Gum Spring: A Community at the Crossroads

Gum Spring: A Community at the Crossroads

This booklet was compiled in 2020 using information located at that time. Special appreciation goes to the efforts of those creating online public archives and resources used in gathering the facts for this book: The Library of Virginia (formerly known as the State Archives) which processes records from county clerks’ offices, individual collections, historic newspapers, etc.

Similar in mission is the Library of Congress whose collection is also used here. For historic understanding of events in Virginia, few resources compare with “Encyclopedia Virginia,” which contains content from scholars and historians with particular areas of expertise. That was my first resource for cultural, political and legislative content.

If anyone would like to know particular sources, please feel free to contact me, Elaine Taylor, at backroads1607@gmail.com.

Should this booklet prompt your desire to know your own family’s history in general or whether they were slaveholders, enslaved, or free people of color, it would be my pleasure to assist you in getting started on your search.

1755 map of the American Colonies by John Mitchell

TABLE of CONTENTS

The earliest colonists to settle in what would become Gum Spring moved west from the Tidewater region.

They followed ancient paths long used as trading routes by the native population on their journey between the mountains and the Chesapeake Bay. These pathways traced the highest ground between river systems. The Mountain Road, along with the Three Notched (Chopt) Road just a few miles to the south, followed the crest between the James River and the branch of the York River known as the South Pamunkey. The Pamunkey forked in Hanover and became the North and South Anna (Pamunkey) Rivers.

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1745—A Visit to Gum Spring

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1750— Churches Near the Crossroads

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The Message from the Men Of God

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1780—The Revolutionary War

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Slavery in Goochland and Louisa Counties

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1835— The World Slavery Created

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1860—Gum Spring on the Eve of War

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1865—The Aftermath of the Civil War

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1950—Gum Spring During Jim Crow

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Early Presbyterian Records

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Founding Methodists

Front and back covers: Confederate Engineers Map of Central Virginia, 1864. Library of Congress

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Patterns. We consciously look for them in architecture, textiles and music. We are often much less conscious of the patterns we create through the decisions we make. Shown here is a linen and wool coverlet from the 1840s whose threads were probably spun by enslaved people. We hope this little book helps us all understand how decisions our ancestors made over 250 years ago shaped our community today. May it also help us envision new patterns we may need in our common life together for our community around Gum Spring to thrive.

Introduction A simple question can have answers with enormous implications. Such was the case when Pam Richardson, whose family roots go back 200 years in Gum Spring, asked me, her history-minded friend, how many of the founders of Gum Spring Methodist Church were slaveholders. I began researching the records and what I discovered has challenged and disturbed us both.

A picture unfolded of admonitions from the founders of the churches in Gum Spring to set free their enslaved brothers and sisters. Who among us has not been warned about something we should, or should not, do—but we did, or didn't do, it anyway? Hence the balm in the words of the Confession, “Forgive us for things done and left undone.” The early members of our churches failed in that way. What follows is written to point no finger and with no sense of condemnation. Rather, we offer it to pull back a veil and illuminate more clearly the story of our beginnings.

Just as Gum Spring sits at an ancient crossroads where people chose to go right, left, or straight ahead, so the spiritual journey of its people brought them to a crossroads time after time. Sometimes we as people take a wrong turn and travel far down a road that leads us away from home. And sometimes the only way to get back on the right road is to return to the crossroads and choose a different path.

If you’re like us, you may find that what follows challenges and troubles you, too.

"You’re not alone," is all we can say. The reward for opening ourselves to something uncomfortable may just be that it brings light to darkness and a new freedom as we learn to walk together in that light. May God give us the grace to see and hearts willing to be touched by what our eyes behold.

We hope you'll take the journey with us back to our beginnings. We'll start about 1750 in the tavern that once stood where the Methodists gather today. Reading through the pages with a large date on them will give you the flow of what we uncovered. Other pages provide a deeper look into what we found.

Will you join us at the crossroads?

Elaine Taylor

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A few things by way of introduction might be helpful as you read. Land grants from the King of England provided legal ownership of the land around Gum Spring by 1720. Lest our imaginations let us think poor farmers were getting their own land for the first time on the frontier, the truth is that most of the first and best grants were to those in favor with the Crown. They received tracts ranging from 400 acres to over 5,000.

One example is John Syme who was granted 5,529 acres stretching from where the Dairy Queen is today all the way to Perkinsville Rd. He employed one William Harris to oversee his enslaved workforce of 28 men and women who ceaselessly cleared the fields of virgin timber, fashioned it into houses and barns, cultivated the fields and performed all the work needed to make Syme his fortune.

The first kidnapped Africans were brought to Virginia in 1619. Importation of this work force, bound in chains, grew ever larger to meet an ever growing demand. It is likely that many of the enslaved Africans first brought to our area were born in Africa and had personally experienced the horrors of the Middle Passage.

The international slave trade was outlawed in 1808, just as the Deep South was opening for settlement and investment. There huge plantations needed hundreds of slaves. The only place to purchase them was the Upper South. By the time of the Civil War, Richmond was the largest slave trading hub on the Atlantic Coast. If you wonder where Richmond slave traders bought their “inventory,� the answer is from surrounding counties, including Goochland and Louisa.

Map of Central Virginia in 1755 by Fry and Jefferson, Library of Congress

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In The Year of Our Lord

1745 East Leake, circa 1735, located just west of Gum Spring.

This was the home of Walter Leake, an early Presbyterian, and one of the larger dwellings in the area until the early 1800s.

What Sort of People are in This Place?

Imagine, if you will, the year is 1745 and you are arriving in a small crossroads village, later known as Gum Spring, in the heart of the vast Virginia colony. Roads have improved little since the first Englishmen arrived fifty years earlier, drawn by the lucrative Indian trade.

You might decide to turn into John Hill’s Ordinary to rest your horse and enjoy Hill's daily fare with a pint of hard cider. It's early fall and a large herd of hogs on their way to market are penned nearby for the night.

Perhaps you'll dine with one of the Huguenots, religious refugees from France, who were welcomed to Virginia by Colonial Governor William Byrd in 1700. Welcomed, that is, as long as they became good Anglicans and were willing to live on an abandoned Indian village called Manakintown. There they served as a buffer should another Indian war break out and threaten the English.

Unlike the colonies to the north (the Massachusetts Bay colony, Pennsylvania and Maryland), religious freedom was not the primary reason the British came to Virginia. It was money and the chance to make as much of it as possible. The labor of enslaved Africans quickly became essential to meeting that goal. At Hill's an enslaved cook will prepare your meal. The hostler tending your horse and most of the laborers you passed in fields along the way to Gum Spring, they were enslaved, too.

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The Tavern at the Crossroads John Allen received a license to operate an ordinary on the Three Notched Road from the newly formed Louisa County Court on February 14, 1742. His was one of seven establishments licensed in the county’s first two years. John Hill bought the tavern in 1746.

Once located every few miles along the public roads, colonial taverns, also called ordinaries, served travelers and local residents as places to gather, seek refreshment and entertainments, and foster the political consciousness of those gathered for discourse and debate. Tavern games such as dice and cards were played in the smoke-filled public rooms.

Crossroads and court house villages were the most desirable location for taverns and Hill’s Ordinary at the intersection of the Three Notched and Goochland Court House roads was ideally situated.

Prices for a Bill of Fare - Louisa County 1746 (Prices given in pounds, shillings and pence) French Brandy a quart 0 5 0 Canary a quart 0 5 0 Portugal or French Wine a quart 0 4 0 Madira Wine a quart 0 2 3 Western Island Wine a quart 0 2 0 Rum a quart 0 2 6 English or Spanish Brandy a quart 0 2 6 Virginia Brandy a quart 0 2 0 London or Bristoll strong Beer a quart 0 1 3 Wisky a quart 0 2 0 English Cyder a quart 0 1 3 Virginia or Pensylvania strong Beer a quart 0 0 6 Cyder not English a quart 0 0 0 ¾ Lemonade a quart with a pint of Wine therein and sweetened with double refined sugar; 0 1 3 Punch or Flip a quart with three gills of Rum therein and sweetened with double refined sugar 0 1 3

Dyet a meal of hot victuals 0 1 0 Dyet a meal of cold victuals 0 0 7½ A Servant’s dyet a meal 0 0 6 Lodging a night 0 0 6 Pasturage for a horse a day and night 0 0 6 Indian Corn a gallon Winchester measure 0 0 4 Stableage and Fodder for a horse a day and night 0 0 6 And so proportionately for a greater or lesser quantity which may be paid for in tobacco after the rate of twelve and six pence per hundred.

Above: Transcribed from the 1746 Louisa County Court Order Book held in the Louisa County Clerk’s office.

Hill's Ordinary stood on the site of the present Gum Spring United Methodist Church.

Examination of the oldest (right) side of the building revealed evidence of post-in-ground construction indicating the building may date as early as 1700. Photo courtesy of the Louisa County Historical Society

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"Let them remember that men are as chaff compared to principles."

So read an admonition dated 1846 from the Louisa Senatorial Convention after announcing: "Our friends will remember that this body meets on Tuesday at Micajah Parrish's, Gum Spring, Louisa."

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, Hill's Ordinary was operated by Micajah Parrish, postmaster for Gum Spring, and one of the original trustees of Gum Spring Methodist Church. Among its other purposes, his tavern served as the meeting place for the local Democratic party in the 1840s. Among their most important concerns of that time was whether runaway slaves who escaped to free northern states should be returned to their owners if caught. The same tension that split churches over the issue of slaveholding was also fracturing the new American experiment in democracy.

In the absence of telephones, or any other communication tools, it was common practice to announce meetings in newspapers. Meetings at Parrish's tavern (formerly Hill's Ordinary) can be found in Richmond papers throughout the 1830s-60s.

Fearing that Federal laws put forward by the Whig party would not protect slaveholding interests, citizens joined Committees of Correspondence and Vigilance in the late 1840s to monitor laws and protect their rights.

Louisa members near Gum Spring included: Micajah Parrish, Stephen Farrar, John Shelton, Dr. Thomas Shelton and John Woodson, and these men from Goochland: George Mayo, John Allen, James T. Isbell, and John Martin.

As you'll see in the following pages, early itinerant preachers who founded the churches in Gum Spring stirred questions of conscience about slaveholding.

Those questions had long since been laid to rest.

Virginians would keep their slaves and resist any Federal laws to the contrary. "Men are as chaff compared to principles," and Virginians were determined to hold to their principle of states’ rights to self-governance without interference.

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In The Year of Our Lord

1750 Allow your imagination to return you to Hill's Ordinary in 1750. If you ask other patrons about the religious spirit of the people in the area, you would quickly discover their interest in the new religious movements making their way through the colony.

An Anglican minister, Reverend William Douglas, lived nearby and faithfully married and baptized almost everyone in the area.

However, he was part of the British colonial government in Virginia. The people here had more independent leanings and many of them in this community on the old Three Notched Road welcomed preachers bringing a different call, a call to personal holiness and renewal.

You might find a few Quakers with you at the ordinary, members of the Society of Friends.

One might be from the Quaker families to first move into Goochland and Louisa Counties; Pleasants, Woodsons, Hutchins, and Hunnicuts.

John Todd wrote that George Whitefield preached at Providence meetinghouse in 1755, bringing "gentlemen to tears expressive of their sorrow that they had long neglected their souls."

The rooms at Hill's Ordinary were filled with discussions about the injustice of being forced to pay tithes for the support of the Church of England when local people attended other gatherings for worship.

Indeed, there were strong currents of spiritual interest here. But the people around you were also Virginians. As such they faced disturbing questions about the humanity and souls of the people they held in bondage and who worshipped with them in their churches.

Before God dark skinned people may be their brothers and sisters. But they were also their property and the labor force upon which wealth in Virginia depended.

