The most amazing thing has happened to me. Through a blog post I wrote about my 4th great grandfather, Jonathan NEWMAN, a distant cousin contacted me to share that he had in his possession a dresser made for his great great grandmother, Delilah Jane NEWMAN ALLEN. The dresser was made from solid walnut, around 1875 by her father, our shared ancestor, Jonathan NEWMAN.
He wrote to ask if I wanted it. And of course I did! Though I do write a blog, I am not a great writer. And I will never have enough words to express my extreme gratitude for such a tremendous gift. Mr. Shupe, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
This beautiful heirloom has traveled a few miles in it's lifetime. It originated in Hendersonville, NC and is being shipped to me here in Arkansas, from the great state of Massachusetts.
In his initial correspondence, Mr. Shupe shared a picture of the dresser as well as a picture of a short note explaining the genealogical connection to the dresser.
Later he told me his knowledge of the dresser.
"My father’s mother was Clara Siegel. My mom and Dad were at some type of family get together and my Dad was offered the chest from someone ( I was like 14 I’m 56 now and don’t remember the details) Dad accepted and mentioned it to Mom. One dark winter night there was a knock on the door and 2 guys with a truck showed up to deliver the chest. Mom had frankly forgotten about it told them to just put it in the dining room. They said “lady have you seen this chest” our dining room was pretty ornate so it ended up in the second floor laundry room for linens.
We moved to a new house and there was no place for the chest so it ended up in the attic where it sat for 30 years.
Today the chest is in my warehouse looking for a home. We could spruce it up with new knobs and sell it. However I would prefer it to stay with a member of the family if possible. In researching it I found your blog and thought you might be able to help me find a family member who would like it and appreciate its heritage.
The intent is not to get compensation it is just to see if there’s an ancestor of Jonathans who wants it."
This prompted me to plot out his family line connecting him to Jonathan and then to dig once again a little deeper into this branch of my family. Specifically estate records. I had hoped there might be some mention of a dresser. Considering the dresser was made for Jane around 1875 and Jonathan died in 1901 the dresser would've most likely already been in her possession and not necessarily mentioned in his estate papers. Regardless, I thought you might like to learn a bit more about our miser's estate; what he possessed and who purchased those items.
If you would like to see these records yourself, all you need to do is create a free account on Family Search and then click below to "flip" trough the images:
Jonathan NEWMAN Estate Records
As previously mentioned in my last blog post about Jonathan, he had several children/heirs. His son, Andrew Johnson NEWMAN was made the administrator of his father's estate. As administrator, he petitioned the court to allow him to auction/sell off his father's property for cash in order to settle debts as well as split among heirs. He also signed an affidavit stating that his father left no Will and Testament and that at the time of the filing the value of his father's estate was about $3,220.00 He then goes on to list the entitled heirs as ( I will do my best as the handwriting is very hard to make out):
- Arminta STEPP (my ancestor)
- Amanda CASE
- Delilah J ALLEN (Mr. Shupe's ancestor)
- Thomas NEWMAN
- A J NEWMAN
- G W NEWMAN
- Elizabeth LYDA
- Susan BAGWELL
- The heirs of Wm NEWMAN deceased to wit John NEWMAN, Coats NEWMAN, Fisher NEWMAN, Dock NEWMAN, Fred NEWMAN and Brithia (sic) NEWMAN, and Carrie NEWMAN the only living heirs of Jacob NEWMAN deceased.
This affidavit goes on to state where each of the heirs of living:
....all reside in Henderson County except Arminta STEPP who resides at Fallsville Arkansas. Thomas NEWMAN who resides at Fallsville Arkansas. George W NEWMAN who resides at McDemol (sic) Georgia and Carrie NEWMAN whose residence after due inquiry cannot be ascertained and are all of full age except Dock NEWMAN, Fisher NEWMAN, Fred NEWMAN and Bertha NEWMAN who are under twenty one years of age are without -illegible-.
The above was signed and dated the 12th day of Sept 1901.
If you're wondering what happened to siblings Wm and Jacob Newman.
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The Goldsboro headlight. January 09, 1896
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The Charlotte Observer Thur Nov 17 1887
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Several receipts for taxes and various things as well as scraps of paper are included in this file. One is a ledger/receipt from J. L. EGERTON, M.D. from Aug of 1897 where it's listed that he visited Mrs. NEWMAN. The cost was $2.50 per visit. Susan LANKFORD NEWMAN died Sept of that same year. On the same record was a visit to Mr. NEWMAN on May 18th 1901. Jonathan NEWMAN died in August of that year. The total bill was $15.00 and it was paid in full July 27th.
In preparation for dividing up the estate, several chores and repairs needed to be made. There's a leger dated Sept 1901 - Jan 1902 listing these and how much each person was paid. My ancestor Will STEPP is listed as having pulled fodder. He also dug potatoes.
“Pulling fodder” was a harvesting technique that provided the farmer with a source of feedstuff in an area that was often unfit for growing hay. “Depending on the season and the time of planting, the farmer went into his field around mid-August to “pull fodder,” which meant stripping the blades, while the ear, now fully grown and out of the milk, was left on the stalk. The blades were tied into bundles and saved for fodder, the only winter forage from his fields that the farmer had. Cured, the bundles of blades were usually stacked into piles, and covered with the corn tops that were cut next, while the ears were left on the now bare stalks until November or even later when “corn-gathering” began. ~ Bark Covered House
I find that interesting seeing that the STEPPs had already migrated to NW ARKANSAS. Did they go back to North Carolina? Did only Arminta, her grown children, and her brother Thomas go before hand? William is listed in the 1900 census with his family in Newton County, Arkansas. That's a long journey to travel back and forth at the turn of the century when horse and wagon was the main form of transportation. Did he take a train?
