Petition From the Inhabitants of Granville County, 1771 - The Source

Hi folks,

It's been brought to my attention that I didn't list the source for this petition posted on June 4, 2007. I'm really sorry, that was just a big oversight on my part. Here is the source citation:

Location: North Carolina State Archives
Collection: General Assembly Session Records
Novemer-December, 1771, Box #5
Lower House Papers
Petitions Rejected or not Acted on
Petition from the inhabitants of Granville
1771, Entd.

I believe I originally found the transcription of the petition in either the Colonial Records of North Carolina or The State Records of North Carolina by Walter Clark and William L. Saunder. They are both considered the same series of 26 volumes, I believe Saunders did the Colonial Records of North Carolina part of the series, which was then continued by Clark as the State Records of North Carolina. Unfortunately, this was one of the very first documents I found and I didn't record where it was in those books. I will try to look that up this week and add that information. There were actually quite a few petitions either about free Blacks or that free Blacks signed and I found the originals to them all in Clark and Saunders series.

Manumission Records from Granville County, part 1

Ok, you might be wondering what happened to the Carter family of Craven County. Sorry, I am still working on that.

I want to talk a bit about manumission. This is how I started on this project was writing a paper on the manumission practices of antebellum North Carolina. I believe I explained in a previous post about the word choice "manumission" vs. "emancipation". To my understanding, the terms are interchangeable. If you look them up in a dictionary, you're most likely going to come up with the same definition. In records, "manumission" was usually used during the 1700s and early 1800s. Around 1820 or so, records are generally called "emancipation" records. My person preference, in referring to the freeing of slaves before the Emancipation Proclamation is to use the term "manumission." I like to have consistency in the things I do and it causes too much confusion to go back and forth between the terms, so my own personal definitions are as follows:

Manumission: The voluntary freeing of ones slaves

Emancipation: The forced (or involuntary) freeing of ones slaves

So, here we go with some transcriptions for you (as always, wording and spelling is preserved). I do have to apologize for the lack of call number (archival call numbers, I guess you could say). When I copied these manumission records, I was new to this and neglected to record them, but I'll put what I can under "Source:" in case anyone wants to view the originals for themselves.

To the Honb the Court of Granville

We your petitioners (who are the only proprietors) do here humbly state to the Court that Jacob Fain, This his Honest industry has procured Money suficient to our Satisfaction to purchase his freedom, which together with his faithfulness as a servant, induces us to petition your Worships that he may have his freedom and to humbly desire that the worshipfull Court of Granville would emancipate the said Jacob and your petitioning will ever be in duty bound to pray[?] bu[rest is faded]
Elizabeth Bullock
Frances Boyd
William Boyd
[faded]th May 1805 James Marlin*
Eliza Marlin*
Wm Bullock

[on the reverse]
Worshipful County of Granville

*= not sure if that is an "r" or a "c", it's either Marlin or Maclin

Source: Granville County. Misc. Slaves [box name]. "Emancipation of Jacob Fain" [folder name].

Petition From the Inhabitants of Granville County, 1771

Hello folks!

Today's post is a transcription of a petition that was filed with the General Assembly in 1771. The petition was "rejected or not acted on" and was from citizens in Granville County who opposed a new law that required a tax paid on all wives of free Black citizens (unless the wife was a slave). Many of the signers I know to be free Blacks, but others are either white or unknown to me as of yet. An "*" replaces an unreadable letter and "(x)" is the person's mark

Petition from the inhabitants of Granville

1771, Entd.

To the Honble. the Speaker and Gentn. Of the house of Assembly
The Petition of the Inhabitants of Granville County Humbly Sheweth that by the Act of Assembly Concerning Tythables it is among other things enacted that all free Negroes & Mulato Women and all wives of free Negroes & Mulatoes are Declar'd Tythables & Chargeable for Defraying the Public country & Parish Leveys of this Province which Your Petitioners Humbly Conceive is highly derogatory of the Rights of Freeborn Subjects.

Your Petitioners therefore Pray that An Act may pass Exempting Such free Negroes & Mulatoe Women and all wives other than Slaves of free Negroes & Mulatoes from being Listed as Tythables & from Paying any Public County or Parish Leveys and your Petitions Shall ever Pray &c.

