Wills & Estates

The estates of Aaron Ward, Aaron Ruffin, and Warren Ward. (And a raised eyebrow.)

In 1883, the Clerk of Wilson County Superior Court served notice on Dr. David G.W. Ward to make settlements in the estates of three African-American men for whom he served as administrator. The estates were tiny and should have been handled quickly and simply, but Ward apparently had failed to tie up the matters. In response, Ward asserted that none of the estates had assets sufficient to pay his claims as administrator and asked to be released from his duties.

Under state law, estate administrators were entitled to a small percentage of the value of the estate as compensation. Not uncommonly, of their volition or under pressure, poor or unlettered people signed over administration rights to people who better understood the probate process. However, Aaron Ward, Warren Ward, and Aaron Ruffin were landless farmers whose estates ordinarily would not have gone through probate at all. Their families would have simply divided up their personal property, paid off sharecropping or rent obligations, and gone on with life.

How did Dr. Ward come to be involved in these matters? Did he have a prior relationship with the families? Ward owned more than a thousand acres straddling the Wilson and Greene County lines and enslaved dozens before the Civil War. Warren Ward is listed near him in the 1870 and 1880 censuses. Aaron Ward named a son Wyatt, as had D.G.W. Ward, who named his son after his close associate Wyatt Moye, former sheriff, county founder, and slave trader. Had Dr. Ward enslaved these men? Did he leverage his prior command over their lives to urge their families into legal proceedings that allowed him to pick over their meager assets?

In February 1875, Cherry Ward signed over rights of administration to her husband Aaron Ward’s estate, and D.G.W. Ward was appointed administrator after posting bond with his business partner Francis Marion Moye. Ward reported to a Probate Court judge that Aaron Ward had died without a will; that his estate was worth about $500; and his heirs were his widow and children Green, Hannah, Wyatt, Nathan, Jesse, Merriman [Marion], and Adril [Aaron]. The document above is found in Aaron Ward’s estate file — eight years after his death. There is no document showing distribution of his assets to his heirs.

In March 1878, after widow Rachael Ruffin signed over rights of administration, D.G.W. Ward reported to a Probate Court judge that Aaron Ruffin had died without a will; that his estate was worth about $300; and his heirs were Dallas Ruffin, Clara Lane, Mary Artis, Jane Thompson, and, crossed through, Warren Ward. (He did not list widow Rachael Ruffin.) Shortly after, Ward requested and was granted permission to sell Ruffin’s personal property for cash. Ruffin’s estate file contains no record of a final settlement for his heirs.

On 1 February 1881, Sarah Ward relinquished her right to administer her late husband Warren Ward‘s estate and “recommend[ed] D.G.W. Ward as a suitable person to take the same.” Dr. Ward was duly appointed and posted notices to Warren’s debtors and creditors at two general stores in Stantonsburg, Ward & Moye [his business with F.M. Moye] and D. Hill & Company.

Court-appointed commissioners assessed Warren Ward’s property and allotted his widow 200 pounds of bacon and ten barrels of corn. He had no land. Ward’s estate file contains no record of a final settlement with his heirs.

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  • Aaron Ward

In 1866, Aron Ward and Cherry Moye registered their ten-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.

In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farm laborer Aaron Ward, 46; wife Cherry, 30; and children Green, 12, Wyatt, 11, Hannah, 8, Nathaniel, 4, Jesse, 3, and Marion, 2.

In the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Cherry Ward, 40; sons Green, 21, Warot, 18, Nathan, 13, Jessie, 12, Marion, 9, and Aaron, 6; and grandson Edward White, 2.

On 17 February 1880, Hannah Ward, 18, and Warren Barnes, 20, applied for a marriage license, but did not complete or return the document.

On 14 January 1881, Green Ward, 24, son of Warren [sic] and Cherry Ward, married Hattie Kornegay, 23, daughter of Robert and Kezy Kornegay, in Swift Creek township, Pitt County, N.C.

