They Had Names

African Americans in Early Records of Liberty County, Georgia

Colonial Georgia Estate Inventory – Thomas Wesbury [or Westbury]

Parish: St. John
Deceased: Wesbury, Thomas [Alt: Westbury, Wisebury]
Notification Date: 1773-07-23
Date Sworn: 1773-08-02
Official: James Kitching, J.P.
Appraisers: Stephen Dickinson, Jeremiah Dickinson, John Lawson Senr [Senior]
Estate Executor: John Jourdine [Alt: Jurdine] [“one of the executors”]
Inventory Date (if given): not listed
Total Value of Property Appraised: not listed
Value of enslaved persons: 455.0.0 pounds
Comments: All value amounts are in pounds. Only the enslaved people in the inventory are listed below. Please see the original for other parts of the inventory.

Enslaved Person NamedValueDescription
George90.0.0“Negroe Man”
Adam70.0.0“Negroe Man”
Fryday65.0.0“Negroe Man” [Alt: Friday]
Mary80.0.0“And Children”
Hester90.0.0“And Child”
Daphney20.0.0“Wench; Old”
Sarah40.0.0“Girl”

Source: “Colonial Government, Estate Records, RG 49-1-1, Georgia Archives,” Colonial Estate Records, held by Georgia Archives Virtual Vault; accessed online at: https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/corp/id/3205/rec/356

These antebellum estate inventories and appraisals generally included all the deceased person’s “property,” including enslaved persons. Only those names are documented here for historical and genealogical purposes. Anyone interested in the actual property owned by the deceased may find it at the link at the bottom of the page. Names are listed in the original order, as this often gives very valuable information about family groupings or the age of children (who may be listed in age order).