New Light Presbyterian ministers Reverends Samuel Davies and John Todd likely gathered a crowd right where you are seated. By 1747, there were enough converts that Davies left Todd in charge of the congregation at Providence meetinghouse. Among the family names of those who joined the Presbyterian Society were: Holt, Leake, Christian, Rice, Shelton, Slayden, Woodson, and White.

Inset from the Fry Jefferson map 1775. Library of Congress

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The other patrons at the Ordinary could easily tell you about other churches Samuel Davies was planting in Virginia, among them The Byrd meetinghouse in Goochland. If your conversation was with a Presbyterian, he would surely remind you that the Church of England was the only official church at that time. Any other form of worship required a license from the governor, which Davies prudently sought. He might recount, in contrast, the flogging and imprisonment of the Baptists who held they owed no such deference to anyone but God. Virginia imported English notions of class stratification in society. Here in Gum Spring, further away from the seat of colonial power in Williamsburg, the appeal of equality in Christ being preached by these dissident preachers held a particularly strong appeal on a social level, as well as spiritual. Enslaved members of these congregations, and there were hundreds, could find a sense of the dignity and worth of their souls in the preachers' messages.

Unlike the Baptists who allowed some enslaved members to be deacons, vote in church matters, and preach, the Presbyterians could not reconcile themselves to hold with the notion of Africans as their equals in the Kingdom of God on earth. By 1800, the Baptists would also adopt that view.

Most early churches had balconies where the few black worshippers were seated separately, out of view of whites. That said, in 1853 Providence had only one black communicant, perhaps “Walter, a servant belonging to William Shelton� admitted to membership in 1845. The Methodists built no balcony into their 1857 church. Where any free or enslaved blacks still worshipping with them?

The gravity of the issue of slaveholding among Christians is almost impossible to overstate. The following pages express, with quotes from writings of the time, the depth of the struggle church leaders faced in the 1700s. Anglican, Quaker, Presbyterian, and Methodist leaders all warned of the perils slavery placed on men's souls.

Providence Church as it appeared about 1930 when Works Progress Administration staff conducted a photo documentation of historic buildings in Virginia.

Image held by the Library of Virginia.

Many early Quakers who remained in the area became Presbyterians. One was Tucker Woodson who allowed the Presbyterians to meet in his barn near Goochland courthouse. Other groups met at Licking Hole meetinghouse, referenced in this 1836 runaway slave advertisement in the Richmond Enquirer.

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The Church of England (The Anglicans/Episcopalians) All Virginians were expected to be members of the colony's official church, the Church of England.

They were taxed to support the church, could be fined or put in the stocks for not attending, and were limited in their rights to hold public office, etc., unless they were members of the church in good standing. While most Church of England clergymen were slaveholders themselves, one voice among them rattled the status quo. It was that of George Whitefield (1714–1770), among the most influential preachers of the First Great Awakening during the 1730s and 1740s in America.

"God has a Quarrel with you for your Abuse of and Cruelty to the poor Negroes."

George Whitefield

Whitefield drew massive crowds with his dramatic, passionate preaching. He regularly spoke outdoors, in part because he often found himself banned from local churches, and because church buildings could not hold the thousands who attended his revival meetings.

During one of his travels through Virginia, he preached at Providence meetinghouse in Gum Spring. Enslaved people were undoubtably present to hear his message. Whitefield's writings indicate he was concerned about the spiritual state of enslaved people. Whitefield taught that Africans were the spiritual equals of European colonists, and that masters should not abuse their slaves out of fear of God's judgment, but he did not demand their freedom from bondage.

During the Revolutionary War, most Church of England clergy returned to England. Following the war, Anglicans became Episcopalians in America, but the power and influence of the Methodists and Baptists overshadowed all other denominations in Virginia and most of the South.

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Anglican George Whitefield preaching during America's first Great Awakening. Benjamin Franklin once calculated that Whitefield’s voice was loud enough to be heard by a crowd of 30,000.

"In February 1740, Whitefield's friend Benjamin Franklin published Three Letters from the Reverend Mr. G. Whitefield in Philadelphia.

The third was addressed "To the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina" and registered Whitefield's concern for the enslaved and their treatment.

"As I lately passed through your Provinces ‌ I was sensibly touched with a Fellow-feeling of the Miseries of the Negroes," Whitefield wrote.

"God has a Quarrel with you for your Abuse of and Cruelty to the poor Negroes." He rebuked slave masters for mercilessly beating their involuntary laborers and for failing to provide basic food and clothing for them. He also suggested that white southerners were keeping the gospel of Christianity from the slaves for fear that salvation would make them restless for freedom.

Over time, Whitefield's prophetic stance against the abuse of slaves dulled, and he himself became an advocate for slavery in Georgia, which had once banned it. He also came to own a plantation and slaves in South Carolina, donated to him by planters there who had converted under his preaching. Whitefield's moderate approach to slavery became typical of white southern evangelicals: he believed that slaves needed salvation, and he argued against their maltreatment, but ultimately he would no longer challenge the institution of slavery itself.

George Whitefield eventually moved to Georgia where he opened an orphanage.

His need for funding for the orphanage led him to drop his opposition to slavery and he privately owned many slaves at the time of his death.

Painting by John Russell, 1771.

Drawn from an Encyclopedia Virginia article contributed by Dr. Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University

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The Quakers, Society of Friends The first "dissenting" church to make a significant impact in colonial Virginia was the Society of Friends, or Quakers as they came to be known. And no individual had more influence on the Friends than their itinerant missionary John Woolman. In 1757, Woolman made an extensive journey through the Upper South, including a late spring visit to the Friends in Hanover and Louisa. His soul was heavy as he traveled due to what he perceived as a hardness of heart among the Friends in our area. He saw they lived at the expense of the labor of their slaves and profited from the buying and selling of human beings. After being with the members of two meetings just north of Gum Spring in Louisa County, he wrote the following on May 14, 1757: "These are the souls for whom Christ died, and for our conduct towards them we must answer before Him who is no respecter of persons.

They who know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, and are thus acquainted with the merciful, benevolent, gospel spirit, will therein perceive that the indignation of God is kindled against oppression and cruelty, and in beholding the great distress of so numerous a people will find cause for mourning."

A few years later, the gentle Quaker Woolman wrote that slavery was "a dark gloominess hanging over the Land," and he predicted "its future consequence will be grievous to posterity."

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"Many slaves on the continent are oppressed, and their cries have reached the ears of the Most High. Such are the purity and certainty of his judgments that he cannot be partial in our favor."

John Woolman

Woolman made it his personal practice to pay any enslaved person who served him while he was a guest in the home of church members, much to the slaveholder's embarrassment.

He would not wear the deep blue clothes of the day as indigo die was produced in South Carolina by enslaved labor.

In 1769, he wrote, “A heavy account lies against us as a civil society for oppressions committed against people who did not injure us, and that if the particular case of many individuals were fairly stated, it would appear that there was considerable due to them.�

John Woolman died in 1772. Within four years of his death, slave holding was officially prohibited among the Friends..

Journal of John Woolman on his travels in Virginia 1757. On the eleventh Day of the fifth Month ..., we crossed the Rivers Patowmack and Rapahannock, and on the Way we happening in Company with a Colonel of the Militia, who appeared to be a thoughtful Man. I took Occasion to remark on the Difference in general betwixt a People used to labour moderately for their Living, training up their Children in Frugality and Business, and those who live on the Labour of Slaves; the former, in my View, being the most happy Life: With which he concurred, and mentioned the Trouble arising from the untoward, slothful, Disposition of the Negroes; adding, that one of our Labourers would do as much in a Day as two of their Slaves. I replied, that free Men, whose Minds were properly on their Business, found a Satisfaction in improving, cultivating, and providing for their Families; but Negroes, labouring to support others who claim them as their Property, and expecting nothing but Slavery during Life, had not the like Inducement to be industrious.

After some farther Conversation, I said, that Men having Power too often misapplied it; that though we made Slaves of the Negroes, and the Turks made Slaves of the Christians, I believed that Liberty was the natural Right of all Men equally: Which he did not deny; but said, the Lives of the Negroes were so wretched in their own Country, that many of them lived better here than there‌ To which I then replied, if Compassion on the Africans were the real Motive of our purchasing them, that Spirit of Tenderness would incite us to use them kindly; that, as Strangers brought out of Affliction, their Lives might be happy among us; and as they are human Creatures, whose Souls are as precious as ours, and who may receive the same Help and Comfort from the holy Scriptures as we do, we could not omit suitable Endeavours to instruct them therein: But we manifest, by our Conduct, that our Views in purchasing them are to advance ourselves.

We came amongst Friends at Cedar-Creek (near Scotchtown, Hanover) in Virginia, on the 12th Day of the fifth Month; and the next Day rode, in Company with several Friends, a Day's Journey to Camp Creek (western Louisa). As I was riding along in the Morning, my Mind was deeply affected in a Sense I had of the Want of divine Aid to support me in the various Difficulties which attended me; and, in an uncommon Distress of Mind. After some Time, I felt inward Relief; and, soon after, a Friend in Company began to talk in Support of the Slave-Trade, and said, the Negroes were understood to be the Offspring of Cain, their Blackness being the Mark God set upon him after he murdered Abel his Brother; that it was the Design of Providence they should be Slaves, as a Condition proper to the Race of so wicked a Man as Cain was...

I was troubled to perceive the Darkness of their Imaginations; and in some Pressure of Spirit said, the Love of Ease and Gain is the Motive in general for keeping Slaves, and Men are wont to take hold of weak Arguments to support a Cause which is unreasonable...I believe he, who is a Refuge for the Oppressed, will, in his own Time, plead their Cause; and happy will it be for such as walk in Uprightness before him: And thus our Conversation ended.

Woolman's journal provides glimpses into the arguments used to justify slavery. The recitation of these arguments in churches, government bodies, and around dinner tables for generations made them accepted as unquestioned truths.

Such twists of logic and scripture have allowed many white Christians to remain silent in the face of subsequent injustices to Americans of African descent.

Are their echoes still present today in white American Christianity?

Are they present in our own?

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From a letter from John Woolman, Quaker, to Friends at their Monthly meetings at New Garden and Cane Creek in North-Carolina, written two weeks after being in Louisa County, Virginia,

Dear Friends, It having pleased the Lord to draw me forth on a Visit to some Parts of Virginia and Carolina, you have often been in my Mind; and though my Way is not clear to come in Person to visit you, yet I feel it in my Heart to communicate a few Things, as they arise in the Love of Truth.

First, my dear Friends, dwell in Humility, and take Heed that no Views of outward Gain get too deep hold of you, that so your Eyes being single to the Lord, you may be preserved in the Way of Safety. Where People let loose their Minds after the Love of outward Things, and are more engaged in pursuing the Profits, and seeking the Friendships of this World than to be inwardly acquainted with the Way of true Peace; such walk in a vain Shadow, while the true Comfort of Life is wanting: Their Examples are often hurtful to others; and their Treasures, thus collected, do many Times prove dangerous Snares to their Children.

But where People are sincerely devoted to follow Christ, and dwell under the Influence of his holy Spirit, their Stability and Firmness, through a divine Blessing, is at Times like Dew on the tender Plants round about them, and the Weightiness of their Spirits secretly works on the Minds of others; and in this Condition, through the spreading Influence of divine Love, they feel a Care over the Flock; and Way is opened for maintaining good Order in the Society: And though we meet with Opposition from another Spirit, yet, as there is a dwelling in Meekness, feeling our Spirits subject, and moving only in the gentle peaceable Wisdom, the inward Reward of Quietness will be greater than all our Difficulties.

And now, dear Friends and Brethren, as you are improving a Wilderness, and may be numbered amongst the first Planters in one Part of a Province, I beseech you, in the Love of Jesus 16

Christ, to wisely consider the Force of your Examples, and think how much your Successors may be thereby affected: It is a Help in a Country, yea, and a great Favour and a Blessing, when Customs, first settled, are agreeable to sound Wisdom; so, when they are otherwise, the Effect of them is grievous; and Children feel themselves encompassed with Difficulties prepared for them by their Predecessors.

