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James King Armstrong enslaved 8 people in Marion, Alabama according to the 1860 Slave Schedule.
-The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
James King Armstrong (1824-1878) served as President at Athens College for Young Women from 1873-1877. Armstrong graduated from the University of Alabama in 1844.
Sources:
- Photo: https://robertstapleton.tripod.com/ljbond.html
A Bill of Sale for two female servants, Mary and Charity, sold for $960.00 by Daniel P. Bestor of Sumterville, Alabama, to Col. I.C. Brown on January 9, 1853.
-Creator D. P. Bestor (Daniel Perrin), “Bill of Sale,” Enslaved People in the Southeast, accessed June 28, 2022, https://aserlsharedenslavedpeople.omeka.net/items/show/56.
Per the 1850 US Census and Slave Schedule, Daniel Perrin Bestor enslaved 46 individuals in Sumpter County, Alabama.
-The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
Daniel Perrin Bestor enslaved 62 individuals in Clarke County, Mississippi according to the 1860 Slave Schedule. Out of 62, more than half are under the age of 18, with 35 individuals being under the age of 13.
The schedule also indicates that he was the "guardian" of 10 other enslaved individuals.
-The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
Daniel Perrin Bestor (1797-1869) served as president of the institute from 1821-1826.
Prior to serving at Athens, Bestor served as a Baptist minister and teacher. Later in his life, Bestor introduced the first bill to establish a system of public schools in Alabama while serving Greene County in the Alabama legislature.
Throughout his life, Rev. Daniel Perrin Bestor supported chattel slavery in multiple ways. In 1829 he established an African Colonization Society (ACS) chapter at LaGrange College.
Bestor also directly participated by purchasing, selling, and enslaving individuals of African descent. Census records indicate that he enslaved 46 individuals in 1850, 45 in 1855, and 70 people in 1860. Per census records, he considered himself a farmer.
Chattel slavery aided in his purchase of two commercial farms, one in Mobile, Alabama and one in Prairie Line, Mississppi. Although he claimed no allegiance to either the North or South, his livelihood depended on the success of the South. He wrote that, “I have always been National; but I must go with my Country, much as I depricate the folly of both sections. Our Confederacy is a real Government; and will stay so”. (pg.118)
Daniel Perrin Bestor is among 274 other proslavery clergymen listed in Dr. Larry E.Tise’s book, “Proslavery:A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, 1701-1840”.
-Photo of Daniel Perrin Bestor. "Our History". Athens State University
-Athens State University. "Dr. Daniel Perrin Bestor". A Presidential Legacy: The Inauguration of Dr. Robert Kyle Glenn, 36th President, Athens State University, May 5, 2009. Athens State University Archives.
-1850 US Census and Slave Schedule
-1855 US Census and Slave Schedule
-1860 US Census and Slave Schedule
-Perry, Robert E. American Colonization Society in Alabama. Historic Huntsville Review, Vol 4/5, January 1975/October 1974
-Tise, Larry E. Proslavery: A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, 1701-1840.
-Bestor, Arthur E. “Letters from a Southern Opponent of Sectionalism, September, 1860, to June, 1861.” The Journal of Southern History 12, no. 1 (1946): 106–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/2197734.
-Creator D. P. Bestor (Daniel Perrin), “Bill of Sale,” Enslaved People in the Southeast, accessed June 28, 2022, https://aserlsharedenslavedpeople.omeka.net/items/show/56.
Jane Hamilton Childs enslaved 9 individuals in Limestone County, Alabama according to the 1860 Slave Schedule.
-The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29 Census Records on Ancestry.com
Jane Hamilton Childs (1806-1882) was the president of Athens Female Institute from 1858 to 1869. She was a member of the Methodist Church, the first non-clergy president of the institution, and the first female president. Childs came to Alabama from South Carolina.
During her tenure, Childs was recorded in the 1860 US Federal Slave census as owning and enslaving 9 individuals. Prior to her service, while in South Carolina, she was recorded in Charleston on the 1850 US Federal Slave Index as owning and enslaving 4 individuals. In the US Census of 1870, Childs is recorded as caring for no wards.