On 5 October 1882, Wyatt Ward, 22, son of Aaron and Cherry Ward, married Kisire Kornega, 21, daughter of Robert and Kisire Kornega, in Saratoga township, Wilson County.

On 29 December 1889, Wyatt Ward, 28, of Saratoga township, son of Aaron and Cherry Ward, married Emma Aycock, 19, of Saratoga township, daughter of Sam and Jane Aycock, in Saratoga township, Wilson County.

In the 1900 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer Wyatt Ward, 37; wife Emma, 37; and children Jesse, 17, Georgianna, 13, John, 9, William, 7, and Hattie, 5.

In the 1900 census of Williams township, Lonoke County, Arkansas: farmer Green Ward, 49; wife Hattie, 50; daughters Marion, 15, Ada, 13, Hattie, 11, Cora, 9, Blanchie, 8, Sallie, 5, Birtha, 3, and Minie, 3 months; and mother Cherry, 75, nursing.

In the 1910 census of Williams township, Lonoke County, Arkansas: farmer Green Ward, 51; wife Hattie, 51; and daughters Cora, 17, Sallie, 13, Bertha, 12, and Minnie, 8.

Wyatt Ward died 6 September 1922 in Saratoga township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 55 years old; was born in Wilson County to Aaron Ward; was married to Ann Ward; and was a farmer. Jesse Ward was informant.

  • Warren Ward

In the 1870 census of Speights Bridge township, Greene County: Warren Ward, 38, farm laborer; wife Sarah, 45; son Larance, 10; and Thomas Holoway, 21.

In the 1880 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: Warren Ward, 53, farmer; wife Sarah, 52, washing; and Manda, 8, Henry, 7, and Lawrence, 19.

  • Aaron Ruffin

I have not found Aaron Ruffin’s family.

Estate Files of Aaron Ward (1875), Aaron Ruffin (1878), and Warren Ward (1881), North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, [database on-line] http://www.ancestry.com.

The last will and testament of Leah Ellis Barnes.

Leah Barnes executed her last will and testament in November 1914 with the following provisions:

  • to grandsons Paul and Louis Barnes, her house and lot on Viola Street adjoining the property of J.Z. Staton and Wash Pitt
  • to children Edward Barnes, Maggie Barnes, Mary Jane Lane, and Frank Barnes and grandsons Paul and Louis Barnes, all personal property, to be divided equally
  • Elder Jonah Williams to serve as executor and guardian to Paul and Louis if they were not yet 21 years of age

——

In the 1900 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farmer Laurence Barnes, 53; wife Lizzie [sic], 48;  and children Edwin, 18, Maggie, 15, Frank, 14, and Joseph, 12.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Lela [sic] Barnes, 55, widow, odd jobs laborer; children Edward, 26, wagon factory laborer, and Frank, 25, blacksmith; grandchildren Lewis, 9, and Maggie, 25, servant; and boarder Harry Draughn, 24. Leah Barnes reported that 6 of her 11 children were living.

Lear Barnes died 1 June 1915 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 62 years old; was born in Wilson County to Amos Ellis and Mary Edmundson; was a widow; and was buried in Wilson [likely, Vick Cemetery.] Maggie Barnes was informant.

The settlement of the estate of Elder Jonah Williams.

Clarissa Williams was appointed administrator of her father Jonah Williams‘ estate. She filed an inventory of his property, noting one $2000 life insurance policy (of which $900 had been borrowed against); a black horse; a lame mare; a horse wagon; a buggy cart; five plows; a cotton planter; a guano sower; five weeding hoes; a grubbing hoe; two shovels; two rake forks; a glass blade; a saw; seven barrels of “arn”; a half stock of fodder; and a house and lot on the south side of Green Street valued at about $1000.

