---

WASHINGTON FAMILY

 

Here are some notes on the WASHINGTON Family . If you would like to be the project

coordinator for the WASHINGTON Surname or have information to share, please send to

Martha Mewborn Marble

 

 

1844 Tax List

 

WASHINGTON John C. 2 w, 32 b, 5866 a, $22449

WASHINGTON John C. Guard. to Heirs of John COBB 1898 a, $6326

 

St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Kinston, Lenoir Co., NC

 

1859

Elizabeth Knox Washington

Born May 2, 1859

Baptized: May 14th by Rev. F. Fitzgerald

Residence: Kinston

 

 

Parents: George and Louisa Hernandez Washington

Sponsors and witnesses: Mrs. H. A. S. Peebles and Mrs. E. W. Knox

Age: Infant

 

 

Christ Church

 

1839

 

Oct. 13th. John Washington &endash; son of James W. Bryan, Esq.

 

 

1850 Census &endash; Lenoir

 

John C. Washington 48, Ann A. G. 45, Ann Bond 66

 

Both on 1860 &endash;

 

He is on 1870 along with a Julia

 

 

 

Bryan Collection at UNC

 

1. No date but a note at the top says CA 1838 &endash; To the Judges of the Superior Court of Craven &endash; Petition of JOHN C. WASHINGTON, JAMES A. WASHINGTON, ELIZA GRIST, JAMES W. BRYAN & ANN his wife, WILLIAM A. GRAHAM & Hyraw &endash; name not readable &endash; his wife, GEORGE WASHINGTON by his guardian, JAMES W. BRYAN, & MARY WASHINGTON by JNO C. WSHINGTON her guard. --- JOHN WASHINGTON late of the town of New Bern died intestate on the ___ day of August 1837 leaving your petitioners, his children & heirs &endash; Said WASHINGTON in posession of several tracts lying in different counties &endash; land held by heir subject to an estate in dower for ELIZABETH the widow &endash; following tracts in Craven Co &endash; the Eggpt & Rasset ?? lands containing 1300 acres on Nuse River near Fort Barnwell &endash; the tract formerly belonging to JAMES G. STANLY on Brices Creek, the Bell and other lands near New Bern containing about 1000 acres; The following lands in Lenoir Co &endash; tract adj Kinston of 1000 acres; the Robison tract of 200 acres; the Jones land of 250 acres, Branton land of 300 acres, Witherington land of 250 acres, the Allen, Croom and Jordan racts of 1500 acres; following land in Pitt &endash; Croom and Blount land of 2500 acres, Caswell track of 100 acres; and also land in Johnston and Jones Counties &endash; (not identified)

Petitioners wish to have land divided

 

Signed by JOHN H. BRYAN

 

*****

James West Bryan, brother to John Heritage Bryan and son of James and Rachel Heritage Bryan married Ann Washington, daughter of John and Elizabeth Cobb Washington

 

James West BRYAN b: 1805 in New Bern, NC d: 1864

....+Ann Mary WASHINGTON b: 1814 in (married as "Ann") m: January 19,

1831 in Craven Co, NC d: 1864 Father: John Washington

 

. Letter from Wm. BOYD of New York to JAMES BRYAN - 16 June 1836 Refers to

Broad Street near Wall Street burning Refers to SUSAN WASHINGTON marrying WM.

A. GRAHAM - John Heritage Bryan Collection

 

FOLDER 12 - 1837

 

1. Letter from MRS. ELIZABETH GRIST to JAMES BRYAN - 11 Aug 1839 - Refers to

SUSAN, brothers WILLIAM and FRANKLIN, cousin EMMA, cousin JOHN, cousin WILLIAM

WASHINGTON, cousins BETSY and MARY

 

In 1837 James W. Bryan's father-in-law, John Washington, a New

Bern merchant, died intestate, leaving James and his brother-in-law, John C.

Washington, to handle the estate. There are many letters to James from John

C. Washington and between other Washington family members concerning the

settlement of the estate and the growing suspicion that both James and

especially John were delaying settlement to their own advantage. James had

apparently borrowed $10,000 from his father-in-law to buy into the

partnership with Heard and the Boyds.

 

Other correspondents and subjects of note during this time include: Eliza H.

(Washington) Grist (later Knox), James's sister-in-law, who wrote of

Washington and Graham family news;

 

the sudden death of James W. Bryan's

brother-in-law, James A. Washington, a physician of New York City, in

September 1847;

 

the legal and financial

affairs of Elizabeth (Cobb) Washington, James W. Bryan and William A.

Graham's mutual mother-in-law;

 

John Heritage Bryan Collection at UNC &endash; Southern Historical Collection &endash; abstracted by Martha Mewborn Marble

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

 

From: Victor T. Jones, Jr.

