From the Probate Files: William Freeman - Surry County, North Carolina - 1802

I haven't found any information about my paternal 4X great grandfather William Freeman before 1753 when someone of that name appears in colonial records as a resident of Chowan County, North Carolina. There is some reason to believe that he may have been of Scots-Irish descent and could have been an immigrant. Although there have been claims that he was a veteran of the Revolutionary War I don't find any convincing evidence to support them.

However, by 1784 he had become a resident of Surry County where his name appears in the 1790 and 1800 U.S. Censuses. And that's where he was living when he made his will on March 25, 1802.

[North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:SQWX-D191-9?cc=1867501&wc=32L2-K6X%3A170003101%2C170786401]

In the name of God Amen. I William Freeman of the County of
Surry and State of North Carolina being weak in body but
of perfect mind and memory Thanks be to God for the same but
calling to mind the mortallity for all men once to die do make and
ordain this my last will and testament that is to say
  First of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of
god who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent
Christian like manner at the discretion of my Executors nothing
doubting that at the General Resurection I shall receive the same
again by the Power of God; and as touching such worldly Estate 
wherewith it has pleased God to bless me in this life I give demise
and dispose of the ame in the following manner and form.
   Item the 1st, And first and first I give to be beloved son
Josiah Freeman my negro boy named Hardy.
And 2ndly I give to my daughter Kiddy Mitchel a negro girl
named Chloe
   3rd I also give unto my son William Freeman one negro girl names Crease
   4th I give to my well beloved wife Sarah one mare saddle and bridle
and two cows and calves two basons and one dish and six plates and
likewise her peacible liveing on the plantation during her life time or
widowhood: Also I give her one negro man name Primas and one

                                                                                             wench

[North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:SQWX-D191-9?cc=1867501&wc=32L2-K6X%3A170003101%2C170786401]

wench named Ruth during the same (and after that the said
mare and negroes to go to my son Tyre I also give her one
feather bed and furniture
   5th I also leave to my daughter Polly one mare named Pol
and twenty dollars in cash.
   6th I also give to my daughter Penelope Hains one negro girl
named Milly.
   7th I also give to my son Tyre all my lands and plantation
where I now live: A also give and bequeath him my still and
all the necessary utentials to her belonging, I also give him
one negro boy name Will and one horse called Sumpter also I give
him all my stock of hogs and Sheep and one feather bed and 
              & all necessary household furniture
furniture ^ and plantation tools and one cow and calfe 
   Then all the property or remaining part of my Estate I leave
to be equally divided between Noah, John, Richard and David
   And I do hereby utterly disallow revoke and disannul all and 
every other formes Testament wills legacies bequests and Executors
by me in any wise ^before^ named, willed, or bequeathed ratifying and
confirming this and no other to be my Last will and testament
   I do constitute and appoint my worthy friends James Howard
and Nathan Haynes Executors to this my last will and testament.
   In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal 
this twenty-fifth day of March in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and two.
Signed sealed and delivered in presents of us}  William Freeman {seal}
Edward Smith
Lydia Smith
Jonathan Allen

                                                                                    State of 

[North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:SQWX-D191-9?cc=1867501&wc=32L2-K6X%3A170003101%2C170786401]

State of North Carolina Surry County, May Session AD 1802

Edward Smith and Lydia Smith two of the subscribing witnesses

to the foregoing last will and testament of William Freeman, made

oath that they saw the said Freeman sign publish and declare 

the same to be his last will and testament that he was of sound

and disposing mind and memory and at the same time they

saw Jonathan Allen sign the same as a witness thereto which

was ordered to be recorded.    Recorded according by Jo Willliams CC

There are more probate records for William Freeman's estate which I'll post about next week.

Here's how I'm related to him:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Richard Richardson & Margaret Coale Get Married in 1730

As a result of the realization that enough attention hasn't been paid to my ancestors from the Mid-Atlantic states, I've been looking into my maternal Tomlinson upline in Maryland which includes my 5X great grandfather Jesse Tomlinson's wife Milcah Richardson. And I found the Quaker marriage record from West River* for Milcah's parents Richard Richardson and Margaret Coale.

