Lee-Walker 100th Reunion Discussed In Interview

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Following up a story Litter Media did July 10th about the 100th anniversary of the Lee-Walker Reunion, we interviewed Rochelle McNorton and Jeff Ragland about the fascinating history behind their family stories, as to how they came to Ohio after being freed as slaves in 1844 Virginia.

SEE OUR INTERVIEW BELOW:

The century meeting of the Lee-Walker Reunion will be on September 3, 2023, at the Bell Manor, located on 739 Musgrove Road, in Chillicothe, Ohio.  

The Early years in Virginia:  The early family history of the Lee reunion starts in the early 1800s in Orange Court House, Orange County Virginia on the Thacker Vivion Webb plantation. Orange County is in the Piedmont area of Virginia (VA) and is approximately eighty-eight miles south of Washington DC. The Thacker V. Webb plantation is in the, Somerset area of Orange County.  See picture above. Next door to the Webb plantation is the Montpelier plantation. The owner was the 4th US President, James Madison. Thacker Webb’s property was a small farm compared to Montpelier which enslaved over five hundred people. 

On the 1830 Orange County, Virginia Census, on the Webb farm, there was one free white male ages 50-59 (Thacker Webb), and thirty-one slaves. On the 1840 census, there was one free white male ages 60-69 (Thacker Webb) and forty-eight slaves. Eighteen slaves are employed in agriculture and four slaves are employed in manufacture and trade. Early crops in Virginia were corn and wheat. Tobacco was the major cash crop and the most common crop grown in Virginia. The 1840 Virginia census was the last census where the Lee family and other families were enslaved. 

The Orange County courthouse recorded the death of Thacker V. Webb on or near August 28,1843. Thacker Webb had committed suicide. Thacker Webb never married. There were no free white male heirs. Thacker Webb in his will manumitted all fifty-six slaves and all future increases (children) on his farm. Dr. Charles Webb, Thacker V Webb’s brother was the executor of the will. In his will, $4000 was divided between the fifty-six slaves to buy land. 

The journey from Orange County, Virginia to Jackson County, Ohio: Virginia legislators passed a law in 1806 that required freed slaves to leave Virginia within one year or face re-enslavement. The legislators voted to allow the manumission only if the freed slaves moved out of Virginia. Dr. Charles Webb, following that law, hired an agent named William Moore to take the emancipated slaves to a non-slave-owning state. My ancestors walked from Orange County, VA through Kentucky and continued to walk the Kanawha trail to the city of Point Pleasant, West Virginia (WV) located on the Ohio River. In Point Pleasant, WV, the families crossed the Ohio River to the city of Gallipolis, OH onto Jackson County, OH where they settled. The Ragland emancipated slaves freed during this period probably took the Kanawha trail to Ohio. 

Their journey per John Milton Lee (second generation Lee) started on September 8, 1844 in Virginia arriving in Point Pleasant WV on October 18, 1844. Today, the distance from Orange County, VA to Point Pleasant WV is 332 miles or about 5 hours, 35 minutes by car. 

William Moore purchased their land in Franklin Township, Jackson County from the money in the Webb will.  

 

Ohio Underground Railroad and the Lee Family:  Historically, there was one Underground Railroad route which started in Virginia ending in southern Ohio. After crossing the Ohio River at Gallipolis, OH, the ex-slaves/runaways would have followed a trail through Mount Point Pleasant to Porter, to Rio Grande, and then to Thurman all in Gallia County. Continuing to Berlin Cross Roads (Berlin X Roads) in Jackson County. From Jackson County, ex-slaves, or/runaways crossed into Ross County and traveled thru Richmond Dale (Quaker settlement) and then northeast of Chillicothe through Springfield Township and finally through Pickaway County at Dresbach Station to stations east of Columbus and then to points north where underground operators helped them. The 56 Webb farm emancipated slaves, settled in RichmondDale, Springfield, Chillicothe, Berlin CrossRoads, Jackson County, and other towns along the Ohio Underground Railroad.  Many families had homes near the area named after their surname, called “Lee Hollow”.  See the above picture. 

Legacy of the Lee Family Reunion: The first Lee-Walker Reunion met in Urbancrest, Ohio on September 16, 1923. The Reunion has continued to meet annually in Ohio (1983 in Alabama) in September since 1923. 

Invitations: Descendants of the fifty-six emancipated people/families from the Thacker V Webb plantation. Here is a brief list of the family surnames from the 1850 Jackson County, Ohio census records: Lee, Walker, Valentine, Carter, Ragland. Jones, Bell, Wingo, Gilmore, Hill, Tanner, Craddick (Cradic), Harrison, Hall, Webb. 

Directions: Visit the Lee Reunion website (below) 

Time: Sunday, September 3, 2023 (luncheon) future dates for other historical tours and activities to be announced later 

Lee Reunion Website: https://leereunion.info 

CONTACT INFORMATION: 

Lee Reunion Assistant Secretary:  Jill Ellen Ragland, 196 East Fourth Street, Chillicothe, OH 45601 – Email address: jilleragland777@gmail.com 

Lee Reunion President:  Stacey Ragland Email-  smraglandgolf@yahoo.com