Research: Were My Kin’s White Neighbors Descendants of My Ancestor’s Owners?

This useful guide to researching relationships between freed people, their descendants, and their white neighbors came to my attention through a post on New England Historic Genealogical Society's (NEHGS) Facebook page.

Originally posted on The Root, Henry Louis Gates Jr. consulting with Christopher Lee, a researcher from NEHGS, responds to the query Were My Kin’s White Neighbors Descendants of My Ancestor’s Owners? with a variety of avenues to explore.

What we found illustrates the close relationship that the emancipated people and their former owners frequently had in the years following the end of the U.S. Civil War, and the ways old patterns of power and economic interdependency endured.

NEHGS also has a free webinar about the topic posted earlier this year on YouTube.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: John Scott (1659 - 1724), Tobacco Planter and Mill Owner

My paternal seventh great grandfather John Scott was born in Charles City County, Virginia, in about 1659. He later became a resident of Prince George County without having to leave the area when that county was created out of Charles City in 1702.

[Virginia and Maryland. By H. Moll, Geographer. (Printed and sold by Tho: Bowles next ye Chapter House in St. Pauls Church Yard, & Ino: Bowles at ye Black Horse in Cornhill, 1736?). David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

By his marriage in 1685 to Betheyer Boyce*, John was connected to one of the earliest families to settle in the colony and we know that he acted as a witness in several legal documents over the years.

Although many early Virginia documents have been lost, from surviving records of Prince George County** it's clear that he owned a lot of land, including 748 acres on the south side of Warwick Swamp which he acquired on June 16, 1714,  and where he appears to have settled for the rest of his life.

In his will, signed June 1, 1724 and proved eight day later, John named each of his surviving children (all married daughters) and made provision for his grandsons, the minor children of his recently deceased son John. Thomas was to have "my mill and ten acres of land whereon it stands" (although his grandmother Betheyer was to retain half the profits during her widowhood). The bequest to his other grandson, another John, was the remaining 348 acres of the home plantation. Apparently his daughter Elizabeth, who had married Samuel Chappell*** in 1720, had already been given property because his bequest to her was "all that she is possessed with already and 630 pounds of tobacco." Everything else was to go to his widow for her life or widowhood.

John only names three enslaved persons in his will, "negro man Will," given to his daughter Bridget and "Ceasar & Nan" who are to remain with Betheyer until her death or marriage and then become the property of grandson John. But it's clear that he owned other human property from the wording of the will; we don't know how many slaves there were in his estate because he ends the document by directing that it wasn't to be inventoried.

Unfortunately these records are available only as transcriptions.

[Ancestry.com. The Edward Pleasants Valentine papers : abstracts of records in the local and general archives of Virginia relating to the fami [database on-line]. Original data: Valentine, Edward Pleasants,. The Edward Pleasants Valentine papers : abstracts of records in the local and general archives of Virginia relating to the families of Allen, Bacon, Ballard, Batchelder, Blouet, Brassieur (Brashear), Cary, Crenshaw, Dabney, Exum, Ferris, Fontaine, Gray, Hardy, Isham (Henrico County), Jordan, Langston, Lyddall, Mann, Mosby, Palmer, Pasteur, Pleasants, Povall, Randolph, Satterwhite, Scott, Smith (the family of Francis Smith of Hanover County), Valentine, Waddy, Watts, Winston, Womack, Woodson.. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1979.]

Betheyer (spelled Berthia this time, no one seems to know how to spell her given name) died the following year and her estate was inventoried and appraised on November 9, 1725.

* Her grandfather Cheney Boyce arrived in Jamestown in 1617.
**In 1720 he deeded 221 acres of this patent to his only son, another John Scott, "for natural affection."
***Their great granddaughter was Sarah Heath Chappell,

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mary Henderson (About 1781 - After 1860)

The records we have tell us very little directly about this paternal great great great grandmother; most of what we do know is from inference, since only the head of each household was named in federal census records before 1850.

Although we aren't sure who her parents were, we know that Mary was born in Virginia and her family was living in Georgia when she married Richard Turner in Wilkes County*, probably about 1799 because their first child was born the following year.

Unfortunately Richard Turner is an extremely common name and we haven't identified the right one in U.S. Census records until 1820 by which time the family was living in Jasper County, Georgia, now numbering thirteen free white persons and three slaves. Five members of the household were engaged in agriculture.

[Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. 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.]

In the next two U.S. Census enumerations, the Turner family expanded its holdings in human property from seven in 1830 to twelve in 1840** by which time they were in Newton County, which had been created in 1821 out of parts of Henry, Jasper and Walton Counties.

At last in the 1850 U.S. Census, Mary had her own listing which names her birthplace as Virginia.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Beginning with this census, "Slave Inhabitants" were enumerated but not named on a separate schedule. Richard Turner was listed as the owner of fifteen persons--four adult males, four adult females and seven children no older than ten.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.:

National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432, 1,009 rolls.]

In his will signed on January 3, 1851, and presented in court for probate on April 5, 1852, Richard Turner's first bequest was to ensure that his "beloved Wife Mary Turner" had a comfortable home "during her natural life or widowhood." To that end he not only gave her household and kitchen furniture but also three slaves: "Charles a negro man, Viney a negro woman and Mourning a negro woman" along with "horses, cows and hogs."

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-30463-13550-21?cc=1999178&wc=9SBS-YW5:267728901,267884801 : accessed 28 April 2015), Newton > Wills 1823-1871 vol 1-2 > image 167 of 350; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

Richard's estate was valued at $10,479.49 in the appraisal filed with the court on April 14, 1852. Charles was judged to be worth $500; Viney, $450; and Mourning $100.

The final record we have referring to Mary Turner is on the 1860 U.S. Census - Slave Schedule for Pike County, Georgia, where S. Turner (almost certainly her son Shadrack) is named as her agent in regard to two enslaved persons. Charles is undoubtedly the 53 year old mulatto man but we don't know if the 48 year old mulatto woman is Viney or Mourning.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules [database on-line]. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.:

National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1,438 rolls.]

Mary is not part of Shadrack's household in Pike County in the U.S. Census for that year and I haven't been able to find any record for her anywhere else.

We don't know when or where Mary Turner died, nor do we know where either she or Richard are buried.

*Possibly in the part of Wilkes that is now Lincoln County.
**You can see these census records in my post about their daughter Lizzie Turner Freeman.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Comment: Slavery in the Family

[Print shows an idealized portrayal of American slavery and the conditions of blacks under this system in 1841. Artist: Edward Williams Clay, 1799-1857, Published by Arthur Donnelly no. 19 1/2 Courtland St., N.Y.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540]

By now you've probably seen the story in the New York Times and other sources about the actor Ben Affleck's request that his slave-owning ancestor not be mentioned on the PBS genealogy program "Finding Your Roots" that was aired last September. (At the moment everybody seems to be apologizing for how that turned out.)

As someone who learned about my biological ancestry only in the last fifteen years, I know what it's like to discover ancestors who lived in ways that make me uncomfortable. I know that most white residents of the South didn't own slaves, but almost all of my ancestors living in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas did and I can't change that fact.

Shown below is a detail from the 1827 inventory of the estate of my paternal fourth great grandfather Jesse Warren, Sr.* in Hancock County, Georgia.

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-30374-27961-28?cc=1999178&wc=9SYB-PT5:267654601,267796201 : accessed 14 April 2015), Hancock - Wills and administration records 1827-1830 vol M - image 57 of 394; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

There's no evidence to suggest that any of my direct Southern forebears treated their human property more humanely than was common and the very real possibility that at least one was more harsh than most.

[ Illustrations of the American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1840.

Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division Washington, D.C. 20540]

[Wilson Chinn, a branded slave from Louisiana--Also exhibiting instruments of torture used to punish slaves

Date Created/Published: c1863.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540]

And it's not just my ancestors living in the South who owned slaves. One of my earliest New England ancestors left her "indian woman" to her son in her will and a New York Quaker was voted the money to buy a slave by his Meeting in the 18th Century.

But all these people lived a long time ago and I'm not responsible for nor feel guilty because of their actions. Covering up the "bad" part of their histories is not only dishonest but futile.

