Lazarus John Mallard’s Civil War Experience (1863)
In 1863, Lazarus John Mallard of Liberty County sent the following two letters to Georgia state officials seeking an exemption from serving in the Confederate Army due to his heavy family responsibilities. After the transcription of the letters, see below for an analysis of the family relationships he described that may assist descendants of people […]
Sent to Charleston: Enslaved people of Josiah Wilson’s estate (1836)
In 1836, fifteen enslaved people belonging to the estate of Josiah Wilson of Liberty County traveled on the William Seabrook steam packet from Savannah to Charleston. The record left behind gave their names, gender, ages, height, and complexion, but did not say why they were being sent to Charleston[1]. Names Sex Age Height (Feet/Inches) Class. […]
Silla’s Family (Research Snippet)
These “research snippets” are correlations found while documenting references to named African Americans in Liberty County, Georgia, probate, court, and church records. This is analysis and not confirmed. Please refer to the original documents referenced below to compare these speculations with your own research. Liberty County documents and a complicated web of white planter family […]
Research Snippet: What happened to Louisa?
Compiling records naming enslaved people from a particular county into a searchable, online database enables tracing their lives through complicated “transactions.” Consider this example from TheyHadNames.net records. In 1834, Louisa, an enslaved woman, was admitted to membership in Liberty County, Georgia’s Midway Congregational Church. Her slaveholder was listed as Jonathan Bacon, who was Jonathan Baskin […]
Research Snippet: John Miller – Between Liberty and Bulloch Counties
Updated: 6/4/2021 to include information about James J. Miller’s full name and guardian. In researching a formerly enslaved man named Moses Miller found in the 1870 Liberty County federal census, I came across a planter named John Miller, whose enslaved people were named in his 1836 Liberty County will and 1837 estate inventory, including a […]
Research Snippet: Gabriel Andrews
Gabriel Andrews, 34, registered to vote — his first time as a free man — in 1867 in Liberty County, Georgia. His story is an example of how one document that is available at FamilySearch.org but not indexed, so not findable by search, can make an enormous difference in finding an ancestor’s story. The 1870 […]
Finding Abram Houston
By Stacy Ashmore Cole The following is intended as a research study on Abram Houston, an illustration of how to use the TheyHadNames.net site and a possible thought process to use in researching enslaved individuals in Liberty County, Georgia. The John Ashmore mentioned was my 4th great-grandfather. Abram Houston, an African American man born around […]
Follow the Enslaver — Benjamin Williams’ Estate (Research Snippets)
Another example of the (unfortunate) need to thoroughly research the slaveholder’s family to find enslaved African-American ancestors: Benjamin Williams, a white planter, died in Liberty County, Georgia, sometime before April 1842. His estate inventory and appraisal included 15 enslaved people: Arthur (listed as an “old man”), Easter, York, Jane, Charlotte, Simon, Elsy, Peter, Louisa, Celia, […]
The Web: Family connections of the Lewis & Hines families and what they meant for the people they enslaved (Research Snippet) (Part 1)
On March 1, 1844, Edward E. Pynchon, Chatham County, used as collateral on a promissory note of $8000 to Mrs. Mary E. Parsons and her children, Liberty County, via her trustee George W. Walthour “property” that included 23 named enslaved people and part of the plantation of the late Samuel Lewis. Some of the enslaved […]
Hagar, Robert & the Fleming Family (Research Snippet)
In 1844, William Winn sold two enslaved people named Hagar and Robert to J.S. Fleming for $380 in Liberty County (1). J.S. Fleming was John Sidney Fleming, who died in October 1847 in the same county. (2) In Fleming’s 1848 estate inventory, Hagar was valued at $400 and Robert at $200 (3), indicating they were […]