Biographical Sketch of Edmond Mayfield (c. 1763-1832)

By Phil Norfleet

Introduction

Edmond Mayfield (c. 1763-1832), a son of Robert (d. 1816) and Sarah Mayfield, was probably born in Granville County NC in about 1763.  In 1764, when Bute County was formed out of the eastern part of Granville, the plantation where Edmond and his parents resided fell within the boundaries of the new county. About 1775, when he was in his teens, Edmond and his parents removed to Ninety-Six District, South Carolina.  When the Revolution began, Edmond served several tours in the Whig militia. Three of his brothers, John, Abraham and Samuel also served in the SC Whig forces during the War. One brother, Lieutenant John Mayfield, was killed by Tories in 1782; however, his other brothers survived the War.  Shortly after the end of the Revolution, Edmond married Mary Sanders, daughter of Ezekiel and Catherine Sanders, by whom he seems to have had eight children: Obadiah, Samuel, Savilla, Ezekiel, Robert, Sanders, Catherine, and Fanny.  [The names of the above cited eight children were provided to me by Joyce Hill [Email: HILLJMS@cs.com] and came from a family group sheet printed in the book "Pioneers of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama Prior to 1830" that had been submitted by Henry J. Mayfield and Brenda S. Wilson.]

Edmond's primary occupation was that of a planter.  Federal Census Reports indicate that Edmond lived in several different locations while in South Carolina as follows:

1790 Census - Chester County

1800 Census - Fairfield County

1810 - Pendleton County

In about 1820, Edmond and his brother, Ezekiel (also known as Sugar) Mayfield and their father-in-law, Ezekiel Sanders, removed to Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.  Edmond's brother, Samuel Mayfield, also removed to Tuscaloosa in about 1825.

Official Records

Abstracts, in chronological order, of all known official records for Edmond Mayfield are presented below:
 

In South Carolina:

06 March 1778: James and Martha Campbell of Craven County SC convey to John Hope, for 330 pounds, a 200-acre tract of land situated on both sides of Thicketty Creek. Witnesses to the deed are Robert Mayfield, William Casey and Edmond Mayfield. [See Union County Deed Book A, page 323.] Comment: - to the best of my knowledge, this is the earliest appearance in the South Carolina records of Robert Mayfield and his son, Edmond Mayfield. It is interesting to note that the land in question is located north of the Pacolet River; this is the same area where, in my opinion, the 100-acre tract of land granted in 1768 to John Mayfield (the Tory) was located. 

13 June 1786: Edmond Mayfield receives a State of South Carolina Indented Certificate for twenty-three pounds Sterling, plus one pound, twelve shillings for one year's interest, payable on 13 June 1788, for " ... Militia duty since the fall of Charleston in [Thomas] Brandon's Regiment ... " during the Revolution. [See Accounts Audited of Claims Growing Out of the Revolution in SC, Indent File #4860.]

10 February 1797:  Shadrack Jacobs conveys to Edmond Mayfield, for £100, a 129-acre tract of land in Fairfield County SC.  [See Fairfield County SC, Deed Book L, pages 1-2.]

1800:  The Fairfield County SC Federal Census for 1800 lists the household of Edmond Mayfield as containing 1 WM age 26-45, 1 WM 10-16, 3 WM's under age 10, 1 WF 26-45, 2 WF's under age 10.

11 January 1806:  Edmond Mayfield of Fairfield District conveys to Abner Fant, for $400, a 129-acre tract of land on Rock Creek of Broad River in Fairfield District SC.  [See Fairfield District SC Deed Book Q, pages 327-329.]

By 1810, Edmond and his brothers, Samuel and Ezekiel (Sugar) Mayfield seem to have removed to Pendleton County SC.

1810:  The Pendleton County SC Federal Census for 1810 lists the three Mayfield brothers as follows:

Samuel Mayfield - 1 WM 45 or older, 1 WM 26-45, 1 WM 10-16, 1 WF 45 or older, 1 WF 16-26, 1 WF 10-16, and 1 WF under age 10.

