Runiroi Plantation in Bertie Co. NC #genealogy #northcarolinapioneers

Runiroi Plantation

Thomas Pollock Devereux and his son, John Devereux, were planters in North Carolina who owned eight large plantations and between fifteen and sixteen hundred slaves. Their fertile lands were situated in the rich river bottoms of Halifax and Bertie counties where they raised corn and cotton, and droves of hogs, which were sent to Southampton county, Virginia, for sale. The plantations have all disappeared from the landscape, and it appears that the main home, Runiroi, was situated near the Kehukee Church in Halifax County. The names of the plantations were Conacanarra, Feltons, Looking Glass, Montrose, Polenta, and Barrows, as well as a large body of land in the counties of Jones and Hyde. His residence was at Conacanarra, where the dwelling stood upon a bluff commanding a fine view of the Roanoke river, and, with the pretty house of the head overseer, the small church, and other minor buildings, looked like a small village beneath the great elms and oaks. The principal plantation and winter home was called Runiroi, in Bertie county. The others were called The Lower Plantation and Over the Swamp. From Kehukee bluff, the plantation could be seen stretching away into the distance, hemmed in by the flat-topped cypresses. The house at Runiroi was a comfortable, old, rambling structure, in a green yard and flower garden, not ugly, but quite innocent of any pretensions at comeliness. Neither was there, to many, a bit of picturesque beauty in the flat surroundings; and yet this very flatness did lend a charm peculiar to itself. The approach from the public road, which followed the bank of the river, was through the willow lane, between deep-cut ditches, which kept the roadway well drained unless the river overspread its banks, when the lane was often impassable for days. In the springtime, when the tender green boughs of the willows were swayed by the breeze, it was a lovely spot, and a favorite resort of the children. Source: Plantation Sketches by Margaret Devereux (1906)  Bertie Co. NC Genealogies and Histories

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