Chapter 3
ISLAND CREEK DISTRICT – GRANVILLE
COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
1790 - 1795
The Island Creek District was located in the northeast
portion of Granville County, North Carolina. The district had changed shape
over the years; however, when the Shapard family arrived, the boundaries of the
Island Creek District were from Taylors Ferry Road down to Hyco Road, from Hyco
Road to Island Creek, up Island Creek to the Virginia state line, along the
Virginia state line back to Taylors Ferry Road. It was bounded on the north by
Mecklenburg, Virginia; bounded on the east by the Nutbush District; bounded on
the south by the Henderson District, Ragland District and Oxford District; and
bounded on the west by Abrams Plains District. Between 1867 and 1872, the
irregular shaped districts that followed natural landmarks were abandoned for a
square-grid system of townships. Most of the Island Creek District was
assimilated into the Townsville Township. In 1881, the eastern portion of
Granville County, including the majority of the old Island Creek District, was
used to form Vance County, North Carolina.
The
Shapard’s new plantation in the Island Creek District contained 584 acres and
was located about a mile and a half north of Williamsboro. It was bordered on
the east by the main road leading from Williamsboro to Taylor’s Ferry and
bordered on the west by Little Island Creek. Neighbors included Thomas Barnett,
Abraham Potter, William Lanier, John Taylor and Robert Hyde. Although the
Shapard family acquired the new plantation by Williamsboro, the family also
continued to manage and operate their 900 acre plantation in the County Line
District, about twenty miles away. As the Shapard children reached an age of
responsibility and maturity throughout the 1790s, the family would have divided
and utilized their time effectively between the two properties to ensure each
plantation was managed successfully. Lewis clearly gained tremendous
agricultural experience during this time, and would have been instrumental in
managing the family estates. Without a doubt, between the two plantations, the
Shapard boys, especially James, William, Jr., Lewis, Booker and Thomas, being
in their early teens to early twenties, would have found more excitement at the
new plantation, being near the events and social activities at the town of
Williamsboro.
In the
1790s, the Williamsboro population was booming and there was a need for skilled
tradesmen, especially in construction. Carpenters were in high demand for the
building of new homes, stores and outbuildings, as well as, repairing existing
structures from the constant effects of weather. It became popular, during this
time, for young men of the upper and middle classes to gain skills in
construction through brief, year or two-year long, apprenticeships. Records
indicate that at least two of Lewis Shapard’s brothers were trained as
tradesmen through such an apprenticeship: James Shapard was a skilled carpenter
and William Shapard, Jr., was a skilled carpenter and house joiner. The
carpenter’s job was to frame structures by fitting large pieces of timber
together to make the exterior skeleton of the edifice. The house joiner’s job
was a more precise and delicate interior woodworking; whereby, he made and
fitted the floors, window frames, decorative molding, mantelpieces, doors,
etc., as well as, finished the wood with stains and varnishes. Historical
records suggest that Lewis Shapard and his brothers Booker Shapard and John S.
Shapard may have also had training in wood working and construction and possibly
had similar apprenticeships around the Williamsboro area during their youth. In
particular, Lewis Shapard was reported to have built mills.
Not only did Williamsboro become the economic center of
the area, it also became the foci of academia, due to the numerous schools that
arose, offering classical education. Prior to this time, the only school in the
county for classical instruction was Granville Hall, chartered in 1779.
However, at Williamsboro, the first school established was the Nutbush
Seminary, initiated in 1788, a year after the founding of Wiliamsboro, by
Presbyterian minister, Rev. Henry Patillo, who had previously taught at
Granville Hall. Two years later, Rev. Patillo established the Williamsborough
Academy, teaching mathematics, science, English, Latin and Greek. Although
Williamsboro never acquired a university, planter’s children could obtain
higher education in the vicinity at the University of North Carolina
(established in 1789) at Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Hampden-Sydney College
(established in 1775) at Hampden Sydney, Virginia; or William & Mary
(established in 1693) at Williamsburg, Virginia.
Evidence clearly shows that Lewis Shapard’s father, being
an educated man himself, believed in the benefit of educating his children. The
records prove that all his male children and some, if not all, of his female
children received an education; however, where they obtained their instruction
remains unknown. Nevertheless, the timeframe and location would suggest a high
probability that Lewis Shapard and some of his siblings attended Granville
Hall, Nutbush Seminary or Williamsboro Academy. This premise is further
supported by the fact that, in 1794, William Shapard had a financial
interaction with Rev. Henry Patillo, most likely in the form of a tuition
reimbursement.
Through
the prosperity of his family and his education, Lewis Shapard had the dignity
and fortuity of residing in the upper class society of Granville County. By 1790, his father had acquired impressive
landholdings totaling 1,484 acres through his plantations in the Island Creek
District (584 acres) and the County Line District (900 acres). Census
statistics from 1789 show that less than half of the white families in
Granville County owned land. And of those landowners, only about 12 percent
owned more than 1,000 acres. Consequently, as land prices began to rise in the
1790s, this percentage dropped further. In addition, statistics show that less
than 40 percent of white families owned slaves. And of those slaveholders, only
about 11 percent owned more than ten slaves. By comparison, Lewis Shapard’s
family owned nine slaves when they arrived in Granville County in 1785, which
increased to ten slaves by 1788, and twelve taxable slaves by 1796. In reality, the family probably owned many
more slaves in 1796, since records only show their taxable negros, which does
not tally any slaves under the age of 16 years old. By the accounts of their land and
slaveholdings, the Shapard family clearly resided in the upper echelons of
property holders of Granville County during his era.
In
1794, on his twenty-first birthday, Lewis Shapard reached the legal age of full
maturity. From the time he was twelve years-old, his youth had been shaped by
the opportunities and experiences of Granville County. They had molded him into
a fine and talented man. He had been equipped in life with a strong intellect,
education and work ethic; and he had acquired skills in plantation management,
construction and agriculture. He, like his father, sought success through
opportunity and seemed to fearlessly welcome the adventure of change. More than
all else, he carried the confidence of a good name and the honor and dignity
that it bestowed. As in the life of all young men of worth, when the winds of
maturity begin to blow, they summon a conviction of self-reliance and bravely spread
their wings, discovering for the first time their ability to soar. In 1795, at
twenty-two years of age, Lewis Shapard independently spread his unbound wings
for opportunities fifty miles to the west, in Caswell County, North Carolina.
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