Chapter 9
SHAPARD
LIFE IN THE 1800s
ST.
DAVID DISTRICT
Part
3
1809-1811
In March of 1809, Lewis Shapard filed an interesting lawsuit
in Caswell County Superior Court against his neighbor Stephen Chandler (1781-1831)
for trespass by slanderous words being spoken against his good name. Stephen
Chandler was the youngest of nine children of Lewis Shapard’s former neighbor
Joseph Chandler (1736-1805). Stephen’s sisters married John Pinson, William
Pinson, William Mitchell and George Stovall, all of whom lived in the vicinity. After his father died in 1805, Stephen and
his brother William inherited and divided between them their fathers land. Later
that year, on December 21, 1805, Stephen married Elizabeth Ingram and began a
family. Records indicate that Stephen appears to have been a farmer; however,
there is a curious report from the Raleigh Register & North Carolina State
Gazette that he became a minister later in life about 1817. In Caswell County,
he attended, circa 1818, the Bush Arbor Baptist Church which was originally
ministered from 1806-1810 by Rev. Barzallai Graves, Sr. (1759-1827). As we
shall soon see, in 1809, Lewis Shapard attended the same church as Mr. Chandler,
possibly being Bush Arbor Baptist Church or its affiliate church the Country Line
Baptist Church, both of which were in proximity to the Shapard plantation.
The events that led up to the lawsuit
began in 1806, when Lewis Shapard’s brother-in-law, Anderson Williams, was
preparing to move to Campbell County, Virginia. Anderson sold some extra items
to Stephen Chandler, including a cow, a couple barrels of corn and a few other
items amounting to the sum of £6.19.6. Mr. Chandler paid some money for the
articles, yet remained indebted about £6 to Anderson Williams after he migrated
to Virginia in March 1806, the sum of which would become due on December 25,
1807. Anderson Williams returned to Caswell County on a visit about March of
1808 and Stephen Chandler paid him 20 shillings towards the balance and agreed
to pay Lewis Shapard the remainder, as he was left to settle Anderson’s
business in Caswell County after his return to Virginia. Apparently, Mr.
Williams did not leave Lewis with any accounting documents of credits, debts
nor purchases pertaining to Mr. Chandler’s case.
As it came to pass, Lewis Shapard’s
attempts at collection were unsuccessful, and after a reasonable time, he was
forced to take out a warrant in the amount of £5 against Stephen Chandler on
behalf of Anderson Williams which was successfully served by acting constable
Francis Rice. In court, Lewis Shapard was unable to procure any documents
against Mr. Chandler, having been given none by Mr. Williams. Lewis threatened
to appeal the case to the County Court, enabling him time to secure the
appropriate documents from Mr. Williams, unless Mr. Chandler would acknowledge
the amount he owed. Judge John Yancy, Esq. asked Mr. Chandler if he owed Mr.
Williams anything and he said he did, but did not know the exact amount but
thought he could ascertain it. A judgment was then rendered upon Mr. Chandlers
testimony of his credits and debits for a balance of £0.19.6, which was collected.
The judgment was documented by Judge Yancy, and a copy was delivered to Lewis
Shapard with the funds to show that he had acted on the business.
In December of 1808, Anderson
Williams again returned to Caswell County and called on Lewis Shapard for the
settlement. Lewis gave him the amount issued by the court and the document in
Judge Yancy’s handwriting. Mr. Williams became frustrated, having quickly
discovered that not all of the items in which Mr. Chandler was indebted to him
were listed on the account. Anderson Williams took the document and directly confronted
Stephen Chandler about it. Mr. Chandler replied that the case was fully settled
for that amount and signed off by Judge Yancy and Lewis Shapard as witnesses. Anderson
William declared that Lewis Shapard was acting in his stead and did not have
full knowledge of the details of the debt. Not to mention that the testimony issued
by Mr. Chandler in court was lacking. Anderson handed Mr. Chandler the court document
and showed him that he was deficient in listing the items purchased, whereby
Mr. Chandler then said he knew nothing about that account document and asserted
that Lewis Shapard must have forged it, in order to pay Mr. Williams a lesser
amount, and kept the extra money for himself in an effort to cheat and defraud
his brother-in-law.
