The Naming Project: Benjamin McDaniel

What We Know About Benjamin McDaniel

What we know of the beginning of Benjamin McDaniel’s life comes from documents created much later. A letter written by a Freeman’s Bureau representative in 1867 described McDaniel as “formerly a servant of President Madison.” [1] The 1870 census gave McDaniel’s age as 70. [2] When he died in 1875, his age was listed as 85.[3] This means that Benjamin McDaniel was born ca. 1790-1800, likely at Montpelier.

A family story passed down through McDaniel’s descendants identified him as a livery driver, who ensured that James Madison arrived on time to his inauguration as President.[4] While there is no surviving document naming the person who drove Madison to his inauguration, several documents reveal McDaniel as a driver and courier in other contexts.

Mentions at Montpelier

McDaniel was probably in his 20s when he first appeared in the documentary record for Montpelier, acting as a courier for Dolley Madison’s son John Payne Todd. Todd noted in his journal on January 3, 1820:

“sent Ben about twelve oclock to Stanardsville.”[5]

Stanardsville’s location, approximately 25 miles from Montpelier, suggests that McDaniel drove a wagon to carry out Todd’s errand. McDaniel likely drove the wagon again when he bought supplies for curing meat in 1829. Dolley Madison, who was in Richmond with James Madison during the Virginia State Constitutional Convention in December 1829, wrote to her brother John Coles Payne at Montpelier with instructions to buy pork to make bacon, rather than buying bacon ready-made, “as these people dont cure it as well as we wish to have it at home.” Dolley directed John later in the letter,

“Let Ben get ab^t. 3 p^d. saltpeter […] ½ gal. molasses, for the meat.”[6]

These were supplies typically used in making bacon; saltpeter was used to cure the meat, with molasses adding flavor.

The name “Ben McDaniel” appears in one other document from the 1820s. After Nelly Madison, mother of the retired president, died in February 1829, an estate sale was held on July 30, 1829, where McDaniel paid 50 cents for “2 pr. old Fire Dogs & broken pot.”[7] (“Fire dog” was another name for andiron.) The fire dogs may have been old, but McDaniel apparently saw this as an opportunity to acquire something useful at a good price. He may have earned the money by raising and selling chickens or vegetables or taking on odd jobs in his spare moments.

Nelly Madison’s 1829 estate sale included furniture, looking glasses, kitchen utensils, and livestock. Ben McDaniel bought “2 pr. old Fire Dogs & broken pot” for 50 cents. Courtesy of Library of Virginia.

Starting a Family

Benjamin McDaniel and Patsy Pierce probably married in the early 1830s. Their oldest child, James Madison McDaniel (generally called Madison McDaniel) was born ca. 1832. Their other children included Burwell McDaniel (born ca. 1847), William McDaniel (born ca. 1849), Sarah McDaniel (born ca. 1854), Milly McDaniel (born ca. 1859), and Mary J. McDaniel (birthdate unknown.) [8] Patsy, who appears to have been enslaved by another Orange County plantation owner, did not live at Montpelier. The McDaniel children likely lived with their mother Patsy.

Since marriages between enslaved people were not legally recognized, there was no official document to record Benjamin and Patsy’s marriage.  However, Orange County records from the late 19^th and early 20^th century, such as the marriage and death records of their children, list Benjamin and Patsy as parents, helping to reconstruct the family history.

Courier Duties

After the death of James Madison in 1836, Benjamin McDaniel continued to act as a courier for Dolley Madison and her son John Payne Todd. The name “Ben” appears twice on a statement of Todd’s account with Orange merchant Richard M. Chapman, in June 1837 and July 1839. The notations are cryptic, but seem to suggest that Ben was handling money and picking up supplies. ^[9]

While staying in Washington in May 1839, Dolley Madison sent “Ben” to pick up an unspecified item for her, carrying a note that read “Ben waits upon Captain Blackburn for the box.”^[10] (It is also possible that the courier in this case was Benjamin Stewart, who was born ca. 1825 and was enslaved by Dolley Madison until she sold him in 1843 or 1844.)

A Pass to New-Market

On Thursday, June 1, 1843, Dolley Madison wrote out a pass for McDaniel to make a lengthy trip:

“Please to let Benjamin M^cDaniel pass to D^r. Henkal’s in New-Market, Shenandoah County, V^a. and return on Monday or Tuesday next to Montpellier, for M^rs. Madison.”[11]

Was Benjamin McDaniel ill? Probably not. The Madisons usually turned to local doctors when enslaved people were in need of medical treatment, as when Dr. Charles Taylor treated Gabriel in 1817 and 1818. If Benjamin McDaniel had been sick enough to need treatment beyond what a local doctor could provide, he would likely have been too sick to drive a horse and wagon on a five or six day journey, covering over 50 miles each way.

