Pittsboro, NC – Chatham County is known for its rich history, but much of the story surrounding race and family has long remained untold. That is, until George Thomas, a local historian and genealogist, began piecing together the intricate web of connections that have shaped this community over generations. Through meticulous research into land records, wills, and other historical documents, Thomas has uncovered a fascinating narrative that challenges traditional notions of race and identity in the American South. On Sunday, May 5, George did a presentation on this history at the Historic Chatham County Courthouse.
Tracing His Roots
George Thomas’ journey into Chatham County’s past began with a personal quest to uncover his own family’s history. As a North Carolina native, Thomas had always been drawn to the state’s deep well of historical stories. But it wasn’t until he experienced a “game-changer” in 2017 that he truly began to appreciate the complexity of his own ancestry.
Thomas learned of a DNA connection that was rooted in old Chatham County. That revelation forced him to let go of some long-held beliefs about his Thomas lineage. Determined to unravel the mysteries of his family tree, Thomas dove headfirst into the archives, scouring deeds, wills, and other records for clues.
What he found was a rich tapestry of racial and familial connections that defied easy categorization. He discovered that this wasn’t just a simple story of white versus black. There was a vibrant, mixed-race community here, with deep ties to the local Quaker population and complex relationships that spanned generations.
The Buckhorn Community
At the heart of Thomas’ research is the Buckhorn community, a little-known enclave along the Cape Fear River that was home to a diverse array of families in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Key figures in this story include Joseph Thomas, an ancestral figure who sold land near the historic Memphis Methodist Church to Ishmael Roberts, a Revolutionary War veteran and free person of color.
This simple land transaction opened up a whole new world for Thomas. He started to see how these families were interconnected, how they interacted with the Quakers, and how their stories played out against the backdrop of Reconstruction-era violence and upheaval.
One particularly striking example is the tale of Ishmael Roberts and his family. Roberts, a free person of color, served in the Revolutionary War and later acquired land from Joseph Thomas. His son, Kinchin Roberts, also served in the war, and was granted land in Tennessee as payment for his service. When Kinchin died, his son Ishmael inherited the Tennessee land, only to have it later reassigned to someone else.
This is just one example of the complex web of land ownership and family ties that Thomas uncovered. It’s a story that speaks to the fluidity of race and identity in that time period, and the challenges that free people of color faced in trying to build stable lives and communities.
Quakers and Methodists
Another key aspect of Thomas’ research is the role of the Quaker and Methodist communities in shaping the Buckhorn area. The Quakers, who were prohibited from owning slaves, often worked with local Methodists to provide a pathway to freedom for enslaved individuals.
Thomas explained that the Methodists could own slaves, and they would essentially ‘loan’ them to the Quakers, who would then help them gain their freedom. This created a complex web of relationships and alliances that people are only just beginning to understand.
The Memphis Methodist Church, built on land that was once owned by Ishmael Roberts, is a prime example of this dynamic. The church is a powerful symbol of the intertwined histories of these communities. It was built on land that belonged to a free person of color, and it likely served as a hub for the Underground Railroad and other abolitionist activities.
Reconstruction-Era Atrocities
As Thomas delved deeper into the history of the Buckhorn community, he also uncovered a dark chapter of Reconstruction-era violence and oppression. In the aftermath of the Civil War, tensions between the white and mixed-race communities erupted into a series of brutal attacks.
For example, the Chestnut Zion African-American church, founded in 1865 on land donated by Anderson Dickens, was burned to the ground by a mob of white vigilantes. And there are accounts of other horrific acts of violence and intimidation against the local black population.
These events, Thomas believes, were part of a broader campaign to suppress the political and economic power of the mixed-race community in the region. This was a stark reminder of the deep-seated racial animosities that were still simmering in the post-war South. And it’s a story that has long been overshadowed by the more well-known narratives of Reconstruction.
Our Shared History
As George Thomas continues to uncover the hidden histories of Chatham County, he is struck by the profound ways in which race, family, and community have intersected over the centuries. For him, this isn’t just a story about the past. It’s a story about the enduring legacies of slavery, segregation, and racial violence, and how they continue to shape our understanding of identity and belonging in this state and this country.
Through his meticulous research and storytelling, Thomas hopes to shed light on the complex realities of life in the American South, and to inspire others to delve deeper into the untold narratives that lie at the heart of our shared history.
The presenter is George Thomas, whose search for his own family roots revealed much about Chatham County’s history that is rarely noted. George will introduced participants to Joseph Thomas, an ancestral figure who sold his 1790s issuance of land near historic Memphis Methodist Church (pictured here) to Ishmael Roberts, a Revolutionary War veteran and Free Person of Color. Beginning with that simple transaction, George will bring together stories of a little-known mixed-race community in old Chatham County (now Lee County), their interaction with nearby Quakers, migration to Indiana, and reconstruction-era atrocities involving those who remained. Reaching beyond the usual chronological recounting of family history, George will share his questioning of our collective past and how he believes it influenced events as they played out in the Buckhorn community along the Cape Fear River. The surnames mentioned in this talk include Thomas, Avent, Glover, Roberts, Walden, Archer, Dungeon, Lindley, Dickens, Harris, and Hester.
George is a North Carolina native, family historian, writer, and mapper seriously drawn to the importance of land records. Even as an accomplished woodcarver, teacher, and later director of the Crafts Center at NC State, he has always been quick to share his love of history and how it provided a deep but quiet retreat from an otherwise busy career fraught with concerns for safety. Not long before retiring in 2017, George experienced a game-changer upon learning of a yDNA connection rooted in old Chatham County. Providing the impetus for his recent publication CROSSING BUCKHORN: Untold Matters of Race and Family in the Evolving State of North Carolina, no longer was he able to hold on to traditional beliefs concerning his Thomas ancestry.
– Chatham County Historical Society