Honor among men and protection of
one’s good name was a cultural trait expressed among Southerners, especially
among the upper classes, a characteristic not lost on Lewis Shapard. Undoubtedly,
when Lewis’ brother-in-law told him what had occurred at the meeting, Lewis
would have been enraged by the grotesque and slanderous insinuation uttered by
Mr. Chandler. Court documents record that contention between these two men continued
to escalate; reaching a tumultuous public outburst that took place one Sabbath while
both men were in church, whereby, Mr. Chandler declared to Lewis in front of other
members of the congregation that Rev. Barzallai Graves had told him that “he would
not give a fig for his [Lewis’] oath…” This public embarrassment and callous display
of dishonor caused Lewis to file suit against Mr. Chandler, assessing the
damage to his reputation to the staggering amount of £500. The lawsuit stated;
“Lewis is a good, true, honest and faithful citizen of the State of North
Carolina, and as such has hitherto behaved and carried himself, and hath always
have reputed to be of a good name, fair and clean and conservative, far from
any crime, offence, a misdemeanor, particularly from crimes and offences of
forgery, counterfeiting, fraud and deceit; until the publicizing of the several
false, feigned, scandalous, opprobrious and malicious words…mentioned by the
said Stephen Chandler…” The case went to trial in Caswell County Superior Court
on November 6, 1810, and in light of testimony from Barzillai Graves and David
Payne, both witnesses for the defense, the defendant was found by a jury to be
not guilty.
It may be of interest to note that
Rev. Barzallai Graves (1759-1827) was the son of John Graves (1715-1792) and
Isabella Lea (1738 – 1796). In 1783, Rev. Graves married Ursula Wright
(1755-1843) and over the years had seven children: Solomon, Jeremiah, Isabella,
Barzillai, Jr., Elizabeth, Margaret and Mary. The Graves family lived in the
Gloucester District of Caswell County on a 973 acre plantation on the Country
Line Creek about three miles southwest of the courthouse. Originally Rev.
Graves preached at the Country Line Baptist Church on the edge of his land,
however, in 1801, due to the fervor of a great religious revival that had been
sweeping the state, Sallie Tate deeded to him a one acre lot, near the present
day town of Jericho, to establish a new church. On that site he founded the Bush
Arbor Baptist Church, which he preached at regularly until he resigned in 1810,
after which Richard Martin became head minister. During this era of revival,
there were more congregations than preachers and Rev. Graves traveled a circuit
throughout the month to reach as many congregations as possible. He also
participated in “camp meetings,” which first developed in the American south in
1801, whereby, people from all over would congregate and camp around a meeting
house or bush arbor to enjoy Christian fellowship while being impassioned to
conversion by the zealous preaching of a variety of, often multidenominational,
ministers preaching day and night. Over
the years, Rev. Graves became a well-celebrated and respected minister
throughout North Carolina and beyond. This public recognition allowed him to
secure a position in the North Carolina State Senate from 1814-1815 and then in
the North Carolina House of Commons from 1818-1822. Rev. Graves died on July
14, 1827 and was buried in the Graves Family Cemetery on his plantation.
Records from the Bush Arbor Primitive
Baptist Church have been preserved from 1806 to the present day. The earliest
records lack much detail about congregation members; however, during the July
meeting in 1812, there was a mention of a “Mr. Shepherd” having a conflict or
disagreement with “bro. Clifton,” which was resolved when both men found
resolution during the following church gathering in August. “Brother Clifton”
may have been William Clifton who resided near both Lewis Shapard and his brother
James Shapard. It is unknown which Shapard the reference refers, though the
date allows both as a possibility. It is noteworthy to mention that a decade
later two of James Shapard’s daughters Frances and Nancy joined the church in
1821, and his daughters Elizabeth [Shapard] Page and Frances [Shapard] Smith are
buried in the church cemetery.
On June 28, 1809, Lewis Shapard
entered into bond with Elijah Graves (1778-1855) and his brother Barzillai
Graves (1782-1850) for £300 to secure a permit from the Caswell County Court to
keep an “ordinary” (tavern) at their house near the courthouse. Note that this
Barzillai Graves is not the Reverend Barzillai Graves mentioned previously.
