The Heirs of John W. Howell

John W. Howell was the youngest of the three sons of Richard Howell and Sarah Winfield Howell of the Rocky River area of the Anson/Stanly County border in North Carolina. He and his brother Jordan, after an obvious education, decided to relocate to the growing market town of Cross Creek, or Fayetteville, North Carolina in the southeastern part of the state, where they would become businessmen, in about the early 1820's.  In fact, they lived not far from a road that ran from Salisbury to Fayetteville, called the "Throughfare".

Historic Fayetteville

Both brothers married widows from up north, once they arrived in Cumberland County, the two widows may have even been related. Jordan married the mysterious Mrs. Hannah Handy, who had no obvious children, while John W. Howell married Clarissa W. Pearce, widow of merchant Nathan Pearce, who was the mother of 8 children and a very highly esteemed lady in her community.


Jordan and Hannah had three known children and perhaps another son. The known children were Jordan Lafayette Howell, Clarissa Howell who married Jeremiah Broadway of Anson County and Charlotte Howell who married Allen Newsome of Davidson County.

Clarissa Pearce Howell and John W. Howell passed away in the same year, perhaps from the same malady. Clarissa was first, in April.

Fayetteville Weekly Observer 
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)25 Apr 1853, Mon • Page 1



And again;




Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer 
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)21 Apr 1853, Thu • Page 3

John W. Pearce, son of Clarissa and stepson of John W. Howell, was the minister of the estate of John W. The following ad ran for several months in the paper soliciting heirs of the estate. Who were they and where were they?



Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer 
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)1 Dec 1853, Thu • Page 1

John's own obituary did not mention any heirs, only his benevolent wife.


Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer 
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)12 May 1853, Thu • Page 3

After the passing of both John W. Howell and his wife, his stepsons call for heirs did produce heirs, but not children.

The heirs that came forward, via their lawyer, Warren Winslow was Levi Stancil, Charlotte Stancil and Peter Howell, brother-in-law, sister and brother of John W. Howell. As John W. Howell's wife, Clarrissa Winslow Pearce Howell's maiden name was Winslow, the attorney Warren, was very likely related to her somehow.

"This indenture made the 29th of June, 1857, between Levi Stancill and Charlotte, his wife and Peter Howell of the first part, acting through their attorney, Warren Winslow and John W. Pearce of the second part,.....being the lawful successors or heirs of John W. Pearce, deceased. "

This one document was 9 pages long and involved personal property and nearly 30 tracts of land. I want to inspect the land records more in depth later. Three of them involve Peter. His little brother made him a wealthier man than he already was.

The point is that at the time of his death, John W Howell had no children as heirs.

Early Florida manse

The persons whom John and Jordan did business with were impressive, with far reaching influence. These were not isolated country bumpkins running a store or business. Fayetteville was a busy and international center of trade.

A deed dated December  1828 between Richard S. Hackley and Jordan and John Howell states that for $1500, in hand, Richard S. Hackley "of New York", sells to them a tract of land in Florida, above the "Big Swamp" and bordering a tract with a black house belonging to the "Deerfield family of Indians", and also bordering the land of "Indian Tom". The deed was witnessed by Dillon Jordon, Jr., John A. Strode and John Black.

In fact, the brothers did quite a bit of business with Richard S. Hackley.

The next deed following this one was actually dated earlier, in November of 1827, between Jordan Howell and Hamilton Donaldson for a tract on Hay Street in Fayetteville joining John Jarrett or Jarrott.  This shows the relationship between the Howells and the Jarretts as one of neighbors.

The deed registered immediately preceding that one was another between Richard S. Hackley and Jordan Howell, alone this time, on March 15 1826, Mr. Hackley being "of the city of New York and the state of New York", lot 5 in the City of Fayetteville. Apparently Mr. Hackley had owned this town lot for some time. But who was he?

For one, he was one of the first investors in Florida and founder of the city of Tampa.





He was also the author of this book, published in 1835:

Documents and proof of the climate and soil of Florida, particularly East Florida

Dec 31, 1835

by Richard S Hackley Jay I. Kislak Collection (Library of Congress) DLC

And a very important businessman in the early decades of the 19th Century.





