The role of women in colonial North Carolina received little attention, according to Alan D. Watson's journal article in The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 58, No. 1 (January, 1981), pp. 1-22. Upon marriage, the role of a female was seen as one in which they centered their attention on the care of their family, homes and church.

When Susannah was born, North Carolina was a colony and she was born in Bladen County. In 1789, the southern boundary of Cumberland extended to its present day location. Her father was Robert Braswell Carver. Her mother was Mary MNU (maiden name unknown.) Her mother's name was found on a February 1765 land deed. It appears she died soon afterwards. Susannah was named in her father's May 1766 will and believed to have been the fifth of seven known children. The Braswell/Carver family lived about a mile north of the Evans family, on the western banks.

Theophilus and Susannah lived on the western banks of the Cape Fear River and the north side of the Rockfish Creek, owning a plantation between the creek and the river. She remained living near to her Carver family, except her sisters who moved to Orange County, North Carolina. Even then, she must have maintained a close relationship through letters and or visits, as Susannah's sister, Elizabeth (Eliza) Carver Estes, in 1845, left a large portion of her holdings in Hillsborough to Susannah's granddaughters.

The will of Theophilus named three children; George Washington Evans, Eliza Estes Evans Turner and Henry Evans. It also named two grandchildren, children of Henry; Theophilus and Susan Evans. There may have been other children, including a son named Theophilus who served in the War of 1812. The name Theophilus Evans carried on for a number of generations in the Cumberland County area.

The Story of Fayetteville by John A. Oates, 1950, pg. 365 tells of a cemetery located on an island in the Rockfish Creek on which a cemetery was located. Bodies for burial had to be carried on the shoulders of men or across in boats to get to the burying place. This forgotten burial place is perhaps where Theophilus and Susannah along with other Evans and Carver family members are buried.

During the 1700's and 1800's, a number of marriages were made between the Carver and Evans families.

The name Susannah passed down through the Carver family for quite a few generations. Eventually, it morphed into the name Susan.

Sources: Wills, Land patents, Deeds, Records shared by William C. Fields. Susannah Carver is my 4th great grandaunt. Theophilus Evans, in additon to being her husband, was the brother of Mary Evans Thames, my 5th great grandmother.