Tragedies and Troubles
Every family has them.
Disaster Comes in Three's
On July 13, 1854 Emma Eliza Hussey dictated her Last Will and Testament to John H. Mathewon and instructed that her property in trust be divided among her surviving children.
Four days later on July 17, 1854 her 13 month old daughter Emeliza died.
Less than two weeks later on August 2, 1854, Emma Eliza gave birth to her last child and died shortly thereafter on August 7, 1854.
Her infant died two days later on August 9, 1854.
White Collar Crime in Tarboro
In June 1911 Elliot Braxton Hussey was accused of embezzlement from the Bank of Tarboro where he worked as the Assistant Cashier. He and his accomplice, cashier L.V. Hart, confessed to stealing $12,500 over a 7 year period. Subsequently L.V. Hart took his own life.
The Bank of Tarboro was opened in 1895. At the time of the incident the bank was capitalized at $25,000 per their charter and had approximately $20,000 in surplus cash. Their deposits totaled $174,918 and they had approximately $250,000 in assets. As a result of the an investigation into the banks accounting practices by the North Carolina Banking Commission, the banks charter was revoked.
Braxton admitted to the charges and pleaded guilty at his hearing in September 1911.He was sentenced to 16 months in prison.Braxton in all likelihood served his entire sentence because an organized parole system didn't begin in North Carolina until 1935. There was a provision for reducing sentences based on good behavior. Additionally in 1910 the North Carolina legislature enacted a work incentive program that paid inmates 15 cents per day, payable on release.
The prison system consisted of the main penitentiary known as Central Prison or "The Castle" located in Raleigh. There were also two farm camps in Raleigh where inmates raised food for the prisoners and other state agencies including orphanages and insane asylums. There were also more than a half dozen road camps that engaged in logging, quarrying and supplied prisoners to commercial companies under the Inmate Lease Program. The most hard core prisoners and the infirm were assigned to the Central Prison. All other inmates were required to work for their 15 cents a day.
During this time Braxton's wife Irene took their daughter and moved to Norfolk, Virginia. Records indicate that they never reconciled. In September of 1918 when Braxton registered for the WW I draft he listed his nearest relative as his brother Thomas. The 1920 census shows Braxton living with his widowed mother in Tarboro. Irene and their daughter Elliott were living in Norfolk, VA in 1920. She was shown as head of household and her occupation is listed as "Trained Nurse". Irene divorced Elliot in June 1924. She and Elliott were still living in Norfolk in 1930.
Jessy Hussey 1876 - 1883
John and Jessy were twins. At age 7, Jessy fell into a large collection of picked cotton waiting to be bailed and suffocated before he could be rescued.
Alice Uranie Hussey 1936 - 1936
Alice died because the Patent Dustus valve of her heart failed to close after her birth. Today this is a simple procedure that would have saved her life.
Charles Edward Hussey 1876 - 1903
Charles got married at the age of 27. One week after his wedding he contracted pneumonia and died shortly thereafter.