CABARRUS GENEALOGY SOCIETY

Using Tax Records in African American Genealogy:  Melchor Slave Record, 1863 Photo courtesy of Yancey Family Genealogy . As we have mentioned before, African American genealogy often becomes more difficult for the researcher when using records before the 1870 federal census. The task of checking records and deeds of sale for persons whose last names may have changed several times prior to the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 and again upon the conclusion of the Civil War takes a great deal of time, even with the growing body of published sources available. Tax records are another source which may possibly lead to the identification of individuals. The following list shows the name, age and value of each slave owned by Christopher Melchor of Cabarrus County. It was taken from the 1863 Cabarrus County tax assessment list. The original record book, titled Record of the Assessment List and Other Proceedings Had Thereon by the Board of Assessors , is located in the Offic

Grist Mills: Early Cabarrus County Industry     Most of us have an image of our early Cabarrus ancestors farming the land and growing their own food. After all, they did not saddle up the family horse and ride down to the corner store for a loaf of bread - at least, not as we drive to the supermarket today. The women in each household usually baked their own bread from the grains grown on their own farms. But rarely did each family grind its own grain into flour. For that, they relied on the nearby miller and his grist mill, one of the earliest industries in the county. Bost Grist Mill then (top) and now (above). Used to grind corn, wheat and other grains into flour and meal, Bost Grist Mill has served Cabarrus County since the early 1800s. Photos courtesy of www.bostgristmill.com and the North Carolina Digital Collection . Cabarrus County court records list at least thirty mills between 1795 and 1860. Most are grist mills using the water power of a nearby stream to grind

Alice Caudle Talks About Cabarrus Mill Work The following article was taken from  Learn NC.  Muriel L Wolff, Interview with Alice Caudle, Cabarrus, N.C., September 2, 1938. From the WPA Federal Writers' Project., Original source available from the  Library of Congress . Like Alice, the young girls shown above worked spinning machines at  textile mills.  This image is from the Catawba Cotton Mills in Newton.  Photograph by Lewis  Wickes Hine, U.S. National Child Labor  Committee,  Courtesy of Learn NC . Alice Caudle was born in 1891* and began working for Cannon Mills in Concord when she was only ten years old. In this interview, Caudle describes her life as a mill worker. This interview was conducted as part of a federal government project to record the life histories of Americans. The transcripts of the interviews were transcribed to reflect dialect or accents. Interviewers were instructed to transcribe interviews in a way that reflected middle class or North

Letter From a Concord Civil War Father This father and son served together during  the Civil  War.  They are William and John  Howey of  Mecklenburg  County. Courtesy  of Mecklenburg  Historic Landmarks  Commission . On this Father's Day weekend, we honor fathers and the love and special bond they share with their children. No time is this more evident than during war. The following letter, originally written 150 years ago this month, is taken from the May 2009 issue of  Confluence , the newsletter of the Beloit, Wisconsin Historical Society: Dear Madam, A Confederate Letter In this article we read the lament a father expresses to a nurse, Miss Sallie S. Beard, who tended his dying son, a Confederate soldier...It was sent by Dr. C. W. Andrews to Mr. W. H. Chesbrough Sr. in 1931. Mr. Chesbrough was a Civil War veteran and very active in the Grand Army of the Republic L. H. D. Crane post here in Beloit...The father of the Confederate soldier is N. Lefler and he is fr

Henry Kartesar: Cabarrus County Hessian The  Hessians  were German  auxiliaries contracted for military service by the British government. "Fusilier of Lossberg Regiment" by D. Troiani. Cabarrus County became a home to several Hessian deserters during and after the Revolutionary War. The list of early Cabarrus settlers believed to be Hessian includes Nicholas Isenhour, Henry Linker, William Heintzmann and Henry Kartesar. All of these men settled into the German community seemingly with ease. Many left descendants of the same name living in the county today. Henry Kartesar, however, apparently died without children. Born in Germany in January 1756, Kartesar died June 8, 1835 and is buried at St. John's Lutheran Church. He married twice - Caty Criss (probably Cress) in 1784 and Catharine Kiver (probably Keever) in 1811. In January 1795, Kartesar became guardian to two-year-old orphan Rachel Suther until she turned 18. Again, in April 1797, Kartesar became guardian t

Cabarrus Health and Beauty Aids in the Nineteenth Century A sample of spermaceti wax, a spermaceti candle and bottle of sperm whale oil. Courtesy of  Genevieve Anderson .  The beauty and fitness craze is not new. Even in 1855, men and women concocted and purchased cosmetic preparations designed to make them look and feel more attractive. Charles J. T. Ridenhower of Stanly County, kept a notebook of his "most valuable recipes in use," including directions for cologne, cold cream and hair restorator. Certainly some of our Cabarrus County forebears  made use of some of these beauty aids. These preparations are not recommended for modern consumers. Some ingredients, such as the spermaceti, a waxy substance which comes from sperm whale oil, are rare today. To make Cologne Water: Alcohol, one gallon; Oil of Lavender, 12 drachms (1 drachm or dram equals 0.0625 oz.); Oil of Rosemary, 4 drachms; Oil of Bergamot (a pear shaped orange), 12 drachms; Oil of Lemon, 12 drachms; Cin

June 1897: Cabarrus County Commissioners  Purchase Road Equipment James Lafayette (J. L.) Stafford was a  Cabarrus County Commissioner in June  of 1897. Courtesy of Robert Stafford. At their monthly meeting on Monday, June 7, 1897, Cabarrus County Commissioners William H. Blume, E. P. Deal and J. L. Stafford heard and passed a motion to purchase several pieces of new road equipment for the county. The Thursday, June 17, 1897 issue of the Concord Times noted the county's purchase of the new equipment from Austin & Western Company of Chicago. The machinery included: "a No. 10 Western rock crusher, a 32 ton latest improved Austin riverside roller, an 18 horsepower high grade portable engine and boiler on wheels, an elevator 19 feet in length and a six-foot revolving, anti-friction steel spring screen dividing stone into three sizes."  According to the Times, the Commissioners expected to receive the equipment and have it in operation before their Jul