Lucy Born March 16, 1806

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Lucy Born March 16, 1806 A monthly newsletter sharing new information about the enslaved community of Belle Grove Plantation, Middletown, Virginia LUCY BORN MARCH 16, 1806 March 2021 he year 1806 saw the most WHAT IS ONOMASTICS? Piedmont of Virginia were T children born in a single kidnapped. It honored the year since the founding of Belle Lacking the typical records ancestor and transferred some Grove Plantation in 1783: six used in family history research, of that person’s worthiness to babies—two boys and four girls. historians look for other clues the baby. The practice also Young Lucy was born to Anna, to understand the lives of established that child within a woman enslaved at Belle enslaved people. Onomastics is their family clan or lineage who defined as “the study of the Grove since 1801. Lucy was might protect them. her third child and first history and origin of proper Because the use of African daughter. Searching through names, especially personal names was soon forbidden and plantation records that survive names.” It comes from the the captives were instead given today, no further information Greek verb “to name.” English Christian names by emerges about Lucy. She Previous studies done on name their enslavers, naming for shares her birthday with Nelly trends within enslaved ancestors continued under the Hite’s brother, James Madison, populations show some names new, culturally imposed later president of the United can be dated to specific States. It is unlikely he ever generations when they were standards. More examples knew Lucy, but may have introduced or popular. Naming appear on the next page. known Anna and her brother for ancestors was a common Shadrach, who had both come practice in the region of Africa This issue produced by Robin Young from which the enslaved of the to Belle Grove from Montpelier. and Kristen Laise LUCY’S FAMILY This opens up the possibility neither Lucy nor her siblings that the name hearkens back lived at Belle Grove. Only her Lucy’s mother was to Montpelier where an adult mother was there. Anna and her Benjamin who is listed in grandmother was property tax records might It is frustrating to know only bare outlines of most lives—it Daphne. Lucy’s have been their grandfather. eldest brother, Abraham, was cannot be known if Lucy was born at Montpelier and when Isaac Hite Jr. noted sales, amazing with raising chickens, he was one year old, he and his trades, and purchases of his or made a wonderful apple pie, mother were given to the Hites enslaved workers in varying or had a splendid singing voice. at Belle Grove. Their brother, degrees of details, but 40% And it is impossible to know Ben, was Anna’s first child born listed are like Lucy: name, her unique heart, thoughts, at Belle Grove, and younger mother’s name, and birthday. and feelings about being held sisters Milley and Daphne For Anna’s family, only Milley is in bondage her whole life. came after Lucy. Ben is the noted as sold but it is not The image of Lucy’s name above is second and last child of that known when. An estimated 20% of all Hite slaves seem to from Isaac Hite Jr.’s Commonplace name born at Belle Grove in a Book, Virginia Museum of History and have been sold. By 1830, decade—the other was a twin. Culture (Mss5.5.H67375.1_21a). WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY’S ANCESTRAL NAMES AND WHY DO THEY MATTER? who sold the Piedmont land Taylor, granddaughter of James Near the end of owners enslaved workers, kept Taylor, another notorious, 1718, two young them back, for reasons Virginia slave trader. Ambrose Black women came unknown.1 It seems likely they records their names as Nanney off a Guineaman slave ship clung to each for support as and Kate; a few more women from Bristol, England in Port “ship sisters” in such an followed, as did children from Royal, on the Rappahannock overwhelming situation. unions with the field hands River in Virginia. Reaching a who cut down forests to plant In January 1719, both were strange, new land after a long, tobacco. Just 14 years later, in sold to Ambrose Madison, terrifying voyage across the 1733, Ambrose Madison founder of the Madison family Atlantic, they alone remained owned 29 enslaved people wealth, in anticipation of his unsold. John Baylor, an shown in the table below. infamous Virginia slave trader upcoming marriage to Frances The 15 enslaved men and women and 14 enslaved children of 1733 Montpelier2 Men Women Boys Girls Tom Nanney Jack Lucy Turk Kate Sam Betty Bristoll Daphne/Daffney Billey [Gardner] Catterenea Joe Claris/Clarissa Anthoney Sarah Harry Dido Cussina George Letts Isaac Judah Peter Violet Spark Nancy Dick Hannah Among their descendants, this lovingly raise their children— is second in the group of girls, founding generation of what giants these ancestors and as discussed previously, survivors of the “Middle were! One of the few ways to one of the “Elizabeth name” Passage” were revered. To honor and remember them was variants, the most popular survive capture in Africa, leave to name children for them. name source at Belle Grove, their homeland, stay alive on where Eliza had sixteen girls Three names stand out in the death ships, adjust to a named for her. new land, new social customs, above the list. Lucy is the the loss of their freedom precious eldest female child 1 Baylor Family Papers, Ledgers Vol 1. University of Virginia, Charlottesville forever under the rule of the listed. Daphne is in the middle white enslavers, and yet of the list of the women. Betty 2 Spotsylvania County Will Book A, Will of Ambrose Madison Research is underway about the 276 men, women, and children enslaved by NEXT MONTH WE the Hite family at Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown (Frederick WILL HONOR County), Virginia. Enslaved individuals made the plantation a success. Since 1967, Belle Grove has been a 501c3, nonprofit historic site Richmond born and museum. Understanding and uplifting the contributions of the April 25, 1821 enslaved community is an ongoing effort and priority. If you wish to help, consider volunteering or donating to Belle Grove, Inc. at the address below or online at www.bellegrove.org/support/donate. Belle Grove Plantation Physical address: 336 Belle Grove Road • Mailing address: P.O. Box 537 • Middletown • VA 22645 [email protected] • www.bellegrove.org • 540-869-2028 .
Recommended publications
  • Maddeson Generations
    Maddeson Lines - First Generation -------------------------------------------------- 1. Isaac Maddeson. Born in 1590 in London, England (historically Scotland). Isaac died in West Sherlow, Virginia, in 1624; he was 34. A descendant of Edward I of England. Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, under the editorial supervision of Lyon Tyler. (edited by Lyon Gardiner Tyler) Isaac Maddeson, came to Virginia in 1608, only a year after the founding of Jamestown, and was employed in exploring the country and probably in making maps, etc. He went to England in 1620 and while there, on July 10, 1621, the Virginia Company, in recognition of his services in the colony, presented him with two shares in the company. He seems to have returned to Virginia shortly, for immediately after the massacre of 1622, we find him actively employed against the Indians and becoming one of the best known soldiers of the colony. About the first of July, 1622, the governor sent Capt. Isaac Maddeson with thirty odd men to the Patomac, where it was thought corn could be purchased from the friendly Indians and a possible alliance with them be formed against the hostile tribes. Maddeson conducted the affair very badly, and, notwithstanding orders to the contrary was soon at odds with the well-disposed savages. He was led into this by tales of a conspiracy on the part of the Indians, which though quite unfounded, moved him into an indefensible treachery against them whereby he captured the chief and his son and killed many of their unfortunate tribesmen. The captives were finally ransomed for a quantity of corn.
    [Show full text]
  • Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia Douglas B
    African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter Volume 9 Article 13 Issue 4 December 2006 12-1-2006 Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia Douglas B. Chambers Gloria Chuku Millersville University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/adan Recommended Citation Chambers, Douglas B. and Chuku, Gloria (2006) "Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia," African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter: Vol. 9 : Iss. 4 , Article 13. Available at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/adan/vol9/iss4/13 This Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Chambers and Chuku: Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia Book Review H-NET BOOK REVIEW Published by H-Atlantic, http://www.h-net.org/~atlantic/ (October 2006). Douglas B. Chambers. Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005. x + 325 pp., Illustrations, maps notes, bibliography, index. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 1-57806-706-5. Reviewed for H-Atlantic by Gloria Chuku, Department of History, Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Enslaved Igbo and the Foundation of Afro-Virginia Slave Culture and Society Based largely on court and county documents as well as the recently published transatlantic slave database, Douglas Chambers uses the circumstances surrounding the 1732 death of Ambrose Madison, the paternal grandfather of President James Madison, to reconstruct the history of the Igbo slaves in Virginia. Thus, the book is primarily about the dominant role of enslaved Igbo in the formation of early Afro-Virginia slave culture and society.
