Samuel Harrell, Mary Freeman, & William Copeland

Sally’s 5g Uncle & Aunt [sister of Kitty Wood, dau of Joshua Freeman]

Samuel Harrell 1756 – 1790 | his parents
& ca 1778 Mary Freeman ca 1762 – aft 1824 | her parents
& 1791/94 William Copeland 17xx – 1804/09 | his parents
& 1809 Etheldred Williams | his parents
of Hertford County, NC
?& Chowan Co NC
& 1808 Grainger County TN

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This is my working hypothesis – the way I see it as of this moment!!

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“Elder Samuel Harrell was born 25 December 1756 in Hertford County, NC–in his youth joined the church near Wiccacon–began to preach in a few years — was much approved of by all that heard him. He was a man of a bright genius, masculine voice, a ready mind, and a good orator. He appeared to be a man of eminent piety, and a zealous preacher of the Gospel, notwithstanding his worldly embarrassments. He was Major of the Militia in Hertford Co., Clerk of the Court –employed in the mercantile line at the time he exercised his public ministry–member of the Convention 1788 for the deliberation of the Federal Constitution — preached but was never ordained. He departed this life in January 1791 aged 35 years.”
This memoir was in 1803 Burkitt’s History of the Kehukee Baptist Association [rev. 1850 ed]

from The Minutes of the session of the Central Pennsylvania annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church Volumes 33-35 By Methodist Episcopal Church. Conferences. Central Pennsylvania 1901, page 51
The Rev. Samuel Harrell
Hertford County, North Carolina
The Rev. Samuel Harrell, Hertford County, North Carolina, was the son of John Harrell Esq. of the said county, and a member of the Rev. Jeremiah Dargan’s church. He possessed very eminent gifts, and continued preaching for several years, but never took the pastoral care of any church. Being a man of bright intellect, and a good education, he held a station both in the civil and military departments. He was a clerk of the Hertford county court, and occupied that office for a number of years until his death, and was a Major of the Militia of that district; and notwithstanding all his worldly encumbrances he was a very zealous, pious man, and an ornament to religion. At last being taken with a nervous fever, he departed this life in January 1791.

1790, 28 Jan – Samuel Harrell died according to Edenton District Court papers without a will leaving his affairs in a very complicated condition.

1756, 25 December – Samuel Harrell was born. [there is a John Harrell Esq with 900+ ac. in Hertford Co in 1784 who apparently has son Nathan who looks to me like he may be brother of this Samuel who has already died before the 1790 census so his widow Mary is listed]

1777 – Burkitt states that Joshua Freeman was converted in 1777 under the ministry of Elder Dargan at Wiccacon. I think Sam Harrell joined this church about the same time as his future father in law Joshua Freeman.

1778/80 – Draft of Hertford County Militia – lists a Samuel Harrell as part of Capt King’s company.

?1778 – is this when Sam married Mary, dau of Joshua and Joshua gave Sam the horse?

1779 – Sam Harrell appears on Hertford Co. tax list 1st time
taxed for poll, a mare and colt and $20.

1780 until his death Samuel Harrell was Clerk of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Hertford County.

Samuel Harrell was one of the county trustees at this time [prior to 1790].

1784 Tax List Hertford Co abstract by Ransom McBride NCGSJ Aug ’83
Sam Harrell is the Justice who signs the tax list for Hertford County
in Capt William Outlaw’s Company list taken by Needham Jarnagan
Samuel Harrell 300 ac Hertford Co 1 fp 3 bp

1785 December, Samuel Harrell of Hertford County requested a survey of a parcel of land, and his request was sent to the county surveyor by the Hertford County Office of Claims for Lands in the County. On May 2nd 1786, the survey was complete and Samuel’s claim was entered (Entry No. 6). The Grant for 334 acres was issued on July 10, 1788. This may well have been the land Samuel was on in 1784. His land was described as follows; lying between the lines of Josiah Perry, Joshua Freeman, Josuah Hasgons, James Jones and Edward Peel, lying on the Holly Swamp and Whiteoak Branch. Location Beg at the mouth of White oak branch on the Holly swamp.
The North Carolina Gazetteer has the following description of this location: Whiteoak Swamp rises in the town of Ahoskie, s Hertford Co., and flows into Bear Swamp. (Today it flows east into Ahoskie Creek just before Bear Swamp enters the Creek‚ Whiteoak and Bear swamps may well have joined before entering Ahoskie Creek at some point in time.)

