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The death of Rose Rollins, 97, I Gist Settlement, Nov. 30, who is ‘survived by five generations of descendants, narrows down the population of settlement residents who are direct descendants of the slaves freed by the will of wealthy Englishman eccentric, Samuel Gist. Approximately 30 persons live there now. Rose was born and died in the settlement. She was the daughter of Thomas and Sonia Lawson, her father being a descendant of freed slave E. E. Lawson. Residents of the settlement claim that Rose was well past 100 years of age, prob ably 107. Her husband, John Rollins, who died in 1941, was a chief or lead er in the settlement during his lifetime, highly respected by both white and colored residents of this area. John was quite a political leader and a great speech maker. An unfortunate incident occurred when he was making a political talk one time, however, and was recalled by residents of the day much to John’s embarrassment. AS HE rose to a vocal crescendo he declared: “What this country needs is more taxation and less representation.” The question of taxation on the settlement has nev er been quite settled, for that mat ter. The inhabitants of the settle ment were referred to in an ar ticle which appeared in the Cin cinnati Times Star in 1958 as “guests of the state since before the Civil War.” A check of records at the High land County Court House reveals eight families owning or occupy ing land in the settlement tract of 218 acres and 146 poles have paid o ther taxes up to date. There are 1 ‘plots shown on the tax books as owned by 21 residents or owners, who have not paid taxes for years. The question of who should pay them is not too clear, as resi dents of the settlement have no deeds to prove ownership, as far as could be determined by research at the court house. Taxes were paid by trustees of the Gist estate until 1852, and in 1858 the chain of titles dims out in the records. It seems to be a matter of “squat ters’ rights” by this time, or “pos session is nine-tenths of the law.” If they don’t own it, who does? If they don’t own it, should they pay taxes on it? Two-hundred and sixty-eight sla ves owned by Samuel Gist, an Englishman and Virginia landown er, were freed by his will. The will also provided that a trust fund be provided, trustees be appointed and that descendants of the trus tees were to provide for the needs of descendants of the freed slaves. This all sounded fine at the time, no doubt, but years have passed and apparently the trust fund ran out,or could be someone ran out with the trust ,and) but anyway, there no longer is a fund or a trustee to look after the matter. GISTS will provided that his Virginia estate be sold and land purchased, houses and schools built for the freedmen and their families. The land was not to be sold but handed down from one generation to another. Originally 3,000 acres of land were purchased in Erie, Adams, Brown and High land Counties, but Gist Settlement in Highland County is all that re mains of the original settlements. In 1950 a Cleveland attorney, Alexander H. Martin, Sr., (now deceased), engaged by the late Wil liam Rollins, son of John and Rose Rollins, did some research on the matter and claimed that he be lieved the trust estate still exists in England. Alexander H. Martin Jr., Colum bus former assistant attorney gen residents at the present time. There has been legislation pro- THE LATE Rose Rolling of the Gist Settlement is shown with a fourth-generation grand child, a Turner boy from Wil mington. She was the patriarch of the settlement at the time of her death. LEGAL NOTICE In the Court of Common Pleas, High land County, Ohio. No. 19,576. Joseph Lee Wise, Fort Benjamin Harri son, Indianapolis, Indiana, Plaintiff, U. S.. Judith Ellen Wise, Route 3, Greenfield, Ohio, Defendant. Joseph Lee Wise, whose place of residence is Fort Benjamin Harrison, In dianapolis, Indiana, will hereby take notice that on the 6th day of Decem ber, 1963, the undersigned, Judith Ellen Wise, filed an answer and cross-peti tion against the seid Joseph Lee Wise in the Court of Common Pleas of Highland County, Ohio, seeking a di vorcs ee the grounds of gross neglect 0! July. at Saain be for hearing oo ot after the day of January, +. JUDITH ELLEN WISE Charles E. Hart, Jr, Attorni r Eutendant, Ed Ba'ee Seeb fod
Newspaper Details
Hillsboro Press Gazette
Hillsboro, Ohio, US
Tue, Jan 07, 1964
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Laura B.
USA 11 Jul 2026
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