The King Family and their ordeals
By William M. Talley & guest contributor Dr. Bruce E. King
(use the "Contact Us" form to comment on Dr. Talley's columns)
Last week we discussed the family of Moses Fuqua, who settled in Greenup
County near the mouth of Tygart's Creek, in the 1790s. Fuqua, we recall, gave
his estate to the husband of his daughter (Sarah "Sallie" Fuqua) whose name
was Benjamin Cook, a wealthy and cultured gentleman of Virginia.
Moses Fuqua's other children were bewildered as to why their father would
leave the farm to a wealthy son-in-law instead of to one of his sons. Much
against the protests of Mr. Cook, his daughter, Nancy Cook, fell in love with
Thomas B. King, whose social status was not approved of by Mr. Cook, and he
protested in every way he could short of being cruel. So, in the spring of 1812,
Thomas B. King with his wife, Nancy, and two children (a son, about two years
old, and a daughter named Maria, about four) with two young Negroes, a boy
and a girl, took possession of the Fuqua farm near the mouth of Tygart's Creek.
We cannot say for sure but we suspect that Mr. Cook maneuvered this affair --
to get his daughter and unapproved son-in-law away from the critical social
register consciousness of their neighboring Virginians. Although this would be
frowned on in this day and age, it still does happen even though we claim to
be a classless society.
Little could the Kings have imagined all the events that would surround their
lives in their new-found home on the frontier. The name Maria was cherished
in the Fuqua-Cook-King family and it was natural that the only daughter of
Thomas B. and Nancy King would be given the name Sarah Maria. She grew up
on the King plantation and on November 8, 1824, she became the wife of
Clifton A. Garrett, a lawyer, of Greenupsburg [now Greenup].
The disaster of the Str. Hornet
Sarah Maria Garrett was an amiable and accomplished mother, but after giving
birth to several children her health began to fail and she was in a condition of
declining health. In 1832, she decided to go to Cincinnati to consult some
physicians of that city and see if she could find some treatment to improve her
health. She was returning home on the Str. Hornet, a small boat running in the
Kanawha trade. This boat was commanded and owned by Captain John
Sullivan. The boat was running light, not carrying much cargo and rather top-
heavy. Somewhere between Maysville and Portsmouth (different accounts
give different miles) a squall of wind on her broadside struck her and she
capsized near the middle of the river. All who were in the cabin drowned,
except one or two. From 15 to 18 persons were drowned including Mrs.
Garrett, the daughter of Mr. King.
Sarah King Garrett left two young children, Martha Ann Garrett and Thomas
Garrett. Thomas probably died young. Martha lived with her grandfather,
Thomas B. King, before her marriage to Richard Bingham Morton. Richard and
Martha are buried along with many of the King family at Mt. Zion Cemetery, but
there is no stone for Sarah Maria.
This terrible tragedy was chronicled in 1856 (see references) by James T.
Lloyd, as follows:
"Capsize of the Hornet, June 2, 1832. On the night of Saturday, June 2d, 1832,
the steamboat Hornet, Captain Sullivan while ascending the Ohio River on her
way to Kanawha, and when thirty-three miles above Maysville, Kentucky,
encountered a sudden and violent gale blowing from the southwest and
immediately capsized. Exclusive of the persons belonging to the boat, there
were about forty-two people on board. The Hornet righted soon after the
disaster, and was towed to the nearest port, Concord, by the steamboat
Guyandotte, Captain Davis Embree. Of the twenty persons drowned by this
accident, all the named which have been preserved are comprised in the
following list:
"Thomas Duvall of Muskingum, Ohio; Messrs. LeClerc and Perot, two French
gentlemen of New Orleans; Mrs. Garrett, of Greenupsburg, Kentucky; Mr.
Blackstone, of Guyandotte; Wm. H. Holbert of Kingston [Ohio]; and two colored
women, slaves belonging to passengers.
"Of the boat's crew [those who were lost were], Captain Sullivan, master; John
Johnston, pilot, of Gallipolis; Edward Jones, a sailor, of Cincinnati; a
chambermaid and a female cook, both colored."
