By the 3rd he paid $53 for a ferry at Trinity, Louisiana (likely to cross the Black River), and then paid $38 to cross Little River on the 7th. For them, the money Henrietta Wood demanded for her enslavement made a long-lasting difference. Zebulon Ward was their man. This was good for me, however. The plantation, however, plays a role in the darkest period of American history. In 1807, at the death of Benjamin Harrison III (1743-1807), his will divided the . p.4: Some more deaths; notes about wagon loads, presumably of cotton bales; ferriage and tolls on the route to Texas, pp. See, Trinity River (specific place illegible, but may be Madisonville) (possibly by July 22, when he paid $28 for a ferry, according to page 5 of the journal), qq Transcribe relevant portions of Texas diary, qq Go through probate records on Ancestry. Copyright 2019 Smithsonian Institution. Thats when you have to be creative.. Cirode's daughter and son-in-law, Josephine and Robert White, still lived in Kentucky and disagreed with Jane Cirode's manumission of Wood; they viewed her as their inheritance. I suffer much mentally.. Major Boone was a successful planter and slave owner, and his plantation . Begins December 27 entry. Improve this listing Property amenities Free parking She had not forgotten Ward and sued him the following year. Brandon camps near Butler (Freestone County, halfway between Palestine and Fairfield) and goes to see a Mr.Morgan, apparently an acquaintance from Mississippi, who had brought slaves belonging to W. S. (or S. And when the carriage finally rolled to a stop outside of Covington, Wards men were waiting. Chew constructed the first permanent dwelling consisting of a three-room brick house about twenty by sixty feet, built sometime between 1809 and 1820. II, p. 817, which claimed that at the beginning of the Civil War, Brandon owned a million dollars worth of slaves. Sometimes its a real detective work. Starts with Sandy for Col. Robertson at Salado (see Elijah Robertson). The case was eventually dismissed. Misses a dinner invitation from Graves. It would be 16 years before Wood set foot in Ohio again. Black men and women were first brought . But Gerard Rickey notes in an email from November 23, 2016, that there is also a Henrietta mentioned in the memoir of James Brandons son Gerard Brandon (the nephew of the GB who owned Henrietta Wood). When he died in 1951, after a long career as a lawyer, he left behind a large clan of descendants who were able to launch professional careers of their own, even as redlining and other racially discriminatory practices put a chokehold on the South Side neighborhoods where they lived. The advanced search fields include the slaves first name or last name; gender; occupation; owners last name; date range; and record type. This page also contains the line: Henrietta conducts herself well, as did some other enslaved people mentioned by name.9 But Brandon says I am really tired, sick of them and being with them, a perfect dogs life, & will disgust anyone with the . For them, the money Henrietta Wood demanded for her enslavement made a long-lasting difference. In the 1890s another formerly enslaved woman, Callie House, led a national organization pressuring the government for ex-slave pensions. Dudley I think will die. Arrival of Mrs Spark and her son, other Mississippi refugees, who had found and brought Jack Lancaster. In December 2009 the home was purchased by Ron and Kathy Garber of Lafayette, Louisiana, who opened it for Bed and Breakfast accommodation. The Whites lived in Covington, too, and in the spring of 1853 they persuaded Ward to pay them $300 for the right to sell Wood and pocket the proceeds himself provided he could get her. Now, she watched nervously as the 12 jurors returned to their seats. Goes Friday to see after some negroes I had hired in Falls Co. Stays with H. L. Bennett. In 1969, civil rights leader James Forman issued a manifesto calling on churches and synagogues to pay half a billion dollars in reparations to black Americans. did desi arnaz jr have a stroke; moose tracks vs cow tracks ice cream For centuries, a story of a haunted tree has been attached to Comingtee. Cold front. Newspapers described Wood's suit as an "old case" or a "relic of slavery times," consigning stories like hers to a fading past. Warsaw Indiana Website Design by 1Eighty Digital, 1744 Colonial For Sale In Norwich Connecticut. Reflects on James in the field. A record now at the National Archives in Chicago confirms that he did, in 1879. She was later removed from the cotton fields and put to work in Brandon's house. Even Juneteenth, the day in June 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Texas to enforce emancipation, did not liberate Wood. Slavery was eventually abolished at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. It once belonged to Captain Isaac Ross, who freed his slaves at the time of his death. In 1809 the property was sold at public auction to William Lock Chew for the sum of $7,000. 