plantation

The Edwin Barnes cemetery.

We’ve spoken here and here and here of the plantation of Dr. Edwin Barnes, whose house sat near the intersection of modern Old Stantonsburg Road and Fairfield Dairy Road near those of his brother William Barnes and relative Wiley Simms. (Gen. Joshua Barnes was another brother.)

Edwin Barnes’ house was destroyed by fire in 2005. The sole trace of his tenure on the land is a small family cemetery tucked a few hundred feet from the home site under an enormous, lush boxwood. Here are buried Edwin Barnes, who died in 1885 at age 69; his wife Elizabeth Simms Barnes (1824-1875); and about a dozen assorted relatives.

But where are buried the dozens and dozens of men and women who worked Elias Barnes’ fields?  We know the locations of just one or two slave cemeteries in Wilson County. Unmarked or impermanently marked, these sites are forgotten and largely untraceable — plowed under or overgrown in the decades since the last burial.

Wherever the dead may rest, we honor and pledge to preserve their memory.

The cemetery rattles with dried stalks of dog fennel.

Edwin Barnes’ marble stele. The cemetery on this early spring day was weedy and unkempt, but shows signs of at least fitful cleaning.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2024.

The William and Elizabeth Simms Woodard house.

Wilson Times, 10 January 1950.

We have studied the cluster of plantations owned by the Woodard family near White Oak Swamp here, as well as the disposition of enslaved people held by William and Elizabeth Simms Woodard. The photos above and below depict the Woodards’ house, built in 1832.

Though the house seems to have been in fine form in the early 1980s, when the second photograph was taken, it has since been demolished.

Lower photo courtesy of Woodard Family Rural Historic District nomination form.

 

The White plantation.

On 10 January 1950, the Wilson Daily Times‘ Centennial Anniversary Edition included an article entitled “County Has Many Plantation Homes More Than A Hundred Years Old.” One of the featured houses was built by the White family on a 2000-acre land grant that stretched from Raleigh Road out to Wilson Country Club. The house burned about 1942.

On 8 January 1858, Benjamin White made out his last will and testament in Wilson County, leaving all his lands, slaves, etc., including this house, to his sister Martha White. He died in April 1860.

In the 1860 slave schedule, Patsey White is listed with women and girls aged 19, 18, and 1, and men and boys aged 47, 21, 20, 14, and 1.

On 24 February 1860, Martha [Patsey] White made out her last will and testament in Wilson County. Among her bequests were:

  • to Larry D. Farmer, three negroes Stephen, Cherry, and Luke and other gifts to hold in trust for White’s niece Temperance Perry “free from the control or influence of her husband Thomas Perry”
  • to Amanda Taylor, wife of William T. Taylor, negro boy Thomas
  • to Martha Perry, negro girl Harriet and White’s share of the land divided between White, [her brother] Benjamin White, and [niece] Temperance Perry.
  • to Ann Perry, negro girl Fanny
  • to “sell the balance of my negroes & all my estate undisposed of” and divide the proceeds among Temperance Perry’s children

On 5 April 1861, Martha White hired “negro man Tom” from Larry D. Farmer, Benjamin White’s executor. (Apparently, there were two Toms — one belonging to Benjamin White, and younger one belonging

On 7 June 1862, Farmer reported the hire of Tom to W.T. Taylor; Jim to Richard Bullock; Steven, Cherry and two children, and Harriet to R.S. Kingsmore; and Rose and one child to A.J. Barefoot for the remainder of the year.

In July 1862, a “Negro Woman at Jack Barefoots” received $3.00 of medical care from B. Bunn Williams.

On 2 January 1863, Farmer sold Rose and her children Joe and Jim to Richard S. Kingsmore and Jim to George W. Barefoot, bringing $3575 into the estate’s coffers.

——

White is an uncommon surname in Wilson County, and I have had little success tracing forward the men, women, and children named in Martha White’s will.

Perhaps, in the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Harriet White, 18, farm laborer, in the household of Lemuel Due, 22; wife Sebriah, 21; and children Margaret, 5, Moses, 4, Edith, 2, and Alice, 1 month.

