Warren County NcArchives History .....Monroe - Warren County 
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Guy Potts gpotts1@nc.rr.com October 2, 2005, 8:56 am

Book Title: 


                    Monroe - Warren County

When one hears mention the town of Monroe, one immediately thinks
about a place in Union County in the southwestern part of the state.

There was a Monroe in Warren County located on the stage road to 
Petersburg on the Roanoke River. The town was located on land bought
by Clack Robinson from Jesse Mosley for 1000 pounds current money.(1)

On February 25, 1789, John Mosley and Isaac Acree obtained from the 
Warren County Courts an order to operate a ferry on the Roanoke 
River.(2) When Clack Robinson bought this land he changed the name of 
Mosley's Ferry to Robinson's Ferry.

Robinson held this property and bought other properties until 1818
when he sold lots for the town of Monroe. On June 10, 1818, Clack
Robinson offered for sale 102 lots in his town at Robinson's Ferry.

Each lot was one quarter acre in size and included to the purchaser
full use of the springs that were on the lots. All but forty four 
of these lots are recorded in the Register of Deeds Office. These 
forty four missing lots were either not recorded or Clack Robinson
did not sell them at first waiting for the price to go up as the
town began to grow.(3)

The town did grow and had a tavern, post office, and a storehouse.
Clack Robinson was the first postmaster of Monroe. He was followed
by William W. Parks on February 27, 1829, and then by Austin C.
Pattillo, May 28, 1833. The post office was discontinued on April
30, 1835.(4)

There were several taverns located here. Manley Wade Wellman's
book on Warren County says Clack Robinson kept a tavern where John
Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and
Aaron Burr stayed.(5)

In a 1926 article Charlotte Story Perkinson wrote on Monroe, she
alluded to the fact George Washington also spent the night here
while waiting for the river to go down.(6)

The post office could have possibly been at the same location as the 
tavern. Two of the postmasters were also tavern keepers. One of the 
earliest taverns ws operated by Clack Robinson. He obtained a tavern 
bond on February 23, 1819, to operate a tavern in his house in 
Warren County.(7)

Another early tavern was operated by Augustine C. Pattillo, John C. 
Green and James Somerville. These three men applied for Tavern
Bonds on February 25, 1833.(8) Another tavern was located on property
belonging to William Gholson. 

On June 17, 1841, Thomas Gholson sold Clack Robinson a tavern that
belonged to his father William Gholson. William Gholson bought lot
#5 with Robert R. Johnson on June 10, 1818, when Clack Robinson
first sold his lots. This could have been where the tavern was
located.(10) Robert R. Johnson could have run the racetrack that
was located here. He and his brother William R. Johnson were both
horse enthusiasts.

When the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad came through the small town of
Macon, Monroe began to dwindle. The railroad began to take away the
travel that was going through Monroe. As the town began to decline
buildings were torn down and moved to other locations throughout the
county. In the bulletin on the 100th anniversary of Gardner's Baptist
Church it states the first church was built in 1824 with lumber from
an old Monroe storehouse.(11)

One of the few remaining evidences of Monroe is a weight with the
number 56 stamped on it. It was probably used to weigh tobacco in
one of the warehouses. All that is left at the site of the town is a 
rock lined well, a few old brick where a foundation once was and 
some grape vines running wild up trees.

Footnotes:
 1. Warren County Record of Deeds, Book 17 page 423
 2. Warren County Clerk of Court, Book 5 page 59
 3. Warren County Record of Deeds, Book 21 page 22
 4. Wellman, "The County of Warren," page 262
 5. Wellman, "The County of Warren," pages 96-97
 6. Article by Charlotte Story Perkinson
 7. Warren County Clerk of Court, Book 21 page 296
 8. Warren County Clerk of Court, Book 34 page 126
    NC Dept of Archives & History, Tavern Bonds 1830
 9. Warren County Record of Deeds, Book 28, page 366
10. Warren County Record of Deeds, Book 21, page 366
11. Article by Charlotte Story Perkinson
    Gardner's Baptist Church Bulletin

Key to Map:
"This map drawn from old maps, Warren County Court Records, State and
National Archives Records, and local traditions. Its purpose is to
show the location of the Town of Monroe, abandoned before the Civil
War and leaving almost no visible trace of its existence - Drawn by
A.L. Nicholson, June 6, 1956" [Note to reader: as this map is very faded,
the copy at the NC Archives should be consulted for details]

