Fry

Legal Abstracts from MCGS Archived Newsletters

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The current Moore County Genealogical Society has been reviewing some of its archived newsletters. The following legal abstracts were originally compiled by charter member, Eloise W. Knight, Pinehurst, NC.

Moore County Court Minutes November 1823 (reprinted from June 1984 newsletter):

Committee appointed to settle with William McAulay, guardian of Elizah Carmichael. Committee appointed to take examination of Nancy Wicker wife of Anderson for deed of land to John Gunter (95 acres). John Thomas appointed guardian to Penelope, Benjamin V. and Isabella Thomas in place of John Gunter. Nancy Shephard vs. William Oliver and Benjamin Tyson, Jr.  Benjamin Person vs. Heirs of Kindred Birckhead Dr . Kinneth B. McIver appointed guardian to infant heirs of Kindred Birckhead, dec’d to defend those six suits. 1) Benj . Person vs. Heirs of Kindred Birckhead. 2) Same vs. same. 3) Fredrick Siler vs. same. 4) John Siler vs. same. 5) Joseph Johnson vs. same 6) Eleazor Birckhead vs. same.  Archibald Gillis, Jr. to Archibald Gillis, Sr. by oath of Archibald Blue. Tobias Fry to Hugh Moore by oath of Benjamin Person. William Dickerson to Duncan McIver, acknowledged. Daniel McNeill as Sheriff to William Weldon by oath of Druray Bobbitt. Samuel Barby to John Hicks by oath of William Campbell. Bill of sale from William T. England to Antony Graham, acknowledged. Daniel McNeill as Sheriff to Jacob Gaster, acknowledged. Jacob Gaster to Hector McNeill, acknowledged. Bill of sale from George and Florah Campbell to William T. England by oath of Duncan Murchison. George A. Muse to John B. Kelly, acknowledged.  Neill McLeod to John B 0 Kelly, acknowledged. Thomas P. Muse to John B. Kelly, acknowledged. Angus McAulay to John McDonald by oath of Murdoch Martin. John Thomas to PriscillaThomas by oath of John Gunter. Jesse Bean to Susanah Bean, acknowledged. Alexander C. Curry to Hugh Moore by oath of Benjamin Parson. Jesse Bean to Daniel Caddell, acknowledged. James S. Muse and Jesse F. Muse to Isaac Smith by oath of Benjamin Parson. Willam Barrett to Tobias Fry, acknowledged. Miller Sexton, Absolom Sexton, Allin Sexton, Lunsfield Sexton, Clarcey Sexton, Gilford Carpenter, Marthy Carpenter, Matthew Oliver and Elizabeth Oliver to William Weldon by oath of Moses Oliver. Clary Sexton to William Weldon by oath of William Campbell.

Moore County Court Minutes August 1823 (reprinted from November 1984 newsletter):
Ordered that an orphan child named Susan Stone now of the age of seven years be bound to John Deaton who shall give said Susan Stone one year school, and when free, a good suit of “cloath”.  Ordered that Elias Burkhead be exempted from paying a poll tax on account of his being a cripple.  Ordered that Malcolm Buie be appointed guardian to Charles Johnson and Alexander Johnson with Alexander Cameron and William Wadsworth, Securities.  Ordered that Samuel Johnson be appointed guardian to Fanny Johnson with Alexander Cameron and Angus McDonald, Securities.
State of NC, Moore Co.: This day came Archibald McBryde into open Court (it being a Court of records) and maketh that he has long been acquainted with John McLennan and with William McLennan, dec’ d late of the U. S. Army and who is said to have died at Sachetts Harbour and that he believes that said William McLennan was never married and that said John McLennan is a brother and one of the heirs at law of this said brother William McLennan, dec’ d. Sworn and Subscribed in open court this the 21st August 1823.
Ordered that James Muse (little) be exempt from paying a poll tax on account of his infirmities. Ordered that Nehemiah Burkhead be appointed guardian to Belany and John Burkhead. Ordered that Malcolm Blue, Esq. be appointed guardian to Jane., Caleb(?), Maryan, Charles, John, Isabel and Alexander Campbell. Ordered that William Campbell be appointed guardian to Mary, Daniel, John, Malcolm, (or Nancy, Alexander, Florah, Duncan, Catharine and Archibald McFarland. Ordered that Kinneth McCaskill be appointed guardian to Nancy, Roderick and Malcolm D. Mathewson.
DEEDS (reprinted from September 1984 newsletter): Thomas Thompson to Archibald Dalrymple, by oath of Duncan McIver. Malcolm Shaw to Archibald McGilvery, acknowledged. Samuel and Sarah Campbell to Charles Gilchrist, by oath of William T. England. William Crawford to David Reed, by oath of Drurary Bobbitt, Sr. Absolum Sexton to David Reed, by oath of Stephen Beryman. Archibald Campbell to William Spoon, oath of Murdoch McAulay. James Autray to Norman Mathewson, by oath of Murdoch McKenzie. Thomas Ritter to John Rouse, by oath of Miles Rouse. Bradly Garner to John Maness, by oath of Bradly Garner, Sr. Henry Craven and John B. Kelly to Alexander C. Curry, by oath of Hugh Moore.