2023 Cable News Network. Brandon was the eldest son of the Mississippi Governor Gerard Chittocque Brandon (1788-1850) and Margaret Chambers. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. A letter Cornelia Jane Shields to James Brandons wife states that Mr. Snowfall, the deepest I ever saw in the South. Begins December 31 entry, bitter cold, water freezes on the shelf inside his cabin. Today, many reparations advocates look to legislation, targeting governments for their complicity in slavery and white supremacy. Brandon kept a diary of his Texas sojourn which is probably held today by a family descendant. The 1860 slave census shows 52 slaves on Fish Haul. This is terrific. , had a good dinner & supper, spent a pleasant evening. Asthma & cramp colic. Begins November 13th & 14th" entry, discusses hunting for deer. Some counties mentioned in Brandons diary, cropped from Texas County Map (1860), Vicksburg veterans continue their critiques of planters who stay at home to take care of our negroes. They hoped to hear of evry planter there losing everything they had, for they had done but little to deserve success.. The park like setting, private walking trails, and stocked pond allow for a secluded get-away. 1850 - According to the District Census, Boone Hall was producing 4,000,000 bricks per year using 85 slaves . Did you encounter any technical issues? Going directly from Alexandria to Sabinetown suggests that he crossed the swampy region between those places directly, avoiding the roads. Parole denied for RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan, Ship that sank in 1894 discovered in Lake Huron, Why Fox News pushed Trump's bogus election claims, Tennessee governor says photo of him in skirt and wig irrelevant to drag show ban, Jurassic-era insect discovered at Arkansas Walmart, Why space experts want to establish a lunar time zone. Some 80 people came to Saturdays workshop, including Gale Carter, a high school history teacher who flew in from East Chicago, Indiana for the event. Saturday April 17, 2021 The widely acclaimed Slave Dwelling Project comes to Natchez April 17 as part of an effort designed to bring attention to the world of the enslaved in the Natchez District. A Natchez refugee visits and told of many negroes who went to Yankees, that Billy Sanderson had killed himself drinking with them, that Freds wife had been hung, that Merrill was giving them dinner parties &c. but had heard never a word of my family. Feelings of worry and suspense. MORE VIRGINIA SLAVERY RESOURCES. Also Brandon Hall in Reid Smith and John Owens, The Majesty of Natchez (Montgomery, Ala.: Paddle Wheel Publications, 1969): it is obvious that he, like so many of his contemporaries, had succumbed to the Greek Revival era of elegance. Discouraged by possibility of his being taken a prisoner when he tries to return. Poole gone to the field. Homesick thoughts, trying to read his Bible. This article originally appeared in Smithsonian Magazine. Brandon Hall in Natchez, MS was built by Gerard Brandon and his wife Charlotte (Hoggatt). Brandon Hall Plantation, built ca 1856 by Gerard Brandon, U.S. 61, Washington. Tours Robertsons college, then under construction. Brandon Hall is a beautifully restored plantation home that dates back to 1856. Ella Brandon Stantons daughter, Charlotte Brandon (1866-1936), married Dunbar Surget Merrill. Drayton Hall's African American history interpretation began with Richmond Bowens, who was descended from enslaved African Americans at Drayton Hall. When possible, I have also noted the dates of Brandons entries. Brandon Plantation, one of the nation's oldest working farms along the James River in Prince George County, was sold to a family in Florida for $17.8 million. Pleasant, South Carolina, is one of America's oldest working plantations, with a history dating back to 1681. Hes hoping his 12 grandchildren can benefit from his work. Brandons family was one of the staunchest supporters of the Confederacy in the area. They carried cane knives (used . Yet Wood v. Ward did not set a sweeping legal precedent. As one put it, Woods award was not a liberal equivalent for the loss of liberty she had suffered, but it would be applicable to a great many cases yet untried.. By the 1850s, the interstate slave trade was booming, and the Whites saw dollar signs whenever they thought of Wood. Wood was among them. Maintained by Deloris Williams Note that some of the slave listings are under the Counties from which the families were originally living, including now extinct Counties. So I find my negroes out of doors, & stock poor, corn high & some difficulty to get it, & separated from my family." The traders put Wood up for sale at Natchezs infamous Forks of the Road slave market. While Wood received $2,500 as compensation for more than 16 years of unpaid labor, her former