I have been informed that there is a large Number of Friends in your Parts, who have no Slaves; and in tender and most affectionate Love, I beseech you to keep clear from purchasing any. Look, my dear Friends, to divine Providence; and follow in Simplicity that Exercise of Body, that Plainness and Frugality, which true Wisdom leads to; so will you be preserved from those Dangers which attend such as are aiming at outward Ease and Greatness.

Treasures, though small, attained on a true Principle of Virtue, are sweet in the Possession, and, while we walk in the Light of the Lord, there is true Comfort and Satisfaction. Here, neither the Murmurs of an oppressed People, nor an uneasy Conscience, nor anxious Thoughts about the Events of Things, hinder the Enjoyment of it.

When we look toward the End of Life, and think on the Division of our Substance among our Successors; if we know that it was collected in the Fear of the Lord, in Honesty, in Equity, and in Uprightness of Heart before him, we may consider it as his Gift to us; and with a single Eye to his Blessing, bestow it on those we leave behind us. Such is the Happiness of the plain Ways of true Virtue.

If the Lord be our God, in Truth and Reality, there is Safety for us; for he is a Stronghold in the Day of Trouble, and knoweth them that trust in him.

Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 29th of the 5th Month, 1757.

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The Presbyterians The first Presbyterian ministers in Gum Spring, Reverends Samuel Davies and John Todd, arrived in the 1740s. They shared the distress of John Woolman for the deadened condition of many white souls in Virginia. In a July 14, 1756 letter to supporters in England, Davies wrote: “Last Sunday I had a sacrament, assisted by my good brother Mr. Todd. It was a time of unusual anxiety for me, I hardly ever felt so much of a pastoral heart, and yet I had not the liberty to vent it. I hope it was a refreshing time to some hungry souls. I had the pleasure of seeing the table of the Lord adorned with about forty-five black faces. Indeed, my principal encouragement of late has been among the poor negro slaves...But alas! notwithstanding these appearances, an incorrigible stupidity generally prevails through this guilty land; and there is no spot on our globe that more requires the pity and the prayers of God's people.”

While Davies was in Virginia, he reported to his missionary society that hundreds of slaves had converted to Christianity. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Literacy Campaign sent Bibles and hymnals to Virginia and Davies estimated that 1,000 enslaved converts had learned to read.

Davies described seeing those who could read helping others follow along in the Bible and hymnbook during services and remarked at how quickly that knowledge was spreading.

Image from the Re-enactment at Providence Church during the 250th Anniversary of the church's founding.

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John Todd, who pastored Providence Church in Gum Spring until his death in 1793, reported "that slaves shared the books they received from Davies across considerable distances—throughout Virginia as well as “a great part” of North Carolina and some areas of Maryland and Pennsylvania."

Neither Davies nor Todd called for the manumission of slaves among their members. Virginia law did not permit it and the dissenters already walked a tightrope with the Crown. The Louisa County Tithables list, taxes collected on all citizens to support the Church of England, includes the following enslaved people owned by John Todd: Betty, Dick, Pegg, Jane, Phillis, Jack, Markus, Flora, Frankey, Millia, and Kenny.

The Connecting Thread Methodists have their roots firmly planted in the Church of England, as John and Charles Wesley were both Anglican priests. John Wesley gathered a group of Methodists, called the "Holy Club" by sceptics, at Oxford in the 1730s. Among the club's central members was George Whitefield.

Whitefield was also a firm Calvinist. He and John Wesley worked together for a time, but later separated over Whitefield’s belief in predestination, the belief that God has determined from eternity whom he will save. Wesley regarded this as an erroneous doctrine and insisted that the love of God was universal and salvation for all who desired it. The rift led to Whitefield becoming the leader of the Calvinistic Methodists in 1743 and shaped Whitefield's ministry when he came to the American Colonies.

This helps explain why Whitefield often preached at Presbyterian (Calvinist) meeting houses. His preaching at Providence church here in Gum Spring could possibly be the beginning of the Methodist movement in the area. It could also explain why the Methodists and the Presbyterians shared worship space until the 1850s. Interestingly, there is no mention of the Methodists departing in the Providence church session book.

Charles Wesley wrote "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" in 1744. In the years to follow, it may have been sung by the congregation at Providence meetinghouse. Might we wonder how its words, sung at the start of each new liturgical year, expressed the longings of the enslaved worshippers among the Presbyterians and Methodists, the saints with African roots.

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In The Year of Our Lord

1780 "I am strongly persuaded that if the Methodists will not yield on this point and emancipate their slaves, God will depart from them."

Francis Asbury, 1779

The Methodists If you were to revisit the little tavern at the crossroads in Gum Spring thirty years later, say about 1780, the generation then alive would know of the Methodists.

It's possible that a small band, or "class" of Methodists had been gathering since George Whitefield preached several years earlier. But, whatever their roots, you would find the presence of Methodists. So did Francis Asbury when he traveled through Goochland and Louisa, gathering crowds of several hundred and encouraging believers to stay close to each other and close to God. The Methodists would tell you they still felt themselves a part of the Anglican church, but brought spiritually alive through the earlier work of George Whitefield and their classes for study and growth Methodism encouraged. They were firmly Anglicans when the Revolutionary War broke out and so faced the challenges of their church being so closely tied to England. Most of the Anglican clergy fled the colonies leaving no one to administer the sacraments.

In 1780, Methodists in the South gathered in Fluvanna County at the old Broken Back Church to discern if it was time to break away from the Church of England.

The decision was made there in Fluvanna to become independent from the English church and its clergy.

Francis Asbury 20

The early Methodists here felt they were serious about their discipleship to Christ. But they were also Virginians. Those two loyalties clashed most profoundly over the issue of slaveholding. By 1844, the abolition question had produced so much tension that the Methodist church split. When Gum Spring's church was formed in 1857, it was firmly part of the Methodist Church South, which sanctioned slave holding and offered no challenge to it.

“Give liberty to whom liberty is due, that is, to every child of man, to every partaker of human nature. Let none serve you but by his own act and deed, by his own voluntary action. Away with all whips, all chains, all compulsion. Be gentle toward all men; and see that you invariably do with every one as you would he should do unto you. " John Wesley, 1743

From the Journal of Francis Asbury, early edition.

Tuesday, February 23, 1779… I have yet been impressed with a deep concern, for bringing about the freedom of the slaves in America, and feel resolved to do what I can to promote it. If God in His providence hath detained me in this country, to be instrumental in so merciful and great an undertaking, I hope He will give me wisdom and courage sufficient...I am strongly persuaded that if the Methodists will not yield on this point and emancipate their slaves, God will depart from them.

This page from the Journal of Francis Asbury described his journey from Goochland to Fluvanna for the meeting at the Broken Back Church south of Palmyra.

Tuesday, October 3, 1779 … Road twenty miles, crossed the James River and lodged at Tucker Woodson's (in Goochland Court House) I spoke and prayed with an old Presbyterian, who was once pleased with our preachers.

21

Indians Were also Held as Slaves Three generations of Catawba Indians had been wrongfully enslaved. Such was the verdict of the Louisa County Court in 1768 when Joseph Tyree, known as Indian Joe, petitioned the court for his freedom. Indian Joe and his family were owned by John Thompson who operated a store in Louisa County near the South Anna River on Rt. 522.

Joe was the son of Priss Tyree, a Catawba Indian who was sold at age 12 or 13 by her father to an Indian trader who brought her to Virginia. From the time she was first sold, she protested that she was an Indian not captured in war and should not be held as a slave. Potential buyers knew the laws and that her claim was likely to be taken seriously at some point. She was sold several times and never for a high price in case she won her freedom and her owner at the time lost their investment. She was never freed before death.

Several years after Priss died, her son, Joe, won his freedom. He then helped Priss' other descendants Nan, Barlet, Priss and Betty win their freedom, too.

Free people of color were not equal to whites before the law and were vulnerable to reenslavement. An ad for two runaway slaves (right) was printed in 1780 in the Virginia Gazette. The ages of Indian Joe and Nan match those in the case above. Could they be the same people somehow reenslaved? We may never know.

22

Advertisement from the Virginia Gazette for Indian Isaac. Indians were enslaved as captives of war or circumstance throughout the 1600s in Virginia. By 1700, African slaves became the preferred labor force. Indian slaves were still held in Louisa and Goochland into the late 1700s, but laws became more lenient allowing them to petition for freedom if they or their ancestors had not been "justly" captured in wars with the English..

Virginia Gazette Richmond, October 18, 1780 RUN away from the subscriber in Goochland, a negro man named JOE, about 5 feet 6 inches high, 50 years old. He is of the Indian breed, with long black hair tied behind, took off with him, a negro woman name NAN, about 5 feet 3 inches high, of a yellow complexion, about 28 years old. The fellow has the first joint of his middle finger on his left hand cut which occasions it to stand crooked; he took with him a set of shoemakers tools. I expect they will endeavour to pass for free man and woman, for the fellow is very sensible. If any person will take up the said slaves, and bring them to me shall receive 200 dollars, besides what the law allows, if taken out of the county, or 100 dollars to secure them in any jail so that we get them again.

WILLIAM WOODSON. JOHN BRUMFIELD. (image of ad not available)

Top- Photo site of documented Indian village on Bracketts Farm in western Louisa County.

Above- Images of Pamunkey Indians Mrs. George Cook and Chief William Terrill Bradly taken about 1900, possibly on the reservation in New Kent County. Pamunkey Indians were among the tribes enslaved in Central Virginia in the 1700s. Their surnames, Cook, Terrill, Bradly, are also found in Louisa and Goochland counties. No records exist to prove possible connections.

23

The following is just one of many advertisements for the return of runaway slaves from Goochland and Louisa County. This incident involved a significant number of individuals who ran away from White Hall plantation. It describes them along with their trade or skills.

Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser Baltimore, June 27, 1780.

TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS REWARD. FOR taking up Twelve NEGROES, who ran away from the subscriber last April--Eight of them are Men, and Four Women, namely Cyrus, Billy, Van, Chelsie, Sam, George, Davie, and Bartlett, Hannah, Lucy, Hannah, and Nan, all very likely slaves. I have reason to believe they are intending to get on board some vessel to go up the Bay towards Baltimore, and perhaps farther. They are most of them very artful, and expect to pass as free people. There is one of them a shoemaker, named Chelsie, a young man; Cyrus, his father, is much the oldest among them whose business has been an hostler and gardener. Sam is a very young man, tall and rather slender made. The other five Men are only used to plantation business; though George is a very good whiskey distiller.

They are most of them young and likely. Hannah is Cyrus's wife, and is much the oldest woman, and has been used to house business. Lucy's business has been to wash and iron. Young Hannah and Nan are exceeding good flax spinners. They are all mostly clothed in Virginia cloth; but Cyrus, if not parted with it, has a very remarkable coat, having a great number of patches of different colours. They have stole some guns, and many different sorts of clothes, and I expect they will change their names. WHOEVER shall take up the said Slaves, and delivers them to me, in Goochland County, Virginia, or secures them, so that I get them again, shall receive the above Reward, if taken out of the State; or Two Thousand Pounds if taken within this State, and in proportion for any one of them. They must be well secured, Cyrus in particular, or they will make their escape. It is supposed a Negro man, named Tom Day, a carpenter, belonging to Co. Burgess Ball, is in company with them, as he is run away, and is brother to Billy and Sam above-named. Mine is outlawed. JOHN PAYNE. June 15, 1780.

