On March 16, 1826, Eliza Bowler, a White woman wrote her will in Savannah, Georgia[1]. She was 47 years old, and suffering from dropsy.[2] Dropsy was swelling in the body, caused by an underlying condition like heart failure, liver or kidney failure. She was being attended by Dr. Screven, but she feared the dropsy would kill her so she wrote her will.
In the will, she left “my negro woman Hannah and her son Plenty” to her sister Margaret H. Stewart’s son Henry Ripley Stewart. If he were to die before coming of age to inherit, they would go to her brother John M. Carter and sister Margaret “equally.” She also gave her bed, bedding and clothing to her niece Sarah Eliza Stewart, Margaret’s daughter, and left some notes of hand and her chance in the land lottery to nephew Daniel H. Stewart, Margaret’s son. She appointed General Daniel Stewart and John Elliott as her executors, and left Hannah $15.
She was right to be fearful. She died six days later, on the 22d, and was buried in Savannah[3].
Eliza was not rich, even though Hannah was valued at $400 and Plenty at $100 in the appraisal of her estate[4]. Her only other property consisted of some bedding and clothing. Possibly for that reason, Gen. Stewart and John Elliott never proved her will, so her physician, Dr. James P. Screven, had himself named as administrator “with will attached,” meaning that there was a will but he was only the administrator because the named executors had refused to play their parts[5].
What is the Liberty County connection with this story? Gen. Stewart and John Elliott were Liberty County residents, and Eliza’s sister Margaret was married to John Stewart of Liberty County. Eliza and Margaret were originally Carters, the daughters of Hepworth Carter of Liberty County. Eliza married James Carter Bowler in Liberty County in 1805, and there are records showing their residence there through at least 1814.
In May 1827, James P. Screven filed a petition to sell Hannah and Plenty[6]. He said that he was in possession of “three Negroes Slaves, viz Hannah a woman and her infant and her son Plenty – the property estate of the said Eliza Bowler deceased…” and that even hiring them out for a year had not been enough to cover the estate’s debts. Hannah was sickly, and Plenty too young to work, he said, and it would be best for the estate if they were sold. He notified Col. Josiah Wilson, the guardian of Henry R. Stewart, Sarah Eliza Stewart, and Daniel H. Stewart (the legatees in Eliza’s will), that he was going to make this petition.
No court verdict was found, but an online (FamilySearch) search of the Chatham County and Liberty County deed records for 1826-1837 showed no sale by James Screven of Hannah, Plenty and her unnamed child.
Dr. Screven had to file estate accounts, and those accounts showed that he was hiring Hannah out, despite her sickliness, from at least 1827 through February 1830, receiving $4-5 a month for her labor[7]. The only employer mentioned was P. Laurens. Dr. Screvens was also charging the estate for his medical care for Hannah and for himself[8].
What happened to Hannah and Plenty? I was worried about them, with Hannah being ill and forced to work. I estimate that she could have been born any time before about 1810 (given that she had a child too young to work in 1826). Plenty was likely born around 1820.
I don’t know what happened to them between 1830 and Emancipation, but it does appear that they made it to freedom.
In 1870, Hannah Stewart, 60 years old, was listed as living with Plenty Goldin and his wife and their daughter Fanny in Savannah[9]. (Remember the name Fanny.) They were living near William Stewart (24), who had a Hannah Stewart (8) in his household. The names and proximity seem to indicate they were all related.
The 1880 census proved it. By then, Hannah, now listed as 75, was living in the household of William Stewart, listed as her son[10]. Both ages — 60 in 1870 and 75 in 1880 — fit with the projected birth date for Hannah of prior to 1810, and Plenty was listed in the 1870 census as being born in 1820, which fits with the estimated date. It is not clear what happened to Plenty, but he was not listed in the 1880 census.
Did you remember the name Fanny?
