Searching for Kitty

Zann Miner / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: April 21, 2007

WASHINGTON, Va. - In 1816, in the most westerly lands of what was then Culpeper County, a petite child was born to Samuel Maddox and a slave woman, whose name has yet to be discovered.

The child was named Catherine and called "Kitty." No one could have predicted the impact this simple and seemingly uneventful occurrence would have. Yet nearly 200 years later, Kitty's story touches the lives of dozens.

On April 10, generations of Kitty's descendants converged on the small town of Washington in Rappahannock County. They came - children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters and spouses - from Oklahoma, Arizona, Wisconsin, Kansas and North Carolina. They had all heard the stories and read the accounts described by Kitty's granddaughter Mary Gandy in her book, "Guide My Feet, Hold My Hand."

Many times these relatives had heard the stories of Kitty's birth into slavery and of the subsequent banishment of her mother through sale. They knew that Kitty had been raised in the home of her father and owner Samuel Maddox, married a free man from the area, was removed to Pennsylvania after she was emancipated and was kidnapped, returned to Rappahannock and held in the local jail for almost a year.

But they had never been to Rappahannock, never seen or touched or walked in the footsteps of their ancestor.

Kitty's life was a chronicle of slavery, freedom, duty, finances, legal wrangling and criminal activity. Scenes of the home place in rural Rappahannock County near Huntly, the 19th-century jail in the town of Washington and the more urban areas of Gettysburg, Pa., would punctuate the legends.

The fabric of Kitty's life was interwoven with the characters of Samuel Maddox (her father and owner), his wife Mary, nephew Samuel Maddox Jr. and Robert Payne, her husband. Add to that mix the nation's debate over slavery, the laws pertaining to manumitted slaves and the anti-slavery activities of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and one has the making of a fascinating journal.

Judy Tole, executive director of the Rappahannock Historical Society (RHS) coordinated the events of April 10 with a luncheon at the Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall and a visit to both the jail and the Maddox farmhouse.

Residents of Rappahannock rolled out the proverbial red carpet for Kitty Payne's family. Bob Anderson, chairman of the board of supervisors; John McCarthy, county administrator; the sheriff's office, local landowners and the Rappahannock Historical Society all came together to make this a meaningful and memorable experience.

The jail in which Kitty and her children were held in "protective custody" for some 300 days is still in use as a jail today.

Arranging for family members to visit the inside of the building, though not an easy feat, was successfully facilitated by Sheriff Larry Sherertz and his staff.

The Payne family descendants were not the only ones who benefited from the fullness of that day.

"The lives of those of us who call Rappahannock County home are also enhanced and nurtured by this experience," Judy Tole said. "We have added to our historical data base, made new connections and the world has gotten a little smaller."

Some might imagine there's bitterness for what happened, but this was a joyful group, ecstatic in the ability to catch a glimpse of life as experienced by their ancestor Kitty Payne.

Marybeth Staples, Payne's great-great-granddaughter from North Carolina, spoke for her family when she said, "We all hold this story very dear to our hearts, but I think it's really going to put things in perspective to see the historical sites where these things happened.

"We share a history with the Maddox family and the community of Rappahannock County, Va. It is those connections that we sought and found and it is those connections that we will pass on."

Zann Miner is the former executive director of the Museum of Culpeper History. She does historical research and writes a weekly column for the Star-Exponent. E-mail
The Life of     Kitty Payne

The year was 1816 and the setting was a farm in the western boundaries of Culpeper County near the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1833, this same land would become a part of the newly formed Rappahannock County.

Samuel Maddox, 1763-1837 married Mary Roberts in 1792, but their marriage would produce no heirs.

In 1816, Kitty was born a slave to Samuel Maddox, owner of Kitty's mother. Kitty's mother was sold and Mary and Samuel Maddox raised Kitty.

1836 (est.): Kitty married Robert Payne (Paine) a free black man who practiced the trades of wagoner and shoemaker.
1837-42 (est.): Kitty and Robert Payne had four children: Eliza Jane, Mary, Arthur and George.

1837: Samuel Maddox's will left everything to his widow Mary and upon her death to his nephew Samuel Maddox Jr. Payne family history records Samuel Maddox's request of his wife to free Kitty and her children.

1843: On Feb. 25, Mary Maddox filed manumission papers with the Rappahannock County court for Benjamin, James, Kitty, Eliza Jane, Mary, Arthur and George.

1843: Virginia laws required in most cases that emancipated slaves leave the state. After May of 1843, Mary Maddox would accompany the freed slaves to Pennsylvania, where she would remain with them for nearly a year until they were settled.

1843-45: Kitty lost both her youngest child George and her husband Robert to illness. Both are buried in Adams County, Pa.
1845: In July, nephew Samuel Maddox Jr. would contest Mary Maddox's legal right to free Kitty and her children and sent men to kidnap and return them to Rappahannock County.

1845: Quakers in Pennsylvania helped Kitty hire an attorney.

1846: After confinement of 300 days in the Rappahannock County jail and a trial of the same duration, Samuel Maddox Jr. relinquished claim to the slaves. Kitty and her children were again set free and returned to Pennsylvania.

1850: Kitty died on Aug. 12, 1850 and is buried in the Lincoln Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa.