Hairston, Samuel, 1788-1875

Samuel Hairston (1788-1875) was a younger brother of Robert Hairston (1783-1852) and son of George Hairston (1750-1827) and Elizabeth Perkins Letcher Hairston (1759-1818). He married Agnes John Peter Wilson (1801-1880), the daughter of Peter Wilson and his first cousin Ruth Stoval Hairston Wilson (1783-1869). They lived at Oak Hill Plantation in Pittsylvania County, Va., and they had seven children. In 1854, several newspaper articles described Samuel Hairston (1788-1875) as the wealthiest man in Virginia and possibly in the country. His wealth was estimated at between three million and five million dollars, including enslavement of around 1700 people on plantations in Henry and Patrick counties, Va., and Stokes County, N.C. There are also references in these articles to the comparative wealth of his relatives. He owned large plantations and enslaved upwards of 1600 people in Henry and Patrick Counties, Va., as well as in Stokes County, N.C. His marriage to Agnes J. P. Wilson (1801-1880) put him in line to control an additional 1000 people claimed as property by his mother-in-law Ruth Stovall Wilson Hairston (1784-1869).