Just as the hit Broadway musical, Hamilton tells the very compelling and complex story of the founding of America, The Lillard Project: African American Families, seeks to tell the very compelling and complex foundational story of the Lillard Family in America, both black and white. And yes, there are some intriguing parallels between the two stories (not to reach too far, LOL). Just as George Washington appears in Hamilton, he also appears in the Lillard Family Story. There is slavery and freedom in Hamilton, just as there is in the Lillard Family Story. There is a pretty important character named Eliza in Hamilton. (Eliza was Alexander Hamilton's faithful wife, "the best of wives and women!") So, too, there is a very illustrious Eliza in the African American Lillard Family Story. Let the spotlight fall on Eliza Lillard, the first African American female with a recorded birth record bearing the surname Lillard! Our Eliza was, born c. 1795-1797 in Missouri, a Spanish controlled territory at the time. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to uncover other parallels, while I proceed with the Lillard Family Saga.
From its very inception, Lillards, both black and white, have helped to build this great nation of ours. Lillards, both black and white, have made unique and invaluable contributions and singular sacrifices which have helped fashion America into the nation that she is today. So, in many ways, the story of the Lillard Family is the story of America in microcosm. And the story of America, "from sea to shining sea," is a brilliant reflection, in fascinating and myriad ways, of the rich story of the Lillard Family, both black and white.
One of the most invaluable resources for understanding and appreciating the aspirations, struggles, and achievements of African American Families in Colonial and Antebellum America is the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. The NMAAHC provides a great background and context for further appreciating the saga of African American families, especially those with the surname Lillard in America.
Any understanding of the story of African American Lillard Families would be incomplete without some understanding of the story of the White Lillard Families in America, as the two stories are interconnected at particularly important historical times and locations.
The early white Lillard Family came from Europe was based primarily in the Southern United States. The earliest Lillard Family roots were initially planted in Colonial Virginia.
There are, basically, two white Lillard Family traditions relating to the arrival of the Lillard Family in America:
One tradition states the Lillard ancestors were Welshmen, natives of Wales, who emigrated directly from England. (See statements by Col. Benjamin F. Lillard, John Turner Lillard, and James Lillard III found in LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 4-5.) English records show the name Lillard (or some variation such as Lollard, Lilliard, etc.) was found in England in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries in London, Nottingham, and Lincolnshire. There is, also, some traditon that places Lillards in Scotland in the sixteenth century (LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc. pp. 6-9.)
The second [French] tradition says the Lillard Family arrived in America directly from France, Huguenots seeking religious freedom, stemming from the French Wars of Religion, and pursuing new opportunities in, what was then known in Europe as "the New World." [LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 1-4. See also Appendix A, a reprint of pages 1-39 of Lillard: A Family of Colonial Virginia, as published in 1928 by Jacques Ephraim Stout Lillard; ibid., Vol. 2, David Lillard, pp. A-1 to A-22.]
In support of the French origins tradition, Micaela Lillard Brown, a descendant of Walter Huston Lillard, states all [white] Lillards "descend from Moise Lillard of France, a Huguenot." [October 15, 2016, New Orleans, LA.] See Moise Lillard, WikiTree.com.
According to records, Moise [Moses] Lillard (b. about 1645, in Maine, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France) was the son of Jasper Lillard (b. about 1615, in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de Loire, France). Jasper Lillard was a Huguenot. In 1665, Moise Lillard married Lilli Balssa(s), (b. about 1650), the great aunt of Honore de Balzac, the famous French novelist and playwright. The children of Moise Lillard and Lilli Balssa(s) Lillard were Moise Lillard II (b. about 1666), Jean (John) Lillard (b. about 1667), and Benjamin Lillard (b. about 1669). WikiTree.com WhereGenealogistCollaborate
Jean (John) Lillard and Benjamin Lillard later emigrated to America about 1685 to escape the religious persecution of Huguenots in France, and settled in Virginia. Jean (John) was about 16 or 17 years old at the time, while Benjamin was around 15. They are believed to have landed near Fredericksburg, and later moved to the Richmond area, where they settled along the James River. According to tradition, it is believed that Benjamin drowned in this river.
About 1700, Moise Lillard's son, Jean (John) Lillard anglicized his name to John Lillard. He married Mildred Jones on Nov. 3,1699, and they had a son, Benjamin Lillard (b.1701). Mildred died around 1720. John and his son Benjamin moved to Prince William County, VA, near present day Manassas, VA. John Lillard later married Martha Littlejohn. John and Martha had one daughter, Sarah. John Lillard died Feb. 20, 1734 in Prince William, VA.
In 1724, Benjamin Lillard married Elizabeth Lightfoot, daughter of William Lightfoot and cousin of "Light Horse Harry" Lee. The children of Benjamin and Elizabeth were James Lillard (b. 1725), married Kesiah Bradley; Thomas Lillard (b. about 1726), m. Anne?; Nancy Lillard (b.1730); Moses Lillard (b. 1735), m. Molly Field; John Lillard (b. 1737), m. 1st Susanna Ball, 2nd Anne Moore; William Lillard (b. 1739), m. Anne?; Sarah Lillard (b. 1745), m. Augustine Bradley; Elizabeth Lillard, m. Lawrence Bradley; Benjamin Lillard, m. 1st Francis Crow, 2nd Elizabeth Hensley.
[Note from Joan James: The first reference of the Lollard (Lillard) name came under King Henry V of England when Thomas Lollard was knighted for his gallantry in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. (The battle is the centerpiece of Shakespeare's historical play, Henry V.) During the English invasion of France in 1420, Sir Thomas Lollard was supposed to have met a French lady of genteel birth. This romance led to their marriage. Subsequently, Sir Thomas Lollard decided not to return to England and gave up his knightly rights. In addition, he changed his name to from Lollard to Lillard. Thomas Lillard lived in the town of Samur on the Loire River. There are about four generations between Thomas Lillard and his direct descendant Jasper Lillard.
Jasper Lillard was a vine grower, and owned and operated a line of boats up and down the Loire River from Angers, France to Nantes and Tours. Jasper married a Miss Isaacs (about 1635) in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de Loire, France. Miss Isaacs gave up her religion and became a Protestant to marry Jasper Lillard, who was a devout Huguenot.] See Jasper Lillard (about 1615 - 1702), WikiTree.
An example of the French Lillard origin tradition can be found in this Lillard Family Tree posted online hosted by WebRing.
The debate regarding which origin tradition is correct continues to this day. Further genealogical research is required to determine the actual European origins of the Lillard Family, where they emigrated from, and when they actually first arrived in America. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 1-3.)
The first well-documented records of the Lillard Family in America places them in Culpeper County, VA in the early 18th century, around the 1720's. (Culpeper County, named in honor of Thomas Culpeper, was formed from Orange County.) This early generation of Lillards from Culpeper County, VA consisted of Benjamin Lillard, James Lillard, John Lillard, Moses Lillard, Thomas Lillard, and William Lillard. It is widely believed that they, in turn, would produce all of the major branches of the white Lillard Family found in the United States today. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p.16.)
Records from the period indicate that, of these six original Lillard brothers of this early generation from Culpeper County, VA, three (50%) were slave owners, and three (50%) appear to have had no recorded involvement in slave purchasing, ownership, nor selling. This compares to one in four (25%) of free families in the fifteen slave states of the Southern United States who owned slaves in 1860.
From Culpeper County, VA the Lillard Family grew in number, and some members, and their descendants migrated primarily to North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Others would later migrate primarily to Arkansas, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, and California. (See Lillard Name Distribution map.)
America Lillard, an African American female who resided in Stanford, Kentucky, was born in Kentucky around 1809 (according to the 1870 United States Census). Her name, America, says it all, because African American Lillards have been an integral part of the story of America since the Colonial Period.