Dr. King raised the question as to why the Hornet was towed into Concord
instead of Vanceburg. It is a matter of speculation that Concord had better
facilities because it was the home of William Cummings, who built boats near
Concord and at the time Vanceburg did not have such facilities, the county
seat being at Clarksburg.
Dr. King raises another interesting point that the Hornet's earlier accident in
colliding with the Polander, which was discussed by Lloyd in his 1856 book,
may have contributed to the boat's capsizing:
"Collision of the Polander and Hornet, April 19, 1832. The Polander, Captain
Menaugh, had just left the wharf at Cincinnati, about eight o'clock, P.M., the
night being dark and foggy, when she encountered the Hornet, which was
coming into port. Both vessels were considerably injured, and the Captain of
the Hornet was crushed to death. One of the crew of the same vessel was
severely wounded. No further particulars have been published."
A Rhode Island newspaper of June 5, 1832, gives additional information about
the accident:
"Steamboat Accident. The Maysville, Ky., Eagle states that on the evening of
the 18th ult. [April 18th, 1832] the Steamer Hornet, a regular packet between
Maysville and Cincinnati, when about two and a half miles below the latter
place, came into contact with the steamer Polander, which carried away her
wheel house and guard, the main anchor at the same time raking the starboard
side of the cabin, and remaining connected with her. The Captain of the
Hornet, G.W. Manan, was standing on the guard, and it is supposed was
crushed to death, and swept into the river. His cap, one slipper, pocket book,
two teeth and a lock of bloody hair were found on the guard. -- A youth named
Bakewell, a student of Augusta College, who was standing near the captain,
had his collar and breast bones broken, and received several contusions in
other parts of his body, but is supposed to recover. The collision was
accidental."
Apparently the remains of Maria King Garrett were never recovered because
there is no grave marker for her with the King family in the Mt. Zion Methodist
Graveyard at South Shore where the rest of the family is buried. After her
untimely death, Clifton A. Garrett married a second time to Mary Ann
Culbertson.
We cannot imagine the grief that the King family suffered in the loss of Mrs.
Garrett, and even more so because her remains were never found.
Now, we return to an earlier period in the life of Thomas B. King and his family.
Despite all the dire warnings and discouraging scenarios Benjamin Cook used
in trying to keep Nancy Cook from marrying Thomas B. King, they had a
wonderfully successful marriage and lived a full productive life on their
plantation at the mouth of Tygart's. Mr. James Keyes, in writing about this
situation, states that after the King-Cook wedding, when they took leave to go
to their humble little home, they must surely have felt much like Adam and Eve
when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. King worked hard as a
carpenter and they lived in this manner for several years and had two children.
It was not until 1811, after Cook had fallen heir to the Moses Fuqua farm, he
proposed to his son-in-law that he might wish to come to Kentucky and take
possession of the farm and Mr. King accepted the proposition although he had
never seen the place.
When the Kings arrived in Greenup County the neighbors showed a great deal
of curiosity about the couple, because -- just like all neighbors -- they knew the
full story of Mr. Cook's objections to the marriage and this raised their interest
in seeing this so-called mismatched couple. They knew that she had been
raised in refinement and was cultured in her manners, but not used to the
circumstances of a backwoods life. Being a pious woman, she joined the
Methodist Church on the Ohio side of the river. Mrs. King joined a Bible class
taught by a circuit rider, from Mason County, whose name is unknown.
Mr. King had several large peach orchards on his farm, and he made extensive
preparations to distill his peaches into brandy. He procured a copper still, a
large number of mash tubs, and other large vessels. Peach seasons are
generally very short, so he had to employ a number of men and boys to gather
the peaches when they were in season. Mr. Keyes says that he was one of the
boys hired to pick the peaches. It so happened that the Kings observed an old
Virginia custom of having only two meals per day, but he and the other boys
did not suffer hunger because they ate enough peaches to make up for a lost
meal. Mrs. King spent her time in drying fruit. Every evening all of the family
and their employees spent about two hours peeling and cutting the fruit to be
spread on the scaffold the next day.
Eventually Thomas B. King became such an industrious and enterprising man
that the governor of Kentucky appointed him a Justice of the Peace in
Greenup County and he eventually took part in many of the political affairs of
that county.