Maryland
                            Whereas Richard Richardson
Son of W"m Richardson and Marg"tt his Wife, 
and Marg"tt Coale Daughter of W"m Coale and Eliz"a his
Wife, Deceased, both of Ann arundel County in
the Province Afs"d Having publickly declared
their Intentions of Marriage with each other
in two Several monthly Meatings of the people
called Quakers which after Just deliberation
thereon no Impedement being found to their
Said Intentions they were approved of by the
Said Meatings and Left to their liberty to
Appoint Convenient time and place for the
Consumation thereof ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now these are therefore to Certifie whome it
may Concern, that on the twenty sixth day of
the third month Commonly Called May, Anno
one thousand Seven hundred and thirty____
Appeared the Afore Said Richd Richardson and
Marg"tt Coale, at the publick Meating house of
the people Called Quakers at West River in the
County afs"d and in a free and open Assembly
of the Said people and others there meet together
did take Each other in Marriage mutually and
Solemnly, promising in the presence of God
and the Afsd Assembly true and faithful fidelity
Each to other as Husband and Wife till Death
Should Seperate, and as a further Confirmation
thereof they the Said Rich"d and Marg"tt She
according to the Custome of marriage assuming
the Name of her Husband have hereunto
Subscribed their names and wee who were
present at the above Said Solemnization
as Wittnesses thereto the day and
year above Said

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina.Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana.Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.]

Ann Thomas                                   Natn Rigbie                               
Margaret Thomas                           Casandra Rigbie                      Rich Richardson[?]
Elizabeth Galloway                        Gerrard Hopkins                     Wm Richardson
Anna Thomas                                 Margaret Hopkins                   Margaret Richardson
Eliza Richardson                            Solomon Sparrow                    Richard Galloway
Mary Galloway                              Sarah Coale                              Joseph Richardson Junr  
Samuel Galloway                           Rebecca Richardson                Thomas Richardson
Ann Galloway                                Henery Child                           Sarah Galloway
Samuel Smith                                 Elizabeth Galloway Junr         William Coale
Philip Hopkins                               Elizabeth Wooden                    Daniel Richardson
Joseph Yates                                  Hannah Foard                           Richard Galloway Junr
J Richardson Junr                          Mary Richardson                      Joseph Richardson
John Coulston                               Mary Thomas                            Joseph Hill
Sophia Galloway                          Allridge Frankling                     Sarah Hill
James Elderton                             Peter Galloway                         Nathan Richardson
                                                      Joseph Cowman                       W"m Richardson



Richard Richardson's parents' marriage record from 1689 also survives and I'll be sharing it next time.


*Here's a 19th century description of location of the West River Meeting House:

[The early Friends (or Quakers) in Maryland (1862) by Norris, J. Saurin (John Saurin), 1813-1882
Source: The Internet Archive]



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mary Warren (About 1810 - 1885), Survivor & Matriarch - Part 2, Her Life Between the Records

Mary Warren was born in Virginia in 1810 according to her 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census records. From Jeremiah Warren's probate records we know she and three children were living in Hancock County, Georgia, so Mary would have been about 22.

There is no way to be certain of the date Mary found herself as part of Jeremiah's human property, looking at the census records it could have been by 1830 or even as early as 1820.*

[1820 & 1830 U.S. Census from Ancestry.com]

After Mary was mentioned twice early in Jeremiah's probate records she disappears from direct sight until we find her living near one of Jeremiah's executors, John Graybill, in Smith County, Texas, in the 1870 census.

The simplest explanation for that fact is that Graybill probably transferred Mary to his property sometime after 1837; he was still identified as Jeremiah's executor in Georgia's property tax digest lists for 1840 but only one enslaved person was included in the estate.**

[Detail of Militia District Number: 101; Year : 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.]

If that's true Mary (who would have been 30 that year) could be one of two women listed in the 1840 U.S. Census.

Ten years later Mary is probably one of three enslaved women listed in the 1850 Slave Schedule for Hancock County, Georgia, most likely on lines 30 or 31.

[Township : District 101. Ancestry.com. 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432, 1,009 rolls.]

[Detail from aove]

Sometime between 1850 and the 1860 U.S. Census John Graybill moved his household to Rusk County, Texas,*** and here it's harder to locate Mary so I'm going to offer several possibilities.

[Township : Beat 8. 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.]

I think the two 52-year-old women listed on lines 13 and 14 are too old to refer to Mary, however the two 51-year-old women on  lines 4 and 8 are possibilities once we look at the Graybill household in 1860.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Beat 8, Rusk, Texas; Roll: M653_1304; Page: 276; Family History Library Film: 805304. 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.]

