By Wilton Hudgens
31st January 2023
The world in which we now find ourselves is full of violence, thought campaigns and ideas concerning the pigment of skin that some humans were born into. There are apologies end over end for things that people have been inflicting upon each other since time began. Terror and bloodshed has begat terror and bloodshed. Some people and/or communities are singled out for some reason as being “racist” while some for being “the hood” or “the ghetto.” In recent years, the state of Alabama has been the topic of much controversy. The state is continually trashed in so many social justice warrior conversations concerning racism and injustice. So much of it is valid and true in so many ways, but what would people say if they knew that a white man was legally executed for the murder of a free black man in the same state in 1841?
The state of Alabama within its current borders has a rich and interesting history. The original capital of Louisiana was once Mobile where they claim the very first Mardi Gras in the New World. The lower half of Alabama was, at one time, a part of La Florida and a haven for free people of color to live a life that they couldn’t live in the British colonies; Florida would even be attacked by the British Colonies during the 1700s after numerous slave escapes into the territory. It was once home to the Creek, Alabama, Apalachee, Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw and more. The North American US Civil War was brutal and destroyed the lives and homes of so many in Alabama. There was even resistance from within the Confederacy just as there was in the Free State of Jones in Mississippi and also the Big Thicket of East Texas.
It took me years to find the truth about my Frost/Froust Family that had come to Louisiana in the mid-1840s from Alabama. My paternal grandfather’s sisters had done quite a job not connecting the actual lines we had come from. They may likely have been innocent in their skewing. Had they known the truth for sure, they certainly would have kept it quiet as some family were members of the Invisible Empire. Even my own grandfather was a member at one time until he heard what they had to say. After an ear full, he called “bullshit” on their ideals and notions and was a member no more as he knew the truth of the “haves” vs “have nots.” This was similar in nature to Newton Knight’s saying concerning “poor men fighting a rich man’s war.” My grandfather was an honest and hard-working man who paid heed to people’s actions and not their skin tone. He was less well-received among some of the family as such.
Since childhood, I remember my father’s father (Frederick George Hudgens) mentioning that his mother’s people had come from Alabama. Everybody called him “Fred.” He was named after two grandfathers - Frederick Mortimer Hudgens and George Washington Frost. His mother’s name was Alice Lucinda Frost though the name has been spelled “Froust” due to family lore that it was the original spelling which turned out later to be somewhat of a half-truth. Alice’s father, George, was the first child born in Louisiana after the family arrived. He had lived to see “Hell on Earth” during the North American US Civil War and witnessed the burning of Jacob Frey’s tannery where he worked making foot-ware for the soldiers because he was too young to enlist in the regulars; old Frey was likely shot during the commotion as his death is recorded in 1863 per his widow’s application for War of 1812 Pension. George also suffered the loss of his mother due to her contraction of the measles. These were dark times for all.
In the beginning, the family lived in Jackson Parish, Louisiana (which is confirmed both by US Federal Census records and the Will of William Frost). They would later live near Alpha in Caldwell Parish. George Frost’s father (James T. Frost) had made the journey from Alabama with his brother John, their 1st cousin Thomas and their sister Elizabeth (Frost) Ryals and her family as well as Hendrix relatives. I’m not entirely confirmed as to why the family left when they did, but it may possibly have had something to do with what happened to George’s uncle Samuel.
Samuel Frost (born about 1805) was the oldest son of William & Mary (Unknown) Frost of the Richland District of South Carolina and later Butler County, Alabama where the family owned one of the most lucrative cotton plantation operations in the area. The Frosts also owned lands in three counties there - Dallas, Lowndes and Butler. Samuel would gain control of portions of this property and work a farm of his own in Lowndes County with his wife and their children.
