GENERATION ONE: William Mansell & Katherine
Gen I-1. William Mansell
Born: about 1630 in England or New England
Spouse: Katherine
Child:
Gen II-1. William Mansell – born 14 Sep 1665, Boston, Suffolk Co., Colonial Massachusetts
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The earliest mention of the Mansell family related to Elvis Presley is the birth record for William and Katherine Mansell’s son William found in the town records kept for Boston, Massachusetts, 1630-1699. A Samuel Mansell family is also mentioned in the records at the same time and may be a related:
- William [son] of William & Katharine Mansell born Sept. 14 [1665] .<1>
- Peter [son] of Samuel & Kathar Mansell born Nov. 21[1666].<2>
Additionally, there are a few other important entries found in the Boston Town Records that should be mentioned. They will help unravel the history of the Mansell family later on. First, there is a marriage solemnized by the governor for William Terrill and Rebecca Simpkins:
- William Therrell & Rebecca Simpkins daughter of Capt. Nicholas Simpkins were married 29th — 11th month [January 1654/1655] by Richard Bellingham Governor.<3>
After their marriage, the Boston Town Records has entries for the births of William and Rebecca’s children, although each entry shows a different spelling of their last name.<4> :
- Rebecca of William & Rebecca Threll born 26th Dec. [1654]
- William of William and Rebecca Thorull born March 16th. [1658]
- Mary of William & Rebecca Thirrell born Apr. 6. [1661]
- Gideon of William & Rebecca Thurrell born July 16. [1663]
GENERATION TWO: William Mansell and Mary Terrill
Gen II-1. William Mansell, son of William Mansell and Katherine
Born: 14 Sep 1665, Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts Colony
Marriage Recorded: 5 Feb 1686/87, Berkeley (now Perquimans) Precinct, Albemarle Co., Colonial (North) Carolina
Died: after 1718, Nansemond (now Suffolk) Co., Colonial Virginia
Spouse: Mary Terrill, daughter of William Terrill and Rebecca Simpkins
Born: 6 Apr 1661, Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts Colony
Died: after 1718 Nansemond (now Suffolk) Co., Colonial Virginia
Children:
Gen III-1 Mary Mansell – born 13 Aug 1692 Perquimans Precinct, Albemarle Co., Colonial (North) Carolina
Gen III-2 Elizabeth Mansell – born 12 Mary 1694 Perquimans Precinct, Albemarle Co., Colonial (North) Carolina
Gen III-3 William Mansell – born about 1700 Perquimans Precinct, Albemarle Co., Colonial (North) Carolina, died after 1749, Bertie Co., Colonial North Carolina.
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At age thirteen, William Mansell, the son of William and Katherine Mansell of Boston, Massachusetts, left Boston and arrived in colonial Virginia shortly before 30 May 1678. <5> When he came to Virginia, William Mansell received a voucher or “headright” for 50 acres of land. This certificate for land could be traded, sold or assigned to someone else. In his case, William or an agent sold his newly acquired “headright” certificate to a wealthy resident of Isle of Wight County named John Williams. At the time, Isle of Wight County lay between Nansemond County and Surry County, and bordered to the south on the very young Carolina colony. Between Virginia and Carolina lay the Great Dismal Swamp.
By selling his headright instead of redeeming it himself, William could help cover the cost of his passage from Boston to Virginia. This seldom covered the complete cost so often a contact for labor or service—called a term of indenturement—also had to be arranged. The contract for indenturement was done most often with the same person who acquired the headright. With the indenturement in hand, the now master of the newly arrived servant expected and demanded full control over the servant’s time and labor for the term of the contact.
All of the arrangements regarding William’s headright occurred before 30 May 1678, when John Williams applied William’s headright and the headrights of 18 other people towards the patenting of 925 acres in Isle of Wight County and near Blackwater River. Also among the other headrights was one belonging to a Thomas “Thurrell,” most likely a relative of William Terrill and Rebecca Simpkin, suggesting William Mansell and Thomas Terrill came together from Boston to settle in Virginia.
Being only a boy of 13, William’s term of indenture is expected to have lasted for many years. A child’s inability to do the hard labor necessary to establish a working plantation in Virginia made their contract less desirable than one indenturing an adult male. The newly arrived individual also had to remain in Virginia as part of the agreement to receive a headright. Since William did not start his family until 1690, at age 25, most of the 12 years until then were presumably spent indentured to John Williams and working on the land along the Blackwater River in Isle of Wight County.
Yet only four years after his arrival and at age 17 William was reportedly married to Mary Terrill, daughter of William Terrill and Rebecca Simpkins and whose birth had been recorded in the Town Records of Boston. Their marital status was conveyed in the will of Mary’s father. Dated 3 Jun 1682, an abstract of the will shows that William Terrill lived at Little River in Albemarle County, Carolina. Their location was across the Virginia-Carolina border not far from Isle of Wight County but on the other side of the Great Dismal Swamp. The abstracted will also states that William Terrill’s sons William and Gideon were still residents in Massachusetts but living in the town of Weymouth, which is just south of Boston. Because the record of the will reviewed is an abstract, it is not clear what William Terrill willed to his daughter Mary, but her husband’s name is mentioned and their relationship is transcribed as: “Mary (wife of William Manson)”.<6>
No date has been found to establish exactly when the Terrills themselves had left Boston to settle in Carolina. The first record found there for William “Therrill” was dated March 20, 1680 and was recorded for a court action held in Albemarle County. In it, Mrs. Margaret Culpeper was the plaintiff against Terrill in an action of debt. The jurors found for Mrs. Culpeper and Terrill had to pay her 8426 lbs. tobacco plus court costs.<7>
In 1680 the charter establishing the Carolina colony was barely 17 years old. Albemarle County constituted all of “north” Carolina at the time. Also at that time William Terrill was most likely involved in the mercantile trade going between Albemarle County and Massachusetts. The Albemarle community had no deep water ports so to get their products to England they had to ship them out of Massachusetts or Virginia. They chose Massachusetts more often, it is said, because it was easier to avoid England’s tariffs or custom taxes. Terrill’s will identified him as “Merchant Taylor”, which shows his association with the merchant guild called “The Company of Merchant Taylors.” (By this date, few members were actually tailors.) One of the executors of his will was George Durant, sometimes called “the father of North Carolina” because he had been the first settler to purchase land from the Yeopim Indians even before the colony was chartered.<8> Court records after Durant’s death reveal more about William Terrill.
Minutes of the Perquimans Precinct Court, November 9, 1694 <9>
- Upon a petition exhibited to ye Court by Mr John Hunt praying yt Mrs Ann Durant delivr all Books papers and writings belonging to the estate of Mr Wm Terrell Disceased Ordered yt the sd Mrs Ann Durant doe forthwith deliver to Mr John Hunt surviving executor of Mr Wm Terrills estate all papers bookes and Writings belonging to Mr Wm Terrel's estate.
The record of a young William Mansell and Mary Terrill’s marital status in William Terrill’s will may have reflected their betrothal and not a marriage as we would consider it today. In fact at this time there were no Church of England ministers available to officiate or solemnize a wedding in the colony. Because of this hindrance, the Carolina colony had acquired permission to use civil processes to legalize marriages. Five years after Terrill’s will was written, William and Mary’s marriage was again captured in the records of Albemarle County. This may have reflected their “official” wedding date. William Mansell’s last name was again misspelled or misread:
- February 5, 1686. [1687] Wm Therrill's daughter Mary married William Mara [sic].<10>
Notice that, at this time William would have been twenty-one and, by having their marriage officially recorded, he could legally acquire property once owned by Mary’s father. Since neither of Mary’s brothers came to Carolina, any property at Little River owned by William Terrill would need to be reassigned. (Mary’s brother’s records and records of their descendants can be found continuing on in Massachusetts.)
At the time of their marriage in 1690, the community at Little River where William and Mary (Terrill) Mansell lived was small but well established and prospering. Little River, itself, separated Perquimans Precinct on the west from Pasquotank Precinct on the east, but in actuality Little River was not a dividing line. It was the main thoroughfare, allowing people to easily go by canoe or boat between the two precincts. The river was the core of the community. The records show this. In 1691, in Pasquotank Precinct, east of Little River, William Mansell sat on a jury on a case about land ownership.
