Saturday (Sunday!) Night Genealogy Fun: My Best Genealogy Research Find in May 2016

I was at Jamboree this weekend, and it's amazing how much time it took, not only in being at the conference during the day, but recovering from all the fun every evening when I went home.  I didn't even see Randy Seaver all weekend!  And I was just too pooped last night to take him up on this week's challenge for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

1)  I am away at the SCGS Genealogy Jamboree this weekend, having too much fun (I hope!).

2)  What was your best genealogy "research find" in May 2016?  It could be a record, it could be a photograph, etc.  Whatever you judge to be your "best."

3)  Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

I think by far my best "genealogy" find this past May was when I was watching Antiques Roadshow on PBS and saw the segment with drawings of twelve young black students from 1864 Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  On May 25 I posted about the drawings and on June 1 about the teacher's narrative describing events in the area.  It doesn't matter that the information has nothing to do with my family.  I am happy I was able to capture good images of all but one of the children, and Schalene Dagutis has added the post to the Slave Name Roll Project.  I hope publicizing the information helps some researchers connect to images of their relatives.

Mary Lawrence, aged 12 years Baton Rouge Aug. 30 1864 A good scholar, pleasant girl

"Contraband" Scholars in 1864 Baton Rouge

The new episode of Antiques Roadshow that aired on Monday, May 23, 2016 — the third hour from the visit to Cleveland that was filmed on July 11, 2015 — had an incredible item.  A man brought in some papers that came from a box of stuff that he bought for $2 at a rummage sale about 15 years ago.  The items are an amazing piece of black history from Louisiana during the Civil War.

A man named George Tallman, possibly a colonel in the Union army (according to the guest), was in Baton Rouge after the Union forces had taken it over.  He sent for his wife, Susan Carhart Tallman, who was a teacher, so she could set up a school to teach some of the children of the slaves who had been freed in the area.  Somehow, some of her papers ended up in the box from the rummage sale.  The man brought in a photo of George and Susan Tallman, a school attendance sheet with a narrative written over it, and Susan Tallman's drawings of twelve of her students.  She called them her "contraband scholars."

The students' names are Henry and Horace, Ellen's sons; Melvina Blufus; Comfort Holmes; Frederick Johnson; Mary Lawrence; Tilda Ann Mingo; Julia Morris; Alice Parkins; Earnest Scott; and Susanna Thomas.  Of the twelve drawings, only one, that of Comfort Holmes, was not shown clearly enough for me to capture the image.  One drawing, of a 7-year-old boy, did not have a name on it.

Oct. 1864 Baton Rouge La Henry, Ellen's three year old boy. Sweet, forward

Horace, Ellen's son aged 5 Oct 3d 1864 Baton Rouge La

Frederick Johnson

Alice Parkins aged 11 A tenderhearted, affectionate neat girl,
good to work & studious, but slow about learning Baton Rouge La

Aged about 7 A handsome pleasant little boy Intelligent, but not too forward Oct 24 1864 Baton Rouge La

Earnest Scott, aged 10 Baton Rouge, La. Aug 1864 A left-handed little artist

Tilda Ann Mingo aged 9 Sept 30th, 1864, Baton Rouge La

Julia Morris aged 10 Baton Rouge Aug. 1864 Sings like a mockingbird. black. A real Gipsy. deceiftul quick

Mary Lawrence, aged 12 years Baton Rouge Aug. 30 1864 A good scholar, pleasant girl

Susanna Thomas aged 13 Baton Rouge Aug 30, 1864

Melvina Blufus aged 15 Baton Rouge, La Aug 1864

Comfort Holmes Sept 1864 Age 14 Baton Rouge La

I hope that someone finds a family member in these drawings.

There might have originally been more than these twelve drawings.  Several of the drawings have numbers in the upper-left corners; that of Frederick Johnson has a 16.

I'm working on transcribing the letter and hope to post it soon.

If you visit the link to this appraisal on the Antiques Roadshow site, you can watch the video and read the transcript.

Update:  The transcription of Susan Carhart Tallman's narrative has been posted!

