FILE NAME = WPP23Dec86.htm
This is the second of two reports sent to Charles
Van Baucom from William Parks, Paid Genealogy Researcher.
2932 Ashley Avenue
Montgomery, Alabama 36109
23 December 1986
Mr. Charles Van Baucom
York College
York1 Nebraska 68467
Dear Mr. Baucom:
Further research has been conducted at the Alabama department of Archives
and History to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of Samuel
Walker in 1833, to discover the charges in the litigation of 1834 and 1835
known as The State vs. Ephraim and James Wasson" and "The State vs. Ephraim
Wasson, and to find the outcome of those criminal cases. To those ends the
appropriate extant newspapers of 1833, 1834, and 1835 that are available
at the Archives were read. A few other sources were also examined. For
the sources consulted, see Attachment 1.
In view of the Walker family tradition that Samuel Walker was murdered by
his Wasson stepsons, it is supposed that newspapers of the time would have
reported the murder if in fact there was one. It is further supposed that
the suspected murderers would have been mentioned in such an account.
Accordingly, since Samuel is known to have died in November 1833, the
available newspapers of November and December 1833 were searched for
mention of his death. And since the criminal cases against Ephraim and
James Wasson (which might have been for the murder of Samuel Walker) were
docketed in the Circuit Court for the Spring and Fall Terms of 1834 and the
Fall Term of 1835, the available newspapers of March-May and
September-November 1834 and of September-November 1835 were searched for
reports of those cases. I regret to report that no mention of Samuel
Walker or the Wassons was seen except in the following legal notices:
Notice. - Letters of Administration having been granted to the un-
dersigned on the estate of Samuel Walker, deceased, by the Judge of the
county court of Perry county, on the 23rd of November 1833, -notice is
hereby given to all indebted, to make payment immediately; and those
having claims against said estate, will present them properly
authenticated within the time prescribed by law or they will be barred.
M. McLEOD,
D. HARDING,
Woodville, Dec 5 Adm'rs.
-- Mobile Commercial Register and Patriot, Mobile, Alabama, Tuesday
Evening, December 24, 1833, page 3, column 1.
And immediately following, in the same column:
Notice. - Will be sold at public auction, at his late residence, on the
6th January next, all the personal estate of Samuel Walker,
deceased--consisting of Eight Likely Negroes, men, boys, women and
girls--a large stock of Horses, Cattle, Hogs and Sheep; Oxen &
Mr. Charles Van Baucom 2 23 December 1986
Waggon, Farming Utensils, and Household and Kitchen Furniture, on a
credit of twelve months, with security as the law directs.
M. McLEOD,
D. HARDING,
Woodville, Dec 5 Adm'rs.
Extant newspapers for the periods of interest were published in
Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Mobile, and Madison counties; I rank them in
that order in the likelihood of their containing news of events in Perry
County. (In the 1830's Tuscaloosa and Perry were adjoining counties.)
However, many issues are missing from the holdings of the Alabama
Archives:
Missing issues in the
periods of interest
Tuscaloosa, Ala. -
Flag of the Union 1833: All.
1834: All.
1835: Sep 5, 12; Oct 17;Nov 7.
Alabama Intelligencer and 1833: All.
States Rights Expositor 1834: All.
1835: Sep 5, 12, 19; Oct 10,
31; Nov 7, 28.
States Rights Expositor All.
And Spirit of the Age
Alabama State Intelligencer All.
Montgomery, Ala. -
Alabama Journal All.
Mobile, Ala. --
Mobile Commercial Register 1833:Nov; Dec 3, 7,10,14
and Patriot 17, 28, 31.
1834:All except Mar 4, 11,
18, 20; May 6, 23, 24.
(Published daily.)
1835: All.
Mobile Commercial Register and 1833: All.
Patriot (for the Country) 1834:Mar 15; Apr 30; Oct 29;
Nov 1, 8, 12, 15, 26.
1835:Oct 28.
Mobile Daily Advertiser All.
Mobile Daily Register and All.
Patriot
Huntsville, Ala. --
The Democrat 1833: Dec 12, 19, 26.
1834: All.
1835: Sep 2, 9, 30; Oct;
Nov 4, 25.
Southern Advocate 1833: Nov 19.
1834: May 27.
