Dr Benjamin Franklin Eppes was the second son of General Richard H. Eppes who served in the War of 1812 and Elizabeth Bailey-Adkins-Eppes his wife, he was a great-great-great grandson of Lt. Colonel Francis Eps I of Kent, England and his first wife Marie Pawlett-Eps who arrived in Virginia Colony for the first time in the early 1620's and settled on Appomattox Point where the James and Appomattox Rivers meet. Col. Francis Eps was a prominent member of his community and served twice as Burgess for Charles City in 1639/40 and 1645/6 and as Councilman for the Virginia Colony as well as owning and maintaining several plantations on both sides of the rivers by the time he died about 1668. He built a home he called "Eppington" on "Hopewell Farm" plantation, located on an original 1200 acre tract of land he was granted by the King of England as payment for transporting 30 English citizens to the New World in his ship the "Hopewell", he later bought adjoining lands and owned almost 2000 acres. Today "Appomattox Manor", the Eppes family home built by the descendants of their progenitor Col. Francis Epes I, sits on that site today, it had the distinction of being the oldest continually-owned family home in the US until it was taken over by the federal government in 1979 and made part of the Petersburg Battlefield national monument. Dr. Benjamin Eppes came from a prominent family whose members were related to almost every landowning family in Virginia either by birth or marriage including Pres. Thomas Jefferson and his wife Martha Wayles whose mother was an Eppes, and after his marriage he was also related to many other prominent families both in Virginia and North Carolina by virtue of his wife's extensive family connections.
Benjamin's father died when he was just 13 yrs old and Benjamin, the second child of five children (of whom three survived to adulthood), had to do what most children did, make his living, so he studied medicine and set up life in Stony Creek, VA and practiced, according to a cousin, out of a little office building he built at the entrance gates to his plantation so that his patients, especially the women, would have complete privacy for their delicate medical issues.
On 10 April 1840 in Brunswick County, VA, Dr Eppes married Ann Elizabeth Feild, daughter of Dr. Andrew Meade Feild and Sally Taylor Cary - Feild.
They had the following known children:
Ada EPPES - Anderson
1842–1924
Richard Cary EPPES
1843–1845
Andrew Feild EPPES
1845–1919
Thomas Augustus EPPES
1848–1927
George Wythe EPPES
1853–1900
Sally Cary EPPES
1855–1924
Bettie Frances EPPES
1858–1862
Anna Catherine EPPES
1860–1863
Mary Evelyn "Eva" EPPES
1862–1889
Benjamin Franklin EPPES Jr.
1865–1884
Dr Epps lost his first son Richard Cary Eppes in 1845, he was only two yrs old.
About 1847, Dr Eppes was appointed commissioner for indigent schools in Sussex County, VA.
In 1849, Dr Eppes was appointed Commissioner for all Public Schools in Sussex County, VA.
On the 1850 census, Dr Eppes was listed as "Physician" owning $12,000 of land and 43 slaves:
#557 - Benjamin F Eppes 30 Physician $12,000 VA(all)
Ann E Eppes 27
Ada Eppes 7
Andrew F Eppes 5
Thomas A Eppes 2
Elizabeth Eppes 61
In 1860, Dr Eppes was listed on the population census:
#24/23 - EPPES, Benj. F. 41 Physician & Farmer $25,000 land/$55,000 personal property VA(all born in Virginia)
Ann E 38
Ada 17
Andrew F. 14
Thomas A. 11
George W. 8
Sally C. 4
Betty F. 2
EPPS, Elizabeth 65 $0 land/$25,000 personal -
BLUNT, Sarah A.E. 36 $15,000 land/$40,000 personal
--Alice R 12
--Caroline 8 -
WHITE, George A 36 Overseer $0 land/$200 personal -
BENDALL, Oliver F. 26 Teacher $0/$20,000
(All the children of Benj F & his widowed sister Sarah Eppes - Blunt - Feilds who were between the ages of 8 and 17 were attending school at this time, probably under the tutelage of Oliver F Bendall who seems to have been their private teacher.) By this time, Dr Eppes' plantation had 62 slaves.
