Martha Hancock Wheat

 In a previous post about my great-great-great-grandfather, Ammon Goode Hancock, I mentioned his sister Martha. Martha's journal about her religious experiences was the focus of an article by historian Cynthia Kierner (Kierner 1992). Dr. Kierner kindly pointed me toward the archive where her transcriptions of the journal could be found and I was able to obtain them from the UNC Charlotte. She had originally obtained them from a descendant of the Wheat family.

Martha Hancock Wheat's journal is not gripping material, unless you are particularly interested in conversion stories, although it is fascinating how much her testimonies mirror modern evangelical testimonies. I'm not a scholar of religion, however, so my interest was entirely in the references to her family. 

For copyright reasons, I can't post the entire transcript here, but I will send it to you if you are interested Just email me! I'm going to quote parts of it and add in commentary that places her journal in the familial context.

She began writing her journal in 1850:

I was born in Bedford County, Virginia February 12 1823 -- and for several years thereafter neither of my parents made any pretention to religion, so I did not have the advantages of early religious training.

Martha's parents (the ones she throws under the bus here in her first line) were Justus Hancock and Harriet (Walden) Hancock. 

Family documents -- and public documentation in Virginia -- give Justus's birth as May 19, 1791 in Bedford, Virginia. Bedford is just outside of Lynchburg, where the Hancock family lived until at least the mid-20th century, and presumably still do, although our line moved to the west coast in the late 1800s. His family had been in Virginia since before the Virginia Muster of 1624/25 and he was also the descendant of early Huguenot settlers who arrived in the early 1700s. One of those settlers gave his mother her maiden name of Ammon, which was where his son's name came from.

Harriet Walden Hancock was the daughter of John Walden and Martha Hopkins, which is where Martha's name came from. She was born in 1795, also in Bedford, and her family also had been in Virginia since before the Muster. 

In 1820, around the time Martha was born, Justus Hancock's household was listed in the census with five enslaved people, suggesting they were moderately prosperous landowners (and, well, morally complicit). Martha had four siblings: her older brothers Ammon and Jonathan, and her younger brother and sister, Daniel and Lucy. 

Martha's statement about her parents' lack of religion seems to reflect her very specific definition of religion, since the very next sentence in her journal is as follows:

But when quite a child, I was sent to a school, taught in an old church called Antioch. Here the circuit riders preached every two weeks, and I had frequent opportunities of hearing them.

I honestly don't know where, exactly, is/was the "old church called Antioch." I'm pretty sure the Hancocks were Methodist, however. My guess is that Martha didn't consider them sufficiently evangelical. Antioch must have been in -- or close to -- Bedford County, since Martha is clearly living at home and mentions that her family was not encouraging her to attend the church. I have searched for some of the names of preachers and congregants that Martha mentions, including "Brother Peyton", "Brother John R. Bennits" and "Sister Jane Tate". There was supposedly a "Mary Jane Tate", daughter of Zachariah Tate, born around 1809 in Bedford County, VA. She never married. I have no information about which church she attended, but she may be related to Henry Tate, who was buried in the Patmos Methodist Church in Huddleston, VA, which is in Bedford County. Patmos's webpage claims the church was founded in 1834, but there's no mention of the "Antioch" name.

She was baptized by a "Brother Nathaniel Thomas" who was preaching on the Bedford circuit. He also asked her to lead a prayer, which I thought was an interesting commentary on the role of women in the church. She also mentioned attending a women's prayer meeting at "Sister Thurman's". There were a number of Thurmans in Bedford County in the late 1700s and early 1800s, but no idea where they went to church. 

Skipping over a bunch of religious commentary, the next interesting paragraph from a family history perspective is this:

Years past by and I had not obtained that which I sought [religious enlightenment, I think]. When twenty three years old I was united in holy wedlock, to him whom I had chosen, in preference to many others, as one who loved and served God.

Martha's chosen groom was Zachariah Wheat. They were married July 7, 1845, in Bedford County. Martha would have been twenty-two if she married in 1845 and was born in 1823. However, I'm pretty sure she's lying about her age, both here and in the very first sentence of her journal, where she gave her birth year. 

In the 1850 U.S. Census for Bedford County, Martha is listed as 30 and her husband Zachariah is listed as 38. (U.S. Census 1850). This would be a birth year of 1820. In the 1860 U.S. Census, her age is given as 36 -- a birth year of 1824 -- while her husband is 48, since he, unlike his wife, actually aged ten years over the previous decade (U.S. Census 1860). In 1870, her age is given as 46 -- consistent with a birth year of 1824 -- while her husband is only 52 (U.S. Census 1870). At her death, on August 21, 1874, her age was given as 53, which would make her birth year 1821. Our family records suggest 1821 is the correct date. 

Zachariah Wheat was born Dec 17, 1811, so he was around ten years older than Martha. He had been previously married to Clementine (Early) Wheat, who died April 21, 1844, about a year before Zachariah married Martha. Zachariah had three children from that previous marriage: Jonathan Wesley, Ann R, and Mary Louise. At the time of the marriage, Jonathan would have been around seven and Mary Louise about three. Martha seems to have had some concerns about stepping into the role of wife and mother, as she noted: 

When my Husband addressed me soon after we became acquainted, I thought there was an  insuperable barrier to our Union. He was a Widower, and I had often thought I would never be a step mother, as I had seen many who seemed to be very unhappy. But as I believed him to be a good man, I again went to my Heavenly Advisor, and the more I prayed for guidance the more I became satisfied that I should not reject him on account of his children. With streaming eyes I told my objections, how could I take so much responsibility upon myself, as to undertake to raise those motherless children. But then as clearly as the words had been spoken the answer would come. You wished to be useful and you wished to be a Missionary, and now that a door of usefulness has been opened to you, you refuse to enter in. My love for Him increased and I felt that at last I had my makers approbation and could marry the Man I loved.

Martha says that Zachariah "addressed" her soon after they "became acquainted". I don't know if this phrase refers to the beginning of courtship or if they truly hadn't known each other before. Zachariah's family had lived in Bedford County for generations, as had Martha's. Zachariah's mother, Edith Chastain Wheat, was a descendant of a prominent Huguenot family that had arrived in Virginia in 1699. Edith's niece, -- Zachariah's first cousin -- Charlotte Hewitt, married Ammon Hancock, Martha's oldest brother, in 1851. 

Martha and Zachariah had four children together:

Harriet J. Wheat - born 1846

Sarah L. Wheat - born 1848

William R.B. Wheat - born 1856

Otis P. Wheat - born 1860

I found this online as a picture of Martha Hancock Wheat and Zachariah Wheat, so I can't guarantee it's truly them. I don't have any pictures handed down through the family. If this is their oldest child, then this picture should be from 1846 or 1847. Gotta say, she's out of his league.

This blog post is getting long, so I will stop here and discuss Martha's children and later mentions of her family in the next post.

 

Bibliography

Kierner, Cynthia A. 1992. Woman's Piety within Patriarchy: The Religious Life of Martha Hancock Wheat of Bedford County. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 100:79-98.) 

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M88P-YLD : accessed 28 December 2015), Martha A Wheat in household of Zachariah J Wheat, Bedford county, Bedford, Virginia, United States; citing family 496, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)

"United States Census, 1860", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M41M-JJY : accessed 28 December 2015), Martha A Wheat in entry for Z J Wheat, 1860.

"United States Census, 1870", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFLJ-8YZ : Tue Mar 05 12:43:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Z J Wheat and Martha A Wheat, 1870.

Killers of the King

I just finished an interesting book called Killers of the King by Charles Spencer. It follows the history of the men who were directly involved in the execution of Charles I and what happened to them afterward. (Spoiler alert: they were mostly killed in horrible ways. To quote the immortal Omar Little, "You come at the king, you best not miss.") 

