Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Carolinas African American Genealogy Research
Author: Faye Hayes
I started my genealogy journey looking for anyone who had Robert Jenkins and Bridget Guy on their family tree. Almost immediately, 2 unknown cousins connected via e-mail and began sharing stories. It became clear that we knew a few things about the Jenkins branch of our family tree and knew almost nothing about our Smith branch. This blog will share information of my search for Jenkins, Guy, Smith and now Phillips, Torney and Watts people on the branches of my family tree--Maryland to Louisiana!
Join me on the journey!
When I began looking at my mother’s DNA matches in TwentyThreeAndMe I initially focused on the last names and on the states or regions that people listed as the birthplace for the grandparents. I have been most interested in finding the connection between a large group of people whose known ancestry includes Monroe County, Alabama and another large group of people whose ancestry traces to Drew County, Arkansas. What those 2 groups have in common is that at the top of the maternal family trees are women who were born in Maryland. So, I’ve been trying to connect the 3 women at the top of our known family trees: Charlotte Phillips, born 1835 in Calvert County, Maryland; Rosetta Fleming Goodwin born about 1830 in Maryland and Flora Matilda, born about 1846 in Maryland.
A large number of people from both groups had taken the Ancestry.com DNA test and I could see how many centimorgans and how many DNA segments that we matched. What I could not see was on which chromosomes the match occurred. Several of those Drew County, Arkansas DNA matches had profiles in Gedmatch.com where I could finally see the location of the DNA matches. Half of the Drew County, Arkansas profiles matches were on the 23rd chromosome, which indicated that a woman was the connection. Three women matched on a segment that began at 113,295, 113,036,398 and 112,757,116. The corresponding matching segments ended at 120,270,432, 121,091,867 and 121,028,128. Two of these women were 2 sisters and the third a child of one.
Each also had a shared match on chromosome 4, beginning at 182,854,996 and ending at 190,915,650. Their brother’s profile also matched on chromosome 4, beginning at 180,023,943 and ending at 190,915,650. Their chromosome 4 segment match reflected the match with a Calvert County, Maryland women that we knew to be a direct DNA cousin. The direct DNA cousin match on chromosome 4 spanned 182,195,518-190,915,950.
So, I began looking for 23 chromosome matches in TwentyThreeAndMe. What I found were 2 more women from Drew County, Arkansas with segments that began and ended surprisingly similar to the first 3 women. Their segments also began at about 113,xxx,xxx, but each ended at about 139,xxx,xxx. The only match these 2 had with each other was on the 23rd chromosome. One shared a small amount DNA on their sixteenth chromosome with my mother.
Because TwentyThreeAndMe provided haplogroup information, I checked to see if those matched for the 6 women. They didn’t. The ethnicity profile was significantly European for one of the profiles. So, I began to think differently about what the significance of the 23rd chromosome match meant. I am tempted to dismiss the match as just a distantly related woman from Africa whose descendant landed in Drew County, Arkansas. Perhaps that explains the fifteen or more descendants of Flora Matilda in Monroe County, Alabama as well. But the fact that there is a Maryland born woman at the top of all 3 of our trees keeps me looking to find Flora Matilda and Rosetta on a ship leaving Maryland or Virginia as I had found my 4th great grandmother Charlotte Phillips!
So, I’ll be scouring the Slave Voyages database to see if I can find them!! Perhaps I’ll find answers to my 23rd chromosome questions.
I recently returned from a visit to Calvert County, Maryland. I found that the courthouse had burned down in 1882 and that any possible hopes of finding probates listing the names of my Phillips, Watts and Torney enslaved ancestors were most likely lost in that fire. I spoke with an historian by the name of Michael Kent while there and after my return to Texas. He told me a story about a group of Maryland slaves who had been freed during the Civil War and enlisted with the Union troops. He mentioned that a group of those men served in Texas. I had stumbled on some mention of one of those men a few years ago but had not followed up on it. That is, until yesterday! I searched in Ancestry for the names of men who enlisted from Calvert County and to my great surprise I found 2 names of special importance. The first was Peter Kent.
