Black History Month: 3 African American Pioneers

These are profiles of three African American men from our early history. Each distinguished himself with a life of courage and perseverance. Each had the opportunity to live as a free man in the Northwest Territory or Ohio where foresighted leaders had adopted laws to prohibit slavery.

Christopher Malbone aka “Kitt Putnam”

Kitt Putnam panicked as the flatboat started to sink crossing the Ohio River in 1793. He was helping Aaron Waldo Putnam and Major Robert Bradford move cattle from Belpre, Ohio to Virginia. Drowning was a common risk on the early frontier because waterways were often used for transportation. Kitt was an African American servant in the household of Israel Putnam Jr. of Belpre.

He was frightened because he could not swim. The canoe sent to rescue the men could only take one at a time. One version of the incident said that the two white men with him insisted on being rescued first. Israel Putnam Jr., in whose home Kitt served, encouraged him to bounce on his tip toes to stay above water. He also admonished Kitt to not to disgrace the family name by showing any fear. There was no context with the latter comments, but the impression is one showing little empathy or encouragement.

Kitt Putnam's given name was Christopher Malbone. He was one of the first Blacks to live most of his life in Washington County. He was a servant of General Israel Putnam, then his son Colonel Israel Putnam Jr. Kitt came to Washington County from Connecticut with Israel Putnam Jr. in 1789 and lived at The Farmer’s Castle stockade in Belpre as a teen. He was described as friendly, athletic, a hard worker, and kind. He was an excellent worker and sentry, standing watch to warn those working in the fields of danger.

Kitt achieved distinction as the first Black person to vote in Ohio and maybe the Unites States. He voted in the 1802 selection of delegates from Washington County to the Ohio constitutional convention. Ironically, the Constitution, while it prohibited slavery, denied Blacks the right to vote in the State of Ohio.

This image shows a list of voters for delegates to the Territorial Convention, District of Marietta, dated second Tuesday of October, 1802. Christopher Malbone, a.k.a. Kitt Putnam, the first person of color, to vote in the new territory, is listed on line 133 (fourth from the top) as Christopher Putnam. Photo courtesy of Marietta College’s Local Government Records and Legal Documents collection. 

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This actor portrayal of Christopher Malbone voting, from the documentary film “Opening the Door West,” can be seen as part of the “Pathways to Freedom” exhibit at the Campus Martius Museum. (Photo by Erin O'Neill). Copied from Marietta Times article February 7, 2018.

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At age 21, Kitt Putnam became a free man* and could seek other employment. He started working for Captain Devol who lived near the Muskingum River helping clear fields and tend the floating mill. He died unexpectedly in 1802; there was great sadness at his passing. The cause of death is unknown. It is also not known if he had a family or where he is buried.

*The nature of his servant status is not clear. He was not a slave but may have been an indentured servant under a contract which expired on becoming an adult at age 21.

Bazaleel** Norman

This man was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Blacks served in the war, starting in 1777. There were reservations at first about their bravery and whether military training and access to weapons might tempt them to rebel. Blacks were also fighting for their own independence. Some also had to decide which side, America or Britain, would give them the best chance for freedom. Blacks in the Continental Army served with distinction. They also provided needed manpower, especially at crucial times of low enlistments in general. The Black soldiers served for an average of 4.5 years, more than 8 times the average white soldier.

Bazaleel joined the Continental Army in 1777. Most Army units then were integrated. Bazaleel Norman likely fought alongside white soldiers to gain freedom for country - and for African Americans. He served in Captain Richard Anderson’s company in seventh regiment of the Continental Army Maryland line. His service included the battles of Monmouth, Camden, Cowpens, Gilford Court House, and Eutaw Springs. He served the entire war until the Maryland line of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1781.

After the war, in 1782 he married Fortune Stephens in Frederick County, Maryland. They had six children. Sometime before 1819, they moved to Roxbury Township*** in Washington County, Ohio. There he farmed.

