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Caswell County Genealogy
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 |
|
 1827 - 1859 (32 years)
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| Name |
Winstead, Catherine Hall |
| Birth |
10 May 1827 |
| Gender |
Female |
| Reference Number |
1036 |
| Death |
Dec 1859 |
Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas  |
| Person ID |
I66401 |
Caswell County |
| Last Modified |
16 Apr 2024 |
| Father |
Winstead, Samuel, b. 2 Apr 1780, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 16 Jun 1829, Person County, North Carolina (Age 49 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Sargent, Elizabeth, b. 26 Jul 1784, Person County, North Carolina d. 28 Jun 1863, Person County, North Carolina (Age 78 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Reference Number |
441475 |
| Notes |
- U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Name: Samuel Winstead
Gender: Male
Spouse Name: Elizabeth Sergeant
Number Pages: 1
|
| Family ID |
F12170 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 |
Jacobs, Benjamin, b. 12 Nov 1824, Caswell County, North Carolina d. Dec 1859, Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas (Age 35 years) |
| Children |
| + | 1. Coleman, Elephelit, b. 15 Nov 1858 d. 24 Oct 1941 (Age 82 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 2. Jacobs, Elijah, b. 15 Nov 1858 d. 24 Oct 1941 (Age 82 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F22802 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
16 Apr 2024 |
| Family 2 |
Bradsher, William S., b. 22 Jul 1811, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 29 Dec 1879, Caswell County, North Carolina (Age 68 years) |
| Marriage |
28 Dec 1841 |
Person County, North Carolina |
| Reference Number |
9283 |
| Notes |
- U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Name: William Bradsher
Gender: Male
Birth Year: 1811
Spouse Name: Catherine Winstead
Spouse Birth Year: 1827
Marriage
Year: 1841
Number Pages: 1
North Carolina, Marriage Index, 1741-2004
Name: William Bradsher
Spouse: Catharine Winstead
Marriage Date: 28 Dec 1841
Marriage County: Person
Marriage State: North Carolina
Source: County Court Records at Roxboro, NC
|
| Children |
| | 1. Bradsher, Elizabeth S., b. 1846, Person County, North Carolina d. 1937, Person County, North Carolina (Age 91 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 2. Bradsher, Mary White, b. 1849, Person County, North Carolina d. 1929, Person County, North Carolina (Age 80 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 3. Bradsher, Eunice, b. 1853, Person County, North Carolina d. 1895, Person County, North Carolina (Age 42 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 4. Bradsher, Lura Dean, b. 1856, Person County, North Carolina d. 1934, Person County, North Carolina (Age 78 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F612 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
16 Apr 2024 |
-
-
| Notes |
- Catherine Hall Winstead (1827-1859)
(for larger image, click on photograph)
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The Letter From Arkansas
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Fort Smith Historical Society Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, Pg. 9, September, 1996. It comes from Samuel Edmondson's Justice of the Peace Docket (a ledger of cases and fees), dated 1860-1861.
Note that "Lear Burg" in this abstract is Leasburg, Caswell County, North Carolina.
_______________
Murder Mystery
This is the story of Catherine Hall Winstead (1827-1859) and Benjamin Jacobs (1824-1859).
In 1841, Catherine Hall Winstead married William S. Bradsher (1811-1879), and the couple had four daughters.
In 1845, Benjamin Jacobs married Martha Banks Bradsher (1824-1887), and the couple had three daughters.
"On August 31, 1858, Benjamin Jacobs sold the last of his land. The deed conveys to W. G. Bradsher, brother of Martha Banks Bradsher, 119.6 acres on South Hico for the sum of $1075. Early one morning in late 1858, Benjamin Jacobs left Person County with a traveling companion. He left behind his wife Martha and his two daughters Susan and Nicie. Later they would receive word that he and his companion had both taken sick and died in December of 1859 in Fort Smith Arkansas, on the Oklahoma border."
Source: The Heritage of Person County, Volume II, Madeline Hall Eaker, Editor (1983) at 213-214 (Article #307 "Benjamin and Martha Bradsher Jacobs" by Mary Linda Winstead Janke).
Bradsher, Jacobs, and Winstead family lore tells that the "traveling companion" of Benjamin Jacobs was Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher, that the two had abandoned their spouses and young children, and "run off" together to the west. They both died December 1859 in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas, near the Oklahoma border. However, the family tradition is not that they became ill and died, but that they were murdered. Traditional also relates that there was a male child who survived (Elijah Jacobs). This person also is seen as Elephlit Coleman (November 15, 1858 - October 24, 1941).
The family has only an unsourced record and a letter making reference to the child:
"Henry Kuper had the child of Jacobs and wife and it was kept by Miss _____ Ermann. The child now in the hands of Mr. Coleman about one mile and a half from here. Mr. Kuper and Miss Ermann kept the child something over or about one year."
The above purportedly appeared in the Fort Smith Historical Association Journal (undated).
_______________
William S. Bradsher eventually married Sarah Frances Holsomback. Martha Banks Bradsher eventually married Thomas T. Davenport. No additional children are known. Not known is what became of the apparently illegitimate child of the murdered couple.
_______________
Following is a version of the story provided by the Winstead family:
In fall of 1858, Ben Jacobs left his wife and ran off to Fort Smith, AR with Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher. They died there in 1859; but there was some questions by the local authorities in Ft Smith as to whether or not he owned the slaves he brought with him. They wrote to the postmaster in Leasburg, NC, who forwarded the letter to his wife, Martha. In the letter, they asked if the ownership papers on his slaves might have been forged. She never wrote back. Ben was found dead in his cabin, along with his "wife." Foul play was suspected. Possibly poisoned. Martha was his 1st cousin. Catherine was the sister to James Fletcher Winstead. Following is the letter:
Fort Smith, Arkansas March 9, 1860
TO: POST MASTER AT YANCEYVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA:
Dear Sir:
Some time in December last a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Jacobs came to this place in company with his wife Catherine Jacobs and an infant son named Elijah Jacobs ? had two Negro Boys with him as I understand and stopped with a man by the name of Samuel Edmondson alias Ginger. Soon after which himself and wife was boath taken sick and died. I am, a1most certain there was Foul Play. I think they were poisoned. This pious old Ginger took the Negroes off and sold them. I have taken out Letters of Administration on the Estates of the said Jacobs' and yesterday I called on Edmondson for the purpose of taken an Inventory of the Property and found nothing but two trunks of clothing and one watch. I find the Daguerreotype (tin photograph) of some friend of theirs I learn the lady said it was her brother. I have that and a lock of the ladys hare. Edmondson has a bill of sale for the Negroes, but I am certain it was forged because if he had bought the Negroes and paid for them there would have been money on hand. There was not a dollar. I have hired a nurse for the infant. I find a receipt for eighty dollars in a bill of sale from E. Jacobs to Benjamin Jacobs for a Negro Boy aged about 14 years, which I suppose must have been one of the Negroes sold by Edmondson. What induces me to write to you is I find the envelope of a letter that was mailed at Yanceyville, N. C. to Benjamin Jacob Dubuque, Marian County, Arkansas, and from that infer there must be some of the relatives of himself or wife in that county. Please find out if you can and inform me immediately. I will do the best I can for the child so help me God. Farewell.
Please attend to the above and if you find any of the friends let them correspond with me immediately.
H. L. HOLLEMAN
Fort Smith, Ark.
_______________
Following is an addendum by Mary Linda Winstead Janke:
Benjamin Jacobs did not steal the slaves that were with him in Arkansas. He owned them. They left with him and Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher. Catherine, by the way was the sister of James Fletcher Winstead. (Talk about a small gene pool.) She left four daughters, one just an infant. Legend has it that the morning she left she kissed each one good bye and gave the three oldest ones a sip of coffee from her cup. I feel sure she was pregnant before she left and that was probably the reason for their leaving. Benjamin and the two slave boys came and picked her up in the buggy. When he got to the top of the hill near her home he fired his gun three times. No one knows why. There were problems between him and Martha and at the time he left she had taken out a restraining order against him. Her father left her property in his will but clearly stated that Benjamin Jacobs was not to have access to or manage it in any way. I wanted to write more about this in the heritage book but Grandma did not want me to. Martha was taking steps to divorce him when word came that he was dead. Ben and Catherine could not have legally married since there was no divorce. We have reason to believe that the slaves were stolen either shortly before Ben and Catherine died or were appropriated by that Ginger person, mentioned in the letter shortly after their death. There was no bill of sale saying that Ben had sold them to anyone. Mammy always wanted to find her little brother. She didn't know he existed until she was grown. I don't know if she ever tried. Some attempts have been made to locate him by members of the family but so far as I know none were successful.
