Visit Cary's past through blog entries posted by our history loving members.
Each marker in a cemetery contains a story, and the grave marker for C. M. (Claudius Monroe) Baucom is no exception. His marker in Historic Hillcrest Cemetery is impressively large and contains images that tell part of the story of his interesting life. However, one image on the marker remained a mystery for many years and has only recently been deciphered.
C. M .Baucom was born in Apex in 1880 and raised in western Wake County, as generations of his family had been. One of his ancestors, John Baucom, Sr. was a Wake County Revolutionary War patriot. Following in the senior Baucom’s footsteps, C. M. enlisted in the army as an 18 year old and served during the Spanish American War as a part of the mounted cavalry. He traveled to the Far East in the military, seeing the Philippines and participating in the China Relief Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion. After returning to Wake County, he worked for the railroad as many men did in the area in the early 1900s, married a local girl, Patty Page, and raised a family. A physically active man, he enjoyed the outdoors and had a “jolly outlook” on life, according to family members.
His sense of duty and honor called him once again when World War I broke out. He volunteered for service at the age of 38, entering the military this time as an officer. Near the end of the war in the fields of France, he survived a gas attack, but as a result, experienced gradually deteriorating hearing and vision loss. As someone who had taken great pride in being independent and active, these losses affected him deeply and caused him to worry about how he could provide for his family. Tragically, he took his own life in 1925, leaving behind a loving wife and 5 children in Cary.
His impressive marker in Hillcrest contains obvious symbols of his life – the crossed rifles and flag allude to his military service. The masonic logo points to his participation in this fraternal organization. An oval shape on the left contained a portrait of Mr. Baucom, long missing, put in place by his loving family. But what about the mysterious logo at the bottom of the marker? What does it mean?
After much research, the image has been identified as the emblem of the Order of Railway Conductors, Scottish Rite, which speaks to his employment with the Seaboard Railway. The lantern (which looks more like a grenade on the monument) is easily identifiable based on the accompanying logo; the tool remains unidentified. It may be a specialized tool used by railwaymen. This image provides the last clue to what Mr Baucom considered important in his life – his family, his livelihood, his community, and his country.
A final note: In 2017, the family received the medals he earned in the two wars and richly deserved.
Author's note: Excerpts of this blog were taken from a comprehensive document put together by Friends of the Page-Walker, Marla Dorrel and Pat Fish in 2009. Read Mysteries and Secrets: Exploring Hillcrest Cemetery.
Join us, with a spirit willing to be haunted by the stories and the images, the mysteries and the secrets, we’ve found in Hillcrest Cemetery. If you were to close your eyes and imagine the perfect, idyllic small-town cemetery, you might very well conjure up Hillcrest. True to its name, Hillcrest Cemetery is at the top of a hill. It’s surrounded by homes and appears to serve the adjacent neighborhoods as a passive park. It’s not unusual to see people walking their dogs through the cemetery (notwithstanding a town ordinance against this) or children riding their bikes along the peaceful, paved paths. Hillcrest is located just a few blocks from Cary’s downtown historic district, easily within walking distance. Nevertheless, it remains one of Cary’s hidden secrets.
Finding Hillcrest is easy, if you start from one of Cary’s most notable landmarks: Old Cary Elementary (now the Cary Arts Center).Go west on Dry Avenue, crossing South Harrison, to Page Street.Turn left and the rest is really simple – Page Street ends at the cemetery gate. The cemetery opens daily at 8:00 am and closes during the winter months at 6:00 pm; during the summer, it’s open until 8:00 pm.
Hillcrest is owned by the Town of Cary, but that was not always the case. According to the Town’s records, the Hillcrest Cemetery property was first owned by R. O. Heater, who conveyed the first tracts, commonly known as the “old section,” to the Hillcrest Cemetery Association on June 11, 1945. Ten years later, GeorgeTurner conveyed additional tracts to the Association. These tracts were conveyed to the Town of Cary in 1970; in1977, more tracts were deeded over to the Town.
