Edward B. Ensley Family
Edward B. Ensley Family
HUSBAND: Edward B. ENSLEY Date of Birth: 1825 Place of Birth: Fairfield Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: 1891 Place of Death: Currituck Twp. Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Father's Name: Mother's Name: Date of Marriage: c1850 Place of Marriage: Hyde Co., NC......................................................................WIFE: Martha Ann THOMAS Date of Birth: September 1825 Place of Birth: Fairfield Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: c1905 Place of Death: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Father's Name: Mother's Name: Date of Marriage: Place of Marriage: Other Marriages:......................................................................1st CHILD: Edward S. ENSLEY Sex of Child: M Date of Birth: November 1850 Place of Birth: Fairfield Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: before 1913 Place of Death: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Spouse: Nancy GIBBS Date of Marriage: June 7, 1885 Place of Marriage: Hyde Co., NC......................................................................2nd CHILD: Annie Liza ENSLEY Sex of Child: F Date of Birth: 1855 Place of Birth: Fairfield Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: before 1913 Place of Death: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: unknown Spouse: Samuel L. GRAY Date of Marriage: c. 1880 Place of Marriage: Hyde Co., NC Other Marriages: unknown Military Service: unknown......................................................................3rd CHILD: Melvina ENSLEY Sex of Child: F Date of Birth: Mar. 10, 1858 Place of Birth: Fairfield Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: May 2, 1923 Place of Death: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Spouse: Daniel SLADE Date of Marriage: c1870 Place of Marriage: Hyde Co., NC......................................................................4th CHILD: William B. ENSLEY Sex of Child: M Date of Birth: 1861 Place of Birth: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: Place of Death: Place of Burial: Spouse: Date of Marriage: Place of Marriage:......................................................................5th CHILD: George H. ENSLEY Sex of Child: M Date of Birth: 1864 Place of Birth: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: c. 1930 Place of Death: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Spouse: Hester Ann CREDLE Date of Marriage: December 25, 1889 Place of Marriage: Hyde Co., NC......................................................................6th CHILD: Mary E. ENSLEY Sex of Child: F Date of Birth: 1867 Place of Birth: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: before 1913 Place of Death: Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Spouse: Thomas LONG Date of Marriage: Place of Marriage: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC......................................................................7th CHILD: Judith P. ENSLEY Sex of Child: F Date of Birth: April 1868 Place of Birth: Fairfield, Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: January 7, 1939 Place of Death: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Spouse: Elijah HOWARD Date of Marriage: January 24, 1889 Place of Marriage: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC......................................................................8th CHILD: William T. ENSLEY Sex of Child: M Date of Birth: 1874 Place of Birth: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Date of Death: before 1910 Place of Death: Currituck Twp., Hyde Co., NC Place of Burial: Spouse: Martha LONG Date of Marriage: May 14, 1892 Place of Marriage: Hyde Co., NCSource: Hyde County, North Carolina Land Divisions in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; Part II: Documentary Jewels by Richard B. LuptonAfrican-Americans, as slaves, were not permitted to own property and as practical matter, did not see substantial improvement in their lives after emancipation Nevertheless, enterprising African-Americans made progress, and, as we shall see, Edward ENSLEY managed to build a significant estate after the Civil War.An Interesting Story of Edward Ensley - Black PhoenixA pervasive scarcity of resources and continuing domination of Hyde society by whites militated against African-Americans land ownership in the post-Civil War era Edward ENSLEY surmounted the twin difficulties of deprivation and discrimination and rose to become the first black landowner of consequence in Hyde County, procuring one of the county’s largest land holding by acquiring prime real estate in the New Lands section in the vicinity of Fairfield and adjacent the J.C. Bishop property near Broad Creek (now Scranton Creek) in Currituck Township.
Edward ENSLEY, his wife Martha A ENSLEY, and his family resided in New Lands, the site of a twentieth century ENSLEY cemetery. He tilled his land there, assisted by his sons, William B. Ensley and George H. Ensley, his nephew Benders Gibbs and Benjamin Mackey, all of whom lived on the farm. The family built and maintained a high net worth for the day, which enabled Martha A ENSLEY to devote her time and energy to managing the household affairs rather than supplementing her husband’s income as a house cleaner or cook for local white families, as was frequently the case in African-American families.
Born into slavery, ENSLEY and his wife did not receive any formal education. Available date differ on whether they acquired reading and writing skills, the 1870 Census classifying the couple as illiterate with the ensuing one in 1880 attributing these skills to them. The couple's accomplishments argue persuasively that they, in fact, became literate along the way.
At the time of his death, Edward ENSLEY’s real estate holding amounted to 568 acres, an amazing achievement for African-Americans in the post-Civil War South. His first deeded transaction, a Currituck Township ear mark dated March 1874 but registered much later in 1882, evidences a man of means and business acumen. The courthouse recorded it under the name of E.B. ENSLEY, but census recorded and subsequent transaction leave no doubt that E.B. Ensley and Edward ENSLEY were the same man.
