Hertford County, NC - John Vann Papers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ North Carolina State Archives - Private Manuscript Collections COLLECTION: VANN, John, Papers - 1817-1911 Hertford County; Gates County; Bertie County PC. 122.1-5 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Approximately 1,550 items and 9 volumes, including letters, deeds and bills of sale, estates and guardianship papers, wills, bills and receipts, accounts, account books, warrants, summonses, promissory notes, marriage license, stock certificate, election records, tax records, various court records, miscellaneous paper writings and printed ephemera, pamphlets, and a newspaper fragment. ACQUISITION: Gift of Louise Vann Boone, Winton, N.C, June 18, 1934; May 30, 1944; May 20, 1974; Aug. 14, 1987; and Feb. 14, 1990. DESCRIPTION: John Vann (1768-1850), Hertford County planter, moved from Gates to Hertford County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and remained active in public affairs until his death in 1850, serving as chairman of the court for the last twenty years of his life. He represented Hertford County in the House of Commons in 1823, 1824, and 1825, and in the State Senate in 1833 and again in 1835. By his marriage to Nancy Cross, Vann had five sons, among them John A., who was as politically active as his father. John Arline Vann (1822-1902) commenced his public life as a constable in 1840. He served as clerk of the Superior Court in 1851, 1852, and 1853, and was elected sheriff of the county in 1856, serving in that office until 1860. Sometime afterward, he was again clerk of the Superior Court, and though he had to vacate the office in October, 1865, when all offices in the state were declared vacant, he was reappointed and continued to serve as clerk and master in equity until 1868 when the superior courts were reformed and the equity side abolished. Vann represented the county in the House of Commons in 1864 and 1865, and though he stood as a Democratic party candidate for election to the 1875 Constitutional Convention he was defeated. During the years from 1871 to 1877 Vann was treasurer of the county, serving simultaneously as one of the county commissioners and a justice of the peace during the years from 1874 to 1876. By his marriage to Martha Ann Newsome in 1849, John Arline Vann had eight children, none of whom figure in these papers. The papers are essentially the product of the lives of John Vann and John Arline Vann, though the collection includes some papers from the lives of John Vann's father-in-law, Jesse R. Cross, and his father, Jesse Vann. The Cross and Vann families maintained a business relationship with the Little family who had acquired the plantation and fishery at Old Town in Maney's Neck on lands that had in the first half of the eighteenth century been occupied as a life reservation by the Meherrin Indians. John Vann, who acquired rights to the fishery at Mount Gallant, acted as the business manager at Old Town plantation for William Person Little (1765-1829), while Jesse R. Cross and John Gatling operated Little's fishery at Old Town. In the following generation, John Arline Vann acted as trustee for Thomas Person Little (1799-1856), son and successor of William Person Little to the property at Old Town plantation. The copy of the 1861 will of James Magett in the collection includes references to joint land business with Thomas P. Little. While some few of the papers in the collection relate to the two Littles and their affairs, the majority of the collection is made up of papers and records concerning the affairs and estates of others for whom the two Vanns acted in a fiduciary capacity as executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian. Of the remainder of the collection, a significant number of files relate to the activities of the two Vanns (principally John Arline Vann) as public officials of Hertford County. Election records in the collection date from John A. Vann's tenure as sheriff (1856-1860) and are returns for state house and senate members and governor (1856); county court clerk, superior court clerk, congressman, and