They Had Names

African Americans in Early Records of Liberty County, Georgia

Bryan County Bill of Sale (Baker/Clay)

Enslaved People Named: Larry

On March 12, 1838, Thomas B. Baker, Bryan County, sold to Thomas S. Clay and Anne Clay, also of Bryan County, for $650 a “negro man slave named Larry.” Baker was acting as trustee for Ann C. Harden by virtue of a marriage settlement dated March 27, 1838 with the participation of her then intended husband White E. Harden. The marriage settlement, which had included a tract of land called the Mount Tract along with “certain negro slaves,” had contained a provision authorizing the sale of property contained in the trust if authorized by Ann C. Harden. Witnessed by Charles A. Harden. Ann C. Harden’s approval of this sale of Larry “one of the negroes settled upon me by White E. Harden and for which Thomas B. Baker is trustee” at Savannah on March 14, 1838. Recorded in Bryan County Superior Court on May 12, 1838.

Bryan County, Georgia, Deeds & Mortgages, v. E-G 1830-1853, Book E (1830-40), page 313-4; digitized microfilm accessed through catalog, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4K-VSGH-H : 31 Jul 2024), image 177 of 682; microfilm #007899047, citing original records of Bryan County Superior Court.