*At least the names of the enslaved persons are given in these documents unlike census records where they are only numbers. Note that the first man named is "African Dave" which probably indicates where he was born.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Nancy "Nannie" Harrison (1741 - After 1812)

Most of what we know about this paternal fifth great grandmother comes from the wills of the two most important men in her life, that of her father Joseph Hanson Harrison of  St. Andrew's Parish in Brunswick County, Virginia, dated March 8, 1763, and of her husband Joseph C. Chappell in Hancock County, Georgia, which was executed on December 10, 1807.

Unfortunately I've only been able to locate abstracts of her father's will, including the one shown below:

[Virginia Will Records, Records of Wills and Deeds in Brunswick County from The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the William and Mary College Quarterly, and Tyler's Quarterly; Indexed by Judith McGhan, The Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1993. Ancestry.com database on-line]

Other sources tell us that Nancy's bequest was "one negro slave named Phillis to her and her heirs forever." One of six children, all of her siblings were left a feather bed and furnishings but Nancy wasn't.*

As a result of his service in the 1st Virginia Regiment during the Revolution, John Chappell received land warrants in Georgia beginning in 1786 and the family appears to be living in Wilkes County, Georgia, by that year. Tax records place John Chappell at Shoulder Bone in Hancock County in 1794.

When he came to make his will in 1807, "Now being of sound mind & memory. But oald & infirm in Bodily Strength & Calling to mind the mortality of all men & knowing that I have a Natural Death once to Die" after commending his soul to God, asking for his body's decent burial and that his just debts be paid, his first thought was to provide for his "Beloved wife Nanny Chappell" by allowing her "one Room of my Dwelling House at the East End thereof. I also lend Her...the following Moveable Property first my negroes, Jane Pol & Henry, two Feather Beds & Furniture** with all other Necessary Houshold Furniture for Her Convenient support."

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-30356-815-19?cc=1999178&wc=9SYY-N36:267654601,267766201 : accessed 13 April 2015), Hancock - Wills and administration records 1803-1826 vol C-F - image 412-413 of 687; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

In the 4th Item of his will, John directed that his son Benjamin, whose bequest included the "Land & Plantation whereon I now live," that Benjamin "shall take care of & Provide for my Beloved wife Nanny Chappell During her natural Life or her widowhood at his own expense."

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-30356-815-19?cc=1999178&wc=9SYY-N36:267654601,267766201 : accessed 13 April 2015), Hancock - Wills and administration records 1803-1826 vol C-F - image 413 of 687; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

The enslaved persons, Jane, Pol and Henry "lent" to Nanny are valued in the inventory of John's estate. Note that a woman named Phillis*** is also listed with a relatively low value suggesting that she is not young. Is she the same Phillis left to Nancy by her father in 1763?

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-30356-609-13?cc=1999178&wc=9SYY-N36:267654601,267766201 : accessed 13 April 2015), Hancock > Wills and administration records 1803-1826 vol C-F > image 414 of 687; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

John's estate was appraised on January 29, 1808, at $9,452.77, including 23 slaves valued at $6,745. His sons Benjamin, John**** and Thomas were named as executors and appear to have been acting for their father's estate as late as 1827.

One record (in database form only) remains for Nanny, a tax list index for 1812 in Hancock County. The date and place of her death are unknown.

Or is it? In a book titled Historical Collection of Georgia, published in 1855, I found the following paragraph under the heading of Twiggs County.

[Historical collections of Georgia : containing the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc. relating to its history and antiquities, from its first settlement to the present time ; compiled from original records and official documents ; illustrated by nearly one hundred engravings of public buildings, relics of antiquity, historic localities, natural scenery, portraits of distinguished men, etc., etc. / by the Rev. George White, 1802-1887; Dutton, Alpha Christian, 1855. Internet Archive]

If the birth year we have for Nanny is correct, she would have been 81 in about 1822. As for Twiggs County, there are a number of Chappells buried there but there's no record of her grave (or John's) anywhere in Georgia.

*She married John C. Chappell around 1758 so perhaps she already had a bed.
**One room, but two feather beds and furniture. Maybe the fact that Nanny hadn't received a bed from her father wasn't forgotten?
***Phillis and another woman, Jinny, were left to the keeping of John and Nanny's daughter-in-law Dolley, the widow of Joseph Chappell, until such time as her four sons either reached legal age or married.
****Son John's granddaughter Martha Heath Hardy married J.T.S. Warren in 1849.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Elizabeth W. "Lizzie" Turner (1823 - 1890)

Unlike those of my other ancestors, this paternal great great grandmother's gravestone erected by her children in Cleburne Memorial Cemetery in Johnson County, Texas, tells us a lot about her, confirming what we find in the usual records.