The book is interesting in its own right but I kept thinking about the relationship this history had to our own genealogy. A large chunk of our ancestors -- the Kinney line but also some on the Manary side -- came to New England through the Great Puritan Migration. That migration took place in the context of the English Civil War, the Protectorate, and the Restoration. After the Restoration, some of the regicides fled to the Massachusetts colonies where they were protected by the authorities and population alike. The colonists were mostly not big fans of the Stuarts. 

Wikipedia has a list of all the regicides here. They were all major supporters of Parliament in the Civil War and many of them were Puritans, so I ran the names through Wikitree to see if we're related to any of them. Not surprisingly, we are, although mostly not in the ways I had expected. Many of our colonial ancestors were 2nd-5th cousins of these men, but in most cases it was our ancestors in colonial Virginia, not Massachusetts. My guess is that is because our colonial Virginian ancestors (the Hancock line, essentially) was more "aristocratic" and the leaders of the Parliamentarians were still fairly aristocratic/wealthy, despite their opposition to the king. By marriage, however, we're more likely to be related to these men through our Kinney or Manary connections, since their family members often ended up moving to the Massachusetts Puritan colonies.

We're distantly related to many of the regicides, but here are a few who have closer ties:

General Edmund Ludlow was my 12th great-uncle and one of Cromwell's great supporters. Cromwell named him military commander in Ireland until he objected when Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector. Ludlow was a member of the jury that convicted Charles I and he signed the death warrant. His brother Gabriel's grandchildren moved to Virginia and became our ancestors. Ludlow fled England after the restoration and lived the rest of his life in Switzerland. He was the only regicide who is known to have survived long enough to see the downfall of the Stuarts. He kept chronicles and letters and so his work is one of the main sources cited in the Killers of the King. He's the only regicide with anything like a direct relationship to us. Sara Ludlow Carter, my 10th great-grandmother, who moved with her brothers to the Virginia colony sometime around 1660, was the great niece of Edmund Ludlow. Her descendants married into the Hancock family.

Edmund Ludlow

Colonel Adrian Scrope is a 2nd cousin many times removed, again through our relationship to Edmund Ludlow, who was his uncle (or maybe great uncle?). Cromwell appointed Scrope head of security during the trial of Charles I, and he signed the death warrant. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross in 1660. Parliament had originally just fined him for his role in the trial, but was executed after Richard Browne, Mayor of London, testified that he had confessed that he was unrepentant. Browne, incidentally, was a distant relative of ours by marriage. We're related to his uncle's wife. 

Adrian Scrope

Adrian Scrope in more difficult times (he's being disembowled in the lower picture)

Edward Wallop, another signatory, was found guilty but sentenced to life in prison and to a trip by sledge to the gallows at Tyburn. The sledge ride was the foreplay to execution at that time period, but Wallop was merely dragged through the city on the sledge and shown the gallows before being returned to prison. He was also some kind of 2nd or 3rd cousin of Edmund Ludlow, and therefore of ours, but it doesn't seem worth figuring out the details since he's even farther from us than Adrian Scrope. Spencer quotes a Dutch visitor's letter about January 27, 1662, "We walked with thousands of people to Tyburn and saw there Lord Monson, Sir Henry Mildmay and Mr. Wallop lying in their tabards on a little straw on a hurdle being dragged through under the gallows, where some articles were read to them and then torn up. After that they were again dragged through the streets back to the Tower." (p. 245)

My husband and children are first cousins (many times removed) of the wife of Colonel John Dixwell. Dixwell escaped by claiming to be unwell and asking Parliament for an extension before he handed himself into the court. He was granted the extension but he used it to liquidate some assets and flee to Europe. He was mistakenly reported as dead to the Royalists so he moved again to the Americas and managed to live a long and happy life in Connecticut under the assumed named of James Davids. Joe and the kids to are related to Dixwell through his third wife Bathsheba Howe.

They are also direct descendants of Augustine Garland's brother in law, William Newbold. Augustine Garland was a lawyer and the first committee chairman for Charles I's trial. Surprisingly, he was granted life in prison, perhaps because he pleaded he had no real choice. In his own trial he told the judge, "My Lord, I did not know which way to be safe in any thing, without doors was misery, within doors was mischief" (Spencer p.244). He forfeited his estate and was transported to a prison in Tangiers where he died.

We're not really related to the Big Cheese, Oliver Cromwell, but we do have connections through marriage. The Manary line is descended from Sarah Bucknam Dexter, who lived in the Massachusetts colony in the mid-1700's. Her brother Samuel was married to one of Cromwell's sister's descendants, Deborah Sprague. Through that same connection to Cromwell's sister, Frances, we are related by marriage to two other signatories of the death warrant: her husband Colonel Edward Whalley and their son-in-law, Lieutenant William Goffee. Both had been powerful members of Cromwell's inner circle. Whalley and Goffee fled to Connecticut after the Restoration and lived in hiding for the rest of their lives.

Death warrant of Charles I

Ernest Justus Hancock

Edward, Earnest, and James Hancock
No date on the photo, but must be in the early to mid 1860s

This is part 3 of my series on my great-great grandparents. Ernest Justus "E.J." Hancock, and his wife, Julia Etta Kinney, could not have been more different from the subjects of my first two posts, David and Jennie (Brattain) Dean, although their children married. The Deans and Brattains were descendants of Midwestern farmers, from families that been earlier colonizers of the areas that had been conquered from Native peoples in Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa. In some cases, earlier generations of Deans/Brattains had left the South because of their opposition to slavery. The Brattains, for example, were original Quaker. Some members of both families were active members of the abolitionist movement. Although their lineages included Revolutionary War soldiers and other brave and resourceful men and women, they didn't come from a background of particular wealth or fame.

The Hancocks and Kinneys, on the other hand, came from older and more patrician stock. They were descendants of the Jamestown and Plymouth colonists, respectively, with all of the positives and negatives such descent implies. Ernest and Julia met and married in the state of Washington, as some of the first members of their family to leave Virginia or New England.

Ned, Ammon, Ernest, Charlotte, and Lilly Hancock
Around 1865 (Lilly was born May 1864)

Ernest Justus "E.J." Hancock was born November 24, 1854, in Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of Ammon Goode and Elizabeth Charlotte (Hewitt) Hancock. I won't write much about his childhood because I discussed his father in great detail in an earlier post. Suffice to say, he was born seven years before the start of the Civil War into a family with a tobacco factory, large tobacco plantations and, therefore, they had enslaved a large number of people. The Hancocks were wealthy. E.J.'s father had to petition President Johnson for a pardon in 1865 because he owned more than $20,000 in property. I don't know exactly how much his father was worth, but $20,000 in 1865 is worth nearly $300,000 today. In other words, the Hancocks were one of the families whose wealth was based on forced labor, who had the most to gain by keeping their workers enslaved, and who were in a position to finance the fight to maintain the slave economy. Although E.J. and his siblings were too young, and his father was apparently too old, several of their cousins were officers in the Confederate army.

Despite Gone-With-the-Wind-inspired fantasies of poor white folks devastated by war (a war, remember, that they had started because labor extracted through terror was cheaper than paying people), the Hancocks were clearly well off after the war. Undoubtedly, some of their wealth was lost, (wealth, again, extracted through violence from the bodies of enslaved people), but in 1870, they were still living in the same house, still owned the same tobacco factory, still owned at least some tobacco plantations (I'm not sure about all of them), and still employed Black servants (1). Ernest. and his brothers could afford to go to college; both Ernest and his younger brother, Ned, attended the Virginia Military Institute, matriculating in 1875. Ned graduated in 1879, but E.J. left the university without graduating and moved west to Coupeville, Washington (2).

