MILESTONE
EDITION
AN INSTITUTION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE SINCE 1909
Hertford County 1759-1959
The Herald 1909-1959
8 P^ges—This Section
Ahoskie, N. C.
Milestone Year—1959
Hertford County's Formative Years Started in 16th Century
Begon in Late 17th Century:
First Settlement Obscure
Lane Was a Visitor...
The earliest years of the area that was to become Hert
ford County are the subject of this section of Milestone
Edition.
This period, from the Age of Indians before the white
men came, to the early years of Bertie Precinct in the
18th century, is the.formative period in Hertford County
history, which began formally in 1759 when the county
was formed from parts of Northampton and Bertie.
Hertford County was formed in j
1759, more than JOO years after I old Virginia hunter, living then
the colony of North Carolina saw I in Nansemond County, Va., said
its first settlers, and 150 years i he bought land between the
after the first permanent English - mouth of the Chowan, Roanoke
settlement had come to the New and Wayonoke Creek (now the
World and made its home in Vu--[Wiccacon River) from the Cho-
ginia. ■ wan Indians.
Thus, the county was, in one | Henry Plumpton and Thomas
sense, a latecomer to the Ameri-|Tuke, and several others of Vir-
can scene, ! ginia, purchased this land in 1643,
Actually, Hertford’s history according to affidavits prepared
runs back almost to the founding as evidence in a border dispute
of the New World. It begins with
the earliest story of what was to
be the state of North Carolina.
The area which is now Hert
ford County was visisted by men
of Ralph Lane’s expedition from
Roanoke Island in 1585. Then, his
tory falls silent for perhaps 40
between Virginia
North Carolina.
and young
Another old Virginia hunter,
Robert L, Lawrence, said he lived
at a plantation four miles north
of the mouth of the Roanoke Riv
er from 1660-Cl to about 1667-68.
But the newest evidence about
years. (See story in last section.) ; the obscure period of settlement
In 1622, February according to j of the Chowan region is, the story
T-ic. Captain Nathaniel Batts, “Gov-
jemor of Roan-oak,”
'■ ; Until a few years ago, historians
Q , , ^ C L ^ usually started formal North Car-
retty S bnOr6 I loUna history with the Durant
! Deed, a grant on record in the
; Perquiman’s County Courthouse,
' dated March 1, 1662. On that date,
PETTY’S SHORE on the Cho-; the chief of the Yeopin Indians
wan River, between Catherine j ted George Durant land oh
Creek and the mouth of Wiccacon what is now Durant’s Neck, in
Rover, was a well-established I Perquimans. This was for a long
his report, John Pory. “Secretarie”
y's Shore:
Pioneer Landing
.ship-landing place as early as
1723,
In that year, a New England
sloop, the “James and Mary,”
was docked there and her captain
could not leave because he was in
debt to local people.
The captain, one John Smith-
son, signed a power of attorney,
giving ROBERT EVANS, who
“had a house at Petty’s Shore,”
the right to look after the vessel
while Smithson returned to New
England.
Inspection
In 1735, Petty’s Shore was listed
as one of the places where ship
ped goods were to be inspected
before loading on outbound ships.
There is no mention in early
deed books of Bertie County of
anyone named “Petty.” The place
was perhaps settled in the 17th
century.
Curiously enough, this well-
known place name in what was to
be Hertford County did not ap
pear on the famous map of John
Moseley in 1733, the first map
which showed names of people
who lived in the area.
of the flourishing colony in Vir
ginia, got into a wooden canoe of
the period and traveled “to the
South River of Chawonock some
sixtie miles overland.”
This trip of Pory’s is usually
listed as the opening note of the
history of North Carolina, after
the period of the Sir Walter Ra
leigh history along the Outer
Banks.
Pory probably reached the
mouth of the Chowan River, saw
the wild, cypress-bordered coun
try which bordei'ed the river,
named for the large tribe of In
dians which lived along its banks.
The Virginia official described
the country to be “very fruitful
and pleasant . . , yielding two
harvests a year.”
He was describing the Indian
agriculture, which included the
growing of corn, tobacco, beans
and potatoes.
For the next 40 years, the re
gion which Pory described was on
the minds of men in Virginia and
men on the home island in Eng
land.
Between Pory’s visit and 1650,
the records tell of two expeditions
against Indians in the Albemarle
region, sent in 1646 by Virginia
Governor William Berkeley, one
led by George Bennett, another
by Colonel Den or Drew.
