The last owner of the land at Hayes was John Rieusset, who purchased the plantation in 1757 from descendants of Frederick Jones, viz., Thomas his son and Harding Jones his grandson. It was John Rieusset that gave the plantation the name it bears today.

The second owner of the land at Hayes was Frederick Jones, who purchased the tract from Edward Smithwick around 1708. Jones first arrived in this country in 1702 with his brother Thomas and both initially settled in James City County, Virginia, near Williamsburg. Frederick Jones’ plantation there was known as Tutter’s Neck.

The first owner of land that later became part of what is now known as Hayes plantation was Edward Smithwick, who obtained a Proprietary land grant dated January 1, 1694 for three hundred and eighty acres of land there. However, Smithwick is probably best known today for the fact that at the first vestry meeting of St. Paul’s Parish held on December 12, 1701, he offered an acre of land out of this tract as the site for the parish’s first church or chapel.

In 1765 Samuel Johnston purchased the land that is called Hayes plantation today. However, there were previous important owners of the land there. This 4-part series of papers will introduce these 18th century owners and their importance to early Edenton. Part 4 will also reveal how the plantation came to be called by the name it still bears today, “Hayes.”