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OROONDATES DAVIS ALSTON PLANTATION

 Chatham County, North Carolina

Oroondates Davis Alston, born February 8, 1780, died May 15, 1851 in Chatham County, was the son of William Alston (ca 1748-1789) and Sarah Ann Yeargan (1752-1786). William was the son of Joseph John Alston (ca 1702-1781) and his 1st wife, Elizabeth Chancey (ca 1702-1749). Joseph John's father was the patriarch of the ALSTONs in North Carolina, John Alston (1677-1758) whose wife was Mary Baker (1684-1765), daughter of Henry Baker Sr. of Isle of Wight, VA. The ALSTON Family was a very large and well-known family which had many branches throughout the northern Piedmont counties of North Carolina, particularly in Halifax and Warren, having originally spread out from Chowan County after first arriving there in the early 18th Century.
Oroondates, or Oron D. as some have also called him, inherited his father's plantation, described as being on Sellers Creek in his father's 1789 will, and a slave boy named Will. He and his siblings also were to receive the remainder of his Slaves and property, as they each reached their ages of majority. Oroondates oldest brother, John Joseph Alston (1775-1816) died fairly young, leaving a widow and three young children, one of which was Nathaniel J. Alston. Oroon became his guardian.  Oroondates D. Alston was married to Miriam P. McDonald (May 3, 1787-Sept. 23, 1855), to whom he left his entire estate during her lifetime, and which was to go to his 4 nephews after her death. He also left his wife 10 Slaves of her own, to do with as she wished, since the couple did not have any children. Miriam died 4 years later, and in her will which was probated in Randolph County, she made provisions for her Executor to remove the Slaves she had been given to a free State, where they would then be emancipated. Her executor followed through with her wishes, and her estate file contains many receipts and accountings for distribution of the funds to both those who helped as well as money given to the men, women and children who were emancipated. Extensive research done many years ago by genealogists Sue Ashby & Sharon Lytle shows that these families all were moved to Delaware County, Ohio, of which you can read more about at the links at the bottom of this page.
Both Oroondates D. Alston and his wife, Miriam P. McDonald, are buried on what is called the Oroon Alston Cemetery in Matthews Township, as listed on Cemetery Census, which indicates that this was the land which his nephews had inherited from Alston as he had bequeathed them in his will, and passed down through several different owners. The original house burned down in 1954. The Cemetery listing includes several images of the site as well as close ups of the burial place of the couple. See link at bottom "Miscellaneous" on this page.

In the 1789 will of William Alston, he bequeathed to his son, Oroondates, a slave boy named WILL, the son of RACHEL. It also further states that each of his children were to receive a share of the Slaves when they reached the ages of majority. 

Oroondates D. Alston gave 10 Slaves to his wife in his will:

ABNER, DEMPSEY, FIELDS, WESTLEY, JOHN, ADALINE & her four children viz DANIEL, ANDREW, SOPHIA & RHODDA.

See Will of Oran D. Alston-1851

List of Names in the August Term 1851 Inventory of Oroon D. Alston:

WILL
PETER
WESLEY
REUBEN
ANDY
FIELDS
BEN
JOHN
DEMPSEY
ALLEN

ABNER
PETER
DOCK
CHARLOTTE
VINY
ELIZA
JULIA
PHEBE
AGGY
LARY

PEGGY
ESTHER
POLLY
CLARA
DILSEY
SARAH
NANCY
SHEBA
RHODY
POLLY

LETTY
MALINDA
ADELINE
SUSAN
MARTHA
CHARLOTTE
PRISCILLA
CHANEY
SILVIA
SOPHIA

Names and ages of Slaves belonging to the Estate of OROON D. ALSTON dec'd at the time of his decease:

Total:

81 Names

 
W. A. RIVES }
O. A. PALMER} Exrs.

State of North Carolina, Chatham County
In pursuance of an order of the County Court of Chatham appointing the undersigned as Commrs. to divide the Slaves belonging to the estate of O. D. ALSTON Esqr dec'd; after being duly sworn we have assigned over & allotted to M.P. ALSTON widow of the dec'd one third of said Slaves as her share- viz:
ANDY & his wife SARAH valued at - $900
BEN & his wife & four children viz, DANIEL, ANDY, SOPHIA & RHODY - 2037
VINA - 100
PEGGY & her children, viz, ORAN, JOHN, JUDY - 950
PETER (miner) - 450
WESLEY - 750
DANIEL - 675
FIELDS - 700
ABNER - 200
NARY - 500
ANTHONY - 600
PRISSY - 500
AGGY - 300
SUSAN - 400
Total: $9062

See Will of Miriam P. Alston with the list of people who were transported to Ohio and who received the money distributed to them from her will.

Transcribed and additional research  by Deloris Williams

See the original research of Sue Ashby & Sharon Lytle for their wonderful work in identifying these families in North Carolina and what happened to them after they arrived in Ohio.

The Slaves of Oroondates Davis Alston
The Alston Freed Slaves