Samuel Harrell’s land grant no. 70 is on the microfilm Secretary of State-Land Grant Office, Warrants, Plats, etc., Hertford County, file no. 1-268,01 / s.108.736, file no. 79.
William S. Powell, The North Carolina Gazetteer, (Chapel Hill, 1968), page 531.
See Roger H Harrell’s web site Harrell Families of Early Hertford County

1788 -Maj. Samuel Harrell was a delegate from Hertford County to the Hillsboro Convention of 1788 to consider the adoption of U S Constitution.

1788, 21 Oct — Samuel Harrell resigned as 1st Major of the Hertford County Militia. T. Kearney’s Abstracts [Winborne gives this date as 1783]

Another prominent member of the church at Wiccacon who was also known and honored for his patriotism was Elder Samuel Harrell. He was a major of militia of Hertford County and later Clerk of the Court. G. W. Paschal in his History of the Baptists [Burkitt had a bio on him too]

1789, 2 Dec – Joshua Freeman and Samuel Harrell entered into a General Co-Partnership to build and outfit the Schooner “Sally and Molly” and share in its cargoes.

1789, Dec – Samuel Harrell entered into an agreement with Richard Simons, Merchant of Edenton – Simons would supply him goods to sell for half the profits.

1790, 28 Jan – Samuel Harrell died according to Edenton District Court papers without a will leaving his affairs in a very complicated condition.

1790 census, I find no Samuel Harrell listed in Hertford County but I do find a Mary Harrell listed with 1 male over 16, 1 male under 16, 3 females and 11 slaves, also Nathan Harrell is listed with 1 male over 16, 2 males under 16 and 3 females and 11 slaves.
In Gates Co are listed two Samuel Harrells
one has 4 males over 16; 3 under 16; 5 females 2 other free persons 6 slaves
2nd has 1 male over 16; 2 males under 16; 2 females and 1 slave

1791, 2 March – Sam Harrell’s widow Mary and his estate’s administrator placed notices in the local paper

1800 census In Gates Co are listed two Samuel Harrells again
Samuel Harrell 3 – 2 – 1 – 0 – 1 1 – 1 – 0 – 1 – 1 12
Noah Harrell – 1 – – 1- 1 – 0 – 1 12
Samuel Harrell 1 – 3 – 1 – 0 – 1 1 – 0 – 1 – 1 2
Thomas Harrell Sen, Josiah, Peter sen, Samuel, Aron, Demy, Elisha of Peter, Jesse Jun, Elisha, David of Jesse, William, Peter is the list of Harrells with the second Samuel

Newspaper notices:
State of North Carolina, Edenton, March 1791. Public notice is hereby given. . to all the creditors of the late Samuel Harroll, Esq. Prothonotary and Clerk of Hertford County, that the said Samuel Harroll is dead, and that the subscriber qualified as administratrix on the 1st instant. Mary Harroll, Adm’x.
On Thursday, the 24th instant, Will be sold, at Public Vendue, at Pelt’s Landing, on Wicacon Creek, the Schooner Polly & Sally, About 100 tons burthern . . also 6 or 700 barrels of Tar and Turpentine and about 1000 bushels of St. Martin’s Salt. On the same day will be sold, at the dwelling house of the late Samuel Harroll, dec…..West India rum, sugar, molasses, salt, pease, and barrel pork. .dry goods . . cattle, plantation utensils and household furniture belonging to the deceased….The Administratrix.
March 2, 1791.

Edenton District Loose Papers (Bradley) #81 Samuel Harrell
1789-1790 Account of Capt David Meredith. Named: George McClelan, John Hunter, Dr. Keys.
1790. Summons to Hertford Co to Mary Harrall admrx of Saml Harrall to answer in Edenton Dist Ct David Meredith for debt.
Apr Ct 1791. Edenton Dist. Mary Harrell widow as admrx of —– vs Richard Semmon (Simmon) & Joshua Freeman merchants. Josiah Collins & John Little merchants & Thomas Iredell clerk examined the accounts. They noted that Samuel Harrell & Joshua Freeman had built the schooner Sally & Polly that they entered into copartnership in 1789. An undated document indicates that Samuel Harrell died 28 Jan last.
1791. Edenton Dist. The answer of Richd Semmon merchant of Edenton to Mrs Mary Harrold. He stated that in 1790 he met Samuel Harrold dec’d on the mill dam of Walton & Ramsway in Harford Co about 1 mile or 1 1/2 mile from sd Harrold’s house; that sd Harold said he had dry goods to sell, that they proceeded toward Suffolk VA to sell there which they did. Later, sd Harold came to Edenton for more goods & they were delivered by sd Semmon’s factor John Little; that there was no partnership, only the sell of goods; that he knew of no partnership between Joshua Freeman and Harrell other than in the schooner Polly & Sally and her cargoes.
The answer of Joshua Freeman: he states that he had kept Sam’s store open for a few months after Sam’s death to try to sell the merchandise, etc. (this deposition is written on both sides has lots of bleed-throughs and blots – I cannot make out much of it. Sally These Ct documents seemed to me to say Sam Harrell died in 1790.)

