Sunday, June 14, 2015

James Henry Pattillo (1814-after 1900) My Paternal 2nd Great Grandfather Part 1

Goode Bank in Boydton, Virginia, 1899
James H. Pattillo was the son of Samuel W. Pattillo and Sally C. Phillips. He had three younger brothers, Robert Alexander, Charles Madison, and Edward M. Pattillo. They had one sister Ann R. James and his siblings were all born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Mecklenburg is located on the southern border of the state. He was born during the War of 1812 when James Madison was president. He and his siblings grew up living on a farm.

When James was 31 he and Susan C. Land were married on December 16, 1845, in Mecklenburg. Their first child, a son, Robert Henry was born in 1847, and my great grandfather James William was born May 15, 1848. Sadly, his mother Susan died shortly after James W. was born – very likely during childbirth. Left with two infant sons, James chose to marry Susan’s older sister Louisa J. Land on September 4, 1849, when he was 35. They were married across the state border in North Carolina because it was illegal to marry your widow’s sister in the state of Virginia. James and Louisa had two additional children - daughters Sarah Zerelda, born in 1853 and Ada, born November 4, 1857. 
Jame H. and Louisa J. Land's record of marriage

The name James is significant in our family. Our first ancestor to immigrate to the United States was James Pattillo – my 6th great grandfather. He was born in Scotland in 1690 and came to the United States in 1716. His son, James Jr. was the first to be born in the United States in 1725, in Prince George County, Virginia. James Henry’s first son was James William who also named his first son James H. This James was born in 1882 and died in 1883.  James William’s oldest son that lived to adulthood, Lewis gave the name James Edward, to his firstborn son. James Edward is my father. This is the sort of tradition that makes family history research challenging. I have 17 James Pattillo’s in my database, so far.

James Henry was educated – probably by a private tutor hired to teach him and his siblings at home. We know he was educated because as an adult he held positions that required him to have an education. On the 1870 census, James was living with his wife Louisa, two daughters, and Elizabeth Walker and her daughter. Elizabeth was identified as a “teacher in the family”. Most likely, Elizabeth was a war widow – from the Civil War – and hired herself out as a teacher in order to support herself and her daughter. James H. hired her to educate his children. It is likely his father had done the same. There was a large college in the town where James H. and his family lived – Randolph-Macon College, but there are no records of any Pattillos having attended. Randolph-Macon was a Methodist college. The Pattillo’s were most likely Presbyterians. 

1850 Census showing James H., Louisa J., and sons Robert and James

Land Owner, Farmer & Entrepreneur
Throughout his life, James purchased property to start and expand his farm and other business endeavors. All were in Mecklenburg County. When he was 24 he bought a 307-acre parcel for $1200 on Cox’s Creek. The next year he bought 100 acres for $150. Then in February of 1853, he acquired a 440-acre parcel on Coleman’s Creek for $1100. In October of the same year, he purchased a steam-powered sawmill, also on Coleman’s Creek, a little south of the town of Boydton. In January of 1857, James and his brother-in-law John B. Land made an agreement with Benjamin Lewis Jr. to purchase 408 acres on Layton’s Creek for $800. This parcel was known as the Hayes tract and adjoined land that John already owned. John was Susan and Louisa’s younger brother. Another court case proved that James and John B. Land were in business together as Land and Pattillo. They cut, milled and sold lumber.

In 1860, James acquired three additional parcels. He bought a 66-acre and a 9-acre tract of land on River Road from Alfred Boyd, and a 222-acre tract from William Townes for $1400. Finally, in 1863 there is a record of his buying 250 acres at the fork in the road at Fields & Fields Mill Roads. The deed for this parcel noted that he paid $11 per acre rather than giving the total price. This last purchase, made when he was 49, occurred in the middle of the Civil War – James must have felt optimistic that the Confederates would win the war. All total these acquisitions add up to 1762 acres. I don’t know if he owned this much land at any one time. He may have sold some parcels in order to purchase others.
 
Survey of the 66-acre tract of farmland James purchased in 1860
While traveling in Virginia in the spring of 2014, I went to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse in Boydton – the town where our ancestors lived. Boydton is a small, low-income town in southern Virginia, founded in 1812. It is located just north of the border with North Carolina. In 2014, the town had a population of only 430 and was a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The county courthouse in Boydton is a Roman Revival style brick building with four ionic columns and was constructed in 1838-42. It was listed on the National Register in 1975.

I went to the courthouse to look up the deed records for all the Pattillos who lived in the county, for the time period when the county was first formed in 1764 to the early 20th century. The oldest document I found was from 1772. It was about James Pattillo (1725-1785), my fifth Great Grandfather having purchased 190 acres on Cox’s Creek from William and Martha Douglas. The most recent record they had was dated 1928. One of the records I found, dated October 15, 1845, was about a dispute between James and Edward Pattillo, his brother and a man named Lewis William. James had borrowed money from Williams and his brother Edward served as his surety. Both James and Edward believed the debt had been paid back but Williams was disputing that.