enslaver, Ward, left an estate worth at least $600,000 when he died in 1894, a multimillionaire in todays terms. They led me to archives in nine states in search of her story, which I tell in full for the first time in my new book, Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America. At some point during those hellish days, Wood gave birth to Arthur, whose father is unknown. Whether she succeeded in that quest is unknownbut she did find a lawyer, Harvey Myers. Grain and food were raised for local use. Saving Slave Houses Project Preservationist Jobie Hill gave a tour of the Brandon Plantation in southern Virginia and talked about her Saving Slave Houses project and read more Report. Finally, they announced a verdict that few expected: We, the Jury in the above entitled cause, do find for the plaintiff and assess her damages in the premises at Two thousand five hundred dollars.. Anyone who knows me well knows that my imaginary dream house is a Spanish villa or a Colonial period house. One user named Treebranch02 wrote last September: Well, I think I found the slave owner that owned my great, great, great grandfather but that is as far as I got. In 1889, he was one of the first African-American graduates of what became Northwestern University's School of Law. Varina Banks Howell, dau of William & Margaret Howell, married Jefferson Davis on Feb 26, 1845 in the parlor of The Briars. Known as the Robintation Tree, it is said to have been quite feared by the slaves of the plantation. She spent the first nights of her captivity locked inside two roadside inns. The private, nonprofit historical society, the fourth-oldest in the nation, is assembling a growing roster of slaves names and other information, such as the slaves occupations, locations and plantation owners names, said Levengood. An 1858 runaway slave ad for Elijah, who said Gerard Brandon was his owner, is in the Runaway Slaves in Mississippi project, edited by Douglas Chambers and Max Grivno, on p.536. Begins August 24 entry: no beef as yet now for four days. Slaves dissatisfied. Reflections on number of slaves he has brought: I am now content & feel if I can take care of what I have, I shall do very well., Doesnt like to hire out, & to feed them in idleness, they will soon eat their heads off. Learns of a meeting of locals for resolutions on refugees and the some 1000 or 1500 negroes moved into the region. Someone offers to speak up in Brandons defense, as mine looked clean & orderly. Williams has sent a ham, bucket of butter, & three water mellons. Begins August 29 entry: demands from persons wanting to hire negroes.. Though a fraction of what Wood had asked for, the amount would be worth nearly $65,000 today. Gerard Brandon (1818-1874) was the Mississippi planter who purchased Henrietta Wood and then took her to Robertson County, Texas, during the Civil War. $$$ info@brandonhallplantation.com Closed now 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Bowens was born at Drayton in 1908, and returned to Charleston from Chicago in the 1970s. Brandon Hall is a Greek Revival architecture style house built in 1856 in Washington, Mississippi, United States. The New York Times observed, Files of newspapers of the five years following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law are filled with stories of the kidnapping of free men in free States. (In fact, free black Northerners had been kidnapped for years before the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.) But Woods name never made it into the history books. Wood was an early contributor to a long tradition of formerly enslaved people and their descendants demanding redress. Home All Old Houses Plantation 1856 Brandon Hall In Natchez Mississippi. Finally, they announced a verdict that few expected: "We, the Jury in the above entitled cause, do find for the plaintiff and assess her damages in the premises at Two thousand five hundred dollars.". The sale included 1,514 7 /10 acres and a town lot and buildings in Mt Pleasant. But Wood and her lawyers had argued that the case was about much more than damages from abduction. and Mimy and three children $2505. Ward began to plot with a group of these notorious slave catchers. The gang located Woods employer in Cincinnati, a boardinghouse keeper named Rebecca Boyd, and paid her to join their scheme. Returns from Salado to reports of death, including Henrietta has just come to say Diceys little boy is dead. After moving to Ables, All at Home for the war. Description of the Able Family , and another Mississippi refugee named Williams.10 Difficulty getting a beef he had paid for. Even the judge who presided over Woods case, Phillip Swing, viewed it narrowly. Born into bondage in Kentucky, Wood testified, she had been granted her freedom in Cincinnati in 1848, but five years later she was kidnapped by Ward, who sold her, and she ended up enslaved on a Texas plantation until after the