Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the purpose of this site?
A: To allow descendants of African Americans from Liberty County, Georgia, to find information on their ancestors. Many people hit a wall at the 1870 census. To trace the family line before 1870 takes persistence, attention to detail, and — most importantly — access to records. Records naming African Americans during slavery do exist and many have been digitized, but they are normally only indexed (and thus only searchable) by the name of the white slaveholder, or if they have been summarized, the summaries omit the names of the African Americans. This site is intended to fill that gap.
The site is also intended for use by researchers, writers, and historians who want to tell the stories of African Americans in Liberty County, or by anyone who wants to learn more about antebellum Liberty County history.
Q: Where did the information on this site come from?
A: The bulk of the site contains summaries and transcripts of Liberty County probate records, mostly from before 1865, based on original records microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Georgia Department of Archives and History, and maintained online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. In the course of my research, I have also found and transcribed other Liberty County documents containing African-American names. There are original source citations on each site record.
The original probate records, including wills and estate inventories, were found in FamilySearch.org’s records set called “Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” which was microfilmed (then digitized) from Liberty County Probate Court (or Court of Ordinary) records. These records are not indexed on FamilySearch.org. (The same records are on Ancestry.com, and are indexed there, but many of the indexes are wrong and only the “primary” names are indexed.) In 1964, eminent Georgia genealogist Judge Folks Huxford published summaries of the wills dated 1790-1823 in his magazine Georgia Genealogical Magazine, but for the most part, he omitted the names of African Americans. I have used his summaries for that time period and added the African-American names. For the period from 1824-1865, I have created my own summaries or transcripts of these records. All the summaries and transcripts based on the FamilySearch.org records have the FamilySearch citation, which includes a URL (often clickable), so you can find the original document. (You should look at the original document, if just to make sure the names are transcribed correctly. That old handwriting is hard to read!) FamilySearch.org requires you to create an account, but all of its services are completely free.
Q: How may I use the information you have posted?
A: This site is my intellectual property, even though it is based on publicly available information, so you may not copy the entire site without my permission. However, you may freely use individual pieces of information. Please cite the original sources (FamilySearch.org, etc), which are included on each piece of information. That’s the right/legal thing to do, and it will also help others who are researching Liberty County families or history. If you also include a link to this site, it may help others.
If you want to attach one of the wills or inventories to your Ancestry.com tree, one way is to click on “Add Web Link” on the “Facts” page for that ancestor, and paste in the URL for that document on this site, which will give you both the original citation and the link to this site. Then create a “fact” and attach the web link to it.
If you have any questions about citing sources for this information, or if you are a writer/historian/researcher and want to use bits and pieces of information from all over the site, please contact me. I can help by providing you the information in a more usable format.
Q: I am researching a white Liberty County slaveholder who did not mention his or her slaves in the will but I would still like to see the will. How do I find a summary or transcript of that kind of will?
A: I have adopted the Liberty County site belonging to the Genealogy Trails group as a place to put more general records. All the will transcripts or summaries on this site are also on that site, and I have also created transcripts or summaries of wills that don’t mention African Americans and have put them there. I have also created finding aids for the non-indexed FamilySearch.org documents and put them there. You can find that site here:
Q: Who are you and why are you doing this?
A: I started off not putting much about me on this site, since it’s not about me. But I realized it may matter to some, so if you’d like to know more, see the “About Me” page.
Q: Are you trying to make money from this?
A: I have no issues at all with someone trying to make a living from doing this kind of research, but I personally am not doing it for that reason, and I make no money from this site in any way, nor do I have any plans to do so.
Q: I want more information. How can I contact you?
A: Please feel free to contact me! I have information I have not put online yet, and I have gotten really familiar with the records FamilySearch.org has for Liberty County, so please contact me if you are looking for something you don’t find here. If I haven’t already found it, I’ll keep an eye out for it for you. Or contact me just to tell me your ancestors’ stories, particularly if there’s something you’re willing to share with other searchers. I will give you full credit for it. The best way to contact me is to email me at jnscole@yahoo.com. I answer emails quickly and occasionally I miss emails, so if you don’t hear from me within a week, try emailing me at vannroadgirl@gmail.com.