[Created by: Weldon Collins, Find A Grave Memorial# 102531895]

Her parents, Richard Turner and Mary Henderson, were both Virginia natives whose families had moved to Georgia sometime after the end of the Revolution. Richard and Mary were married in Wilkes County* in about 1799 and that's where their oldest children were born. However by 1811 the Turners had moved to Jasper County where Elizabeth W. was born on January 27, 1823, and was counted in the 1830 U.S. Census as a free white female 5 - 10. There were 18 people in Richard Turners' household, seven of them slaves.

[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 ]

Since Lizzie was still single at the time of the 1840 U.S. Census, she's one of the 2 free white females 15-20 enumerated in her father's Newton County household which now included 12 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.]

On November 20, 1840, Elizabeth W. Turner and Henry H. Freeman were married by Elisha G. Crawford, Justice of the Peace for Newton County.

[Ancesrty.com. Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: County Marriage Records, 1828–1978. The Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.]

After their two oldest daughters, Mary James (1842-1900) and Narcissa A. (1844-1871) were born, the Freemans moved to Cotton Valley, Macon County, in the fertile Black Belt region of Alabama in about 1845. Their oldest son, Thomas D. Freeman was born there as were the rest of their nine children including my great grandmother Nancy Elizabeth (1857-1934)**.

The 1850 U.S. Census shows the Freeman family, H.H., Lizzie and their five children. A 23-year old Tennessee-born carpenter is staying with them at the time of the enumeration. The 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules for the district and the Alabama State Census for the same year do not show the Freeman household owning any slaves.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

[Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866. Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives & History.

Rolls M2004.0008-M2004.0012, M2004.0036-M2004.0050, and M2008.0124.]

Lizzie's father died in early 1852 in back in Newton County and in his will he left her $750 to be held in trust by her brother-in-law Benjamin Freeman***, something he did for all his daughters' bequests so that their inheritance would be preserved for them and their children and not become the property of their husbands. Her mother was still alive at this point but sadly we don't know when or where she died.

["Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-30463-13550-21?cc=1999178&wc=9SBS-YW5:267728901,267884801 : accessed 30 March 2015), Newton > Wills 1823-1871 vol 1-2 > image 167 of 350; county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

In January of 1853, H.H. bought two of his late father-in-law's 17 slaves, John for $1,160 and Ann for $922, who were sold by the estate "on a credit untill [sic] the 25th of Dec 1853." Presumably they are among the seven enslaved people listed in the 1855 Alabama State Census.

[Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Original data: Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866. Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives & History. Rolls M2004.0008-M2004.0012, M2004.0036-M2004.0050, and M2008.0124.]

Lizzie must have been pregnant with her youngest child at the time of the 1860 U.S. Census as Julia was born in October of that year. Note that the enumerator got both parents' names wrong (Hugh H. and Mrs. Ellen) but their children's names are correct.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

During the Civil War, H.H. and Lizzie's oldest boy, 16-year old Tom, enlisted as a private in Company H, 45th Alabama Infantry in 1862 and was wounded on October 12th of the same year at the Battle of Perryville in Kentucky. He died shortly afterward.

The next record we have for the Freemans is the 1866 Alabama State Census which finds them still in Macon County.

[Ancestry.com. Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. This collection was indexed by Ancestry.com World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855 and 1866. Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives & History. Rolls M2004.0008-M2004.0012, M2004.0036-M2004.0050, and M2008.0124.]

In the Fall of 1869, the Freeman family, together with a lot of their relatives, left Alabama forever and moved to Johnson County, Texas, where in December of that year H.H. bought 320 acres.

The 1870 U.S. Census shows Lizzie with five of her children still at home and daughter Narcissa and husband John A. McBride and their two children living next door. Josiah, her oldest surviving son, is farming with his father.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

By the 1880 U.S. Census, it's William's turn to farm with H.H. New additions to the household include a 40-year old Mulatto servant Salina Prickard and her two children, Anna W. (7) and Charles Guy (5), William C. Carmichael, a 29-year old White farm laborer, Elizabeth Baker, a 35-year old Black servant with three children, Adaline (7), Ellen (5) and Thomas (3), and two more White farm laborers, 20-year old Stephen H. Hester and 27-year old James H. Brandon. From the number of employees that have been added, I think it's safe to assume that the Freemans have prospered in intervening decade.

[Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA.© Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

After serving as Johnson County Commissioner in 1880-1882, 1884-1886, 72-year old H.H. died of pneumonia on December 29, 1887, and was buried in the Cleburne Memorial Cemetery.

A little over 2 years later, Lizzie joined him.

Dallas Morning News Jan 24, 1890 

Cleburne, Tex., Jan 23.--- Mrs. E. W. Freeman, aged 67 years, died last night at her residence seven miles east of the city. She was in her usual health upon retiring last night. When her daughter went to call her to breakfast this morning she found her dead in her bed. She had been troubled with heart disease for several years, The remains will be interred in the Cleburne Cemetery.

Her will was probated on March 5, 1890, and her estate, valued at $4,000, was divided among her four surviving children: Josiah C., Watts William (W.W.), Mary (Glass) and Nanny (Warren). Although there were four heirs, the estate was divided into 5 shares with W.W. receiving two shares.

I would like to know what her middle initial W. stands for. Maybe someday I will.

*Possibly in what is now Lincoln County.
**Known as Nanny she married J.T.S. Warren.
***Also one of the named executors of Richard Turner's will.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Elizabeth Ward (About 1775? - After 1840)

In Thomas Ward's will, dated March 14, 1795, he made provision for his widow Pheraby and his eleven children* including Elizabeth**. If he listed his children in their birth order as is common, Elizabeth was his ninth child and fifth daughter. Only she and Eleanor, his youngest daughter, were not married at the time he drew up his will.

["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.

List of the Slaves Owned by John P Phillips in 1852, Cotton Valley, Macon, Alabama

This is a transcription of a list of slaves who were apparently owned by John P Phillips(1792-1852), who lived in Cotton Valley, Macon, Alabama, when he died in 1852.  John was the second husband of my 4th great grandmother, Timney P Watts (1805-1863), and stepfather to my 3rd great grandfather, Jesse T. S. Warren.

The name, age (in 1852), and estimated value (I'm assuming) is included.  I will need to go back and obtain a better image of the original, as my copy is very blurry.

Abrahm
48 $600.00

Doctor**
46 $1000.00

Enoch
36 $800.00

Robert
36 $900.00

Rob
28 $800.00

Abram(??)
32 $800.00

Joseph
24 $850.00

Henry(?)
19 $400.00

Thomas
17 $1000.00

Emanuel
15 $900.00

Ned
15 $875.00

Charles
13 $850.00

Len(?)
14 $850.00

Isaac
12 $800.00

Gustavus
10 $600.00

Jack
10 $600.00

Jeremiah
8 $600.00

William
11 $250.00

G??ford
1 $100.00

Lucky
58 $100.00

Mariah & Child
46 $600.00

F(???)rick
38 $600.00

Betsey
38 $600.00

Molly
38 $600.00

Cely(?) & Child
36 $600.00

Caryann
25 $850.00

Betty
15 $800.00

Ann
11 $600.00

Parthena
10 $550.00

Lydia
5 $425.00

Margaret
5 $475.00

**I believe this is the same person as the following:
"Dock Phillips" The Alabama Baptist Association endeavored to buy him of his master John Phillips of Cotton Valley Macon County Alabama Dock however was so devoted to his master that he refused to be sold but continued preaching the remainder of his life He enjoyed the universal confidence and esteem of the whites.
page 201
Negro Year Book
An Annual Encyclopedia of the Negro, 1921-1922
Editor: Monroe N. Work
Director Department of Records and Research Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
The Negro Year Book Publishing Company, 1922
Tuskegee Institute, Alabama
http://books.google.com/books?id=bHLXAAAAMAAJ

This list was found in the extensive estate folder of John Phillips, which is on microfiche and available to order from the FamilySearch.org website.  Information from: Alabama. Probate Court (Macon County). Estate papers, 1832-1940. (McGowen, Thomas - McPhane, William A. (used the folder for John Phillips)). Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994, 1996 Microfilm#: 2050041. 16mm.



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