
Person Info
Susanna Johnston Jacobs: Birth: 07 SEP 1847 in Person Co, North Carolina, USA. Death: 10 JAN 1878 in Person Co, North Carolina, USA
Elizabeth Jacobs: Birth: 25 APR 1849 in Person Co, North Carolina, USA. Death: 11 DEC 1850 in Person Co, North Carolina, USA
Eunice Bradsher Jacobs: Birth: 13 FEB 1854 in Person Co, North Carolina, USA. Death: 18 JUN 1949 in Olive Hill, Person Co, NC
Elephlit Lee "Elijah Jacobs" Coleman: Birth: 15 NOV 1858 in Savannah, GA. Death: 24 OCT 1941 in Spiro, Le Flore, Oklahoma, USA
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Note: BENJAMIN AND MARTHA BRADSHER JACOBS Benjamin Jacobs was the fifth of six children born to Elijah and Susanna Johnston Jacobs; he was born on Nov. 12, 1824 and was named for his paternal grandfather. Ben attended school and learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. His parents owned many books and he was probably encouraged to read. There was much for a little boy to do on a plantation as large as Elijah Jacobs'. Tobacco, corn, oats, and wheat had to be planted, worked, and harvested. The horses, mules, cows, sheep, hogs and poultry had to be fed and taken care of. There were cows to be milked, sheep to be sheared, and the honey had to be taken out of the hives. Wood had to be cut and chopped to heat the house in winter and to do the cooking. Water had to be carried from the spring on Ned's Branch. Elijah may even have taught his son to make the apple and peach brandies that he sold locally. This family owned many slaves but that exempted no one in the family from his or her fair share of the labor. The second Saturday in each month was spent attending the church meeting at Ebenezer Primitive Baptist Church. What spare time Ben had could have been spent riding horses, playing in one of the two creeks that ran near his home, or looking for scrapers and arrowheads in the field northeast of the house. In winter he might have hunted with his father and brothers in the acres of woodland that surrounded them. When it snowed there were steep hills behind the house, just right for sledding. Elijah Jacobs hauled his own tobacco and sometimes the tobacco of others to Danville and Petersburg, Va. He no doubt occasionally, took his sons on these trips to market. If none of these amusements suited Ben, he had four brothers and a sister to play with, as well as the children of the slaves his father owned. Martha Banks Bradsher was the youngest of eight children born to Abner and Elizabeth Johnston Bradsher. She was born May 10, 1824 and was named for her paternal grandmother. Her amusements would have probably been a little more restricted than Ben's. She would have been allowed to play with dolls and since her father was well off financially, she may have owned some nice ones. She embroidered two samplers by the time she was thirteen, both of which are neatly and attractively done. Perhaps for enjoyment, she worked on the quilts she made for her hope chest in the, sugar loaf, lily of the valley, and flower basket patterns. Whether she enjoyed these activities or not, she at least believed in a job well done. Even though worn and faded today, they survive, and their superior workmanship is still evident. Abner Bradsher owned both household and field slaves, but Martha still was taught to cook, clean, sew, spin, and weave. Benjamin Jacobs and Martha Bradsher were first cousins. Their mothers were sisters. The Jacobs and Bradshers lived within 5 miles of each other, so the two families probably visited each other often. Benjamin Jacobs grew up to be a big, muscular man. Harvey Thompson Winstead was Ben's and Martha's grandson. He said that Obediah Fulcher said that it was no more trouble for Ben Jacobs to lick a man than it was for other men to take candy from a baby. His strength was his best-remembered feature. Martha's daughter Eunice described her as a small, very neat woman with brown hair. No photographs of her are part of our family collection. On Nov 18, 1845, Benjamin went to the Person County Courthouse for a marriage bond. John Newton witnessed this bond for Ben. On Dec 18. 1845, Ben and Martha were married. Ben owned no land at the time of their marriage, so I do not know exactly where they lived. One of their wedding gifts was a star of Bethlehem quilt. The quilt was pieced from two solid colors, indigo blue and pumpkin gold cotton. The tiny diamonds that make up the stars are very skillfully pieced and quilted. This quilt must only have been used for very special occasions because it survives today, virtually un-faded and worn very little. It is the cherished possession of Frances Winstead Rudder, a great granddaughter of Ben and Martha. Three days after their wedding, Martha's brother Elias died. He was buried in the Bradsher family cemetery. On the 16th day of March 1846, Elijah Jacobs sold Ben 195 acres of land on South Hico. In January of 1847, Martha's brother, Lorenzo, left for the Mexican War. Martha never saw him again. He was killed sometime during this war. On Sept 7, 1847 Ben and Martha had their first baby. Susan Johnston Jacobs was named for her father's mother. On Apr 25, 1849, their second child was born. Elizabeth was named for Martha's mother. When Elizabeth was about six months old, she became sick. She was never healthy after that time and did not respond normally to the things and people around her. Her sudden illness was puzzling to everyone and no one could explain it. She died a little over a year later, on Dec. 11, 1850. After the death of the child, her nurse confessed that she had dropped her, two days before the onset of the child's illness. Family tradition says that the nurse was not punished. She had loved the child and would not have hurt her intentionally. Elizabeth was buried in Ebenezer Church Cemetery. On Feb 13, 1854 the last child of Ben and Martha was born. Eunice Bradsher Jacobs was named for Martha's sister, Eunice B. Moore, who had died on Dec. 29th of the previous year. Ben and Martha had a place of their own by the time the census taker came around in July of 1850. At this time they owned 90 acres of improved land and 30 acres at unimproved land. Their livestock consisted of three horses, four milk cows, six sheep, and 16 swine. On their land they grew 60 bushels of wheat, 225 bushels Indian corn, 40 bushels oats, 2900 lbs. tobacco, five bushels of potatoes, and 59 bushels of sweet potatoes. Other things that they produced were 3 lbs. wool, 15 lbs. of beeswax and honey, 20 lbs, butter, and five lbs flax. They had 7 slaves in all. Six of these were under 12 years old. Eunice was an outdoor person, but she did have one favorite indoor toy. It was it small doll cradle made of poplar. I do not know who made it for her. It survived her childhood and her daughter, granddaughters, and even I, as a great granddaughter played with it. In time, its rockers became almost flat on the bottom from the miles it rocked putting baby dolls to sleep. As a small child Eunice played with the children of her father's slaves. One day, she went with Rachel to the potato patch to dig potatoes. She was only three years old and she became tired and impatient before Rachel finished digging. Finally she said, "Dig it up. Rachey! Cover it up, Rachey! Come on, want Mommy, Poppy!" In 1855, Person County experienced a typhoid epidemic. Ben's brother, Dr. Samuel Jacobs, took care of many people in the county during this time. Samuel himself was not immune and he died of the disease an Aug. 18, 1855. He was buried beside his niece, Elizabeth, in the Churchyard at Ebenezer. By Dec 24. 1855, Ben was indebted to Elijah in the amount at $2000. An indenture was made between Benjamin Jacobs of the first part, Bluford Cooper (Ben's brother-in-law from Caswell County) of the second part, and Elijah Jacobs of the third part. In this document Ben conveys to his brother-in-law, two tracts of land in Person County. One of the tracts contained 40 acres and the other about 121 acres. In addition to the land, Ben paid Cooper $1. For these conveyances, Cooper promises to pay Elijah Jacobs the amount of Ben's debt plus interest, by Dec 25, 1856. If Cooper should fail to pay by the agreed upon day, Elijah, after advertising at the Courthouse and three other public places in Roxborough, for 20 days, may sell the two tracts of land at public auction to the highest bidder. Any amount of money over and above the debt and interest owed to Elijah, would be given back to Benjamin Jacobs. During the June term of Person County Court, 1858, Benjamin Jacobs is mentioned in a peace warrant. It reads: State vs. Benjamin Jacobs, Recognize in the sum of $1000 -- Elijah Jacobs, George Satterfield, and E.C. Jordan, Recognize jointly in the sum of $1000, for the appearance of Benjamin Jacobs to the next term at this court and that he keeps the peace towards all good citizens and particular towards his wife and the family of Abner Bradsher. No information is given as to specific actions which brought on this warrant. June 24, 1858, Abner Bradsher, Martha's father, made a will. He wills his possessions to his four children equally. Martha's legacy is specified in the fourth clause of this will" ... I give