free suffrage (1857); state house and senate members, governor, and sheriff (1858); members of the Secession Convention (1861). The Winton post office accounts, 1831-1844, of Cordwell Vann, third son of John Vann, also reflect the family's involvement in the public life of the county. An 1816-1819 file on the construction of Cool Spring Meeting House, which includes the builder's contract and the report of the building commissioners, another file on Chowan Baptist Female College, and a third file of miscellaneous material reflect the participation of the Vann family in the life of the Baptist Church in the Hertford-Gates area. The single file of correspondence in the collection contains 35 letters ranging in date from 1788 to 1900, most of them having to do with business affairs. Of the business letters, five were written by William Person Little and two by Thomas Person Little. William Person Little's letters all deal with Old Town plantation and fishery matters, but his letter of March 31, 1815, contains a long passage on the successful conclusion of the War of 1812 and prospects for America arising from the ensuing peace. Political matters are touched on in an extract from a letter written from Washington, D.C., by Congressman Jesse Speight on March 22, 1832, in which it is suggested that Congressman William P. Shepard and former Governor John Branch are anti-Jacksonians. A letter of May 4, 1824, written to John Vann by the local schoolmaster, P. Gurley, asks for relief from his destitute condition. Another letter, dated Sept. 5, 1836, invites the unknown addressee to take charge of a "first rate male & female Academy" to be established in Irwinton, Alabama. The five family letters in the collection are from kinsmen in Talladega, Alabama; Fayette County, Tennessee; Macon, Georgia; Cleburn, Arkansas; and Cross County, Arkansas, and range in date from 1837 to 1880. Otherwise, the letters are of interest only in relation to the local business affairs of the Vanns. The private business papers of John and John A. Vann include accounts, bills and receipts, deeds, promissory notes, sawmill accounts, fishery accounts, and various miscellanea. It is unclear whether the files concerning fisheries all pertain to the Mount Gallant fishery purchased by John Vann in 1807 or to some other fishery. In this connection, it ought to be noted that the file relating to the estate of James Crawford contains material relating to his Half Moon fishery. Half the collection of papers is made up of files relating to the estates and wills of decedents, some of whom might have been residents of Gates and Northampton counties, rather than Hertford County. In nearly all cases members of the Vann and Cross families acted as executors, administrators, or guardians. In the course of their duties in these capacities, papers dating from a period previous to the death of their decedent came into the hands of the executor/administrator. These papers often included promissory notes, slave papers, bonds, accounts, and, sometimes, account books in addition to the usual inventories, sales, settlements, and so forth. In such cases, all the papers have been foldered with the documents immediately related to the estate, whether they precede the death of the decedent or not. Because of physical requirements of storage and handling, however, account books relating to estates have been boxed together with Vann family account books in an oversized manuscript box and are shelved apart from the body of the collection. For example, the account book of the firm of Williams and Felton, 1815-1821, is not kept with the loose papers relating to the estate of General Boon Felton (1821) but is boxed with the other account books. Similarly, deeds that are related to the estates of decedents, but pre-date the death of the decedent, are filed among the deeds, and not with the estate records. It is probably worth noticing specially that the file on the estate of Christian Cotten (1816) contains an 1815 distillery bond executed by Cotten as a distiller of spirituous liquors in compliance with the federal act of 1814. Printed matter in the collection originally included a printed genealogy entitled "The Vann Family" (1938); copies of the state treasurer's report, the governor's message, and the report of the officers of the N.C. Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, made to the 1864-1865 session of the General Assembly and published as part of the public documents of that session; a small broadside in support of a proposed constitutional amendment relating to suffrage to take effect after Dec. 1, 1908, entitled "Amendment Discussed from an Educational Standpoint—Able and Interesting Article by a School-Teacher"; business card of Brooks, Fulton & Rogers, wholesale dealers of Baltimore; two flyers issued by the Aetna Life Insurance Co., n.d., 1885, and accommodations advertising card for the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, N.Y.; a fragmentary copy of "The Hornet's Nest" (Murfreesboro), January 20, 1814, which has been transferred to N.P.54; September, 1862 issue of "The North Carolina Journal of Education;" a pamphlet entitled, "The Influence of Material Agents in Developing Man," by S. S. Satchwell (1858); and, a copy of "Constitution and By-Laws of White Supremacy Club." The last three of these printed items have been missing from the collection since sometime prior to 1977. Because the varied nature of the papers do not lend themselves to arrangement by series in the ordinary way, it has been deemed simplest to categorize them into files and to arrange the files alphabetically. For the sake of convenience the files of estates have been removed from their place in the alphabetical arrangement of general files and boxed separately. The arrangement of the files follows: PC.122.1. General Files. A-D Accounts, 1807-1832, n.d. Accounts-Memoranda Books, 1807-1831 Baptists-Cool Spring Meeting House, Gates Co., 1816-1819 Baptists-Miscellaneous, 1874-1901, n.d. Bills, Receipts, etc., 1785-1787, 1805-1896, n.d. Chowan Baptist Female Institute, 1869, 1889-1890 Correspondence, 1788-1900 Court Papers-Miscellaneous, 1784-1785, 1804-1860 Cross Family Genealogy Deeds (includes Bills of Sale, Chattel Mortgages, etc.), 1718-1911 Deeds (includes Bills of Sale, Chattel Mortgages, etc.), 1718-1911 Deeds (includes Bills of Sale, Chattel Mortgages, etc.), 1718-1911 Deeds (includes Bills of Sale, Chattel Mortgages, etc.), 1718-1911 Deeds-Bertie County, 1827 Deeds-Gates County, 1786-1827 Divorce-William T. Lewis vs. Sally Lewis, 189- PC. 122.2 General Files. E-W Election Records, 1856 Election Records, 1857 Election Records, 1858 Election Records, 1861 Farmers & Merchants Steam Transportation Co., 1878 Fishery-Accounts (Mount Gallant), 1818-1832 Fishery-Hauls, 1834 Fishery—Miscellaneous Papers, 1807-1832 Hertford County Justices—Nomination, 1823 Hertford County Court House, 1874 Hertford County School Committee Report, 1863 Literary Manuscripts/Poetry, n.d. Little, Thomas Person—Trusteeship, 1856 Little, William Person-Business Papers, 1815-1823 Marriage License (Alfred Darden & Sarah Moore), 1826 Medicine, 1821-1856, n.d. Printed Matter, Miscellaneous, 1864/65, n.d. Promissory Notes, 1770-1877 Revolutionary War Soldier (John Braddy), 1782 Slaves-Hire, 1810-1853, n.d Slaves-Miscellaneous (Pass; trial; births), 1805-1840 Slaves-Sales, 1784-1858 Stud Records, 1815, 1822-1823, 1852 Tar and Fish Inspection, 1796-1797, 1802-1803 Tavern Bills, 1821 Tax Collector's Books, 1856-1857 Tax List, Winton, 1811 Tax Records and Receipts, 185-1856 University of Virginia-Law Examination, 1901-1902 Vann Family History, 1938 Vann House, Hertford Co. (photograph) Winton Post Office Accounts, 1831-1844 Winton Town Plan and Lot Deeds, 1819-1879 PC.122.3. Estates Anderson, John A., 1861 Baker, John, 1869 Benton, Jesse, 1866 Best, John, 1822 Boyce, Josiah, 1816 Britt, Mrs. Sidney, 1867 Cotten, Christian, 1816 Cotten, Noah, 1815 Crawford, James, 1814 Crawford, John, 1815 Cross, Cyprian, 1810 Cross, Jesse R., 1823 Gatling, W. J., 1899 Godwin, Penelope, 1799 Felton, Boon, 1821 PC. 122.4. Estates and Wills Estates Hays, Emily, 1865 Hollomon, S. J., 1909 Howell, Wright, 1818 Landen, Mills, 1851 Lawrence, Jonas, 1824 Liverman, William, 