Then, in 1650, Edward Bland,
a merchant of Virginia, went
southward to visit some of the In
dian camps in the region between
the Chowan and Roanoke rivers.
He returned to write a glowing
report of the country along the
rivers. He, like Pory, was impre.ss-
ed by the abundant corn and two
crops a year.
Did Bland stop at rude homes
already occupied by Virginia set
tlers along the shore of the Cho
wan in what i.s now Hertford?
It may be.
For, nearly 60 years later, an
time the first documented report
of a settler in what is now North
Carolina.
But, some years back, an im
portant old map was rediscovered
in a New York library. The “Cum-
berford Map,” which dates from
1657, shows “The South Part of
Virginia.”
On this map, neatly inked into
the spot where the Roanoke River
empties into Albemarle Sound, is
a symbol indicating a house. The
legend, “Batts’ House.” is also
inked in.
This map is now recognized as
the documentary evidence for a
new start in North Carolina his
tory. A historical marker noting
the Batts’ House has been erected
in lower Bertie County. The Roan-
oke-Chowan section can claim
North Carolina’s first really docu
mented settler.
If the claims of Plumpton and
Tuke are correct, the area that
was to become Hertford County
can claim some of the earliest sel
lers in what was to become North
Carolina.
Nathaniel Batts was the man of
the Cumberford Map. Historians
believe there were other settlers,
but that Batts was the leading
person of the handful of people
who lived along the banks of the
Chowan and thus had his name
and dwelling inked into this map.
Fifteen years Sfter the Cumber-
ford Map was published, George
Fox, founder of the Society of
Friends, journeyed through the
small settlements along the Cho
wan in what was by then the
proprietary colony of Carolina,
and met Nathaniel Batts, “Gov-
See LANE, Page 8
Roanoke-Chowan: 1585
indians Were Numerous
The earliest historical picture
of the Bertie Peninsula and the
area that was to become Hert
ford County was painted beau
tifully by John White, famous
member of the Roanoke Island
colony which preceded the
“Lost Colony.”
Our Milestone map shows the
Indian Country of the Bertie
Peninsula as White painted in
on his famous map of 1585.
The Chowan Indians were
one of the largest tribes en
countered by members of the
Ralph Lane Expedition, which
explored the Roanoke-Chowan
region from Roanoke Island in
1586.
The village indicated on the
map were homes of this tribe,
which was headed by King
Menatonon.
“Ramushounog” was in the
point of land at the confluence
of the Chowan and Meherrin
Rivers. “Chanoak” or “Choowa-
noook” was the principal town
of the Chowan. Its location was
probably somewhere near pres
ent-day Petty’s Shore in Hert
ford County.
Other Chowan villages were
located on the Roanoke River
and the entrance to Salmon
Creek in what is now Bertie
County.
Lane’s Expedition made its
way up the Chowan River at
least as far as Ramushounog. He
went up the Roanoke as far as
the falls of the river at present-
day Roanoke Rapids. He met
Menatonon, later took that
chief’s son, Skyco, as a hostage.
The Chowan were friendly to
the Englishmen of the Roanoke
Island colonies, and Menatonon,
who was “impotent in his
limbs” according to Lane, may
have been on Roanoke Island
when Virginia Dai'e was chris
tened as the first child of Eng
lish parentage born in the New
World.
“Secotan” and “Weapemeoc”
refer to other Indian groups
which Lane encountered.
Behind this historic report
of life in the Bertie Peninsula
at its earliest, the story of the
area is told by hundreds of In
dian “artifacts,” arrowhead.s,
spearpoints, and pottery, which
have been found throughout the
area.
These indicate that nomadic-
people lived in the area for sev
eral thousand years before the
birth of Christ. These ai'cheo-
logical clues to life in the area
have been found at dozens of lo
cations in the area, mostly along
rivers and streams.
(The map accompanying this
article is based on the John
White map of 1585. Staff artist:
Mary Ellen Albares.)
Landings
Centers
Of Life
The story of colonial economy
in Hertford County and the Bertie
Peninsula revolves around forest
products, tobacco and the rivers.
Out of the giant forests of pine,
earliest settlers made their living.
Greatest export of the Carolina
colony were products from the
woods—tar, pitch, barrel staves,
“heading,” shingles and lumber.