While there are over 14 documented instances of African Americans with the surname Lillard born before 1820, the earliest known is that of Eliza A. Lillard. According to the 1870 United States Census, Eliza A. Lillard, mulatto, was born about 1796-1797 in Missouri, during a time before the Missouri Territory (formerly known as the Louisiana Territory) was even a part of the United States. (The Missouri Territory became a part of the United States with President Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. Missouri, officially, became the 24th state of the Union in 1821.) In 1870, Eliza A. Lillard resided in Quincy, Illinois.
Jerry Lillard, African American, born about 1798 in Tennessee, is listed as a farmer residing in Cocke County, TN., according to the 1870 U. S. Census. Litty Lillard, African American, born about 1800 in Virginia, is listed as residing in Rutherford County, TN. Seale Lillard, African American, born about 1801 in Virginia, resided in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1870. Willis Lillard, African American, born in Kentucky, resided in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1870.
The 1880 United States Federal Census shows Jim Lillard (James Lillard), born about 1846, (and likely ancestor of NBA superstar Damian Lillard), residing with his wife, Queen Lillard, in District 7, Rutherford County, Tennessee, along with their three children Houston Lillard, Fanny Lillard, and Jimmy Lillard.
A descendant of the Lillard Family of Bowling Green, Kentucky posted on Ancestry.com that Dave Lillard was an African American from Jamestown, VA. Dave Lillard's wife, Cecelia was born in 1800 in Jamestown, VA. The Lillards and Marshalls of Bowling Green, Kentucky have also, similarly, posted this information on Genealogy.com. Former slaves, Dave and 'Mother Cecelia' Lillard, were very religious individuals, so much so, that they started a church in their own home in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Today, that church is known as the Cecelia [Lillard] Memorial Presbyterian Church, named in honor of its founder and patroness, Cecelia Lillard, "A Very Blessed Lady".
During the Colonial Period (1607-1775), and the Antebellum Era , the period in the South prior to the American Civil War (1789-1860), there were a number of African American contacts and associations with the white Lillard Family in the Southern United States. Before discussing these associations, however, some historical context would be helpful.
The first 19 or so Africans arrived ashore in Colonial Virginia near Jamestown, VA in 1619, brought by Dutch traders who had seized them from a captured Spanish slave ship. The Spanish usually baptized slaves in Africa before embarking them. As English law considered baptized Christians exempt from slavery, these Africans joined about 1,000 or so, Englishmen already in the colony, not as slaves, but as indentured servants.
In the very early years of Colonial Virginia, most white laborers came from Britain as indentured servants, who signed contracts of indenture to work for a specified period (often four to seven years) to pay for their upkeep and training, as well as passage to the colony. They very often worked on farms, as the colonies were predominantly agricultural. These indentured servants tended to be young people who looked forward to starting a new life in the colony as permanent residents. Some masters treated them as family members. Other masters were not so benevolent. In some cases, convicted criminals were transported to the colonies as indentured servants, rather than being imprisoned.
Historians estimate that more than half of all white immigrants to the English colonies of North America during the 17th and 18th centuries came from Europe as indentured servants. The number of indentured servants among immigrants was particularly high in the South. However, there is a very strong Lillard Family tradition that says the Lillards arrived in America seeking religious freedom, and new opportunities to prosper, as well as, to elevate their position in the world.
The early colonists of Virginia treated the first Africans in the colony as indentured servants. They were freed after a stated period, just like white indentured servants, and were given the use of land and supplies by their former masters. After gaining their freedom, some became property owners. The historian Ira Berlin noted that what he called this 'charter generation' was sometimes made up of mixed-race men who were indentured servants, and whose ancestry was African and Iberian. They were descendants from African women, and Portuguese and Spanish men who worked in African ports in occupations connected to the slave trade.
The wealthier planters, however, found that the major problem with indentured servants was that they left after several years, just as they had become skilled and the most valuable workers. In addition, an improving economy in England in the late 17th and early 18th century meant fewer workers chose to emigrate to the colonies. There followed a gradual transformation of the legal status of some Africans in Virginia from that of indentured servitude to slavery.
There were no laws regarding slavery early in Virginia's history. But in 1640, the Virginia Governor's Council sentenced a black indentured servant named John Punch, to serve his master for the rest of his life as punishment for attempting to escape his indenture. It was not uncommon for indentured servants, both white and black, to runaway from their masters for a variety of reasons, including unfair, abusive, or harsh treatment by their masters; failure of the master to adhere to their contractual obligations; and a desire of the indentured servants to obtain their freedom. Historians consider John Punch, the first documented lifetime slave in Virginia. His case is considered a milestone in the development of slavery in the United States.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, many of the enslaved people of color in America did not consider themselves as "slaves,' or property. Some had even come from royal backgrounds in their African homelands. (See Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South, Terry Alford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2007; and African Kings and Black Slaves: Sovereignty and Dispossession in the Early Modern Atlantic, Herman L. Bennett, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2018.)
Even though they may have been legally defined as "slaves" by the laws of their jurisdictions at the time, many held fast to the following conviction: "I will never give up, nor surrender to a slave mentality. I will always keep striving for freedom. Nobody owns me. They may have captured my body, however, my mind and my spirit belong to me! I have not been broken. I still believe in myself and in my God. I was stolen. The thief has not convinced me that they own me, no matter how hard they have tried. I am not a slave. I am a human being, just as all human beings, created in the image of God. I am not, nor will I ever be an inferior, nor another's slave. My Heavenly Father is still on the throne, sitting high and looking low. He will hear my cry for freedom and deliver me."
By the time of the founding of the United States, even though there were free persons of color present, the status of slave was largely limited to Africans and persons of African descent. However, this did not stop African Americans from fighting in the American Revolutionary War.
Crispus Attucks (c. 1723-March 5, 1770), an African American, was the first death of the Boston Massacre of 1770, and is widely considered to be the first American casualty of the American Revolutionary War.
Because of manpower shortages, George Washington lifted the ban on African American enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. African American units were formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Many slaves were promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from Haiti with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause, some with George Washington.
One of America's most prominent Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, Gen. George Washington's Chief-of-staff, First Secretary of the Treasury, and co-author of the Federalist Papers, was committed to ending slavery. Biographer Ron Chernow stated that Hamilton was a fervent abolitionist. Historian Manning Marable says Hamilton "vigorously opposed the slave trade and slavery's expansion."
Even with the status of many African Americans in the American colonies changed from that of indentured servitude to slavery (primarily for economic, financial and commercial reasons), there remained many free African Americans throughout the Antebellum Era in both the North and the South. Of all 1,515,605 free families in the fifteen slave states in 1860, nearly 400,000 held slaves (roughly one in four, or 25%), amounting to 8% of all American families.
According to official documents from the Antebellum Period, some African Americans were held in bondage as slaves by some members of the white Lillard Family in the Southern states during the period of American Slavery, while other members of the white Lillard Family had no direct involvement with enslaving African Americans.
The first recorded mention of African Americans and the white Lillard Family is in connection with James Lillard, a white Colonial Period Lillard Family person, who was born in Virginia around 1725. James Lillard lived in Bromfield Parish, Culpeper, VA. Prior to September 1759, James Lillard married Kesiah Bradley, daughter of Lawrence Bradley. James Lillard owned over 200 acres of land in Culpeper County, VA in 1761.
By 1783, slavery had become entrenched as a legal practice in the state of Virginia, and James Lillard had, by then, acquired several 'Negro' slaves. The property tax list for that year noted he possessed 1 slave over 16 years, and 3 young slaves. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc. p. 39.)
James Lillard died sometime after June 2, 1804. In his will he bequeathed to his wife, Kesiah, two negro slaves, Simon and Betty. Bequeathed to his daughter, Milly Layton was one negro woman named Bridget. Bequeathed to his son, William was one negro boy named Davie, about 17 years old. Bequeathed to his grandson, Augustine was one negro boy named Joe. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 40-41.)
