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14 Wharfside StreetCharleston, SC 29401
Museum open 10am to 5pm (last entry 4:00 PM) Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Monday.
14 Wharfside Street — Charleston, SC 29401
Jun 26, 2018
Stephney Gaillard was born near Eutawville, St. Johns, SC about 1846. His father was Pompey Jenkins. Both Stephney and his father Pompey were enslaved by Eugene Gaillard.
Stephney married Bess Clark on 15 December 1868 at the Jake Rush Place near Eutawville, SC. Together they had twelve children. At the time the pension claim was filed, there were only three minor children of Stephney and Bess living – Criss Gilliard, Ellen Gilliard, and Sarah Gilliard. Criss was born 21 October 1892, Ellen was born 16 March 1895, and Sarah was born 4 July 1897 (another witness states Criss was born October 1883, Ellen was born March 1885, and Sarah was born July 1892).
Stephney died on 20 June 1897 by drowning in the Santee River. Bess, Stephney’s widow, died 28 Aug 1898 (another witness states she died 5 August 1899).
Stephney Gaiiliard’s discharge certificate shows him to be 5-feet 6-inches tall with black complexion, eyes, and hair. His occupation, when he enlisted, was that of a farmer.
Stephney Gaillard served as a private in Company E, 104th USC Infantry under the command of Capt. R.W. Davis. He enrolled on 19 April 1865 to serve three years or during the war. He was dischared 2 October 1865 at U.S. General Hospital, Hilton Head, SC by reason of physical disability.
After the deaths of her parents, daughter Emma Butler filed for a pension as guardian of her three younger siblings. The pension application, filed under the Act of June 27, 1890, was assigned certificate #749800. A pension of $12 per month was approved, commencing November 28, 1910.
Summary of statements of R.B. Buttler and Ella Gibbs, 26 January 1911: They were well acquainted with the family of Stephney Gaillard and knew he had not left a child or children by another other marriage than Ellen and Sarah who were under the age of 16 when the claim was filed. They knew his family for 20 years or all of their life.
Summary of statement of Emmiline Gilliard, 3 January 1911: She was 90 years old at the time of her statement. She performed the work of a female attendant to the three children of Bess Gilliard, the wife of Stephney Gillaird – Criss Gilliard, Ellen Gilliard, and Sarah Gilliard. Criss was born 21 October 1892, Ellen was born 16 March 1895, and Sarah was born 4 July 1897.
Summary of statements of Emma Brasy and Robert Butler, 28 December 1910: They were present at the funeral of Bess Gilliard, the wife of Stephney Gilliard. She died 28 August 1898. Emma also testified she was present at the marriage of Stephney Gilliard and Bess Gilliard.
Summary of statements of Patrick Frashier and Emma Brasy, 14 January 1911: They were both present at the marriage of Stephney Gilliard to Criss [Should be Bess] Gilliard. They were married 15 December 1868 at Jake Rush Place near Eutawville, SC and they knew both Stephney and his wife before and after their marriage.
Summary of statements of Sypio Jenkins and Lewis Langston, 23 March 1911: They saw the body of Stephney Gilliard after he was dead. They knew he had died by drowning in the Santee River on 20 June 1898. They knew there was no inquest about the death.
Summary of statements of Archie Sweeper and Albert Sweeper, 14 January 1911: They both saw the body of Stephney Gilliard after he was dead and knew he died by drowning on 27 June 1898 in the Santee River near Eutawville, SC. His death was accidental. They were both at his funeral and he was buried on 29 June 1897.
Summary of statement of Jake Green, 8 February 1911: He was well acquainted with Stephney Gaillard before and during the Civil War and he knew Stephney had never served prior to 19 April 1865 or after 2 October 1865. He knew Stephney was born near Eutawville, SC on Eugene Gilliard’s place. He knew Stephney was about 23 when he enlisted. He was a farm laborer. He described Stephney as having black eyes, brown hair, black complexion, and a curly thumb on his right hand (cut off at middle joint).
Summary of statement of statement of Emma Butler, next friend of Criss, Ellen and Sarah Gaillard, 25 November 1910: She reported Stephney Gaillard enlisted in Company E, 104th Regiment, USC Infantry Volunteers. He died 20 June 1897 and left a widow – who died 5 August 1899 – and three children, Criss, Ellen, and Sarah Gaillard. Also appearing were Geo. W. Creech and Robert Butler who had known Emma Butler for 3 and 14 years respectively.
