Sent to Charleston: Enslaved people of Josiah Wilson’s estate (1836)

In 1836, fifteen enslaved people belonging to the estate of Josiah Wilson of Liberty County traveled on the William Seabrook steam packet from Savannah to Charleston.

The record left behind gave their names, gender, ages, height, and complexion, but did not say why they were being sent to Charleston^[1].

It seems likely that either they were being sent there to be sold or were to join some member of the family that owned them. The following research about their enslavers is not fully documented but is being provided as an aid to anyone who might be looking for them.

In 1830, Josiah Wilson of Liberty County died^[2]. He had written his will earlier that year, leaving to his son Dr. Josiah Wilson “the girl by the name of Amelia, boy Prince & yellow Ben,” along with 10 head of sheep and furniture he had given him “at the division of the personal estate of General Stewart.” He asked that the rest of his property be equally divided among his other children as they came of age, after his debts were paid. He named Elias Fort as his executor.^[3]

Josiah Wilson had married Mary Stewart, daughter of General Daniel Stewart, in 1804, and Josiah was born in 1805^[4]. Wilson and Mary Stewart had at least six children, five of whom were still living at the time of Wilson’s death. Except for Dr. Wilson, they were minors. Unfortunately, Mary Wilson had died in 1829, so they were also now orphans.

Wilson’s estate was inventoried in 1831^[5].

In 1832, Elias Fort, the executor, offered most of the Wilson estate for sale. However, the same ad was still being run through at least January 1833.

Daily Savannah Republican, December 26, 1832, page 3

In 1835, Elias Fort applied for Letters of Dismission from his position as executor of Josiah Wilson’s estate, indicating that he had completed the business of dissolving the estate.

However, in 1836 there was an inventory and division of the estate of Josiah Wilson. Why would that happen? This time it was the estate of Wilson’s son, Dr. Josiah Wilson^[6]. He had married Mary Elizabeth Hines of Effingham County, and died there in 1833. It is easy to mistake the 1836 Josiah Wilson estate inventory for that of his father because he had also married a Mary, and his half-siblings were named as heirs of the estate without the relationship being specified. However, this time Elias Fort was named as administrator, not executor, presumably because Dr. Wilson died without a will.

The Liberty County Inferior Court had ordered appraisal and division of the estate to meet the estate’s debts, and then what was left was to be divided into five lots to go to the following heirs: Sarah E. Wilson, Lucilla M. Wilson, Daniel S. Wilson, Robert Wilson, Mary Wilson. Mary Wilson was (apparently) Dr. Wilson’s widow, and the others were his half-siblings, the children of his father and Mary Stewart. The estate was actually divided into six lots, with Mary Wilson receiving two lots, out of which she had to pay $900.21.

The estate inventory also specified that enslaved people from Josiah Wilson’s estate had previously been sold at auction at the Liberty County Courthouse in Riceboro on February 5, 1833, to pay the estate’s debts. The names of the purchasers were listed:

Peter, $72 (D. [David] Stetson); Bella, $60 (Moses Jones); Cato, $305 (Moses Jones); Boutrus [alt: Butrus] & Diana, $665 (Alex. McDonald); Friday, $265 (J.S. Bulloch); Sue, $146 (J.S. Bulloch). Wm. [William] Maxwell purchased a plantation for $1000 from the estate. The document also noted the following enslaved people as being hired out to J.S. Bulloch: Cuffy [alt: Cuffee] and family, Sandy, Annetta, Bristol, Flora, Diana, and child^[7].

The estate lots were divided as follows:

1 — Mary Wilson

2 — Mary Wilson ($900.21 toward the debts to be paid from Lots #1 and 2)

3 — Lucilla M. Wilson

4 — Daniel S. Wilson

5 — Robert Wilson

6 — Sarah E. Wilson

And the inventory and division:

Of the last 16 people, 15 of them — the ones inherited by Dr. Wilson’s minor half-siblings — were on a boat to Charleston sometime later that year.

Were they sent to be sold, or did perhaps one or more of the siblings go to Charleston?

Three of the four siblings were in the 1850 Liberty County census (one — Robert – appears to have died in 1847). No hint of a Charleston connection was found in any records pertaining to them.

Mary Wilson, Dr. Wilson’s widow, married Israel Bird of Effingham County, who assumed administration of the estate of Dr. Josiah S. Wilson “late of the County of Effingham.”

Daily Savannah Republican, February 2, 1837, page 4.

In 1840 Israel Bird put a notice in the Savannah newspapers stating that he planned to ask for letters of dismission on Josiah Wilson’s estate, indicating that he had taken over its administration from Fort and had finalized it.

It appears almost certain that these 15 people were sent to Charleston to be sold. But why, considering that the family did not hesitate to sell people from the estate locally in 1833? A possible answer was that the slave trade was going through a boom period in 1836, with high demand. It is possible that prices were simply higher in Charleston. At this point, the Wilson family had essentially fallen apart, with so many deaths in just a few years, and it is clear that the people they were holding in slavery endured enormous additional suffering as a result.

Given the ages of the people sent to Charleston, it is very likely that most of them were still alive in 1870. If, possibly, any of them used the surname Wilson at Emancipation, and their descendants find a DNA connection to Liberty County, this story could provide some answers. .

The Wilson family itself appears to have landed on its feet, despite the tragedies. According to Wikipedia, Dr. Josiah Wilson did have a son, Charlius C. Wilson, born in 1831 at Effingham County. He was General Daniel Stewart’s great-grandson. He practiced law in Savannah, but in 1861 helped raise the 25th Georgia Infantry Regiment for the Civil War, and became its colonel. He was appointed Brigadier General in 1863, but did not have time to have the appointment confirmed before he died of camp fever in 1863.

Endnotes:

1. Savannah, Georgia Outward Coastwise, Slave Manifests for estate of Josiah Wilson; digital images, Ancestry.com, “U.S., Southeast Coastwise Inward and Outward Slave Manifests, 1790-1860” -> Savannah, Georgia Outward Coastwise Slave Manifest -> 1831 Sep-1839 Oct, (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1714/images/32847_620303988_0001-00404 : accessed 9/24/2023), image 405 of 600; citing National Archives and Records Administration – Southeast Region (Atlanta) (NRCAA); Morrow, GA, NAID Number: 1151775, Record Group: Records of the U.S. Customs Service; Record Group Number: 36. ↑
2. Find A Grave, memorial page for Josiah Thomas Wilson (1781-1830 ), Memorial 213111379; database index with grave marker images, FindaGrave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9/24/2023); citing Midway Cemetery, Midway, Liberty County, Georgia. ↑
3. https://theyhadnames.net/2018/06/02/liberty-county-will-josiah-wilson/. ↑
4. As documented in Midway Church records. See James Stacy, History and Published RecorDs of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia. ↑
5. “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93L-GCZK?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 495 of 689 ↑
6. Liberty County Superior Court “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” Film: Deeds & Mortgages, v. K-L 1831-1842,” Record Book K, p. 345-6. Image #224 (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-T92J-7?cat=292358). ↑
7. This sale documented on p. 22 of Liberty County Deed Book K (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-T9L4-5?cat=292358). ↑