The Southern Claims Commission was impressed by James Stacy’s detailed account of how he earned the property U.S. soldiers took from him during Sherman’s Army’s raid on Liberty County, Georgia, in December 1864, and awarded him $179 in compensation.
For a full transcript of this claim, see: https://theyhadnames.net/2020/08/25/james-stacy-southern-claims-commission/
Stacy, a formerly enslaved man who was 39 when he gave his testimony in 1873, said he had bought the mare that was taken by raising chickens and pigs and saving his money. He sold the mare’s colt to buy the buggy that was taken, and with some leftover money, plus more he earned by making and selling shoes, he bought a heifer, who had a calf. He said he had been raising poultry and other things for about 15 years before the Army came. Stacy recounted that he and others had worked by the task, and when they finished the task, they worked for themselves, raising crops and livestock.
Stacy said he was afraid when he first heard of the war, because “our owners told us the Yankees were coming to kill us and carry us off to Cuba,” but when the U.S. soldiers came, “I felt very different because I found they were different people. After they came and I found out about them I did all I could for them and was willing to do so.” Like many of the Liberty County formerly enslaved people who pressed claims with the Southern Claims Commission, Stacy made it clear that receiving his freedom far outweighed the loss of his property. He said, “I did not make any complaints to any officers on account of the taking of this property, for I felt so proud of the freedom they told me I had, that I didn’t make no complaint to nobody. “
Stacy said that his enslaver was Lawrence Winn, and that also present on Winn’s plantation when the property was taken were John Lambert, Scipio King, Joseph Bacon, George Powell, and Edmund Bacon. He added that the soldiers had stayed at their camp at Midway for about a month, foraging throughout the county.
Scipio King, who said he was 46 years old and not related to Stacy, testified for Stacy that he saw the property taken, and so did John Lambert, who said he was 25 years old. Both said they were born into slavery in Liberty County.
Stacy testified that his former slaveowner, Lawrence Winn, was dead, and that he lived on land that used to belong to him. He was renting the land, he said, and he paid $15 annually for the house he lived in and all the land he and his wife could work.
More about the Claimant
In 1874, James Stacy, identified as “colored,” bought what was probably the land he described renting in his claim. He paid William C. Stevens $3 an acre for 67 ½ acres that were lots #2 and #8 of land that had previously belonged to Washington Winn, who was (Edward) Lawrence Winn’s father. Stacy took out a 4-year mortgage to pay for the land. Stevens was acting as an agent for Mrs. A.E. McKinnie and for his wife Julia V. Stevens, both of whom were Washington Winn’s daughters and Lawrence Winn’s sisters. Lawrence Winn had died in 1864.
In 1880, James Stacy bought 47 ½ acres more from William C. Stevens and his wife Julia V. (Winn) Stevens for $142.50, also previously the property of Washington Winn. In 1900, he deeded over to his wife, Nancy Stacy, two tracts of land totaling 21 acres in lieu of support, as they were separated. The 20-acre tract was bounded north by land of Joshua Green, east by land of James Stacy and Joshua Green, south by John Lambert and Scipio King, and west by James Stacy and W.A. Jones. Stacy also sold an acre of land to Joshua Green in 1889 for $5, and 4 acres for $25 to S.P. Gould in 1907.
In the 1870 U.S. federal census, James Stacy was listed as 38 years old, a farmer, living with Nanny Stacy, 40 years old. They lived near George Powell, Scipio King, Robert Quarterman, and Sampson Lambert. In the 1880 census, James was listed as 54 years old and his wife, now listed as Nancy, was 60 years old and had rheumatism. Living with them was Stacy’s “niece-in-law” Julia Maxwell (30), “niece-in-law” Tyra M. Maxwell (20), “nephew-in-law” William Stevens, and granddaughter Mary E. Smith (6) and James Smith (5). (NOTE: William Stevens was listed as a “nephew-in-law” but his age was given as 50.) Near them were Joshua Green, Joseph B. Golding, Sarah Small, and John Bacon.
In the 1900 census, the residents of the Stacy household were listed as James Stacy (50 years old), Nancy Stacy, listed as his wife (68 years old), James Stacy, listed as his grandson (23 years old), and Nannie Stacy, listed as his daughter-in-law (20 years old). The younger James and Nannie Stacy had been married for four years and had no children, according to the census. The elder James and Nancy Stacy were listed as having been married for 30 years, and she had had two children, one of whom was living. Given the discrepancy in the elder James Stacy’s age (50 years, when he should have been about 68), and the fact that court records said that James and Nancy were separated in 1900, it seems possible that this James is actually their son, father of the younger James Stacy, and that the census enumerator made a mistake.
