Another example of the (unfortunate) need to thoroughly research the slaveholder’s family to find enslaved African-American ancestors: Benjamin Williams, a white planter, died in Liberty County, Georgia, sometime before April 1842. His estate inventory and appraisal included 15 enslaved people: Arthur (listed as an “old man”), Easter, York, Jane, Charlotte, Simon, Elsy, Peter, Louisa, Celia, Nippia [nickname Nippy], Easter, Nancy, Richard and Georgia [1]. What happened to them? Can we figure out from court documents where they might have been at Emancipation?
Elsey, Celia, Nippy: to Benjamin & Eliza Darsey
In 1846, Benjamin Williams’ estate was appraised again and partially distributed. The inventory specified that Benjamin Darsey, a white planter who had married Benjamin Williams’ widow, was the guardian of William’s minor children: Mary L. Williams, James A. Williams, Sarah E. Williams, and Martha B. Williams. The enslaved people listed in the inventory were Easter, Jane, Charlotte, Elsey, Simon, Peter, Louisa, Celia, Nippy, Hester, Nancy, Richard, Georgia, Charles, John.
They were divided into lots and Darsey drew the lot including Elsey, Celia, and Nippy, presumably for his wife, and the others were left in the estate for the minor children of Benjamin Williams [2].
We see that Easter, Jane, Charlotte, Simon, Elsey, Peter, Louisa, Celia, Nippy, Hester or Easter [3], Nancy, Richard, and Georgia are in both inventories. York and Arthur are not listed in the second inventory. Arthur is likely to have died, since he was listed as an old man in the 1842 inventory.
We also know that Benjamin Williams’ wife appears to have remarried to Benjamin Darsey. Now we can search for a marriage record, and we find that Mrs. Elizabeth Williams married Benjamin Darsey in Liberty County on June 26, 1845 [4]. In the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Benjamin and Eliza Darsey were living in District 17 of Liberty County, with apparently their two young children together, John M. Darsey (age 3) and Nancy E. Darsey (1), along with Benjamin Williams’ children, James W., Sarah E., and Martha B. Williams. In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Benjamin and Eliza Darsey were still living in District 17, with children John, Elmira and William Darsey.
[5/24/2021 UPDATE: Since writing this post, I have learned that Eliza Ann Williams Darsey’s maiden name was Miller, and she brought a number of enslaved people into her marriage with Benjamin Williams through inheritance from her father, John Miller. See a study on that here.)
Elizabeth (listed on her headstone as Eliza Ann Darsey) died in December 1868, and was buried at Taylors Creek Cemetery (now on Fort Stewart). Benjamin Darsey lived into the 20th century, so it appears very possible that Elsey, Celia, and Nippy were with Benjamin and Elizabeth when Emancipation came.
Charlotte, Hester, Georgia, Henry, Berrien: to Mary and John Hendry
In 1851, Benjamin Williams’ daughter Mary L., who had married John A. Hendry, apparently inherited due to her marriage, as the estate was once again appraised and five of the enslaved people were distributed to her, while the rest were retained in the estate. It is nine years after the original inventory, and there are now some new names. Fortunately, this inventory lists the enslaved people in family groups:
Simon (a boy)
Easter
Harriet (child of Harriet)
Louisa
Jane and her children Richard, Charles, Mary, Nelson
Charlotte and her children Hester, Georgia, Hery [Henry], Benien [Berrien]
Peter, Hagar, Nancy, and John (listed together in a group with Hagar listed as a woman, relationships not clear)
Mary L. Hendry inherited Charlotte, Hester, Georgia, Henry, and Berrien [5]. The others remained in the estate for the other minors.
Mary Hendry lived until 1885, but John A. Hendry died in 1856, and we have his estate inventory, which names the following enslaved people: Peter (“man”), Charlotte (“woman”), Hester (“girl”), Georgia (“girl”), Henry (“boy”), Berrien (“boy”), Simon (“boy”), and Isaiah (“boy”) [6]. This inventory allows us to go back to other inventories and correct names: Henry for Hery and Berrien for Benien.
Mary Hendry was living in District 17 in Liberty County with her children, Robert, Eliza Jane, and Sarah, in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, so it appears very possible that the enslaved people were with her at Emancipation. She was buried at Taylors Creek Cemetery (now on Fort Stewart land). John Hendry’s inventory also lists 2246 acres of land located as follows: Bryan County, near John Perry’s, near Henry Long’s, near Ham’s Old Field, near Wm. Ruston’s, near Crop Bay, in Hinesville. These are clues for where the enslaved people may have been held.
Richard, Nancy, Nelson, Hagar, Cornelia: to Sarah and John F. McGowen
In 1856, Benjamin’s daughter Sarah married, and the estate was again appraised and divided so that she, through her now husband John F. McGowen, could take her share. The enslaved people named in the estate this time were: Simon, Mary, Jane and her son George, Peter, Easter and her daughter Harriet, John, Louisa, Richard, Nancy, Nelson, Hagar, and Cornelia. John F. McGowen took Richard, Nancy, Nelson, Hagar, and Cornelia for Sarah, his wife [7]. The others remained in the estate for James A. and Martha B. Williams, who were still represented by their guardian Benjamin Darsey.
John F. McGowen died in December 1859, and his estate inventory of May 1860 [8] lists the following enslaved people: Paul (“man”), Richard (“man”), Hagar (“woman”), Tenor (“girl”), Jane (“girl”), Nelson (“boy”), Esgar (Edgar? “boy”), William (“boy”), Cornelia (“girl”). It appears clear that Richard, Nelson, Hagar, and Cornelia were from Benjamin Williams’ estate. However, what happened to them after that, with Sarah now being a widow? In 1860, Sarah E. McGowen was 21 and listed as a planter living in District 17, Liberty County, with her two children, Ida (3) and John F. (4 months). Sarah remarried in 1862 to John Watts and was living with him in Liberty County in 1870 with their own children plus Ida (13) and John F. (10), so it appears likely that the enslaved people from John McGowen’s estate would have been with them at Emancipation. (By 1880, John and Sarah Watts had moved to Colquitt County.)
