The Roach Family Papers are a collection of 359 items and 2 volumes, dated 1728 to 1901, kept in the East Carolina Manuscript Collection at J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University. The Roach family lived near Swift Creek in Craven County, North Carolina, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Charles Roach Sr., his wife Polly, and their sons Charles Jr., James, and David are at the center of the collection. Some of the family moved to Georgia and Indiana in the 1820s, and their letters home describe frontier life. The papers also include estate records for the Fornes, Summers, and Vincent families, for whom the Roaches served as administrators, along with land records, legal papers, slave deeds, financial records, and tax receipts.
This page lists every transcription from the collection on East Carolina Roots, arranged by the box and folder where the original is found. Each post includes images of the original pages.
Citation: Roach Family Papers (#346), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
ECU collection guide (finding aid) · Digitized Roach Family Papers at ECU Digital Collections
Box 1
Folder a: Correspondence, 1820–1897
Family letters, mostly about land and money, including letters from Georgia and Indiana in the 1820s, Civil War–era letters, and an 1866 letter about the war’s effects on Swift Creek.
- September 1, 1790 — Receipt from Wm. Hess to Charles Roach – New Bern, 1790
- October 1820 — Letter from James Hart to Alexander Henderson about Mr. Tolar’s pension – Fayetteville, 1820
- January 15, 1821 — Letter from Asa Fonville to Charles Roach Sr. about land – Shelbyville, 1821
- October 1, 1821 — Letter from W. B. Murphy to his aunt, Polly Roach – Fort Hawkins, Georgia, 1821
- July 1822 — David K. Roach sends a letter to his mother in Swift Creek from Fort Hawkins, Jones County, Georgia
- About April 1824 — Letter from Charles Roach of Laurens County, Georgia, to his uncle – about 1824
- December 1, 1824 — Letter from David K. Roach to his mother, Polly Roach – Macon, Georgia, 1824
- June 10, 1825 — Letter from David K. Roach to his mother, Polly Roach – Macon, Georgia, 1825
- July 19, 1825 — Letter from Turner Nelson to James Roach – 1825
- April 24, 1828 — Letter from James Roach to his brother David K. Roach – Craven County, 1828
- July 8, 1845 — Letter probably from James Roach to Bryan Adams about a land sale – July 8, 1845
- July 13, 1845 — Letter from Bryan Adams to James Roach – Craven County, July 13, 1845
- July 16, 1845 — Letter probably from James Roach to Bryan Adams – July 16, 1845
- July 20, 1845 — Letter from Bryan Adams to Mr. Roach – July 20, 1845
- February 8, 1852 — Letter from Hassel Nelson to James Roach – New Harmony, Indiana, 1852
- August 23, 1856 — Letter from Hannah Pearce to her brother James Roach – South Newport, Georgia, 1856
- June 24, 1861 — Letter from William B. Rodman about the enlistment of minors – Washington, N.C., June 24, 1861
- September 16, 1863 — Letter from W. C. Gardner to Miss Liddy – Camp of the 55th N.C. Regiment, 1863
- April 15, 1866 — Letter from Lydia A. Chapman to Bettie – Swift Creek, April 15, 1866
- June 1897 — Letter from Lovie Daniel to her cousin Sallie – Greenville, N.C., June 1897
- Undated — Unsigned letter to Mr. Nelson Sr. about the mill, with an account of beef sold
View the digitized correspondence at ECU
Folder b: Inventories, wills, and estates
Estate inventories, accounts of sales, and settlements for members of the Roach family, some listing slaves by name. Also estate records for John Summers and John Fornes, and undated wills of John Fornes and Dollie Vincent.