[See, also, James Lillard (1725 - 1804) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
Captain John Lillard was born in Virginia. The first recorded reference of him is in 1754. He was a white landowner in Culpeper County, VA, and resided in the Parish of Bromfield on Hughes' River. John Lillard married a young lady named Susanna on Dec. 22, 1758. Her surname was, perhaps, Ball. However, confirmation of which Ball family this may have been has not been verified.
Captain John Lillard fought in the American Revolutionary War. He served as a Captain commanding a company of Virginia militiamen from Culpeper County. Captain John Lillard is known to have served during 1776 and 1777. He received payments in 1778. Lillard Family tradition has it that Captain John Lillard may have been a personal acquaintance of George Washington, and that Lillard's wife, Susanna, may have been a Washington cousin. [Early in his career, beginning in 1749, George Washington, the future first President of the United States, worked as a professional land surveyor. He eventually became the official surveyor of the newly-formed Culpeper County, VA. In that capacity, he may have had first contact with the Lillard Family of Culpeper.] Whether Captain John Lillard was related to Washington through marriage has not be verified.
Captain Lillard's company appears to have seen action along with Gen. George Washington's army during the Philadelphia Campaign, when American troops faced the British Army under the command of the Gen. William Howe in the fall of 1777. In September 1780, it appears John Lillard supplied 41 1/2 bushels of rye, and in December, 1781 provided some 250 pounds of beef to the American Army during the Revolution.
Following the Revolutionary War, Captain John Lillard left Culpeper County, VA and moved over the Appalachian Mountains to the Lincoln District in the western region of Virginia to an area that would later become the state of Kentucky. He and his family settled in the area around Ft. Harrod, the first permanent settlement in the state of Kentucky, (present day Harrodsburg, Mercer County). Captain Lillard acquired treasury warrants which enabled him to purchase hundreds of acres of land in Mercer County, in the area of the Salt River.
Captain John Lillard prospered in Kentucy, becoming a wealthy man by the standards of the day. In addition to possessing land, he was also a distiller. Captain John Lillard appears to have joined the Baptist Church on Salt River. Among it's members in 1798, there also appears to be listed Lillard's Pat, a slave. The Mercer County Tax List for 1795 listed John Lillard as possessing, among other inventory, 18 slaves.
Captain John Lillard's will (Office of the County Clerk, Harrodsburg, KY) listed inventory and property, including the following:
Negro Man named James
Negro woman named Sary & 2 children
Negro Garl named Fanner
Negro Boy named Ben
Negro Garl named Nelly
Negro Man named Aaron
(See LILLARD: A Family of Colonia Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. II, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p.799.)
Captain John Lillard died May 30, 1801. He was buried on Joseph Lillard's Farm on the Salt River in Kentucky in an area now known as Wilkinson Farm. [See John Lillard (1737 - 1801) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
(See, also, a biography of Capt. John Lillard descendant, E. W. Lillard, Mercer County, Kentucky, Kentucky Kindred Genealogy, Dec. 2, 2011.)
Captain Benjamin Lillard was born in Culpeper, VA. In 1774 he married Frances Crow at the 'Old Glebe' near Bethel Meeting House in Culpeper. Benjamin Lillard originally lived in Culpeper County,VA, but later moved to Madison County, VA (which was formed from Culpeper County).
Benjamin Lillard was a white landowner, businessman, and local official. He was also a Captain in the Revolutionary War. Captain Benjamin Lillard commanded a militia company from Culpeper, VA. His brother, Capt. John Lillard, also commanded a militia company in the Revolutionary War. Captain Benjamin Lillard was active in the War in 1780 and during nearly all of 1781. He fought with Gen. Nathanael Greene's Army in the Southern Campaign against the British in the Carolinas, and at the Battle of Cowpens.
It appears likely Capt. Benjamin Lillard was present during the siege and surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his Army at the Siege of Yorktown, VA in 1781, which culminated in final American victory, and the successful conclusion of the Revolutionary War.
In addition to being an officer during the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Lillard, also, furnished supplies to the American Army, including 39 gallons of brandy to the Colonial forces in 1780. After the Revolution, Benjamin Lillard was commissioned a Justice of the Peace for Culpeper County, VA. His commission was signed by Benjamin Harrison, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.
According to official documents from the period, Capt. Benjamin Lillard was also an owner of slaves. Various period records, and court litigation documents show that, at one time or another, he held in his possession the following slaves:
Will, a Negro man
Nane, a Negro woman
Gabriel, a Yallow boy, son of Nane
Nan, a Negro woman
George, male slave, son of Nan
Clary, female slave, daughter of Nan
Barnett, male slave, son of Nan
Milley, female slave, daughter of Nan
One female infant, daughter of Nan
Ursela, a Negro woman
(See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. II, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 1281, 1288, 1294.)
In addition, further court litigation documents in Virginia from May 1826 show the following persons in connection with Benjamin Lillard:
Dangerfield, one Negro man hired to Rowland Yowell
Sally, a Negro girl
(See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. II, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p. 1309).
Captain Benjamin Lillard died sometime between Nov. 6, 1828 and June 25, 1829. [See Benjamin Lillard (1740 - 1828) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
(See, also, Property Tax List of Culpeper County Virginia and Name of Slaves, 1783, listed in the notes below.)
According to Lillard Family tradition, Moses Lillard was born in Culpeper County, VA, but moved to Guilford County, NC shortly after the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). No records have been found of Moses having served in the Revolutionary War. Moses Lillard married a young lady by the name of Ellender (whose surname is unknown). The 1790 Census shows Moses Lillard as a white head of household, with his wife, one daughter, and six sons (one of whom was over sixteen years old). There are no records indicating that Moses Lillard ever owned any slaves. He died sometime after October 4, 1813. [See Moses Lillard (1735 - 1815) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
Thomas Lillard was born in Culpeper County, VA in 1792. His parentage has not been firmly established. It is likely he was a son or nephew of one of the heads of the major branches of the Lillard Family, i.e., Capt. Benjamin Lillard, James Lillard, Capt. John Lillard, Moses Lillard, Thomas Lillard, or William Lillard. According to Lillard Family tradition, Thomas Lillard was orphaned at an early age (perhaps between seven and ten years old), and had brothers and sisters.
As an orphan, Thomas Lillard grew up in Bourbon County, Kentucky, raised possibly by a neighboring family and perhaps a member of his mother's family, whose surname was Delaney. Thomas enlisted in the Kentucky Volunteer Militia in 1812 and fought in the War of 1812. Thomas Lillard participated in the winter campaign of Major General William Henry Harrison. He assisted in the building of Fort Defiance (Ohio), then the most forward fortification of the War, and furthest from supplies. Thomas Lillard also participated in the Battle of the River Raisin (aka the Battle of Frenchtown). Later, he participated in the decisive Battle of the Thames near Moraviantown, Ontario, Canada on October 5, 1813, where the power of the French and Indians was totally broken.
After his discharge from the military, Thomas Lillard was granted 160 acres of military bounty land for active service in the War of 1812, and returned to Bourbon County, Kentucky. In 1819, he left Kentucky as part of the great western migration and moved to the Missouri Territory. In 1820 he married Rhoda Patterson, daughter of the pioneer and Revolutionary soldier, John Patterson, Sr. and Keziah (Horneday) Patterson, his wife. Thomas and Rhoda Patterson Lillard lived in St. Louis County, Missouri, where Thomas worked as a stone mason and where six of their children were born.
In 1832, Thomas Lillard and his family moved to a farm in Calhoun County, Illinois, where the rest of his children were born. In 1857, the family moved, once again, to Garden Grove, Iowa. He died on his Iowa farm on April 16, 1881. There are no records indicting that Thomas Lillard was ever a slave owner.
[Alternate - There is another Thomas Lillard documented who was born in Culpeper, VA in 1726. See Thomas Lillard (1726 - 1814) WikiTree. No children are listed of his marriage to Anne Moore. It may be that he was an ancestor or relation to the Thomas Lillard cited above.]