The purpose of the trip may have been to pick up medicine for Dolley Madison. Dolley wrote to her friend Judith Walker Rives on July 1, 1843, that she had recently recovered from “Influenza, or violent cold, which lasted me two or three months—I am now well—”[12] If Dolley’s illness began in the spring, and she had not found relief from local doctors by the beginning of June, she may have contacted Dr. Henkel for another opinion and a prescription for different medicines.

The written pass would provide protection for McDaniel if he was stopped by slave patrollers or others who might challenge why he was traveling on his own, or who might suspect that he had escaped from enslavement. From Dolley Madison’s point of view, Benjamin McDaniel was clearly someone she trusted not to run away. From McDaniel’s point of view, as a man in his 40s with a wife and young children on another Orange County plantation, there was too much at risk to attempt an escape from slavery.

This pass for Benjamin McDaniel’s trip to New Market is the only surviving pass issued to a member of the enslaved community at Montpelier. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.

“Letters to Post Office”

Dolley Madison also sent Benjamin McDaniel on shorter errands to mail letters. A list of letters she sent in August and September 1843, with the heading “Letters to Post Office, Orange C. H.,” shows that her letters were mailed by Paul Jennings, Abraham, and “Ben Sen^r.” (likely a nickname to distinguish Benjamin McDaniel from the younger Benjamin Stewart). On August 11, Ben Sen^r. carried three letters to the post office for various family members, and on August 19, he mailed a letter from Dolley to her nephew James Madison Hite. [13]

On August 11, 1843, Ben Sen^r. made a trip to the post office in Orange Court House, carrying a letter from Dolley’s niece Annie Payne to Dolley’s niece Mary Cutts in Washington, a letter “from Philadelphia” to the wife of Dolley’s cousin Edward Coles, and a letter from Dolley’s sister Lucy Payne Todd to Lucy’s son in Kentucky. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

Suits and Judgments

Benjamin McDaniel, along with the rest of the enslaved community, was caught up in legal proceedings when Dolley Madison and her son John Payne Todd were sued by various creditors in the 1840s. One such creditor was William Smith, the holder of a promissory note for $2,600, which Dolley Madison had given to her son in 1841. Todd endorsed the note to Smith, but did not make the payment as promised. In 1844, Smith sued Dolley Madison for the value of the note.[14] To ensure that Dolley would pay Smith, the Orange County Court placed a lien on 16 people whom Dolley enslaved, on July 1, 1844:

“Executed upon the following slaves to wit Thom, Nicholas [Jr], Ben, Vilett, Edward, Willoughby, Mathew, Gabriel, Milly and 4 children namely, Hannah, Jim, Randol &, Milly, Charlott & her two children to wit Elizabeth & Caty”[15]

Less than three weeks later, Dolley Madison gave John Payne Todd all the people she enslaved, a strategy that was probably intended to prevent them from being sold to cover this debt, or any other debt that might become the basis for a lawsuit. She made the transfer with two deeds dated July 16 and 17, 1844. “Ben Sr.” was listed in the July 17 deed, and was apparently the only man named Ben whom Dolley enslaved at that point.[16] Since Dolley had sold Benjamin Stewart by 1844, it appears that Benjamin McDaniel was the man listed in the deed of transfer and in the William Smith lawsuit.

Being transferred to John Payne Todd, however, meant that Benjamin McDaniel was now in danger of being seized and sold for Todd’s debts. In October 1844, Richard Chapman won a lawsuit against John Payne Todd for unpaid debts at Chapman’s store totaling more than $400.  On March 29, 1845, the sheriff carried out the judgement by placing a lien

“upon one Negro man named Ben, One Negro man named Tidle One Negro Man named Ellick, and one Negro Man named John.”[17]

Perhaps in response to this legal action (or other pending suits), John Payne Todd made out a list of 36 enslaved people in his journal, in between entries dated April and May 1845. He included the four men named on the court order in the Chapman lawsuit – “Benj^A.”, Tydal, Ellick, and John – although he did not group them together. The list did not include any valuations, but the timing suggests that Todd was contemplating the human assets who might be seized to pay his debts.[18]

The sheriff does not appear to have physically taken Ben and the other three men into custody; they probably remained at Toddsberth (John Payne Todd’s plantation in Orange County) for the time being. To resolve the debt, Todd used Ben, Tydal, Ellick, and John as security for the bond he gave Chapman on May 22, 1845. The four enslaved men’s names were filled in by hand on the printed bond form. The standard printed text stated that the sheriff “hath taken the following property” (the enslaved men) but that Todd (whose name was filled in), “being desirous of keeping the same in his possession until the day of sale thereof,” would present the men to be sold at the courthouse on the appointed date, which was filled in as the fourth Monday of May 1845. [19]

“One negro man named Ben” was among the enslaved people slated to be sold to settle John Payne Todd’s debt, according to the terms of Todd’s 1845 bond to Richard M. Chapman. Courtesy of State Records Center, Richmond, Virginia.

