Origins of 40 acres and a Mule …. The Story of Wadsworth and Turpin
I read a lot of old documents, particularly those from the 19th century. While cursive may be a relic in 2021, my familiarity of the script has only grown, since elementary school, which is the opposite of the masses (that’s an assumption, but I’d bargain I’m right). It’s all a part of my endless desire to reconstruct and understand the stories of Free People of Color, throughout the colonial and antebellum South. A passion that started with wanting to understand the life of my 5th great grandmother, ballooned into an outright obsession. This is all to say that digging in the archives, whether digital or in person, is a requirement. Digital databases that have been indexed may be a good start, but the real story depends on you digging a little deeper.
Most of what I come across isn’t anything special: Probate documents, plat records, and wills of old dead white men, make up the bulk of it. Sometimes though, you stumble across a special treat; something that’s a little different.
I should preface this by saying it still falls in the above categories, in that it’s still the story of old white men, but it’s a little more interesting than that. Why? It’s a story about old white men in the colonial era, that centers people of color. For that reason, it’s a story I think is worth telling.
Thomas Wadworth & William Turpin: Merchants, lawyers, and a rather unknown duo, who by some are said to be responsible for the myth of 40 acres and a mule.
I came across these two partners, rather accidentally. My 5th great grandmother lived in a free person of color enclave (at the border of Union and Spartanburg district), where it appears she lived next to 5 different households that also were home to free people of color in 1830. Upon closer inspection, all members of those households share a last name: Hardy.
Hmmph, that’s interesting. Essentially all other free people of color living around her shared a family name — — they were related — — and there was a lot of them.
I was familiar with the last name, as one of the family members, Nelly Hardy, had been a victim of murder at the local mill. So, I decided to get to know the Hardys a little more. I found a document where they appealed to the SC legislature stating that they had been double taxed, as free people of color.
In the document they state they were the children of Patience Hardy, who had been under the indenture of Thomas Wadsworth of Newberry District.
Well then, who was Thomas Wadsworth:
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where we began to practice law, before moving to the South and entering business as a Merchant. Though documents do not explicitly state his involvement in the revolution, the circles he mingled in (including Turpin), highly suggest its possible. Throughout his life, Wadsworth spent his time acquiring large amounts of land throughout the state of South Carolina, arguing cases in the courts, and trading cotton through his business as a merchant.
There is also documentation, which recounts Wadsworth entering into indentures with poor white farmers, to fund their land purchases.
Wadsworth was a slave owner, which for many isn’t surprising (and what he does afterward, does not erase that fact). What happens upon Wadsworth’s death in 1799, however, is quite surprising.
Upon what appears to be a rarely untimely death, Wadsworth provides for his mother, his wife, and then goes on to include this clause.
“ Whereas I have been induced from notion of humanity to set free and emancipate, all the negro slaves that have been intrusted [sic] to my care, or that I may die possessed of: I do hereby leave them under the special care & direction of the Society of Quakers or Friends residing on Bush River, Newberry County, in the State of South Carolina; & I do hereby give to that Society full & complete authority to receive from my executors titles for as much land, as when divided . . . will amount to fifty acres for each of my said slaves aforesaid. . . . I do further give & bequeath to each of my said slaves so to be emancipated as aforesaid, one good milch [sic] cow and a sow, or the value thereof in other stock or farming utensils, to be delivered to them by my executors when set free, and which it is my wish might take place as soon after my death, as the necessary & requisite arrangements for that purpose can be made or at any rate within six months thereafter. And I do hereby give & bequeath to a mulatto free girl named Silvey, & a mulatto free boy named Archibald, both of whom make part of my Family at this time, the same to each of them, as I have given to my negro slaves, as above mentioned, or the value thereof.”
The girl Silvey and boy Archibald are listed as Hardy’s in the previously discussed document, children of Patience. They were not enslaved by Wadsworth, rather were members of his household, through their mother.
With the rest of his land Wadsworth mandated a Free School for poor children in the community be built.
Because of this, early Confederate historian Anne Bachman Hyde notes that many believe that Wadsworth’s acts started the conversation around “40 acres and a mule”.
It’s worth noting that much of the land that Wadsworth owned, he never lived on. In fact, records suggest the land was never utilized for his merchant businesses or law practices, either. While he made members of the local Quaker society executors to his will, he left nothing to the organization itself. The primary benefactors were those he enslaved, which in itself was highly unusual.
Wadsworth’s partner William Turpin, makes the story of further interests. Unlike Wadsworth, Turpin was a South Carolina native, though his family originated in Rhode Island. Turpin was likely a patriot in the revolution, and known letters between him and James Madison, suggests a strong relationship between the two. There was no one closer to Turpin, however, than his partner Wadsworth.
Turpin outlived Wadsworth by over 30 years, during which time he served to execute and ensure that the will of Wadsworth, be carried out. He represented those formerly enslaved to Wadsworth, when local white citizens aimed to cheat them out of equal pay. He served on the board of trustees of the free school, ensuring that funds were not mishandled. He argued court cases when other tried to contest the freedoms of those manumitted.
When he died in 1850, Turpin left a rather elaborate will. Having children and a wife, Turpin spreads his wealth a little further than Wadsworth. Though, the bulk of his will are distributions to those he has formerly enslaved who are now free and those who will be manumitted via his will and will soon have their freedom. He leaves his home in Charleston and other local properties to free people of color, even allowing white people to occupy the properties, contingent on them agreeing to be guardians and advocates for those newly freed. With the remainder of his property, Turpin allocated small amounts to organizations and individuals, turning their head toward abolitionism.
I will always push back against the narrative of the benevolent slave owner, as I believe that in itself to be a contradiction, I have to say the stories of Wadsworth and Turpin are rather complicated and unique. I will allow you to make your own conclusions on their intentions and their character, but I will leave you with two points of interests.
On Wadsworth grave, the latter part of his inscription reads, “…and also extended the hand of benevolence towards that part of the Family committed to his charge who were not in a situation to help themselves, thereby enabling them to live comfortably and happy”. Wadsworth had no children and his wife died within a few days of himself (yellow fever). The only members of his family this could refer to are those formerly enslaved by him, and his mother. This language of family pertaining to this group of people, is consistent with the language found in his will.
For Turpin, in 1833, he wrote a letter to former president James Madison. In it, he details his intention to retire, at the age of 80. He wrote this to our former president on Christmas of that year.
“….I lived Near 60 years in South Carolina. 40 years I alone Advocated the Cause of the Oppressed Affricans, now God has Raisd up 40 Millions of Consiensious people throughout the World to advocate their Cause, & is dailey adding more to their Number”.
The 40 years Turpin refers to, are the 34 years since Wadsworth’s death.
Again, I write this not as a praise for Wadsworth and Turpin, rather to present a rather interesting narrative in the country’s early history. It’s often said that during the era of slavery many were ignorant and did not understand the system of slavery to be unjust. Yet, early on in our country’s history, Wadsworth’s and Turpin’s actions, present a far more complicated story.
Special thanks to David Dangerfield, PhD of USC for his work on this topic as well.
