Enslaved People Named: Binah, John, Cuffee, Evelina, George, Sarah, Richard
A series of bills of sale recorded in Bryan County in 1848 appeared to document the transfer of two enslaved people, Binah and her son John, from Sarah C. Davidson to Honoria McNish, then back to Davidson, then by Davidson to Cyrus Bird.
An enslaved man named Cuffee was also sold by Davidson to Aaron Champion, then by Champion to Joseph M. Cooper, then by Cooper to John J. Mitchell, then with four other enslaved individuals—Evelina, George, Sarah, and Richard—by Mitchell to Cyrus Bird.
Details:
On September 27, 1843, in Savannah, Sarah C. Davidson, Chatham County, sold to Honoria McNish, presumably of Bryan County, for $500 “Binah and John to have and to hold the said Negro woman slave Binah and her son John with her future issue.” Witnessed by J.W. Rabun, Samuel D. Corbit. Corbit later probated the deed on December 4, 1843. On May 8, 1846, McNish recorded that “for value received I do hereby sell assign transfer and deliver the within bill of sale with the within named negro slaves Binah and her son John with the future issue of the said female slave to Sarah C. Davidson and to her heirs and assigns forever.”
On October 28, 1843, at Savannah, Sarah C. Davidson, Chatham County, sold to Aaron Champion Esquire for $900 “a certain negro man slave named Cuffy aged about twenty eight years.”
On the same page was recorded a bill of sale in which Aaron Champion sold Cuffy to Joseph M. Cooper on August 8, 1845, for “value received.”
This was followed by a bill of sale in which Cuffee was sold by J.M. Cooper to J.J. Mitchell on March 24, 1846 in Houston County.
Appended was a set of documents involving Dr. J.J. Mitchell, the Central Bank of Georgia, and Sarah C. Davidson, presumably related to the circumstances that prompted Cuffee’s sale.
Following was a bill of sale dated January 26, 1848, in Savannah, by John J. Mitchell to Cyrus Bird for $2000 for “the following named five negro slaves to wit Cuffee, Evelina, George, Sarah and Richard.”
In a bill of sale dated January 26, 1848, Sarah C. Davidson sold to Cyrus Bird for $800 “two certain negro slaves to wit Binah aged about thirty five years and her son John aged about twelve years.”
All these bills of sale were recorded in Bryan County on February 18, 1848.
Bryan County, Georgia, Deeds & Mortgages, v. E-G 1830-1853, Book G (1846-53), page 70-5; digitized microfilm accessed through catalog, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4K-VS2W-V : 29 Dec 2024), image 523-5 of 682; microfilm #007899047, citing original records of Bryan County Superior Court.