to my daughter Martha Jacobs, the sum of $200 towards paying for a house. I now give to my son-in-law, Nathan Oakley, in trust for the separate maintenance support of my daughter, Martha Jacobs, the following property to wit; Negro woman Antisha and all her children except (Galatin and Poly) which I value at five hundred dollars, one Negro Monroe, valued at two hundred dollars and Rachel valued at four hundred dollars; and also one tract of land known as the Yellock track valued at three hundred dollars, making the whole (including the $200) sixteen hundred dollars. And also after the death of my wife all the land on the North Side of Hico of the track I bought of John W. and James G. Dobbins and Roth P. Williamson and Jno. Dick, which my deed will show after taking out the three hundred acres given to my son William and also all the land on the same side of Hyco known as my Pittard tract, after her Mother's life estate, to be valued at seven dollars per acre; the whole of said land and other property to be held in trust for the sole and separate use of my said daughter and in no way to be liable for her husband's debts or subject to his controls; which property the said Nathan may rent or hire out or permit my daughter to occupy as he may deem best. And apply the proceeds to her separate support or invest the same upon the same trust in other property." He goes on to say that if his daughter dies, the property is to go to her children equally and if she has no living children at her death, the property is to revert to her surviving brothers and sisters. Eight days later, on July 1, 1858, Abner Bradsher died. He was buried in his family cemetery. On Aug 31, 1858, Benjamin Jacobs sold the last of his land. The deed conveys to W. G. Bradsher, 119.6 acres on South Hico for the sum of $1075. Early one morning in late 1858, Benjamin Jacobs left Person County with a traveling companion and two young male slaves. He left behind, his wife Martha, and his two daughters, Susan and Nicie. Later they would receive word that he and his companion had "both taken sick and died," in Dec of 1859, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on the Oklahoma border. The Benjamin Jacobs of this story was a grandson of the Benjamin Jacobs who settled in Caswell County in the 18th century. Martha Bradsher Jacobs was a granddaughter of Caswell County settler, Moses Bradsher. - Mary Linda Winstead Janke - *********************************************************************************************** In fall of 1858, Ben Jacobs left his wife and ran off to Fort Smith, AR with Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher. They died there in 1859; but there was some questions by the local authorities in Ft Smith as to whether or not he owned the slaves he brought with him. They wrote to the postmaster in Leasburg,NC, who forwarded the letter to his wife, Martha. In the letter, they asked if the ownership papers on his slaves might have been forged. She never wrote back. Ben was found dead in his cabin, along with his "wife". Foul play was suspected. Possibly poisoned. Martha was his 1st cousin. Catherine was the sister to James Fletcher Winstead. Following is the letter: Fort Smith, Arkansas March 9, 1860 TO: POST MASTER AT YANCEYVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Dear Sir: Some time in December last a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Jacobs came to this place in company with his wife Catherine Jacobs and an infant son named Elijah Jacobs ? had two Negro Boys with him as I understand and stopped with a man by the name of Samuel Edmondson alias Ginger. Soon after which himself and wife was boath taken sick and died. I am, a1most certain there was Foul Play. I think they were poisoned. This pious old Ginger took the Negroes off and sold them. I have taken out Letters of Administration on the Estates of the said Jacobs' and yesterday I called on Edmondson for the purpose of taken an Inventory of the Property and found nothing but two trunks of clothing and one watch. I find the Daguerreotype (tin photograph) of some friend of theirs I learn the lady said it was her brother. I have that and a lock of the ladys hare. Edmondson has a bill of sale for the Negroes, but I am certain it was forged because if he had bought the Negroes and paid for them there would have been money on hand. There was not a dollar. I have hired a nurse for the infant. I find a receipt for eighty dollars in a bill of sale from E. Jacobs to Benjamin Jacobs for a Negro Boy aged about 14 years, which I suppose must have been one of the Negroes sold by Edmondson. What induces me to write to you is I find the envelope of a letter that was mailed at Yanceyville, N. C. to Benjamin Jacob Dubuque, Marian County, Arkansas, and from that infer there must be some of the relatives of himself or wife in that county. Please find out if you can and inform me immediately. I will do the best I can for the child so help me God. Farewell. Please attend to the above and if you find any of the friends let them correspond with me immediately. H. L. HOLLEMAN Fort Smith, Ark. Following is an addendum by Mary Linda Winstead Janke: Benjamin Jacobs did not steal the slaves that were with him in Arkansas. He owned them. They left with him and Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher. Catherine, by the way was the sister of James Fletcher Winstead. (Talk about a small gene pool.) She left four daughters, one just an infant. Legend has it that the morning she left she kissed each one good bye and gave the three oldest ones a sip of coffee from her cup. I feel sure she was pregnant before she left and that was probably the reason for their leaving. Benjamin and the two slave boys came and picked her up in the buggy. When he got to the top of the hill near her home he fired his gun three times. No one knows why. There were problems between he and Martha and at the time he left she had taken out a restraining order against him. Her father left her property in his will but clearly stated that Benjamin Jacobs was not to have access to or manage it in any way. I wanted to write more about this in the heritage book but Grandma did not want me to. Martha was taking steps to divorce him when word came that he was dead. Ben and Catherine could not have legally married since there was no divorce. We have reason to believe that the slaves were stolen either shortly before Ben and Catherine died or were appropriated by that Ginger person, mentioned in the letter shortly after their death. There was no bill of sale saying that Ben had sold them to anyone. Mammy always wanted to find her little brother. She didn't know he existed until she was grown. I don't know if she ever tried. Some attempts have been made to locate him by members of the family but so far as I know none were successful. ------------- In Nov 2014 some interesting emails arrived that added a new twist to this story regarding the son of the murdered couple: From: Martha Spencer <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 8:14 PM Subject: Re: Catherine Hall Winstead and child Elijah To: Martha Coleman <[email protected]> It is fascinating to me! On Dec 2, 2014 8:13 PM, "Martha Coleman" <[email protected]> wrote: Bob and I think so but we have no proof. A judge released the adoption records today but when we went to pick them up, the clerk said there is no mention of James Coleman or Elijah or Elias so there was nothing to give us. We wondered if the child was just given to someone and not adopted. A park ranger at the Fort Smith National Historic Site said the courthouse, at that time was in Crawford Country but the courthouse burned at the beginning of the Civil War. If there are any surviving records they were sent to Fort Worth to the National Archives. We're planning a trip soon. It is a fascinating story. Unfortunately not everyone in Bob's family is keen on accepting it. Oh well...we will keep plugging away:o) Sent from my iPhone On Dec 2, 2014, at 6:49 PM, Martha Spencer <[email protected]> wrote: Is Elephlit Coleman the child who was known as Elijah Jacobs? On Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 8:57 PM, Martha Spencer <[email protected]> wrote: I don't have any more information but this is fascinating. On Dec 1, 2014 8:54 PM, "Martha Coleman" <[email protected]> wrote: Hello Martha, My husband Bob has a family story about his (Bob's) great grandfather being adopted after his parents were murdered. We found a brief article in the Fort Smith Historical Society Journal while we were searching for Colemans. The attached pdf is from the court docket (p. 9) of Samuel Edmondson, Justice of the Peace dated from September 8, 1859 to June 28, 1861. From there we researched the names Benjamin and Martha Jacobs, Henry Kuper, and Miss Ermann and found a one year old child named Elias Jacobs on the 1860 census living with Henry Kuper in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Teresa Errmann turned out to be the sister of Henry Kuper's wife, Gertrude. Ermann and Kuper were Catholics and I wondered if they offered to keep the child after no one from Alabama claimed the child. My husband's