This Barzillai Graves was the son of John Herndon Graves (1746-1829) who
married Ann Slade (1749-1807). John H. Graves owned the majority of the land
around Caswell Courthouse and over the years gave or bequeathed the land to his
sons. The Graves Ordinary allowed a place for travelers to obtain meals,
alcohol, board and even feed and stable their horses. It was in an ideal
location for a tavern, as people across the county were summoned to court and
would be in need of these services while in town. Interestingly, the county
government fully set and regulated the fees that an ordinary could charge for
each of their services as a means of prohibiting price gouging.
Lewis Shapard’s family was blessed
with the addition of a baby girl in 1809. She was named Thelia Shapard. In
addition to his own biological family, Lewis was continuing to care for his
three stepdaughters Elizabeth, Polly and Sally. Records show that all three of
them attended school at this time and were kept well clothed and comfortably boarded.
A petition was filed by landowners
Lewis Shapard, John Barker, Jr., John Penix, Bartell Estes, William Slade,
Nathan Slade, Thomas Slade, Sr., Barzillai Graves, Sr., Henry Willis, Humphrey
Roberts, William Clifton, William Graves, Jordan Whitlow, Francis Smith, Sr.,
Richard Martin, Stephen Chandler, William Chandler, William Gooch, Sr., and John
Payne in December of 1809, in which they desired to create a new road in the
vicinity of their plantations and connect that road to the old main road that
led through the county to the Courthouse. Specifically the petition requested,
“turning out of the old road about half a mile above where the road now turns
out, that leads by Barttett Estes plantation to Debows Mill, and leaving the
old houses where Alexander Kerr formerly lived, now owned by Doctor Johnson, to
the right and to run with or near a private road that leads that way until it
comes into said road on the north side of said Esteses Plantation as also to
lay off a road from the north end of Debows land at his mill plantation,
running with or near a old tract from thence to the main road near Bartlett
Yanceys.” The justices of the County Court summoned the landowners on December
28,1809 and formed them into a committee to view and turn the road how they
best saw fit and to report their proceedings at the next session of court.
In 1810, the Shapard plantation was
visited by a US census taker who recorded the number of inhabitants by age and
race. According to the record, Lewis Shapard was listed between the age of
26-45 (he was 37), Martha Shapard was incorrectly listed over the age of 45
(she was 37). There were four males under the age of 10 years old listed
(James, Booker, Robert and Lewis, Jr.), one male between the age of 10-16
(William), one unknown male between 16-26 (overseer?), two females under the
age of 10 (Martha and Thelia), three girls between the age of 10-16 (Sophia and
two of his step-daughters Polly Nicholson and Sally Paine Nicholson) and one
girl 16-26 (his step-daughter Elizabeth Miller Nicholson). The census also
recoded that Lewis had 16 slaves. While this list of people may seem mundane,
it is spectacular to realize what a huge responsibility was upon Lewis
Shapard’s shoulders. In 1810, he was the patriarch of 29 people, among his
family and slaves, in which it was his daily responsibility to protect, feed,
clothe, board, educate and furnish medical needs, not to mention all the
business responsibilities and complexities of running a 400 acre plantation
with seasonal crops and livestock. From all records, it appears that Lewis
Shapard excelled in this role as patriarch.
On April 23, 1810 Lewis Shapard
entered into a bond with Phoebe Lipscomb, the widow of Joshua Richmond who died
in early 1807. It appears that the Richmond family lived north of the Shapard
plantation. Joshua (1761-1807) had three sons under the age of 21 years old at
the time of his death (Warren, Johnson and Robert) which the law considered
minors. Their mother applied to the County Court for full guardianship of her
sons and the court agreed, provided that she obtained security in the form of
bonds of $350 per child to ensure the faithful performance of her duties in
terms of proper education, board and clothing. Lewis Shapard and Joshua’s
brother Joseph Richmond became her securities.
