San Juan, 2018

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Bird mosaic, San Juan. 11 Mar 2018.

Heslop Legacies

 

J.B.C. Chatelain. 1770.

Yesterday's post described the estate of Sarah Kenyon Heslop and the gifts arranged in her lifetime for two of the children of her younger brother Horace M. Heslop (sometimes spelled Haslop). Before I dive further into the complicated chancery cases over the disposition of the estate, I need to provide a short summary of some of the family players involved in this story.

Horace M. Heslop

Horace was born in 1785, the fifth of ten children of William Heslop and Anne Carter. He served in the Virginia Militia during the War of 1812, and after returning from service, married Sally Hart in Spotsylvania County on 23 September 1816. She died sometime before 1843. Horace then married Eleanor Long in June 1843.

Horace and family appear in the 1850 US Census in Caroline County, Virginia. At some point, he acquired a sizeable plantation in nearby Westmoreland County.

1850 US Census, Caroline County, Virginia.

Horace was a slave owner. In 1854 he published a notice for two runaway slaves in the Baltimore Sun.

Baltimore Sun. 23 Oct 1854.

Horace's second wife Eleanor died about 1853. He died in 1856, leaving a sizeable estate to his seven young children. The children were set up with guardians.

William Wirt

William was a neighbor of Horace Heslop, and a prominent landowner in Westmoreland County. He was named as the guardian of the Heslop children in 1857. Wirt sold off slaves presumably owned by Heslop, earning a total of $2833.50 to be split equally among the seven children. William was named in a chancery case settled in 1873 involving the former slave of Sarah Kenyon Heslop, gifted to Julia Heslop in 1856. Wirt was named in a separate chancery case filed in Spotsylvania County in 1858 on behalf of infant William Wirt Heslop. That case involved the sale of 107 acres from Sarah Kenyon Heslop's estate in Spotsylvania County and 20 acres belonging to Horace Heslop.

Westmoreland County Order Book. P. 57.

Guilford D. Heslop

Guilford D, Heslop was a son of Horace Heslop and first wife Sally Hart. He was living in Caroline County in 1850 and helped move the children to Ohio in 1858. Guilford and his wife Eliza took in Horace's daughters Nancy C. Heslop and Sarah E. Heslop and they were living in their household in Licking County, Ohio in the 1860 US Census.

1860 US Census. Licking County, Ohio.

Westmoreland County Probate Records. 1858.

Guilford joined the Union Army in 1862, serving in the 113th Ohio Infantry. Sadly, Guilford died in battle near Chattanooga, Tennessee on 20 September 1863.

John M. Fulton

Fulton was a former Virginia resident, living in Licking County, Ohio in the 1860 US Census. He was named as a guardian of Julia, Nancy, Joseph, Walker, Sarah and Lawrence Heslop in a chancery case filed in Westmoreland County in 1860. Fulton also filed a petition in Westmoreland County on behalf of the children in 1860 against William Wirt. That file has 81 pages of material. Fulton's petition states William Wirt was holding on to proceeds belonging to the children and would not hand it over to them. Fulton filed guardian bonds with the Licking County Probate Court on behalf of the children.

The Children

• Julia Todd Heslop, born March 1843 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Nancy Carter Heslop, born February 1845 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Lawrence B. Heslop, born 1847 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Joseph W. Heslop, born August 1848 in Caroline County, Virginia (Joseph and Walker were twins)
• Walker Heslop, born August 1848 in Caroline County, Virginia
• Sarah Elizabeth B. "Betty" Heslop, born January 1852
• William Wirt Heslop, born 1853

William Wirt Heslop was taken in by half-sister Elsa Heslop Brooks and appears in the household with her husband and family in the 1860 and 1870 US Censuses. He continued to live in Virginia, while the other six siblings moved to Ohio.

Julia married Elias Showman in Licking County, Ohio in April 1861. She remained in Ohio until her death in 1905.

Nancy married Elias Swick in Licking County, Ohio.

Lawrence seems to have died in Licking County in 1871. He was living with Julia and family in the 1870 US Census, working on a railroad.

Walker died in 1921 in Licking County, Ohio. Joseph died in the county in 1922. It is not clear what happened to Sarah E.

Estate of Sarah Kenyon Heslop

 

Ancestry. Spotsylvania Will Book U. P. 327.

At the end of January, I wrote about the family of William Heslop and Anne Carter, my 6th-great-grandparents. In 1857, one of the daughters of this family, Sarah Kenyon Heslop, left a sizeable estate to the children of her brother Horace. She directed that her slave, George Minor Mercer, be given his freedom and sent to a free state. I am going to pick up George's story in a future post.

Sadly, she did not set free her other slave, Rebecca Henderson. Instead, she directed that Rebecca be given to her niece Harriet Heslop.

Spotsylvania Will Book W. P. 328.

Sarah's estate was admitted into probate in Spotsylvania County, Virginia in September 1857. According to the inventory of the estate, it was divided among all the children of her siblings. Included among the list were children of Ann Graham Heslop - Rice Carter Ballard and my 4th-great-grandmother Emily Read.

Spotsylvania Will Book W. P. 78.

Separate from the will and prior to her death, in 1856, Sarah made a deed of gift to her nieces Julia Todd Heslop and Nancy Heslop. The gift was a slave girl Teny (also known as Courtney), and the girl's future first child (to go to Nancy).

Spotsylvania Will Book W. P. 81.

Courtney became the subject of several chancery cases starting in March 1858 involving the children of Horace Heslop. After the death of Horace in 1856, Sarah may have been caring for his minor children: Julia, Nancy, Lawrence B., Joseph, Walker, Sarah Elizabeth, and William Wirt Heslop. Following Sarah's death in 1857, some of Horace's children chose to move from Virginia to Ohio. This will be the subject of the next post.

Spotsylvania, 1743

 

Spotsylvania Deed Book D, p. 45.

On 3 May 1743, John Carter acquired 140 acres from Robert and Mary King, in exchange for 35 pounds local currency. This was two years after John Carter and Sarah Kenyon were married. Six months later, John purchased 150 acres from Robert and Mary King in Spotsylvania County for 80 pounds local currency.

Spotsylvania Deed Book D, p. 85-86. 

From what I can tell, these were the first big purchases by John Carter in Spotsylvania County. If there were earlier land deeds, someone please correct me. What makes much of the research on the Carter family a bit difficult, is that county land boundaries changed, but I think much of the land where the Carters were located largely remained the same. Richmond County separated into King George County. Part of King George became Caroline County or Spotsylvania County, but the Carters were generally in the same area.

More to follow.

Between the Pitons

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Saint Lucia. 17 Feb 2024.