Finding Abram Houston

Abram Houston, an African American man born around 1833, was found in Liberty County in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census. What can we determine about Mr. Houston from publicly available records before searching TheyHadNames.net for antebellum records?

Using Ancestry.com, we see that in the 1870 census, Abram Houston was listed with his wife Margaret (age 37), and presumably their children (relationship not given in the 1870 census): Augustus (15), Abram (12), Georgia (7), Negar (5) and Booby (2). He was living in Liberty County’s 181st Subdivision and his neighbors were Toby Ashmore, Frank Williams, and James Holmes. A farmer, he had $100 worth of property. In that same 1870 census was a Booby Houston (age 40) with a 7-year-old son named Abram. Were Abram and Booby Houston perhaps brothers, since they each named a son after the other?

From previous research, I know that Toby Ashmore and Frank Williams were freed slaves who were owned by John Ashmore, a local farmer. Could Abram also have been owned by Ashmore?

Abram Houston also appeared in another 1870 Liberty County census. Yes, there were two federal censuses performed in Liberty County in 1870. Charles Holcombe did the first census that summer, but it was later proved to be fraudulent, so a 2d census was performed by local landowners in the fall. For the 1870 census in Liberty County, be sure to note who the enumerator was and disregard the fraudulent census performed by Charles Holcombe.

By the 1880 census, Abram, now 46, had inflammatory rheumatism. The census listed people who were temporarily (or otherwise) disabled by an illness on the day the census was taken. His children are now listed as his children: Daughter Georgia (16), son Nedger (13), son Buby (9), and son Henry (9). Augustus and Abram are no longer listed, but are old enough to be living on their own. Henry was probably born shortly after the 1870 census was enumerated. The big change is that his wife is now listed as Chloe. Because the children are the same between the 1870 and 1880 censuses, it appears certain that this is still our Abram Houston, but what happened to Margaret? Is there a marriage record for Abram and Chloe?

Of course, there is no 1890 U.S. federal census, having burned in a fire. In the 1900 Liberty County census, Chloe Houston is living by herself, a widow, aged 50 and born in March 1850. She is living near Henry Houston (age 29) and B. Houston Jr. (age 33), who had sons named Abram (4) and Booby (1 month). Assuming Chloe Houston was indeed Abram’s wife, it appears that Abram Houston had died before the 1900 census. So when did Abram Houston die? Was Chloe in fact his wife?

The other federal censuses to check are the 1870 and 1880 agricultural censuses for Liberty County. In the 1870 agricultural census, Abram Houston owned 10 acres, valued at $100, which fits the 1870 census information. In the 1880 census, Abram Houston, listed next to Frank Williams, owned 13 acres of improved land, 60 acres of woodland, all valued at $300, and had paid $15 in wages for hired labor during the previous year. The value of his farm production in 1879 was $365.

Now let’s check the Liberty County marriage records on Ancestry.com. There it is: Mrs. Chloe Golding married Abram Houston on January 29, 1879. They were married by J.T.H. Waite. What happened to Margaret? Although the answer was not found during this survey of records, it appears likely she died, since her children were living with Chloe and Abram in the 1880 census.

The next sources to check are the Liberty County Superior Court deed record books. Deeds contain a wide variety of information, including the obvious land deeds, but also bills of sale, estate settlements, marriage contracts, deeds of gift, etc, and can be quite revealing about family relationships. To learn to use the Liberty County deed records available on FamilySearch.org, consult the guide in the “Research” section of the TheyHadNames.net site.

Deed Book Q, p. 361, tells us that on September 26, 1872, John S. Andrews sold to Abram Houston, listed as “Col” [for Colored], for $250, “a certain lot of land lying in the said county of Liberty and State of Georgia known as lot no. seven and bounded as follows to wit north by lands of John S. Andrews and Jas. Holmes east by lots no 6 and five southwest by lands of Cornelius Ryals west by lot no. eight containing one hundred and nine acres together…” Witnesses were W.J. Feaster and Justice of the Peace Joseph Ashmore. On the same page, was: “This certifies that I John S. Andrews have cut off 660 acres of land on the lower part of the tract of land on which I now reside and diveded the same unto lots numbered 1 2 3 8 6 in order to sell the same said lots being run off by W. Hughes for the present year 1872. The within lot no 7 having lot no 6 on the east and sold to Richard Grant and Lot no 5 on the east and sold to William Lambert and Lot no 8 on the west and sold to Bartholomew Stevens. “

So now we know that Abram Houston owned land as early as seven years after the Civil War. John S. Andrews was a white planter who evidently divided a portion of his land and sold it off in lots to the newly freed. Could John S. Andrews have been Abram Houston’s slaveowner? Note that Abram’s lot was bounded on the north by Jas. [James] Holmes, who was a neighbor of Abram’s in the 1870 census. Research into who John S. Andrews sold this land to would probably be a very productive way to determine relationships and locations of former slaves.

