Dwelling Place Page 66

  ELSIE. See Elsey.

  ELVIRA (1798?–1826), born in Africa. She was brought on a slave ship with her mother, Fanny, and younger brother Marcus to the United States in 1803. John Jones (1772–1805) purchased the family, and Elvira and Marcus were deeded to Jones’s infant daughter Susan [Mary Jones Maxwell Cumming]. Elvira married Hamlet around 1812, and they had their first child, Syphax, in 1813. See genealogical chart “Jupiter and Silvey.” She died in childbirth at Carlawter in 1826.

  FANNY (1778?–1850), born in Africa. She was brought on a slave ship with her two children, Elvira and Marcus, to the United States. John Jones (1772–1805) purchased the family in 1803. She became a slave of Joseph Jones (1779–1846) in 1808, although during the last years of her life she lived at Carlawter. She should not be confused with the Fanny who was a part of the Andrew Maybank estate and was the wife of Prime, or with Fanny who was the daughter of Sam and Rosetta and the wife of Gilbert. While Fanny had difficulty mastering the Gullah dialect, she was probably a major conveyor of African traditions within the Gullah settlements at Carlawter and White Oak. She was a member of the Sunbury Baptist Church.

  FLORA (1790–1851), the matriarch of a large family at Carlawter. She came to the Jones family in 1806, when her mistress Sarah Anderson married Joseph Jones (1779–1846). When Sarah Anderson’s estate was divided in 1830, Flora became the slave of Mary Jones. Flora’s husband is unknown, but he probably lived at the Retreat settlement as a slave of Joseph Jones. They had seven children and thirty-seven grandchildren. See genealogical chart “Flora.” She was often called in her later years Old Flora and should not be confused with her granddaughter Flora (1839–1868+). In the 1840s and until her death in 1851, she was a nurse looking after the children in Carlawter. She was a member of the North Newport Baptist Church.

  FLORA (1839–1868+), the daughter of Eve and William (a slave of Roswell King [1796–1854]). Sheis not to be confused with the Flora who married Young Gilbert. Her maternal grandmother was Flora (1790–1851), the matriarch of a large family at Carlawter. See genealogical chart “Flora.” Her paternal grandmother was Phillis, who was for years a cook for Julia Maxwell King. In 1857 Flora married, in the chapel at Montevideo, Joefinny, a house servant of the David Lyman Buttolphs. When Joefinny ran away during the early days of the Civil War, there was concern among the Buttolphs and Joneses that Flora might try to join him. She was the personal servant of Mary Jones and traveled with her during the war to southwest Georgia, Atlanta, and Augusta. Mary Jones dismissed Flora in late 1865 for being “disrespectful.” Flora joined Joefinny in Savannah in 1866, although she later returned to Liberty County and worked as a domestic servant for a Mrs. Anderson.

  GILBERT (1824–1885), the son of Andrew and Mary Ann and the brother of Dinah and Charles. See genealogical chart “Andrew and Mary Ann Lawson.” He married in the early 1840s Fanny, the daughter of Sam and Rosetta. Gilbert’s brother Charles married Fanny’s sister Lucy. Gilbert was a carriage and buggy driver and general handyman around Montevideo and Maybank. Gilbert and Fanny had seven children, including Little Gilbert. During and after the Civil War, Gilbert was “irreproachable in word, look or manner” in his relationship to Mary Jones. After the war, he and Fanny declared their family name to be Lawson.

  HAMLET(1769–1839), son of Jupiter (1740?–1812?) and Silvey, and brother of Jupiter (1760?–1840). He married Phillis. They had three children, including Little Hamlet and Prince. He then married Elvira, and they had six children, including Syphax. See genealogical chart for “Jupiter and Silvey.” Hamlet belonged to John Jones (1749–1779) and John Jones (1772–1805). He was among those slaves purchased by Joseph Jones (1779–1846) in Riceboro in 1808 and given back to the widow and children of Jones’s brother John Jones (1772–1805). He was part of the joint property of Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863) and his sister Susan Mary Jones Maxwell Cumming until a division of their property in 1839. He followed his father, Jupiter, and his brother Jupiter as a driver. Hamlet’s son Prince followed him as the driver at White Oak.

