Samuel Mims

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 22 2018, 17:34:26 UTC

https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/mims/1211/

SAMUEL MIMS (BENJAMIN3, THOMAS2, THOMAS1) was born c 1742 in Albemarle Co VA, and died Aug 30, 1813 in Killed at Ft. Mims AL massacre.He married HANNAH BRADY 1788 in prob Spanish Mobile, AL.She was born c 1768, and died Aft. 1820 in prob Baldwin Co AL.

Samuel Mims was born about 1742 in VA, but during the 1750s, his father took the family to Anson County NC where Samuel grew up. In Oct 1767, he received a grant of 75 acres on Marks Creek in Anson Co. (Hofmann, 23) At the Oct 1774 Court in Anson Co NC, a deed from John James to Samuel Mimms was acknowledged. [how and when was this property sold?]

With the American Revolution beginning in 1776, a young unmarried man in his 30s was a prime candidate for military service. One person has stated that Samuel served with Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, in SC but there is no Samuel Mims in the list of men who served under Marion. According to Randy Willis, in 1777, the state of NC was predominantly Tory and required an oath of allegiance. Those who refused to take the oath had to leave the state within 60 days. Perhaps Samuel Mims left home under these circumstances. Since Anson Co NC was on the state boundary with South Carolina, he could have easily ventured into SC or GA. Pickett stated that Samuel was "one of the pack-horsemen of the Honorable George Galphin." (Pickett, 528) Galphin established a home and settlement near Savannah GA and died about 1780. Perhaps Samuel Mims had found his way into GA working for Galphin.

In 1779, the part of Anson Co where the Mims lived was taken to form Richmond Co NC. When Samuel's father Benjamin wrote his will in 1783 in Richmond Co NC, he made a younger son, Thomas, the executor of the estate. This confirms that Samuel was probably not residing in the area.

By early 1787, he was settled in the Mobile area. On Feb 27 1787, he received a land grant from the Spanish governor. (TYR; Mims) On Oct 22 1787, he received land on the Tombigbee River. (Hahn, 7) In that year, he was also included in the Spanish census of the Tensaw District. His age was given as 45 and he was unmarried. (TYR) Just 2 years later, in the 1789 Spanish census, Samuel was listed as age 47 and married with his wife's age given as 22. (TYR) Throughout his adult life, Samuel was active in land transactions, buying and selling land and receiving grants up to the year he died.

About 1788, Samuel married Hannah Brady (Bready, various spellings), probably in the Mobile area. He was about 26 years her senior, making quite a difference in their ages! They had at least 6 children. Mims and his family settled on their plantation north of Mobile on Lake Tensaw, a mile east of the Alabama River in present-day Baldwin Co AL. By 1797, Mims had a ferry across the Alabama River (Pickett, 461).

Though Mims had a plantation north of Mobile, he also owned property in town. In Aug 1796 in the city of Mobile, Mims was granted land on Royal Street in Mobile. (Hahn, 2) Sometime after 1801, Samuel, "an inhabitant of Tensaw River," bought land in Mobile for "560 silver dollars in Indian corn" from the estate of John Turnbull & Co. (Hamilton, 318) In 1804, he sold some Mobile lots to "Bready, his brother-in-law, who built a fine house." (Hamilton, 309) This is the only reference that I have found which gives the maiden name of Samuel's wife Hannah. Further research of Mobile records should be made for other property owned by Mims.

In 1805, the Federal Military Road was cut through the land of the Creek Indians to Mims' Ferry on the Alabama River. The Federal Road coursed diagonally through Alabama from near present day Columbus GA to Mobile, running approximately parallel to the Alabama River from Tuskegee.

Samuel Mims is included in the 1810 Baldwin Co, Mississippi Territory census: 3 males > 21[Samuel 68, who?, who?] 4 males < 21[Joseph 20, Alexander 16, David 13, who?] 1 female > 21 [Hannah 42] 1 female < 21 [Prudence 10] and 33 slaves.

Samuel must have been a prosperous farmer and acute businessman to have accumulated 33 slaves and to manage his various land holdings.

About 1809, the older children began to marry. Harriet married Benjamin Smoot about 1808; Sarah married Dennison Darling before 1810; and Joseph married Jane O'Neal about 1811.