Dr Eppes was a Democrat, the party of secession in the Civil War. He was mentioned from 1849 on in newspaper articles of political interest. He also had a very prolific plantation which in 1860 was recorded as producing and having assets as following:
Benj F Eppes Line 27 – 1000mp/800 land – $15,000/$1000 – 4horses, 8mules/asses, 12milch cows,8oxen, 20cattle, 30sheep ,125swine=$2500 livestock - 600bushelsWheat, 2500buCorn, 22,000Tobacco bales, 200CordsWood // 25lbs IrishPot, 250lbs SwtPot, $100Orchard produce, 70lbs Butter, 2bales Hay, selling $20Mfg, $10Slaughtered animals
On the Virginia Births register, which listed all births both black and white births 1853 onward, I found the following listings in Dr B F Epps's name:
In chronological order, slave children listed born under Benj F Eppes:
1853 unnamed child to unnamed mother
5 Aug 1853 unnamed child to Rachell
20 Jan 1854 unnamed male to Phoebe.
4 Jun 1854 unnamed child to Junette
7 Jun 1854 unknown child to Avalanche
10 Jan 1854 unknown child to Hannah
Mar 1855 unnamed female to unnamed mother
Apr 1855 unnamed child to unnamed mother
20 Feb 1856 Mary born to Nancy
5 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
11 Feb 1857 unnamed child born to Hannah
27 April 1858 Matilda born to Junette
4 June 1858 unnamed child born to Avalanche.
10 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Hannah
20 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Phoebe
10 Aug 1860 unnamed child born to Ann
16 Nov 1860 unnamed child born to India
5 Sep 1861 unnamed child born to unnamed mother
10 Nov 1861 unnamed male to unnamed mother.
31 Aug 1862 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Sep 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
1 Oct 1862 unnamed female (no column for mother)
19 Oct 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
31 Aug 1862 unnamed female born dead (no mother)
Jan 1864 Laura born to unnamed mother
Jan 1864 Judy born to unnamed mother
Why did he list some slave mothers and not others?
During the Civil War, Dr Eppes lost two of his young daughters and gained a son and daughter.
Near the end of the war, Dr Eppes held numerous dances for the locally-stationed Confederate officers in his plantation home, his oldest daughter Ada met her future husband there according to a book of letters published by Tom Moore Craig, a member of her future husband's family, in which her future husband wrote home to an aunt that he greatly enjoyed the social life in the Stony Creek area and that Dr Eppes often opened his home to the Confederate officers for dances. Lieut. Frank Anderson met the talented pianist and oldest daughter Ada Eppes there, but he wrote he was not impressed with her physical beauty, like many young men he seemed less interested in a woman's other attributes, he mentioned several other beautiful ladies of the area by name as being more striking, though he did notice Ada, he said Ada seemed to always have a coterie of men hanging around her piano so he was impressed with her popularity. Frank later returned to Stony Creek after the war and changed his mind about Ada because he did marry her and built her a fine two-story plantation home in South Carolina across the road from where he was born that I have been told was based on the floor plan of her father's home, they called it "Holly Hill" and it still exists today. Ada was said by those who knew her to be a very Christian woman who was a good influence on all around her, she often held Bible studies either in her home or in town and was a pillar of the small Reidville, SC community which was founded and named after a well-known local educator Dr Reid who ran a prestigious private boarding school for the sons of well-heeled families (there were no public schools for poorer people until after the Civil War). They ran a progressive farm and in 1900 they were listed with 1000 acres of land, later sent their own children to university and their son Dr John Marshall Anderson also became a physician like his grandfather.
The exact date of Dr Eppes death is uncertain, one record says Oct 1867, another says Oct 1869.
When Dr Eppes's son Andrew Feild Eppes died, his obit says he was to be buried in the old Eppes family Cemetery. This is likely where his father is also buried.
--Jeni
8/2021
Benjamin's father died when he was just 13 yrs old and Benjamin, the second child of five children (of whom three survived to adulthood), had to do what most children did, make his living, so he studied medicine and set up life in Stony Creek, VA and practiced, according to a cousin, out of a little office building he built at the entrance gates to his plantation so that his patients, especially the women, would have complete privacy for their delicate medical issues.