Why did he go there? His uncle, Samuel Hancock was on Whidbey Island by 1860, and in the Pacific Northwest significantly earlier (3). Another uncle, Francis "Frank" Hancock, who was married to Hester Hewett, likely a cousin of E.J.'s mother,  lived there from 1862-1870, before moving to Stillaguamish flats (4). Presumably, the good reports from his family, and having a support network already in the region, inspired Ernest's choice of location.

Aloha Farm in 1899. The people are E.J., Julia, and Vera Hancock.
The woman in the center was a local teacher.

According to his profile in An Illustrated History of the State of Washington by Harvey Kimball Hines, (published 1893, p. 568), Ernest moved to Washington in 1879, then returned to Virginia in 1881. He apparently spent the next couple of years making arrangements for a permanent move back to Washington, which took place in 1883. He bought 45 acres on Whidbey Island and built Aloha Farm. My great-aunt Lillian, his granddaughter, wrote that the family no longer remembers why the farm was named "Aloha". E.J.'s wife, however, had some connections to Hawai'i, so it's possible that the farm got its name after their marriage.

There were plenty of racial tensions in Washington, just as there had been in Virginia. Most centered around the status of Chinese immigrants. Like many immigrant groups, the Chinese community on the west coast met with social and political barriers put up by white Americans. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the most significant anti-Chinese legislation of American history. Interestingly, Ernest denounced the Act, writing, "The Chinese, by industry, pay strict attention to their own business, and studying their employers' interest, have created a demand for their labor, and it is only justice that they be allowed to fill the demand." (6).

Justus, Virgil, and Vera Hancock, who all miraculously
survived to adulthood

Ernest married Julia Etta Kinney on March 3, 1886. Julia has a fascinating history of her own, which I'll discuss in another blog post. Genealogically speaking, though, their marriage combined the Hancock's First Families of Virginia line (going back to Jamestown) with the Kinney's Great Puritan Migration lineage (going back to the Mayflower). Ernest and Julia had four children. Their three sons were Eugene Ammon, Justus "Jut" Lee [that Lee middle name just kills me], and Virgil Kinney. Their only daughter, Vera Houghton, was my great-grandmother. 

Ernest. was clearly successful in Whidbey Island, no doubt helped along by his family's ill-gotten money. He was one of the founders of the Island County Bank of Coupeville in 1892, and elected its first vice-president. Unfortunately, the bank closed in 1893, when "the cashier absconded with the funds, spending them in the 'most disreputable dives in Seattle'" (7). The bank building itself still stands, however. Ernest also owned "an immense amount of city property, and [had] many other profitable investments" (5) in addition to Aloha Farm. 

Ernest died on August 1, 1924, in Coupeville. He was 69 years old.
_______
References:

1) "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFLK-NVT : accessed 25 September 2015), S G Hancock, Virginia, United States; citing p. 62, family 468, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,137.

2) VMI Roster Archives, available here: http://archivesweb.vmi.edu/rosters/index.php?LastName=Hancock&FirstName=&VMIClass=&keyword=

3) https://qmackie.com/2010/02/20/samuel-hancock-witnesses-smallpox-among-the-makah-1853/

4)  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=98503324

5) An Illustrated History of the State of Washington by Harvey Kimball Hines, 1893, p. 568

6) quoted in Coupeville, by Judy Lynn, Kay Foss, and the Island County Historical Society.. . Arcadia Publishing, 2012.

7) Self-Guided Walking Tour of Historic Coupeville - National Park Service

Ancestors in the Virginia Muster

Haven't been able to find a source for this image, which is found all over the internet.
I'm assuming it now longer is under copyright.

The original Jamestown expedition was an economic outpost, rather than a settlement. The first fort was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London. Its mission was to extract as much wealth as possible from Virginia, either through mining, cash crops, or other resources. Unsurprisingly, the company had problems from the start. Men whose primary raison d'etre was to make money had no interest in grubbing in the dirt to grow food, and although the original fort was placed on unwanted land, as the company expanded fields for tobacco, the English more and more came into conflict with the local political authority, Powhatan.

Powhatan reasonably assumed that any settlement placed on his lands, with his permission, was under his political authority. In fact, the story of John Smith being "saved" by Powhatan's daughter Matoaka (aka Pocahontas) was likely a ceremony (misunderstood by Smith) during which the English offered fealty to Powhatan. The frequent conflicts between the English and the Powhatan Confederacy reached a head in March 1622, when about one third of the English were killed in a highly successful attack on the plantations and villages surrounding Jamestown. That March battle was the closest the English came to being driven from Virginia, but the early years of Jamestown were tough on the English in many ways. Nearly half of the English population died between 1607-1622.

In the aftermath of the 1622 disaster (or success, depending on one's perspective), the Crown decided to take over from the Virginia Company and make Jamestown a royal colony. This was the first American lesson in the folly of choosing free-enterprise over a centralized government. (Almost 400 years later, I'm not sure we've fully learned the lesson.)(1)

As part of the transition to royal colony, the king and privy council demanded a census of all people and goods in Jamestown. This 1624/25 document is known as the Virginia Muster.  Those who appear in its pages are truly Virginia's first families (from a European perspective, at least).

I've blogged before about my Hancock line. Although some of the Hancocks go back to early Huguenot settlement in the area,  others lead back to the original English settlement. Two families of Hancock ancestors appear on the Virginia Muster(2):

Thomas and Adria Harris: Thomas and Adria lived in Neck-of-Land, Charles Cittie, with a girl of 7, Ann Woodlase, who was "theire kinswoman". They also had a 15 year old servant named Elizabeth, who had arrived on the Margaret and John in 1620. Thomas was 38 and arrived on the ship Prosperous. His wife had arrived November 1621, on the Marmaduke. Her maiden name was probably Hoare (they appear to have married after she arrived). Thomas and Adria owned two houses, a boat, 11 pounds of powder, 2 pounds lead, 3 "piece fixed" (some kind of gun), a sword, and a coat of mail. They also had, at the time of the census (which was taken January 24, 1624/5), 7.5 bushels of corn, 1 bushel of peas, 11 cattle (young and old), and 30 poultry.

Thomas and Adria's daughter, Mary, married Thomas Lignon (whose status as a "gateway ancestor" I blogged about previously). Their daughter, Johana Lignon, was the wife of Robert Hancock, the first of our Hancock ancestors born in Virginia.


William Coxe (or Cox): William Coxe was 12 years old when he arrived in Jamestown on the Godspeed, June 10, 1610. He was with the party of Thomas West, Third Lord De La Warr (for whom Delaware was later named). Lord De La Warr's brother had married an Elizabeth Coxe, daughter of Sir Henry Coxe of Broxburne, Hertfordshire, so it's assumed William was part of that family, although the exact relationship is not known. At the time of the muster, he was in the household of Thomas Bouldinge in Elizabeth City. At the time, Thomas Bouldinge was a man of 40, with a house, a palisade, and quite a lot of stored food. It's not clear if William was his servant, relative, or had some other role in the household. In addition to William Coxe, Thomas Bouldinge's household included Richard Edwards, aged 23, and Niccolas Dale, aged 20. Thomas's wife was already dead, but his son, William, born in Virginia, was part of the household. It appears William Coxe returned to England at least once, and then came back to Virginia before claiming land in the Arrowhattocks area.

William's great-great-granddaughter, Jane Cox, married Francis Hopkins. Their daughter, Patsy Hopkins, married John Walden. And their daughter, Harriet Walden, was the wife of Justus Hancock, and mother of Ammon Goode Hancock.


Although he didn't appear in the Virginia Muster, it's worth noting one more family connection to Jamestown, this time through the Kinney line. Stephen Hopkins was one of our Mayflower ancestors. Although he ended up at Plymouth, he was in Jamestown from 1610-1614, under John Smith. This experience proved valuable to the early colonists of Massachusetts.