The 1813 Baldwin Co AL voters list includes Samuel Mims Sr, Samuel Mims Jr [who is this?], and Joseph Mims. (TYR)

When the War of 1812 began, the British supported Indian depredations against the whites. The Mims residence was fortified with a stockade which surrounded the Mims home, various out-buildings and cabins, and included a blockhouse and stout gates. (Pickett, 528, 529) By 1813, with Ft. Mims offering some protection, other settlers poured into the area, including militia and their officers. By August 1813, over 550 people were living in and around the fort. On August 30, 1813, a group of Creek Indians attacked the fort, killing nearly everyone and setting fire to the buildings. It was reported that 553 whites had been killed, but a burial detachment found only 247 bodies. It was assumed that many others had been carried away by the Indians. Only about 3 dozen people escaped the massacre. A detailed account of the massacre is given by Pickett. Samuel Mims, his aged brother David Mims, his son David, and other relations were among those who were slaughtered. Samuel's brother David was shot through the neck and then scalped. Massacre survivors included Alexander Mims (probably son), Joseph Mims (son), Mrs. David Mims Sr, and David Mims Jr (maybe son of murdered David Mims). (Canerossi)

However, Samuel's wife Hannah survived. When so many were murdered, how did Hannah survive?The 3 Mims daughters (two of them married) were spared the ordeal. Perhaps Hannah and the girls were not at the Fort that day, but were in Mobile or on their own farms.

Widow Hannah and son Joseph were included in the 1816 Baldwin Co AL tax list of property and the 1816 census of the area. The 1816 census lists: 3 males > 21, 2 males < 21, 1 female > 21 [Hannah 48], and 1 female < 21 [Prudence 18] along with 31 slaves.

In November 1819, Joseph filed a claim on behalf of Samuel's estate for the loss of the Mims property at the massacre. The list included a framed dwelling house ($1000), 1 spinning house, 1 kitchen and smoke house, 3 horse stables, 2 corn houses, 1 weaving house, 1 blacksmith shop and tools, 1 feather bed, 100 head of sheep killed, 21 horses ($1120), 200 hogs, 415 stock cattle killed ($2490), 1 work ox, 1 negro man named Anthony age 22, 1 negro man named Cooley age 45, 1 pair handmill stones, and 3 riding saddles for a total value of $7220. At the bottom of the claim was written, "We do swear that we were acquainted with the property of Samuel Mims, Senr deceased, who was killed at his own house, called Fort Mims, and that we do believe the above account of losses sustained by means of the Indians to the above." Signed by Joseph Mims, John Pierce, and Edward Stedham. (Lackey, 31)

The 1820 Baldwin Co AL census lists "H. Mims" with 2 males > 21, 1 male < 21, and 1 female > 21 [Hannah 52], and 22 slaves.

After the horror of the Ft. Mims massacre, Hannah and her family continued their lives. It is not known where or where she died. Of their children, daughter Harriet married and lived nearby, son Joseph migrated to Brazoria Co TX in the early 1820s, daughters Sarah and Prudence married. It is not known what happened to son Alexander. In Pickett, Samuel Mims is described as "a wealthy Indian countryman," and other members of the family are identified as being Indian. (Pickett, 464, 528) It is not known to this researcher how the family included Indian heritage.

The site of the historic Ft. Mims was marked by the Ft. Mims DAR Chapter in 1959 and again in 1998. The marker can be found off Highway 59 near Tensaw, AL.

References Hofmann, Margaret. Colony of NC 1765-1775, Abstracts of Land Patents, Vol 2. p 23. Hahn, Marilyn. Old St. Stephen's Land Office Records 1768-1888. p 2, 7, 14, 38, map. Hamilton, Peter. Colonial Mobile, 1897. p 309, 318, 346, 369, 370. Lackey, Richard S. Frontier Claims in the Lower South, 1977. p 27, 30-31. McBee Collection. Anson County NC Abstracts of Early Records, Vol 1. p 96. Mims, Sam. Leaves from the Mims Family Tree, 1961. p 31-33. Pickett, Albert and Thomas Owen. History of Alabama and Incidentally Georgia and Mississippi, 1900. p 461, 464, 528-543. Southerland, Henry D. and Jerry Brown. The Federal Road. p 40, 68. Walker, Alyce. Alabama, A Guide to the Deep South. (map locating Ft. Mims, plate VII) Willis, Randy. "Joseph Willis and General Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox." www.rootsweb.com/~larapide/bits/swampfoxandjosephwillis.htm Internet sites: Tracking Your Roots (TYR): www.trackingyourroots.com George Gauphin: www.duesouth.net/~granbooks/bihs.html George Gauphin: www.ourgeorgiahistory.com/indians/Creek/creek02.html Ft. Mims information: http://home.att.net/~ftmimsdar/http://home.att.net/~ftmimsdar/ www.canerossi.us/ftmims/ Researched and written by Ann Blomquist. 11/2002