Shugar [Sugar] Mayfield - 1 WM 26-45, 1 WM 10-16, 2 WM's under age 10, 1 WF 45 or older (his mother-in=law??), 1 WF (his wife?) 26-45, 2 WF's 10-16, 3 WF's under age 10.

Edmond Mayfield - 1 WM 45 or older, 1 WM 16-26, 2 WM's 10-16, 3 WM's under age 10, 1 WF 26-45, 1 WF 10-16 and 1 WF under age 10.  Edmond also has 2 slaves in his household.

In Alabama:

In about the 1820 time frame, Edmond Mayfield and his family migrated to Tuscaloosa County AL.  Apparently his brother Sugar Mayfield and his father-in-law, Ezekiel Sanders, migrated with him.  The following chronological list of records are pertinent:

07 October 1822: The will of Ezekiel Sanders, deceased, dated 28 June 1822, is entered into probate in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Pertinent extracts from this will are as follows:

" ... Ezekiel Sanders, County of Tuscaloosa, State of Ala ... to my beloved wife Catey Sanders my whole estate during her life and at her decease ... unto my daughter Mary Mayfield, a Negro girl named Hannah ... I give my William Sanders, Negro girl named Cloe ... unto my daughter Elizabeth, a Negro girl named Chainey ... Unto my son Thomas Sanders two Negroes named Lesley & Cindy ... to my son James Sanders, a Negro boy named Wesley ... unto Nancy Gau, a Negro by the name Thomas ... unto my son John Sanders, a Negro man named Peter and girl named Malinda ... unto my daughter Ellender, a Negro named Susan ... my Negro woman Sealy is to be free for life ... balance of my Estate to be equally divided amongst my children ... two notes one on Jonathan Bird & one on Samuel Cherry to be divided at the discretion of my Executors ... I do appoint ... my sons William Sanders and John Sanders as my true and lawful Executors ... "

[See Tuscaloosa County AL, Will Book 1, pages 3-4.] Comment: the above will in conjunction with the next two records in this chronology establish that Edmond Mayfield's wife was Mary Sanders and Ezekiel (Sugar) Mayfield's wife was Elizabeth Sanders. The will extracts were graciously provided to me by a descendant of Edmond Mayfield, Joyce Hill [Email: HILLJMS@cs.com].

15 January 1825: Indenture whereby Edmond and Ezekiel Mayfield convey a tract of land to Joseph and Daniel Doughty. Molly Mayfield, wife of Edmond and Elizabeth Mayfield, wife of Ezekiel Mayfield relinquish their dower rights. [See Tuscaloosa County AL, Deed Book A, page 401.] Comment: this record establishes that Edmond Mayfield's wife was named Mary (presumably Mary Sanders) and Ezekiel Mayfield's wife was named Elizabeth.

05 September 1832: Petition is filed in Alabama Orphans Court to sell land in Pickens County AL that is part of the estate of Ezekiel Sanders, deceased.. Heirs Mary Mayfield (Wife of Edmund Mayfield, deceased); William Saunders, Elizabeth Mayfield (Wife of Sugar Mayfield, Thomas Saunders, James Saunders, Nancy Gore (Wife of Thomas Gore), Ellenor Smith (Wife of Amasa Smith) and the petitioner, John Saunders are the only distributees. All of the heirs are over 21 years of age. Thomas, James and Mary do not reside within the limits of the state. [See AL Orphans Court Book 1, page 34.] Comment: - this record is genealogically significant as it indicates that Edmond Mayfield was already dead by September 1832; also, it establishes that Ezekiel Mayfield, husband of Elizabeth is the same person as "Sugar" Mayfield - the name "Sugar" apparently being a nickname.

19 December 1833: Obadiah Mayfield applies for appointment as administrator of the estate of his deceased father, Edmond Mayfield. His sureties are: Robert W. Jemison, William Meadows, Obadiah Mayfield, Sr. and James P. Smith. Also, John Kemp, David Denton, Levi Hendricks, Samuel Johnson and James Mills were appointed to appraise the estate. [See Tuscaloosa County AL Will Book 1, page 72.] Comment - the 05 September 1832 Orphans Court record indicates that Edmond was already dead by that time, hence, more than a year passed before any action was taken to settle his personal estate.