great great grandfather, James M. Coleman, lived just over the border in Indian Territory, in the Choctaw Nation, "just over a mile and a half." After reading several stories posted about Benjamin Jacobs and Catherine Bradsher I was reminded of the mention in the FSHS article (p. 7, 2nd paragraph) of a man named "ginger"...Samuel Edmondson's nickname was "Old Ginger". Is it possible that the supposed murderer of Benjamin and Catherine then arranged for the adoption of their child from a court bench? The clerk that we talked to at the courthouse didn't think the adoption papers would be unsealed but gave us a form to fill out. We'll probably do that tomorrow. I didn't want to publish any of this online until we had some proof, which we may never have. We need something concrete that links James M. Coleman to the child...not just "Mr. Coleman." I've checked with the Fort Smith Police Department but they do not have records that far back. We still need to check with the Fort Smith Museum of History and the Fort Smith National Historic Site to see if there are any records. I have been unable to locate any newspapers for that period of time that would have reported on the murder. Dec, 1859 and Jan, 1860 are missing from all the film that I've examined so far. Still looking. At any rate, that is our interest in the child. Do you have any further info in light of the above? Thanks. Martha and Bob Coleman Fort Smith, Arkansas On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 9:04 PM, Martha Spencer <[email protected]> wrote: Martha, How do you fit into the Bradsher family? Martha On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 10:03 PM, Martha Spencer <[email protected]> wrote: The letter from Ft. Smith is the source for the child's name. Fort Smith, Arkansas March 9, 1860 TO: POST MASTER AT YANCEYVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Dear Sir: Some time in December last a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Jacobs came to this place in company with his wife Catherine Jacobs and an infant son named Elijah Jacobs ? had two Negro Boys with him as I understand and stopped with a man by the name of Samuel Edmondson alias Ginger. Soon after which himself and wife was boath taken sick and died. I am, a1most certain there was Foul Play. I think they were poisoned. This pious old Ginger took the Negroes off and sold them. I have taken out Letters of Administration on the Estates of the said Jacobs' and yesterday I called on Edmondson for the purpose of taken an Inventory of the Property and found nothing but two trunks of clothing and one watch. I find the Daguerreotype (tin photograph) of some friend of theirs I learn the lady said it was her brother. I have that and a lock of the ladys hare. Edmondson has a bill of sale for the Negroes, but I am certain it was forged because if he had bought the Negroes and paid for them there would have been money on hand. There was not a dollar. I have hired a nurse for the infant. I find a receipt for eighty dollars in a bill of sale from E. Jacobs to Benjamin Jacobs for a Negro Boy aged about 14 years, which I suppose must have been one of the Negroes sold by Edmondson. What induces me to write to you is I find the envelope of a letter that was mailed at Yanceyville, N. C. to Benjamin Jacob Dubuque, Marian County, Arkansas, and from that infer there must be some of the relatives of himself or wife in that county. Please find out if you can and inform me immediately. I will do the best I can for the child so help me God. Farewell. Please attend to the above and if you find any of the friends let them correspond with me immediately. H. L. HOLLEMAN Fort Smith, Ark. On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 9:48 PM, Martha Spencer <[email protected]> wrote: Seems ridiculous that it would still have to be sealed 150 years later. Benjamin Jacobs's father was named Elijah, so if that was the child's name, then likely he was named for his grandfather. I have to look at my records to see how the name was found. Haven't visited this in a long time. Best regards, Martha On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 8:35 PM, Martha Coleman <[email protected]> wrote: Hello, I am trying to determine what happened to the child of Benjamin Jacobs and Catherine Hall Winstead after they were murdered in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Do you know where you found the name of the child...Elijah? We have a clue to the adoptive parents but we must write to the Sebastian County Court House to unseal an adoption record...probably won't happen but we will try. Thank you for any help. Martha Coleman Fort Smith, Arkansas -------- 06/02/2015 latest edit The Letter from Arkansas Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and truth. -Buddha- ( Put actual copy of 1860 letter here) Transcript of 1860 letter: “Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 9th 1860 To The Post Master at Yanceyville, N Carolina Dear Sir. Some time in December last a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Jacobs came to this place in company with his wife Catherine Jacobs and an infant son Elijah Jacobs. He had two Negro Boys with him as I understand and stayed with a man by the name of Samuel Edmondson, alias Ginger. Soon afterwards himself and wife was Boath Taken Sick and died. I am almost certain there was Foul Play. I think they was Poisoned. This Pious old Ginger took the Negroes off and sold them. I had taken out Letters of administration on the Estate of the Said Jacobs and yesterday, I called on Edmondson for the Purpose of Taken an Inventory of the Properties and find Nothing But two trunks of Clothing and one watch. I find the Deguaritipes of Some Friends of theirs. I learn the lady Said it was her Brother. I have that and a lock of the lady’s hare. Edmondson has a bill of sale for the Negroes but I am Certain it was forged. Because if he had bought the Negroes and paid for them there would have been money on hand. There was not a Dollar. I have hired a nurse for the infant. I find a receipt for Eighty Dollars in a bill of Sale from E. Jacobs to Benjamin Jacobs for a Negro Boy aged about 14 years which I suppose must have been one of the Negroes Sold By Edmondson. What induced me to write to you is I find the Envelope of a letter that was mailed at Yanceyville, N.C. To Benjamin Jacobs, Dubuque, Marion County, Arkansas and from that infer here must be Some of the Relatives of himself or wife in that Country. Please find out if you can and inform me Immediately. I will do the best I can for the Child So help Me God. Farewell Please attend to the above and if you find any of the Friends let them Correspond with me Immediately. H. L. Holleman Fort Smith Ark.” The letter, written in a strong, even, script, has been passed down in my family for 155 years. Its watermarked paper has darkened from the original cream to tan; the ink has faded from black to brown. Written on one sheet of paper, back and front, there was once an envelope where it rested between perusals. That is long gone, but the letter and its poignant message remain. It has been read so many times that the paper has given way in the folds; read over and over to see if maybe, this time, there will be something new to be discovered, something missed before. Long ago my grandmother mended these separations with cellophane tape so that no precious part of it would be lost. Always, when someone reads it for the first time, they ask the same question, “What happened to the child?” I suppose most families have ancestors whose stories are not tidy, stories that cannot be tied up from beginning to end with neatness and certainty; legends that leave us with an unsolved mystery. Even when these situations are long past and all the principal participants dead and buried, we somehow feel responsible for reporting the final chapter of their story. I suppose we worry most over the innocent. In our case he was a small orphaned child a thousand miles from his closest relatives. Benjamin and Catherine Jacobs, mentioned in the letter, were not married. Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher was the wife of Benjamin’s brother-in-law, William S. Bradsher. Benjamin had married his first cousin, Martha Banks Bradsher. William was not only Benjamin’s brother-in-law, but also his first cousin, making his entanglement with Catherine very messy indeed. Catherine and William had four daughters ranging in age from 11 to just under 2 years old. Benjamin and his wife, Martha, had two daughters, 11 and 4. Sometime after 08/31/1858, Benjamin, age 33 and Catherine, age 31 made the decision to leave their respective families and run away together. They took with them 2 enslaved boys, both about 14 years of age. Even in 1858 it did not take 16 months to get from Leasburg, North Carolina to Fort Smith, Arkansas. It is not known what route this couple took or where they were when Catherine gave birth to Elijah on 11/15/1858. Assuming little Elijah was a full term baby, she would have been more than 6 months pregnant when they left Person County, so it is likely they did not travel far before breaking their journey and settling in some place safe for her confinement. The letter telling of Benjamin’s and Catherine’s deaths was delivered to the Yanceyville post office in the spring of 1860. We do not know if the Yanceyville postmaster, Alexander McAlpine, gave it to Benjamin’s wife, Martha, or if he gave it to some other member of the Jacobs family, who later gave it to Martha. Benjamin’s father, Elijah, was aware that Benjamin was dead when he made a new will on July 23, 1860. In this will he leaves property to the daughters of his dead son, Benjamin. However the letter made its way to her, it was in the possession of my great-great grandmother, Martha Banks Bradsher (Jacobs) (Davenport), when she died on 06/ 26/1887. Her youngest daughter, Eunice Bradsher Jacobs (Winstead) (Wagstaff), found it among her mother’s important papers after her death. Eunice was only 6 when the word came that her father had died. It is doubtful that Martha would have discussed this little brother with her youngest daughter at the time. Finding out at 33 years old that she had a little brother was a bit of a shock. However, once Eunice learned of little Elijah’s existence, she very much wanted to know what had happened to him. Did he even survive long after the loss of his parents? If so, who took care of him? Did he grow up and have children of his own? She dreamed of taking a wagon train out west to find Elijah. However, she could not talk any of the family into going on this adventure with her, so reluctantly, she gave up. Yet, she could never quite give up on the idea of finding him. Eunice’s husband, James Fletcher Winstead, died in 1889. She lived many years as a widow, but in the early 1900s she was married to Clemmon McGilbert Wagstaff. She continued living in the same house with “Mr. Wagstaff”, as she called her new husband, until his death, sometime before 1920. Her youngest son, Harvey, was given his parents’ homeplace when he married. Until her death in 1949, Eunice continued to make her home in this same house with her youngest son, Harvey Winstead, his wife, Mary, and their eight children. Harvey and Mary Winstead were my grandparents. Sometime before she died, Eunice showed Mary the letter from Arkansas. Eunice felt that someday someone from Arkansas might come to Leasburg looking for our family. She wanted Mary to know the story and keep the letter in a safe place. Mary promised that she would keep it safe and if possible, do what she could to find Elijah. When Mary was given the letter in the 1940s, she was very busy with her young family. Aside from asking older relatives if they knew what happened to little Elijah, there wasn’t much she could do to locate him. Finding someone from almost a century before and a thousand miles away would have been a far more daunting task than it is today. Reluctantly, she put the letter away in a safe place and went on with her busy life. About 30 years ago I wrote stories of the Jacobs and Bradsher families for the Caswell and Person County Heritage books. I knew these books would be widely distributed to the genealogical sections of libraries all over the US and I hoped, once these books were in print, that someone from Arkansas would read the accounts and say to themselves, “You know, I think this may be the tie to our family.” While I was working on the stories for these books, Grandma Mary showed me the letter for the first time. I was thrilled and very much wanted to include the letter in my story of the Jacobs. However, Grandma felt it would reflect negatively on our family for the letter to be included. We had quite a discussion over it. Like most families, ours did not have to go back a hundred years to find a relative that didn’t behave. However, the letter had been left in her safekeeping and I respected her wishes. I did say that Benjamin left his wife and two daughters and went to Arkansas with a “traveling companion.” My uncle, Therit Winstead, was visiting Grandma when we were discussing whether or not the letter should be included in the Heritage books. He became interested in trying to locate Elijah’s descendants. On a vacation that took him near Fort Smith, Arkansas, he decided to do some research there. He started by copying all the names and addresses of Jacobs from the local phone book. He then sent letters to everyone requesting information about whether or not they were kin to Elijah Jacobs, the son of Benjamin. He did not receive a single reply. Some 20 years later he went to Fort Smith a second time and actually did some research at the courthouse. He was able to find little Elijah on the census, when he was about 2 years old, living in the home of a Henry Kuyper. He found an Elias Jacobs, who was about 10, on a later census. However, after that he could find nothing more. He met a local genealogist and paid her to do further research. However, he never heard from her. Uncle Nash Winstead’s daughter, Lizzie Winstead Dawson, had a friend living in Fort Smith. Lizzie had her friend research the records. She found about the same information Uncle Therit had, but nothing further. After the publication of the Heritage books I did receive several inquiries and letters from members of the Jacobs family in Arkansas, but none of these correspondents was descended from Elijah or knew anything of the small child mentioned in the 1860 letter. Ten years ago I was discussing Benjamin’s and Catherine’s story with my cousin, Robbie Washburn, at a Winstead family reunion. He was working on a genealogical website for the Winsteads and asked me if he might include the story. I did not hesitate to provide him with a short paragraph telling the basic story and he did add it to his website. While she was alive Grandma Mary had done what she thought best by not having the story included in the Heritage books, now I did what I thought best. This little paragraph on the internet would ultimately be the link that would join our family members with Elijah’s after 155 years apart. Still, it did not happen immediately. After 30 years I had reluctantly given up hope that we would ever know what had happened to Elijah. Then on Saturday, 01/24/2015, I went out to walk my beagle, Rachel, at bedtime. Before we went back inside, I took several pieces of mail out of my mailbox. Amongst the usual junk mail and bills was a letter from Bobby and Martha Coleman in Fort Smith, Arkansas. My first thought, before I even opened it, was that someone wanted more information on the Jacobs family lines that I had written about 30 years earlier. I put the pup to bed and sat down on the couch to read my letter. I read it through three times before I could believe what I held in my hand. Bob wrote: “Dear Linda, I got your address from Rick Frederick, with the Caswell County Historical Association, and wanted to contact you regarding a possible family link. My wife and I have been doing genealogical research on our families, and that research led us to the story of Benjamin Jacobs and Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher leaving their families in North Carolina and eventually being murdered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1859. Our interest in the story of this couple is because it is possible that my great-grandfather was their child, Elijah Jacobs…..” Bob went on to say that his great-grandfather, Elephlit Coleman (born 11/15/1858 and died 10/24/1941) had been a stumbling block in their research into the Coleman family lines. There always seemed to be family legends that Elephlit, was not a Coleman, but had been adopted by James Coleman and his wife, Julia Moncrief Coleman. These stories came in two forms; He was supposedly a Jacobs, from a wealthy family, either Dutch or Jewish, from back east. In these stories his family dies or is murdered and a black maid servant flees with the baby, arriving finally in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the child is given to James Coleman. Or, in another version, Elephlit’s family is traveling westward and stops in Fort Smith. There is a hotel fire and the parents are killed, but the child survives and is adopted by James Coleman. Bob says that it is likely his great-grandfather believed he was adopted as the stories remained a solid part of their family history. Elephlit never knew exactly where he was born, a fact that most birth parents would have been able to tell their child. After reading our little paragraph on the internet, Bob concluded that the stories of Elephlit’s adoption could no longer be discounted. The new information gave them more substance than they had ever had before and he felt they deserved further investigation. He asked if we would be willing to give DNA samples to see if there was a genetic link between our family and his. On 01/26/2015 I replied: “Dear Bob, My great grandmother, Eunice Bradsher Jacobs (Winstead) (Wagstaff) waited a good part of her adult life for a letter like the one I received from you this past Saturday. I am not sure she knew about her little brother, Elijah, until after her mother died and she found the following letter (this is a transcript from the original) in her mother’s things……….. After the Jacobs stories were published in the Heritage book I hoped I would hear from someone that little Elijah had survived. However, as time went on I assumed he had not survived or had been adopted by another family and his own history lost in the process. (I concluded with)..