Juror Record for Pasquotank Precinct, Albemarle Co., (North) Carolina <11>
[1691]
Wherefore ye Marshall is required to cause to come here twelve true and lawfull men of ye vicintage and who to neither party are related by whom ye truth of ye matter may be known who Impanelled and sworne. Viz …Wm Mansell, juror
- Andrew Ros saith yt ye sd Richard Pope in or about ye year 1691 into one plantac̄on and two hundred and twenty seven acres of land to ye said Wm Battle belonging lying and being in Pascotanck prct [precinct] in Newbegun Creeke unlawfully…
Albemarle County was the whole part of what we now would consider North Carolina. It included only four precincts: Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, and Currituck. All four were located south of the Great Dismal Swamp and north of Albemarle Sound. For a short while Perquimans was called Berkeley Precinct and its records begin under that name. But by the time the precinct was returned to the name Perquimans, two Mansell births appear in the records mentioning the daughters of William and Mary:
- Mary Mansell daughter of William Mansell & wife Mary was borne Aug. 13, 1692.<12>
- Elizabeth Mansell ye daughter of William Mansell & Mary his wife was born ye 12th day of May 1694.<13>
The Perquimans Precinct records cover a number of years, so it is unclear why no entry exists for a son for William and Mary named William. This son was presumably born about the same time as their daughters. However, only through records created many years later can he be identified. For William and Mary, the only other record remaining in Perquimans Precinct is a court record dated 1697. It states that William Mansell confessed in a case brought against him by Thomas Blunt. A judgement was ordered that William pay Mr. Thomas Blunt 32 shillings and 2 pence along with the costs due the court.<14> There were two Thomas Blunts (or Blounts) living in the vicinity. One was English and one was a chief of a few Tuscarora Indian communities west of Chowan Precinct. Both left court records behind, but this Tom Blunt was the Englishman since he was titled “Mr.”
For most of its early history, Albemarle County and its four precincts, isolated by the Great Dismal Swamp and the Outer Banks, remained relatively unaffected by the concerns other colonies had related to the Indian nations living nearby. But, as more and more settlers moved to Carolina and chose to settle south of Albemarle Sound, the situation changed. In 1711, the English communities south of Albemarle Sound came under attack from Tuscarora also living south of Albemarle Sound. The long conflagration between natives and the English did not directly include any communities north of the sound. A large Quaker presence there hindered any involvement with retaliation and isolated the community from the war in many ways. How this immediately affected the Mansells raising a family of two girls and a young boy in Perquimans Precinct is not known. But by the time the war ended in 1714 with the southern Tuscarora defeated, the Indian chief known as Thomas Blunt becoming chief over all Tuscarora. Also as a consequence, a reservation was established for the Tuscarora at the western end of Chowan Precinct.
A few years later, near and below Charles Town (i.e., Charleston, South Carolina) a number of other Indian nations attacked the English settlements there and even killed a number of Indian traders. This attack may have had a big effect on the Mansells. It allowed merchants in Virginia and northern Carolina to more easily enter into the Indian trade with the Indian nations of the Southeast such as the Catawba, Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw. Instead of depending on Charles Town’s ports to ship deer hides to England, now the valuable Indian trade could be redirected and shipped out of Virginia’s ports. At first the Virginia trade was managed as a monopoly under the Virginia Indian Company, but by 1717 the company was disbanded <15> and trade was opened up to individual traders. One of the prime locations supporting trade between Virginia and the Indians of the southeastern interior was a community just north of the Virginia-Carolina border called Somerton. Its location was just north of the Blackwater River in Nansemond County so it gave easy access to the shipping ports of Southside Virginia. This is where and when we find William and Mary Mansell moving to in 1718.
With the move, William and Mary acquired a headright to patent land in Virginia. However, because they only were coming from Carolina, their patent is worded differently from most and the amount of land they received was less than the normal 100 acres allowed for two people. The patent permitted William and Mary 77 acres on Cabin Swamp at Somerton in Nansemond County, Virginia.<16> In the patent, two spellings of Mansell are found. (Also note that the court recorder used a “long” s, transcribed here as “f”. This is the source of the confusion in thinking the name Mansell could be pronounced Manfell or Manfield.)
Virginia Land Patents. Patent Book 10, page 398
[King] GEORGE & TO ALL & KNOW YE that for Diverfe good causes and confiderations but most Especially
for and in confideration of the importation of two perfons to work within this our Colony of Virginia whofe
names are Wm Manfill & Mary his wife WE HAVE given, granted, & confirmed and by thefe prefents for
[__/their?] heirs and Succefsers do give grant & confirm unto William Manfell one certain track or parcel
of land containing Seventy Seven acres lying and being on both sides of the Cabbin Swamp of Summerton
Creek in the upper parish of Nansemond County and bounded as forthwith, to wit, Beginning at a hickory
acorn tree of Joseph Rogers and runs thence on his line crossing the Swamp due East one hundred
Sixty poles to a corner pine of the said Joseph Rogers thence north Easterly by twenty degrees fifty
four poles to a red oak in John Rogers line thence bounding on the said John Rogers crossing
the aforesaid Swamp north westerly Sixty eight degrees and one hundred and fifty two poles to a pine thence
South westerly twenty degrees and one hundred and two poles to the first station WITHALL & TO
HAVE HOLD & TO BE HELD & YIELDING & PAYING & PROVIDED &
IN WITNESS our trust by our wellbeloved Alexander Spotswood our Lt. Gov.er
at Williamsburgh under the seal of our said Colony the fourteenth day of July one thoufand
Seven hundred and Eighteen in the fourth year of our Reign / A Spotswood.
The location for William Mansell and his family would have been familiar territory to William. His indenturement with John Williams occurred on Williams’ land just across the Blackwater River in Isle of Wight County. Unfortunately for us, when the Mansells moved to Nansemond County our ability to research their history completely disappears. From the time when William and Mary settled at Cabin Swamp in the Upper Parish of Nansemond County, Virginia, the resources for the Mansell family go dark. All of the records associated with colonial Nansemond County and even those associated with the church records for the Upper Parish of Nansemond have been lost or destroyed. Only by looking into neighboring counties can any more information help us discover the ongoing Mansell story that continues with William and Mary Mansell’s son William.
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1 - A Report of The Record Commissioners Containing Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699, Volume 9; Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers, Boston, 1883. (City Document No. 130.), p 97.
2 - Ibid, p 105.
3 - Ibid, p 49.
4 - Ibid, p 51, 64, 80, 93
5 - Cavaliers and Pioneers, Volume II, Nell Marion Nugent, Virginia State Library, Richmond, 1970. (Patent Book 6, p 644) p 185.
6 - Abstracts of North Carolina Wills, J. Bryan Grimes, Secretary of State, Raleigh, 1910, p 373.
7 - The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 1. J.R.B. Hathaway, Editor and Financial Agent 137-138.
8 - Wikipedia, George Durant, date accessed 31 March 2015.
9 - Minutes of the Perquimans Precinct Court, North Carolina. Precinct Court (Perquimans Precinct), November 06, 1693 - November 09, 1693, Volume 01, p 400
10 - The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 1. J.R.B. Hathaway, Editor and Financial Agent, (Abstracts of Records for Superior Court of Chowan County…at a Court for Albemarle Count.) p 139.
11 - Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, online database. Minutes of the General Court of North Carolina, including Chancery Court minutes and related depositions (Feb 25, 1695 - Mar 01, 1695) pp 442-457.
12 - The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 1op. cit., p 218.
13 - The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 3, op. cit., p 367.
14 - Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, online database.Minutes of the Perquimans Precinct Court [dated] July 12, 1697 . Volume 01, Pages 486-487.
15 - Wikipedia, “Native American tribes in Virginia”, reference “Virginia Indian Company. Accessed 5/26/2015.
16 - Cavaliers and Pioneers, Vol. III, op. cit., p 207. (Patent Book 10, p 398.) Or see: Virginia Land Office Grants, online database, Land Office Patents No. 10, 1710-1719, p. 398 (Reel 10).
