First of all, let us remember that Slavery was not always illegal in New England. My first discovery of Slaveholding ancestry was actually on one of my New England lines. My 11th great grandfather, James Rogers of New London, Connecticut (circa 1615-1687), seems to have owned a few Slaves. The Inventory of his Estate includes the following references: "Indian servant and his wife, a negro woman, Adam, a Molotta Servant, a negro woman deaf and dumb". What can we deduce from this? It appears that the Rogers household included a Native American servant, who had a wife of African descent, as well as a Mulatto servant named Adam and another Slave, an African woman who was apparently deaf, and suffered from an unknown mental illness. This amounts to Rogers likely having owned 4 Slaves at the time of his death in 1687. The issue of Slavery in the Rogers family deserves a separate blog post, as one of the Rogers Slaves, a woman named Maria, appears to have been fathered by a white member of the Rogers family.
On my Antebellum Southern lines, Slavery appears to have been much more common. Prior to the taking of the 1790 Census, much of what we know about Slave ownership in Genealogy comes from Wills and Property Records, since Slaves were treated like property. For example, my 9th great grandfather, Colonel Thomas Avent of Virginia (circa 1671-1757) died decades before the first Census was taken, however, we know that he was a prominent slaveowner because of his will, in which leaves "one negro girl named Sue" to Athaliah Casiah Norris, as well as his estate accounting which contained references to 44 slaves. The will of my 7th great grandfather, Michael McKenzie Mattox of Tattnall County, Georgia (circa 1750-1815) leaves 9 Slaves to his surviving family, as well as his plantation. The will of my 6th great grandfather, Simon Smith of Tattnall (now Evans) County, Georgia (circa 1758-1827) references 23 Slaves. Both Mattox and Smith had served as Patriots during the Revolution, showing that committment to American liberty did not extend to liberty for all who resided in the new nation. In addition to wills and estate records, it is also possible to find evidence of slave ownership in deeds and property sales. For example, my 7th great grandmother, Elizabeth Joyce, is recorded as selling slaves to her daughter Elizabeth on November 25, 1816, in Tattnall County, Georgia. Once Census records began to be taken, it becomes much easier to identify which ancestors owned Slaves, and how many. Sadly, the names of Slaves themselves were not recorded in the Censuses, since they were treated like property, just the same as the many cows, horses, and hogs our ancestors owned. From 1790 to 1840, no information was recorded other then the number of Slaves an ancestor owned. Some examples in my family:
- Solomon Fuller of Laurens County, South Carolina, 1810 USA Census, recorded as owning 78 Slaves. This is rather interesting as Fuller is reported as owning 10 Slaves in the 1790 USA Census and 13 in the 1820 USA Census. In 1790 he was living in Randolph County, North Carolina, so it is possible that he acquired more Slaves upon his migration to South Carolina, and by 1820 had sold many of them. It is noteworthy that in his 1816 will he makes reference to 31 Slaves. (7th great grandfather).
- John Pittman of Tattnall County, Georgia, 1840 USA Census, recorded as owning 5 Slaves. (5th great grandfather).
- The Reverend William Eason of Tattnall County, Georgia, 1830 USA Census, recorded as owning 2 Slaves and living with 3 free colored persons. It is unknown why there were free colored persons living in the Eason household, however it is possible that they were former Slaves who were freed by the Reverend. (6th great grandfather).
Researching Slave ownership in Genealogy becomes even easier in 1850 and 1860. For those two Censuses, Slave Schedules were taken, which identify the number of Slaves owned, as well as their age, sex, race, and a couple of other questions. The 1860 Slave Schedule asked how many Slave Houses the owner had as well. The Slave Schedules can really show the horrors of Slavery first hand, when you can see your ancestors listing children as property. Some examples in my family:
- James F. Benton of Colleton County, South Carolina, 1860 USA Slave Schedules, recorded as owning 5 Slaves: a 25 year old black male, a 12 year old black female, an 18 year old mulatto male, a 17 year old mulatto female, and a 2 (!) year old mulatto male. The Schedule also records that he owned 2 slave houses. Reflecting on what life was like for those 5 Slaves on the Benton property is truly something else, especially considering that Benton would soon enlist in the Confederate States Army and serve as a Confederate Soldier (his widow later received a Pension for his Confederate service). (4th great grandfather).
- George Washington Winn of Laurens County, South Carolina, 1860 USA Slave Schedules, recorded as owning 3 Slaves: a 30 year old black female, a 3 year old black male, and a 2 year old black female. If I am reading the Schedule properly, it also records that he owned 1 slave house. Some reflections are in order. It is not entirely clear that these 3 Slaves were purchased or inherited by G.W Winn himself, because he did not own any Slaves in 1850, and in the will of his father-in-law, William Fuller Sr., written circa 1859, multiple Slaves were left to George's children. However, the will also names William's son, also named William, as the trustee for these Slaves, so it does not necessarily follow that these Slaves were obtained from the Fuller estate. It is also possible that Winn purchased these Slaves himself, possibly at an auction. Looking at the ages of the Slaves in the Schedule, a few questions arise. It is possible that these Slaves are one family, a mother and her two children, but no father is included. Was the father dead? Was the father sold away from the family, as was a common practice in those barbaric times? Or did G.W Winn possibly buy these Slaves separate from the father, if these Slaves were all a family? We may never know, apart from finding a deed of sale or property records. And also, what was the role of these Slaves in the Winn household? He was a farmer, and it is possible that his adult Slave did farm work, but it is also possible that the Slaves were kept as house Slaves for the Winn family. (5th great grandfather).
