LEWIS SHAPARD (Chapter 4) 1795-1796 Caswell County, North Carolina - St. David District

Chapter 4

CASWELL COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

ST. DAVID DISTRICT

1795-1796

In 1777, Caswell County was formed from the northern half of Orange County, North Carolina, bordering the state of Virginia. In addition to its numerous creeks and fresh water springs, Caswell County also possessed fertile soil well suited for tobacco production. Due to these attributes, settlement in the area surged after the Revolutionary War, and, in the mid-1780s, Caswell County became the second most populated county in all of North Carolina. By 1790, the county held a population of 7,288 whites and 2,736 slaves. In an effort to effectively govern, officials divided the county into eight districts, which were reduced to four, in 1791, when St. Lawrence, St. Luke, St. James and Nash districts were carved from Caswell County’s eastern half and made into Persons County, North Carolina. Thereafter, Caswell County’s remaining districts were the Richmond District in the northeast, Caswell District in the northwest, Gloucester District in the southeast and St. David District in the southwest. Each district spanned about ten miles in width by ten miles in height.

Due to the boundary revision of Caswell County in 1791, the original courthouse at Leasburg was now positioned to the far eastern side of Caswell County and was no longer conveniently located for the county seat. After a land survey was conducted, a more appropriate site, at the geographic center of the county, was selected by the county justices. The site was initially known as Caswell Courthouse, and, renamed Yanceyville when it was incorporated in 1833. The land for the new courthouse was purchased in 1792, and construction was completed in 1794, a year before Lewis Shapard arrived. Out of necessity, the first many sessions of the court were focused on appointing committees to lay off and construct roads and bridges throughout the county all leading to the new courthouse. Caswell County’s growth and development in the mid to late 1790s, along with inexpensive available land, would have made it an alluring location for men of enterprise. 

Lewis Shapard first arrived in Caswell County before April in 1795, at the age of twenty-two. As he assimilated into his new surroundings, he was most likely employed in agricultural or construction. He obtained no property in the county, until November of 1796, and in the beginning may have quartered at the home of friends. Tax records from 1795 inform us that Lewis initially resided in St. David District in the southwest quadrant of the county. St. David’s was the least populated district in the county and quite rural. The total population of the district, including whites and slaves, was about a thousand people. The majority of landowners possessed farms spanning multiple hundreds of acres apiece, generally situated along the creeks of the area. The district was traversed by the Stony Creek, Country Line Creek and the South Fork of Country Line Creek. While these streams were too shallow or meager to be utilized for shipping, they did provided enough water for mills, fishing and irrigation.

There were no towns in St. David District at the time of Lewis Shapard’s arrival, and only the occasional tavern or merchant could be found along the country roads. From the sparse accounts we have of Lewis during this first year, it appears that he resided in the southern portion of St. David’s District, near Stony Creek, approximately ten miles southwest from the developing new seat of government at Caswell Courthouse in the Richmond District. As a young man, the allure of the towns would have been captivating, and from all accounts, Lewis spent much time traveling to Caswell Courthouse to meet new people and for entertainment. During this era, a common social pastime was to watch the cases being tried at the county courthouse. On July 30, 1795, Lewis Shapard not only attended the activities at the courthouse, he was selected to serve as a jury member on two cases: The State vs. Samuel Paul and William Moore vs. Samuel Henderson. 

Another pastime that served a social and functional role was attending local estate sales. When a person died, it was often necessary to sell items from the estate to pay the debts, support the widow and minor children or purge the excess perishable items (corn, wheat, tobacco, etc.). Items sold often included slaves, livestock, farm tools, furniture and household items. Since the availability of many of these items would have been otherwise scarce in such rural areas as St. David’s District, estate sales, especially of neighboring wealthy landowners, where highly attended. On November 16, 1795, Lewis Shapard was at Stony Creek in the southwestern portion of the St. David’s District, where he attended the estate sale of John Mallory. During the sale, Lewis acquired five bushels of wheat for £2.0.6. Interestingly, each bushel would have weighed about 50 pounds. While some of the wheat would have been made into bread for personal use, the excess would have been bartered for other goods and services, which was a common practice during this era.