Compiling records naming enslaved people from a particular county into a searchable, online database enables tracing their lives through complicated “transactions.” Consider this example from TheyHadNames.net records.
In 1834, Louisa, an enslaved woman, was admitted to membership in Liberty County, Georgia’s Midway Congregational Church. Her slaveholder was listed as Jonathan Bacon, who was Jonathan Baskin Bacon (1775-1842).
Jonathan Bacon died in 1842, and Louisa was not listed in his estate inventory. Why not? What happened to her?
In the Midway Church quarterly session records (1752-1867), enslaved people followed the same process as the white candidates for membership, and detailed records were kept. In Louisa’s case, her membership records continued after Bacon’s death, but she was now listed with his wife, Mrs. Mary Bacon, as her slaveholder. But why was she not in Bacon’s estate inventory?
It turned out, based on Liberty County Superior Court probate records abstracted on TheyHadNames.net, that Louisa never actually belonged to Jonathan Bacon. Instead, she was brought into his 1818 marriage with Mary Winn (1784-1859). Mary Winn’s father was Peter John Winn (1750-1824). In his 1824 will, he left his estate to be divided among his children, but specified that if any of his children died without heirs, their portion should revert to the estate and be divided among the remaining children or grandchildren. He also referred to “the negro property, or slaves, with their issue” that he had already loaned to his children, including Mary Bacon, and said they should be considered as belonging to his estate.
This is what happened to Louisa. At the time of Peter Winn’s death in 1824, Mary Winn had been married to Jonathan Bacon for about 6 years. In the only estate inventory found for Peter Winn, Louisa is not listed but neither is Mary Winn Bacon, so the inheritance must have been documented elsewhere.
However, when Mary Winn Bacon died in 1859, probate documents made what happened with Louisa clear. In 1852, James WIlson Winn had purchased from Mrs. Mary Bacon her lifetime estate “in the following slaves to wit Joe, Frank, July, Abram, Ned, William Toney, and James, Judy & her children Joshua and Anna, Patty and her infant child named Sam, Peggy and her child Sally, Nelly and her children Phillis, Frank, Amos and Muriah Louissa and her children Nany Mary & Josephine, little Rose & her children Sharper & Frank, Sophia and her infant child named Mary Jenny & her children Billy, Alex, and Prentice old Rose and her granddaughter Fancy.” The 1859 document that laid this out noted that Louisa’s Mary was dead.
Why was this a “lifetime estate”? Mary Winn Bacon had no children, so at her death the people she had inherited from her father reverted to his estate to be divided among her siblings. That’s exactly what happened. Thomas W. Fleming was the executor of James Wilson Winn, who also died in 1859, and he transferred the enslaved people named above to Abial Winn, executor for Peter John Winn’s estate.
Abial Winn had Mrs. Mary Bacon’s share reappraised, then divided into six lots to be distributed to the remaining heirs, as follows:
Comments:
“Rose is attached to Lot No 6 and each of the other Lots to pay to this Lot $10.00 for her support.”
“Lot No 1 was drawn by Mrs. E. S. Stevens.”
“Lot No 2 was drawn by the heirs of Mrs. Ann Fleming.”
“Lot No 3 was drawn by Capt [Captain] A. Winn.”
“Lot No 4 was drawn by Mrs. Ann Ripley.”
“Lot No 5 was drawn by heirs of Major John Winn.”
“Lot No 6 was drawn by heirs of Washington Winn.”
