Hello, Friends!  I am doing an extra Grave Spotlight for Black History Month because I ran across this fascinating woman.  Now, I am going to add in some content warnings here because some of this may be hard to read, so here we are:

CONTENT WARNING: This posts discusses slavery and abuse.  I will be using the terms that are noted in her own history and the articles that I have found about her.  Just because I am using these terms, does NOT mean that I condone any of the things that happened to her.  This is history.  We can't change the past, but we can change the future.

Today we are going to take a look at the extremely long life of Sarah "Sally" Hafford, also known as Granny Hafford.  Sarah Hafford was born into slavery in what is now Richmond, Virginia somewhere around 1795.  This date varies depending on what article you read, anywhere from 1788 to 1798, but 1795 seems to be the most commonly used.  She said in an interview that she didn't remember the year, but she remembered the date as being July 4.

She was born into slavery along the James River, near Richmond, Virginia.  The name of her first owner was likely Colonel Archer Fletcher who owned property near Macon, Georgia.  She remembered the name of another owner as being William Wilson, also named in some articles as Billie.  She stated that he was the butler of George Washington and that he was a "bad master and did much whipping, producing scars" which she still carried until the day she died. 

I haven't been able to find a Colonel Archer Fletcher anywhere in records for the time period.  I did, however, find a Colonel Fletcher Harris Archer that fits in the time frame.   He was a confederate soldier in Georgia, born in 1817 and passing away in 1902.  I will not go into anymore information about him, as I don't know if this is correct or not.  I also can't find a William Wilson who was a butler to George Washington.  

At age eleven, she was sold to William Hicks for $600 and taken away to Georgia.  This took her away from her family, who she never saw again.  I don't know how long she was in Hicks' household before she was sold again to Daniel Bushem, who she called a "good master".  A year later, she was sold again, this time to Joe Adkins of South Carolina for $770.  She recalled that he was "only a moderately good master".  Two years later, she found herself sold to James Martin of North Carolina for $600 and a "drove of hogs".  Next, she was sold off to Tom Teague for $700.  Of Teague, she recalled he "never undertook to whip [me] but once, and failed. [I] whipped him."

I have found no information for any of the above men, nor for the below George Hafford.  

Sometime before 1850, she was sold a final time to George Hafford, hence her last name, as it was normal for slaves to take their master's last names.  He purchased her for $777.  Things get a lazy hazy here, because Sarah remembers him living near Monticello, Kentucky, but the census from the time shows that he resided in Haywood County, Tennessee and then in Lauderdale County Tennessee in 1860.  Sarah is shown in the census records for 1850, but not in 1860.  

While in his household, she married on of his other slaves.  Unfortunately, we have no information on his name, but we do know that she had either 17 or 19 children, 5 of whom died in childhood and one was forcibly taken from her.  This child was taken from her arms by an unknown man who claimed "I have bought her".  Sarah never saw the child again.  Ten of her other children were lost to her when they were sold.  She also lost her husband, who was sold to another slaveowner after he objected to being whipped.  He was never seen again, though Sarah does note that she heard from him after the Civil War, finding that he was married and living in Georgia with his wife and two children.

Sarah was freed from the household of George Hafford in 1863 and she ended up in Bloomington, Indiana in 1874.  She came to live with her daughter, Mrs. Aaron Gahn, and her son Robert Moses Hafford, whose grave has only recently been rediscovered at Rose Hill Cemetery.  

In 1896, at the age of 103, she was said to have been living in a small log cabin, tending to her little peach orchard. In 1900, the census showed that she lived with her daughter Elizabeth "Betsey" Caldwell and three of her grandchildren somewhere in Bloomington Township.  By 1910, she was residing at the Monroe County Poor Farm, located in what is now Karst Farm Park, along with her daughter Elizabeth and two children named Henry and Sallie.  This census record shows her age being 115.  

Sarah died two years later on February 18, 1912, at the age of 117, at the home of her daughter Josephine Wilson.  Her funeral took place at the Eighth Street Baptist Church and she was buried in an unmarked grave at Rose Hill Cemetery.  

Her age comes into question in a few places, being noted as 112, 116, 120 and 123, though it was definite that she was very probably the oldest woman in the United States when she died.  

Granny Hafford watched so much history happen around her, born into circumstances that she had no control over and finding herself a free woman so many years later.  I can't imagine what her life must have been like.  The stories that she had to tell.

She does not have a headstone in Rose Hill Cemetery as of yet.  I hope that someday she will.  She deserves to be remembered as much as anyone else.