    [Show full text]
  • The Thomas Chew Family of Orange County and the Colonial Virginia Recessional
    Courses of Empire: The Thomas Chew Family of Orange County and the Colonial Virginia Recessional by Frederick Madison Smith, Secretary, NSMFD Despite the burgeoning prosperity of his young family in the emerging Virginia Piedmont, Ambrose Madison’s murder in the summer of 1732 left his widow Frances Tayl or Madison and his children in a somewhat precarious position legally and financially. Having divested himself of his holdings in the Ti dewater, Ambrose’s “Mount Pleasant” estate was his chief capital holding and income source. However, this planta tion, a joint patent to Ambrose and his brother-in-law Thomas Chew, husband of his wife’s younger and nearest- in-age sister Martha Taylor, had never been formally divided between them and, on Ambrose’s death, titl e to the 4,675 acre tract passed entirely to Chew. Whatever anxieties, if any, attended this legal fact for Frances Taylor Madison, they were resolved on May 26, 1737 when Chew deeded 2,850 acres of the original pa tent “to Frances Maddison, widow and James Maddison, son and heir of Ambrose Madison, deceased.” This deed, recorded in the Orange Coun ty Virginia Deed Book 2, pages 10-13, further recites that “Ambrose Maddison depart ed this life before any legal division of the land was made, by which the whole was vested in Thomas Chew as survivor.” Mirroring the provisions of Ambrose’s will, Chew’s deed gave Frances a life estate only with the ti tle passing unencumbered on her death to her son, James Madison Sr., the President’s father.
    [Show full text]
  • The-Life-Of-James-Madison
    American Statesmen JAMES MADISON SYDNEY HOWARD GAY BOSTON AND NEW TOEK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPAJiTY URIS LIBRARY EDITOE'S PREFACE Few men, so well equipped intellectually as was Madison, have, by reason of the characteristics of their equipment, been so dependent for success upon the conditions amid which they have been placed. Madison was preeminently what may be called a cabinet statesman. He was better as a thinker than as an actor. He had the constructive quality, and was a master of principles of govern- ment; but in the practical application of those principles which he himself had formulated and shaped, if not created, he was not fitted to excel, unless possibly when the current of events was running smoothly. His strength did not lie in the executive or administrative directions. Had he died before he was President, his fame would not have been less than it is to-day, when he is remembered and admired chiefly for his labors in connection with the creation of the Constitu- tion and the foundation of the government. He amply deserved the honor of the presidential office, though it added so little to his reputation ; but it really meant that because he had done one task exceedingly well, he was now appointed to do a vi EDITOR'S PREFACE very different task much less well. Never was a ruler less fitted to hold the helm in troubled times, and it was hard fortune for him to receive from his friend and predecessor the bequest of a war. Probably no man could have made the conflict of 1812 a success, but Madison hardly knew how even to try to make it so.
    [Show full text]
  • A Chapter in the History of Orange County, Virginia William Livingston Kirby
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Theses Student Research 4-1-1949 A chapter in the history of Orange County, Virginia William Livingston Kirby Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Recommended Citation Kirby, William Livingston, "A chapter in the history of Orange County, Virginia" (1949). Master's Theses. Paper 43. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CONTENTS I. Orange County in 1753 1 II. The Migration of a Family 11 III. .'Oranse Between Wars 15 IV. .A Home Front in the Revolution 25 v. Settling Down to Independence 33 VI. Orange County Reaohes Maturity 46 Bibliography Llbh</\n'f' UN1VE"RSl1Y OF RICHMoiid VIRGINIA A OHAPTER IN THE H.ISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA I. ORANGE OOUNTY IN 1753 In 1753 Orange County could hardly have still been oalled a frontier region, but its sooiety remained like that of the more exposed communities to the west for some time. It was neither overpopulated nor was the land intensively cultivated. The flora and fauna had hardly been affected, and wolves frequently howling at night reminded the inhabitants that the job of .taming their environment was yet unfinished. These wolves were suffi­ ciently destruotive to demand bounties, and many farmers, planters and. gentlemen eked out their income by presenting the head of a wolf to the sheriff, who paid a hundred pounds 1 of tobaooo for the tropl1y.
