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Wilkes

July 7, 2023

The Vineyard of Francis Moreau

In January 1827, the North Carolina General Assembly resolved that Francis Moreau of Wilkes County would receive a land grant for 500 acres “adjacent to his vineyard, lying on the Brushy Mountain ... for the purpose of enabling the said Moreau to make an experiment in regard to the cultivation of the vine.” From this we learn that by 1827 he already had a vineyard on the Brushy Mountains, but the statement doesn’t say exactly where. Moreau isn’t a local name, so perhaps he came to Wilkes County for the specific purpose of establishing a vineyard.

The 1827 survey map shows the 500-acre tract surrounding the original 50-acre vineyard.

Francis Moreau is only listed in one Wilkes County census, that being in 1830. Even though early censuses didn’t provide relationships or the names of people in the household, we can make an educated guess about his family. He was in his 40s, and his wife was in her 30s. They had four young children born in the 1820s consisting of two boys (age 5-9), two girls (age 5-9), two boys (under 5), and two girls (under 5). They also owned two slaves, one female (age 10-24) and another female (over age 55).

The census indicates that Francis Moreau was born in the 1780s. The Wilkes County Superior Court Minute Docket shows that on September 11, 1826, Francis Moreau was naturalized as a citizen of the United States, renouncing his French allegiance. At that time, someone had to reside in the country for at least five years before applying for citizenship, suggesting that Moreau had been in this country since at least 1821. Since his wife was not naturalized at the same time, perhaps she was a natural-born U.S. citizen whom Francis had met after his arrival in this country.

The Wilkes Superior Court Minute Docket records the naturalization of Francis Moreau in 1826.

The Vineyard Property

The survey of his 500-acre land grant was submitted on March 24, 1827, only two months after the declaration from the General Assembly. That large tract of land was located three miles south-southeast of the courthouse in Wilkesboro, on the ridge that divides the waters of Cub Creek and Hunting Creek. Today Brushy Mountain Road runs through the property.

The original 50-acre and additional 500-acre vineyard tracts were 3 miles south of the courthouse.

You can view the map above on Google Maps to zoom in on the surrounding area. At the bottom left, a map icon allows you to switch between “map view” and “satellite view”.

You can also view this map on Google Earth, although the yellow and blue overlays might not show up for some users. Still, this allows you to get a better sense of the terrain. With so many hills and valleys, it would have been a lot of work to turn this mountain into a vineyard 200 years ago. The original 50-acre vineyard was predominately on a plateau on a spur of the mountain which today appears to be a mowed field based on the satellite view. You can clearly see the creek running through the property.

The 50-acre vineyard tract (blue) is on the spur of the mountain. (Looking east.)

The 50-acre vineyard tract has a small branch running north to Cub Creek. (Looking north.)

The Original Vineyard Tract

The 500-acre land grant is described as being “adjacent to his vineyard”. The older, 50-acre vineyard tract is shown in blue on my maps above. This smaller tract was first purchased from the State by William Gilreath in 1799. The entry for this grant describes it as being “on the first knob of the Brushey Mountain, upon the path that leads from the Court house to George Shaver’s”. The survey shows a small branch running north through the property which eventually flows into Cub Creek.

William Gilreath’s 50-acre grant in 1799 was the site of Moreau’s vineyard in 1826.

(Note that the property sketch is rotated a quarter turn in this survey, with north at the left.)

William Gilreath sold this 50-acre tract in 1820 to Peter Bird (DB K, p10).

Peter Bird sold it to Jesse Bass in 1823 (DB L, p21).

Jesse Bass sold it to D. C. Barrett in 1824 (DB L, p20).

D. C. Barrett sold his half share to Francis Moreau on 1/27/1826 (DB N, p89).

In each of these transactions, there is no mention of this land being a vineyard. It’s possible that Moreau purchased the land for the purpose of turning it into a vineyard, and if so, that happened fairly quickly. It was less than a year after he bought the 50-acre tract that the General Assembly passed its resolution in January 1827 to give Moreau another 500 acres which surrounded the smaller tract.

I haven’t found any details about what type of experimentation Moreau was doing with his vineyard, but it must have been viewed as an important and worthwhile endeavor since the State of North Carolina took up and passed the resolution to allocate such a large tract of land.

Land Transactions

Between 1824 and 1828, Francis Moreau made eight land acquisitions in which he owned all or part of tracts totaling 1,700 acres on Cub Creek and Hunting Creek. He paid $1,155. The 500-acre grant appears to have been free since it was determined to be for the betterment of the state.

List of land purchases made by Francis Moreau.

His most expensive purchase was a tiny town lot that measured 65 ft x 260 ft for which he paid $450. This was half of Wilkesboro Town Lot #32 which was located on the south side of Main St between the Post Office and the Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority at 203 W. Main St. I imagine Francis Moreau might have bought this lot to serve as his business office. He might have lived there as well. The State had resolved to give him 500 acres in January 1827, and he bought this town lot three months later in April. By July, the land had been officially issued to him, and he could begin his viticulture experimentation. Not only was this “office/home” only three miles from his vineyard, but it was only a block away from the courthouse and the hub of all Wilkes County business activity.

Francis Moreau bought one half of Lot #32 in April 1827. This was 0.38 acres.

