LEWIS SHAPARD (Chapter 9) 1809-1811, Life in the 1800s, PART 3

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.