My Louisiana Frosts have been somewhat of a mystery as they’ve been inappropriately represented as “white” and grouped mistakenly concerning what is widely accepted as ancestral pedigree. If you were to scour Ancestry.com, you’d likely find that the majority of the family trees therein show the parents of my James T. Frost with brothers Samuel and John to be William Frost & Mary “Polly” Rice who were also referred to as white; furthermore, my James T. Frost is most commonly and incorrectly named as James “Cedric” Frost which is a skew caused in part by my grandfather’s sisters' combining of two separate people. Like many situations, the first names are the same...but the people are different. At this point, the reality is that we don’t have concrete proof or evidence as of yet to the maiden name of our Mary. We do know that she wasn’t Mary “Polly” Rice. William and Mary “Polly” (Rice) Frost were in Bibb County, Alabama at the time that our William and Mary were in Butler County, Alabama. Again, the Will of our William Frost provides confirmation and “sets the bar” for much of what we know.
The popularization and spread of DNA testing has provided further concrete proof. Through DNA testing of myself and my father, I have found that we are part West and Central African. My father’s DNA shows between three and four percent Sub-Saharan African. Furthermore, through GEDmatch.com, there was enough information to provide some tribal affiliations concerning my father’s DNA results; he shows to be part Mbuti-Pygmy, Hadza, Eastern-Bantu and Omotic. This was confirmation of some of my suspicions regarding my helpless pursuit of grouping who I hypothesized to be family members. One other thing that did help in the beginning was the fact that a descendant of the William and Mary (Rice) Frost line had a bible record which had no entries for the Frosts from my line. Further DNA comparisons with cousins began to show that, for the most part, people from underneath the umbrella of the Frosts that had traveled to Louisiana also exhibited Sub-Saharan African DNA in varied amounts.
One thing is certain. My Frosts were forever, after removing to Louisiana, referred to in records as “white.” This would go back and forth with the relatives that stayed in Alabama and South Carolina where they were sometimes referred to as Mulatto. Louisiana was once a very culturally relaxed social climate in which free people of color might live a successful life free from the social norms of the eastern British colonies. In truth, it was somewhat of a New World fantasy land in which one might “blend in and disappear” unlike Dr. Marcus Brody. For a brief moment, a new culture and climate existed there unlike most places in the world at that time.
That said, we are able to locate our William Frost in the 1840 US Federal Census in Butler County, Alabama listed as “free person of color;” we were led here from US Federal Census and C.S.A. military records back in Louisiana. This is concurrent with the description of Samuel Frost as “free black” found in the ArchiveGrid description of Pardons, paroles, and clemency files, 1837-1841 which led me to purchase a copy of this microfilm through the Alabama Department of Archives and History (this microfilm was donated by me to the Clayton Genealogical Research Library in Houston, TX). It was through the purchase of the microfilm that I was able to first learn more specifics of the murder of Samuel Frost. Initially, the only piece of evidence I was able to recover was a small newspaper mention of the execution of Isaac Davis for the murder of Samuel Frost. Following the purchase of the microfilm and further expansion of newspapers.com’s database, I was able to also find about a third of a full newspaper page concerning the trial and execution of Isaac Davis. That paper was owned and operated by the very same judge who’d presided over the trial. I’d originally seen mention of Samuel Frost as having been murdered on a now defunct website profile, constructed by one of my Frost cousins, whom I would later have the opportunity to meet named Barbara. From there, I searched as often as I could for any scrap or shred of proof which is how I finally discovered the few small newspaper references. It took years for me to gather the smallest amount of evidence. When I finally received the microfilm from Alabama and was able to view it, I had chills. Beyond what I’d expected, there was a synopsis of the story of the murder. Albeit brief, I was able to understand at least the overall idea of what had occurred. According to the file for Isaac Davis, Samuel Frost was not well-liked in his community. That was in contrast to what the judge had offered in his editorial concerning the trial. I can only imagine that there was cognitive dissonance regarding the successful lives and business of free people of color in a time and place when the laws were beginning to tighten down regarding rights and education of anyone other than “white” due to attempted rebellions within the former colonies and territories. There is also jealousy to be considered in any political or social climate when there is prosperity for some while not others.
