“I was rejoiced when I first heard of the war and I said thank God so that my wife and daughter could have the same privilege as I had.”
The 1873 Southern Claims Commission application of Toney Axson gives unusual insight into the life of a free African American man in Liberty County, Georgia. Axson was 50 years old when he made his SCC claim and was a blacksmith living in the town of Riceboro in December 1864 when the U.S. troops commanded by General Kilpatrick came through Liberty County foraging and took his two horses, wagon & buggy, cows, hogs, and all his blacksmith tools.
For a full transcript of Toney Axson’s SCC claim, see: https://theyhadnames.net/2020/06/25/toney-axson-southern-claims-commission/.
Axson lost property to the soldiers in two locations: the home he shared with his mother, Binah Holmes, on an acre of land in Riceboro, and the home he shared with his wife, Nelly, who was enslaved on the plantation of Edward J. Delegal. Some of the property taken belonged to his wife. He and his mother were at Riceboro when his things there were taken, and his wife at Delegal’s plantation when the soldiers went there. Axson described a chaotic scene, with some 50 soldiers, seemingly half-starved, competing to take his things over several days. He and his family could only prepare food to eat at night, because the soldiers came by day and would take any food that was available back to their camp at Midway Church.
Nelly’s owner, Edward (Ned) Delegal, testified for Toney Axson in his claim. He said he had “owned and raised” Nelly and had known Axson for about 40 years. He described him as “an industrious hard working mechanic” and said that he had allowed both Axson and Nelly to keep stock they owned on his plantation. He added that “I never interfered with my people. They bought and sold these things at their own prices and spent the money as they pleased and this was customary in Liberty County and I suppose it was in other seaboard counties. I know it was all along the seaboard.” Delegal praised Axson, saying, “He was an honest upright man and so regarded by the community, where he was well known from his childhood. He did business just as any other white mechanic did worked and earned his pay for it just the same. His credit was good and he was quite reliable.”
Delegal’s further remarks were revealing of the private pain Axson and Nelly must have suffered due to their situation: “Tony proposed to me to buy his wife of me at one time but I never named a price because she was a favorite nigger and I didn’t want to spare her. His daughter he wanted to take away and let her stay with his mother and I let them do so and she staid there till after the raid and I never charged him anything for her.”
Free Black men in antebellum Georgia needed to register annually and have a “guardian.” Axson said his first guardian was George W. Walthour, then Adam Dunham, and finally S.N. Broughton. Broughton’s daughter Sarah testified for Axson in his claim, saying that she had seen his Riceboro property being taken by the soldiers. At only 14 when the U.S. soldiers came, Sarah obviously had a sharp memory, as she even recalled the color of the cattle taken from Axson. She described him as a very industrious, upright kind of man who lived around the corner from her in Riceboro in 1864.
Describing his life, he said that he had learned the blacksmith trade at 15 or 16 from a man with whom he worked for five years. The man gave him clothes and enough to live on, but nothing else, and when he finished his apprenticeship, the man gave him a position in his shop as a journeyman and made him $20 a month. Axson said it only cost him about $11 a month to live, and he saved much of the rest of the money, and raised stock such as poultry and hogs on the acre of land in Riceboro that he had bought from a man who had emigrated to Liberia.
For her part, Nelly Axson said she had been born into slavery in St. Mary’s, Camden County, and had known her husband about 20 years. She said she had complained to one of the U.S. officers that the soldiers had shot her pregnant sow right at her door, and he apologized and said he would not have let them do it if he had known, but that the Army still needed to take her things.
Pompey Bacon, an enslaved man on the Thomas Mallard plantation, also witnessed Axson’s property being taken. He reinforced the image of Axson as a very hard working man who went to work early and came home late.
As usual in these cases, the Southern Claims Commission placed most weight on the testimony by white witnesses. Their special agent interviewed Capt. William A. Fleming, who had served in the Confederate Army, and Judge William S. Norman, both of whom praised Axson’s character but thought he had overstated the value of the property he lost to the U.S. soldiers. Accordingly, the Commission decided to award Axson only $486 of the $1388 he had claimed.
Toney Axson stated in his claim that his mother had belonged to Joseph Hargreaves, who had freed her. He stated in one place that he had been born free, and in another that he became free as a child when his mother became free. He also identified his mother as Vinah (Binah) Holmes.