The Will of Jane Hamilton Childs, dated May 1882, gave the following instruction: “give Mrs. Jane Kennedy Matthews net residue of my property…desire her to remember in some way…my servant Mahala”.
The 1913 edition of the The Oracle, pages 94-95, states “old Mammy Childs…the last of those faithful colored servants of Athens College in the ante-bellum days. She was the property of Madame (Mme) Childs. ” This article also mentions a carriage driver, Rafe Childs.
In the article, Mahala (Mammy Childs) states she was a chambermaid. She indicates all the servants hid down in the cellar during the fighting (when town was occupied as a battle site) but she "stayed in" with JH Childs.
-Will of Jane Hamilton Childs
-The Oracle, 1913. "Mammy Childs Memories of the College". pp94-95. Athens Female College. Athens State University Archives. Athens State University Digital Collections on JSTOR
-1850 US Federal Census Slave Index. -The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
-Photo of Jane Hamilton Childs. "Our History". Athens State University
Reverend William Duncan actively participated in chattel slavery. In the 1840 Federal Census Duncan is listed as enslaving 24 individuals.
Reverend William Duncan actively participated in chattel slavery. In the 1840 Federal Census Duncan is listed as enslaving 24 individuals.
In the 1850 US Federal Slave Schedule Census, Reverend William C. Duncan is listed as enslaving 36 individuals, ages 5-33.
-The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
Rev. William Duncan (1800-1863) was president of Athens Female Academy from 1836 until 1839. Duncan was a Baptist minister, a school teacher, a merchant, and a bookseller. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Duncan also owned property in Louisiana. Duncan is buried in Brooklyn, New York.
-Caroline Fesmire Castor, “Rev. William Duncan,” FindAGrave.com, February 18, 2008, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24739934/william-duncan.
-Mississippi Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form ed. Dunbar Rowland, Vol. III Contemporary Biography, (Spartanburg, SC: the Reprint Company, Publishers, 1976): 218.
-MSGenWeb. (n.d.). Yalobusha Baptist Association Minutes 1840s. Yalobusha County MSGenWeb History : YBA Minutes : 1840s. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from http://www.msgw.org/yalobusha/history/YBA/minutes/1840minutes.html
-Photo is courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives, William Henry McRaven Papers
Reverend Isham Randolph Finley enslaved 8 individuals per the 1850 US Census and Slave Schedule.
-The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
Isham Randolph Finley (1810-1882) was the president of Athens Female Institute from 1853 to 1855. In the 1850 Federal Census in Nelson, Kentucky, Finley is recorded as enslaving 8 individuals.
Finley was a member of and minister in the Methodist Church . He married Helen Mae Blue in Virginia in 1838. After she passed in 1855, and following the death of their child, Finley returned to Virginia. He married Mary Cordling in 1857.
Finley traveled to South America in addition to serving in Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia, and North Carolina. He is buried in Shady Nook Cemetery, Warren Plains, North Carolina.
Finley is listed as a pro-slavery clergyman in Larry E. Tise's book because he gave a pro-slavery sermon:https://cdm.bostonathenaeum.org/digital/collection/p16057coll14/id/81423/
- Proslavery: A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, 1701-1840, by Larry E. Tise. Appendix One Proslavery Clergymen.
-The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
--The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
- Death of A Clergyman: Rev. I Randolph Finley. 29 July 1882. Alexandria Gazette, page 2. Alexandria VA.
-FamilySearch.org
-Isham Randolph Finley, death. 12 Aug 1885. Shepherdstown Register, Shepherdstown, WV.
Rebecca E. Maclin Hobbs inherited land and enslaved individuals from her father, Thomas Maclin. His will lists out which of the enslaved individuals, as well as their descendants, that Rebecca would inherit.
The names of the individuals enslaved by Thomas Maclin, which were then passed down to his daughter Rebecca E. Maclin Hobbs, appear at the top of the left hand page. Rebecca was also to inherit the "increase", or the children of the enslaved individuals.
Rebecca was married to Ira Edward Hobbs. Their son, Maj. Thomas Hubbard Hobbs, served in the Confederate Army and later as a trustee for Athens Female Institute. .