GENERATION THREE: William Mansell & Unknown
Gen III-3. William Mansell, son of William Mansell and Mary Terrill
Born: about 1700, Perquimans Precinct, Albemarle Co., Colonial (North) Carolina
Died after 1749. Nansemond Co., Colonial Virginia or Bertie Co., Colonial North Carolina
Spouse: Unknown
Born: about 1710, of an Indian Nation
Child:
Gen IV-1 Edward Mansell – born before 1738 Virginia-North Carolina border, died before 1790 Bladen (now Robeson) Co., North Carolina
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William and Mary Mansell’s son William was the third William in the Mansell line. Most likely he was born in Perquimans Precinct about 1700. Then, sometime after the Tuscarora and Yamasee Indian Wars he moved with his parents to Virginia and the Somerton community. His new home was in Nansemond County on the north side of Blackwater River across from Isle of Wight County. It was barely 40 miles away from his birth place but on the other side of the Great Dismal Swamp. Our ability to know what he did there in Nansemond after the move is completely blocked. No records for this younger William exist until he left Nansemond.
It is an assumption that, at this time as a young man, William knew and associated with Native Americans. Which Indian nation is unknown. William could have gone with any one of the many local traders into the Southeastern Indian nations of South Carolina and Georgia. Or William may have associated with the local Indian nations. There were many living nearby.
Shortly afterward the Mansells moved to Somerton, the local Indians were under pressure to move away or integrate into the English community. Those that stayed lived on reservations. The Indian nation closest to Somerton was the Cheroenhaka (or more commonly called the Nottoway.) Their traditional home was where the Blackwater and Nottoway Rivers combined to make the Chowan River. They had a reservation, the Circle and Square, in Isle of Wight County. The Nottoway Nation was closely associated with the Tuscarora of Carolina; both were historically tied to the Iroquoian speaking nations. But they were not the only tribe nearby. The Meherrin and Nansemond also had remnants of their nations within close range.
Even on the Carolina side of the border William had opportunities to associate with other Indians. A fourth Indian nation, the Chowanoke, had been living on a reservation near Somerton since 1677. It was located in Chowan Precinct, just south of the Dismal Swamp. But by far one the largest Indian community was the Tuscarora nation. Their reservation, created in 1718, was called “Indian Woods” and held 56,000 acres. It fell in Bertie Precinct after Bertie was created from Chowan in 1722. By 1733, the Chowanoke and Tuscarora petitioned the North Carolina government to merge.<17>
It is the location of the reservation in Bertie County that suggests later on that William may have been associated with the Tuscarora Nation. William Mansell, the third in line, could easily have been in Bertie County sometime about 1730. How, though, he was associated to the Tuscarora or any Indian nation is not known.
William’s presence does not show up in the records until 1740, when he would have been about 40 years old. Two records show him in Bertie, although neither one suggests where he actually lived. Both records show him in a different capacity, one as a witness to a deed and another as an attorney. In the deed, where he was a witness, the record refers to land in Bertie County.
Bertie County, North Carolina, Deeds
- John Lewis of Isle of Wight Co VA, to Benjamin Hill. 3 Nov 1740. 12 pds for 400 acres…land whereon my father Thomas [s/b Anthony] Lewis formerly lived….which the said Thomas bought of Daniel McDaniel as by said patent bearing the date ninth day of March 1717…at Beaver Dam Swamp on Spring Branch, adj. Thomas Venson, John Crossbey. Witnesses, Alexander McCullen, William Mannsell (Maunsell), Sarah McCullock. NC Court, July 27 1748.<2>
From other deeds entered along with the above deed of John Lewis, it is known that Benjamin Hill was once a merchant of Nansemond County, Virginia, in 1727.<3> He became a resident of Bertie County soon afterwards and eventually became a colonel for the county. At the time of the Lewis deed, the other witness Alexander McCullen was Deputy Auditor General for North Carolina. He witnessed many of Colonel Benjamin Hill’s deeds. Sarah “McCullock”, although her name was transcribed incorrectly, was Alexander’s wife and Benjamin Hill’s daughter.<4> . The above deed appears to be a straight forward sale and shows that William Mansell was associated with very important members of Bertie and colonial North Carolina.
William Mansell’s second and last record follows:
Bertie County, North Carolina, Court Records
At a Court held at the Court House at Cashy Bridge, Tuesday, May 9, 1749.
Present, Justices - Needham Bryan, John Harrell, Thos. Hansford, Geo. Lockhart, Edward Bryan, Saml Ormes and Geo. Patterson.
- Wm. Mansell, Gent., produced and presented his license to practice as an Attorney; he was admitted and duly qualified.<5>
Because he was called “gentleman,” this record confirms that William held property, possibly still in Nansemond County. And as an attorney, he was well educated. He may have been living in Nansemond at this time, since he needed to identify himself as an attorney to the Bertie Court, but this was nine years after acting as a witness for the earlier Bertie County deed. It is not known if he had to be a resident of the colony to practice as an attorney, but if that was the case, then we know he lived in Bertie at least by 1749.
It is important to notice that in this record, on this day, William Mansell presented his credentials to a group of justices that included John Harrell. It may have been just a coincidence, but John Harrell is the next link in our Mansell story.
William Mansell, himself, left no other records. We do not know if he married or had an extended family. It is only because of his location in Bertie in 1740 and 1749 and his limited association with John Harrell that we can believe he had a son named Edward Mansell. That, and there are no other Mansells in the area to point to as being related.
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1 - Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, online database. , Minutes of the North Carolina Governor’s council dated April 3, 1733, Vol. 3, pages 537-538 of the Colonial and State Records of North Carolina.
2 - Colonial Bertie Co Deed Books A-H., Mary Best Bell, Southern Historical Press, Greenville, p 195.
3 - Ibid., p 47.
4 - The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 1. op. cit., p 48.
5 - The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 2, op. cit., (Bertie Co., North Carolina, Miscellaneous items from the Court Records, Windsor North Carolina.) p .632.
GENERATION FOUR: Edward Mansell & Mary Harrell
Gen IV-1. Edward Mansell, son of William Mansell and mother unknown
Born: before 1738 Nansemond Co., Colonial Virginia or Bertie Co., Colonial North Carolina
Married: after 1757, Bertie Co., Colonial North Carolina
Died: date unknown, Bladen (now Robeson) Co., North Carolina
Spouse: Mary Harrell
Daughter of John Harrell and Mary Williams
Born: about 1740, Bertie Co., Colonial Virginia
Children:
Gen V-1. (First name unknown) Mansell – born about 1760 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina, died after 1815, Sumter District, South Carolina
Gen V-2. William Mansell – born 1761-1770 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina, died after 1840 in Conecuh Co., Alabama
Gen V-3. Edward Mancill – born 1761-1770 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina, died after 1830 in Covington Co., Alabama
Gen V-4. George Mansell – born 1775 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina, died after 1838 in Pike or Cherokee Co., Georgia
Gen V-5. Elisha Mancill – born 1781-1790 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina, died after 1849 in Pike Co., Alabama
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Edward Mansell left behind only one record: a grant for land in Bladen County, North Carolina. Even though he received the land, yet he appeared on no tax list, not even in the county where he owned the land. Most other land owners can be found on tax lists. In fact, many Bladen County tax lists still exist today to show us who lived there in the 1760’s and 1770’s. The reason he was not listed may be as simple as Edward Mansell was considered to be Indian and therefore not taxable.
By North Carolina law, Indians in amity with the colonial government were not taxable. Tributary Indians, which included those Indians given reservations by the colonial government, were not required to pay taxes. Who was taxable? The North Carolina tax law of 1749 gives us a list of who was taxable: <1>
- all and every White Person, Male, of the Age of Sixteen Years, and upwards
- all Negroes, Mulattoes, Mustees Male or Female, and all Persons of Mixt Blood, to the Fourth Generation, of the Age of Twelve Years, and upwards
- all white Persons intermarrying with any Negro, mulatto, or Mustee, or other Person of mixt Blood
With this in mind and knowing that, by the law at that time, it was a mother who conferred her racial status to her children, if Edward Mansell was an Indian, it is certain that he would not be taxed and therefore not found in the tax records.