William Lillard, one of the six original Lillard brothers in Colonial Virginia, was born in Culpeper County, VA. His wife's name was Ann. It is speculated that her maiden name was Nancy Anne Jenkins. Although not very much is known of William Lillard, it appears he was a very religious man. He is known to have owned three Bibles and a psalter.
It is believed that William Lillard was a minister of the (pre-Revolutionary War) Baptist Church. The Anglican Church was the official Church in Culpeper County, VA, where William Lillard lived (there being no separation of church and state in the colony, at that time). Those not attending the Anglican Church were subject to social opprobrium. Despite the religious repression exercised by the official church, the Baptist and Methodist faiths began to grow in the region. Though it involved a considerable risk, it appears that William Lillard was associated with one of the early Baptist churches in the area.
There are no existing records indicating that William Lillard participated in the Revolutionary War. However, William Lillard was a patriot, as indicated by a Commissioner's Certificate confirming he provided a gun and possibly other supplies to the American Army. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p. 534.)
Unlike his brothers, Capt. John Lillard and Capt. Benjamin Lillard, it appears William Lillard neither approved of, nor was involved in, slavery. According to the Personal Property Tax Lists for Culpeper County for the time, William Lillard owned no slaves, even though he held property consistent with the status of a middle class farmer. William Lillard died sometime between March and July of 1793. [See William Lillard (1739 - 1793) WikiTree.
Following the Emancipation, and the end of the American Civil War, many African American former slaves adopted the surnames of their former slave owners. Therefore, it is very likely that some African Americans with the surname Lillard are descendants of former slaves of the white Lillard Families of the Southern United States, especially those of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and adjacent states.
African Americans with the surname Lillard have been a vital part of the story of America since its beginning, including both the Colonial and Antebellum periods. (See 'Notables' page on this site.) At least 15 African Americans with the surname Lillard, including David Lillard and Walker Lillard, would enlist in, and fight along with, the United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War. In so doing, they would make important contributions to preserving the Union, abolishing slavery in the United States, and ultimately to the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, the Reconstruction Amendments, guaranteeing full United States citizenship rights for African Americans.
NOTE: Special acknowledgment for the sources of much of the information cited above include the following:
1790/ 1800 Virginia Tax List, Culpeper County, Binns Genealogy
Abramitzky, Ran; Braggion, Fabio, "Migration and Human Capitol: Self-Selection of Indentured Servants to the Americas", Journal of Economic History, 2006, 66 #4, pp. 882-905.
African Kings and Black Slaves: Sovereignty and Dispossession in the Early Modern Atlantic, Herman L. Bennett, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2018.
Abstracts of Virginia's Northern Neck Warrants & Surveys, Dunmore, Shenandoah, Culpeper, Prince William, Fauquier & Stafford Counties 1710-1780, Vol. III (Portsmouth, VA: By the compiler, 1986).
Alford, Terry, Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South, Oxford University Press, 2007.
Baird, H. M., The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, C. Scribner's Sons, 1895. (Available on Google Books.)
Ballagh, James Curtis, White Servitude In the Colony of Virginia: A Study of the System of Indentured Labor in the American Colonies, 1895.
Baptist, Edward E., The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, Basic Books, 2014.
Berlin, Ira, Generations of Captivity: A History of African American Slaves, 2003.
Brown, Sterling, "Negro Expressions: Spirituals, Seculars, Ballads, and Work Songs," Phylon, Winter 1953.
Chernow, Ron, (2004), Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Books.
Equiano, Olaudah, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, 1789. (Available on Google Books.)
Elkins, Stanley, Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life, University of Chicago Press, 1976.
Franklin, John Hope and Schweninger, Runaway Slaves: Rebels in the Plantation, 1999.
Galenson, David W. (March, 1981), "White Servitude and the Growth of Black Slavery in Colonial America', The Journal of Economic History, 41(1): pp. 39-47.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. and McKay, Nellie Y., The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Second Edition, W. W. Norton, 2004, 1997.
Grubb, Farley (December, 1994), "The End of European Immigrant Servitude in the United States: An Economic Analysis of Market Collapse, 1772-1835', The Journal of Economic History, 54 (4): pp. 794-824.
Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Various Artists, 2015, Hamilton Uptown, Licensed to Atlantic Recording Corp. Available on iTunes.
Hofstadter, Richard, America at 1750: A Social Portrait, Knopf, 1971, pp. 33-65.
"How Slavery Helped Build a World Economy", Jubilee: The Emergence of African American Culture, nationalgeographic.com
Jacobs, Harriet, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Dover, 2001 (originally published: Boston, 1861), A Slave Narrative
Jewett, Clayton E. and Allen, John O., Slavery in the South: A State-By-State History, Greenwood Press, 2004.
Knecht, Robert, The French Religious Wars, 1562 - 1598, Osprey Publishing, 2002.
Lillard, David Hicks, B.A., J.D., LL.M., LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1 & 2, B.A., J.D., LL.M., Southern Historical Press, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, 1991.
Lillard, Gerald F., A Compilation of Known Descendants of Thomas and Rhoda (Patterson) Lillard, A Pioneer Family of Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, 1950. (Available for viewing at FamilySearch.org.)
Lillard, Jacques Ephraim Stout, Lillard: A Family of Colonial Virginia, First Edition, 1928; Copyright renewed 1956.
Long-lost Identities of Slaves Uncovered in Old Virginia Papers - CNN
Marable, Manning, Living Black History: How Reimagining the African-American Past Can Remake America's Racial Future, Basic Books, 2011.
Miranda, Lin-Manuel and McCarter, Jeremy, Hamilton, The Revolution, Hachette Book Group, 2016, Produced by Melcher Media.
Mooney, Chase C., Slavery in Tennessee, Indiana University Press, 1957.
Property Tax List of Culpeper County Virginia and Names of Slaves, 1783 - files.usgwarchives.net.
Haley, Alex, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Doubleday, 1976, A novel.
'Settlers, Land Jobbers, and Outlyers: A Quantitative Analysis of Land Acquisition on the Kentucky Frontier", The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, 84 (Summer, 1986).
Thompson, James Westfall, The Wars of Religion in France, 1559 - 1576, The Huguenots, Catherine de Medici and Philip II, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1909. (Available on Google Books.)
"Tobacco in the American Colonies", Wikipedia
Various Property Records of Madison County, Virginia, Office of the County Court Clerk.
Virginia Historical Society, Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names
Walsh, Lorena S., "New Findings About the Virginia Slave Trade", research.history.org, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Whitehead, Colson, The Underground Railroad, Doubleday, 2016, A novel.
Wright, Gavin, The Political Economy of the Cotton South: Households, Markets, and Wealth in the Nineteenth Century, W. W. Norton & Co., 1978.
"Will of James Lillard, Senr.", April 15, 1804, Madison County Virginia, Will Book 2, Office of the County Court Clerk.
In addition, thanks go out to Ralph Emerson Lillard (July 3, 1932 - September 16, 2015), Lillard Family Patriarch, Secretary-Treasurer, and Director of the Lillards Family Association, whose extensive Lillard Family genealogical knowledge and generous assistance has been invaluable in furthering this research. Special thanks, also, go out to the Horace R. Lillard II and Rosetta Catherine Smith Lillard Family of Portsmouth, VA, to Carlton Lillard I, of Chesapeake, VA, for his tireless genealogical research, to Horace R. Lillard of Porstmouth, VA, Rev. Dr. Calvin A. Lillard of Chesapeake, VA, and to the Lillard-Beard Family of Columbus, Ohio for their invaluable contributions and support. Thanks, also, to Erik Thorson, Lillard Family descendant and genealogist, for his keen insights, and generosity of time, and knowledge of Lillard Family genealogy. Further gratitude goes out to Stewart Lillard, author, biographer, librarian, and scholar for his very insightful contributions to Lillard Family history and genealogy.