From this court document, I learned that James and Edward were in business together. They owned a mercantile store and had sold supplies – “a hogshead of sugar and 2 bags of coffee” to Williams. So, it sounds like they owned a general store. According to Wikipedia, “A hogshead was used in American colonial times to transport and store tobacco. It was a very large wooden barrel. A standardized hogshead measured 48 inches long and 30 inches in diameter at the head. Fully packed with tobacco, it weighed about 1,000 pounds.”

As part of this business, James agreed to sell 6000 mulberry sapling shoots (Morus multicaulis) to Williams. The saplings were to be delivered between October and November in 1840, and each sapling was to be 6-feet high at a minimum. Williams had agreed to pay 2 ¾ cents for each sapling or $165. This seemed a peculiar piece of trivia that was explained by a textile history website.
 
Mulberry leaf - grown to make silk
The story of the silk industry in America dates to the earliest English settlers in Virginia.  James I tried to compel Virginia tobacco planters to stop cultivating tobacco, plant mulberry trees and sustain silkworms to supply raw silk to English factories.  As early as 1623, he decreed that a planter would be fined £10 if he did not cultivate at least ten mulberry trees for every 100 acres of his plantation.  Bounties were extended in 1657:  10,000 pounds of tobacco for every £200 worth of silk or cocoons in a single year.  The bounty was extended, dropped, extended again and abandoned.  No one wanted to "farm" silk when they could grow tobacco.  Silk was too labor-intensive.

In the early decades of the 19th century, silk culture continued to entice investment.  No one hit it big but people kept trying.  There was tremendous speculation in the 1830s.  A new variety of mulberry was introduced from China by way of the Philippines, then France and into Baltimore.  Gideon B. Smith was introduced from China by way of the Philippines, then France and into Baltimore.  Gideon B. Smith planted the first trees there in 1826.  Growth was more rapid and the leaves were several times larger.  When news spread, nurserymen were inundated.  The demand soon exceeded supply and a wild rush took place.

When James was born his family was living in the county of Mecklenburg. I have a Circuit Court record dated 1819 that confirms that they were living in the town of Boydton. James was still living in Boydton when the 1850 and 1860 censuses were taken. On the 1850 census, they noted that his property was valued at $3235, which was a little more than every other property owner listed on that page.  He owned a total of 600 acres, 47 of which was “improved” which probably meant it had been cleared and his house and other structures were built on it. He owned machinery valued at $30, and $261 worth of livestock. 
Mecklenburg County Courthouse in Boydton

On the 1860 agriculture census, James owned 450 acres of which 150 were improved. The value of his farm was $4000 plus he owned furnishings valued at $100, 3 horses, 5 milk cows, and 1 “other stock” – probably a pig. The value of his livestock was $400. The census recorded that he was growing sorghum – a grain grown primarily as livestock forage. The rest of the information provided on this detailed census was not legible.

By 1870, James had moved to the neighboring community of Hansford in the town of Christianville. Christianville, now called Chase City or “The City” is also in Mecklenburg County. On the 1880 census, James was living in Lunenburg County, in the Lewiston District. He was living with his daughter Ann and his son Robert, Robert’s wife Belle and their two children, James Nelson and Robert Watkins Pattillo. The last census James appeared on was the 1900 census. At that time he was 86 and was back living in Christianville. Christianville was named for Samuel C. Christian, a merchant from Scotland and the first postmaster.

Like his father and grandfather, James was a farmer – a tobacco farmer. When Dianne and I visited the site of James' farm in 2014, the land had been purchased by a timber company that was using it to grow pulpwood. The remains of 6 buildings and structures were visible from the road. These included a collapsed stable, a chicken house - a low, small building with a flat roof, a flue-cured tobacco barn with mud dabbing between the timbers, a corn crib, a utility barn, and a smokehouse.
Farm owned by James H. and Louisa. Left-right: smokehouse, chicken coup, utility shed & roof of the corn crib
John Caknipe, a local historian who took us to the property, explained that the house had been gone for a long time - probably destroyed by termites. It would have been constructed on high ground and all the farm buildings were been in the backyard.  The house would have been similar to the barn stylistically with the bedrooms upstairs and the living room and dining room downstairs. Each slave family would have had their own house.

John explained that James’ land would have been considered a farm – not a plantation. To be considered a plantation owner one needed to have at least 1000 acres of land, at least 20 slaves, be educated and own a library.

