Historical Sketch

William Perry Lunsford (1901-1980) owned and operated this country store and filling (gas) station for many years in the Leasburg, N.C. community. The store was called "Four Points" as it sat at the crossroads of Highways 119 and 158. After years of running the store, Perry Lunsford acquired the nickname "Four Points." Perry and Hattie Belle Lunsford lived in the back of the store until they moved across the highway to a house that would accommodate their growing family. The house and the store were on Morton property passed down to Hattie Belle Morton Lunsford (1906-1990), from her father James Monroe Morton (1850-1924), his father Vincent Lea Morton, and his father Elijah Morton who was a son of Meshack Morton.

Fortunately, Latham Mark Phelps, a grandson of Perry and Hattie Lunsford, has done considerable research on the "Four Points" property and the family that owned it. With his permission, set forth below are excerpts from his narrative The Morton Family in Caswell County:

In 1869, Vincent Morton was deeded by his father Elijah Morton 500 acres of land with the condition that he continue to support and maintain Elijah. Vincent was the only living son, and it was common practice to deed over the family lands before one's death and to be cared for by the family after that. At the time of this deed Vincent Morton and his wife Isabella were expecting the 10th of their 14 children.

Elijah's wife Mary Lea Morton, had died in 1861, and the Civil War had taken it's toll on Caswell County's property owner's and their families. Many sons, fathers, and brothers never returned to the homes and fields of Caswell, putting yet another hardship on the widows and families left without the head of the family to provide for their needs and help raise the children. By this time the Scalawags and Carpetbaggers from the North were firmly in control of local politics and were ready to reap the victor's spoils wherever they could. The Confederate soldiers who did manage to return home found it hard to be under the heel of the Union Army and their appointed officials, The Union League that were now controlling Caswell County.

Vincent Morton's wife was Isabella Frances Oliver, and her family was heavily involved in the clandestine resistance to the Union Army's being there along with their northern sympathizers. Two of Isabella's cousins, John G. Lea and James T. (Tom) Oliver, were intimately involved in the now infamous murder of Senator John "Chicken" Stephens in the Caswell County Courthouse in 1870. John G. Lea and Tom Oliver were both Confederate veterans and had no love for the Union. John G. Lea organized and became the head of the Ku Klux Klan in Caswell County, and Tom Oliver actually delivered the killing blows to John "Chicken" Stephens. This was an unsolved murder for 65 years until the sealed confession as well as account of the murder, written by John G. Lea and opened after his death when he was in his 90's.

The next deed in the property trail of Meshack Morton involves Meshack's purchase of a tract of land from Jonathan Law in 1794. The following is a transcription (breaks added to aid readability):

The foregoing deed has some relevant facts revealed within. Thomas Wiley a witness to this deed would later be sold the 448 acres of land from the Robert Kimbrough deed to benefit the Orphans of Meshack. This is the first record of Meshack being a neighbor of the Richmond family of Caswell County. Even today the Morton and Richmond descendants live within a mile of one another. I have known the Richmond family since my childhood as they were friends and neighbors of my grandparents William Perry Lunsford and Hattie Belle Morton. My grandfather Perry Lunsford owned and ran a country store and gas station for many years in the Leasburg, N.C. community. The store was called "Four Points" as it sat at the crossroads of Hwy.119 and Hwy.158. After years of running the store "Four Points" became my grandfather's nickname. They lived in the back of the store until they moved across the road to a house for their growing family. This house and the store was on Morton property passed down to my grandmother Hattie Belle Morton, from her father James Monroe Morton, his father Vincent Lea Morton, his father Elijah Morton who was a son of Meshack.

The Richmond family of today, namely the family of Spencer Tribue "Cack" Richmond, lives just up the road from the Morton property. My Aunt Pat Lunsford Cobb and her husband C.D. Cobb own the former Morton farm today. My other Aunt Linda Lunsford Kirby and her husband Jonah Kirby live on a parcel of land, which was once part of the Morton lands very near where the old Morton home place used to stand. My Uncle Dennis Morton Lunsford owns the last parcel of the Morton property. The Morton home place was a large home with at least 14 rooms. Family history says that there is a slave cemetery between my Aunt Linda's house and where the Morton house stood. This is highly likely as both Vincent Lea Morton and more so his father Elijah Morton were documented slaveholders. Union United Methodist Church established 1820 is located between the Morton and Richmond property, and it is said that the first person buried in the church cemetery was a Morton slave.

My mother Reba Jean Lunsford Phelps was buried in this very cemetery on January 16th, 2005, beside her parents Perry and Hattie on one side and the beloved " Cousin" Annie Trollinger on the other side. My aunt and uncle Linda and Jonah Kirby gave this plot to my mother as a gift years ago which made my mother very happy to know she would have her final rest at "Home".