Eatmons (also “Eatman”) settled in what is now the Rock Ridge area of Wilson County by the mid-1700s. They are thought to descend from brothers John and Thomas Eatmon, but exact relationships between various Eatmon lines, which often intermarried, are murky.
This post is the second in a series featuring documents from Eatmon/Eatman family estate files. [Sidenote: Evidence suggests Theophilus Eatmon was my great-great-great-great-grandfather via a son, Toney Eatmon, he fathered with an unknown free woman of color. Unsurprisingly, Toney did not inherit from him.]
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On 4 October 1848, Theophilus Eatmon drafted a will that, among other things, distributed his enslaved property:
- to wife Beedy Eatmon, a woman named Fan
- to daughter Nicy Eatmon, Vilet and Elisa
- to daughter Charity Dalton, Betty and Rachel
- to daughter Elisha Eatmon, Jack, Leace, and Pink
- to daughter Tempy Eatmon, Marge and Belford
- to son Marshel Eatmon, Atsey
On 25 May 1849, Eatmon executed a codicil: Betty was to go his granddaughter Caroline Boykin, wife of Willie Boykin.
Theophilus Eatmon died in 1851 in what is now western Wilson County. As was customary, the community of enslaved people living on his farm were dispersed among family and neighbors under hire agreements. As the March 1851 account of hire of slaves below shows, Eatmon enslaved more than the eleven people named in his will; those unnamed, including Bob, Reuben, Willis, Anaca and her children, and Mary and her children, were to be sold. The estate file does not contain records of such sales, however.
The estate did not settle smoothly. A lawsuit by Theophilus’ granddaughter Aquilla Eatmon triggered a countersuit by Eatmon’s executor Absalom B. Baines against Aquilla and a neighbor named Hardy W. Boykin. Per depositions given by Boykin and Aquilla, Aquilla and her cousin Caroline Eatmon had cared for their grandfather in his old age. In 1844, Theophilus, who was illiterate, called Boykin to his house to write up two promissory notes. Though he had promised the girls “a negro each,” he decided to give them $400 instead, which “would buy a tolerable good one” or even “a pretty good one” once the amount accrued some interest. Believing they would be upset, Theophilus wanted to keep these gifts secret from his children. With some misgivings, Boykin drafted the documents and gave them to Caroline’s mother Charity Dalton for safekeeping. (Boykin was anxious not to antagonize the Eatmon children, but generally did Theophilus’ bidding. He described the old man as a competent farmer who owned more than 20 slaves and 2000 acres and only occasionally drank to excess.) A few years later, upset about Caroline’s choice of husband, Theophilus sought to pull the notes back. Caroline snatched her note, put in her bosom, and declared she had been promised a negro and did not think she ought to give it up. Aquilla also refused to return her note. Theophilus settled with Caroline per the terms of his 1849 codicil, but left nothing for Aquilla and never paid her note.
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In the 1850 slave schedule of Nash County, Theophilus Eatmon claimed 19 enslaved people: women aged 45 [Fanny?], 35, 24, 21, and 20; girls aged 15, 12, 11, 10, 8, 6, and one month; men aged 25 and 19 [Robert?]; and boys aged 15 [Jack?], 11, 10 [Willis?], 7 [Joseph?], and 5. The imbalance in the numbers of men and women suggests relationships off-plantation for most.
I have found relatively little evidence of the post-emancipation lives of Theophilus Eatmon’s enslaved community.
Jack Williamson was a son of Toney Eatmon. Born about 1835, his mother was Hester Williamson. Was he the Jack listed above? Likely not, as evidence established that Jack was owned by Thomas Williamson, then Thomas’ son Garry Williamson.
On 29 August 1866, Robert Eatmon and Viney Eatmon registered their seven-year cohabitation with a Nash County justice of the peace.
In the 1870 census of Chesterfield township, Nash County: farmer Robt. Eatmon, 38; wife Vinah, 35; Turner Eatmon, 65; Lannie [Fannie] Eatmon, 60; Willis, 30, Joseph, 18, Henry A., 10, Reuben, 6, and Mahala Eatmon, 3.
In the 1880 census of Bailey township, Nash County: farmer Robt. Eatmon, 52; wife Viny, 38; father Crawford Eatmon, 71; mother Fanny Eatmon, 82; nephew Rubin, 15, and niece Hellen, 13. [It does not appear that Crawford Eatmon, who may be the same person as Turner above, was enslaved by Theophilus.]
In the 1900 census of Bailey township, Nash County: farmer Robert Eatmon, 67; wife Vinie, 50; and niece Lizzie, 14.
- Reuben
- Belford
- Ga[illegible] L[illegible]
- Atsey
- Rachel and child
- Mary and child
- Vilet and Lisa
In 1860, Theophilus Eatmon’s daughter Elisha Eatmon (also referred to in records as Selitia or Delitia) was accused harboring an enslaved girl named Violet who had run away from Berkley Cone. Is this the same Violet?
Or: in the 1880 census of Oldfields township, Wilson County: farmer Lewis Freeman, about 55; wife Katy, about 25; and Violet Eatman, about 78.
(My great-great-grandfather ) Willis Barnes, born about 1841, was also a son of Toney Eatmon. Is this him? Probably not. Though about the same age, my Willis was a married man with several children by 1870, unlike Willis Eatmon.
In the 1870 census of Chesterfield township, Nash County: farmer Robt. Eatmon, 38; wife Vinah, 35; Turner Eatmon, 65; Lannie [Fannie] Eatmon, 60; Willis, 30, Joseph, 18, Henry A., 10, Reuben, 6, and Mahala Eatmon, 3.
- Betty
- Anaca and three children
- Fanny and child Marge
Fanny Eatmon had at least two children, Robert, born about 1832, and Margie Ann, birth year unknown. Robert reared Margie Ann’s children Reuben, born about 1863, and Mahala/Helen, born about 1867. Henry Eatmon also may have been Margie’s son.
In the 1870 census of Chesterfield township, Nash County: farmer Robt. Eatmon, 38; wife Vinah, 35; Turner Eatmon, 65; Lannie [Fannie] Eatmon, 60; Willis, 30, Joseph, 18, Henry A., 10, Reuben, 6, and Mahala Eatmon, 3.
In the 1880 census of Bailey township, Nash County: farmer Robt. Eatmon, 52; wife Viny, 38; father Crawford Eatmon, 71; mother Fanny Eatmon, 82; nephew Rubin, 15, and niece Hellen, 13.
On 30 November 1884, George Smith, 22, of Wake County, son of Lucy Smith (now Debnam), married Ellen [sic] Eatman, 17, of Wake County, daughter of Margia Ann Eatman (now [illegible]), in Marks Creek, Wake County. Robert Eatmon, Helen’s uncle, gave permission for the ceremony.
In addition to their blood relationship, Helen Eatmon had been bound as an apprentice to her uncle Robert Eatmon.
Reuben Eatman died in Bailey township, Nash County, on 4 June 1922. Per his death certificate, he was 57 years old; his mother was Margie Eatman; he was married; and he worked as a farmer. He was buried in Wilson County. Frank Eatman was informant.
Estate File of Theophilus Eatmon (1851), Nash County, North Carolina Estate Files 1663-1979, http://www.familysearch.org; North Carolina, U.S. Marriage Records 1741-2011, http://www.ancestry.com.
