John Armfield: Difference between revisions
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==Career== |
==Career== |
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{{Main|Franklin and Armfield Office}} |
{{Main|Franklin and Armfield Office}} |
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Armfield took up slave trading in the 1820s. For example, he sold a slave in [[Natchez, Mississippi]] in 1827.<ref name="howelljohnarmfield"/> In 1828, Armfield and his uncle by marriage, [[Isaac Franklin]], formed the partnership of Franklin & Armfield to buy slaves in the mid-Atlantic states (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia) and re-sell them in the newly opened territories of the [[Deep South]].<ref name="thetroubledlegacy">{{cite journal|last1=Gudmestad|first1=Robert H.|title=The Troubled Legacy of Isaac Franklin: The Enterprise of Slave Trading|journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly|date=Fall 2003|volume=62|issue=3|pages=193–217|jstor=42627764}}</ref> They were enormously successful and became two of the wealthiest men in the country. Franklin and Armfield joked with each other in letters about the enslaved women they were raping. <ref name=wapo>{{cite news |author=Hannah Natanson |title= They were once America's cruelest, richest slave traders. Why does no one know their names?|newspaper= [[Washington Post]]|date= 14 Sep 2019|url= https://beta.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/09/14/they-were-once-americas-cruelest-richest-slave-traders-why-does-no-one-know-their-names/ |accessdate= |
Armfield took up slave trading in the 1820s. For example, he sold a slave in [[Natchez, Mississippi]] in 1827.<ref name="howelljohnarmfield"/> In 1828, Armfield and his uncle by marriage, [[Isaac Franklin]], formed the partnership of Franklin & Armfield to buy slaves in the mid-Atlantic states (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia) and re-sell them in the newly opened territories of the [[Deep South]].<ref name="thetroubledlegacy">{{cite journal|last1=Gudmestad|first1=Robert H.|title=The Troubled Legacy of Isaac Franklin: The Enterprise of Slave Trading|journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly|date=Fall 2003|volume=62|issue=3|pages=193–217|jstor=42627764}}</ref> They were enormously successful and became two of the wealthiest men in the country. Franklin and Armfield joked with each other in letters about the enslaved women they were raping. <ref name=wapo>{{cite news |author=Hannah Natanson |title= They were once America's cruelest, richest slave traders. Why does no one know their names?|newspaper= [[Washington Post]]|date= 14 Sep 2019|url= https://beta.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/09/14/they-were-once-americas-cruelest-richest-slave-traders-why-does-no-one-know-their-names/ |accessdate=January 26, 2022}}</ref> They dissolved the partnership in 1835 and sold the business to one of their agents, George Kephart. Armfield retired to Central Tennessee in 1835.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} |
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Armfield settled [[Gruetli-Laager, Tennessee|Gruetli]], a Swiss settlement in [[Grundy County, Tennessee]].<ref name="tennesseanthelatecolonel">{{cite news|title=The Late Colonel John Armfield.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/121802509/?terms=%22John%2BArmfield%22|access-date=November 3, 2017|work=The Tennessean|date=October 13, 1871|page=3|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> In 1855, he also developed the resort for the wealthy of [[Beersheba Springs]] in [[Grundy County, Tennessee]], which still exists.<ref name="tennesseanthelatecolonel"/> Additionally, he was the biggest single donor in the founding of [[Sewanee: The University of the South]].<ref name="howelljohnarmfield"/><ref name="tennesseanthelatecolonel"/> |
Armfield settled [[Gruetli-Laager, Tennessee|Gruetli]], a Swiss settlement in [[Grundy County, Tennessee]].<ref name="tennesseanthelatecolonel">{{cite news|title=The Late Colonel John Armfield.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/121802509/?terms=%22John%2BArmfield%22|access-date=November 3, 2017|work=The Tennessean|date=October 13, 1871|page=3|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> In 1855, he also developed the resort for the wealthy of [[Beersheba Springs]] in [[Grundy County, Tennessee]], which still exists.<ref name="tennesseanthelatecolonel"/> Additionally, he was the biggest single donor in the founding of [[Sewanee: The University of the South]].<ref name="howelljohnarmfield"/><ref name="tennesseanthelatecolonel"/> |
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Revision as of 22:59, 26 January 2022
John Armfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1797 North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | September 20, 1871 (aged 73–74) |
| Occupation | Slave trader |
| Spouse |
Martha Franklin (m. 1831) |
John Armfield (1797-1871) was an American slave trader. He was the co-founder of Franklin & Armfield, "the largest slave trading firm" in the United States.[1] He was also the developer of Beersheba Springs, and a co-founder of Sewanee: The University of the South.
Early life
John Armfield was born in 1797 in North Carolina to Quaker parents.[2] He was of English descent.[2]
Career
Armfield took up slave trading in the 1820s. For example, he sold a slave in Natchez, Mississippi in 1827.[2] In 1828, Armfield and his uncle by marriage, Isaac Franklin, formed the partnership of Franklin & Armfield to buy slaves in the mid-Atlantic states (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia) and re-sell them in the newly opened territories of the Deep South.[1] They were enormously successful and became two of the wealthiest men in the country. Franklin and Armfield joked with each other in letters about the enslaved women they were raping. [3] They dissolved the partnership in 1835 and sold the business to one of their agents, George Kephart. Armfield retired to Central Tennessee in 1835.[citation needed]
Armfield settled Gruetli, a Swiss settlement in Grundy County, Tennessee.[4] In 1855, he also developed the resort for the wealthy of Beersheba Springs in Grundy County, Tennessee, which still exists.[4] Additionally, he was the biggest single donor in the founding of Sewanee: The University of the South.[2][4]
Personal life and death
Armfield married Martha Franklin, Isaac Franklin's niece, in 1831.[2] Armfield joined the Episcopal Church, and his wife converted from the Presbyterian faith to Episcopalianism for him.[2] The family attended Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tennessee, as did Bishop Leonidas Polk, with whom Armfield was a close friend.[2] Another one of Armfield's close friends was John M. Bass, the mayor of Nashville.[2]
Armfield died of old age on September 20, 1871 in Beersheba Springs.[4]
Armfield and his wife had no children. He fathered at least one child with an enslaved Black woman; he sold both her and the child. Rodney G. Williams has established his descent by DNA testing.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b Gudmestad, Robert H. (Fall 2003). "The Troubled Legacy of Isaac Franklin: The Enterprise of Slave Trading". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 62 (3): 193–217. JSTOR 42627764.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Howell, Isabel (March 1943). "John Armfield, Slave-trader". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 2 (1): 3–29. JSTOR 42620772.
- ^ Hannah Natanson (September 14, 2019). "They were once America's cruelest, richest slave traders. Why does no one know their names?". Washington Post. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "The Late Colonel John Armfield". The Tennessean. October 13, 1871. p. 3. Retrieved November 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Williams, Rodney G. (2019). "Seed of the fancy maid". In Strauss, Jill (ed.). Slavery's Descendants: Shared Legacies of Race and Reconciliation. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-1978800762.
Further reading
- Gower, Herschel (October 8, 2017). "John Armfield". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Tennessee Historical Society.
- Ball, Edward (November 2015). "Retracing Slavery's Trail of Tears". Smithsonian.
- Natanson, Hannah (September 14, 2019). "They were once America's cruelest, richest slave traders. Why does no one know their names?". The Washington Post.