On 10 April 1840 in Brunswick County, VA, Dr Eppes married Ann Elizabeth Feild, daughter of Dr. Andrew Meade Feild and Sally Taylor Cary - Feild.
They had the following known children:
Ada EPPES - Anderson
1842–1924
Richard Cary EPPES
1843–1845
Andrew Feild EPPES
1845–1919
Thomas Augustus EPPES
1848–1927
George Wythe EPPES
1853–1900
Sally Cary EPPES
1855–1924
Bettie Frances EPPES
1858–1862
Anna Catherine EPPES
1860–1863
Mary Evelyn "Eva" EPPES
1862–1889
Benjamin Franklin EPPES Jr.
1865–1884
Dr Epps lost his first son Richard Cary Eppes in 1845, he was only two yrs old.
About 1847, Dr Eppes was appointed commissioner for indigent schools in Sussex County, VA.
In 1849, Dr Eppes was appointed Commissioner for all Public Schools in Sussex County, VA.
On the 1850 census, Dr Eppes was listed as "Physician" owning $12,000 of land and 43 slaves:
#557 - Benjamin F Eppes 30 Physician $12,000 VA(all)
Ann E Eppes 27
Ada Eppes 7
Andrew F Eppes 5
Thomas A Eppes 2
Elizabeth Eppes 61
In 1860, Dr Eppes was listed on the population census:
#24/23 - EPPES, Benj. F. 41 Physician & Farmer $25,000 land/$55,000 personal property VA(all born in Virginia)
Ann E 38
Ada 17
Andrew F. 14
Thomas A. 11
George W. 8
Sally C. 4
Betty F. 2
EPPS, Elizabeth 65 $0 land/$25,000 personal -
BLUNT, Sarah A.E. 36 $15,000 land/$40,000 personal
--Alice R 12
--Caroline 8 -
WHITE, George A 36 Overseer $0 land/$200 personal -
BENDALL, Oliver F. 26 Teacher $0/$20,000
(All the children of Benj F & his widowed sister Sarah Eppes - Blunt - Feilds who were between the ages of 8 and 17 were attending school at this time, probably under the tutelage of Oliver F Bendall who seems to have been their private teacher.) By this time, Dr Eppes' plantation had 62 slaves.
Dr Eppes was a Democrat, the party of secession in the Civil War. He was mentioned from 1849 on in newspaper articles of political interest. He also had a very prolific plantation which in 1860 was recorded as producing and having assets as following:
Benj F Eppes Line 27 – 1000mp/800 land – $15,000/$1000 – 4horses, 8mules/asses, 12milch cows,8oxen, 20cattle, 30sheep ,125swine=$2500 livestock - 600bushelsWheat, 2500buCorn, 22,000Tobacco bales, 200CordsWood // 25lbs IrishPot, 250lbs SwtPot, $100Orchard produce, 70lbs Butter, 2bales Hay, selling $20Mfg, $10Slaughtered animals
On the Virginia Births register, which listed all births both black and white births 1853 onward, I found the following listings in Dr B F Epps's name:
In chronological order, slave children listed born under Benj F Eppes:
1853 unnamed child to unnamed mother
5 Aug 1853 unnamed child to Rachell
20 Jan 1854 unnamed male to Phoebe.
4 Jun 1854 unnamed child to Junette
7 Jun 1854 unknown child to Avalanche
10 Jan 1854 unknown child to Hannah
Mar 1855 unnamed female to unnamed mother
Apr 1855 unnamed child to unnamed mother
20 Feb 1856 Mary born to Nancy
5 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
11 Feb 1857 unnamed child born to Hannah
27 April 1858 Matilda born to Junette
4 June 1858 unnamed child born to Avalanche.
10 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Hannah
20 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Phoebe
10 Aug 1860 unnamed child born to Ann
16 Nov 1860 unnamed child born to India
5 Sep 1861 unnamed child born to unnamed mother
10 Nov 1861 unnamed male to unnamed mother.
31 Aug 1862 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Sep 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
1 Oct 1862 unnamed female (no column for mother)
19 Oct 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
31 Aug 1862 unnamed female born dead (no mother)
Jan 1864 Laura born to unnamed mother
Jan 1864 Judy born to unnamed mother
Why did he list some slave mothers and not others?