    [Show full text]
  • The Writings of James Madison, Ed. Gaillard Hunt
    Library of Congress James Madison to James Madison, Sr., September 30, 1769. Transcription: The Writings of James Madison, ed. Gaillard Hunt. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1900-1910. TO JAMES MADISON.1 MAD. MSS. 1 Madison's father was, during the earlier part of his son's career, his chief correspondent. He was a planter of substantial estate without being wealthy. Although he is represented as not having received much education the few of his letters which are extant show that he wrote with tolerable correctness. He was County Lieutenant of Orange and wielded an influence in local affairs which was considerable. He inherited Montpelier from his father, Ambrose Madison. Nassau Hall, September 30th 69. Hond. Sir, —I received your letter by Mr. Rossekrans, and wrote an answer; but as it is probable this will arrive sooner which I now write by Doctor Witherspoon, I shall repeat some circumstances to avoid obscurity. On Wednesday last we had the usual commencement. Eighteen young Gentlemen took their Bachelor's degrees, and a considerable number their Master's Degrees. The degree of Doctor of Law was bestowed on Mr. Dickenson the Farmer and Mr. Galloway,2 the Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, a distinguishing mark of Honour, as there never was any of that kind done before in America. The Commencement began at 10 O'Clock, when the President walked first into the Church, a board of James Madison to James Madison, Sr., September 30, 1769. Transcription: The Writings of James Madison, ed. Gaillard Hunt. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1900-1910.
    [Show full text]
  • Nathaniel Gordon and the Town of Gordonsville
    Nathaniel Gordon and The Town of Gordonsville From: Historian Ann Miller and her book Antebellum Orange: “The site of the present town of Gordonsville was originally part of a patent for 10,000 acres granted to Col Henry Willis of Fredericksburg in 1728. Later that same year, Col. Willis sold a portion of the land to Ambrose Madison, grandfather of the President. The property remained in the family until 1787, when Ambrose Madison’s granddaughter Ann Beale Willis, and her husband John Whittaker Willis (grandson of the original grantee), sold it to Nathaniel Gordon, son of Col. James Gordon of Lancaster County. “The 1,350 acres purchased by Gordon included the crossroads of the Fredericksburg Road and the Richmond Road; Gordon built his house at the crossroads, and, quick to sense an opportunity, was running a tavern there by 1794. HIs plantation/tavern complex soon became a stage stop as well, and Gordon’s business and his fortunes expanded. “Gordon had called his property Newville, but in 1813, when a Post Office was established there, with Gordon the first postmaster, it was being called Gordonsville. Following Gordon’s death in 1820, the tavern was leased for nearly a decade. It finally passed out of the Gordon ownership in 1830, when it ceased operation as a tavern and became a private residence. “In 1840, the Louisa Railroad (now the C&O) reached Gordonsville, making it the westernmost railhead in Virgina at that time, and beginning the town’s forty-year reign as the trade center for the area. A business and mercantile area, called Gordonsville Depot, grew up around the old Gordon Inn.
    [Show full text]
  • Slave Foodways at James Madison's Montpelier AD 1810-1836
    Labor, Status And Power: Slave Foodways At James Madison's Montpelier AD 1810-1836 Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Copperstone, Chance Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 15:01:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/339046 LABOR, STATUS AND POWER: SLAVE FOODWAYS AT JAMES MADISON’S MONTPELIER AD 1810- 1836 by Chance Copperstone ____________________________ A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2014 1 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by CLP Research 1600 1700 1750
    Copyright by CLP Research Partial Genealogy of the Madison Main Political Affiliation: Cpt. Isaac Madison (of Virginia & Kentucky) (1590-1624) 1763-83 Whig/Revolutionary (Emigrated from London, England to Virginia, 1608) 1789-1823 Republican (massacred Indians, 1622) 1824-33 1600 (VA gov council, 1624) 1834-53 = Mary Councilor 1854- (1605-25) 1 Other John Madison I (1625-83) = Maria Ambrose (1635-63) 1650 3 Others John Madison II (1663-1732) (King & Queen co. VA sheriff, 1685-1715) See Todd of KY = Isabella Minor Todd Genealogy (1670-1710) Part I Elizabeth Ann Catherine Madison Thomas Madison 5 Others Madison (1693-1760) (1694-1754) (1687-at least 1717) = Richard Gaines = Johanna ???? = George Penn (1670-1755) (1718-58?) Col. Ambrose Madison Henry Madison I 1700 (1700-32) (1701-57) (1690-1741) Cpt. John Madison See Gaines of VA See Taylor of VA = Frances Taylor = Elizabeth Polly See Penn of VA Genealogy Genealogy (1700-61) Pemberton or Coleman (1709-1784) Genealogy Part I (1705-at least 1743) (VA H of B, 1748-54 See Strother of VA = Agatha Strother Sarah Madison 9 Others James Madison I 1 Son Elizabeth Madison Frances Madison Genealogy (1728-1822) (1736-1801) (1722-1801) (1725-73) (1726-78) Part II = John Pendleton See Conway of VA = Eleanor Rose = Col. John Willis = Taverner Beale I 5 Others Henry Madison II (1719-99) Genealogy Conway (1730-1829) (1724-50) (1713-56) (1743-1811) (VA H of B, 1762-65; speaker, 1765) See Willis of VA See Beale of VA See White of VA = Martha White 1750See Pendleton of VA Genealogy Genealogy Genealogy (1744-1837)