The map from the Town of Cary shows an aerial view of Hillcrest, with many of the grave sites identified. Wake County land records show the cemetery property to cover 4.9acres.
We wondered which graves were the earliest and, based on the cemetery census, here’s what we found. The earliest recorded date of birth is that of Henry Jones, born on January 29, 1766. He was the son of Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree and the husband of Nancy Jones, daughter of Nathaniel Jones of White Plains. The house Henry and Nancy lived in, built in 1803, is still standing on Chapel Hill Rd. and is a Cary Historic Landmark. Learn about the Nancy Jones House.
The earliest recorded date of death is also among the Joneses – Nathaniel Jones, who died on August 31, 1840 – just 40 days before the death of Henry Jones. This Nathaniel Jones, however, is not Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree or Nathaniel Jones of White Plains. Nathaniel Jones was a popular name back then!
A cemetery census conducted by Shirley Olson in 2005, and updated by Karen Freeman in 2008, identified ten unreadable or unmarked headstones in Hillcrest. We may never know what secrets lie buried in these places.
Hillcrest presents an interesting assortment of grave markers, both old and new. Here are just a few of the interesting shapes we found.
While most of the graves have the traditional monument headstone, there are a number of examples of more distinctive markers. The box tomb; the headstone and footstone - in this case with a ledger marker (the moss-covered,concrete pad) and the obelisk.
Hillcrest also displays a wide array of artistic designs, some of which give us clues about those who are buried there. The book, “Stories In Stone, A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography,” opens its chapter on Flora by reminding us, “Flowers have served as symbols of remembrance ever since we began memorializing the dead.” Engravings of flowers adorn many of the gravestones at Hillcrest.
There is some unusual artwork to be found among gravestones inHillcrest, in both the older and the more contemporary markers.
And quite interesting are these two footstones. For the father, with a mortar and trowel, and the mother, with a rake and hoe.
The bent arm on the monument of C.M. Baucom pictured to the right is taken from the emblem of the Order of Railway Conductors, Scottish Rite. The lantern (which looks more like a grenade on the monument) is easily identifiable on the emblem; the tool remains unidentified. C. M. Baucom was a Seaboard freight conductor. He also served in the Spanish American War and WWI.
Religious Symbols are also widely used in Hillcrest. Here you see, in the upper left corner, the praying hands; beneath them, the crown, symbolizing victory, leadership and distinction, but more often in funerary, the crown represents the sovereignty of the Lord. On the right, the Latin cross shown here with a heart, likely symbolizing the love of Christ; and below it, the Star of David. In the center is the Celtic cross. The initials, IHS, in the center, are derived from the first three letters of Jesus’ name using the Greek alphabet: Iota, Eta, and Sigma.
Walking through Hillcrest, you are reminded of those who served their country in the military. From reviewing cemetery surveys, we’ve identified some 62 gravestones that speak of the role these brave men and women played in defending our country and standing for their ideals. The records reflect service in five wars, all branches of the military, and rankings at all different levels. Here are two of the more elaborate gravestones that speak of the service record of those they memorialize. The prominent flags on these monuments memorialize the service of the men buried here to their country.
Before we leave symbology, we must mention the secret societies, clubs and fraternal organizations symbolized on the grave markers at Hillcrest. The most prevalent symbol in Hillcrest is that of the Masons. More than a dozen markers carry the Masons’ symbol, the square and compass. It is said that the square and compass represents the interaction between mind and matter and refer to the progression from the material to the intellectual and spiritual. The letter G in the center – some say this stands for ”God” while others say it stands for “geometry.” According to the book, “Around and About Cary,” Cary Lodge No. 198 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons was chartered on November 17, 1857 - 14 years before the town was incorporated. A great deal of secrecy surrounds the organization – and those are secrets that we couldn’t tell you, even if we knew them.