In 1815, Mrs. King made a visit to her old home in Virginia. She made the trip
on horseback. Her parents and friends received her kindly and gave her a
number of presents, but nothing substantial. She had broken the laws of
society to which she belonged, and she had to pay the penalty.
Gabriel, a remarkable young slave boy
Even though slavery was permitted by law, there were many Kentucky farmers
who felt a deep sympathy for the down-trodden slave, and thought something
should be done to ameliorate their condition.
About 1816-1817, Moses Mackoy, a young man about 17 or 18, having a great
deal of courage and compassion, was a person of this description. His father,
Deacon John Mackoy (1772-1843), had a large number of slaves of all ages and
conditions, and Moses thought there could be no harm in teaching them the
alphabet and how to read, so that they might read the Bible and hymn book, for
many of the Blacks were very religious and most excellent singers in their own
manner. (We find it almost disingenuous that Mr. Mackoy pretended that he did
not know it was against the law to teach the slaves how to read and write.)
Accordingly, Moses Mackoy (1800-1869), having a spirit of philanthropy toward
these fellow beings, gave the slaves of the neighborhood to understand that if
they could procure spelling books and meet him at his father's old horse mill
every Sunday morning, he would teach them the mysteries of the alphabet and
teach them to read and write. Naturally, they gladly accepted this proposition
and began to meet with Mackoy, who then proceeded to open his school for
teaching them, an act that was contrary to the laws of Kentucky.
The school flourished and Moses was gratified to see how well some of the
students progressed. This was all done so quietly and so little said about it,
that the owners of the slaves did not know anything about it or took any notice.
Among the slave boys brought from Virginia was a young fellow named Gabriel,
who was a very smart, industrious boy who was of great use on the plantation.
He attended Moses Mackoy's Sunday School, and soon learned to read and
write, and he was so fond of practicing his newly acquired art of writing that he
could not refrain from writing on the barn door with a piece of charcoal, some
of the sentences he had learned in school.
One day, while practicing his writing, Mr. King caught him at it and very sternly
asked where he had learned it. Gabriel was caught unawares and, in
attempting to avoid betraying Mr. Mackoy, hesitated in his reply. Mr. King
approached him again in a more threatening manner and demanded to know
who had taught him to write. Seeing no way out of the situation except to tell
the truth, he admitted that Mr. Mackoy had "learned [sic] him to read and
write". Gabriel's admission prompted a lecture about breaking the law and how
he would have to go see the man and ask him to put a stop to it.
At this point, Mr. King mounted his horse and rode off to see Mackoy, who was
quietly working on his father's farm and not suspecting King's confrontation,
acknowledged that there was some truth to the report that he had held a
school every Sunday for some time past and that some of the Negroes had
learned how to read and write a little. Immediately, King informed Mackoy that
this was contrary to the laws of Kentucky and if he did not close his school he
would have to move to enforce the law against him.
But, as the writer Pope says, "A little bit of knowledge. . ." The past could not
be eradicated and one sip of this knowledge created a great intellectual thirst
in the slaves.
All along the Ohio River shores many slaves of that era were attempting to
escape servitude and go to a country where slavery was not known. They were
sorely lacking in knowledge of geography and did not realize that this country
they dreamed of was Canada and it would require many days of hard traveling
to get there. Some were fortunate enough to reach Canada in safety and
secure their freedom, but others -- because of the Fugitive Slave Laws -- were
overtaken and once again enslaved. It is said that some slaves were pursued
so closely by their former masters, when they arrived on the shore of the lake
[Erie] (or the Detroit River), the slave had the satisfaction of bidding his former
master goodbye because he had gotten too far from shore to be brought back.
Soon the Underground Railroad was developed and this brought some relief
of the pain endured by the runaways.
In the early part of 1820, Gabriel got it in his head that he wanted to migrate to
a colder climate. The climate of Kentucky did not agree with his stout and
rugged constitution. He wanted to go some place where he could at last do
more good for himself. So without saying anything to his master about his
departure, Gabriel set out for parts unknown. This was a great disappointment
to his friends, particularly to Mr. King who lost a very valuable person to assist
him in carrying on the heavy work of the plantation. Gabriel felt that "freedom
trumped gratitude" and he could not take a chance of acting out in any
ceremonious affair. Mr. King then offered a high reward for his recovery, but
nothing was heard of him for several years. In the meantime, however, Mr.