References:
(1) There are a number of excellent sources on the history of Jamestown. I recently read (and recommend) a more general history of Native/Colonist conflict in the early English colonies. Weidensaul, Scott. 2012. The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

(2) All genealogical material comes from John Frederick Dorman's book, Adventurers of Purse and Person, 5th edition. Published in 2004 by Genealogy Press.

Hancocks in their own words

I mentioned in my biographical sketch of Ammon Goode Hancock that he had written a petition to then-President Johnson asking for an official pardon for, essentially, being rich while in the Confederacy. I wanted to post a transcription of that petition, and this seems like a good time to also post the contents of a couple of letters written to Ammon's wife, Charlotte Hewitt Hancock, by her nephews, during the Civil War. Without any further ado, here are the Hancocks (and Hewitts) in their own words...

Lynchburg, Va, in 1875

To his Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States of America.

The Petition of Ammon G. Hancock, of the City of Lynchburg and State of Virginia, respectfully represents:

That he is a native of the County of Bedford, Va, is fifty years of age and has been a resident of said city for the last twenty years, engaged in the business of buying and selling Tobacco. He has at no held (sp.) time held any political office and [illegible] of any kind except that of Justice of the Peace for the County of Campbell. He has had no connection with the army of the Confederacy in any way or held any position of profit or trust under its government. He was not aware that he had subjected himself to any penalties by any thing he has done or omitted during the Rebellion. He accepted the overthrow of the Confederacy as an accomplished fact after the surrender of Genl. Lee, and designed to embrace the first opportunity of declaring his allegiance to the Government of the United States. Accordingly on the 26th of May last, he took the amnesty oath under the Proclamation of President Lincoln of the 8th of Dec. 1863, and supposed that by so doing he was re-instated to all his rights and immunities as a loyal citizen of the United States. He promised, if he had incurred penalties, that amnesty was afforded by the bona fide taking of that oath and meeting the obligations imposed by it – which he honestly intended [intends?] to do.

But he is advised, that being the owner of more than $20,000 worth of taxable property, it is safer for him to obtain, by special applications to your Excellency, a warrant of Pardon, so as to assure him in his rights of property and enable him to peaceably to enjoy it. As a condition precedent, he is willing to [illegible] all right and title to the slaves heretofore owned by him and let them at liberty.

The premices (sp.) considered, your Petitioner respectfully asks your Excellency to grant him a special warrant of Pardon under the provision of the Proclamation of the 19th of May last, so that in all things he may be fully restored to his rights and immunities as a loyal citizen of the United States.

And as in duty, etc., etc.

A.G. Hancock
Of the City of Lynchburg
17th day of June 1865



Letter from Virgil Hewitt to Charlotte Hewitt Hancock. Virgil was the third son of Robert Hewitt, Charlotte Hewitt Hancock's brother, and his wife (and first cousin) Elizabeth Chastain. Robert and Elizabeth Hewitt settled in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where Charlotte's father had moved long before the war. He was a well-educated man who ran a school and the family was prominent in Kentucky. We have letters preserved from three of the four sons. This one is from Virgil, who served with General Helm in the first year of the war, He was promoted to first lieutenant and adjutant to the Sixth Kentucky regiment in October of 1863. He fought at Murfreesboro, Jackson, Chickamauga, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, and then was wounded in Dallas, Georgia during the Atlanta Campaign (May 26, 1864). He returned to fight at the battle of Intrenchment Creek, another battle for Atlanta at the end of July, but was so severely wounded there that he was out for the remainder of the war.

Camp near Tyners Station(1)
October 30, 1863

My dear Aunt,

You must always look over any delay in answering your letters, for a soldier's life, as you are aware, is decidedly wandering and uncertain. Your kind and interesting letter came to hand after the Battle of Chickamauga. It would have been answered immediately but we were bivouacking around Chattanooga with no tents or shelter or any baggage whatever with us. We were of course entirely devoid of any materials for writing.

We are now very comfortably fixed, having some fires to protect us from the weather. It is now pouring down rain. The pattering of the rain upon the tent has a dreary, lonely sound and makes me sick for home and its comforts. Such longings are vain and fruitless of course and I always dismiss them from my mind but it is perfectly natural that one should long for home occasionally, but oft as we are from the pleasures of ladies' society and their refining influences. I know you would be shocked at my behavior were I to visit you now, for one almost becomes a savage from associating with none but soldiers for eighteen months. I think that with your good teaching and kind influence I would soon become civilized and presentable to ladies. Do you not think so? I wish I could have an opportunity of being trained by you for a month or so. It would be quite pleasant to me.

Battle of Chickamauga by Kurtz and Allison

The Battle of Chickamauga was bloody and decisive. It was a complete and utter rout of the enemy. The fight lasted two days - Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th. On Saturday our Brigade was posted on extreme left of our line and was engaged in attracting the attention of the enemy whilst the main attack was made on the right. There is something grand and sublime in an artillery fight. The cannon belching forth, every discharge a perfect hail of shell and shot, carrying death along with it, whilst the thundering report echoed and re-echoed among the neighboring mountains. Whilst we were in the midst of the fight we received orders to march to the extreme right. This was about 4p.m. We immediately withdrew and proceeded as ordered. As we neared the right wing of our army the deadly war of rocketry and the wounded coming to the rear told us plainly that a terrible conflict was then progressing and that each volley sent a spirit back to its creator. Oh, how solemn a scene is a battle field. To think that every second an immortal soul wings its flight to an unknown and untried reality [illegible]. It is sad, sad, sad. It was dark when we arrived upon the battle field. As we marched we passed hospital after hospital of our wounded and met them in large numbers hobbling off the field. It was really amusing to hear their replies to questions asked by our boys as we passed. One fellow in particular I remember - a tall, strapping fellow - was limping to the rear. I asked him if he was wounded, to which he replied in the negative. I then asked him what was the matter. In a very piteous tone he informed me that he had been knocked down by a bomb. The tale was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing right there - the idea of a man being knocked down by a bomb shell and not wounded. I knew immediately that he was scared.

We built large fires that night for the air was very chilly. Ere retiring for our bed upon Mother Earth, Fayette(2) came from Headquarters to see me. We talked a short time and parted about 10. No one can imagine one's feelings upon retiring to bed at night upon a battle field with the certainty of a desperate conflict on the morrow. The heavers were filled with bright starts which seemed to look solemnly down upon the bloody scene. I gazed upward at them and wondered if I would have the pleasure of doing likewise on tomorrow night. Then my mind sped away to loved ones at home. Oh, what a pleasure to sit by Ma's side tonight with my head resting on her lap whilst I gazed into those eyes which so often beamed upon me with a mother's love. Such a pleasure would certainly make me strong for the conflict tomorrow. Then I saw her kneeling in prayer as she retired and I knew she was praying for her absent sons. With such thoughts as these floating through my mind, I sank to sleep on the night preceding the bloody fight of Sunday at Chickamauga.

About 3 a.m. we were aroused by the stirring notes of the drums and soon all were ready. It was yet dark and very chilly. We had to march a mile or more yet to gain our position in line of battle, which we reached about daylight. Here we remained inactive until 10 a.m., when Gen. Breckenridge(3) rode down our line and informed us that in five minutes we would begin the fight and he wanted us to carry everything before us. In five minutes the signal gun was fired and before its report had died away the command "Forward [illegible] center, march!" was given. At that command the boys marched steadily forward for five or six hundred yards, when the enemy met us. First came an occasional shot from a skirmisher, then often and more often the bullets came until there was one deafening roar from one end of our line to the other. The brave fellows fell fast but on we marched. The battle raged with terrific fury for several hours, when there was a cessation at sundown. We renewed it and completely routed the enemy. They fled in every direction. Thus ended the Battle of Chickamauga.

I thanked God for the preservation of my own life and Fayette's. Fayette has gone to the hospital sick. I have not heard from him since he left. I miss him so much. I would be miserable without him in the army. He is much sick.