Other clubs, societies and organizations are also represented in Hillcrest. Here are more of the emblems we found. The emblem of the Eastern Star (far left) is frequently seen on the marker for the wife of a Mason – rightly so, since the Order of the Eastern Star is the female counterpart toFree masonry. In the center is the emblem of the American Legion, primarily an association for military veterans. The emblem of Woodmen of the World (right) is one of the best-represented in cemeteries, because until the 1920s, each member was provided with a tombstone. Other organizations represented at Hillcrest, but not pictured here, include Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution, Rotary International, Shriners and Boy Scouts of America.
Hillcrest is the final resting place of 15 of Cary’s mayors, the earliest of these being JPH Adams, Cary’s second mayor, serving in 1871; J.P.H. Adams, Mayor in1884; and Robert J. Harrison, Cary’s mayor in 1903. But mayors aren’t the only notable citizens we found at Hillcrest. You’ll recognize many of them, because they have also been memorialized in other ways throughout our community. Here is just a sampling:
Captain Harrison P. Guess, 1827 – 1919
Captain Guess was among the first “railroad men” to arrive in Cary. His position was recorded as “road master.” His name is familiar to many of us, because it graces the historic pink Guess-Ogle Home in downtown Cary. “Around and About Cary” tells us that the home takes its name from Captain Guess due to the fact that in 1880, he and his wife, Aurelia, purchased 16 acres of land from Frank Page, including the site of the Guess-Ogle Home.
Dr. J. M. Templeton 1855 – 1932
One of Cary’s earliest doctors, Dr. Templeton is described in “Around and About Cary” as a man who searched for the truth, lived by principles and practiced charity. He crusaded for Prohibition, public education, good roads and economic justice for farmers. In addition to being a doctor and surgeon, he ran a lumber business and also farmed. His gravestone carries the following inscription: A country doctor who served his nation in the time of war, his community in the time of peace, the rich and poor alike. There is a small secret here – Dr. Templeton volunteered for the Army when the United States entered World War I. But it seems he quit after 6 months, supposedly because the Army insisted that he stop wearing civilian clothes. Nevertheless, the statement is true – he DID serve his nation in the time of war. You can see Dr. Templeton’s uniform in the Cary History Museum.
Marcus Baxter Dry, 1871 – 1946
Marcus Baxter Dry was Principal of Cary High School for 34 years, from 1908 through 1942. He also served as Superintendent of the Cary School District. Under his leadership, North Carolina’s first state-supported high school, Cary High, became a model for all that followed. It is said that his success as an educator stemmed from his genuine interest in each student and his ability to embrace new ideas over the course of his career. Dry was instrumental in the construction and modernization of Cary High School’s buildings during his tenure. In 1913, under Dry’s leadership, a brick building was built on the school’s site. The current building, which now serves as the Cary Arts Center, was constructed just a few years before Dry’s retirement.
Dry’s residence was just east of the school and, today, is a contributing structure in the Cary Historic District. It is fitting, then, that both his house and the school are located on what is now called Dry Avenue.
Dr. Frank Yarborough, 1895 – 1957
Another of Cary’s earliest doctors, Dr. Yarborough first practiced with Dr. Templeton. He also practiced at Rex Hospital when it was located on St. Mary’s Street in Raleigh. His home, where he established his own practice, stands today in the Cary Historic District, and still retains the two side entrances for his patients. One entrance was for those who were white, the other for those who were black. In Cary’s oral history book, “Just a Horse Stopping Place,” there is the following account, recalled by Dr. Yarborough’s son: “He (referring to his father, Dr. Yarborough) built the office at the present location on Park Street that was connected to our home. He practiced there for the entire time that I can remember him practicing medicine. The cars would line Park Street on both sides of the street from morning until night. And when I say night, I mean eleven, twelve o’clock. When I’d come home from school in the day, it was just a line of cars like a big procession going on. His office hours at night were Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The rest of the nights, and even when he got out of the office, he would make house calls.”
