Papers (1751-1816) including correspondence, estates records, wills, deeds and indentures, accounts and other financial papers.
Winborne Jenkins (d. 1796 or 1797) was a Northampton County, N.C., landowner. He and his wife, Emma, had five children and owned approximately 575 acres at the time of his death. Papers in the collection include wills, deeds, estate papers, guardianship records, receipts, bills of sale for enslaved persons, and miscellany belonging to Winborne Jenkins and his son, Winborne Jenkins, Jr..
Most of the deeds in the collection are for large tracts of land along Potecasi Creek and Panther Swamp near the Northampton- and Hertford-County line. Some of the property purchases were made with North Carolina currency and others with Virginia currency. The transactions were among members of the Jenkins family and purchases that the Jenkins family made from the Futral/Futrell family.
Jenkins became the guardian of his grandson, Jason Ricks, upon the death of his son-in-law, Jacob Ricks. Upon the death of Winborne Jenkins, Sr., the responsibility of guardianship fell upon Winborne Jenkins, Jr. (d. 1813 or 1814). The collection includes several account sheets reflecting the expenses of guardianship incurred by the Jenkins family and the income derived from the rent of Ricks' plantation and from the hire of a man enslaved by Ricks. The Hiring-out system allowed a hirer to temporarily lease an enslaved person from an enslaver, generating revenue for the enslaver through the labor of the enslaved people completing the work. A lease agreement (January 1, 1786) of Ricks' farm stipulates the maximum limit of woodland to be cleared, that no tar burning and limitedtimber felling will occur, that the lessee must erect a fence and a dirt chimney, and that he must pay the taxes on the property. A receipt (April 8, 1804) indicates that Jason Ricks received the money in his father's estate and the legacy from both of his grandfathers.
Enslaver Charles Jenkins' will (1772) includes the disposition of enslaved persons, a plantation, and other property to his children and grandchildren. Enslaver Winborne Jenkins, Sr.'s will (1790) leaves enslaved persons, livestock, land, household utensils, and money to his wife, children, and grandchildren. This will also stipulates the disposition of property should his wife remarry after his death. Winborne Jenkins, Jr.'s estate sale (April 21, 1814) lists personal property liquidated in the sale and their purchasers.
One item of particular interest is a letter (December 20, 1795) from Alexander Martin to Benjamin Hawkins regarding the inefficiency of the United States Senate's ratification of a treaty with Great Britain, Edmund Randolph's resignation as Secretary of State, John Jay's services on the Supreme Court, and the possibility of John Rutledge being appointed to the Supreme Court. Other items in the collection include levy receipts (1752-1794); an official authorization (June 1, 1786) to act upon the property of Winborne Jenkins, Sr.'s, son-in-law, Saul Parker, who died intestate; bills of sale for enslaved persons (July 21, 1803, September 20, 1806, June 1, 1807); and a printed handbill (December 23, 1811) listing the business that the North Carolina legislature would consider in its next term.
Gift of Murfreesboro Historical Association
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.