OUR GENEALOGY

                                 A Biography of Abram Barnwell

              “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” Winston Churchill

           Property

Property is a system of rights that give people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves.  Human property refers to the practice of treating people as property, such as slaves, who were sold, given or contracted out without regard to family or home.

Between 1670 and 1808, an estimated 150,000 to 260,000 enslaved Africans were shipped to South Carolina. This made South Carolina the recipient of more slaves than any other mainland colony during the African slave trade. Abram Barnwell’s parents and possible siblings were included in this estimate.

                                               “Grandpa Abram”

Abram Barnwell was born into slavery in the State of South Carolina between 1810 and 1822.  To date, Abram Barnwell’s parents, siblings or any of his early slavery documentation have not been found. The earliest record I have for Grandpa Abram is on September 21, 1851 when he departed Savannah, Georgia and arrived in Beaufort, South Carolina on a slave ship called William Seabrook.  The document indicates that he was twenty-nine years old at the time and his enslaver or shipper was named W. Blake.   I also found Amaritta Grandpa’s first wife on a William Seabrook slave ship from Savannah, Georgia to Beaufort, South Carolina.  The record shows that she was 20 years old, five feet three inches and her owner or shipper was O A Roche.  In addition to owning slave ships, William Seabrook owned several slave plantations on Edisto, Wadmalaw and Hilton Head Islands.

Mr. Seabrook was the wealthiest of the Edisto Island’s cotton planters.  As a matter of fact, James Hoban the same architect who designed and oversaw the construction of the White House in 1792; also designed and oversaw the building of the Seabrook Plantation house in 1810.  When he died in 1837, William Seabrook left a plantation to his second wife and each of his children.  In a December 1860 Estate listing of William Seabrook, I found the names of Grandpa Abram and his family listed among the slaves along with their calculated value.  Their valuation is listed as the following: Grandpa Abram $1000, wife Amaritta $600, daughter Amelia $350, son Robert $200 and infant Abby $50.00.   

I do not know how long our family had been slaves on the William Seabrook plantation however, in 1862, they are found on another plantation nearby called the Pineland Plantation.  Grandpa Abram showed seven family members.  I am assuming his family included Amaritta, Amelia, Robert, Abby, Jane and possibly Isaac.  The document shows on this plantation the entire family was only valued at $450. 

According to the Freemen’s Bureau records on February 20,1866, Grandpa Abram was found living on the Chaplain Place Plantation in Johns Island, South Carolina and the property owner is Mrs. Neil Roper.  It does not list any other family members living on the same plantation. So it seems that a year after the 1865 Emancipation Proclamation was in effect, Grandpa Abram seems to be living as a free man on a plantation without his family.

                                                                  Freedom

After the United States troops defeated Confederate forces on the South Carolina Sea Islands in November of 1861, they drove white plantation owners from their homes. The Beaufort District became a central hub for military operations along the southeastern coast and a starting point for Reconstruction in the South. Although most properties and homes of the white planter class was eventually auctioned off for the nonpayment of Federal taxes largely to freed African Americans, the US military and freedmen's aid organizations also repurposed a number of these properties for their own use.

In addition to the more than fifteen US Army hospitals established, a care facility was set up toward the center of the town of Beaufort for freed African Americans. The occupying troops referred to the care facility as "contraband," or refugees. This term, contraband, was a reference to the legal status of enslaved African Americans who escaped bondage and sought refuge behind US lines.

Although those affected by disease filled these hospitals, many other patients suffered from wounds received while escaping the bonds of slavery. Among those who were employed in Beaufort's hospitals was Harriet Tubman, who, according to local tradition, is said to have provided aid for Black refugees on the grounds of the "contraband" hospital.

Interestingly, I found Grandpa Abram listed as a patient in the Beaufort Hospital on three occasions.  He is listed as a patient on January 5, 1867, March 15, 1868 and again on September 29, 1868.  Although I cannot read his diagnosis due to the person’s handwriting the fact that he just might have been helped by Harriet Tubman is mind blowing.  I have always loved Harriet Tubman’s life story, she had unwavering courage and determination towards freedom for all. So I’d imagine her presence or former presence at various Beaufort hospitals was widely known among freed slaves including Grandpa Abram.   

                                                         Our Legacy

To revise the legal machinery for restoring the former Confederate states to the Union, the United States Congress passed a new Reconstruction law on March 23, 1867. Among the changes called for in the law was state-wide elections in each of the former rebel states, except Tennessee, among registered males, black and white, over age twenty-one. Almost all adult males were allowed to vote in these elections after taking an oath of allegiance to the United States.  According to the Georgia Reconstruction Registration Oath Book 1867-1868 Abram Barnwell completed a voter registration application on July 4, 1867.  So it seems that he was traveling back and forth between South Carolina and Georgia which seemed to have been standard activity when he was a slave. 