Perhaps, in the 1870 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Thomas White, 56; wife Charlotte, 56; and Lucy, 14, Reuben, 15, George, 10, and Lucy, 3.

Estate File of Benjamin White (1861), Wilson County, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, http://www.familysearch.org; Estate File of Martha White (1863), North Carolina Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998, ancestry.com.

High school students research plantation’s enslaved.

I just happened across this brief 26 July 2022 news report. It’s not from Wilson County, but it’s close — and worthy of emulation.

Stonewall Manor.

Built on the banks of the Tar River in 1830, Stonewall Manor is an antebellum plantation house in the heart of Rocky Mount. In 2022, honors history students at Nash Central High School set out to document the people enslaved at Stonewall.

Here’s the 26 July 2022 report by ABC11 reporter Lucy Collins, “Nash Central High school students honor people who were enslaved at Stonewall Manor”:

“Nash Central High School AP US History Students honor and remember enslaved peoples at Stonewall Manor through a research project.

“Lead by their teacher, Renny Taylor, students went through public records and other archives to find the names of the slaves who worked on the property.

“‘We went through auction records, land deeds, wills last seen ads of slaves and just everything that we could to make sure that we didn’t forget anybody because our main goal here was just to honor and remember the forgotten,’ said Camryn Eley, one of the students who researched for the project.

“Students worked after school and weekends to work on this project, even acting as docents on the property.

“‘They did a great job. I think one of the things they found out is that when you’re doing this research, which I like to call the Easter egg hunt, you’re not always successful. We had people that went different places and didn’t find anything and then you would stumble across something and find one or two names… Just them having the perseverance to continue to find it and look for it,’ said Taylor, recalling his students’ research efforts.

“The next round of AP US History students at Nash Central High School will continue to add on to the project and the students who started the work are excited to see how they will build upon their research.

“‘I’m ready to see the final outcome and it continuing to be built on. I always think that one door opens and then everybody else can open other doors so I feel like it’s going to be a really good outcome. Especially from what we did in just a year and a half,’ said Makayla Pugh, another of Taylor’s students who worked on the project.

“The students’ work will be available for public viewing in September.”

At the completion of their project, Coach Taylor’s classes created a large display board naming those known to have been enslaved at Stonewall Manor, which has been installed onsite. Thank you, Coach Taylor and students, for calling the names of Stonewall Manor’s enslaved.

No grand brick plantation houses survive in Wilson County (if any were ever built), but antebellum houses whose owners built their wealth on the backs of African-Americans dot the countryside. Certainly enough to keep every AP History class in the county busy for a couple of years with projects like that undertaken at Nash Central.

[P.S. On a personal note, at the liquidation of Bennett Bunn’s estate in 1849, Kinchen Taylor purchased Green. My great-great-grandfather Green Taylor is listed in the 1856 inventory of the enslaved people held by Kinchen Taylor of far northern Nash County. Was he once held at Stonewall Manor?]

Photo courtesy of Stonewall Manor’s Facebook page.

The Callie S. Braswell house, known as Hawthorne.

Hawthorne was one of four antebellum plantation houses included in the Upper Town Creek Rural Historic District. Forty years after nomination, none are standing.

Hawthorne in 1980.

Per the National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form for Upper Town Creek Rural Historic District, prepared by Kate Ohno in 1982, the family of Callie (or Cally) S. Braswell (1828-1893) were long prominent in this area of the county. Braswell began acquiring land in the 1840s, and bought his home site around 1853. He married Martha Ann Trevathan in 1855, and the couple probably built Hawthorne shortly after.

At the November 1847 term of Superior Court, heirs of Benjamin Braswell, which included Callie S. Braswell, filed a petition for the division of the elder Braswell’s slaves. The petition names Lewis, Zilly, Amy, Warren, Amos, Lettice, Albert, Boston, Esther, Arden, Prissy, Charlotte, Eliza, Drew, Hilliard, John, Elisha, and Lina as the group to be divided. The court appointed W.D. Petway and David Williams, among others, to set values and apportion them, but no report identifying each heirs’ allotment can be found in Braswell’s estate file.

In the 1850 slave schedule of Edgecombe County, Cally S. Braswell is listed with ten enslaved people — women and girls aged 80, 30, 20, 6, and 1, and men and boys aged 18, 13, 10, 8, and 5.