King, placed an advertisement on April 1, 1820, in the Scioto Telegraph
published in Portsmouth, Ohio. The wording was thus:
100 Dollars Reward
Left my house in Greenup County, Kentucky, four miles above Portsmouth, on
the 18th of March, 1820, a Negro named
Gabriel
About 5 feet, 10 inches high, and of a very dark brown or black complexion
between 21 and 22 years of age. He had a small scar on his breast occasioned
by a burn when young, and is very apt to stammer when speaking. His clothing
was a London broad cloth and linsey pantaloons, swan's-down waist coat. Said
Negro man is supposed by some to be drowned.
Any person finding him alive and delivering him to me shall have the above
reward; or fifty dollars for securing him in any jail so that I can get him again
with all reasonable expenses. If he is drowned anyone finding him will confer a
particular favor by writing a few lines to the subscriber directed to Portsmouth
post-office.
Thomas B. King, April 1, [1820]
It was common in those days for such advertisements about runaway slaves to
appear in newspapers and publishers generally kept a set of cuts on hand to
embellish their advertisements and attract attention, such as a Black man with
a bundle of clothes in his hand and running at full speed.
Nothing was heard from Gabriel for several years until Moses Mackoy
received a letter marked "Canada". He rejoiced to find it was from Gabriel, one
of his former pupils in the old horse mill school, which was so abruptly broken
up as we have noted. Gabriel wrote that he was in Canada and doing well. He
found the Negroes were in comfortable circumstances and accumulating
property. In consequence of the little schooling he got in the old horse mill
school he had risen to be a leader and school teacher among the colored
population in his home area. He was likewise a preacher of the
Gospel but he wished to be a free man with the privilege of going where he
pleased, without fear of being remanded back into slavery. He wanted to be a
missionary and go among the Southern Blacks and preach the gospel to them.
It is a matter of interest that Moses Mackoy was a fervent disciple of the
pioneer intellectual religious leader, Alexander Campbell. Thus it is no
surprise that the Mackoys, along with the Bruces, were founders of the Siloam
Christian Church and the Mars Hill Church of Christ at St. Paul.
Moses Fuqua Mackoy, grandson of Moses Fuqua was born in 1800 on the
Kanawha River in Virginia [now West Virginia] while his parents were en route
to Kentucky. He married Hannah Lawson (born 1803) in 1824. She was born in
Hampshire County, Virginia, the daughter of John and Susannah Blue Lawson.
Moses Mackoy was a farmer and as we said previously was a student of
Alexander Campbell's teachings. For more than 20 years he was a minister of
the Christian Church at Siloam, at the county churches on Tygart's Creek, and
in Portsmouth. His home called "Elmbank" was later inherited by his daughter,
Mrs. Lavinia Dugan Ware, who sold it to Madison and Louise Kendall Gammon
when she went to live with her son in Huntington, West Virginia. Moses died in
1869. His sister, Nancy B. Mackoy, married Benjamin Franklin King, the only
surviving son of Thomas B. and Nancy Cook King. Benjamin and Nancy Mackoy
King named their firstborn daughter Sarah Maria King in honor of the drowned
Sarah Maria Garrett. Benjamin Franklin King, Jr., married Brunette Elliott, of
Lewis County, daughter of William Elliott and Nancy Bruce.
Several members of the Mackoy family are buried at the Mars Hill Cemetery at
St. Paul.
NOTE: The co-author of this article, Dr. Bruce E. King (beking4@gmail.com), is
the great-great-great grandson of Benjamin and Nancy Mackoy King and a
descendant of Alexander Bruce and Amanda Bragg, as well as the Elliott family.
REFERENCES: Personal communications and documents of Dr. Bruce E. King,
of Illinois, see e-mail address; Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio, Nov. 11, 18,
& 25, 1876, author James Keyes; History of Greenup County, Ky., by Biggs &
Mackoy, p. 216; Lloyd's Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western
Waters, James T. Lloyd, 1856, p. 79; Rhode Island American Gazette, Providence,
June 5, 1832; Scioto Telegraph, Portsmouth, Ohio, April 1, 1820; Portsmouth
Times, Portsmouth, Ohio, article by James Keyes, November 13, 1875.