  HARRY STEVENS (?–1856+), a skilled carpenter and healer and widely respected slave of Thomas Mallard. He was also skilled in the construction of dams and canals for rice production. Often called Dr. Harry, he was a member of Midway Congregational Church. Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863) regarded him as his “good friend.” Through his personal efforts and the contributions of a number of planters, Harry Stevens bought his freedom and the freedom of his family and took them to the colony of freed people in Liberia, where, wrote Robert Quarterman Mallard, “he became a citizen of the free African Republic!”

  JACK (1750–1850), the husband first of Lizett and second of Marcia. He was the brother of Robin and the father of Phoebe. He should not be confused with Jack, his great-nephew and namesake, the son of Patience and Porter. The personal servant of Sarah Anderson, he came with her when she married Joseph Jones (1779–1846) in 1806. A man of great personal integrity and widely admired wisdom, Jack became not only the majordomo at the Retreat, overseeing with Sylvia the running of the house, but also a patriarch, storyteller, and dentist in the Gullah community of Liberty County. When the estate of Sarah Anderson Jones was divided in 1830, he became the slave of Mary Jones. He was a member of the Sunbury Baptist Church. In 1837–1838 and again in 1848–1850 he lived in Columbia, where he managed the Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863) household. He and Marcia died in Columbia a few days apart in the spring of 1850.

  JACOB (?–?), carpenter and slave of John Jones (1772–1805). He was a part of a developing tradition of carpentry among certain skilled Gullah artisans. Sandy Jones apparently was an apprentice with him. He should not be confused with the Jacob who was a part of the Andrew Maybank estate or the Jacob who was a carpenter at South Hampton.

  JAMES (1842–1865+), the son of Cassius and Peggy (1815–1865+). While Cassius was married to Phoebe at the time of James’s birth, he acknowledged James as his son and left some of his possessions to him in 1856. See genealogical chart “Jupiter and Silvey.”

  JANE (1838–1857), the daughter of Phoebe and Cassius, half-sister of Clarissa (1825–1865), John, and James. See genealogical chart “Lizzy and Robinson.” She spent 1848–1850 in Columbia, where she was learning, under the direction of her grandfather Jack, the work of a domestic servant. In 1851, however, she was put to work in the fields at Montevideo, where her uncle Cato was the driver. Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863) found her in-creasingly obstinate and surly. She may have been married to Titus (1826–1865+). She managed to run away to Savannah in 1856, probably by hiding on one of the small sloops that sailed the inland waters between Riceboro and Savannah. She disguised herself in Savannah and worked for several months as a domestic for hire. Discovered, captured, and sold, she died in New Orleans the next year of pleurisy or consumption.

  JOEFINNY (1831–1866+), the son of Zipporah, a slave of Audley Maxwell (1766–1840). He was deeded with his mother and siblings to Maxwell’s grandchildren Laura Elizabeth Maxwell and Charles Edward Maxwell. Joefinny spent most of his early years on Colonel’s Island. Trained as a domestic servant, he became the greatly respected and trusted butler and manager of the household for Laura Maxwell and David Lyman Buttolph after their marriage. He married Flora (1839–1868+) in the chapel at Montevideo in 1857. Shortly after the Buttolphs fled their island home during the early days of the Civil War, Joefinny escaped and apparently hid on Colonel’s Island for the duration of the war. In 1865 he and Flora were reunited in Savannah.

  JOHN (1830–1854), son of Phoebe and Sandy Jones, half-brother to Clarissa (1825–1865+) and Jane. He spent 1848–1850 in Columbia, where he was learning, under the direction of his grandfather Jack, the work of a domestic servant. On his return to Carlawter in 1850, however, he was put to work in the fields. He resisted the orders of the white overseer and his uncle Cato, and shortly after his return to Carlawter received from the overseer a flogging. On Mary Jones’s return to Montevideo in 1853, she found John to be a “prayerless, wi
cked, profane, Sabbath breaker and immoral boy and he seemed insensible to his sins and their consequences.” In 1851 he married a woman at Carlawter, but he left her the next year. He died in 1853 from hemorrhaging of the lungs. During his violent illness, he repented of his sins and confessed that he “could look only to Christ.”

  JUPITER (1740?–1812?), the husband of Silvey and father of Jupiter (1760?–1840) and Hamlet (1769–1839). He was the driver for John Jones (1772–1805) at Rural Felicity and Liberty Hall plantations. In 1808 he and his family were sold in Riceboro in order to settle the estate debts of his master. They were purchased by Joseph Jones (1779–1846) and given back as a gift to the widow and children of John Jones. Jupiter and his wife, Silvey (also called in her last years Blind Silvey), were the progenitors of a large and influential family at Carlawter and White Oak. See genealogical chart “Jupiter and Silvey.”

