They Had Names

African Americans in Early Records of Liberty County, Georgia

Bryan County Estate Settlement (Shrine/Simmons)

Enslaved People Named: John, Sally, Richard, Ellick, Cloe [alt: Chloe], Vicy, Ben, Ralph, Polly, Quanina [or Quanima], Nancy, Rensy [or Reney], Adam, Mary, Jupiter, Doctor, Isaac [or Grace?], Friday, Lewcy [alt: Lucy?], Anna, Tubby, Mitchel, July, Lucy, Old Harry, Amy, Sophia, Lisa, Little Tamar, Lucy, Canibal, Patty, Edward, Agrippa, Kate, Adam, Suckey [or Luckey?], Phoebe, Elisa, Amos, Brister, Frederick, Russe, Cilla, Charles, Caroline, Troup, old Sally, Little Sally, old Suckey, Sue, Sukey, Clarinda, Cornelius, Clara, Dennis, Betsey

On September 25, 1838, Quintillian Shrine, as administrator of William A Shrine, late of Washington County, Georgia, turned over land in Bryan County and enslaved people to a trust, as ordered by the Washington County Superior Court sitting in equity. This was property to which Mary R. Simmons “was entitled and was seized and possessed [of] at the death of her mother Ann Rutherford by virtue of the last will and testament of her natural grand father the said John Morel, and the marriage settlement between her said mother and Nathaniel Green Rutherford, and all of which is now in the possession of the said Mary R. Simmons and her husband Joseph T. Simmons.”

Her trustees were Bryan M. Morel, Chatham County; Nathaniel F. Harris, Washington County; Charles J. Jenkins, Richmond County. The trust was to be maintained for the sole use of Mary R. Simmons during her lifetime and then in trust for any child or children she might have, to be equally divided among them when they turned 21 or married.

The land: On Ossabaw Island, lots 5, 6, 7 and part of no. 8, as well as certain hammocks. These were said to be part of the Island that belonged to “John Morel deceased the natural grand father of the said Mary R. Simmons…” and were said to be as described by metes and bounds in the deeds of the commissioners appointed to “divide the estate of said John Morel, assigned to Ann Rutherford (formerly Morel) the mother of the said Mary R.”

People: “Also the following negro slaves to wit, John, Sally, Richard, Ellick, Cloe [alt: Chloe], Vicy, Ben, Ralph, Polly, Quanina [or Quanima], Nancy, Rensy [or Reney], Adam, Mary, Jupiter, Doctor, Isaac [or Grace?], Friday, Lewcy [alt: Lucy?], Anna, Tubby, Mitchel, July, Lucy, Old Harry, Amy, Sophia, Lisa, Little Tamar, Lucy, Canibal, Patty, Edward, Agrippa, Kate, Adam, Suckey [or Luckey?], Phoebe, Elisa, Amos, Brister, Frederick, Russe, Cilla, Charles, Caroline, Troup, old Sally, Little Sally, old Suckey, Sue, Sukey, Clarinda, Cornelius, Clara, Dennis and Betsey.

Witnessed by R.W. Flournoy and John Shly, Judge of the Middle District Superior Courts, Georgia. Recorded in Bryan County Superior Court on July 8, 1839.

Bryan County, Georgia, Deeds & Mortgages, v. E-G 1830-1853, Book E (1830-40), page 363-4; digitized microfilm accessed through catalog, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4K-VSG3-W : 3 Aug 2024), image 202-3 of 682; microfilm #007899047, citing original records of Bryan County Superior Court.