- March 8, 1783 — Inventory of the personal estate of David Roach, deceased – March 8, 1783
- March 3, 1788 — Administration bond of James Summers on the estate of John Summers – Beaufort County, 1788 (copy certified 1804)
- March 7, 1788 — Inventory of the estate of John Summers – Beaufort County, 1788 (copy certified 1804)
- March 8, 1788 — Inventory of part of the estate of John Summers – Beaufort County, March 8, 1788 (copy certified 1804)
- April 25, 1788 — Account of sales of the estate of John Summers – Beaufort County, April 25, 1788 (copy)
- March 2, 1821 — Inventory of the personal estate of Charles Roach Senr., deceased, returned by Polly Roach – 1821
- April 20, 1821 — Account of sales of the property of Charles Roach Senr., deceased, by Polly Roach, executrix – April 20, 1821
- April 12, 1823 — Account of the estate of Charles Roach, deceased, with Polly Roach, executrix (general settlement) – 1822–1823
- November 24, 1830 — Account of a sale of property sold by James Roach – November 24, 1830
- March 3, 1840 — Account of the sale of John Fornes’s property, and hire of his slaves – March 3, 1840
- March 12, 1840 — Account of Joseph Pollard against the estate of John Fornes, deceased – 1839–1840
- May 1840 — Craven County Court order allowing James Roach, administrator of John Fornes, to sell the perishable estate – May Term 1840
- January 4, 1841 — Account of D. Gaskins against John Fornes, with receipt from James Roach, special administrator – 1839–1841
- March 15, 1841 — Account of William Muckleroy against the estate of John Fornes for bringing home Abram, a slave – 1840–1841
- March 20, 1841 — Warrant and judgment, Jesse Fornes v. James Roach, special administrator of John Fornes – March 1841
- March 26, 1841 — Account of Jesse Fornes against the estate of John Fornes, deceased, proved March 26, 1841
- March 26, 1841 — Account and receipt of Jesse Fornes for brandy and a cow hide, estate of John Fornes, deceased – 1838–1841
- September 18, 1841 — Account of Bryan Gardner against the estate of John Fornes, deceased – 1839–1841
- December 6, 1841 — Warrant and judgment, Bryan Gardner v. James Roach, administrator of John Fornes – December 1841
- March 3, 1842 — Account of the hire of David, Dick, Major, Ginney and Rachel, slaves of the estate of John Fornes – March 3, 1842
- June 3, 1842 — Inventory of John Fornes’s property not sold and notes found after his death, with returns of sales and hire, certified June 3, 1842
- July 1, 1842 — Account of the sale of John Fornes’s perishable property by Jesse Fornes, executor – July 1842
- July 26, 1842 — Receipt of Jesse Fornes for his share of the estate of his father, John Fornes – July 26, 1842
- September 10, 1866 — Executor’s notice to the debtors and creditors of James Roach, deceased, by C. M. Roach, executor – Craven County, September 10, 1866
- 1868 — Two blank receipt forms for the heirs of James Roach for their shares of his perishable estate, from Charles M. Roach, executor – Craven County, 1868
- undated — Levy by James Anderson, constable, on the property of Moses Nelson, with a list of goods sold to James Roach – undated, about 1820s
- undated — Will of John Fornes of Craven County (first page only), naming his wife Charity, his children, and David, Dick, Ginney, Major and Rachal, his slaves – undated, before 1840
- undated — List of notes and accounts owed, probably by the estate of John Fornes – undated, about 1840
- undated — Will (last page) of Dollie Vincent, leaving her things to her sisters and nieces – undated, about 1866–1868
- undated — Division of the perishable property left to Sally Roach among her seven daughters – about 1868
View the digitized inventories, wills, and estates at ECU
Folder c: Land records, 1728–1886
About twenty-five deeds for Roach land near Swift Creek beginning in 1728, an 1857 deed for land from the John Gray Blount patent, and papers about James Roach’s 1857 land purchase in the Rappahannock, Virginia, gold region.
- January 21, 1756 [?] — Survey for Thomas Swafford, 165 acres on Swift Creek – Craven County, about 1756
- June 16, 1772 — Receipt from Thomas Haslen to Charles Roach for school land rent, with plat of the Swafford–Roach line – 1772
- June 24, 1778 — Deed from Thomas Swaffer to Charles Roach, 75 acres on Swift Creek – Craven County, 1778
- September 21, 1784 — Deed from Benjamin Hickman, his wife Kation and their son Jacob Hickman to Jacob Warren, 300 acres on Swift Creek – Craven County, 1784
- October 8, 1792 — Two land entries for Charles Roach, 100 acres each, near Thomas Haslen’s mill pond and between Lewis, Chapman, Charlton and John Gatlin’s lines – Craven County, 1792
- September 10, 1793 — Deed from Jarvis Fillingim and his wife Elizabeth to Charles Roach, Lot No. 218 in New Bern – Craven County, 1793
- May 29, 1794 — Survey for Charles Roach, 140 acres in Swift Creek Swamp, north side of Neuse River – Craven County, 1794
- January 18, 1804 — Warrant to survey 105 acres for Charles Roach Senior on the north side of Swift Creek – Craven County, 1804
- December 4, 1804 — Deed from George Charlton to David Averitt, 100 acres on the south side of Swift Creek – Craven County, 1804