My 4th great grandmother Charlotte Phillips was born about 1835 in Calvert County to Joseph Phillips Sr and Hester. She was separated from her family and shipped to New Orleans. She’d left behind a daughter, Charity Gross. I’d found Charity on the 1870 Calvert County census in the household of her grandmother Hester Phillips and uncle Joseph Phillips. In the household was a 1-year-old child named George. His last name was recorded as Phillips. By 1880 George was listed in the household with Peter and Rhoda Kent as George W. Kent, 9 years old. Charity was married and living nearby with husband Samuel Cook. George Wesely Kent’s 1904 death certificate listed his mother as Charity Gross and his father as Washington Kent. Washington Kent was the informant on George’s death certificate.
So, why was George in the household of Peter Kent instead of his father’s for 1880 and 1900? I still have not found out the answer to that question. As a matter of fact, I am not even searching for any answers now, because what I found about Peter Kent is got my complete attention. Civil War records on Peter Kent detail how he enlisted in 1863 and was manumitted by Basil Sewell Dixon in 1864. Dr. Dixon attested to coming into ownership of Peter Kent, Thomas Torney, Samuel Key and John Ross after his marriage in 1858. A little research uncovered Dixon’s wife’s name as Rebecca H Laveille. Her father James Laveille owned several slaves, some of whom were the correct ages to be my Torney and Kent family members in 1850. Basil Dixon and family as well as James Lavielle Sr and Jr and Rebecca were recorded on the same page of 1850 US Census living in Calvert County. A widowed Basil Dixon was also listed on the 1870 and 1880 US Census within pages of my family!
Through death certificates, I later figured out that Washington Kent was actually named Henry Washington Kent born about 1857 and that Peter Kent’s name was William Peter Kent, born abou5 1837. Both men and their families were recorded on the same page within houses one another on the 1900 US Census for Calvert County. Peter was old enough to have been Henry’s father. Unfortunately, the parent’s names were recorded as unknown on death certificates for both men.
Peter’s wife Rhoda applied for his veteran’s pension in 1922. I have requested the related papers from NARA and so have begun the long wait to learn more about William Peter and perhaps more about his enslaved life, wife, children and items that might help in my quest!
So, a search into a seemingly unconnected story has possibly led me to something that I was not able to find in deed and probate records lost in the 1882 courthouse fire!! Who could have guessed!!!
My niece, Latrice, messaged me on June 14 of this year. She said that a Southwest Airlines’ ticket sales special was ending soon and asked if I was interested in tagging along with her to visit Maryland. Was I interested? Yeah!!
We booked flights into DCA and then began figuring out what we’d do once there. A cousin, Kevin, provided the names of DNA kin that he’d been talking with over the past year that lived in Maryland. I telephone both cousins and we agreed to meet. Both suggested the Hilton Garden Inn as a place to stay, so we booked accommodations.
Latrice and I did what researchers to, we looked for sources of information accessible in Maryland. We identified the Calvert Court House as a possible source but learned that the courthouse had suffered at least 2 fires, the last in 1881 or 1882. This meant that deeds and probates containing the names of our enslaved ancestors were most likely lost forever. We had the names of cemeteries in which several Phillips, Torneys, Kents and Taylors were buried, so we added those cemeteries and churches to the list of places to see.
A week or so before our trip, I telephone the 2 DNA cousins who we had never met, of our upcoming trip. It turned out that both had scheduling conflicts and would not be able to meet with us on the dates we were actually in Maryland. One cousin provided the name of another cousin, Beverly, who lived in Solomons with whom we could instead meet. I cold called that cousin and though hesitant to meet with a random DNA cousin, she agreed to meet us at our hotel.