Later, as settlements became
more secure and trees cleared, ag
riculture began to add to the
ec-onomy, Tobacco was a great
colonial product. Us growth and
exportation was rigidly controled
by the British Empire.
The rivers and streams provided
the transpoi'talion means for ex
port of the products of the econ
omy. Settlements of the colony
were first “seated” on .the rivers
and streams. Earliest place names
were those on the rivers.
Before any forest products or
tobacco could be shipped out of
the colony, inspection was neces
sary. Various colonial laws set
up inspection points where goods
could be viewed by colonial offi
cials.
Inspection points in the Bertie
Peninsula—in the area that would
become Hertford County — in-
luded:
In 1735, a law naming points
where “quitrents” (a tax due to
colonial government) were to be
collected included ARTHUR WIL
LIAMS’S LANDING on the Cho
wan. SAM WILLIAMS’S LAND
ING (“now THOMAS JONES’S”)
on Chowan, and at PETTY’S
SHORE on Chowan where JOHN
HOWELL lived. These place were
undoubtedly already serving as
inspection points and busy ship
ping centers.
In 1755, an act naming places
where inspection of exportable
goods was to take place included
“the warehouses on Chowan Riv
er,” and VAN PELT’S on the Wic
cacon, at “Katherine Creek,” at
“MURFREE’S” and “HILLS” on
Meherrin River.
According to this fact, there
were more inspection points in
what was to become (in 1759)
Hertford County, than in any area
in the colony, indicating the ex
tent of the foi'est products in
dustry and the tobacco industry.
In 1758, another inspection law
listed points in the area that
would become Hertford a year
later. They included VAN PELT’S
on Wiccacon, and CATHERINE
CREEK on the Chowan, HILL’S,
MURFREE’S, and MANNEY’S on
Meherrin River.
The final colonial inspection act
was passed in 1766, seven years
after Hertford County was estab
lished. It indicated that there were
several warehouses and inspection
points on Hertford and Bertie’s
Chowan River bank. Rather than
list them all, the act said that in
spection points could be establish
ed in Hertford on the Chowan
“where the court appoints.”
North Carolina history begins granted to eight Englishmen all ,
formally with the Durant Deed of! the land from the south of what'
1662 and the granting, on March' now includes North and South i
4, 1663, of the Carolina Charter. | Carolina westward to the “South
On this date. King Charles II | Seas” (the Pacific Ocean).
John Pory, ’•
Edward Bland, l€>50-'
EARLY EXPLORATION IN ROANOKE-CHOWAN
Beginning the Story:
Earliest Explorations
Name Listed in 1703 Landholdings:
Barfield—First Recorded Settler
The obscurity of history will always veil the name of the
"first” man to live in what is now Hertford County.
From old records, from the earliest documentation, these are
some of the people who lived first in the region. The earliesl
mention of a person known to live in Herlford seems to be in
1703, when Richard Barfield owned land in the region.
But it must be understood that there were others, "more than
100 families" according lo one account, who lived in the area
west of Chowan River at the time Barfield's name is first men-
j iioned in documents. Many of these lived, no doubt, in the region
I that is now Hertford- They included some of the people whose
names are listed in this article, but there are others, pioneers
j of a county, whose names still are veiled by history's obscurity.
RICHARD BARFIELD was listed as a landholder in 1703. He
owned land along the Chowan River and in the southeastern corner
; of what was to be Hertford County. His descendants operated a
I ferry near present-day Winton which came to be known as Bar-
i field's.
; JOHN BEVERLY and wife, MARGARET, were living along
1 "Ahotsky Ridge" by 1712, when Acting Governor Thomas Pollock
ordered BEVERLY and his "rangers" to keep marauding Meherrin
' Indians north of the Meherrin River. BEVERLY sold land in "Ahor-
sky Swamp" to ELIZABETH LOCKER in 1723.
JOHN CHESIRE and wife, ELIZABETH, lived on the Meherrin
. River before 1719.
JOHN COTTON and wife. MARTHA, lived near present-day Saint
I John's as early as 1719. probably settled in this region in the first
decade of the 18th century. He also owned Chowan River property,
TOM VINCENT and WILLIA VINCENT owned land on the "south
, side of Meherrin Creek" (now lower Potecasi Creek), in 1718.