…..My father is as excited as I am and will be happy to give a DNA sample. How do we go about doing that? I very much look forward to hearing from you. Do you have a picture of your great grandfather? Sincerely, Mary Linda Winstead Janke” Uncle Therit Winstead, who had inherited the 1860 letter when Grandma Mary died, was one of the first people I called. He was ecstatic and said, “How did you find him?” I laughed and said, “I didn’t. He found us.” Within a couple of weeks, my father, Samuel Winstead, and I received DNA kits. We put our samples in the return mail within 2 days. Then there were several weeks of waiting for the results. Bob had also sent kits to some of the known descendants of Elijah’s adoptive father, James Coleman. We waited. Finally the results were available on the 23andMe website. There was a strong relationship between our family and Bob’s, but no relationship between Bob and the Coleman’s. We were both a little surprised at the lack of common genes between the Coleman descendants and Bob as we thought James Coleman might have been related to little Elijah in some way. Our families are a long way from putting flesh on this skeleton of a family story, but we look forward to uncovering more information in time. For now, we are very thankful to know that Elijah not only survived, but lived to see his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. An Invitation On Saturday, 06/13/2015 at 1:00 p.m., there will be a Winstead family reunion at Elmwood, the home of Michael Rudder. The address is 928 Ralph Winstead Rd, Leasburg NC 27291-9085. We would like to issue a special invitation to all our Winstead kin and especially to the descendants of all Elijah’s half-sisters: Susan Jacobs (Snipes) Mary White Bradsher (Loftis) Eunice Bradsher Jacobs (Winstead) (Wagstaff) Lura Dean Bradsher (Woody) Please join us for this special reunion to welcome Elijah’s great-grandson, Bob Coleman, and his wife, Martha to our family. There will be a covered dish lunch, which all attending provide. Everyone brings enough food to feed themselves and those they bring with them. Then we put it all together and share. Please bring your favorite dishes and any genealogical information you have collected. It is always fun to find out what others have learned about our ancestors. We hope to see you there! Mary Linda Winstead Janke. ------ In Dec 2016, Linda revised the above story and posted in Caswell Co, NC Historical Society website just after the passing of Bob Coleman: The Letter From Arkansas: Elijah Jacobs The Letter from Arkansas Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and truth. -Buddha- _______________ Set forth below is the November 2016 account by Mary Linda Winstead Janke of her family's search for a long-lost relative, Elijah Jacobs/Elephelit Coleman: The 1860 Letter (paragraphs added): Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 9th 1860 To The Post Master at Yanceyville, N Carolina Dear Sir. Some time in December last a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Jacobs came to this place in company with his wife Catherine Jacobs and an infant son Elijah Jacobs. He had two Negro Boys with him as I understand and stayed with a man by the name of Samuel Edmondson, alias Ginger. Soon afterwards himself and wife was Boath Taken Sick and died. I am almost certain there was Foul Play. I think they was Poisoned. This Pious old Ginger took the Negroes off and sold them. I had taken out Letters of administration on the Estate of the Said Jacobs and yesterday I called on Edmondson for the Purpose of Taken an Inventory of the Property and find Nothing But two trunks of Clothing and one watch. I find the Deguaritipe of Some Friend of theirs. I learn the lady Said it was her Brother. I have that and a lock of the lady's hare. Edmondson has a bill of sale for the Negroes but I am Certain it was forged. Because if he had bought the Negroes and paid for them there would have been money on hand. There was not a Dollar. I have hired a nurse for the infant. I find a receipt for Eighty Dollars in a bill of Sale from E. Jacobs to Benjamin Jacobs for a Negro Boy aged about 14 years which I suppose must have been one of the Negroes Sold By Edmondson. What induced me to write to you is I find the Envelope of a letter that was mailed at Yanceyville, N.C. To Benjamin Jacobs, Dubuque, Marion County, Arkansas and from that infer there must be Some of the Relatives of himself or wife in that Country. Please find out if you can and inform me Immediately. I will do the best I can for the Child So help Me God. Farewell Please attend to the above and if you find any of the Friends let them Correspond with me Immediately. H. L. Holleman Fort Smith Ark. _______________ This letter, written in a strong, even, script, has been passed down in my family for 155 years. Its watermarked paper has darkened from the original cream to tan; the ink has faded from black to brown. Written on one sheet of paper, back and front, there was once an envelope where it rested between perusals. That is long gone, but the letter and its poignant message remain. It has been read so many times that the paper has given way in the folds; read over and over to see if maybe, this time, there will be something new to be discovered, something missed before. Long ago my grandmother mended these separations with cellophane tape so that no precious part of it would be lost. Always, when someone reads it for the first time, they ask the same question: "What happened to the child?" I suppose most families have ancestors whose stories are not tidy, stories that cannot be drawn together from beginning to end with neatness and certainty; legends that leave us with an unsolved mystery. Even when these situations are long past and all the principal participants dead and buried, we somehow feel responsible for reporting the final chapter of their story. I suppose we worry most over the innocent. In our case he was a small orphaned child a thousand miles from his closest living relatives. Benjamin and Catherine Jacobs, mentioned in the letter, were not married, at least not to each other. Catherine Hall Winstead (Bradsher) was the wife of Benjamin's brother-in-law, William S. Bradsher. Benjamin had married his first cousin, Martha Banks Bradsher. William was not only Benjamin's brother-in-law, but also his first cousin, making his entanglement with Catherine very messy indeed. _______________ During the June term of Person County Court, 1858, Benjamin Jacobs is mentioned in a peace warrant. It reads: State vs. Benjamin Jacobs, Recognize in the sum of $1000,- Elijah Jacobs, George Satterfield, and E. C. Jordan, Recognize jointly in the sum of $1000, for the appearance of Benjamin Jacobs to the next term of court and that he keeps the peace towards all good citizens and particular towards his wife and the family of Abner Bradsher. No information is given as to the specific actions which brought on this warrant, but it indicates that all was not well between Martha and Benjamin. Shortly before or shortly after this warrant was issued Martha and Benjamin ceased living together. _______________ Catherine and William had four daughters ranging in age from 10 to just under 2 years old. Benjamin and his wife, Martha, had two daughters, 10 and 4. The two families had spent a lot of time together and the children were more like sisters than first cousins. On August 31, 1858 Benjamin sold the last of his land holdings to William Grandison Bradsher, a cousin of his wife, Martha. Martha and their daughters were still living on this property. Shortly after he sold the land, Benjamin, age 33 and Catherine, age 31 made the decision to leave their respective families and run away together. They took with them 2 enslaved boys, both about 14 years of age. Their names were Nelse and Haywood. One of the boys, Benjamin purchased from his father, Elijah Jacobs, just before leaving. The other boy belonged to Catherine. Early on the morning Catherine left she gathered her daughters, Bettie, almost 11, Mary White 9, and Eunice, 5. She gave the three oldest girls a sip of her coffee and hugged each one. Her youngest, Lura Dean, not quite 2, was asleep in her cradle. Catherine picked her up, held her close and said, "Isn't she precious?" When Benjamin and Nelse arrived in the buggy, Catherine gathered her things and she and Haywood climbed in. Benjamin stopped the buggy when he got to the top of the hill near the Harris place and fired 3 shots. Catherine's oldest daughter, Bettie, watched as they drove out of sight down the dusty road. She and her sisters never saw or had any word from their mother again. Before November of 1858 Benjamin, Catherine, Nelse, and Haywood had made their way to Dubuque, Arkansas on the White River. In addition to the buggy, they now had a matched span of horses, a mule and a wagon. It is doubtful that the little group made their way that far alone. Most likely they