(John Payne's plantation was Whitehall west of Sandy Hook) 24

A World Not Simply Black and White, Free or Enslaved Virginia society was firmly divided by class. It was, after all, an English colony. The lower half was made up of indentured servants, whites who could not afford passage to American and were in debt for their passage and Africans, brought to Virginia for the sale of their labor. Both groups were indentured only for a set period of years. The first African to become enslaved for life was John Punch, who ran away with two white indentured men. When they were caught and sentenced on July 9, 1640 in York County, Punch was punished with enslavement for life. The two white men were sentenced with only one additional year of servitude.

Virginia laws continued to evolve, drawing ever clearer lines between European born people and those of African or Indian ancestry. During the 1600s and early 1700s, Indians and indentured whites often had children with Africans.. In 1705, a law passed defining a mulatto as anyone with an Indian or African parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent. The law was prompted, in part, by the petition of John Bunch, a mulatto, to marry Sarah Slayden, a white woman. Both lived just over the Hanover County line from Gum Spring and it is very likely Sarah was the aunt of Arthur Slayden who donated the land for Providence Church. The church delayed a decision and John Bunch did not, in the end, marry Sarah.

By the time Gum Spring became a village in the mid 1700s, several free people of color lived in Goochland and Louisa including the Mealys and Banks. Remembering the law dictated that a child was born into the condition of the mother, indentured mothers created a special hardship for their children. A child born to an indentured mother was born into her condition– meaning the child was indentured until the age of 30 (laws later reduced the age), a woman’s prime childbearing years. You can easily see how this created a perpetual cycle of free but indentured people. Is that part of our story? Yes. Court records of Goochland indicate several people, like Jane Banks, bound by indenture to Walter and Judith Leake, Providence Church members.

Two Runaway ads from the Richmond Enquirer describe the men who have run away as “gingerbread color.” On the left is an 1859 ad published on behalf of the estate of Tarlton Fleming for a man named Edward, about 23 or 24 years of age. On the right is an ad published in 1855 for the return of Tom, “gingerbread color, rather pleasing face, looks down when spoken to... About 20 years old.“ 25

26

Records from the 1782 Order Book in the Goochland County Clerk's Office.

Brief Window for Freeing Slaves 1782-1806 Even if mercy and the right to freedom persuaded a slaveholder to grant manumission (freedom) to his slaves, Virginia laws established in the 1720s made such an act all but impossible.

Shortly after the colonies won their independence from Great Britain, a group of citizens, including some former Quakers, pressured Virginia's legislature to change the laws. In 1782 a new law was passed allowing slaveholders to free their slaves. No restrictions were imposed except that they provide for the care of the young and very old.

When the Goochland County Court met in October of 1782, several of the Quakers and others received approval for the manumissions they desired to grant. The page from the Order Book of the court is printed to the left. Notice the final entry for a less fortunate enslaved fellow named Dick. Dick had been jailed and punished with castration. The Court approved payment for a physician to visit him to determine if he was healed sufficiently to return to his master.

In 1806, the Virginia legislature passed a law allowing the continuance of private manumissions, but requiring every person freed on or after May 1, 1806 to leave the state within one year unless the Virginia Legislature granted special permission for them to remain. This often forced the choice between freedom outside Virginia and family.

No. 139, Virginia, Louisa County Court Clerks Office. May 11, 1833.

“Nancy Jackson, a negro woman emancipated by the Rev. John Todd, Dec….the said Nancy Jackson is of dark complexion, five feet high, fifty odd years of age, of good countenance , and has no apparent scar or mark deemed worthy of notice.” (Re-registration was required every three years)

27

The People Manumitted by Thomas Pleasants in 1782 Those granted manumission did not enter a world that welcomed them or assisted their economic survival. For those who had not learned a trade such as carpentry, blacksmithing, spinning, etc., they had little source of income to purchase property, tools and livestock for farming, food and clothing or to pay the annual head tax due on each person over the age of 16. Each year until the 1865, a list of Insolvents was published in Goochland and Louisa containing the names of those delinquent on their taxes. Anyone, including the Commonwealth, could pay that tax and force the insolvent individual to work off payment in a forced labor arrangement. Join me in taking a look at what happened to some of the fifty-nine slaves manumitted by Thomas Pleasants. They are recorded as: Bridget about seventy, Ben forty-six, Cupid forty-one, Roger thirty-three, Frank thirty-five, Charles twenty-nine, Miles thirty-five, Jonass thirty-one, Jack twenty-two, Maria fifty, Aggy forty-four, Judith thirty-nine, Fanny forty-one, Cloe thirty-seven, Phillis thirty-one, Sylvia twenty-nine, Patience twenty-three, Balinda thirty, Avarilla thirty-one, Daphne, thirty-six...and having thirtynine Negroes now in their minority of the following names and ages; vizt.: Roger seventeen, David sixteen, David fifteen, Ned fourteen, Gale seven, Jack nine, Sam six, Frederick four, Jacob twelve, Bob ten, James Eleven, Lewis eleven, Juba thirteen, Dick eleven, Jo Cooper twelve, Nancy sixteen, Clarissa fourteen, Bridget ten, Dick nine, Jane seven, Louise three, Peggy seventeen, Aggy eight, Nancy five, Lucy three, George 1-3/4, Molly 1-1/2, Ovid 1/2, Fanny 1/2 and everyone of them hereby emancipated and set free when they shall arrive of lawful age, the males twenty-one and the females eighteen. 21 10th Month 1782. Thomas Pleasants. recorded in Goochland, 21 Oct 1782 By 1796, fourteen years had passed and several of the former slaves of Thomas Pleasants were insolvent. If parents could not care for underage children, the children were bound out (indentured) until they reached adulthood, hopefully learning a profitable trade during that time.

“The Overseers of the Poor bind John and Joe children of Sylvia; Nancy, Diana and Becky children of Daphne Cooper; Sally and Catherine children of Averilla Cooper. Royall and Benjamin children of Clarissa Cooper, and Sall child of Aggy Cooper, Sarah, Sam, Peggy and Allen, children of Nancy all being free negro children to Thomas Pleasants.”

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A troublesome entry involving several of the Coopers is recorded by the Court 15 January 1794, “Examination of Bridget Cooper, a free negro, charged with murdering her bastard child 23 December last.... Cloe the mother of the prisoner...Clarissa a sister of the prisoner. Witnesses to appear in Richmond: Becca Cooper, Nancy Cooper and Janey Watkins.” Was the relationship that created the child consensual, or was the pregnancy a result of unwanted relations— a rape? Was the father another free person of color or had Bridget, like many enslaved women, been violated by a white man? Was this an abortion or a murder precipitated by despair or a cause we may never know? Whatever the circumstances, it was a tragedy for all.

These images show some of the dehumanizing treatment of enslaved people which concerned the early preachers in Gum Spring.

Virginia Gazette Williamsburg, November 7, 1751.

Goochland, October 24, 1751. RAN away from the Subscriber's Plantation, near Albemarle Court House, some Time in May last, a Negro Man named Robin; he is a small Fellow, about 30 Years of Age, speaks pretty good English, his Legs are crooked; had on his Neck when he went away an Iron Collar, and took with him a Gun. Whoever brings him to me shall be rewarded according to Law. Peter Jefferson (father of Thomas Jefferson)

Iron Mask, Neck Collar (riveted in place) 18th century, from Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora

"Live Stock" "Examining a Slave for Sale, Virginia, 1830", From Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora 29

In The Year of Our Lord

1835 America was changing rapidly in the first few decades of the 1800s. By the 1830s, the area around Gum Spring was well established. Roads were improving across the Appalachians and many people from our area were purchasing large tracts of land in the west and in the Deep South for the burgeoning cotton market. Labor was needed for producing cotton and slave traders came to Gum Spring looking for likely slaves to purchase and sell in Richmond. Some marched them, chained into coffles, a thousand miles south to maximize profits.

The most vulnerable time for enslaved families was when an owner died. Many were divided among the heirs, or sold if the estate needed cash.

Shockoe Bottom in Richmond was a massive slave auction site, second only to New Orleans.

One of the largest slaveholders in the early 1800s was Thomas Shelton, son of Elder David Shelton of Providence Church. When Thomas died in 1826, there are 98 people listed in the inventory of his slaves. One has a last name of Kersey, many took the names Jackson, Robinson, and Sheltons and still live on the land nearby. Thomas’ brother, Joseph lived on Wild Boar Creek in Goochland. We know several of Joseph’s slaves were sent to auction in 1848 for his estate reimbursed Mr. Trice who “cried the sale of the negroes at Louisa Court House.”

Photos: the picture of the family above is from the Civil War era photographs of Matthew Brady. The location of this family is not noted but it could represent any one of the thousands of enslaved families in Louisa and Goochland. The photo to the right is of Roseneath, the home of Thomas Shelton, taken in 1936 as part of the Virginia Historical Inventory project of the Works Progress Administration.

30

Tobacco continued to be a cash crop well into the 1950s. The photo of the man and boy working a tobacco field with mules was taken in the mid-1900s but the image was probably the same across Central Virginia before the Civil War.

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The Case of Eliza a Free Woman of Colour The following document appears in the Library of Virginia online archive. In it many from the community of Gum Spring petition for a free woman, Eliza, to be allowed to remain in the state. Here story illustrates the uncertainties and vulnerabilities of any person of color in the legal and judicial systems of the time.

February 18th, 1840, To the Legislature of Virginia, The undersigned your petitioners would respectfully represent to your Honourable body, in behalf of Eliza a free woman of colour now residing in the county of Goochland that by the last will and testament of a certain Joseph Perkins who departed this life some time since in the county of Louisa, the said Eliza is entitled to her freedom and by the laws of the land will in a few months be compelled to leave the Commonwealth unless it may please your honourable body to permit her to remain. Your petitioners represent that she is a woman under good character, of industrious habits and capable of maintaining and supporting herself, that she has a husband the slave of a certain John Martin of the said county of Goochland to who she is much attached and from whom a separation would be painful and distressing to her, that the husband of the said Eliza is also under good character and manifests great concern and anxiety at the idea of separating from her, that the union between her and her husband took place long before the death of her master, and consequently long before either of them could have know that she would be liberated.

Your petitioners therefor pray in behalf of the said Eliza that she be permitted to remain within the limits of the Commonwealth. (Among the signers are John Martin, Sr., William M. Leake, Charles and Peter Guerrant, Americus V. Payne, Benjamin Anderson and about forty-five others from the area around Gum Spring.)

No, this is not a photo of Eliza. It is noted simply as “Nurse of Minor Family� and found in the Minor Family Papers at the University of Virginia. This woman and Eliza might have known each other, since Lancelot Minor and his family were members of Providence Church until they requested to be transferred to a church in Amherst County in 1851. Lancelot Minor only had one older female in the 1850 slave census.

This woman is probably the 62 year old woman he owned, born about 1788. Nothing more of her is known.

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What We Know of Eliza’s Story Joseph Perkins died in 1833 and his will was filed in Louisa County. After the usual dispersions of property, etc., he granted almost all of his slaves their freedom effective six years after his death. To the left is the entire list of his slaves and the value assigned to each from his inventory in Louisa County Will Book 9, page 96. We know from the final settlement of his estate that at least Dick, Lewis, Billy, Sam and Polly were hired out in the following years, hopefully to people who fed and clothed them adequately and did not try to maximize profit by cutting the expense of their care.

When 1839 arrived, it was time for Joseph Perkin’s executors to carry out his wishes. As you may recall, Virginia law required that manumitted slaves leave the state within one year. We know Eliza desired to remain with her husband from the February 1840 petition. She, along with Lewis, Billy, Isham, Sam, Sampson, Ann, Milly, Mary, Polly, Frances, Jesse and Reuben were taken to Louisa Courthouse on September 14, 1840 to register as free and Perkin’s estate reimbursed the man who took them.

Other entries in the estate settlement tell more details of the story: A wagon and four horses were purchased to “remove negroes to Ohio,” along with tents and supplies for the journey.