The most important part of the file for Isaac Davis was the brief recounting of the evidence within a petition for commutation of punishment by family and other local citizens: “The deceased was found dead in his field from the effects of a rifle ball, the rifle was found concealed not far from the spot where the man was found dead, and from the testimony of witnesses it appeared that the rifle was one which had belonged to one William Ethridge of Lowndes County, and which Ethridge had been offering to exchange to said Davis for a small sum which he had - there was no positive proof that there ever had been an absolute exchange between them, but the presumption with the jury was that there was an exchange - The tracks of a horse were traced near the place which the gun was found and witnesses were produced who swore that they believed they were the tracks of Davis’ horse. It was also in proof that the deceased and Davis were unfriendly, and that the deceased was on very bad terms with the white people generally in the neighborhood - that the deceased’s wife was a woman of ill fame, and that Davis and others in the neighborhood were thought to have carried on an intimacy with her; and it also appeared that William Ethridge who had been known to own the rifle with which the deed was done was very unfriendly with the deceased and had threatened his life. It also appeared in evidence that Ethridge had left this part of the country at the time of the trial and could not be found. Davis has never made any attempt to escape but has quietly submitted to the laws of the country and the jury from the testimony were of the opinion that he was the person who took the life of the deceased with the rifle and accordingly found him guilty.”
Now, in reference to Samuel Frost’s wife, there was mention of her in the first newspaper clippings I’d recovered regarding Isaac Davis’ execution. The first small article stated, “The wife of Frost, who aided and abetted in the murder, is still in prison, and will be arraigned at the next term.” The second article I found stated, “...He (Davis) confessed that the wife of the murdered man was the instigation of his committing the horrid deed. Her trial has been postponed, she being enciente. She will doubtless share the same ignominious fate.” This last part refers to Samuel’s wife as “enciente” meaning that she was pregnant quite possibly with Davis’ or another’s child. I haven’t been able to confirm much more about Samuel’s wife. She has been referred to by some as Sarah “Love” or “Lowe.” As to her fate, following Isaac Davis’ execution, I have had no success in the recovery of any solid proof. It was theorized, without substantiation or evidence, that the Daniel Frost known as the eldest son of John Frost of Jackson Parish, Louisiana was possibly the child that Sarah was pregnant with while incarcerated. There has been nothing solid to prove this theory. Sadly, there is no evidence of the marriages of most of John, Samuel and James T. Frost’s generation or that of the previous. That is likely the result of their being classified as free people of color.
The aforementioned article by Judge John D. Phelan was highly insightful and related the following from his address to the court and prisoner during the trial: “You were arraigned, Isaac Davis, for the murder of Samuel Frost. You had the aid of able and experienced counsel, with all the other defenses and safeguards which our free and happy institution and laws throw around innocence; and after a patient and protracted trial of two days, and impartial and intelligent jury of your country returned against you a verdict of - Guilty. No one who heard the evidence doubts for a moment the justness of your conviction. The evidence upon which you were convicted was mainly circumstantial, and parts of it - links in the chain - were very remarkable and extraordinary. You little imagined, when you rode from Farmersville on the afternoon of the murder, that your horse’s tracks would tell where you went; or when you stood in the thicket by the fence, from which you fired the fatal rifle upon your unsuspecting victim, that your own shoe-tracks, in connection with your previous declarations to the witness Salter, would point to where you stood. No eye saw you then, for it was nearly dark when the report of your rifle was heard, and the cries of the dying man; but though you fled in the dark, your foot-tracks at the fence remained to point you out when the darkness had passed away. You little supposed, when after committing the deed, you concealed your rifle in a secret part of the wood not far remote under a fallen tree, that it would so soon be discovered and brought to light; that its barrel would be identified - and its lock identified by so extraordinary a train of circumstances, and its