Bertie County NcArchives Biographies.....Thrower, Lafayette 1826 - 1890
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Gerald Thomas gerald_thomas00@comcast.net January 11, 2019, 3:40 pm

Source: Personal research
Author: Gerald W. Thomas

LAFAYETTE THROWER
1826 -1890
by
Gerald W. Thomas

Lafayette Thrower, carpenter, steamboat captain, and architect, was born in
Halifax County, North Carolina, on March 1, 1826. His parents were Eldridge
Thrower and Harriet Connor.  Lafayette’s father was a prosperous farmer and
accumulated hundreds of acres of land in Halifax County during his lifetime.
Lafayette’s mother died on January 14, 1841, when he was only fourteen years old.
	By the late 1840s Lafayette had moved out of his father’s household and was
earning a living as a carpenter. He married Adaline M. Hyman, the daughter of
Aquilla Hyman and Margaret Matthews, in September 1849. (Aquilla and Margaret
resided in Martin County.) Lafayette was twenty-six years old and Adaline,
twenty (born April 5, 1829). In 1850 the couple was residing in Martin County in
a household with two other persons – Daniel Brown, age 25, a carpenter, and
Darling Jones, age 24.
	On March 26, 1850, Lafayette purchased a one-acre lot from Arthur S. Moorning,
C. B. Hassell, and Henry Williams. The parcel was situated in a field which
Moorning had sectioned into lots for sale. The property adjoined land of the
town of Williamston in the vicinity of Fourth and Fifth streets. Lafayette
subsequently constructed a house on the lot in which he and his growing family
resided. 
	During the 1850s, five children – one daughter and four sons – were born unto
Lafayette and Adaline: Sarah “Sally” Ann, October 31, 1851; John, ca. 1854;
Henry Eldridge, October 1855; Leon, ca. 1857; and William, ca. 1859. A second
daughter, Mary, was born about 1861.
	Lafayette Thrower, by early 1857, had accumulated significantly more debt than
he could liquidate. His financial situation was so dire that he could not
“recollect” how much money he owed to individuals and merchants in the
Williamston area. Nor, could he recall everyone to whom he was indebted. He had
been sued in Martin County court on several occasions by persons to whom he owed
money and consequently, had a number of outstanding judgments against him. On
March 7, 1857, Lafayette relinquished ownership of his lot, dwelling, and
personal property to Friley W. Moore for the consideration of one dollar.
Thrower and Moore entered into a trust agreement whereby Moore was obligated to
sell Thrower’s assets and use the resulting proceeds to pay Thrower’s debtors.
The agreement identified fifteen individuals and partnerships, but itemized the
amounts owed to only eight parties. The total identified amount was $1,845,
obviously a substantially understated amount. Furthermore, Thrower disclosed in
the agreement that he “owe[d] other … debts, to persons not … named,” some to
whom he had given security and others he had not.
	Thrower, seemingly destitute, soon relocated with his family to Windsor. By
1860 Lafayette was employed as the captain of the steamer Alice. Balda Ashburn
Capehart owned the Alice, whose home port was Windsor. The steamer was utilized
to transport freight and goods within the Albemarle Sound region. According to
an historical account prepared by Hattie Thrower, in 1860 the Alice under the
command of Captain Thrower visited Williamston daily bringing stores and goods
for the town’s merchants.
Early on during the Civil War (1861-1865), the North Carolina government
enlisted the services of Thrower and the Alice to transport supplies and stores
up the Roanoke River to the Confederate depot at Weldon. In the predawn hours of
May 14, 1862, Lt. Charles W. Flusser of the United States Navy, commanding three
gunboats – the Commodore Perry, the Ceres, and the Lockwood – which entered the
Roanoke River and steamed up to Plymouth, where the vessels arrived at five
o’clock in the morning. Union naval authorities had received information that
“Rebel” steamers were transporting goods and supplies on the river. Flusser
stopped at the town briefly, examined some wagons and found “nothing
suspicious,” and then continued steaming up the river. At or near Jamesville,