- August 11, 1807 — Deed from Charles Roach to Arthur Butler, 20 acres on the south side of the run of Swift Creek – Craven County, 1807
- November 20, 1809 — North Carolina Treasury receipt to Charles Roach Sr. for 120 acres entered in Craven County – 1809
- August 14, 1812 — Deed from Charles Butler to Enoch Butler, 100 acres on the east side of Swift Creek – Craven County, 1812
- November 30, 1816 — Deed from Enoch Butler to Charles Roach, 100 acres on the east side of Swift Creek – Craven County, 1816
- January 27, 1818 — Sheriff’s deed from Thomas H. Daves, sheriff of Craven County, to Charles Roach Senior, 100 acres of George Ginn’s land descended to Jesse Ginn, sold for debt – 1818
- December 1822 — North Carolina Treasury receipt to Samuel Johnston Roach and James Madison Roach for 124 acres entered in Craven County – 1822
- January 22, 1831 — Deed from David K. Roach of Putnam County, Georgia, to James Roach, his interest in the lands willed to him by his father Charles Roach Senior on the north side of Swift Creek – Craven County, 1831
- April 20, 1833 — Deed from Samuel J. Roach to James Roach, about 100 acres on the north side of Big Swift Creek – Craven County, 1833
- December 28, 1835 — Deed from Frederick Johnson to Alford Sutton, 70 acres on the north side of Neuse River at the Bay Bush Glade – Craven County, 1835
- June 29, 1844 — Deed from Polly Wiggins to James Roach, her share of her father Arthur Butler’s land on the north side of Swift Creek – Craven County, 1844
- November 28, 1846 — Deed from William H. Schenck to Francis R. Vincent, a lot on Miry Branch and the road, with John Blackwell’s release – Craven County, 1846
- May 11, 1850 — Deed from Stephen Willis, administrator of Francis R. Vincent, to James Arthur, a lot on Miry Branch on the north side of Big Swift Creek, sold at public sale – Craven County, 1850
- February 14, 1851 — Deed from James G. Arthur to James Roach, a lot on Miry Branch and the road, sold out of the estate of Francis R. Vincent – Craven County, 1851
- October 26, 1857 — Deed from William A. Galloway and his wife Elizabeth Jane of Pitt County to James Roach, their undivided interest as heirs of Samuel J. Roach in land patented by John Gray Blount – 1857
- April 18, 1859 — North Carolina Treasury receipt to Berry Nelson for 81 acres entered in Craven County – 1859
- December 15, 1859 — Deed from James Roach to James L. S. Beckwith, four acres on Swift Creek at Murray (Miry) Branch – Craven County, 1859
- February 15, 1860 — Deed from John R. Roach of Pitt County to James Roach, his undivided interest as heir of Samuel J. Roach in land patented by John Gray Blount – 1860
- June 28, 1860 — Deed of trust from James L. S. Beckwith to Charles M. Roach, trustee for James Roach, four acres on the New Bern–Washington road at Swift Creek – Craven County, 1860 (unsigned)
- 1868 — Quitclaim deed (unsigned) from Charles M. Roach, William S. Roach and James Roach to the other heirs of James Roach deceased, 50 acres on Big Swift Creek – Craven County, 1868
- March 1868 — Quitclaim deed (unsigned) from Charles M. Roach, W. S. Roach and James Roach to the other heirs of James Roach deceased, 70 acres on the north side of Neuse River – Craven County, 1868
- January 9, 1873 — Release of dower from Evaline C. Beckwith of Duplin County, widow of Dr. James Beckwith, to Nathaniel Beckwith of Hyde County, the four-acre house and lot on Swift Creek – Craven County, 1873
- September 1, 1879 — Sheriff’s tax deed from Orlando Hubbs, sheriff of Craven County, to the State of North Carolina, 371 acres at Butler’s Ford in Township No. 1 listed to Charles Roach, sold for 1878 taxes – 1879
- November 2, 1881 — Sheriff’s tax deed from Orlando Hubbs, ex-sheriff of Craven County, to the County of Craven, 371 acres at Butler’s Ford in Township No. 1 listed to Charles Roach, sold for 1880 taxes – 1881
- May 21, 1883 — Sheriff’s deed from Mayer Hahn, sheriff of Craven County, to Joseph L. Hahn, 371 acres at Butler’s Ford in Township No. 1 listed to Charles Roach, sold by order of the county commissioners, with Hahn’s 1886 transfer – 1883
- undated — Courses and plat of 120 acres on a creek, labeled “Charlton Deed” – undated
- undated — Courses and plat of land on a creek, labeled “Walls Deed” – undated
- undated — Courses of the John Pain patent, 200 acres – undated
- undated — Courses of the land in the deed from Hardy Gatten [Gatlin?] to Jesse Ginn, 100 acres near George Nelson’s corner – Craven County, undated
- 1803, 1815 and undated — Miscellaneous land fragments: cut-out plat pieces, Tennessee land papers, tax receipts and boundary courses – 1803, 1815 and undated
- undated — Plat of Roach’s 50-acre White Marsh patent on Swift Creek, showing Payne’s patent line as surveyed and as Butler contends – undated
- undated — Survey notes and plat of Charles Roach’s land, with the courses of Hart’s line, undated
View the digitized land records at ECU
Folder d: Legal records, 1784–1901
Articles of agreement to hire a teacher (1823), an 1830 court order about road repair, an 1814 deposition about Henry Tison’s service in the North Carolina Continental Line, an 1864 certificate that Charles Roach was medically unfit for military duty, and notes of debt, powers of attorney, an agricultural lien, and court summonses.
