Sanker/Sancho & Lucinda Shakespeare and some of their older children were born in Spotsylvania County, VA. The furthest back I have been able to trace the family is 1842. They are located in the property records for their deceased slave owner, Elijah Wigglesworth, who lived in the Berkley Township of Spotsylvania County, VA. While living in Spotsylvania County, some of the Shakepeares attended Beulah Baptist Church. Beverley Shakespeare and Martha Hart (maiden name Shakespeare) were among the thirty Black members of Bethany Baptist Church who left the church in 1872 to establish Beulah Baptist Church.
Some of Sanker/Sancho & Lucinda Shakepeare's children moved to Caroline County, VA when their slaveowner married a man from the county. At the end of slavery, many of my Shakespeare and Woolfolk ancestors were living in Caroline County, VA. I am not sure exactly when or why they moved to the county, but I assumed they moved to be reunited with family members who were separated during slavery. In the 1870 census, my Shakespeare and Woolfolk ancestors are living near the Central Point Post Office in the Madison Township of Caroline County, VA. By 1880, the families moved to the Port Royal District of Caroline County, VA where they remained for many decades and often lived next each other. While living in Caroline County, VA the family attended Bethlehem Baptist Church. Silas Ellis, the son of Lucy Jane Woolfolk Ellis and the grandson of William and Louisa Woolfolk, was a trustee of the church.
After the 1900's some of the families moved away: Susan Woolfolk Waugh and her family moved to the Abington District of Montgomery County, PA. Overton Woolfolk moved to Washington, DC where he married and started a family. He returned to Caroline County, VA in his later years. Lucy Jane Woolfolk Ellis’ son, Silas, moved to Washington, DC and Emma Woolfolk Hawkins and her son, Willie Hawkins, may have moved to Baltimore, MD.
William “Willie” Woolfolk and his family remained in Caroline County, VA. They were required to relocate from Port Royal to Woodford, VA when the government purchased the property in that area to establish A.P. Hill Military Reservation. Many of Willie & Josephine's descendants still live in or near Caroline County, VA today.
In 1963, Hausey Woodfolk, Sr changed his church membership to Zion Grove Baptist Church in Woodford, VA to be where his family worshiped. (His wife, Dollie Mae, was a member of Zion Grove.) His descendants are still members of Zion Grove today.
Most of the family members that moved away kept in close contact with the family that remained in Caroline County,VA.Their children and grandchildren often returned during the summer to visit their Uncle Willie and Aunt Josephine. Several family members were buried in Caroline County, VA even though the lived and died in other locations.
I have located descendants of my Shakespeare and Woolfolk ancestors in the following states: Washington, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas , Georgia and Washington, DC.