Lewis remained active around Caswell
Courthouse for the remainder of the month of April; as he had been ordered to
jury duty for this month by the County Court on September 28, 1809, as a
representative of the St. Davids District. He was a jury member on April 24,
1810, for two cases: Thomas Burton vs. John Montgomery, whereby the jury found
the defendant guilty and assessed damages at £50. The second case was Thomas
Brandon vs. John Burton. On April 26, Lewis was a juryman in the case between
Daniel S. Fasley vs. Holloway Pass. After the verdict was rendered the case was
appealed to the Superior Court. Later that same day, Lewis was on the jury for
Jane Harrison vs. Andrew Harrison, whereby the defendant was found guilty and
ordered to pay damages in the amount of £33.6.8. Finally, on April 30, Lewis
was listed among the jurors for the trial of Archibald Samuel vs. Abraham
Stanfield.
Lewis next appears at Caswell Courthouse
on October 27, 1810, as a juryman for three trials. The first case was between
the State of North Carolina vs. John Berry and the jury found the defendant
guilty and sentenced him to jail for five day and a fine of six pence. The
second trial was the State of North Carolina vs. William Clemson, in which the
defendant was also found guilty and fined 30 shillings. The third case was the
State of North Carolina vs. Pat Courtney, and as with the other trials, the
defendant was found guilty and fined only six pence.
The following month on November 6,
1810, Lewis Shapard went to court as the plaintiff for the trial on his slander
complaint against Stephen Chandler. While he waited for his case to be called
forward and heard, Lewis was sworn in as a juror to pass the day in a more
entertaining fashion. He was assigned to the trial between the executors of
William Nash, deceased, vs. Richard Simpson on a general plead issue.
By 1811, Caswell County was in need
of updated infrastructure, especially new roads and bridges. Lewis Shapard had
been appointed, in 1808, to build a bridge over the Country Line Creek at
Debow’s Mill. Due to the success of its assembly, Lewis was assigned by the
Commissioners to build another bridge, this time over Stoney Creek “near John
Burkes.” He was also entrusted with the task of removing the old bridge in that
location after the new construction was completed. Lewis reported back to
Commissioners Nathan Williams and George Barker, in January of 1811, that the
project had been completed “in a workman like manner and ready for publick
use.”
During that same timeframe, a few new
roads had been completed in the vicinity of the Shapard plantation. The County
Court appointed local landowners to oversee these new roads and perform any
necessary maintenance for safe travel. Lewis Shapard became overseer of the
road from “the mouth of Whitlow’s Lane to Shapard’s Pathe.” However, in July
1811, George Martin was appointed overseer in place of Mr. Shapard. This road
was also to be maintained by Lewis Shapard’s slaves, John Richmond, Richard
Martin, Lewis Martin, John Payne and his sons. Also in 1811, John Barker superseded
Thomas Malone as the overseer of the road from “Shapard’s Pathe to the fork at
Johnson’s old field.”
On January 28, 1811, John Roan was
appointed Constable in the Gloucester District after entering into bond with
Lewis Shapard and Isaac Rainey as his securities in the sum of £500 for his
faithful performance. All newly elected officials had to make a “good faith”
bond with the County Court to ensure they properly fulfilled their elected
duties, or else forefoot the bond money. The sum of these bonds were often
beyond the financial means of those elected, thus men of wealth would be
solicited to act as surety for these bonds. As a planter and businessman, Lewis
Shapard recognized the importance and benefit of remaining in good favor with
the local elected public officials and supported many of them as their surety.
In February of 1811, Lewis’ wife,
Martha Shapard, was four months pregnant and beginning to show. To add to the
excitement of a growing family, Martha’s daughter Elizabeth “Betsy” M.
Nicholson became the first of the Shapard/Nicholson children to become engaged.
A joyous wedding was held in Caswell County as she was handed over in marriage
to Alexander Caldwell in February of 1811. Betsy would have been about 19 years
old at the time of her wedding. A few months after their wedding, on April 23,
1811, Lewis Shapard sold a Negro girl named Pherebe to his step son-in-law.
Pherebe was six or seven years old and was sold for £119.4.2 to Mr. Caldwell,
perhaps as a gift for his new bride.
