Craven County NcArchives Court.....Spivey - James City Residents, Brown V. 1893 ************************************************ 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: Guy Potts http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00017.html#0004214 February 11, 2008, 6:55 pm Daily Charlotte Observer 1893 12 Mar 1893 The James City Tenants Will Pay Rent and Remain Raleigh, NC, March 13 - James A. Bryan, of Newbern, having sued for and recovered the right to the possession of the lands on which James City, opposite Newbern, is located, on the other side of Trent River where several thousand negroes live who took possession during the war, attempted a few days ago to have some occupants ejected. Such resistance was made that the sheriff desisted from executing the writ. A large number, however, have been paying rents to Mr. Bryan, and the resistance was chiefly instigated by some white storekeepers. It is said that a peaceable settlement will be made by the payment of nominal rents. No collision is now anticipated. Daily Charlotte Observer Written: 1893 15 Mar 1893 The James City Negroes - The Case of Brown vs. Spivey - A Brief Review of the Matter as It Has Been in the Courts - The Bryan Family Traces Its Title Back to Richard D. Speight - The United States Government Put the Negroes in Possession During the War The negroes living in what is known as James City, across the Neuse River from Newbern, are resisting the enforcement of writs of possession dispossessing them of their illegally held property, as has heretofore been made known through the Observer. These writs have been issued by a recent order of the State Supreme Court in accordance with a recent decision handed down by Judge Connor in the case of James A. Bryan and wife vs. Washington Spivey. The case was tried twice. The first time at the fall term of Craven Superior Court, 1889. Judge Boykin decided that the cases could be tried in severance. An order of severance is defined as being "Equivalent to dividing the action into several suits, with all the usual provisions for costs, &c, incidental thereto." An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court. In this suit, W.W. Clark appeared for the plaintiffs, and C. Manly and F.M. Simmons for the defendants. Avery, J., handed down the decision, maintaining that: "A number of trespassers, who have settled on different parts of one tract of land, or upon several that are contiguous and have been consolidated by the owner of them into one body, may be sued in a single suit brought by the latter to recover possession." Thames vs. Jones, 97 NC, 121; Love vs. Wilbourn, 5 Ired., 344; Lenoir vs. South, 10 Ired., 237. "After such an action has been brought, it is within the sound discretion of a nisi prius judge (a Superior Court judge is a nisi prius judge), on motion of the defendants, to allow a severance and a separate trial of the issue of title and possession as to each defendant, if, in the opinion of the court, 'justice will be thereby promoted.' The Code, § 407. It was an error to hold that the defendants had a right to demand separate trials, and, as the judge made the order upon the ground that he was not at liberty to deny the motion, the judgment of the court must be reversed." The Second Trial The case came up again, as a civil action, at February term, 1891, of Craven Superior Court, Judge Connor presiding. "It is put down in 106 NC, 37, as James A. Bryan and Mary S. Bryan vs. Washington Spivey et al." It was in evidence that the property was inherited by the Bryan family from 1829, through Richard D. Speight, Richard Dobbs Speight, Margaret Speight Donnell, and others. From 1858 until 1862, Peter G. Evans and Richard S. Donnell has joint possession. They held it in 1862 when the negroes were placed on the land by the government of the United States. Wills and deeds were introduced showing the property's final settlement upon Mrs. Mary S. Bryan, the wife of James A. Bryan. The defendant introduced a deed from Suthey B. Hunter and others to James Salter, dated September 25th, 1867. Hunter testified for the defendant that the deed was made because Horace James, agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, was oppressing the people in James City by collecting taxes. The people met and appointed a committee. Some of the defendants held possession by reason of original possession. Others had purchased from those moving away. After the deed was made the defendants claimed under James Salter. The deed did not interfere with any lots except those that were vacant. The people paid no more rents after the deed was made. Salter was to sell or give away, as he pleased. After deciding that Mrs. James A. Bryan had a clear title to the land inquisition, Judge Connor held that the entry of the land by the defendants in 1862 was without color of title. By the deed from Hunter and others to Salter, the character of the possession was not changed. This decision is based on the fact that the testimony on this particular point is conflicting. The case again went up to the Supreme Court on appeal, and the judgment of the lower court was affirmed, Shepherd, J., delivering the opinion. The Darkies' Point of View "It is hard for one who has been to Newbern to fully take in the persistency with which the negroes of James City cling to the place where they have lived for twenty years" said Mr. Ben Bryan, a native Newbern man, to a reporter yesterday. "They are not able to comprehend the technical points of the law in the case. They argue that the great government of the United States gave them the property and therefore only the same power can wrench it from them. "They have held public meetings, and church meetings over the affair, and wrought themselves up to a high pitch of indignation. But if they do any rioting, which I seriously doubt, Sheriff Lane, of Craven, is fully competent to handle them and enforce the law." At the time of the first suit there were about 1,500 negroes in James City, living in some 400 houses including churches and school houses. They have been increasing all the time. It is now settled that the negroes are to remain and pay rent to the Bryan estate. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/craven/court/spiveyja409gwl.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb