Papers (1728-1901) including correspondence, inventories, wills,estates, land records, legal records, deeds of enslaved persons, financial records, tax receipts, poems, cipher book, account book, and miscellaneous.
The Roach family was prominent in Craven County, N.C., during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Members of the family emigrated to Georgia and Indiana in the 1820s, where correspondence evolved. Charles Roach, Sr., his wife Polly, and their sons Charles, Jr., James, and David (see pedigree chart), constitute the central focus of the collection. Many administrative records exist for the Fornes, Summers, and Vincent families, for whom the Roaches served as estates administrators. (For genealogical information concerning the Roach family, see Jeannette C. St. Amand, Our Family Genealogy, 2nd ed., The Mary Nelson Smith Family, 1967.)
Correspondence in the collection centers around land and money matters, for the most part; nevertheless, varied and wide-ranging subjects weave in and out of the papers. Antebellum letters from frontier settlements in Georgia and Indiana are significant. A letter (1821) from Shellyville, Georgia, asks for power of attorney to purchase land, and comments on the issuance of a land warrant and on the Chickasaw Purchase. Another letter (1822) from David K. Roach relates matters of personal misfortune experienced in Fort Hawkins, Georgia, and news concerning persons living near that settlement. David's letters from Macon, Georgia (1824 and 1825), contain accounts of illness and his need for financial assistance, working six days of the week, courting and church going on Sunday, the lack of sermons in the wilderness, and thoughts about marriage. In addition, land as a valuable investment commodity, social standing in Macon, and an inability to find wives illuminate aspects of frontier life. Alarm caused by the Lower Muskogee Creek Nation, rampant political imbroglios and the inability of the Georgia legislature to transact business are recorded. Correspondence to James Roach from Indiana (1825) pertains to the harshness of wilderness life and the rewards of religious life. Land and its unsurpassed production, crops and yields are discussed, as well as social equality among frontier Indianans. A later letter (1852) comments on frontier life and preparations for emigration to California.
Three letters from the Civil War period constitute an important segment of the Roach Family Papers. A letter (1856) reveals the need of enslaver Hannah Roach Pearce to sell enslaved persons from Georgia and her reluctance to do so. An important letter from lawyer William B. Rodman (1861) comments on North Carolina and Confederate enlistment regulations as they relate to minors, as well as Rodman's belief that certain young men of Craven County were not obligated to serve in the ranks. A letter (1863) from a North Carolina soldier in Virginia ambivalently solicits the attentions of a young lady and also remarks about skirmishes between Union and Confederate troops in Virginia. Moreover, the writer discusses the Virginian dislike of North Carolina troops and vice versa.
A post-war letter (1866) describes the effect of war on a North Carolina family. A Union raid on Swift Creek is mentioned, as well as an attempted break-in of a house by a burglar with the resultant accidental killing of an innocent victim Other subjects commented on include a smallpox epidemic in New Bern and Swift Creek, plantation life without enslaved persons, and an incident of men robbing and shooting a local resident. Other correspondence pertains to a war pension (1820), the price of an enslaved person in Fayetteville (1821), and a brother who set off from Dublin, Georgia, never to be seen again (1824). A late nineteenth century letter (1897) comments on the extraction of teeth.
Inventories, wills, and estates records in the collection comprise an important research source for genealogists. Inventories of estates, accounts of sales, and accounts of settles from the enslavers in Roach Family that list personal properties and a list on enslaved persons. Similarly, records exist for John Summers and John Fornes, for whom the Roaches served as administrators of their estates. Wills (undated) are included for John Fornes and Dollie Vincent.
Land records in the collection reveal the acquisition of property near Swift Creek by the Roach family. Beginning in 1728 they began purchasing substantial holdings in the area and approximately twenty-five deeds can be found in the collection. Of particular significance is a deed (1857) to a tract of land originally included in the patent of John Grey Blount. In addition, land was bought by James Roach in Rappahannock, Va., in the gold region. Associated with his deed are a town survey plat (1857), a circular of the Rappahannock Pioneer Association (1857), and an early "sweepstakes" announcement of land winnings (ca. 1857).
Of interest in the legal papers are articles of agreement (1823) to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic; a court order (1830) investigating road repair in Craven County; a deposition (1814) that comments on a Henry Tison's service in the North Carolina Continental Line; and a certification (1864) that Charles Roach was unfit for military duty for medical reasons. Other records relate to notes of debt, powers of attorney, an agricultural lien, and orders to appear in court.
Records of enslaved persons in Craven County (1825-1860) consist of seven deeds of purchase that give prices paid and personal information concerning particular enslaved persons.
Records of finance, a large segment of the Roach Family Papers, consist of subscription receipts for various newspapers; receipts for tuition; provisions, medicines, and agricultural supplies; payments of claims; and accounts due. Included are tax receipts (1806-1866, undated) for personal and property taxes in Craven County. Of interest in these papers are two United States Direct Tax certificates (1865).
In the miscellaneous papers are advertisements (undated) pertaining to a Philadelphia firm and to the subscription of several Southern newspapers. A census of William's District, Craven County (ca. 1865) delineates men, offices held, and professions. Three poems (undated) pertain to the Mexican War emigration to Tennessee, and an enslaved person promised freedom, but ultimately denied by their enslaver. Two volumes exist: the first is a cipher book (1849), and the second, a notebook of Charles Roach (undated) containing accounts, lists of figures, and miscellaneous figures.
Gift of Mrs. Janis Witherington Cannon
Processed by D. Lawson, December 1977
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.