In May 1917, Williams submitted to Wilson County Superior Court an account of the settlement of the estate. Across the two years after his death, Williams carefully tended her father’s affairs, paying tax bills and other debts, taking in farm income, and selling personal property. Several African-American men and women appear in the list, including Martha Dew Alston and Louvinia Hargrove for nursing services, Charles [S.] Thomas for barber services, Henry Tart for hack hire, Georgia A. Aiken for carriage hire, Dr. Frank S. Hargrave for medical services, and Rachel Falkland, Rose Barnes, Caroline Mercer, Cora Derring, Henry Joyner, Bisco Hagans, Wade Barnes, and Richard Pender for unspecified debts.

Probate Records 1905-1919, Property Settlement Records 1905-1923, Wilson County, North Carolina, http://www.familysearch.org.

The will and estate of Barnes Simms (1805).

Barnes Simms (1764-1805), the son of Robert and Mary Barnes Simms, lived in the area between Black Creek and Contentnea Creek in what is now Wilson County. He executed a will on 6 September 1805 providing for the distribution of land, livestock, personal property, and people. Simms’ wife Martha was to receive, among other property, a “negroeman” named Laze and two women, Peggy and Agathy.

Further down, another provision encapsulates slaveholders’ purely transactional view of Black lives. Barnes directed that Toby, Hannah, Rose, and Violet remain with his family after his death — “and the benefits of the labour to be applyed to the use of raiseing and schooling of my Children until my son James attains to the age of nineteen years.” And then they were to be sold.

Also, Barnes directed “my negroes Harry, Sue, and Phillis be sold and their value to be applied toward the raising the legacies” elsewhere directed.

Simms died soon after, and his estate entered probate. On 12 December 1805, Etheldred Deberry bought Harry at an estate sale for just over $195 and Sue for $100. Thomas Barrow bought Phillis for $127.

After Simms’ youngest children reached maturity, another sale was set. There, his widow Martha Simms purchased Toby, Rose, and Hannah and three of her children for $1430.

Barnes Simms Will (1805), Estate of Barnes Simms (1808), North Carolina Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.

The last will and testament of Andrew Parker.

Andrew Parker executed his last will and testament in May 1923, leaving all his property to his daughter Nancy Parker Locus [Lucas] and her daughter Rose Ella Parker. Parker lived another 12 years and, though he remarried, he apparently did not update his will.

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In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer James Parker, 39; wife Louisa, 40; children Andrew, 18, Martha Ann, 16, Samuel, 15, Henry, 13, James, 7, Sallie, 5, and Johnny, 2; grandson Charlie Vick, 2; and widowed mother-in-law Cherry Lindsey, 70.

On 5 February 1903, Andrew Parker, 21, of Wilson township, son of James and Louisa Parker, married Conteaster Vick, 25, of Toisnot township, daughter of Payton and Ellen Vick, in Wilson County.

In the 1910 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer Andrew Parker, 38; wife Lucas T., 26; children Julia A., 14, Nancy, 12, and Sylvester, 10; and brothers Johnie, 12, Joshua, 9, and Alex, 7.

On 7 September 1919, C. Floyd Locus, 21, of Toisnot township, married Nancy Parker, 20, of Toisnot township, in Wilson County. Missionary Baptist minister Elias Lucas performed the ceremony.

In the 1920 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: on Langley Road, farmer Andrew Parker, 43; wife Leasie, 43; Mary, 17, and Rosey, 4.

Lue C. Parker died 2 March 1922 in Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was 46 years old; was born in Wilson County to Payton Vick and Ellen Vick; and was married to Andrew Parker.

In the 1930 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Andrew Parker, 55; wife Minnie, 33; Rosella, 15, and Catharine B., 12.

In the 1930 census of Bethesda, Maryland: coal yard laborer Floyd Lucas, 30; wife Nancy, 30, cook; children Elsie, 9, and Nanabel, 6; and brother Edward, 18.

Andrew Parker died 26 September 1935 in Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 67 years old; was born in Nash County, N.C., to James Parker and Lucy Lindsey, both of Edgecombe County, N.C.; was married to Minnie Parker; worked as a farmer; and was buried in Wilson.