In 1860, the slave schedule recorded twelve enslaved people occupying three houses for Calla S. Braswell: women and girls aged 42, 26, 13, 11, 11, 6, 4,  and 2, and men and boys aged 26, 15, 9, and 9. [The inconsistency in ages suggests considerable turnover during that decade.]

In 1866, Hilliard Braswell and Annis Batts registered their 6-year cohabitation with an Edgecombe County justice of the peace. In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Hilliard Braswell, 29, farm laborer; wife Anniss, 41; and son Gray, 4; with Austin, 16, and Frank Batts, 13. Next door: Boston Braswell, 29, farm laborer; wife Eliza, 38; son Henry, 10; and Georgeana Jenkins, 15. In 1866, Boston Braswell and Eliza Williams had registered their 5-year cohabitation with an Edgecombe County justice of the peace.

In 1866, Amos Braswell and Lettis Braswell registered their 12-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. In the 1870 census of Upper Town Creek township, Edgecombe County: Amos Braswell, 44, farm laborer; wife Lettace, 36; and children Sophy A., 16, William Ann, 15, Amanda, 13, Burtin, 7, Willis, 5, Jordan, 3, and Arden, 2.

In 1866, Pricilla Braswell and James Armstrong registered their two-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. In the 1870 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: Augustus Armstrong, 30, wife Pricilla, 22, and children Sallie, 4, Stella, 2, and William, 4 months. [Is James Armstrong the same person as Augustus Armstrong? Augustus was the son of Quinnie Braswell, who registered his 33-year marriage to Venus Braswell in 1866.]

Former site of Hawthorne, off East Langley Road near the Edgecombe County line.

The David Williams house.

David Williams is best known for his work in the state legislature with General Joshua Barnes create Wilson County from parts of Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston, and Wayne Counties. Williams’ house was in Edgecombe County during his lifetime, but a boundary adjustment in 1883 shifted it into Wilson. His enormous plantation sprawled into both counties, however.

The David Williams house, 1980. It has since been demolished.

Per the National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form for Upper Town Creek Rural Historic District, prepared by Kate Ohno in 1982, the house was built between 1845 and 1860. “This square two-story double-pile Greek Revival house is typical of the kind of plantation house popular with the prosperous planters of this area during the fifteen years before the Civil War.

Detail of ceiling medallion, 1980. “The most outstanding feature of the interior is, however, the elaborate plaster ceiling medallions and cornices. The hall boasts the most elaborate round medallion, while the parlor has a simpler round one and an elaborate plaster cornice.”

Despite the dozens and dozens of number of people David Williams enslaved, I have only been able to identify a handful by name. The 1830 will of Drewry Williams, which entered probate in 1831, included bequests to son David of a “Negro girl by the name of Rose one Negro boy by the name of Amos and one Negro man by the name of George.” David Williams was also bequeathed a one-third interest in three enslaved people — Pink, Nan, and Peter — after the death of his mother.

In the 1850 federal slave schedule of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, David Williams is listed with 17 enslaved people.

In the 1860 federal slave schedule of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Williams reported an astonishing 128 enslaved people, making him one of the largest slaveholders in the area. The quarters on his plantation included 20 houses, none of which was standing at the time the house was nominated for the historic register.

On 13 August 1866, Preston Williams and Betty Petteway registered their 15-year cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace. W.D. Petway was a close neighbor of David Williams, and the couple may have been enslaved on their adjoining plantations.

In the 1870 census of Joyners township, Wilson County: farmer Preston Williams, 46; wife Bettie, 34; and children Samuel, 17, Warren, 14, Rose, 11, William, 6, and Virginia, 2. On 18 August 1870, Dicey Petway, daughter of Bettie Williams, married Red[mond] Braswell, son of Preston Wilson, at Joyners township. [Braswell was the surname of another slaveholder who lived near Williams and Petway.]

A Google Maps aerial showing the former site of the David Williams house at A. (William D. Petway’s house was located at B. The Edgecombe County line runs parallel to and a couple of hundred feet east of Orchard Road.

The William D. Petway house.