1835: None.
Mr. Charles Van Baucom 3 23 December 1986
Note that the newspapers found for November and December 1833, except two
issues (Mobile) in December, were published in Madison County--the least
preferred county for news of Perry County. And note that none were found
for 1834 in Tuscaloosa and Montgomery counties--the two most preferred
counties. The fact that so many issues of the Tuscaloosa and Montgomery
(especially Tuscaloosa) papers are missing may explain why the newspaper
search was unsuccessful.
There are, however, other repositories in the United States where you will
find some of the issues that are missing at the Alabama Archives:
At Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania -States Rights Expositor and
Spirit of the Age, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Dec 15, 1832 - Mar 8, 1834.
At the University of Texas, Austin, Texas -Alabama State Intelligencer,
Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Nov 12, 1833.
At the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts -Alabama
Journal, Montgomery, Alabama. Apr 15, 1831 - Sep 29, 1843, except 12
issues scattered in 1832, 1839, 1840, and 1843.
At the Mobile Press, Mobile, Alabama -Mobile Daily Advertiser, Mobile,
Alabama. Nov 7, 1833 - Mar 28, 1834; Oct 14, 1834 - Oct 6, 1836.
At the Library of Congress (and at the University of Alabama,
Universityt Alabama, which has on microfilm the LC holdings of
Alabama newspapers) -Mobile Daily Register and Patriot, Mobile, Alabama.
Jan 1, 1833 Dec 30, 1837, except 16 issues, one of which (Nov 25,
1833) is in a period of interest.
Some more Perry County Circuit Court and Chancery Court case papers have
been discovered at the Archives. They are as yet unorganized, some
Circuit Court papers being mixed in with the Chancery Court papers and
vice versa. Because of the mixing, I examined all of the documents even
though I was interested in only the Circuit Court papers, which I thought
might include documents from the cases of 1834 and 1835. I did not find
anything about those cases, I am sorry to say; but I am glad that I looked
at the Chancery papers, for there is something of value there.
Files (or portions of files) for three Wasson cases in Chancery were found:
1. Jack F. Ross vs. James Wasson. (Debt.)
2. Adam D. Brown vs. William W. Wasson and Alberry Wasson. (Title to
land.)
3. Wiley B. Wasson vs. Andrew J. Pool and William W. Stokes, Admr.
The first of these concerns a promissory note made by James Wasson to Ivy
W. Goodwin or bearer on 2 Jan 1834 for $81.05. Jack F. Ross ultimately
became the bearer of this note, which he accused James Wasson of refusing
to redeem. The case is Ross's suit against Wasson, instituted on 21 Mar
1835, to recover the value of the note plus damages of $50. Wasson failed
to appear and defend himself. Judgment was therefore awarded to Ross
against Wasson on 2 Nov 1835.
Mr. Charles Van Baucom 4 23 December 1986
for the note ($81.05) and damages ($5.40). The reason for the third
case is unknown. Only one document concerning it was found--a bill of
costs for the period 18 Nov 1854 - 19 Jun 1856. There is no indication
in the bill of what the case was about or who won it. Since neither of
these cases is of any particular genealogical significance, although
they are of general interest, I did not photocopy the documents. In
making such a statement about genealogical significance, I am assuming
that the dates 1854 to 1856 in Wiley's case do not imply that he was
still a resident of Perry County then.
The second case is a quite different matter however. (There are so many
document pages in the file of that case that it would be quite expensive
to photocopy all of them; I do not advise that it be done. There is
much redundancy, and most of the documents are merely interesting.) The
principal facts of the case are the following:
On 1 Apr 1841 William W. Wasson sold to Adam D. Brown 99 2/3 acres of
land in Perry County, Alabama at $15 per acre, for a total purchase
price of $1495. Accordingly Brown made two promissory notes to Wasson,
each for $747.50--the first due 1 Jan 1842, the second due 1 Jan 1843.
Brown paid the first note shortly after it came due on 1 Jan 1842, but
he refused to pay the second note on 1 Jan 1843. Wasson therefore sued
Brown for that payment. In the meantime William W. Wasson became the
surety on a note of "another" (not identified in the case papers), which
note ultimately became the property of Alberry Wasson. When the note
came due, Alberry discovered that the maker of the note was insolvent.
