An Invisible Legacy (1758-1847)

There is no such thing as a “good” slave owner. The phrase is an oxymoron. But there were good people who owned slaves. That is not an easy line to see. Nor is it an easy distinction to talk about without sounding as if one is either romanticizing or trivializing the institution of slavery. And yet, it’s a concept that needs to be understood to tell Anne Evans’ story. Anne was a white woman who inherited the sin of slavery as surely as Celia, her slave, inherited the shackles of it. 

Information about Anne McConnico Evans is fleeting. She was only listed on one census record by name because she was not head of her household for most of her life. She was either a daughter, sister or wife, therefore her existence was simply enumerated by a slash mark in her gender, race and age designations. Women were often silent witnesses to written history. Anne was the daughter of Jared and Keziah McConnico, Virginians who migrated to Williamson County, TN. When her father died in 1803, she was listed at his estate sale as purchasing a small bed and a horse (most likely HER bed and HER horse.) Her mother was then, as was the common custom, left to purchase all of the household items from her husband’s estate. Anne didn’t marry till later in life to Jesse Evans, a widower. The most documented evidence we have about Anne M. Evans’ life exists because she owned human beings.  

Most of the time when we think of slave owners, we think of white men. Until 1840, census records solely enumerated the head of household as being the slave owner. Census records for 1850 and 1860 were only marginally more accurate. There is a statistic often passed around that only about 20 percent of southerners owned slaves. That number cannot be quantified. The statistic is used to minimize the institution of slavery’s prominence in the Antebellum South.  A lot of American women owned slaves, even though they were not listed individually as slave owners on census records. We do not know for certain how or when Anne became a slave owner. It was common for fathers to give their daughters slaves as gifts as a means of social and financial independence. However, Anne’s widowed mother Keziah was listed on tax records as being a slave owner. She was paying taxes on three slaves. It is logically possible that Anne inherited Tom, Celia and her children from her mother and not her father.

In 1825, when she was 67 years old, Anne wrote her will. Perhaps her husband’s death had reinforced the fragility of life and the eventuality of death. Whatever the reason, she felt the need to write her desires down. She didn’t have much. The only property she owned were her personal possessions inside the home she resided in and her slaves. Her executors were friends Randal McGavock, Gilbert Marshall, H.R.W. Hill and Sterling Lester. 

“In the Name of God, Amen, I Anne Evans of Williamson County, and state of Tennessee…. I will and desire, that my just debts, which are few in number and small in amount, together with my funeral expenses be paid out of moneys to be raised by my executors out of the sale of my household and kitchen furniture plantation utensils & or so much thereof as will be sufficient for that purpose, the residue if any I wish given up to my negro woman Celia…

Having no children of my own, and Because of the faithful and assiduous service of my negro woman, Celia It is my will and desire that her and her four children Robert, Minerva, Lucy and Jane Courtney, and there positively after them, receive and enoy their freedom, also any other children Celia may have, and that my executors take such legal steps as will attain this object hoping and believing that, none will oppose this wish, and that the just and conscientious part of the community will assist my executors in carrying into execution, this item which lies so near my heart.

It is my will and desire, that, Celia’s children before named together with any she may hereafter have, be & remain with my friend Gilbert Marshall, the boys until they respectively arrive to the age of twenty one years, and the girls until they be eighteen years old, and that he cause them to be learned to read well….” 

The last above line strikes me as incredibly meaningful, Anne Evans could not read or write. Documents had to be read aloud to her. Her signature was “her mark” and an “x” for her name. Yet she realized the importance education held in securing a strong future for Celia’s family. 

It is impossible, unless it is specifically documented, why our ancestors did the things they did. Life, people and human reactions are not cut and dry. That being said, something happened in 1843. Is it possible her 1825 will wasn’t common knowledge within her family until 1843? In her will, Anne gave a clue that she didn’t believe her wishes would be well received “…hoping and believing that, none will oppose this wish, and that the just and conscientious part of the community will assist my executors in carrying into execution…”  Yet she had hope her wishes would be accepted.

Anne lived many years after her initial will was written. Celia’s children grew up and had children of their own. Tennessee law demanded that Anne pay a bond to free every person she owned, which now was more money than Anne was able to pay. On January 16, 1843 Anne sold to her neighbor and friend, James Marshall, two of Celia’s daughters. Minerva, and her children: Henry, Allen and Catherine as well as Jane and her daughter Laura Ann. It appears in direct response Anne’s nephew Zachus German appealed to the courts to have Anne’s mental capacity evaluated. Was this because her family was truly afraid she was being taken advantage of or because their inheritance was on the line? 

In response to her nephews appeal, many jurors in several court sessions evaluated Anne and found her not to be a lunatic or an idiot, however every evaluation said she was suffering from impaired mental state due to her age. Michael Kinnard was designated as her “next friend” or guardian and he himself observed and evaluated Anne. Mr. Kinnard said, in his opinion, Anne’s actions and opinions were being influenced by her servants. When questioned Anne gave the correct responses, however he believed her responses were due to being coached on what to say before his arrival. There was an excuse for all of her actions. Anne’s own freedom of choice, which was already limited, was being tested.

Nearly eighteen years after her first will, as circumstances had changed dramatically, Anne, a woman with “impaired” and “influenced” thoughts had a new will drawn up. She wished Celia and her disabled son, Bob, to be freed. Lucy was to be sold, but not separated from her children and she was to choose her new owner. Lucy was given two years to choose, and until that time she was to live with James Marshall. After the sale of Lucy and her children was finalized and the sale of her personal items and disbursement of some gifts to her nieces and nephews, the remainder of her estate was to go into trust for not only Celia, but to all of Celia’s children and grandchildren. This included the individuals already sold to James Marshall at this time. 

A sadder third will was written in early 1844. Knowing her previous wills would be fought, Anne capitulated. Is that the right word? Capitulated? She used her plan C. Her new will read “…My faithful old servant woman Celia & her son Bob…I give & bequeath to my friend Col James Marshall, because I desired them the above mentioned negroes to be free at my death, but I am old & without the means of giving the state security for their good behavior…and I believe they will be better satisfied with him as a master than any other man, and especially as I have sold Jas. Marshall two women & children of the same family, about one year ago.” The bequest for the remainder of her estate to be liquidated and the proceeds held in trust for Celia and her family held. 

Anne Evans was a woman who understood the precarious nature of the world she lived in. She spent most of her life in the shadow of others’ households. She married late and never had children of her own. Had she not owned human beings, the only evidence she ever existed might have been her name listed beside the purchase of a bed and a horse at her father’s estate sale, and later, her marriage certificate. Two mentions for a life that lasted nearly eighty-nine years. Anne outlived all the men whose homes she shared. She understood that her time on earth was fleeting and she acted. Perhaps her final act was influenced by the revolutionary world of her childhood and an idea of freedom that was still unfulfilled. Maybe she simply realized it was the right thing to do. Although Anne Evans inherited the complicity of slavery, she didn’t want Celia’s grandchildren to inherit the oppression of enslavement.