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The following was provided by Mary Jeanne Black, Inquiry Coordinator and Researcher, Fort Smith Historical Society as an attachment to an email dated 27 January 2015. The text of the email also is set forth below.
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Fort Smith Historical Society, Inc., The Journal, Vol. 20- Issue 2, 1996
Cover
Contents 1
General information on Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 7
• Samuel Edmondson was born ?m Georgia in 1832 to Crawford Court House, AR.
• Mr. Edmondson moved to Van Buren, AR when the Court moved there.
• Samuel moved from Van Buren, AR to Fort Smith, AR in 1840 and built his home on the corner of Fourth and “B” Streets.
• Mr. Samuel Edmondson first became Justice of the Peace about 1840 when the former Justice relocated out of the district. Mr. Edmondson served in this capacity and as a, "practitioner at law in Fort Smith for over the next thirty years," earning him the nickname of, "Old Ginger." (Note the letter written by H. L. HOLLEMAN, Fort Smith, AR, that you quoted. * see pg.
• Samuel E. Edmondson's second wife was Ann Manning Edmondson, listing at Least three of his sons: Rev. James Edmondson was a Missionary Baptist Preacher, T W Edmondson was a partner in Woods, Edmondson and Britt Star Grocery House, Col. Samuel M Edmondson was the Sebastian County Justice of the Peace.
• The elder Samuel Edmondson died of cholera on October 4, 1866.
• Samuel Edmondson's grave marker is in Calvary Cemetery, Fort Smith, AR. Row 3 Sec 3.
• Jan 27, 1851 Samuel was elected as one of the commissioners to select the county seat. General information on Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 8
• Photo of Ann Manning Edmondson's Grave Marker in Calvary Cemetery Sec. 3.
• Commissioners met in Jenny Lind May of 1851 and decided on 40 acres of land given by Mr. Rueben Coker and named it Greenwood.
• Samuel also served Sebastian County in the Arkansas House of Representatives in the 10th (1854-1855) and 11th (1856-1857) State Legislatures.
• Edmondson did have his own legal problems. According to Goodspeed “On the 19th of February 1848, Jesse Merritt, a pardoned convict, was killed at Fort Smith by Samuel Edmondson. Some difficulty existed between the two parties, and in the morning they met and quarreled, and about 3 o'clock P.M. Merritt walked into Edmondson’s office to see Esquire Hudspeth, and after getting through with his business, and being in the act of leaving, Edmondson fired at him from the outside through the back door. Of the office, the ball entered his left breast, and came out under his right shoulder blade. Merritt fell upon the floor, uttered one short groan, and was dead. Edmonson fled, and went to the residence of Maj. Elias Rector, about two miles from town, where he sent for the sheriff. He was afterward tried for the murder and acquitted."
The following information was abstracted from Samuel Edmondson's Justice of the Peace Docket dated in the front of the book 1860- 1861. However, the entries are dated from, September 8, 1859 to June 28, 1861. It should be noted that the role of the early justices of the peace was considerably different from that of today. They heard some civil and criminal cases then as well as the more modern role of performing marriages and acting as a county legislature. It is also important to realize that a justice docket is not the court minutes; it is rather like today's diary or calendar.
The Docket was loaned, for copying, to Fort Smith Historical Society by Mr. George A. Toney of Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a ledger book, with several different handwritings and formats which contain marriages and cases covering nonpayment of debts, stray animals, violent crimes, including one case of child abuse and cases of run away slaves. Most cases appear to have been heard without the assistance of an attorney. With a few exceptions herein noted, all of the entries were signed by Justice of the Peace Edmondson. Costs and fees are listed at the end of each case document with the fees for the Justice of the Peace ranging from fifty cents to three dollars and fifty cents and the witnesses getting about fifty cents.
(Editor’s Note: A question mark indicates that there was a question about what was written directly before the mark.)