Bazaleel was granted a pension in 1818. An affidavit required to continue his pension was filed in 1820 with the Washington County Common Pleas Court. It listed his war service and also included a list of his assets and debts. Many veterans, especially African American, were poor and relied on the pension for survival. Here is a partial list of his assets: 

100 acres of land third rate, two old Horses the one 14 & the other 17 years old. One Cow 14 years old one spring calf, one two years old Heifer, two yearling calves, two sheep & two Lambs, one Sow & Eight Pigs. Three old Kitchen chairs without bottoms, one old Crock. 4 Pewter plates, 4 old Knives & Forks one old Bucket one shovel Plough. 1 old broken Pot 1 Log chain. One 7 gallon Kettle one small broken Bake Pan 4 old pewter spoons. an old drawing Knife. and old handsaw. two old Chissels. One small fire Shovel. one old axe. one old hoe. one worn wedge

Some of the debts included: “One Hundred & Twenty five dollars to Joel Adams. Thirty Six dollars to Dudley Woodbridge. Fourteen dollars & Seventy dollars to Augustus Stone...” Woodbridge and Stone were merchants in Marietta, quite a distance by horse or on foot from where Bazaleel lived in western Washington County. 

Pension certificate for Bazabeel Norman - image from National Archives viewed at

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/196314602

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Bazaleel’s 1820 affidavit plaintively stated: “I am by occupation a farmer, but owing to age and infirmity I am unable to do very little toward supporting myself.” His signature appeared as “Bazaleel his X mark Norman.” He was signing with an “X” likely indicating that he was illiterate.

Bazaleel Norman died in 1830. His wife Fortune applied for the survivor pension benefit in 1832. It listed Bazaleel’s cause of death as “falling from a rock...his family found him dead at the foot of a precipice” after he had been missing for a day. Another application was made in 1837, and the pension was finally granted - only four years before she died. For some reason, the pension had been delayed or denied for nearly five years. Fortune Norman died on February 3, 1841.

**His name also appears elsewhere as Bezael, Basil, and Bazabeel

***Roxbury Township was an early township that was dissolved in 1851. Parts of it went to Palmer Township, Morgan County, and Noble County.

William Peyton

Washington County resident William Peyton, “Uncle Billy,” was proclaimed the oldest person in the United States in 1912 at age 120. He lived until 1919, dying at age 128, still thought to be the oldest person in the country. He was born as a slave in 1792 in Prince William County. William was bought for $333 as a child by George Creel, an early settler in Wood County, Virginia. He remained with the Creel family for generation after generation. He left them in 1868 and moved to Decatur Township in Washington County where he lived for the rest of his life - another nearly fifty years.

Uncle Billy was one-of-a-kind in many ways. He was described as a “large man with a splendid physique” who loved work. On his eightieth birthday he set a local record by splitting 320 fence rails in a single day. His long life was remarkable because “he used liquor, chewed, and smoked tobacco.” He had an excellent memory and could recall events when Thomas Jefferson was president. His fitness was legendary; he would often walk to Marietta or to Wood County to visit the family of his former masters. Emancipation Day on September 22, 1916 was the fifty- third anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves. There was a county-wide celebration - said to be the largest in the State of Ohio. The Marietta Register-Leader newspaper reported that William Peyton was the parade honoree.

Collage of information about “Uncle Billy” Peyton from Facebook post 2/21/2021 on Harmar Village - Marietta, Ohio page. CLICK TO ENLARGE

“Uncle Billy” died on December 26, 1919. Peyton’s headstone is at the Decatur United Methodist Church, reading: “William Payton, Sept. 2, 1792, Dec. 26, 1919, 127 Y. 3 M. 24 D.”  His wife was forty years his junior and died in 1900. He was survived by one son and a granddaughter. Judge L. N. Tavenner of Parkersburg reviewed his birth records and substantiated his year of birth as 1791, a year earlier than the date on his gravestone. He had lived through the administrations of twenty-eight presidents from George Washington to Woodrow Wilson.