Hobbs inherited enslaved persons from her father, Thomas Maclin.
She released her claim of 4 lots of land, inherited from her father Thomas Maclin, to the trustees of the Female Institute of the Tennessee Annual Conference of Methodist Episcopal Church of Athens Alabama. This gift allowed the conference to enhance the campus, leading to the construction of Founders Hall.
-Hobbs Journal, p69
-Will and Codicil of Thomas Maclin, Limestone County Archives.
-FindAGrave.com
-Moore, Mary Norman. History of Athens Female College.
Per the 1850 US Census and Slave Schedule, Reverend Benjamin Harrison Hubbard enslaved 3 individuals between the ages of 13 and 35 in Athens, Alabama.
-The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
Reverend Benjamin Harrison (BH) Hubbard (1811-1853) was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Hubbard of Desoto County Mississippi. Joseph Hubbard was an attorney. in 1834, BH Hubbard married Mary Jane Martin Richardson, and was licensed to preach. Hubbard.served as the president of Athens Female Academy from 1849-1852. Prior to serving as President at Athens, he served as a Methodist circuit minister in Trenton Tennessee and Sommerville, Athens, and Huntsville, Alabama. Hubbard was initially hired to teach natural science and mathematics, and was appointed by the trustees as president when his predecessor resigned. Hubbard resigned from Athens and became president at Memphis Conference Female College (Lambuth University) in Jackson, TN. Hubbard died while serving in Jackson and is buried alongside family in Madison County, TN.
BH Hubbard actively participated in chattel slavery. In the 1850 US Census and Slave schedule, he is reported as enslaving 3 individuals between the ages of 13 and 35. In the 1840 US Census and Slave Schedule, he is reported as enslaving between 13 and 18 individuals between the ages of 10 and 55, and 6 children under the age of 10.
-McLin, Elva B. The History of Athens State College 1821-1994
-US Census 1850, Ancestry.com, 'Benjamin H. Hubbard'
-US Census 1840, Ancestry.com, 'Benjamin Hubbard'
-US Census, 1880, Madison County TN.
-Madison Cemeteries, Riverside, 'Hubbard. TNGenWeb Cemetery Records.
-History of Methodism in Alabama
-Nashville Christian Advocate, June 30, 1853.
-History of Methodism in Tennessee by John B. McFerrin, Nashville 1879. Vol 3, p451
-Nashville Christian Advocate October 1, 1847.
Smith William Moore (c.1824-1880) served as the President of the Tennessee Conference Female Institute from 1852-1853. He was also a member of the faculty, and served as Minister at Athens Methodist. Moore also served as the vice president of LaGrange College, now the University of North Alabama. Moore was born in North Carolina and spent time in Virginia, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
He was for a time an editor for Christian Advocate. Moore is buried in Brownsville, Tennessee.
In the 1860 US Federal Census, Moore is recorded as owning 1 enslaved woman age 48, and recorded as holding another enslaved female, age 40, on behalf of a different slave owner by the name of JB Hubbard.
His sermon, The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin, has been published and is available here: https://mds.marshall.edu/moore_smithwilliam/1/.
-Marshall University, Smith William Moore, John Marshall Digital Scholar
-The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. James Strong and John McClintock; Haper and Brothers; NY; 1880. https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/M/moore-smith-william-dd.html
-The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
--The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
-1860 US Census and Slave Index
-1880 US Census
In the 1860 US Federal Census, Moore is recorded as owning 1 enslaved woman age 48, and recorded as holding another enslaved female, age 40, on behalf of a different slave owner recorded as JB Hubbard.
-The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
George Eakin Naff was the President of Athens Female Institute from 1855 to1858.