 1. "South Bend" - home of Horace Palmer Sr.
 2. Tavern - 1819
 3. Monroe Spring
 4. Williams Spring
 5. Whitlow's Spring
 6. Old Mill
 7. Racetrack
 8. Tobacco warehouse
 9. Storehouse
10. Mineral Spring
11. Amasa Palmer House (father of Horace Palmer Sr.)
12. Spring Branch
13. Sycamore Spring Branch
14. Mosley's Ferry 1789 (later Robinson's Ferry)


Monroe Lots

Lot, 3
Owner, Henry Fitts & Edmund Mayfield 
Price, $81.25
Deed Book & Page, 21-51 

Lot, 5
Owner, William Gholson & Robert R. Johnson
Price, $155.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-18

Lot, 6
Owner, John Powell
Price, $100.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-6

Lot, 7
Owner, John P. Nicholson
Price, $38.33
Deed Book & Page, 22-25

Lot, 8
Owner, Francis Jones & Daniel B. Allen
Price, $75.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-12

Lot, 9
Owner, Wilson Ward
Price, $110.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-12

Lot, 10
Owner, Littlebury Wilkenson, John Ingram & Alexander Goode
Price, $62.50
Deed Book & Page, 21-7

Lot, 11
Owner, Henry Robinson
Price, $51.67
Deed Book & Page, 21-164

Lot, 12
Owner, Sterling P. Thrower
Price, $35.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-16

Lot, 15
Owner, Thomas Bragg
Price, $40
Deed Book & Page, 21-119

Lot, 16
Owner, John Taylor & John P. Robinson
Price, $127.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-16

Lot, 18
Owner, Richard R. Brown, George Hardaway & Robert L. Hardaway
Price, $108.33
Deed Book & Page, 21-12

Lot, 22
Owner, Richard Shearin & Zacharia Milam
Price, $40.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-107

Lot, 23
Owner, Charles M. Johnson
Price, $85.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-6

Lot, 26
Owner, James Robinson
Price, $90.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-17

Lot, 27
Owner, Thomas Bragg
Price, $40.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-119

Lot, 30
Owner, Samuel Young
Price, $75.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-11

Lot, 31
Owner, Henry Fitts & Edmund Mayfield
Price, $81.25
Deed Book & Page, 21-51

Lot, 32
Owner, Alexander Goode
Price, $112.50
Deed Book & Page, 21-10

Lot, 33
Owner, Francis Jones & Daniel B. Allen
Price, $75.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-12

Lot, 37
Owner, John Rooker
Price, $45.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-13

Lot, 38
Owner, John P. Nicholson
Price, $38.33
Deed Book & Page, 22-25

Lot, 40
Owner, Robert H. Jones
Price, $1.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-18

Lot, 41
Owner, Littlebury Wildenson, John Ingram & Alexander Goode
Price, $62.50
Deed Book & Page, 21-7

Lot, 42
Owner, Harrison Barnes
Price, $65.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-22

Lot, 45
Owner, John M. Walker & Thomas B. Eaton
Price, $53.33
Deed Book & Page, 21-108

Lot, 47
Owner, Henry Fitts & Edmund Mayfield
Price, $81.25
Deed Book & Page, 21-51

Lot, 49
Owner, David B. Stith & Robert S. Hardaway
Price, $145.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-19

Lot, 50
Owner, William Gholson
Price, $130.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-14

Lot, 51
Owner, R.H. Jones & Eaton Pugh
Price, $30.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-20

Lot, 52
Owner, Littleton Pattillo
Price, $35.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-16

Lot, 53
Owner, John Taylor
Price, $46.67
Deed Book & Page, 21-14

Lot, 58
Owner, Henry Fitts & Edmund Mayfield
Price, $81.25
Deed Book & Page, 21-51

Lot, 59
Owner, John M. Walker & Thomas B. Eaton
Price, $53.33
Deed Book & Page, 21-108

Lot, 64
Owner, Alexander Goode
Price, $112.50
Deed Book & Page, 21-10

Lot, 65
Owner, Samuel Young
Price, $74.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-11

Lot, 66
Owner, Alexander Goode
Price, $112.50
Deed Book & Page, 21-10

Lot, 67
Owner, John Taylor
Price, $46.67
Deed Book & Page, 21-14

Lot, 70
Owner, Henry Robinson
Price, $51.67
Deed Book & Page, 21-164

Lot, 71
Owner, Alexander Goode
Price, $112.50
Deed Book & Page, 21-10

Lot, 72
Owner, R.H. Jones & Eaton Pugh
Price, $60.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-21