Little is known of Alexander Caldwell,
however, there is a high probability he was related to Mr. John W. Caldwell son
of the famous Rev. David Caldwell, known as the “Fighting Parson” during the
Revolutionary War. John Caldwell was originally from Guilford County, North
Carolina, yet, in 1808, was employed as the Principal of Caswell Academy, being
a school established in 1801, and located just a quarter of a mile from Caswell
Court House. The school educated from 55 to 65 children each year, with a
curriculum of reading, writing and arithmetic for just $7 per annum, and for
just $7 more, instruction could also be had in Latin and Greek languages and
the sciences. It is known that Elizabeth
was educated, and due to the Academy’s close proximity to the Shapard
plantation, she may have attended Caswell Academy with her siblings or taught
there, whereupon she would have been introduced to Mr. Alexander Caldwell.
Early in 1811, Lewis Shapard’s neighbor
Sarah (Yancey) Estes (1740-1811), wife of the late Richard Estes (1728-1802), died.
Her son Bartlett Estes was appointed as the administrator of her estate. He and
Lewis Shapard were bound to the court for £200 on April 22, 1811, to ensure the
fulfillment of his duties of making a true inventory, settling the financial
debts and credits, and presenting the report of the estate to the Justices of
the County Court. From the inheritance, Bartlett received 100 acres of land
upon which his parents had lived, being located directly southwest of the
Shapard plantation. At the estate sale held on March 28, 1811, Lewis purchased
an old wash tub, tin bucket, candlestick and snuffer, one quart tin, old coffee
pot, a chisel, three geese, old shovel, old hoe, lot of lumber and an old
sorrel mare for a grand total of £4.17.6.
Lewis spent the day of April 23,
1811, at Caswell Court House. He was selected as a juror in the case of
Alexander Walker vs. Taylor Sanders in which they found for the plaintiff in
the amount of one penny. Later that day he was a juryman for the trial of Jesse
Perkins vs. Eppe Stone; after which, he was on the jury of Thomas Wedson vs.
Duke William in which they found for the plaintiff in the amount of £54.1.4.
It
should be noted that while Caswell Courthouse was the seat of government for
the county, it remained small. By 1811, Caswell Courthouse had two taverns, one
store, one hattery and about 15 houses. Beyond Caswell County, the major
economic centers were Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, where merchandise and
plantation products and produce were bought and sold. However, a modest local
economic center was developing in the town of Danville in Pittsylvania County, Virginia,
with a few hundred residents, being located just 13 miles due north of Caswell
Courthouse on the south side of the Dan River.
The
town of Danville was established in tandem with the Virginia General Assembly’s
inception of a tobacco inspection warehouse there in 1793. Tobacco had
developed as the leading cash crop in this region of southern Virginia and northern
North Carolina. The Virginia Legislation desired to standardize the grading of tobacco
through inspection to safeguard its value. During this time, fully-cured tobacco
leaves were acquired from local planters and tightly packed into wooden
shipping barrels approximately 48 inches tall and 30 inches in diameter, called
“hogsheads. Once packed and shipped to market, buyers could only observe the
top layer of leaves before purchase, thus hogsheads were scrutinized and
grade-stamped by official inspectors as a safeguard to buyers from encountering
“trash tobacco” beneath the top layer of leaves.
Fully
loaded, a hogshead could weigh close to 1000 pounds. Because of the tremendous
weight, the favored method of long distance transportation of hogsheads was by
water on flat-bottom boats. The growth of Dansville as the primary tobacco
market of the region around Caswell County was based on the strong tobacco
supply from local planters, as well as, its location on the Dan River - which flowed
into the Roanoke River that meandered back and forth between the state lines of
Virginia and North Carolina all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, thus allowing
shipping to numerous inland and coastal markets.
As
the market for tobacco strengthened, Lewis Shapard and Barazillai Graves
(1782-1850, son of John H. Graves) developed a taste for mercantile ventures
and joined in partnership with James Colquhoun of Danville, establishing the
firm of James Colquhoun & Company circa 1804. Their industrious business
was based in Danville, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and focused on the commerce
of tobacco, buying locally and selling to other markets, as well as, other
wares and goods. Founder James Colquhoun resided in Danville, however, between
1799 to1807, his estate investments stretched into Caswell County, North
Carolina, along Moons Creek, Hogans Creek and Rutledges Creek. Mr. Colquhoun
married Pasty Gatewood, daughter of Dudley Gatewood, in Caswell County on
December 19, 1796. Records show that James died in 1812, and his massive estate
was inventoried on July 25, 1812, in Pittsylvania County. James Colquhourn
& Co., ceased operation in 1812, after the death of its founder, though a
few accounting items were settled throughout 1813.
