I was searching for some familiar names on FamilySearch Full Text Search, just in case I stumbled on anything I haven’t seen before. Imagine my surprise to come upon a case from 1942 that details a number of deeds that I have documented here on this site for Elisha Morris, John Holmes, and others.
Superior Court of Beaufort County, North Carolina, 1942–1943
CURRITUCK HOLDING CORPORATION AND
D. D. ATKINSON
vs.
ALICE BRIGHT, VESTON BRIGHT AND WIFE,
ROSA BRIGHT, CEPHUS FORREST AND WIFE,
SADIE FORREST, LONNIE MOORE AND WIFE,
MARY MOORE, BEAUFORT COUNTY, MRS. F. C.
KUGLER, SR., J. N. EDWARDS AND WIFE,
CAROLINA EDWARDS, J. D. CALAIS AND WIFE,
ISABELLE CALAIS, MRS. LELIA LEWIS, WALTER
TAYLOR AND WIFE, OLLIE TAYLOR, T.F. EDWARDS
AND WIFE, MINNIE EDWARDS, MILES MCROY AND
WIFE, LOSSIE MCROY, W. J. LEWIS AND WIFE,
MAGGIE LEWIS, C. B. NELSON AND WIFE, GERTRUDE
NELSON, JAMES DIXON AND WIFE, AMANDA DIXON,
GEORGE MCROY AND WIFE, LIZZIE MCROY, MYRTLE
LINTON AND HUSBAND, FRANK LINTON, ROANOKE
RAILROAD AND LUMBER COMPANY, A CORPORATION,
AND NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY, JASPER
MCROY AND WIFE, LILLIAN MCROY.
The case began on 8 October 1942 and the decision was entered into the record 13 January 1943.
This wasn’t a dispute over who owned the land — it was a land title registration proceeding under North Carolina’s Torrens-style registration law (Section 8, Chapter 90 of the Public Laws of 1913, codified as C.S. 2387). This law let a landowner ask the court to formally confirm and register title, making it essentially unchallengeable going forward. The named respondents were adjoining landowners and potential claimants — not necessarily people contesting the petition — who had to be given notice so the court’s confirmation would be binding on everyone.
The Property
Two tracts in Chocowinity Township, Beaufort County, near U.S. Highway 17 and the old Washington–New Bern Road:
- First Tract: ~903 acres, bounded by Union Chapel Branch, the old Washington-New Bern Road, Horse Pen Branch, and Chapel Branch (with a 100-foot right-of-way strip excepted for the Norfolk Southern Railway)
- Second Tract: ~78 acres, adjoining the “Nicholson land” once held by the Roanoke Railroad & Lumber Company
The Process
The hearing was held October 8, 1942, before Bryan Grimes, Examiner of Titles, with attorney Mr. Rodman representing the petitioners. Two witnesses testified to establish long, uncontested possession:
- Dr. P. A. Nicholson — testified he’d known the land 45+ years, had sold part of it to B. G. (Beverly G.) Moss in 1905, cut timber and cleared/rented several acres, and that the only adverse claim he ever encountered (a man claiming Edwards heirship) was bought off for $25 and never went to trial.
- Duffy Toler, a 62-year-old surveyor — testified he had known the land 25 years, personally surveyed and set the iron markers for the current petition, and had looked after the property for Currituck Holding Corporation for the past 15 years without any boundary disputes.
The Chain of Title
The abstract traces title back to 1798–1805 land grants and deeds — a genealogist’s goldmine — including:
- Grant No. 553 to Elisha Morris (1798, Book 1, p. 99)
- Deeds from Redding Blount, Levi Nelson, John Laughinghouse, Noah Spears, Winnie Hill, Harmon Hill (with Winifred/Winnie Hill as administratrix), James E. Shepard, Jane Edwards, John Holmes (with his 1836-era will), Joshua Tayloe, and the McRoy family heirs (Mary, Miles, George, William M. McRoy)
- Consolidation into P. A. Nicholson, then to B. G. Moss (1905–1906)
- From Moss through Henry N. Blount → S. C. Bragaw (trustee) → Herbert Realty Corporation → George T. Drumwright (trustee) → W. B. Rodman, Jr. (substitute trustee), culminating in a 1936 foreclosure deed conveying the land to Currituck Holding Corporation, a Virginia corporation
- Noted along the way: a prior related lawsuit, P. A. Nicholson and others v. Currituck Holding Corporation (judgment Sept. 7, 1938)
The Outcome
Notice was published in the Washington Daily News (affidavit by managing editor C. McK. Thompson). With no exceptions filed to the Examiner’s report, Judge John J. Burney approved the decree on January 12, 1943, and Clerk of Court N. Henry Moore registered it January 13, 1943 — confirming Currituck Holding Corporation as fee-simple owner of both tracts.
I’m attaching the first page from the trial below and then a link to a folder with the rest of the pages below that.
