Fowlkes family papers, 1788-1930s

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Summary

Creator:
Fowlkes, Paschal, 1813-1882 and John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture
Abstract:
The Fowlkes family owned and operated Hyde Park Plantation in Nottoway County, Virginia, beginning in the late 18th century through the early 20th century. This collection contains an assortment of plantation ledgers, slave records, correspondence, and loose manuscript ephemera about the Fowlkes, specifically John Fowlkes and son Paschal Fowlkes, along with documentation of people they enslaved.
Extent:
2 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.13102

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of assorted ledgers and papers documenting the Fowlkes's plantation operation and their involvement with the Confederacy, as well as slave documentation and records from the early 19th century and during the American Civil War.

Early materials in the collection are two bound arithmetic volumes, used by John Fowlkes and his sons, Little Berry and Paschal Fowlkes, in the late 18th and early 19th century. These are handsewn volumes with handwritten mathemathic lessons, recitations, and word problems.

The collection also contains two plantation ledgers, both dating from the pre-Civil War period and containing notes and records of accounts, expenses, and activities. The volumes are worn and were used in multiple ways. Many pages are missing. One ledger (Volume 1) contains an unidentified overseer's daily entries titled "Employment in 1834", which references crops and plantation maintenance and includes numerous mentions of enslaved people and laborers' projects and work.

Slave records within the collection largely consists of transactional receipts, documenting sales and transfers of enslaved people as part of the Fowlkes' estate, and local tax collection. There are also three letters home from enslaved people - two from Joe, and one from Anderson Fowlkes. Joe and Anderson were sent by Paschal Fowlkes to Richmond during the Civil War to work on Confederate fortifications in 1862 and 1863. A receipt for P. J. Fowlkes from the Confederacy for Joe's hire in 1863 is also included in the collection.

Also present in the collection are some assorted post-war Fowlkes family materials, including genealogy and family history research. One 1936 letter from Matteuer Fowlkes, formerly enslaved, to Lucy M. Fowlkes, a Fowlkes descendent, recounts his former mistresses, Mrs. Ridley Fowlkes and Lucy Fowlkes. There is also a letter, dated 1900 and signed "X" from Jane Fowlkes, attesting to the Revolutionary War participation of the Fowlkes family.

The collection also contains a selection of Confederate States of America currency, as well as a scrapbook, initially created in 1880 and containing materials dating through the early 1910s, assembled by Mrs. H. M. Fowlkes. It contains newspaper clippings and poetry excerpts, many with pro-Confederacy and Lost Cause themes.

Biographical / historical:

John Hall Fowlkes (1777-1838) and son Paschal Jennings Fowlkes (1813-1882) were members of the Fowlkes family in Virginia, which owned and operated several farms as well as Hyde Park, a tobacco plantation in Nottoway County. The Fowlkes enslaved dozens of people, and were active supporters of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Hyde Park was originally established by John Hall Fowlkes as Old Field Farm in the late 1700s. The plantation's house and operations were expanded by Paschal Fowlkes and renamed after his wife, Martha Ann Hyde (1823-1919). The Hyde family was also originally from Nottoway County, Virginia, and Martha Ann's father, Richard Hyde, appears in the collection. Other Fowlkes family members included Paschal's brother Littleberry (also spelled Littlebury and Little Berry) Fowlkes, who is documented as working as an overseer of 18 slaves in Prince Edward in the 1820 U.S. Census; Dicey Hall Fowlkes; John Fowlkes; William Fowlkes; and James Fowlkes. Paschal and Martha Ann Fowlkes had four children: William H. Fowlkes (1838-1853); Betty Fowlkes (1841-1914); Junius W. Fowlkes (1843-1923); and Martha Francis Fowlkes (1845-1923). In 1873, Martha Francis ("Mattie") Fowlkes married Henry Meriwether Fowlkes (1830-1887). Her scrapbook is present in the collection.

Throughout the 1800s, various members of the Fowlkes family owned and traded dozens of enslaved people, which is documented through the U.S. Census as well as county tax records and their own family ledgers. According to the 1860 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule, Paschal Fowlkes enslaved 47 people. Most of these people are unnamed in the historical records, but there are exceptions. Within this collection are some lists of enslaved people's names and birth years. In addition, some of the enslaved people appear multiple times in the collection's records. Joe Fowlkes (December 1841-?) is included on an Ages of Slaves (1857) document and later wrote two letters to Paschal Fowlkes during his period of requisition by the Confederate Army (1862 and 1863), indicating he was working near Petersburg. Another enslaved man, Anderson Fowlkes (b. 1831, also listed in the Ages of Slaves document), was also requisitioned by the Confederacy during the war, and his letter home also reports he was poorly fed. Both Joe and Anderson, as well as a third man, Oliver, appear on the Confederate Army Payrolls for Enslaved Labor for June 1862, documented as working on Appomatix River obstructions at Fort Clifton. Paschal Fowlkes was compensated by the C.S.A. for their labor. Also enslaved by the Fowlkes family was Mettauer Fowlkes, whose mother died in childbirth in 1846. The 1910 U.S. Census records Mettaeur Fowlkes (transcribed as Mataw Folks) was working as a farmer on a rented farm in Chase, Virginia, with his wife Rosetta and eleven children. A 1936 letter from him to a Fowlkes descendent present in the collection confirms these details. Hopefully, future research will yield additional historical and biographical information about these men or others formerly enslaved by the Fowlkes family.

The Fowlkes family remained at Hyde Park through the early twentieth century. Hyde Park Farm was purchased by Richmond businessman William B. Thalhimer in 1938, who developed it into a training farm as a means of enabling German Jewish teenagers to emigrate from Nazi Germany and own land in Virginia. Hyde Park is now a state historic site in Virginia.

Acquisition information:
The Fowlkes Family Papers were purchased by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library by James Cummins, bookseller, at the Swann Gallery Auction in Spring 2024.
Custodial history:

Acquired as part of the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture.

Processing information:

Processed by Meghan Lyon, October 2024

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2024-0101

Arrangement:

Items largely foldered individually and arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Fowlkes Family Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m10b3v