One Hell of a Valentines Day - King Henry: Born into slavery. Died with 9 wives and 76 children

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King Henry: Born into slavery. Died with 76 children, 9 wives, and 600 acres of land





I figured I'd flip the black history threads with one from my own family.
​

My great, great, grandfather is named Puff Norwood owned his own land, store & cotton gin. He had a brother named Henry Norwood who came to live with him after their parents died. Henry was born into slavery in June 9th 1859 living between the late 1800’s early 1900’s and only has one living child remaining. Henry is the one who married the 9 women and fathered 76 children in Marengo county Alabama.


My daddy said there are two issues that currently aren’t clear…​
  1. How did the bothers acquire their property/wealth so soon after slavery?​
  2. Who were the women’s siblings, parents, and extended family?​
(basically we have family floating around that we don’t know about)
Below is a news story about the life of Henry Norwood.

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​
With that said I assume the question to be… “what has your family done to help themselves solve this”?
  1. We have a basic family tree that was made of the Norwood family(brothers) and their children
  2. We have asked people currently living who knew him while alive. Both my grandmother and my father(small child) knew him while alive
  3. Collected info such as the article above
  4. Searched on ancestry websites questioning people from the area or who maybe searching for similar types of topics.

Message Boards

Norwoods and Bookers in Alaba - Genealogy.com

Search U.S. Census (Index & Images)


I’m personally working outside of whatever others in my family are doing. My formal training is software engineering but main focus in terms of personal studies would be general Africology. In studying Continental & diasporian African history I came across the work of Patricia Dixon on polygynous families in the African American community. Given her study of that particular topic I actually sent her an email figuring I’d request her expertise in the topic to maybe suggest an angle no one else in the family has thought of to solve this little “mystery”.

51WqSZR2O3L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

We Want for Our Sisters What We Want for Ourselves: African American Women Who Practice Polygyny by Consent
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Polygyny -- the practice of having multiple wives -- has existed since ancient times and is still practiced in many countries throughout the world. In this book, Dr. Patricia Dixon argues that the practice is one the African American community should adopt as well. According to Dixon, the concept of monogamy was spread by Christianity and created an unrealistic and romanticized notion of marriage that leaves many women, especially African American women, unfulfilled and unsupported. She offers many reasons to support polygyny, most importantly, the shortage of available African American men. Through extensive interviews, she offers an insider's look at polygynous marriages, showing readers its benefits and disadvantages, interpersonal dynamics, how financial, sexual, and parental responsibilities are determined, and the legal, moral, and cultural challenges that must be overcome in order to make polygynous marriage possible within American society.

We Want for Our Sisters What We Want for Ourselves

​
 
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Mr. Negative

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A Mississippi Cotton Field
How did they get the land and wealth?

Hypothetically.....

You'd be surprised how, when slavery was abolished, some white folks just dropped everything and left. It didn't matter how valuable land supposedly was. Folks only saw wealth in their slaves, and the land was something that was basically rationed off to them.

Imagine you were a cattle farmer, and you woke up one day to find your 5000 heads of cattle all died overnight of some illness.

No slaves = no money. Time to move.


This is what happened in a lot of places in the mississippi delta. But not on that scale of acreage (that I know of). I only know folks "inheriting " 1-5 acres.

The government swooped in and tried to steal it, though.
 
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SharinganBoy said:
Do you stay in Alabama op?If so you might want to watch who you date :dame:
Click to expand...

:mjlol:​


My gandmother moved from down there to Birmingham AL and married my grandaddy so I'm in the clear:mjgrin: .....I think :sadcam:

Akan said:
OP some of your story is kind of similar to Nick Chubb's and Chubbtown.

Click to expand...


:ohhh:​
 
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Larry Lambo said:
Damn, I'm surprised we have someone who was a child of a slave that is still alive.

b b b but slavery was a long time ago.
Click to expand...

Henry was born into slavery in June 9th 1859 living between the late 1800’s early 1900’s and only has one living child remaining.
Click to expand...

The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.





Albert_Woolson_(ca._1953).jpg
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Albert Woolson. Albert Henry Woolson (February 11, 1850 – August 2, 1956) was the last surviving member of the Union Army who served in the American Civil War. He was also the last surviving Civil War veteran on either side whose status is undisputed.
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