Local Legends: Grandpap East

Although born in the American South not long after the American Revolution, Elijah East never spent a day of his life enslaved. A veteran and farmer, he led a long and eventful life, becoming a patriarch to several Black families in the Oxford area. 

East’s mother, Susannah “Susan” (Speed) East, was enslaved in Halifax County, Virginia when she took the unprecedented step of suing her master, William Rowlette, for freedom in Nov. 1782. She won her case, which was based on the Virginia Manumission Act of 1782, and with it her freedom. The Manumission Act was soon rescinded in 1806.

Along with her freedom, Susan’s two sons, James and Samuel Speed, East’s stepbrothers, also gained their freedom. However, in 1786, she placed her sons, who were very likely the children of her master, in indentured servitude before leaving for Kentucky. Susan may have lacked the means to care for them or thought it would give them an opportunity to learn trades as apprentices.

East was born free in Jessamine County, Kentucky sometime around the signing of the U.S. Constitution. His father was Robert “Bob” East, Susan’s husband by that time. Bob 

East was a longtime tavern keeper in Nicholasville and was purportedly a personal acquaintance of Henry Clay, “The Great Compromiser.” Both of East’s parents also worked at the Jessamine County courthouse and engaged in land speculation.

When the War of 1812 broke out, East joined the militia while somewhere around age 24. He enlisted with the Jessamine Blues, a company of the 5th Kentucky Volunteer Regiment under Capt. James C. Price. His unit went north for service in the vicinity of Detroit with Gen. William Henry Harrison’s Army of the Northwest.

East was with the army as it attempted to recapture Detroit from the British and their Native American allies in January 1813. In what would be known as the Battle of the River Raisin — also known as the Battle of Frenchtown — the American force attacked their enemies and pushed them north away from Frenchtown. 

The British counterattacked in force four days later, on Jan. 22, 1813. The American right flank was smashed by the attack within 20 minutes. Wyandot and Delaware warriors maneuvered to catch the routed American troops between their position and the frozen over River Raisin. 

The Americans abandoned their attempt to make a stand as they fled across the frozen river with no cover from the warrior’s withering fire. Capt. Price led East and his comrades out onto the ice in an effort to recover American wounded, only to have his arm severed by a musket ball. 

East and the rest of Jessamine Blues fell back across the river and joined the chaotic frenzied flight of the now-scattered U.S. soldiers. The Native Americans pursued and captured or massacred all those they caught up with. Of the 400 men on the right flank of the American line, 33 made it to safety. East was one of them.

East returned to Kentucky for a time after the war and married for the first of three times, wedding Sylvia (Fry) East. She was the daughter of her slave master William Adam Frey, who allowed her to marry East and purportedly left his estate to the couple when he died. 

East married Elon East, whose name is also recorded as Ellen East and whose maiden name is unknown, after Sylvia’s death. It was around this time that East decided to relocate to Ohio.

Arriving in Butler County, East purchased a 50-acre farm in Section 22 of Milford Township on March 12, 1829. If the farmstead was still standing today, it would be addressed as 2409 Harris Road.

Having experienced some of the most brutal warfare imaginable, East seems to have lived out the remainder of his life in the peace of rural Butler County. 

Susan East also accompanied her son to Oxford, where she died in November 1849. She is buried in Woodside Cemetery.

East kept the Milford Township farm until 1861 when he sold it to one of his sons, Nelson East. The farm remained the property of the family until again being sold in 1866.

Elon died in 1860 and was also buried in Woodside Cemetery. After her demise, East married for the final time on Dec. 15, 1861, at around the age of 73. His bride was South Carolina native and 19-year-old Mary Jane (Bedenbaugh) East.

By 1870, the Easts were living on and working another farm in Oxford Township. East was still listed as a farmhand ten years later in the 1880 Census, the last census that would record him.

Between his three wives, East had eight children, including a set of twins, leading to him being known as “Grandpap East.” Among his descendants are members of the East, Proctor, Bedenbaugh, Bruner, Ayers, Gibson, and Hunt families. 

East died on Jan. 8, 1883. Some claims were made that he was 107 years old when he died, though it's more likely that he was 95 at the time of his death. He was laid to rest in Woodside Cemetery.

Brad Spurlock is the manager of the Smith Library of Regional History and Cummins Local History Room, Lane Libraries. A certified archivist, Brad has over a decade of experience working with local history, maintaining archival collections and collaborating on community history projects.