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Offered here is an original handwritten North Carolina land deed dated March 2, 1840, documenting the sale of approximately 50 acres in Hyde County from Tilson G. Credle to William H. Howard of Carteret County.
Howard paid $750 for the property, a substantial sum at the time. The tract was situated at or near Swan Quarter, which had only recently become the permanent county seat of Hyde County and was entering an important period of civic and economic development.
The deed references land associated with earlier Francis Credle and John Sadler patents and identifies the property as land that had fallen to Samuel C. Credle following the death of his father. Its detailed boundary description names neighboring Credle, Howard, and Jarvis family properties, making the document especially useful for genealogical and local land-history research.
Swan Quarter in 1840
This deed was executed at a formative moment in Swan Quarter’s history.
The settlement received a post office in 1830 under the name Swindell and was officially renamed Swan Quarter in 1839, only about a year before this conveyance. Hyde County had selected Swan Quarter as its county seat in 1836, replacing an older and less conveniently situated center of government.
During the late 1830s and 1840s, county officials acquired land and developed permanent civic facilities, including a courthouse and jail. The town therefore entered the 1840s as Hyde County’s growing legal and administrative center.
Swan Quarter’s location at the head of Swan Quarter Bay also connected the surrounding agricultural district with Pamlico Sound. Farming, timber, coastal shipping, fishing, and maritime trade shaped the local economy. Land deeds from this period document the transition of Swan Quarter from a rural settlement into the governmental hub of a large coastal county.
The regional importance of Swan Quarter increased further in 1845, when Ocracoke Island was transferred from Carteret County to Hyde County. This deed is particularly interesting because the purchaser, William H. Howard, was himself identified as a resident of Carteret County, illustrating the close family, commercial, and property connections between the two coastal counties.
Property Description
The deed conveys approximately 50 acres, more or less, located in Hyde County on or near Swan Quarter. The tract was connected with the earlier Francis Credle and John Sadler patent lands.
The boundary begins at a ditch bank at Benjamin F. Credle’s corner and continues:
North 15 degrees east with the ditch to Nathaniel Credle’s line
With Nathaniel Credle’s line to Martin Howard’s property
With Martin Howard’s line to Charles E. Jarvis’s property
With that line to Tilson G. Credle’s land
Along the division line between Benjamin F. Credle and Tilson G. Credle
Back to the place of beginning
The deed states that the tract was land that had descended to Samuel C. Credle after the death of his father.
People Named in the Deed
Tilson G. Credle, seller
Tilson G. Credle was a member of the long-established Credle family of Hyde County, especially associated with Swan Quarter and the Rose Bay area. Members of the family appear throughout local deeds, census records, estate papers, cemetery records, and other county sources as farmers, heirs, and landowners.
Tilson does not appear to have held major political office or achieved wider public fame. His historical importance comes from his place within one of Hyde County’s deeply rooted landholding families and from documents such as this one that preserve the movement of property between generations.
A later family member, George Tilson Credle (1858–1930), appears in regional genealogical records, although he should not be confused with the man who executed this 1840 deed.
William H. Howard, purchaser
William H. Howard was identified as a resident of Carteret County, North Carolina. The Howard family had multi-generational roots throughout coastal North Carolina, including Carteret County, Ocracoke Island, and nearby mainland communities.
This particular William H. Howard appears to have been a private landowner rather than a major political or military figure. His purchase of 50 acres for $750 nevertheless indicates a meaningful real-estate transaction and demonstrates the close connections between Carteret and Hyde County residents before Ocracoke became part of Hyde County in 1845.
Samuel C. Credle
Samuel C. Credle is named as the earlier heir to the property. The deed states that the land had fallen to him following the death of his father. This inheritance language gives the document added genealogical significance because it helps trace property succession within the Credle family.
Benjamin F. Credle
Benjamin F. Credle, abbreviated in the document as “Benja. F. Credle,” owned land adjoining the tract. His corner serves as the starting point of the property description. He was likely a relative of Tilson and Samuel Credle, although the precise relationship is not stated in the deed.
Nathaniel Credle
Nathaniel Credle is also named as an adjoining landowner. His inclusion further demonstrates the concentration of Credle family property around Swan Quarter and may help researchers reconstruct the family’s neighboring farms and inherited parcels.
Martin Howard
Martin Howard owned another adjoining tract. He may have been related to William H. Howard, but the document does not establish the exact connection. His appearance in the metes-and-bounds description adds useful evidence for research into the Howard family’s presence in the region.
Charles E. Jarvis
Charles E. Jarvis is named as a neighboring property owner. The Jarvis family was another established eastern North Carolina family. His land formed one side of the conveyed tract and helps identify the property within the surrounding 1840 landscape.
Daniel Credle
Daniel Credle served as a witness to Tilson G. Credle’s execution of the deed. He was likely a relative or close family associate, although the document does not specify the relationship.
A second attesting witness is present, but the name is only partially legible and should not be identified with certainty from the available images.
Green Bridgman, Register of Deeds
Green Bridgman was the Hyde County official who formally registered the conveyance on July 18, 1840, apparently in Deed Book Z, page 104.
Although he was not a nationally prominent figure, Bridgman is remembered in local historical material for his skilled handwriting. A diary associated with him from around 1850 has reportedly been preserved in Hyde County historical collections. His bold registration notation and signature add further local and administrative interest to the document.
Legal and Recording Details
Date: March 2, 1840
Location: Hyde County, North Carolina
Grantor: Tilson G. Credle
Grantee: William H. Howard of Carteret County
Purchase price: $750
Acreage: Approximately 50 acres
Location of property: Swan Quarter area
Earlier patent references: Francis Credle and John Sadler
Signed and sealed: Tilson G. Credle
Witness: Daniel Credle and one partially legible witness
Acknowledged: Hyde County Court, May Term 1840
Registered: July 18, 1840
Recording reference: Apparently Book Z, page 104
Register: Green Bridgman
Exterior endorsement: “Deed Tilson G. Credle to Wm. H. Howard”
Historical Importance
The document is significant not because it involves a nationally famous person, but because it captures an important moment in the development of Swan Quarter and Hyde County.
It preserves evidence of:
Antebellum coastal North Carolina land ownership
The Credle family’s extensive presence near Swan Quarter
Connections between Hyde and Carteret County families
Property descended through inheritance
Earlier North Carolina patent lands
The emergence of Swan Quarter as Hyde County’s county seat
The agricultural and maritime economy surrounding Pamlico Sound
Original nineteenth-century court and deed-registration practices
Hyde County land records survive from the colonial period onward, and this original deed provides a tangible, nearly two-century-old link to those archival records.
Condition
The deed shows expected evidence of age and use, including toning, staining, foxing, fold lines, edge wear, small losses and separations near some folds, and general handling wear. The manuscript remains substantially legible, and the original signature, seal, witness lines, court acknowledgment, registration notation, and exterior docket are present.
Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
An excellent original document for collectors and researchers interested in North Carolina history, Hyde County, Swan Quarter, Carteret County, Ocracoke, the Credle and Howard families, genealogy, early land patents, antebellum agriculture, coastal history, and nineteenth-century legal manuscripts.
