Category: Benjamin C1768

Mandee Jones born 1835, South Carolina

12/27/2020

Mandee Jones born abt 1835, U.S. Federal Census 1900, Gills Creek Township (south part) Lancaster Town, Lancaster County, South Carolina

Mandee Jones was born about 1835 (according to earlier sources) in South Carolina. In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Mrs. Jones was recorded as a widow living with her son Kelly, her grand daughter Mary B Belk (age 20) and her great grand daughter Mary E Belk (age 1) in Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina. She was the mother of 12 children, of whom 8 were still alive in 1900. There is no entry for her marriage date. Mrs. Jones was recorded as a home-owner, a remarkable achievement for a woman born in slavery who could not read or write.

I first discovered Mandee Jones, known as Grushey prior to Emancipation, in the property records of Irish slaveholder William McKenna. She and her children William aged 7, Harriet aged 6, James Wash aged 3 and Eliza Jane aged 1, were listed for sale at public auction in January 1861 in Lancaster, South Carolina.

Gushen McKenna, 1870 U.S. Federak Census, Gills Creek, Lancaster,South Carolina

In the 1870 U. S. Federal Census, Mandee Jones was recorded as Gushen McKenna, the mother of 6 children, Harriet, Dick, Eliza, Mary, Emma and Kelly ranging in age from 14-1. She and her family were given the racial designation Mulatto. This is significant because it suggests that she and/or her children may have had a European parent. Living next door to Gushen is Charles L Jones, Trial Justice, who is identified as her husband in the 1880 Census.

Gushia Jones, 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Gills Creek Township, Lancaster, South Carolina

Gushia was recorded as the wife of Charles L Jones in 1880. She was still living in Gills Creek, Lancaster County. Her children were named as Toney aged 21, Rufus aged 18, Mary aged 16, Daniel aged 14, Emma aged 12, Kelly aged 10 and Louiza aged 6. Gushia and Charles’ sons Toney, Rufus and Kelly were recorded as house servants as was their daughter Mary. Charles was recorded as a farmer and Gushia and her son Daniel as field labourers. Their daughter Eliza had married and had a son John Price aged 5 and daughter Louiza Price aged 3 and a two-month old baby girl.

Edgefield Advertiser, 18 Dec. 1867

Charles Jones was one of the elected delegates of Lancaster County to the South Carolina Reconstruction Convention. The Convention took place at the Club House, Meeting Street, Charleston on 14 January 1868. More research needs to be undertaken to identify what happened to Charles L. Jones between 1880-1900.

Jones family members
All birth dates are approximate. Whilst every attempt has been made to achieve accuracy further research may call into question information contained here. Should this happen the blog will be updated promptly. An abbreviated version of this information is available www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1UWvU9xIybDTb73hveTaQORzs_bYkQig0&hl=en&usp=sharing
Mandee Jones born 1835
her husband Charles L Jones born 1824
William/Dick born 1853
Harriet born 1854
James Wash 1857
Toney Jones born 1859
Eliza Jane Jones born 1859, husband surname Price, children John and Louiza
Rufus Jones born 1862, wife Georgina Clinton or Crockett, children Mary Boyken (husband Albert), Charley, Hallie, Lollie, Henry (died 1918, burial Witherspoon), grandchildren Maud & Albert Boyken.
Mary Jones born 1864
Daniel Jones born 1866
Emma Jones born 1866
Kelly Jones born 1869
Louiza Jones born 1874
By 1900, 4 of Mrs. Jones 12 children had died.

Grandchildren of Mandee & Charles Jones
Mary B Belk born 1880
Curtis Belk born 1875
Great grand daughter
Mary E Belk born 1899 (probably daughter of Mary B Belk)

Notes
Mandee Jones name is transcribed as 'Mandee', however a close reading of the original document with Stacy Ashmore Cole suggests that her name is written as Mander. A descendant has contacted me also to say that many names she has found in documents have an 'r' added when a name ends in a vowel, for example Cula transcribed as Cular.
In 1900, Mandee Jones is recorded as the mother of 12 children. It is on this basis and the fact that Mandee Jones is recorded as living with the above named children (at different times) that the children are recorded here as Mandee's children. Death certificates or other documents may prove otherwise.