Thank you Granny Hafford for your amazing life.  Rest in Peace. 

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RESOURCES:

Monroe County History Center - February March 2018 Newsletter

WikiTree - Sarah (Unknown) Hafford

Mounty County Timeline - Most Significant Events in Topic "African Americans"

 Welcome to another Grave Spotlight of the Month.  February is Black History Month, so I thought that I would spotlight Andrew Ferguson this month.

Andrew Ferguson was born on in July of 1765 (though this could have been 1760) in Dinwiddie County, Virginia as a child of free black parents.  He was the son of Andrew Peeleg Ferguson and an unnamed mother.  It is not known if he had an siblings, though it is assumed that he did.  As you can see, there is a discrepancy with his birthdate, this is because the Sons of the American Revolution chapter in Bedford, Indiana decided that his birth year was 1765.  Now, it is also odd that this chapter of the SAR also decided that he was buried in Bedford, Indiana.  There is no information for him being buried in Bedford anywhere that I have found.

 Andrew served with his father in the Revolutionary War, noting in his pension application that they were both taken prisoners by the British and whipped with a "cat o'nine tail" and attempted to be pressed into service for the British.

Father and son managed to escape British capture and joined the American soldiers, willing to serve in the fight against the British, though other places note that he was drafted into the Continental Army.  Whichever it was, Andrew served as a private in the Continental Army for over five years under General Green and later under Captain Harris, both for the Virginia Colony.  

He fought many battles between 1780 and 1781 including those at Brandywine, Kings Mountain and Cowpens, being wounded a number of times, though the worst wound was one to the head while fighting against Lord Cornwallis' troops at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina.  Due to this wound, a silver plate, reportedly made from hammered silver coins, was placed in his head which required several months of recuperation and finally discharge, in which is returned home to Virginia in 1781.  Records are somewhat confusing here because he is also listed as having fought in the Siege of Ninety Six and Battle of Eutaw Springs, though both of these were in mid 1781, it is likely that he fought in these battles and then was discharged. 

Between this time and census records dated between 1820 and 1830, his life his just bits and pieces  He worked for a while in North Carolina, briefly returned to Virginia and then moved to Southern Indiana.  He settled in Vincennes before moving to Bloomington.  He shows up around this time in Bloomington, Indiana.  The editor of the Bloomington Courier, a local newspaper, described him a "greatly liked".  To keep himself occupied, he performed odd jobs around the town.

While in Vincennes, he applied for his pension but was denied because he was a black man.  In August 1838, he applied for pension for his service again while working odd jobs around the town.  

On August 20, 1844, he married Jane "Jenny" Murphy and they lived together in a log cabin on what is now South Lincoln Street. As you can see in the marriage records, both of their last names are spelled differently.  It was said that they could not legally be married, assumedly because they were black, so their marriage was witnessed by and signed by John M. Young and IU Mathematics professor John M. Harney.  They agreed to live together and that when he passed, his property would pass to her. I find this information interesting as they clearly were listed in the marriage records of the county.  

On January 8, 1851, he applied for bounty land at the age of 96 years old.  This was denied, so he applied again in 1855.  In May of 1856, he was granted 160 acres of land.  Unfortunately, Andrew Ferguson had passed away on October 1, 1855.  Note that the ages and dates make his age at the time of death as 90 years.  

His wife had died a week prior to his death and there were no children.  A letter was sent along with the refused land grant certificate explaining his demise as well as that of his wife and children.  It is also noted that Mr. Ferguson and his wife were living as paupers at the expense of the county.

Andrew's name is noted on a monument at the Battle of Kings Mountain as "The other Ferguson", so he would not be confused with Major Patrick Ferguson. 

For many years, his grave went unmarked in Rose Hill Cemetery.  In 1984, the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a marker in the Old Spencer Addition for him.  There is no burial information for his wife Jenny.  It is possible that she is buried near him in the Old Spencer Addition, but as there are no records for her burial, this is just a guess.

Rest In Peace, Andrew Ferguson.

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The Bloomington Herald Times February 1, 2008 and February 15, 2023

Daughters of American Revolution - Honoring Our Patriots Andrew Ferguson

The Times-Mail, Bedford, Indiana March 11, 2018

South Carolina 250 - Andrew Ferguson

American Revolutionary Museum - Andrew Ferguson 

National Park Service - African American Patriots at the Siege of Ninety Six

Gaston Gazette - The Other Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain

Revolutionary War Pension records - Andrew Ferguson 

Reporter Times March 11, 2018

Indiana Historical Society - Early Black Settlements