Baptist Joshua McCaine (1814 - aft. 1880)

Born 15 Jan 1814 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died after 1880 after age 65 in Alabama, United States [uncertain]

Biography

Baptist Joshua was born in 1814. He was the son of Alexander McCaine and Kituel Hall. ^[1] According to family tradition, he was named for his two uncles, Baptist Mezzick and Joshua Mezzick, and went to sea at an early age. He and his brother and sister apparently did not care for their step mother Frances Griffith. ^[2]

Baptist removed to Alabama by about the age of 22, when he served with Cobb's Company of the Alabama Volunteers in the Creek War of 1836. ^[3]

He appears to have then settled for a time at Barnwell County, South Carolina (adjacent to Aiken County, where his sister resided) where he was appointed Postmaster in 1839. ^[4] No 1840 or 1850 census record could be found for him, but he was back in Alabama by 1851 when he received a Postmaster appointment at Talladega County. ^[5] He is known to have resided on his father's Hillabee property in Talladega County when his father wrote his will in 1856. Baptist Joshua received at least one more appointment there as Postmaster in 1880. ^[6]

He married Catherine (Amelia Lark) of South Carolina and they appeared in the 1860 census at Coleta in Talladega County ^[7] and in the 1870 and 1880 censuses at the same town in Clay County, ^{[8] [9]} formed in 1866 from part of Talladega County. ^[10] Baptist and Catherine's children were:

1. Alexander Lark, b. abt. 1843
2. Joshua Mezick, b. 30 May 1846, m. Mary E. Mills?, d. 17 Oct 1918
3. Henry, b. abt. 1847
4. Amelia Precious, b. Oct 1849, m. William Scott, d. 15 Mar 1914
5. James G., b. Sep 1852, m. Nancy O'Kelley?, d. 26 May 1913
6. Emma, b. abt. 1856/57, m. James Prickett?, d. 11 Jan 1931
7. Virginia, b. abt. 1858/59, never married?, d. aft. 1900
8. George, b. 26 Oct 1864, m. Estelle Brown, d. 27 Feb 1928
9. Alice Lark, b. Sep 1867, m. Dr. J. N. Scott, d. 24 Sep 1927

A Ruth McCain, Antrum McCain, and Hulda Brooks resided with them in 1870.

Baptist Joshua died sometime between his census appearance in June 1880 and the filing of a pension on 27 Sep 1892 for service with Cobb's Company of Alabama Volunteers in the Creek War. ^[3]

From Elizabeth G. Brett:

"Some letters indicate that the Reverend's son Baptist was quite a terrible man. He was an abusive alcoholic prone to selling other people's human 'property' (i.e. slaves). His father had to repeatedly bail him out of trouble. He seems to have also had "relations" with some women who were enslaved and may have fathered some African-American McCain children. More on that another time... I don't have all of the information organized yet and not sure how many facts may be gleaned." ^[11]

Enslaved African Americans

Baptist Joshua inherited fifteen enslaved African Americans along with his father's Hillabee estate in that part of southeast Talladega County, Alabama that is now Clay County. The 09 Jul 1856 inventory of the estate names them as:

1. Winey
2. Alfred
3. King
4. Serena
5. Ransone or Captain
6. Josephene or Bump (unsound)
7. Lucy
8. Richmond
9. John
10. Will
11. Ben
12. Lorenza
13. Joe (carpenter)
14. Jerry
15. Bill

In the 1860 census, Baptist Joshua held six enslaved people, one female and five males. ^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ Baltimore City Directory Archives
2. ↑ McCain, James on 10-04-2014
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "United States Index to Indian Wars Pension Files, 1892-1926," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDRB-SZ9 : 13 March 2018), Baptist J Mccaine, 1892; citing Pension, Alabama, NARA microfilm publication T318 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 821,616.
4. ↑ U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-Sept. 30, 1971; Roll #: 114; Archive Publication #: M841. Name: Baptist J McCain; Post Office Location: Angleys Branch, Barnwell, South Carolina; Appointment Date: 9 Jul 1839; Volume #10; Volume Year Range: 1832-1844.
5. ↑ U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-Sept. 30, 1971; Roll #: 3; Archive Publication #: M841. Name: Baptist J McCaine; Post Office Location: Coleta, Talladega, Alabama; Appointment Date: 24 Jan 1851; Volume #: 17; Volume Year Range: 1844-1857.
6. ↑ U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-Sept. 30, 1971; Roll #: 1; Archive Publication #: M841. Name: B J McCain; Post Office Location: Coleta, Clay, Alabama; Appointment Date: 21 Jan 1880; Volume #44; Volume Year Range: 1875-1889.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHDK-CXJ : 13 December 2017), Baptist J Mc Caine, 1860.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHVB-ZYR : 12 April 2016), B J Mccain, Alabama, United States; citing p. 8, family 466, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,507.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4JH-ZB7 : 12 August 2017), B J Mc Cain, Coleta, Clay, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet 50B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0007; FHL microfilm 1,254,007.
10. ↑ Wikipedia: Clay County, Alabama
11. ↑ RootsWeb, McCain-L Archives, 1794 Bible of Rev. Alexander McCaine, by Elizabeth G. Brett, 27 Oct 2003
12. ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WKJ3-6QT2 : 16 October 2019), B J McCain, 1860.

See also:

• "Alabama State Census, 1866", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V6P2-315 : 3 February 2022), B J McCain, 1866.