Mary married a second time William Copeland. This was before Joshua Freeman wrote his will on 24th August 1794.
“Thirdly I Give and Bequeath unto my Daughter Mary Copeland two Negroes Phillis and Jack two Beds and furniture and one horse which has been delivered unto Samuel Harrell late Husband of the said Mary and it is to be understood and it is my express will that the said Negroes Beds and Horse aforesaid shall go and descend to my said Daughter Mary and the Children of the said Mary by the said Samuel Harrell Agreeable to the Division of the Estate of the said Samuel Harrell now of Record in the County Court of Hertford I also lend unto my said Daughter Mary One Negro Woman named Alice with one-ninth part of the Residue of my estate after Debts and Legacies paid for and during her natural life and after her death to be equally divided between all her Children to them their heirs and assigns forever.”

Comment from Barbara B Harrell:
Samuel’s remarried widow Mary migrated to Grainger TN with her husband William Copeland and her daughter Elizabeth, who had married Thomas Gill. It seems Samuel and Mary’s son John Harrell went with them, as the body of a John Harrell was moved to the cemetery where Elizabeth Harrell Gill is buried, and an old John Harrell with wife Mary was nearby on the 1860 census, but I haven’t proved that this was Elizabeth’s brother.
At the Bertie estate sale for Joshua Freeman (Adm. William Copeland), buyers (together) included Thomas Gill and John Harrell.

Samuel Harrell 1756 – 1790 and Mary (Polly) Freeman had:

1. Lucretia Harrell
   married James B Yeates
2. John Harrell
3. Elizabeth Harrell
   married bef 1806 Thomas Gill 1774, Yorkshire, Eng. – 20 Jan 1846 Bean Station, Grainger County, TN

Mary (Polly) Freeman and William Copeland had:
(I know of none)

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Grandchildren of Samuel Harrell and Mary Freeman:

Children of Lucretia Harrell and James B Yeates:
1. Elizabeth A Yeates 30 Mar 1822 near Union – 26 Sept 1891
married 13 July 1839 James H Knight 10 Oct 1817 Sussex Co VA – 12 Sept 1891 (near Union)
a. Joseph J Knight ca 1840 –
b. child ca 1842 – dy
c. child ca 1845 – dy
d. Sarah J Knight ca 1847 –
e. Richard W Knight ca 1849
f. Jesse T. Knight ca 1852 –
g. John H. Knight ca 1858

JAS. H. KNIGHT was born near Sussex Court House, Sussex county, Va., on the 10th day of October 1817, and died near Union, Sept. 12th 1891, aged 73 years, 11 months and 2 days. At the age of 13, he, with his widowed mother and sisters, moved to North Carolina, in 1830, near Union, Hertford county. In 1835 he attended the Murfreesboro Academy for awhile. In October of the same year he moved to Macon, Tennessee. In 1838 he returned to North Carolina, at the former place, where he remained until the day of his death. His disease was consumption. Although feeble for many years prior to his death, was confined to his bed but a few days. Was married to Elizabeth A. Yeates on the 13th of July 1839. She was the daughter of James B. Yeates and sister of Hon. Jesse J. Yeates. He was a devoted member of the M. E. Church in Union, N. C., and led a consistent life. In his dealings with his fellowman was strictly honest. “Owe no man” was his motto. By industry and stern integrity, he left his family well provided for. Leaving a widow, four sons and one daughter to share alike his estate. His widow survived him about two weeks. . . . . S. E. KNIGHT

ELIZABETH A. KNIGHT, daughter of James B. Yeates and sister of Hon. Jesse J. Yeates, was born near Union, Hertford, Co., March 30, 1822. She professed religion in her 17th year and joined the M. E. Church, South. She was married to James H. Knight, July 13th, 1839, She died Sept 26th 1891. She was born, raised and spent all her days (except about four years) and died at her father’s old homestead. . . . She was the mother of seven children, five of whom survive her, four sons and one daughter, and five grandchildren. S. E. KNIGHT