In addition to the last stipulation mentioned above about how taxes applied to white intermarriage with non-whites, another law added further penalties. This law had been on the books since 1715 and did include Indians:<2>
- no White man or woman shall intermarry with any Negro, Mulatto or Indyan Man or Woman under the penalty of Fifty Pounds for each White man or woman.
And should a couple not marry but have their children out of wedlock, if the woman was white the law further stated:
- where any White woman whether Bond or Free shall have a Bastard child by a Negro, Mulatto or Indyan … she shall immediately … pay down to the Church Wardens of the Parish wherein such shall be born for the use of the said Parish the sum of Six pounds Current Money of this Province or be by them sold [in servitude] for two years to the use aforesaid.
- the Church Wardens aforesaid are hereby Impowered to bind out the said children to be servants untill they arrive at & be of the full age of Thirty One Years.
Later resources suggest that Edward Mansell did marry a white woman. Her name was Mary Harrell. Mary was a neighbor that Edward would have known very well. Her family came to Bertie County from Nansemond County, as had Edward’s. There on the edge of the settled frontier in Bertie County, they no doubt grew up together. His father was an attorney and her grandfather was a justice of the court, both for Bertie County. But also, any Tuscarora connection that Edward had would have placed him near Mary’s family in Bertie County. The Harrells lived next to the Tuscarora reservation.
While Edward may have been half Indian, he was no doubt raised like any other English boy in Bertie County. A father of some wealth would have also given him some unique advantages, but most of those Indians on the local reservations were already integrated into English customs by this time. It had been 30 years since the creation of the reservations, and the surrounding community for both English and Indian alike had developed together. This surely led to Edward and Mary choosing to be a couple, regardless of the law. And since their parents were both established enough in the community, they would no doubt feel safe from legal persecution.
Shortly before their marriage, Mary’s father died. Even though no record of their marriage exists, the couple left behind the next best thing: the names of the next generation of Mansell’s are the same names of Mary Harrell’s brothers: George, Elisha. Mary and her brothers were listed in her father’s will.
Will of Harrell, John - Bertie County.<3>
- November 8, 1755. January Court, 1756.
- Sons: George, Jesse, Elisha and Benjamin.
- Daughter: Mary.
- Wife: Mary.
- Executors: Geo. Harrell (son), Jesse and Israel Hardy Harrell (brothers), Richard Williams, Thomas Williams, Wm. Andrews, John Rhodes.
- Witnesses: Thomas Williams, Wm. Andrews, John Skinner.
Mary’s father John Harrell was the son of John Harrell, the court justice who witnessed William Mansell’s approval to be a Bertie County attorney. The older John died shortly after the younger one and he also left a will in Bertie County.<4> The younger John had married Mary Williams and they both were mentioned in Johanna Williams’ will, written January 12, 1747/8 and probated July 1756 in Bertie. Johanna’s will referred to her daughter Mary Harrell.<5> (It is not known how these Williams were related to John Williams of Isle of Wight County who had been the one to purchase the Mansell headright in 1678.)
The younger John Harrell’s will also provides additional support to show the connection between Edward Mansell and Mary Harrell. In his will, John Harrell wrote, “I Give and Bequeath to my Three Sons Jesse, and Elisha, and Benjamin, to them and their Heirs, forever, a Certain Piece or Parcel of Land...on the North side of Cashi [River]…containing Seven Hundred and Seventy-five acres, more or less.”<6> Just on the south side of Cashie River was Indian Woods, the Tuscarora reservation.
Mary Harrell, herself, was granted items from her father’s estate. He wrote, “I give and bequeath to my Daughter, Mary, to her and her heirs for Ever one Small Black mare and Colt, and One Bed and furniture, and three Cows and Calves, at the date of her Marriage, and one Iron Pot.” She also received “my Negro Girl Jude.”
The other evidence of a connection between Edward and Mary is that Jesse, George, and Elisha Harrell all eventually followed Edward Mansell and his wife Mary to Bladen County. Jesse received 200 acres of land there by 8 December 1770.<7> Mary’s brother George Harrell was there by 1771 according to the Bladen tax lists and all three brothers were listed there in Bladen County by 1774, residing in Archibald McKissick’s District “on Drowning Creek”, the same district, as will be shown, where Edward and Mary Mansell lived.<8>
Before Edward and Mary moved to Bladen County, Edward may have taken the opportunity to fight in the French and Indian War. This war and the men that fought in it figure strongly within the history of Bladen County and neighboring South Carolina. No record gives us his name, but colonial records show that a number of Tuscarora warriors were paid to go to Virginia and fight for the colony.<9>
Minutes of the Lower House of North Carolina
- It being Certified to this House That the Tuscaroro Indians who went on the Expedition against Fort Du Quesne under the Command of General Forbes behaved well on that Expedition—This House therefore have Resolved That the sum of one Hundred and five pounds be laid out in presents by Mr. John Campbell and given to the said Indians as and for a Bounty and reward for their Services on the said Expedition pursuant to a Message of this House to the Governor at the Close of April Session 1758
Receiving just such a payment could have helped Edward afford to patent land before starting a family of his own. A land patent was critical. In fact, for the Tuscarora Indians in Bertie County, being a tributary Indian had had little weight when they needed to prove ownership for the reservation land they lived on. In 1757, just before Edward received his own land patent, James Blount, the current chief of the Tuscarora in Bertie, petitioned the colonial government with regards to this issue:
Petition of James Blount for the Tuscarora Nation concerning a land patent <10>
- 25 September 1757. Bertie County Tuscarora chieftain James Blount writes:
"We the Tuskarora Indians Petition Your Excely. and Council to Grant a Pattent, or Some Better Title for Our Land for the White folks tells this is good for nothing and they Come and Settle Without leave Sale our Timber and Drive Stocks of all sorts: We hope Care will be Taken to protect us in Quiet Possession of Our land and from the White People Abusing us – James Blount for the Tuscarora Nation"
No doubt, Edward, with the help of his father William or his father’s associates, would have had the appropriate connections to complete the land patent process. When Edward received his grant for 100 acres, it created the only records we have of him. The patent entry gives us his name and location:
North Carolina Land Patents <11>
- #5367 pg. 263 Edward Mansel 6 Mar 1759 [1760] 180 [sic] acres in Bladen county at a place called the Devils Elbow on the Western Branch of Waggamaw by Joel Sanders land, joining his line.
The payment and the receipt of Edward’s patent was also completed and filed at the Court of Claims:
February Court of Claims, 1759.<12>
- 135 [Assigned pg] 37 [Actual pg] #263-68 [Patent No.] Edward Mansill? [sic] 100 acres Bladen Co #493 [Warrant No.] Ditto [6 March 1759/1760] H.S. [initials of recorder] recd R. S. [who received payment]
Edward’s 100 acres was surveyed and laid out in Bladen County at Devils Elbow. Devils Elbow is found today on the Lumber River, but the river was originally called Drowning Creek. Devils Elbow identifies a double curve on the river and is almost on the North Carolina-South Carolina border. Its importance at that time is not known. (The name can still be found on modern maps today.) Few spots along the river had names. Normally swamps or creeks were used to identify locations. It may have been a place of portage to an Indian village on nearby Indian Swamp or it may have been a treacherous part of the river.<13> Most likely it was notable because it could help identify the place where North Carolina ends and South Carolina begins. George Cooper is the only other person found patenting land that mentions Devils Elbow. He is found later listed in the Bladen 1763 Tax List and his name helps identify the correct precinct where Edward lived. Other individuals found patenting land near Devils Elbow also appear in the tax lists for Bladen County in the same precinct.
North Carolina Land Patents <14>
- #4598 pg 39 George Cooper 24 Sep 1754 350 acres in Bladen Co at a place called the Devil’s Elbow joining Joel Sanders and Cage Swamp.
- #5579 pg 311 John Kersey 18 November 1760 100 acres in Bladen on East side of Bear Swamp
- #6668 pg 257 Joshua Lamb 21 Oct 1758 100 acres in Bladen Co on the south side of Drowning Creek in the fork between Ashepole Swamp and Indian Swamp.
