Mistress Hettie Ann Shipley (1837 - 1861) Murdered by a Slave woman named Harriet Robinson

Question

Hi Wikitreers,

Continuing the g2g discussion with the theme of “Ghosts” set in the U.S. Civil War era we have a ghost story of two contentious women in the household of Benjamin Barnes Cooley. 

The Cooley Farm was the burial place of the many soldiers who died at the “Battle of Cedar Creek” 

“The battle of Cedar Creek is sometimes called the Battle of Belle Grove because much of the fighting took place around this plantation”

The ghost story is found here at Civil War Talk titled Murder At Belle Grove (Cedar Creek VA) 

The family group needs Gedcom cleanup!

However their lives are intertwined in the fabric of history and leaves us readers so many questions

1.) Is there any record of the slave woman Harriet Robinson and where did she go after the Union solders came?

2.) Is Hetty considered a murder victim (category can be added)

3.) Did Mr. Ben Cooley have relations with Harriet and children by her?

4.) Who was the slave woman’s supposed brother “Robinson” who stirred up the others?

So much to this story any insights is appreciated

Thank you 

Comments

Off topic perhaps but I have an ancestor that was murdered by her slaves and they chopped up her body and transported the body parts to different parts of the property. I figure she probably deserved it

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These plantations have a ton of hidden history and it’s still just being unearthed…

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I don't think Wanda's comment is that much off topic. As Andrew said, we don't know all that was happening back then on either side. "Slaves" killed "masters", and the other way around. Just say'n...

Answer 1

I work recording information about plantations, their owners, and the enslaved.  I'll take a look and see if there is anything to be found on this family.

Michelle

Comments

Benjamin Cooley appears in the Freedman's Bureau Records

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Michelle, check out the grandfather, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Shipley-640, his will lists his wife, children, and named enslaved persons.

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Michelle, this is off topic kind of. I see you do slave owners and slaves owned . My family are  Robinsons supposedly from Bellegrove. Also enslaved by the Sydnors of Parnham,Halifax Va.on the other side.

They were owned by Jno and Wilmoth Sydnor who 'walked' about 50 of their slaves to Troy Missouri in 1835. The name of the Farm/plantation there was Level on the Green.  Located starting about 4 miles north of Troy on Sydnorville Road where they grew tobacco. I can take my family back about 6 generations to . Eight if you count my kids and grands. Question : can you get their slave roll with their names ? I know most all of my family names but would love to see/have the slave log.

Thank you for any help.

Nadine

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Joe,When I hit that link,it says page doesnot exist. I'm referring to when you stated he list slaves and their names.

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me too, oops, what did I do wrong, because the page is there.

It's Benjamine Shipley, Shipley-640

[[Shipley-640|Benjamin Shipley (1751-1828)]]

https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Shipley-640&errcode=saved

try again

Answer 2

The Ethnographic Overview and Assessment Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historic Park (2009), at page 150, by Kathleen Bragdon states that Harriett Robinson died in a Richmond Prison.

http://npshistory.com/publications/cebe/eoa.pdf

It cites Elizabeth Umstattd (ed), A Guide to the Hite Family 18th and 19th Century Homesteads (2004).

There is also a reference at page 150 to Lewis Robinson, a 57 year old mulatto farm laborer.  Maybe the brother?

P.S.  There seem to be collected materials in the Belle Grove Collection at the Handley Regional Hospital System.

https://www.handleyregional.org/services/departments/archives/manuscripts/b/890-THL

Comments

Some more on Harriett:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-orlando-sentinel/140259819/

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Wow Roger the connections never end here

President of the United States James Madison Jr. (1751 - 1836)

“Belle Grove in Middletown, VA was built from 1794 to 1797 for Major and Mrs. Isaac Hite. Hite received the land from his father in 1783. That same year, Isaac Hite married Nelly Conway Madison, sister to James Madison.” 

I tend to believe from what is gathered that Lewis Robinson is her relative. I also think her child that she accused Hetty of beating was her child with Benjamin. All theory of course but seems plausible 

The fact Harriet died in a Richmond Prison leads to so many questions how did she end up there? 

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Omg! Harriet was pregnant at the time! So interesting!

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I would think Harriet Robinson would have a Wikitree profile but can’t find her

YouTube is a great video about Lewis Robinson should be able to trace their roots? 

…”tells the Tale of Two Women at Belle Grove during the Battle of Cedar Creek, which incorporates the oral history of Lucy Walker, research on Rebecca Gorden, accounts of the Battle of Cedar Creek, and information about Middletown residents. Ms. Mills tells this story in the room where the women were on October 19, 1864.”

See also Rebecca (“Becky”) Cooley Gordon

Answer 3

Here are a couple of articles concerning the murder of Mrs. Cooley:

https://www.newspapers.com/image/347330335/?terms=Cooley&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/347328393/?terms=Cooley&match=1

Comments

These newsclips do shed some more light on the situation. It mentions her brother Dr. Cooley as well and the very graphic detail of her appearance upon being found in the smokehouse!

I believe from another article Harriett did admit to this deed and in one account ends up passing in a Richmond prison.

Edit: was Napoleon the sibling who was the Doctor mentioned in the article?

Answer 4

According to the 1860 Slave Census, Benjamin Cooley owned five slaves: F, 32; M, 30; F, 25; F, 6; F, 4.

Comments

Possibly Harriet would be the 32 yr old or 25 yr old?

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My instinct says she would be the 32yr old female because she ran the household. It sounds to me—and it's just my opinion—that she was a very territorial woman and not one to be crossed. It was a very brutal killing. That much injury suggests a person who had a close relationship with the victim and the killer had a very personal motive judging from the overkill. I'm going to explore Cooley's father and see if the name Harriet is in his will. Where did the last name "Robinson" emerge?

And an after thought, I would almost entirely dismiss the article from the Orlando Sentinal since is was written so long after the event. I would focus on the contemporaneous accounts. Maybe we can find an account of the trial.

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Stop the presses! The 1860 Census for Frederick County Maryland lists the entire household for Benjamin B Cooley. From that you can extrapolate the who's who in the household.

I'll email you the downloaded page.

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/33996874:7667?tid=&pid=&queryId=26a4c8b0-aa34-4857-b65e-9a3707b63e0a&_phsrc=KOk8669&_phstart=successSource

Answer 5

Well, Andrew, you've done it again; that is, lured me in to a time-sucking rabbit warren. The Cooley and Shipley families really liked each other. They intermarried and then named their children after each other.  And there are so many of them! 

Comments

Well this story Opens up a whole can of worms!

I’d love to visit the Belle Grove Plantation and see the Cedar Creek Battlefield; also the Jennie Wade house in Gettysburg is on my bucket list!

The story of Harriet Robinson and Hettie Cooley leaves us history lovers so many questions one that should keep us pondering for many generations!

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Yup. He has sucked me down the rabbit hole, too.