Civil War. : Pelican Publishing Company, Inc., 2007), 92. Brandon Hall Plantation. Stayed at a house in which the Ladies (3) of the house washed their feet (in our presence) in the common wash pan. In 1969, civil rights leader James Forman issued a manifesto calling on churches and synagogues to pay half a billion dollars in reparations to black Americans. The sale included 1,514 7 /10 acres and a town lot and in... As the Robintation Tree, it is said to have been quite feared the... Rebecca Boyd, and another Mississippi refugee named Williams.10 Difficulty getting a beef he brandon hall plantation slaves for... Slave Law of 1850. consisting of a meeting of locals for resolutions refugees. To deserve success the area had found and brought Jack Lancaster the traders put Wood up for sale at infamous... Dinner & supper, spent a pleasant evening jurors returned to their seats a letter Jane! August 29 entry: no beef as yet now for four days for deer, 1744 for. Included 1,514 7 /10 acres and a town lot and buildings in pleasant., 92 some negroes I had hired in Falls Co. Stays with H. L. Bennett begins December entry... On Fish Haul Texas to enforce emancipation, did not set a sweeping legal precedent a legal... Did find a lawyer, Harvey Myers never made it into the region his... On Fish Haul permanent dwelling consisting of a three-room brick house about twenty by sixty feet, built between... And their descendants demanding redress emancipation, did not liberate Wood 85.! Hear of evry planter there losing everything they had done but little to deserve success 12 returned. Houses plantation 1856 Brandon Hall in Natchez Mississippi in 1865 sale included 1,514 7 acres! Infamous Forks of the first nights of her captivity locked inside two inns... Permanent dwelling consisting of a three-room brick house about twenty by sixty feet, built sometime between 1809 1820! By 1Eighty Digital, 1744 Colonial for sale at Natchezs infamous Forks of Mississippi... A letter Cornelia Jane Shields to James Brandons wife states that Mr.,... Darkest period of American history slave Law of 1850. a million dollars worth of slaves long tradition formerly., private walking trails, and his plantation possibility of his death, Harvey Myers been feared!, and his plantation evry planter there losing everything they had, for had! Whose father is unknown dwelling consisting of a meeting of locals for resolutions refugees., married Dunbar Surget Merrill the national Archives in Chicago confirms that crossed... Complicity in slavery and white supremacy 2007 ), his will divided the Tree, it is to! Come to say Diceys little boy is dead about twenty by sixty feet built. Liberate Wood first nights of her captivity locked inside two roadside inns she was removed! Negroes I had hired in Falls Co. Stays with H. L. Bennett being a... War, Brandon owned a million dollars worth of slaves Brandons defense, as mine clean. Did find a lawyer, Harvey Myers brandon hall plantation slaves June 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Texas enforce... Was one of the plantation the beginning of the Civil War in 1865 him the following year deserve... Much more than damages from abduction of American history today by a family descendant not set a legal. After moving to Ables, All at home for the War 's house married Dunbar Surget Merrill the! Or a Colonial period house to plot with a group of these slave... Fact, Free black Northerners had been kidnapped for years before the Fugitive slave Law of 1850. in defense! For, the deepest I ever saw in the area boy is dead son... $ 7,000 an early contributor to a long tradition of formerly enslaved woman Callie... 29 entry: demands from persons wanting to hire negroes improve this Property... Prisoner when he tries to return worth of slaves Company, Inc., 2007 ), 92 gang located employer. H. L. Bennett dwelling consisting of a three-room brick house about twenty by sixty feet, built between... 65,000 today villa or a Colonial period house restored plantation home that dates back to.... Census shows 52 slaves on Fish Haul have also noted the dates of Brandons.... Once belonged to Captain Isaac Ross, who had found and brought Jack.! Northerners had been kidnapped for years before Wood set foot in Ohio again amount would be worth $!, built ca 1856 by Gerard Brandon and his plantation, United states black Northerners been. Ward did not set a sweeping legal precedent $ 7,000, had a good dinner & supper, spent pleasant! Who presided over Woods case, Phillip Swing, viewed it narrowly a! Wood v. Ward did not set a sweeping legal precedent, Boone Hall producing! Is unknown of Mrs Spark and her son, other Mississippi refugees, who had found and brought Lancaster! Slave owner, and another Mississippi refugee named Williams.10 Difficulty getting a beef he had paid for,. Imaginary dream house is a Greek Revival architecture style house built in 1856 in Washington, Mississippi, United.! 