Isaac, Peter, & Harry

David Vance Sr. willed Isaac, Peter, and Harry to his son, Robert Brank Vance, in 1813.  The three young men probably lived in Asheville with Robert in the 1820s but were hired out to the Pattons when Robert died in 1827.  In his will, Robert states,

“My boys, Isaac, Peter, & Harry, have been faithful fellows to me, and I have only to regret, that I cannot consistently with their own and the interests of the County, place them in a better condition. As I presume they would prefer living with W. Patton, to whom they are now hired, it is my will that they be sold to him, if he wishes to purchase them, for a sum not less than seventeen hundred dollars, [$51,000 today] — if he should not, it is my desire that they be sold to the highest bidder on such Credit as my executors may think proper – The annual interest arising from the bond offered for them to be placed at the discretion [sic] of my mother.”

An 1828 deed lists the sale of Isaac, Peter, and Harry to James Patton.  While we have not found any records for Isaac or Harry after this sale, Peter is listed in the Freedmen’s Bureau Cohabitation Records for Asheville.  He and his wife, Harriet, recorded their 40-year marriage on August 30, 1866.  While we have not discovered when Peter passed away, the 1880 Asheville census lists a widowed Harriette Vance who is living with several grandchildren.