Latrice had arrived a day earlier and visited friends and co-workers in nearby Virginia. I arrived the next day and telephone Beverly when I arrived in DC. She graciously met us at the hotel and then drove us to St John’s United Methodist Church off Sollers-Wharf Road in Solomons. There we found the grave sites of Phillips, Kents, Torneys and Taylors. The oldest grave was that of Moses Torney, the son of Eliza Phillips and Major Torney. Moses was my first cousin, 4 times removed. His mother Eliza was the sister of my third great-grandmother Charlotte Phillips. His headstone reads, 1810-1942. Moses was actually born about 1861 and died January 5, 1942.
The church was built in 1880 and later rebuilt in 1953. The original church, the St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1829 existed on a nearby plot of land. The site is breath-takingly beautiful surrounded by trees and vines on a hillside in a rural area.
Beverly and her sister talked with us about other distant relatives and other places that might be of interest. They connected us with other local historians who provided us with research resources. Over the next days, Latrice and I visited the Calvert County Courthouse, Library and Historical Society, all in Prince Frederick. We found helpful people at each location and were able to add some more information to our collection of family history. We found deeds for land sales and purchases that occurred after the courthouse fire that provided names for further research and cemented theories we previously had.
We drove to the marina and sat along the Paxtuent River and tried to picture our ancestors oystering and navigating those waters. I don’t know if I will make another trip to Calvert County, Maryland, but I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in August of 2023.
I recently learned of a new database that tracks enslaved people being moved to US and other countries. The database is maintained by Rice University and is available at https://www.slavevoyages.org/.
I began trying to find all of the slaves named on John Palfrey’s St Martin Parish will of 1843. What I found were slaves who made up 4 branches on my family tree. Named on the paternal side were the Morgans, the Riggs and the Gibsons. An eighteen-year-old Elsey was included in the listing of slaves. And while I am not a direct descendant of Elsey, she was the wife of my 5th great uncle Abram Guy. Abram was a slave on the Weeks-Meade-Weightman plantation. His beating while attempting to visit his wife and children was mentioned in William T. Palfrey’s plantation journal. I have not been able to place Elsey on any of my known branches. I also have failed to trace with any certainty three others named on the will: Polly, age thirty; Terence, a 2-year-old Mulatto child and Pamela, age 10.
I did find Polly and her children: Perry, Edward and Ben on the 1870 and 1880 census pages. But after scouring death, marriage and birth records, I have not been able to determine the names of Polly’s parents.
I did not look at all from Terence. He was added to the will on October 15, 1842 and was bequeathed to John Palfrey’s grandson George Palfrey of New Orleans. Terence was born July 7, 1842, to “my Negro woman named Louise.” But there was no Louise in the listing of slaves. Perhaps she’d died prior to October 15?
What I found most curious was that Palfrey had left specific instructions that regarding the slaves, “…in case it should be necessary to effect a partition by means of sale or by division into lots, that my slaves be sold or displosed of by families so as not to separate parents from their children or children from their parents without their consent…the young people have families of their own I consider them as alienated from the parents stock & forming a new brand.”
And while the whole stock concept is interesting and worthy of post on just those phrases, what attracted my attention was that Terence and Pamela were being separated from their parents. Pamela’s birth was documented in a letter from John Palfrey to his son William. Her mother Polly as still living and included on the will with 3 sons. Just as Terence had been specifically bequeathed, so was Pamela. Palfrey wrote, “I bequeath unto Mary Gorham Palfrey, daughter of my son William T Palfrey of the Parish of St Mary a mulatto female child named Pamela born of my Negro woman named Polly on the 25th July 1834, or in case of the death of said Pamela before my decease, then the said Mary Palfrey to receive from my estate in place of said slave the sum of four hundred dollars (400 dollars).”
Who was Pamela? And where was Pamela? I looked for Pamela’s name in William Palfrey’s slave birth journal but did not find it. I did not find a likely Pamela on the 1870 or 1880 census. So, I did what I do when stuck, I moved on to other research.
And then I remembered a lady whose DNA profile was included in Gedmatch.com. She and my mother only shared a small segment on their 23rd chromosome–meaning that there was a high probability that both descended from women who were related. I’d actually met the Dolores at Clayton Genealogy Center in Houston in 2016. As we talked, I mentioned that there was another profile that she managed in Gedmatch.com whose DNA matched my mother, but not on the 23rd chromosome. She told me that the profile belonged to a person who had roots in Louisiana. She then added that she also had Louisiana roots that she had not been able to trace.
