Garrett White House

Infobox_nrhp | name =Garrett-White House
nrhp_type =


caption =
nearest_city= Colerain, North Carolina
lat_degrees = 36
lat_minutes = 12
lat_seconds = 44.95
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 76
long_minutes = 52
long_seconds = 58.11
long_direction = W
locmapin = North Carolina
area =
architect=
architecture= Early Republic, Other
added = June 28, 1982
governing_body = Private
refnum=82003425 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Garrett White House, sometimes referred to as the Garrett-White House, is a historic structure in Colerain, Bertie County, North Carolina. The house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as constructed in 1785, though some other sources give the date of construction as 1780.Nomination Paper, National Register of Historic Places, United States Department of the Interior, 1982. National Register: 82003425 (6/28/1982)]

Description and history

The Garrett White House is a late Georgian house, near the community of Trap in Bertie County, North Carolina, about six miles west of the Chowan River, shortly before it becomes the Albemarle Sound. The late-Georgian architecture is "relatively rare in Bertie County, where Federal and Greek Revival period buildings predominated." Built as a "hall and parlor" originally, it was remodelled less than twenty years later to the central hall plan it has today. The house retains all of its original woodwork and some of its plaster. The pier structure has been retained, so the massive sill timbering is easily viewed.

The house was built by Jesse Garrett, a farmer and slave owner.North Carolina Census, 1790] Much of the interior of the house is fabricated from first growth pine, and it is possible that the artisans who crafted the woodwork and panelling were from the enslaved community.

Jesse Garrett was born in 1725 on the east side of the Chowan River. He later moved to the west side, became a flourishing landowner and built a "manor house." [Wills of Bertie County. Bertie Co. Will Bk E pg 18. 13 Oct 1796. May Ct 1797] He farmed the acres around the community now known as Trap, and also owned a grist mill on Barbecue Swamp, about half a mile west of the present site of the house. In addition to the twenty slaves he owned, he also had a family of ten living in the house.

The Census and Court records affirm that for 200 years the house was lived in by only two families, the Garretts and the Whites. After Jacob Hill White bought the property in 1849 he gave one acre of his land to the trustees of the Church of Christ at Philadelphia, a small congregation in the community of Trap. The church was renamed the Mars Hill Baptist Church, and the surrounding community, now often referred to as Mars Hill, became a center of education, founding the Mars Hill High School. [See Historic Marker on Meadow Road, half a mile south of NC 42]

During the Civil War the house is identified as belonging to "Mrs. White." [Map from the Confederate Engineer Bureau in Richmond, Va. General J.F. Gilmer, Chief Engineer. "Presented to the Virginia Historical Society by his only daughter, Mrs. J.F. Minis, Sav [ana] h, Ga."] This could either be Jacob’s wife, or Elizabeth White, perhaps his mother, a wealthy woman listed as living in the household in 1850. She would have been 83 when the map which identifies the house was drawn. Elizabeth White is listed as having personal property – probably enslaved workers – valued at $9,000. [North Carolina Census, 1850]

After the death of the last White family occupant, the house was sold, but it was unoccupied until it was bought by Preservation North Carolina [Preservation North Carolina listings 1993-96] and resold under covenants to the present owners in 1996. A program of restoration was begun, which is largely complete. The original chimney pieces, which had previously been removed from the house without the consent of any of the owners, were recovered by Preservation North Carolina and have been reinstalled. One bay of the early 19th century porch/piazza has been rebuilt using the mortise and tenon joints uncovered during restoration. ["Bertie Ledger-Advance", Windsor, North Carolina. Local craftsmen familiar with traditional building practices were Jerry Castelloe and Horace Pugh.]

References

External links

* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NC/Bertie/state.html Garrett White House entry] at the National Register of Historic Places
* [http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/NCBERTIE/1999-05/0926971639 NCBERTIE-L Archives entry on Garrett White House, based on Eastern NC Archives information]