Cultural Center
Christmas Ornaments
"Swamplawn Plantation"
Jones-Everett Home, 1851
Oak City, North Carolina
The Friends of the Old
Martin County Courthouse presents Swamplawn Plantation for its 2017
ornament.
Built ca. 1851 as evidenced from a date once visible on an upper
cornice, Swamplawn marked the center of a thriving 3,000 acre
plantation owned by Thomas Jones and wife Temperance Williams. One
of Martin County’s wealthiest individuals prior to the Civil War,
Jones employed noted NC builder, Albert Gamaliel Jones (no Known
relation) to build his spacious Greek Revival style residence locate
not far from present day Oak City in the Palmyra Community and along
the highway more familiarly called “The River Road” or NC Highway
903 just south of the Martin-Halifax County line.
As contractor, Albert Gamaliel Jones enjoyed a distinguished career
building not only fine homes but a number of the areas renowned
public buildings, including the main buildings for Chowan College
and Wesleyan Female College (no longer standing) in Murfreesboro and
main building for Louisburg College in Franklin County. Noteworthy
of his activity in Williamston is the former Cushing Biggs Hassell
House (1847-48) on Church Street and the now demolished Williamston
Female Institute (1851-52).
In 1880, then owner, William Pitt Jones, son of Thomas moved to
Hamilton, N.C. and sold Swamplawn to brothers W.H. and Justice
Everett. In 1892, a property swap occurred between the brothers,
Justus trading his wife’s inheritance in Purvis family land near
Spring Green Church for W.H.’s share in the Jones land. Thereby
leaving Justus and Margaret Purvis Everett as sole owners at the
same time they were living on Front Street in Hamilton.
In the swap, Justus Everett received a 600 acre farm and a house
that was in poor repair. According to his daughter Margaret B.
Everett, the residence was the only building standing, when earlier
there had been a number of other original outbuildings. Additions
and improvements increased the farm’s size to 1,000 acres by 1950
when Justus’s eight heirs divided the estate equally among
themselves. Blanche Everett Harrison was the last family member to
line in the house. Justus Everett died in 1913, his funeral
conducted in the Spring Green Primitive Baptist Church.
The Everett children were well educated. Four brothers being
remarkable in that they all served concurrently in the North
Carolina Legislature between 1921 and 1943. Simon Justus represented
Pitt Count (NC Senate – 1923, 1925). Rueben Oscar represented Durham
County (NC House – 1921, 1925, 1927, 1933), James Alphonso, Sr.,
represented Martin County (NC House – 1927, 1929) and Benjamin Bryan
represented Halifax (NC House – 1939, 1941, 1943). Interesting also,
Alphonso’s son, James Alphonso, Jr., represented Martin County in
the NC General Assemblies of 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1973-77. Swamplawn
and the four brothers were the subject of a WRAL relevision segment
“Tar Heel Traveler” in 2010.
Swamplawn’s house, commissary, overseer’s house and a surrounding
five acre lot were sold through Preservation North Carolina and out
of the Everett family ownership in the early 2000s. In 2011, a
great-great grandson of Justus Everett, Simon Turner Everett
purchased the same from PNC for restoration. With his untimely death
in 2014, the property currently remains with his heirs.
Ornaments are on sale from November 1 to
December 31
Call 252-792-5243 Today!