The 1838 Census of Indian Key, Florida

You can find the most interesting things online these days.  Buried in The Senate of the United States, Third Session of the Twenty-fifth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 3, 1838, and in the Sixty-third Year of the Independence of the United States, Volume II, Containing Documents from No. 18 to No. 146 (printed by Blair and Rives, Washington: 1839), is the petition of Thomas Jefferson Smith to have Indian Key, Florida (when Florida was still but a territory) become an official port of entry for the United States (Volume 2, number 71, page 1).  Among the various claims and pieces of information Mr. Smith put forth to support his desire to have Indian Key made an official port of entry is a census of the island as of March 1838 (page 12).  And in that census, along with 98 white inhabitants, were enumerated 29 slaves and 14 free colored persons.

Slaves on Indian Key (in the order presented in the book)
Benjamin Housman
Bazal Housman
James Housman
Billy Housman
Lydia Housman
Dolly Housman
Chenia Housman
Rebecah Housman
Mary Housman
Quashia Housman
David Housman
Paul Fuiler
Peggy Cold
Lucy English
Chasy English
Isaac Spencer
Sophia Spencer
Binah English
Mary English
Ellen English
Alexander English
Betsey Smith
William Howe
March Howe
Samuel Howe
David Howe
Jenny Howe
Hannay Howe
Wm. Henry Howe

All the enumerated slaves save one carry last names that match white inhabitants of the island.  The name of Paul Fuiler, the one slave who does not, is similar to that of George Fowler.  Perhaps the name as published was in error, or perhaps Paul had his own name and was permitted to use it?

I am happy to recover these names and add them to the Slave Name Roll Project.  I hope that sharing these names and making them easier to find will help someone find an ancestor.

In addition to the census, the petition included a list of the landowners of Indian Key.  That list can be found on page 11, right before the census.

Many thanks to Linda Jack for telling me about this census.

Slaves Listed in the Estate of John Woodard

I know many people watched the episode of Who Do You Think You Are? that followed Alfre Woodard's quest to learn more about her ancestors.  During that program, one of the resources used was documents relating to the estate of John Woodard, said to be one of the owners of Woodard's great-grandfather Alex Woodard.  While the focus of the program was on Woodard's ancestor, additional slaves were named in those documents, and their names deserve to be recovered also.

The scene took place in Perry, Houston County, Georgia at the courthouse.  The first page Woodard looked at was "The Appraisement of the Estate of John Woodward, Deceased", dated April 2, 1851, which listed the following people at the top of the inventory:

Peggy and child, $900
Amanda, $300
Epsey, $200
Milly, $600
Alec, $200
Easter, $500
Benjamin, $400
Luvenia, $800
Polly, $500
Harriett, $200

These individuals appeared to be the only slaves owned by John Woodard.  Alfre Woodard commented on the small number, and the researcher helping her, Dr. Daina Ramey Berry, replied that Mr. Woodard was a typical small slave holder.

From the inventory appraisal Woodard turned to the "Distributing of the Estate of John Woodard, Decd", dated September 1, 1856, of which we saw only small parts on screen.  I was able to piece together the following:

Martha Blount, formerly Woodard, who was hypothesized as John Woodard's daughter, received Milly, then valued at $1,000.

Laura Woodard (probably another daughter of John Woodard) received Harriet, valued at $500 (discussed on screen), and Mandy (in all likelihood Amanda), valued at $500 (not discussed but visible in shots of the distribution papers).

William Woodard (probably John Woodard's son) received not only "Elic", who should be Alec/Alex, valued at $700, but also the following (who were not discussed but who could be seen in shots of the papers):
Peggy and child Laura
Epsey
unseen name
unseen name
unseen name "and child"

This section followed the listing of Elic and read "and the following Negroes appraised as follows (Viz)."  These seven individuals were in a column on the left, and then a column to the right said "Value", but I did not see values listed, only ditto marks.  I was able to extrapolate that three names came after Epsey because of the ditto marks and the fact that I could read "and child" in the last row.

So from the original list of slaves from the 1851 appraisal, Peggy and child (now named as Laura), Epsey, Amanda, Milly, Alec, and Harriet are accounted for in the distribution.  Because the rest of the names were not shown, we do not know which of Easter, Benjamin, Luvenia, and Polly were among the three additional slaves inherited by William Woodard, or which of the three women had a child between 1851 and 1856.  We also do not know what happened to the fourth person.

