More about this chapter

This chapter was not meant to be a treatise on these families. However, a brief glimpse was taken at some of the families who had an early impact on the area just west of Muddy Creek and on the east side of the Yadkin River – specifically where the modern-day Brookberry Farm is located in Winston-Salem, NC.

The following details are excerpts from the chapter, but many details and maps are not shown here. 

Brothers Gordon Gray and Bowman Gray Jr. bought between 800-900 acres of land in western Forsyth Co, NC during the mid-1900’s. They acquired this land over numerous transactions involving several families. They Gray farm would become known as Brookberry Farm, located today in western Winston-Salem, NC.

Some of the families from whom the Grays bought the land were:

• Felix & Ethel Webster (includes Gray Manor house, part of Robert C Conrad estate, and formerly part of the Edwin C Dull place)
• C H & Ina McCants (Robert C Conrad estate – SW corner)
• McKnights – Old Beck Place
• George W & Emma C Hartley (Robert C Conrad estate – NE corner)
• Edward Vogler
• Clarence & Susie Wright Reid (Meadowlark Schools and open fields, formerly Edna Beauchamp, formerly Alexander Hege – originally part of Wachovia)
• B F & Inez B Tise
• Vance E & Cora Lee Conrad
• E V & Lillie C Peacock
• Harry & Mae Shoaf
• L W Ketner
• Harvey L & Ardis Conrad Brandon (part of Robert C Conrad estate)
• Harold J & Edna Bingham
• Mina P Fleshman

This farm is situated along Meadowlark Road, which used to be known as Vance Conrad Rd in the mid-1900’s. This road currently runs from Country Club Rd to Robinhood Rd.

Who owned this land originally? This chapter dives into the history of the original white settlers / owners of the land in this area which was on the western edge of the old Wachovia Tract owned by the Moravian Church. The first speculators began coming into this area in 1748, and included men like Samuel Stewart, Joseph Harrison, David Stewart, and Samuel Stewart Jr. Stewarts Creek runs through the heart of Brookberry Farm, but appears to have began on Stewart land just to the NW of the Brookberry Farm boundaries.

Original owners of all or portions of Brookberry Farm beginning the in the 1700’s were as follows:

• Wachovia (Moravians) – later the Reid Tract
• Claud Nisbet – later confiscated during the Regulator Wars during the early 1770’s. Much of the land in the heart of the farm was originally owned by Nisbet. Later owners include Felix Webster, Edwin Dull and others.
• Henry Cossart – later Abraham and Benjamin Leinbach
• Jacob Miller
• Henry Holder – later Wendle Krause
• James Gordon – later Jacob Lash (Loesch)
• John Hauser – later Matthew Brooks, Samuel Vest, and Christian Hauser. Later, Matthew Brooks’ daughter Aggee Brooks married Nathaniel Lash. Both of them are buried in the cemetery located on Brookberry Farm.
• Davis Nash Reynolds – also buried in the cemetery on the farm. Reynolds was the grandfather of L.A. Reynolds.
• Robert C. Conrad

Many of the early owners were wealthy speculators, some of whom never set foot on American soil, such as Nisbet.

Much of the land granted prior to the Revolutionary War was confiscated during the 1770’s during the Regulator War. There were several riots and marches during those years protesting the way the lands were being handled by the land agents. Samuel Stewart Sr. died in 1768 and some of his land near Brookberry was in dispute. His son Joseph Stewart was named in some of the Moravian records as being involved in a march against the land agents, including Jacob Lash. It is possible that Stewarts Creek or Branch was named for Samuel Stewart Sr and the land in question was taken over by Jacob Lash as shown on some of the previous maps – just to the north of Claud Nisbet’s tracts.

Most of these land owners in the early decades did not necessarily live on the land that became Brookberry. The land was acquired for farming purposes, and most of these early land owners held other lands around Wachovia and in other counties as well. By the late 1700’s and through the 1800’s, most of the owners did begin to live on the property.

These tracts of land made up the bulk of what became Brookberry Farm. Purchases by the Grays from these persons occurred between 1946 and 1956. The land owned by Edwin C Dull included 204.75 acres when he acquired it in 1866 from John Dull. At that time, the land was described as on the “waters of Stewarts Creek”. John Dull had acquired this land a decade earlier in 1856 from John Lashmit and Leonard Ketner – same size and same description.

The same tract of 200+ acres was sold in 1802 from Matthew Brooks to Nathaniel Lash. At that time, it was described as on “Stewarts Branch” and it included the section of land containing the manor house and the cemetery. This same tract was part of the 600-acre tract originally granted by the state of NC to John Hauser. This 200-acre portion was sold to Matthew Brooks in 1799 by Michael Hauser and Jacob Miller as being part of the estate of John Hauser.

An entire book could be written on the rich history of this part of Forsyth County that includes Brookberry Farm. I have only skimmed the surface of some of the people and events that have helped shape the history of this area.

In summary, tracing the history of Brookberry Farm through the centuries is a difficult thing to do. However, it is actually easier than it could have been, due to the fact that its proximity to the Moravians’ old Wachovia Tract allowed for great documentation in a period (1700’s) when documentation was not always a priority. Furthermore, the Moravians have done a tremendous job of preserving their records, also to our benefit.

This also allowed me to find records on my distant relatives that normally would have long ago been destroyed. The Harrisons and Stewarts were all distant cousins and, in some cases, aunts and uncles of mine. Samuel Stewart Sr was married to Lydia Harrison. They were originally from Long Island, NY, then were in Sussex County, DE near Milton from 1721 to about 1740, then Augusta County, VA near Harrisonburg until 1748 and a few years later. Between 1748 and 1753 the Samuel Stewart clan, plus some of their nephews – Joseph and Isaiah Harrison, sons of Joseph Harrison who died in 1748 in Augusta County VA – moved to the Yadkin Valley area of NC, settling along Stewarts Creek and the banks of the Yadkin River. And, while the closest the Stewarts appear to have lived to what became Brookberry Farm was the headwaters of Stewarts Creek to the north and NW of Brookberry, it certainly led me on a journey to learn more about all of the original settlers between Muddy Creek and the Yadkin River – in essence, western Forsyth County.

Brookberry Farm has been “prime land” for almost three centuries – perhaps longer. While there has been a lot of development up and down Meadowlark Rd in recent decades, including Brookberry Farm, it is still “in the country”. It is still normal to see deer and turkeys – and from time to time even coyotes – in the fields as you drive through the area.

It has been a pleasure to go on this journey with Debbie McCann as she was writing this book. It was a pleasure to meet the late Bo Gray years ago as he took Debbie and me (and others) on a tour of the property. It was sad to learn of Bo’s passing in 2024. Bo was Bowman Gray IV.

My desire is that the residents of Brookberry Farm will appreciate the rich history that is part of Brookberry Farm.

Wes Patterson