We’ve met William D. Petway here (advertising the sale of several enslaved people) and here (placing an ad for a runaway enslaved man). His home and plantation lay near and across the boundary with present-day Edgecombe County in Wilson County’s Upper Town Creek Rural Historic District.

William Davis Petway house, 1980.

Per the National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form for Upper Town Creek Rural Historic District, prepared by Kate Ohno in 1982:

“The oldest house in the district is the William Davis Petway house. Petway was born on October 1, 1799, and was the son of Major Micajah Pettaway, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and Mary Sugg. Major Pettaway was a prominent planter and in July 1819, he deeded 435 acres on the north side of Poplar Branch to his son. It seems likely that this tract formed the core of Petway’s holdings and was most likely the tract upon which he built his home. He married Cinderella Cromwell, daughter of Elisha Cromwell, prior to 1823. Petway continued to add to his landholdings in the 1820s, receiving 112 acres from the division of his father-in-law’s estate and other tracts adjacent to his property. By the time of this death on October 18, 1858, he owned in excess of 2,270 acres.

The parlor mantel of the Petway house.

“Petway was involved in business and civic matters as well as in farming. He served as sheriff of Edgecombe County from 1835 until 1851. He was also associated in the mid 1850s with W.M.G. Sharp and John T. Sharp in a mercantile business which also sold liquor at Joyner’s Depot [Elm City]. By 1850 Petway was in the turpentine business. He employed four male laborers and produced $800 worth of turpentine and other pine products annually. Petway was an extensive farmer as well. In 1836 he purchased the real property in his father’s estate amounting to 1,364 acres. By 1850 he owned 2,400 acres of which 500 acres were cultivated. Although his real property was valued at only $7,381 he owned forty-eight slaves in 1850. … [Petway’s listing in the 1850 slave schedule of Edgecombe County actually credits him with 49 slaves. Curiously, 43 were reported as women or girls, and only six as men or boys (and none of these above age 18). This is an improbable ratio that suggests a recording error.]

“Petway died intestate in 1858 leaving his widow and seven children ….

“The home tract thus came under the managements of Cinderella Petway for nearly 13 years. At first the plantation prospered; in 1860 Mrs. Petway is listed as a sixty-year old farmer owning real property valued at $25,000 and personal property valued at $16,000. She owned only fifteen slaves due to the division of her husband’s slaves among his heirs. Six slave houses (no longer extant) were on the property. Her son Oliver, age twenty, lived with his mother as well as Ezra Bullock, a farm overseer, and a white female domestic servant. Oliver’s personal property, including slaves, was valued at $18,000 and his slaves were probably used to cultivate and maintain the home tract occupied by him and his mother. …” [Senda Petway appears in the 1860 census of Edgecombe County with women and girls ages 50, 40, 28, 27, 18, 7, 2, and 1, and men and boys ages 70, 45, 28, 19, 8, 7, and 4. Son O.C. Petway claimed women and girls ages 40, 25, 18, 5, and 5, and men and boys ages 50, 13, 8, 8, and 1.]

The Petways enslaved dozens of people, but the surname is now uncommon in Wilson County. I have not been able to identify by name any of the enslaved except freedom-seeker Miles.

The historic district nomination form includes a map pinpointing the Petway house on State Road 1414.

That road is now White Bridge Road, and the Petway house and its outbuildings have been demolished.

A close-up of the site:

Photos courtesy of nomination form, above; aerials courtesy of Google Maps.

The Edwin Barnes house, no. 2.

We read of Dr. Edwin Barnes’ plantation house here, of the church at which many of its formerly enslaved people worshipped here, and of some of those people here.

Virginia Pou Doughton’s papers contain 1981 photograph of the house, which was built about 1840 and staffed by a large complement of enslaved people.

The Edwin Barnes house was destroyed by arson in June 2005.

Wilson Daily Times, 4 June 2005.

Photographs — Edwin Barnes House, Stantonsburg, 1981, P.C. 1981.7; Virginia Pou Doughton Family Papers, Private Collections, State Archives of North Carolina. Thanks to Jennifer Johnson for bringing this collection to my attention. Librarians rock!  

The enslaved people of Scarborough House.