So, I began a new search for Pamela! I began to piece together Dolores’s tree, beginning with the partial tree that she’d begun and going backward. A difficult task was made more difficult by the misspelling of last and first names both by census enumerators and by those transcribing the census records. I found a woman named Pamela at the base of Dolores’ tree. Forty-year-old Pamilla Oliver was recorded on the 1870 US Census, living in St. Landry Parish with children: Philomene, eighteen; Gilbert, fourteen; Coralie, 7; and Louis, 5.
I looked for Pamilla Oliver on the 1880 census but did not find her. I then looked for a fifty-year-old Pamilla with children named Philomene, Gilbert, Coralie or Louis. I then found Pamelia David with husband Louis and fourteen-year-old stepson Louis. Also included in their household were: Joseph, 12; Nancy, 9 and Angela, 5. I later found a June 17, 1871 St Landry Parish marriage record for Louis David and Pamela James. Pamela died July 31, 1923. Her death record indicated that she was born 1825 in Lafayette, Louisiana and that her last name was Hillman. Philemone Beraud was listed as the child of Pamela and Joseph Beraud.
Was this the Pamela named on John Palfrey’s will and separated from her mother Polly? I probably have many wild goose-chases and dead-ends ahead of me before I can say with any certainty if Pamela James Oliver Hillman was indeed Polly’s daughter. And still more research to try and determine how Polly fits and on what branch of my family tree!
Best,
P.S.
I looked at my blog a few days ago and saw that I had not written in a while. And that if I did not write something today, I would not have any posts for July. I decided to blog about Pamela. I wrote the blog, corrected a few typos and was about to log off when I decided to add the details about Pamela’s death record. As I typed, I noticed that she died July 31, 1923 and here I was writing about her 100 years later! I don’t know if there is any significance in this, but I take the coincidence as a sign that there is more to Pamela’s story and hope to find something previously hidden that provides answers to some of my questions and maybe spurs me on to ask other questions!
Clara is not a DNA ancestor but she and husband Amos were purchased as a couple by John Palfrey on March 9, 1811 from Relf and Chew in New Orleans along with my Gibson, Morgan and Riggs family. She was twenty and he twenty-five. I don’t know if Clara and Amos left children behind before they were sold to Palfrey. Clara repeatedly caught my attention while reading letters from John Palfrey to his sons. I sensed that perhaps Palfrey did not quite know what to make of Clara.
She was first mentioned Palfrey’s Nov. 4, 1812 letter to son Henry. He wrote that a slave named Mimy “had a child three weeks since” and that “Clara will probably have another in about two months.” The implication is that Clara had previously given birth. She had only been purchased in March of 1811, so she was most likely pregnant when purchased. The likelihood of this touched me and caused me to reflect on Clara’s life and hardships she probably encountered.
I found the next mention of Clara in John’s May 16, 1832 letter to his son William. After writing about his isolation on the plantation and the weather, Palfrey recounted the birth of a slave child, Nannette, born to Harriet. He wrote, “Nannette has been too sick & Clara has been nearly in constant attendance upon it until yesterday. She now sees to its food & keeping it clean & works in the garden so as to be at hand.” Palfrey did not write if Nannette or Clara were related. In any case, Clara had been in constant attendance and had made sure she would be close by to help.
Clara was again mentioned in John’s September 7, 1833 letter. He wrote about recent strong winds that had decimated his cane crop and about the number of currently sick slaves, “I have now no less than nine on the sick list but they appear to be better, better this morning. Clara is most severely attacked and is with the exception of Robert the worst patient to gratify & to encourage I have had this year. She is evidently getting better but cannot be persuaded to think so.” He wrote that she could not be pursuaded, implying that he’d tried a number of times to convince and /or to gratify her but was unsuccessful. Clara seemingly relied on her own thoughts.