  JUPITER (1760?–1840), the son of Jupiter (1740?–1812?) and Silvey, and brother of Hamlet. See genealogical chart “Jupiter and Silvey.” He served as the first driver at Carlawter and was followed by his brother Hamlet and at White Oak by his nephew Prince. If he had a wife, she lived on another plantation. He is not to be confused with his father or his nephew, the son of his sister Hannah.

  LIZZY (1784–1837), wife of Robinson and mother of Lymus, Cato, Cassius, Porter, and Adam. She was the personal servant of Susannah Girardeau and became a slave of the Jones family when her mistress married John Jones (1772–1805). Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863) inherited Lizzy from his mother. Lizzy and Robinson were the progenitors of a large and influential family. See genealogical chart “Lizzy and Robinson.” She was a cook. In her later years she was often called Old Lizzy. At her death, Charles Colcock Jones described her as “a quiet, faithful Negro, & one of the oldest on the plantation.” She should not be confused with several of her granddaughters who were named for her or with Lizzy the wife of Robin.

  LUCY (1820–1891+), the daughter of Rosetta and Sam, wife of Charles, and mother of Tenah. See genealogical charts “Rosetta and Sam Roberts” and “Andrew and Mary Ann Law-son.” She was trained from an early age by her parents to be a domestic servant. She spent 1837–1838 in Columbia, where she worked under the supervision of Jack. She married Charles in 1840, and they moved back and forth between Carlawter and Maybank according to the needs of their owners. She became a member of Midway Congregational Church in 1851. When Mary Sharpe Jones married Robert Quarterman Mallard in 1857, Lucy, Charles, and Tenah became the property of the Mallards. When the Mallards moved to Atlanta in 1863, Lucy, Charles, and Tenah, together with Tenah’s husband, Niger (1839–1891+), were carried with them. They were all at Montevideo during the weeks in 1864–1865 when it was pillaged by Union troops. Lucy and Charles signed contracts with Mary Jones after the war and continued living at Carlawter. Lucy and Charles served for a number of years after 1868 as the primary caretakers for Montevideo. They declared their family name to be Lawson.

  LYMUS (1804–1864?), the oldest son of Lizzy and Robinson, the brother of Cato, Cassius, Porter, and Adam. He was married to a woman owned by Elijah Chapman, whose plantation was near Montevideo. Lymus was an agricultural worker and was regarded by whites as having a close relationship with Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863). He apparently died at Carlawter in late 1863 or 1864.

  MARCIA (1795–1850), second wife of Jack. She belonged to Joseph Jones (1779–1846), who rented her to Mary Jones in the 1830s so that she might live with her husband. In 1842 Mary Jones gave Joseph Jones the slave Jenny in exchange for Marcia. Jack and Marcia had four children and seven grandchildren living at the Retreat at the time of the exchange. One daughter, Betsy, was the wife of Cato. Marcia spent 1837–1838 in Columbia, where she was the chief cook for the family of Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863). She returned to Columbia with the Jones family in 1848 and died there a few days after Jack’s death in 1850.

  MARY ANN. See Andrew and genealogical chart “Andrew and Mary Ann Lawson.” She is not to be confused with Mary Ann, the daughter of Sharper and the wife of Sandy May-bank.

  MILEY (?–1865+), a slave and house servant of William Maxwell. Her husband, Isaac, was a slave on a neighboring plantation. In the 1840s he had an affair with Louisa, another domestic servant of the Maxwells, that resulted in the two of them being excommunicated by Midway Congregational Church. In 1851 Isaac beat Miley so badly that she lost the sight in one eye. Elizabeth Jones Maxwell took her to Savannah for treatment by a doctor and nursed her through her recovery from the beating. When Federal troops forced William Maxwell from his Springfield plantation in early 1865, Miley was the only Maxwell slave who showed concern for Maxwell’s welfare.

  MOMMA. See Sylvia.

  NIGER (1803–1862), husband of Phillis. See genealogical chart “Flora.” He came to the Jones family in 1806, when his mistress Sarah Anderson married Joseph Jones (1779–1846). When a final settlement was made of Sarah Anderson’s slaves in the early 1840s, he became a slave of Mary Jones. He and Phillis had eight children, including Niger (1839–1891+). While he was involved in a variety of agricultural work, his primary responsibility was to drive one of the oxcarts. In 1854 he was bitten by a rattlesnake and almost died, but “with much presence of mind,” he “took out his knife and scarified the wound and put his foot into cold water and bound up the leg.” He and Phillis were members of Midway Congregational Church. A very careful reading of sources is required to avoid confusion with his son, and with Niger (1832–1865+).