During the Civil War, Dr Eppes lost two of his young daughters and gained a son and daughter.
Near the end of the war, Dr Eppes held numerous dances for the locally-stationed Confederate officers in his plantation home, his oldest daughter Ada met her future husband there according to a book of letters published by Tom Moore Craig, a member of her future husband's family, in which her future husband wrote home to an aunt that he greatly enjoyed the social life in the Stony Creek area and that Dr Eppes often opened his home to the Confederate officers for dances. Lieut. Frank Anderson met the talented pianist and oldest daughter Ada Eppes there, but he wrote he was not impressed with her physical beauty, like many young men he seemed less interested in a woman's other attributes, he mentioned several other beautiful ladies of the area by name as being more striking, though he did notice Ada, he said Ada seemed to always have a coterie of men hanging around her piano so he was impressed with her popularity. Frank later returned to Stony Creek after the war and changed his mind about Ada because he did marry her and built her a fine two-story plantation home in South Carolina across the road from where he was born that I have been told was based on the floor plan of her father's home, they called it "Holly Hill" and it still exists today. Ada was said by those who knew her to be a very Christian woman who was a good influence on all around her, she often held Bible studies either in her home or in town and was a pillar of the small Reidville, SC community which was founded and named after a well-known local educator Dr Reid who ran a prestigious private boarding school for the sons of well-heeled families (there were no public schools for poorer people until after the Civil War). They ran a progressive farm and in 1900 they were listed with 1000 acres of land, later sent their own children to university and their son Dr John Marshall Anderson also became a physician like his grandfather.
The exact date of Dr Eppes death is uncertain, one record says Oct 1867, another says Oct 1869.
When Dr Eppes's son Andrew Feild Eppes died, his obit says he was to be buried in the old Eppes family Cemetery. This is likely where his father is also buried.
--Jeni
8/2021
Dr Benjamin Franklin Eppes was the second son of General Richard H. Eppes who served in the War of 1812 and Elizabeth Bailey-Adkins-Eppes his wife, he was a great-great-great grandson of Lt. Colonel Francis Eps I of Kent, England and his first wife Marie Pawlett-Eps who arrived in Virginia Colony for the first time in the early 1620's and settled on Appomattox Point where the James and Appomattox Rivers meet. Col. Francis Eps was a prominent member of his community and served twice as Burgess for Charles City in 1639/40 and 1645/6 and as Councilman for the Virginia Colony as well as owning and maintaining several plantations on both sides of the rivers by the time he died about 1668. He built a home he called "Eppington" on "Hopewell Farm" plantation, located on an original 1200 acre tract of land he was granted by the King of England as payment for transporting 30 English citizens to the New World in his ship the "Hopewell", he later bought adjoining lands and owned almost 2000 acres. Today "Appomattox Manor", the Eppes family home built by the descendants of their progenitor Col. Francis Epes I, sits on that site today, it had the distinction of being the oldest continually-owned family home in the US until it was taken over by the federal government in 1979 and made part of the Petersburg Battlefield national monument. Dr. Benjamin Eppes came from a prominent family whose members were related to almost every landowning family in Virginia either by birth or marriage including Pres. Thomas Jefferson and his wife Martha Wayles whose mother was an Eppes, and after his marriage he was also related to many other prominent families both in Virginia and North Carolina by virtue of his wife's extensive family connections.
Benjamin's father died when he was just 13 yrs old and Benjamin, the second child of five children (of whom three survived to adulthood), had to do what most children did, make his living, so he studied medicine and set up life in Stony Creek, VA and practiced, according to a cousin, out of a little office building he built at the entrance gates to his plantation so that his patients, especially the women, would have complete privacy for their delicate medical issues.
On 10 April 1840 in Brunswick County, VA, Dr Eppes married Ann Elizabeth Feild, daughter of Dr. Andrew Meade Feild and Sally Taylor Cary - Feild.
