Nashville’s first formally educated lawyer was James C. Napier. The Profiles of African Americans in Tennessee text has a nice write-up of his background. As I’ve been working on this blog and researching various people in Nashville history, I have kept Napier in the back of my mind to begin formally researching. I do so hoping that some of the information I provide is useful to others.
So, in light of recently being contacted by someone who may be a distant relative of JC’s, I have now begun working on the genealogy. It is located here. Of course it is still in very early stages, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for the Napier family from here on out.
One aspect I am particularly interested in about him is his grandfather. I found in some sources that his grandfather was of Scottish descent and the founder of Napier Iron Works based in Dickson County, Tennessee. Dickson county is county very close by to Nashville. With a little internet searching, I found that the founder of Napier Iron Works was a man named Dr. Elias W. Napier. Since I had already located JC’s family in the 1850 census, I knew that JC had a brother named Elias W. Well, that would make sense if their grandfather was Elias W! I also found other names in the white Elias’ family that match with names of JC’s family members; for example, Dr. Elias had a nephew named William Carroll Napier, same name as JC’s father.
Then, in using WorldVitalRecords, I found Dr. Elias W. Napier’s will. It was published in the book, Dickson County, Tennessee Will Book, Volume 2 published by Simmons Historical Publications. In the will, he frees a number of his slaves, including “Judy, my seamstress, and her five children, to wit, Fanny, William Carroll, James Monroe, Thomas Benton, and Andrew Jackson.” Looks like Judy is William Carroll Napier’s mom, thus JC’s grandmother. Other family members are also mentioned in the will. I can’t wait to dissect this a little further.
Filed under: Napier
[...] a much more extended story of that process later on, but you can read a little bit of it over on my Black Nashville History & Genealogy [...]
Tanya,I am researchung the Napiers also.My Napiers are in Alabama but they are all kin.My ggrandfather ’s name was John Napier and he is supposed to be the slaveowners son.He was a mullato.Tom Mcknight my cousin is much better at this then I am,he’s made the Tenn.connection.My ggrandfather and some of Tom,s kin came off of John S Napiers plantation in Lawrence County Alabama. Anna
[...] have previously posted a little bit of the background, but essentially, I’ve been helping a couple of people who have roots in Alabama try to [...]
[...] for me. Today, I was contacted by a descendant of one of the family trees I am working on, that of James Carroll Napier. We just spent an hour and half on the phone having the best conversation and just like other [...]
Taneya: My great great grandmother was Mary Wills Napier (1818-1844). Her father, George Fox Napier (1791-1840) was also involved in the founding of the Napier Iron Works in Lewis County during the 1830s.
Elias was George’s older brother and a financial backer of George in partnership with Felix Catron, a nephew of John Catron, a Nashville attorney and future Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Panic of 1837 killed the plan to rebuild the Iron Works and the partnership ended up in court. Elias was required to buy out John Catron’s half interest, becoming sole owner of the works. This interest went to Elias’ nephew, William C. Napier upon Elias’ death in 1848. George Fox moved to Louisiana where he died. William put the furnace in operation in the late 1840s and ran it until 1873 when he leased it to another company.
I had been reading about James C. Napier and the reference to his grandfather being the founder of the Napier Iron Works. For a while, I was thinking the founder was George as he was the first Napier connected to that furnace, although the family owned other furnaces and forges in middle Tennessee between 1790 and 1923. I then thought about William, the nephew as he actually brought the furnace into production. Your find of Elias’ will and his freeing of Judy and their children clears that up for me. J. C. Napier and I are distant cousins, but I didn’t quite know how. My family keeps growing!