The deed books have more to tell us, this time about Chloe Houston. Remember that she was listed as “Mrs Chloe Golding” in the marriage record, indicating that she had been previously married. Deed Book S, p. 400, reveals that in October 1879, Chloe acknowledged receipt of $73.21 as her share of “money received from Mack Golding’s claim against the United States government” from “Abram Houston Administrator on Mack Golding’s estate.” She signed with her mark (indicating illiteracy) on October 3, 1879, at Fleming (a location in Liberty County). Her signature was first recorded as Chloe Golding, then Golding was erased, and Houston written over it. (Remember that Chloe Golding had married Abram Houston in January 1879.) The document was witnessed by Liberty County Ordinary (probate judge) Joseph Ashmore. Similarly, on October 2, 1879, a John Golding had acknowledged receipt of his same share of Mack Golding’s estate from Abram Houston.

Also recorded on October 4, 1879, in Deed Book S, p. 400, was Chloe Golding’s transfer of 15 acres of land, one mare colt, one saddle and bridle, one foot gin and frame, and one house in full satisfaction of John Golding’s claim on Mack Golding’s estate, whom he identified as his father. Chloe was identified as the administrator for Mack Golding’s estate.

What does the reference to “Mack Golding’s claim against the United States government” mean? Given that the time period was the 1870’s, the most likely answer is that he applied for restitution of property stolen by Union soldiers during Sherman’s March to the Sea via the Southern Claims Commission. Fortunately, these records are now indexed and online, and an Ancestry search shows that Mack Golding did in fact make a successful claim for restitution. He listed his slaveowner as Thomas Mallard, a wealthy white plantation owner. An unusual number of former Liberty County enslaved people applied for this restitution so Southern Claims Commission research is particularly fruitful for Liberty County African American research. Search these records on Ancestry.com or see the Hargis list on TheyHadNames.net for names of 275 Liberty County African Americans with the names of their former enslavers.

The Hargis List did not show that Abram Houston applied to the Southern Claims Commission. However, Booby Houston did, and listed his slaveowner as John Boyd Mallard (son of Thomas Mallard), and so did a Pompey Houston, listing his slaveowner as Thomas Mallard.

Of course, we will want to check probate records for any references to Abram Houston, especially since his death date is still undetermined. Liberty County (and Georgia) probate records are all online at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. On Ancestry, the records are indexed, but sometimes poorly, and only the primary person for the record is indexed. The TheyHadNames.net site has a Finding Aid for browsing the records. Using both the Ancestry index, and the finding aid, no probate records were found for Abram Houston, though there were records for Chloe Houston, and for other Liberty County Houstons, that would be useful for follow-on research.

To sum up from the searches of post-war records, Abram Houston appears to have been born around 1833. He was married to Margaret in 1870, and they were likely together for some time, as their first child, Augustus, was born in 1855. In total, they had three children born before the Civil War: Augustus (1855), Abram (1858), and Georgia (1863). Margaret appears to have died before 1879, and Abram re-married to Chloe, whose previous husband, Mack Golding, had died just prior to that. Abram had an apparent connection to Booby Houston, as they each had a son apparently named for the other, though this could possibly be a coincidence. (It was the custom, however, for brothers to name sons for each other.) Abram owned land he bought from John S. Andrews, and lived near Toby Ashmore and Frank Williams, both previously owned by John Ashmore.

What clues do we have now, before we start checking the antebellum records, that might help confirm or deny what we may find there as regards Abram Houston’s slaveowner? We see that his wife Chloe’s previous husband, Mack, was owned by Thomas Mallard, and other formerly enslaved people who took the surname Houston also had connections with the Mallard family. On the other hand, Abram Houston lived next to Toby Ashmore and Frank Williams, who were previously owned by John Ashmore.

Among the early Liberty County records that could reveal Abram Houston’s slaveowner are the Midway Congregational Church records, which document both white and black members from 1754, when the Church was established, to 1867, when it broke up into several different churches. TheyHadNames.net has a spreadsheet of over 3800 references to the African American members, as well as the transcribed records of the Pleasant Grove Church, an early 1800’s offshoot of the Midway Congregational Church, which also included both black and white members. These records list the first name of the African American member in addition to the enslaver’s name.

Searching these records shows us that there are 8-10 Abrams named in the Midway Church records during the 1833-1863 time period. There was an Abram who belonged to Thomas Mallard admitted to the church on November 20, 1852. Other possibilities for slaveowner (if any of these Abrams are indeed Abram Houston) are W.W. Winn, Estate James Winn, Hines, J.E. Mann, W. Harrison, R. Varnedoe, R.F. Baker, G.W. Walthour, and R. Cay.

An Abram belonging to John Ashmore was baptized into the Pleasant Grove Church in 1830. These baptisms were normally performed for adults, suggesting that this Abram is likely not Abram Houston, who was born around 1833.

In 1846, the Rev. Charles Colcock Jones conducted a census of African American church members in Liberty County’s 15th District, where most of the slaveowners lived. A check on this census gives us the following church members named Abram. It is of course possible that Abram Houston was not a church member in 1846. We do see that the Abram who belonged to John Ashmore was still attending the Pleasant Grove Church in 1846, but we have already determined that he is likely not Abram Houston due to age.