My love to Uncle Ammon and Uncle Wils, also to Tex, Brud, and your children (4). I would like so much to see all of you but that pleasure is denied me.

Write soon to your devoted nephew.

V.

Direct to Chattanooga
Virgil Hewitt


Notes:
(1) Tyners Station is today Tyner, Tennessee, and is within the city limits of Chattanooga. The Battle of Chickamauga, described here, had taken place September 19-20, 1863. The first of the Battles of Chattanooga began in October and continued until the end of November.

(2) Fayette Hewitt, eldest son of Robert and Eliza (Chastain) Hewitt. Fayette served adjutant-general in the trans-Mississippi department under "President" Davis, and then under General Breckenridge. See his letter below.

(3) Major General John C. Breckenridge, commanded one of the divisions on the right wing, under Lt. General Leonidas Polk.

(4) Uncle Ammon is Ammon Hancock, Charlotte Hewitt Hancock's husband. Uncle Wils is Wilson C. Hewitt, one of Charlotte Hewitt Hancock's older brothers. No idea who Tex and Brud are.

Fayette Hewitt
 (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6101155/fayette-hewitt)

Letter from Fayette Hewitt to Charlotte Hewitt Hancock. Fayette was the eldest son of Robert and Eliza Chastain Hewitt. He was appointed adjutant-general in the trans-Mississippi department by "President" Davis, under General Breckenridge (see Virgil's letter above).

Headquarters(1)
Jan. 15, 1864

Dear Aunt,

Your letter announcing the sending of the second box was not received for some time after it was due. Since it came to hand I have been so busy - the general big attack on Richmond - that I have not had time to write to you. The first box was received shortly after I wrote you last - the other has not yet come to hand. I am sorry Uncle Wils(2) went to so much trouble to get the boots and overcoat. I would have written to him not to buy them but I did not know whether it would reach him. I believe I wrote you at one time to tell him I could get along without an overcoat and afterwards that he need not get the boots. I had no idea he would have to go away from home for them. I thought perhaps he could get me a pair made in Bedford County(3) without any trouble and I had just paid $150 for a pair of shoes and they asked $250(4) for boots - I thought I might save a little by getting them made in the county somewhere. But I had no idea of putting you and Uncle Wils to the trouble you have been in getting the articles I asked for and I am very sorry you did so, for I might have gotten them here.

I have had a long letter from Fox(5) telling me how he has been enjoying himself with you all. I should have liked very much to have taken my Christmas dinner with you. As it was I had to content myself with [illegible] beef and corn bread. I have no doubt it was a great treat for Fox to get with you once more, for I expect he does not live very famously in Richmond now since the present high prices for provisions.

I have just stopped to read a long letter from Fox enclosing a couple of letters from home. All well - Hannibal(6) talks a great deal about the little negroes (sp, 7), the dogs and the canary bird. I should not be surprised at all if he were to send in his next letter the pictures of the little negroes (sp, 7) and his favorite dogs. I know he would never think of sending his own or Ma's.

Chattanooga during the Civil War

Nothing new. Virgil(8) keeps well - both of us are far and hearty, in far better health than we were before. The army has made men of both of us. I believe we can stand almost everything.

The army lies still - it is impossible to move at this season on account of the roads. We are about to be mounted. The men are all anxious to be on horseback and placed under Morgan(9). I think we will probably be mounted. I greatly prefer being with Infantry but will go with the Brigade. I have not been promoted - was offered it but refused because I would have been separated from men whom I love and who have every confidence in me.

We are about electing members of congress - the army has to vote - or rather [illegible] soldiers. My name was placed before the Convention for our District but I refused to let it be used. I shall leave the army for nothing so long as the war shall last(10).

Love to all - a good, warm kiss to all the children - Lil and Lucy(11) are of course included among the children. In which direction from Liberty(12) is Mr. Hopkins' farm?

Good Bye
Fayette

Notes:
(1) There is no location included with the letter, but General Breckenridge fought the battle of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, TN, on Nov. 25, 1863, and afterward his army had retreated toward Dalton, GA.

(2) Wilson C. Hewitt, born 1816, one of Charlotte Hewitt Hancock's older brothers.

(3) Bedford County, Virginia, just northwest of Lynchburg, where both the Hancock and Hewitt families lived, although Fayette's father, Robert, had moved to Kentucky with his own father and many of his siblings before Fayette's birth.

(4) Given the rampant inflation at the time, it is very difficult to adjust this to "modern" dollars, but this would be around $320 for a pair of shoes and $535 for a pair of boots.

(5) Fox Hewitt, Fayette's youngest brother and the youngest son of Robert and Eliza (Chastain) Hewitt. He was a clerk  in the Treasury Department of the Confederacy until May 1863 when he joined the 25th VA Battalion and served on the fortifications of Richmond for the remainder of the war.

(6) Hannibal Hewitt (seriously, what's with these names?!), the second son of Robert and Eliza (Chastain) Hewitt. I don't know anything about his service record. It seems he was at home in Kentucky, at least at the time this letter was written.

(7) I maintained the original language, with humble apologies to anyone who is offended. It gives me some hope to realize that the children mentioned here were so close to freedom that they likely would never remember the days of slavery.

(8) Virgil Hewitt, third son of Robert and Eliza (Chastain) Hewitt. He served with General Ben Hardin Helm, and in October 1863 he was made Adjutant of the 6th Regiment, fighting in the Battle of Chickamauga (see his own letter).

(9) Not sure to whom Fayette refers. There was a General John Hunt Morgan who led a foolhardy raid into Ohio in 1863. He was a Kentuckian, a cavalryman, and served under General Bragg (with whom Fayette was at the time). However, Morgan had only recently escaped from a Union prison in Ohio (at the end of November), and was in more-or-less disgrace at the time. He was killed in September of 1864.

(10) After the war, Fayette served as State Auditor and Quartermaster General for Kentucky.

(11) Not certain who Lil and Lucy are. I would assume cousins, but whose children I'm not sure. Ammon and Charlotte (Hewitt) Hancock had a daughter named Lily, but she was born in 1864, so presumably she's not the person intended. Ammon had a sister named Lucy, who is living with the family in 1870. She would not have been a blood relative of Fayette, but perhaps she was living with the family during the war, so he knew her?

(12) Liberty was the previous name for Bedford City, Virginia

Letter from Fox Hewitt to Charlotte Hewitt Hancock. Fox Hewitt was the youngest son of Robert and Elizabeth Chastain Hewitt. He was a clerk  in the Treasury Department of the Confederacy until May 1863 when he joined the 25th VA Battalion and served on the fortifications of Richmond for the remainder of the war. (At least, that's what his cousin remembered, but note that this letter suggests that he's working in the Treasury Department still in 1864.)

Richmond, Virginia

December 15, 1864

My dear Aunt,

Your kind letter would have been answered sooner but that I have been very busy at the Office. The rest of the clerks in this Office have been detailed for 30 days from the field and we are working very hard to get up the work of the Department which is a long ways behind.

Mildred(1) treated me badly about her wedding by not inviting me, nor letting me know it was to take place. Your letter was my first intimation of it. You can tell her for me when you see her that I never intend to speak to her again, and that I don't care if she breaks her leg [illegible] so that she may be a fit companion for that husband of hers.

Richmond in 1865, after it was recaptured by the U.S. Army

I had a short note from Virgil(2) today from Columbus, Georgia, on his way to the army. He has not entirely recovered but was anxious to be on duty again, though he had a delightful time wherever he had been staying lately, being almost taken possession of by the ladies, I have heard. The Georgia ladies are exceedingly kind to him. I am told Fayette(3) is very popular among them also. He is at present sick at Newman(4), though not seriously ill. Virgil will not go back to his Regiment but goes on duty during the winter at least with Col. Cofer, who is Provost Marshal General of Hood's Army. He will be assistant to the Col. The position will be easy, pleasant and safe - no danger at all. Col. C. is on the Staff of the Commanding General. Virgil has induced Fayette to accept a similar position with the Col. who will shortly issue the order detailing him.