Lot, 73
Owner, John P. Nicholson
Price, $38.33
Deed Book & Page, 22-25

Lot, 74
Owner, John Rooker
Price, $45.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-13

Lot, 75
Owner, John P. Nicholson
Price, $ blank
Deed Book & Page, 22-25

Lot, 80
Owner, Charles W. Johnson
Price, $85.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-6

Lot, 88, 89
Owner, Richard Brown, George Hardaway & Robert L. Hardaway
Price, $103.33 each
Deed Book & Page, 21-12

Lot, 91
Owner, Henry Robinson
Price, $51.67
Deed Book & Page, 21-164

Lot, 93
Owner, William Gholson
Price, $130.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-14

Lot, 94
Owner, John Taylor & John P. Robinson
Price, $127.50
Deed Book & Page, 21-16

Lot, 95
Owner, William Gholson
Price, $ blank
Deed Book & Page, 21-308

Lot, 96
Owner, William Gholson
Price, $130.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-14

Lot, 97
Owner, John Taylor
Price, $75.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-74

Lot, 99
Owner, John Taylor
Price, $75.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-74

Lot, 100
Owner, John Walker
Price, $53.33
Deed Book & Page, 21-108

Lot, 101
Owner, John B. Thrower
Price, $100.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-84

Lot, 102
Owner, John Robinson & George R. Claborn
Price, $100.00
Deed Book & Page, 21-80


                              Bibliography

Arthur P. Nicholson Notes
NC Deptartment of Archives & History, Raleigh, NC
Charlotte Story Perkinson Story - "Warren's Lost Colony On The 
  Banks Of The Roanoke Was Once A Fair Size Village." The Warren 
  Record, 1926
William Powell - "North Carolina Gazatteer" - Chapel Hill, NC
Warren County Deed Books
Warren County Will Books
Manley Wade Wellman - "The County of Warren" - Chapel Hill, NC, 1959


                           Typical Deed

Clack Robinson to William Gholson
This indenture made the tenth day of June in the year of our Lord
eighteen hundred and eighteen between Clack Robinson of the County
of Warren of the one part and William Gholson of the County of
Brunswick, Va. of the other part witnesseth that the said Clack
Robinson for and in consideration of the sum of three hundred and
sixty dollars to him in hand paid by the said William Gholson the
receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged has bargained sold and by
these presents doth bargain and sell unto the said William Gholson
three certain lots or parcels of ground situated lying and being in 
the Town of Monroe adjacent to Robinson Ferry in the County of Warren
containing by estimation one quarter of an acre each and known and
designated in the original Plat of said Town as lots number ninety 
three ninety six and fifty to have and to hold said lots or parcels
of land with the free and full priviledge of using the water from
all my springs adjacent to him the said William Gholson and his
heirs forever and the said Clack Robinson doth bind himself and
his heirs to warrant and defend the title to the said lots or parcels
of land with priviledge of using the water aforesaid to him the said
William Gholson and his heirs forever free from the claim or title
of all persons whatsoever in testimony he doth here unto set his hand
and affix his seal this day and year first above written

                            Ferry Bond

Mosley and Acree
Know all men by these present that Mr. John Mosley and Isaac Acree
are held and firmly bound to William Johnson, Chairman of the County
Court of Warren in the just and full sum of five hundred pounds to
which payment will and truly to be made within ourselves our heirs
Excs. and Adms. firmly by these present sealed with our seals and
dated this 25th day of February a Dom 1789

The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above bound
John Mosley shall constantly find provide and keep good and sufficient
boats and other proper crafts always well attended for Travelers or
other persons their horses carriages and effects to cross pass and
repass over the river Roanoke at ferry which he is authorized to keep
by an order of the County Court aforesaid of the state with these
present. When the above obligation to be void of otherwise to remain
in full force and effect
Signed Sealed & Delivered                     John Mosley {Seal}
In presence of                                Isaac Acree {Seal}
Marmaduke Johnson, teste

Warren County February Court 1789
This bond was executed in open Court and ordered to be recorded

                                     Test Marmaduke Johnson


This typed record can be found at the NC Archives on the Mezzanine 
in the "Warren County" vertical file and was contributed by Richard 
E. Hunter and dated February, 1974



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