No death records were found for either James Stacy or wife Nancy, but we know that he lived until at least 1907, when he sold land to S.P. Gould.
Slavery Records
James Stacy had said that he belonged to Lawrence Winn. Winn’s 1864 estate inventory, when James Stacy would have been in his late 20s, listed both a James Senior, valued at $3000, and a James Junior, valued at $200. It seems probably that the claimant, James Stacy, was James Senior, and his son may have been James Junior. Lawrence Winn’s father, Washington Winn, died in 1856, but the only estate inventory found was in 1864, and no James or Jim was listed. However, Midway Congregational Church records from August 1856 show that a James belonging to the estate of Washington Winn had been denied membership. Of course, it is not known for certain if any of these references was for this James Stacy.
Of note for anyone researching this James Stacy, there was also a white James Stacy in Liberty County who lived at roughly the same time. He was the author of the “History and Published Records of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia,” and he was a Presbyterian minister who died in Newnan, Coweta County, Georgia in 1912. The records referred to in this post have been double-checked to make sure they refer to the African American James Stacy.
Citations:
Deed Records
Liberty County Superior Court, “Deeds & Mortgages v. AB 1894-1896,” p. 464-5, James Stacy to Joshua Green, digital image, FamilySearch.org, “Deeds & Mortgages, v. AA-AB 1892-1896 ” within “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” image #557, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-59ZW-P?i=556&cat=292358, 8/24/2020)
Liberty County Superior Court, “Deeds & Mortgages v. A-I 1907-1908,” p. 384, James Stacy to S.P. Gould, digital image, FamilySearch.org, “Deeds & Mortgages, v. AI-AJ 1907-1910 ” within “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” image #214, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-53S6?i=213&cat=292358, accessed 8/24/2020)
Liberty County Superior Court, “Deeds & Mortgages v. A-J 1908-1910,” p. 46-47, James Stacy to Nancy Stacy, digital image, FamilySearch.org, “Deeds & Mortgages, v. AI-AJ 1907-1910 ” within “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” image #370,
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-5Z42?i=369&cat=292358, accessed 8/24/2020)
Liberty County Superior Court, “Deeds & Mortgages v. T 1882-1884,” p. 193, William C. Stevens and Julia Stevens to James Stacy, digital image, FamilySearch.org, “Deeds & Mortgages, v. T-U 1882-1885 ” within “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” image #106, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-R9DW-1?i=105&cat=292358, accessed 8/24/2020)
Liberty County Superior Court, “Deeds & Mortgages v. AB 1894-1896,” p. 372-3, Wm. C. Stevens to James Stacy, digital image, FamilySearch.org, “Deeds & Mortgages, v. AA-AB 1892-1896 ” within “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” image #511, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-59WT-H?i=510&cat=292358, 8/24/2020)
Probate Records
E. Lawrence Winn, 1864
“Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93L-RJD2?cc=1999178&wc=9SYY-ZNP%3A267679901%2C268025701 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills 1863-1942 vol C-D > image 20 of 430
Washington Winn, 1864
“Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893L-RJJS?cc=1999178&wc=9SYY-ZNP%3A267679901%2C268025701 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills 1863-1942 vol C-D > image 21 of 430; county probate courthouses, Georgia.
Census Records
1870 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, Subdivision 181, p. 46, dwelling #441, family #441, enumerated on November 29, 1870, by W.S. Norman, James and Nanny Stacy household, digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8/24/2020).
1880 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, District 15, enumeration district 66, p. 32, dwelling #296, family #299, James and Nancy Stacy household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8/24/2020).
1900 U.S. Census, Liberty County, Georgia, population schedule, Militia District 1359, enumeration district 86, sheet #5, line number 10-13, James and Nancy Stacy household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8/24/2020).
Midway Congregational Church
Midway Congregational Church Records, digital images, FamilySearch.org (accessed 5/14/2020); James belonging to estate of Washington Winn denied admission, August, 1858, in the quarterly session records. Records abstracted at https://theyhadnames.net/midway-church-records/.