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<br /> United States Department of the Interior
<br /> National Park Service
<br /> National Register of Historic Places
<br /> Continuation Sheet
<br /> Jacob Jackson Farm / Maple Hill
<br /> Section number 8 Page _5 Orange County, NC
<br /> Jacob died, intestate, leaving the court to settle his estate in 1843. His family, then,
<br /> consisted of his widow, Mary, and his adult children, Josiah, Henry,Green, Patsy (also called
<br /> Martha), Louisa, and Kelly. Henry Whiffed was appointed administrator of his affairs and on
<br /> October 24, 1844, all of his personal property was sold on a credit of twelve months. The list of
<br /> items offered for sale provides the first record of the diversity of agricultural products and
<br /> livestock raised on Jacob Jackson Farm during the period of significance and at a time when a
<br /> nationwide recovery from the depression following the Panic of 1837 was underway. Rising
<br /> crop prices and better access to urban centers had stimulated the agricultural economy of the
<br /> Piedmont, and Orange County's farmers found markets for surplus produce and livestock.16
<br /> Jackson's farm produce, sold to the highest bidders, included two stacks of oats, one stack of
<br /> straw, one lot of fodder, two stacks of hay, thirty-eight bushels of wheat, forty-nine barrels of
<br /> corn, and one pen of shucks. Three bee gums, four cows, two calves, one bull, thirty-four hogs,
<br /> twenty wild hogs, twenty-three sheep, classified as first, second, and third choice animals, and
<br /> one bay mare were auctioned last, realizing three hundred forty dollars and twenty-four cents
<br /> from the sale.
<br /> Mary Jackson,Jacob's widow, bid in some of the crops and livestock, most of the
<br /> furniture, her loom and shuttles, and six silver spoons. Among other items, of particular
<br /> interest were an adze, a broadaxe, and "one lot of carpentry tools" which were bought by
<br /> neighbors or friends. One month later, Mary petitioned the court to 'lay off and allot her one
<br /> year's provisions" and, in January of 1845, she was given "an allowance of two hundred
<br /> dollars." " There must have been at least one occasion for happiness during this time of
<br /> turmoil for, in 1845, the name, "Maple Hill," is reported to have been used to designate the
<br /> Jackson farmhouse on a marriage certificate.18
<br /> Mary's troubles were not over. Three years later, the instructions in James Jackson's will
<br /> regarding the disposition of the property after Jacob's demise were carried out. The house and
<br /> farm were sold, but the settlement of a family debt undermined James' wish that the proceeds
<br /> from the sale be divided among his heirs.
<br /> On September 5, 1847, James C. Turrentine, then Sheriff of Orange County, auctioned
<br /> "one hundred and forty acres, more or less," described as "the undivided interest of Green
<br /> Jackson in the tract of land of which his father,Jacob Jackson died seized and possessed." The
<br /> auction took place on the steps of the Hillsborough Courthouse to satisfy Green's indebtedness
<br /> of one hundred twenty-three dollars and ninety-eight cents to his brother,Josiah. Mary was the
<br /> "Lefler and Newsome,p.367.
<br /> "Estate Records of Jacob Jackson, Archives Division,North Carolina State Library, Raleigh NC.
<br /> "°Records of the town of Hillsborough and vicinity, Hillsborough Historical Society, Hillsborough,NC. Marie
<br /> Hollandsworth reports this marriage which is mentioned briefly in a document about Maple Hill contained in the
<br /> historical society's files,but no additional information is given about the parties joined in wedlock.
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