In 1812, Hepworth Carter, Eliza’s and Margaret’s father, wrote his will[11]. He left Margaret “one negro slave named Fanny together with her issue.” Plenty named his daughter Fanny. Naming patterns are very important in genealogical research. It is very possible that the Fanny who was named in Hepworth Carter’s will was Hannah’s mother.
Why did Hannah use the name Stewart? Why not Bowler, or Carter? The reason is not known, and leaves open the possibility that the Hannah Stewart listed in the 1870 and 1880 census records was not the Hannah owned by Eliza Bowler. After all, there were enslaved people named Hannah listed in a variety of Stewart men’s estate inventories in Liberty County in the early 1800s. However, there was not a child named Plenty in any of those estate inventories and he would have been born at the time of any of them.
Is that definitive proof? No, it’s not but it is very suggestive. Another reason why Hannah might not have wanted the surname Bowler surfaced during this research. In 1814, Hannah, identified then as a girl, was seized from James C. Bowler after a court case for default on debt[12]. She was sold at public auction, and purchased by Charlton Hines for $111. Hines turned her over to the Sheriff, who sold her back to Mrs. Eliza Bowler for $111.
If Hannah Stewart was your ancestor, what further research might you want to do? I would:
- Look for a marriage contract between Eliza or Elizabeth Carter and James C. Bowler in 1805. It might name enslaved people she brought into the marriage.
- Be aware that some indexers transcribed Bowler as Bowles.
- Try to find an estate inventory for James C. Bowler.
- Search the Chatham County deed records after 1837 to see if Hannah and Plenty might have been sold. Look for an estate inventory for James P. Screven, in case they were not sold.
- Look for an explanation of why Plenty used the surname Golden, which could be found in deed records indicating his sale to a Golden. [Be aware that the name might be spelled Gaulden, Golding, or Gaulding.]
- Go back over all of the research I have listed above to check for accuracy. Keep a timeline of all the dates and likely ages. At first, it seemed unlikely that Hannah Stewart was Plenty Golden’s mother, since he was listed as being 50 years old in 1870 and she as 60 years old. However, in the 1880 census, only 10 years later, she was listed as being 65, which makes it more likely. Ages listed in census records are notoriously unreliable, but unfortunately they’re usually all we’ve got.
Footnotes:
- Chatham County Probate Court, Wills, Volume F, pages 391-392; digital images, Ancestry, “Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992,” -> Chatham -> “Wills, Vol E-F, 1870-1837,” (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/160855012/person/362515883376/facts, accessed 9/20/2023), images 454-455. ↑
- Savannah, Georgia Vital Records, 1803-1966; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2209/images/32850_B013305-00194 : 9/21/2023), image 2 of 13. ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- Chatham County Probate Court, Estate Records, Wills, Estates, Administrations and Bonds, Alphabetically Arranged, 1777-1852; digital images, Ancestry, “Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992” -> Chatham -> Probate Records, Bell-Boyle, Folder 86a-186, images 911-932 (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005765219_00917 : accessed 9/20/2023). ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- 1870 U.S. census, Chatham County, Georgia, population schedule, District 7, page 96, dwelling 895, family 908, enumerated on June 27, 1870, entry for Plenty Goldine household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9/21/20239), image 48 of 116; citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 1611. ↑
- 1880 U.S. Census, Chatham County, Georgia, population schedule, 6th District, page 30, dwelling 321, family 347, entry for William Stewart household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 9/21/2023), image 29 of 82. ↑
- “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93L-P9VW : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 123 of 689; county probate courthouses, Georgia. See abstracted version at: https://theyhadnames.net/2018/03/28/liberty-county-will-hepworth-carter/. ↑
- Family Search.org. Liberty County Superior Court “Deeds and mortgages, 1777-1920; general index to deeds and mortgages, 1777-1958,” Film: Deeds & Mortgages, v. E-G 1801-1816,” Record Book G (1809-1816), p. 307. Image #458 (Link: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QL-J98N-X?i=457). For an abstract, see: https://theyhadnames.net/2022/04/19/bill-of-sale-bowler-hines/. ↑