Unraveling the Mystery of Two Free Black Families in Lone Jack in 1860

Unraveling A Local Mystery

By Alinda Miller

While going through the 1860 census and listing the heads of households, I came across two entries that really piqued my interest. Right in the middle of Old Town (the original plat of Lone Jack was referred to as “Old Town”) were two free black families. Thomas, a stone mason, Jane Hale, his wife; and Martha Williams and her children. Having never found any reference to these families in the Lone Jack history I’d been studying, I knew I had to find out more.

My initial search turned up only the 1865 marriage records in Independence, Missouri for Thomas and Jane Hale and for Martha and her husband, Ambrose Williams. After the War, the freed slaves and those already free had to register their marriages in Jackson County. In finding these records, I could tie the two families together. Ambrose Williams was Jane Hale’s son. (A side note: the two people listed as children of Thomas remain a mystery.)

Where did these families come from? How and when did they earn their freedom or were they born free? Where was Ambrose in the 1860 census?

Through Jane, which we will get into more details in another post, I was able to track down Thomas (at least in part). He was born about 1796 in most likely Kentucky. In 1850 I found him on the Boyle County, formerly Mercer County, Kentucky census, occupation Stone Mason, living in the household of Francis Sarcene. Further research, as of this time, has not provided any details of their association.

Thomas emigrated to Jackson County sometime between 1850 and 1860, again we’ll get into more details about this. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any additional information on Thomas prior to his move to Lone Jack other than the census record of 1850.

I was able to trace him forward. After moving to Independence, Thomas and Jane became charter members of the African Baptist Church, which is also called the Second Baptist Church and is still an active congregation. (A side note: It is also the oldest African American congregation west of the Mississippi.) In addition, during this time frame, the Independence School Board hired former slaves Thomas Hale and William Tadlock, to teach at the Hiram Young School, a school for African American children.

The question of Thomas’ status as a slave was answered with this discovery. At some point prior to 1850 Thomas had purchased (which was possible) or was given his freedom.

Thomas and Jane were listed on the 1870 census in Independence. From this point, they disappear from the records and Thomas’ traceable history comes to an end. It is probable that they died between 1870 and 1880 and if so, it’s also possible that they are buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in unmarked graves, of which there are many according to the records.

As my research continued, and I became more familiar with the local families, one name in particular stuck out, Joshua Williams. There was two Joshua Williams on the 1860 census, one adult white male–the son of Mary Williams and a one-year-old black male—the son of Ambrose and Martha Williams. (We know that Ambrose was Joshua’s father from the marriage record.) Was this a coincidence? As it turned out, no.

These two Joshua Williams were pivotal in unlocking the mystery, or rather a large part of the mystery anyway.

As was common, slaves would sometimes take, or were given, the surname of their owners and the fact that two Joshua Williams lived in Lone Jack in 1860 led me to search for a possible connection.

Using the online will records for Jackson County, Missouri I discovered that Ambrose Williams and his mother Jane Hale originated from the Danville, Kentucky area and were the slaves of Mary Williams. The answers to some of my initial questions surrounding this family were contained within Mary’s will records. However, as is typical, two or three more questions opened up with every question answered.

But first, Mary emigrated from Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky to Missouri sometime between 1850 and 1855. She came with two of her adult sons, Theopulis and Joshua.

Does Boyle County sound familiar? Why, yes it does, because that’s where Thomas Hale emigrated from. Though I have no documented proof, based on location ‘from and to’, I believe that Thomas Hale knew the Williams family and emigrated with them. It’s even possible that Thomas and Jane were together before they came.

From Mary’s will, which was written in 1855 in Jackson County Missouri, I was also able to determine who her husband was, though he was deceased by 1859 when Mary died. Using this, I found their marriage records in her husband’s probate records from Boyle County, Kentucky, and was able to piece together some of Mary’s life.

Mary “Polly” Fisher was born in 1791 To Elias and Gemimah (Butler) Fisher and married Ezra Williams in 1816 in Mercer County, Kentucky, which later became Boyle County. Jane was about 10 years old in 1816. She came with Mary when she married Ezra or soon after. I do know she was, at one time, it the household of Elias Fisher, (how I know this will be explained in another installment.) As was typically the law, upon Ezra and Mary’s marriage, her property became his property.

Ezra died in 1833/1834 (I’ve been unable to pinpoint the exact date) and left his entire estate to his wife, Mary. Erza William’s probate file was very detailed, which was not always the case. In his inventory list, they listed the slaves AND they gave them names, this included both Jane and Ambrose.