They had the following known children:
Ada EPPES - Anderson
1842–1924
Richard Cary EPPES
1843–1845
Andrew Feild EPPES
1845–1919
Thomas Augustus EPPES
1848–1927
George Wythe EPPES
1853–1900
Sally Cary EPPES
1855–1924
Bettie Frances EPPES
1858–1862
Anna Catherine EPPES
1860–1863
Mary Evelyn "Eva" EPPES
1862–1889
Benjamin Franklin EPPES Jr.
1865–1884
Dr Epps lost his first son Richard Cary Eppes in 1845, he was only two yrs old.
About 1847, Dr Eppes was appointed commissioner for indigent schools in Sussex County, VA.
In 1849, Dr Eppes was appointed Commissioner for all Public Schools in Sussex County, VA.
On the 1850 census, Dr Eppes was listed as "Physician" owning $12,000 of land and 43 slaves:
#557 - Benjamin F Eppes 30 Physician $12,000 VA(all)
Ann E Eppes 27
Ada Eppes 7
Andrew F Eppes 5
Thomas A Eppes 2
Elizabeth Eppes 61
In 1860, Dr Eppes was listed on the population census:
#24/23 - EPPES, Benj. F. 41 Physician & Farmer $25,000 land/$55,000 personal property VA(all born in Virginia)
Ann E 38
Ada 17
Andrew F. 14
Thomas A. 11
George W. 8
Sally C. 4
Betty F. 2
EPPS, Elizabeth 65 $0 land/$25,000 personal -
BLUNT, Sarah A.E. 36 $15,000 land/$40,000 personal
--Alice R 12
--Caroline 8 -
WHITE, George A 36 Overseer $0 land/$200 personal -
BENDALL, Oliver F. 26 Teacher $0/$20,000
(All the children of Benj F & his widowed sister Sarah Eppes - Blunt - Feilds who were between the ages of 8 and 17 were attending school at this time, probably under the tutelage of Oliver F Bendall who seems to have been their private teacher.) By this time, Dr Eppes' plantation had 62 slaves.
Dr Eppes was a Democrat, the party of secession in the Civil War. He was mentioned from 1849 on in newspaper articles of political interest. He also had a very prolific plantation which in 1860 was recorded as producing and having assets as following:
Benj F Eppes Line 27 – 1000mp/800 land – $15,000/$1000 – 4horses, 8mules/asses, 12milch cows,8oxen, 20cattle, 30sheep ,125swine=$2500 livestock - 600bushelsWheat, 2500buCorn, 22,000Tobacco bales, 200CordsWood // 25lbs IrishPot, 250lbs SwtPot, $100Orchard produce, 70lbs Butter, 2bales Hay, selling $20Mfg, $10Slaughtered animals
On the Virginia Births register, which listed all births both black and white births 1853 onward, I found the following listings in Dr B F Epps's name:
In chronological order, slave children listed born under Benj F Eppes:
1853 unnamed child to unnamed mother
5 Aug 1853 unnamed child to Rachell
20 Jan 1854 unnamed male to Phoebe.
4 Jun 1854 unnamed child to Junette
7 Jun 1854 unknown child to Avalanche
10 Jan 1854 unknown child to Hannah
Mar 1855 unnamed female to unnamed mother
Apr 1855 unnamed child to unnamed mother
20 Feb 1856 Mary born to Nancy
5 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
11 Feb 1857 unnamed child born to Hannah
27 April 1858 Matilda born to Junette
4 June 1858 unnamed child born to Avalanche.
10 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Hannah
20 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Phoebe
10 Aug 1860 unnamed child born to Ann
16 Nov 1860 unnamed child born to India
5 Sep 1861 unnamed child born to unnamed mother
10 Nov 1861 unnamed male to unnamed mother.
31 Aug 1862 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Sep 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
1 Oct 1862 unnamed female (no column for mother)
19 Oct 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
31 Aug 1862 unnamed female born dead (no mother)
Jan 1864 Laura born to unnamed mother
Jan 1864 Judy born to unnamed mother
Why did he list some slave mothers and not others?
During the Civil War, Dr Eppes lost two of his young daughters and gained a son and daughter.