Sources:

Burke, Henry Robert, “Lest We Forget” website, “William ‘Uncle Billy’ Peyton 1792-1919” viewed at lestweforget.Hamptonu.edu

Dennis, James L., “Washington’s Darker Brother, 100 years of Black History in Washington County, Ohio 1788-1888,” published 1967 by the author

Hildreth, Samuel, Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio, Cincinnati, H. W. Derby & Co., 1852

Historical Marietta blogpost, August 6, 2016, “53 Years of Freedom to be Celebrated” article from the Register-Leader, August 19, 2016

Marietta Times article, “Black History Month: First to Vote,” February 6, 2018, article by Erin O’Neill

National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W. 5429, for Bazabeel Norman, Maryland, viewed at catalog.archives.gov 

Wood County Pioneer: Alexander Henderson, Jr.

 A duel was fought in Belpre, Ohio on October 8, 1805. That caught my attention. I had never heard of this or any other duel in the Ohio Country. It seemed out of character with practices of that time, though the famous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had taken place just a year earlier. The duel combatants were Alexander Henderson, Jr. and Stephen Wilson, both of Wood County, Virginia (now WV). Here is a newspaper account from the Virginia Argyle on December 4, 1805, likely reprinted from the Ohio Gazette:

We understand that a Duel was fought on the 8th (of October, 1805) in the settlement of Belpre, Ohio, by Stephen R. Wilson and Alexander Henderson both of Wood County, Virginia. The distance agreed upon was fifteen steps, and to wheel and fire; when the word was given, they both advanced, the one in a deliberate walk, the other at full speed, till when within an arm’s length of each other, when they both fired and fell side by side. Mr. Wilson received a ball in his knee which shattered it to pieces. Mr Henderson a ball in his thigh near the upper joint, which it was feared would deprive him of his life; but we understand that they both are in a fair way of recovery. - Ohio Gaz

I discovered this curious and underreported event while reading The Hendersons: One Family’s Legacy by Pamela Brust. This book chronicles the fascinating story of the Henderson family of Wood County, West Virginia. Alexander Henderson, Jr. was an early area pioneer with numerous Marietta connections. I was captivated by his life of pioneering successes sadly intermingled with tragic low points. Alexander Jr. was known by his nickname (shared with his father), "Sandy." He was described as "fair, blue-eyed, handsome with a most cheerful and genial disposition."

Alexander achieved a number of pioneering "firsts" in his Wood-Washington County community:

• One of the first settlers in what is now Wirt County WV, then a remote wilderness
• Fought in the first (and probably last) recorded duel in Ohio
• One of the first area settlers who successfully overcame a permanent disability
• Was a Captain in the first Wood County militia
• One of the first magistrates in Wood County
• One of the first, with his brother, to alert President Thomas Jefferson of Aaron Burr’s allegedly treasonous plot
• A charter member of the first Washington/Wood County Agricultural and Manufacturing Society board
• Worked as cashier at the first chartered bank in Ohio - the Bank of Marietta
• Was one of the first members and vestrymen at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Marietta

Also, he had or learned many skills: farmer, hunter, land broker and developer, civic leader, socialite, banker, judge.

But there were devastating low points with life-changing impacts.

• The duel which inflicted permanent physical injury, making him “a cripple for life.”
• The deaths of two of their children as young adults in the bilious fever epidemic of 1823.
• Bankruptcy in 1826, requiring all of his assets to be sold to meet debts, from which he never recovered.

The Henderson family American patriarch, Alexander Henderson, Sr., was a wealthy businessman and politician from Dumfries, Virginia. He was a close friend and associate of George Washington - on whose advice Henderson Sr. purchased land in western Virginia. Washington also owned land in the area, including the “Washington Bottom” area of Wood County. Three of the Henderson sons, John G., Alexander Jr., and James settled on Henderson land located in today’s Wood, Wirt, and Pleasants Counties. John G. was the first arrival, in 1797; Alexander Jr. followed in April, 1799. They brought slaves from Dumfries to help them clear land and raise cabins.

Life was rough and dangerous on the Western Virginia frontier. The early days of their habitation were challenging. John Glassford Henderson, Alexander Jr.'s brother, mentioned numerous setbacks and financial losses in his journal - horses lost, damage from windstorms, livestock killed by bears, illness and injury of their slaves. There was the constant threat of disease: malaria, smallpox, and similar epidemics were commonplace.