Fayette's health is so bad that he has not been with the Brigade for several weeks, and I am fearful his health has been permanently injured by his last arduous campaign.

I am very grateful, my kind aunt, for your very warm and cordial invitation to spend the Christmas with you. Schwarzman's(5) family made me promise last summer that I would pay a visit to them at that time. If I leave here at all I will have to go there, but there is so much work to be done in the next few weeks in the Office that I have not much expectation of being able to leave here for a single day. Nonetheless thanks to you dear Auntie, for your kindness. It would indeed be a great relief and happiness to be with you for a short time, but I will have to put it off until some other time, soon I hope.

There has been no truce boat for two months, consequently no letters from home.

I enjoyed myself very much while Burkett was here and regretted he could not stay with me longer. How long did he remain with you?

What are Brud [word not quite legible] and Tex doing now? Love to them, Uncle Wils, if with you, and the boys (6).

A merry Christmas to all of you, especially Miss Lily(7).

Your affectionate nephew,

Fox Hewitt

Notes:

(1) A relative? An ex? I have no idea if he's honestly upset or just joking

(2) Virgil Hewitt, Fox's younger brother and third son of Robert and Eliza (Chastain) Hewitt. He served with General Ben Hardin Helm, and in October 1863 he was made Adjutant of the 6th Regiment, fighting in the Battle of Chickamauga (see his own letter).  He was wounded at the Battle of Dallas, near Dallas, Georgia, May 26, 1864. 

(3) Fayette Hewitt, eldest son of Robert and Eliza (Chastain) Hewitt. Fayette served adjutant-general in the trans-Mississippi department under "President" Davis, and then under General Breckenridge.

(4) Probably this should be Newnan, GA, just southwest of Atlanta. General John Bell Hood, who had lost a leg at the Battle of Chickamagua the year before, was the general in charge of defending Atlanta from General Sherman. Atlanta had been liberated September 2, 1864 (or had fallen, I suppose, depending on one's perspective), just a couple of months before this letter was written. From then through December, Hood was engaged in the Tennessee Campaign, trying to cut Sherman's supply lines from Ohio. Since Sherman was heading in the opposite direction, and was perfectly happy to live off the land, this was not much of a problem. Hood would have been near Nashville at the time this letter was written. Col. Cofer, mentioned here, was probably Col. Martin Cofer of the 6th Regiment Kentucky Mounted Infantry. Couldn't find much information about where exactly they were in the fall/winter of 1864.

(5) A friend?

(6) Yeah, no idea who Burkett, Brud, or Tex are. Uncle Wils is Wilson C. Hewitt, born 1816, one of Charlotte Hewitt Hancock's older brothers, and "the boys", presumably are James, Earnest, and Edwin Hancock, the sons of Ammon and Charlotte Hewitt Hancock. Fox mentions there have been no truce boats, and therefore no letters from home. His immediate family lived in Kentucky, which by this time was entirely in Union hands.

(7) Ammon and Charlotte Hewitt Hancock's youngest child, Lily Hancock Thornhill, born that year. She was the one who preserved these letters.

Manakin Town, Virginia

It's a marker

I'm continuing to work on the Hancock line and uncovering a number of family ties to the French Huguenot settlement of Manakin (or Manakin Town), Virginia.

Huguenots were French protestants. They had been persecuted in France since the Reformation, but in 1685, when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had granted rights to protestants, a large number of Huguenots immigrated to England or other protestant nations. As many as 500,000 Huguenots fled France. (Incidentally, some of these Huguenots, especially those from La Rochelle, went to Quebec, where they became some of my maternal ancestors).

Many Huguenots in England supported William III in his wars in Ireland and abroad. In gratitude, the king offered his support for a Huguenot colony in Virginia. A total of five ships sailed with his blessing to Jamestown in 1700-1701. The first of these was the The Mary and Ann, which arrived in Jamestown on July 31, 1700, with 205 passengers. Pierre Chastain, one of the leaders of the community and my 7xgreat-grandfather, was on board with his family.

The colonists weren't planning to join the English, but rather to found their own village of Huguenots. They were settled northwest of Richmond, where they found an "abandoned" Monacan village. (I use the term "abandoned" because that's the one you see in the histories. A better term would be "destroyed".) They named the new town Manakin, for the previous inhabitants. The English colonial authorities thought this location would provide a useful buffer between Jamestown and the Native communities farther inland.

The original 1704 land grant

In 1704, the Virginia House of Burgesses granted 10,000 acres to the community. (Interestingly, one of our Hancock relatives was the surveyor for the land grant.) About 390 French Huguenots moved to Manakin, although fewer than 200 remained after 1705. The town itself was abandoned by 1750, as the French assimilated into the English colony.

The Hancocks have multiple ties to Manakin. Charlotte Hewitt, the wife of Ammon Goode Hancock, was the daughter of Jane Chastain, Pierre's great-granddaughter (and, of course, also a direct descendant of his wife, Susanne Reynaud, and his son, Jean, who accompanied him on the first Manakin ship). Jean Chastain's wife, Marianne David, was also a Manakin Huguenot, the daughter of Pierre David (still looking for documentation on that). 

Charlotte Hewitt Hancock, therefore, was the descendant of six of the original colonists of Manakin. Charlotte's husband, Ammon, was himself a Manakin descendant. Ammon Hancock's great-grandmother, Jane Flournoy, was the daughter of Francois Flournoy, who, along with his father, Jacob, and mother, Martha Morel, arrived in Jamestown in October of 1700 on The Peter and Anthony, only a few months after the Chastains. Ammon's mother, Harriet Walden, was the great-grandaughter of Mary Dismukes. William Dismukes (or desMeaux), Mary's grandfather, was another of the original Manakin settlers. 

Finally, there are two potential, but far from proven, connections to the Manakin settlement in the Hancock family: 1) Ann Ammon, wife of Samuel Hancock, was the daughter of Christopher Ammon. Nothing is known about the Ammon family. They appear out of nowhere with Christopher's birth in 1715. It is possible that Ammon was a corruption of Amonet. There was a Jacob Amonet who sailed to Virginia on the Nassau in 1701. His daughter, Charlotte, was the second wife of Jean Chastain, who was Charlotte Hewitt's great-grandfather; 2) Harriet Walden, mentioned above as Ammon's mother and the great-great-grandaughter of the Dismukes colonist, was the grand-daughter of Richard and Candace Walden (Richard's mother was Mary Dismukes). Richard and Candace had a daughter named Mourning. The name is unusual. Charlotte Hewitt, Ammon's wife, had a grandmother whose name was Mourning. Mourning Hewitt was her married name, but her maiden name is unknown. It is possible  Mourning Hewitt was actually Mourning Walden, and therefore also a descendant of the Dismukes.

In sum, my great-great-grandfather, Ernest Justus Hancock, as the product of Charlotte and Ammon's ancestry, was at least 1/8 Manakin French Huguenot, and may have been nearly 1/3 French, if all of the possible connections played out. I'll keep looking!

For an easier-to-understand visual of the Hancock Manakin ancestry, here are the ancestor charts for Ammon and Charlotte Hancock, with the known Manakin ancestors circled in red, and the suspected Manakin ancestors circled in blue. Note that Mary Dismukes is circled, but it's actually her father who is the Manakin colonist. Click for a larger picture.