No history of the Lillard Family would be complete without acknowledging the groundbreaking, definitive work in the field, LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, in two volumes, by David Hicks Lillard, B.A., J.D., LL.M., Lillard Family genealogist and historian. Building on the earlier, pioneering work of Ephraim Stout Lillard, and Gen. Gerald Francis Lillard, U. S. Army, Retired, LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia is the most complete compilation of, primarily, white American Lillard Family genealogy and history currently available in print. These two volumes document the genealogy of the six original Lillard brothers of Culpeper County, VA, and their descendants, who form the foundation of the white Lillards in the United States today.
The genealogy and history of African American Lillard Families continues to be an ambitious work in progress, of which this brief portion is only a preliminary introduction.
From its very inception, Lillards, both black and white, have helped to build this great nation of ours. Lillards, both black and white, have made unique and invaluable contributions and singular sacrifices which have helped fashion America into the nation that she is today. So, in many ways, the story of the Lillard Family is the story of America in microcosm. And the story of America, "from sea to shining sea," is a brilliant reflection, in fascinating and myriad ways, of the rich story of the Lillard Family, both black and white.
One of the most invaluable resources for understanding and appreciating the aspirations, struggles, and achievements of African American Families in Colonial and Antebellum America is the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. The NMAAHC provides a great background and context for further appreciating the saga of African American families, especially those with the surname Lillard in America.
Any understanding of the story of African American Lillard Families would be incomplete without some understanding of the story of the White Lillard Families in America, as the two stories are interconnected at particularly important historical times and locations.
The early white Lillard Family came from Europe was based primarily in the Southern United States. The earliest Lillard Family roots were initially planted in Colonial Virginia.
There are, basically, two white Lillard Family traditions relating to the arrival of the Lillard Family in America:
One tradition states the Lillard ancestors were Welshmen, natives of Wales, who emigrated directly from England. (See statements by Col. Benjamin F. Lillard, John Turner Lillard, and James Lillard III found in LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 4-5.) English records show the name Lillard (or some variation such as Lollard, Lilliard, etc.) was found in England in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries in London, Nottingham, and Lincolnshire. There is, also, some traditon that places Lillards in Scotland in the sixteenth century (LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc. pp. 6-9.)
The second [French] tradition says the Lillard Family arrived in America directly from France, Huguenots seeking religious freedom, stemming from the French Wars of Religion, and pursuing new opportunities in, what was then known in Europe as "the New World." [LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 1-4. See also Appendix A, a reprint of pages 1-39 of Lillard: A Family of Colonial Virginia, as published in 1928 by Jacques Ephraim Stout Lillard; ibid., Vol. 2, David Lillard, pp. A-1 to A-22.]
In support of the French origins tradition, Micaela Lillard Brown, a descendant of Walter Huston Lillard, states all [white] Lillards "descend from Moise Lillard of France, a Huguenot." [October 15, 2016, New Orleans, LA.] See Moise Lillard, WikiTree.com.
According to records, Moise [Moses] Lillard (b. about 1645, in Maine, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France) was the son of Jasper Lillard (b. about 1615, in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de Loire, France). Jasper Lillard was a Huguenot. In 1665, Moise Lillard married Lilli Balssa(s), (b. about 1650), the great aunt of Honore de Balzac, the famous French novelist and playwright. The children of Moise Lillard and Lilli Balssa(s) Lillard were Moise Lillard II (b. about 1666), Jean (John) Lillard (b. about 1667), and Benjamin Lillard (b. about 1669). WikiTree.com WhereGenealogistCollaborate
Jean (John) Lillard and Benjamin Lillard later emigrated to America about 1685 to escape the religious persecution of Huguenots in France, and settled in Virginia. Jean (John) was about 16 or 17 years old at the time, while Benjamin was around 15. They are believed to have landed near Fredericksburg, and later moved to the Richmond area, where they settled along the James River. According to tradition, it is believed that Benjamin drowned in this river.
About 1700, Moise Lillard's son, Jean (John) Lillard anglicized his name to John Lillard. He married Mildred Jones on Nov. 3,1699, and they had a son, Benjamin Lillard (b.1701). Mildred died around 1720. John and his son Benjamin moved to Prince William County, VA, near present day Manassas, VA. John Lillard later married Martha Littlejohn. John and Martha had one daughter, Sarah. John Lillard died Feb. 20, 1734 in Prince William, VA.
In 1724, Benjamin Lillard married Elizabeth Lightfoot, daughter of William Lightfoot and cousin of "Light Horse Harry" Lee. The children of Benjamin and Elizabeth were James Lillard (b. 1725), married Kesiah Bradley; Thomas Lillard (b. about 1726), m. Anne?; Nancy Lillard (b.1730); Moses Lillard (b. 1735), m. Molly Field; John Lillard (b. 1737), m. 1st Susanna Ball, 2nd Anne Moore; William Lillard (b. 1739), m. Anne?; Sarah Lillard (b. 1745), m. Augustine Bradley; Elizabeth Lillard, m. Lawrence Bradley; Benjamin Lillard, m. 1st Francis Crow, 2nd Elizabeth Hensley.
[Note from Joan James: The first reference of the Lollard (Lillard) name came under King Henry V of England when Thomas Lollard was knighted for his gallantry in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. (The battle is the centerpiece of Shakespeare's historical play, Henry V.) During the English invasion of France in 1420, Sir Thomas Lollard was supposed to have met a French lady of genteel birth. This romance led to their marriage. Subsequently, Sir Thomas Lollard decided not to return to England and gave up his knightly rights. In addition, he changed his name to from Lollard to Lillard. Thomas Lillard lived in the town of Samur on the Loire River. There are about four generations between Thomas Lillard and his direct descendant Jasper Lillard.
Jasper Lillard was a vine grower, and owned and operated a line of boats up and down the Loire River from Angers, France to Nantes and Tours. Jasper married a Miss Isaacs (about 1635) in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de Loire, France. Miss Isaacs gave up her religion and became a Protestant to marry Jasper Lillard, who was a devout Huguenot.] See Jasper Lillard (about 1615 - 1702), WikiTree.
An example of the French Lillard origin tradition can be found in this Lillard Family Tree posted online hosted by WebRing.
The debate regarding which origin tradition is correct continues to this day. Further genealogical research is required to determine the actual European origins of the Lillard Family, where they emigrated from, and when they actually first arrived in America. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 1-3.)
The first well-documented records of the Lillard Family in America places them in Culpeper County, VA in the early 18th century, around the 1720's. (Culpeper County, named in honor of Thomas Culpeper, was formed from Orange County.) This early generation of Lillards from Culpeper County, VA consisted of Benjamin Lillard, James Lillard, John Lillard, Moses Lillard, Thomas Lillard, and William Lillard. It is widely believed that they, in turn, would produce all of the major branches of the white Lillard Family found in the United States today. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p.16.)
Records from the period indicate that, of these six original Lillard brothers of this early generation from Culpeper County, VA, three (50%) were slave owners, and three (50%) appear to have had no recorded involvement in slave purchasing, ownership, nor selling. This compares to one in four (25%) of free families in the fifteen slave states of the Southern United States who owned slaves in 1860.
From Culpeper County, VA the Lillard Family grew in number, and some members, and their descendants migrated primarily to North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Others would later migrate primarily to Arkansas, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, and California. (See Lillard Name Distribution map.)
America Lillard, an African American female who resided in Stanford, Kentucky, was born in Kentucky around 1809 (according to the 1870 United States Census). Her name, America, says it all, because African American Lillards have been an integral part of the story of America since the Colonial Period.
While there are over 14 documented instances of African Americans with the surname Lillard born before 1820, the earliest known is that of Eliza A. Lillard. According to the 1870 United States Census, Eliza A. Lillard, mulatto, was born about 1796-1797 in Missouri, during a time before the Missouri Territory (formerly known as the Louisiana Territory) was even a part of the United States. (The Missouri Territory became a part of the United States with President Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. Missouri, officially, became the 24th state of the Union in 1821.) In 1870, Eliza A. Lillard resided in Quincy, Illinois.