Wilson Daily Times, 29 October 1935.

The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 12 January 1948.

Payment for services.

As guardian of M.C. Farmer, Warren Woodard filed regular expense reports in Wilson County Superior Court. In 1883, Woodard paid an unnamed washerwoman, who was almost certainly African-American, a total of $12.00 on eleven occasions between January and December. He also paid Lemon Taborn a total of $10.95 for three barber services.

Howell G. Whitehead’s guardian Frank W. Barnes filed regular reports detailing all income and funds paid out for Whitehead’s support, including small payments for two visits to barber Lemon Taborn on 29 December 1890 ($3.30) and 15 December 1891 ($1.40).

Around the same time, Barnes was the executor of Mary J. Anderson’s estate. For October and November 1889, he reported receiving payments for “rent cotton” totaling $83.67 from Mack Bynum and $74.30 from West Bynum. On 23 October 1889, Barnes paid Charlotte Brinkley and her unnamed daughter wages of $10.00 and on 25 November 1889 paid Lemon Taborn’s barber bill in full at $4.95. The Brinkleys were paid $6.00 on December 7 and $4.50 on December 23, and on the 14th Louisa Hinnant received $1.80 for two weeks of washing. Also on the 23rd, a woman named Effie, who was almost certainly Black, was paid 90 cents for “Washing for children.” On 10 February 1890, Barnes paid blacksmith Charlie Battle $3.55.

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  • Lemon Taborn
  • Mack Bynum
  • West Bynum
  • Charlotte Brinkley
  • Louisa Hinnant — in the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Pine Street, hireling William Hinnant, 26; wife Ann, 29; sister Louisa, 21, “wash & irons”; and nieces H.E., 20, servant, and Berdin Stancil, 13.
  • Charlie Battle

Wilson Probate Estate Case Files 1854-1959, http://www.familysearch.org.

Application to sell Nelson Eatmon’s property.

On 1 September 1881, attorney Frederick A. Woodard, administrator, filed a petition to sell Nelson Eatmon‘s personal property for cash. The sale went forward on September 30, netting $180.50 for an assortment of farm tools, household furnishings, and two mules.

Wilson County [North Carolina] Record of Accounts 1875-1884, http://www.familysearch.org.

The estate of Benjamin Flowers (1853).

Benjamin Flowers executed his will on 13 September 1852. Among his bequests were a “negro girl child” named Barthena to his wife Nancy Flowers; a woman named Grace to his son Bennett Flowers after Nancy’s death; a woman named Spice to his son Gray Flowers; a boy named Spencer to his grandson Adam Flowers; and, to be “equally divided” between his sons Bennett and Gray, a man named Henry.

Flowers died in early 1853, and his heirs began to squabble over the will.

An inventory done in March 1853 showed Flowers died with eight enslaved people — Mary, Hanner, Henry, Grace, Spice, Spencer, Barthana, and Mariah.

In 1855, Bartley Deans, who had witnessed Flowers’ will, gave a deposition in which he declared that Flowers seemed of sound mind when he dictated his wishes; denied he had told anyone he would “spend negroes or money” to influence Flowers’ will; said he had never possessed any of Flowers’ enslaved people except Henry, who had been hired to him before Flowers’ death, and Flowers’ sons Gray and Bennett had told Deans “Henry could go with the contract and finish my mill.” Finally, and curiously, he added that he did not know if Henry had influence “over his master.”

Late in 1855, the matter was transferred to newly established Wilson County from Nash County, and the will was finally validated. It is difficult to discern from available records what the parties’ contentions were. Gray Flowers, who initially was executor of the estate, apparently died in the late 1850s, and B.H. Bardin was appointed administrator in his place.

In January 1859, Bardin submitted a note to the court: “I am advised that there are certain Slaves belonging to the estate of Benjamin Flowers Sr. dec’d which are in the possession of divers persons supposed to be about forty in number and which I cannot get possession of without legal process and I am advised that there is no other property belonging to said estate.”

