Emanuel and Betsey in the Billingsley papers

On 13 January 1857, by the account of a 1936 Billingsley family history, Jeptha Billingsley of Bastrop County, Texas, executed a deed for "Emanuel and Betsey and their 8 children." Under it his sons Jesse and William B. Billingsley were to pay him $900 a year "for their hire" during his lifetime. Five years later Jeptha's will divided Emanuel, Betsy and seven other named people among his family. The history's compiler abstracted both documents; the originals have not yet been seen, so everything known of Emanuel and Betsey comes through his summaries.

In the family tree, Jeptha is the great-great-grandfather of Cissie Clarkson, through his son William Buck Billingsley, William's daughter Lillian Billingsley Nash and her daughter Zula Lee Ligon. Each of those links comes from the family tree and has not yet been reviewed, so the connection is Unconfirmed. The Clarkson line's public life is followed in Politics and religion on the Clarkson line.

Jeptha Billingsley: from North Carolina to Bastrop County, Texas

Jeptha (Jepthah Preston, as the family tree names him) Billingsley was, by the 1936 history's account, born about 1780 in North Carolina, and moved with his family through Tennessee and Missouri and back to Tennessee before settling in Bastrop County, Texas, about 1848. On the 1850 census of Bastrop County a Jeptha Billingsly, 70, a farmer born in Tennessee, is recorded living with Miriam, 64; the history gives his birthplace as North Carolina. This entry, the 1856 license and the 1860 entry below are probably his, though none of them names his parents.

Jeptha's 1856 marriage in Williamson County

On 11 August 1856 the Williamson County clerk issued a license for the marriage of "Mr. Jeptha Billingsley & Mrs. Agnes P. Britton," and Justice of the Peace Franklin Johnston certified that the ceremony took place the same day.

On the 1860 census of Williamson County (Pond Spring post office) a Jeptha Billingsly, 77, with real estate valued at $3,000 and personal estate at $1,500, is recorded with Agnes, 50, and three younger people, Sarah L., 16, Lucian G., 14, and Agnes L., 11, all born in Texas. The two counts, ten years apart, give his age as 70 and 77. The history adds that Agnes was born in Kentucky in 1810 and had three children; the 1860 household, with Agnes at 50 and three younger people, fits that account.

The reported 1857 deed

The history's compiler, Harry Alexander Davis, writes that on 13 January 1857 Jeptha "executed a deed for slaves to Jesse and William B. Billingsley," citing Deeds Liber K, fols. 391–394, Bastrop Co., Tex. His abstract begins: "Emanuel and Betsey and their 8 children, sd Jesse and William Billingsley to pay Jeptha Billingsley $900 per year for their hire during his life time and at his death his heirs to be paid as follows: Tabitha Turner $500; Robert Billingsley $500; Elisha Billingsley $500; Mahala Northcut $500; Elijah Billingsley $500; Mrs. Artena Rutherford $1,000, to be held in trust; balance in value divided among Jesse Billingsley; William B. Billingsley; Mary C. Claiborne; and Carroll Billingsley, his to be held by trustee." (Harry Alexander Davis, The Billingsley Family (Billingsly-Billingslea) in America, Part I, Washington, D.C., 1936, printed p. 168.)

Davis's abstract describes annual payments of $900 during Jeptha's life and payments to heirs after his death. It does not name the eight children, or say whether, where or to whom the family was hired out.

The reported 1862 will

Davis then gives a "brief" of Jeptha's will, dated 5 April 1862 with a codicil of 11 November 1862, which revoked "that disposition of my property made in Bastrop County 13 January 1857." The abstract names nine people who were enslaved: Emanuel and Betsy, passed to son Jesse Billingsley "to control ... for benefit of my wife"; James, a "negro boy," to daughter Tabitha Turner; Charley, a "negro boy," to son Elisha Billingsley; Shelby, a "negro man," to Jesse Billingsley in trust for three of Carroll's sons; Henry, a "negro man," to daughter Mary C. Claiborne; Giles, a "negro boy," to son William B. Billingsley; Mack, a "negro man," to son Jesse Billingsley; and Young, a "negro boy," to daughter Artena Rutherford, "provided she pay to my executor $250." (Davis 1936, printed p. 168, items 1–13.)

Davis does not say whether James, Charley, Shelby, Henry, Giles, Mack and Young were Emanuel and Betsey's children, or give their ages, work or homes.

Jeptha in the federal slave schedules

The federal slave schedules record enslaved people without names. On 9 October 1850, in Bastrop County, Jeptha is listed as holding eleven people: six males (aged 36, 18, 17, 16, 14 and 9) and five females (30, 14, 5, 3 and 2).

On 4 July 1860, in Williamson County, he is listed as holding one: a male aged 16.

Neither schedule names the people recorded, so they cannot be securely matched to the names in Davis's compilation, and the difference between the two counts does not explain what happened to them.

Death and probate

Davis reports that Jeptha died on 25 October 1863, that "this will was probated 14 April 1864," and that he is buried with his first wife at Cedar Creek, Bastrop County. Davis does not name the probate court, and the original will and probate file have not yet been found: Ancestry's index of Texas wills and probate records lists files for Jesse Billingsley (Bastrop County, 1880) and a James Billingsley (Williamson County, 1870) but none for Jeptha. The Bastrop County deed books for 1853-1858, which should hold the 1857 deed, are on FamilySearch microfilm 965210, viewable only at a FamilySearch center.

After 1864

No later record of Emanuel and Betsey, or of their eight children, has yet been found. The 1870 census, Texas voter lists and the Bastrop Freedmen's Bureau complaints register were searched without a match; most of the Bureau's register of letters received, the original deed and the probate file are still to be read.

Sources

• Harry Alexander Davis, The Billingsley Family (Billingsly-Billingslea) in America, Part I (Washington, D.C., 1936), printed pp. 166–169 and 400–401. Read on the printed pages, FamilySearch Digital Library scan (image group #007832653).
• 1850 U.S. census, Bastrop County, Texas, sheet 196a (NARA microfilm M432, roll 908); 1850 slave schedule, Bastrop County (M432); 1860 U.S. census, Williamson Division, Williamson County, page 32 as paginated on the image, cited elsewhere as page 274 (M653, roll 1308); 1860 slave schedule, Williamson Division (M653, roll 1312).
• Williamson County Clerk's Office, marriage records, license and certificate of 11 August 1856 (document 18560021).
• 1870 U.S. census, Bastrop and Williamson counties, Texas (exact-name index search under Emanuel, Emmanuel, Manuel, Betsey and Betsy): no supported match to either person.
• Freedmen's Bureau, Texas Field Office Records (M1912), Bastrop office: register of complaints, vol. 62 (Feb 1867–Dec 1868); register of letters received, vol. 59 (Feb 1867–Dec 1868, 60 images). The complaints register was read in full and names no Emanuel or Betsey; two entries name a "Billingsly" household without naming individuals. Only images 3, 5, 7 and 58 of the letters register were read; images 8–57 are unread and are not counted as searched.
• Texas Voter Records, 1867–1918 (index): no Emanuel connected to Bastrop or to this family.
• Searched without finding a will or probate record for Jeptha: the Williamson County probate case-file index (1848–1938), and the online Bastrop probate volumes available for 1916–1933. These searches cover only the collections named; they do not show that no record exists.