Clare was next mentioned in Palfrey’s Sep 11, 1833 letter. He wrote, “The number of sick is diminished & those still on the list are getting better, Clara, Henry & Elsey are still confined. The former has the hysterics.” Hysterics is defined as a wildly emotional and exaggerated reaction. Palfrey wrote in an earlier letter dated Aug 11, “? Isle has lost two more of his family, whether black or white, young or old, I could not learn, the report comes from Rosine through Robert… The negroes here are constantly coming with various complaints vis: fever, sore throat, cough, headache, earache, pains in back & limbs of which none are continuance except the headache & sore throat, the children are also very much troubled with worms. There are none at present seriously sick on the plan but there are several invalids.” Perhaps Clara’s fears were justified or perhaps her concern was appropriate in light of the environment in which she lived.
Palfrey wrote again of Clara on November 30, 1833. Clara intervened in the beating of a slaved named Anderson. Palfrey wrote, “On Monday evening just as I was about going to bed, Clara came to the house & told me there was terrible work going on in the sugar house & wished me to go over.” He went to the sugar house and found things as Clara described. He also wrote that “Mr. Vinson left here the same day before dinner, no longer in my employ.”
Clara, Amos and their 9 children were listed on Palfrey’s 1843 probate. The oldest was born in 1814 and the youngest in 1834. Clara, Amos and their youngest son, Amos Jr. were emancipated by John’s son John Gorham Palfrey who lived in Boston. Clara was reported to have expressed her gratitude to him and said, “that it would be hard to…ever forget that we owe you so much…for the care and education and support of our little boy…We are living here and managing to make ourselves comfortable, and trying to be respectable in the eyes of the old friends of our Master…”
Clara and Amos were recorded on the 1850 St Martin Parish census, living in St Martinville. Their ages were listed as fifty and sixty respectively. Both were most likely older as Clara was reported to have been twenty and Amos twenty five at the time of their purchase in 1811. Clara’s death was recorded as January 6. 1853 in William T Palfrey’s plantation diary. If there is a record of Amos’ death, I have not yet found it.
Stallworth’s on My Family Tree?
That is a question that I began asking when the results from my mother’s Ancestry DNA results became available. Two of her top matches had the same family tree attached–a tree that included Rev. Anderson Stallworth and his wife Flora Matilda.
That is a question that I began asking when the results from my mother’s Ancestry DNA results became available. Two of her top matches had the same family tree attached–a tree that included Rev. Anderson Stallworth and his wife Flora Matilda. A descendant of Flora had included the last name of ‘Tucker’ on their tree for Flora. Her birthplace was recorded as Maryland on some census schedules. She was listed on the 1870-1910 census schedules as a part of the Stallworth family of Monroe County, Alabama. Adding to the mystery was that my mother’s other top 4 matches belonged to: 1 person who lived in the same Louisiana parish as my mother’s family, two others who lived in Calvert County, MD and 1 whose family tree was in Drew County, Arkansas.
Only my tree and the Stallworth tree included anyone from Maryland.
Perplexing right?
Yet, I was certain that that Maryland was the connecting piece of all 6 profiles. As I wrote earlier, I figured out 2 of my mother’s top matches were along the lines of my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte Phillips‘ tree through her sister Eliza Phillips Torney. About the same time, I figured out our connection to the Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Provost family profile. The Provost connection was through my 3rd great grandmother’s daughter Maria Smith who I never found after the 1870 census. Mariah’s son Addison Williams was Provost connection. Figuring out those connections took me about 2 years to piece together.
After a great deal of sleuthing around: ordering death certificates, looking up Maryland probates, searching among New York state census schedules and reading Newspaper.com stories, I was able to tie the third tree of Destinysmom12 to that same Calvert County, MD family. That Wright family connection was also through Eliza Phillips Torney, via her son Moses Torney.
So having found out that 4 of the connections were through Maryland, I stayed focused on connecting the Monroe County, Alabama, Stallworths to my known Maryland ancestors.