Later in the program we saw William Woodard in the 1860 slave census, which showed he had a 32-year-old female and an 8-year-old male in addition to Elic/Alec/Alex, so we can hypothesize that the last name from the above list and her unnamed child might be the woman and child on that census listing, but only additional research, such as in tax lists, can determine if that is correct.

Slaves Listed in 1839 Virginia Will

My cousin recently told me she had discovered that one of her ancestors had bequeathed several slaves in his will.  She has allowed me to recover their names and list them here, and I am adding them to the Slave Name Roll Project.  I hope that sharing these names may help someone find an ancestor.

"I Benjamin Wood of the County of Harrison and State of Virginia do hereby make my last will and Testament . . .

"I give my daughter Sarah Rogers and her hur [sic] Heirs forever the following Slaves to wit
Caroline & Patsey

"and I give to my daughter Amelia Wood and her Heirs forever Slaves
Martin
Jack
Nancy and her child now at the breast and
Catherine and their future increase

"and I give to my daughter Ann Bogges and her heirs forever the following Slaves to wit
Louisa
Ame
Lucinda and
Gabriel and their future increase forever . . .

"I further will and desire that the following Slaves be sold by my Executor at publick or private sale as he may think best to wit
Willis and
Ally
and out of the proceeds of the sale that my Executor pay to the surviving children of my Daughter Elizabeth Robinson Deceased six hundred dollars . . .

"in witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 5th day of January in the year of our Lord 1839"

Slaves Advertised for Sale during 1827 Probate Proceedings

As a contribution to the Slave Name Roll Project, I have recovered the names of the following individuals, who were listed for sale in the Louisiana Advertiser of September 10, 1827.

Court of Probate—Sale by the Register of Wills—On Tuesday, September 11, 1827, at 12 o'clock, I shall expose for sale at the New Exchange Coffee House, the following slaves belonging to the estate of the late Antoine Marigny d'Auterive, to wit—

Antoine, a negro aged about 45 years;

Jean, do 70;

Magloire, do 55;

Edward, negro boy, do 14;

Euphrosine, negro girl, do 13;

Joseph, negro man, do 40;

Lindor, do, blind, do 30;

Francoise, negro woman, do 40, addicted to drinking.

Terms—6 and 12 months credit, in approved endorsed notes, with special mortgage.

By order of the Court.

august 13            Martin Blache, Register.

Slave Names Found in My Research

Slave cabins, Bass Place,
Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia

Last month, for Black History Month, Schalene Dagutis started the Slave Name Roll Project.  She began to go through will and property records she has obtained in her research and posted the names of any slaves listed in the documents.  She also has invited other researchers to send her links to their lists, to bring the information together in a central location.  I just finished transcribing two wills and an inventory from Elbert County, Georgia, and these are the names I recovered.


Will of Christopher Clark, 1803
"I Lend to my Beloved Wife During her Natural Life, . . . Seventeen Negroes with there [sic] future Increase, to Witt"
Jack
Sam
Frank
Bob
Lucy
Sall
Betty
Patty
Caster
Peaphence
Amy
Polly
Edmond
Jack
Rachel
Easter

"I Give and Bequeath unto my Son Micajah Clark his heirs and assigns for Ever one Negro Boy Named Manger"

"I Give and Bequeath unto my Daughter Molly Oliver her heirs and assigns forever one Negro Girl, Named Mary, with her future Increase"

Inventory of estate of Christopher Clark (son of the above Christopher Clark), taken November 12, 1819
Kend
John
African Jack
Peter
Tom
Nelly & Rulin her child
Rody/Rhoda
Philadelphia & Nancy
Malia
Caroline
Fanny Carolines Child
Sellen
Rachel
Lewis
Robert
Hannah
Asbury
Lewis
Midliton/Middleton
Harry
Sukky
Peggy
Young Fanny
Sopa
Polly
Charlotte
Martha
Mary
Luke
Jake
Sally
Phoebe
Matilda