Summary of statement of Emma Butler, next friend of the children of Stephney Gaillard, 12 December 1910: She knew Stephney Gaillard enlisted at Hilton Head, SC on 19 April 1865 in Company E, 104th Regiment USC Infantry Volunteers. She knew he died on 27 June 1897 and that his widow died on 5 August 1899. She knew his three children were Criss – born October 1883, Ellen – born March 1885, and Sarah – born July 1892. Emma reported the children’s mother was married to Stephney Gaillard on 14 October 1870 at Hilton Head, SC.
Summary of statements of Emma Brasy and Emma Butler, 8 February 1911: They knew the correct name of the soldier was Stephney Gilliard and swore that neither he nor his wife had ever filed a claim for pension.
Summary of statement of Samuel Legree, 3 March 1911: He was well acquainted with Stephney Gilliard and knew his name was Stephney Gilliard, not Stephen Gilliard.
Summary of statement of Henry Fuller, 3 March 1911: He knew the name of the soldier was Stephney Gilliard and not Stephen Gilliard.
Summary of statements of Albert Sweeper and Archie Sweeper, 3 January 1911: Albert was present and saw Stephney Gilliard after his death and knew he had died by drowning in the Santee River. Archie also reported he was also present and saw Stephney Gillard after his death.
Summary of statements of Patrick Frashier and Emma Brasy, 14 January 1911: They were well acquainted with Stephney Gaillard’s family and knew his children, Ellen and Sarah Gaillard, were living at the time of their statements. They saw the children frequently and would have known if either of them had died.
Summary of statement of Emma Brasy, 3 March 1911: She was well acquainted with Stephney Gaillard and the mother of his children from the date of their marriage to the date of his death. She knew they lived together as husband and wife during all that period and were never divorced from one another.
Summary of statement of Sipyo Jenkins, 3 March 1911: He was well acquainted with Stehpney Gaillard from the date of his marriage to the mother of his children until the date of his death. He knew they lived together as man and wife and were never divorced from one another.
Summary of statement of Emma Butler, 9 September 1912: She was the wife of Robert Butler. She was the claimant in the case of Stephney Gaillard. Stephney Gaillard was her father. Her mother’s name was Bess. She understood her parents were married but one time, soon after her father came home from the army. The had twelve children in all. She was the oldest living child at the time of her statement. There were two children, Peter and Dinah, older than she was. Peter was the oldest child, Dinah was two years older than Emma. She knew her father was a Gaillard slave and had the name Gaillard during slavery. After the war, she stated he used the name Jenkins. All his children were named Jenkins. She was Emma Jenkins until she married Butler. Her mother’s maiden name was Clark. Her parents lived together until he died by drowning in the Santee River while on a fishing trip. His body was recovered and he was buried near Eutawville, SC. Four people drowned at the same time – Boat Wright, Ed James, George Sweeper, and her father. There was only a year between the deaths of her parents. She said she was told she was born in March. She reported her sister, Sarah, was 16 in July 1912, and that she was married with no children. Both her parents were black. Stephney was able to read and write.
Summary of statement of Emma Butler, 30 October 1912: Her sister, Sarah, was called Mamie for short. Her father was buried at the river, just where he was drowned. They put some boards around him and covered him up. He had no coffin.
Summary of statement of M.T. Felder, 10 September 1912: He knew Emma Butler had filed a claim. He was her 6th cousin. He knew Emma’s father, Stephney Jenkins, in slave time. Stephney was a Gilliard slave and titled after his master. After freedom, Stephney titled himself Jenkins after his father, Pompey Jenkins, whom M.T. knew well. He knew Stephney was a soldier He returned home after the war and lived there until he drowned in the Santee River. M.T. well remembered when Stephney married Bess Clark. She was his first and only marriage. They lived as man and wife until Stephney’s death. M.T. knew Bess from when she was a girl. He knew the three children for whom the pension was claimed, Criss, Ellen, and Sarah. He stated Sarah was “not bright by a long ways.” She had always made her home with Emma Butler. He knew Stephney had been dead for 15 years at the time of this statement and that his wife died the following year.
“I helped beat the rice for his wedding, and I saw him married to Bess Clark” —— statement of Patrick Frazier
Summary of statement of Patrick Frazier, 10 September 1912: He knew Emma Butler all her days. He knew she took the three youngest children and raised them after the death of their mother. Their names were Criss, Ellen, and Sarah. He stated that Sarah never had all that was coming to her and that she was simple-minded and had very weak eyes. He knew their father, Stephney Jenkins, ever since Patrick was a small boy and that Stephney was single when they first met. He said he helped beat the rice for his wedding and he saw Stephney and Bess get married. Bess Clark was his step-sister. They were brought up in one house. He knew Stepney drowned in the Santee about 16 years before his statement and that his wife died a year later. His daughter, Sarah, was born about a month after he drowned.