1869 Magette, M. V., 1894 Nickens, Richard, 1815 Overton, Cornelius, 1854 Parker, J. O., 1897 Pipkin, John, 1812 Raby, James H., 1868 Riddick, James A., 1869 Roberts, B., 1815 Smith, Garrison M., 1832 Spivey, William J., 1860 Vann, Charles, 1785 Vann, Edward, 1818 Vann, Jesse, 1818 Vann, Jesse W., 1853 Vann, John, 1851 Vann, Tilman D., 1871 Unidentified Estates Wills Anderson, John A., 1861 Baker, John, 1869 Cotten, Noah, 1815 Cotten, Thomas, 1787 Darden, Lavinia, 1873 Magett, James, 1861 Saunders, James, 1900 Vann, John, 1819 Vann, John, 1845 PC.122.5 Account Books 1. Jesse R. Cross Account Book, 1811-1825. (long, narrow, leather-bound volume with front hinge broken.) Some accounts are for sale of brandy, fish, agricultural products and small implements, small loans, and so forth. Others are the accounts of Cross as administrator of decedents' estates or as guardian of orphans. The beginning of the volume includes birth and death records of the Cross and Lawrence families (1803-1825 and Lemuel Lawrence, 1744-1811), and of the Cross family slaves (1775-1827). 2. Sawmill Ledger, 1851-1852. (quarter bound volume with dark blue marbled paper and white cover label on which the writing has worn off.) Accounts and charges for work done at the mill for customers. Second half of the volume contains accounts of John A. Vann as sheriff and tax collector of Hertford County, 1856-1860. 3. Sawmill Time Book, 1851-1855. (quarter bound volume with black marbled paper.) Record of hired white labor and hired slave labor at the sawmill. 4. Postage Book of Cordwell Vann, Postmaster, Winton, N.C., 1841-1842 (P.l-39), and John A. Vann's miscellaneous accounts, 1847-1861. Rear of book contains notes on hire of slaves and ages of Vann slaves. (long, narrow, quarter-bound volume with brown marbled paper now very nearly worn through the marbling.) 5. Journal of the firm of Williams & Felton, Murfreesboro, 1815-1821. Also includes accounts of the estate of Boon Felton (1821), Jesse Benton (1826-1829), and Jesse R. Cross (including partition and hire of slaves, 1828, 1829). Rear of volume includes accounts of John A. Vann as commissioner for the poor and for the relief of poor soldiers' families, Winton District, 1863-1865. (large volume in full calf and red and black spine labels lettered "Journal" and "W. & F.") 6. John A. Jenkins Account Book, 1877-1878, general merchant, Winton, N.C. (quarter bound volume in red Morocco and red marbled paper.) 7. Accounts Receivable Ledger, 1822 (unidentified). (long quarter bound book with red marbled paper torn nearly off.) 8. John C. Carter, debts, 1878; estate, 1918. (quarter bound in brown leather and paper marbled over a brown diagonal stripe. Spine leather rotting away.) 9. Mount Gallant Fishery Accounts, 1828-1832. Filed in PC. 122.2 10. Hertford County Taxes, 1872-1878 (John A. Vann's record of his accounts as County Trustee). Volume transferred to CRX. 11. Clerk's Receipt Book, Hertford County Superior Court, 1851-1853. Fragment. Volume transferred to CRX. Main Entry Card Autograph Cards: Little, Thos. P[erson] (2) Little, W[illiam] P[erson] (4) Speight, Jesse Subject Cards: Baptists Braddy, John Branch, Gov. John Carpenters Chowan Baptist Female Institute Church Architecture Civil War-Civilian Relief Cool Spring Meeting House Cross Family Darden, Alfred Election Returns Farmers & Merchants Steam Transportation Co. Fisheries (2) Grandfather Clause Half Moon Fishery Hertford County Court House Horses Laws—Examinations, Questions, etc. Lawrence Family Little, Thomas Person Little, William Person Medicine Mount Gallant Fishery Naval Stores Old Town Plantation Post Offices Sawmills Schools Secession Convention Shepard, William P. Slaves (3) Stud Records, see Horses Suffrage Transportation Vann Family War of 1812 Winton, N.C. Subject card prepared for each decedent with estate or will reported in PC. 122.3-122.4 Geographic Cards: Bertie County Gates County Hertford County Finding aids completed May 26, 1999, by Geo. Stevenson. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by North Carolina Archives ___________________________________________________________________