This was a very tedious and laborious process because at beginning, I didn’t know that she was Joshua’s mother, when she died, or where she came from and believe it or not, Mary Williams is a pretty common name (LOL)! I had to look through the online probate files at Familysearch.org individually for Mary’s records. I was able to eventually determine the sequence of some events and the probability of another, or so I thought.

Mary Williams’ will was quite unique in the fact that the details contained in it, only pertained with the wellbeing of her slaves, Jane and Ambrose. She makes only a brief mention of her own children.

Written and signed June 4, 1855, in part it reads:

“At my death it is my will and desire that my negro woman Jenny (Jane) shall be free, and that provision be made for her support as herein after provided. After my death it is my will and desire that my negro man Ambrose aged about twenty six years at this time, at this time shall labor at such employment as may be deemed best, he being consulted as to his home and place of working and of his earnings. My Executors shall receive the sum of Two Hundred Dollars per annum, provided his labor shall produce that sum, and all above that amount per annum shall be given to my said boy Ambrose to do with as he chooses…..”

The $200 was to go to support his mother, Jane. This answers the question of Jane’s freedom. It also gives us a peek into how close Mary and Jane were and what their relationship must have been like.

“It is my desire that said man Ambrose shall thus continue to labor until he shall reach the age of forty years at which time I direct that he also shall be free.”

And this answers the question of why Ambrose was not listed on the 1860 census. While she gave him a voice in his employment and home, in 1860 he was still technically enslaved.

At this point, we are going to shift our focus to Ambrose. We will come back to Jane, there is more to her story.

As previously stated, the Hale and Williams families moved to Independence, Missouri, most likely during General Order #11, which was issued on August 26, 1863. In September 1863, Ambrose is enumerated on U.S. Civil War Draft Registration in Blue Township (Independence) Jackson County Missouri.

The Civil War changed the trajectory of Ambrose’s life.

On September 27th, 1864, Ambrose enlisted in Company K, 18th US Colored Infantry at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri. The 18th was raised in Missouri and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized in Missouri, unlike other Black regiments from the State, it was mustered directly into the U.S. rather than state service. Attached to District of St. Louis, Mo., Department of Missouri, to December 1864. They were in several engagements in Tennessee. He was honorably discharged on May 25th, 1865, at Chatanooga, Tennessee.

After the War, Ambrose returned to his family in Independence and remained there until 1870. From there, he moved his family to Edwardsville, Wyandotte County, Kansas. They remained there until 1876 when they moved to Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, where Martha Williams died of dropsy (Dropsy was a term used to describe generalized swelling and was synonymous with heart failure.) on February 13, 1879. She is buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas.

Ambrose and Martha had five children:

Jennie was born in 1856 and died in 1896. She married Smallwood Noland.

Joshua was born in 1858 and moved to Colorado; no other information is known about him.

Lenora was born in 1862 and died in 1936. She married William Graves and they moved to California.

Mattie was born in 1863 ; married John Benton and died before 1898.

Ambrose Jr. was born in 1871 and died in 1936. He married Ida Williams (no relation).

No other information is known about Martha.

We continue to follow Ambrose Williams through the records.

Ambrose married Matilda Lawson on March 13, 1885. She died in 1894. Ambrose married next to Margaret “Maggie” Diggs on March 20, 1897 and she died June 5, 1902. She is buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery as well. Ambrose married a fourth time to Phyllis Coker on October 2, 1902. She survived him.

Sometime in 1895, Ambrose left Lawrence, Kansas and went back to Kansas City where he found work. He stayed there for several months, returning in February 1896. His employment while living in Lawrence consisted of a contract to gather all the coal that fell from the coal cars along the railroad between Bismark and Mud creek.

On April 11, 1906, Ambrose was admitted to the Leavenworth Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, displaying signs of dementia. On April 12th, he disappeared from the Home and was found, dead on April 14th in a small ravine not too far away. He was 77 years old. The coroner ruled his death an accident. He was buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Leavenworth Times, Leavenworth, Kansas Sunday, April 15, 1906

Pathetic Death of Old Veteran

A most pathetic death was that of Ambrose Williams, a negro Civil War veteran, aged 77 years, whose body was found lying in a few inches of water in a creek bed along the Missouri Pacific right-of-way between the Soldier’s home station and the Riverside mine. He had died from sheer exhaustion, it appears, after falling into the creek by sliding down its slippery banks. Just a few feet aways from where the body was found lay a little pile of coal and splinters from railway ties, and the pockets of the man’s trousers were filled with little bits of coal he had gathered along the tracks.

It is known that Williams had been living in the woods within a few hundred yards of the Home, for two days, apparently lost and without anything whatever to eat. He labored under the hallucination that he was on his way back to his old home in Lawrence.