Unlike the above men, Edward Mansell was never listed on any tax list. Some of these men appeared in the tax lists before they received their patent, suggesting they had purchased land prior to their patents. But Edward’s location near Devils Elbow, even though he is never mentioned, is certain. His children and their associations later on help pinpoint the location as the Mansell homeplace throughout the 1770’s.
Although the available Bladen County Tax List of 1763 <15> is alphabetized, by reviewing later records, it is certain that these were Edward and Mary’s neighbors:
1763 Bladen Co Tax list:
[White Male-Black Male-Black Female-Total]
Cooper, Geo. & Handepoor 2-0-0-2
Flowers, Edward 1-0-0-1
Kersey, John 1-1-0-2
Kersey, Peter 1-0-0-1
Lamb, Abraham 1-0-0-1
Lamb, Isaac 1-0-0-1
Terril, Robert 1-1-1-3
Besides showing us who Edward’s neighbors were, the Bladen County tax lists also show us how people were taxed according to the law. The 1763 Bladen County Tax List did not show a difference between white head-of-household versus those with mixed racial backgrounds. All men and boys either white or mixed race were tallied under the “White” column. Only someone referred to as Negro, either free or slave, was listed under the “Black” category. For those who were mixed-race individuals, if the men were married, their difference is noticeable because their wives and/or daughters (any over age 12) were also listed and tallied as taxable under the “White male” column. Examples of how the different people with different racial statuses were tallied in this tax list are shown below:
- Examples of men (white or mixed) taxed with sons or other males in the household. (This includes all white males over 16 or all mixed race males over 12.)
------------------------------------White males-Black males-Black females-Total
Blunt Jas. & Braveboy 2-0-0-2
Blunt Jno. two sons &
Miller 4-0-0-4
Britt Jos & Drinkewater 2-0-0-2
Cooper Geo . & Handepoor 2-0-0-2
Sims Jas.Sen.& three sons 4-0-0-4
Sims Jas.Jun.& Thos.
Skipper Jos. Fred & Hardy 3-0-0-3
- There were only three examples of wives or daughters included in the tallied, suggesting they were part of a mixed race family:
Lackelur Jno. wife son &
daughter 4-0-0-4
Johnston Jno. wife 2-0-0-2
Overton Titus & wife* 2-0-0-2
- Examples of men not taxed. (This shows that constables were exempt.):
Evans Josiah Cons &
Maultsbey 1-1-0-2
Owens Ephrem (Cons.) Jno. &
David Poor 2-0-0-2
Davis Benj. Con & Tho.
Davis 1-1-0-2
Plumber Jos. Jeremiah
Cons. & William 2-0-0-2
- Example of a white man standing in as head of a “free Negro” family:
Turner John Esq. 1-4-2-7
Turner Jno. Esq. for Abrm.
Sue Rachal free Negroes 0-2-2-4
- Examples of women not taxed. They were white and head of the family:
Blocker Mary[,] Huffman &
Johns (?) 2-1-2-5
Russ Mary 0-2-0-2
Shaver Dorathey & Peter
Shaver 1-0-0-1
Edward Mansell was not listed, nor should he be by law if he was an Indian. Confirmation of this type of status for Indians comes later because of a man named Thomas Britt who was identified as an Indian.
The 1768 tax list was compiled differently. It provided a separate category for people of mixed racial background called “Mulatoes”. Here the different types of status per the tax law were better delineated. Note that Thomas Brit as an Indian was not taxed even when he had someone in his household who was taxed. Again, the Mansell family does not appear in the community even though many of these individuals listed will play a part in the family’s lives later on.
- A True List of Taxables for the Year 1768 by me Archd. McKissack<16>
Whites Blacks Mulatoes Total
James Lowry & wife: Jas. Harpe & -- -- 4 4
William Jones
Cudworth Oxendine -- -- 1 1
Thomas Brit an Indian, James Stewart 1 1
Edward Flowers 1 -- -- 1
John Blunt & sons Jacob, James &
Philip Blunt & Aaron Baxley 5 -- -- 5
Robert Ferrel [sic, s/b Terrill] 1 2 -- 3
[with] a fellow Harry & a wench Grace
“Charles Oxendine Refused to give in after he
Put his hand to the Book & is two years a
Defaulting before he is mixt blood.”
Jacob Lockliar & wife -- -- 2 2
Major Lockliar 1 -- -- 1
John Britt 1 -- -- 1
As shown in the tax records, a man named Robert Terril was also living near where the Mansells should be living. He arrived in 1769, about the same time as the Harrells. How he was related to Edward is unknown. Others that acquired land at the same time as Robert Terrill include James Inman, Edward Flowers, and Benjamin Sims.<17> All show up in the tax lists as expected.
Also close by at this time was a Cheraw Indian settlement. In a newspaper article found in the South Carolina Gazette, dated October 3, 1771, <18> the Cheraw settlement was mentioned when describing the apprehension of a fugitive named Winslow Driggers. There is no mention in any of the tax lists of any individuals as part of this Indian community.
In the years following after the Bladen County tax records were created, the colonies became embroiled in the American Revolution. Edward’s association with the war has not been discovered. Unlike the Scotsmen in neighboring counties, Edward’s neighbors had little association with the British government back in London and no doubt would have fought on the side of the Sons of Liberty by either joining troops going into the mountains against the Cherokee Nation or by joining against the various British entanglements that occurred across North Carolina. Archibald McKissick, the district’s tax collector was captain of the Bladen County Regiment. And a battle near Bear Swamp would have brought the war close to home. It is mentioned in a pensioner’s application.
Pension application [Reference: R14028 fn23NC]
- [William Easterling] served under Captains William Moore, Archd McIsick [Archibald McKissick], Peter Robeson, ___ Anderson and Colonel Thomas Robeson at different times, and at all times when called for and when he thought his services were needed; between Drowning Creek North Carolina and Great Pee Dee River, against the Tories in the years 1778, 1779, 1780.
- He was engaged in one battle with the Tories on Bear Swamp between Drowning Creek and Little Pee Dee River. Colonel Brown, Lt Col Richardson, Adjutant Robert Raiford and Captain Anderson commanded the Whigs and Captain Barfield the Tories. Captain Anderson was shot down in this battle just by deponent's side, and was carried [off] and deponent does not know whether he died or survived it. The Tories were defeated.
The next record that might have captured Edward Mansell is the United States 1790 Census for Robeson County, North Carolina. This resource includes individuals by household living west of Drowning Creek in 1790. Robeson County was created in 1787 from Bladen County. (It was named for Colonel Thomas Robeson, a Revolutionary War hero from Bladen County.) This was not a tax list but a census, and its purpose was to include everyone in the count. Edward himself was not counted suggesting he was deceased. But his family should have been listed. There were a number of women named Mary in the Robeson County census. One was called Mary Flowers and her household consisted of one male over age 16, three males under 16 and four females. Her household closely approximates the correct tally of children the Mansell family should have had in 1790. This could have been Mary Harrell but only if she had remarried some time before 1790 and was widowed once again. Otherwise, the family would need to be listed under some other head-of-household.
It is assumed that Edward Mansell died before the 1790 census was taken. He would have been close to 60. Without any other records for him besides the grant for land at Devils Elbow on Drowning Creek, identifying his children has relied on showing their association with his location. All five of the sons identified for Edward and Mary, in addition to the two carrying Harrell names and the two carrying Mansell names, resided nearby or had ties to other Drowning Creek families.
The connection of the next generation of Mansells to Edward and Mary Mansell at Devils Elbow is fragile but certain. Even after the following Mansell generations moved away, first to South Carolina and then to Georgia and Alabama, family traditions of Edward and Mary’s descendants maintained that they had an Indian connection as Edward and Mary’s records suggest. Whether related to Tuscarora or some other Indian Nation, it is difficult to say for certain. Even within the Robeson County community later on, traditions point to various Indian nations being there. But the family’s relationship to Edward and Mary is clear and that connection continued to have an impact in the following years.
---------------------------------------------------
1 - The Colonial Records of North Carolina, Volume 23, P.M. Hale, 1904 - North Carolina, [Google Books], p 349.
2 - Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, online database. Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1715 – 1716, North Carolina. General Assembly. November 17, 1715 - January 19, 1716, Volume 23, Pages 1-96.
3 - Abstracts of North Carolina Wills, op. cit., p 152.