RICHARD WILLIAMS conveyed land to JAMES HOWARD "be
tween Cutawhisky and Ahotsky Swamp" in 1723. WILLIAMS had
a grant for the land dated 1722.
JAMES SPIER of Nansemond County, Va., bought land on the
north side of Ahotsky Swamp and on "Ahotsky Ridge" from ROB
ERT LANIER in 1723.
ELINOR REECE sold a piece of land known as "Alexander's Neck"
on Wiccacon River to George Wynn in 1724.
JOHN MITCHELL owned land which bounded that of Wynn in
1724.
SARAH SMITH and FREDDIE KEE lived on Wiccacon River in
1723. A patent lo the land had been issued to SARAH SMITH,
"widow," in 1712.
HENRY BAKER owned land in "Ahotsky Marsh" in 1723, sold it
to, RICHARD BARFIELD then.
JAMES SANDERS bought land in Ahotsky Swamp in 1725.
HENRY BAKER, mentioned above, bought two tracks of land
on Catherine Creek, including the mouth of the creek (Tunis is
located on Catherine's Creek today), in 1725. One tract was pur
chased from THOMAS and MARY BARFIELD, another from JAMES
RUTLAND, who had bought his land from MARY WILLIAMS,
widow, in 1717.
BENJAMIN HILL bought 640 acres of land on the south side of
Meherrin River in 1727 from ANTHONY LEWIS. The price was "30
barrells of pitch." LEWIS had received a patent for the land in 1721.
At the same time, HILL bought cattle, hogs and household furniture
from JOHN SMITH and DAVID VINCENT. Included in the deal was
a parcel of land for which SMITH had received patent in 1717,
THOMAS and MARY BARFIELD bought land from JAMES and
See BARFIELD, Page 6
Indians, Virginia explorers
and a famous map loomed large
in the story of the Bertie Penin
sula and the area that was to
become Hertford County during
the period from 1607 until 1663.
In 1607, the Jamestown Colo
ny settled in Virginia and began
the formal history of English
colonization of North America.
In 1663, the king of England
deeded to eight Lords Proprie
tors the new land of “Carolina.”
The story of Hertford County
begins sometime between the
two dates.
Within 15 years after the
Jamestown Colony was estab
lished, one of its members made -
a trip through the Roanoke-
Chowan area. John Pory, “Sec-
retarie” of the Jamestown Co
lony, journeyed through the
area in 1622, the first such vis
itor of record from Jamestown
lo the area that was to become
Carolina.
Pory came at least as far
south as the Hertford shore of
the Chowan River, described
the country as fruitful and said
the Indians raised two crops of
corn a year.
He probably met witb the
Chowan Indians, still living in
the area, and the Meherrin In
dians, who had come into the
area sometime after migrating
from what was to become Pen
nsylvania.
Other Virginia explorers,
huntens, trappers — unknown
to recorded history — probably
visited the region during the
next quarter century.
Bland Arrives
Then, in 1650, a Virginia mer
chant, Edward Bland, visited
the area and wrote of his trip.
He and his companions met Me
herrin Indians living at the site
of an old Chowan Indian village
at the confluence of the Meher
rin and Chowan rivers. He prob
ably journeyed to the mouth of
the Chowan River and perhaps
up the Roanoke.
Years later, three Virginia
farmers reported they lived
during the same period Coi'
short times along the banks of
the Chowan River in the region
between the mouth of the Roan
oke and the mouth of Wiccacon
Creek, ihen known' as “Wayo
noke Creek.”
The “Wayonoke” got its name
See EXPLORATIONS, Page 6
Early Years
In Brief
il622—Chowan River explored by
John Pory from Williamsburg,
i Virginia.
' 1648—Two Virginia seillers say
Ihey lived on Chowan between
mouth of Wiccacon and Roan
oke for short time.
' 1657—Nathaniel Batts living near
mouth of Roanoke River before
I this year.
11662—Durant Deed, earliesl land
transaction in state, Perqui-
! mans County.
! 1663—Charles II grants Carolina
to eight Lords Proprietors.
1675—Meherrin and Chowan In-
! dians badly depleted in war
I with Virginians. Meherrins or-
i dered north -of Meherrin River.
■ Chowan given preserve on Ben
nett's Creek (present-day Gates
County). Settlers on west shore
of Chowan River.
11680's—Settlers along lower west
1 bank of Chowan, some (un-
' known) northward.
