John Hardison Redd (1799 -1858) and Elizabeth Hancock (1798 - 1853)

(Sorry - no pictures available - I have searched high and lo...alas...)

Childhood  
 
      Seven-year old Mary played with and cared for her newborn baby brother - a half-brother, while her Negro "mammy"  loved, raised, and nurtured the 2 little ones.  You see, Mary's mother had died when she was just 6 years old.  Her Papa, Whittaker Redd, Jr.,  soon married Elizabeth Hardison, who lived only a short while after the birth of her son, John Hardison Redd.   Little John and Mary became best friends in their childhood; they established a sibling friendship bond which could not separate them.  A third mother came into the home, as did other children, but none could replace the closeness these two shared throughout a lifetime. 
 

     Almost a baby of the new 19th Century, John was born December 27, 1799 at Sneed's Ferry, Stump Sound, Onslow County, North Carolina. Along coastal North Carolina were several small sandy islands separated from the shore by a narrow body of water known as Stump Sound.  

     Growing up in a maritime locale, it was natural for John to  become a sea captain, probably an expert one. He most likely had his own vessel and traded in Barbados. He owned a plantation and had knowledge of how to run it successfully. He was also into the mercantile business and was respected by his associates.  

Career and Marriage

     On October 20, 1820, at age 21, John Hardison bought 50 acres of land for $10.00 from his future father-in-law, William Hancock.  Six years later, he and Elizabeth Hancock (daughter of Zebedee Hancock and Abigail Taylor) were married on March 2, 1826. 

     "She had always had a Negro maid to wait on her, and just five months before John H. Redd bought the land from her brother, her father had willed her a Negro maid for her very own, forever. This maid was named Venus, and she stayed with Elizabeth all the rest of her life, so that Elizabeth always had someone to wait on her, just like a princess or a queen. At the time of her marriage, Elizabeth's mother had died and she had a stepmother. In his will, Zebedee had left four Negroes to this stepmother as a loan, but at her death Elizabeth was to get one-third of them. One of the Negroes was named Chaney, and Elizabeth got that one. From then on she had two maids to wait on her and do her hard work.

     "Still, there was plenty to do to keep Elizabeth busy, as there were no labor-saving devices, and all the bedding, clothing, weaving, sewing, cooking, knitting, and so on for the family had to be done by hand in the home. At least, she had time for as much of that as she wanted to do. But just because the hard, dirty work was done by a maid didn't mean that Elizabeth was ever idle. That was never thought of for a lady, or even for a princess. Life would have been very boring with nothing to do. We know little of her activities, but we can assume that they were confined to the home, just as were those of all women of her day."

     Over time John had either purchased or inherited over 1000 acres of land. In 1838 he sold most of his plantation holdings in preparation for his family's move to Tennessee. They  had 5 children and according to the 1850 census, they had at least 4 Negro children.  While in Tennessee, their home for 12 years, they accepted the Gospel and were baptized by John D. Lee.   Of course their desires were to unite with the Saints and they prepared to make the trip West.  Traveling in with the James Pace Company, they arrived in Salt Lake  Valley Sept 20, 1850, and by winter they had settled in Spanish Fork.

In "First Families of Utah," by Burns V. Miller, the census of Utah County taken between September 20 and December 31, 1850, listed:

John H. Redd 51 M Venis 40 F Black
Elizabeth Redd 52 F Chancey 38 F Black
Ann M. Redd 19 F Luke 19 M Yellow
Ann E. Redd 18 F Marinda 18 F Yellow
Mary C. Redd 15 F Anna 14 F Yellow
Lemuel H. Redd 14 M Sam 17 M Yellow
John H. Redd 13 M
Benjamin Redd 8 M

(my guess is that the "yellow" indicates a parent was white)

     "The six individuals in the second column were servants of J. H. Redd. They had been freed but had followed the family to Utah. The six did not ever belong to John Hardison Redd. They had belonged to his wife, Elizabeth. Her father, Zebedee Hancock, had given the two older women to his daughter, and each of them had two children, the younger ones listed. At least two more servants came out later. Those who came, came of their own free will and choice. Aunt Luella said they begged to come so they could take care of Elizabeth, which had been their lifelong job. They had no other concern in life and no place to go, so they wished to stay with her. Because they had never known any other home or family, they were permitted to stay with their "own family," as it were. Elizabeth likely felt the same about them; they were a part of her and of her life. She had never known any life without the help of her servants, and so they were permitted to come and be with her.

     "Then, the following year, son John Holt Redd was thrown from a horse and died from the injury on November 25, 1853, a Thursday morning. Mother Elizabeth was heartbroken. It had been only a little over two years since she had lost her youngest daughter, and now one of her sons was gone. She couldn't eat. She went to bed and it is said she turned yellow. She died on Sunday morning, November 28, 1853. They always said she died of a broken heart. No sooner had the family experienced one death, funeral, and burial than they had to suffer through another, this time the wife and mother.

     "John H. Redd was like thousands of others when bereft of his loved ones. There was nothing to do but to carry on and finish his life, regardless of his sorrow.

     "John H. Redd married Mary Lewis in the summer of 1856. She was born November 22, 1839, in Alsmorgan, Wales, the daughter of John A. Lewis and Ann John. She was 16, nearly 17, and he was 57, nearly 58. Their baby, Mary Ann Redd, was born August 28, 1857, at five minutes before 11:00 p.m.

An interesting tidbit:

     Since the Church was operating with the United Order, John deeded 20 acres of his own field to his son, Lemuel Hardison Redd, apparently so that Lemuel would have property to deed to the Church. 

     There existed tremendous love and unity between father and son. Only 5-6 months after joining the United Order John H. passed away.  He had been kicked by a horse, an accident from which he sustained injuries that caused his death. He did not have time to raise crops for the Order but "he was converted to the idea and accepted it with full purpose of heart, just as he had accepted all the rest of the gospel."

     John Hardison Redd died May 1858 in Spanish Fork and was buried in the upper graveyard, now designated as the "Pioneer Graveyard". 


sources: "Redd Family of Utah and Their North Carolina Roots". Roots Web of Ancestry.com.  Roots Web does not identify author; however, text indicates it is written by a direct descendant.