“Murfreesboro Index”, John W. Hicks, ed., Murfreesboro, [Hertford County], N.C. Friday, April 1, 1892 [Vol. VII, No. 33]
[excerpt from “From Time into Eternity” CD-ROM by David Powell, Winton NC: Liberty Shield Press ¬©2004]

2. Hon. Jesse Johnson Yeates 29 May 1829 – 5 Sept 1892 Washington City

4 July 1851 -the speaker of the celebration in Harrellsville was Jesse J Yeates, who at the time was in charge of the male academy in the village. [Moore-HSHC]

“a Representative from North Carolina; born near Murfreesboro, Hertford County, N.C., May 29, 1829; attended private schools and Emory and Henry College, Emory, Va.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1855 and commenced practice in Murfreesboro; prosecuting attorney of Hertford County 1855-1860; member of the State house of commons 1860-1862; solicitor of the first judicial district 1860-1866; served in the Confederate Army as captain and major of the Thirty-first North Carolina Infantry during the Civil War; member of the Governor’s council during Governor Worth’s administration; declined appointment by Governor Holden as judge of the first judicial district in 1868; delegate to the Democratic State convention in 1871; member of the State constitutional convention in 1871; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1879); successfully contested the election of Joseph J. Martin to the Forty-sixth Congress and served from January 29 to March 3, 1881; declined to be a candidate … in 1880; resumed the practice of his profession in Washington, D.C., and died there on September 5, 1892; interment in Glenwood Cemetery.” Congressional Directory

Hon. Jesse J Yeates
Edenton District Representative 1875-1881
lawyer

married ca 1849 Maria Piper of VA died 21 Aug 1854
a. Jane Yeates ca 1850 –
married Dr. Edward Yeates of Miss. [her cousin]
married 2nd Virginia Scott ca 1833 –
dau of James Scott of Baltimore
a. William Smith Yeates 15 Dec 1856-1908 Ga.
married 1884 Julia W Moore 16 Sept 1860-1928
b. Charles M. Yeates ca 1858 – of Washington City
c. Jesse J. Yeates ca 1860 – of Birmingham, Al.
d. George S Yeates ca 1863 – of U.S. Army
e. Virginia [ Jennie] Yeates ca 1867 –
married Daniel L Smith Mass.
3. Lucretia Jane Yeates ca 1833 –
married Hezekiah Revel ca 1823 – merchant retail
of Bertie, Murfreesboro & later western NC
a. Eveline Revel ca 1852 –
b. Willie Y. Revel ca 1854 –
c. Jesse Revel ca 1862 –
d. Frank R. Revel ca 1865 –
e. Paul S. Revel ca 1868 –

 

Notes :
Winborne mentions twice that the mother of Jesse J Yeates is the sister of Abner Harrell and the daughter of Maj. Sam Harrell. The father of Jesse J Yeates is James Yeates son of Jesse Yeates and brother of Abner Harrell’s first wife, Jennie.
From the Estate Records of Hertford County 1835-1837 p38, we find that the widow of James Yeates was named Lucretia. Abner Harrell was named Adm. of James B Yeates’s estate in 1834. One of the entries in his accounts is on June 29 ’35 – To cash paid Lucretia Yeates for “Balance of years Provision $102.66 + $4 int. for a total of $106. 66” [widows received one year of provision out of the estate by law at that time]
from Hertford Co Ct records we find that Abner Harrell was guardian to Jesse J Yeates and his sister Lucretia Jane Yeates – thru 1849 [looking at Hertford Co ct records 1845-1849.

Two things: [Barbara B Harrell wrote]
Samuel Harrell’s father was identified as John Esq in a 1901 reference (below). Proof!
Samuel’s remarried widow Mary migrated to Grainger TN with her husband William Copeland and her daughter Elizabeth, who had married Thomas Gill. It seems Samuel and Mary’s son John Harrell went with them, as the body of a John Harrell was moved to the cemetery where Elizabeth Harrell Gill is buried, and an old John Harrell with wife Mary was nearby on the 1860 census, but I haven’t proved that this was Elizabeth’s brother.
At the Bertie estate sale for Joshua Freeman, Adm. William Copeland, buyers (together) included Thomas Gill and John Harrell.

