Not long ago a cousin set out on a quest to determine the provenance of a Minor family heirloom--a sword, rumored to have belonged to John Pearson (Pierson) Minor. Some folks suggested to my cousin that the sword must be from the American Revolution. But J. Pearson Minor was born in 1791, not even a … Continue reading Minor Details: A Pension Certificate, A Letter, & A Curious Descendant
Transcription: A Letter Home-Abia Minor
Abia Minor was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania in about 1815, the son of stock drover John Pierson Minor and his first wife, Hannah McClelland. As a young man Abia (a-bye-ya) followed his family's tradition, bought and farmed land near the town of Bridgeville in what was then western Virginia. But he had aspirations that … Continue reading Transcription: A Letter Home-Abia Minor
Amanuensis Day: The Last Will and Testament of Happy Stone
North Carolina, wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 for Happy Stone, Franklin County; accessed digitally on ancestry.com, 20 August 2021. On a Tuesday morning in March three springs before her death, Happy Stone sat with H. H. Davis and Robert Mannas and dictated the terms of what should happen to her farm and estate upon her … Continue reading Amanuensis Day: The Last Will and Testament of Happy Stone
Amanuensis Day: Happy Stone’s Land Goes to the Next Generation
Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of North Carolina, 1823; digitally accessed from the UNC library, North Carolina Maps, 18 Aug 2021, (https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ncmaps/id/178). My 4x great-grandmother, Kerenhappuch "Happy" Stone watched the sun rise from her home on Cypress Creek, Franklin County, North Carolina. Today, as I wait for the sun to peek from behind Storm Fred's … Continue reading Amanuensis Day: Happy Stone’s Land Goes to the Next Generation
Examining the Language of Slavery
During the mid-nineteenth century North Carolina was the global supplier of naval stores. The "Turpentine State" lay in the long-leaf pine belt--a region of dry sandy clay subsoil that ran from North Carolina, south to Florida, and as far west as southern Alabama and Mississippi. The sap of turpentine orchards was harvested and distilled into … Continue reading Examining the Language of Slavery
Shoots, Roots, and Leaves 