Updates

I'm trying to post once a week, but this week I don't have a biographical sketch to share. I've spent my genealogical time updating the Hancock line, and I have the great good luck of being able to use someone else's well-documented research. John Frederick Dorman, who is the top expert on Virginia genealogy and the senior fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, wrote a series of books on the early settlers of Virginia and their descendants. The books, Adventures of Purse and Person: Virginia, 1607-1625 are now in their fifth edition. The Hancocks are covered in the chapter on the descendants of Thomas Harris. Harris was an "Ancient Planter", meaning he arrived before 1616, stayed at least three years, and paid his own passage to Jamestown. His daughter, Mary Harris, married Thomas Ligon, the "gateway ancestor" I discussed in my last post. Their daughter, Johan Ligon, married Robert Hancock. Johan and Robert are my 9xgreat-grandparents.

As part of my Hancock work, I came across another Revolutionary War soldier, "Colonel" Samuel Hancock. I don't know how I overlooked him before. His older brother, Simon, died in 1776 in Pennsylvania, near the Delaware River. There is no information about how he died, other than that it was while undertaking "military duties". Washington crossed the Delaware at the end of 1776, so it is possible that the Bedford County militia, which is likely where they served, was with Washington. As I discover more, I will continue adding to my earlier post listing Revolutionary War ancestors.

Ammon Goode Hancock

Ammon Goode Hancock
A bad copy of a copy of a photograph handed down by
my Great Aunt Lillian, his great-granddaughter

I'm going to post biographical sketches of my ancestors as I fill in their wikitree.com pages, so I can use the blog as a way of organizing the information and creating a more coherent narrative. I'm currently working on the Hancock line, so let's start with my great-great-great-grandfather, Ammon Goode Hancock.

The Hancock line is Virginian. Like really, really Virginian. As in, we-go-back-to-Jamestown Virginian. They definitely count as family "skeletons in the closet": they were Southern gentry, slave-owners, and supporters of the Confederacy. 

Harriet Walden Hancock
Another awful copy

Ammon Goode Hancock was born April 17, 1815 in Bedford County, Virginia, an area just west of Lynchburg. Unfortunately, this is too early for the U.S. Census to list people individually, but his father, Justus Hancock, was living in the southern census district of Bedford County in 1820 (1). Based on the ages of the people enumerated in the census, it appears Ammon, who was the oldest child, was living with his father, his mother Harriet Walden Hancock, his brother Johnathan, and his sister, Martha. Ammon would later have another brother and sister, Daniel (name uncertain) and Lucy. That census also shows four slaves: two young boys, and a man and a woman in the 14-26 age range. We don't know their names, but in 1846, after his father's death, Ammon sold 3 or 4 slaves as Justus's executor. In a newspaper advertisement for the upcoming sale (a rather cold-blooded word for

Again with the awful copies

forceably removing a person from their home and, potentially, their family), one of the women is described as "valuable" because she was a good cook, weaver, and washer. Perhaps this was the 14-26 year old woman of the 1820 census?


The 1973 Historic Map of Bedford County, which includes information from 1750-1865, shows multiple Hancock farms south of Flint Hill, off Goose Creek (2). I don't know which of these farms belonged to Justus.

Ammon's unusual name comes from his paternal grandmother, Ann Ammon Hancock, and was repeated many times in the family. His middle name, Goode, may come from John Goode (or another member of that family), whose farm is visible on the historic map, east of Lowry, near the small town of Goode. I don't know if there was any connection by marriage or descent between the families. Other names appear on the map that are prominent in Hancock family records, for example, Read and Fuqua. Clearly, these were the prominent families of the county.

Close-up of the historic map. Click to enlarge.

Ammon (or at least someone Ammon's age) appears in the household of Justus Hancock through the 1840 census, always living in southern Bedford County (3). We don't know much about his childhood, however, his sister, Martha (Hancock) Wheat kept a journal beginning in 1850. I have not read the journal myself, but it was the subject of an interesting academic paper on evangelical women in rural Virginia (17). Martha was born again as a young woman, during a wave of evangelization in the 1840s, and married an equally pious man. Her journal states that she attended school at the Antioch Methodist church, but, like many of the Virginian founding fathers, such as Washington and Jefferson, Justus Hancock was only nominally Christian. This indifference toward institutional religion appears to have continued in her brothers, as well, since Martha relates attempts to convert her brothers' households. Her spelling, grammar, and penmanship show her to have been better educated than the average woman of her time and station. Ammon, therefore, grew up in a family that valued education for all of its children, although it did not much value religion.

Ammon's father died in April of 1845. As mentioned above, Ammon was the executor of his will, and probably spent a good deal of time putting his affairs into order. He was also beginning his own business and tobacco plantation, as we can see by the events of the 1850s.

1903 Advertisement for Hancock Bros. Co.
This comes from Lynchburghistory.com, which charges
way too much for their images, so I screen-shot it and
we'll just have to put up with the watermark.

I cannot find Ammon in the 1850 census. His mother, Harriet, is still living in Bedford with her two youngest children (4). Ammon may have been in and out of Campbell county, setting up his own plantation. According to an early 20th century advertisement from Lynchburg, Ammon founded the Hancock Tobacco Company in 1851, around the time he married Charlotte Elizabeth Hewitt, in Bedford County, on July 1. D.P. Read was their surety (5). Ammon was 36, and Charlotte was 26. She came from a French Huguenot family that also had deep roots in Virginia, and she had grown up in Bedford County.

Around 1853, Ammon built a large factory at the end of Cabell street, in Lynchburg. The factory is still standing, as part of the historic Daniel's Hill neighborhood. (6). Later, around 1855, Ammon and Charlotte built a home on the same lot as the factory. The Daniel's Hill neighborhood first opened up in the mid-1840s, when a large plantation from a century earlier was divided into plots and sold, mostly to wealthy businessmen and landowners. A number of 19th century mansions still line the streets, but the cross streets - one of which is named Hancock St. - were filled with "vernacular architecture" (aka shacks) for the people who worked in the big houses and the factory. The neighborhood was one of the most well-to-do suburbs of the city.

Charlotte Elizabeth Hewitt Hancock

Lynchburg, at the time, was booming. By 1850, it had the second-highest per capita income of any city in the nation. The reason for this was tobacco (and, apparently, the first mass-produced, mass-marketed enema). Lynchburg was a transportation hub, where the railroads met and trade boomed between the North and the South.

Despite their house in a fashionable neighborhood, the Hancock family didn't live in the city of Lynchburg year-round. It appears they spent the summer on their plantation in Campbell County, just south of Lynchburg. In both the 1860 and 1870 censuses, the growing family is shown as living in Campbell County (7)(8), and not until 1880 did the census taker actually find them on Cabell St.(9). An 1860s map of Campbell County shows the Hancock plantation in the far east of the county. They were presumably growing tobacco.

The 1860 census recorded Ammon and Charlotte and three sons: James, Ernest Justus (my great-great grandfather), and Edwin (7). Two other whites were living in the household, an R.L. Bigby (male) and an E. Roberts (female). They may have been boarders, employees, tenants, or family.

In addition to the white household, Ammon's slaves were recorded on the 1860 slave schedule (but he is not on the 1850 slave schedule)(10). He is listed as having three "slave houses" (I put that in quotes because I'm not sure what it means, in terms of actual accommodations), with a total of 34 slaves. These men, women, and children ranged in age from 6 to 50 years of age, but the vast majority were under 25, most in mid-adolescence. Their names are not listed, we only have their age and their color, but we can imagine their lives were difficult, and the large number of young people suggests many had been taken from their families far too young. It's painful to see a list of 12 year old children and know they were probably crying themselves to sleep at night, as were their mothers.

The article about Martha (Hancock) Wheat, mentioned above, confirms that the ownership of 34 people put Ammon Hancock among the economic elite of the city. Although most white landowners in the area did own slaves, the vast majority owned fewer than five people.