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Moore County Court Minutes dated November 1823 (reprinted from May 1986 newsletter):

Administration of estate of John Campbell. dec’d granted to Elizabeth Campbell.
Committee appointed to settle with William McAulay as administrator of Gracy l?) Carmical.
Administrators of the estate of James Hicks, dec’~ to the use of William Crump vs. Owen Dowd. Committee appointed to settle with the surviving administrator of estate of Adam Finch. dec’d last will and testament of James Ramsey. dec’d duly proved in open court.
Administrations on the estate of James Ramsey granted to Atlas Jones, Esq.
Executors of William Martin. dec’d vs. Thomas M. Reed Others.
Committee appointed to settle with Ann Graham and John McLeod. administrators of the estate of Daniel Graham. Dec’d.

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Reprinted from the November 1985 newsletter:

JOHN SHEFFIELD’S WILL FROM WILL BOOK A Pages 186-187 MOORE CO.
Written in 1794 in Moore Co. N.C. with the usual first paragraph about committing his soul to the Lord from whence it came then- “Principally and first of all to my well-beloved wife Hannah Sheffield the plantation whereupon I now do live with the buildings and orchards and improvements thereon with 100 acres of land during her widowhood with all my stock and cattle. I leave and bequeath to my son Mark Sheffield one shilling sterling.
I leave and bequeath to my son John [nothing written here]
I leave and bequeath to my son Adam 100 ac land lying on Rattle Snake branch. I leave and bequeath to my son Isham the land and plantation whereon he now lives containing 100 acres.  I leave and bequeath to my son Averitt Sheffield land and the plantation whereon I do not live to enjoy after his mother’s decease containing 100 acres. I leave and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Dennis one shilling sterling [same one shilling to daughters Lucretia Dun, Rebecca Autry, Hannah Autry, Elizabeth Autry],and to my youngest daughter Lydia and Milly Sheffield I leave and bequeath one shilling sterling each.
My goods and chattels and stock etc. I leave for the support of my beloved Wife Hannah Sheffield during her life-time I then to dispose of the same as she may think proper. I renounce all wills and legacies made by me formerly and acknowledge this to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof.  Signed by John Sheffield (his mark)
E:xecutors: wife Hannah Sheffield and Averi tt  Smith
Could be Isham Sheffield, Windsor Pearce (or Pierce)

Proved by court February 1796

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Moore County Court Minutes November 1823 (reprinted from May 1986 newsletter):
Administration of estate of John Campbell. dec’d granted to Elizabeth Campbell.
Committee appointed to settle with William McAulay as administrator of Gracy l?) Carmical.
Administrators of the estate of James Hicks, dec’d to the use of William Crump vs. Owen Dowd. Committee appointed to settle with the surviving administrator of estate of Adam Finch. dec’d last will and testament of James Ramsey. dec’d duly proved in open court.
Administrations on the estate of James Ramsey granted to Atlas Jones, Esq.
Executors of William Martin. dec’d vs. Thomas M. Reed Others.
Committee appointed to settle with Ann Graham and John McLeod. administrators of the estate of Daniel Graham. Dec’d.

