Elias Wills Napier owned the Napier Iron Works in Hohenwald, Tennessee. He emancipated numerous slaves in his 1848 will. One of them, a seamstress named Judy, was emancipated along with five of her children. At least one, William Carroll Napier, was a son of Elias. Because of the state laws at that time, Judy and her children moved to Ohio in order to keep their freedom. In his will, Elias stated: "In consideration of the confidence I have in the philanthropy and sterling integrity of my Executors, and confidential friends Robert McNeilly, Benjamin C. Robertson, and William H. Napier, who reside in the immediate neighborhood of my principle business, I particularly enjoin it upon them to have fully carried out all the requisites necessary to carry out my views and wishes in regards to the several slaves that I have emancipated in or out of the county of Dickson or state of Tennessee as the circumstances of their cases may require." Many other slaves, however, were sold.
His father was a Revolutionary War veteran, DAR Ancestor #A081496.
His father was a Revolutionary War veteran, DAR Ancestor #A081496.
Elias Wills Napier owned the Napier Iron Works in Hohenwald, Tennessee. He emancipated numerous slaves in his 1848 will. One of them, a seamstress named Judy, was emancipated along with five of her children. At least one, William Carroll Napier, was a son of Elias. Because of the state laws at that time, Judy and her children moved to Ohio in order to keep their freedom. In his will, Elias stated: "In consideration of the confidence I have in the philanthropy and sterling integrity of my Executors, and confidential friends Robert McNeilly, Benjamin C. Robertson, and William H. Napier, who reside in the immediate neighborhood of my principle business, I particularly enjoin it upon them to have fully carried out all the requisites necessary to carry out my views and wishes in regards to the several slaves that I have emancipated in or out of the county of Dickson or state of Tennessee as the circumstances of their cases may require." Many other slaves, however, were sold.
His father was a Revolutionary War veteran, DAR Ancestor #A081496.
His father was a Revolutionary War veteran, DAR Ancestor #A081496.
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