Summary of statement of Emaline Gilliard, 10 September 1912: She was the widow of Eugene Gilliard. She knew Emma Butler all of her life. She was the granny at Emma’s birth. Emma’s grandmother was Emaline’s aunt. She knew Stephney Gilliard all his life and that he was a Gilliard slave but did not belong to her master. She knew he was titled Gilliard in slave time but later changed his name to Jenkins after his father, Pompey Jenkins. She and Pompey Jenkins were first cousins. After freedom, she reported, Stephney married Bess Clark. He lived with Bess until he drowned in the Santee River. She stated that Sarah was foolish and not steady at all. Her eyes were bad and she was almost blind. She was never a bright child. Criss, Ellen, and Sarah were all children of Stephney and Bess Gaillard. She reported that Emma Butler raised Sarah and gave her a home ever since Sarah’s mother died. Emaline attended the wedding of Stephney and Bess, at Bess’s home. (A very bright woman for 90.)
Summary of statement of Emma Brasey, 9 September 1912: She reported she was a Gilliard slave when the war broke. Stephney Jenkins was her brother and Pompey Jenkins was their father. She stated they were all titled Gilliard in slave time and then, after the war, were titled Jenkins after their father. Stephney was black and had on blue clothes when he came home from the war. His first and only wife was Bess Clark. She was at their wedding and knew neither of them had been previously married. She knew Bess before Bess was old enough to marry. She knew Criss, Ellen, and Sarah were three of their children, the youngest. She knew all of their children were born in wedlock.
Summary of statement of Robert Butler, 9 September 1912: He was the husband of Emma Butler. He was well acquainted with Criss, Ellen, and Sarah. He married their sister and knew they were all the children of Stephney and Bess Gaillard. He married into the family 18 years before his statement. He knew Stephney was a Gilliard slave but that ever since Robert first met him, Stephney was called Stephney Jenkins. He knew Stephney had drowned in the Santee River about 15 years before his statement. He helped hunt for the body but was not present when the body was found. He knew Sarah was born 4 July. He knew Stephney’s wife died a little over a year after he was drowned.
Summary of statement of Peter Gilliard, 30 October 1912: He knew Emma Butler’s father was Stephney Jenkins and that Stephney belonged to his father. He knew Stephney drowned with three others in the Santee River on Peter’s plantation. He knew old Stephney and his wife, Bess, and remembered the condition she was in at the time of Stephney’s drowning. She was pregnant and had to remain at home. She was not permitted to join in the search for her husband. Her child, Mamie [Sarah] was born after Stephney drowned.
Summary of statement of Henry Fuller, 10 September 1912: He knew Emma Butler all her life. He first knew her father, Stephney Jenkins, in slavery days. He was a Gilliard slave. He did not know if Stephney had been a soldier but he remembered he did go off to join the army. He was titled Gilliard after his master but after freedom was titled Jenkins, after his father Pompey Jenkins. Henry knew Stepheney right up until the time he drowned in the Santee River. Stephney only had one wife, Bess Clark. He knew Bess from when she was a girl. He was not at their wedding.
Summary of statement of Samuel Legree, 10 September 1912; He had always known Emma Butler. He was about her second cousin. He was well acquainted with Stephney Jenkins and never knew him by any other name. He knew that Criss, Ellen, and Sarah were Bess Jenkins children, born while Stephney was her husband. He knew Sarah was born a short time after her father drowned and that she was an idiot and almost blind. The children all lived with Emma after their mother died and Sarah was living with Emma at the time of his statement.
Summary of statement of Ellen James, 10 September 1912; Her husband was William James. Stephney and Bess Jenkins were her parents. Emma was her sister. Ellen stated she could read a little and that she could not write. She stated her sister, Sarah, could work a little if someone were with her. Sarah was the youngest child of all her siblings. She stated she could count her own money with little trouble.
Summary of statement of Sarah Jenkins, 10 September 1912: She stated she was the youngest child of Stephney and Bess Jenkins. She said she could not tell paper money but knew silver. She could not tell time by watch or clock. She could not read or write. She stated there were five days in a week. She didn’t not know what month 4 July was in. She could not add simple numbers. She did not know how many months are in a year. She stated she could do any kind of work if someone showed her.
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