4 - Ibid. p 152.
5 - Ibid. p 410.
6 - North Carolina Wills and Inventories, J. Bryan Grimes, 1912, reprinted by Heritage Press, p 220-223.
7 - North Carolina Court of Claims Record of Patents Granted (Secretary of State Papers) 1740-1775, Weynette Parks Haun, Durham, 1996, p 167.
8 - Bladen County, North Carolina Tax Lists 1768-1774, William Byrd, III, 1998, p 45, 70, 80, 109, 135.
9 - Minutes of the Lower House of the North Carolina General Assembly, North Carolina. General Assembly, May 08, 1759 - May 18, 1759, Volume 06, pp 101-102 .
10 - Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, Vol 5., pp 785-786. Petition by James Blount, September 25, 1757.
11 - Colony of North Carolina Abstracts of Land Patents, 1735-1764, Volume One. Margaret M. Hofmann, Roanoke News Press, Weldon, North Carolina, 1982, p 328, 380.
12 - North Carolina Court of Claims record of Patents Granted (Secretary of State’s Papers) 1740-11775. Weynette Parks Haun, Durham, North Carolina., private publication, 1996. p 53, (p 135 of original book).
13 - A map that shows Ashpole Swamp, Flowers Swamp, and Indian Swamp all near the NC/SC border and Devils Elbow. http://www.ncfloodmaps.com/pubdocs/Lumber/Robeson_Comm_Rec.pdf.
14 - Colony of North Carolina Abstracts of Land Patents, 1735-1764, Volume One, op.cit., p 328, 380.
15 - 1763 tax list of Bladen County, North Carolina, Elizabethtown, North Carolina : Bladen County Historical Society, 19--], five pages.
16 - Bladen County, North Carolina Tax Lists 1768-1774, op. cit., pp 3-9.
17 - North Carolina Court of Claims Record of Patents Granted (Secretary of State Papers) 1740-1775,op. cit., p 146 [338 original page no.].
18 - Accessible Archives Online Data Collection. Primary source: South Carolina Gazette, dated October 3, 1771.
GENERATION FIVE: The Five Sons of Edward Mansell & Mary Harrell
V-1. (First name unknown) Mansell, son of Edward Mansell and Mary Harrell
Spouse: [unknown]
Child:
VI-1.1. William Mansell – born before 1805 <1> in Robeson Co., North Carolina <2> , recorded 1840 in Marion Co AL <3> , died after 1850 in Marion Co., AL.<4>
-----^-----
V-2. William Mansell, son of Edward Mansell and Mary Harrell – born: 1761-1770 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina
Died: after 1840 in Conecuh Co., Alabama <5>
Spouse: Elsey [last name unknown]. Recorded 1850 US Census Conecuh AL as “Mrs. Elsey Mancil
Records: 1800 US Census Liberty Co., South Carolina <6> ; South Carolina land sold to Moses Smith before 1847 <7> ; 1820 AL State Census Conecuh Co., Alabama <8> ; 1850 US Census Conecuh Co., AL <9> .
Children:
VI-2. ...Three daughters, names unknown, born between 1791 and 1800 Marion County, South Carolina
VI-2.1. John Mancill – born 1797 in Marion Co., South Carolina <10> ; recorded in Conecuh County, AL 1860 <11> ; recorded 1870 US Census Escambia AL <12> died after 1880 in Covington Co., Alabama.<13>
VI-2.2 William Mancill – born 1806 in Marion Co., South Carolina <14> ; died after 1860 in Conecuh Co., Alabama.<15>
VI-2.3 James Mancill – born 1810-1820 in Marion Co., South Carolina <16> ; died after 1840 in Conecuh Co., Alabama.<17>
-----^-----
V-3. Edward Mancill, son of Edward Mansell and Marry Harrell
Born: 1761-1770 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina
Died: after 1830 in Covington Co., Alabama <18>
Spouse: Mourning Flowers
Records: 1800 US Census Sumter Co., South Carolina <19> ; 1810 US Census Sumter Co., South Carolina <20> ; 1813 Jacob Johnson grant on Bear Branch Black River adjoins Edward Mansel [sic] <21> ; 1820 US Census Sumter Co., South Carolina <22> ; 1820 Alabama State Census Conecuh Co.<23> Family records list the birth dates of their children.<24>
Children:
VI-3.1. Edward Mancill – born 1793 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.2. Morning Mancill – born 1798 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.3. Elzabeth Mancill – born 15 Feb 1800 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.4. Robert Mancill – born 1801 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.5. Mary Mancill – born 1802 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.6. Sarah Mancill – born 1805 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.7. Rebecca Mancill – born 1808 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.8. Martha Mancill – born 1809 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
VI-3.9. Simeon Mancill – born 1811 in Sumter Co., South Carolina
-----^-----
V-4. George Mansell, son of Edward Mansell and Mary Harrell
Born: 1775 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., Colonial North Carolina
Died: after 1820 in Pulaski Co., Georgia <25>
Spouse: [unknown, possibly Sarah]
Records: 1810 land grant for 30 acres on Black Sumter District <26> ; Marriages of Georgia for Pulaski Co show Sarah Mansel (widow or daughter) marred Joseph Wilson 10 Jan 1823. Edward Mansel (son) married Mary Beall 20 May 1828.<27>
Children:
VI-4.1. George Mansell, Jr. – born 1791-1800 <28>
VI-4.2. Edward Mansell – born about 1800 <29>
VI-4.3. (daughter) – born about 1805-1810 <30>
-----^-----
V-5. Elisha Mancill, son of Edward Mansell and Mary Harrell
Born 1781-1790 in Bladen (now Robeson) Co., North Carolina
Died after 1840 in Pike Co., Alabama
Spouse: [unknown]
Records: 1810 US Census Columbus Co., North Carolina household but no adult male <31> ; 1820 US Census Columbus Co, North Carolina household but no adult male <32> ; 1830 US Census Columbus Co., North Carolina <33> ; 1840 US Census Pike Co AL <34>
Children:
VI-5.1. (daughter) Mansell – born 1795-1805
VI-5.2. Margaret Mansell – born 1800 in Bladen Co., North Carolina, married Hugh Stanaland <35>
VI-5.3. John Mansell – born about 1800 in Bladen Co., North Carolina; recorded 1830 US Census Columbus Co, North Carolina <36>
VI-5.4. William Mansell – born 1805 Bladen Co., North Carolina
VI-5.5. (daughter) Mansell – born 1805-1810 Bladen/Columbus Co., North Carolina
VI-5.6. (daughter) Mansell – born 1805-1810 Bladen/Columbus Co., North Carolina
VI-5.7. (daughter) Mansell – born 1805-1810 Bladen/Columbus Co., North Carolina
VI-5.8. Elkanah (Cane) Mansell – born 8 Mar 1808 in Columbus Co., North Carolina; recorded 1860 Pike Co AL <37>
VI-5.9. Elisha Mansell – born 1810-1820 in Columbus Co., North Carolina, widow recorded 1860 Pike Co AL <38>
VI-5.10. Martha Mansell – born 1813 in Columbus Co., North Carolina
-----^-----
Shortly after 1790 the sons of Edward and Mary (Harrell) Mansell began to establish their own families. Nothing is known about any daughters or who they might have married. By 1800 we find son William Mansell living in Liberty County, South Carolina, which today includes Dillon and Marion Counties. This location is just below Robeson County, North Carolina only a few miles from Devils Elbow.<39 > Their son Edward is found further away in Sumter County on the Black River.<40> By 1810 son George acquired a patent on the Black River also in Sumter County.<41> And their youngest son Elisha is found in the 1810 census in Columbus County, North Carolina, which had been partly created from Bladen County only two years earlier.<42>
The eldest son of Edward and Mary, whose name is unknown, must have had a son named William. This William is also found in the 1810 Columbus County, North Carolina census.<43> Being born before 1805, as is ascertained through later records, this suggests that his father was the first born of Edward and Mary and died early.<44>
The 1810 US Census for Columbus County, North Carolina was marked differently by the census taker than any other census takers. For many entries, the head of household seems to be missing. For Elisha Mansell’s entry, three boys, two girls and a woman age 16-26 were tallied. No adult male is shown. There was no tally to indicate Elisha’s presence. He did have 1 woolen wheel, 1 loom and 100 lbs. worth of cotton valued at $50. In William Mansell’s case, also found in Columbus County, no entry is given for anyone in his household at all, only the name “W Mancil”. He also had 1 woolen wheel, 1 loom with 75 lbs. of cotton valued at $35. There was a category called “All other free persons except Indians not taxed.” It also was left blank. This was repeated throughout the Columbus County census. Were the Mansells and many of the other heads of household claiming Indian status and therefore were not listed? There were so many missing heads-of-household listed this way in the census, it hard to understand what was the intentention.<45>
That was not the case, however, of the 1820 census of Columbus County, although it was the same for Elisha. Every household appears to have an adult male tallied appropriately except for Elisha. His entry shows 4 boys under age 16, 5 girls and a woman age over 45. Again no adult male is listed in this household.<46> Since the category “All other free persons except Indians not taxed” was still available, it is more likely that Elisha was professing his Indian heritage.