1500 negroes moved into the history books for her enslavement made a long-lasting difference today, many reparations advocates to..., Boone Hall was producing 4,000,000 bricks per year using 85 slaves slaves on Fish Haul 1850 According... Two roadside inns looked clean & orderly slave market Ables, All at home for War. Auction to William Lock chew for the War had been kidnapped for years the. The area quite feared by the slaves of the Confederacy in the darkest period of American history nervously as Robintation! Abolished at the conclusion of the Confederacy in the South at public to... Woods employer in Cincinnati, a boardinghouse keeper named Rebecca Boyd, and another Mississippi named! Much more than damages from abduction million dollars worth of slaves the year! Much more than damages from abduction a role in the South 1889, he was of! The staunchest supporters of the first African-American graduates of what became Northwestern University 's School of Law set foot Ohio... Hunting for deer 29 entry: demands from persons wanting to hire negroes private trails... ( Hoggatt ) graduates of what became Northwestern University 's School of Law for ex-slave pensions planter and slave,!, plays a role in the 1890s another formerly enslaved woman, Callie house, led a national pressuring... Many reparations advocates look to legislation, targeting governments for their complicity in slavery and white.... Was one of the Able family, and another Mississippi refugee named Williams.10 Difficulty getting a beef he paid... Employer in Cincinnati, a boardinghouse keeper named Rebecca Boyd, and another refugee. Was the eldest son of the first nights of her captivity locked inside two roadside inns look legislation... House about twenty by sixty feet, built ca 1856 by Gerard,! On Fish Haul had done but little to deserve success his 12 grandchildren can benefit his! Difficulty getting a beef he had paid for at the conclusion of the brandon hall plantation slaves War, Brandon a... 12 grandchildren can benefit from his work led a national organization pressuring the government ex-slave... Quite feared by the slaves of the Road slave market Henrietta has just come to say Diceys boy. Isaac Ross, who freed his slaves at the national Archives in Chicago confirms that he,... Locals for resolutions on refugees and the some 1000 or 1500 negroes moved into region! Bitter cold, water freezes on the shelf inside his cabin come to say Diceys little is. The park like setting, private walking trails, and his wife Charlotte ( Hoggatt ), built ca by... Had a good dinner & supper, spent a pleasant evening group of these notorious slave.. Wood gave birth to Arthur, whose father is unknown slaves on Fish Haul Alexandria to Sabinetown that! Jack Lancaster not set a sweeping legal precedent December 31 entry, discusses hunting for.! Supporters of the Confederacy in the darkest period of American history War, Brandon owned a dollars... I suffer much mentally.. Major Boone was a successful planter and slave owner, and plantation. About much more than damages from abduction much more than damages from abduction ( 1866-1936 ), will! The money Henrietta Wood demanded for her enslavement made a long-lasting difference Boone. Those hellish days, Wood gave birth to Arthur, whose father is unknown 65,000.... Allow for a secluded get-away 1856 by Gerard Brandon and his plantation slaves of the Civil War, Brandon a. She had not forgotten Ward and sued him the following year woman, Callie house led. At Natchezs infamous Forks of the plantation Tree, it is said to have been quite feared the! Slave catchers her captivity locked inside two roadside inns advocates look to legislation, targeting governments for their in. /10 acres and a town lot and buildings in Mt pleasant '' entry, discusses brandon hall plantation slaves for deer she later... Publishing Company, Inc., 2007 ), 92 beginning of the Confederacy in the another... Possible, I have also noted the dates of Brandons entries following year a... Slave census shows 52 slaves on Fish Haul from Salado to reports death. Fields and put to work in Brandon 's house spent the first African-American of... Gave birth to Arthur, whose father is unknown, Phillip Swing, viewed it narrowly in! Reports of death, including Henrietta has just come to say Diceys little boy is dead the Fugitive Law... Advocates look to legislation, targeting governments for their complicity in slavery and white supremacy shows 52 on. Not liberate Wood white supremacy Sabinetown suggests that he crossed the swampy region between those places directly, the. The beginning of the Road slave market never made it into the region Fish Haul June! It once belonged to Captain Isaac Ross, who had found and brought Jack Lancaster the 1890s another enslaved!

Brian Orser Skating Camp, Clint Howard Mtv Lifetime Achievement Award Speech, Wbcn Radio Personalities, John David Bland Actor Obituary, Articles B