- William Fuller Sr. of Laurens County, South Carolina, 1850 USA Slave Schedules, recorded as owning 18 Slaves: black males of 41, 42, 37, 30, 28, 10, 8, 6, and 7; black females of 32, 28, 14, 12, 7, 4, 2, and 75; and a mulatto male of 8. Analyzing the Slaves of William Fuller, some assumptions can possibly be made. It is possible that the oldest Slave, a 75 year old black female, was the spiritual leader of the Fuller slaves. It is possible that the Slaves made up one or more families, and that she was the matriarch of one of these families. (6th great grandfather).
- Aaron B. Strickland of Tattnall County, Georgia, 1860 USA Slave Schedules, recorded as owning 19 Slaves: black males of 32, 25, 22, 16, 6, 6, 4, 3, and 1; black females of 47, 35, 28, 22, 18, 7, 2, 2, and 2, and a mulatto female of 25. The number of slave houses owned is sadly not recorded. (5th great grandfather).
- Mourning Collum of Twiggs County, Georgia, 1860 USA Slave Schedules, recorded as owning 2 Slaves: black females of 31 and 2. The amount of slave houses is not recorded, because there were only two slaves and she lived alone, it is possible that the two Slaves, possibly mother and daughter, lived as house servants inside of her home. It is interesting to ponder the dynamic between the elderly widow living alone, and her two Slaves. (6th great grandmother).
It is impossible to know what life was truly like for those individuals who endured the brutal institution of Slavery at the hands of my ancestors. As of this moment I have never seen any Slave narratives written by any former Slaves of my ancestors, I know of no Slaves who tried to escape north or on the Underground Railroad, and I have never seen any other information on Slavery in my family other then the type of information mentioned above. I do not know if my ancestors had overseers for their Slaves, for example. On my DNA Matches, I have come across multiple individuals of African American descent, which of course leads to the brutal truth that sexual assault existed on plantations owned by my ancestors. This is an inescapable truth of American Slavery, and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in general, but to connect such a thing to your ancestors leads one to truly realize the extent of the institution. And it also leads to another realization, if sexual assault did occur on my ancestor's plantations, it is also likely that some of the more barbaric aspects of the institution, such as whippings, beatings, separation of families, etc., also occured on my ancestor's plantations. The institution of Slavery was widespread in the Antebellum South, and just because your recent ancestry may be composed of poor farmers, carpenters, or miners, does not mean that you will not find Slaveowners when tracing your ancestry back.
I have included multiple links to additional resources on Slavery in the United States, and Slavery in Genealogy, for those interested in further exploring this dark subject:
- https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2018/11/28/my-ancestor-owned-41-slaves-what-do-i-owe-their-descendants My ancestor owned 41 slaves. What do I owe their descendants?
- https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-fair/2018/2-kluskens-handout.pdf Federal Records that Help Identify Former Slaves and Slave Owners
- https://www.reclaimingkin.com/suggestions-for-the-descendants-of-slaveholders/ Suggestions For the White Descendants of Slaveholders
- https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/confronting-slavery-family-history.pdf Confronting Slavery in Your Family’s History
- https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-frank-harris-whites-family-tree-0905-20190905-phdvsqnl6fcdhjf7eb4k7vmpke-story.html Frank Harris III: To the white members of my family tree
- https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a12021048/my-ancestors-owned-slaves/ I Am a Descendant of Slaveholders. Charlottesville Demands My Honesty About White Supremacy.
- https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20190719/opinion-beto-orourke-and-shame-of-ancestry Opinion: Beto O’Rourke and the shame of ancestry
- https://blog.eogn.com/2019/05/31/ancestry-com-adds-online-1850-u-s-federal-census-slave-schedules/ Ancestry.com Adds Online 1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedules
- https://blog.familyhistoryfanatics.com/descendantofslaveholders/ What Responsibilities Does a Descendant of Slaveholders Bear?
- https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_996926ae-579c-11e7-9d36-13d23afca32d.html Unspeakable cruelty: Former slaves tell their stories in Southern University online listings
- https://www.ushistory.org/us/27b.asp Slave Life and Slave Codes
- https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/ North American Slave Narratives
- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/civil-war-era/sectional-tension-1850s/a/life-for-enslaved-men-and-women Life for enslaved men and women
- http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/expref/slavery/ Pre-Civil War African-American Slavery
- http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3042 Slave Family Life
This is the true face of what that blood soaked institution was like which darkens my family tree and blackens the memory of my ancestors. "Peter or Gordon, a whipped slave, photo taken at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1863; the guilty overseer was fired."
Slaves on a South Carolina plantation (The Old Plantation, c. 1790)
Slave auction block, Green Hill Plantation, Campbell County, Virginia, Historic American Buildings Survey
May the memories of those who were enslaved in America be never forgotten.
