URI(s)
Identifies LC/NAF RWO
Birth Date
- 1702
Death Date
- 1757
Associated Locale
- United States
Associated Locale
- Hayes Plantation (N.C.)
Occupation
Additional Related Forms
Exact Matching Concepts from Other Schemes
Sources
- found: Hayes collection, 1694-1928(Samuel Johnston; of Hayes Plantation near Edenton, N.C.; surveyor-general of the colony of North Carolina and planter; b. 1702; d. 1757)
- found: Finding aid for Hayes Collection, 1694-1928, via UNC University Libraries WWW site, accessed Jan. 17, 2023(The Hayes Collection documents three generations of the white Johnston family and two generations of the white Wood family who owned and managed Hayes in Chowan County, Caledonia in Halifax County, and Poplar Plains, Body, and Salem in Pasquotank County, as well as the people who were enslaved by these families and supplied the labor, knowledge, and skill at their plantations. Gabriel Johnston (1699-1752) was born in Scotland, but moved to North Carolina in 1734 following his appointment as royal governor to the colony. Gabriel Johnston's brother, Samuel Johnston (1702-1757), moved to North Carolina in 1735 after having been appointed surveyor-general of the colony. At his death, he owned over 10,000 acres of land in Craven County, N.C., and Onslow County, N.C. Prior to leaving Scotland, Samuel Johnston married Helen Scrymsoure and with her had several children: Jean, who married George Blair, an Edenton merchant; Hannah, who married James Iredell, Edenton lawyer and later United States Supreme Court justice; and Isabella, who was engaged to Joseph Hewes, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but died before the marriage took place. Samuel and Helen's son, Samuel Johnston (1733-1816), a lawyer, politician, plantation owner, and enslaver, was born in Dundee, Scotland, on 15 December 1733 and came with his parents to North Carolina when he was two years old. Johnston had extensive landholdings, most significant were his three plantations that were dependent on enslaved labor, knowledge, and skill: Hayes in Chowan County, Caledonia in Halifax County, and Hermitage in Martin County. He also owned acreage in Pasquotank, Currituck, Tyrell, and Bertie counties. He married Frances Cathcart, daughter of Dr. William Cathcart, in May 1770. He and his wife had nine children, only four of whom survived to adulthood: Penelope, who married John Swann; Frances; Helen; and James Cathcart. James Cathcart Johnston chose to work in agriculture and trade, becoming one of the wealthiest North Carolina plantation owners, using forced labor to cultivate familial lands at Hayes, Caledonia, and Poplar Plains, as well as others that he purchased over the years. He received Hayes Plantation by deed of gift dated 29 December 1814 from his father, who in his will instructed James to build a residence there for himself and his sisters. Johnston never married but did have four daughters, Mary Virginia (1815-1840), Caroline, Louisa, and Annie Edith (1831-1879), with Edith ("Edy") Wood (1795-1846), an enslaved woman he had purchased in the late 1820s and then manumitted along with their children in 1832. Johnston's nephew of the same name, James Cathcart Johnston, and his nephew's wife lived with him at Hayes for some time, and he financially supported a number of other relatives. Johnston doubted that any of his relatives could adequately run the plantations, and therefore bequeathed his properties to three friends: Christopher W. Hollowell, Henry J. Futrell, and Edward Wood) - https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00324/
Instance Of
Scheme Membership(s)
Collection Membership(s)
Change Notes
- 2009-08-14: new
- 2023-01-20: revised
Alternate Formats