joined a wagon train for at least part of the 1,000 mile journey and may have done the rest by water. They rented the Frank Pumphrey place on Shoal Creek and settled in. Unlike most of their neighbors they had ready cash, wore fine clothes, and had silver trimmed harnesses for their horses. They appeared to be from an aristocratic background and no one with whom they came into contact had any reason to think they were not married. Benjamin, a tall, broad shouldered man with light, reddish-brown hair and a ruddy complexion was quiet and courteous as he fished and hunted wild turkeys along the creek. Benjamin knew horses. He knew how to choose a good horse for working, riding, or racing and he loved to bet on them and watch them run. He had spent many hours at the Morton's race track at Four Points, just north of Leasburg. Dubuque was famous for horse racing as well and may have been one reason Benjamin and Catherine chose to settle there. He had farmed in Person County and he and his father also hauled crops to market for other farmers. Since he now owned a wagon he may have planned to engage in some hauling of crops or goods for others. Sober, he was hardworking and industrious. However, it didn't take long for an old affliction to catch up with him. When he drank, he drank too much and was anything but quiet and courteous. He would drink until he felt there were snakes in his boots crawling and biting him. He would go completely crazy, foaming at the mouth, gnashing his teeth and would pick a fight with anyone who would fight with him. Bob Trimble ran a store in Dubuque. One day Benjamin was in the store with some of his friends. He had been drinking and started to dance back and forth across the floor, bragging of his bravery, and trying to start a fight with someone. Most of the men in the store paid him no attention, but his friends cheered him on. Mort Herron was in the store and as he stood at the counter he observed Benjamin. He saw Mort watching him and danced up laughing, bent down, and spit tobacco juice and bits of tobacco right into Mort's face and eyes. The man was in a lot of pain and temporarily blinded. Benjamin and his friends laughed heartily as Mort writhed in pain and wiped his eyes to remove as much of the irritating spittle and debris as possible. As soon as he could see well enough to leave the store, he went down to the river and washed the rest of the tobacco and its juice out of his eyes and off his clothes. Even after rinsing his eyes for quite a while he was still in some discomfort. Some of Mort's companions came down to the river and told him that Benjamin was still in the store bragging about his bravery in spitting into Mort's face and he and his friends were laughing about how Mort had been treated. Mort said, "A brave man would not treat a fellow human being as he has treated me and I want revenge for it." Mort's friends said they would keep Benjamin's friends off if Mort wanted to teach him a lesson. Mort chose a couple of good sized, smooth, oval stones from the riverbed and went back to the store. Benjamin was still dancing around and ignored Mort when he came in.Mort walked up to him and struck him a hard blow to the side of the head. Benjamin dropped to the floor in a heap. All the men gathered around him but no one offered to retaliate against Mort. Mort and his friends stayed in the store for quite a while after that but Benjamin was still unconscious when they left. Mort Herron did not go back to Dubuque for several weeks after that but he heard Benjamin lay unconscious for four days before he could be taken to his home. On November 15, 1858, Catherine gave birth to Elijah. Assuming little Elijah was a full term baby, she would have been more than 6 months pregnant when they left Person County. Mrs. Fielden Holt, Elizabeth, lived near the Jacobs home and went over one afternoon to help out with little Elijah. Since Catherine had no other children Mrs. Holt assumed this was her first and thought she might like an experienced hand to teach her how to care for him. Catherine said, "I appreciate your kindness as I have not been accustomed to children and never had the pleasure of caring for them." In all fairness to Catherine, she probably had taken care of her four older children very little. It was not unusual at that time for a well-to-do woman to give over the day to day care and even the breast feeding of her infants to a nurse. While Catherine's statement implied that she had never had any children at all, it was still most likely, partially true. However, Nelse or Haywood overheard her remarks to Mrs. Holt and took offense. He told another neighbor that, "Missus need not say that she was not use to children for she run away with Massa Jacobs and left several small children at home in North Carolina." He also gave the name of the post office where they had formerly lived. Since both Benjamin and Catherine lived nearest to Leasburg, NC, this is most likely the name of the post office that was given. At a time when a slave's testimony was not admissible in court, this story seems to have been taken seriously and created a sensation with the surrounding neighbors. They decided that an investigation was in order. "River" Bill Coker addressed a letter of inquiry to the postmaster at the post office the Negro had given. The acting postmaster at Leasburg, as of January 14, 1859, was Jefferson Whitfield. It is almost certain that Martha Jacobs had knowledge of this inquiry from Dubuque as the following notice ran in the Milton Chronicle on Thursday, March 10, 1859: In the fall of 1859 a letter was received at the post office in Dubuque, Arkansas. The contents of the letter stated the following: "Jacobs married into a wealthy family but he turned out to be a set drunkard and his father-in-law looked on him as an unworthy man and refused to recognize him any longer as a son-in-law. Benjamin Jacobs eloped with his wife's brother's wife and the 'false and fickle' pair deserted their children, as well as their companions. They took with them two Negro men, one of which belonged to him and the other belonging to her. The people in their former community no longer deemed them worthy of notice." The settlers on Shoal Creek did not need the presence of such a couple in their neighborhood. A committee, including Bill Coker, waited on Benjamin Jacobs and read the letter to him. It was so plainly written that Benjamin made no denial of any of the accusations. At the close of the reading the committee informed him that it would be prudent for him to take the woman and depart for some other county. Benjamin and Catherine loaded their household belongings into the wagon after the meeting. The horses were hitched to it and Benjamin, Catherine, Elijah, Nelse, and Haywood moved on down the river. By December of 1859 they had settled in Sebastian County on the Arkansas River, renting a small cabin in Fort Smith from a man named Samuel Edmondson. They had not been there long when Benjamin and Catherine died under suspicious circumstances. Holleman's letter doesn't give us the exact date of their deaths. Edmondson was a justice of the peace in Fort Smith. Despite his long years of service to the courts he was not without legal problems and controversy of his own. Unfortunately the Sebastian County Courthouse burned shortly after their deaths. Some records were removed to the hotel in Fort Smith, which also later burned. If there was any record of an inquiry into the deaths of Benjamin and Catherine, or any public records which might have mentioned them, those records were most likely destroyed. H. L. Holleman took out Letters of Administration on the estate of Benjamin Jacobs. On March 8, 1860 he called on Samuel Edmonson for the purpose of doing an inventory of Benjamin's and Catherine's possessions. There was very little to inventory, two trunks of clothing, one watch, a daguerreotype, supposedly of Catherine's brother, and a lock of Catherine's hair. Despite the fact that Samuel Edmonson had a recent bill of sale for the two slaves belonging to Benjamin and Catherine, Holleman found no cash at all. Most likely little Elijah had been cared for as often by the young slaves, Nelse and Haywood, as by his own parents. Both young men were sold by Samuel Edmondson soon after the deaths of Benjamin and Catherine. Consequently 14-month-old Elijah lost everyone he had been closest to in his short life, in a matter of days. Benjamin and Catherine were most likely laid to rest in pauper's graves and their meager belongings sold to provide maintenance for little Elijah. Holleman hired Theresa Ermann to be Elijah's nurse. Theresa was the sister-in-law of Henry Kuper, a twenty-seven-year-old merchant tailor, who arrived in Fort Smith in 1859. As the Kuper's lived close by, it is likely they knew Benjamin and Catherine and were not total strangers to Elijah. The Kuper household was a busy one as Henry and his wife Gertrude were running a business and already had three children. Elijah lived with Theresa and the Kupers for about a year. The 1860 census lists the following people in the residence of Henry Kuper; his wife Gertrude, his daughter Mary, his son