In September 1874 Edward ENSLEY purchased 390 acres on the south side of Broad Creek (now Scranton Creek ) in Currituck Township for $1,100.00, a stupendous sum for the time, a period when the South remained destitute from the Civil War and under the stinging whiplash of Reconstruction. This was the Jennett and Slade land, possessed by Asa P. Slade at the time of his death, but in the interim it had become the property of Jones Spencer and his wife Frances A. Spencer, the seller of record.
Next ENSLEY made purchases in New Lands, near Fairfield. In January 1877 he bought 45 acres from Joseph T. Neal for $800.00, well below the purchase price of $1,000.00 that Neal had paid to Hines Voliva a few months earlier in August 1876.Interestingly, both deeds referred to Blake’s Folly as the former name of New Lands. Then in May 1883 he expanded his New Lands holding by 36.5 acres, paying Thomas W. Mayhew $500.00 for this property.
Edward ENSLEY made his final recorded purchase in February 1885 , 102.3 acres north of Lake Mattamuskeet and west of the Fairfield Canal Tilman F. Credle and his wife Mary L. Credle received for the land $1,800.00, another huge amount. All told his land holdings, acquired for the cumulative amount of $4,200.00, represented a small fortune for the era.
His accomplishments beguile the mind and challenge the avid researcher to learn more about the individual. Who, then was this Edward ENSLEY? Slavery’s impact has obscured the audit trail and left scant resources available to ferret out such information. A few hard facts stand at our disposal and lead the contemporary historian to pursue two possibilities, the first being that he was the asset of one of the recorded slave masters in Lake Landing, the eastern part of the county, the second that he was reared in the western part of the county, the Currituck District. Let’s consider these aforementioned hard facts contained in the public data.
The 1870 and 1880 Census records differ on the vital statistics, the one specifying an age of 45, which translates into a birth year of 1825, and the other confirming an age 51, i.e., 1829 as the year of birth. Either way, Edward ENSLEY would have been born in the mid to late1820s, according to these sources.
Emancipated or freed slaves frequently assumed the name of their former masters, so identifying slave owners by the name of ENSLEY become our next step. The 1850 Census recorded two, Robert Ensley, with six slaves, and Benners A. Ensley, with 15, both in the Lake Landing area in the eastern part of the county. The former had no slaves in their twenties, but the latter had males of 25, 23, and 22, any of whom could have been our man.
Further evidence that Edward ENSLEY may have been the property of Benners A. Ensley is supported by a nephew named Benders Gibbs, who appeared in the 1880 Census. The Census taker, or transcriber, easily could have erred by recording the given name of Benners as Benders. Or Benders could be a corruption of the other name.
One more shred of evidence exists. Edward ENSLEY had a son named George H. Ensley. A common practice in all families is to name a son after the Grandfather. On August 28 1826, Benners L. Ensley the father of Benners A. Ensley, purchased a Negro Man name George from Stephen Gibbs for $400.00.George, young and vibrant enough to warrant sale, could be the father of Edward, but we can only hypothesize in the absence of Hard Proof.
But what about the possibility that Edward ENSLEY was native to the Currituck District, the western region and the location of his first recorded business ventures? Whites by the name of Ensley resided in Currituck District during this period, and they were landowners. Conceivably, some family members could have been slave owners, although they don’t appear such in the 1850 Census.
Existing records reflect no Lake Landing transactions on the part of Edward ENSLEY. In 1900, his son Edward S. ENSLEY, sold land to the trustees of Mount Pilgrim Church of Christ in Scranton, located in Currituck Township, evidencing roots and a family commitment to the community, even though they resided in New Lands, located on the north side of Lake Mattamuskeet near Fairfield.
Another possibility opens tantalizingly before us. A number of free blacks resided in the Currituck District, according to the 1850 Census, Edward ENSLEY’s name does not appear among them, but as a man of obvious ingenuity and ability, it is entirely possible that he acquired his freedom along the way and began to build his assets to a degree that enable him to engage in large real estate transactions by the 1870s. He is not mentioned in North Carolina Slave and Free Persons of Color: Hyde and Beaufort Counties by William L. Byrd III and John H. Smith but this does not preclude the possibility.
What conclusions press upon us in the absence of a birth certificate or other hard evidence? After giving due consideration to all that we know and can assume reasonably, the most likely scenario is that Edward ENSLEY served as a slave under Benners A. Ensley before relocating to Currituck District or being sold into continuing bondage there, then chose to retain the name of Ensley.
After Edward ENSLEY passed away in 1891, his son Edward S.ENSLEY, served as the administrator of the estate. Edward ENSLEY’s land was divided among his heirs who sold off bits and pieces of land over the years In lieu of the bond required of an executor, the son pledged his and his wife’s inherited one-seventh interest in property on the Fairfield Canal in Currituck Township. In spite of racial separation, Edward ENSLEY and other African-Americans of the period maintained many features of a community existence with their white friend and neighbors.
[See Hyde County Wills & Accounts - Will Book 5; Item #61 for estate division]
SUBMITTED BY: Vaughn Henry Ensley, Sr. DATE: November 14, 2004 & August 13, 2012 E-MAIL: vaughnensleysr@frontier.com MAILING ADDRESS (Optional): 2416 Drexel Ave. Fort Wayne, IN 46806
Phone: (260) 744-2465