Docket of S E Edmondson
Justice of the Peace
Upper Township
Inside Front Cover
John Vinson William Reeves
Mrs. Price (?) John Martion
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 9
Elijah Jacobs
Lear Burg
Caswell County
North Carolina
Martha Jacobs
Married Benjamin Jacobs
Post office as above
_________ Bradsher Sen (?) (illegible)
Lear Burg
Caswell County
N. C.
Henry Kuper had the child of Jacobs and wife and it was kept by Miss Ermann.The child is now in the hands of Mr. Coleman about one mile and a half from here. Mr. Kuper and Miss Ermann kept the child something over or about one year.
(Notice there is no date on this case.)
The Title Page
The name Edmondson is spelled, "Edmodsons" on the docket. The Docket is, "DOCKET 1861 & 1860." That seems inaccurate since the Second Title Page is 1859 & 60. James A. Davis’ name is spelled, "Davies" and "Davie."
INDEX
The note from the Editor indicates that the index was incomplete and inaccurate. The names are all listed in the general Journal Index. So, the Editor is "omitting this index saving valuable space for other items."
Second Title Page
Samuel Edmondson Justice of
The Peace 1859 & 60
September
The Editor indicates that all early entries are signed by Samuel Edmondson and have the heading:
"The State of Arkansas
County of Sebastian
Township of Upper, (Sebastian).
In Justice’s Court of Said Township"
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 9
Cases 1 to7
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 10
Continuation of Case 7 to Case 20
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 11
Continuation of Case 20 to Case 30
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 12
Continuation of Case 30 to Case 40
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 13
Continuation of Case 40 to Case 47
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 14
Continuation of Case 47 to Case 53
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 15
Continuation of Case 53 to Case 63
Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson 16 thru 29
Continuation of Case 63 to Case 180
FOOTNOTES 29
1HISTORY OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS (Goodspeed : Nashville, Tennessee: 21889). Pg. 1145
2R. H. Mohler; FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, SOUVENIR OF THE QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTHWEST (NP: Fort Smith, 1829), np.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5HISTORY OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. Op cit.
6Ibid.
7Ibid.
8W.J. Weaver, "Early Days in Fort Smith", FORT SMITH ELEVATOR, Dec. 25, 1896.
9Mohler, op. cit.
10Weaver, op. cit.
11THE GOODSPEED HISTORIES OF SEBASTIAN COUNTY, ARKANSAS (Woodward & Stinson Printing Co.: Columbia, Tennessee; 1977), P. 698.
12Ibid.
13 Ibid. p. 709.
14Ibid, p. 725
Index - 188th Fighter Wing to Clarke, S. F. 45
Index - Clarke, Governor to Girl Scouts 46
Index - Goad, James to Martin, Martha 47
Index - Martin, Will to Sewould, W. H. 48
Index - Shanton, Simon to Zip Codes 49
*Fort Smith, Arkansas March 9, 1860
TO: POST MASTER AT YANCEYVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA:
Dear Sir:
Some time in December last a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Jacobs came to this place in company with his wife Catherine Jacobs and an infant son named Elijah Jacobs ? had two Negro Boys with him as I understand and stopped with a man by the name of Samuel Edmondson alias Ginger. Soon after which himself and wife was boath taken sick and died. I am, almost certain there was Foul Play. I think they were poisoned. This pious old Ginger took the Negroes off and sold them. I have taken out Letters of Administration on the Estates of the said Jacobs' and yesterday I called on Edmondson for the purpose of taken an Inventory of the Property and found nothing but two trunks of clothing and one watch. I find the Daguerreotype (tin photograph) of some friend of theirs I learn the lady said it was her brother. I have that and a lock of the ladys hare.3 Edmondson has a bill of sale for the Negroes, but I am certain it was forged because if he had bought the Negroes and paid for them there would have been money on hand. There was not a dollar. I have hired a nurse for the infant. I find a receipt for eighty dollars in a bill of sale from E. Jacobs to Benjamin Jacobs for a Negro Boy aged about 14 years, which I suppose must have been one of the Negroes sold by Edmondson. What induces me to write to you is I find the envelope of a letter that was mailed at Yanceyville, N. C. to Benjamin Jacob Dubuque, Marian County, Arkansas, and from that infer there must be some of the relatives of himself or wife in that county. Please find out if you can and inform me immediately. I will do the best I can for the child so help me God. Farewell.
Please attend to the above and if you find any of the friends let them correspond with me immediately.
H. L. HOLLEMAN
Fort Smith, Ark.
