From: Jason
Duncan
Sent: Wednesday,
June 18, 2025 9:45 PM
To: Jason
Duncan
Subject: New Book
Announcement! Newsletter - June 18, 2025
News
and Upcoming Events – June 18, 2025
Jason Duncan
webjmd.com for previous newsletter updates
Click the embedded links for more information.
New
Book Announcement!
I'm excited
to announce the release of my latest book on Wilkes County history, titled Before
The Bar: Stories from Wilkes County Criminal Court Cases 1778-1800.
This book is the result of multiple trips to the North Carolina Archives in
Raleigh to look at original documents. There were so many interesting
stories that needed to be shared that I compiled the records that I found into
this 225-page book. There are plenty of stories for both history lovers
and genealogists from the first two decades of the county's existence. I
noted three examples on the back cover:
In 1779,
three accused felons - Jeremiah Boling, David McKinsey, and Isaac Williamson -
made a daring escape when they 'broke custody and fled for it'. It may
well have been Wilkes County's first jail break.
In 1786,
Absolom Cleveland, son of the legendary Col. Benjamin Cleveland, stood accused
of killing Maj. William Terril Lewis' horse while at the Wilkes courthouse.
In 1792,
Braddock Harris claimed thaJohn Roberts not only robbed his home, but burned
the house to the ground afterward.
For most of
these stories, I added context to what the records revealed using census
records, tax lists, deeds, land grants, and other sources. There is a
section dedicated to cohabitation court cases that might help someone break
down a brick wall in their family tree. This was a fun project that
helped me learn a lot about the earliest Wilkes County settlers.
Eventually I plan to do a follow-up book on court cases in the 1800s, but that
will a while down the road.
The book is
available in three ways:
Here are two
sample entries from the book:
#90:
At the March
1786 session of Morgan Superior Court, the jurors presented that Lazarus Tilley
of Wilkes County, yeoman, stole a brown mare and a black mare from Benjamin
Coffey. It was a true bill.
Lazarus
Tilley first appears in the Wilkes tax lists in 1787 and 1788 in the area that
includes Kings Creek. He was born about 1765, the son of Edmund
Tilley. He married Sarah Davis according to a Wilkes marriage bond dated
August 9, 1787, a copy of which is among the Lenoir Family Papers. In
fact, a note on Lenoir’s copy of the marriage license says that they were
married at his house. By 1793, they had moved west to Snow Creek, and by
the 1820s, they were living in Georgia.
#113:
At
the August 1794 court, jurors presented that on December 21, 1793, Joshua
Morgan, constable, and Patrick Hamrick, constable, stole a cow worth 10
shillings and one yearling steer worth 5 shillings, both belonging to John
Welch. Witnesses were James Coffey, Susannah Welch, and Mary Welch.
It was found to be a true bill.
The court
minutes for the August 1794 session record that Joshua Morgan was charged with
indictment trespass, and the twelve-person jury found him not guilty.
While that decision does not mention Patrick Hamrick, an entry three lines
later in the court minutes says that “Patrick Hamrick to be removed from his
office for taking unlawful fees from Meriday Minton”.
John Welch
appears in the Wilkes County tax lists from 1788 through 1796. In 1794,
he was in John Witherspoon’s district which included Warrior Creek, Beaver
Creek, and Kings Creek. In the 1790s, Welch bought and sold land on Kings
Creek along the old Burke wagon road that was the predecessor of NC Hwy 18.
These court
records often don’t reveal the whole story about why these early settlers were
in court, but they still give us a glimpse of what our ancestors were doing
outside of standard census records and deeds. These pages also serve as
great stepping stones for further, more in-depth investigations.
Links
History Videos – last year I made several short videos about local history stories
Email List...
Do you know someone else who would like to get this monthly (or so) newsletter? If they send me an email, I’ll add them to the list! Feel free to forward this to others who might like getting this information. And if you want to be removed from this list, just let me know.
Check out this and previous newsletters on my website.
Jason Duncan