Finding My Shakespeare Roots

I am a Shakespeare descendant. No, not William Shakespeare, the great poet, and playwright, but Sancho Shakespeare of Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Sancho (aka Sanker) is my 3rd great-grandfather.

In this post, I will share the experience of researching an enslaved family by describing the steps I took to trace my Shakespeare ancestors. It is somewhat lengthy, but I hope it will give others some tips on finding their enslaved ancestors.

From my family history research, I knew my great-grandfather, Overton Woodfork/Woolfolk, was from Caroline County, Virginia, and his parents were William and Louisa Woolfolk. Family oral history stated Overton’s family was from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and they were related to the Shakespeare family; however, how the two families were related was unknown.

It took me many years, but I eventually learned my paternal 2nd great-grandmother, Louisa was the link between the Shakespeare and Woodfork/Woolfolk families.

I began my Shakespeare family history journey by searching for Shakespeare’s in the Caroline County and Spotsylvania County, Virginia, census. I noticed there were a few of them in Caroline County. I found no information to connect the Shakespeares with my Woodfork ancestors, so I put the information aside.

Armed with the new information, I set out again to make a connection between my Woolfolks and the Shakespeares. I created a Shakespeare family tree using the information from the census and noticed all the Shakespeares were related and often lived near my Woolfolk ancestors.

Sometime later, I found a cousin related to Susan Woolfolk Waugh. Susan was the daughter of my 2nd great-grandparents William and Louisa Woolfolk and the sister of my great-grandfather, Overton. The cousin had the family Bible that initially belonged to Louisa Woolfolk and was willing to share the information recorded in the Bible. The Bible contained two entries for Shakespeare:
• Sancho Shakespeare (born 1799, died August 20, 1882)
• Lucinda Shakespeare (died Jan 1887).

I then checked the Freedman’s Bureau cohabitation records for Caroline County, where I located Sancho and his wife, Lucinda. The information in a cohabitation register is extremely valuable because it contains information on the husband, wife, and their children and the name and location of their last enslaver. Locating the last enslaver’s name is the key to researching the family history of enslaved African American ancestors.

If an enslaved man and woman wanted to marry, they had to ask their enslavers for permission. Even in cases where they were allowed to marry, the union was not considered legal or binding.

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, two February 27, 1866 acts of the Virginia General Assembly made provisions for the registration and legalization of slave marriages and the issuing of marriage licenses. The Freedmen’s Bureau began to register the names of freedmen who were “cohabiting together as man and wife” and issue marriage licenses. The official title of the register is Register of Colored Persons…cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on February 27 1866; however, they are frequently referred to as cohabitation registers.

Caroline County, Virginia, has two cohabitating registers:

1. Register of Colored Persons of Caroline County, State of Virginia, Cohabiting Together as Husband and Wife on February 27 1866
2. Register of Children of Colored Persons in Caroline County, State of Virginia, whose Parents ceased to cohabit on February 27 1866, which the father Recognizes to be His.

I was able to locate my Shakespeare ancestors in both cohabitation records. The husband and wife document contained an entry for Sancho Shakespeare (age 60) and his wife, Lucinda Jackson (age 63). They had begun cohabitating as husband and wife circa 1831. It also listed their children:
• Eliza (age 34)
• Richmond (age 32)
• Louisa (age 32)
• Nancy (age 30)
• Matilda (age 28)
• Beverly (age 26)
• John (age 24)
• Martha (age 19)

Mary Wigglesworth of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was listed as the last slave owner for both Sancho and Lucinda.

The Register of Children contained an entry for Jno (John) Lewis (age 8).
• His mother was Matilda Shakespeare (age 26),
• His father was Edward Lewis.
• The last slave owner for Jno and Matilda was Jeff Flippo of Caroline County.
• Abt. Flippo of Caroline County was Edward’s last owner.

Enslaved people were considered property and were not listed in the census before 1870; therefore, it is necessary to search the enslaver’s family history to perform family history research for enslaved family members. Now that I had Sancho and Lucinda’s last enslaver’s name, I began researching Mary Wigglesworth’s family to obtain more information about my Shakespeare ancestors.

I learned that Mary Wigglesworth’s maiden name was Waller, and she was the wife of Elijah Wigglesworth. I was able to locate Elijah Wigglesworth in the 1830 Berkley Township of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, census. I also found M.D.M. (Mary) Wigglesworth and her children in the 1850 Berkley Township of Spotsylvania County, Virginia census.

Since Mary Wigglesworth was listed as the last enslaver of Sancho and Lucinda Shakespeare and was the head of household in the 1850 census, I suspected Elijah Wigglesworth had died between 1830 and 1850.

I traveled to the Spotsylvania Court House to learn more about Mary Wigglesworth and her family. I searched the microfilm index for Court Records to locate Elijah Wigglesworth’s will, which I hoped would contain a list of his property. The index included a document titled: Inventory and Appraisement of the Estate of Elijah Wiglesworth dec as exhibited to us by Mary D. Wiglesworth admintratix this 18th day of June 1842. I retrieved the microfilm for the document and reviewed the list of slaves.

I compared the inventory list with the Sancho and Lucinda Shakespeare entry in the cohabitation records. There was a match for Sancho (Sanker), Lucinda, and all of their children except the youngest three. After looking at the ages of the missing children, I realized they were born after 1842, which would account for them not being listed in Elijah Wigglesworth’s inventory list.

My next goal was to find a document showing Elijah’s estate distribution to determine what happened to my ancestors. I found a document titled Divisions of the Negroes and Money belonging in the Estate of Elijah Wiglesworth deed mad this _ day 1845 between the widow and children.