possession traced to you; and that all would meet you here in Court, to stamp the guilt of this horrible assassination indelibly upon you. Yet all this has come to light,and more that I need not detail...You have taken away the life of Samuel Frost!...But this is not the full measure of your guilt. There are incidental crimes which hang to the principal act. You have made his children orphans. I say nothing of his wife, because it is alleged (with what truth I pretend not even to conjecture) that she was a partaker in your crime; but you have taken from his little children - no matter what he was to others - their best friend and protector, their father. Your crime does not even stop here. You have made your own wife a widow, and your own children fatherless, to whom you leave only the legacy of their father’s infamy, while in your own aged father’s bosom, you planted the agonizing reflection, that he begat a son that died the death of a felon. There is one other aggravation of your guilt; and that is the motive which set you on to the perpetration of this murder. - Had it been done openly, under the influence of some strong provoking cause, human nature would have thrown around the dead the apology of our common frailty. But the testimony leaves you not even that poor excuse; and evinces that you were led on to this murder by base and diabolical lust, or cold calculating and cowardly hate...(Here the prisoner was directed to stand up.) Isaac Davis, it is the judgement and sentence of the Court, that you be now remanded to the jail of Lowndes County; that you remain there in close confinement, until Friday the 26th day of November next; that on that day, between the hours of 10 in the afternoon and 3 in the afternoon, you be taken thence by the Sheriff of said county, to the place of execution; and there, between the hours aforesaid, that you be hanged by the neck, until you are dead! dead! dead! and I pray God to have mercy on your soul!”
Isaac Davis (a white man) was executed in 1841 by the state of Alabama as prescribed for the murder of Samuel Frost (free black or free man of color). It is my wish to make it understood that the world is not so simple as some in our time would have it seem, and that it is the responsibility of us all to review and understand our history before making assumptions for which we might all become embarrassed or subject to aiding in the repeat of the mistakes of our ancestors before us. We must see all aspects and make case by case judgements in such a careful manner. Every person and place has the capacity for great evil. It is up to us to use logic and reason and to exercise compassion and empathy. Making a blanket statement about a group or an individual is easy to do as indicated by both the Klan and modern social justice warriors alike. Nobody is without responsibility. The truth lies somewhere in the middle where few seek to walk. We are all neighbors in this world and share it together regardless of the pigment of our skin or our nationality based on imaginary lines. Sources: “Another.” The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 7 Nov. 1841, p.2. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/25528929 “Charge of Judge Phelan.” The Democrat (Huntsville, Alabama), 18 Dec. 1841, p.4. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/348705872 https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/79625166 https://www.worldcat.org/title/79625166 “Isaac Davis...” The Wetumpka Argus (Wetumpka, Alabama), 15 Dec. 1841, p.2. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/244520122
"United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YY6-9WBN?cc=1786457&wc=31SV-44F%3A1588665921%2C1588666403%2C1588665902 : 24 August 2015), Alabama > Butler > Not Stated > image 23 of 75; citing NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-69Y3-PN5?cc=1401638&wc=95R7-MNT%3A1031324201%2C1031551401%2C1031551402 : 9 April 2016), Alabama > Butler > Butler county > image 74 of 173; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D55Q-S5N?cc=1401638&wc=95R3-MNB%3A1031310701%2C1031498401%2C1031632801 : 9 April 2016), Louisiana > Jackson > Jackson parish > image 39 of 80; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). “Will of William Frost.” Richland County, South Carolina Miscellaneous Estate Records, 1799-1955; Author: South Carolina. County Court (Richland County); Probate Place: Richland, South Carolina. Notes: Estate Papers, Box 65, Packages 1601-1625, 1799-1955. Ancestry.com. South Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data:South Carolina County, District and Probate Courts. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/134604:9080?tid=&pid=&queryId=2be2dbc0193827e37c368c03edf30d3e&_phsrc=ReH1&_phstart=successSource.
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