Hillcrest Cemetery also holds many stories of tragedy and great sadness. Among these is the story of Dr. Yarborough’s daughter, Mary. Mary Ray Yarborough was said to be “the apple of her father’s eye” and family members recall that she called him “Daddy Blue Eyes.” When she was 11 years old, she contracted meningitis, and, unfortunately, the medical treatment she received was unable to save her. It was said that the anguish of her death tore the Yarborough’s marriage apart. Their love for her is there at Hillcrest for all of us to see, in the bust of Mary that marks her grave in the family plot.
R. S. “Dad” Dunham, 1905 – 1987
This well-known teacher at Cary High School owned a 30-acre tract of land on Kildaire Farm Road, which was described as “the closest thing Cary had to a botanical garden.” Mr. Dunham’s agriculture students at Cary High received much of their forestry training on these grounds, which later became the site of the Glenaire, among the earliest of Cary’s continuing care retirement communities. It was the Dunhams desire to see their land used for this purpose. If “Dad” Dunham’s name looks familiar to you, it may be that you’ve visited the popular neighborhood park on Walnut Street that was named after him.
Tammy Lynn Pierce, 1957 – 1971
Described on her gravestone as, “Cary’s Angel Unaware,” Tammy Lynn Pierce sustained a brain injury at birth and lived all of her 14 years in the family’s home on Kildaire Farm Road. At that time there were no custodial homes in North Carolina for children with developmental disabilities, and her family refused to place her in a state institution. Prior to her death, Tammy Lynn’s parents joined two Raleigh couples in similar circumstances to create a foundation that would lead to the establishment of the Tammy Lynn Center for Development Disabilities. Today, the Tammy Lynn Center offers education, residential, and family support services to children and adults with special needs. The Center's goal is to provide the individuals it serves the opportunity to maximize their abilities in a loving, nurturing environment.
We couldn’t leave Hillcrest without sharing with you some of the fascinating inscriptions found on the grave markers. And, yes, there are a few mysteries and secrets waiting for us here. Inscriptions provide the opportunity for those who are deceased to continue to speak to us. Or, in some cases, the message is from loved ones, telling us about the one who has passed away. Some inscriptions give us advice and others recite Bible scriptures that tell us of the person’s religious devotion. The book, “Sticks and Stones: Three Centuries of North Carolina Gravemarkers,“ tells us that an influx of British stonecutters arrived here in the 1830s to work on the new state capitol in Raleigh and other major masonry projects. In 1837, North Carolina’s first resident funerary monument firm was established in Raleigh. Once rail lines were complete, more commercial stonecutters set up marble yards along the rails. While the railroad caused the proliferation of small marble yards, it also led to their demise. In the early 1900s, small marble yards were absorbed by larger ones and the ease of shipping monuments by rail led to the rise of the mail-order monument business. New stonecutting technology allowed for the use of granite, instead of marble, and within a few years, the artistic role of the stonecutter changed from sculptor of the overall monument to mere engraver of the inscription. Today, stonecutters still work in North Carolina, but most of their business is sandblasting inscriptions onto blanks. With only a few exceptions, gravestone carving is a lost art.
We identified interesting and intriguing inscriptions at Hillcrest. Some are serious, while others add a touch of humor. Here is a sampling of those we found and liked:
We were also touched by the simplicity of this hand-engraved marker.
One of the most loved inscriptions – and the one that made us really smile – was found on the back of the gravestone of Shirley Faye Tharpe.
It is time to leave Hillcrest, with our invitation to you to visit this beautiful, peaceful and intriguing Cary treasure on your own. We think you’ll fall in love with it, as we have. As we depart Hillcrest, we’ll also leave you with this sage advice from one who is buried there.
Remember friends as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now, so you must be
Prepare therefore to follow me.
It’s the autumn of 1937. A boy is walking through woods on the outskirts of Cary and comes upon a long-abandoned cemetery. He pauses long enough to etch his name into the stone obelisk – Charles Dellinger, 11/2/37, age 15.
Fast forward to 2020. The abandoned cemetery is White Plains Cemetery, the burial ground of the Revolutionary War Patriot, Nathaniel Jones. It is now a well-cared for historic site within the town limits of Cary and is surrounded by a housing development. Olivia Loyack, a young lady who lives next door to the cemetery, takes an interest in the etching and uncovers one of the untold stories of an “old Cary” family, their connection to the Revolutionary War, and their sacrifices during World War II.
