John Frederick Herndon (abt. 1796 - 1881)

Born about 1796 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 3 Jan 1881 at about age 85 in Pine Island, Caddo, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

John Frederick Herndon was born in ~1796 in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Virginia, United States. John had a relationship with his slave woman Lou Patsy Charles (~1817 - >1880). Their children were...

1. Mary Ann (Herndon) Raines (1837 - 1905)
2. Sarah Jane Herndon (~1838 - )
3. Joseph Henry Herndon (1840 - 1924)
4. Jacob Herndon (~1841 - ~1879)
5. John Herndon (~1842 - ~1924)
6. Edward Herndon (1850-1895)
7. Martha A (Herndon) Payne (~1848 - 1928)
8. James B Herndon (~1848 - ~1934)
9. William Herndon (~1849 - )
10. Kate (Herndon) Sewell (1855 - 1897)
11. Fannie (Herndon) Tyson (1857 - 1893).

John died on January 3, 1881 in Pine Island, Caddo, Louisiana aged ~84.

John migrated to Louisiana around the late 1830’s. Not much is known about his life prior to that. He brought a slave woman with him by the name of Lou Patsy Charles and is known to have fathered 10 children.

1. James B Herndon - 1848/1934 - m/Pricilla Smith May 12, 1876 & Minnie Hammet Dec 17, 1893 (v)
2. Edward Herndon - 1850/1895 - m/Mary Ellen Hawthorne Feb 28, 1876 (v)
3. Martha Herndon - 1851/1928 - m/Marshall Payne Feb 28, 1875 (v)
4. Isabella Herndon - 1855/? (she is Lou Patsy’s daughter, father is unknown) (v)
5. Katie Herndon - 1856/1897 - m/Sam Sewell Nov 5, 1876 (v)
6. Fannie Herndon - 1857/1893 - m/Richard Tyson Nov 24, 1876 (v)

Slaves

1. Mary Ann (Herndon) Raines (1837 - 1905) - freed in 1845
2. Eliza Herndon (~1838 - )
3. Sarah Jane Herndon (~1838 - ) (mentioned in Emancipation record of 1845)
4. Joseph Henry Herndon (1840 - 1924) - m/Annie Taylor Mar 5, 1870
5. John Herndon (~1842 - ~1924) - (mentioned in Emancipation record of 1845)
6. Jacob Herndon (~1841 - ~1879) - m/Mary Hamlin
7. Josiah Herndon (~1844 - ~1924)

In 1840 John Frederick petitioned the Caddo Parish Court with a request to free his slave Patsy; the petition was for her freedom and all of her offspring. Even though he did free Lou Patsy and her children John continued to own slaves, he had 81 in the 1840 census, down to 10 in 1850 and 2 in 1860. Another emancipation record from 1845 states John promised to take care of: Mary Ann, Sarah Jane, Joseph, John, and Jacob. John Frederick and sons became quite wealthy from various investments in real estate, farming cotton, timber, buying gold and having oil wells on their properties.

A native of Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania, Virginia, where his family had been substantial citizens since the 1600s, at least one of JF’s relatives was intermarried with the prestigious Randolph family of early Virginia history.

It is believed by some historians that Herndon was a relative of Meriwether Lewis, the personal secretary of Thomas Jefferson and leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (there’s a few marriages between the Herndon & Lewis family at that time).

John Frederick & Lou Patsy originally settled just a little north of Shreveport in Caddo Prairie in one of the earliest settlements documented there, they lived in the area now called Erwin's Bluff and are documented there in the 1840 census where JF had 81 slaves and had Lou Patsy and his first 2 children Mary Ann and Sarah Jane living as free persons of color, it's written in some Caddo History books that JF had a 1,000 acre plantation at this time on Red Bayou. The family finally settled in Pine Island a nearby community between Vivian and Belcher-Gilliam. At the time of his Will in 1880 he owned 600 acres of land; this property was divided up in his Will. JF and Lou Patsy listed themselves in their census reports as married in 1835 which has never been verified but would be highly unlikely.

Both of his parents died in the early 1800’s and he had 7 other known siblings.

Sources

• Herndon Family Lineage, by Mark Tyson and Family
• 1850 United States Federal Census, Caddo Prairie, Caddo, Louisiana; Roll: M432_230; Page: 355; Image: 223.
• 1860 United States Federal Census, Ward 7, Caddo, Louisiana; Roll: M653_409; Page: 0; Image: 4.
• 1870 United States Federal Census
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39615538/john-frederick-herndon: accessed 20 January 2023), memorial page for John Frederick Herndon (1796–3 Jan 1881), Find a Grave Memorial ID 39615538, citing Raines' Lease Cemetery, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by JB BERRY (contributor 47068852).