Showing posts with label Zeigler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zeigler. Show all posts

13 July 2010

William Zeigler: the Man, His Vault, and His Woman Slave Mary (Tombstone Tuesday)

William Zeigler was born 18 November 1799 in South Carolina to Nicholas Zeigler. William came to Georgia in 1827 and spent his life farming. He amassed quite a fortune and died 11 June 1855 in Crawford County.

Records surrounding the death of William Zeigler are most fascinating. His obituary and will were transcribed and put online for easy access. I also found him in census records and newspaper items. The 1830 Crawford County, GA Federal census lists Wm. Zeigler with another male and 22-25 slaves. In 1840, Wm. had 66 slaves of which 26 were under the age of ten (thirteen boys and thirteen girls). 35 of the teenagers and adults were "employed in agriculture." I presume the other five were house servants. Mr. Zeigler was the only free white person counted in the household.

By 1850, William Zeigler had to be near or at the height of his fortune. He was listed as a planter from South Carolina living alone in Division 20 of Crawford County, GA. His real estate was valued at $40,000 to $60,000 (I can't quite make out the figure). William owned 90 slaves, ranging in age from 1 to 48 years.

After William's death in 1855, an upcoming executor's sale was noted in the Macon Weekly Telegraph (Georgia) regarding his lands. Most were in Crawford County, "containing in all about eight thousand acres." Zeigler had the lands divided into nine plantations: Home Place, the Simonton, Colbert, Boon, Dugger, Atkinson, Hatcher, Worsham, and Miller. He also owned land in Bibb County, and was part of The Macon Manufacturing Company co-op, producers of cotton and wool.

William Zeigler's obituary, transcribed by Cheryl Aultman and contributed to the USGenWeb Archives, was recorded in the Georgia Journal & Messanger on 27 May 1855:
Died at his residence in Crawford county, on the 11th instant, in the 56th year of his age, William Zeigler. He was born in Edgefield District, S.C., whence he removed to Crawford co. GA, in 1827, where he remained engaged in agriculture to the time of his death.

In his business habits he was very attentive and economical, whereby he was enabled in twenty-eight years to increase his capitol from ten thousand to three hundred thousand dollars; thus furnishing indubitable evidence that a farmer may become rich.

In his dealings he was strictly honest. In times of scarcity he would bid the rich and monied, who wished to buy provisions of him, to go to a distance and buy; that they had money and credit and could buy anywhere, and submit to the inconveniences and expense of transporting or carriage; that many of his neighbors had neither money nor credit, and that they must have corn and meat; thus he was a benefactor to the less fortunate. He never attached himself to any Church, but his faith was right. Over a year ago he remarked to the writer of this notice,
that he relied upon the mercy of his Maker, and hoped for salvation through the merit's of the Redeemer's blood.

For the information of distant relatives and friends, it is proper to remark, that his remains now rest in a temporary vault in Rose Hill Cemetery, in Macon, Ga., where they will remain until a permanent vault shall be completed according to his directions. He selected this place himself, while in life, from its peculiar fitness for the purpose intended. There let him rest in peace.

Friend.
Since William Zeigler's will was also transcribed and donated to USGenWeb, we are able to read what the directions were for the vault in which his bones would repose: "My Body I direct my Executor hereafter to be appointed to dispose of in the following manner to wit -- To procure a patent Coffin (Fetche, Metalic or some other Patent Coffin of like nature). Let it be placed therein in a neat Christian Manner in a shroud of the neatest and best material. Let it there remain until the following preparations are made. Obtain a plat of ground in Rose Hill Cemetery Macon Ga -- sixteen feet square, as near the plat upon which is Erected the Monument to the late Oliver H. Prince & Lady as may be practicable. And erect thereon a vault of sufficient thickness to Guarantee its durability above the ground Plat, the ground having been first leveled -- to be supplied with a suitable Iron Door & proper & secure fastenings -- and arched roof made of the best brick and the best Workmanship. The whole of the said vault to be cemented with the best Hydraulic cement and the whole Plat to be surrounded with Iron paleings & proper Gates of Iron with security fastenings. The vault to be of sufficient size to admit the Coffin and persons to arrange it.

Then let my Coffin be placed therein with a proper Monument in front of my vault -- suitable to my condition in Life and the Expenses I direct to be paid by my Executor out of my Estate for which a sufficient sum is hereby appropriated and bequeathed to my Executor for the use & Purpose aforesaid."

Here is how that vault looks today, more than 150 years after it was first built.