Henry Jr, his second daughter Eliza, his sister-in-law Theresa, and Elijah Jacobs. H. L. Holleman's letter telling of Benjamin's and Catherine's deaths was delivered to the Yanceyville post office in the spring of 1860. We do not know if the Yanceyville postmaster, Alexander McAlpine, gave it to Benjamin's wife, Martha, or if he gave it to some other member of the Jacobs family, who later gave it to Martha. Benjamin's father, Elijah, was aware that Benjamin was dead when he made a new will on July 23, 1860. In this will he leaves property to the daughters of his dead son, Benjamin. However, it is questionable whether he actually saw the letter from H. L. Holleman as he does not mention Benjamin's son, Elijah. Did he know of little Elijah's birth? Elijah Jacobs died suddenly on September 15, 1860. His granddaughter Eunice Jacobs was having dinner at his home. She had finished eating but was still sitting in her high chair. Elijah took a lump of sugar and handed it to her. She smiled as she plucked the little treat from his hand and put it in her mouth. She was letting it melt slowly when Elijah bent down and said, "Is it good?" Before Eunice could answer he fell to the floor dead. _______________ An undated entry in Samuel Edmondson's 1860-1861 log book was printed in the Fort Smith Historical Society Journal in September of 1996 and reads as follows: Elijah Jacobs Lear Burg (Leasburg) Caswell Co. North Carolina Martha Jacobs Married Benjamin Jacobs Post Office as above (Wm) Bradsher Senr Lear Burg (Leasburg) Caswell County N.C. Henry Kuper had the child of Jacobs and wife and it was kept by Miss (Theresa) Ermann. The child is in the hands of Mr. Coleman about one mile and a half from here. Mr. Kuper and Miss Ermann kept the child something over or about one year. When no family came to claim Elijah after a year, he was placed with a family who wanted him. James Coleman and his wife, Julia Moncrief Coleman had been married for some time but had no living children of their own. They took him in and changed his name from Elijah Jacobs to Elephelit Coleman. Julia loved her little son. She died when he was about 6. However, he never forgot her love and kindness and for the rest of his life he thought of her as his mother. So far as we know, no one from North Carolina ever answered Harmon L. Holleman's letter concerning Elijah. Benjamin's brother, Lewellyn, who lived in southern Arkansas almost surely heard about him when he went back to North Carolina for his father's estate sale on November 1 & 2, 1860. If Lewellyn made inquiry in Fort Smith concerning Elijah, by then he would have already been placed with the Colemans. The letter from Arkansas was in the possession of my great-great grandmother, Martha Banks Bradsher (Jacobs) (Davenport), when she died on June 26, 1887. Eunice, found it among her mother's important papers after her death. Eunice was only 6 when the word came that her father had died. It is doubtful that Martha would have discussed this little brother with her youngest daughter at the time. Finding out at 33-years-old that she had a little brother was a bit of a shock. However, once Eunice learned of little Elijah's existence, she very much wanted to know what had happened to him. Did he even survive long after the loss of his parents? If so, who took care of him? Did he grow up and have children of his own? She dreamed of taking a wagon train out west to find Elijah. However, she could not talk any of the family into going on this adventure with her, so reluctantly, she gave up. Yet, she could never quite give up on the idea of finding him. Eunice's husband, James Fletcher Winstead, died in December of 1889. She lived many years as a widow, but in the early 1900s she was married to Clement McGilbert Wagstaff. She continued living in the same house with "Mr. Wagstaff", as she called her new husband, until his death, August 7, 1916. Her youngest son, Harvey, was given his parents' homeplace when he married Mary Emma Watts in 1924. Until her death in 1949, Eunice continued to make her home in this same house with her youngest son, Harvey Winstead, his wife, Mary, and their eight children. Harvey and Mary Winstead were my grandparents. Sometime before she died, Eunice showed Mary the letter from H. L. Holleman telling of Benjamin Jacobs' death and of his little son, Elijah. Eunice felt that someday, someone from Arkansas might come to Leasburg looking for our family. She wanted Mary to know the story and keep the letter in a safe place. Mary promised that she would keep it safe and if possible, do what she could to find Elijah. Mary had a conversation with Catherine Bradsher's oldest daughter, Bettie Bradsher Brooks, (Elizabeth Sergeant Bradsher 11/04/1846-09/24/1937) and learned some details about the day Catherine left, specifically Catherine's leave taking of her children, the 3 shots fired by Benjamin Jacobs near the Harris place, and the fact that Catherine was a loving and fun mother to her children before she left. She also spoke to many of the older relatives and friends in the neighborhood who remembered both Catherine and Benjamin and their story. However, none of them seemed to know what became of little Elijah after his parents' death. Mary thought of Elijah often and prayed that he survived and was treated well. However, Mary was very busy with her young family. Finding someone from almost a century before and a thousand miles away would have been a far more daunting task then, than it is today. She had no contacts in Fort Smith Arkansas and she had already talked to those familiar with the story of Benjamin and Catherine. Reluctantly, she put the letter away in a safe place and went on with her busy life. In the 1980s I wrote stories of the Jacobs and Bradsher families for the Caswell and Person County Heritage books. I knew these books would be widely distributed to the genealogical sections of libraries all over the US and I hoped, once they were in print that someone from Arkansas would read the accounts and say to themselves, "You know, I think this may be the tie to our family." While I was working on the stories for these books, Grandma Mary showed me the letter for the first time. I was thrilled and very much wanted to include it in my story of the Jacobs. However, Grandma felt it would reflect negatively on our family. We had quite a "discussion" over it. Like most families, ours did not have to go back a hundred years to find a relative that didn't behave. However, the letter had been left in her safekeeping and I respected her wishes. I did get her to agree to my saying that Benjamin left his wife and two daughters and went to Arkansas with a "traveling companion" and they later died. My uncle, Therit Winstead, was visiting Grandma when we were discussing whether or not the letter should be included in the Heritage books. He became interested in trying to locate Elijah's descendants. On a vacation that took him near Fort Smith, Arkansas, he decided to do some research there. He started by copying all the names and addresses of Jacobs from the Fort Smith phone book. He then sent letters to everyone requesting information about whether or not they were kin to Elijah Jacobs, the son of Benjamin. He did not receive a single reply. Some 20 years later, in the 1990s he went to Fort Smith a second time and actually did some research at the courthouse. He was able to find little Elijah on the 1860 census, when he was about 2 years old, living in the home of a Henry Kuyper. He found an Elias Jacobs, who was about 10, on a later census. However, after that he could find nothing more. On one of his visits to the courthouse in Fort Smith the clerk said, "Someone was here last week looking for the same person." Unfortunately the clerk could not tell him who the other person was. He left his contact information with the clerk and asked that it be given to anyone inquiring about Elijah Jacobs. He met a local genealogist and paid her to do further research. However, he never heard anything more from her. Uncle Nash Winstead's daughter, Lizzie Winstead Dawson, had a friend living in Fort Smith. Lizzie had her friend research the records. She found about the same information Uncle Therit had, but nothing further. Billy G. Coleman was the grandson of Elephelit Coleman. For most of his life he had heard the rumors that his grandfather might have been adopted. As a child he overheard part of a conversation between his father, Gus and his mother, Sybil. Gus said, "…well you married a man with no name." It is something Billy G. Coleman later assumed that his father had heard Elephelit say. When the Fort Smith Historical Society published an article on Samuel Edmonson in September of 1996 Billy G. Coleman and his wife had just started to do some genealogical research on the Coleman family lines. Considering the adoption rumors Billy had heard about his grandfather, he found the following entry from Edmonson's 1860-1861 logbook quite interesting; . . . Henry Kuper had the child of Jacobs and wife and it was kept by Miss (Theresa) Ermann. The child is in the hands of Mr. Coleman about one mile and a half from here. Mr. Kuper and Miss Ermann kept the