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H. L. Holleman an Arkansas State Senator, (1864 election: There was an election in Fort Smith on November 19th for State Senator from this area. Senator Charles Milor had resigned and F. H. Wolfe and H. L Holleman were candidates. H. L. Holleman won.) H L Holleman was a Deputy U S Marshall 1866. Fort Smith. When Holleman was in the Arkansas State Senate and it became time to vote to abolish slavery or not- H L Holleman voted not to change the constitution to abolish slavery. Sebastian and Scott counties were shocked that Mr. Holleman voted the way he did. It was only when there was so much pressure on H L Holleman and he had to vote to abolish slavery, did he finally do so. Holleman had always talked against slavery before.
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Text of Email:
Dear Rick:
The entire.pdf file of the Fort Smith Historical Society, Inc., The Journal, Vol. 20- Issue 2, 1996, September is not necessary for your project. The entire 50 pg. Journal file would be too large to send in an email. Therefore, I am including the following pages:
• Front Cover of the Journal,
• The Title Page/Table of Contents, pg. 1
• Several pages from: Vol. 20- Issue 2, 1996, September, "Abstract from the Docket of Justice of the Peace Samuel E. Edmondson." (Transcribed and Abstracted by Amelia Martin and Janice Eddleman.) pgs. 7-29
• Index of Fort Smith Historical Society, Inc., Journal, pages 45-49.
*My biggest head scratcher of the whole query is probably your question also. Why in the world does S. E. Edmondson have the name "Martha" Jacobs and husband Benjamin Jacobs on his docket? If S. E. Edmondson does not really know Benjamin Jacobs well, how can Edmondson know Martha? Benjamin Jacobs is with Catherine and their baby boy, Elijah. The case has no date or number on the docket like the rest of the cases. It is just in S. E. Edmondson's docket book. Do you think that Samuel Edmondson was in communication with the Martha Jacobs' family before that December 1859 day that Catherine Hall Winstead and Benjamin Jacobs met their demise?
I would like to point out a few things in this Journal that will support the information that you sent in your query. Fort Smith Historical Society, Inc. did publish the information on Benjamin Jacobs that you attached to your email. It appeared in the, Fort Smith Historical Society, Inc., The Journal, Vol. 20- Issue 2, page 9, 1996, September. I have attached the parts of the Journal that will be useful to you.
Proceeding the presentation of Samuel E. Edmondson's Docket, there is a tease listing some of the cases that are within. One mentioned a child abuse case. I thought, oh no! Surely that poor babe did not have to go through child abuse to. I found that case and it had nothing to do with Elijah Jacobs. It involved abuse of a young lady and both parents were charged with the crime.
I also included an outline of Samuel E. Edmondson's Docket. I am attaching it to your email also. Pages: Cover, pgs. 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 . . . 29 and Index 45-49.
I am sure there will be more to follow.
Mary Jeanne Black
Inquiry Coordinator and Researcher
Fort Smith Historical Society
One attachment.
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1860 US Federal Census
The City of Fort Smith, County of Sebastian, State of Arkansas, Page No. 215, 5th Day of September, 1860, S. Caldwell, Ass't. Marshal. Post Office, Fort Smith. Census family #1525, Dwelling house #1571
Name: Elias Jacobs (Elijah)
Age In 1860: 1
Birth Year: abt 1859
Birthplace: Arkansas
Home In 1860: Fort Smith, Sebastian, Arkansas
Gender: Male
Post Office: Fort Smith
Household Members:
Name Age
Henry Kuper 28 (Occupation-Taylor)
Gertrude Kuper 28
Mary Kuper 4
Henry Kuper 3
Eliza Kuper 8/12
Theresa Errman 26
Elias Jacobs 1
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06/02/2015 latest edit
The Letter from Arkansas
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and truth. -Buddha-
( Put actual copy of 1860 letter here)
Transcript of 1860 letter:
"Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 9th 1860 To The Post Master at Yanceyville, N Carolina
Dear Sir. Some time in December last a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Jacobs came to this place in company with his wife Catherine Jacobs and an infant son Elijah Jacobs. He had two Negro Boys with him as I understand and stayed with a man by the name of Samuel Edmondson, alias Ginger. Soon afterwards himself and wife was Boath Taken Sick and died. I am almost certain there was Foul Play. I think they was Poisoned. This Pious old Ginger took the Negroes off and sold them. I had taken out Letters of administration on the Estate of the Said Jacobs and yesterday, I called on Edmondson for the Purpose of Taken an Inventory of the Properties and find Nothing But two trunks of Clothing and one watch. I find the Deguaritipes of Some Friends of theirs. I learn the lady Said it was her Brother. I have that and a lock of the lady's hare. Edmondson has a bill of sale for the Negroes but I am Certain it was forged. Because if he had bought the Negroes and paid for them there would have been money on hand. There was not a Dollar. I have hired a nurse for the infant. I find a receipt for Eighty Dollars in a bill of Sale from E. Jacobs to Benjamin Jacobs for a Negro Boy aged about 14 years which I suppose must have been one of the Negroes Sold By Edmondson. What induced me to write to you is I find the Envelope of a letter that was mailed at Yanceyville, N.C. To Benjamin Jacobs, Dubuque, Marion County, Arkansas and from that infer here must be Some of the Relatives of himself or wife in that Country. Please find out if you can and inform me Immediately. I will do the best I can for the Child So help Me God.