Forty??? How did eight enslaved people become 40 in six years? The court had questions, too, as this undated set of interrogatories indicates. The last question contains an important clue: When “were the negroes brought back from V[irgini]a”?

1. Ascertain of whom & where did Benj Flowers buy the slaves, what were their names, ages, sizes

2. Who are the descendants of these negroes tracing the children of each as far as is known

3. In whose possession are the slaves and how do they [illegible] title thereto, and how did their [illegible] or assigns get poss’n of them

4. Who were the children of Ben Flowers at his death What were their probable ages — Were the daughters married & to whom — were they under age when married — are any of them dead — did they die covert — If they were discovert, where did they live — Where did his children live at his death — And generally under what [illegible] did any of them labor, either of a single or cumulative character

If any of the children are dead who are their representatives &c

Age of Benj Flowers Sr date of his death At what time were the negroes brought back from Va — how long after did he live

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Benjamin Flowers (1855), N.C., U.S. Wills and Probate Records 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com; Benjamin Flowers Estate (1855), Wilson [County] North Carolina Probate Estate Case Files 1854-1959, http://www.familysearch.org.

 

The inventory of Wiley Oates’ estate.

Wiley Oates wore a lot of hats — farmer, grocery merchant, dredge boat operator — and built a comfortable, middle-class life for himself and his family. After his death in 1913, John C. Ellis, administrator of Oates’ estate, itemized his possessions: a lot and a house; two feather beds; two bedsteads; two heaters; a range; four trunks; a bureau; a sideboard; an organ; two sofas; a washstand; 18 chairs; two mattresses; six pictures; a safe; a clock; a hall tree; a wash pot; two tubs; a watch; carpets and rugs; a sewing machine; a hog; ten bushels of potatoes; a farm with 13 acres of cotton; two plows; two hoes; a rake; and a mule, valued at just over $2000.

[Wiley Oates’ grave marker is arguably the loveliest still standing in Odd Fellows Cemetery.]

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  • John C. Ellis

On 7 January 1877, John C. Ellis, 21, married Della Joyner, 21, in Number 14 township, Edgecombe County, North Carolina.

In the 1880 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farm laborer John C. Ellis, 22; wife Della, 22; and son William C., 2, and Walter D., 5 months.

In the 1900 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: school teacher John C. Ellis, 44; wife Della, 44; and children Walter, 20, Martha, 18, Minnie, 16, John, 14, Haywood, 11, Arthur, 7, and Doretha, 4.

In the 1910 census of Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County: teacher John C. Ellis, 54, widower, and children Haywood, 22, odd jobs laborer, Minnie, 20, teacher, Doretha, 14, and Iredell, 7.

John C. Ellis died 15 March 1926 in Elm City, Toisnot township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 1 November 1847 in Wilson County to Harry Ellis; was married to Pennie Ellis; was a teacher; and was born in Elm City. Doretha Barnes was informant.

Wilson [County, North Carolina] Probate Records 1905-1919, http://www.familysearch.org.

The sale of the personal property of Samuel W. Williams.

This 1901 report of the sale of Samuel W. Williams‘ property offers a peek into the household of a small-town, middle-class African-American merchant at the turn of the twentieth century. Williams was a grocer and the step-father of Charles H. Darden‘s wife Dinah Scarborough Darden. The sale of his home furnishings appears to have gone smoothly. However, the disposal of the house itself, and the lot it stood on, sparked a fight that went all the way to the North Carolina Supreme Court. More on that later.