Sources
"List of Negroes, 14 November I860," along with a list of families and prices, CDA, Lynch Unclassified Papers, box 3, folder 2; Catalogue of Negro Slaves of the Estate of the Hon. William McKenna, Deceased...
www.catholic-doc.org/archive1/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=370&q=episcopal&rootcontentid=70674#id70674
With thanks to Brian P Fahey, Archivist, Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston.

1870 U.S. Federal Census
1880 U.S. Federal Census
1900 U. S Federal Census
South Carolina Deaths 1915-1965
(familysearch.org) (accessed 1 Jan. 2021).

Edgefield Advertiser, 18 Dec. 1867
historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn84026897/1867-12-18/ed-1/seq-2/
William McKenna, part 1
www.enslavement-to-citizenship.com/african-americans-in-irish-slaveholder-records-blog/families-enslaved-by-william-mckenna-lancaster-county-south-carolina

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Benjamin born c1768

11/5/2020

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Benjamin, born c1768, was living in Philadelphia in 1804, enslaved by Pierce Butler, of Co. Carlow, Ireland, South Carolina and Butler Island, Georgia (1744-1822). He had lived mostly in Philadelphia since 1793. In 1804, Benjamin appealed for help to the Abolition Society since Pierce Butler had decided to send him to his Georgia plantation. Benjamin did not want to leave his wife in Philadelphia because she was in poor health. Isaac T Hopper, was appointed to serve a Writ of habeas corpus on Pierce Butler at his house on Chestnut Street.
After two adjournments for further investigation, Judge Inskeep, found in favour of Benjamin and set him free. Benjamin, began work for Isaac W Morris (1770-1831) in Cedar Grove about three miles outside Philadelphia. Isaac W Morris was also a Quaker and in 1804 had been appointed to the care of the school for free children of colour.
However, Pierce Butler, did not relinquish his claim easily. While Benjamin was in Philadelphia, on business for his employer, he was arrested by a U.S. marshall on a Writ of De homine replegiando with bail set for $2,000. Isaac T Hopper and Thomas Harrison signed the bond and Benjamin was released once again. Judges Bushrod Washington and Richard Peters heard the Case in October 1806. Benjamin was discharged by the Circuit Court and 'enjoyed his liberty thenceforth without interruption.'
Source
L. Maria Child, Isaac T. Hopper, A True Life, (1853).
(http://www.gutenberg.org) (7 Aug. 2019).
E-text prepared by Curtis Weyant and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders.