By William M. Talley & guest contributor Dr. Bruce E. King
(use the "Contact Us" form to comment on Dr. Talley's columns)
Last week we discussed the family of Moses Fuqua, who settled in Greenup
County near the mouth of Tygart's Creek, in the 1790s. Fuqua, we recall, gave
his estate to the husband of his daughter (Sarah "Sallie" Fuqua) whose name
was Benjamin Cook, a wealthy and cultured gentleman of Virginia.
Moses Fuqua's other children were bewildered as to why their father would
leave the farm to a wealthy son-in-law instead of to one of his sons. Much
against the protests of Mr. Cook, his daughter, Nancy Cook, fell in love with
Thomas B. King, whose social status was not approved of by Mr. Cook, and he
protested in every way he could short of being cruel. So, in the spring of 1812,
Thomas B. King with his wife, Nancy, and two children (a son, about two years
old, and a daughter named Maria, about four) with two young Negroes, a boy
and a girl, took possession of the Fuqua farm near the mouth of Tygart's Creek.
We cannot say for sure but we suspect that Mr. Cook maneuvered this affair --
to get his daughter and unapproved son-in-law away from the critical social
register consciousness of their neighboring Virginians. Although this would be
frowned on in this day and age, it still does happen even though we claim to
be a classless society.
Little could the Kings have imagined all the events that would surround their
lives in their new-found home on the frontier. The name Maria was cherished
in the Fuqua-Cook-King family and it was natural that the only daughter of
Thomas B. and Nancy King would be given the name Sarah Maria. She grew up
on the King plantation and on November 8, 1824, she became the wife of
Clifton A. Garrett, a lawyer, of Greenupsburg [now Greenup].
The disaster of the Str. Hornet
Sarah Maria Garrett was an amiable and accomplished mother, but after giving
birth to several children her health began to fail and she was in a condition of
declining health. In 1832, she decided to go to Cincinnati to consult some
physicians of that city and see if she could find some treatment to improve her
health. She was returning home on the Str. Hornet, a small boat running in the
Kanawha trade. This boat was commanded and owned by Captain John
Sullivan. The boat was running light, not carrying much cargo and rather top-
heavy. Somewhere between Maysville and Portsmouth (different accounts
give different miles) a squall of wind on her broadside struck her and she
capsized near the middle of the river. All who were in the cabin drowned,
except one or two. From 15 to 18 persons were drowned including Mrs.
Garrett, the daughter of Mr. King.
Sarah King Garrett left two young children, Martha Ann Garrett and Thomas
Garrett. Thomas probably died young. Martha lived with her grandfather,
Thomas B. King, before her marriage to Richard Bingham Morton. Richard and
Martha are buried along with many of the King family at Mt. Zion Cemetery, but
there is no stone for Sarah Maria.
This terrible tragedy was chronicled in 1856 (see references) by James T.
Lloyd, as follows:
"Capsize of the Hornet, June 2, 1832. On the night of Saturday, June 2d, 1832,
the steamboat Hornet, Captain Sullivan while ascending the Ohio River on her
way to Kanawha, and when thirty-three miles above Maysville, Kentucky,
encountered a sudden and violent gale blowing from the southwest and
immediately capsized. Exclusive of the persons belonging to the boat, there
were about forty-two people on board. The Hornet righted soon after the
disaster, and was towed to the nearest port, Concord, by the steamboat
Guyandotte, Captain Davis Embree. Of the twenty persons drowned by this
accident, all the named which have been preserved are comprised in the
following list:
"Thomas Duvall of Muskingum, Ohio; Messrs. LeClerc and Perot, two French
gentlemen of New Orleans; Mrs. Garrett, of Greenupsburg, Kentucky; Mr.
Blackstone, of Guyandotte; Wm. H. Holbert of Kingston [Ohio]; and two colored
women, slaves belonging to passengers.
"Of the boat's crew [those who were lost were], Captain Sullivan, master; John
Johnston, pilot, of Gallipolis; Edward Jones, a sailor, of Cincinnati; a
chambermaid and a female cook, both colored."
Dr. King raised the question as to why the Hornet was towed into Concord
instead of Vanceburg. It is a matter of speculation that Concord had better
facilities because it was the home of William Cummings, who built boats near
Concord and at the time Vanceburg did not have such facilities, the county
seat being at Clarksburg.