Near the end of the war, Dr Eppes held numerous dances for the locally-stationed Confederate officers in his plantation home, his oldest daughter Ada met her future husband there according to a book of letters published by Tom Moore Craig, a member of her future husband's family, in which her future husband wrote home to an aunt that he greatly enjoyed the social life in the Stony Creek area and that Dr Eppes often opened his home to the Confederate officers for dances. Lieut. Frank Anderson met the talented pianist and oldest daughter Ada Eppes there, but he wrote he was not impressed with her physical beauty, like many young men he seemed less interested in a woman's other attributes, he mentioned several other beautiful ladies of the area by name as being more striking, though he did notice Ada, he said Ada seemed to always have a coterie of men hanging around her piano so he was impressed with her popularity. Frank later returned to Stony Creek after the war and changed his mind about Ada because he did marry her and built her a fine two-story plantation home in South Carolina across the road from where he was born that I have been told was based on the floor plan of her father's home, they called it "Holly Hill" and it still exists today. Ada was said by those who knew her to be a very Christian woman who was a good influence on all around her, she often held Bible studies either in her home or in town and was a pillar of the small Reidville, SC community which was founded and named after a well-known local educator Dr Reid who ran a prestigious private boarding school for the sons of well-heeled families (there were no public schools for poorer people until after the Civil War). They ran a progressive farm and in 1900 they were listed with 1000 acres of land, later sent their own children to university and their son Dr John Marshall Anderson also became a physician like his grandfather.
The exact date of Dr Eppes death is uncertain, one record says Oct 1867, another says Oct 1869.
When Dr Eppes's son Andrew Feild Eppes died, his obit says he was to be buried in the old Eppes family Cemetery. This is likely where his father is also buried.
--Jeni
8/2021
Benjamin's father died when he was just 13 yrs old and Benjamin, the second child of five children (of whom three survived to adulthood), had to do what most children did, make his living, so he studied medicine and set up life in Stony Creek, VA and practiced, according to a cousin, out of a little office building he built at the entrance gates to his plantation so that his patients, especially the women, would have complete privacy for their delicate medical issues.
On 10 April 1840 in Brunswick County, VA, Dr Eppes married Ann Elizabeth Feild, daughter of Dr. Andrew Meade Feild and Sally Taylor Cary - Feild.
They had the following known children:
Ada EPPES - Anderson
1842–1924
Richard Cary EPPES
1843–1845
Andrew Feild EPPES
1845–1919
Thomas Augustus EPPES
1848–1927
George Wythe EPPES
1853–1900
Sally Cary EPPES
1855–1924
Bettie Frances EPPES
1858–1862
Anna Catherine EPPES
1860–1863
Mary Evelyn "Eva" EPPES
1862–1889
Benjamin Franklin EPPES Jr.
1865–1884
Dr Epps lost his first son Richard Cary Eppes in 1845, he was only two yrs old.
About 1847, Dr Eppes was appointed commissioner for indigent schools in Sussex County, VA.
In 1849, Dr Eppes was appointed Commissioner for all Public Schools in Sussex County, VA.
On the 1850 census, Dr Eppes was listed as "Physician" owning $12,000 of land and 43 slaves:
#557 - Benjamin F Eppes 30 Physician $12,000 VA(all)
Ann E Eppes 27
Ada Eppes 7
Andrew F Eppes 5
Thomas A Eppes 2
Elizabeth Eppes 61
In 1860, Dr Eppes was listed on the population census:
#24/23 - EPPES, Benj. F. 41 Physician & Farmer $25,000 land/$55,000 personal property VA(all born in Virginia)
Ann E 38
Ada 17
Andrew F. 14
Thomas A. 11
George W. 8
Sally C. 4
Betty F. 2
EPPS, Elizabeth 65 $0 land/$25,000 personal -
BLUNT, Sarah A.E. 36 $15,000 land/$40,000 personal
--Alice R 12
--Caroline 8 -
WHITE, George A 36 Overseer $0 land/$200 personal -
BENDALL, Oliver F. 26 Teacher $0/$20,000
(All the children of Benj F & his widowed sister Sarah Eppes - Blunt - Feilds who were between the ages of 8 and 17 were attending school at this time, probably under the tutelage of Oliver F Bendall who seems to have been their private teacher.) By this time, Dr Eppes' plantation had 62 slaves.
