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1996 : 13 ; 27) . Descendent John Kirkland did inherit William' s slaves of African descent, numbering 20 in .an 1836 inventory ( Graham Papers #955 ) . These slaves consisted of nine women, one female child , and ten men. Six of the individuals were listed as "old" such as "old Betsy" and one individual, Joe , had his occupation listed (blacksmith) . The majority of area Piedmont landowners were not dependent upon slave labor. Those families owning a small number of slaves tended to share living and work space, albeit the slaves ' needs would have been subordinate to the landowners ' . In 1790 just over 20 % of the population of Orange County were enslaved (Anderson 1990 : 55 ; Mattson 1996 : 4) . This ratio increases to 27% by 1800 (Anderson 1990 . 55 ) . In later years small Piedmont farmer slave owners increasingly constructed separate quarters when feasible . This reflected a general cultural shift in attitudes about race and slavery (Anderson 1990 : 55 - 57 ; Beck 1989 ; Kellar et . al. 1990 ; Powell 1989) . Slavery was important in the study region, but "Seventy percent of the county' s free population held no slaves at all in 1860 . Of the slave holders , only seven percent were of the planter class, possessing 20 or more slaves, and over half owned fewer than five slaves " ( Mattson 1996 : 10) . In the years prior to 1850 the majority of Orange County farm laborers lived on "small to medium- sized farms" (Mattson 1996 : 10) . After that period over "three- quarters of the county " s farms contained less than 100 acres, while just a handful comprised more than 500 acres" (Mattson 1996 : 10) This emphasis on small to medium- sized farmsteads is echoed in the size and range of manufacturers in the region. In the 1860 census the majority of enterprises were small and offered support services for the region' s agricultural sector . Related laborers ' included grist millers, blacksmiths , wagon makers , wool carders, and hide tanners (Mattson 1996 : 11 ) . Part of this trend towards increasing numbers of small farmsteads in the region is related to the transformations in the tobacco industry. The market for tobacco was enlarged with the development of the North Carolina railroad system in 1856 . This rail road line extended for about 223 miles from Raleigh through the piedmont to Charlotte (Mattson 1996 : 18). This offered easier market access for agriculturists and for manufacturers . Bright Leaf tobacco was increasingly grown in the last decade before the Civil War, and became an ever- more important cash crop in the region (Mattson 1996 : 20) . On the other hand, Orange County farmers were slow to give up planting their own subsistence crops, and cash crops remained a supplement to the yearly harvest (Mattson 1996 : 20 - 21 ) . The next few years of the American Civil War brought increasing changes in the Piedmont . Agrarian methods had to be adapted due to labor shortages brought about through Emancipation, warfare, and disease . In the St . Mary ' s Road area one would expect to continue to find saw and grist mills dotting the banks of the Eno River. The Great Trading Path would have a different name , such as the Halifax Road and/or the Oxford Highway, but its route would remain similar to that of the earlier Indian Trading Path. More and more lands would probably be cleared to plant an increasing number of cash, as opposed to subsistence, crops . Log cabins and outbuildings would continue to be constructed, but the use of frame construction would increase (Mattson 1996) . 17