In 1863, Lazarus John Mallard of Liberty County sent the following two letters to Georgia state officials seeking an exemption from serving in the Confederate Army due to his heavy family responsibilities. After the transcription of the letters, see below for an analysis of the family relationships he described that may assist descendants of people held in slavery by his family.]
[Begin Transcript]
His Excellency J.E. Brown – Chief Magistrate of the State of Georgia
Dear Sir,
In this the time of our State’s great peril, all the strength which can be commanded in the State may be necessarily called for. But ought every man (who is able to do duty) to be called into service? If this question could only be satisfactorily settled (& affirmatively), my mind would be at rest, the duties I owe to the Estates for which I manage will be discharged & I shall continue in the cheerful service of my State & the Country. Briefly – These are the responsibilities which are upon me. Since the war began, I have lost Father & Mother, two Brothers & a Nephew: in consequence of which Providential occurrences, 4 widow ladies, 14 orphan children & over 160 negroes are placed under my supervision & care. Also the property of two single sisters, theirs & my own (30 slaves) added to above will make an aggregate 225 slaves. These negroes are upon 4 plantations & there is not a white male person in the neighborhood to look after them. These ladies, therefore, children & servants have no one to whom they can look but myself.
In addition to the above, which I have assumed to do, & can do (but imperfectly), I am also engaged in the manufacture of salt, in which are concerned one yoke of oxen, two mules, eleven prime hands (men), capacity of kettles 2000 gallons. I have always disposed of the salt at less than the market value, have never sold at more than $20 & have always made a difference of $5 in favor of soldiers & soldiers families.
One other circumstance (which weighs much with myself), my wife is almost blind not being able to distinguish one person from another across a room. Under all these circumstances, am I not warranted in applying to you whether an exemption might not be granted.
Your ob[edien]t servant,
L.J. Mallard
Liberty County
#3 A & G R.R. [Atlantic & Gulf Railroad, #3 Stop]
[NOTE: very faint handwriting under this in a different hand – not clear what it says]
[End Transcript]
[Begin Transcript]
[To] His Excellency the Governor of the State of Georgia
I have no desire to leave to others, what I ought to be willing to bear some humble part in accomplishing, our deliverance from a cruel & merciless enemy. Hardly could I be placed in more trying circumstances. For the truth of what shall be said I refer you to Col. H.H. Jones & to Senator J.B. Mallard of this County.
I have under my care 200 slaves; am overseer for two single ladies & for one the only protector. I am agent & overseer for a widow Lady who has 4 children, & 2 sons in the service. Am agent & overseer for a widow whose husband a year ago died in the service. I am administrator & overseer for two families; one family a widow & 3 children, the other a widow & six children. This family has two sons in the service. These are my relatives & if anything can be done, I desire to be with them to secure persons & property. Since this cruel war began my wife the mother of 4 little children has become blind. Under all these circumstances I feel warranted in applying to you. Might not an exemption be granted?
Your Humble Servant
L.J. Mallard
Riceboro
Liberty County July 27th 1863
For one [or me] there is no one in my neighborhood who would or could do my business
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Source: Ancestry, “Georgia, U.S., Civil War Correspondence, 1847-1865” -> “Maddox, David – Miller, William H,” indexed digital database, images 46-50 (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/31695:1730 : accessed 7 Oct 2023).
Research Snippet:
Lazarus J. Mallard (1820-1876) wrote this letter in 1863. Although one source called him “too old for active service during the Civil War,” he was actually only in his 40s at this time, and other men of that age and older did serve. As he described in the letter, it was more likely his family responsibilities and perhaps ill health that kept him from serving except in the Home Guard.
In the letter, he detailed the family members he had lost since the Civil War began and the numbers of enslaved people they represented. His father was Thomas Mallard, who died in July 1861, and his mother was Rebecca Eliza Burnley, who died in May 1861. Thomas Mallard was a wealthy planter who owned at least 125 people with a total value of $55025 at the time of his death. For a list of their names, ages, values, and the family members who inherited them, see his 1861 estate inventories: https://theyhadnames.net/2018/07/08/liberty-county-estate-inventory-division-thomas-mallard/.
Lazarus Mallard also referred to having lost two brothers and nephew since the War began. He was likely referring to his half-brother, William Samuel Baker (1808-1862), through his mother’s previous marriage to Thomas Baker Sr (d. 1810). The Baker and Mallard half-siblings were apparently very close, from all accounts.
Who were the other brother and nephew? Remember that kinship terms then were “loose” by today’s standards. It is likely that Mallard was referring to his brother-in-law, Bartholomew Austin Busby (1788-1862), who had married Mallard’s sister Mary Emeline Mallard. The nephew was not found during this quick search.
He named four “widow ladies” but his two brothers and his nephew would only have accounted for three widows. The other was likely the widow of his brother Cyrus Stevens Mallard, who died in 1853. His widow Sarah L. Mallard, the daughter of Rev. Samuel Spry Law, was the head of a household of 8 children in 1860, and was also the owner of 33 enslaved people. She likely needed Mallard’s help administering her estate.
He also mentioned two single sisters; however, he is only known to have had one single sister (who never married), Rebecca Louisa Mallard (1825-1902). Rebecca was living with his parents in 1860, and presumably moved in with a brother or sister after that.
Who would the other single sister have been? Again, loose kinship terms. His wife, Sarah Stewart Mell, had a sister who never married: Mary S. Mell (1827-1901). Mary’s parents had died around the time of her birth, so it was likely she was raised by her older siblings. In 1860, she had a personal estate of $2800 and owned 6 slaves. Although she was 33 in 1860, it was likely she was considered to need the help of a man to manage her estate.
Mallard said that between his brothers, nephew, father and mother, and the 4 “widow ladies,” he was helping manage 14 orphan children and “over 160 negroes.” He also said that he and his two single sisters owned 30 “slaves” among them, for a total of 225 “slaves” on four plantations.
The relationships revealed through this Civil War correspondence, including the numbers of enslaved people and the fact of there being four plantations, should help descendants of people held in slavery by these people find more information about them. Their antebellum probate documents are on the TheyHadNames website and normally list at least first names, often with ages. Combining these with the 1860 slave census would help provide a clearer picture.
The fact of their being in Liberty County in 1863 also likely (but not certainly) means that they remained in Liberty County and were not refugees to Thomas County or elsewhere, as were many others. It would have been a major undertaking to move 220+ enslaved people spread over four plantations and so many households with young children.