THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501200274
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Olde Towne Journal
SOURCE: Alan Flanders
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
After Portsmouth became an official town by an act of the General Assembly in 1752, official court records were meticulously kept. Will books were a mainstay of the legal system and the Norfolk County Courthouse became the repository for these records. Today these same will books are a historic treasure that offer what is the only portrait of the area's earliest citizens. Particularly valuable are those wills that identify the occupations and trades of these first citizens. Colonials such as Thomas Carney, who lived on the Western Branch in 1756, would remain a mystery had it not been for the 18th-century custom of not only listing heirs, but also an inventory of the day-to-day items that would be inherited.
Carney was a man of modest position, probably a ``truck'' farmer, who, besides his land, listed a feather bed, pewter plate, and five shillings as his most valuable possessions. No silver or slaves were mentioned.
His neighbor, Williams Happer, was quite a different story. His wife Sarah not only inherited several dozen slaves, but a sizable plantation with sheep, cattle, horses and hogs. His three sons, Cary, Samuel and Williams were to share land, slaves and utensils, while his daughter, Mary, received a combination of slaves, land, and money.
In between Happer and Carney, one can find Western Branch resident Thomas Owins who in 1757 left his family articles that suggest that he was a militiaman and yeoman farmer firmly planted in what we would today call the middle class. In addition to five slaves and land, he listed his hand mill, gun, sword, and cartridge box, chest, pestle, still equipment, pot rack and wedges, kettle, and trivet. As colonial tradition would have it, his son William came into ``all his lands,'' the still, and the gun, sword and cartridge box.
As much as common items can be used to determine the lifestyles of colonial citizens, so can more specific property determine their professions.
For example, Thomas Cyphian's 1759 will directed that money from the sale of his house framing, blacksmith shop tools, iron (wrought and unwrought), which were in the hands of merchantman Andrew Sprowle, go toward the support of his daughter Barbara until she married or reached the age of 21. Cyphian probably would have known barrelmaker Hillary Cherry as he bequeathed his cooper tools to his brother John Cherry in 1761. Cherry had some competition from John Ferebee who set up both his sons in the trade by dividing his cooper tools between the two of them. Another associated tradesman, boat builder Richard Lewelling, left his shipwright tools to his son William that same year. Another 18th-century craftsman, Robert Wilkins, ran a cabinet maker's shop as he listed a large quantity of black walnut planks and ``fine'' tools for sale at his death to pay off debts. We know that Richard Brown was a cabinetmaker and Williams Skinner was a silversmith and watchmaker from the 1767 will of John Mathews who promised them his estate if his two sons did not reach the age of 21.
In addition to identifying trades, wills also reveal personal relationships between family members. Robert Shore's 1762 will carries a codicil that reads, ``Whereas my son Ray Shore is at present incapable of getting his living, he is to serve his brother George as an apprentice until he is 21 years old. My son George is to teach him the trade of bricklayer or `plaisterer' and give him a suitable education.'' Unusual among the trades, but certainly necessary for colonial Portsmouth and Norfolk County given the number of windmills in operation at the time, is the will of millwright Joshua Williamson who in 1766 passed his mill and tools to his son John. Merchantman Robert Tucker listed in his 1767 will at least six wind and water mills on his properties in the Dismal Swamp, Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River and Great Bridge.
Both early Portsmouth and Norfolk County were populated by craftsmen who earned a ``better-than-average'' wage from the ship-repair business. Daniel Dale, an 18th-century shipwright, was able to leave for his sons and daughters not only a number of slaves, but also land and houses in both Portsmouth and Norfolk.
A lot can be drawn about Western Branch ship carpenter Thomas Grimes who asked in his 1769 will that his wife Mary ``have the use of his estate to bring the children up and school them until `they are fit to bind out to trades.' All the white oaks and all sawn timber are to be sold in good time,'' he added.
Craftsmen, mariners, and merchants alike found their place in this area's colonial culture and flourished here leaving in their wills both a detailed inventory of their possessions and a poignant reminder of their lives. by CNB