With the help of his brother and their slaves, Alexander Jr. carved out a homestead known as "Beech Park" near Burning Springs along the Little Kanawha River. He returned to Dumfries and married Jane Hutchinson Lithgow, known in the family as "Hutchie," on May 21, 1801. The wedding was performed by Mason L. Weems, author of the "Life of Washington" and creator of the well known George Washington cherry tree tale. He was also pastor of the Pohick Church where Alexander Henderson Sr. attended and was a vestryman along with Virginia luminaries George Washington, George Mason, and others. Sandy and Hutchie returned to their wilderness home at Burning Springs on August 28, 1801. 

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Beech Park: Copy by author of image from The Hendersons, One Family’s Legacy, by Pamela Brust

They settled in. Before moving west, Hutchie had sought a neighbor's help to learn the pioneer skills of spinning and weaving. Author James Callahan includes a quaint description of her adaptation to frontier living: “It was a new experience for her. She had been reared in luxury and was a petted beauty, unused to any kind of hardship. She took up the duties of life (in the wilderness) with good cheer and resourcefulness, and in her cabin in the wilderness, five miles distant from a neighbor, learned to spin and weave......” She became quite skilled in making coverlets, quilts, and other adornments which later became family heirlooms. 

She gave birth to their first child, George Washington Henderson, in 1801. He grew up to be quite successful and established Henderson Hall plantation. Two other children, John Alexander (1803-1823) and Mary Page (1805-1823) followed but died as young adults from a malaria epidemic which swept the area in 1823. 

Alexander, Jr. and his brother John G. were active in civic activities and social life of the area. Early accounts mention their involvement in land brokerage. Alexander was appointed as a captain in the militia. He is listed as one of several Justices in Wood County, Virginia in an 1811 document. They were acquaintances of Harman Blennerhassett, prominent socialite, owner of the island Blennerhassett Mansion, and associate of Aaron Burr in the “Burr Conspiracy.”

Alexander’s life took an unexpected and tragic turn in 1805 when he fought a duel with Stephen Wilson. The two had been at odds for some time. Observers noted that Wilson was the primary instigator of ill will. Alexander called Wilson a “paltroon and coward” in response to an accusation from Wilson. Wilson then challenged Alexander to a duel to be fought on a bluff overlooking the river in Belpre, Ohio. That location in Ohio was probably selected since dueling was prohibited in Virginia.

It’s likely that Henderson’s family and friends tried to dissuade him from dueling. He had three young children and was otherwise well established in the Wood County community. Why risk his life answering a spurious accusation from a scoundrel like Wilson? His granddaughter-in-law, Anna Rosalie Henderson, years later voiced eloquent dismay at his choice to duel: “From the wound inflicted by this duel...., a hearty young man 27 years of age was made a cripple for life.......What unspeakable folly of theirs, handicapped for such a trifle? What a trial it must have been to his wife, what ceaseless regret to himself.”

The report of the duel suggests that they were almost face to face when shots rang out. I thought that duelers stayed some distance apart. Both were seriously wounded but survived. Alexander was thought near death at one point but gradually recovered. Sadly, he was left with permanent disability, unable to walk without a crutch. He could ride a horse but only with a side saddle; some of those saddles remain at Henderson Hall.

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This article appeared directly under the newspaper report of the Henderson duel. It recounts a threatened duel from 1753 in Massachusetts. The would-be duelers were arrested and pleaded guilty. Their sentence was “to be carried with a rope about their necks to the gallows in a carat and to sit on the gallows with the rope about their necks for the space of an hour and afterwards to be committed to jail...for twelve months...” Apparently the judge - and the editor of this newspaper decades later - were serious about making a public statement to discourage duels.

Disability did not slow Alexander Henderson Jr. down. He resumed his business, family, and social activities. Shortly after his recovery, he was in the national spotlight with his brother John G., testifying at the trial of Aaron Burr. Harman Blennerhassett, a friend of Alexander and his brother, had tried to recruit the Alexanders in late 1806 to the Aaron Burr project. The Hendersons were shocked at Blennerhassett’s description and apparent endorsement of Burr’s treasonous-sounding plan. They contacted their father Alexander Henderson Sr., who in turn alerted President Jefferson. Jefferson dispatched John Graham, Governor of the Orleans Territory and a person known to Alexander Sr., to the Ohio Valley to learn of Burr’s plans. Graham talked to the Alexander brothers and Blennerhassett himself. He then left to alert Ohio governor Edward Tiffin, urging action to thwart the planned actions of Burr and his agents.

