Contrtibuted by Will Crump

North Carolina Reports

An Act to Incorporate the Town of Contentnea, in Greene County

Section 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact, That the town of Contentnea, in the county of Greene, be and the same hereby is incorporated by the name and style of the "town of Contentnea", and shall be subject to all the provisions contained in the one hundred and eleventh chapter of Battle's Revisal, not inconsistent with this act.

Sec 2. That the corporate limits of said town shall be as follows: Beginning at Fool's bridge, at the end thereof, situate on the western side of Contentnea Creek; runs then south-eastwardly along the course of said Contentnea creek 450 yards to a stake; thence south 67, west 445 yards; thence north 23, west 890 yards; thence north 67, east 830 yards to said creek; thence down the meanderings of the creek to the beginning.

Sec 3. On the first Monday in May, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, and annually thereafter, an election shall be held in said town for a mayor and three commissioners for the same, who shall be elected by the qualified voters resident within said corporate limits.

Sec 4. For the good government of said town the officers aforesaid, and their successors in office, shall have all the powers, rights and privileges conferred upon mayors and commissioners of incorporated towns by the provisions of chapter one hundred and eleven of Battle's Revisal, and shall be governed by the rules, regulations and restrictions in said chapter prescribed.

Sec 5. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.

Ratified the 5th day of March, A.D. 1877

The name "Contentnea" for the creek and the community is derived from an Iroquoian/Tuscarora phrase meaning "fish passing by." The Contentnea community in Green County where William Lewis lived was in the Township of Bull Head, northwest of Snow Hill and south of Stantonsburg. Contentnea was not an incorporated area in William Lewis' time but it appears to have been incorporated around 1877. I was not able to determine how long it was active, but it is clear it has not been active for a long time. Today there are no structures that indicate a town ever existed at this location.

This map below has a road off Sheppard's Ferry road labeled Best Chapel Road, however, on other maps it is called Jones Farm Road. The Best Free Will Baptist church may have been off this road before relocating to NC 58 just south of Nooherooka Road. I mention these names because road names are often related to former land owners in the area or have historical connections. To the north of Contentnea is the creek Nahunta Swamp which empties into Contentnea Creek. In the bottom right corner of this map is a creek called Fort Run.