To: "'Martha Marble'" <58marble@cox.net>

 

Dear Martha,

 

John Washington died in New Bern on 21 Aug 1837 (New Bern Spectator, 25 Aug

1837). According to the Cemetery Survey compiled by the WPA, he and his

wife (Elizabeth) are buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery; at least they have

tombstones there. Elizabeth was born in Kinston, 27 Apr 1780 and died in

Hillsboro on 8 Mar 1858. John's stone reads died 1780 aged 70 years. John

N. and his wife Sallie Vail are also buried in Cedar Grove.

 

It seems Washington owned land all over the state: Kinston, Lenoir County,

Craven County, Caswell County, Pitt County, Waynesboro (Wayne County), and

Smithfield (Johnston County).

 

The Lenoir lands mentioned in the petition to partition the lands (from the

John Washington estate papers [Craven County Estates] in NC Archives; we

have the microfilm of the originals) to the heirs included 866.5 acres near

Kinston; lot 9 in Kinston with storehouse and warehouse; lots 25, 26, 27,

28, 32, 33, 34, 35 in Kinston; 870.5 acres bought from Benjamin Robinson;

41 acres bought from Rigdon Moore; 870.5 acres called the Allen Lands; lots

52, 53, 5, 6, 7, 8 in Kinston; 446 acres called Croom lands; 75 acres

bought from M. Jordan; 136 acres bought from R. Jones; 115 acres bought

from T. Jones; 300 acres called Branton lands; 290 acres bought from R.

Wetherington; and 719.5 acres called Croom lands. This appears to be all of

the lands he owned in Lenoir.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Best wishes,

Victor

 

Victor T. Jones, Jr.

Local History and Genealogy

New Bern-Craven County Public Library

400 Johnson Street

New Bern, NC 28560-4098

 

Phone: (252) 638-7800

Fax: (252) 638-7817

e-mail: vjones@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us

web page:

 

****

 

From Clair Hadley

 

Here is a letter from Dr. Charles Holloman (written in1971)

discussing Vernon Hall cemetery and its previous owners.There may be typos in

the scanning-my machine is not perfect! Clair

 

Dear Marion:

 

Referring to our recent communication, I am summarizing in this letter the

information which you may like to see or have knowledge of in connection

with the eighteenth century cemetery on Grainger Hill. which is proposed for

removal.

 

Contrary to the statement made in the published notice in the Kinston

daily Free Press addressed to the heirs of John C. Washington, the cemetery

area has been reserved in a deed still in existence. I cite a deed in Lenoir

County Deed Book No. 14, Page 526 and following: and, for the specific words

of exception, see the bottom of Page 527 where it is specifically stated ~it

is understood and agreed that the burying ground in the garden is

excepted'1. This deed was made by the children (and their spouses) of Mrs.

Eliza H. Knox. Eliza Knox was the daughter of John Washington and sister to

John C. Washington. Eliza married first Richard Grist and by him had one

child, a son named Franklin R. Grist. After the death of Richard Grist, her

first husband, she married Dr. Reuben Knox, a Kinston Physician whose

wife had died. Eliza outlived her second husband by many years and died in

1891 in Raleigh where she had come to live just a year or so before, due

to her declining health, By her second husband, Dr. Reuben Knox, she had

Augustus Knox who became a prominent physician in Raleigh, and Betty W.

Hughes, wife of James B. Hughes of New Bern.

 

Vernon Plantation belonged - not to John C. Washington but to his sister,

Eliza Heritage Washington Knox. * John C. Washington gave his sister,

Eliza Knox, a mortgage on Vernon Plantation (consisting at the time of

1,400 acres approximately) in or about 1875. That deed is of record

in Lenoir County, having been re-recorded after the fire. It also is in the

case papers sent up to the Supreme Court of North Carolina in the

case of William A. Blount versus Julia Washington and others in 1890. The

case is recorded in the printed North Carolina reports, voltume 108 at page (231)

and the case papers are No. 16,620 on the micro-film records of Supreme

Court case papers in the North Carolina Archives. It will be seen in these

papers that Eliza Knox lent her brother, John C. Washington, $17,000 and

took a mortgage on Vernon Plantation. - John C. Washington, as you know, was

a very prominent man. He was the major contractor for the railroad from Raleigh

to New Bern when it was built. In or about 1861, he developed severe rheumatoid

arthritis and suffered terribly from it for the rest of his life until he died in

1887. During that time a considerable part- of his very large estate, much

of it accumulated by himself in earlier years but the larger part received

from his father) John Washington, when the latter died in August 3837, was

dissipated due to his inability to look after it during the reconstruction

era troubles.

 

As I was saying, following the death of John Cobb Washington in 1887,

there was litigation because a brother-in-law, William A. Blount, who

married John C. Washington's sister, Mary, also had a document which

purported to be a mortgage which he thought included the Vernon lands

He brought suit against the widow and heirs of John C. Washington. The

widow was John C. Washington's last wife, Julia Washington. The case was

tried in Lenoir County and came on up to the Supreme Court and it is the

papers in that case to which I am making reference. Mr. Blount lost in the

suit. The widow Julia retained a life estate with the remainder to Eliza Knox

and her heirs. Julia gave Eliza Knox a quit claim deed.