The Dellinger family was originally from Lincoln County, NC. Henry Dellinger fought in the American Revolution along with his brother, who had signed the Tryon Resolves in 1775. Several generations later, a descendant, Charlie Lee Dellinger, a railroad employee who worked in Greenville, SC, met and married a local Greenwood SC girl, Ella Pinson. After living and working in Hamlet, NC, a railroad hub, the family moved to Cary with the railroad in the late 1920s. They settled near Ephesus Baptist Church, where Charlie, along with his railroad position, worked as a custodian and cemetery caretaker. Over the years the family grew to include children Charles, Howard, Frances, Eugene, Katherine, Ruth, and Cecil.
Charlie Lee had a patriotic spirit. At age 16, he attempted to volunteer for World War I, but was declined due to his young age. Years later, he attempted to volunteer for World War II after Pearl Harbor was bombed, but was declined again due to his older age and seven children. In raising his children, he passed on his love of country. His oldest child, Charles went to Baltimore after graduating from Cary High School to work for Martin Aircraft. After several deferrals due to his important work for the aircraft industry, he entered the Army in 1943. After training, he was assigned to Italy. In letters that his mother saved and are now treasured by family, Charles wrote home for two specific items: his camera and the book “Rules of Baseball” which speaks of his love for the All-American game. Charles and his brother Howard were talented baseball players, and the family story is that Charles and Howard were pulled out of grade school at Mount Vernon to pitch games for Cary High School! Along with Charles’ letters, the family also has the photos Charles took with his camera in Italy. During fighting in the fall of 1944, Charles was injured and was given the option to return home or rejoin his unit. He returned to his unit, but was killed on January 5, 1945 as American forces broke through “The Gothic Line” on their march to Florence. He was 22.
The story continues. The second Dellinger son, Howard, enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1943. He suffered from high blood pressure so it took several attempts to pass the physical to enlist! After training at Parris Island and Quantico, he was assigned to Okinawa where he was killed in fighting, just a few short months after his older brother Charles, on June 5, 1945, after US forces had officially captured the island. The three remaining sons, Frances, Eugene and Cecil followed their brothers by serving in the military, and with their two sisters, Katherine and Ruth, lived long, successful lives.
The Dellingers, descendants of a Revolutionary War Patriot…a family with a great love for country…paying the supreme sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy today…their story unearthed through graffiti on the obelisk marking the burial spot of another Revolutionary War Patriot. The story has come full circle.
Author's note: A special thank you to Jane Wydra, niece of Charles and Howard Dellinger who supplied valuable details in a phone interview with Carla Michaels and to Charles and Howard’s siblings, Ruth and Cecil, who kindly gave permission to use family photos in this article.
Long after the wooden structures, houses, barns and out buildings comprising the farms and plantations of the 1700s and 1800s are gone, all that often remains are the hardened gravestones and iron fences marking the spot where the owners and family members are buried and laid to rest. This is the case with the White Plains Cemetery, resting place of Nathaniel Jones, his first and second wives, and seven of his children.
Besides being the owner of 10,000+ acres of land in what would become eastern Cary, Jones (1749-1815) was a Revolutionary War Patriot and served as a Wake County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Clerk of Court, member of the General Assembly and delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Hillsborough in 1788. Learn more about Nathaniel Jones.
Descendants of the Nathaniel Jones family visited the cemetery in 1971 during the Town of Cary's centennial celebration. They made their way through the woods that would one day become the Maynard Oaks neighborhood and found the neglected cemetery on a small plot that would one day be situated on Tolliver Ct. in that neighborhood. The Cary Historical Society was formed in 1974 and although there was interest then in conserving the obelisk that marked Nathaniel's burial spot and the box tomb that marked that of his second wife, Rachel Perry Jones, it wasn't until 1986 that Town of Cary staff worked with the Historical Society and Sunsouth Homes, Inc. (the developers of Maynard Oaks and the owners of the cemetery at the time) to put together a proposal to conserve them.