Dr. King raises another interesting point that the Hornet's earlier accident in
colliding with the Polander, which was discussed by Lloyd in his 1856 book,
may have contributed to the boat's capsizing:
"Collision of the Polander and Hornet, April 19, 1832. The Polander, Captain
Menaugh, had just left the wharf at Cincinnati, about eight o'clock, P.M., the
night being dark and foggy, when she encountered the Hornet, which was
coming into port. Both vessels were considerably injured, and the Captain of
the Hornet was crushed to death. One of the crew of the same vessel was
severely wounded. No further particulars have been published."
A Rhode Island newspaper of June 5, 1832, gives additional information about
the accident:
"Steamboat Accident. The Maysville, Ky., Eagle states that on the evening of
the 18th ult. [April 18th, 1832] the Steamer Hornet, a regular packet between
Maysville and Cincinnati, when about two and a half miles below the latter
place, came into contact with the steamer Polander, which carried away her
wheel house and guard, the main anchor at the same time raking the starboard
side of the cabin, and remaining connected with her. The Captain of the
Hornet, G.W. Manan, was standing on the guard, and it is supposed was
crushed to death, and swept into the river. His cap, one slipper, pocket book,
two teeth and a lock of bloody hair were found on the guard. -- A youth named
Bakewell, a student of Augusta College, who was standing near the captain,
had his collar and breast bones broken, and received several contusions in
other parts of his body, but is supposed to recover. The collision was
accidental."
Apparently the remains of Maria King Garrett were never recovered because
there is no grave marker for her with the King family in the Mt. Zion Methodist
Graveyard at South Shore where the rest of the family is buried. After her
untimely death, Clifton A. Garrett married a second time to Mary Ann
Culbertson.
We cannot imagine the grief that the King family suffered in the loss of Mrs.
Garrett, and even more so because her remains were never found.
Now, we return to an earlier period in the life of Thomas B. King and his family.
Despite all the dire warnings and discouraging scenarios Benjamin Cook used
in trying to keep Nancy Cook from marrying Thomas B. King, they had a
wonderfully successful marriage and lived a full productive life on their
plantation at the mouth of Tygart's. Mr. James Keyes, in writing about this
situation, states that after the King-Cook wedding, when they took leave to go
to their humble little home, they must surely have felt much like Adam and Eve
when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. King worked hard as a
carpenter and they lived in this manner for several years and had two children.
It was not until 1811, after Cook had fallen heir to the Moses Fuqua farm, he
proposed to his son-in-law that he might wish to come to Kentucky and take
possession of the farm and Mr. King accepted the proposition although he had
never seen the place.
When the Kings arrived in Greenup County the neighbors showed a great deal
of curiosity about the couple, because -- just like all neighbors -- they knew the
full story of Mr. Cook's objections to the marriage and this raised their interest
in seeing this so-called mismatched couple. They knew that she had been
raised in refinement and was cultured in her manners, but not used to the
circumstances of a backwoods life. Being a pious woman, she joined the
Methodist Church on the Ohio side of the river. Mrs. King joined a Bible class
taught by a circuit rider, from Mason County, whose name is unknown.
Mr. King had several large peach orchards on his farm, and he made extensive
preparations to distill his peaches into brandy. He procured a copper still, a
large number of mash tubs, and other large vessels. Peach seasons are
generally very short, so he had to employ a number of men and boys to gather
the peaches when they were in season. Mr. Keyes says that he was one of the
boys hired to pick the peaches. It so happened that the Kings observed an old
Virginia custom of having only two meals per day, but he and the other boys
did not suffer hunger because they ate enough peaches to make up for a lost
meal. Mrs. King spent her time in drying fruit. Every evening all of the family
and their employees spent about two hours peeling and cutting the fruit to be
spread on the scaffold the next day.
Eventually Thomas B. King became such an industrious and enterprising man
that the governor of Kentucky appointed him a Justice of the Peace in
Greenup County and he eventually took part in many of the political affairs of
that county.
In 1815, Mrs. King made a visit to her old home in Virginia. She made the trip
on horseback. Her parents and friends received her kindly and gave her a
number of presents, but nothing substantial. She had broken the laws of
society to which she belonged, and she had to pay the penalty.