Folk LOOVVVE an antebellum house … but don’t love an antebellum house. Mention “slavery,” and it’s all sighs and glazed eyes. Kudos, then, to Scarborough House Resort for facing head on and with loving action the complicated legacy of their 1821 Federal-style plantation house.

As Scarborough House prepared to host a fundraising tea to benefit Preservation of Wilson, I was brought in to research the African-Americans who labored under the yoke of Major James Scarborough and his descendants. My 15-page report drew upon census records, a Bible, deeds, bills of sale, wills, and estate records to sketch the lives of twenty or so enslaved men and women — sixteen of whom we can now call by name: Bluford, Guilford, Nan, Aggy, Silvia, Bunny, Milly, Lemon, Washington, Tom Sumter, Young Aggy, Haywood, Luke, Orange, Willis, and Treasy.

A sample page from the report:

Of the sixteen enslaved people I was able to identify by name, six have been traced forward into Freedom. None adopted the surname Scarborough, but four chose Eason, the surname of James Scarborough’s grandchildren and heirs. If you recognize your ancestors below, please let me know.

Silvia was the mother of four young children in the early years of James Scarborough estate’s probate — Milly, Aggy, Haywood, and Bunny. After Emancipation, having adopted the surname Eason, she lived with her youngest daughter Bunny Ann Eason Hines and family in the Saratoga area. Silvia Eason apparently died between 1870 and 1880.

  • In 1868, Calvin Hines and Bunny Ann Eason, daughter of Cilva Eason, applied for a Wilson County marriage license.
  • In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Calvin Hines, 26; wife Burnett [Bunny Ann], 25; and children Harriett, 6, and Caroline, 4; Silva Eason, 48; Milly Forbs, 31, and her children John, 3, and Vesta, 1; and William Smith.

Silvia’s daughter Milly also lived briefly with her sister and mother. Her chosen surname, Forbes, may reflect her unknown father’s name. By 1870, she had at least two living children, both born after slavery. Though she likely had older children, none have been identified. In 1874, Milly married Jacob Ellis and began a second family with him. Milly Forbes Ellis died between 1900 and 1910.

  • In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Calvin Hines, 26; wife Burnett, 25; and children Harriett, 6, and Caroline, 4; Silva Eason, 48; Milly Forbs, 31, and her children John, 3, and Vesta, 1; and William Smith.
  • Milly Forbs, 35, married Jacob Ellis, 22, on 28 February 1874 in Wilson County.
  • In the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Jacob Ellis, 27; wife Milly, 33; and children Thadeus, 4, and Rufus, 2.
  • On 6 February 1884, Vesta Forbes, 14, married Andrew Eason, 20, at Jacob Ellis’ residence in Wilson County. [Andrew Eason was the son of Lemon Eason, who was also enslaved at Scarborough House. See below.]
  • In the 1900 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Jacob Ellis, 81 [sic], and Milly, 64. Also, George Ellis, 29; sister Vesty, 35; and Rufus, 4.
  • On 22 February 1903, Vestie Eason, 37, of Saratoga, daughter of Ben Moore and Millie Ellis, married Freeman Speight, 57, of Greene County, son of Paul and Mary Speight, at Pine Grove Church in Saratoga.
  • Jacob Ellis died 31 August 1926 in Speights Bridge township, Greene County. Per his death certificate, he was about 48 years old [actually, he was about 74]; was born in Wilson County to Isom Ellis and Patience Ellis; was the widower of Millie Ellis; and was buried in Rountree cemetery. George W. Ellis of Wilson was informant.
  • Rufus Ellis died 23 February 1931 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born May 1878 in Wilson County to Jacob Ellis and Milly Forbes; was a widower; and worked as a tenant farmer. George Ellis was informant.
  • Vesta Ellis died 10 August 1955 in Saratoga, Stantonsburg township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 10 July 1851 [actually, circa 1869] to Jacob Ellis and Millie Forbes; resided in Holdens Crossroads; and was buried in Saints Delight Cemetery, Greene County. General Ellis of Wilson was informant.

Agnes “Young Aggy” Eason lived in the Saratoga area with her children Ellen Eason Scarborough and Jerry Eason. Agnes also likely had older children. Agnes Eason seems to have died between 1880 and 1900.