In addition to growing tobacco, the primary cash crop, James would have been growing vegetables for his family and 13 slaves who helped work the farm. He had chickens, probably 30-35 hogs, 50 sheep, and 10-12 milk cows. Excess crops and animals would have been sold to Randolph-Macon College, as would those of his neighbors - the Wootens, Carters and Jones.

Tobacco was the primary crop grown in Virginia – it was grown there as early as 1632 according to Susan Bracey in her book “Life on the Roaring Roanoke”. Bracey notes, “It was a crop of special importance to Mecklenburg because, in part, it was responsible for the establishment of several towns and for much of the economic fortunes of the county.” She continues, “The cultivation, inspection, transportation, and sale of tobacco were the source of much concern.” 
Tobacco warehouse in Mecklenburg

As early as 1753, locals campaigned for a tobacco warehouse to be built in Mecklenburg County so they would not have to ship their tobacco to the port of Petersburg for processing. In 1792, the town of St. Tammany was laid out near the Roanoke River where tobacco could be loaded and shipped out. A tobacco warehouse was built by 1793 that enabled them to do tobacco inspections there as well. The town of Clarksville – across the river from Boydton was established in 1818 and was promoted as “the richest tobacco country in the state of Virginia”.

..... continued in part 2.



James Henry Pattillo (1814-after 1900) My Paternal 2nd Great Grandfather Part 2

Civic Life & Role During the Civil War
This is the house James & his family lived in during the time
he served as Superintendent of the Poor House
In 1848, when James was 34, the Governor appointed him Superintendent of the Poor House. This was one of only 5 appointed positions the Governor made, so it was a prestigious appointment. James’ father and grandfather had both lived in Mecklenburg County. His grandfather Solomon died in the town of Boydton. So James’ family would have been well known. He was an important person in the community who was no doubt well-regarded by his peers, so a good candidate for appointment. During his time in office James and his family lived in the superintendent’s house near the poor house. It was a symmetrical design, 2-story structure with a stone foundation, 2 dormers, and 2 brick chimneys. The poor house is where poor county residents, war widows and the disable lived. Residents worked on the Poor House farm raising food for them and for sale. Two years after his appointment James was elected to serve a second two-year term.
Mecklenburg County Poor House
Susan and Louisa’s father Robert Carter Land died sometime before April 1847.  Some sources say he died in 1844 but it wasn’t until 1855 that his estate was being settled in Chancery Court. Susan and Louisa’s brother Robert W. Land (1818-1877) was named administrator. The land and property in the estate was divided among Robert’s wife Elizabeth and their children. Because married women were not allowed to own property at that time James Henry inherited the portion of the estate that was left to both Susan and Louisa. This no doubt explains why the value of what James Henry owned was greater than anyone else listed on the page in the 1850 census. 

On September 19, 1855, James Henry and Robert W. Land filed a $1000 bond, and James was named administrator of his deceased wife Susan’s estate.
Poor House smokehouse (white structure), relocated

On September 27, 1856, James was appointed as the attorney-in-fact for Alexander W. Land- another of James’ brothers-in-law and was charged with overseeing the sale and distribution of Elizabeth B. Land’s estate. Elizabeth was his mother-in-law. 

John Caknipe who has researched Randolph Macon College learned that from 1858 to at least 1862 James served as the "Hotel Manager" at Randolph Macon College in the West Building - The Texas. While there one of his student residents was Melville Johnson from Napa in California.

In October of 1861, John T Wootton was appointed surveyor of the Boydton to Clarksville Road from Randolph-Macon College to Townes plantation. He was authorized to use hands from six farms. James provided one laborer to work on the road as did five of his neighbors. They built the section between Butchers Creek and Randolph-Macon College. The road was about 100 yards away from James and Louisa’s farm. The other farms that loaned labor included D.N. Carter, J.W. Wootton, and Wm H. Jones. According to Wikipedia “Boydton/Clarksville was the terminus of the 19th-century "Boydton Plank Road" which led to Petersburg. This 80-mile road was covered with wooden planks, making it superior to other roads which were just unpaved dirt and rutted.”

During the Civil War (1861-1865) James was too old to enlist. Instead, he was appointed Captain of a militia group. In that capacity, he and a group of his neighbors were responsible for patrolling the town and Randolph-Macon College. Other members of the squad were R.H. Isbell, James Steward, and Wm. Snead. Randolph-Macon was founded as a Methodist Seminary and was an important institution in the county. During the Civil War, it became a military cadet training school. After the war, the school was relocated to Ashland, Virginia. The Boydton campus closed in 1868 – 3 years after the Civil War ended. The ruin of the college building still stands, now covered with vines and piles of brick that have fallen off this once impressive building. 
The ruin of Randolph-Macon College in Boydton, 2014

James also contributed to the Confederate war effort by providing 190 pounds of sheaf oats to help feed soldier's horses. A document from the War Department dated December 28, 1863, was a receipt for $7.60 for the oats James delivered on October 15, 1863. It was signed by Jack E. Haskins, Quartermaster CS Army and by Jas. H. Pattillo.