He was a friend of James Madison. The following link is from Founders Online:

Founders Online: To James Madison from Richard S. Hackley

Richard S. Hackley, who died in 1843, married Harriett Randolph. Her brother, Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., had married the daughter of Thomas Jefferson. Richard S. Hackley, among his other appointments and services, served as a U. S. consulate to Spain in 1806-1816.

The descendants of Jordan Howell's (brother of my GGGGreat Grandmother's first husband Richard) son, Jordan Lafayette Howell, claim kinship to Varina Howell Davis, last wife of Jefferson Davis, and therefore to Richard Howell of New Jersey, who served as Governor of that state. With the impressive business and associate connections of the Howell brothers in Fayetteville, I can no longer doubt creedence to that claim. Now to only find the lineage connections. This might even verify the old family rumor of kinship to Jefferson Davis himself, by Job Davis, Sarah Winfield Howells second husband.

It has been well-documented that her family tree leads to the Wingfields who co-owned the Jamestown Company, a trading firm that basically founded Jamestown, Virginia.




Edward Maria Wingfield.



There are  no tellings where this familial trail may lead.

High Pockets

At this time of year, High Point, Guilford County,  North Carolina is a virtual ghost town uptown. Full of empty furniture showrooms and unused factories. Foreign imports have had a deadly effect on the furniture industry, and the communities reflect it. High Point is merely 5 miles from Thomasville in Davidson County and both towns have suffered greatly in recent years from plant closings and cutbacks. America is bleeding jobs.

High Point, itself, located just inside Guilford County, is a dichotomy in itself. A rare blend of the old and the new. Turn of the century Victorians and boarding houses interwoven among the modern showrooms and stores. I call her High Pockets, a nickname my former father-in-law had given the town, as his second wife and her children hailed from there, and they visited often.

I had not been there in twenty years.

In researching the Peace family, and the further ventures of Alta Valedia Kinney Davis Peace, it took me to the R.O. D. in High Point. Another county notch on my belt of research.

I had made a list of goals: Find out more about Johnsie Peace, Find Travis Crump in the 1940 census, Find Christine Davis and Maxine Davis in the 1940 census. I accomplished all but one of these. And more.


Knowing where Travis Crump should have been in 1940, I was that his oldest daughter, Rosebud, who was by then married, had also moved there. Looking at the neighbors, just two houses away was this record.

Name:	Tranis M Owens
Age:	55
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1885
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Married
Relation to Head of House:	Head
Home in 1940:	Harris, Stanly, North Carolina View Map
Farm:	No
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Albema, Stanly, North Carolina
Residence in 1935:	Albema, Stanly, North Carolina
Sheet Number:	1B
Number of Household in Order of Visitation:	13
Occupation:	Owner
House Owned or Rented:	Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:	4
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	Elementary school, 7th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:	60
Class of Worker:	Working on own account
Weeks Worked in 1939:	52
Income Other Sources:	Yes
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Tranis M Owens 55 Mary Owens 51 Pauline Owens 24 Jenne Owens 10

 The transcribers really messed up on this one. That is why it could not be found. Travis became Tranis and even with the enumerators near illegible scribble, looking at the original document, Crump looks nothing like Owens.  The ages for Travis, Mary, their younger daughter Pauline are correct. "Jenne Owens" is listed as a niece, and clearly says "Jewel" on the original document. And she was not a Crump, but a Davis.

I had thought that Johnsie Peace, the twin sister of Johnny Lee, must have died as an infant, but a death certificate could not be found. Actually, no other record but that of her birth could be found. Then, I thought a moment, as researchers need do. She was not listed among the living descendants of the Davis twins, but that did not mean she died as an infant. Knowing that her twin brother had been adopted by a Russell family, I tried looking under that. And there she was. She died young, but not as a child. She had made it into her 30's and her death certificate was in High Point. Her adoptive parents also had ties to the Kinney family, her mother's family. I am sure the Myers who adopted her other brother, Jerry, probably was related as well, since her grandmother's maiden name was Myers, as the adoptions were not private, as the siblings had kept touch with each other.

