OVERVIEW
Location: Perry County, Alabama; Woodville, one mile east of Uniontown
Date Constructed/ Founded: ca. 1850
Associated Surnames: Selden, Minge, Fowler
Historical Notes: The plantation was established by Joseph Selden from Westover Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia and his wife Elizabeth Collier Minge of Weynoke Plantation, Virginia (Charles City County). They married near Faunsdale in 1854. Fairhope was established on property given to them by Elizabeth’s family. The main house was built by Theophilus Gilliam Fowler of Alabama, starting in 1857 and was completed by 1861. The 1860 U.S. Census of Perry County indicates that Joseph Selden enslaved 80 persons in that year. Selden invested some of his wealth, generated by slavery, into the Confederate effort in the Civil War. He had organized Selden’s Battery, an artillery unit which saw action in the battles of Kennesaw Mountain, Franklin, and Nashville. Fairhope continued to be operated by Selden’s descendants and after their deaths as a farm for another century.
Associated Pages: Westover Plantation (Charles City Co., VA), Weynoke Plantation, Virginia (Charles City Co., VA)
ASSOCIATED ENSLAVED PERSONS
1860: 79 slaves – Group 1 – Female age 60 (b.1800), Male age 20 (b.1840), Female age 15 (b.1845), Male age 12 (b.1848); Group 2 – Male age 80 (b.1780), Male age 60 (b.1800), Male age 16 (b.1844), Female age 43477 (b.1860), Female age 18 (b.1842), Female age 43536 (b.1860), Male age 16 (b.1844), Female age 20 (b.1840), Male age 28 (b.1832), Male age 22 (b.1838), Female age 4 (b.1856), Female age 1 (b.1859); Group 3 – Male age 45 (b.1815), Male age 50 (b.1810), Female age 20 (b.1840), Female age 14 (b.1846), Female age 75 (b.1785), Male age 18 (b.1842), Female age 2 (b.1858), Female age 2 (b.1858); Group 4 – Female age 23 (b.1837), Male age 20 (b.1840), Female age 4 (b.1856), Female age 3 (b.1857), Female age 1 (b.1859), Male age 5 (b.1855); Group 5 – Male age 40 (b.1820), Female age 8 (b.1852), Male age 6 (b.1854), Female age 11 (b.1849); Group 6 – Female age 28 (b.1832), Male age 26 (b.1834), Female age 10 (b.1850), Female age 6 (b.1854), Male age 7 (b.1853), Female age 5 (b.1855), Female age 2 (b.1858); Group 7 – Female age 60 (b.1800), Female age 30 (b.1830), Male age 10 (b.1850), Male age 8 (b.1852), Male age 6 (b.1860), Female age 4 (b.1860), Female age 35 (b.1860); Group 8 – Male age 74 (b.1860), Female age 22 (b.1838), Male age 30 (b.1830), Male age 28 (b.1832), Female age 10 (b.1850), Female age 6 (b.1854), Male age 4 (b.1856), Male age 4 mo. (b.1860); Group 9 – Female age 60 (b.1800), Female age 16 (b.1844), Male age 24 (b.1836), Male age 22 (b.1838), Male age 10 mo. (b.1860), Male age 10 (b.1850), Male age 10 (b.1850); Group 10 – Male age 22 (b.1838), Female age 20 (b.1840), Female age 3 (b.1857), Male age 17 (b.1843); Group 11 – Female age 40 (b.1820), Female age 13 (b.1847), Male age 13 (b.1847), Male age 9 (b.1851), Female age 11 (b.1849), Female age 10 (b.1850), Female age 7 (b.1853), Female age 6 (b.1854), Female age 6 (b.1854), Male age 2 (b.1858), Male age 2 mo. (b.1860), Male age 6 mo. (b.1860) [1860 US Federal Census (Slave Schedule), Perry Co., AL, Joe Seldon]
ASSOCIATED FREE PERSONS
Selden family: Joseph Selden (b.1831-d.1900) – owner; Elizabeth Collier Minge Selden (b.1833-d.1868) – wife (m.1854); Mary Selden (b.1857-d.?) – dau.; Minge Selden (b.1859-d.?) – son; Elizabeth Collier Selden (b.1866-d.?) – dau.
RESEARCH LEADS AND RECORDS
- None
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
- National Register of Historic Places, Alabama, Perry Co. http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/AL/Perry/districts.html
REFERENCES
- Rootsweb World Connect: Ham/m (Joseph Selden, ID: I149960). https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=robertacobb
- Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
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