Unity (Deberry) Medlin (1795 - 1871)

Born 4 Jul 1795 in Anson County, North Carolina

Ancestors

Wife of John Medlin II — married about 1817 in North Carolina

Descendants

Died 16 Oct 1871 at age 76 in Carbondale, Jackson County, Illinois

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Biography

Unity was born in 1795. She was the daughter of John DeBerry and Mary Dumas. She passed away in 1871.

Spouse: John Medlin 1790 - 1870. Findagrave #33220053

John was born in Union County North Carolina. He was the son of John and Fereby Whitley Medlen and married Unity Deberry from Montgomery County, North Carolina.

Before the civil war John was one of the most wealthy men in Union County and owned more land and slaves than anyone. In 1847 he was tried and found guilty of killing a young slave who had run away.

Legend has it that John and his overseer Clement Curlee found the young man and tied him to the back of a wagon and made him walk home. It was cold and raining and the slave contracted pneumonia and died.

Curlee was charged a fine. John claimed benefit of clergy, a practice that was outlawed in North Carolina eight years later. His fine was $3000 and $390.37 cost of court. That money was used to build what is now Monroe City Hall.

When the war ended and confederate money was no longer any good to him and he could not collect on the notes owed him he took his gold, his wife and one of their sons and his family and went by wagon to Illinois where he lived until his death in 1870.

Sources

• Unity: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LBJG-JTV Lists her parents, 3 siblings, spouse, 17 children, 14 sources/notes.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #33220033

• 1870 Residence: Bond Township, Lawrence, Illinois.