They Had Names

African Americans in Early Records of Liberty County, Georgia

List of Slaveowner Names

From the Watchmen's Meeting Minutes

The “Watchmen’s Meetings” minutes from 1840-1845 and 1857-1859 are transcribed elsewhere on this site. Those minutes, kept by Reverend Charles Colcock Jones, frequently abbreviate the names of the slaveowners, and those names are critical in being able to find records for the African-descended people identified only by first names in the minutes. 

The list below is in alphabetical order by the slaveowner’s surname, and attempts to equate the abbreviated name with the person it identifies, as well as their birth and death dates. Any of these people who died before 1865 is likely to have an estate inventory naming enslaved people on this website. If you are looking for an African-descended person named in the minutes, and the slaveowner has a death date before 1865, try searching for the slaveowner’s first and last name on this site to see if there is an estate inventory. It is also important to research the slaveowner, because often in Liberty County, enslaved people were brought into a marriage by the wife, who had inherited them from either her father or mother (and sometimes from a grandparent).  

This list is an educated guess at who the abbreviated name represents, so be sure to do your own research for confirmation. Please address any questions and/or comments to me at jnscole@yahoo.com. 

As spelled in text

Full spelling with birth and death dates (if known)

Mrs. Axson

Probably Mrs. Ann Axson (1781-1854)

John Bacon (est)

John Bacon (1774-1833)

Jon’n Bacon

Jonathan Bacon

J.E. Baker, John E. Baker

John Elijah Baker (1833-1906)

Q. Baker

Should this be William Quarterman Baker?

Thos. Baker (est)

Thomas Baker (before 1837, date of estate inventory)

T.E.W. Baker

William Thomas E. Baker (1817-1860(?))

W.S. Baker

William Samuel Baker (1808-1862)

Col. Bradwell

Col. James Sharpe Bradwell (1794-1853)

B.A. Busby

Bartholomew Austin Busby (1788-1862)

Thos. Q. Cassels

Thomas Quarterman Cassels (1808-1879)

John Coleman

John Coleman (1786-after 1860)

G.W. Dunham

George Washington Dunham (1807-1860)

Dunwody

Probably John Dunwody (see below)

J. Dunwody

John Dunwody (1786-1858) or (1818-1903)

Miss S. Fabian

Miss Sarah D. Fabian (granddaughter of Mary Ann Ladson) ( – 1850)

J.S. Fleming

John S. Fleming (1812-1847) or (1837-1915)

P. Fleming

Possibly Peter Winn Fleming (1807-1882) 

Thos. Fleming

Probably Thomas Winn Fleming (1815-1894)

John Girardeau

John Girardeau (1796-1873)

J. Girardeau

John Girardeau (1796-1873)

C. Hines

Charlton Hines (1785-1864)

R. Hutchinson

Probably Robert Hutchinson of Savannah, a merchant with whom Liberty County planters arranged mortgages using enslaved people (1802-?)

C.C.J.

Charles Colcock Jones (1804-1863)

M.L. Jones

Moses L. Jones (1805-1851)

Mrs. Kell

Possibly John Kell’s widow Margery Kell (1794-1870)

Dr. B.B. King

Dr. Benjamin B. King (1813-?) 

R. King Jr

Roswell King, Jr (1796-1854)

Mrs. Lang

Mrs. Lydia Laing (died after 1859)

Wm. LeConte

William LeConte (1812-1841)

Maj. Cyrus Mallard

Cyrus Stevens Mallard (1818-1853)

Cyrus S. Mallard (est)

Cyrus Stevens Mallard (1818-1853)

J.B. Mallard

John Boyd Mallard (1808-1877)

J.L. Mallard 

Lazarus John Mallard (1820-1876)

T. Mallard, Thos. Mallard

Thomas Mallard (1778-1861)

Wm. Martin

William Martin (maybe William G. Martin (1808-1861))

Mrs. A. Maxwell

Presumably Mrs. Audley Maxwell, nee Mary Stevens (1772-1850)

J.E. Maxwell

Joseph Edward Maxwell (1802-1886)

Capt. Maxwell

Possibly William Maxwell (1785-1866)

Col. Maxwell

Possibly William Maxwell (1785-1866)

John Norman

Possibly John Stacy Norman (1815-1885)

Wm. Norman

Possibly William Sanford Norman (1822-1878)

Maj’r Porter

Probably Major Anthony Porter (1788-1869)

Col. Quarterman

Colonel Joseph Quarterman (1796-1863)

Ed’d Quarterman

Edward Quarterman

Col. J. Quarterman

Colonel Joseph Quarterman (1796-1863)

J. Quarterman (est)

Colonel Joseph Quarterman (1796-1863)

J.S. Quarterman (est)

John S. Quarterman (1775-1836)

Rev’d R. Quarterman

Reverend Robert Quarterman (1787-1849)

R. Quarterman (est)

Probably Reverend Robert Quarterman (1787-1849)

Mrs. Robert Quarterman

Probably Reverend Robert Quarterman’s 4th wife and widow Sarah Margaret Shaffer (1897-1881), widow of Thomas Baker

Mrs. Sarah Quarterman

Probably Reverend Robert Quarterman’s 4th wife and widow Sarah Margaret Shaffer (1897-1881), widow of Thomas Baker

T. Quarterman Senior

Probably Thomas Quarterman (1788-1857)

Screven (est)  

 

S. Spencer, Sam’l Spencer

Probably Samuel B. Spencer [1827-1901]

O. Stevens

Oliver Stevens (1783-1853)

N. Varnedoe

Nathaniel Varnedoe (1790-1856)

G.W. Walthour

George W. Walthour (1799-1859)

Ed. B. Way, E.B. Way, Edm’d B. Way

Edmund Bacon Way (1821-1862)

Mrs. E. Way

 

Moses Way (est)

Moses William Way (1825-1859) or (1794-1831)

Norman Way

Possibly William Norman Way (1782-1854)

N. Way (est)

Possibly William Norman Way (1782-1854) (there was also a Nathaniel J. Way)

Wm. J. Way, Wm. John Way

William John Way (1826-1902)

Q. Way (est)

Quarterman Way (1799-1833)

A. Winn

Abial Winn (1815-1874)

James Winn

Possibly James Wilson Winn (1807-1853)

J.W. Winn (est), James W. Winn (est)

James Wilson Winn (1807-1853)

Rev’d T.S. Winn

Rev. Thomas Sumner Winn (1820-1900)

Washington Winn (est)

Washington Winn (1799-before 1864)

W.W. Winn

William Wilson Winn (1818-1887)