 

John C. Washington's descendants include the following person of whom I

have information: Mr. Harry Stewart, 1800 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh,

North Carolina, Mr. Stewart is, I believe, a retired president or

vice-president of Occidental Life Insurance Company and is now in business

with the noted Mr. Andy Griffith of movie and television notoriety. Mr.

Stewart is the grandson of John C. Washington. Descendants of ElLa

Washington Knox known to me include: (1) Mrs. Roy M. Chipley (Agatha

Chipley); (2) Mrs. Paul Nicholson, Port Washington, New York, sister

to Mrs. Chipley; (3) Mrs. L. B. Cox, Saint Petersburg, Florida, sister of

Mrs. Chipley; and (4) Mrs. John T. Taylor, Jr., New Bern, North Carolina,

niece of Mrs. Chipley. Her husband (Mr. Jack Taylor) is a well-to-do lumber

man of New Bern and very much interested in the family. He brought a suit a

few years ago to establish title through John Washington for the benefit

of heirs to forest land at Bay River in Craven County.!

 

Eliza Knox's son, Dr. Augustus Washington Knox, was Mrs. Chipley's

father. He married ElLa Hardesty Smedes from Louisiana. Besides five

daughters, their children included two Sons: (1) Augustus Washington

Knox, Jr. (He had two children, Mrs. Donald Mobray, Arlington, Virginia; and

Augustus Washington III, who is living but is non convpos mentis) and

(2) John Smedes, son of Dr. Augustus W. Knox, who had no children. Mrs.

H. 1. Winters, Raleigh, North Carolina, is a daughter of Dr. Augustus

Washington Knox and~ grand-daughter of Eliza Washington Knox (of course,

Mrs. Chipley, Mrs. Nicholsont TMrs. Cox and Mrs. Taylor are the other daughters

 

The cemetery area was first reserved in the will of Governor Richard

Caswell who owned the premises when he died. The Plantation, later called

Vernon, was called The Hill in those days. It was later named Vernon by John

Washington when he became owner in 1806. John Washington obtained the

land by deed from General William Croom who had purchased it from John

Gatlin and wife, Susanna Caswell. General Croom held it for a short time, it

appears; and then conveyed it to John Washington. General Croom also bought

Newington Plantation, the last residence of Governor Caswell, which

lay immediately to the Northwest of Vernon Plantation. Governor Caswell

got the original land grant to The Hill Plantation (later Vernon Plantation)

in 1747 and built there his first residence in the Kinston area. He lived

there for several years until he built his Red House Home on the Red House

Plantation near the present Caswell Park Cemetery - His mother and father lived

on The Hill Plantation (Vernon) until his father's death in 1755. His mother died

in 1787, only two years before Governor Caswell himself died. She had continued to

live on The Hill (Vernon) and his youngest brother, Samuel, and family, lived with

the widowed mother. In Governor Caswell' s will he mentions the fact that

his mother and father and brother Samuel are buried at the cemetery on The Hill;

and he reserves forever the acre of grounds centered on their graves.

While it may not be possible to determine the exact bounds of the acre that

was reserved by Governor Caswell and may not be possible to determine the

exact bounds of the cemetery plot reserved in the Knox deed in 1891, it

will be apparent that the grave sites in fact show the area covered by the

cemetery. Practically all of these graves are not the ordinary kind of grave

but are vaulted brick tombs underground. The removal of this cemetery would

involve destroying these vaulted tombs of brick. Certainly, no removal should

be undertaken merely as a matter of course by some person not an experienced

archaeologist. These tombs go back to the eighteenth century and as

early as 1755 when Governor Caswell's father was buried on the premises. It is

quite likely that Governor Caswell's brother-in-law, Dr. Francis Stringer,

was buried on this site in 1753. We know positively that the Governor's

father was buried there (Richard Caswell, Sr.) in 1755, and his mother and

brother Samuel were later. Samuel Caswell was the Commander of the State

Regiment (bodyguard of the Governor and the government offices and officials)

during most of the period of the Revolution.

 

East Carolina University has experienced archaeoligists on its staff and I

suggest they might he much interested in examining the site and in

participating in the removal of the graves if, indeed, they are removed. It

is my opinion that the land comprising these grave sites has not been

conveyed to the present owners of Vernon or the Clinic or to any

other owners, inasmuch as the reservation made by Governor Caswell has

never been revoked in any way, shape, or form; but, even if it is found

deficient, the reservation by the heirs of Eliza Heritage Washington Knox in

Deed Book 14, page 527, is effective and subsisting.

 

Very truly yours,

Charles H. Holloman

 

 

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