Francis Moreau sold land in Wilkes County from 1830 through 1835. I’ve identified deeds that record when he sold four of his eight purchases, and in every one of them, he made an impressive profit. Regarding the vineyard, Moreau sold his half share of the 550-acre property to John Finley in 1833. At some point, Moreau must have gone into business with Finley, perhaps as a way to provide more capital for the operation. But it was Moreau who provided the authentic French expertise in growing grapes and producing wine.

John Finley (1778-1865) was a business partner of Francis Moreau.

(Wilkes Heritage Book, Vol 1, p205.)

Moreau sold his last two deeds in Wilkes County in 1835. Both of those refer to Francis Moreau of Burke County, and this is our only indication about where he went when he left Wilkes. By this time he had sold all – or at least most – of his Wilkes County land and moved westward to the next county. A lot of Burke County’s records were lost during the Civil War, but there might be a document that mentions Moreau among the records that survived.

List of land sold by Francis Moreau in Wilkes County.

Apprenticeship Records

Francis Moreau is mentioned several times in the Wilkes County Court P&Q Minutes including twice as an apprenticeship master. In May 1825, the court ordered that Elizabeth Harrison, an 11-year-old girl, be bound to Francis Moreau to learn the trade of seamstress. On February 1, 1826, a petition was filed by Samuel Sullivan asking that Francis Moreau show cause why the child bound to him, the daughter of Charlotte Sullivan, should not be taken from him. The court dismissed the petition, and the girl stayed with Moreau. However, two years later on February 5, 1828, the court ordered that Elizabeth Harrison, who had been bound to Moreau, “be given up to her mother”.

As an aside, it appears that Elizabeth Harrison was born about 1815, the daughter of Samuel Harrison and Charlotte Sherlock who were married in 1813 in Rowan County. After Samuel’s death, Charlotte married Jesse Gilreath on May 14, 1817, in Wilkes County. Jesse died about 1825, and perhaps his widow Charlotte wasn’t able to provide for her daughter Elizabeth. So Elizabeth was bound out to Moreau to learn a trade and earn her keep. Continuing this theory, a few months later, Charlotte married for the third time to Samuel Sullivan on June 6, 1825, in Wilkes. The following February, Sullivan requested that the court allow his wife’s daughter to come home, and in effect, break the contract with Moreau. While the court rejected this initial request, it allowed Elizabeth to return to her mother in 1828. The family later moved to Johnson County, TN.

Moreau began another apprenticeship arrangement on February 4, 1831, when the court ordered that William Swiney, age 14 as of December, be bound to Francis Moreau until he reaches the age of 21. Moreau is to teach him to read and write and the “art and mistery of a taylor”, and when free, he will be furnished with two suits of extra clothing. This lasted for two and a half years. On November 6, 1833, the court ordered that William Swinney be bound to Nathan Ward until he is 21 years old under the same regulations that he was bound to F. Moreau. It appears that Moreau was preparing to leave Wilkes County, and the apprenticeship bond was passed along to Ward.

Again, diverging from our main story, William Alexander Swinney was born on Christmas day 1816 in Davidson County. At the age of 21, he married Leanna Cordle in 1838 in Wilkes, and soon after moved to southwest Virgina and then to Tennessee and Illinois. He seems to have had a more beneficial experience in working for Moreau. As part of the agreement, Moreau, and later Ward, were expected to teach him to read and write and to be a tailor. The 1850 Anderson Co, TN, census lists the family of William A. Swinny. He is age 33, a tailor, and able to read and write.

The 1850 Anderson Co, TN, census shows the family of William A. Swinny.

Other Court Records

Francis Moreau served on Wilkes County juries in August 1825, February 1826, and August 1833. I’m surprised that he was allowed to serve on a jury a full year before he became a US citizen.

On November 2, 1832, the court appointed John Finly, Hamilton Brown, and Francis Moreau to be commissioners to determine the best place to locate a Poor House within 6 or 8 miles of Wilkesboro. If they submitted a report, it wasn’t recorded in the court minutes.

On February 9, 1833, the court appointed William P. Waugh, Thomas S. Bouchell, and Francis Moreau to be on a “Committee of Patrolls” for Cass District, “and that they do their duty”. This last statement suggests that there might have been prior issues with appointees not performing their duties as expected. These three men were among the largest landowners in the district, and that’s probably not a coincidence. The committee of slave patrols was established by the state as a response to dealing with runaway slaves and to administer justice upon whites who aided and assisted slaves. Rising pressure from the abolitionist movement had rendered these patrols necessary in the eyes of the legislature. Reading the 1830 NC law in full makes it clear that the patrollers have full authority to exact justice however they deem necessary. Since Moreau seems to have left the county sometime over the next few months, his time on this committee was limited.

Ten Years in Wilkes

We know that Francis Moreau was in Wilkes County as early as August 2, 1824, when he purchased 200 acres on Hunting Creek. He served on juries, managed apprenticeships, and ran a vineyard over the next nine years. By late 1833 or early 1834, he had sold his vineyard property and much of his other land in preparation for his move to Burke County. This might have been his permanent home, or this might have been his first stop along the way as he continued moving westward.

Today there are several vineyards throughout the Yadkin River area, but Francis Moreau was likely the first to have one in Wilkes County nearly 200 years ago.

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