Carr Fleming, a 43 year-old white farmer living near Gum Spring, made the journey with them to see they safely arrived in free territory and were not harassed or taken by slave catchers along the way. The receipts tell us one person died and was buried along the way.

Did Eliza go with the others to Ohio, or was the petition on her behalf granted so she could remain near her husband? No last name is given to her in these records. We have been unable to find a woman named Eliza near Gum Spring after this date when she should have been listed as a free woman of color.

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In The Year of Our Lord

1850 If you returned to Gum Spring a decade before the Civil War, you'd find the public coach which traveled along the Three Chopt a much improved manner of conveyance. You would probably notice a large number of free people of color, including many mulattos, lighter skinned persons with some white ancestry. Although free, they experienced nothing of the rights whites enjoyed and held for themselves in Virginia.

Free people of color could not vote, hold office, serve on juries, or move about without papers proving they were free. They also lived with the constant threat of being kidnapped, sold to slave traders, and led away in chains to bondage far from home and family.

In 1854, the Richmond Enquirer reported that "a white man named Mathew C. Johnson of Goochland was tried in Richmond for kidnapping a free negro boy, nine years of age, named Thomas Henry Swan and selling him for $375." Johnson was caught and send to jail.

Imagine the feelings of anxiety carried by the free people of color in our neighborhood.

How did church leaders respond? Did they feel the responsibility to help protect their vulnerable neighbors living in Gum Spring: Lizzie Mealy, the seamstress,; or Anthony Jenkins and Levi Mealy the shoemakers,; or Thomas Moss the boatman and his wife Britty; Jiles and Martha Cook; Isham Fuzemore and his wife Betsey, the weaver; Margaret Mealy and Everlina Mealy who lived between Hodges and George Mayo, the other Methodist trustee.

And finally, by 1850 you would find the churches firmly on the side of slave holding.

The tension over slavery had become so strong that it severed the body of Christ, splitting the Methodists in 1844 and the Presbyterians in 1858.

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Hostility Toward Free Blacks Increased in the 1850s Just thirteen years after almost fifty local residents petitioned the legislature to allow Eliza to remain in the state, the community of Gum Spring expressed very different sentiments toward the free black and mulatto people in their midst. In 1853, many of those same people who petitioned for Eliza to remain now petitioned the legislature to “make a law that humanely but practicably removes all free negroes and mulattoes from the state.” The resolution they sent to Richmond was led by Walter D. Leake, a descendant of Walter and Judith Leake who had held the indenture of the free woman Jane Banks in the 1700s.

The wording of the petition below reflects echoes of the justifications for white superiority that appeared in the journal of John Woolman a hundred years earlier. The economic and social barriers erected by law and custom had successfully created a sense of non-whites as “the inferior others. ” Throughout history such a disavowing of responsibility toward those neighbors has led to desires such as the ones expressed below to expel them from the community which whites wanted to keep to and for themselves. We can easily imagine the words of rebuke Asbury, or Woolman, would have spoken. However, their words were longer welcomed any more than the presence of these free brothers and sisters of color.

Richmond Enquirer Feb 1, 1853. The citizens of Goochland resolved to ask that the legislature act to remove all free negroes and mulattos from the state. Walter D. Leake, local leader of this initiative, was from East Leake just west of Gum Spring, an elder of Byrd Presbyterian who often attended Providence, and frequently convened political meetings at Parrish's tavern.

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Virginia's Economy Depended on Slavery "With slavery, we have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other." Thomas Jefferson, 1820 White Virginians, including those in Gum Spring, chose to keep their slaves and became economically dependent on slave labor. By the 1840s, breeding slaves for sale in the Deep South's cotton fields was more profitable to Louisa and Goochland slaveholders than farming.

The result was devastating on a moral and social level.

It's often said, "Most people here did not own slaves." In actual fact is that by 1860 over 60% of white families did. The sheer scale of slaveholding is best documented by the ratio of slave to free people. The economic scope of slaveholding can best be seen by taxable property statistics.

The 1790 Federal Census provides the first data comparing the total number of enslaved to free inhabitants. As you see, at least 1/3 of the people in each county were enslaved. By 1860 the percentage was close to 60%.

1790 Goochland County

Louisa County

4,656 enslaved

4,574 enslaved

9,053 free

8,467 free

5% free blacks

2% free blacks

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Taxes were due each year on all males over age 16 and on all slaves of working age. The tax base for Louisa County is printed below.

Statistics are similar for Goochland and other surrounding counties. Note that over 75% of the 1782 tax revenue to the county was from slaves.

That ratio continued through 1865 and caused a devastating reduction in tax income when the war ended and all slaves were emancipated.

1782 Louisa Personal Property Tax Totals 699 White males over 16

Louisa County

6,139 enslaved

10,194 enslaved

3,814 white free

6,183 white free

703 free blacks

324 free blacks

349 Lbs

4,522 Blacks of working age

2,263

“

2,322 Horses

232

“

9,000 Cattle (incl. oxen)

112

“

7

“

20 Whools (sheep) Total

2,967 Lbs

1862 Louisa County Tax Totals Land

1860 Goochland County

When the Revolution was over, each county took stock of its tax base. Land, of course, was taxed but land was of far less value than today. What was valuable was the means of producing wealth from the land and that took slave labor.

Slaves

311,289 acres value $3,446,261 9,512 slaves value $3,451,974

Total taxable property

value $8,527,186

When the war ended, 40% of the tax base (slaves) evaporated as these people were now free.

In The Year of Our Lord

1860 Imagine it is right after Christmas in the year 1860 when your travels once again bring you to Gum Spring. You would find Micajah Parrish's tavern full of activity. You’d sense a clear uneasiness about the strained relationships between North and South.

Congress has reached an impasse and on November 6, just a few weeks ago, the lawyer from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, was elected president. The men in the tavern are serious Democrats, still distressed that their party had not been able to cross sectional divisions and defeat the Republicans and Lincoln. Word just arrived that South Carolina’s legislature voted on December 20th to dissolve its bonds with the United States.

Virginia will soon follow and all feel certain war will come.

While some of the men talk of the glory of war, the women and old men say little about their fears of the disruption and death war would bring. People of color, enslaved and free, are careful to show no feelings in front of whites. They whisper their hopes that the war will bring their freedom only when among themselves. During the war, many slaves will take the opportunity to run to Union lines: Four hundred in 1863 during Stoneman’s Raid near Yanceyville, large groups like the thirty adults who escaped from General Clayton Coleman on the North Anna in 1862 and became part of the 10,000 runaways from Central Virginia who presented themselves to the Union officers in Spotsylvania that summer.

But some wise people knew to fear what lay ahead. These words from the journal of the old schoolmaster, Jeremiah C. Harris of Apple Grove, express the heart of many: “Saturday, December 29, 1860…. This is the last of a series of fine days for the holidays; but I do not perceive that the white population have enjoyed the season very much; the colored people seem, as usual, to have had a large share of enjoyment, notwithstanding the restrictions of police regulations. Our boasted and much loved confederacy is in a state of fearful agitation, from centre to circumference, and we seem to be on the very eve of a crisis that may plunge us in inevitable ruin. We feel a gloomy dread of what a short future may reveal. We pray that God, in great mercy, may cause the wrath of man to praise Him, and restrain the remainder of that wrath, which seems to be ready to force a mighty upheaval of the peaceful elements of the social order. ...the old year is taking leave with a cold, cheerless greeting (of snow). Christmas is over.

We know not what mighty events will transpire before its next visit.”

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In The Year of Our Lord

1865

Imagine returning again to Micajah Parrish's tavern in the summer of 1865. You would find life at the crossroads village anything but normal. Union troops maintained a strong presence in the face of the collapse of the governments of Virginia and the Confederacy. Hopefully you had U.S. dollars to pay for your meal, as Confederate currency was worth nothing. Two out of every three people in Louisa and Goochland were former slaves, freed with nothing but the shirts on their backs. Union Army officials were trying to ascertain who was responsible for feeding and supporting the women and children among the freedmen. The army was also there to approve labor contracts between freedmen and white landowners who were suddenly without a workforce.

The war left death in its wake for many. George Mayo's son, Washington, had married Micajah Parrish's daughter, Ann, just five years before the war started. Wash was killed at Yellow Tavern a year earlier, leaving Ann with four young children. Ann herself would die a year later in 1866.

If you saw Ann about the village in 1865, she might tell you how she and her sister-in-law, Judith Alvis Mayo, kept faith in their new church built just before the war. Judith, the daughter of Henry Alvis who donated the first $10 to build Gum Spring Methodist church, had married Wash's brother, John, who survived the war. Ann Parrish's brother, Joseph, was also one of the Gum Spring soldiers who did not return home. Joseph died in the Union prison camp in Elmira, New York, just four months after Wash was killed, leaving Micajah Parrish and his wife with a double portion of grief. The dreaded ruin expressed by the old school master had, indeed, come to pass.

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Would you hear tinges of bitterness in those you spoke with? Maybe. We know that Old Providence Church prided itself well into the 20th century that Stonewall Jackson's biographer, Rev. Robert Lewis Dabney, was once their minister before the war. Dabney, born near Orchid, was one of the strongest voices in the South justifying slaveholding and blaming the post-war suffering on the abolitionists and the Union.

The tragedy of the war for white families has been well recounted for generations. What is not often acknowledged is the cost of enslavement to those who were enslaved. When emancipation came to them in 1865, they had been prohibited from learning to read or write for decades. They owned no land, nor the tools for farming. The cost to them and their descendants has continued to be incalculable. It is reflected to this day by the gap in education, net worth, and economic earning power between most whites and most blacks in our nation and, if we look, we see it still here in our own community.

Prior to 1865, laws prohibited blacks from meeting without white supervision, even for worship. After the war, the freedmen began in earnest to form their own congregations.

Now they were free to exercise their own leadership, sing their own music, and teach their children the gospel as they understood and experienced it. For them, Jesus was their Savior who also lived on this earth outside the halls of power. He, too, was beaten and whipped, and hung on a tree. He was the deliverer they trusted to lead them to the promised land and their faith that he would "make a way out of no way" sustained them through the traumas they had experienced as a people. They knew him as the Savior he declared himself to be in the temple: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4: 18-19

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In The Year of Our Lord

1950

If you returned to Gum Spring around the time of World War II, you would find little changed except for the advent of the automobile and mechanized tractors. Virginia's Jim Crow and Racial Purity Laws passed between 1900 and 1925 are firmly entrenched.

Schools were segregated by law, churches were segregated by unwritten social norms, and blacks were careful to show the expected deference to white people. Blacks knew the Ku Klux Klan was present in Goochland and Louisa Counties if they failed to do so.

They well remembered the lynchings of the early 1900s.

Parrish's Tavern had long since closed but the family opened a store.

Several businesses opened at the new intersection with Rt. 250 and Parrish's Store was moved up to that new intersection. The store was a stop on the bus line, the main public transportation at the time.

If Deck Hayden, or his family, wanted to take the bus to Richmond, they waited in the line for "colored" riders, entered by the rear door, and sat in the back of the bus. Virginia law demanded it.

There was a new diner which opened after Rt. 250 was built. If you walked into it for the first time, you would notice as you sat down to eat that only white people ate inside. Blacks could only order takeout from the back door where they waited for their order to be brought to them.

Small humiliations for African-Americans were woven into every part of life in the South, as well as here in Gum Spring. They knew that their labor was needed by white people, but they also knew to remember their place and never act as if they were equal to whites.

Such was the strange tension of life under Jim Crow.

World War II saw many men, white and black, from Gum Spring drafted into service. Returning black servicemen found that the democracy they fought for abroad was not part of Jim Crow Virginia. The 1950s brought long court battles over school desegregation, Massive Resistance, voting rights, and equal access to all in public places. Integration was not legislated in churches.

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Photo of P-51 Mustang fighter pilots in Italy, 1944.