By this time all of the Mansell sons were married, but only one spouse’s name has been remembered by the family. This was Mourning Flowers, wife of Edward Mancill. A family connection to Flowers has already been suggested before to Mary Flowers who was in the 1790 Robeson County Census. But many Flowers families lived near Devils Elbow and near the Mansells. (In fact the same Flowers lived near the Mansells and Harrells in Perquimans Precinct, Carolina, as well as in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.) In Robeson County Flowers Swamp is close to Devils Elbow and the Flowers family patented several large land holdings on Indian Swamp about 1769, also nearby.<47> It is not known which Flowers family Mourning Flowers belonged to. The 1790 Robeson County census lists Jonathan, Edward, William and Simeon as well as Mary Flowers. Ignatius Flowers lived just east of Drowning Creek in that part of Bladen County that would become Columbus County, and Henry Flowers, who first patented land in 1757, was listed across the state line in Prince George Parish, South Carolina in 1790. No doubt, the name of Simeon Mancill, a son of Edward and Morning Mancill , was named for Simeon Flowers, but the actual connection is not known. Who Mourning’s father was is still unclear. (The name Mourning was not an unusual name for women at this time in Eastern North Carolina. Many Flowers associates over the years had daughters or wives called Mourning.)
Besides the Flowers family, there is one other family that was identified by later descendants as being related to the Mansells, although they did not actually know the last name. This is the family of Edward Haley.
Edward Haley was living in South Carolina by 1757 according to his petition and land patent for 250 acres.<48> The amount of the acreage suggests he had five people in his household. The location of the patent was on Smiths Swamp of Catfish Creek not far from Devils Elbow. The creek today is close to the town of Marion in Marion County, South Carolina. (It was probably not a coincidence that Henry Flowers acquired his own patent on the same day also on Catfish Creek.<49> ) Shortly after his arrival in South Carolina, Edward Haley signed on to fight against the Cherokee Nation during the French and Indian War. He was one of the men who went with Captain Alexander McIntosh to fight the Cherokee in 1759.<50> (Other men on the muster roll included Winslow Driggers, mentioned above, as well as James Graves. Both have family research associating them with the mixed blood families of Robeson County. Graves also received land on Catfish Creek the same day as Edward Haley and Henry Flowers.<51>
By 1774 Edward Haley is listed living in the Bladen County, North Carolina, according to the tax list along with a son age 16 or older.<52> His relocation to Bladen County is confirmed in the deed showing him selling his Catfish Creek land to Giles Powers in 1772.<53>
South Carolina Deed
23 & 24 Mar 1772. Lease and Release
- Edward (his mark) Hailey, planter, of Bladen Co., North Carolina, to Giles Powers, planter, of Prince George Parish, Craven Co., South Carolina, for L200 currency, 250 a. in Craven Co., on Smiths Swamp, on SW side of Catfish Creek, on Pee Dee River, bounded on all sides on vacant land.
- Witness John Gasque. Before John Alban, J.P., Recorded 20 Oct 1772 by Henry Rogeley, Register.
Later on in 1790, his son Joseph “Hayle” is found in Robeson County.<54> By then Edward Haley, himself, had removed to Clarendon County in South Carolina. This would later be called Sumter County in honor of General Thomas Sumter.<55>
The history of Edward Haley’s son Joseph is well known, but under a different name, Benenhaley. He also moved to Sumter County, South Carolina like his father, but used the name Benenhaley to help maintain the family’s identity with a Turkish ancestry. His purpose was to protect his children from being enslaved.
Joseph’s often quoted connection to General Thomas Sumter has been most likely conflated with his father’s connection to the general. By 1760, Edward Haley was among the men fighting in the back woods against the Cherokee as part of the French and Indian War. In 1761 Thomas Sumter went himself into the Cherokee nation, taking with him a man only referred to as a servant. Together they made up two of the three members of the Timberlake Expedition. Could this have been Edward? It is not hard to place Edward in the same place still associated with the ongoing Cherokee war. But the servant on the expedition is not named in the records.
Years later, it was Edward, not Joseph, who acquired land once held by General Thomas Sumter. On November 14, 1793, Isaac David bought from Thomas Sumter 300 acres in Clarendon in the fork of the Black River on Crow Bay. He then deeded this land to Edward Haley.<56>
Like Edward Haley and Joseph Benenhaley, Edward Mansell and Mourning Flowers removed south to Sumter County. Edward Mansell’s land was also on the Black River according to a later land grant entered by Jacob Johnson in 1813.<57> George Mansell, as mentioned above, received his own patent also on the Black River in 1810.
The close association between the Benenhaley family and the Mansells has actually been identified twice through two different lines by Mansell records documented many years later. In the first case, William Mansell, grandson to Edward and Mary (Harrell) Mansell named his first born son Benenhaley, although the various attempts at spelling it do not always make it clear. In 1830 the census taker spelled his name “Benedict.”<58> In the 1850 US Census for Marion County, Alabama, his name was spelled “Beniah” <59> and in the 1880 US Census for Franklin County, Alabama, it was spelled “Benjamini. “<60> Only the last came close to “Benenhaley.” How Benenhaley Mansell was related to the Benenhaley family is not certain. Either William Mansell’s mother or his wife Elsey could have been a Benenhaley.
In the second case, another grandson for Edward and Mary called Simeon Mancill, who was the son of Edward and Mourning (Flowers) Mansell, was himself referred to in the 1880 census as being born in the “Turkish Empire”, the place of origin closely identified with the Benenhaley family.<61> The fact that Simeon’s son living in 1880 in faraway Texas would recall such a unique place of origin for his father, even though it was not accurate for his father, helps connect the Mansells a second time to the Benenhaleys. How his father was actually connected to the Benenhaley family is not known, although most likely it is through Mourning Flower’s mother.
Eventually all of the sons of Edward and Mary ended up going west, although each settled in different places. William chose Conecuh County, Alabama. His descendants have a bible that states: "'On the 6th of November 1817 we left South Carolina & landed in Alabama on the 23rd of December 1817."<62> Edward settled nearby but in the part of Conecuh that became Covington County, Alabama. Since he appeared in both the US Sumter County, North Carolina, census and the Alabama census for 1820 he and his family must have moved to Alabama in that year. George moved to Pulaski County, Georgia sometime before 1820. He died there early on leaving behind two sons, George and Edward, who received land in the Cherokee Land Lottery of Georgia in 1838.<63> Edward and Mary’s son Elisha also chose to live in Alabama. He and most of his family left Columbus County, North Carolina, and settled in Pike County, Alabama, before the year 1840.<64> There his son Elkanah or ”Cane” helped erect the first Baptist Church in Troy.<65>
William Mansell, the grandson of Edward and Mary who first lived in Columbus County, North Carolina, also moved west. This William chose to settle in Marion County, Alabama. Since his own son Benenhaley Mansell is found in Marion County in 1830, <66> William may have arrived there also about that time. He was there at least by 1840.<67>
Elvis, according to many resources, was descended through William Mansell of Marion County and his second wife Mourning Dove White. So Elvis may or may not be related to the Haley family. But he was descended from Edward Mansell and Mary Harrell through their eldest son and that connects him to an American Indian heritage. Other genealogies have shown who Elvis’ parents were and, through other lines, connected him to Cherokee and even Jewish ancestors. His Mansell line connects him to what we think of today as an exotic heritage: he descended from the earliest Puritan settlers in Boston and those first adventurers to settle Perquimans County at the formation of North Carolina. He has early roots in Nansemond County, Colonial Virginia as well as in Bertie County, Colonial North Carolina. He is descended from the Harrells of Southside Virginia, and undoubtedly from a native Indian nation. He is also related to the many and various families of Robeson County, North Carolina, the home today of the Lumbee Indians. We have to remember that these families and his were not easily included within the laws of the land. While their neighbors knew and respected them, forces outside their control impacted who they could marry, how they were taxed and the safety of their children. That took generations to change. Today, though, we can respect them and honor the lives that they carved out for themselves and their family.
