Nace Settlement

William Nace's property was sold at public auction on August 22, 1863, by his son John C. Nace, the executor of his estate. From the Sale Bill:

Botetourt County Court Clerks Office, September 2nd 1863. This Sale Bill of the personal property of William Nace dec'd was this day returned to said office and admitted to record.

—Teste F. Woltz, Clk

To make a long sale bill short, the following people bought these items. Prices are in parentheses: 

J.C. Nace

1 Double Plow (.25)

 1 Cotter  (1.11)

1 Plough & Tongue (1.70)

1 Dung Hook (1.00)

1 Mattock (1.50)

1 Plow, Wrought Shear (3.00)

1 Hand Saw (3.00)

Saddle Pockets (10.00)

Cart & Harness (30.00)

1 Blind Gray Mare (140.00)

Martha A. Nace

1 Saddle (30.00)

1 Hog (4.00)

Samuel Young

1 Shovel Plough (.45)

1 Cotter & Mattock (2.00)

1 Plow, Wrought Shear (3.45) 

W.J. Nofsinger

1 Plough & Tongue (1.85)

2 Ploughs (6.25)

1 Cast Plow (24.25)

Doubletree & Singletree (3.00)

1 Drawing Knife (1.50)

Lewis Linkinhoker

1 Spade (2.50)

1 Drawing Knife & 2 Augers (.50)

Jaf Roland

1 Harrow (17.75)

1 Cast Plough (23.00)

J.K. Robertson

1 Shovel (7.00)

Peter Shaver

1 Doubletree & Singletree (3.00)

The estate wasn't completely settled until February 1864. Here's a transcription Pat Nace sent to me several years ago:

I know that his oldest son, William M. Nace, Jr., was in LeCompton, Kansas, at this time and that John C. Nace was in Botetourt. But what became of Matthew H. Nace? Apparently he wasn't in Botetourt County when his father died. Where was he?

I Googled and found this:

Evaline Ann Frances Christian was born ABT 1830, and died BEF 1908. She married Matthew H Nace, son of William N [M?] Nace. He was born ABT 1824 in Virginia. She married Robert William Pate ABT 1849. He died ABT 1868. Update: This information is mostly false.

Matthew and Evaline had a child, Jennie Nace, born in 1849. (The source given for this is the 1850 Richmond, Virginia, Census.) Actually they had more than one child.

Now, where did Matthew meet his wife? Evaline's mother was Saluda Baker (Fuqua) Christian Watson, who was born 02 NOV 1805 in Charlotte County, Virginia, and died 09 NOV 1886 in Lecompton, Douglas County, Kansas. She is buried in the Lecompton West Cemetery. 

Did Matthew go with his brother to Kansas and die about the time his daughter was born? No. Or—did he somehow end up in New York in 1856 as the head of the failing Nace & Company? If so, did he run away to California—or was he indeed driven to self-destruction—when the business failed? Or was it a different Matthew H. Nace in New York? Answer at bottom of this post.

From the Wells vs. March case in Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, Vol. 30, available as a Google e-book, here is a Matthew H. Nace's letter to his business partner:

This probably isn't the Matthew H. Nace from Botetourt. [UPDATE; It is. See https://nacelithia.blogspot.com/2018/07/matthew-harvey-nace.html] It is surely a coincidence that this Matthew H. Nace has a brother W. M. and a father who was alive in 1856. There were a lot of Naces in Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as in Virginia, and Matthew and William were common names in the mid-1800s. [But our Matthew Nace is indeed the one who wrote the above letter.] 

So—the unsettling questions is this: Whatever happened to Matthew H. Nace? Anybody know? Eventually I solved the mystery. See these two posts:

 

https://nacelithia.blogspot.com/2019/04/matthew-nace-mystery-part-i.html

and https://nacelithia.blogspot.com/2019/04/matthew-nace-mystery-part-ii.html

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