citizens along the riverbank informed Flusser that the steamer Alice, under the
command of Captain Thrower, had passed by only an hour before, ascending the
river toward Weldon. On this particular day, Thrower’s vessel, which had been
loaded at Windsor primarily with lard and bacon, had steamed down the Cashie
River, through the Thoroughfare, and passed into the Roanoke River. Flusser
immediately dispatched the gunboats Ceres and Lockwood to pursue the Alice.
About two hours later, the Ceres and Lockwood overtook the Alice approximately
three miles below Williamston and fired a cannon shot over the vessel. Captain
Thrower, fully cognizant that this loaded boat could neither evade nor defend
against its pursuers, turned the Alice toward shore and abandoned it, escaping
into the surrounding swamp. Subsequently, in 1863, the North Carolina government
paid Captain Thrower $170.70 for “transportation services of the schooner, Alice.”
	Thrower’s close encounter with Union combatants did not curb his determination
to support the “Southern cause.” His total involvement with North Carolina’s
“Rebel” government is likely not documented, but he assisted Gilbert Elliott,
the builder of the ram, CSS Albemarle, at Edwards Ferry in Halifax County on the
Roanoke River. Elliott oversaw construction of the iron-plated vessel at that
site during 1863 and 1864. The ram was built to counter Union naval forces which
controlled the Albemarle Sound and associated waterways. To help protect the ram
from Union gunboats while it was under construction, Lafayette Thrower placed
torpedoes in the Roanoke River below Edwards Ferry. The ram was launched during
mid-afternoon of Sunday, April 17, 1864. The vessel proceeded downriver toward
Plymouth, which was attacked and besieged by Confederate army forces, also
during the afternoon of the 17th. The Albemarle arrived at Plymouth in the early
morning hours of the nineteenth where it slammed into a Union gunboat, sinking
it. Flusser (naval commander at Plymouth) was killed and the other Union
gunboats were compelled to retreat into Albemarle Sound. The Union army
commander at Plymouth surrendered his garrison to the Confederates on April 20.
	Lafayette’s father, Eldridge, died in Halifax County on December 7, 1869, at
age 77. In his will (dated July 1, 1859), Eldridge bequeathed $50 to each of
Lafayette’s children. Eldridge gave his landholdings to Lafayette’s brothers who
still resided in Halifax County. The elder Thrower’s will was proved in Halifax
County court in January 1870.
	Following the Civil War, Thrower resumed his life in Windsor as a self-employed
carpenter. By 1870, his son, John – then sixteen years old – was working as a
carpenter, most surely with his father. Lafayette – a skilled builder and
steamer captain – utilized the knowledge and skills he possessed from those
occupations to design and build the steamer, Bertie. The Bertie was a resilient
craft, but, by 1883, its incessant traversing, predominantly between Windsor and
Plymouth, had taken a toll on the vessel. It needed to be refurbished. The
Bertie’s  owners  hired Thrower to conduct the work. He “rebuilt” the vessel at
Elizabeth City at the cost of $2,500. Thereafter, the steamer continued to serve
on the Cashie and Roanoke rivers until late 1898 when its owners replaced it
with a new vessel, the Mayflower. The vessel designed and constructed by
Lafayette Thrower faithfully served the citizens of Bertie and Washington
counties for nearly three decades transporting passengers, freight, and mail for
the United States government.
	Lafayette built a number of houses in Windsor, one of which was for William A.
Mebane and his wife, Margaret. Per an agreement between Thrower and the Mebanes,
Thrower worked on the house, furnished building materials, and incurred other
construction-related expenses. However, the Mebanes failed to reimburse Thrower
and he stopped work on the dwelling during the spring of 1874. He subsequently
sued the Mebanes in Bertie County Superior Court claiming that the cost of his
labor and expenditures totaled $889.14. During the fall 1874 session of court he
filed a “labor lien” against the property he had constructed. The court “found”