  • In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Agnes Eason, 43, with Ellen, 15, Abraham, 3 months, and Jerry, 6.
  • Ellen Eason, 19, married Ashley Scarboro, 22, on 29 August 1872 in Wilson.[Ashley Scarborough’s parents were William and Victoria Scarborough, and he and his father appear in the estate records of James Scarborough’s son Isaac Scarborough’s estate records.]
  • In the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Ashley Scarboro, 23 [sic]; wife Ella, 22; children Abraham, 9, Jesse, 8, Peter, 4, James F., 3, and John O.P., 2; mother-in-law Aggie Eason, 40; and brother-in-law Jerry Eason, 15.
  • On 3 January 1889, Jerry Eason, 21, son of Washington Forbes and Agie Eason, married Mary Bynum, 23, daughter of George and Fereby Bynum, in Saratoga township, Wilson County.
  • In 1900 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer Jerry Eason, 36; wife Mary, 35; and children Hattie, 10, Ad, 9, Georgianna, 8; Ferebee, 7; Lou, 3; and Charley, 2.
  • In 1910 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer Jerry Eason, 43; wife Mary, 42; and children Addie, 20, Georgianna, 19, Ferebee, 17, Lear E., 13, Charlie, 12, Joe, 10, and Mary, 2.
  • In 1920 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: farmer Jerry Eason, 55; wife Mary, 53; Hattie, 30; Addie, 27; Mary, 12; Archie, 7; Virginia, 5; Zeelas, 2; Charlie, 20; and Joe Henry, 18.
  • In 1930 census of Speights Bridge township, Greene County: farmer Jerry Eason, 54; wife Mary, 50; Addie, 36; Earl, 12; Roma, 6; and Daisey, 3 months.
  • Jerry Eason died 19 October 1938 in Saratoga, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was born 20 May 1866 in Edgecombe County to Wash Forbs and Aggie [no maiden name listed].

Lemon Eason and his wife Chaney remained in the Saratoga area. Lemon appears to have died between 1880 and 1900.

  • On 26 July 1866, Lemon Eason and Chaney Scarborough registered their 14-year marriage with a Wilson County justice of the peace. [Chaney was enslaved by Isaac and Nancy Scarborough. Isaac’s estate records show that Chaney had several small children during the period of probate 1858-1865, but I have not identified them by name.]
  • In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Isaac Simms, 21; wife Elvy, 18; Lemon Eason, 46; wife Chaney, 27 [sic; she likely was at least a decade older]; and children Andrew, 5, and Columbus, 2. [Elvy may have been a daughter of Lemon and Chaney Eason.]
  • In the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Lemon Eason, 55, and children Andrew, 16, Columbus, 12, Larence, 10, Mary L., 7, Randal, 5, and Jane, 3.
  • On 22 December 1889, Lawrence Eason, 20, married Henrietta Price, 20, in Wilson County.
  • On 27 April 1897, Jane Eason married Henry Ward in Wilson County.
  • On 18 December 1901, Andrew Eason, 35, son of Lemon and Chaney Eason, married Nancy Smith in Wilson County.

Like Milly, Washington appears to have taken the surname Forbes. He fathered a son, Jerry Eason, by Aggie Eason circa 1865. He married a woman enslaved in Pitt County, N.C., about 1863; they settled in the Saratoga area. Washington Forbes likely died between 1880 and 1900.

  • Washington Forbes and Pattie Forbes applied for a marriage license in Wilson County on 3 April 1866, but apparently did not return it or marry.
  • On 28 July 1866, Washington Forbes and Priscilla Harrell registered their cohabitation with a Wilson County justice of the peace.
  • In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Washington Forbs, 47; wife Priscilla, 25; and children Rachel, 11, Ervin, 5, Adeline, 3, and Kate, 1.
  • In the 1880 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County: Washington Forbs, 55; wife Priscilla, 35; and children Rachel, 18, Earvin, 15, Adline, 13, Caite, 10, Anderson, 8, Arie, 8, Mariah, 4, and July, 11 months.

Scarborough House Resort recently dedicated this memorial bench hewn from a white oak felled on the property. Photo courtesy of Mahalia Witter-Merithew.