At my niece, Latrice’s urging, I purchased a 23AndMe DNA test kit. Latrice was on the trail of another vexingly, but close match in Louisiana. But I didn’t immediately ask my mother to take the test. Why not? Who knows! Maybe because 2022 was such a test for me.
Well, in 2023, I had my mother give me her DNA and I mailed it off on the same day. I waited anxiously for the results. As a matter of fact, I was talking to Latrice on the phone when my computer dinged to alert me that I had an e-mail message. And just like in books or the movies, the e-mail alerted me that my 23AndMe DNA analysis had been completed.
Excited was not a strong enough word to describe what I felt. Among my mother’s 23AndMe DNA matches were some people whose DNA was in Ancestry and whom I’d encouraged over the years to place their Ancestry DNA file in various other databases, FamilyTreeDNA and Gedmatch.com, so that we could see what chromosomes, and on which segments we matched. Anyway, I poked around in the new system to figure out how to best use it.
On that very first day I found 2 very interesting DNA profiles that matched my mother’s and both belonged to men!!!!!! One of the men was a descendant of Anderson Stallworth and Flora Matilda ‘Tucker’. When I compared my mother and the male Stallworth descendant, they shared DNA on 2 chromosomes. But here is where I began to scream and dance all around!
That Josephine Stallworth descendant, matched my mother on chromosome 23, beginning at about 113,000 and ending at about 121,000,000 about 11 centimorgans. Eleven of almost anything seems very insignificant, right. But the fact that a male matched my mother on chromosome 23 meant that he had inherited that DNA from his maternal line. I didn’t need to look at or try and figure out his paternal line at all. His last name was Longmire the same as one of my favorite NetFlix series. I quickly figured out his family tree. And there was Josephine Stallworth, daughter of Flora Matilda! I was ‘Happy Dancing’ all over the place now!!
And because good things often come in bunches, this Stallworth descendant also match my mom on another chromosome. He matched her along a segment that began around 21,000,000 and ended at about 41,000,000. My mother had 4 very close family members who also matched on that same chromosome with starting and ending segments also identical to Flora’s male Stallworth descendant. Men inherit maternal DNA from their mother but can not pass it on to any child. This means that most likely Flora Matilda or a female ancestor of hers was closely related to my 3rd great grandmother Charlotte Phillips or one of Charlotte’s female ancestors.
I feel that I am writing with just a little hyperbole. But the fact that a male Stallworth descendant’s 23rd chromosome segment match is also almost identical to the segment of 2 of my mother’s female DNA profile matches who lived in Drew County, Arkansas is still amazing to me. At the top of those Drew County, Arkansas trees is a woman named Chaney Fleming and her daughter Rosetta Fleming Goodwin. Both were born in Maryland.
I don’t know if the connection is through 1 or more females who were enslaved in the United States or if the connection goes back to Africa. My mother’s Stallworth matches are here 4th-6th cousins as are her Drew County, Arkansas matches. Interestingly, the Iberia Parish Provost family that matches my mother through her 3rd great grandmother Charlotte’s daughter Mariah, is also a 4th-6th cousin. So, maybe the woman or women that connect our Calvert County, MD, Monroe County, AL and Drew County, Ark families is someone who we can actually find and name.
Since 2015, the number of profile matches with the Stallworth surname and from Drew County, Arkansas has increased tremendously. More family members contributing helps to increase the success of connecting families.
So, I encourage you Stallworth families out there to take a DNA test and be sure to add the name Stallworth or Monroe County, Ala or something to your DNA result so that anyone looking doesn’t have to spend time researching what the connection might be.
As usual, there is always another tree that I am about to start to climb. And that tree has also got a Maryland connection. Henry Dorsey is the connecting person for this new family tree. He was born about 1830 in Washington, DC and shipped to California in the 1840s. Both of his parents’ birthplace was Maryland. His family is the Dorsey, Longrus, Andrews and Eiger families of Yolo County, CA. Henry may have been shipped to California by a ‘Forty Niner’ hoping to strike it rich. Who knows, or better yet, we’ll see!
