They Had Names

African Americans in Early Records of Liberty County, Georgia

Bill of Sale (Mell/Mell)

Enslaved People Named: Hagar

On July 5, 1814, Liberty County Deputy Sheriff James Lambright sold to Benjamin Mell for $220 “a certain negro woman, the property of the said Thomas Mell Sen, named Hagar.” Hagar had been seized by Lambright to fulfill a writ of fieri facias issued after Thomas Mell defaulted on his taxes, and Liberty County Tax Collector James Hines had issued the writ for $26.21 “and cost.” Lambright had put Hagar up for public auction at the courthouse in Riceboro, and Benjamin Mell was the highest bidder. Recorded in Liberty County Superior Court on April 25, 1815. 

Source: Family Search.org. Liberty County Superior Court “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” Film: Deeds & Mortgages, v. E-G 1801-1816,” Record Book G (1809-1816), p. 343. Image #476 (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QL-J981-K?i=475)