Simon, Jane, Charles, Mary, Doctor: to Martha B. and David A Perry
Although no estate inventory has yet been found allocating enslaved people to Benjamin’s daughter Martha, in 1858 she entered into a marriage contract with David A. Perry, specifying that the five enslaved people she brought into the marriage were to remain hers [9]. Their names and ages were listed: Simon (about 30), Jane (about 45), Charles (about 14), Mary (about 12), Doctor (about 2). We can see that Doctor would have been too young to have previously been listed. Simon and Jane are almost certainly from Benjamin Williams’ estate, and Charles and Mary appear almost certain to be Jane’s children, listed in the 1851 estate inventory.
Martha Perry appears to have died between 1860 and 1870, based on the U.S. federal censuses for those years, which show her with husband David Perry in Liberty County in 1860, and him with a different wife, still in Liberty County, in 1870. So it appears possible that Simon, Jane, Charles, Mary, and Doctor were with Martha and David Perry, or at least David Perry, in Liberty County at the time of Emancipation. David Perry is buried at Taylors Creek Cemetery (now on Fort Stewart land).
James Williams
James was listed as a minor in Benjamin Williams’ estate inventory of 1856, but by the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, he is not listed as living with his mother and Benjamin Darsey, and is not found elsewhere. Could he have died? More research needs to be done on him.
Conclusions:
In the 17 years between the initial 1842 inventory of Benjamin Williams’ estate and his son-in-law’s death in 1859, we have watched the people he enslaved transfer out of the estate to his children or to his wife, and we have seen some of them have children. Below is a list of the likely slaveholders at Emancipation for the group (children are listed indented under their mothers), which may hold clues as to where they wound up living. Those without a likely slaveholder listed may have been inherited by James Williams (if he did not die before Emancipation) or they may have died or been transferred elsewhere.
| Name | First Seen | Likely Slaveholder at Emancipation |
| Arthur | 1842 | Likely deceased before 1846 |
| Easter | 1842 | Listed in the 1856 inventory but not in the division so was still in the estate after 1856 |
| York | 1842 | Name not seen after 1842 |
| Jane | 1842 | Martha and David Perry |
| Richard | 1842 | Sarah and John F. McGowen |
| Charles | 1851 | Martha and David Perry |
| Mary | 1851 | Martha and David Perry |
| Nelson | 1851 | Sarah and John F. McGowen |
| Doctor (poss. Jane’s child) | 1858 | Martha and David Perry |
| Charlotte | 1842 | Mary and John Hendry |
| Hester | 1851 | Mary and John Hendry |
| Georgia | 1851 | Mary and John Hendry |
| Henry | 1851 | Mary and John Hendry |
| Berrien | 1851 | Mary and John Hendry |
| Simon | 1842 | Martha and David Perry |
| Elsy | 1842 | Benjamin and Elizabeth Darsey |
| Peter | 1842 | Listed in the 1856 inventory but not in the division so was still in the estate after 1856, |
| Louisa | 1842 | Listed in the 1856 inventory but not in the division so was still in the estate after 1856 |
| Celia | 1842 | Benjamin and Elizabeth Darsey |
| Nippia | 1842 | Benjamin and Elizabeth Darsey |
| Easter | 1842 | |
| Nancy | 1842 | Sarah and John F. McGowen |
| Georgia | 1842 | No longer listed by the 1851 inventory |
| Hagar | 1856 | Sarah and John F. McGowen |
| Cornelia | 1856 | Sarah and John F. McGowen |
Most of the Williams family were buried at Taylors Creek Cemetery, which is now on Fort Stewart land, in what was called District 17 at the time of the Civil War, so it is very possible this will be where the enslaved people who remained at Emancipation would be in the 1870 census.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, I did not have any luck trying to connect these names with the 1870 census in either Liberty or the neighboring counties (Bryan in particular). Hopefully this research snippet will lead a descendant to them. Once that happens, an avenue for further research would be to learn more about Benjamin Williams’s history before 1842 and to find out his wife Elizabeth’s maiden name, to try to figure out where the people he enslaved originally came from.
Footnotes:
The inventories mentioned are all available on this site.
[1] See “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93L-GHPG?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 608 of 689.
[2] “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93L-GHLY?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 639 of 689.
[3] The names appear clear in each inventory, but mistakes were often made in the estate inventories.
[4] “Georgia, Compiled Marriages, 1754-1850,” Ancestry.com
[5] “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-993T-XYSX?cc=1999178&wc=9SB7-6T5%3A267679901%2C268014801 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Miscellaneous probate records 1850-1863 vol C and L > image 45 of 703
[6] ”Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93T-XBZ2?cc=1999178&wc=9SB7-6T5%3A267679901%2C268014801
[7] ”Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-993T-XT2F?cc=1999178&wc=9SB7-6T5%3A267679901%2C268014801 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Miscellaneous probate records 1850-1863 vol C and L > image 171 of 703
[8] “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93T-XYY1?cc=1999178&wc=9SB7-6T5%3A267679901%2C268014801 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Miscellaneous probate records 1850-1863 vol C and L > image 263 of 703. Also, see this inventory in a different handwriting: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93T-XYY1?i=262&wc=9SB7-6T5%3A267679901%2C268014801&cc=1999178
[9] Liberty County Superior Court “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” Film: Deeds & Mortgages, v. O-P 1854-1870,” Record Book O, p 378. Image #235. (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-RSRZ-B?i=234&cat=292358)