Gabriel, a remarkable young slave boy
Even though slavery was permitted by law, there were many Kentucky farmers
who felt a deep sympathy for the down-trodden slave, and thought something
should be done to ameliorate their condition.
About 1816-1817, Moses Mackoy, a young man about 17 or 18, having a great
deal of courage and compassion, was a person of this description. His father,
Deacon John Mackoy (1772-1843), had a large number of slaves of all ages and
conditions, and Moses thought there could be no harm in teaching them the
alphabet and how to read, so that they might read the Bible and hymn book, for
many of the Blacks were very religious and most excellent singers in their own
manner. (We find it almost disingenuous that Mr. Mackoy pretended that he did
not know it was against the law to teach the slaves how to read and write.)
Accordingly, Moses Mackoy (1800-1869), having a spirit of philanthropy toward
these fellow beings, gave the slaves of the neighborhood to understand that if
they could procure spelling books and meet him at his father's old horse mill
every Sunday morning, he would teach them the mysteries of the alphabet and
teach them to read and write. Naturally, they gladly accepted this proposition
and began to meet with Mackoy, who then proceeded to open his school for
teaching them, an act that was contrary to the laws of Kentucky.
The school flourished and Moses was gratified to see how well some of the
students progressed. This was all done so quietly and so little said about it,
that the owners of the slaves did not know anything about it or took any notice.
Among the slave boys brought from Virginia was a young fellow named Gabriel,
who was a very smart, industrious boy who was of great use on the plantation.
He attended Moses Mackoy's Sunday School, and soon learned to read and
write, and he was so fond of practicing his newly acquired art of writing that he
could not refrain from writing on the barn door with a piece of charcoal, some
of the sentences he had learned in school.
One day, while practicing his writing, Mr. King caught him at it and very sternly
asked where he had learned it. Gabriel was caught unawares and, in
attempting to avoid betraying Mr. Mackoy, hesitated in his reply. Mr. King
approached him again in a more threatening manner and demanded to know
who had taught him to write. Seeing no way out of the situation except to tell
the truth, he admitted that Mr. Mackoy had "learned [sic] him to read and
write". Gabriel's admission prompted a lecture about breaking the law and how
he would have to go see the man and ask him to put a stop to it.
At this point, Mr. King mounted his horse and rode off to see Mackoy, who was
quietly working on his father's farm and not suspecting King's confrontation,
acknowledged that there was some truth to the report that he had held a
school every Sunday for some time past and that some of the Negroes had
learned how to read and write a little. Immediately, King informed Mackoy that
this was contrary to the laws of Kentucky and if he did not close his school he
would have to move to enforce the law against him.
But, as the writer Pope says, "A little bit of knowledge. . ." The past could not
be eradicated and one sip of this knowledge created a great intellectual thirst
in the slaves.
All along the Ohio River shores many slaves of that era were attempting to
escape servitude and go to a country where slavery was not known. They were
sorely lacking in knowledge of geography and did not realize that this country
they dreamed of was Canada and it would require many days of hard traveling
to get there. Some were fortunate enough to reach Canada in safety and
secure their freedom, but others -- because of the Fugitive Slave Laws -- were
overtaken and once again enslaved. It is said that some slaves were pursued
so closely by their former masters, when they arrived on the shore of the lake
[Erie] (or the Detroit River), the slave had the satisfaction of bidding his former
master goodbye because he had gotten too far from shore to be brought back.
Soon the Underground Railroad was developed and this brought some relief
of the pain endured by the runaways.
In the early part of 1820, Gabriel got it in his head that he wanted to migrate to
a colder climate. The climate of Kentucky did not agree with his stout and
rugged constitution. He wanted to go some place where he could at last do
more good for himself. So without saying anything to his master about his
departure, Gabriel set out for parts unknown. This was a great disappointment
to his friends, particularly to Mr. King who lost a very valuable person to assist
him in carrying on the heavy work of the plantation. Gabriel felt that "freedom
trumped gratitude" and he could not take a chance of acting out in any
ceremonious affair. Mr. King then offered a high reward for his recovery, but
nothing was heard of him for several years. In the meantime, however, Mr.