The interesting finds in William Zeigler's last will and testament do not end there. The fourth request begins like this: "Is my desire, and so I direct, that the colored children of my Woman Slave Mary, be taken to a state where the laws thereof will tolerate their Manumission, or freedom & that they be there put under Competent and proper Teachers Keeping them together if possible where they may be properly educated according to the Means hereinafter set forth. That they be provided with good & suitable board and lodging having an Eye in this as with selection of Teachers, to Strict Morality, also that they be properly Clothed."

These children of Mary were later named -- Malinda Ann, William Henry, and Octavia. In addition to Mary and her three children being given their freedom and taken to an appropriate state, they each were bequeathed money. $10,000 for Mary, and $30,000 to each of her three children due upon their reaching the age of twenty-one. The interest accrued from the monies was to sustain them until they reached the majority age. Mary's $10,000 was to be put in a trust and she was to be given a sum of the interest paid annually. While the will initially stated the monies were to be given to the children directly, it was later amended to state they instead should be put into a trust and given at the discretion of the trustee. William's two brothers, Henry and Lewis, and his nephew John W. Dent were listed as the trustees.

While William Zeigler does not name these children as his own, it is likely they are. It clearly was his intent that they be educated and financially comfortable for life. But were they?

In 1860, Mary Zeigler (mulatto, age 30, b. VA) and her three children -- Malinda (mulatto, age 12, b. GA), William (mulatto, age 11, b. GA), Octavia (mulatto, age 9, b. GA) -- were living in Batavia, Clermont County, Ohio with a servant and a personal estate of $100,500. In 1870, all were still in Batavia, but the financial situation may not have been quite the same. Forty-one year old Mary then had a personal estate of $100, and there was no longer a servant. Twenty year old William is listed as a "hostler," or stableman. I do not know what happened to Mary Zeigler after 1870.

In 1880, Malinda and Octavia were back in Georgia. They were living at 86 Spring Street, Macon, Bibb County -- not far from where their supposed benefactor and probable father William Zeigler was buried. Octavia was a seamstress.


View Larger Map

Their brother William returned as well to Bibb county. I believe I found him in the census records with a wife, Jane, and later a son, William, Jr. I lost track of him after 1910 when he was working in the railroad yards.

There is evidence that Malinda and Octavia had children, but never married. Newspaper items also indicate they were at least small property owners in the Vineville District of Macon, Bibb County.

In June of 1869, the same year Malinda turned twenty-one, Mary brought her daughter to Macon and demanded what was rightfully theirs according to William Zeigler's will. A couple of months later a lawsuit had to be filed against the trustees of the time, since the original trustees renounced their positions. I do not know the outcome of the suit.

The institution of slavery is an atrocity that cannot be undone and should never be forgotten, yet learned from if possible. Out of the horrible situation arose some interesting relationships -- some forced upon unwilling parties, and some entered into willingly. The case of William Zeigler and his woman slave Mary is one such situation. While I certainly was not a witness to the thoughts and feelings of William or Mary, the relationship they shared seems somewhat like a business. But maybe William was in love, and Mary had no choice. Or maybe there was a mutual attraction. Even with the amount of research conducted, who am I to say?


08 July 2010

All Aboard for the Seeing-Macon Car

I recently found this and couldn't resist getting it on the blog quickly, even without any enhancements. Stay tuned for elaborations and photos!

[Update! The articles I have written to go along with several of the paragraphs in this 1917 news article are now linked from within.]

Macon Telegraph
16 December 1917
(Viewable online at GenealogyBank.)

"JUST 'TWIXT US
By BRIDGES SMITH

ALL aboard for the Seeing-Macon Car.


We will now leave the car and take a walk. This is Rose Hill Cemetery, taking its name from one of Macon's earliest public-spirited citizens, through whose efforts and by whose plans it was laid out and established in 1840. The first cemetery for the west side of the river is between Cherry and Poplar, below Seventh, and in it the pioneers of the city were buried. For many years it was neglected, but is now enclosed.

On this stroll we will point out a few of the graves of interest, leaving a more elaborate description of the many beautiful monuments and graves for a second visit.

The Ocmulgee river flows alongside, and before the Southern railroad was allowed to run through on the river bank there were a series of cliffs and bluffs, one of which was the usual Lover's Leap, with its usual tradition of the Indian maiden leaping from it to her death because her dusky lover had fallen a victim to an arrow of the enemy. The railroad cut out all the romance.