in Thrower’s favor and, therefore, the justices ordered that the property be
sold. Sheriff Frederick W. Bell conducted a public sale at the courthouse on
February 6, 1875. Lafayette Thrower was the highest bidder ($700). Ironically,
Lafayette purchased the property which he had constructed with his personal
funds. The lot and dwelling were situated on King Street (also known as Main
Street) and adjoined the lots of William S. Gray, Moses Gillam, and others. (The
current address of the site is 210 South King Street.) Thrower again filed suit
against the Mebanes during the spring 1877 term of court. He sought $1,058.94 in
damages. The Mebanes filed “no answer” to Thrower’s complaint and presumably,
Thrower never recouped his monies. On four occasions between May 1883 and
December 1888 he used the house and lot as security for the payment of debts he
owed to various persons. He successfully paid all amounts owed. 
	While Thrower’s occupational life progressed more successfully in Windsor than
it had in Williamston, his family life was shaken by tragedy on several
occasions. His wife, Adaline, died on an undisclosed date after 1870. His oldest
daughter, Sarah, likewise died during the 1870s. She had married George T. Peele
on May 29, 1869, and they had two children – Helen, born ca. 1871 and Georgia,
born ca. 1873. George married Margaret A. Davis on August 22, 1879. By June
1880, Helen and Georgia were residing in Lafayette’s household and not with
their father and his new wife. Lafayette married Camilla E. Cobb, daughter of
Robert B. Cobb of the Saint John community in Hertford County on April 28, 1878.
Lafayette and Camilla had a son, Robert C., born November 4, 1879. Again,
tragedy slammed the Thrower family as Camilla, age 31, died on November 1, 1880.
Robert was three days short of his first birthday – he never knew his mother.
Lafayette and Camilla had been married only two and one-half years. Camilla was
buried in the Methodist Church cemetery in Windsor. Lafayette’s son, John L.,
also died during the 1880s.
	In 1887 Bertie County leaders determined that the courthouse needed to be
rebuilt. The county commissioners hired Lafayette to plan and design the new
structure. The commissioners contracted with Theo Ralph, a twenty-nine-year-old
builder from Edenton, to construct the building. The courthouse was completed in
1889.
	Lafayette, “a single [i.e., widowed] man,” sold his house and lot on King
Street on October 7, 1889. Henry W. Lyon purchased the property for $900.
Lafayette Thrower died in Windsor on Wednesday, October 7, 1890, at the age of
64. He was laid to rest beside his second wife, Camilla, in the Methodist Church
cemetery. Only two of Lafayette’s children – Henry and Robert – were still living.
Lafayette left a will in which he designated his brother-in-law, A. J. Cobb, to
serve as executor. The will, prepared in November 1881, was proved during the
November 1890 term of Bertie County court.1 Lafayette bequeathed to his son,
Robert, all of the personal property that had belonged to Robert’s mother
(Camilla). Further, Lafayette’s grandchildren – Helen and Georgia Peele – were
to receive furniture, jewelry, trunks, and clothing which had belonged to their
mother (Sarah).

	

Markers for Lafayette and Camilla Thrower’s graves, United Methodist Church
cemetery, Windsor, NC.

NOTE

1. Lafayette Thrower directed in his will that his house and lot in Windsor
ultimately be given to his “heirs.” The property was not to be immediately
transferred to them. A. J. Cobb was to rent the house and lot year-to-year until
Lafayette’s son, Robert, reached the age of 21. Should Robert die before
reaching the stipulated age, then Cobb was to rent the house and lot until Helen
and Georgia Peele both attained the age of 21. Rental income was to be used to
pay taxes and “keep the lot and premises suitable.” Monies remaining after the
payment of taxes and upkeep expenses were to be disseminated to the heirs. Cobb
was to use his “best judgment” in renting and caring for the property. However,
since Lafayette sold the house (October 7, 1889), between the date of his will
(November 17, 1881) and his death, the referenced portion of his will, in
essence, became null.



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