Bertie County NcArchives Photo Tombstone.....Butt, Ben ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Molly Urquhart murquharmears@gmail.com September 18, 2022, 9:12 pm Cemetery: Molly Urquhart Photo Name: Ben Butt Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/bertie/photos/tombstones/mollyurquhartpho/butt2818gph.jpg Image file size: 118.5 Kb September 15, 2022 How did a long forgotten Bertie Co. slave, born before the Revolution in 1757, died before the Civil War in 1857, ignite interest   in 2022,  165 years after his death? Who was   "Old Ben", whose unearthed  September, 2021 Indian Woods, Bertie County gravestone is now placed next to his owners' family in Grace Episcopal Churchyard, Lewiston-Woodville, NC?  How did he merit a costly marble stone with a   moving epitaph when slaves usually had wooden markers? A search uncovered evidence of the high esteem Old Ben once  held  during his 100 years. How many, then or now, of ANY race, had 1) a plantation named after them,  or 2) a  bridge and a  mill named for them or 3) ever named in a will for 'lifetime care', 4) are afforded such high tributes in their stone’s inscription? His stone identified him only as 'Old Ben', his known affectionate name. Without the epitaph naming him 'faithful servant to Wm. M. Clark", his story could not be told.  The William McKenzie Clark name fortunately was well known to me - my great great great grandfather, and direct ancestor to many born in Bertie and surrounding counties.    He was the son of Colin Clark, emigrant to NC, who married Janet Gray McKenzie. William McKenzie Clark was one of 4 children under the age of 6 when their father, allegiant to the Crown, was forced back to Scotland, after which their mother died. They were raised by his Gray family at Rosefield Plantation, Windsor, NC; an 1801 graduate of UNC, William M. Clark married Martha Boddie Williams. Their daughter, Margaret Ann Cathcart Clark, married Lewis Thompson, who built my 1840 home place in Lewiston-Woodville. William M. Clark’s 1836 will named his son in law, Lewis Thompson, as his executor, stipulating his servant,   Ben BUTT - this was our first clue as to Old Ben's last name -  and his wife, Vicey, be provided  lifetime care.  Fortunately, Lewis Thompson’s papers/ledgers have been preserved that record care of Ben. These   documents provide insight into Ben Butt's life. The voluminous collection of Lewis Thompson's papers/ ledgers -  donated by my grandfather in 1940 to the UNC Southern Manuscripts library – reference Ben’s care. As well, Charles Smallwood, a contemporary of Lewis Thompson, who married William M. Clark’s other daughter, Harriet Joyner Clark left references to Ben Butt.   Smallwood was a physician, Indian Woods planter, and a diarist – a few excerpts from his diaries, preserved at UNC, are mentioned below. The Ben Butt puzzle became easier in spring of 2022 after contacting my savvy  friend Wayne Modlin for his insights. Wayne grew up in Indian Woods, in a home adjacent to Ben Butt Mill and Ben Butt Bridge. Childhood curiosity had prompted his own "Who  WAS this  Ben Butt".  No answers came until he enrolled at UNC, and searched potential clues in the Lewis Thompson collection and the Charles Smallwood diaries there. He provided me with the few gems he found in his brief search. He’d also searched estate records, determining Ben first appears  in 1815 estate papers of Kenneth Clark , brother to William M. Clark. These list   "Ben and Vicey" among Kenneth’s slaves. It's not a stretch that Ben and Vicey conveyed to his brother, and executor, William M. Clark.     Ben was already 58 in 1815 when Kenneth died, and served William Clark’s family for 19 years until William’s death in 1836; Ben was 79 years old, his care provided by Lewis Thompson from William Clark’s estate.  These ledger/diary entries below* - along with  logical assumptions, Wayne's prior property searches and keen insights - establish Ben's  stature,  skills, and the admiration and  trust all held for, him, earning his 'Old Ben' moniker.   As Wayne pointed out, Ben was not an overseer that we often read of in plantation narratives, but   a driver, common in the South.   Black drivers worked under the supervision of white overseers, a liaison between them and slaves, communicating and maintaining order – this was a tightrope with competing pressures of maintaining respect from the master without losing respect and confidence of fellow slaves.  Drivers possessing skills and self confidence often succeeded when overseers failed. It’s easy to imagine Ben as a competent driver, given his skills as a miller and (likely) bridge builder, having a plantation named after him, and the devotion afforded him. Chronological  references below * from the LT Collection, and Charles Smallwood collection that Wayne Modlin cursorily culled decades ago, as a UNC student. He and I are convinced there are many more in these collections. Lewis Thompson kept yearly expenses of Old Ben's care from 1836 thru Ben's 1857 death. Perhaps someone has the time for a complete search - the original documents are at UNC, but there is a copy is in Hope Plantation's library. Note the Jan 1, 1857 sad entry . Ben did not live to see his ‘new house’. _____________________________________________________________________ * [Ben Butt Mill and Ben Butt  Bridge notes: Prior to 1780s, Mr.  Ware was running the mill, sold it to Augustin Pugh in 1780s, then sold to Kenneth Clark (William M. Clark's) brother, and owned by WMC after Kenneth's  1815 death. The original wooden bridge was built after 1836.  In 1952, was replaced by concrete bridge] THOMPSON: March 22, 1839, his ledger re:  William M. Clark's estate.  " cash received from James L. Bryan for sale of corn & meal made to him by Ben Butt at times this year $42.75."    Same listing, mentions "Ben Butt Plantation.". Highly likely this is the same  Indian Woods site where Ben's stone was uncovered in 2021. It was  originally owned by Clarks, and by 1839, owned by Lewis Thompson. THOMPSON:     "1852   January 1  By a charge for keeping and comfortably providing for old Ben Butt as directed in the will of Wm M Clark, for the year 1851 to this date, I furnish him all good clothing, provisions, cook and wash, and he has an old horse to ride, for which I charge in the whole      $50" File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/bertie/photos/tombstones/mollyurquhartpho/butt2818gph.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 6.7 Kb