National Archives Collection

So, what were the relationships like between the white and black families in Gum Spring in past generations? Don't we wish we could back in time with more than our imagination and ask! How did white members of Gum Spring Methodist Church treat the free blacks in the community before 1865? They were scattered throughout the crossroads area, blacksmiths, seamstresses, carpenters, etc. Trustee Robert Hodges, who was one of the few church leaders who did not hold slaves, and his wife Dicy Ann lived with free black neighbors on both sides.

Which black members of this community today descend from people once enslaved by members of the white churches around Gum Spring? So far we’ve identified several at who worship today at New Line and Shady Grove Baptist churches.

Perhaps most important of all is the question, "So, what do we do with all of this?" If you've read this far, you've probably learned some untold portions of our shared history in this community. You've probably also begun to ask questions of your own. I wish I could give you answers. I only know we must keep on asking the questions and trusting we will find what is each of ours to see in new ways and to be changed by that seeing.

This record is far from complete and it probably hints at more important stories to discover than it tells. But we offer this record, both for the present and for the future, with the hope that many others will add the portions of the story, and maybe even the names of people, we have not found.

Deck Hayden (Earl Poindexter Hayden (Haden) 1886-1978) was a figure often seen at Gum Spring Methodist Church. In winter he came early to light fires in the wood stoves, the only source of heat in the original church. He is shown in the photo here with Curtis Wiltshire around 1950.

Deck, or Dexter, Hayden and Walter Hayden, the leader of the effort to create the Shady Grove School, were both grandsons of Woodson Hayden (b. 1814) and Polly Martin (b. 1828).

Dexter and Walter are buried in the Shady Grove Baptist church cemetery.

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Reflections as Our Narrative Closes So, to what crossroads does all this bring us? Is there a path we need to seek as followers of Jesus to return us from places the decisions of our ancestors have taken us? Can we honor them best by no longer perpetuating the narratives that buttressed their lives, the ones we learned even at our parent’s dinner table? Can we honor them better by forgiving their blindness and choosing to walk not by their traditions, but by the humbling light of Christ’s justice and love?

How will any of this change our relationships with our brothers and sisters of color? We may descend from slaveholders. We may not. We may not know and be afraid to find out.

I know I am a descendant of slaveholders from Louisa County and I am asking myself, "What is mine to do, right now with my remaining years, perhaps to make restitution for injuries 400 years in the making? Is it enough to do the work of telling the untold story? Is finding the names, and restoring the records of family units of those whose names were systematically omitted from public records and whose families were torn apart by slavery and Jim Crow enough?" I doubt it. All I know is that I want eyes to see and a heart of flesh, not stone, to respond with courage to what God is trying to urge me to see and do today.

History offers us the grace of hindsight and hopefully give us the understanding to make different choices in the present. Reading the words of those 18th century missionaries printed in these pages begs spiritual questions; "Where are we, indeed where am I, ignoring the prophetic voices God is using to speak to us today? Are we willfully turning away the admonitions of today’s John Woolmans, and George Whitefields, and Francis Asburys on new issues facing us? Who are today’s prophets we are ignoring? Are we grieving the Holy Spirit now, as they did then? And are we just as blinded in our time by our rationalizations and self-interests as they were in theirs? God have mercy.

I asked Pam what her hope is for this little book. She answered that she trusts it will present a more complete story and stimulate conversations, conversations she hopes bring a fuller understanding of the legacy our ancestors left us. And, convinced as she is of the redemptive mercy of God, she hopes bringing those truths before the Light of Christ will free us all from the awkwardness, shame, and silence that separate us from God, ourselves, and one another. Those conversations are never easy, but they are important enough to take the risk to begin.

May God have mercy on us all.

Elaine Taylor, December 2019

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Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 5: 23,24

Providence Presbyterian Meeting House

Providence Presbyterian meeting house is among the oldest frame Colonial Era churches still in use in Virginia. Its story begins with the ministry of Reverence Samuel Davies, a young itinerant preacher fresh from Princeton, who came to Virginia in the 1740s. He brought with him the New Light teachings of America’s first Great Awakening, which invited believers into an experience of divine grace that brought about a new way of seeing, a new light, in their lives. He found a welcome reception in Central Virginia and was granted a license to preach and form seven congregations throughout Hanover, Louisa and Goochland.

A congregation was established in Gum Spring at least by November 1, 1748, when the Record of the General Court granted Davies, “a dissenting minister, who hath qualified himself according to the Act of Toleration, is allowed to assemble and meet any congregation of Protestant Dissenters, at the several meeting-houses to be erected on the land of Joseph Shelton, near Owen's Creek, in the county of Louisa,—on the land of Tucker Woodson, in the county of Goochland,...without molestation, they behaving in a peaceable manner, and conforming themselves according to the directions of the said Act of Parliament in that behalf made.”

Reverend John Todd was installed at Providence Church on November 12, 1752 . A deed conveying the land and church to its members contains numerous names of the founders and is presented on the following pages.

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The Educational Mission of the Presbyterians Among the first efforts of the Reverends Todd and Davies was obtaining Bibles and hymn books from England. As you can see in the 1757 letter from John Todd on this page, the books were prized by all and used to teach both whites and blacks, those free and enslaved, to read and write.

John Todd conducted a classical school in his home for many years until he died on the way back from a meeting at the Cove Church in 1793. His body was found in a creek in Albemarle County, his horse still standing nearby. At his death, his estate contained over 753 books and 60 maps.

They were taken by wagon across the Appalachians to the newly formed Transylvania College in Kentucky where they became the nucleus of the college’s library.

The books were transported by one of Todd’s former students and ministry disciples, Rev. David Rice. Rice attended Princeton College before returning to Virginia where he was further mentored by Todd. He worked for twenty years among the enslaved in Virginia and was later known as the father of Kentucky Presbyterianism He was a strong opponent of slavery. When Kentucky became a state in 1792, Rice gave an impassioned plea that Kentucky enter the union as a state in which slavery was banned. He was not successful. in his appeal.

From “The Letters of Samuel Davies” printed in London 1757 45

1753 Providence Meeting House Deed

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Louisa County Deed Book A, page 514

Early Members of Providence Meeting House There are no memberships lists for Providence Presbyterian Church until 1822. However, several early records give the names of members and leaders in the congregation. Those names and the records from which they are extracted follow. The following transcription of parts of the deed on the opposite page gives the names of the first members of Providence Church to whom the church property and “a singular appurtenance,” presumably the church building, was deeded in 1753.

“This indenture this nineteenth day of June in the year of our Lord Christ MDCCLIII (1753) between Arthur Slayden of the County of Goochland and Parrish of St. James’ Northam plantor on the one part and Joseph Shelton, John Holt, David Shelton, William Shelton, Joseph Holt, Elisha White, and William White of Louisa County and Tuckor Woodson, Walter Leake, Charles Rice, Charles Christian, John Slayden, Daniel Slayden, Arthur Slayden, William Slayden, Sarah Slayden, Martha Slayden, Benjamin Slayden, and Joseph Slayden of Goochland County of the other part. Witnesseth that the said Arthur Slayden for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings….hath granted bargained and sold… to the said Joseph Shelton, John Hot, et als and their heirs and assigns forever one certain tract of parcel of land containing by estimation one acre of land in the county of Louisa with all and singular the appurtenance… and a road from the said land into the adjacent road commonly called the three chopt road…”

At least two additional public records provide names of subsequent leaders of Providence during the 1780s: 1785 Louisa County Deed Book E, p 34 Reverend John Todd, William White, and Benjamin Timberlake put up bond to Gov Patrick Henry to allow Todd to Solemnize marriages.

1789 Louisa County Deed Book F, p 351 Trustees of Presbyterian Society deeded land: Reverend John Todd, William White, and John Shelton.

The following pages list these people, highlight in green if they are slaveholders, and the names of any people they held in bondage as recorded in public records such as wills, estate inventories and settlements, tax records, etc.

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Early Members of Providence and their Enslaved people Arthur Slayden of Goochland, St. James Northam Parish, Planter 1787 Goochland County Deed/Will Book 14. Will page 436 and Inv p 475. Negro man Punch, Negro woman Nancy (25 Lbs) Children of Arthur Slayden, Sr.,: John Slayden, Daniel Slayden, Arthur Slayden, William Slayden, Sarah Slayden, Martha Slayden, Benjamin Slayden and Joseph.

Although they grew up in a slaveholding family, other than Joseph’s records below, no other reference to these children as slaveholders was found.

Joseph Slayden– Son of Arthur who moved to Pittsylvania County. It appears he may be the only one to hold slaves as he left “all of my negroe stock” to his wife Millie at his death in 1819.

Elisha White– later returned to Hanover where he served on St. Paul’s Vestry. The greatest number of slaves he reported was nine in 1787.

William White: Names of slaves from the Louisa County Tax lists, 1767-1775 : Will, Daniel, Jenny, Sue, Beck , Terry, Harry, and Henry Charles Rice. Charles had been indicted along with bricklayer Samuel Morris and gentry member Isaac Winston for allowing John Roan to preach at his house. In Charles’ will (Goochland County Book 14, p 207,) no slaves are listed.

Charles Christian- Goochland County will 1783 Book 13 p359- to son Walter man Will, to George, Suck and Hannah, To daughter Morning, negro woman Fanney, boy named Ben, and Girl Judith. Names from his estate inventory book 14, p 12 Man Will, Wench Peg, Wench Suck, Girl Hannah, Girl Judy John Holt, often described as Elder. No records found. (see page 52) Joseph Holt Louisa County tax lists 1767-1775: Ned, Tom, Charles, Hannah , Jeffrey, and Betty Walter Leak– Walter’s will only names one slave, a woman named Agge but refers to others. We know he had at least one indentured mulatto woman, Jane Banks .

Tucker Woodson At the time of his death, his Goochland County will lists no slaves.

Since he owned much of the land near Goochland Court House, this is a bit unusual for someone of his wealth. Records indicate that he had freed a number of slaves recorded in Goochland County Deed Book 16 p 48. Woodson was once associated with the Quakers and may have heeded Woolman’s admonition against slaveholding.

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Reverend John Todd Louisa County Tax Lists- 1768: Tom, Edinburgh, Bristol, Davy, Dunham, Betty, Phillis, Peg, Jane, Lucey, Frankey , Additional Names from 1769:, Nan, Additional names from 1770/71: Henry, Timothy, Additional Names from 1773:Marcus, Betty, Jane, Peg, Betty, Frank, Kenny, Additional names from 1775: Flora, Millia.

The image above is from the inventory of the estate of the Reverend John Todd, Louisa County Will Book 3, p 544. (Values in British pounds): Davie 22, Racheal 35, Lucy 55, Beck and child 65, Milly and child 55, Peter 75, Patrick 15, Lucy 20, Nanny and child 65, Ceasar 65, David Kinney 50, Harry 75, Abram 40, Scipio 65, Jack 45, Marcus 45, Frankey 25, John 30, Dick 25, Billey 18, Jona 19, Abram 10 The original Shady Grove Baptist Church, built on land donated by Thomas C. Jackson, born free to Nancy Jackson manumitted by the will of Rev John Todd. See page 27.

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Joseph, David, and William Shelton “Permission to build a meeting house on lands of Joseph Shelton on Owens Creek, Louisa County” Although the meeting house was ultimately built on land owned by Arthur Slayden of Goochland, the Shelton brothers, Joseph, David and William were among the members of the Presbyterians listed on the 1753 deed. Their descendants and the descendants of those they once enslaved still populate the lower corner of Louisa County. As you can see from their estate inventories, etc., the Shelton brothers held sizable amounts of property, including human beings. In 1752, Samuel Davies said there were 15-20 families at Providence. Among all his congregations there were a hundred enslaved Africans, some of whose names may be among those listed in the Shelton estate records.

