Ellison Plantation

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OVERVIEW

Location: Baldwin County, Alabama
Date Constructed/ Founded: not determined
Associated Surnames: Allen, Bonner, Ellison, Harding, McDonald, Milner, Myers, Sparrow, Thomas, Tripp
Associated Pages: none

The Ellison Plantation, operated by the Firm of Kennedy and Ellison, was located in Baldwin County, Alabama, and operated under Henry Alderson Ellison, a white enslaver originally from Beaufort County, North Carolina. The plantation primarily produced naval stores, essential materials like tar, pitch, and turpentine derived from pine trees, crucial for maintaining wooden ships. Historical records, including the Ellison Papers, document the lives of several enslaved families who were forcibly relocated from North Carolina to Baldwin County. Enslaved persons such as Ned Coleman, Ben Harding, Charles Sparrow, and Joe “Thomas” Wiswell were hired out to John T. Milner, for instance. The further exploitation and trafficking of enslaved persons through this practice of leasing may have provided an opportunity for escape, as indicated by runaway slave notices associated with H.A. Anderson and his operation.

ASSOCIATED ENSLAVED PERSONS

Allen family: Abram M. Allen (b.?-d.?) – freed before the Civil War in North Carolina

Coleman family: Ned Coleman (b.?-d.?) – hired out by H.A. Ellison to John T. Milner

Harding family: Ben Harding (b.?-d.?) – hired out by H.A. Ellison to John T. Milner

Sparrow family: Charles Sparrow (b.?-d.?) – hired out by H.A. Ellison to John T. Milner

Wiswell family: Joe “Thomas” Wiswell (b.?-d.?) – hired out by H.A. Ellison to John T. Milner

ASSOCIATED FREE PERSONS

Ellison family (Beaufort Co., NC): Henry Alderson Ellison (1808-1863) – plantation owner; Eliza Tripp Ellison (bef.1820-1880) – wife of Henry A. Ellison; Virginia Neville Ellison Bonner (1842-1907) – daughter of H.A. and E.T. Ellison; Sarah Eliza Ellison Myers (b.1840–d.1866) – dau. of H.A. and E.T. Ellison; Mary T. Ellison McDonald (b.1844–d.1910) – dau. of H.A. and E.T. Ellison; Harriet “Hattie” Ellison Thomas (b.1847–d.1922) – dau. of H.A. and E.T. Ellison; Laura Ellison Brown (b.1850–d.1942) – dau. of H.A. and E.T. Ellison

RESEARCH LEADS AND RECORDS

  • Henry Alderson Ellison Papers, 1848-1882, Baldwin County, Alabama. This small collection comprises slave records and other papers relating to Henry Alderson Ellison, planter of Baldwin County, Alabama, and his family, including a notebook containing lists of slaves belonging to Ellison in 1848 and 1858-1860 and records of their being hired out. Other papers include a letter, 30 October 1864, from Abram M. Allen, an Ellison slave who had been freed before the Civil War, in Washington, North Carolina, to Eliza Tripp Ellison, Henry’s widow, at Wilson, North Carolina, where she had taken refuge during the Civil War, in which Allen informed her of his whereabouts and offered hope for the future.
  • Enslaved persons from the Ellison Notebook (WikiTree: Kennedy and Ellison, Baldwin County, Alabama) – Quote: The Henry Alderson Ellison Papers, 1848-1882. include a notebook that contains lists of enslaved people in 1848 and 1858-1860 and records of their labor being hired out. These individuals appeared to belong to Henry Ellison and they would generally have been born in his home in Washington, Beaufort County, North Carolina and transported to Baldwin County, Alabama.
  • Slave Escape Notice: John T. Milner, Montgomery Advertiser, July 9, 1862 (WikiTree: Slaves of Kennedy and Ellison, Baldwin County, Alabama) – Ranaway. From Boyle’s Camp, Central Railroad in Jefferson county, Ala., about the 1st of April last, six Negro Men: Ben Harding, about six feet in height, dark complexion, weight about 170 pounds speaks very slowly, can read and write. Charles Sparrow, about five feet five inches in height, yellow complexion, weighs about 140 pounds, quick spoken. Ned Coleman, about five feet six inches in height, dark yellow complexion, very quick spoken, weight about 180 pounds. Joe Wiswell, alias Thomas, about five feet 8 inches in height, dark complexion, one front tooth out, weighs about 140 pounds. Daniel, low chunky negro, quick spoken, about 25 years old, weighs about 150 pounds, also a negro man named POWELL. These negroes were hired in Mobile from Mr. Henry A. Ellison, of Salem, N.C., Ben, Daniel and Thomas were suffered to escape from the Jail of Cherokee county, Ala., about 15th June. A liberal reward will be given for their apprehension, and confinement in any Jail so I can get them.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

None noted yet

REFERENCES

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