Jerry Lillard, African American, born about 1798 in Tennessee, is listed as a farmer residing in Cocke County, TN., according to the 1870 U. S. Census. Litty Lillard, African American, born about 1800 in Virginia, is listed as residing in Rutherford County, TN. Seale Lillard, African American, born about 1801 in Virginia, resided in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1870. Willis Lillard, African American, born in Kentucky, resided in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1870.
The 1880 United States Federal Census shows Jim Lillard (James Lillard), born about 1846, (and likely ancestor of NBA superstar Damian Lillard), residing with his wife, Queen Lillard, in District 7, Rutherford County, Tennessee, along with their three children Houston Lillard, Fanny Lillard, and Jimmy Lillard.
A descendant of the Lillard Family of Bowling Green, Kentucky posted on Ancestry.com that Dave Lillard was an African American from Jamestown, VA. Dave Lillard's wife, Cecelia was born in 1800 in Jamestown, VA. The Lillards and Marshalls of Bowling Green, Kentucky have also, similarly, posted this information on Genealogy.com. Former slaves, Dave and 'Mother Cecelia' Lillard, were very religious individuals, so much so, that they started a church in their own home in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Today, that church is known as the Cecelia [Lillard] Memorial Presbyterian Church, named in honor of its founder and patroness, Cecelia Lillard, "A Very Blessed Lady".
During the Colonial Period (1607-1775), and the Antebellum Era , the period in the South prior to the American Civil War (1789-1860), there were a number of African American contacts and associations with the white Lillard Family in the Southern United States. Before discussing these associations, however, some historical context would be helpful.
The first 19 or so Africans arrived ashore in Colonial Virginia near Jamestown, VA in 1619, brought by Dutch traders who had seized them from a captured Spanish slave ship. The Spanish usually baptized slaves in Africa before embarking them. As English law considered baptized Christians exempt from slavery, these Africans joined about 1,000 or so, Englishmen already in the colony, not as slaves, but as indentured servants.
In the very early years of Colonial Virginia, most white laborers came from Britain as indentured servants, who signed contracts of indenture to work for a specified period (often four to seven years) to pay for their upkeep and training, as well as passage to the colony. They very often worked on farms, as the colonies were predominantly agricultural. These indentured servants tended to be young people who looked forward to starting a new life in the colony as permanent residents. Some masters treated them as family members. Other masters were not so benevolent. In some cases, convicted criminals were transported to the colonies as indentured servants, rather than being imprisoned.
Historians estimate that more than half of all white immigrants to the English colonies of North America during the 17th and 18th centuries came from Europe as indentured servants. The number of indentured servants among immigrants was particularly high in the South. However, there is a very strong Lillard Family tradition that says the Lillards arrived in America seeking religious freedom, and new opportunities to prosper, as well as, to elevate their position in the world.
The early colonists of Virginia treated the first Africans in the colony as indentured servants. They were freed after a stated period, just like white indentured servants, and were given the use of land and supplies by their former masters. After gaining their freedom, some became property owners. The historian Ira Berlin noted that what he called this 'charter generation' was sometimes made up of mixed-race men who were indentured servants, and whose ancestry was African and Iberian. They were descendants from African women, and Portuguese and Spanish men who worked in African ports in occupations connected to the slave trade.
The wealthier planters, however, found that the major problem with indentured servants was that they left after several years, just as they had become skilled and the most valuable workers. In addition, an improving economy in England in the late 17th and early 18th century meant fewer workers chose to emigrate to the colonies. There followed a gradual transformation of the legal status of some Africans in Virginia from that of indentured servitude to slavery.
There were no laws regarding slavery early in Virginia's history. But in 1640, the Virginia Governor's Council sentenced a black indentured servant named John Punch, to serve his master for the rest of his life as punishment for attempting to escape his indenture. It was not uncommon for indentured servants, both white and black, to runaway from their masters for a variety of reasons, including unfair, abusive, or harsh treatment by their masters; failure of the master to adhere to their contractual obligations; and a desire of the indentured servants to obtain their freedom. Historians consider John Punch, the first documented lifetime slave in Virginia. His case is considered a milestone in the development of slavery in the United States.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, many of the enslaved people of color in America did not consider themselves as "slaves,' or property. Some had even come from royal backgrounds in their African homelands. (See Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South, Terry Alford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2007; and African Kings and Black Slaves: Sovereignty and Dispossession in the Early Modern Atlantic, Herman L. Bennett, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2018.)
Even though they may have been legally defined as "slaves" by the laws of their jurisdictions at the time, many held fast to the following conviction: "I will never give up, nor surrender to a slave mentality. I will always keep striving for freedom. Nobody owns me. They may have captured my body, however, my mind and my spirit belong to me! I have not been broken. I still believe in myself and in my God. I was stolen. The thief has not convinced me that they own me, no matter how hard they have tried. I am not a slave. I am a human being, just as all human beings, created in the image of God. I am not, nor will I ever be an inferior, nor another's slave. My Heavenly Father is still on the throne, sitting high and looking low. He will hear my cry for freedom and deliver me."
By the time of the founding of the United States, even though there were free persons of color present, the status of slave was largely limited to Africans and persons of African descent. However, this did not stop African Americans from fighting in the American Revolutionary War.
Crispus Attucks (c. 1723-March 5, 1770), an African American, was the first death of the Boston Massacre of 1770, and is widely considered to be the first American casualty of the American Revolutionary War.
Because of manpower shortages, George Washington lifted the ban on African American enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. African American units were formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Many slaves were promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from Haiti with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause, some with George Washington.
One of America's most prominent Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, Gen. George Washington's Chief-of-staff, First Secretary of the Treasury, and co-author of the Federalist Papers, was committed to ending slavery. Biographer Ron Chernow stated that Hamilton was a fervent abolitionist. Historian Manning Marable says Hamilton "vigorously opposed the slave trade and slavery's expansion."
Even with the status of many African Americans in the American colonies changed from that of indentured servitude to slavery (primarily for economic, financial and commercial reasons), there remained many free African Americans throughout the Antebellum Era in both the North and the South. Of all 1,515,605 free families in the fifteen slave states in 1860, nearly 400,000 held slaves (roughly one in four, or 25%), amounting to 8% of all American families.
According to official documents from the Antebellum Period, some African Americans were held in bondage as slaves by some members of the white Lillard Family in the Southern states during the period of American Slavery, while other members of the white Lillard Family had no direct involvement with enslaving African Americans.
The first recorded mention of African Americans and the white Lillard Family is in connection with James Lillard, a white Colonial Period Lillard Family person, who was born in Virginia around 1725. James Lillard lived in Bromfield Parish, Culpeper, VA. Prior to September 1759, James Lillard married Kesiah Bradley, daughter of Lawrence Bradley. James Lillard owned over 200 acres of land in Culpeper County, VA in 1761.
By 1783, slavery had become entrenched as a legal practice in the state of Virginia, and James Lillard had, by then, acquired several 'Negro' slaves. The property tax list for that year noted he possessed 1 slave over 16 years, and 3 young slaves. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc. p. 39.)
James Lillard died sometime after June 2, 1804. In his will he bequeathed to his wife, Kesiah, two negro slaves, Simon and Betty. Bequeathed to his daughter, Milly Layton was one negro woman named Bridget. Bequeathed to his son, William was one negro boy named Davie, about 17 years old. Bequeathed to his grandson, Augustine was one negro boy named Joe. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 40-41.)
[See, also, James Lillard (1725 - 1804) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
Captain John Lillard was born in Virginia. The first recorded reference of him is in 1754. He was a white landowner in Culpeper County, VA, and resided in the Parish of Bromfield on Hughes' River. John Lillard married a young lady named Susanna on Dec. 22, 1758. Her surname was, perhaps, Ball. However, confirmation of which Ball family this may have been has not been verified.
