They Had Names

African Americans in Early Records of Liberty County, Georgia

Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Harris/Haig)

Enslaved People Named: Will, Grace, Maria, Rachel, Henry, Will, Ned, Nanny, Celia, Watty, Andrew, Cyrus, Primus, Eve, Clarissa, Harriet, Louisa, Isaac, Cinthia, Jeffry

On January 10, 1840, Raymond Harris, physician of Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note of $3266.67 to Sarah G. Haig, Savannah, “the following twenty negroes viz Will, Grace, Maria, Rachel, Henry, Will, Ned, Nanny, Celia, Watty, Andrew, Cyrus, Primus, Eve, Clarissa, Harriet, Louisa, Isaac, Cinthia, Jeffry.” Included as collateral was also the 1187-acre Palermo Plantation, where Harris resided, in Bryan County, bounded south by salt marsh, north by lands of G.? McAllister and R.J. Arnold, east by R.J. Arnold and T.B. Baker’s lands, west by Lanine Creek and Raymond P. Demere.

This mortgage deed was marked as fully satisfied and paid as of May 26, 1852. Robert Habersham, identified as former executor of Sarah G. Haig’s estate, directed the clerk of court to so mark it.

Bryan County, Georgia, Deeds & Mortgages, v. E-G 1830-1853, Book E (1830-40), page 421-4; digitized microfilm accessed through catalog, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4K-VSGM-1 : 4 Aug 2024), image 231-2 of 682; microfilm #007899047, citing original records of Bryan County Superior Court.