There were never very many slaves in Newton County. In the 1850 Slave Schedule, only 42 slaves were enumerated. There were only 15 slave owners, with six owning only one slave.
William Ramsey owned the most slaves. He had eight. The 1860 Slave Schedule showed there were only 24 slaves in the county. There were 11 slave owners; six had only one slave.
Martha Davis had eight slaves, again the most of any of the slave owners. The Slave Schedules gave the names of the owners, but not the names of their slaves, so those names were mostly lost to history.
We do have the names of four slaves that were in Newton County. Two of these were runaway slaves named Anderson and Bunk. They had run away from their owners in Saline County, Arkansas, but had been captured in Newton County in June, 1860. As was the custom of that time, a notice was put in the paper announcing that the runaways had been captured and placed in the Newton County Jail. A physical description was given for each man, and the notice was given to the owners to "come forward, prove property, pay charges, and take him away, otherwise he will be dealt with as the law directs". (Arkansas True Democrat 23 Jun 1860).
We also know the names of Vilissa Piety Villines and her son, Timothy. Vilissa Piety was given to Hezekiah and Elizabeth (Penn) Villines as a wedding present, and the two women grew up together. During the Civil War, Timothy went to get help for the womenfolk who were in danger, endearing him to the family. When Aunt Piety died in the late 1800s, the Villines family erected a tombstone over her grave. Her son Tim lived on in Boxley until his death in 1919. (Old Folks Talking, Historical Sketches of Boxley Valley, findagrave.com).
Barbara LeRoy is the author of “Which Side Were They On?,” a 302 page book listing biographical sketches of the Newton Countians who were involved in the Civil War, available for sale either in the Bradley House Museum or by purchasing online at www.newtoncountyar.com. The book sells for $33.