Further notations on the bond suggest that Todd did not present Ben and the other men for sale as planned. Chapman won another suit against Todd in October 1845, for neither paying the debt nor offering Ben, Tydal, Ellick, and John to be sold.[20] It is unclear how or if the case was resolved, but Ben seems to have remained in Todd’s hands.

“Ben Whom the Sheriff Offered for Sale”

Remaining in Todd’s ownership meant that Ben continued to be vulnerable to the consequences of Todd’s debts. To secure a debt of $375 owed to Louisa County lawyer Starke W. Morris, Todd signed a deed of trust on January 26, 1846, securing the debt with all of his assets, including Toddsberth, its furnishings, and eight enslaved people. Among them was

“a negro man named Ben about 45 years old.”^[21]

In case Todd defaulted, the deed of trust authorized county clerk Philip S. Fry to sell any of Todd’s assets – people or possessions – to pay the $375 to Morris.

A week later, on February 3, 1846, Todd made this entry in his journal:

“Yesterday heard from Ben whom the sheriff offered for sale; but who would have been brought in by myself if I had ever consented – That he wished all parties here to be prepared for Sale perhaps next Court.”[22]

The entry seems to suggest that the sheriff had removed Ben from Toddsberth without Todd’s consent, and planned to sell him the next time that the court was in session. Todd wrote that he had “heard from Ben,” who was likely worried that if he was sold to someone outside Orange County, he might be permanently separated from his wife Patsy and their children.

It is unclear what happened next. When John Payne Todd wrote his will on December 31, 1851, he listed Ben as one of the people he enslaved, to whom he was leaving $200 in addition to his freedom. [23] Had Todd somehow managed to prevent Ben’s sale and to continue to enslave him for nearly six more years? Todd died on January 17, 1852, less than a month after writing his will. When the people Todd had enslaved were listed in his estate inventory in September 1852, Ben’s name was conspicuously absent. [24]

Todd’s promise of freedom and money to the people he enslaved was an empty promise; the enslaved were likely sold to pay the many debts outstanding against Todd’s estate. Ben may have been sold between January and September 1852, possibly in relation to the Chapman or Starke lawsuits, in which judgments had already been executed for his sale.

Another Chance at Freedom

Although we don’t know when Benjamin McDaniel was sold, we know who purchased him: Joseph Hiden. An 1867 document from the Freedman’s Bureau described McDaniel as “formerly a servant of President Madison who by hard labor and faithful service had purchased his freedom of his master Mr. Joseph Hyden,” information that McDaniel himself had presumably provided. [25]

Hiden, a justice of the peace for Orange County, had been directly involved in the settlement of Todd’s estate. The correspondence of James Causten, the husband of Dolley Madison’s niece Annie Payne Causten, indicates that Hiden had taken charge of Toddsberth. James Causten grumbled to his wife, who wanted to purchase family pieces before the estate sale, “I could not get into the house because M^r. Hyden had the keys.”[26] Hiden became Causten’s point of contact regarding the upcoming estate sale.[27] Possibly Hiden’s access to Toddsberth led to his decision to purchase Ben McDaniel from the estate.

McDaniel did not receive his freedom outright, as promised in Todd’s will, but he was able to purchase his freedom from Hiden prior to the Civil War. He was likely in his mid-50s or early 60s when he became free. We don’t know whether he purchased the freedom of Patsy and their children, or whether their freedom was secured through the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution.

Fifty Dollars in Gold

Benjamin McDaniel was identified as a cobbler in the 1870 census. [28] Possibly he learned to make shoes while still enslaved at Montpelier, or he may have learned a new trade to support himself and his family as a free man. McDaniel was successful in his trade, so much so that he had saved up a considerable amount of money in gold coins by the outbreak of the Civil War.

In 1861 Erasmus Taylor asked McDaniel for a loan of “as much gold as he could conveniently spare,” and McDaniel agreed to a $50 loan. McDaniel’s exact relationship with Taylor and his sister is unknown; were the Taylors his neighbors, his customers, or simply powerful people in the local community to whom McDaniel could not afford to say no?

