They Had Names

African Americans in Early Records of Liberty County, Georgia

Bill of Sale (McGowen/Way)

Enslaved People Named: Peter

On July 4, 1815, Liberty County Sheriff James Lambright sold to Moses Way for $73 a “negro man named Peter the property of William McGowen, late of” Liberty County. Lambright had seized Peter from William McGowen’s estate based on a foreclosure of a mortgage by Samuel Lewis in the Liberty County Inferior Court, which resulted in a writ of fieri facias authorizing the Sheriff to make the seizure. Lambright put Peter up for public auction on July 4, 1815, at the Liberty County Courthouse. Witnessed by S. Lewis. Recorded in Liberty County Superior Court on July 15, 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. 371-2. Image #491-2 (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QL-J96Z-P?i=490)