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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 7 Orange County, NC
<br /> Federal block, used as a dining room."It was probably during this period that the one-
<br /> and-a-half story Greek Revival wing was added to the farmhouse to provide bedroom space
<br /> for the Turner children. A clapboard on the east facade bears several incised initials, and
<br /> among them, L.T. (Louisa Turner) is legible.
<br /> The Civil War and Reconstruction doubtless affected the Turner farms in many ways
<br /> though it is not possible to determine when or how. John Turner died before the agricultural
<br /> census was made, for he is not among those listed in 1870. His will bequeathed to Louisa "the
<br /> home tract of land which belonged to her father, Jacob Jackson, containing about one hundred
<br /> and forty acres, in which she has some interest." The children, Thomas, John K., and Mary,
<br /> received other lands with careful instructions that included a provision specifying that
<br /> Thomas' share be administered by his mother for two years or until he was "in such
<br /> circumstances and of such habits that he can hold property and make good." '
<br /> On August 14, 1877 Louisa sold "one hundred and forty acres, more or less,"along with
<br /> the house "where I now reside," for ten thousand five hundred dollars, a substantial price, to
<br /> Israel Turner,Jr., a brother of her late husband." Israel Turner, aged forty-five when the census
<br /> of 1870 was taken, is noted as being a "dealer in liquor." 's His family included his wife,
<br /> Nannie, aged thirty-five, and their children John, Julia, and Ida, all under ten years of age. He
<br /> operated a government licensed distillery on the Jacob Jackson Farm for an undetermined
<br /> number of years. Older Hillsborough residents remember playing around 'Turner's Old Still
<br /> House Site' as children.'
<br /> By 1880, North Carolina farmers were scarcely able to rely on farm produce to provide
<br /> an attractive standard of living though farming continued as the basic economic pursuit in the
<br /> the central Piedmont and the rest of the state. The prices of agricultural staples had collapsed
<br /> because of overproduction and farmers were attracted away from depressed farms by the
<br /> growing number of manufacturing jobs available in nearby textile mills and tobacco factories
<br /> or to opportunities elsewhere 27 Possibly reflective of this shift from farming to other
<br /> occupations, Israel Turner's livelihood depended on the production of whiskey.
<br /> The agricultural census of 1880 records that Israel Turner owned 488 acres of which 225
<br /> 22 Myers, interview.Ann Myers,daughter of the present owner, Marie Hollandsworth, reports that Ida Tumer
<br /> Faucette relayed this. It probably took place ca. 1854-60 during the ownership period of John and Louisa Turner
<br /> before the Civil War.
<br /> "Will dated October 29, 1870,Book H,pp.38-9,Orange County Estate Records,Hillsborough,NC.
<br /> Deed dated August 14,1877,Book 45,p. 188,Orange County Register of Deeds Office,Hillsborough,NC.
<br /> 2s The Orange County census of 1880 would have been more appropriate for this study but microfilm copies at the
<br /> North Carolina State Archives are illegible. The portion that includes Hillsborough and Little River Township
<br /> has been copied again and new entries have been made over the original ones.
<br /> 26 Clarence Jones,Director, Hillsborough Historical Society, personal interview,August 19,1993.
<br /> 2'Lefler and Newsome,pp.492-3.
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