McDaniel delivered the gold to Taylor’s sister, who insisted – over his objections – that he accept $50 in Virginia paper money; “he dared not contend with her further.” McDaniel was rightfully concerned that the paper money would not retain its full value. He later gave the paper note back, but Taylor’s sister “brought it to his shop and threw it at his feet.”

After the Civil War ended, McDaniel asserted his grievance with Taylor, explaining “in a respectful manner” that there was nothing he could do with the worthless $50 note. Taylor, who had come to town that day to take the Reconstruction-era oath of loyalty to the Union, “cursed” McDaniel and threatened to kill him if he brought the matter up again.

This incident illustrates the precarious position of a free African American man in the 1860s. Through his hard work, McDaniel had accumulated $50 in gold, yet he felt pressure to acquiesce to a white man who wanted the gold as a “loan,” and to a white woman who cheated him with worthless paper money. Even after the Civil War ended, McDaniel was subjected to a death threat for “respectfully” asking for fair repayment of the loan.

In 1867 Benjamin McDaniel sought assistance from the Freedmen’s Bureau in Gordonsville to resolve the incident. Marcus Sterling Hopkins, an officer with the Bureau, wrote to Eramus Taylor, summarizing the case as McDaniel had reported it. Hopkins wrote that McDaniel “comes to me highly recommended for truth and respectability” and called the allegations, if true, “a most shameful outrage.” Hopkins threatened to expose Taylor unless he repaid McDaniel in gold, with interest. How Taylor responded is unknown. [29]

Home and Family

In 1866 the McDaniel family experienced a double loss. Hester McDaniel, who had married Benjamin and Patsy’s son Burwell, died in childbirth at age 20 on April 14. In October, only five months later, 19-year-old Burwell died of pneumonia. The Orange County Register of Deaths shows that Benjamin McDaniel took on the sad duty of reporting both his son’s and daughter-in-law’s deaths to county officials. [30]

In 1867 McDaniel became a landowner, purchasing a one-acre tract from Dr. Peyton Grymes, located a half-mile east of Orange Court House, adjacent to Grymes’s own plantation, Selma. (Grymes was one of the doctors who attended Silvey at Montpelier in 1847.) The property was valued at $120: $20 for the land, and $100 for buildings on the land.[31] Orange County personal property tax records in 1867 and 1868 indicate that the McDaniel family had little taxable property – no horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, carriages, watches, clocks, musical instruments, furniture, jewelry, agricultural produce, or any of the other categories of possessions listed on the tax form. Benjamin McDaniel paid only the 60-cent tax on himself as a male over age 21. [32] By 1869, the McDaniels had acquired more or better furnishings for their home. Their household and kitchen furniture reached an aggregate value of $25, raising Benjamin McDaniel’s tax bill to 67½ cents in 1869. [33]

One last view of the Benjamin McDaniel family at home comes from the 1870 census. Benjamin, a 70-year-old cobbler, lived with his 57-year-old wife Patsy, who “Keeps House” (meaning that she was a homemaker). Benjamin could read and write, although Patsy could not. The McDaniels’ two daughters, 14-year-old Sarah and 11-year-old Milly, lived at home and had “attended school within the year.” (Adult sons Madison and William were no longer living at home, and Burwell had died several years earlier.) Also at home were 5-year-old Washington Pearce and 2-year-old Richard Pearce. Their exact relationship to Patsy Pierce McDaniel is unknown; perhaps the McDaniels were raising the children or grandchildren of a sibling of Patsy. One additional member of the household was 17-year-old laborer William McDonald, who may have been an extended family member or simply a boarder. Benjamin McDaniel’s land and house was valued at $300, and his personal estate at $100. [34]

A Life Well Lived

Benjamin McDaniel died on June 4, 1875. [35] Much had changed over the course of his long life. Although he had once needed written permission just to travel away from the place where he was enslaved, McDaniel spent the last decade or more of his life as a free man. He worked industriously to buy his freedom, to establish himself as a skilled tradesman, to purchase a house and land, and to provide for an extended family. When someone more powerful tried to take advantage of him, McDaniel asserted himself. Benjamin McDaniel earned a reputation for honesty, as well as the respect of the local community, and he fathered a family who would honor his memory for generations.

Special thanks to Patricia J. McDaniel, great-great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin McDaniel, and her late father Horace J. McDaniel, for sharing oral history and genealogical information about the McDaniel family with the Montpelier Foundation.