Joseph Shelton was one of the first members of the Court when Louisa County was formed from Hanover in 1742 and held both considerable influence and wealth, much of the latter in the form of enslaved people. . He held six plantations on 1300 acres. A portion of his inventory taken January 1, 1785, from Louisa County Will Book 3, page 95, is printed above. Values in British pounds.

At Williamsons: Peter 135, Ursula 50, Ursula 80, Hannah and child 80, Polly 50, Jim 60, Ned 30, Suva 25, Peter 100, Minter 35, Bartelot 100, Daniel 135, Mat 65 “At Home House” Parker 100, Buster 70, Grace 70, Doll 60, Sally 50, Solomon 35, Daphney 20 , Jim 90, Jeffrey 90, Ben 40, Nat 70, Tom 75, Cudger 90, George 100, Minto 75, Frank 60, Henry 100, Suckey and child 70, Jack 50, Reuben 40, Milley 35, Billy 30, Robert 60, Anthone 95, Fanny 20, Sarah 18, Bobby 20 , Patsy 50, Nell 50, Jesse 40 , Joe 100, Aggy 30, Cuzzy 50, Mirady 30, Ned 70, Lucy 20, Patrick 65.

There are additional enslaved people listed residing in Hanover and the following additional people in Goochland on Lickenhole Creek: Allen 120, Sawney 85, Cock 60, Deck 25, Baruch 60, Ben 85, Lucy 80, Betty 85, Nanny 70, Amey 60, Samson 45, 50 Sinty 35, Charity 25, Amy 40 .

David Shelton, was listed as an Elder who often accompanied John Todd to meetings of the Hanover Presbytery. He lived near Orchid, as did John Todd. Together they petitioned the County Court for permission to build a road from their homes to the meeting house. David has over 1,200 acres at his death on both sides of the Old Mountain Road. He lived where the name “Walton” is printed on the map on the back of this booklet, just above the word “Mountain” in the road label. Todd lived across the road where the name “Payne” is marked.

David Shelton’s titables (males over 16 and slaves) in the Louisa County tax lists from 1767& 68: Dick, Cator, Jamie, Jenny: 1769: Nanny, Lucy, Doll, Jenny, Jack, Tom, Peter, Ben, 1771: Polly, Jacob Will of David Shelton, 1797, Louisa County Will Book 4, p age 31.

To Maj. Thomas Shelton negroes: George, Sally, and Rachel her child, Allen, Solomon, Fanny daughter of Dick ,Old Franky, Old Peter, Nanny daughter of Rachel, Sucky daughter of Rachel, Betty daughter of Grace, Winny daughter of Grace, Paul, Dick, Benjamin, Roger, Charles son of Dick, Betty daughter of Amy, Amy, Meredith, Lucy, Rachel, Hannah, Moses, Moriah, To Thomas Terrill and his wife Sarah: Bristor, Grace, Betty, Pleasant, Polley, Cudger, Sam, Old Nancy, Charles son of Doll, James To Maj. James Watson and his wife Elizabeth: Old Dick, Aggy, George, Davis, Moses, Matt, Franky daughter of Milly, Harry son of Doll ,Milly, Nancy, John , Lucy, One negro man named Reuben.

William Shelton-Slaves named in the tax records 1767-75: Sippear, Munro, Hannah, Judith, Sucky, Betty, James William Shelton died in 1801 and the following names and values (in British pounds) are found in his will in Louisa County Will Book 4, page 137: Dinah, Bellas, Esther, Rachel, Fanny, Daniel, Charles and Moses, Marcus and Stephen children of Rachel, Patrick and Susannah, Hunter, Isaac, Tabb, Marcus, Watt, Juda (female), Simon, Juda and Fanny, Bob, Matt, Dorcas, Jacob, Rachel, Isaac, Harry, Dilcy and Nelly, Sawny, Davy and Amy, Frank, Betty and Jany, girl Lucy, boy Charles, girl Polly.

In the inventory of William Shelton’s estate, Louisa County Will Book 5, page 79, many names are the same, some are absent, and a few relationships of mother to children are given: Rachel and child Moses 85, Easter and child Eady 85, Venus and child Jenny 50, Amy 50, Lucy 55, Jinny 30, Thomas R 40, Stephen 65, Marcus 65, Charles 65, Cato 90, Moses 100, Daniel 70, Jim 50, Ned 25, Bette 15, Dinah 5, Mourning 75, Fanny 65, Charles 60, Watt 100, Dilsy 65, Jacob 30.

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Leaders of Providence in the early 1800s.

The Session book for Providence Church from 1822 onward is preserved. It reveals that the descendants of the original Shelton brothers continued to serve as elders and leaders of the church. They and a few other major slaveholders are included on this and the following pages. Many of the descendants of these enslaved individuals were founding members of New Line and Shady Grove Baptist churches after the Civil War. Notably, the church only had one “colored” member in the 1840s, a man admitted to membership in 1845 as “Walter, the servant of William Shelton.”

John Shelton, son of William, was a trustee of Providence Church in 1789 when a new deed was recorded in the newly formed Commonwealth of Virginia. See page 47.

He died 3 June 1828 and the following slaves are listed: in hist estate, Louisa County Orders of the Chancery Court 1810-1828: Milly, Huldah, Isaac, Solomon, Martha, Ben, Mahala, Toby, Nelly, Ritta, America, Billy, Frances and child, Lucy and child, Nancy, Henry?, Mary, Richard, Spotswood, Robert, Young Toby, Ellen, Martin, James, Patty, Overton, Anthony, Betsy, Marcus, William, Bartlet, Rachel, Washington, Ann, Phillip, Maria Phill’s wife, Jacob, Fanny, Phillip, Ephraim, Dilsy, Tumbler, Dinah, Edmond, Sally and child, Maria and child, Jenny, Edmond, Isham, Judy, Margaret, John, Rosetta, Andrew, Ben Maria’s son, Thomas, shop Anthony, Nanny, Randall. Stephen, Giles, Basil, Jenny and three children, Moses, Peter, Joe, Jerry, Ann, Judy Rachel’s child, Charlotte.

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This advertisement in the November 1, 1776, Virginia Gazette is one of the only documents regarding John Holt, one of the original members of Providence. It appears he may have removed to Charlotte County by this time.

Homes built by early Providence Presbyterian members, clockwise: “Old Town,” was the home of David Shelton, built on the portion of his 2,200 acres north of the main road. Large for its day, the home is now gone but this 1930 photo shows it was typical of the homes of local gentry of the mid-1700s. “Red House” was built by William Shelton who had been living there for some twenty years before the congregation at Providence was formed. The property is across from Owens Creek store on Owens Creek Road. Between Red House and Roseneath is the property of Joseph Shelton who was living there at “Woodland” (no photo) when Louisa County was formed in 1742.

Roseneath, the home of Major Thomas Shelton, still stands on a hilltop just north of Gum Spring on the east side of Rt 522. A brick in the foundation of the oldest portion of the house (behind the portions shown above) carries the date 1786. The two-story portions of the house were built during the prosperous period of the early 1800s. Across the road from Roseneath descendants of those once enslaved at Roseneath still live today. A Jackson family cemetery was likely the slave cemetery at one time. At the time of his death, Thomas Shelton owned 98 enslaved people whose names are listed on the following pages.

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Major Thomas Shelton, son of David Shelton. When the Session records begin in 1822, Thomas Shelton is a frequent member of the session. Thomas Shelton of Roseneath was a major slaveholder in Louisa County. When he died in 1826, his personal property was appraised at $23,817. Of that amount, $19,965 was the value assigned to the 98 enslaved people listed below.

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One of the Major Slaveholders in Louisa County in the 1820s Images are taken from three pages of slaves listed in the inventory of Major Thomas Shelton and recorded in Louisa County Will Book 7, pages 257-264. The Inventory was appraised by Zachariah Perkins, Charles Dabney, Jr. and Benjamin Duke and recorded September 1, 1826.

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Charles Dabney, Jr. and Rev. Robert Lewis Dabney Charles Dabney, Jr. was the Clerk of the Session when the Session records of Providence Church begin in 1822. He lived on the waters of Cub Creek near the intersection of Paynes Mill and Crewsville Roads. After his death in 1833, his estate was inventoried and recorded in Louisa County Will Book 9, p 84. The portion containing the names of his enslaved people and values assigned them is shown below.

Robert Lewis Dabney was 13 years of age when his father Charles died. Robert was admitted as a member of Providence church when he was 17 and then proceeded to attend college and seminary. He returned to Louisa County and fulfilled the duties of pastor at Providence for a short period in 1846/47. During the Civil War he was the Chaplain to Stonewall Jackson. After the war he became a strong defender of Virginia, the South, the institution of slavery, and the southern resistance to the changes necessitated by the end of the Civil War. Over time he became increasingly caustic in his attacks on the new order imposed, in his view, by “Yankee theories.” He moved to Texas where he was eventually asked to leave his position at a seminary because of his bitterness and the extremity of his political views.

“Charity”, listed left, was sold by the estate in 1836 for cash needed for the living expenses of the family, including Robert’s education.

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To be sold at Louisa Court House 90-100 Likely Negroes The death of a slave owner was a particularly vulnerable time for enslaved people. This advertisement states that "90-100 valuable negroes will be sold at Louisa Court House," terms of sale being credit of six months upon a bond of good security.

In a sad twist of fate, the Timberlakes who owned these slaves had clearly stated in their wills that their slaves were not to be sold but freed and offered the chance to resettle in Liberia. Debts of the estate mounted and finally the Circuit Court determined otherwise. This ad is from the Richmond Enquirer, February 2, 1860 .

Benjamin Timberlake-Tax Records 1782: Peter, George, Ceasar, Sam, Robert, Lucy, Rachel, Nan, Emelia, Beck, Judy, Katy, Jacob.

The account of what happened to the people enslaved by Benjamin Timberlake reads like a tragedy. Following his death before 1820, his estate passed to three of his children and when Henry, his son, died in 1849, Benjamin’s estate was finally inventoried and was to support his two daughters Betsy and Polly until their deaths. Benjamin Timberlake’s estate named 60 enslaved individuals Both Henry and Betsy stated in their wills that the slaves held by the estate were to be freed and their passage paid to Liberia or a state where they could live free at the death of the last of Benjamin’s unmarried children. Betsy died by 1852 when a court case was brought against the estate by creditors. Polly was the last remaining sibling and deeply in debt. The old schoolmaster Jeremiah Harris writes in his 1850s dairy that “Polly Timberlake has been charged with burning her brother’s will.” Polly died by 1856 and a prolonged court settlement of the estate ensued, ending in the order of the court that it be liquidated. These people, plus those purchased separately by Henry, Betsy and Polly, brought the total who were auctioned at Louisa Court House on February 11, 1860,to “90-100”.

The chancery court case involving the estate indicates the estate was not well managed after Henry’s death and was so deeply in debt by the time Polly finally died that it was liquidated in its entirety. One is left to wonder if the people who remained enslaved were ever told they would one day have their freedom. If so, the end result would have been all the more tragic.

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The Methodists-Gum Spring Church 1857 When this record was compiled, no one at Gum Spring could locate a complete membership list earlier than 1932. However, the 1858 deed to the church provides the names of Micajah and Ann Parrish, who donated the land for the church, and George Mayo and Robert Hodges, the first trustees. Later deeds and church histories compiled through the years provided the additional names listed on the preceding pages.

Many of the other families in the 1932 membership list have ancestors living near Gum Spring before 1865, some of whom were also slaveholders. We do not know for certain which of those ancestors were also members of the Methodist church.

The original Gum Spring Methodist Church as it was built in 1857. Interestingly, Gum Spring was built with no balconies. Where were the black worshippers? One possibility is suggested on an 1863 Confederate Engineer’s map. It shows a building on the site of Shady Grove Baptist Church , and African American congregation on Oakland Road. The building is marked “Nealy FMC.� A black Free Methodist Church denomination was started in the late 1850s in the north. Could the name be Mealy and FMC mark the site of a black church before the Civil War?