This is the Zeigler vault, and holds the bones of William Zeigler, who came here from South Carolina and died in 1855. Formerly there was a heavy plate glass window in the door, through which the hermetically sealed casket, with its elaborate silver handles and ornaments could be plainly seen. Shortly after General Wilson's army came to Macon in 1865, some vandal soldiers broke the glass and entered the vault. They had evidently heard a story in circulation that all Zeigler's gold had been buried with him, but not being able to get into the casket they stripped it of its silver ornaments and handles. It was then that this marble slab was put in place of the glass, thus shutting off a view of the interior.

Here is the grave of little Mary Marsh, the stage name of Mary Eliza Guerineau, whose fluffy dress caught fire from the footlights on the night of January 27, 1859, while dancing, and was burned to death before she could be rescued. She was a mere child, and was performing with the Marsh Family in the old Ralston Hall, the theater building that stood where the Fourth National Bank now stands. Her tragic death caused gloom all over the city. For many years the wreath of artificial flowers worn by the child on that night, enclosed in a circular metal case, remained on the top of the marble slab until some ghoul removed it.


For fifty years, in fact up to a few years ago, a lady in black visited the grave and covered it with flowers. No one knew from whence she came. She was never known to speak to any one, and all her actions were mysterious. It was supposed that she was the mother, and made this annual pilgrimage to Macon until death caused her to cease them.

Here is the Bond monument. Joseph Bond was one of the wealthy planters of antebellum days. Like many others of his day, he owned enough slaves to have made up a regiment, and land in Southwest Georgia sufficient for a site for two or more cities the size of Macon. He loved his slaves, and on one occasion, in the year 1859, when his overseer, from all accounts a man as brutal as the overseer in Uncle Tom's Cabin, was found by him beating a slave unmercifully, Mr. Bond interfered and was killed by the overseer. The imposing monument which you see before you was cut in Italy, and reached New York about the time of the break between the States. It was placed in a bonded warehouse in that city, where it remained until after the war and was then shipped here and placed in position.

Here is the grave of a man who did as much for Macon as any man, Elam Alexander, a contractor. He built Wesleyan College and other prominent buildings. He brought the magnetic telegraph to Macon, expended money in boring artesian wells, which proved failures, however, because of Macon being built upon solid rock, contributed to railroads and every public enterprise, and at his death left a fund, which by wise and careful management on the part of the trustees of the fund gave the city the three handsome public school buildings that bear his name. He died in 1863.


There is something as uncanny as it is unusual for a cemetery. On this lot are the graves of nine victims of a kinsman who slew with an axe almost his entire family. This was Thomas Woolfolk, and the extraordinary crime was committed one night in August, 1897. He paid the penalty of his deed on the gallows.

This grave is that of a man, who had he lived in these days would have received recognition from Carnegie. The inscription on the tombstone will tell you why. It reads:

"Erected by the Mayor and Council of Macon in honor of the public spirit which lost a valuable life in saving the property of his fellow-citizens from the ravage of fire."

This hero of Macon's village days was James Willingham, a printer. He died in 1844. His widow was the mother of Ben, William, Al and John Goodyear, well-known citizens now living.

This plot of ground is consecrated to the memory of Confederate soldiers. Nearly all the bones in these graves were removed from the old cemetery in the lower part of the city through the efforts of the good women of Macon, where the Confederate soldiers dying in the hospitals, and the remains of many dying elsewhere, were at first buried. On the 26th of April of each year memorial exercises are held here, and all these graves are strewn with flowers by both girls and veterans. No city in the South observes Memorial Day more than does Macon.

Adjoining Rose Hill is the Riverside Cemetery, which is one of the several forts or redoubts thrown up around Macon in 1864 to protect the city from the attacks of the enemy. They were thrown up to form a semi-circle, beginning on the east side of the river, where North Highlands is now, and extending to the Columbus road on the west side. That in Riverside is probably the best preserved, the others have been partially or fully destroyed to make room for improvements.

In former days Rose Hill was visited much more than now. Every fair Sunday afternoon it was filled with the younger people. In those days there was a number of springs of cold, clear water, all flowing into the little brook that is still here. One of the springs was the Crystal Spring within a cave, under the hill. It was walled up with crystallized rocks with an iron railing around it, and this was a favorite place to visit.

On the bank of the river, at the foot of Central avenue, was the "Lover's Leap," to be found in nearly all cemeteries that are situated on a river. It was here that the young people gathered and told of the legend of the Indian maid. That the legend was believed by many is evidenced by the fact that when these young people were on it, they preserved the utmost silence, hushing their talking to whispers. It was on this rock that Henry Watterson, during his residence in Macon, spent many a Sunday afternoon."


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