In the meantime, Ann Burns and Irene Kittinger recorded the cemetery in 1981 for the Wake County Cemetery Survey Project and made a return visit in 1982. As they described, the slab atop Rachel's box tomb was no longer intact and Nathaniel's obelisk was leaning. Six or seven plain marble markers were counted inside the cemetery and five slender unmarked stones were found. The foundation was still there for what once held a wall, or perhaps an iron fence, but the fence was gone.
In 1983, Ann and Irene visited two sisters who were third great granddaughters of Nathaniel Jones of White Plains and Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree, and who provided a Bible record of Nathaniel Jones of White Plains and a copy of typed family records. These sources, along with obituaries, provided the information to determine who was buried in the White Plains Cemetery along with Nathaniel and Rachel. Keep in mind, with the exception of Nathaniel's obelisk and Rachel's box tomb, no gravestones in the cemetery bore any legible writing. But with the obtained information, it was determined that Nathaniel's first wife, Millleson Blanchard Jones, was also buried in the cemetery. She died three days after the birth of one of their children. Two of their other children are also buried in the cemetery; both died young, one at age 7 and one at age 2. These two young children both died during the same year, 1780, and are the first members of the family to be buried in the cemetery. The remaining graves contain five of Nathaniel and his second wife Rachel's children, ranging in age from 34 to 76.
In June 1987, the Cary Historical Society engaged David C. Fischetti, P.E. (who went on to play a significant role in the relocation of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse) to provide an assessment of the Nathaniel Jones obelisk, with an action plan for the obelisk's stabilization and conservation. An archaeological study of the cemetery was completed by the N.C. Office of State Archaeology. The Town of Cary and the Cary Historical Society, with support from the Friends of the Page-Walker Hotel, donated funds for conservation work on Nathaniel Jones’ obelisk. They also erected an iron replacement fence around the gravestones. In addition, they restored the collapsed sides of Rachel Perry Jones’s box tomb and covered it with a temporary stone top because the original ledger stone had been displaced and was in pieces scattered throughout the cemetery. The conservation work was completed in 1989 and Sunsouth Homes deeded the site to the Town.
In 2009 - 2010, with funds donated by the Cary Historical Society, the Town and the Friends of the Page-Walker Hotel installed a permanent granite ledger stone for Rachel's box tomb. The ledger stone was engraved with the original inscription, having been recorded in February 1981 by Ann Burns and Irene Kittinger before the original ledger stone was broken into pieces and eventually lost. They also added small marble tablets behind four unadorned fieldstone head markers, behind one unadorned marble foot marker, behind three damaged marble head markers that are missing sections bearing the deceased's attributes (name, date of birth, death of death, epitaph, etc.), and at the head of the one unmarked grave. In addition, they installed an interpretive sign outside the fence. The fieldstones and damaged marble tablets are original to the cemetery and its period of significance. The nine new marble tablets are approximately 2-feet tall, and are comparable to the height of the fieldstones and the lower section of the original marble tablets that mark the various burial locations.
In 2011, Jones family descendants were joined by Town representatives, Friends of the Page-Walker Hotel, Cary Historical Society members, Maynard Oaks residents and Daughters of the American Revolution to celebrate the conservation of the White Plains Cemetery. They laid bouquets of white flowers on each of the graves to honor their ancestors. Watch a video slideshow of the ceremony.
In 2012, the Yates Mill Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution held a commemorative grave marking ceremony and mounted on the gate leading into the graveyard a bronze plaque in honor of Nathaniel Jones. This plaque honors Jones' service as a Patriot during the American Revolution.
Forty-six years after the descendants of Nathaniel Jones trekked through the woods to find their ancestors' cemetery in a state of disrepair, the fully conserved cemetery became an official Cary Historic Landmark in 2017. The Town of Cary designates Cary Historic Landmarks as a way to preserve buildings and sites that are historically, architecturally, or culturally significant to our community. The White Plains Cemetery is certainly that.