    [Show full text]
  • Shadrach Born January 7, 1767
    A monthly newsletter sharing new information about the enslaved community of Belle Grove Plantation, Middletown, Virginia SHADRACH BORN JANUARY 7, 1767 January 2021 THE MEANING BEHIND In the Old Testament of the Bible, Shadrach is one of three THE NAME SHADRACH Jewish men living in exile in Babylon, who after first In the mid-century of the earning the trust of King 1700s, choosing names from Nebuchadnezzar, lost it by Shadrach an enslaved man was the Bible for enslaved babies insulting him while refusing to born at Montpelier, the Madison was popular. From around worship a giant gold idol, family plantation in Orange 1750, attempts to convert which he had built as a symbol County, VA. His mother, second generation African of his wealth and power. The Daphne, is found in five years of enslaved to Christianity were book of Daniel tells how an tax lists, in the grouping of at their peak. Just like today, enraged King ordered younger women. She was names had trends. Eleanor Shadrach, Meshach, and named for, and likely the Conway Madison, wife to Abednego to be thrown into a daughter of, the Daphne owned James Madison Sr., was by Ambrose Madison, the revered and renowned for her fiery furnace. original patriarch of Montpelier. This baby’s birth early in the piety and religious learning. God protected them from any new year, just after the end of Whether it was she who gave harm, and they emerged the Twelve Days of Christmas, the name, or the baby’s unsinged and well, to the celebrated in the quarter and mother, who had learned astonishment of the King and the big house alike, may have Biblical stories from working in his court.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pendleton Family of Hyde Park, New York
    THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF the M adison F amily Descendants 2013 Newsletter A Hudson River School: The Pendleton Family Of Hyde Park, New York “The tour I lately made with Mr. Jefferson of which I have given the outline to my brother was a very agreeable one, and carried us thro’ an interesting Country new to us both.” James Madison, Jr. to James Madison, Sr., July 2d, 1791 View of the Hudson River today looking west from above The Frederick Vanderbilt Estate, Dutchess County, New York. (Photograph by Katy Silberger) By Frederick Madison Smith, NSMFD President 1784 and, finally, with Jefferson in 1791. One of the chief attractions of the Hudson area to President Although President Madison’s extensive trip through the Madison – and to many of his generation – was the prospect of Hudson River Valley with Thomas Jefferson in the Spring of 1791 great profits by land speculation in the rich and fertile soils of parts was to take the pair through landscapes in the upper reaches which of the region. His inability to secure greater capital was to prevent were indeed “new to us both,” this was not Madison’s first venture the making of any great profits here, but a modest investment in up the Hudson but, in fact, his third. Mohawk Valley lands branching west from the Hudson in the His first, as a young man of in 1774, was taken largely by 1780s was to double during the decade he held it. boat and some of the weather encountered on his way was to try Not long after the end of the 1791 trip with Jefferson, James his notoriously delicate health and “nervous disposition” (if not his Madison, Jr.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Was Buried in James Madison's Grave
    WHO WAS BURIED IN JAMES MADISON’S GRAVE? A study in contextual analysis C. Thomas Chapman The Montpelier Foundation 540-672-2728 x162 [email protected] WHO WAS BURIED IN JAMES MADISON’S GRAVE? A Study in Contextual Analysis _____________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Anthropology The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts _____________ by Charles Thomas Chapman 2005 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all those who have come before us, who have created our ideas, our thoughts, our lives, our words, and our stories, and to all those who will follow and recreate what we have done. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passesth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
    [Show full text]