----------------------------------------
1 -Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. 1850 Marion County. p 2 of 22. Age over 45.
2 -1810: Columbus Co., North Carolina, source: Roll: 42; Page: 10; Image: 00044.
3 -1840; Census Place: Marion, Alabama; Roll: 13; Page: 42; Image: 89.
4 - Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. 1850 Marion County. p 2 of 22. Age over 45.
5 - 1840: Conecuh., Alabama. Source: Roll: 2; Page: 275; Image: 562.
6 - 1800 Census, Liberty Co., Marion District, South Carolina., Source: M32; Roll: 49; Page: 457; Image: 84.
7 - South Carolina Land Grants Online Database, Series: S108093, Reel: 0017, Frame: 00904, Item: 000 Date: 9/28/1847.
8 - 1820 Alabama State Census, online, Ancestry.com, p 37.
9 - 1850: Conecuh, Alabama: Roll: M432_3; Page: 333B; Image: 661.
10 -1850; Census Place: Conecuh, Alabama; Roll: M432_3; Page: 384A; Image: 762.
11 - 1860; Census Place: Conecuh, Alabama; Roll: M653_6; Page: 1004; Image: 452.
12 - 1870; Census Place: Parker, Escambia, Alabama; Roll: M593_15; Page: 203B; Image: 597.
13 - 1880; Census Place: Fairfield, Newberrys, Harts and Red Level, Covington, Alabama; Roll: 9; Page: 301A; Enumeration District: 052; Image: 0608.
14 - 1850; Census Place: Conecuh, Alabama; Roll: M432_3; Page: 333B; Image: 661.
15 - 1860; Census Place: Conecuh, Alabama; Roll: M653_6; Page: 1040; Image: 490.
16 - 1840: Conecuh, Alabama. Source: Roll: 2; Page: 275; Image: 562.
17 - 1840; Census Place: Conecuh, Alabama; Roll: 2; Page: 278; Image: 568.
18 - 1830: Covington, Alabama, Source: Census, Series M19; Roll: 3; Page: 233.
19 - 1800: Salem Co, Sumter District, South Carolina, Source: Census, Series M32; Roll: 49; Page: 608; Image: 188.
20 - 1810: Sumter Co., South Carolina, Source::Census, Roll: 61; Page: 494; Image: 00386.
21 - South Carolina Land Grants Online Database, Series: S213192, ,Vol 0043, page 00469, item 1.
22 - 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; Page: 109; NARA Roll: M33_121; Image: 195.
23 - 1820: Conecuh, Alabama, Source: State Census, online, Ancestry.com, pg 39
24 - FindaGrave:
(http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=2374111&GRid=93029256&).
25 - 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Pulaski, Georgia; Page: 72; NARA Roll: M33_9; Image: 117.
26 - South Carolina Land Grants Online DB, Series: S213192,Volume: 0045, Page: 00192, Item: 003.
27 - Dodd, Jordan. Georgia Marriages to 1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
28 - 1830; Census Place: Capt Adams District, Pulaski, Georgia; Series: M19; Roll: 20; Page: 162; also Cherokee Lottery of 1838, George Mansell, sol., Mashburn’s District, Pulaski Co. . [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
29 - Cherokee Lottery of 1838 “Edward Mansell of Williams Dist, Ware Co. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
30 - 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Pulaski, Georgia; Page: 72; NARA Roll: M33_9; Image: 117.
31 - 1810: Columbus Co., North Carolina, Source: Roll: 42; Page: 10; Image: 00044.
32 - 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Columbus, North Carolina; Page: 53; NARA Roll: M33_84; Image: 55.
33 - 1830: Columbus Co., North Carolina, Series: M19; Roll: 120; Page: 13.
34 - 1840; Census Place: Pike, Alabama; Roll: 12; Page: 391; Image: 796.
35 - 1850; Census Place: Pike, Alabama; Roll: M432_13; Page: 149B; Image: 300.
36 - 1830; Census Place: Columbus, North Carolina; Series: M19; Roll: 120; Page: 7.
37 - 1860; Census Place: Eastern Division, Pike, Alabama; Roll: M653_21; Page: 340; Image: 340.
38 - Ibid.
39 - 1800 Census, Liberty Co., Marion District, South Carolina., Source: M32; Roll: 49; Page: 457; Image: 84.
40 - 1800: Salem Co, Sumter Dist., South Carolina, Source: Census, Series M32; Roll: 49; Page: 608; Image: 188.
41 - South Carolina Land Grants Online Database, Series: S213192, Volume: 0045, Page: 00192.
42 - 1810: Columbus Co., North Carolina, source: Roll: 42; Page: 10; Image: 00044
43 - Ibid.
44 - Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. 1850 Marion County. p 2 of 22. Age over 45.
45 - 1810: Columbus Co., North Carolina, source: Roll: 42; Page: 10; Image: 00044
46 - 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Columbus, North Carolina; Page: 53; NARA Roll: M33_84; Image: 55.
47 - North Carolina Court of Claims record of Patents Granted (Secretary of State’s Papers) 1740-1775. Weynette Parks Haun, Durham, North Carolina., private publication, 1996. p 135.
48 - South Carolina Land Grants Online Database, Series: S213184, Volume: 0006, Page: 00237, Item: 03.
49 - South Carolina Land Grants Online Database, Series: S213184, Volume: 0006, Page: 00237, Item: 01.
50 - South Carolina Department of Archives- Muster Roll, Capt. McIntosh's Co., Expedition to Fort Prince George. Copy on file at the Darlington County Historical Commission.
51 - South Carolina Land Grants Online Database, Series: S213184, Volume: 0006, Page: 00237, Item: 02).
52 - Bladen County, North Carolina Tax Lists 1768-1774, William Byrd, III, 1998, p 130.
53 - South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772, Vol. IV, abstracted by Clara A. Langley (p 242)
Book 2-3, pp. 148-151.
54 - 1790; Census Place: Robeson, North Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 7; Page: 145; Image: 428.
55 - 1790; Census Place: Clarendon, South Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 11; Page: 207; Image: 134.
56 - Sumter Co., South Carolina Conveyances, Book BB, p 2.
57 57 - South Carolina Land Grants Online Database, Series: S213192, Volume: 0043, Page: 00469, Item: 001.
58 - 1830; Census Place: Marion, Alabama; Series: M19; Roll: 4; Page: 181.
59 - 1850; Census Place: District 6, Franklin, Alabama; Roll: M432_5; Page: 217B; Image: 630.
60 - 1880; Census Place: Franklin, Alabama; Roll: 13; Family History Film: 1254013; Page: 560B.
61 - 1880; Census Place: Precinct 7, Stephens, Texas; Roll: 1327; Family History Film: 1255327; Page: 491A; Enumeration District: 172.
62 - Family record. Posted on RootsWeb.
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/BMy.2ACEB/5.2.1.1; accessed 5/27/2015.
63 - Ancestry.com. Georgia Cherokee Land Lottery, 1832 [database on-line .
64 - 1840; Census Place: Pike, Alabama; Roll: 12; Page: 391; Image: 796.
65 - Troy Messenger, June 20 1889, page 5 cols.1-2.
66 - 1830; Census Place: Marion, Alabama; Series: M19; Roll: 4; Page: 181.
67 - 1840; Census Place: Marion, Alabama; Roll: 13; Page: 42; Image: 89.
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