 

Banjo or Mandolin?

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Years after someone dies under tragic circumstances, the stories become more and more interesting, sometimes blurring the line between truth and legend. Such is the story of the death of Merrill Cox Fry. Even with newspaper articles, court testimony, and family legend, controversy remains concerning what happened one fateful, hot, July night in 1940.

Since there were numerous Merrill Fry’s in Moore County during this time frame, a little family genealogy will help place the relatives of  this Merrill Cox Fry.  Also known as Locker Fry, Merrill was born 1854, and was living near Thomas’s Crossroads at the time of his death. His father was Lockhart Fry, born 1818, also a prolific name, who spelled his surname without an “e”. His mother was Margaret Elizabeth Frye, with an ”e”. As was quite common back then, Lockhart and Margaret were second cousins.

In 1878, the Carthaginian Newspaper announced Merrill’s marriage to Lucinda Williams. Following his wife’s death in 1935 from malaria, Merrill began suffering from the effects of old age and increased senility. For the next few years he shared a two-room house with his son, Epps, his wife, and their three children.

On July 14, 1940, at 2:45 a.m. Merrill Cox Fry was pronounced dead at Pinehurst Hospital at the age of 87 from a “cerebral concussion, fracture of face, and shock due to fist fight”. Front page headline from The Pilot Newspaper July 19, 1940, declared: EPPS FRY HELD IN BRUTAL DEATH OF FATHER.

Epps Fry news

Merrill’s son, Epps, was arrested and ordered held without bond in the death of his 87-year-old father who had been brutally beaten in the face. According to trial evidence, the two men had not been on friendly terms for several years, and while Epps Fry and his family occupied one end of the building and the father the other, they had little to do with each other. Saturday night, according to the testimony, the elder Fry awakened about 8:30 and went to the door of his son’s room to inquire why so much noise was being made and the trouble started from that.

Epps Fry was charged with first-degree murder, but entered a plea of not guilty. At his trial he testified that his father slashed him first, he pushed his father, and that the aged man fell against a trunk. The sheriff said it was the bloodiest place he had ever seen. The trial attracted a lot of interest in and around Moore County in 1940, but it took barely an hour for the jury to convict Fry of second-degree murder of his father. “Thirty years in prison at hard labor, this being the maximum sentence for the offense,” Judge Felix E. Alley declared, going on to say it was “one of the most brutal I ever heard of”.

Well, there you have it – or do you? After discussing this story with a couple of Merrill’s grandchildren (my aunt and uncle), they first had to tell me how musically talented all the Frys were, how they could pick any stringed instrument they picked up, and what quality instruments they played. After laying all this groundwork, they finally got to the family legends of that night’s events. One version was that a neighbor boy calling at the home had been asked by Epps to play his harp which agitated the elder Fry. Both seemed to agree that Epps was making music late that night and his (senile) Daddy kept hollering for him to stop. When he wouldn’t stop, the two men got into it and Epps hit his Daddy in the head with a banjo. I thought I finally had the real story!  They both agreed that Epps likely did hit his daddy with a musical instrument. But when my aunt, with a down-east brogue, said it was a banjo, and my uncle snapped back in his Boston accent that it was a mandolin, I thought there was going to be another headline in The Pilot – BROTHER AND SISTER FIGHT ERUPTS OVER BANJO AND MANDOLIN.  When the accents finally stopped flying, the musical instrument mystery had still not been settled, but I did have a few more details to add to add to the legend.

The Pilot newspaper wrote of the elder Fry: “he had the reputation of being a peaceable citizen and a favorite with members of the family connection” – and that’s the legend we all need to leave.

Submitted by Ann Bruce