He therefore turned to William W. Wasson, as surety on the note, for
payment of it, suing out an attachment against William's estate and, in
the process, garnisheeing Brown. Brown's suit against William and
Alberry was in part a countersuit to these two last mentioned actions.
But its main purpose was to force William W. Wasson to make an
unencumbered title to Brown for the land that Brown was buying from
Wasson.
Brown by the Bill of Complaint in his suit against William and Alberry
Wasson alleged that William executed a bond on 1 Apr 1841 obligating
himself to make "a good deed of conveyance in fee simple [free of all
encumbrances] on or before the first day of January A.D. 1843"; that is,
upon payment of the second of Brown's notes. (A document purported to
be a copy of the bond is attached to the Bill of Complaint as Exhibit
A.) He further alleged that William had on or about 13 Jan 1839 leased
60 acres of the land in question to John A. Smith for a period of 6
years, that he (Wasson) refused to remove the encumbrance represented by
the lease and to make a good title to him (Brown) on 1 Jan 1843 as he
was obligated to do, and that he had heard that Wasson's wife would
refuse to relinquish dower. It was for these reasons that Brown was
bringing suit for title and was refusing to redeem his second note until
Wasson was compelled to make a good title to him.
One of the documents, which was photocopied, is of special interest.
Filed on 14 Oct 1846, it is the amended answer of William W. Wasson to
Brown's Bill of Complaint. (The document title indicates that it is the
"Answer of Wasson'; but it is in fact an amended answer, the original
answer having been filed on 25 May 1846. The title also incorrectly
omits Alberry as a respondent.) It contains William's refutations of
Brown's allegations, which I do not repeat
Mr. Charles Van Baucom 5 23 December 1986
here but leave to you to read in the document. More importantly, it proves
that William W. Wasson was a son of Leanna Walker. Recall that the charge
of Samuel Walker in the alleged murder of James Ralston identified Alberry,
Ephraim, Wiley, and James Wasson as sons of Leanna but that William W.
Wasson was not so identified. Nor was William identified in Leanna's
divorce suit as one of her sons. (See the report of 17 May 1986.) But in
this document, a sworn statement of William W. Wasson, is the phrase
Alberry Wasson the brother of this defendant. William thus added himself to
the list of Leanna's sons. This document also identifies William's wife as
Henrietta J., which substantiates the earlier assumption that the William
W. Wasson who married Henrietta J. Greenhaw in Perry County was related to
Wiley B. Wasson. And it tells us that William was en route in January 1842
to Louisiana (Brown had said to Arkansas in his Bill of Complaint) and that
he settled there in Union Parish, thus confirming that the William H.
Wasson of that Parish in the 1850 census was the William W. Wasson of Perry
County, Alabama in earlier years.
This document also brings me to revise Attachment 3 in the report of 8 Jun
1985, which shows the lands owned by the Wassons in Perry County. One of
the parcels sold by William Wasson to Brown was the S1/2 of the SW1/4 of
SW1/4, S35, T17N, R6E. That is some of the land that William W. Wasson
bought from Wiley B. Wasson on 12 Dec 1836. (See Note 5 on Attachment 3
and see Deed Record, H, Perry County, pp. 281-282.) There is no problem
with that parcel. But the other land sold to Brown was the W1/2 of the
NW1/4, S2, T16N, R6E. I do not show that tract on Attachment 3, but there
is a tract shown there (W1/2 of the NW1/4, S10, T16N, R6E) which was
conveyed from Wiley to William by the same deed just mentioned that looks
suspiciously like it might be the Section 2 land. In fact, upon rereading
the deed, I am convinced that the land in question is described in the
deed as the W1/2 of the NW1/4, S2, T16N, R6E. Attachment 3 should be
changed accordingly.
Another document in this case file was photocopied because it is the only
document in the file that mentions Wiley B. Wasson--not because it is
particularly important. It is Brown's Amendment to Bill, dated 20 Oct
1846. In it Brown (by his solicitor) says that William W. Wasson did not
have title to the land that he was selling to Brown, that the land was
Wiley Wasson's, patented by him. We know from the deed just discussed
above that the land was indeed William's. But we cannot fault Brown's
solicitor, who according to the waiver at the end of the Amendment to
Bill eventually discovered his error, for Wiley's deed to William was
not recorded until 11 Mar 1847. I do not agree however that Wiley
patented both of these tracts. There is no record that he patented the
land in Section 2.
