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Sometime after the death of Richard Bennehan's business partner William Johnston in 1784, the store at Snow Hill Plantation was closed. Then, in 1787, Bennehan opened his own store, along with a lumber house, on land he purchased from Judith Stagg. Stagg's late husband Thomas had operated "Stagg's Tavern" here; it is possible that the name "Stagville" was therefore already in use. The new store was located at the intersection of the "Old Indian Trading Path," a well-traveled road providing access to Virginia to the north and South Carolina and Georgia to the south, and another road heading north into present-day Person County. A road leading southeast into Wake County was also nearby. Research indicates that the storehouse was a one-story rectangular frame building with a shingle roof. It had a cellar, possibly built of brink, and at least one chimney on its east end. The store may have had three doors, possibly two to the outside and one to connect the rooms on the interior. A paling fence enclosed the store and lumber house structures. As Bennehan purchased more land, he began to produce large quantities of tobacco, corn, wheat, flax, and hogs. Huge wagons transported his and his neighbors' produce to Petersburg, Virginia or Fayetteville, North Carolina. Surviving account books provide a detailed record of years of successful business practices, as well as local economic and cultural trends. For instance, the Stagville store accepted payment in tobacco, beeswax, flaxseed, and almost anything else that could be taken to Bennehan's factor and exported to Europe, the Caribbean, or other states along the seaboard. Trusted slaves transported these wares by wagon. On the return trip, they brought back the goods Bennehan had ordered to sell in the store. Bennehan's slaves, who tended small gardens of their own near their dwellings, were permitted to sell their produce in the store. In 1807, the Stagville post office was established in the store, providing the surrounding community with an additional service. |