From The Minutes of the session of the Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church Volumes 33-35 By Methodist Episcopal Church. Conferences. Central Pennsylvania 1901, page 51
The Rev. Samuel Harrell
Hertford County, North Carolina
The Rev. Samuel Harrell, Hertford County, North Carolina, was the son of John Harrell Esq. of the said county, and a member of the Rev. Jeremiah Dargan’s church. He possessed very eminent gifts, and continued preaching for several years, but never took the pastoral care of any church. Being a man of bright intellect, and a good education, he held a station both in the civil and military departments. He was a clerk of the Hertford County court, and occupied that office for some years until his death, and was a Major of the Militia of that district; and notwithstanding all his worldly encumbrances he was a very zealous, pious man, and an ornament to religion. At last being taken with a nervous fever, he departed this life in January 1791.

Collection Number: 05051
Collection Title: Thomas Gill Ledger (#5051) 1803-1813
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.

Collection Overview
Size
1 item (0.5 linear feet)
Abstract
Thomas Gill was a merchant in Bertie County, N.C., in the early 19th century, selling primarily turpentine, tar, and beeswax. Gill had a business partner, William Copeland, until 1804, when he appears to have become sole proprietor of his business. In 1808, Gill moved with his family to a farm adjacent to Bean Station, Tenn., in Grainger County. The collection consists of Thomas Gill’s Accounts Ledger B, 1803-1813. Most of the transactions are from 1803-1804 and deal with turpentine, tar, and beeswax. Accounts are recorded in pounds, shillings, and pence. An alphabetical list of customers (h, i, j, and k pages are missing) precedes the account listings. The family names of Askew, Freeman, Newsom, and Outlaw are recorded frequently. Transactions relating to the partnership of Gill and William Copeland fill the first 140 pages of the ledger. In 1804, after the partnership appears to have ended, Gill continued to enter accounts from his individual business operations for another 56 pages. The ledger also contains occasional references to an earlier partnership between Gill and John Harrell. The final two pages of the ledger appear to record loan payments and interest charges paid by Gill and William Copeland from 1808 to 1813; these seem to be the only pages written after Gill’s relocation to Grainger County, Tenn.
Creator
Gill, Thomas, fl. 1803-1846.
Language
English.

from Notable Men of Tennessee: Personal and Genealogical, with Portraits, Volume 1 (John Allison, ed) p 218:
Thomas Gill was a native of Yorkshire, England, where his father was a prominent land owner. He came to America, settled in North Carolina, but in a short time moved to East Tennessee, where he acquired the lands now held by his descendants, in 1806, and resided there the remainder of his life. He married Elizabeth Harrell, daughter of a distinguished Baptist preacher of Bertie County, North Carolina.

Thomas Gill Obituary
Died on the 20th ult., at his residence, near Bean Station, Grainger County, Thomas Gill, in the 72nd year of his age. The deceased was a native of England, but emigrated to the United States in early life and soon after that became a resident of the spot where he died, in all the relations of life he was ever faithful.
His uniform uprightness, his benevolence of heart, his Christian kindness towards all men, but especially towards the humbler class of society had won for him the esteem of all who knew him. He had been for many years a member of the Methodist Church. None could have performed with stricter fidelity the duties that his profession devolved upon him. The consciousness of having thus lived removed from his mind all the terrors of death.
During his short sickness, he gave frequent and most satisfactory evidence to relatives and friends who surrounded his bed, that he did not fear to die. Though far in life, his children cannot but deeply deplore the loss of such a father. Other relatives to whom he had been endeared by his amiable life will unite with them in shedding a tear over the grave of so good a man. Children never lost a more affectionate father, society a more honest member, the poor a better friend, nor servants a kinder master. He is gone from amongst us, but with brightest hopes of the future.
Source: Knoxville Register, Wednesday, February 4, 1846
Transcribed by Robert McGinnis and used with his permission

Hi again, Sally

Here’s a deed (attached below) proving that Mary Freeman Harrell Copeland had a son John Harrell. (Major Samuel’s widow Mary, daughter of Joshua Freeman Sr, of course, remarried to William Copeland.)

Bertie DB T p 328-9
11 Jan 1805
John Harrell, son of Mary Copeland and grandson of Jos Freeman deceased, to William Copeland (residences not stated, but John Harrell of Hertford in 1806 when he started selling slaves before the move to TN)
for $94, all his right to a slave and money his grandfather devised to his mother
signed J Harrell
wit Joshua Freeman, Lott Rayner
acknowledged in open court by John Harrell Feb 1806

 

Also FYI, John Harrell was bondsman for the 17 Jul 1809 marriage of Mary Copeland and Etheldred Williams
Tennessee – Grainger County – Marriages 1796-1837 – Page 22