Ransom Hunter was a land developer, community planner, entrepreneur, farmer, and preacher who rose from humble beginnings to become a respected and wealthy businessman amongst notable and historic figures of North Carolina’s post-Civil War society. He amassed an astounding 30 total land deeds with recorded financial transactions between 1874 an 1914.
An Introduction
During the years of slavery, Ransom established roots in the south and proceeded to build, create, and prosper, becoming a large landowner who developed a thriving community for free men and women of color. Within this community, Ransom Hunter founded the first school for African-American children in Gaston County after slavery ended.
On the cusp of the Industrial Revolution and expanding banking sector in nearby Charlotte, Ransom co-invested in a manufacturing textile mill and owned early shares of stock in the First National Savings & Loan Association in North Carolina.
Today, much of downtown Mount Holly is located on land once owned by Ransom Hunter and his name is mentioned in the 1913 Act passed by the North Carolina General Assembly to amend the Town of Mount Holly.
In The Beginning
Ransom Hunter was born in January 1835 in Gaston County, North Carolina, to parents Mike Johnson and Julia Hunter, both North Carolina natives with deep generational ties to the region. His early years unfolded in River Bend Township, where his family had established roots. While the exact circumstances of his birth and childhood remain unclear – we have found no documentation confirming whether he was enslaved, born free, or lived as an indentured servant – what we do know is that he chose to take his mother’s surname “Hunter” rather than his father’s “Johnson,” a decision that would define his identity for life.
By the time he reached adulthood, Ransom would find himself swept up in the Civil War – serving under the name “Ransom Crocket or Hunter” according to his 1916 military pension application. This wartime service would set the stage for his own remarkable transformation from unknown young man to successful entrepreneur and community leader.
A Civil War
Ransom Hunter may have been conscripted into the war when Confederate General Edward Alexander’s detachment from Virginia was sent to North Carolina to impress more horses from the plantations. The Confederate horses were dying of hunger and exhaustion and records from the U.S. Army’s Quartermaster Department indicate Ransom Hunter worked as a contractor re-shoeing and providing care for the horses in Tennessee.
Freedom Brings Opportunity
The war ended in 1865 and the dramatic tides of change began taking root in the South. Despite it being an uncertain period of history, Ransom immediately focused on building future success. With his savings earned as a contractor during the American Civil War he opened his first livery stable enterprise on Hawthorne Street.
He applied his farrier and blacksmith skills, made horseshoes, and sold and rented a stable of draft horses.
With his financial success at the livery stable and abundance of land acres, Ransom Hunter next envisioned the creation of a community and refuge for his fellow former slaves who were fleeing post-Civil War hostilities in the South Carolina upcountry.
This epiphany grew to fruition and became a community he called, Freedom. For the first time former slaves had their own plot of land to build, farm and raise a family. Initially, much of the land was plagued by soil so rocky that it was deemed unsuitable for farming. His family even nicknamed the area, Rock Grove. However, Ransom Hunter, the businessman, saw value in the granite rocks.
Lemons Into Lemonade
He employed the men of Freedom to dig up the rocks, then sold them to a company as material for the construction of local roads. After removing the rocks much of the land became acceptable for home construction and arable for farming, and Ransom Hunter cultivated a significant portion, successfully growing acres of corn and cotton.
He planted winding vines of scuppernong grapes and an orchard of peach, pear and fig trees. The grapes and fruits were picked to make jellies, jams and preserves that were sold at the Freedom general store.
The development of Freedom progressed into a thriving community. In addition to building two churches, Ransom saw the need to formally educate the children in the community and in 1887, Ransom Hunter and other residents formed a five-member Public School Committee. Ransom Hunter donated the land for the first school created for Black children after slavery ended, named the District 12 Colored School.
His Second Business
Ransom Hunter’s entrepreneurial portfolio and wealth began to grow. In 1886, he opened a second livery stable in downtown Mount Holly. This became a busy and lively enterprise assisting all travelers in need of reshoeing, sheltering, watering, and feeding their horses. He also began purchasing land in Gaston County, the new territorial division formed from Lincoln County.
Ultimately, Ransom Hunter amassed over 1,920 acres of land during a period when only 1% of Gaston County’s black population owned their own farms.
His First Deed
His first recorded land deed recorded a transaction with Robert Calvin Grier Love (R.C.G. Love), a prosperous merchant, banker and textile pioneer, who sold Ransom Hunter six acres of waterfront property on the Catawba River.
The acres adjoined land owned by General Daniel Harvey Hill (D.H. Hill), and the next year it was General Hill himself who sold Ransom Hunter his second property.
Between 1874 and 1914, Ransom Hunter amassed 30 land deeds in Lincoln and Gaston counties. He sold land to two of the future mayors of Mount Holly, W. B. Rutledge and Abel Peterson Rhyne. In 1892, Hunter sold land he owned in downtown Gastonia to the Craig & Wilson Carriage Company. The next year, the business owners constructed a towering building at that location, a structure which today is known as the Craig and Wilson Building, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Take a look at the 30 (thirty) properties Ransom Hunter owned and sold.
As the Industrial Revolution ensued in the south, Ransom Hunter joined the rapid expansion of the textile industry in Gaston County.
The Mount Holly Manufacturing Mill was constructed on land which Ransom Hunter purchased in 1874 from R.C.G. Love.
It was the fourth mill to be built in Gaston County and is the oldest surviving mill today. The mill was built in 1875 by brothers, Abel Peterson Rhyne and Daniel Efird Rhyne, both prosperous banking and textile industry owners. The mill’s success and the prosperity of the area led local residents to petition the North Carolina General Assembly for the incorporation of Mount Holly in 1879.
In 1913, Ransom Hunter sold the Mayes Manufacturing Company a stretch of land at an ideal location by the South Fork Catawba River and the Southern Railroad, where they built a cotton textile mill.
Several years after his first wife passed, Ransom Hunter married Maggie Wells. Their marriage certificate shows that the union was witnessed by Luther Lineberger, a local business owner. Ransom and Maggie together had two children, a daughter Elmina (Mena), and a son, Torrance.
Home Place
Enjoying the fruits of his success, Ransom Hunter built a spacious Antebellum-style two-story home for his family. An article published in The Gazette highlighted the historical significance of Ransom Hunter’s home and declared it one of the oldest homes built and owned by a black family in Gaston County. The home was noted for its Federal-style detail and its construction was directly reminiscent of the Hoyle family home, which Ransom Hunter helped to build during his earlier years.
As a young man, his carpentry and building skills were loaned to the Hoyle plantation, a prominent slave-owning family of German settlers who were adding renovations to their home. Ransom Hunter and other slaves constructed a rear first-floor wing and later, a second-floor addition. Today, that home is known as the Hoyle Historic Homestead and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Homes. It is nearly identical to the home Ransom Hunter later built on his own land for his own family in Freedom.
Ransom Hunter was a visionary leader who transcended societal restrictions to build a community, create employment opportunities, and achieved financial success during one of the most tumultuous periods of U.S. history.
He died on September 24, 1918, just a few months before his son, Torrance returned home from World War 1 where he had been stationed in Brest, France.
Ransom Hunter built a firm foundation for his family which lives on to this day. His legacy continues to inspire and motivate all to seek accomplishment, achieve success and contribute positive works in our own lives and for the greater good of our communities.
Ransom Hunter Foundation 