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Wilkes County Veterans History Project: Abraham Petty

Abraham Petty with his musket.

Abraham Petty's discharge papers

Abraham and Mary Jane Petty on their wedding day.

Petty Family

Petty House

Abraham Petty Tombstone

Abraham Petty- story submitted by Brenda Dobbins

ABRAHAM (ABRAM) (PETTIE PETTEY) PETTY

 Abram was a slave of Benjamin Martin on the south side of the Yadkin River in Roaring River.  He was born to Clara Parks in July 1832.  He died at age 84 and 9 months on April 10, 1916.     

Ben Martin was one of the largest landowners in Wilkes County during the latter half of the 1800s. He owned a plantation that extended across the northern part of the bottom land on the south side of the Yadkin River, which is now known as Antioch Township.

Colonel Petty came from Georgia during slavery days.  He met Jenny Martin, Ben’s daughter, and they fell in love and married.  Ben gave Abram to them to be their carriage driver, Abram took the last name of his new master.

Colonel Petty sent Abram to town (perhaps Wilkesboro) once a week to meet the stage for the mail.  A white lady would read the paper he was taking to the Colonel and keep Abram informed of where the Union soldiers were in the Civil War.

When the Union soldiers came through near and spent the night on Roaring River Hill, Abram left with them and left his mule in the field.  The Union soldiers took the good horses and left their worn-out ones on the Lindolph and Polly Park's plantation.

Abram enlisted in the Civil War when he was approximately 30 years of age, 5 ft. 8 inches tall according to his discharge papers.  He enlisted as a private in Captain Evan Kennedy’s Company H of the 119th Regiment of the US Colored Infantry on April 14, 1865.

The Yankee troops marched from Virginia to Tennessee.  Abraham saw action in three battles.  He was in the Battles of Look-Out Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Cumberland Gap.

He received an honorable discharge on April 27, 1866, at Camp Nelson, Louisville, Kentucky, and received a pension for his military service. 

Camp Nelson provided the Union Army with over 10,000 African American soldiers, making it the third largest recruiting and training depot for African Americans in the nation.

When he returned to Wilkes County, NC, he had to carry his paper stating that he was a free man, this had to be in his procession at all times until slaves were officially freed.

This is when he changed his name from Abram to Abraham.

William Petty, a grandson who lived in California proudly displayed Abraham’s musket.  His niece owns it now.

Abraham married Esther Nichols and to this union was born one son, Rufus James on November 30, 1868.  We haven’t been able to trace the life of Esther, however, he married his second wife Mary Jane Parks on November 19, 1878, according to writings in her Bible.

We know of a least one of Abraham’s sisters:  Mary Parks, ex-slave who lived to be one of Wilkes County’s oldest residents.  She died of cold and exposure at the age of 112.  According to the obituary listed in the local paper “The aged Negro for many years had lived alone in the Roaring River community and was found dead by a neighbor, Andrew (Tyra) Petty, colored, at her home Friday.  Coroner J. M. Myers who investigated the death deemed an inquest unnecessary, said that apparently, she died from old age and exposure.  Her body was found on the floor and there were burned matches indicating that she had tried to start a fire.

Her nearest relatives are two nieces and two nephews.  Attention was first centered on her age a few years ago when she applied for old age assistance but could not furnish documentary proof that she was 65.  Finally, some persons whose age was about 70 certified that Mary Parks had reached middle age when they were small children.”

Abraham’s son Rufus lived the closest to Poplar Spring Missionary Baptist Church.  He lived to be 91 years, 5 months and 14 days old.  He died on May 14, 1960.

Abraham married Mary Jane Parks when she was approximately 23 years old. She had been a slave on the northern side of the Yadkin River in Roaring River.  She was born on February 8, 1855.  Her parents were Larkin and Lucy Parks.  There were four boys and eight girls born in this family.  She was a slave on Lindolph (the mail carrier for Roaring River) and Polly Parks plantation.

Abraham and Jane eventually owned 400 acres of land.  They had seven sons and four daughters:  Arthur, Charlie, William (who died as an infant, Mamie, Tyra, Sadie, Claude, Myrtle, Myra, Walter, and George.  With the twelve children, including Rufus, they farmed the land and became productive citizens.

Located on their land was the Petty family cemetery.  Claude’s son, William, and some family members came from California in 2006 to show the ancestors the cemetery. 

After Abraham died on April 10, 1916, Jane purchased a beautiful tombstone in his honor.  She also placed a smaller rectangular headstone for their infant son, William, who died at birth.  There are approximately seventy more graves with rocks for headstones located in this cemetery.

Mary Jane continued to raise their family after Abraham’s death.  My mother shared with us how in the fall of each year Grandma Jane, who had purchased a thrashing machine, would host the wheat thrashing for ALL her neighbors near and far (both black and white) who brought their wares to be thrashed.  All the ladies would cook, and everyone would eat together on the grounds.

Around 1860 the percent of the people in North Carolina who made their living in agriculture was approximately 97 percent.

Abraham and Jane professed faith in Christ and became faithful members along with their children at Poplar Spring Missionary Baptist Church.  Their home was approximately three miles north.  It is evident that both were strong, God-fearing individuals who believed in bringing up their children the right way.  They taught their children the value of earning a living by working with them to become productive citizens.  The trait has been passed down throughout the generations.

Evidently, Sunday afternoons were exciting for the grandchildren as they would walk to Grandma’s house.  This was time for play with each other.

I believe if our ancestors were alive today, they would agree with the passage from Booker T. Washington:

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which were overcome while trying to succeed.”

Family reunions, get-togethers, coming home gatherings, or whatever we want to call them, for the Abraham and Jane Petty clan is nothing new.  After completing school either at Poplar Spring Church which was used as a school during the week taught by Reuben Blackburn and their daughter, Mamie, or Lincoln Heights School in Wilkesboro and venturing on their own, either to the workforce or to the North or West because of poor working conditions in the South, we knew we were going to WORK, we all were trained well at home.  Some chose to further their education while others purchased land, either built or purchased a home and became respectable and productive citizens.  The family motto is 'Determined to Succeed, Regardless of Our Past.'