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The building shown above was replaced by a new church in 1957, a hundred years after the first church was built.

Original Deed for Gum Spring Methodist Episcopal Church South

“This deed made and entered into on the 27th day of July, 1858 between Micajah Parrish and his wife Ann J. his wife, of the first part and George Mayo and Robert N. Hodges of the second part.

Witnesseth that for and in consideration of the sum of five dollars in hand paid, to the parties of the first part by the parties of the second part the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, they (the said Micajah Parrish and Ann J. his wife) have granted, bargained and sold unto the said George Mayo and Robert N. Hodges and their successors, Trustees hereby appointed for the use and benefit of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, a certain piece of land lying in the County of Louisa on the three Chopped Road and containing One Ace and on which a meeting house has recently been erected called "Gum Spring" and a plat of which is here unto annexed made by R. K. Bowles on the 11th day of Nov. 1857. The grantors hereby covenant and agree with the grantees to warranty generally the property hereby conveyed.

Witnesseth the following signatures.

Micajah Parrish, Ann. J. Parrish�

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Founders of Gum Spring Methodist Church The First Trustees • George W. Mayo - b.1802, d.1862 Spouse - Elizabeth W. Isbell - b.1808, d.1887 Elizabeth Mayo - b. 1825 Calista Judith Mayo - b.1827 –d.?

Spouse - James M Siddons - b. 1823, m. 1857, d. 1900 Leticia Sarah Mayo - b.1828, d.1903 John Wesley Mayo - b. 1831, d. 1900 George Washington Mayo - b. 1833, d. 1864 Spouse - Ann F. Parrish - b. 1832, m. 1856, d. 1866 • Robert N. Hodges - b. 1824 Spouse - Ann Dicy Smith - b. 1815 Sally J. Hodges - b. 1854 Gave land for the church building in 1857. Micajah and Ann Parrish lived on the site of the present day church where Hill’s Ordinary once stood.

• Micajah Parrish - b. 1807, d. 1870 Spouse - Ann (Nancy) Judith Woodson - b. 1805, d. 1884 Ann F Parrish Mayo - b. 1831, d. 1866 Mary Eliza Parrish - b. 1832 Joseph W Parrish - b. 1835, d. 1864 Catharine Jane Parrish Sims - b. 1836, d. 1919 Donated the first $10 to the building fund • Henry Franklin Alvis - b. 1804, d. 1861 Spouse - Mary Isbell - b. 1818, m. 1844, d. 1861 Judith Ellen Alvis Mayo - b. 1845 Willimina Alvis - b. 1847 Catherine or Caroline Alvis - b. 1850 Mary "Polly" Alvis - b. 1853 Julian J Alvis - b. 1854 Robert Alvis - b. 1858

Names in green ink are slaveholders/grew up in a slaveholding 60

Other Founders of Gum Spring Methodist Church John D. Mills and Marion Allen donated lumber for the church • John Draper Mills - b. 1814, d. 1892 Spouse - Francis E White - b. 1814, d. 1860 Nathaniel Henry Mills - b. 1837, d. 1930 William H Mills - b. 1840, d.?

Marcellus J Mills - b. 1841, d. 1879 Catherine V Mills - b. 1842, d. 1864 Lucy F- b. 1847, d?

James L Mills - b. 1847, d. 1920 Annie Elizabeth Mills - b. 1848, d. 1932 John D Mills - b. 1850, d.?

Samuel A- b 1853, d.?

• Francis Marion Allen - b. 1824 Spouse - Martha Ann Dunn - b.1833, d.1910 Ada Belle Allen - b.1862, d.1924 Christian Allen - b.1871, d.1939 Marion C. Allen - b.1874, d.1957 John H Allen - b.1879, d.1974 Young J Allen - b.1879, d.1959 Donated First Bible • Polly Alvis - b. 1784, d. 1853 Very active in church • Mary Elizabeth Holland Anderson - b. 1824, d.?

Spouse - Nelson Anderson - b.1796, d. 1875 Lead fund-raising effort in 1857 • Judith Mayo Siddons 1823-1900 Spouse - James M Siddons 1823-1900

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Founders of Gum Spring Church (continued) Donated Land for parsonage 1877 GC DB 43, p 757 Charles Francis Sims- b. 1842 Spouse - Salina A Duggins- b. 1842 Lucien W Sims Catherine Sims- b. 1793 Kelly Sims Donated Land for Cemetery in 1887 • Thomas J Sims - b. 1832 Spouse - Cath. J. Parrish - b. 1836, m. 1860 Paul Sims - b. 1861 Allin Lee Sims - b. 1863 Isaac Sims - b. 1865 Nathan Sims - b. 1867 James Sims - b. 1869 Rosa W Sims - b. 1872 Jerry Sims - b. 1876 Church Trustees in 1887 • John J. Winston • Walter H.. Winston • Robert N. Hodges The Church's Early Pastors • Rev. Henry M. Linney (1857-58, 1863-64) • Rev. A J Beckwith (1859-60) • Rev. Thomas. J. Bayton (1861-1862) (could not find) • Rev. B. C. Speller (1865-68, 1871-1874) • Rev. C. E. Hobday (1869-70)

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Original Instrument Conveying the Church Cemetery and Parsonage

“This instrument of writing witnesseth that we the undersigned have this day given to John J. Winston, Walter H. Winston and Robert N. Hodges, Trustees of Gum Spring Church (Methodist Episcopal South) in the county of Louisa, State of Virginia and to their successors forever, five acres of land, it being a part of the land belonging to the estate of Micajah Parrish dec'd, adjoining the land of Virginia C. Loyall and the lot of land upon which is now situated Gum Spring Church, for the purpose of building a parsonage upon, and for a cemetery if the members of said church so desire.

Given under our hands and seal the 1st day of July, 1887 Thomas J Sims, C. J. (Parrish) Sims�

The Gum Spring Church Cemetery today. Stately trees shade the graves shown above.

The back of the parsonage is visible behind the cemetery fence.

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Enslaved People Found in the Public Records of the Founders of Gum Spring Methodist Church The "Brick Wall," that barrier of 1865 before which public records use only first names of enslaved individuals, makes finding relationships between slave holders and their slaves difficult. Sometimes the effort to make the connection yields fruit. Such was the case when we found the families of Mary and Daniel Parrish and Leroy and Emily Shelton in the 1861 estate inventory of George Mayo, a trustee of Gum Spring Methodist Church. They are listed below.

When George Mayo died in 1861, the inventory of his estate included the following enslaved people and their value. On the next page are most of these people with the surname they chose after the war and the names of their spouses and children.

Ben Pleasant Margaret Sam Henry Aimy Emily Joe Andrew Willis Lewis Mary

$600 $800 $300 $800 $600 $100 $400 $600 $430 $100 $200 No Value v

From the will of George Mayo, Goochland County Deed Book 39, p 540. George Mayo mentions only two of his slaves by name in the division of his property. “…I give to my son John W. Mayo my man Pleasant at one thousand dollars. If he choose to do so he may take a little girl I have named Margaret (mulatto) at three hundred dollars. I leave to my beloved wife Elizabeth W. all the balance of any estate while she continues my widow. If any of the servants be troublesome and she request it that the executors sell such and arrange for her to have the interest on the money in place of such slave or slaves as the case may be.”

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Post-Civil War families of Enslaved People in the Estate of George Mayo Within George Mayo's enslaved people are two identifiable families using marriage records of their children, we can reconstruct the families of Mary (named in Mayo estate)and Daniel Parrish (from another farm) and Emily (names in Mayo estate) and Leroy Shelton (from another farm) Mary - b. abt. 1800 - d. aft 1861 + Spouse - Daniel Parrish Mary’s son Benjamin Parrish, b. 1820 (mulatto) + Martha Harris, (mulatto) - b. 1830 Children Daniel- b. 1848 Margaret- b. 1849 Susanna– b. 1852 Frances– b. 1856 Tishee– b. 1863 Mary’s son Pleasant Parrish - b. 1830 + Martha Christian - b. 1832 Children Clayborne (1852-1935 buried at East Leake) Wesley (1852-1922 died living at East Leake) *Luther O. (1854-1944 died in Philadelphia, PA) Pleasant (1856-1935 died in Greensburg, PA) George P. (1867-1931 in PA) Calvin (1869-1890 in Goochland) Doctor (1869-1889 in Goochland) ..

Emily (Pryor?) - b. 1825, d. Before 1866 her spouse was Leroy Shelton, b. 1826 d.?

Emily’s children: Joseph Shelton - b. 1849 Spouse - Priscilla Shelton - b. 1840, m. 1870 Spouse - Silver Watson Andrew Shelton - b. 1853 Margaret A Shelton - b. 1855 (mulattto) Spouse - Charles Robert Shelton b. 1845 Willis Shelton - b. 1857, d. 1919 Spouse - Bettie Shelton - b. 1856 Lucy Shelton - b. 1860 Lewis Shelton - b. 1861 Spouse - Nellie Herrington - b. 1864, m. 1882 Spouse - Mollie Pryor - b. 1850, m. 1891, d. 1927 *Luther O. Parrish is a founding trustee of New Line Baptist Church, along with King Solomon Robinson and Charles M. Kersey.

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Enslaved People Found in the Public Records of the Sims and Alvis families James Sims, father of Thomas J. Sims who donated land for the cemetery, died in 1864. The following slaves are named in his 1864 inventory taken by his Charles Y. Nuckolls, David R. Shelton, Benjamin F. Richardson, etc., Louisa County Will Book 16, page 2.

Name John Jackson Jessy Lucy Davy Robert Edward Mat Ginnie Eady Ellen Fannie Rufus a blind boy

Value $800 $2,800 $2,500 $2,500 $3,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,500 $600 $3,000 $3,000 0 ($300)

In 1870 a black family consisting of Fannie Shelton, an invalid age 75, Robert Shelton, age 26, and Lucy Harris, age 16 are living next door to Thomas J. and Catherine Sims. These could be the Fannie, Robert, and Lucy named above.

Henry Alvis died in 1861. His estate was not settled until after the war and so no slaves are listed by name in any related records. The following are the list of slaves, by age and gender, from the 1850 Federal Slave Census: b. 1829 b. 1831 b. 1839 b. 1850 b. 1838 b. 1849

Female Black Male Black Male Black Male Black Male Black Female Black

An older woman, Mary Bush, is living in Henry Alvis' household in 1860 and has 13 slaves. I could not confirm a relationship to Henry or his wife Mary Frances Isbell.

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Enslaved People Found in the Public Records of the Nelson Anderson, Micajah Parrish and Polly Alvis Mrs. Nelson Anderson (Elizabeth Holland) was very active in the early years of the church. She and her husband owned the following slaves in 1860: b. 1795 b. 1815 b. 1830 b. 1828 b. 1849 b. 1850 b. 1852 b. 1857 b. 1820

Female Male Female Male Male Female Female Male Male

Black Black Black Black Black Black Black Black Black

Micajah and Ann Parrish, who donated the land for the original church, owned the following slaves as reported in the 1860 Federal Slave Census: b. 1785 b. 1805 b. 1832 b. 1840

Male Female Male Male

Black Black Black Black

There is no date given for when "Polly Alvis donated the first Bible." Henry Alvis had an aunt named Polly who lived near Gum Spring. She was born in 1789 and died in 1853. She may have donated a Bible for Methodist services before they had their own church. If this is the correct Polly, she had two small enslaved children living with her in 1850: b. 1844 b. 1847

Female Male

Black Black

Henry Alvis had a daughter he named Polly who was only 12 at the time the Civil War ended. She may have donated the Bible later and it was still noted as the “first Bible.�

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Sample family tree for one family in Gum Spring

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