Henry Pendleton Gaines

1779 – 1865

HENRY PENDLETON GAINES was born Mar 30, 1779 in Stokes Co., NC, and died Jan 1, 1865 in Walker Co., AL. He married NANCY SHIPP Mar 27, 1811 in Stokes Co., NC, daughter of THOMAS SHIPP and HANNAH JOYCE. She was born Nov 8, 1790 in Stokes Co., NC, and died Feb 23, 1862 in Walker Co., AL.  They are both buried on Gaines Hill, Corona, Walker Co., AL.

Children of HENRY GAINES and NANCY SHIPP are:

  i.   EDMUND THOMAS GAINES , b. Feb 11, 1812 , Charlotte Co., VA; d. Feb 4, 1881, Walker Co., AL

Henry was in Patrick County , Virginia and Stokes County , North Carolina before relocating to Greene County , Alabama . From Greene County he relocated to Corona , Walker County, Alabama. He entered government land on December 9, 1833 .

The location of his land is section 27, township 15, range 9. This area will come to be called Gaines Hill and remains so named at the present time (2005). His farm now lies within the boundaries of the Wolf Creek Wildlife Refuge.

Henry and his sons were some of the largest slave owners in Walker County and in the 1860 census (just prior to the Civil War). Henry owned six male slaves and four female slaves that ranged in age from two to forty-six.  There value was established at $9,235.  His son William owned two slaves with a value of $2,500, his son George owned three slaves worth $3,000 and his son, Edmond had one slave worth $2,450.

In order to understand the value of their "property," as slaves were considered prior to the Civil War, $1,000 in 1860 dollars would be the equivalent of $32,000 in 2005 dollars.

There were 78 slave owners in all of Walker County and only two men owned more slaves than Henry. One of those large slave owners was his neighbor Benjamin B. Smith, who owned 18 slaves with a value of $15,750.   Benjamin was a farmer and a Baptist minister and they had a daughter, Martha, who will grow up to marry Henry’s son William in 1848.

There is a cemetery on Gaines Hill with many graves; both marked and unmarked,

However, I have been able to locate the following graves:

Henry Pendleton Gaines                B: Mar 30, 1779      D: Jan 1, 1865

Nancy Gaines (Henry’s wife)         B: Nov 8, 1790        D: Feb 23, 1862

Martha Gaines (their daughter)     B: Jul ?, 1822          D: 1842 or 1872?   

George S. Gaines                          B: Dec 8, 1828        D: Dec 22, 1910

Francis Ann Elizabeth Gaines

(wife of George)                             B: Apr 9, 1832         D: Mar 10, 1891

Vina Gaines (wife of Lewis)          B: Sep 20, 1860     D: Aug 26, 1887

William R. Gaines                          B: 1865                    D: 1925

Jack Gaines                                   Age 64 on stone     D: Aug 4, 1892

Lavina J. Gaines                           B: Feb 12, 1854      D: Jan 14, 1883

(dau of G.S. & F.A.E. Gaines, wife of J.W. Linn)

Ella W. Gaines                              B: Apr 8, 1872         D: Apr 2, 18??