October 2022
How did this long forgotten Bertie Co. slave - born before the American Revolution in 1757 and died before the Civil War in 1857 - ignite such interest in 2022, 165 years after his death?
Who was "Old Ben", whose unearthed September, 2021 Indian Woods, Bertie County grave stone is now placed next to his owners' family in Grace Episcopal Churchyard, Lewiston-Woodville, NC? How did he merit a costly marble stone with a moving epitaph when slaves were afforded only wooden markers?
A search uncovered evidence of the high esteem Old Ben once held during his 100 years. How many, then or now, of any race, inspired 1) a plantation named after them, or 2) a bridge and a mill that even today bears his name or 3) were named in a will for 'lifetime care'.
His stone identified him only as 'Old Ben'. Without the epitaph’s 'faithful servant to Wm. M. Clark", his story would still be undiscovered. The William McKenzie Clark name was well known to me - my great great great grandfather, and ancestor to many born in Bertie and surrounding counties.
A short bio of William Mckenzie. Clark: son of Colin Clark, emigrant to NC, married to Janet Gray McKenzie. William McKenzie Clark was one of their 4 children initially raised at the Gray’s Rosefield Plantation in Windsor. The children were under the age of 6 when their father, allegiant to the Crown, was ordered to leave Bertie, so temporarily – he thought - moved back to Scotland, but never returning. Soon after, their mother died at age 28. WMC (2 weeks old at his mother’s death) and his siblings were then raised by their aunt/uncle at Skewarky Plantation, near Williamston. A UNC 1801 graduat, WMC married Martha Boddie Williams in 1813. Their daughter, Margaret Cathcart Clark, married Lewis Thompson, who built their/my1840 home place in Lewiston-Woodville, leaving many descendants in Lewiston-Woodville.
WMC’s 1836 will named his son in law, Lewis Thompson, as his executor, stipulating his servant, Ben BUTT - our first clue as to Old Ben's last name - and his wife, Vicey, be provided lifetime care. Lewis Thompson’s ledgers recording Ben’s care have been preserved, providing a window to Ben Butt’s life and stature.
These ledgers are among the voluminous collection of Lewis Thompson's family/business/history papers housed in the UNC Southern Manuscripts library. Charles Smallwood, a contemporary of Lewis Thompson, who married William M. Clark’s other daughter, Harriet Joyner Clark, alsoleft references to Ben Butt in his UNC preserved diaries, too. Smallwood was a physician, Indian Woods planter, and a diarist – a few "Ben Butt" references from his diaries are below.
The Ben Butt puzzle became easier in spring of 2022 after contacting Wayne Modlin for his insights. Wayne grew up in Indian Woods, in a home adjacent to Ben Butt Mill and Ben Butt Bridge – these names survive to this day – more information below. Childhood curiosity had prompted his own "Who WAS this Ben Butt". Answers came when, as a UNC student, he searched/found potential clues in the Lewis Thompson collection and the Charles Smallwood diaries there. He provided me with the few gems he found in his brief search.
He’d also searched estate records, determining Ben first appeared in 1815 estate papers of Kenneth Clark , brother to William M. Clark. These list "Ben and Vicey" among Kenneth’s slaves. It's not a stretch that Ben and Vicey conveyed to his brother/executor, WMC. Ben was already 58 in 1815 when Kenneth died,and served the Clark family for 19 years until WMC’s death in 1836; Ben was 79 years old at Clark’s death, his care provided by Lewis Thompson until his death 21 years later.
These ledger/diary entries below* - along with logical assumptions from Wayne's prior property searches and keen insights - establish Ben's stature, skills, and the admiration and trust all held for ‘Old Ben’. Wayne notes Ben was not an overseer, that we often read of in plantation narratives, but a driver, rather common in the South. Black drivers worked under the supervision of white overseers, a liaison between them and slaves, communicating and maintaining order –a tightrope, with competing pressures of maintaining respect from the master without losing respect and confidence of fellow slaves. Drivers possessing skills and confidence often succeeded when overseers failed. It’s easy to imagine Ben as a competent driver, given his skills as a miller and (likely) bridge builder. His management skills were also rewarded by a portion of WMC’s plantation referenced as "Ben Butt’s Plantation.