John Smith	John Wilkerson	Charles Moore
James Norris	Christopher Thims	Thomas Head
William *ingson	John Head	James Caudill
Isom Caudill	Carter Hedge Beth	Martha Knight
Frances Davenport	Nathan Chiles	Benjamin Hendrick
Cubird Hudjons	Willis Roberts	Isaac Head
James Williamson	Joseph Hill	William Thims
William Cawthon	Thos. Loew	Wm Wallis
Isham Johnson	Isac White	JnoTudor
Jno Badget	William Head	Groves Howard
George Fagans	Charles Spaulding	Henry Spaulding
Gibea Chavis	William Matthews	Benjamin Bass
James Downey	Richd Burton	Benjamin *aze
John Davis	Lewis Anderson	Davie Mircoll Negroe
William Chavis	Samuel Huckaby	Lewis Collins
Thomas Butler	John Gwin	George Witlock
Humphrey Davis	Josiah Stovall	Ben Bearden
Lovet Gates	Shadrach Roberts	Thomas Wittington*
William Whorton	John Harris	Robert Down
John Hart	Edward (X) Bass	Rubin (X) Bass
Lawrence (X) Pettiford	Agula (X) Snele

A few comments on the names:

1. The following a free Blacks that I'm currently/actively researching:

• Gibea Chavis (see the previous post for a land deed of his)
• Benjamin Bass
• Lewis Anderson
• Davie Mircholl (this should be "Mitchell")
• Wiliam Chavis
• Edward Bass
• Rubin Bass (often spelled "Reuben")
• Lawrence Pettiford (sometimes speclled "Laurence" and surnames variations include Petiford, Pettyford, and Petitford)

2. The following names are probably free Blacks, but I do not have enough information on them:

• Thomas, John, and William Head
• James and Ison Caudill
• George Fagan (I've come across this surname many times in connection to free Blacks in NC, but nothing definite one way or another. There was a line of free Blacks surnamed Fagan in VA and George could be a descendant)
  
• Charles and Henry Spaulding (Spaulding is a surname I see a lot in connection with free Blacks in NC)
  
• Samuel Huckaby
• John Gwin (this could be John Gowen)
• Humphrey Davis
• John Harris (both Davis and Harris are surnames of whites and free Blacks in Granville County. I don't know about these two individuals)
• Agula Snele (This is actually "Aquila Snell" or "Aquila Snelling". I've seen Aquila [both as Snell and Snelling] mentioned numerous times in connection with free Blacks in Granville County, and Aquila Snelling most likely married into the Chavis family according to research done by Paul Heinegg [Chavis, person #15, child v.])

NEXT BLOG: We're gonna move over to Craven County and I'll transcribe some apprenticeship records from the Spelman family.

Deed of Gibbea Chavers - 1777, Granville County

Hi all! Well, this is a deed that I've transcribed from the State Archives of North Carolina. This is of Gibbea Chavis (spelled Gibbe Chavers in the deed) giving land to Joseph McDaniel.. This deed was found in deed book L of Granville County on page 382. Although the deed is from 1775, it was not recorded until almost 2 years later. Mentioned in the deed is Hudspeth and I'm very interested in who this person is. They may be another free Black, like Chavis, but I really think they were white even though their name pops up all the time in records concerning free Blacks in Granville County. If anyone has information on the Hudspeth line, I'd love to get in contact with you. Seems to me that Gibbea was doing fairly well for himself to be selling off 300 acres, and it looks like keeping some of the land for himself. http://www.freeaainnc.com/landdeeds/granvillecogibbeachavis1777.pdf

Deed of Gibbe Chavers to Joseph McDaniel, 1777

To Joseph McDaniel of Granville Co, NC from Gibbe Chavers, planter, of aforesaid, 8 September 1775, for 44 pounds 8 shillings and 10 pence proclamation money of North Carolina which he the said Gibbe Chavers is justly indebted unto the said Joseph McDaniel & honestly desire to secure & pay to him & for & in the further consideration of 5 shillings like money, one tract or parcel of land lying on the North side of Tar River, Beginning at a White Oak in Hudspeth's line, then running West to a corner Pine, thence North to a corner Pine, thence East to a corner Pine, thence Southern to Chaver's line, then along the various courses of Chavers' line to the first station, containing by estimation 300 acres, be the same more or less; also 1 spotted stone horse, 1 grey horse gelding branded with L on the near buttock, 1 spotted mare branded with a stirrup iron on the near shoulder and buttock, & her colt, 1 young spotted sores branded on the near shoulder a& buttock, with a stirrup iron, 1 young Sorrell horse branded on the near shoulder 3 & on the near buttock 8, 5 cows & calves, 2 hefers, & 1 (?), the cattle that are marked are marked with a crop & half crop in the right ear & a half moon in the underside of the left ear.
Gibea Chavers
Wit: Zacharias Higgs,
Jurat: Jonathan Kittrell
Granville County August Court 1777.
Prov'd by the oath of Zacharias Higgs
Reuben Searcy C.C.