Captain John Lillard fought in the American Revolutionary War. He served as a Captain commanding a company of Virginia militiamen from Culpeper County. Captain John Lillard is known to have served during 1776 and 1777. He received payments in 1778. Lillard Family tradition has it that Captain John Lillard may have been a personal acquaintance of George Washington, and that Lillard's wife, Susanna, may have been a Washington cousin. [Early in his career, beginning in 1749, George Washington, the future first President of the United States, worked as a professional land surveyor. He eventually became the official surveyor of the newly-formed Culpeper County, VA. In that capacity, he may have had first contact with the Lillard Family of Culpeper.] Whether Captain John Lillard was related to Washington through marriage has not be verified.
Captain Lillard's company appears to have seen action along with Gen. George Washington's army during the Philadelphia Campaign, when American troops faced the British Army under the command of the Gen. William Howe in the fall of 1777. In September 1780, it appears John Lillard supplied 41 1/2 bushels of rye, and in December, 1781 provided some 250 pounds of beef to the American Army during the Revolution.
Following the Revolutionary War, Captain John Lillard left Culpeper County, VA and moved over the Appalachian Mountains to the Lincoln District in the western region of Virginia to an area that would later become the state of Kentucky. He and his family settled in the area around Ft. Harrod, the first permanent settlement in the state of Kentucky, (present day Harrodsburg, Mercer County). Captain Lillard acquired treasury warrants which enabled him to purchase hundreds of acres of land in Mercer County, in the area of the Salt River.
Captain John Lillard prospered in Kentucy, becoming a wealthy man by the standards of the day. In addition to possessing land, he was also a distiller. Captain John Lillard appears to have joined the Baptist Church on Salt River. Among it's members in 1798, there also appears to be listed Lillard's Pat, a slave. The Mercer County Tax List for 1795 listed John Lillard as possessing, among other inventory, 18 slaves.
Captain John Lillard's will (Office of the County Clerk, Harrodsburg, KY) listed inventory and property, including the following:
Negro Man named James
Negro woman named Sary & 2 children
Negro Garl named Fanner
Negro Boy named Ben
Negro Garl named Nelly
Negro Man named Aaron
(See LILLARD: A Family of Colonia Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. II, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p.799.)
Captain John Lillard died May 30, 1801. He was buried on Joseph Lillard's Farm on the Salt River in Kentucky in an area now known as Wilkinson Farm. [See John Lillard (1737 - 1801) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
(See, also, a biography of Capt. John Lillard descendant, E. W. Lillard, Mercer County, Kentucky, Kentucky Kindred Genealogy, Dec. 2, 2011.)
Captain Benjamin Lillard was born in Culpeper, VA. In 1774 he married Frances Crow at the 'Old Glebe' near Bethel Meeting House in Culpeper. Benjamin Lillard originally lived in Culpeper County,VA, but later moved to Madison County, VA (which was formed from Culpeper County).
Benjamin Lillard was a white landowner, businessman, and local official. He was also a Captain in the Revolutionary War. Captain Benjamin Lillard commanded a militia company from Culpeper, VA. His brother, Capt. John Lillard, also commanded a militia company in the Revolutionary War. Captain Benjamin Lillard was active in the War in 1780 and during nearly all of 1781. He fought with Gen. Nathanael Greene's Army in the Southern Campaign against the British in the Carolinas, and at the Battle of Cowpens.
It appears likely Capt. Benjamin Lillard was present during the siege and surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his Army at the Siege of Yorktown, VA in 1781, which culminated in final American victory, and the successful conclusion of the Revolutionary War.
In addition to being an officer during the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Lillard, also, furnished supplies to the American Army, including 39 gallons of brandy to the Colonial forces in 1780. After the Revolution, Benjamin Lillard was commissioned a Justice of the Peace for Culpeper County, VA. His commission was signed by Benjamin Harrison, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.
According to official documents from the period, Capt. Benjamin Lillard was also an owner of slaves. Various period records, and court litigation documents show that, at one time or another, he held in his possession the following slaves:
Will, a Negro man
Nane, a Negro woman
Gabriel, a Yallow boy, son of Nane
Nan, a Negro woman
George, male slave, son of Nan
Clary, female slave, daughter of Nan
Barnett, male slave, son of Nan
Milley, female slave, daughter of Nan
One female infant, daughter of Nan
Ursela, a Negro woman
(See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. II, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., pp. 1281, 1288, 1294.)
In addition, further court litigation documents in Virginia from May 1826 show the following persons in connection with Benjamin Lillard:
Dangerfield, one Negro man hired to Rowland Yowell
Sally, a Negro girl
(See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. II, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p. 1309).
Captain Benjamin Lillard died sometime between Nov. 6, 1828 and June 25, 1829. [See Benjamin Lillard (1740 - 1828) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
(See, also, Property Tax List of Culpeper County Virginia and Name of Slaves, 1783, listed in the notes below.)
According to Lillard Family tradition, Moses Lillard was born in Culpeper County, VA, but moved to Guilford County, NC shortly after the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). No records have been found of Moses having served in the Revolutionary War. Moses Lillard married a young lady by the name of Ellender (whose surname is unknown). The 1790 Census shows Moses Lillard as a white head of household, with his wife, one daughter, and six sons (one of whom was over sixteen years old). There are no records indicating that Moses Lillard ever owned any slaves. He died sometime after October 4, 1813. [See Moses Lillard (1735 - 1815) WikiTree - The Free Family Tree.]
Thomas Lillard was born in Culpeper County, VA in 1792. His parentage has not been firmly established. It is likely he was a son or nephew of one of the heads of the major branches of the Lillard Family, i.e., Capt. Benjamin Lillard, James Lillard, Capt. John Lillard, Moses Lillard, Thomas Lillard, or William Lillard. According to Lillard Family tradition, Thomas Lillard was orphaned at an early age (perhaps between seven and ten years old), and had brothers and sisters.
As an orphan, Thomas Lillard grew up in Bourbon County, Kentucky, raised possibly by a neighboring family and perhaps a member of his mother's family, whose surname was Delaney. Thomas enlisted in the Kentucky Volunteer Militia in 1812 and fought in the War of 1812. Thomas Lillard participated in the winter campaign of Major General William Henry Harrison. He assisted in the building of Fort Defiance (Ohio), then the most forward fortification of the War, and furthest from supplies. Thomas Lillard also participated in the Battle of the River Raisin (aka the Battle of Frenchtown). Later, he participated in the decisive Battle of the Thames near Moraviantown, Ontario, Canada on October 5, 1813, where the power of the French and Indians was totally broken.
After his discharge from the military, Thomas Lillard was granted 160 acres of military bounty land for active service in the War of 1812, and returned to Bourbon County, Kentucky. In 1819, he left Kentucky as part of the great western migration and moved to the Missouri Territory. In 1820 he married Rhoda Patterson, daughter of the pioneer and Revolutionary soldier, John Patterson, Sr. and Keziah (Horneday) Patterson, his wife. Thomas and Rhoda Patterson Lillard lived in St. Louis County, Missouri, where Thomas worked as a stone mason and where six of their children were born.
In 1832, Thomas Lillard and his family moved to a farm in Calhoun County, Illinois, where the rest of his children were born. In 1857, the family moved, once again, to Garden Grove, Iowa. He died on his Iowa farm on April 16, 1881. There are no records indicting that Thomas Lillard was ever a slave owner.
[Alternate - There is another Thomas Lillard documented who was born in Culpeper, VA in 1726. See Thomas Lillard (1726 - 1814) WikiTree. No children are listed of his marriage to Anne Moore. It may be that he was an ancestor or relation to the Thomas Lillard cited above.]