I believe Camillus Graybill (1832-1899) is the badly scribbled slave owner listed on line 4--he was John Graybill's third son; Graybill's sister Elizabeth A. (the widow of Henry Saunders Jernigan) is obviously the person referred to on line 8. Neither of these people appear to have owned slaves in the previous censuses; I think it's quite possible that their human property came from John Graybill.

By the 1870 U.S. Census**** both John Graybill and Mary Warren were living very near each other in Smith County, just to the west of Rusk County. But does this proximity mean that there was any connection between them?

After John Graybill died in 1875 the inventory of his estate included a list of money he was owed and two of Mary's children are named: Daniel Warren (who had already paid $25 of his $63.36 debt, leaving a balance owed of $28.36) and Keziah Warren who owed "1 account" of $16.00.

[Texas, Probate Court (Smith County); Probate Place: Smith, Texas. Ancestry.com. Texas, Wills and Probate Records, 1833-1974 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Texas County, District and Probate Courts.]

Next time I'll focus on Mary Warren's children to see what we can find out about them in the various records available to us.


*An estimated 30% of slave children were separated from their families before they were ten. You can read more about what life was life for children born into slavery here and here.
**If there was only one enslaved person still remaining on the property Jeremiah had set aside for the benefit of Mary and the rest of the people he hoped could be legally freed one day, it seems likely it would have been either Coleman or John left as a caretaker.
***I had hope to learn when Graybill moved to the state through the Texas Voter Registration Lists, 1867-1869 but his name isn't there, although his son C. Graybill is. But the Smith County records are particularly unhelpful since the entries state that everyone on the list had been in the state for 12 months and in the county for 6 months.
****I covered this census in last week's post here.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mary Warren (About 1810 - 1885), Survivor & Matriarch - Part 1, Her Life in the Records

Mary (who adopted the surname Warren after Emancipation) was one of the seven enslaved people who I first learned about from my fifth great uncle Jeremiah Warren's probate records, first in the Item 10th of his will (unsuccessfully contested by his sister Susan and her husband Joseph Johnson) and then in the inventory of his estate which was done in September of 1832.

I've always wanted to know what happened to those people--were they ever free? Since I didn't find any other mention of them in later probate records available online, it seemed I would never know.

However, thanks to research shared by Marco, one of the descendants, we can trace Mary to Smith County, Texas.

[Family Search.com]

We know the names of her three children from the inventory: Sandal, Rhody and Francis.

[Family Search.com]

[Texas. Published by J.H. Colton & Co. No. 171 William St. New York. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1855, by J.H. Colton & Co. ... New York (insets) Plan of Galveston Bay -- Plan of Sabine Lake. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

The first record naming Mary Warren was in Starrville Beat in Smith County, Texas, in the 1870 U.S. Census. Her age is given as 61 so she was born about 1810 in Virginia. She was definitely the matriarch of the rest of the Warrens whose names that follow hers down the page. Only one of the three children who were named in the inventory is listed here--#27, 48-year-old Rhody Warren.

 [Year: 1870; Census Place: Starrville Beat, Smith, Texas; Roll: M593_1605; Page: 342B; Image: 187862; Family History Library Film: 553104. 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. ]

Mary's name is at the top of the page and looking back at the previous one, you can see that she was "Keeping House" for her son 27-year old Daniel Warren, a farm laborer whose personal estate was valued at $220.

 [Year: 1870; Census Place: Starrville Beat, Smith, Texas; Roll: M593_1605; Page: 342B; Image: 187862]

And a significant clue to Mary's presence in Texas is the name of the head of the nearest household: John Graybill who along with Jesse G. Butts had been named executors of Jeremiah's will and put in charge of Mary and the other six people singled out in Item 10th. It's almost certain that Graybill brought Mary and her children to Texas when he left Hancock County, Georgia,

Ten years later Mary was living with her daughter Eliza* and other family members in Precinct 8 in Smith County.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Smith, Texas; Roll: 1326; Family History Film: 1255326; Page: 304C; Enumeration District: 102. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

According to findagrave, Mary Warren died in 1885 and is buried in the Warren Chapel Cemetery in Smith County, Texas.

[Find A Grave Memorial# 137497116. Photo: Heather (#46785492)]

Next time I'll use John Graybill's records to see what can be inferred about Mary's life between 1832 and 1870.