Now we have gathered enough evidence to give us some context as we search the TheyHadNames.net site for references to Abram in extracted antebellum wills, estate inventories, and deeds. Without this evidence, given that Abram is a common name, the search would likely just cause confusion, but now we find the following references, which help us complete Abram Houston’s story. Remember that these are all records that can be found online; the TheyHadNames.net site just compiles them in a searchable format, reducing the amount of time it would take to find and analyze them.

After searching the site, compiling the references to Abram (a common name) and analyzing them, we have several documents of particular interest.

In September of 1841, John Ashmore wrote his will, naming the following enslaved people: Abram, Andrew, Edwin, Elitha, Siby, Toney, Clayton, Sandy, Frank, Toby, Saul. He left Abram to his daughter Sarah. Ashmore lived until 1849, and his will was probated in 1850. From other research, I know that Sarah Rebecca Ashmore married Benjamin Lane, who died in 1859. Sarah Lane lived until after 1878.

In January 1859, an estate settlement shows that Sarah Rebecca Lane agreed with Benjamin Lane’s other heirs that she would receive as her portion of his estate during her natural lifetime “the following property, Abram, Frederick, Drusilla, Jim, fifty-three acres of land including house and lot known on the plat as the Andrews land…”

Since we know that Abram Houston bought land from John S. Andrews, and lived near people formerly enslaved by John Ashmore, this looks very promising. However, we had previously decided that the Abram enslaved by John Ashmore did not seem to fit the right age range, having been baptized as probably an adult in 1830.

Let’s move on to another intriguing record. In 1861, Thomas Mallard’s estate inventory and division included an Abram. Liberty County estate inventories not infrequently listed enslaved people in family order, so let’s take a look at who was listed above and below Abram.

Old Tenah, age 50
Booby, age 30
Caesar, age 28
Abram, age 26,
Pompey, age 24
Margaret, age not listed
Negah, age not listed

Chloe and Mack are also in the inventory next to each other, but Chloe is said to be 50 years old, and Mack is 30. Either this is a mistake, or Mack’s wife Chloe is actually the other Chloe listed in the inventory, whose age is not given.

We should record that in Mallard’s estate inventory and division, his many slaves were divided into 10 lots, and lot #6, containing Abram, fell to L.J. Mallard.

We know from the 1870 census that a Booby who took the surname Houston had a child named Abram and that Abram Houston had named one of his sons Booby, causing us to wonder if they were brothers. A quick check indicates that the 1870 Liberty County federal census also contains a Pompey Houston and a Caesar Houston, all of the right age to match the Mallard estate inventory. Given the other connections we have seen with the Mallard family, the picture is starting to come into focus. We appear to have found our Abram Houston…and possibly his brothers. Might Tenah be their mother?

But this was an 1861 estate inventory. We know from the 1870 census that Abram’s first three children with Margaret–Augustus, Abram, and Georgia–were born by then. They are not listed in the Mallard inventory. Where are they? And although it is tempting to associate Negah [which could be a misspelling of Negar] with their son Negar, he was 5 in the 1870 census and 13 in the 1880 census, so even if those ages were off, as is common for the federal censuses, it’s unlikely that he had been born by 1861.

The possibility that Augustus, Abram, and Georgia had been sold elsewhere comes to mind, but it seems unlikely–though possible–that all three were sold at such a young age and then reunited with their parents after the war. The stronger possibility is that the Margaret listed is not Abram’s Margaret, and that we may find her and her children living elsewhere. A quick way to check this is to search TheyHadNames.net for “Margaret Augustus Abram Georgia” to see if we can find a record that lists all those names.

Bingo! There is the 1863 estate inventory for Bartholomew A. Busby, which lists many enslaved people but has, in order, Margaret, Augustus, Abram, George, with appropriate values for the ages they would have been at the time. George is presumably a typo for Georgia (who is clearly listed as female in both the 1870 and 1880 censuses). So our mystery appears to be solved: Abram was on the Thomas Mallard plantation, and Margaret and their children were on the Busby plantation.

We have managed to bridge the gap between Abram Houston’s identity as a free man following the Civil War, and his pre-war life. Now more can be learned about his life by further researching his slaveowner, Thomas Mallard, and his wife Margaret’s slaveowner, Bartholomew Busby. In this case, we have also learned quite a bit about Chloe, Abram’s 2d wife, who was also owned by Thomas Mallard.

Several apparent clues almost misled us. It was very tempting to assume that Abram Houston was previously owned by John Ashmore, or even John S. Andrews, from whom he bought land. All these individuals lived in a relatively small area, so investigating and carefully evaluating all the possible sources of information about them proved to be crucial.

New documents are being added to the TheyHadNames.net site almost daily, and it is likely that future additions will add to — or perhaps change — the picture we now have of Abram Houston’s life. Having these documents available for search all in one place reduced the time required for this project from days, months or possibly years to a matter of hours. And this is just for one county. Imagine when all the records are indexed across the South, and how much easier it will be to piece together these forgotten lives.