Hard Times in Anson County, 1887-1888

My Great Grandfather William James Purvis was married by the age of sixteen. In the 1880 Census for Morven Township, Arson County, NC both he and Mary are enumerated as husband and wife living next door to his father, William A. Purvis. ¹




Father and son worked hand in hand to eek out a living on approximately 120 acres of land Southwest of McFarlan, North Carolina with the state line being the south side of their property.

Times were hard and to survive from one year to the next put many farmers in a vicious cycle of borrowing, lending and repaying a debt from year to year.


The instrument used by the “money lenders” to carry out this deed was called a “Deed of Trust”.


A typical “Deed of Trust” would read:

State of North Carolina} ²
Anson County } Whereas, Marshall & Richardson of Anson County in the State of North Carolina, have signed to make advances to W. A. & W. J. Pervis of the county of Anson and State aforesaid for purpose of agriculture during the year A.D. 1880 to the value of one hundred dollars and such further sums as the said Marshall & Richardson may deem necessary to be made not to exceed in all the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars and whereas the said W. A. & W. J. Pervis desires to secure to the said Marshall & Richardson prompt payment for the advances made in accordance with the provisions of the Acts of the General assembly in such cases made and provided, ratified on the 1st day of March 1867 and the Act to re-enact and amend the same ratified March 1st 1873, doth by these presents sell, transfer and agree to deliver to the said Marshall & Richardson on the 15th day of October so much cotton, corn and other products raised by him during the present year as shall be sufficient to pay for the supplies to be furnished as aforesaid which conveyance and transfers shall create a lien in favor of the advances made or to be made upon all the crop the said W. A. & W. J. Pervis may raise during the present year, and for further security the said W. A. & W. J. Pervis bargains and sells to the said Marshall & Richardson the following articles of personal property, to wit: one cow & calf - lone sow & six pigs - farming tools - household & kitchen furniture - the property of W.J. Pervis. lone mule - three cows - one ox and one yearling - six head hogs one wagon - farming tools - the property of W. A. Pervis with the understanding that if the said W. A. & W. J. Pervis shall, will and truly pay the said Marshall & Richardson for the advances as aforesaid on or before the 1st day of October the said lien shall be discharged, and the said property shall revert to the said W. A. & W. J. Pervis, otherwise the said Marshall & Richardson shall have power to take into their possessions all of said property and crop on the farm or elsewhere, if removed, and sell the same or as much thereof for cash, as may be necessary to pay for the advances aforesaid, attorney's fees, registration, and any other expenses incurred in executing this provision, first advertising said sale for ten days at three public places in the County. We the said W. A. & W. J. Pervis do hereby certify that no other lien or mortgage has been' given upon said crop or property. If this claim is not paid at maturity to bear interest at the rate of 8 per cent annum from maturity thereof to the payment. In witness whereof the said W. A. & W. J. Pervis have hereunto set their hands and seal this 13th day of February, A.D. 1880.
Signed, sealed & delivered in                              W. A. X Pervis {seal}
The presence of H. C. Hardison                        W. J. X Pervis {seal}

One bad crop year and you are in deep troubles with these predatory money lending practices.

SALE of REAL ESTATE³By virtue of power contained in a Deed of Trust executed by W. A. Purvis and Sarah J. Purvis on the 23rd day of December 1884 to N. J. Thompson and C. C. Moore, partners under the style of Thompson & Moore, and registered in trust book no. 18, page 202 of the registers office of Anson County, Dec. 27th, 1884, and by consent and request of said W. A. Purvis and Sarah J. Purvis, we will sell for cash to the highest bidder at the Court House door in the town of Wadesboro, on Monday the 7th day of December 1885, the land described in said Deed of Trust, containing 50 acres more or less, adjoining the lands of W. J. McLendon and others. Sale of above lands made to satisfy a note secured by mortgage on said reality. N. J. THOMPSON
C. C. MOORE.
Partners and MortgageesNov 25 1885, lt.
[The Anson Times, 3 Dec 1885, Thu,Page 3]
RAOGK Contributor Debra Cooper, 17 December 2014
https://www.facebook.com/groups/raogkUSA/permalink/589522781149614

In December 1885 William J. Purvis was able to purchase a 30 acre tract from his father. William A. Purvis had purchased the 30 acreage tract from Joseph P. Smith on 6 December 1866 (DB 8, page 284-286). On that same day William James Purvis purchased the 30 acres from his father, William A. Purvis (DB 8, Page 421-423). ⁴

It’s evident that the 1887-1888 crop year was not a good year as evidence by this newspaper clipping.





William J. Purvis owed .59 cents tax on his 30 acre tract and it was being put on the Auction block unless he paid the taxes.  To avoid losing it for failure to pay the taxes, William J. Purvis sold the land on 7 January 1888 to T. F. Mulholland (DB 9, Page 284-286). (Chesterfield County, SC).⁵

This was the beginning of the sell-off of all lands owned by William A. and his son, William J. and they then became “Sharecroppers”. The wife of William A. suffered from cancer for some time and died on the last day of December 1893. Between  December 1899 and May 1900; William A. Purvis had passed away. The last 18 acres, reserved for William’s 2nd wife Betsey, was sold on 30 Sept. 1900 to J. D. Rhyne, the purchaser of earlier acreages. The deed is recorded in Anson County Deed Book 34, Page 491-492. Betsy died in October 1926. ^{6 7 8}














___________________
[1] 1880 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) # 2, Page 350B, Line 36, Dwelling 233, Family 251, Household of William A. Purvis; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 1976); citing National Archives Microfilm T9, Roll 951.
[2] Anson County, North Carolina, Trust Deed Book 11: page 529, W. A. Purvis & W. J. Purvis to Marshall & Richardson; 13 February 1880, Register of Deeds, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina.
[3] SALE of REAL Estate, 50 ACRES obituary, The Anson Times, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, United States, 3 December 1885, Page 3. Default on Deed of Trust.
[4] Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Deed Book 8: pages 421-423, William A. Purvis to William James Purvis; 6 December 1866, Register of Deeds, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
[5] Sale of Land for Taxes - William J. Purvis, The Messenger and Intelligencer, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, United States, 10 January 1888, Page 3, Right two columns of page. Sale of Land for Taxes, 30 acres, .59 cents Taxes due.
[6] Sarah Jane Graves Purvis obituary, Messenger-Intelligencer, Wadesboro, North Carolina, 4 January 1894, page 3, McFarlan News.
[7] Anson County, North Carolina, Deed Book 34: pages 491-492, Betsy Purvis to J. D. Rhyne; 30 September 1900, Register of Deeds, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina.
[8] State of North Carolina, death certificate no. 351, (18 October 1926), Mrs. Betsy Purvis; https://www.ancestry.com, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.