Sometime between 1869 and 1870 Grandpa Abram and his family were reunited and living in the State of Georgia.  According to the 1870 Census for Calhoun County Georgia in the City of Leary their household consisted of Abram Barnwell- Head, Amaritta Barnwell – wife, Amelia Barnwell-daughter, Robert Barnwell –son, Abby Barnwell –daughter and Jane Barnwell-daughter.  The census also shows Grandpa Abram is listed as 60 years old and a farm laborer however, as you will later see he did not know his true age as it fluctuates through the years.

Now for all of Grandpa Abram’s male descendants and probably some females as well who seem to have a temper or don’t take no mess as they say, well I think you just might have gotten that honestly!!  I found a court case for Grandpa Abram from 1875 in South Carolina.   According to the Phoenix Daily Newspaper February 12, 1875 “Abram Barnes, alias Abram Barnwell, was charged with assault and battery ordered to pay a fine of $100 and cost, and in default of payment to be confined in County jail for ten months.”  Well first I would love to know who he assaulted and second did he have the $100 and cost to stay out of jail?  Lol!

The next federal census record is in 1880.  This record gives us a lot more information about Grandpa and his family.  The 1880 census shows he is still living in Calhoun County Georgia in the City of Leary but he has remarried.  He is now married to Martha Carter Frost his second wife and my great grandmother.  Instead of farm laborer, Grandpa Abram is now a farmer.  He indicates that he cannot read or write and that the place of birth for him and his parents is South Carolina.  Grandma Martha is listed as keeping house, likewise she is unable to read or write and her and her parents place of birth is Georgia.  Grandma Martha’s first husband was Bart Frost and she brought several children from that marriage into the Barnwell family.  The following is a list of their combined children: Jane Barnwell, Levi (Frost) Barnwell, Isaac Barnwell, Nancy (Frost) Barnwell, Joe (Frost) Barnwell, Celvia (Sylvia) Barnwell, Wiley Barnwell, Ann Barnwell, Nelson Barnwell and Abram Barnwell Jr.  The 1880 Census also show that Amelia Barnwell had married Daniel Lang, Abby Barnwell had married Nathan Reed and Robert Barnwell had left the home.  Grandma Martha’s daughter Sherry Frost was no longer living in the home as well.  I found that Sylvia later listed her maiden name as Barnes, Wiley also listed his last name as Barnes and Ann listed her maiden name as Braswell.  If you remember in the court case listed above against Grandpa Abram his last name was also Barnes. 

A point of interest, in the 1880 Census for Dan and Amelia Lang a white woman by the name of Agnes Bracewell was also living in their home.  It was very unusual for a black man to be the head of household for a white woman during those years.  Additionally, Bracewell also spelled Braswell was the last name Ann Barnwell used when marrying Emanuel Russell.  Therefore, it appears that the last names Barnes, Barnwell and Braswell are a part of our family names.

I next found Grandpa Abram in the Freedman Tax List for the Georgia US property tax digest 1793-1892.  The tax digest shows the value of his personal property in 1890.  He owned livestock valued at $12, household and kitchen furniture valued at $45, plantation and mechanical tools valued at $19 and the value of all other property as $7.  So Grandpa Abram’s total property valuation in 1890 was $83.

On the 1900 Census Abram Barnwell is still living in Calhoun County’s City of Leary along with his wife Martha Barnwell and grandson John Jackson.  They indicate they have been married for 27 years which means they possibly married in 1873.  Grandma Martha also indicates that she gave birth to seven children and that five were still living however, according to earlier Census records she gave birth to nine children in total.   Grandpa Abram’s age is showing eighty-eight, occupation is still listed as Farmer and he said he was renting his farm.

The last Census I found for Grandpa Abram was the 1910 Census.  He and Grandma Martha were still living in the City of Leary in Calhoun County.  They are listed as the boarders of Moses and Mary Gardener.  The record shows they have been married forty years and that Grandma Martha had twelve children and five living children.  It also shows that Grandpa Abram is no longer working but shows Grandma Martha working for the first time as a farm laborer for Moses Gardener and her age is listed as 62 years old.  I have not been able to find any additional information for Grandpa Abram, Amaritta or Grandma Martha.

Note:  I have found in my research that twins run in our family however, cancer seems to run in our family as well.

                                   Researched and written by your sister, aunt or cousin

                                                        Octavia (Tiny) Francis-Brown