State

Thu recent front »ie- of 8ueklood iho»» the vapidly deteriorating itate of the porch. Wo»» to preserve ond restore the structure ore now being planned, ond inclusion in the Nationol Register of Historic Ploccs is under consideration. (N.C. Div of Archives ond History photo) 23 Chorlie ond Ida Smith, descendants of 8ucklond slaves, later tersonts ond owners of the property, ore shown in this shot of the reor of the house, token in the eorly 1 94a s. The outbuilding is no longer standing Note the orm for drawing woter, sweep wells were a common sight in eostern North Corolmo eorlier in this century, but they hove practically vanished from the scene (photo courtesy Historic Amencon Buildings Survey) Buckland Update By Michael Hill. N.C. Dep’t. of Cultural Resources, for THE STATE Magazine This article is of special inter¬ est to State readers because it straightens out an erroneous story • which was first printed in this magazine some 4b years ago. then pai tly restated three months ago. In .he March. 1984. edition, answering a query from Thomas F. Baker, of Houston. Texas, (a descendant of Buckland' s early owners) we repeated statements from the 1938 article. Among errors in the original article ("Buckland" by Harry Z. Tucker. State. 10 Sept. 1938 ) were (!) that Buckland. built in 1650. was North Carolina’s old¬ est standing structure, and (2) that Buckland was the ancestral home of the distinguished Har¬ vey family. specifically two colo¬ nial governors. Fortunately, we learned of Michael Hill's recent Buckland study, then in progress, and were able to insert a brief correction in the March edition. We promised a more complete story, and here it is, based on Hill's research and nomination report to the Na¬ tional Register of Historic Places. It is an interesting arti¬ cle. — Fxl. For seventy years Buckland was the central focus of one of Gates County's largest plantations. William Baker, its owner and builder, commanded an estate of over 3.000 acres and 100 THE STATE. JUNE 1984 slaves at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Yet. through a twist of fate, the house has been owned for most of the twentieth century by the descendants of slaves who worked the Buckland property. The present house was built in 1795. A brick on the north rear chimney bears that date. Yet the place has been known as Buckland even longer. The plantation apparently dates from the early 1700s shortly after the Bakers first immigrated to America. The name they chose for the estate had English origins, taken from Buckland parish in Kent near Dover. The area was at that time part of Nansemond County. Virginia. Only with William Byrd's resurvey in 1729 did Buckland come to lie within North Carolina, first as part of Chowan County and later as part of Hertford County. It was not until 1778 that the bill to create Gates County was introduced in the House of Commons. William Baker was a sponsor of the legislation. Bakers of each generation had been active in government, both in Virginia and North Carolina. Like his father Henry and brother Lawrence. William Baker divided his energies between politics and planting. In 1788 he represented Gates in the constitutional convention at Hills¬ borough. This, however, was the cap¬ per to his political career. His latci Prumiment in Politics years were devoted entirely to farm¬ ing. In 1787 William Baker owned only thirteen slaves: by 1805 that number had increased to 108. In fact he and his brother Lawrence had far more slaves than anyone else in the county Each of them had over 3.000 acres while the average farmer owned only 100-200 acres. William Baker died in 1805. leaving his property to his wife and son. Yet both Judith and Richard Baker died in 1811. The estate then passed to his daughters Ann and Margaret. William Harvey, who married Ann Baker in 1808. was the next master of Buckland. Harvey died in 1827; his wife sold the house some years later. The Plantation Reduced By the 1840s the plantation was con¬ siderably reduced in size. Samuel Smith, the next owner, listed only 122 acres for tax purposes. Smith was pri¬ marily a farmer though one of less means than William Baker. For ex¬ ample in 1850 he owned only two adult slaves. Yet Smith kept his full acreage in cultivation, mostly in corn and oats, through to his death in 1886. He also operated a general store in the nearby Buckland community in the 1870s and 1880s. Smith’s widow Sallie chose not to live at Buckland after his death. Their