child something over or about one year. He and his wife copied the information down and tucked it away in their family history file. They had a look at the 1860 census for Fort Smith and found the child's name, Elijah Jacobs. After the publication of the Heritage books I did receive several inquiries and letters from members of the Jacobs family who had settled in southern Arkansas These were the descendants of Benjamin's older brothers, Learcus and Lewellyn Jacobs. I was happy to hear from these relatives and we enjoyed communicating. Unfortunately none of these correspondents knew anything about little Elijah or knew anyone who might be descended from him. In 2006 I was discussing Benjamin's and Catherine's story with my cousin, Robbie Washburn, at a Winstead family reunion. He was working on a genealogical website for the Winsteads and asked me if he might include the story. I did not hesitate to provide him with a short paragraph telling the basic story and he did add it to his website. While she was alive Grandma Mary had done what she thought best by not having the story included in the Heritage books, now I did what I thought was best. This little paragraph on the internet would ultimately be the link that would join our family members with Elijah's after 155 years apart. Still, it did not happen immediately. In 2012 Billy G. Coleman's son Bob and his wife, Martha had begun doing research on their family lines. Billy had given them the folder of information they had concerning the Coleman line. Martha decided to add the Coleman information to her family tree on Ancestry.com. Having entered names and dates, she started looking at the notes her father-in-law had made concerning the adoption rumors. In December of 2014 Bob and Martha were discussing all the rumors that Elephelit was adopted. It was bedtime and Bob was tired. He finally said, "Just forget about all that stuff. They are just a bunch of old rumors and there's nothing to them." Martha, a retired research librarian, wasn't convinced. The rumors had persisted too long for there not to be some truth to them. After Bob went to bed she stayed up late that night researching on the internet and found the story Robbie Washburn had put on the Winstead Family website. After that she connected to several more stories and printed those out. When Bob got up the next morning and sat down with his coffee she handed him several sheets of paper and said, "Here read this." Bob started to read and we won't quote exactly what he said after the word, "Holy…..", but he was quite surprised by what Martha had found. After 30 years I had about resigned myself to the fact that we would probably never know what had happened to little Elijah. Like those before me I thought of him often. Then on Saturday, January 24, 2015, I went out to walk my beagle, Rachel, at bedtime. Before we went back inside, I took several pieces of mail out of my mailbox. Amongst the usual junk mail and bills was a letter from Bobby and Martha Coleman in Fort Smith, Arkansas. My first thought, before I even opened it, was that someone wanted more information on the Jacobs family lines that I had written about 30 years earlier. I put the pup to bed and sat down on the couch to read my letter. I read it through three times before I could believe what I held in my hand. Bob wrote: Dear Linda, I got your address from Rick Frederick, with the Caswell County Historical Association, and wanted to contact you regarding a possible family link. My wife and I have been doing genealogical research on our families, and that research led us to the story of Benjamin Jacobs and Catherine Hall Winstead Bradsher leaving their families in North Carolina and eventually being murdered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1859. Our interest in the story of this couple is because it is possible that my great-grandfather was their child, Elijah Jacobs. . . ." Bob went on to say that his great-grandfather, Elephlit Coleman (born 11/15/1858 and died 10/24/1941) had been a stumbling block in their research into the Coleman family lines. There always seemed to be family legends that Elephlit, was not a Coleman, but had been adopted by James Coleman and his wife, Julia Moncrief Coleman. These stories came in two forms; He was supposedly a Jacobs, from a wealthy family, either Dutch or Jewish, from back east. In these stories his family dies or is murdered and a black maid servant flees with the baby, arriving finally in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the child is given to James Coleman. Or, in another version, Elephlit's family is traveling westward and stops in Fort Smith. There is a hotel fire and the parents are killed, but the child survives and is adopted by James Coleman.Bob says that it is likely his great grandfather believed he was adopted as the stories remained a solid part of their family history. Elephelit never knew exactly where he was born, a fact that most birth parents would have been able to tell their child. After reading our little paragraph on the internet, Bob concluded that the stories of Elephelit's adoption could no longer be discounted. The new information gave them more substance than they had ever had before and he felt they deserved further investigation. He asked if we would be willing to give DNA samples to see if there was a genetic link between our family and his. _______________ On January 26, 2015 I replied by email: Dear Bob, My great grandmother, Eunice Bradsher Jacobs (Winstead) (Wagstaff) waited a good part of her adult life for a letter like the one I received from you this past Saturday. I am not sure she knew about her little brother, Elijah, until after her mother died and she found the following letter (this is a transcript from the original) in her mother's things. . . . After the Jacobs stories were published in the Heritage book I hoped I would hear from someone that little Elijah had survived. However, as time went on I assumed he had not survived or had been adopted by another family and his own history lost in the process. I concluded with: My father is as excited as I am and will be happy to give a DNA sample. How do we go about doing that? I very much look forward to hearing from you. Do you have a picture of your great grandfather? Sincerely, Mary Linda Winstead Janke _______________ Uncle Therit Winstead, who had inherited the 1860 letter when Grandma Mary died, was one of the first people I called. He was ecstatic and said, "How did you find him!?" I laughed and said, "I didn't. He found us." _______________ On Friday, February 6, 2015 I received the DNA kits for my father and myself. We put our samples in the return mail the following day. It was fortunate that Bob's father, Billy G. Coleman and my father Samuel H. Winstead, could both be tested. Genetically that put us one generation closer to Benjamin Jacobs. Bob had also sent kits to his brother, Billy, some of his cousins, and some of the known descendants of Elijah's adoptive father, James Coleman. There were several long weeks of waiting for some of the relatives to use their kits and get them in the mail. After that, there were more weeks of waiting for the results. At 1:01 AM on Thursday, March 26, 2015 I looked at the 23 and Me website one last time before going to bed. My results were available. I sent Bob an email that said: "We share some genes. However, I am not sure if that means that Elephelit is ours as well as yours. Tell me what you think!!! Send it to work, please, as I won't have time to check this email in the morning." MLWJ At 2:01 AM Bob replied: "Initial results look to be in the range I expected to see. If you look below, or at the chart I sent you, you and I would share 26 cMs. Your results say 30 cMs and your dad's about double that, which is right. Don't lose hope yet. I'll talk more in the morning." Bob Finally all the results were available on the 23andMe website. There was a strong relationship between our family and Bob's, but no relationship whatsoever between Bob's and the known genetic descendants of James Coleman. We were both a little surprised at the lack of common genes between the Coleman descendants and Bob's family as we thought James Coleman might have been related to little Elijah in some way. In June of 2015 Bob and Martha Coleman traveled to Leasburg NC for the Winstead Family Reunion and to see the places where the Jacobs family lived and were buried. It was a very joyful and emotional reunion for both the Colemans and the Winsteads. In October of 2016 Mary Linda Winstead Janke spent a week in Fort Smith visiting Bob, Martha, and the extended family there. Some new details about Benjamin's, Catherine's, Elijah's, Nelse's, and Haywood's adventure were discovered that week. Our families have only begun putting flesh on this skeleton of a family story, but we look forward to uncovering more information in time. For now, we are very thankful to know that Elijah not only survived, but lived to see his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mary Linda Winstead Janke November 2016 ----- Sadly, Bobby Coleman passed away in 2017. |
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