. It set
ferry rates for users of the facili
ties.
The main roads in Hertford
County during the period con
nected the tiny villages of Win-
ton, Murfreesboro, Saint Johns,
Pitch Landing, and Harrellsville.
Main roads led from Virginia
across the Chowan to Murfrees
boro, from Gates County across
the Chowan to Winton and on
across, the county to Saint Johns
and Northampton, from Chowan
River crossings in Bertie north
west to Saint Johns and into
Northampton.
Show Importance
The locations of the bridges
and ferries and the business
transacted at these crossings in
dicates the relative importance of
the roads and the travel on them.
Most of the ferries operated
by the county were free ferries.
Private ferries were operated
across the Wiccacon and Chowan
and charged rates which were set
by the county.
Ferry List
Main femes in Hertford Coun
ty during the 1842-1860 period
include:
HILL’S FERRY—On the Me
herrin River east of Murfrees
boro, this ferry had been estab
lished in the early I8th century.
During the 1830-60 period, it was
an important crossing from traf
fic heading north into Virginia.
In 1846, the County Court was
looking a “keeper” for the ferry.
It paid $30 for a temporary keeper
for three months work. In 1847,
David Gatling was paid $110 for
keeping Hill’s for a year. He re
ceived similar payment in 1848
and 1849. In 1850, he received
$135 and in 1851 got $101.25. In
1852, Gatling died and the County
Court sought a new keeper. In
1855, the Cpurt was still seek
ing a keeper. In 1856, it paid Jef
ferson D. Gatling $41.88 for keep
ing Hill’s. Then, in 1857, Richard
G. Cowper was hired and paid
$201 for a year’s keep of the
terry. He received the same in
1858 and 1859. In 1859, H. C. Mad-
ry was high bidder at a public
sale of the keeper’s job for the
ferry. He received $199.50 for
keeping the ferry a year. During
the entire period, the keeper of
Hill’s Ferry received the largest
pay of any of the county’s ferry-
keepers, indicating that it was
the buriest ferry in the county.
MANEY’S Feiry —■ Located on
the Chowan River near the Vir
ginia border, this had also been
an ancient river crossing, and
important link in the Virginia-
North Carolina transportation
system. In 1846, a Hertford group
met with a Gates committee to
choose a keeper for Manney’s.
There is no further mention of
the ferry in Court minutes. It
was still operating in 1860, but
was by then of little importance.
WICCACON FERRY — Also
known as “Harrell’s Ferry,” had
been established in the early
years of the 19th century. From
See TRANSPORTATION. Page 2