Pure white and Indian.
by Lisa Y. Henderson
Enoch Manuel and wife live in Dismal Township, Sampson County. He is now 70 years old. His father was Michael Manuel and lived on South River and died in 1858. Michael’s father was Nicholas Manuel, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, in John Toomer’s Army. His father was Ephraim Manuel. The records of Sampson County show, book 5, page 222, that in the reign of George III Benjamin Williams conveyed to Ephraim Manuel 400 acres of land, lying on the east side of Great Coharie, charging annual quit rents to His Majesty. We find another deed from Solomon Hardin to Levi Manuel, dated October 10, 1778, for 125 acres on March Branch and Miry Bottom Branch in Sampson County, consideration 50 English pounds. There are numerous other old deeds to the Manuel family on record in Sampson County. The father of Ephraim Manuel was Nickey Manuel and came from Roanoke River and claimed to be half white and half Indian. There is no trace of negro blood known to exist in the Manuel family as far back as they have any record.
Enoch Manuel says that his ancestor, Nickey Manuel, raised Matthew Leary, father of Sheridan Leary, who was killed in John Brown’s insurrection at Harper’s Ferry. Sheridan Leary was a brother of John S. Leary, a lawyer of Charlotte, formerly of Fayetteville, N. C. … Sarah, wife of Enoch Manuel, whose picture appears above, was a daughter of Amos Hardin, a wheelright [sic] in Honeycutts Township, and was recognized as a Croatan Indian. This couple have seven children and numerous grandchildren. They have not intermarried with the negro race, and their children attend Shiloh Indian School in Dismal Township, of which school Enoch Manuel was the founder.
[“]My mother’s mother was one Lanie Jackson, a white woman. Therefore as you can plainly see, my father and mother were pure white and Indian. My wife was the daughter of Amos Harding and Cassie Lockamy, a white woman, of Irish descent.
We had in our home several sons and daughters. Jonah Emanuel, who married Luberta Bledsole, daughter of W. J. Bledsole. W.J. Bledsole was the son of Mary Bledsole, a white woman, his father unknown. He is evidently a white man, with some trace of Indian blood. Enoch Emanuel, Jr., also married a daughter of the above W. J. Bledsole. Macy Lee Emanuel married Hassie J. Jones of Robeson County, a person of white and Indian descent. All of the above are descendants of the late Nicholas Emanuel and Jonathan Harding.
Many of the members of the Emanuel family have moved to other sections. They are now living in as many as seven different States of the Union. Some have spelled our name Manuel; others Emanuel. I have followed the latter form for our name in this pamphlet. [“]
From George E. Butler, “The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina. Their Origin and Racial Status. A Plea for Separate Schools,” (1916).
Fourth Generation Inclusive 
My family is from the Hardin line I believe. I have been working this line on Ancestry.com but not with the success that I would like. My paternal grandmother was adopted. Her mother was a Strickland and her father was said to be William Hardin a Native American. If you have any information on the Hardin line or know where I could go to get more recent records…my paternal grandmother was born in 1932, then I would greatly appreciate it. Your blog is very interesting 🙂 Thank you!!!
Thanks, Jessica, and thanks for taking the time to post. Unfortunately, I have not done in-depth research on the Hardins or Stricklands, which were both large free families of color. However, I’ll keep an eye for anything that might be helpful. Best regards. — Lisa H.
My mothers’s father was John Marshall Emanuel, a free will Baptist minister in Georgia. He was married for a brief time to a woman in north carolina and they had one daughter, don’t know their names or reason for divorce. He later married my grandmother Etta Mae Owens. They had 6 children. This is all new to me an looking for needles in haystacks as they are all long deceased.
I have been trying to research Jonah Manuel, do you know if he moved out of N.C. with his family and changed his last name to Maynard? Was told he had killed a revenue officer and fled N.C..
I do not. Manuel research is oddly clustered. Relatively lots of info about a few lines, like Nicholas, but nothing re others.
They were not Pure white and Indian. They were mullatoes with minimal to no Native American ancestry including their descendants. They are my relatives and I have done extensive dna testing and matching their descendants.They are my maternal ancestors in Sampson County, NC. And they have anywhere from 20% to 40% African ancestry. I do not and will not deny my African ancestry or I would not exist and it is disrespectful to the hardship endured by my ancestors. I am a direct great great granddaughter descendant of haplogroup H10e2 (European) and my progenitor was my great great grandmother Nancy Jane Manuel of Sampson County, NC. Her husband was my great great grandmother Johnson Brewington of Sampson County NC.
My great grandfather was hervey lee jones who is the sons of Hassie Jones. Therefore, I’m one of the decadents of Enoch Emmanuel and Macy. I have her picture on my ancestors altar. However, I’m curious why we never knew our family worked 400 acres of land!