King, placed an advertisement on April 1, 1820, in the Scioto Telegraph
published in Portsmouth, Ohio. The wording was thus:
100 Dollars Reward
Left my house in Greenup County, Kentucky, four miles above Portsmouth, on
the 18th of March, 1820, a Negro named
Gabriel
About 5 feet, 10 inches high, and of a very dark brown or black complexion
between 21 and 22 years of age. He had a small scar on his breast occasioned
by a burn when young, and is very apt to stammer when speaking. His clothing
was a London broad cloth and linsey pantaloons, swan's-down waist coat. Said
Negro man is supposed by some to be drowned.
Any person finding him alive and delivering him to me shall have the above
reward; or fifty dollars for securing him in any jail so that I can get him again
with all reasonable expenses. If he is drowned anyone finding him will confer a
particular favor by writing a few lines to the subscriber directed to Portsmouth
post-office.
Thomas B. King, April 1, [1820]
It was common in those days for such advertisements about runaway slaves to
appear in newspapers and publishers generally kept a set of cuts on hand to
embellish their advertisements and attract attention, such as a Black man with
a bundle of clothes in his hand and running at full speed.
Nothing was heard from Gabriel for several years until Moses Mackoy
received a letter marked "Canada". He rejoiced to find it was from Gabriel, one
of his former pupils in the old horse mill school, which was so abruptly broken
up as we have noted. Gabriel wrote that he was in Canada and doing well. He
found the Negroes were in comfortable circumstances and accumulating
property. In consequence of the little schooling he got in the old horse mill
school he had risen to be a leader and school teacher among the colored
population in his home area. He was likewise a preacher of the
Gospel but he wished to be a free man with the privilege of going where he
pleased, without fear of being remanded back into slavery. He wanted to be a
missionary and go among the Southern Blacks and preach the gospel to them.
It is a matter of interest that Moses Mackoy was a fervent disciple of the
pioneer intellectual religious leader, Alexander Campbell. Thus it is no
surprise that the Mackoys, along with the Bruces, were founders of the Siloam
Christian Church and the Mars Hill Church of Christ at St. Paul.
Moses Fuqua Mackoy, grandson of Moses Fuqua was born in 1800 on the
Kanawha River in Virginia [now West Virginia] while his parents were en route
to Kentucky. He married Hannah Lawson (born 1803) in 1824. She was born in
Hampshire County, Virginia, the daughter of John and Susannah Blue Lawson.
Moses Mackoy was a farmer and as we said previously was a student of
Alexander Campbell's teachings. For more than 20 years he was a minister of
the Christian Church at Siloam, at the county churches on Tygart's Creek, and
in Portsmouth. His home called "Elmbank" was later inherited by his daughter,
Mrs. Lavinia Dugan Ware, who sold it to Madison and Louise Kendall Gammon
when she went to live with her son in Huntington, West Virginia. Moses died in
1869. His sister, Nancy B. Mackoy, married Benjamin Franklin King, the only
surviving son of Thomas B. and Nancy Cook King. Benjamin and Nancy Mackoy
King named their firstborn daughter Sarah Maria King in honor of the drowned
Sarah Maria Garrett. Benjamin Franklin King, Jr., married Brunette Elliott, of
Lewis County, daughter of William Elliott and Nancy Bruce.
Several members of the Mackoy family are buried at the Mars Hill Cemetery at
St. Paul.
NOTE: The co-author of this article, Dr. Bruce E. King (beking4@gmail.com), is
the great-great-great grandson of Benjamin and Nancy Mackoy King and a
descendant of Alexander Bruce and Amanda Bragg, as well as the Elliott family.
REFERENCES: Personal communications and documents of Dr. Bruce E. King,
of Illinois, see e-mail address; Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio, Nov. 11, 18,
& 25, 1876, author James Keyes; History of Greenup County, Ky., by Biggs &
Mackoy, p. 216; Lloyd's Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western
Waters, James T. Lloyd, 1856, p. 79; Rhode Island American Gazette, Providence,
June 5, 1832; Scioto Telegraph, Portsmouth, Ohio, April 1, 1820; Portsmouth
Times, Portsmouth, Ohio, article by James Keyes, November 13, 1875.
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