| Enslaved Person Named | Value | Description | Lot # |
| Rose | 0 | “Old” | 6 |
| Joe | 500 | ||
| Fancy | 800 | 6 | |
| Patty | 700 | 6 | |
| John | 350 | 6 | |
| Tom | 150 | 6 | |
| Rose | 750 | “Little” | 5 |
| Sharper | 800 | 5 | |
| Frank | 550 | “(Rose) Frank” [probably Rose’s child Frank] | 5 |
| Peter | 500 | 5 | |
| Sophy | 750 | [Also listed as Sophia in this inventory] | 3 |
| Elijah | 400 | 3 | |
| Louisa | 700 | 4 | |
| Nanny | 750 | 4 | |
| Die | 600 | 4 | |
| Josephine | 500 | 4 | |
| Clara | 350 | 4 | |
| Mary Jane | 150 | 4 | |
| Jenny | 700 | 3 | |
| Billy | 750 | 3 | |
| Polodore | 400 | [alt: Polydore, Polidore] | 3 |
| Affee | 325 | [Also listed as Affy in this inventory] | 3 |
| Prentice | 600 | 3 | |
| Nelly | 300 | 5 | |
| Peggy | 750 | 6 | |
| Sally | 600 | 6 | |
| Phillis | 700 | [Alt: Phyllis] | 6 |
| Frank | 1000 | “Nelly’s Frank” | 5 |
| Mariah | 600 | 5 | |
| Amos | 800 | 4 | |
| Judy | 300 | 1 | |
| Joshua | 750 | 1 | |
| Anne | 600 | [also listed as Annie in this inventory] | 1 |
| Emeline | 500 | 1 | |
| Frank | 700 | “Big” | 3 |
| Abram | 1000 | 4 | |
| July | 1000 | 2 | |
| Tony | 1000 | 3 | |
| Ned | 1000 | 1 | |
| William | 1000 | 5 | |
| James | 1000 | 6 | |
| Bachus | 300 | [alt: Bacchus] | 5 |
| Tenah | 600 | “Old” | 2 |
| Sibby | 800 | 4 | |
| Margaret | 800 | 2 | |
| Diana | 800 | 6 | |
| Frank | 600 | “Little”[no Lot listed] | |
| Tirah | 525 | “Little”[Also listed as Tiara in this inventory] | 2 |
| Phebe | 350 | [Also listed as Phoebe in this inventory] | 2 |
| Hetty | 150 | 2 | |
| Sammy | 1000 | 2 | |
| March | 750 | [Also listed as Mariah in this inventory] | 1 |
| Charlotte | 800 | [Also listed as Catherine in this inventory] | 1 |
| Joe | 600 | “Sav” written before name [Savannah?] | 1 |
| Abram | 500 | “Sav” written before name [Savannah?] | 1 |
| Tenah | 600 | “Y. Tenah” [only listed in the division, not the original appraisal] |
Louisa, Nanny and Josephine were drawn by Mrs. Ann Ripley, Mary Winn Bacon’s sister. Ann Oswald Ripley died in 1891, so would have left no probate records naming Louisa. However, according to census records, she was living in Massachusetts with her husband Henry J. Ripley at the time of the estate division, so it is likely she left Louisa, Nanny and Josephine under a family member’s direction in Liberty County or sold them to a family member.
The connection of Henry J. Ripley to Liberty County through his wife also explains some other records. In 1835, Bartholomew Busby of Liberty County used ten enslaved people as collateral on a promissory note to Henry J. Ripley in Massachusetts, which would have seemed odd without knowing of his connection. There were also Black Ripley families listed in the 1870 census; it seems likely that they adopted this surname based on a connection with this family.
Sources:
Mary Winn Bacon’s 1859 will: http://genealogytrails.com/geo/liberty/will-1849-1865.html#Mary_Bacon
Jonathan Bacon’s 1843 estate inventory: (See abstract at https://theyhadnames.net/2018/10/29/liberty-county-estate-inventory-division-jonathan-bacon/) Find the digitized original at: “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893L-GHP5?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 610 of 689.
Peter John Winn’s 1824 will: (See abstract at: https://theyhadnames.net/2018/05/20/liberty-county-will-peter-winn/) Find the digitized original at: “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93L-P9W?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 442 of 689.
James Wilson Winn 1859 estate settlement: (See abstract at https://theyhadnames.net/2019/06/06/estate-settlement-peter-winn-5/). Find the digitized original at: Family Search.org. 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 563. Image #331. (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-RSPH-G?i=330&cat=292358)
Peter Winn’s 1859 estate inventory and division: (See abstract at: https://theyhadnames.net/2019/11/13/liberty-county-estate-inventory-division-peter-winn/.) Find the digitized original at:”Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893T-XTJY?cc=1999178&wc=9SB7-6T5%3A267679901%2C268014801 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Miscellaneous probate records 1850-1863 vol C and L > image 224 of 703.