Struggle to Get out

Williams’ body was found by Section Foreman Coon and his men yesterday morning when they started out for work about 7 o’clock. Charley Barr of Richardson, who had been fishing in the river, was notified and he in turn notified Coroner Smith. The coroner went to the place and found the body lying on its back in a few inches of water. A white handkerchief covered the head. There were signs of a struggle in the mud and water showing that the man had attempted to get out but had been overcome by exhaustion and sunk back in the mud and waited for death to come.

The creek where Williams was found is a small one but with precipitous banks eight or nine feet high. The back on the south side had caved in showing where the man had slipped down. They were exceedingly slippery, and it was an impossibility for Williams to crawl up them where he had tried. It was apparently nighttime when he slid into the place, for had it been daylight he could have seen that his efforts would prove fruitless, and gone further west where he could have gotten out.

The body was taken into a skiff run up the mouth of the creek from the river. In the skiff were Henry Miller, Charles Barr and John Oertel. The skiff was pulled out into the river with the body in it and then to the Soldiers’ home station. There it was identified by a negro veteran as that of Williams.

Gathering Coal for a fire

The man had entered the Home April 11 from Lawrence and on April 12, or Thursday he disappeared. Friday he was seen by Charles Barr who talked to him. Williams had lost his hat and was wearing a handkerchief over his head. He was rambling in his talk and told of a woman and a boy wishing him to take care of a horse, but he had refused and was then on his way back to Lawrence. He had no veteran uniform on as it had not yet been issued to him. He was at that time picking up splinters of wood along the railway track, being chilled from his exposure to the wind. He had been a sufferer from rheumatism for years.

On the south side of the bank Williams had gathered small pieces of coal and wood and was apparently preparing to light a fire to warm himself in the chilly wind of Friday night. How he happened to get into the creek is a mystery.

It was first reported that he had been struck by a train and knocked into the ditch, but Coroner Smith does not think this the case, from the footprints and landslide on the bank of the creek. Today he will go to the Home to examine the body to see whether he can find any marks or bruised upon it.

Williams was a member of the company K Eighteenth regiment, U.S. Colored Troops. He had been assigned to company E at the Home. His residence was No. 224 Mechanic street, Lawrence. He was a married man.

It is said Williams had a son-in-law a negro barber, in Leavenworth, but he has not as yet been located.

And, thus ends our tale of Ambrose Williams’ life. However, it is NOT the end of his story.

 I knew that when Ambrose was born, in about 1825, Jane was about 20 years old. Both were the slaves of Mary Fisher Williams. Mary was the wife of Ezra Williams, and daughter of Elias Fisher, Elias’ father being Stephen Fisher.

From the census records, I knew that Ambrose had both black and white ancestry. Up to this point, the circumstances surrounding his birth had remained a mystery. Given that Ambrose was a mulatto, and that he was born after Mary Fisher married Ezra Williams, I assumed that Ezra was his probable father. There’s no way to determine exactly when Jane came to live with Mary but we do know it was between 1816 and 1834 when her husband, Ezra died.

I was asked in the comments of a previous post if either family, the Williams, Ambrose and Jane or the Williams, Mary and Joshua might have descendants still in the area. The answer to that was, no, I was unable to find any remaining family members in close proximity.

However, I did find a descendant of Ambrose and Martha. If you’ll remember, one of their daughters, Lenora married William Graves and moved to California? I was able to track down a great-granddaughter of Lenora. This led to a totally unexpected discovery.

This great-granddaughter and her family were beyond excited to be able to trace their grandmother, Lenora back and have documented proof. She was so thrilled that she agreed to send me her DNA results and those of her mother.

Using these results, I consulted a genetic genealogist. She was able to determine that Ezra was not, in fact Ambrose’s father. His father was Mary’s own father, Elias Fisher. I thought this was the end of the story. It was not.

The genetic genealogist was able to go back even further and establish who Jane’s father and most likely who her mother was as well. It turns out that Jane’s father was Stephen Fisher, Elias Fisher’s father.

When Stephen Fisher died, in his will he required that his slave Fan be set free upon the death of his wife, Magdalene. This leads us to believe that Jane’s mother was, in all probability, Stephen’s slave Fan.

To sum up, Ambrose was Mary’s half-brother and also her half cousin, because Jane was her half aunt. This explains the close relationship Mary had with Jane and Ambrose and it also explains why it was so easy for the genetic genealogist to triangulate the DNA results to be able to determine the paternity of both Jane and Ambrose.

In conclusion, I was beyond thrilled to find out so much about this family but, to be honest, it was way more satisfying to be able to help the Graves family trace their slave ancestry, which is rare.

The photo is Lenora Williams Graves – daughter of Ambrose and Martha Williams