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| Simon Daniel of Stewart County, Tennessee (1823-1857) |
According to grandchildren who never met him, Simon Daniel of Stewart County, Tennessee, was a tough, gun-toting slave owner with a silver plate attached to his skull (cranioplasty). His descendants spoke glowingly of him through the captivating genre of embellished storytelling. Without proof, many claimed he owned a manor with hundreds of acres--he was a "typical" Southern gentleman who may have owned up to 24 enslaved adults and children. A chilling aspect of our Daniel heritage that most descendants despise.
Generations of storytellers not only admired Simon Daniel for his perceived wealth but also revered him for his gun-slinging persona. A favorite story illustrates his bravado during a stand against nightriders. The ruffians galloped on their horses into Simon's farmyard in before Simon died in 1857. They demanded to see Simon's "favorite" slave--to teach him a lesson. Simon met them with a gun and sent them off, stating that no one would beat his slaves but him. A few months later, on an early August evening, Simon's horse ambled into the farm yard with 33-year-old Simon slumped on the horse's back. His slave carried him into the house, where he died five days later.
Some descendants believe Simon died from brain fever stemming from an infection near the silver plate; others think he was ambushed by the nightriders.
Simon left a widow, Becky Anne, with five children under the age of nine. To pay her dead husband's debts, according to one of the storytellers, Becky Anne sold most of the slaves and sent them down the river to New Orleans. Four years after Simon's death, his "cousin" shot and killed a witness in the Dover County courthouse, in front of dozens of witnesses.
After hearing these stories for years, I never understood the adulation for my antebellum Daniel ancestors. They seemed crude, cruel, and unapologetic for participating in the practice of enslaving people and ostensibly abusing women. And yet, the stories of extreme violence and murder intrigued me. "Who WERE these people, these 'bad boys' residing deep in my mother's bloodline?"
I began researching Stewart County court documents, including the 1861 transcribed witness testimonies to a courtroom murder involving two men likely related to Simon and me. As I investigated, a true crime narrative emerged, ultimately changing my perspective of myself, my ancestors, and Southern storytellers.
Simon's and other "Bad Boy" stories can be found in my upcoming book: Bad Boys on the Family Tree and the 1861 Courthouse Murder in Dover, Tennessee. For a preview of the book, see the sidebar on this blog: Book --Bad Boys on the Family Tree & the 1861 Courtroom Murder in Dover, Tennessee.
Most stories mentioned above come from Simon's grandchildren, including Frankie (Daniel) Sellas's manuscript: The Home Folks: 200 Years In The Cumberland Settlement (also known as Appendix D).
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