Talk:David B. Mintz

Additional sources

Thomas Armstrong's estate papers list several pages of expenses related to Susannah and her children, which provide a snapshot into their and D. B. Mintz' lives. They also provide the best known indicator for when he died: on 1 Jan 1814, 1 Jan 1815, and 1 Jan 1816 he was paid for their upkeep; the records seem to say "(Mintz Insolvent)" in 1815 and 1816; 1 Jan 1816 is the last time he is mentioned; Mrs. Mintz continues to be mentioned from 1817 on. So he probably died in 1816, but it's possible that he became an invalid, and survived up to any time before the 1820 census, when Susannah is listed as head of the household.

The UNC copy of Mintz' Spiritual Song Book (1805) has a note on the flyleaf that seems to say "For Mintz see Biggs / Kehukee p. 152". This is probably Joseph Biggs' A Concise History of the Kehukee Baptist Association (1834): p. 152 has a story about "Elders BARROW and MINTZ", Baptist ministers in Virginia in 1791. However, this is almost certainly the Edward Mintz who was made an Elder of the church in 1784 (p. 61). Could also be the Edward Mintz, husband of Anne Mintz née Braddy, mentioned in this 1785 will from Isle of Wight County, Virginia. It's possible that Edward was David B. Mintz' father, which could explain David's decision to become a preacher, and why his start as a Methodist minister was in Virginia.

I also found a few more primary sources, but most don't seem notable enough to mention in the article:

• MEC records of Mintz' ministries: p. 541 (n.b. the "Membership Date: 1795-1815" seems to be applied to all ministers on this page, and several surrounding pages, almost certainly incorrectly applied to them all), p. 1008; these are all covered in the MEC conference minutes cited in the article
• Bond paid on 20th June 1803 in Virginia for a license to marry, bury the dead etc. as deacon of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and its index listing ("Bond for polemicizing, matrimony")
• A letter to Mintz was in the Washington D.C. Post Office on 1 October 1804 [1] [2]
• A letter to Mintz was remaining in the Newbern Post Office on 31 March 1813
• His daughter Hollon married Benjamin Bowie on 29 April 1824
• An 1839 article in the Newbern Spectator mentions "Mintz's marsh"

--Yodin^T 19:00, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Wife's family

Mintz' wife was Susannah née Bryan (born 26 September 1778). Her father, General William Bryan (1744–1791) is often confused with Brigadier General William Bryan (1724–1781). She had first married Thomas Armstrong (before 1775 – 1804) on 17 September 1796, with whom she had five children:

• Mary Armstrong (possibly the 0–10 year old daughter in the 1800 census; married a man with the surname Heritage, had a daughter also named Mary Heritage; died four years after her father, so c.1808; not mentioned in her father's wills, perhaps because she had already married?)
• Thomas Armstrong (possibly the 0–10 year old son in the 1800 census)
• James Armstrong (born c. 1800, and listed as deaf in the 1850 census; possibly the 18–26 year old son in the 1820 census, 30–40 in the 1830 census, and 40–49 in the 1840 census; possibly the James Armstrong who died in 1881 and may have owned the land on East Front Street between King and Queen Streets, that had belonged to the Mintzes)
• William Armstrong (c. 1803 – 21 Oct 1867; possibly the 16–18 year old son in the 1820 census, 20–30 in the 1830 census, and 30–39 in the 1840 census; listed as a Saddler in the 1850 census)
• Polly Armstrong (possibly the 16–26 year old daughter in the 1820 census)

Susannah and David's daughter, Hollon, may well have been named after Susannah's sister, Hollon Bryan (1768–1807), who had married Jeremiah Mastin. David Mintz had published Coates' A Guide to True Happiness with Jeremiah Mastin in 1806, which was printed by Carney J. Bryan. Jeremiah Mastin went on to become Susannah's eldest sister, Ann (born 1765)'s third husband.

Mintz Families of the Old South reports that Susannah's brother Greene Bryan sold land to John Westley Martin Bryan Mintz and Hollon Mintz in 1811, and suggests that John Westley Martin Bryan Mintz was David's brother (if so, the name Bryan would imply that they were probably connected to one of the Bryan family branches before their marriages; the B. in David B. Mintz could even be Bryan as well if this is the case), and Hollon was probably his wife (if so, she could also be the Hollon Mintz who married Benjamin Bowie in 1824, assuming John W.M.B. Mintz died before then). Susannah's sister was called Hollon, but her grave gives her name as Hollon Mastin, and says she died in 1807, so it couldn't have been her. Mintz Families mentions that the buyer "would have to be at least 21 years of age to participate in this transaction", but this isn't strictly true ("nothing in the common law prevented an infant [under 21 years of age] from buying land or other property. But, again, such an action could be later be repudiated by the minor. Therefore, we generally find such purchases made on the infant’s behalf by an adult guardian or next friend."). As the transaction was between family members, and seems to be a deliberately low price, it seems possible that the Hollon Mintz named was David and Susannah's daughter (so John Westley Martin Bryan Mintz may have been their son, which would also explain why he had the name Bryan; if so he had probably died before the 1820 census); perhaps Greene wanted to give the land for a nominal amount to Susannah's younger children (who didn't benefit from Thomas Armstrong's estate), rather than directly to David (who the Armstrong estate papers say was insolvent by 1815).

It should also be noted that Thomas Armstrong was a slave owner. The 1800 census lists him having nine slaves, his estate notes mention a plantation, and from later censuses it seems that Susannah continued to own slaves (11 in 1820, 8 in 1850). It isn't clear whether David Mintz supported slavery (his support for Lorenzo Dow, whose abolitionist preaching was said to be very controversial, may imply that he was also against it; his songbooks might indicate one way or the other), and I haven't been able to find the Mintz household in the 1810 census, which would show whether they owned slaves at that time (it's possible that they were not inherited, and Susannah bought more slaves after David's death). But as there are no secondary sources that cover this, including it in the article would almost certainly be WP:ORIGINAL RESEARCH. --Yodin^T 19:50, 11 March 2024 (UTC)