Naff was born on July 3rd, 1829 in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He attended Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia. In December of 1844, as the Methodist Episcopal Church had fierce debates about whether or not to separate into two separate divisions over the issue of slavery, Naff recieved a letter from his grandfather. Naff’s grandfather, the Rev. George Ekin, was well known in Holston country as an anti-slavery Methodist preacher, though he did not support abolitionists nor publicly denounce slavery. In his letter to his grandson, Rev. Ekin was dismayed by the schism within the Methodist church which resulted from long simmering tensions over the issue of slavery, asking Naff “Can we not do as we have done - serve God without a slaveholding bishop? The North have promised that they will not put upon us an abolitionist bishop, if we will not put on them a slaveholding bishop. This, I think, is fair, and I say let the Conferences regulate their own business among themselves.” Sadly no records of Naff’s response, if one existed, to this intriguing letter have been identified.
Following college, Naff worked as a lawyer for several years, even serving as the Commonwealth Attorney for Washington County, Virginia in 1855. He was married in 1850 to his wife Margaret Elizabeth Hope in Washington County, Virginia. In 1855, Naff came to Athens, to take charge of the Tennessee Conference Female Institute, where he ran the school as President and even gave an Anniversary Address in 1857. In 1858, he was elected to the Presidency of Soule Female College in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Naff remained in charge of Soule Female College until his death in 1862.
An examination of the available federal census records from 1850 and 1860, as well as his grandfather’s anti-slavery views, which may or may not have been imparted to his grandson, reveals that there is no evidence proving that George Eakin Naff was an active participant in chattel slavery during his lifetime.
-Elva Bell McLin, the History of Athens State College 1821-1994, (Athens, AL:Rand-McNally Publishing, 1994), 200.
Richard Henderson Rivers enslaved 10 people in Lauderdale County per the 1860 US Census and Slave schedule. The youngest child is documented as age 7, and the oldest adult is documented as age 79.
-The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
Dr. Richard Henderson Rivers (1814-1894) served as the president of Athens Female Institute from 1843-1848.
A member of the Methodist Church, Rivers also served as president at LaGrange College in Alabama, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. Rivers also served as president at Centenary College in Louisiana, and at Martin College in Pulaski, Tennessee.
Rivers was a published author, and is listed among the pro-slavery clergyman in Larry E. Tise's book because Rivers' textbook, Elements of Moral Philosophy (1859), defends slavery as divine.
-Athens State University. "Dr. Richard Henderson Rivers". A Presidential Legacy: The Inauguration of Dr. Robert Kyle Glenn, 36th President. Athens State University, May 5, 2009. Athens State Archives.
- Proslavery: A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, 1701-1840, by Larry E. Tise. Appendix One Proslavery Clergymen
-US Census 1850 Schedule I, Louisiana. 'Richard H Rivers'
The 1870 Census recorded in Louisville Kentucky lists the household of Richard H. Rivers.
Listed among the household is one 17 year old female named Hannah Menefee, with her race indicated as "Mulatto". Also listed is one 7 year old female named Frannie Rivers, with her race indicated as "Black".
Both Hannah and Frannie are recorded as the only two individuals in the household with the listed profession, occupation, or trade of "Domestic Servant."
Simpson Shepherd actively participated chattel slavery. He is known to have enslaved at least 3, but possibly up to 6 individuals, including 1 male between 10 and 24 years of age, 1 female between 10 and 24 years of age, and 1 female aged 100 years or more.
Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Reverend Simpson Shepherd (1802-1858) was the 5th president of Athens Female Academy from 1839 to 1842. Shepherd was a successful merchant in Nashville, Tennessee. After leaving Athens, Shepherd traveled to Texas and Louisiana. He is buried in Camp Zion Cemetery, Haughton, Bossier Parish Louisiana.
--The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
-1830 US Census. Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
-Hodges, Brian. 25 October 2009. Memorial Page for Rev Simpson Shepherd (1802-11 May 1858), Find a Grave Memorial ID 43520736, citing Camp Zion Cemetery, Haughton, Bossier Parish, Louisiana, USA.
Joseph Wood served as president of Athens Female College from 1832 to 1834. Wood was a Presbyterian minister from Boston, Massachusetts. On the 1830 US Census Schedule 1, Wood is recorded in Limestone County as the head of a large family of 8 children and 3 adults.
-Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Joseph Wood enslaved 8 individuals in Limestone County, according to the 1830 United States Federal Census Schedule 2.
-Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
-Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
-Original data:Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