  NIGER (1832–1865+), the son of Fanny and Prime. He was with his parents and siblings part of the Andrew Maybank estate that went to Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863) and Mary Jones. The family adopted the name Stevens after the Civil War. See genealogical chart “Prime and Fanny Stevens.” In 1852 Niger was moved with his parents and siblings from Maybank to Arcadia. He married sometime before 1862 Rhina, a slave of William Maxwell. In 1862 he was among those sent to Indianola in Burke County. His wife was rented from William Maxwell in order to accompany him. After the Civil War he and Rhina returned to Liberty County. A very careful reading of sources is required to avoid confusion with Niger (1803–1862) or with Niger (1839–1891+).

  NIGER (1839–1891+), son of Niger (1803–1862) and Phillis, and husband of Tenah. He spent much of his early life at Maybank, where he developed an intimate knowledge of the Medway marsh and became a skilled fisherman. When he asked to marry Tenah in 1861, Mary Sharpe Jones [Mallard], her mistress, told him, “I did not think the arrangement would suit me at all, for I did not want Tenah to marry.” He, however, “seemed to think there could be no valid objections.” They were married a few weeks later in the chapel at Montevideo in a double ceremony with Niger’s sister Judy and Sam, Tenah’s uncle. See genealogical charts “Flora” and “Rosetta and Sam Roberts.” When the Mallards moved to Atlantain 1863, Niger and Tenah were carried with them, returning to Liberty County as Union troops began their attack on the city. After the war, Niger and Tenah remained at Carlawter, where they were paid a wage for specified work and had land to farm on their own. They adopted first Bacon and then Fraser as their family name. A very careful reading of sources is required to avoid confusing this Niger with Niger (1803–1862) or with Niger (1832–1865+).

  OLD MOMMA. See Sylvia.

  PARIS (?–1851), driver at South Hampton plantation from the 1830s until his death and slave of Roswell King (1796–1854). A large man, greatly respected in both the Gullah and white communities of Liberty County, he was the chief watchman at the North Newport Baptist Church and the sexton at the Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church. He was frequently called upon to negotiate disputes among slaves of different plantations. He is not to be confused with Paris the driver of G. W. Walthour’s Richmond plantation. Julia Maxwell King wrote of his death: “Our good faithful Paris is no more. His parting words to those around him were ‘do not fret for me, the way is open before me and I am safe.’ His end was peaceful.” A King slave remarked that Paris’s death “was not like death but only
going out of one house into another.” He was, said his mistress, “a true friend; one who prayed for us and our children nor did he forget the poor Negro’s friend;” many times he called on his death bed for Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863).

  PATIENCE (1817–1870+), the daughter of Robin and Lizzy, sister of Elsey and Stepney, and wife of Porter. See genealogical charts “Robin and Lizzy West” and “Lizzy.” Patience was trained from an early age to be a cook as she worked under Lizzy, Marcia, and Sylvia. By the 1850s Patience had become a cook highly skilled in the preparation of food from the fields, woods, and waters of the low country. Patience spent 1837–1838 in Columbia, working under the supervision of her uncle Jack. She and Porter married Christmas 1838 and had nine children, including Titus and Beck. She and Porter were both members of the Midway congregation for more than thirty years. While Patience and her cousin and sister-in-law Phoebe resisted in different ways the oppression of slavery and had markedly different personalities, they worked closely together for years in the kitchen and house at Montevideo and Maybank. After the Civil War, Patience and Porter settled near Arcadia, where they first rented land and then purchased their own small farm. They adopted Way as their family name.

  PEGGY (1815–1865+), the daughter of Hamlet and Elvira. See genealogical chart “Hamlet.” She was part of the joint property of Charles Colcock Jones (1804–1863) and his sister Susan Mary Jones Maxwell Cumming until a division of their property in 1839, when she moved to White Oak plantation. She should not be confused with Peggy (1842–1866). She was an early competitor with Phoebe for the affection of Cassius and had a child, James, by Cassius after he and Phoebe were married and after Peggy was married to Simon, a slave from a neighboring plantation. She and Simon had four children.