In 1828, wealthy white planter Joseph Hargreaves died. In his will, he freed two enslaved women, Binah and her mother Nanny. He acknowledged Binah’s son Shadrach as his own son, and left him ¼ of his estate and directed that he be sent to England to receive an education. In the inventory done of Hargreaves’ estate that same year, the enslaved people appeared to be listed by families, and Binah was listed with “old Nanny,” Shadrach, Little Toney, and Little Kate. Right above Binah were listed Toney and Nanny’s Joe. It seems likely that Joe and possibly Toney were Binah’s brothers, or that Toney was Little Toney’s father. Since it is known from Hargreaves’ will that Binah was Shadrach’s mother and that Nanny was her mother, and that Toney Axson’s mother was a woman named Binah who had been freed by Hargreaves, it appears almost certain that “Little Toney” is Toney Axson.
Toney was 50 in 1873, so was born about 1823 and would have been about five years old when Hargreaves died. Hargreaves’ will identified Shadrach as being about 9 years old in 1828, so it fits that Toney would have been next in age order. Toney’s age also fits with his statement that he became free at a young age when his mother became free.
Shadrach was sent to England by the will’s executor, white planter Thomas Mallard, and lived there the rest of his life. Binah was apparently freed, and in the 1850 Liberty County federal census was listed as Binah Hargreaves, living near Thomas Mallard’s plantation with possible grandchildren Matilda Hargrove (1) and Henry Hargrove (8). Delegal testified in 1873 that G.W. Walthour had told him that some of the family had gone to Liberia. It is possible that 40 years later the story of Shadrach’s going to England had morphed into that; on the other hand, Toney Axson did say that he bought land in Riceboro of someone who had gone to Liberia. (Some enslaved people in Liberty County were able to buy their freedom and emigrate to Liberia.)
In the November 1870 Liberty County federal census, Binah Hargreaves is living by herself, listed as a washerwoman with $100 in property. Interestingly, in the fraudulent July 1870 Liberty County federal census done by Holcombe, Toney Axson is listed as having Binah Holmes living with him. Given that Holcombe did live in the community (as the Freedmen’s Bureau representative) and that the other information for Axson is correct, it is possible that this is one of the correct entries from his census, and that Binah was living by herself by the time the census was redone in the fall. It still needs to be resolved why the surnames Holmes and Hargreaves (variant: Hargrove) were both used for her but African American surnames tended to be fluid in Liberty County during the immediate post-war period.
Nelly, Axson’s wife, had belonged to Edward J. Delegal. Delegal did not die until 1892, so there are no probate records for him that might give more information about Nelly. However, she said in her testimony that she was 58 (older than Axson) in 1873, so was born around 1815 (also supported by the 1870 and 1880 censuses), and that she was born into slavery in St. Mary’s, Camden County. She appears to have attended the North Newport Baptist Church, which later became the First African Baptist Church.
Enslaved people were considered property, and they were used by their owners as collateral on loans in the same way that real estate was used. Planters such as Edward Delegal usually got a line of credit each year to be paid back when their crops were sold, and they often used their enslaved people as collateral. Nelly was used in this way by Delegal in 1838, 1839, and 1845.
In 1870, Toney and Nelly lived with their son, Walter (13), and with Betsey Dryer (8). They lived next to Lucy Hargraves, who was described in the census as “insane”. Living nearby were Tony and Julia Lambert, Molly Jones, Scipio Lambert, Samuel Osgood, Sandy Austin, and William Tison. By 1880, Walter was still with them, and Lucy Hargraves was living with them.
A death certificate for Clarissa Fraser, wife of Pulaski Fraser, also listed her parents as Tony and Nellie Axson and her birth year as 1853. She and Pulaski were already married by the time of the 1870 census. Since Nelly Axson said she had known her husband for about 20 years as of 1873, it is likely that she was their oldest child. If they had had children between Clarissa and Walter, those children would likely have been listed with them in the 1870 census, so it appears likely that they only had the two children together. Interestingly, Clarissa’s surname was listed as Dryer when she married Pulaski Fraser. Considering that a Betsey Dryer (8) was living with Toney and Nelly in 1870, and that Ned Dryer was one of the witnesses for Toney and Nelly about the taking of their property on the Delegal plantation, it seems that there is a Dryer connection here that is not yet understood.
Toney Axson evidently had standing within the local community, having been a free man most of his life and being well regarded by his white neighbors. On November 28, 1865, he was one of several signatories to a letter to the Freedmen’s Bureau Subassistant Commissioner in Savannah, appealing for assistance. They had been instructed to sign labor contracts with their former employers, but were being refused care for their children and elderly relatives. The letter also said that there were some people remaining on the plantations who did not yet know they were free, and “We are A Working class of People and We are Willing and are Desirous to worke for A Fair compensation; But to return to work opon the Terms, that are at Present offered to us, Would Be we Think going Backe into the State of Slavery that we have Just to some extent Been Delivered from.”
Unfortunately, no records were found for Toney Axson after the 1880 census.