By decree of 23 Jun 1848 the case was decided in favor of the Wassons. The
Court believed William. Brown's bill was dismissed, and he was charged
with all costs.
I also include photocopies of the two documents reported previously as
establishing the period in which Samuel Walker died: his promissory note of
2 Nov 1833 to John Erwin and the bond of his Administrators, dated 23 Nov
1833.
Mr. Charles Van Baucom 6 23 December 1986
The Walker surname file yielded nothing of value. The only mention of
Samuel Walker there is in a letter from Samuel I. Walker, 5721 N.W. 48th
Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73122 to the Editor, Montgomery Advertiser,
Montgomery, Alabama, dated 20 Dec 1970. He was inquiring about newspaper
files of the 1830's in which he hoped to find information concerning the
death of his great-great-grandfather Samuel Walker of Perry County, who
according to family tradition "died from violence in a dispute over
property." His letter was referred to the Alabama Archives, which reported
no Perry County newspapers of the 1830's in its holdings. Of course you
have already heard from Mr. Samuel I. Walker by way of Laverne Wasson
Springer.
I shall proceed forthwith with the McDonald research.
Best wishes for the holidays.
Sincerely yours,
William P. Parks
Attachments
Enclosures
P.S. A revised copy of Attachment 3 (Wasson lands) will follow shortly.
Attachment 1
SOURCES SEARCHED OR CONSULTED
AT THE
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
A. Secondary sources.
1. Alabama Department of Archives and History. Indexes to Alabama
newspapers.
2. Winifred Gregory (ed.). American Newspapers, 1821-1936: A Union
List of Files Available in the United States and Canada. New
York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1937.
3. Rhoda Coleman Ellison. History and Bibliography of Alabama News-
papers in the Nineteenth Century. University, Alabama: University
of Alabama Press, 1954.
4. Newspapers:
a. Flag of the Union, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Scattered issues in
1835. ADAH Book 49-5007.
b. Alabama Intelligencer and States Rights Expositor, Tuscaloosa,
Alabama. Scattered issues in 1835. ADAH Book 495007.
c. Mobile Commercial Register and Patriot, Mobile, Alabama. Nov
25, 1831 - May 24, 1834. ADAH Book 49-5010.
d. Mobile Commercial Register and Patriot (for the Country),
Mobile, Alabama. Dec 28, 1833 - Dec 31, 1834 (ADAH Book
49-5006) and Jan 3, 1835 - Dec 30, 1835 (ADAH Book
49-5007).
e. The Democrat, Huntsville, Alabama. Scattered issues in
1835 (ADAH Book 49-5007) and Jul 4, 1833 - Sep 27, 1836
(ADAH Book 45-79).
f. Southern Advocate, Huntsville, Alabama. May 12, 1832
Feb 4, 1834 (ADAH Book 45-163) and Feb 18, 1834 - Jan 17,
1837 (ADAH Book 45-164).
5. Kathleen Paul Jones and Pauline Jones Gandrud (comps.). Alabama
Records, Perry County. 5v. n.p., n. publ., various dates.
6. Alabama Department of Archives and History. Surname File - Walker.
B. Primary sources.
1. Circuit Court case papers, Perry County, Alabama.
2. Circuit Court miscellaneous papers, Perry County, Alabama.
3. Chancery Court case papers, Perry County, Alabama.
Attachment 2
DOCUMENTS PHOTOCOPIED
AT THE
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
1. Chancery Case Files, Perry County, Alabama:
Adam D. Brown vs. William W. Wasson and Alberry Wasson.
a. [Amended] Answer of Wasson. Filed 14 Oct 1846.(14 sheets)
b. Amendment to Bill. Dated 20 Oct 1846, filed
21 Oct 1846. (3 sheets)
2. Orphans Court, Estate Records, Perry County, Alabama:
Estate of Samuel Walker, deceased.
a. Promissory note of Samuel Walker to John Erwin.
Dated 2 Nov 1833. (1 sheet)
b. Administrators' bond of Malcolm McLeod and David
Harding.Dated 23 Nov 1833. (1 sheet)
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