Working on Wednesday: Epps W. Warren (1807-1871), Farmer, Overseer & MInister - Part 1, Who Was He?

As we've seen, my great great great uncle Jeremiah Warren singled out four of his relative that he didn't want to see benefit from his estate.

Item 2nd.  I loan Mary Warren my sister all my lands whereon my
Mother now lives and the negroes that are living with my
Mother during her lifetime and at her death the negroes
Buck, Judy and her children [&] Lands sold and divided between
Robert Warrens children accept Epps Warren and James
Warren they have no part in the division.

All the residue of my property I will to be managed
by my executors for five years in a profitable manner having
regard to humanity in there treatment not hiring them to
any person who will abuse them if they cannot have
them freed by the Laws of our Country in that time are
to be equally divided by my brothers and sisters or
their heirs except Epps Warren and James Warren and Eliza-
beth Smith and Susan Johnson as I do not wish them
to have any part in said division.


Epps* W. Warren was born in Hancock County, Georgia, in about 1807 and appears to have lived his whole life there. His father Robert (c1783-1851) was Jeremiah's next younger brother and his mother is believed to be Elizabeth "Betsy" Sims (c1773-c1836).**

On January 13, 1831, Epps married Elizabeth Smith.

[Marriage Records, Book, 1808-1879. Ancesrty.com. Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Original data: County Marriage Records, 1828–1978. The Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.]

In 1840 there's an apparent discrepancy between Epps Warren's U.S. Census and Georgia Property Tax Digest records over the number of enslaved persons in his household. Four slaves are listed in the federal enumeration, 1 male under 10, 1 female under 10, and 2 females 10 thru 23. The Georgia tax record shows [ " ] below the number 11. Since his name is one of a group of four property owners in a row who all had 11 slaves I'm not sure how to interpret this--is it a real count or the result of too many ditto marks?

[Ancestry.com. 1840; Census Place: District 101, Hancock, Georgia; Roll: 43; Page: 208; Image: 426;

Family History Library Film: 0007044]

[1840. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Original data: Georgia Tax Digests [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives.]

By the time of the 1850 U.S. Census all the known Epps Warren children had been born and Epps listed his occupation as "Farmer". The column for value of real estate owned was left blank and I didn't find his name in the Slave Schedule for that year.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 101, Hancock, Georgia; Roll: M432_72; Page: 2B; Image: 378. 

Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

When we turn to the 1860 U.S. Census however, we can see that Epps Warren has definitely prospered although he still doesn't own land. His occupation had changed to "Overseer" for wealthy planter Wilkins Harper and according to the Slave Schedules his human property consisted of 29

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Hancock, Georgia; Roll: M653_126; Page: 254; Image: 254; Family History Library Film: 803126. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

[Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1,438 rolls.]

According to the National Park Service Soldiers and Sailors Database Epps W. Warren served as a private in the Georgia Infantry during the Civil War although I haven't been able any details of his service.

[National Park Service]

However he had obviously made his peace with the federal government by August 12, 1867, when Epps Warren signed his name in the State of Georgia Reconstruction Oath Book. He was 60 and his signature is that of an old man.

[Ancestry.com. Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Georgia, Office of the Governor. Returns of qualified voters under the Reconstruction Act, 1867. Georgia State Archives, Morrow, Georgia. Georgia, Office of the Governor. Reconstruction registration oath books, 1867, Georgia State Archives, Morrow, Georgia.]

The last official record we have for Epps W. Warren is in the 1870 U.S. Census. Three of his daughters Tabitha (widow of William H. Brantley), Rebecca (1846-1901) and Mary (1842-?) were living with him along with his son Thomas Jefferson "T.J." Warren (1838-1901).

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Mount Zion, Hancock, Georgia. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

Epps W. Warren died on December 3, 1871 and is buried in Smyrna United Methodist Church Cemetery in Hancock County.

[Created by: Jack Johnson; Record added: Jun 28, 2007 

Find A Grave Memorial# 20151329

Photo: pdeneen (#47046250)]

We will never know exactly why his uncle disinherited him, his brother James and his two of his aunts, but we do have examples of Epps W Warren's writing style from three letters that found their way into Confederate files and which I will share in next week's post.

By the way, if you're wondering why I've called him a minister in the title to this post when the records only show him as farmer or overseer, the first of his surviving Civil War letters will make that clear.


*There is an Epps or Eppes family among the early settlers in Virginia.
**This is based on a later handwritten transcription of the original 1804 Georgia marriage record for Betsy Sims and a Robert Warner in Greene County and the naming patterns of their children whose given names (Green, Allen Love  and Jesse Mason Warren) seem to mirror some surnames in Betsy Sims' lineage, although Epps didn't appear among them.


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