Christmas Family Roots

                          NOTES CONCERNING LEWIS YANCEY CHRISTMAS

                    Lewis Y. Christmas (1791-1857) was the son of William & Jane (Yancey) Christmas 

                                                          By William Christmas

 

LewisY. Lewis CHRISTMAS while never marring a white woman he had children by two black slave mistress. He had twelve children with Jinnie and one with Keziah. Lewis Yancey CHRISTMAS’ children while slaves by law, were reared in his house and brought up with love by their father who cared for them. Because of recently passed laws in the state of North Carolina, the children did not learn to read since the law forbade teaching slaves to read. Lewis and Jinnie’s twelve children were , Ann 1822, Junius 1823, Seth 1825, Mary 1827, Christopher Columbus , October 18, 1827, Erasmus March 1830, Martha 1831, Henry , Richard , Marcus George 1834, Nancy 1835, and Jane. By Keziah, he had Delia in 1838. In 1857 Lewis Y. CHRISTMAS made out his will in which he granted his children their freedom and ten thousand dollars to be divided between "Christopher, , Henry , Marcus, Erasmus , Nancy , Jane and her three children Laura , Frank , Davy and his mistress Keziah.The will of Lewis Y. CHRISTMAS was contested by his relatives in the Court of Equity of Warren County N.C. however,the Supreme Court of NORTH CAROLINA awarded the slaves there rights in the will.Starting around the very late 1840's these children began to marry off. Mary married William Curtis before 1850; Jane married John Lucius Ward before October 1852 (Jane and three of her children: Frank , Laura and Davy were mentioned in Lewis Y. Christmas' will, dated October 6, 1857); Marcus married Lucinda Davis. About 1856, Seth Christmas married Sallie Scott . Some time in the late 1850’s Christopher jump the broom with Rhoda, they had two children , Kit and Rebecca. Christopher married Elizza Ruff and fathered Elizza in 1862; Mary , Louisa , Sallie , Nanny , Seth , Christopher , Elnonora and Essie . Following Elizza's death he married Phoebe and had Nehemiah on September 14, 1901; Phoebe in 1903, Caleb in 1905 and Martha on April 21, 1908. Christopher and Marcus were instrumental in organizing and building the Greenwood Baptist Church. Kit Christmas the son of Christopher preached in this church.

 

** William Christmas is the grandson of Christopher and the son of Nehemiah.