Ammon and Charlotte with their three youngest children (l-r)
Edwin (Ned), Ernest, and Lilly. Around 1865.
Even by standards of the day, their expressions are pretty
miserable. Must be their guilty consciences.

Presumably, the statistics that tout Lynchburg's per capita wealth didn't include slaves as "capita". Their labor produced the tobacco that fueled the economic boom - and the wealth of the upper class - but they did not share in that wealth.

Ammon was 46 years old when the Civil War began in 1861. His sons would have been 9, 7, and 4. (The last child, a daughter named Lily, was born near the end of the war, in 1864.) I have very little information about the Hancock family during the war. Ammon appears on a list of privates in the Lynchburg Rifles (11). However, since he had cousins and nephews who were also named Ammon Hancock, it is possible that he is not the person in the war record. We know from letters written to Charlotte that three of her Hewitt nephews were officers in the war, on the Confederate side.

Ammon's sons, Edward, Ernest, and James
Late 1860s?

Unsurprisingly, given its importance as a transportation and trade hub, Lynchburg became a critical resupply and hospital location for the Confederacy. It even served as the state capital for four days, April 6-10, 1865, which history buffs will recognize as the time between the abandonment of Richmond and Lee's defeat at Appomattox. The largest women-run hospital in the Confederacy, the Ladies' Relief Hospital, was in Lynchburg (12). I cannot find documents from that hospital, but it is possible that Charlotte and Ammon's sisters volunteered there.

The Battle of Lynchburg was fought just outside of town in June of 1864. Jubal Early, the Confederate commander, used the local population to mislead the Union commanders into believing they were outnumbered, eventually pushing them into retreat. Early ran a train up and down the line, while the population stood at the station and cheered, as if they were receiving reinforcements. The local prostitutes also helped by misleading their Union clients with false reports of reinforcements (13). We will probably never know if the Hancock family participated in that battle, or in the deception, in any way.

Historic photograph of the Hancock Tobacco Factory.
This was also taken from lynchburghistory.com with watermark

What we do know is that Ammon was not financially or personally ruined by the loss of his free labor supply, or by the ravages of war. In 1865 he signed a loyalty oath and received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson (14). In the 1870 census, he reported land holding worth $2,500 (about $50, 000 in today's money), and a personal estate of $1,800 ($32,000). Not bad for someone who, only five years earlier, had backed the losing side in a war, and as a result lost control over the people upon whom he relied for free labor. I suspect the former slaves who had earned him that fortune were considerably less well off.

One indication of changed circumstances can be seen in the 1870 census. Ammon and Charlotte are living with Ammon's mother, Harriet, who was 75 at the time, and with his sister, Lucy V. (Hancock) Haynes, 34, who was presumably widowed, although I have not found any information about her husband. The household also had one Black servant, Mary Shelton, aged 25, from Virginia.

Historic photo of the Hancock house in Lynchburg
lynchburghistory.com

By 1880, the family's circumstances may have improved further, although the family didn't report their net worth in that census. In addition to the family, and Harriet, another ten people are living in the household, or perhaps are tenants in small workers lodgings around the house and factory. These additional people include one white grocer, Walter H. Wilson, 24, and two married couples, William and Laura Carter, and Humphrey and Frances Sherman. William and Laura Carter were 50 and 40 years old, respectively. William was a black man who worked in the tobacco factory (presumably the Hancock Company factory), and his wife, who was described as mulatto, worked as a servant. Humphrey Sherman, age 62, was a servant, as was Frances Sherman, age 35. Both are listed as married, but given their age differences, it is possible that Frances was Humphrey's daughter, rather than his wife. Humphrey was categorized as Black, Frances as mulatto. Another Black woman, Sallie Johnson, 28, worked as a servant and was listed as married, but her husband doesn't appear on the census record as part of this household. A single young woman, Laura Preston, 23, working as a servant, was also Black. Finally, Mourning Paige, 100, a widow, Black, was living in the household. Charlotte's grandmother's name was Mourning, and I wonder if there is a connection. If all of the people listed as servants were actually working for the Hancocks (which isn't necessarily the case), then they had seven servants.

Google maps image of the Hancock factory today

Another change had occurred by 1880: Their second son, Ernest Justus, then 25, was no longer living with the family. James, the eldest, was living with his father and working in the family business. He's listed in the 1880 census as married, although his wife does not appear on the census roll as a member of the household, unless his wife is Sallie Johnson. Edward and Lilly, ages 23 and 16, are also still at home, with Edward working in the family business and Lilly in school. Ernest Justus, however, had emigrated to Whidby Island, Washington, in 1879. Although he returned home briefly in the early 1880s, he moved west permanently in 1883 (15).

Ammon Goode Hancock died May 15, 1888, in Lynchburg (16). The Lynchburg Daily Virginian has no fewer than three obituaries listed for him in their index. However, they charge far too much for a copy, so I have not read them. Ammon was buried in Spring Hill cemetery. Ernest Justus, with new wife and child in tow, traveled across the country to help his brothers settle the estate. The family business lived on for many years, as did his wife, Charlotte, who died in 1894.

Monument for Ammon and Charlotte Hancock
Photo from http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=5608949&PIpi=5143818

UPDATE: My mother called to tell me she has Ammon's original pardon from President Johnson, a huge certificate that is (apparently) actually signed by the president. This prompted me to look into Confederate pardons. Surely the president didn't have to sign a certificate for every able-bodies man in the Confederacy? Turns out, no, most ordinary soldiers could just take an oath and be done, but certain individuals had to appeal directly to the president (ex., higher-ranking officers, West Point graduates who had defected to the Confederacy, and citizens with personal value over $20,000). Since Ammon had a personal fortune over $20,000, he wrote a petition to President Johnson. It's a two-page document detailing his role in the war, which is available through an on-line database. I'm sure it will be fascinating, once I figure out how to read the horrible handwriting. Hopefully, I'll have more on this later.

References:

1.  "United States Census, 1820", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLC-TSW : accessed 27 October 2015), Justus Hancock, 1820.

2. The map

3. "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH54-LYN : accessed 27 October 2015), Justus Hancock, Bedford, Virginia, United States; citing 139, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 194; FHL microfilm 29,673.; and "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHBM-ZQK : accessed 27 October 2015), Justice Hancock, Southern District, Bedford, Virginia, United States; citing p. 258, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 550; FHL microfilm 29,683.

4.  "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M88P-K7F : accessed 27 October 2015), Harriet S Hancock, Bedford county, Bedford, Virginia, United States; citing family 607, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

5. http://www.vagenweb.org/bedford/bedf-m_h.htm

6. "Daniel's Hill Historic District", National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form.

7.  "United States Census, 1860," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M41F-4JY : accessed 25 September 2015), A G Hancock, Western District, Campbell, Virginia, United States; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing p. 7, household ID 43, NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 805,338.

8.  "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFLK-NVT : accessed 25 September 2015), S G Hancock, Virginia, United States; citing p. 62, family 468, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,137.

9. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCPP-H7P : accessed 1 October 2015), Jennie Davis in household of Ammon G Hancock, Lynchburg, Campbell, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district 194, sheet 378D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1359; FHL microfilm 1,255,359.

10. 1860 slave schedule

11. http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/campbell/military/history01.txt

12. http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/lynchburg_during_the_civil_war#start_entry

13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lynchburg

14.  http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/guides/civil-war.htm

15. "An Illustrated History of the State of Washington" by Harvey Kimball Hines, p. 568

16. "Virginia, Deaths and Burials, 1853-1912," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5YY-7L7 : accessed 25 September 2015), Ammon G. Hancock, 15 May 1888; citing Lynchburg, Campbell, Virginia, reference Image #236; FHL microfilm 2,048,589.

17. Kierner, Cynthia A. 1992. Woman's Piety within Patriarchy: The Religious Life of Martha Hancock Wheat of Bedford County. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 100:79-98.