On September 17, 1873, James appeared in the Mecklenburg Circuit Court to respond to a contempt of court charge for failing to appear for jury duty – guess they took such things more seriously at that time than they do today.
War Department receipt for sheaf  oats
supplied by James H. Pattillo
In January of 1878, James served as a trustee for Mary Jane Pattillo, his brother Edward’s wife so she could purchase a five-acre tract of land adjacent to where James was living. This deed did not mention Edward.

After the Civil War
When the civil war ended the land James and other confederates owned was so heavily taxed that many were forced to sell their land. According to John Caknipe, “the tax was as much as 100% of the land value, so the only way to pay the tax was to sell the land.” This is how the civil war was paid for and the country rebuilt. The tax was repealed in 1868 but by then it was too late - most farmers had lost their land.

It appears that James was one of those farmers who was forced to sell his land. I found a document dated September 1, 1866, in which James sold to his brother Edward a one-half interest in his 246-acre farm on the headwaters of Layton’s Creek for $5. In exchange, Edward provided a bond for $1242.79 to cover James’ debts. This was the parcel that James had purchased jointly with his brother-in-law, John B. Land. In addition to the land, he sold one horse, a pair of mules, a stock of hogs, his cattle and sheep, his household and kitchen furniture, plantation utensils, a small carriage, one buggy, one wagon, one cart, and all of his crops of every description.  
James would have come here to the Boydton Tavern to
accept his appointment as Captain of the Militia

The document then detailed all of James’ debt, which was divided into three categories. The first class debt was owed to the estate of R. Walker who had sold the land to James and John. James also owed $408.36 to his sister-in-law Sarah F. Land and $670.80 to N.S. Edmunds – likely a relation to his sister Ada who married Lewis J. Edmunds. He owed $45 to a Dr. L. Watson and, interestingly the document specified that he was to pay Edmund A. Davis $400 in “Confederate currency”. Given that the Confederates lost the war that money was probably not worth much. There were six other first-class debts.

The second class debt was money owed to Dr. William H. Innis against a loan of $800 that James and John B. Land took out for their lumber business. Third class debts were owed to Alfred Boyd & Son and Edwin C. Terry. The document said that James would “retain possession of the property conveyed until the same shall be sold to execute the purpose of the trust. The trustee is hereby authorized and directed to apply the proceeds of the sale of the said property after first paying the expenses of executing and recording this deed to the payment and discharge of the debt.”

After he sold the farm and much of what he owned, James moved to Christianville and likely continued to farm, but as a sharecropper. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land.

James’ son James William left Boydton sometime between July 1860 when the census was taken and April 2, 1879, when he married Carrie B. Stover in Tarrant, Texas. It is probable that James W. left shortly after the Civil War ended, knowing that there was little reason for him to remain in Virginia. I can imagine that this would have been extremely difficult for everyone. The Pattillo’s had lived and prospered in Mecklenburg and nearby counties for five generations. They had owned large acreage of land, had standing in the community – and then rather suddenly everything was taken from them with the Confederate defeat. The lives they’d known for generations were profoundly changed. James W. chose to leave Mecklenburg and everything familiar in order to make a new life for himself. It is doubtful that James Henry ever saw his son again, or any of James William’s children.
James William Pattillo with his 3 oldest
children Jo, Mary & Lewis


James’s son, Robert Henry Pattillo remained in Mecklenburg, married and had five children, 2 sons, and 3 daughters. Interestingly, three of Robert’s children followed their uncle to California and lived in Los Angeles. Robert’s eldest son, Robert Nelson Pattillo worked with James William in the concrete finishing business and later started his own concrete business. Robert Henry died in July of 1899 when he was only 41 years old. His father James would have been 75. Louisa, James’ second wife, died sometime before the 1900 census.

During this time, James Henry witnessed the marriages of four of his children after the war concluded. Sarah Z. married John W.Gaulding in 1874 when James was 60. Then Robert H. had married Belle Nelson in 1875, James W. married Carrie Brooks Stover in 1879, and his youngest, Ada married Thomas W. Browder in 1888.

The last census that James appeared on was taken in June of 1900. At that time he was living in Christianville with his youngest daughter Ada, her husband Thomas and their four children. Thomas was a farmer. James probably died in Christianville. Someday I hope to visit Virginia again and will look for his grave or other evidence of when he died and where he was buried.


James Henry Pattillo's signature


Sources: US Censuses, Circuit Court documents, will book records, marriage record, Fold3 and John Caknipe, Historian