As I continue researching my 3rd great-grandmother, Artimease Wederstrandt Benton, a former slave and widow of a Civil War United States Colored Troop (USCT), I’m amazed at the untold, underlying stories revealed during her life and times. It’s taught me that the Antebellum and Postbellum South–Louisiana in particular, have a very complex history. When I started these research projects, like most African Americans, my presumptions were that racism and segregation would prove to show my family in complete isolation from the social mainstream and an ethnic divide analogous to the parting of the Red Sea. Yet, my Dear Mother always said “there’s two sides to every coin” and I’m seeing that other side as I examine the role a man named William Maddox played in Artimease’s life.
As I mentioned in my March 2013 post, “BENTON and JACKSONS: The Truth Revealed,” the 1880 U.S. Federal Census in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana showed a household inhabiting Artimease with 5 of her 7 children. The household next door, 247 America Street, included her sister, “Wartha Wederstrandt,” and according to oral history, her common-law husband, a white male named William Maddox, a carpenter. According to the census, Maddox was 55 years old and Wartha was 36 which places their birth dates in 1825 and 1844, respectively, as well as their birth locations in Louisiana.
My curiosity got the better of me, so I continued to research Maddox. When I examined the 1870 census in East Baton Rouge Parish, I discovered a white male, age 40, named William Maddox (b. 1830) from Ohio, living with “Waffie” Wederstrandt (another known alias of Wartha), age 25 and Joseph Wederstrandt, age 15, both born in Louisiana and listed as “Mulatto.” With his occupation listed a “Carpenter,” his real estate property is valued at $150 and personal property valued at $100.
In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census in East Baton Rouge Parish, nearly 8 months before the Civil War began (and 5 years before slavery ended), “Wm G Maddox,” age 30, is listed alone as an “Overseer” with personal property valued at $500 and similar to the 1880 census, a native of Louisiana. To date, I find no other record of Maddox prior to 1860, but I will need to visit the Louisiana State Archives and the East Baton Rouge Parish Courthouse for further investigation.
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| Death Notice on William G. Maddox via GeneaologyBank.com |
I searched GenealogyBank.com and found this newspaper death notice in the Baton Rouge Daily Advocate dated February 17, 1900 regarding the passing of William G. Maddox. It states Maddox, who died on Valentine’s Day, was to have his funeral held at his residence on America Street. The last sentence of the paragraph states he “was a member of Company “B,” Ninth Battalion Infantry.” I checked Fold3.com, a website containing U.S. Military records online, to prove Maddox’s military service and to my surprise, I discovered he was a Confederate Soldier!
Below, are Maddox’s Confederate PRISONER OF WAR muster rolls showing his Battalion was captured near Port Hudson and paroled in July of 1863.
I also checked the National Park Service website which also contains a database on Civil War historical facts such as soldiers, regiments & battles. I found the following description of the 9th Battalion, Louisiana Infantry:
“OVERVIEW: 9th Infantry Battalion [also called 17th Battalion] was formed at Camp Moore, Louisiana, during March, 1862. It contained four companies, and some of the men were raised in Rapides Parish. The unit served in Gregg’s and Maxey’s Brigade in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana and was captured in the fight for Port Hudson. After being exchanged, it was not reorganized. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Boyd and Major Tom Bynum were its field officers.”
What is so intriguing about this information is that Artimease’s husband, Thomas Benton, served as a U.S. Colored Troop from 1864-1867 with the 67th & 65th regiments–both organized at Port Hudson which was only 20 miles north of Baton Rouge–the place the regiments mustered out after the war in 1867. In addition, Wartha’s death record states she was born in Bayou Sara, Louisiana and the 67th Regiment moved there during an expedition in 1864.
So, am I to believe that a white male Confederate soldier and former overseer of a plantation, upon his capture and parole from being a Prisoner of War in Port Hudson, establishes a friendship with 3 former slaves– an African American soldier fighting for the opposition, his future wife, and her sister with whom he develops a lifelong relationship that lasts for more than 30 years????
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| Affidavit from William G. Maddox |
Apparently, more circumstantial evidence I uncovered supports this theory. In July of 2013, I ordered Artimease’s Civil War Widow’s Pension File preserved at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Thomas Benton died in 1877 from Tuberculosis–12 years after the war ended. By that time, Artimease bore four children with Benton. She applied for the pension 15 years later, in August of 1892, after legislation was passed a few years prior, allowing widows of Union soldiers to collect benefits. By that time, all 7 of Artimease’s children were born. The 65-page file of documents collected over a 32 year period contained Benton’s military record, medical exams, muster rolls, letters from the War Department, letters from Artimease and her family members, and general affidavits from people who personally knew the couple and their children. These individuals would also attest to the true events surrounding the Bentons’ lives and the nature of their relationship.
William G. Maddox’s signature can be found on several of these documents as a witness to the various claims made by Artimease and others. Maddox also provided his own sworn affidavits, as shown to the right, describing his knowledge of the family. He states he “kept a record of the births of the children of claimant and soldier having known them intimately.” This comes as no surprise given his experience as an “overseer” in his previous line of work. The purpose of this affidavit was to provide written proof, on Artimease’s behalf, that her youngest child at the time of Thomas’ death, Nellie, was still a minor (under the age of 16) when Artimease filed the application for the pension, thus, making Artimease eligible to receive additional benefits for Nellie.
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| General Affidavit by William G. Maddox |
It should be noted that Artimease was illiterate during this time period and there is no doubt in my mind that Maddox assisted her in the review, completion and processing of these documents. Shown to the right is an additional document signed by Maddox illustrating his direct involvement in assisting Artimease with her case for eligibility of widow’s pension benefits.