*Although Eliza's occupation is listed as "Farming" I didn't find her name in the 1880 Non-Population Schedule for Agriculture.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Epps W. Warren (1807-1871), Farmer, Overseer & MInister - Part 2, Civil War Letters

Two letters Epps W. Warren wrote during the Civil War to Joseph E. Brown, the Governor of the Confederate State of Georgia survive.

[Joseph E. Brown (1821-1894.

 Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries]

In the earliest one he described himself as a "humble minister"* and called on Brown to proclaim a day of prayer to thank God for the "great and glorious victory" at Chickamauga (September 18-20) which turned out to be the last major victory for the Confederate Army.

Macon Sept 26th 1863
     His Excellency
          Joseph E Brown
               Dear Brother**
                    You will
pardon a private individual & an humble
Minister of Jesus Christ for a making a
suggestion to the Governor of Georgia.
"Through riches of grace in Christ
Jesus" from God the Father who is the
bestower of every good & perfect gift
we have received a great & glorious
victory on the North West border
of our State, which saves us from
untold sufferings, & our people from
unwanted discouragement.
      I feel anxious for all our people
to give all honor & praise to Him
whose "right arm has gotten us the
victory." You I know share in this
desire. If the Chief Magistrate of  our
Common Wealth would put his
proclamation, calling on our Christian
people to assemble at some early day
in their houses of worship for this purpose 

I am persuaded it would meet with
the most cordial approbations of the
people generally, & the effect would
be well pleasing to our Divine Redeemer.
     I mearly make the suggestion, hoping
you will excuse the apparent presum-
ption, & if it should meet your views,
that at a proper time you will call
on us to render thanksgiving and
praise to the Lord God Omnippotent
who reigneth.
          In christian affection
                E. W Warren

As for what was written on the bottom, I'm having problems with a couple of words. Since the letter was addressed to the Governor, perhaps it's his handwriting.

E.W. Warren

     Macon

          Ga

Say that his letter[?]  has

been forwarded to

this filair[?] & I am

gone to Canton[?]

Four months later Epps was writing again to his "Dear Brother, " this time to recommend someone for a government post as surgeon.

Macon Jan 5th 1864

     His Excellency
          Jos. E Brown
               Dear Brother
                    Having
understood that you are
appointing surgeons for each
senatorial district in Ga.
I take pleasure in suggesting
Dr. J.W. Janes of Cuthbert as
a suitable man in every
respect for the a position
somewhere in S. W. Ga. if
they are not all filled, if they
are he would gratefully
accept one any where in the 
State. He is a very competent

man, & would do his work

faithfully. He is the son in 

law of S.G Hillyer

     He served in the war

as aid of Genl Patton Anderson

until his health failed, & he

was forced to retire. He is

now doing service here in

a subaltern position in the

hospital as a surgeon.

     If necessary, he will

make a personal application

accompanied by such

recommendations as may

be required.

          Most Truly

               Your obt Servt.

                    E.W. Warren

E.W. Warren

     Macon

          Ga

5 Jan 64

Recommend Dr 

J W Janes for

surgeon for 11th Sen Distr.

     answrd 20 Jany 

          64

From the above transcribed note on the back of the last page, it appears that Epps Warren's letter got the results he (and Dr. Janes) were hoping for.

And a third letter addressed to Major General Smith*** to learn if one of his sons could substitute for one of his daughters' teacher was in the same file. 

[Gustavus Woodson Smith, photo taken during the Civil War 1861–65

Source: Library of Congress]

Macon June 4th 1864
Maj Genl Smith
          Dear Sir
               I write to ascertain
if my son who will not be seventeen
till the last of Octo, but who is well-
grown, strong & healthy, who desires
to enter the army, can be used
as a substitute, in the event
he comes, for Prof. R. D. Mallory,****
whose health is too feeble to do
field service, & who cannot
be spared from our city without
serious hinderance to the
education of our daughters.
I refer you to Col  F.L. Holt
of your command, who is from
this city, & can give you particu

[Ancestry.com. Georgia, Civil War Correspondence, 1847-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Governor's Incoming Correspondence, Civil War— Governor Joseph E. Brown of Georgia. Morrow, Georgia:

Georgia State Archives.]

lars. My son is able to do
good duty, his teacher is 
now in your command,
(Lieut Poehill), & he is anxious
to join the army, while Prof
Mallory would not I think
be able to serve his country
there, but is of indispensable
service at home.
          Very Respecty
               E.W. Warren

P.S. I have also written
to Gov. Brown on this
Su topic

From this last letter we're led to believe that Epps was so dedicated to his daughters' education that he was willing to send an underage son off to war in place of the girls' teacher? There's a problem with his story--a son who would have turned 17 in October 1864 would have been born in 1848. Now as you can see from my first post about Epps, neither the 1850 nor the 1860 enumerations of his household list a male child born in that year.*****

So who was being offered in exchange here?