Farewell Please attend to the above and if you find any of the Friends let them Correspond with me Immediately.
H. L. Holleman
Fort Smith Ark."
The letter, written in a strong, even, script, has been passed down in my family for 155 years. Its watermarked paper has darkened from the original cream to tan; the ink has faded from black to brown. Written on one sheet of paper, back and front, there was once an envelope where it rested between perusals. That is long gone, but the letter and its poignant message remain. It has been read so many times that the paper has given way in the folds; read over and over to see if maybe, this time, there will be something new to be discovered, something missed before. Long ago my grandmother mended these separations with cellophane tape so that no precious part of it would be lost. Always, when someone reads it for the first time, they ask the same question, "What happened to the child?"
I suppose most families have ancestors whose stories are not tidy, stories that cannot be tied up from beginning to end with neatness and certainty; legends that leave us with an unsolved mystery. Even when these situations are long past and all the principal participants dead and buried, we somehow feel responsible for reporting the final chapter of their story. I suppose we worry most over the innocent. In our case he was a small orphaned child a thousand miles from his closest relatives.
Benjamin and Catherine Jacobs, mentioned in the letter, were not married. Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher was the wife of Benjamin's brother-in-law, William S. Bradsher. Benjamin had married his first cousin, Martha Banks Bradsher. William was not only Benjamin's brother-in-law, but also his first cousin, making his entanglement with Catherine very messy indeed. Catherine and William had four daughters ranging in age from 11 to just under 2 years old. Benjamin and his wife, Martha, had two daughters, 11 and 4.
Sometime after 08/31/1858, Benjamin, age 33 and Catherine, age 31 made the decision to leave their respective families and run away together. They took with them 2 enslaved boys, both about 14 years of age.
Even in 1858 it did not take 16 months to get from Leasburg, North Carolina to Fort Smith, Arkansas. It is not known what route this couple took or where they were when Catherine gave birth to Elijah on 11/15/1858. Assuming little Elijah was a full term baby, she would have been more than 6 months pregnant when they left Person County, so it is likely they did not travel far before breaking their journey and settling in some place safe for her confinement.
The letter telling of Benjamin's and Catherine’s deaths was delivered to the Yanceyville post office in the spring of 1860. We do not know if the Yanceyville postmaster, Alexander McAlpine, gave it to Benjamin's wife, Martha, or if he gave it to some other member of the Jacobs family, who later gave it to Martha. Benjamin's father, Elijah, was aware that Benjamin was dead when he made a new will on July 23, 1860. In this will he leaves property to the daughters of his dead son, Benjamin.
However the letter made its way to her, it was in the possession of my great-great grandmother, Martha Banks Bradsher (Jacobs) (Davenport), when she died on 06/ 26/1887. Her youngest daughter, Eunice Bradsher Jacobs (Winstead) (Wagstaff), found it among her mother's important papers after her death. Eunice was only 6 when the word came that her father had died. It is doubtful that Martha would have discussed this little brother with her youngest daughter at the time. Finding out at 33 years old that she had a little brother was a bit of a shock. However, once Eunice learned of little Elijah's existence, she very much wanted to know what had happened to him. Did he even survive long after the loss of his parents? If so, who took care of him? Did he grow up and have children of his own?
