Hello and welcome back to the Hogue Connection! This blog post involves a discussion of Hogue families in Cleveland County, North Carolina between 1830 and 1930. Like my family, the origins of these Hogues before that time is unclear. Right now, evidence points to them descending from the William Hoge and Barbara Hume line, my maternal side, that I discussed in a previous post here.
Arthette Stafford Walker contacted me back in July. She asked if we had any connection to the Hogues in Cleveland County, NC, near the town of Shelby, Township #3. She was trying to locate the Bill Hogue farm, hoping to pin down the home place of her ancestors, based on family lore. I started to do a little research in the area and became fascinated with the story. I had never dealt with the things I discovered before and was wanting to get a clear picture of it.
A Little About Cleveland County…
In 1841, Lincoln and Rutherford Counties were split to form Cleveland County. Old Rutherford county included Shelby and Township #3. Oddly enough, Rutherford County in on the southern border on North Carolina, located in between Burke County (where our Hogues lived around the same time) and York County, South Carolina. York is also part of our family story, if you recall.
Cleveland County is part of the South Mountains, a sub range of the Blueridge Mountains. The terrain is very hilly there, even mountainous in some areas. Today, the population is right around 100,000, with Shelby being the county seat. Township #3, at one point known as the Rippy Township, borders Shelby to the south. For more on its history, you can follow this link.
Let’s Look at Original Settlers David and Jane Hogue…
Existing family trees indicate that David Hogue was born in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1788. I’m not sure exactly when David moved to Rutherford County. I think he married his wife, Elizabeth Jane Mauney (some families think her maiden name was Mooney; there are both surnames in the county) there around 1820. The 1830 census shows them in a household with four children, three sons, and a daughter. The David Hogue family accumulated a great deal of land in the area, probably 500 acres or more. That’s just a guess based on the will of their second oldest son. I can’t find any online land records that mention David.
Jane Hogue was a founding member of the Zoar Baptist Church, which originated in 1837. You’ll find this family of successful farmers listed on the 1840 census under Jesse Hogue. Perhaps David was not at home at the time. The numbers on the count matched the 1830 census. Remember, back then, we only had hash marks indicating number of males and females in certain age brackets. The names of the people in the household were added in 1850.
David died 31 May 1849 and is laid to rest in the Zoar Baptist Church Cemetery. It appears Jane started piecing out parcels of land to her children after his death. Perhaps that was in process before he died; I haven’t been able to find a copy of his will. Regardless, all of the Hogue children owned land and lived near Jane in Township #3, Cleveland County. In 1860, the value of her land was $900.
Details on the Hogue Children…
Oldest son, Stephen M. Hogue was born 25 Nov 1821 in the same township. In 1845, he married Judith Burge. They had seven children. Judith gave birth to twins in 1860, one died shortly after and the other, Eleanor, died at age 4. Daughter Victoria died in 1888, Stephen in 1894, and Judith in 1909, all laid to rest in the Zoar Cemetery. The value of Stephen’s real estate in 1860 was $9450.
Jesse Hogue (born Albert Jesse) was born 1 Nov 1823 in the same county. He married Dulcenia Ellis in 1846. The Ellis family was another prominent one in the area. Together, they raised eight children in Cleveland County. One of them, Bill Hogue, born 29 Jul 1862, eventually owned his own farm. More on him later. The value of Jesse’s real estate in 1860 was $3000.
On 1 Oct 1825, Jacob Hogue was born in Rutherford County. Jacob married Jane Borders in 1854. They had ten children between 1856 and 1873. Jacob died in 1884, and Jane in 1897. Jacob, Jane, and two of their sons are buried in the Zoar Baptist Cemetery. His real estate valuation in 1860 was also $3000.
David and Jane’s youngest child, Rebecca, was born 4 Aug 1827. She married William G. Patterson in 1846. An article in “The Heritage of Cleveland County” (go here) mentioned that William bought the Hogue farm in 1849. Actually, I think his wife inherited the land when her father died. Seven children were born to this union. The value of the Patterson’s real estate in 1860 was $5000.
There were many Hogue descendants in Cleveland County, circa 1860. Jane lived near her four children and 31 grandchildren. Their combined total land valuation came to $21,350. In today’s money, that land would be worth $763,476.
Let’s Talk About Slavery in Cleveland County…
There were 331,059 enslaved people in North Carolina in 1860. In 19 counties the population of enslaved people was more that the population of free whites. We talk about land valuations on the 1860 census, but there was also a column for personal property. The enslaved were considered to be personal property. The “value” of them were included in that total. For instance, Jane Hogue’s personal estate was valued at $6839. Why? Because in 1860, Jane Hogue enslaved 10 people. Remember that Jane had distributed most of her land to her children after the death of David, but she held on to her enslaved people.
In 1860, there were about 2100 enslaved people in Cleveland County, or 17.4% of the entire population. The four Hogue families had 52 of them on their farms. This number was growing, too, because in 1850, they enslaved only 22 people. Why is this important? Because Arthette, who contacted me about the Hogues of Cleveland County, is African American and wants to pin down her heritage the best she can. I became fascinated by it because I went through the 1860 census and then the 1870 census in the same sitting. The difference? There were a lot more Hogue families in the 1870 census, including many with a “B”, for Black, in the race column.
Enslaved people were counted separately from their enslavers in the 1850 and 1860 censuses. They were only tallied according to their age and gender, listed under the name of the head of household. When President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January 1863, the legal status of nearly 4 million African Americans changed from enslaved to free. In the 1870 census, Cleveland County, Township #3, there were three new families of Black Hogues, all living near their former enslavers.
I Need To Split This One…
…into more parts! In Part 2, we’ll look at the families of the newly emancipated African American Hogues of Cleveland County, NC. Thanks for reading my blog and check back soon for more of this ongoing story. You can return to the Home page here.