William Lillard, one of the six original Lillard brothers in Colonial Virginia, was born in Culpeper County, VA. His wife's name was Ann. It is speculated that her maiden name was Nancy Anne Jenkins. Although not very much is known of William Lillard, it appears he was a very religious man. He is known to have owned three Bibles and a psalter.
It is believed that William Lillard was a minister of the (pre-Revolutionary War) Baptist Church. The Anglican Church was the official Church in Culpeper County, VA, where William Lillard lived (there being no separation of church and state in the colony, at that time). Those not attending the Anglican Church were subject to social opprobrium. Despite the religious repression exercised by the official church, the Baptist and Methodist faiths began to grow in the region. Though it involved a considerable risk, it appears that William Lillard was associated with one of the early Baptist churches in the area.
There are no existing records indicating that William Lillard participated in the Revolutionary War. However, William Lillard was a patriot, as indicated by a Commissioner's Certificate confirming he provided a gun and possibly other supplies to the American Army. (See LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1, David Lillard, Southern Historical Press, Inc., p. 534.)
Unlike his brothers, Capt. John Lillard and Capt. Benjamin Lillard, it appears William Lillard neither approved of, nor was involved in, slavery. According to the Personal Property Tax Lists for Culpeper County for the time, William Lillard owned no slaves, even though he held property consistent with the status of a middle class farmer. William Lillard died sometime between March and July of 1793. [See William Lillard (1739 - 1793) WikiTree.
Following the Emancipation, and the end of the American Civil War, many African American former slaves adopted the surnames of their former slave owners. Therefore, it is very likely that some African Americans with the surname Lillard are descendants of former slaves of the white Lillard Families of the Southern United States, especially those of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and adjacent states.
African Americans with the surname Lillard have been a vital part of the story of America since its beginning, including both the Colonial and Antebellum periods. (See 'Notables' page on this site.) At least 15 African Americans with the surname Lillard, including David Lillard and Walker Lillard, would enlist in, and fight along with, the United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War. In so doing, they would make important contributions to preserving the Union, abolishing slavery in the United States, and ultimately to the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, the Reconstruction Amendments, guaranteeing full United States citizenship rights for African Americans.
NOTE: Special acknowledgment for the sources of much of the information cited above include the following:
1790/ 1800 Virginia Tax List, Culpeper County, Binns Genealogy
Abramitzky, Ran; Braggion, Fabio, "Migration and Human Capitol: Self-Selection of Indentured Servants to the Americas", Journal of Economic History, 2006, 66 #4, pp. 882-905.
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Abstracts of Virginia's Northern Neck Warrants & Surveys, Dunmore, Shenandoah, Culpeper, Prince William, Fauquier & Stafford Counties 1710-1780, Vol. III (Portsmouth, VA: By the compiler, 1986).
Alford, Terry, Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South, Oxford University Press, 2007.
Baird, H. M., The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, C. Scribner's Sons, 1895. (Available on Google Books.)
Ballagh, James Curtis, White Servitude In the Colony of Virginia: A Study of the System of Indentured Labor in the American Colonies, 1895.
Baptist, Edward E., The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, Basic Books, 2014.
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Franklin, John Hope and Schweninger, Runaway Slaves: Rebels in the Plantation, 1999.
Galenson, David W. (March, 1981), "White Servitude and the Growth of Black Slavery in Colonial America', The Journal of Economic History, 41(1): pp. 39-47.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. and McKay, Nellie Y., The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Second Edition, W. W. Norton, 2004, 1997.
Grubb, Farley (December, 1994), "The End of European Immigrant Servitude in the United States: An Economic Analysis of Market Collapse, 1772-1835', The Journal of Economic History, 54 (4): pp. 794-824.
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Hofstadter, Richard, America at 1750: A Social Portrait, Knopf, 1971, pp. 33-65.
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Jacobs, Harriet, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Dover, 2001 (originally published: Boston, 1861), A Slave Narrative
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Knecht, Robert, The French Religious Wars, 1562 - 1598, Osprey Publishing, 2002.
Lillard, David Hicks, B.A., J.D., LL.M., LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, Second Edition, Vol. 1 & 2, B.A., J.D., LL.M., Southern Historical Press, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, 1991.
Lillard, Gerald F., A Compilation of Known Descendants of Thomas and Rhoda (Patterson) Lillard, A Pioneer Family of Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, 1950. (Available for viewing at FamilySearch.org.)
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Virginia Historical Society, Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names
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"Will of James Lillard, Senr.", April 15, 1804, Madison County Virginia, Will Book 2, Office of the County Court Clerk.
In addition, thanks go out to Ralph Emerson Lillard (July 3, 1932 - September 16, 2015), Lillard Family Patriarch, Secretary-Treasurer, and Director of the Lillards Family Association, whose extensive Lillard Family genealogical knowledge and generous assistance has been invaluable in furthering this research. Special thanks, also, go out to the Horace R. Lillard II and Rosetta Catherine Smith Lillard Family of Portsmouth, VA, to Carlton Lillard I, of Chesapeake, VA, for his tireless genealogical research, to Horace R. Lillard of Porstmouth, VA, Rev. Dr. Calvin A. Lillard of Chesapeake, VA, and to the Lillard-Beard Family of Columbus, Ohio for their invaluable contributions and support. Thanks, also, to Erik Thorson, Lillard Family descendant and genealogist, for his keen insights, and generosity of time, and knowledge of Lillard Family genealogy. Further gratitude goes out to Stewart Lillard, author, biographer, librarian, and scholar for his very insightful contributions to Lillard Family history and genealogy.
No history of the Lillard Family would be complete without acknowledging the groundbreaking, definitive work in the field, LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia, in two volumes, by David Hicks Lillard, B.A., J.D., LL.M., Lillard Family genealogist and historian. Building on the earlier, pioneering work of Ephraim Stout Lillard, and Gen. Gerald Francis Lillard, U. S. Army, Retired, LILLARD: A Family of Colonial Virginia is the most complete compilation of, primarily, white American Lillard Family genealogy and history currently available in print. These two volumes document the genealogy of the six original Lillard brothers of Culpeper County, VA, and their descendants, who form the foundation of the white Lillards in the United States today.
The genealogy and history of African American Lillard Families continues to be an ambitious work in progress, of which this brief portion is only a preliminary introduction.
George Washington, the first President of the United States (1789-1797), the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. It is believed that Captain John Lillard and Captain Benjamin Lillard, of Culpeper, VA, both fought along side General Washington during the Revolutionary War, and perhaps may have been personal acquaintances.
Frederick Douglass, (c. February 1818 - February 20, 1895), leading American Abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman of the nineteenth century. After escaping from slavery, Douglass became a leader in the abolitionist movement, and gained notoriety as a famous orator in America, England, and Ireland. He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders' argument that African American slaves did not have the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Douglass' classic 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, was very influential in the cause to abolish American slavery. He was also instrumental in persuading President Abraham Lincoln to allow African American soldiers to fight with the Union Army during the U. S. Civil War. Over 178,000 African American soldiers fought with Union forces during the Civil War, including David Lillard and his brother, Walker Lillard. In addition, Frederick Douglass served as U. S. Minister and Consul-General to Haiti (1889-1891).
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States (1861-1865), also known as The Great Emancipator, issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, freeing 3.1 million American slaves held in the ten states that were still in rebellion during the U.S. Civil War. Federal records show that at least 15 African Americans with the surname Lillard fought with the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. President Lincoln successfully led the United States through the American Civil War, and in so during, preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the national government, and modernized the national economy. President Abraham Lincoln's actions and policies greatly improved the condition of African Americans in the United States in the nineteenth century, including those with the surname Lillard.
Horace R. Lillard I, (1900 - 1985), second from left, musician, bandleader, and entrepreneur of Beckley, West Virginia. The son of Rev. James Lillard (and Nina Mann), one of the Founding Fathers of African American Lillard Families. (See Horace Lillard Tree on this site.)