You can visit the White Plains Cemetery at 100 Tolliver Ct. in Cary.
The families living on Tolliver Ct. in the Maynard Oaks neighborhood share their cul-de-sac with some unusual neighbors, the deceased members of the Nathaniel Jones family. Tucked between two houses on the quiet cul-de-sac is the White Plains Cemetery, one of the oldest and most historic sites in Cary, likely dating back to 1780. It's the resting place of the Jones family, at one time the owners of land comprising much of present-day eastern Cary.
Who was Nathaniel Jones? Besides being the owner of 10,000+ acres of land, Jones (1749-1815) was a Revolutionary War Patriot and served as a Wake County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Clerk of Court, member of the General Assembly and delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Hillsborough in 1788. In 1792, he offered his land to the state for the future capital of North Carolina, but land owned by Joel Lane was eventually selected in nearby Raleigh.
Jones was born in 1749, about the time the first English settlers began acquiring land through grants from Lord Carteret in the part of the state that would become Cary. In 1772, he married Milleson Blanchard in Chowan County; and in 1774, moved to Wake County and purchased land in the western part of the county, what would become Cary nearly 100 years later. By 1811, he had acquired between 10,000 and 11,000 acres, making him one of the largest land owners ever to own land in what is now Cary.
Jones named his house and property "White Plains" because of the many fields of cotton that surrounded his house. His Federal style plantation home, known as the Jones Manor, was located at what is today the southwest corner of Walnut Street and Greenwood Circle in Cary. The house, pictured to the right, was still standing in the 1950s before it was demolished.
Nathaniel Jones was a popular name In Wake County during the mid-to-late 18th century and early 19th century. There were four of them! The two most prominent among the four were Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree and Nathaniel Jones of White Plains. Both owned large tracts of land, one in what is now western Cary around Crabtree Creek (hence the distinction, Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree) and one in what is now eastern Cary surrounded by fields of cotton (hence the distinction Nathaniel Jones of White Plains). These two Nathaniel Joneses were not related, but their two families were eventually connected through marriage when Nancy Jones, daughter of Nathaniel Jones of White Plains, married Henry Jones, son of Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree on February 3, 1813. Henry inherited a house built by his father in the early 1800s that is still standing and is another very historic Cary property, the Nancy Jones house on Chapel Hill Rd., pictured to the left. The house is named for Nancy who outlived Henry by 35 years.
In addition to having large land ownership in common, the two Nathaniel Joneses were political rivals. Both were candidates for the House of Commons during the late 18th century, and their efforts to win a seat generated some negative discourse. Recorded in Raleigh's The Morning Post, Nathaniel Jones of White Plains told his opponent, Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree, "I am going to beat you because your constituents have not any shoes and it is too cold to walk barefooted to Raleigh." Nathaniel Jones of Crabtree informed his constituents about these comments and "when election day come, streams of men could be seen on every road, with corn whiskey in their stomachs and shoes and sticks over their shoulders, their feet naked, hurrahing for Jones of Crabtree. Jones of White Plains was badly beaten."
Nathaniel Jones of White Plains is noted for his last will and testament, in which he requested that his enslaved workers be set free, 50 years before the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. In his words:
I suppose it will be asked my reason for Emancipating my Negro Slaves (as soon as) the laws of the State will admit or Tolerate it, which reason are as follows:
Reason the first, agreeable to the rights of man, every humane person, be his colour what it may, is entitled to Freedom, when he or she or they arrive at mature years.
Reason the second, my conscience the grate Criterion condemns me for keeping them in slavery.
Reason the third, the Golden Rule directs us to do unto every Humane Creature, as we would wish to be done unto, and shure I am, that there is not one of us would agree to be kept in slavery during a long life.
Reason the fourth and last, I wish to die with a clear conscience that I may not be ashamed to appear before my master in the future world.
Sadly, Jones' enslaved workers were not freed because the law in North Carolina at the time would not allow it.
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