Dr Eppes was a Democrat, the party of secession in the Civil War. He was mentioned from 1849 on in newspaper articles of political interest. He also had a very prolific plantation which in 1860 was recorded as producing and having assets as following:
Benj F Eppes Line 27 – 1000mp/800 land – $15,000/$1000 – 4horses, 8mules/asses, 12milch cows,8oxen, 20cattle, 30sheep ,125swine=$2500 livestock - 600bushelsWheat, 2500buCorn, 22,000Tobacco bales, 200CordsWood // 25lbs IrishPot, 250lbs SwtPot, $100Orchard produce, 70lbs Butter, 2bales Hay, selling $20Mfg, $10Slaughtered animals
On the Virginia Births register, which listed all births both black and white births 1853 onward, I found the following listings in Dr B F Epps's name:
In chronological order, slave children listed born under Benj F Eppes:
1853 unnamed child to unnamed mother
5 Aug 1853 unnamed child to Rachell
20 Jan 1854 unnamed male to Phoebe.
4 Jun 1854 unnamed child to Junette
7 Jun 1854 unknown child to Avalanche
10 Jan 1854 unknown child to Hannah
Mar 1855 unnamed female to unnamed mother
Apr 1855 unnamed child to unnamed mother
20 Feb 1856 Mary born to Nancy
5 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Feb 1857 unnamed child to unnamed mother
11 Feb 1857 unnamed child born to Hannah
27 April 1858 Matilda born to Junette
4 June 1858 unnamed child born to Avalanche.
10 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Hannah
20 Jan 1859 unnamed child born to Phoebe
10 Aug 1860 unnamed child born to Ann
16 Nov 1860 unnamed child born to India
5 Sep 1861 unnamed child born to unnamed mother
10 Nov 1861 unnamed male to unnamed mother.
31 Aug 1862 unnamed child to unnamed mother
10 Sep 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
1 Oct 1862 unnamed female (no column for mother)
19 Oct 1862 unnamed male (no column for mother)
31 Aug 1862 unnamed female born dead (no mother)
Jan 1864 Laura born to unnamed mother
Jan 1864 Judy born to unnamed mother
Why did he list some slave mothers and not others?
During the Civil War, Dr Eppes lost two of his young daughters and gained a son and daughter.
Near the end of the war, Dr Eppes held numerous dances for the locally-stationed Confederate officers in his plantation home, his oldest daughter Ada met her future husband there according to a book of letters published by Tom Moore Craig, a member of her future husband's family, in which her future husband wrote home to an aunt that he greatly enjoyed the social life in the Stony Creek area and that Dr Eppes often opened his home to the Confederate officers for dances. Lieut. Frank Anderson met the talented pianist and oldest daughter Ada Eppes there, but he wrote he was not impressed with her physical beauty, like many young men he seemed less interested in a woman's other attributes, he mentioned several other beautiful ladies of the area by name as being more striking, though he did notice Ada, he said Ada seemed to always have a coterie of men hanging around her piano so he was impressed with her popularity. Frank later returned to Stony Creek after the war and changed his mind about Ada because he did marry her and built her a fine two-story plantation home in South Carolina across the road from where he was born that I have been told was based on the floor plan of her father's home, they called it "Holly Hill" and it still exists today. Ada was said by those who knew her to be a very Christian woman who was a good influence on all around her, she often held Bible studies either in her home or in town and was a pillar of the small Reidville, SC community which was founded and named after a well-known local educator Dr Reid who ran a prestigious private boarding school for the sons of well-heeled families (there were no public schools for poorer people until after the Civil War). They ran a progressive farm and in 1900 they were listed with 1000 acres of land, later sent their own children to university and their son Dr John Marshall Anderson also became a physician like his grandfather.
The exact date of Dr Eppes death is uncertain, one record says Oct 1867, another says Oct 1869.
When Dr Eppes's son Andrew Feild Eppes died, his obit says he was to be buried in the old Eppes family Cemetery. This is likely where his father is also buried.
--Jeni
8/2021
Family Members
Advertisement
Advertisement