NOTE: I've added "Overseer" to Epps W. Warren's occupations in the title.

*Since he's buried in a United Methodist cemetery, I assume he belonged to that denomination.
**I know of no family connection that would allow Epps to address Governor Brown as "Dear Brother." Perhaps he believed being "an humble minister" gave him the right to do so?
***Almost certainly Gustavus Woodson (G.W.) Smith (1821-1896) who by this time was serving as a Major General in the Georgia Militia. He was appointed to his post by Governor Brown.
****This is the man Epps is offering a substitute for (from Ancestry.com - 1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia).

***** There's a daughter [Sarah] Olivia Warren who would have been born that year but no boy.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

From the Probate Files: What We Learned from Jeremiah Warren's Probate Records

I was initially surprised to see that the "heirs of Jesse Warren" (e.g. my great great grandfather J.T.S. Warren, who was 11 in 1837) got an equal share with the other legatees but rereading Item 10th of Jeremiah's will it's clear that was his uncle's wish (as expressed in the second part of it).

["Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893G-8N1K?cc=1999178&wc=9SYB-7M3%3A267654601%2C267802801 : 20 May 2014), Hancock > image 78 of 376;

county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

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.

Also from the above paragraph it seems that Jeremiah hoped that "the residue" of his slaves (those not specifically included in bequests to his relatives) could be freed but he set a five year time limit for the possibility. So that's why the appraisal and division of them took so long.

But regarding Coleman, Mary and her three children, Pat and John, there was no such limit.

["Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893G-8N1K?cc=1999178&wc=9SYB-7M3%3A267654601%2C267802801 : 20 May 2014), Hancock > image 78 of 376;

county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

Item 10th    I give to Jesse G Butts and John Graybill jointly negroes
Coleman Mary and her three children and Pat and John
one choice Horse four Cows and Calves two beds and furna-
ture and all my household furnature except my clock two
Spinning Wheels two pare of Cards and four thousand dollars
in money if the money is in hand if not the amount in
notes the above also the Track of land I purchased of Parker
which land is not to be subject to be sold for the debts of
they or either of them nor shall the negroes be sold by them
or subject to pay any debt of there contracting the money
to be loaned out at Interest for the support of the negroes
and if they can at any time be freed by the laws of the
Country it is my will it shall be done

The only time I have found mention of Coleman, Mary and the other five people outside of Jeremiah's will is in the inventory of his estate. Thereafter they disappear from probate records (at least those available online).

As Jeremiah thought possible, immediately after his death there wasn't enough cash in the estate to cover the $4000 he directed be set aside "for the support of the negroes" but we can see in the Account Current of August 1834, Graybill and Butts had "retained" the money by then.

   "      am't retained by J. Graybill & Jesse G. Butts under the}

                        will of Jeremiah Warren**                                             }  4000.00

I think there must be more probate records that are either lost or not online because there should be documents relating to court approval of the proposed division, receipts from the six legatees and court orders winding up Jeremiah's probate and giving Graybill and Butts dismission from their responsibilities as executors.

However in the Georgia Property Tax Digest for Hancock County in 1840 I was able to find out a bit more.

[Militia District Number: 101; Year : 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.]

[Detail of above]

So in tax records John Graybill was still acting as Executor for Jeremiah's estate which at this point was comprised of 1 slave* and 40 acres, presumably the Parker property referred to in Jeremiah's will. John Graybill himself was listed as the owner of 34 enslaved persons. (Jesse Butts is in the same Tax Digest but wasn't recorded as acting as executor for anyone.)

Since we know that Mary (who adopted the Warren surname after emancipation) appeared in the 1870 U.S. Census living very near John Graybill, in Smith County, Texas, next week I plan to look at his life.


*Who?


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

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.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.