In
March of 1811, Colquhoun & Co. file a lawsuit against Ezekiel Ruark for
resolution of an unpaid debt. The case was heard at the Court of Pleas and
Quarter Sessions and a verdict was rendered in favor of the defendant Mr.
Ruark. Colquhoun & Co. appealed the verdict on April 24, 1811, and the case
was sent to the Caswell County Superior Court of Law. In preparation for the
trial, the court bound James Colquhoun, Barzillai Graves and Lewis Shapard,
collectively as James Colquhoun & Co., in the amount of £100 to Ezekial
Ruark to ensure payment to Mr. Ruark in the event the appeal was unsuccessful.
The case was brought before a jury in Superior Court in May of 1811, and the
verdict went in favor of the plaintiff James Colquhoun & Co., in the amount
of £4.17.1.
Humorously,
the same day that the above case was tried, James Colquhoun & Co., had
another suit in Superior Court, whereby, they were the plaintiff against Joel
Kennon for an unpaid debt. The amusing part was that among the twelve jurymen
selected for the case, was Lewis Shapard. Somehow, despite the fact that he was
the “Company” in James Colquhoun & Co., he had managed to subtly insert
himself in the jury. Lewis clearly had a bit of wit, cleverness and daring. To
no surprise, the verdict went in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of
£6.5.9.
It
may be of interest to note that Lewis Shapard’s older brother William Jr.
(1771-1843), had moved from Granville County, North Carolina, to Richmond,
Virginia, in 1798, establishing himself as a “commission merchant.” He initially
sold merchandise off ships, mostly from New York, Baltimore and Boston, reaching
the port at Richmond, These same boats also granted him a commission from any
freight he could procure to be shipped on their vessels to other ports. He
originally was in a partnership with Gustavus Lucke, however their partnership
dissolved by mutual consent in September of 1810. Afterwards, William ran his
own business by the name of William Shapard & Co. in the same store front
of the former Shapard & Lucke. He continued as a commission merchant dealing
with shipping arrangements between himself and a wide variety of boatmen,
merchant vessels and waggoners. Items shipped by land and sea included
everything marketable, such as, coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, gunpowder, hides,
pepper, salt, rum, iron, nails, clothing, cloth, kitchen items, plows, etc…From
1815 to 1819, William formed a new partnership in the same line of business with
his cousin, Lewis Webb (1789-1873), formerly of Granville County, North
Carolina. Lewis Webb was the son of John Webb (1747-1826) and Amy Booker
(1752-1838). There is strong evidence to suggest that Lewis Shapard utilized
his brother’s successful business at the major port of Richmond in the shipping
and sale of his tobacco, cotton and possibly other produce from North Carolina.
On July 22, 1811, Martha Shapard went into labor and
delivered a son, that she named Thomas Paine Shapard. He was the ninth and
final child born within the matrimonial union of Lewis and Martha Shapard. He
was named in honor of his maternal uncle Thomas Paine, who had died in Person
County in January of 1807, at the youthful age of 23 years old. Martha had great
affection for her brother which was illuminated by her memorializing his memory
in the first male child she birthed after the death of her brother. Unlike his
namesake, Thomas Paine Shapard would go forth to live a protracted and quite
adventure filled life.
Sometime during the month of October in 1811, Lewis traveled
with Bartlett Yancey (1785-1828) to neighboring Rockingham County, North
Carolina. While there, the men attended a public slave auction. John Matlock, the Sheriff of Rockingham
County, held an auction in the public square of the goods and chattel of Mr. J.
C. Man as a means to satisfy his creditors. Bartlett Yancy favored a certain
negro boy named Neptune upon which he placed a bid and successfully purchased
the slave for $265. Mr. Yancey was an industrious man in Caswell County. As a
young man, he taught English at the Caswell Academy from 1803-1804. In 1805, he
attended the University of North Carolina, after which, he studied law under
Archibald D. Murphey, in Caswell County. In 1809, he was licensed and would
become one of the premiere lawyers in the state. In 1813, he became a
Congressman and, in 1817, a Senator.
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