Chronological references below * are from the UNC Southern Manuscripts Collections that include the Lewis Thompson and Charles Smallwood papers Wayne Modlin cursorily culled decades ago. We are convinced there are more references in these collections, and deserve a more comprehensive review. Lewis Thompson kept yearly expenses of Old Ben's care from 1836 thru Ben's 1857 death. Perhaps someone has the time for a complete search of his papers - the original documents are at UNC; there is also a copy in Hope Plantation's library.
Before the diary/ledger entries, a few notes from Wayne Modlin re: Ben Butt Mill and Ben Butt Bridge: "This mill was constructed in 1769 by Robert Cake on an acre of land purchased from William Bryan out of the Snowfield land, on the west side of the creek. In 1770, after George Wair secured a lease from Pugh, Williams, Jones, etc., administrators of Tuscarora land, to 100 acres of Tuscarora reservation land on the east side of the creek, Wair bought Cake's mill and operated it until his death in 1781. The creek was called "Falling Run" in the earlier deeds, and later was called "Deep Creek", both prior to today's familiar "Indian Creek."
After Wair's death, his family may have operated it for a few years (he had several sons), but eventually it apparently ceased operation in the 1780s.
On August 7, 1789, Bertie Deed Book P, page 95, is a transaction between between Jarrod & Martha (his mother) Wair and William Pugh and Henry Hill, in which the Wair sold them 2 acres of land on Indian Creek. In the August court for 1789, Pugh and Hill got permission from the court to build a grist mill "across the Indian Creek where George Wair had a mill."
The mill Pugh and Hill had constructed became the mill, whose earthen remains can be seen today from the road near the bridge, and is the mill Ben Butt apparently operated at one point.
In William Pugh's will, written 8 April 1808 (proved Feb 1809), he leaves to his son Augustin Pugh "my mill on Indian Creek, except for 2 1/2 bushels [of meal] for my wife Elizabeth every week when there is plenty of water. My son must pay for one half of said mill to the estate of Henry Hill, deceased."
On 19 June 1819, Augustin Pugh and wife Elizabeth sold the mill plus 2 acres to William M. Clark of Martin County for $500.
The original wooden bridge was built after 1836. In 1952, was replaced by concrete bridge
* Ledger/Diary Entries
THOMPSON LEDGER ENTRY: March 22, 1839, re: William M. Clark's estate. " cash received from James L. Bryan for sale of corn & meal made to him by Ben Butt at times this year $42.75." This same listing mentions "Ben Butt Plantation.". Likely, this is the same Indian Woods site that Ben served as a driver, that Ben lived on, and that Ben's stone was uncovered in 2021. The site of the stone’s discovery was owned by William M. Clark prior to his 1836 death, and afterwards by Lewis Thompson.
THOMPSON: "1852 January 1 - By a charge for keeping and comfortably providing for old Ben Butt as directed in the will of Wm M Clark, for the year 1851 to this date, I furnish him all good clothing, provisions, cook and wash, and he has an old horse to ride, for which I charge in the whole $50"
SMALLWOOD DIARY: April 26, 1854 - "On our way to the Indian Woods [from Woodville] yesterday we saw six turkeys [wild] feeding in Old Ben's field" [ Ben Butt plantation?]
THOMPSON: Jan 1, 1857 To provisions killed and put up for keeping old Ben Butt this year, building a new house for him at my plantation at Hickory Neck [Hickory Neck is a few miles down nearby Weeping Mary Road], and removing him there as the house in which he was living had become unfit for use. Ben has become so infirm that he requires a large boy to wait on him all the time. Hired a cook whose whole time is taken up in waiting on and washing for him. $100"
[Ben died 2 months after this entry, never living in his new home]
SMALLWOOD DIARY: The following entries were recorded years after Ben's 1857 death. The bridge and site of old Mill still, 165 years after Ben's death, still bear his name.
Jan. 26, 1861 "carried hogs to Old Ben's". [Old Ben’s Plantation]
May 15, 1878 "Mr. Moxley and self went fishing to Ben's Mill, caught 8."
March 27, 1884 "Started [from Woodville] to the plantation, found the water at Old Ben's Mill over the bridge and turned back."
July 2, 1888 "The county had a new bridge built at Old Ben's Mill last week. A great help as it became impassable after heavy rains."
With these few entries, and the ‘rest of the story’, we can easily grasp Ben's stature and legacy. Clark, Thompson, and Smallwood descendants owe a huge debt to all their slaves for enriching their lives, but none more than to Ben Butt, the facilitator.
There is much more information - the families/genealogies, deeds,etc. - too long to include here.
Molly Urquhart
October 2022
Please send us your comments and questions.