She dreamed of taking a wagon train out west to find Elijah. However, she could not talk any of the family into going on this adventure with her, so reluctantly, she gave up. Yet, she could never quite give up on the idea of finding him.
Eunice's husband, James Fletcher Winstead, died in 1889. She lived many years as a widow, but in the early 1900s she was married to Clemmon McGilbert Wagstaff. She continued living in the same house with "Mr. Wagstaff", as she called her new husband, until his death, sometime before 1920. Her youngest son, Harvey, was given his parents' homeplace when he married. Until her death in 1949, Eunice continued to make her home in this same house with her youngest son, Harvey Winstead, his wife, Mary, and their eight children.
Harvey and Mary Winstead were my grandparents. Sometime before she died, Eunice showed Mary the letter from Arkansas. Eunice felt that someday someone from Arkansas might come to Leasburg looking for our family. She wanted Mary to know the story and keep the letter in a safe place. Mary promised that she would keep it safe and if possible, do what she could to find Elijah.
When Mary was given the letter in the 1940s, she was very busy with her young family. Aside from asking older relatives if they knew what happened to little Elijah, there wasn't much she could do to locate him. Finding someone from almost a century before and a thousand miles away would have been a far more daunting task than it is today. Reluctantly, she put the letter away in a safe place and went on with her busy life.
About 30 years ago I wrote stories of the Jacobs and Bradsher families for the Caswell and Person County Heritage books. I knew these books would be widely distributed to the genealogical sections of libraries all over the US and I hoped, once these books were in print, that someone from Arkansas would read the accounts and say to themselves, "You know, I think this may be the tie to our family."
While I was working on the stories for these books, Grandma Mary showed me the letter for the first time. I was thrilled and very much wanted to include the letter in my story of the Jacobs. However, Grandma felt it would reflect negatively on our family for the letter to be included. We had quite a discussion over it. Like most families, ours did not have to go back a hundred years to find a relative that didn't behave. However, the letter had been left in her safekeeping and I respected her wishes. I did say that Benjamin left his wife and two daughters and went to Arkansas with a "traveling companion."
My uncle, Therit Winstead, was visiting Grandma when we were discussing whether or not the letter should be included in the Heritage books. He became interested in trying to locate Elijah's descendants. On a vacation that took him near Fort Smith, Arkansas, he decided to do some research there. He started by copying all the names and addresses of Jacobs from the local phone book. He then sent letters to everyone requesting information about whether or not they were kin to Elijah Jacobs, the son of Benjamin. He did not receive a single reply. Some 20 years later he went to Fort Smith a second time and actually did some research at the courthouse. He was able to find little Elijah on the census, when he was about 2 years old, living in the home of a Henry Kuyper. He found an Elias Jacobs, who was about 10, on a later census. However, after that he could find nothing more. He met a local genealogist and paid her to do further research. However, he never heard from her.
Uncle Nash Winstead's daughter, Lizzie Winstead Dawson, had a friend living in Fort Smith. Lizzie had her friend research the records. She found about the same information Uncle Therit had, but nothing further.
After the publication of the Heritage books I did receive several inquiries and letters from members of the Jacobs family in Arkansas, but none of these correspondents was descended from Elijah or knew anything of the small child mentioned in the 1860 letter.
Ten years ago I was discussing Benjamin's and Catherine's story with my cousin, Robbie Washburn, at a Winstead family reunion. He was working on a genealogical website for the Winsteads and asked me if he might include the story. I did not hesitate to provide him with a short paragraph telling the basic story and he did add it to his website. While she was alive Grandma Mary had done what she thought best by not having the story included in the Heritage books, now I did what I thought best. This little paragraph on the internet would ultimately be the link that would join our family members with Elijah's after 155 years apart. Still, it did not happen immediately.
After 30 years I had reluctantly given up hope that we would ever know what had happened to Elijah. Then on Saturday, 01/24/2015, I went out to walk my beagle, Rachel, at bedtime. Before we went back inside, I took several pieces of mail out of my mailbox. Amongst the usual junk mail and bills was a letter from Bobby and Martha Coleman in Fort Smith, Arkansas. My first thought, before I even opened it, was that someone wanted more information on the Jacobs family lines that I had written about 30 years earlier. I put the pup to bed and sat down on the couch to read my letter. I read it through three times before I could believe what I held in my hand. Bob wrote:
"Dear Linda,
I got your address from Rick Frederick, with the Caswell County Historical Association, and wanted to contact you regarding a possible family link.