- July 20, 1780 — Bond of Stephen Worsley to Ezekel Adams to make a deed for 100 acres on Palmetto Swamp – Craven County, 1780
- September 11, 1784 — Bond of Jacob Warren to Benjamin Hickman to make a deed for 150 acres at the head of Palmetto Swamp – Craven County, 1784
- May 19, 1806 — Bill of sale from Robert Godley to Charles Roach for household and kitchen furniture – 1806
- October 10, 1810 — Joel Walls’s oath about a line tree on the Ready Branch land, with questions by Roach and Chapman – Craven County, 1810
- March 9, 1813 — Clement Stubblefield’s receipt for Charles Roach Sr.’s power of attorney to obtain Thomas Fornes’s Tennessee land – Craven County, 1813
- January 7, 1814 — Deposition that Abner Tison is the only surviving son and heir of Revolutionary soldier Henry Tison, with notes on military land warrants – Pitt County, 1814
- June 5, 1817 — Warrant on Charles Roach Sr.’s complaint against Reuben Anderson for a debt of twenty pounds – Craven County, 1817
- July 20, 1823 — Swift Creek residents hire Turner Nelson as teacher of “Reading writing and Arithmetic” in 1823
- December 22, 1825 — Bill of sale from James Anderson to James Roach for household goods, hogs and a saddle – Craven County, 1825
- November 1830 — Craven County Court order to James Roach and Church Chapman, overseers of the Swift Creek road – 1830
- May–November 1840 — Four witness tickets from the John Fornes estate lawsuit, paid by James Roach as special administrator – Craven County, 1840
- April 30, 1855 — Bond of Joshua Ewell, Thomas Ewell and Peter Willis to David S. Roach on closing the Ewell and Roach store on Swift Creek – Craven County, 1855
- March 25, 1858 — Wilson McCullen’s bill in equity against the trustees of James W. Bright, copy served on James Roach – Craven County, 1858
- December 17, 1864 — Sick furlough for Private Charles M. Roach of Company I, 44th North Carolina Troops, near Petersburg, Virginia – 1864
- March 22, 1880 — Agricultural lien from C. M. Roach to G. W. Winters Jr. on his 1880 cotton crop – Pitt County, 1880
- January 13, 1883 — Chattel mortgage from C. M. Roach on a mule and three bales of cotton – Craven County, 1883
- July 27, 1901 — Chattel mortgage from E. F. Smith to John R. Bryan on a yoke of oxen and a cart – Craven County, 1901
- undated — Nathan Tisdale’s order to Charles Roach to deliver his spinning machine to Col. Latham – New Bern, undated
View the digitized legal records at ECU
Folder e: Slave deeds, 1825–1860
Seven deeds of purchase from Craven County that give the prices paid and personal details about the slaves named in them.
Transcriptions coming soon.
View the digitized slave deeds at ECU
Box 2
Folders a and b: Financial records
Receipts for newspaper subscriptions, tuition, provisions, medicines, and farm supplies, along with payments of claims and accounts due.
Transcriptions coming soon.
View Folder a at ECU · View Folder b at ECU
Folder c: Tax receipts, 1806–1866
Receipts for personal and property taxes in Craven County, including two United States Direct Tax certificates from 1865.
Transcriptions coming soon.
View the digitized tax receipts at ECU
Folder d: Miscellaneous
Advertisements, a census of William’s District in Craven County (about 1865) listing men, offices held, and occupations, three undated poems, an 1849 cipher book, and an undated notebook of Charles Roach.
Transcriptions coming soon.