Harvey J. Cantrell

I found Christine Davis in the 1940 census by looking through Archives.com. Archives had her listed in the 1940 census as Christine Davis, a boarder. Ancestry.com's transcribers had incorrectly read  her name as "Christine Lewis". The actual record says fairly clearly "Davis". I knew she was likely in Winston-Salem for the census, as 1940 was the year she married, and her husband, Harvey Joy Cantrell,  was enumerated there as single.

Name:	Christine Louis
Age:	23
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1917
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Marital Status:	Single
Relation to Head of House:	Lodger
Home in 1940:	Winston-Salem, Forsyth, North Carolina View Map
Street:	West Cemetery
House Number:	312
Inferred Residence in 1935:	Rural, Moore, North Carolina
Residence in 1935:	Rural, Moore, North Carolina
Resident on farm in 1935:	Yes
Sheet Number:	4B
Occupation:	Inspector
Attended School or College:	No
Highest Grade Completed:	Elementary school, 7th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:	28
Class of Worker:	Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939:	34
Income:	476
Income Other Sources:	No
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Pearl Perry 46 Schipson Perry 17 Cletus Perry 6 Lena T Lught 43 Christine Louis 23 Williad Clapp 20 Leonard W Shutt 23 Orville Langham 21 Neal Powell 23 Henry G Glaver 43

I have not found Maxine Davis in the 1940 census yet, but while in Guilford, I found an unexpected treasure. Thinking perhaps the girls, who were teenagers upon their fathers death, may have kept contact with their stepmother, who had remarried and moved to High Point, I looked for Maxine's name in Guilford County, and found a marriage license to a Joseph Jesse Dooley on April 7, 1956. After finding this and knowing that Maxine was a Craven when she died, I found the divorce record.

Primary Name:	Maxine Dooley
Spouse's Name:	Joseph Dooley
Divorce Date:	1 Apr 1963
Divorce County:	Forsyth

I did not have the name for Mr. Craven, that Maxine had married after April 1, 1963. Knowing that Maxine had moved back to Vass, Moore County, where she had spent several of her childhood days, prior to her parents deaths, I searched for Cravens who had passed in Vass. Thankfully, Craven was not a native name to Moore County. Quickly, I found a Benton Craven and upon researching him, he did have a wife named Maxine.

When Maxine married J. J Dooley, she was 35 years old. My theory for why I can't find her in the 1940 census, is that she had a husband prior to Mr. Dooley. Their license has her listed as Davis, so she likely went back to her maiden name. Maxine was 20 during the 1940 census and young ladies had a tendancy to marry early during those days. The next step is to find a marriage license prior to the one in 1956. Or maybe more. I'm glad I thought to look in Guilford County. A trip to Forsyth is in order. 

The Mysterious siblings of the Davis Twins.

Carol Brooks

THOMASVILLE Carol Dean Shuler Brooks, 52, of Thomasville, died Monday, Aug. 16, 1999, at the Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home in Winston-Salem.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at J.C. Green and Sons Funeral Home by the Rev. Warren stetCasidy. Entombment will be in Holly Hill Cemetery.

Mrs. Brooks was born Feb. 7, 1947, in Guilford County to Moody Shuler and Ora Nifong Shuler. She was a homemaker and member of Emanuel Reformed United Church of Christ.

Surviving are her husband, Leonard Brooks of the home; and two brothers, Jerry Myers and Johnny Russell, both of Thomasville.

The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 tonight at the funeral home.

The above obituary is for Carol Dean Schuler Brooks. Mrs. Brooks is listed as a half-sister of the Davis twins,  along with Jerry Myers and Johnny Russell, listed above.
They were not from the Davis side of the twins family, so it's natural to assume they must have been the children of Alta Valedia Kinney Davis Peace, their mother. Or were they?

Opening the door to one mystery, always leads to the doors of many others. Why do these other half-siblings all have different last names?  Valedia married a Carl Peace between 1940 and 1947. He died in 1947 and she died in 1949. Could these three be their orphans who were perhaps adopted?

The journey never ends.