MAck Family

The Mack surname originates from the enslaver names McCauley or McIntyre, a connection requiring further research to verify the exact lineage. Ephriam Mack was born about September 1845 in Kentucky. On September 14, 1864, he volunteered at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, enlisting in the 12th Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery. His military service is recognized on the African American Civil War Memorial. Military records list his former enslaver as Thomas Dixon.

Ephriam Mack was born about September 1845 in Kentucky. On September 14, 1864, he volunteered at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, enlisting in the 12th Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery. His military service is recognized on the African American Civil War Memorial. Military records list his former enslaver as Thomas Dixon.

Federal census records trace the geographic movement of the Dixon family, which helps establish how the Mack family came to settle in Woodford County. Thomas Dixon was born in Jessamine County on November 11, 1832, to Jesse D. Dixon and Hester Elizabeth Cleveland Dixon. Through the Cleveland line, the family traces back to Virginia, with roots in Culpeper County. By 1860, Thomas Dixon was operating as a distiller in Clover Bottom, Woodford County, holding $7,000 in real estate and $2,000 in personal estate. Following the Civil War, the 1870 census shows Dixon working as a farmer in Clover Bottom with a significantly reduced real estate value of $600. Dixon and his family eventually relocated to Empire, McPherson County, Kansas, where he died on July 20, 1904.

While his former enslaver moved west, Ephriam Mack remained in Woodford County, becoming part of the first generation of residents to establish the Elm Bend community.

By 1880, Ephriam—recorded as Ephrim, age 35—was living in Elm Bend within the Clover Bottom district. His household included his wife, Nancy Trotter Mack, and their children: Jerry (12), Nancy (10), Joshua (7), and Ezekiel (1).

The family remained in the area through the turn of the century. The 1900 United States Federal Census records Ephriam under the name Ephine (also indexed as Sephin) in Mortonsville, Woodford County. At age 54, he is listed as the head of household and a farm laborer, reporting four months of unemployment during the previous year. The record notes that he had been married to his wife, Nannie (60), since about 1876, and their 22-year-old son, Zeake (Ezekiel), continued to reside with them. Although Ephriam spoke English, the census notes he could not read or write. The household lived in a house rather than on a farm, reflecting the consistent reliance on seasonal agricultural wage labor that shaped the lives of many Black residents in post-Civil War Woodford County.

Ephriam Mack died in 1922, cementing a life defined by his transition from enslavement to Civil War veteran, and ultimately to a foundational resident of Elm Bend.