, 1703—Richard Barfield known lo
I own land in what is to be Hert-
1 ford County.
;1712—Tuscarora War. Indians
beaten and period of rapid set-
I tlement.
11700-1722—Settlers seat along
Wiccacon, Meherrin, Culawhis-
key Swamp, Uraha Swamp,
Kirby Creek, Meherrin Indians
attacked again in 1707, reduced
lo remnant.
;1722—Bertie Precinct is formed,
"all land west Chowan River."
Heavy settlement continues
I along Chowan, Wiccacon and
' Meherrin.
1724—Courthouse and prison for
Berlie Precinct are located at
^ what is now Saint John's. A
small building for Anglican
worship had been built here
before Berlie was formed.
(There were no regular clerg/-
men at this time—missionaries
of the Anglican Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in-
. lermiltently visited the area.)
Hertford County’s formal his
tory begins soon after the Pro
prietary Colony was granted,
Within the next 30 years, settlers
from Virginia flowed into the Al
bemarle region. By 1707, “more
than 100 families” were living in
the region west of the Chowan
River, many in the area that was
to be Herlford County, and the
area which is now Bertie was be
coming a population center of the
colony.
Who are these earliest settlers
in Hetrford? The records are ob-
scui’e. In 1703, one Richard Bar-
field was living in the area that
is now Hertford. But he was only
one of several. Early deeds listed
in Bertie County and grants of
land from the colony’s governing
council indicate that the first set
tlers in the area which is now
Hertford drifted northward from
present-day Bertie and settled on
Chowan River and along the long
ridge of land generally north of
Wiccacon River which early had
the name of “Ahotskey Ridge.”
Lewis William* and John Beverly
had homes here in the early years
of the 18lh century.
Williams, in 1707, complained
that the Meherrin Indians, who
had been badly depleted in wars
more than 30 years before, were
“encroaching” on settlers in the
region. He said that he “and more
than 100 others” had been bother
ed by the Indians, The govern
ment of North Carolina had
ordered that these Indians, only
a remnant of a larger group,
should stay north of the Meherrin
; River, But starvation and disease
'had made the Indians desperate.
■ Other settlers were probably
[entering the region from the
I north, settling on the Meherrin
j River and on the rolling acres of
I what is now Maney’s Neck. These
'people believed they were living
I in Virginia. It was not until 1728
[that a boundary survey definitely
[established the boundary between
; the two colonies. Before then, the
[Virginians believed the boundary
'to be at Wiccacon River.
Much of the land that is in the
southern half of present-day Hert
ford was granted during the late
17th century to William Maule
who was long surveyor-general of
the colony. Maule had a Chowan
River plantation.
Colonial records of the first de
cades of the 18th century show
many families settling in the
region. By the time Bertie County
was formed in 1722, it was per
haps the most populous area in
the colony.
When it was formed, Bertie in
cluded all land west of the Cho
wan River. Its formation provided
another impetus for settlement,
and within the next 20 years, set
tlement along the many streams
and rivers continued at a busy
rate.
When Bertie was formed, the
seat of its government was order
ed to be on Ahotskey Ridge and
by 1724, a rude public house and
jail was built near the small
chapel of St, John’s, a center of
Anglican worship on the west
bank of the Chowan.
An impetus for the settlement
of the region west of the Chowan
came after the bloody Tuscarora
War in 1712, when the power of
the last big tribe of Indians in
eastern North Carolina was brok
en. From this year on, the colo
ny’s ruling council was busy
granting patents (land grants) to
settlers who took up land in the
region between the Chowan and
the Roanoke.
Settlers “took up”' land as far
away as the south side of the
Roanoke by 1714, and the land
along the Meherrin and Wiccacon
rivers was nearly all granted by
1720.
Within a few years after its
formation, this giant Bertie Pre
cinct (counties were known as
“precincts” until 1738) was the
most populous precinct in the
growing colony of North Carolina.
While many of the new pre
cinct’s leaders lived at the old set
tlements on lower Chowan River
and Salmon Creek, some of the
settlers in the northern area of
the precinct were also important.
This is evident from the fact that
the county seat was located on
Ahotskey Ridge,
In 1724, the land on which the
“courthouse and prison is built”
wa.^ deeded to Bertie’s ruling
council by Joseph Collins. John
Jones, George Wynn (or Winn, or
Wynne, or Wynns), James Boon
See SETTLEMENT, Page 6