Citations
Joseph Hargreaves 1828 will
Original (attached to court case): “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Q4-ZFJ9?cc=1999178&wc=9SBV-HZ3%3A267679901%2C267964401 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Estates 1775-1892 Goulding, Peter-Harris, Ann > image 888 of 1101
probated version: “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93L-GCNV?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 464 of 689
transcribed version: https://theyhadnames.net/2018/05/20/liberty-county-will-joseph-hargreaves/
Joseph Hargreaves 1828 estate inventory
“Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93L-GC6G?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 465 of 689; https://theyhadnames.net/2018/08/16/liberty-county-estate-inventory-joseph-hargreaves/
Joseph Hargreaves court case
“Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99Q4-ZXLB?cc=1999178&wc=9SBV-HZ3%3A267679901%2C267964401 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Estates 1775-1892 Goulding, Peter-Harris, Ann > image 877 of 1101; county probate courthouses, Georgia. [NOTE: Starts on page 877; ends on page 911.]; https://theyhadnames.net/2018/08/29/court-case-joshua-hargreaves-vs-thomas-mallard/
Nelly used as collateral by Edward Delegal
1838: https://theyhadnames.net/2019/12/14/used-as-collateral-delegal-king/ (abstract)
Liberty County Superior Court “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” Film: Deeds & Mortgages, v. K-L 1831-1842,” Record Book L, 1838-1842, pp. 1-2. Image #325 (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-T92S-S?i=324&cat=292358)
1839: https://theyhadnames.net/2020/02/01/used-as-collateral-delegal-king-2/ (abstract)
Liberty County Superior Court “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” Film: Deeds & Mortgages, v. K-L 1831-1842,” Record Book L, 1838-1842, pp. 116-7. Image #385-6 (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-T9KF-X?i=384&cat=292358)
1845: https://theyhadnames.net/2019/11/24/used-as-collateral-delegal-walthour-3/ (abstract)
Liberty County Superior Court “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” Film: Deeds & Mortgages, v. M-N 1842-1854,” Record Book M, pp. 348-9. Image #213 (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-5H9F?i=212&cat=292358)
Nelly attending the North Newport Baptist Church
1846 Census of African American church members of Liberty County’s 15th District by Charles Colcock Jones, Charles Colcock Jones papers, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University. Copy provided by Dr. Erskine Clarke; transcription on TheyHadNames.net done with acknowledgement of Tulane University: https://theyhadnames.net/1846-c-c-jones-census/.
Clarissa’s Dryer/Axson’s death certificate
Georgia Department of Health and Vital Statistics, Atlanta Georgia; digital image, Ancestry.com, “Georgia, Deaths Index, 1914-1940,” Clarissa Fraser death certificate, April 27, 1935 (accessed 6/25/2020). https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2562/images/004179269_01089edit%2Frecord
Toney Axson’s letter to the Freedmen’s Bureau
William, Toney Golden et al. to Col. H. F. Sickles, 28 Nov. 1865, Unregistered Letters Received, series 1013, Savannah GA Subassistant Commissioner, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, & Abandoned Lands, Record Group 105, National Archives.
http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/Golden.htm
1850 census for Binah Hargreaves
1850 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, District 15, sheet 331, dwelling #348 family #350, enumerated on October 3, 1850, by John Shaw, Binah Hargrove family household, digital image #10, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 6/25/2020).
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4193244-00398
1870 census for Binah Hargreaves
1870 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, Subdivision 180, p. 25, dwelling #238 family #238, enumerated on November 18, 1870, by Robert Q. Baker, Bina Hargreaves, digital image #25, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 6/25/2020).
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4263491_00405
1870 census for Toney Axson
1870 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, Subdivision 180, p. 41, dwelling #387 family #387, enumerated on December 8, 1870, by Robert Q Baker, Toney Axson household, digital image #41, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 6/25/2020).
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4263491_00421
1870 census for Bina Holmes (Holcombe census)
1870 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, Subdivision [not listed, McIntosh post office], p. 23, dwelling #206 family #211, enumerated on June 9, 1870, by C.R. Holcombe, Bina Holmes in Toney Axson household, digital image #23, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 6/25/2020).
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4263491_00029
1870 census for Toney Axson
1870 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, Subdivision 180, p. 41, dwelling #387 family #387, enumerated on December 8, 1870, by Robert Q. Baker, Toney Axson household, digital image #41, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 6/25/2020).
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4263491_00421
1880 census for Toney Axson
1880 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, Dictrict 15, enumeration district 67, p. 47, dwelling #520, family #521, Tony Axon household; digital image #47, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 6/25/2020).
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4240148-00447