There's a pharmacy receipt to W. H. Justus; Pharmacist from 1897.
There's a typed receipt for $35.00 from W.W. LYDA, Jonathan's son-in-law, for rent he was to pay on a parcel of land he cultivated for the year 1902. The land was his brother-in-law, William Monroe NEWMAN'S (deceased) homestead but it belonged to Jonathan NEWMAN. Later, W.W. LYDA is paid $5.00 for waiting on Jonathan during his last sickness for 6 days and nights.
There is a receipt for $25.00 to W. W. BAGWELL, another one of Jonathan's sons-in-law. It's on an piece of paper with
The Continental Insurance Co. letterhead, for "services rendered to the deceased Jonathan NEWMAN in his last sickness" I think it says "as nurse" after that. You can click
here to read for yourself.
There's a receipt for $4.00 to Jonathan's grandson, Jonathan CASE to work as clerk on the sale of his personal property.
There's a written receipt to Jonathan's daughter Bessie LYDA for "8 months work at $8 per month $64.00" on the back it is witnessed by Carrie NEWMAN. Later, Bessie is also paid $12 for 10 weeks work caring for the house and household goods.
Another
record states:
NOTICE:
As administrator of Jonathan NEWMAN deceased and pursuant to an order of the clerk of the Superior Court of Henderson County -- I will sell for cash at the Jonathan NEWMAN house place on the Howard Gap road in Hendersonville Township on the 15th day of November 1901 all the following personal property to wit:
About 150 bushels of corn -- About 1800 bundles of fodder -- a small quantity of oats and hay -- one mule -- one cow -- two yearlings and two hogs -- one threshing machine and wind mill -- one one-horse wagon -- two two-horse wagons and some harnesses -- seven stands of bees -- some farming tools and a lot of household goods -- beds (illegible) , bed stands, cupboards, bureaus, chairs (?) and ~
This Oct 12th 1901
AJ NEWMAN
Admin
Following this order is a ledger of who purchased items, the items sold and the price. Here are a few names I recognized:
WW BAGWELL
2 Plow Stocks $0.30AJ NEWMAN old plows & wagons $0.10
Joseph NEWMAN 1 pitchfork $0.25
Wm LYDA 1 bee hive $1.05
AJ NEWMAN 100 boards $2.00
CT ALLEN 1 wagon $2.00
Dock ALLEN 400 bundles fodder $5.40
AJ NEWMAN hay in barn $0.55
Mrs. Wm LYDA 1 bull $5.75
Bessie LYDA 1 calf $1.75
Coats NEWMAN 1 wash pot $1.30
Mrs. Wm LYDA 4 cups & saucers $0.10
Wm CASE sugar bowl $0.20
Mrs. S. BAGWELL 1 bureau $1.55
Wm. CASE 1 salt box $0.10
Mrs. Jane ALLEN 1 counterpane* $1.25
Mrs. Wm LYDA 1 sheep skin $0.40
Mrs. Wm CASE 1 bed complete $7.00
Mrs. Jane ALLEN 1 pair scissors $0.25
* A counterpane is another word for bedcover.
Again, the above are just highlights. There were many more items mentioned/sold. To view the entire list you can click here. (images 74-80).
After sales and fees were figured, the distribution of inheritance began. It would appear that my ancestor Arminta STEPP and her brother Thomas NEWMAN hired an attorney to do their business since they were no longer living in the area. I believe the attorney was AL HOLWES. Carrie NEWMAN also had an attorney, SMITH & VALENTINE. It was also stated that the distribution was not made to each distributee equally --- they being paid in different ways at different times.
It goes on to list each heir and how much they were paid "more than" and "less than" their share. It then says while it is agreed it can be made equal in the distribution of proceeds of the sale of real estate. Followed by several receipts/checks from the heirs. If you are a descendant of Jonathan Newman these are great places to see the signature of your ancestor. Unfortunately, my ancestor's signature wasn't there as her attorney signed on her behalf. But below, I will share one from Mr. Shupe's ancestor, Delilah Jane ALLEN
Going through estate records can take some time and patience and you may even need a little help making out what is written. I always feel like its worth it, to learn all the little over looked details about a persons life. Who was their doctor? Their pharmacist? What kind of personal property did they own? Who were their neighbors and friends? Some ancestors have better records than others. I really enjoyed going through Jonathan NEWMAN's. And I hope you enjoyed it too.
For Mr. Shupe and any of Delilah Jane NEWMAN ALLEN ancestors, below you can find her estate papers:
Mrs. D J ALLEN Estate Records
*There were 3 dressers listed in the inventory of personal property belonging to Mrs. D J ALLEN in her estate records. No further description was given.
Until next time,
Becky
P.S.
A few more tidbits on our ancestor:
Jonathan donated land for Columbus to be the county seat of Polk County, North Carolina. During that time he, and several others, were hired to remove timber and clear away rubbish for the building of this town. He was paid $39.00 [ Polk County News and the Tryon Bee; May 30, 1919] Jonathan was pretty wealthy compared to his neighbors if you look at the value of his real estate and personal property values in the 1860 census; being $3,000.00 and $2,852.00 respectively. Most of his neighbors barely had values of $100. And in 1871 Jonathan NEWMAN was one of 12 trustees named in an ACT that incorporated the existing Blue Ridge Academy in the village of Blue Ridge in Henderson County. I wonder if that's where his children went to school?
Further correspondence states Mr. Shupe believes the letter was written to his father by his father's Aunt Susan Dunlap, daughter of Thomas Duffy Seagle and Fannie Susan Elliot.