Following is an extract from Child's book, Isaac T. Hopper, A True Life.
In August, 1804, a colored man about thirty-six years old waited upon the committee of the Abolition Society, and stated that he was born a slave to Pierce Butler, Esq., of South Carolina, and had always lived in his family. During the last eleven years, he had resided most of the time in Pennsylvania. Mr. Butler now proposed taking him to Georgia; but he was very unwilling to leave his wife, she being in delicate health and needing his support. After mature consideration of the case, the committee, believing Ben was legally entitled to freedom, agreed to apply to Judge Inskeep for a writ of habeas corpus; and Isaac T. Hopper was sent to serve it upon Pierce Butler, Esq., at his house in Chestnut-street.
Being told that Mr. Butler was at dinner, he said he would wait in the hall until it suited his convenience to attend to him. Mr. Butler was a tall, lordly looking man, somewhat imperious in his manners, as slaveholders are wont to be. When he came into the hall after dinner, Friend Hopper gave him a nod of recognition, and said, "How art thou, Pierce Butler? I have here a writ of habeas corpus for thy Ben."
Mr. Butler glanced over the paper, and exclaimed, "Get out of my house, you scoundrel!"
Feigning not to hear him, Friend Hopper looked round at the pictures and rich furniture, and said with a smile, "Why, thou livest like a nabob here!"
"Get out of my house, I say!" repeated Mr. Butler, stamping violently.
"This paper on the walls is the handsomest I ever saw," continued Isaac. "Is it French, or English? It surely cannot have been manufactured in this country." Talking thus, and looking leisurely about him as he went, he moved deliberately toward the door; the slaveholder railing at him furiously all the while.
"I am a citizen of South Carolina," said he. "The laws of Pennsylvania have nothing to do with me. May the devil take all those who come between masters and their slaves; interfering with what is none of their business." Supposing that his troublesome guest was deaf, he put his head close to his ear, and roared out his maledictions in stentorian tones.
Friend Hopper appeared unconscious of all this. When he reached the threshold, he turned round and said, "Farewell. We shall expect to see thee at Judge Inskeep's."
This imperturbable manner irritated the hot-blooded slave-holder beyond endurance. He repeated more vociferously than ever, "Get out of my house, you scoundrel! If you don't, I'll kick you out." The Quaker walked quietly away, as if he didn't hear a word.
At the appointed time, Mr. Butler waited upon the Judge, where he found Friend Hopper in attendance. The sight of him renewed his wrath. He cursed those who interfered with his property; and taking up the Bible, said he was willing to swear upon that book that he would not take fifteen hundred dollars for Ben. Friend Hopper charged him with injustice in wishing to deprive the man of his legal right to freedom. Mr. Butler maintained that he was as benevolent as any other man.
"Thou benevolent!" exclaimed Friend Hopper. "Why, thou art not even just. Thou hast already sent back into bondage two men, who were legally entitled to freedom by staying in Philadelphia during the term prescribed by law. If thou hadst a proper sense of justice, thou wouldst bring those men back, and let them take the liberty that rightfully belongs to them."
"If you were in a different walk of life, I would treat your insult as it deserves," replied the haughty Southerner.
"What dost thou mean by that? asked Isaac. Wouldst thou shoot me, as Burr did Hamilton? I assure thee I should consider it no honor to be killed by a member of Congress; and surely there would be neither honor nor comfort in killing thee; for in thy present state of mind thou art not fit to die."
Mr. Butler told the judge he believed that man was either deaf or crazy when he served the writ of habeas corpus; for he did not take the slightest notice of anything that was said to him. Judge Inskeep smiled as he answered, "You don't know Mr. Hopper as well as we do."
A lawyer was procured for Ben; but Mr. Butler chose to manage his own cause. He maintained that he was only a sojourner in Pennsylvania; that Ben had never resided six months at any one time in that State, except while he was a member of Congress; and in that case, the law allowed him to keep his slave in Pennsylvania as long as he pleased. The case was deemed an important one, and was twice adjourned for further investigation. In the course of the argument, Mr. Butler admitted that he returned from Congress to Philadelphia, with Ben, on the second of January, 1804, and had remained there with him until the writ of habeas corpus was served, on the third of August, the same year. The lawyers gave it as their opinion that Ben's legal right to freedom was too plain to admit of any doubt. They said the law to which Mr. Butler had alluded was made for the convenience of Southern gentlemen, who might need the attendance of their personal slaves, when Congress met in Philadelphia; but since the seat of government was removed, it by no means authorized members to come into Pennsylvania with their slaves, and keep them there as long as they chose. After much debate, the judge gave an order discharging Ben from all restraint, and he walked off rejoicing.
His master was very indignant at the decision, and complained loudly that a Pennsylvania court should presume to discharge a Carolinian slave.
When Ben was set at liberty, he let himself to Isaac W. Morris, then living at his country seat called Cedar Grove, three miles from Philadelphia. Being sent to the city soon after, on some business for his employer, he was attached by the marshall of the United States, on a writ De homine replegiando, at the suit of Mr. Butler, and two thousand dollars were demanded for bail. The idea was probably entertained that so large an amount could not be procured, and thus Ben would again come into his master's possession. But Isaac T. Hopper and Thomas Harrison signed the bail-bond, and Ben was again set at liberty, to await his trial before the Circuit Court of the United States. Bushrod Washington, himself a slaveholder, presided in that court, and Mr. Butler was sanguine that he should succeed in having Judge Inskeep's decision reversed. The case was brought in October, 1806, before Judges Bushrod Washington and Richard Peters. It was ably argued by counsel on both sides. The court discharged Ben, and he enjoyed his liberty thenceforth without interruption.

For further information about African Americans in Pierce Butler's records and those of his extended family contact Brian Sheffey on Twitter  twitter.com/genealogadvent

See also
Bell, Malcolm, Major Butler’s Legacy: Five Generations of a Slaveholding Family  (University of Georgia Press) 1987.
Bailey, Anne, The Weeping Time: Memory and the largest slave auction in American history (Cambridge University Press) 2017.
Kemble, Fanny, Journal of a residence on a Georgian plantation 1838-39 (www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12422) free download.

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Mandee Jones born 1835, South Carolina

Benjamin born c1768

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