Joseph Hoskins bought his 150-acre farmstead for £200 “Current money of the State of North Carolina” in May 1778. Not much is known about the property and how it was utilized after Hoskins purchased it, but his will indicates some of the activities that took place on the farm.

When Hoskins died in 1799, he left three horses, two cows, five head of sheep, 250 acres, and a variety of personal and household items to his wife Hannah and to his four sons and four daughters. To his wife he gave the “use and profits of the plantation whereon I now live,” but instructed her “not to sell or dispose of the timber except what is necessary for the use of the hous and plantation.” Choosing not to name a specific heir, Hoskins left all the “farming utentials” for the general good of the plantation.

Below [the] forest is a small piece of open ground, which appeared to have been cultivated in corn the preceding summer.

        Lt. Col. Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee

Marker is at the intersection of New Garden Road and Battleground Avenue (U.S. 220), on the right when traveling east on New Garden Road.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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