From this document, I learned that my Shakespeare ancestors were separated as follows:
o Sanker, Lucinda, and child John were allotted to Elijah’s wife, Mary Dm.M. Wigelsworth.
o Eliza was allotted to Elijah’s son, Andrew J. Wiglesworth
o Louisa was allotted to Elijah’s son Absolom W. Wigelsworth (aka AW Wigelsworth)
o Richmond, Nancy, and Matilda were allotted to Elijah’s daughter Alimra W. Wigleswoth.

I then began researching the family history of Elijah’s wife and children to determine what happened to my Shakespeare ancestors.

Since Andrew and Almira were under 21, they had to choose guardians to manage their affairs. I located their Guardian Bonds but did not find any other helpful information.

Almira (A.W.) Wigglesworth married Jefferson Flippo from Caroline County, Virginia, on January 25, 1854. Since women were not allowed to own property, Jefferson Flippo became the enslaver of Almira’s enslaved individual. I began tracing Jefferson Flippo’s family history to learn what happened to Richmond, Nancy, and Matilda.

The Caroline County, Virginia, birth records show
Matilda had three children during slavery:
• An unnamed girl was born January 5, 1861, and died March 8, 1861
• A son named George Flippo was born in 1862
• A son named Henry Flippo was born on Aug 1864.

Nancy had a daughter named Susan in April 1861.

Birth records did not record the father’s name for slave births; however, the records do list the slave owner. Jefferson Flippo was the slave owner for the births of Matilda and Nancy’s children.

I learned that Richmond, Nancy, and her daughter Susan escaped from their enslaver during the Civil War. However, I am not sure what became of them or if they ever reunited with their family after slavery. You can read about that in my Genealogy Gems in Confederate Citizens Files post.

After slavery, Matilda married Dingo Rollins on February 12, 1968. They are listed with their children in the 1870 and 1880 Caroline County census. Matilda died on June 27, 1882.

You can read more about my Shakespeare family research after slavery in my Protecting and Expanding Your Family Tree on Ancestry.com post.

I am still trying to locate information on my Shakespeare ancestors after the family was separated when Elijah Wigglesworth’s estate was settled.

I don’t know what happened to Eliza. Her enslaver, Andrew Wiglesworth moved to Tennessee, but I do not know if Eliza went with him.

John is listed in the 1870 census with Sancho and Lucinda, but the trail goes cold afterward.

I know what happened to Louisa and Martha after slavery, but there is a void between the 1840s when the Shakespeare family was separated and 1870 when they appear in the Caroline County, Virginia census.

I learned from my research that Louisa is the link between the Shakespeare and Woodfork/Woolfolk families. But I don’t know much about my Woolfolk ancestors during slavery.

An 1872 death record for William and Louisa’s infant daughter indicates the child was born and died at “North Point” Caroline County, Virginia. I have learned that North Point was a plantation in Page, Caroline County, owned by Stevens Farish and his descendants. Steven’s son, Charles T. Farish, owned the property from 1801 until he died in 1863 during the Civil War. Charles T. Farish’s 3rd wife was Rachel Keeling Rowe.

The 1870 census for the Madison Township of Caroline County, Virginia, shows William and Louisa living near the Central Point Post Office. Many of the Shakespeares are living nearby. In addition to William and Louisa, one other family with the Woolfolk surname living in the Madison Township of Caroline County in 1870: Peach (Pechegru) and Martha Woolfolk.

The Caroline County cohabitation records indicate Rachel Ferris was the last slaveowner of Peach (Pechegru) and Martha Woolfolk. Rachel’s last name may have been Farish (not Ferris). There are two women named Rachel Keeling Rowe who married into the Farish family, so this Rachel may not necessarily be Charles’ wife.

I have a theory that I am researching in hopes of determining what happened to Louisa during slavery. Since many enslaved people continued to live on their former enslaver’s property and work as sharecroppers shortly after the end of the Civil War, I have a theory that Charles T. Farish or Rachel Keeling Rowe may have been William and Louisa’s last enslaver.

I have located a copy of Charles T. Farish’s will. The will does not contain a list of slaves, but it does indicate “… the negroes which are now in possession of my son-in-law William T. Farish are given to him as his portion of my estate”. It also mentions a servant name Sam who is given to his grandchild Martha S. Farish.

The Inventory and Appraisement of the Estate of Charles T. Farish, dated November 13, 1863, contains a list of slaves which include the names Peachy and Martha. I believe this may be Peach (Pechegru) and Martha Woolfolk from the cohabitation records, but I am not positive. The list does not contain Louisa, her husband William, or any of their children that were alive during this time.

My Shakespeare research journey has spanned many years and is not complete. It has been a while since I’ve performed any family history research. I am sharing my story to demonstrate that while conducting family history research for enslaved individuals is arduous, it is not impossible. Information can be found with perseverance, determination, and luck.

The key is to find the last enslaver and research that family. Remember, enslaved individuals were considered property, so records about the enslaver’s property are a good resource.

Note:

I was featured in a Free Lance-Star news article, Heritage Center in City can unlock door to past, that discussed the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center and how they played a role in helping me locate my Shakespeare ancestors.

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Sources:

Division of the Negroes and Money belonging to the Estate of Elijah Wiglesworth and Lot No 6. Drawn by Almira W. Wiglesworth.  Will Book R, 1843-1846 Part 2 Page 271 Repository:  Spotsylvania Court House, Spotsylvania, Virginia.