My wife and I have been doing genealogical research on our families, and that research led us to the story of Benjamin Jacobs and Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher leaving their families in North Carolina and eventually being murdered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1859. Our interest in the story of this couple is because it is possible that my great-grandfather was their child, Elijah Jacobs….."
Bob went on to say that his great-grandfather, Elephlit Coleman (born 11/15/1858 and died 10/24/1941) had been a stumbling block in their research into the Coleman family lines. There always seemed to be family legends that Elephlit, was not a Coleman, but had been adopted by James Coleman and his wife, Julia Moncrief Coleman. These stories came in two forms; He was supposedly a Jacobs, from a wealthy family, either Dutch or Jewish, from back east. In these stories his family dies or is murdered and a black maid servant flees with the baby, arriving finally in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the child is given to James Coleman. Or, in another version, Elephlit's family is traveling westward and stops in Fort Smith. There is a hotel fire and the parents are killed, but the child survives and is adopted by James Coleman. Bob says that it is likely his great-grandfather believed he was adopted as the stories remained a solid part of their family history. Elephlit never knew exactly where he was born, a fact that most birth parents would have been able to tell their child.
After reading our little paragraph on the internet, Bob concluded that the stories of Elephlit's adoption could no longer be discounted. The new information gave them more substance than they had ever had before and he felt they deserved further investigation. He asked if we would be willing to give DNA samples to see if there was a genetic link between our family and his.
On 01/26/2015 I replied:
"Dear Bob,
My great grandmother, Eunice Bradsher Jacobs (Winstead) (Wagstaff) waited a good part of her adult life for a letter like the one I received from you this past Saturday. I am not sure she knew about her little brother, Elijah, until after her mother died and she found the following letter (this is a transcript from the original) in her mother’s things……….. After the Jacobs stories were published in the Heritage book I hoped I would hear from someone that little Elijah had survived. However, as time went on I assumed he had not survived or had been adopted by another family and his own history lost in the process.
(I concluded with)..…..My father is as excited as I am and will be happy to give a DNA sample. How do we go about doing that?
I very much look forward to hearing from you. Do you have a picture of your great grandfather?
Sincerely,
Mary Linda Winstead Janke"
(Picture of Elijah Jacobs/Elephlit Coleman here)
Uncle Therit Winstead, who had inherited the 1860 letter when Grandma Mary died, was one of the first people I called. He was ecstatic and said, "How did you find him?" I laughed and said, "I didn't. He found us."
Within a couple of weeks, my father, Samuel Winstead, and I received DNA kits. We put our samples in the return mail within 2 days. Then there were several weeks of waiting for the results. Bob had also sent kits to some of the known descendants of Elijah’s adoptive father, James Coleman. We waited. Finally the results were available on the 23andMe website. There was a strong relationship between our family and Bob's, but no relationship between Bob and the Coleman's. We were both a little surprised at the lack of common genes between the Coleman descendants and Bob as we thought James Coleman might have been related to little Elijah in some way.
Our families are a long way from putting flesh on this skeleton of a family story, but we look forward to uncovering more information in time. For now, we are very thankful to know that Elijah not only survived, but lived to see his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
An Invitation
On Saturday, 06/13/2015 at 1:00 p.m., there will be a Winstead family reunion at Elmwood, the home of Michael Rudder. The address is 928 Ralph Winstead Rd, Leasburg NC 27291-9085. We would like to issue a special invitation to all our Winstead kin and especially to the descendants of all Elijah's half-sisters:
Susan Jacobs (Snipes)
Mary White Bradsher (Loftis)
Eunice Bradsher Jacobs (Winstead) (Wagstaff)
Lura Dean Bradsher (Woody)
Please join us for this special reunion to welcome Elijah's great-grandson, Bob Coleman, and his wife, Martha to our family. There will be a covered dish lunch, which all attending provide. Everyone brings enough food to feed themselves and those they bring with them. Then we put it all together and share. Please bring your favorite dishes and any genealogical information you have collected. It is always fun to find out what others have learned about our ancestors. We hope to see you there!
Mary Linda Winstead Janke
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