A few years later, Alexander Jr. and his family moved to Marietta to take advantage of educational opportunities there for the children. He lived at 126 Second Street in a brick house. While in Marietta, he worked at the Bank of Marietta from 1815-22 and was treasurer of Marietta schools. In 1819 served on the first board of “Agriculture and Manufacturing Society of Washington County, Ohio and Wood County, Virginia.” It was set up to encourage and support farming activity in the area. He was also a faithful member and vestryman of the St. Luke’s Episcopal church in Marietta.

Alexander and his brother John G. developed a substantial farm at Cow Creek in 1806 near Willow Island in Pleasants County Virginia. The family referred to it as the Cow Creek farm. Lewis Summers kept a journal of his visit to the area in 1808. He mentions the Henderson farm: “this farm contains 2,000 acres, about 200 in corn, expect to make 2,000 barrels. They work 30 hands. Stock of hogs, cattle, and horses fine.” Henderson built a home there in 1814 which still stands today, used as an office by Solvay Technology Solutions.

Cow Creek Farm home built about 1814, at Willow Island, now in use as an office

Alexander Jr.’s family lived there when tragedy struck in 1823. Their son John Alexander and daughter Mary Page died within days of each other of “bilious fever” (believed to be forms of Malaria and Yellow Fever) in December of 1823. There was a substantial epidemic at the time. Read more about it by clicking here. Their oldest son George Washington (GW) Henderson was studying law in eastern Virginia at the time and escaped the illness.

Loss of children from illness was common in those days. It must have been devastating. GW and his wife Elizabeth Tomlinson Henderson would lose seven children to illness decades later. Elizabeth wore a brooch  with locks of her deceased children’s hair and often experienced bouts of depression. Her journals mention her faith as a major support. Such must have been the experience of Alexander Jr. and his wife Jane.

Their woes were compounded as financial setbacks occurred in the 1820’s. He had purchased land near Cow Creek from relatives thinking he could pay for them over time. But he could not. There were also land ownership disputes with other parties. His son GW returned to the area from law school to recover from the financial problems. Such efforts failed. All of his property and possessions had to be sold in September of 1826 to settle debts. Apparently there were bitter accusations from his some of his siblings. 

Alexander sadly recorded his thoughts in a notebook: “I am 49 years of age, and we are about to stripped of all that we have....The prospect is gloomy indeed. I have struggled hard, have endured great privations...I came to Wood County 27 years ago last April when it was nearly a wilderness and assisted not a little to open farms for my brothers and sisters benefit. Far from meaning to act dishonestly toward my brothers and sisters I have, as I live, done the best in my power to advance their interest. More might be said on this subject but I forbear.” 

It was an embarrassing, disappointing outcome for such a talented and capable leader. Thereafter he lived with or near his son George Washington Henderson. Despite the setback, Alexander and John’s pioneering efforts assured that the Henderson family would continue to be an economic, social, and political force in the area for many years to come.

Sources:

Brust, Pamela Douglas, The Hendersons, One Family’s Legacy, Bloomington IN, AuthorHouse, 2019

Callahan, James Morton, History of West Virginia, Old and New, Volume 3. Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1923

Cunningham, Connie, “Echoes from Henderson Hall: The History of One Pioneer Family Settling in the Ohio Valley,” a master’s degree thesis, Marietta College, 2005

Henderson Hall website, history section, https://hendersonhallwv.com/

House, John A, “Pioneers in Wood County, WV”, a paper document published in 1936, viewed at http://wvancestry.com/ReferenceMaterial/Files/Pioneers_of_Wood_County_West_Virginia_Vol_1.pdf

Newspapers.com, searches for reports of the 1805 duel

Wikitree.com, Alexander Henderson (Sr.) (1737-1815)

WikiTree.com, Alexander Henderson Jr. (1778-1838)

Williams, H. Z., History of Washington County Ohio, Cleveland, H. Z. Williams and Bro, 1881