The Long Way Home: The Georgia Depositions

Bloggers Note:

I am not transcribing all of the affidavits used in court and may not be transcribing them in order. However, It appears to me that the argument for moving the trial venue from Henderson County, NC to Haywood County, NC was successful. There are significant time gaps among the depositions. Originally, it appeared that the Tennessee depositions were taken the same year that Reuben died and a couple of months after the claim was filed in September of 1843 with the trial date set for September 1844. The immediately preceding depositions were taken in the summer of 1844.

However, the best that I can ascertain, as Phoebe's lawyer made motions on several items and mostly those items were motions for summary judgement of sums of money from the estate administrator to the plaintiff lawyers for their work as well as travel money for Phoebe her daughter Nancy and Nancy's husband William, the Henderson County Court kept ruling in the favor of Phoebe.

That is when the defendants lawyer filed for a change in venue due to the "great prejudice" against the Jordan family in Henderson County. Again, I do not know exactly why but it seems that there was a general consensus in the community that the Jordans were taking advantage of Reuben Johnson. I have another thought that may or may not be right but obviously, Reuben Johnson seemed to favor "mixed blood" females because best that I read the record Polly Queane/Quine must have been dark haired with a dark complextion. It appears that the Jordans were very poor. They could have been either "mixed blood" of European settlers with African Americans or Native Americans. I do not have much evidence of this and they did not move the trial very far geographically. At least two possibilities exist. First, maybe I am wrong because I would assume that most of the North Carolina Mountain Counties were very similar. However, my second thought is that these counties are very close to the present day Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Reservation; therefore, Haywood County may have had a higher "mixed blood" population.

The change in venue seemed to change the timeline on the deposition completion as well. The following deposition was taken in May of 1845 almost one year after the original trial date.

The following deposition is from a Ms. Susannah Roper. I believe that Ms. Susannah Roper's maiden name was Harris. Ms. Susannah Harris was married to a Benjamín Roper born in 1780 and died in 1831 very much indebted. She had to move with several children and ended up in Lumpkin, Georgia. There is some evidence that she moved there because she had family there. One historian verbally told me that he believed that there was a "poor house" there.

Due to the tone of her deposition, I do not believe that her husband Benjamin Roper was our ancestor but he very well could have been the son or father of our ancestor. I do not get a feel or much of a clue as to how old our ancestor Benjamin Roper was. I cannot determine if he was old enough to own land or was living on land that his family owned.

So with the above context, the following is the deposition of Susannah Roper:

State of Georgia, Lumpkin County, by virtue of the above commission from the Superior Court of Henderson County, North Carolina to us directing to have caused Susannah Roper and Isham Harris ( It seems that there may have been several people with the name Isham Harris but a notable Tennessee Governor was named Isham Harris. That is a project for another time but interesting. ) the persons in the commission named to come before us at the house of the said Susannah Roper in the said County of Lumpkin and State of Georgia this 13th day of May 1845 and each of them being duly sworn thus to answer to make to such questions as may be asked them on the Holy Evangelist of almighty God, Touching the several suits no pending in the Superior Court of Law to be held for the said County of Henderson and State of North Carolina whereas Phoebe Johnson is plaintiff and M.A. Gash and other defendants and where as M.A. Gash executor of Reuben Johnson dec'd is plaintiff and William West and his wife Nancy and others are defendants deposith and answerith as follows: Susannah Roper aged about 64 years old 12th of November last,

Question 1st. by L.S. Gash agent for M.A. Gash and Sarah Johnson,

Are you acquainted with the parties of these suits.

Answer by witness,

I have no acquaintance with Martin A. Gash nor Sarah Johnson but was once well acquainted with one Phebe Johnson and her daughter Nancy who married to a man by the name of William West.

2nd question by the same, where and when was you acquainted with the said Phoebe Johnson?

Answer by witness,

My acquaintance with the said Phoebe about forty eight of fifty years ago. Shortly after she left Reuben Johnson. She came and lived in one mile of where I was living, with her Step father Old Mr. Hicks in the edge of South Carolina near the line between the Districts of Greenville and Pendleton near the Saluda River. My acquaintance continued with the said Phoebe for 10 years of more up to the time she left that County with Johnathan Deldine.

3rd. question by the same,

What was the general character and conduct of said Phoebe Johnson during the time you was acquainted with her after she left Reuben Johnson?

Her general character was what I would call very bad. She remained some time at her Step fathers and while there she had a child. She afterwards took his children and moved within one-half mile of where I was living at the time. She was kept as an adultress by one Meredeth Kesterson (You all may know this but I didn't. Meredeth was a very common male name during this period and was often used in the Roper family. I am assuming that this is either Benjamin Ropers nephew or grandson. I found him in the Pulaski, Kentucky census of 1810 or 1820) and Benjamin Roper and living there for nights.........but what one or the other was there...... And, whilst living there she had another child and after she left that place shortly she took up with and lived as an adulteress with one Jonathan Deline about four of five miles from where I then lived until Deline's wife threatened to law them for living together. ( I have found evidence that Deline left a son fatherless with his South Carolina wife. It appears that he became a Methodist minister. Additionally, I believe that Mr. Deldine got married soon after he left Phoebe. It appears that he got married in Roane County then moved to Morgan County and had several children by his second wife. It also appears that Phoebe Johnson's daughter Phoebe could have been Deldine's daughter. She married Abraham Ridge and remained in Blount County. Again, more details will be forthcoming on that but Deldine must have been a piece of work to leave his son fatherless and mother without any support at all. I have been contacted by some of the descendants of the son that he abandoned in South Carolina. They assumed that he was an only child and claim that Jonathan Deldine's son never knew his father and also never knew that his father sired additional children.) They then left that county and I have never seen them since.

4th question by same,

Can you describe the said Phebe Johnson and her children and the said Jonathan Deldine?

Answer by the witness,

The said Phoebe was a small woman with a ( I cannot read this next word. It could possibly be down. The mid-19th century cursive is really hard to read. Best that it looks in cursive of today it is doaoni/doroni/dosoni/doson/doaron or any of those combinations with the last N being an R...sorry.) down cast look had two children when she came there and they was both cross eyed and had four when she left there. The other two was named Polly and Eli borned in that neighborhood. But, they did not favor the other children and the said Deldine was very near the nastiest dirtiest and the hardest favored man that I nearly ever saw!

to be continued