The nearly 50 men (and three women) who showed up at the sale to spend a few cents to a few dollars included:

  • Simon Barnes
  • S.H. Vick — Samuel H. Vick.
  • S.P. Barnes
  • Geo. Barnes
  • B. Williams — Berry Williams.
  • L. Williams — Louis Williams.
  • J. Powell
  • J. Leach
  • H. Johnson
  • S.B. Barnes
  • J.A. McKnight
  • W. Saucers
  • Paul Goffney
  • J.D. Smith
  • J.A. Moore
  • Alfred Dew
  • Shade Barnes
  • C.H. Darden — Charles H. Darden.
  • Perry Davis
  • James Sommerville — on 14 February 1904, James Summerville, 59, of Wilson, son of William and Frances Summerville, married Lila Henderson, 39, of Wilson, daughter of Stephen and Dicy Henderson, in Wilson. A.M.E. minister P.H. Leach performed the ceremony in the presence of S.D. Henderson, L.V. Leach, and Gray Battle.
  • Dollison Powell
  • Lemon Barnes
  • H.C. Rountree — Henry C. Rountree.
  • Dorsey Powell
  • Daniel Vick
  • Virgil Horne — in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Virgial Horn, 70; wife Grizzie, 49, washing; and daughters Pattie, 25, and Mezera, 16, both washing.
  • C. Deans
  • R.D. Smith
  • Felix Burden — in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: drayman Felix Burden, 39; wife Emma, 30, washing; and children Dora, 11, James, 4, and Burnetta, 1.
  • F.S. Simms
  • S.D. Henderson — Sandy D. Henderson.
  • Henry Young — in the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: farmer Henry Young, 65; wife Annie, 42; and boarder Pennie Young, 22.
  • William Hagans
  • Mrs. Harriss
  • P. Leach — Patrick Henry Leach. In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: shoemaker Patrick Henry Leach, 61, born in Mississippi to N.C.-born parents, and wife Lavinea, 56.
  • Mrs. Mercer
  • Geo. Harriss — in the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer George W. Harriss, 55; wife Mary, 37; and children Malissa, 10, and William Henry, 20.
  • R.D. Smith
  • Mrs. Perrington — probably, Louisa Scarborough Perrington.
  • J.H. Clark — John H. Clark.
  • [blank] Hoskins — probably, Edward Hoskins. In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: farmer Edward Hoskins, 51; wife Amy, 47; and children Joseph L., 20, Herbert, 15, David, 13, Miles, 9, Pharebe Ann, 11, John A., 8, Moses T., 5, and Susan Anna, 4.
  • [blank] McKnight
  • M.H. Cotton — Mark H. Cotton.
  • W.W. Sanders
  • R. Hodge — Richard Hodge. In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: carpenter George Hewlin, 53; wife Jane, 42; and Richard Hodge, 29, hod carrier.
  • J.S. Spells — John S. Spell.
  • R.G. Williams

The items purchased: books; spoons; knives; lamps; bedsteads; a map; dishes; saucers; chips; plates; mugs; brushes; a bureau; coats; a clock; glasses; trunks; bags; a safe; a wheel; stoves; lemons; a trap; pipes; beans; a funnel; bowls; a paper roll; a slab; a tank; kegs; buckets; an auger; hatchets; knives; an axe; shot; paper; pants; jars; a square; oil; a tool; chairs; pans; a box; tables; corn; quilts; blankets; feathers; mattresses; kettles; a sugar dish; a lamp; a knife box; a griddle; a saw; pitchers; a slate; a basket; pipes; a watch; and a bed.

All of that netted $27.51. Of that, Braswell R. Winstead pocketed $8.40; G.D. Walston, $14.02; R.C. Jacocks, $3.00; and John H. Clark, $2.09.

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On 20 September 1870, Samuel Williams married Annie Scarbro, daughter of Jack and Zaly Adams, at Ann Scarbro’s in Wilson township. Rev. Laurence Moye performed the ceremony.

In the 1880 census of Wilson, Wilson County: grocer Samuel Williams, 38; wife Ann, 47; and daughter Anna, 9.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: grocer Samuel Williams, 58, widower, and lodgers William Jackson, 36, and William Allen, 25, both tobacco graders.