["North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19446-102535-1?cc=1867501&wc=MDRZ-W66:169765101,169908101 : accessed 15 March 2015),
Bertie > Wills, 1784-1797, Vol. D > image 384 of 393; county courthouses, North Carolina.]
Elizabeth Ward became John H. Hardy's second wife on November 15, 1798 in Bertie County and their oldest child William Ward Hardy was born there the next year.
By the 1800 U.S. Census, a daughter had been added to the young family who were still living in Bertie County. There are no slaves belonging to the household so we don't know what happened to the two left to Elizabeth by her father.
[Ancestry.com. 1800 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: Second Census of the United States, 1800. NARA microfilm publication M32 (52 rolls).
Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29.]
Soon after that, possibly as early as 1801, John and Elizabeth and their family moved to Lincoln County***, Georgia, where the rest of their ten children were born, including my third great grandfather Alfred Ward Hardy in 1809.
By the 1820 U.S. Census, the Hardy household had grown to twenty-four inhabitants, including thirteen free white persons, ten slaves**** and one "free colored person: male 14-24".
[Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls).
Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
The 1830 U.S. Census in Lincoln County lists six free white persons, John, Elizabeth and their youngest children and 14 slaves, once again mostly children but at least one woman over 55*****. This is about the time that Alfred married Sarah Heath Chappell.
[Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
The Hardy household has gotten much smaller by the 1840 U.S. Census--only five people including John, Elizabeth, and three white females. There are no slaves.
[Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
We haven't been able to locate John H. Hardy and his family in the 1850 U.S. Census. In his will, written in Russell County, Alabama, and dated April 12, 1854, there is no mention of Elizabeth so she must have died sometime before that but we don't know whether it occurred in Georgia or after moving to Alabama. John died at a daughter's house and is buried in the Old Lebanon Methodist Church Cemetery.
Elizabeth must have been proud of her lineage as four of her six sons have Ward as their middle name. One son, Charles W. Hardy, became an acclaimed Methodist minister before his early death at age 36. Another, James Ward Hardy, was president of LaGrange College (University of North Alabama) at the time of his death in 1853.
*All of them born in Bertie County, North Carolina.
**My paternal fourth great grandmother, her inheritance included "one negro woman named Lidia and her Child named Rachel", bed & furniture, "one linnin wheel" and calves and sheep.
***There are several land tax records confirming this.
****Seven of them under the age of 14, the other three under 25.
*****I wonder if this could be Lidia's child that Elizabeth inherited from her father and somehow was reunited with the family at some point? The third item in John's 1854 will reads as follows:
"I wish and it is my will that my Negro woman Rachel shall be permitted to live with my children as long as she may desire. David Lockhart my son in law is hereby appointed her Guardian to whose direction and control I commit her that my will herein expressed may be performed as the laws of the State may allow."We'll never know for sure but this is one of the few signs of benevolence towards their human property that I've found while researching my slave-owning ancestors.
© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.
Why do you suppose he said "including Elizabeth"? Is there a story there? Could she have been his child with a slave? Or simply some other woman? I love a mystery......
ReplyDeleteYour love of mysteries has led you to create one that wouldn't otherwise exist. The wording of Elizabeth's bequest isn't different from his other daughters who were named before and after her in his will--I used the word "including" to insert her into my narrative. If she had been the child of a slave she would have been born a slave herself and as property (like a cow or a sheep) wouldn't have been in a position to inherit anything. (Furthermore there's no sign of this sort of event in my DNA.)
DeleteHello Cousin,
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily true... There is a saying, "the pen is mightier than the sword." A lot of things we were taught to believe should be questioned and scrutinized. Slaves did not know how to read or write. A lot of things were never written for safe keeping on purpose. A lot of truth was simply written out of history. Lies is what we were taught and the sad thing is we believe it. Back then Black and white where considered a status and not a color like it is today. If you were white you were rich (i.e. Black European, blackamoor, Caucasian Moor, Mulatto*) and if you were Black you were just poor (i.e. poor Caucasians, so called blacks etc.) Loose the text book way of thinking and really research. You can not look at this history with today's modern way of thinking. There were so called blacks that were slave owners. I just wanted to share my view on this because I am melanated and what people consider black and wait for it - This is my ancestor as well on my mother's side of the family. I also discovered through research that my melanated ancestor's were always here and are natural inhabitants (indigenous) to America and not Africa. This shakes up everything because this is what I discovered on my Father's side as well. My grrrrrrrt grandfather is William McIntosh - Creek Mulatto Indian. There is so much more. But please look at this with more of a fine tooth comb. Namaste... Start first by using ALL. We are all connected. Love and Light.
Hello cousin! Thank you for posting, you make some great points. Are you on Ancestry? If so you are likely one of our matches on AncestryDNA if you've taken the test.
DeleteThe English language is confusing. Don't let words confuse you. One word can have multiple meanings.
ReplyDelete