So, I am still searching among the Stallworth branches for clues to solving our seemingly Maryland connected families and looking forward to starting up the tree. Yolo County, California, here I come!
Palfrey Slaves Identified
I stumbled across a treasure trove of information while searching for information on my paternal 2nd great greatgrandfather. What I found was information on my maternal family tree that was contained in Palfrey family letters, journals and probate records. I have been working to unpack that treasure trove and am including what I’ve been able to piece together, so far by comparing the names on the probate, to slave births records and marriage records for St. Mary Parish and census records. I am including that information below arranged by family groups. Included below are snippets from letters, diaries, journals and a purchase of slaves in 1811. I hope that you find someone from your family tree listed below.
I stumbled across a treasure trove of information while searching for information on my paternal 2nd great great-grandfather. What I found was information on my maternal family tree that was contained in Palfrey family letters, journals and probate records. I have been working to unpack that treasure trove and am including what I’ve been able to piece together, so far by comparing the names on the probate, to slave births records and marriage records for St. Mary Parish and census records. I am including that information below arranged by family groups. Included below are snippets from letters, diaries, journals and a purchase of slaves in 1811. In some instances the information will be repeated as in the case of my Gibson female members who married, Morgan, Pratt and Green men. I hope that you find someone from your family tree listed below. TOP
3/9/1811 Relf & Chew New Orleans Slave Purchase Amos 25 Clara 20
John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Parish Probate Amos 61 Clara 55 and child Amos 9 “Billy” William 29 b1814 Edmond 27 b1816 Jerry 26 b1817 Patsy b23 1820 Jacob 20 b1823 Henry 18 b1825 Neuman 13 b1830 Richard 12 b1831
Polly 30 and 5 children Perry 8 Clara 6 Edward Ben Smith 2
Pamela a mulatto girl
Sept 10, 1844 Barque Bashaw – Departure New Orleans, Destination Boston Amos 11
1850 St Martinville, St Martin Census Page 192A Amos Marshal 60 Clara Marshal 50
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary 1842-1859 1/6/1853, Negress Clara (free) died also
John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Probate Polly 30 and 5 children Perry 8 Clara 6 Edward Ben Smith 2
Pamela a mulatto girl
April 16, 1833 John Palfrey letter “Polly & Mary are now well but rather too weak to work as yet, so that the hoe lands are much reduced in number – 4 women &Edmond who is ploughing in the plant cane, which will be finished tomorrow or the next day early;”
Aug 6, 1834 John Palfrey letter to son William Polly was delivered of a girl the 25th. I have not yet seen it.
Sept 4, 1837 John Palfrey letter to son William I had an addition to black family on the evening of the day your child was born, Polly being delivered of a son.
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Journal #2 3/8/1863, Negress Polly Marshall died at Cypremort
1870 St Mary Parish Ward 2 Page 475A Perry Smith 25 BM, Laura 22 Smith BF, Rhoda Smith (Marshall) 20 BF, Timothy Gates 22, John Smith 4, Polly 2, Heartless Jenkins (son of Rhoda and Dan Jenkins)
1870 St Mary Parish Ward 2 Page 477A Edward Smith 37 BM, Susan 32, Thomas 14, Edward 5/12, Jerry Gains 22
1870 St Mary Ward 3 Page 502A Ben Smith 40, Julia Smith 26, Ben Smith 25, Nancy Smith 15, Mary Smith 6
10/15/1851 Pamela 9/20/1853 Peggy or Amelia 11/17/1857 Phoebe 10/8/1858 Frederick 6/14/1859 Polly 9/27/1861 William 6/12/1864 Edmond
Fanny Fanny Fanny Fanny Fanny Fanny Fanny
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 4 Census page 579A William Marshall 50 BM born LA, Fanny 40 BF born LA, Hety 25, Peggy 15, Frederick 14, Polly 10, William 6, Edmond 4, Louisa 2, Jake 1
Samuel Ellis 25 BM, Amelia 18 BF, 1 BM
Permilla Green married Armstead Johnson 4/28/1866 St Mary Parish
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 2 Armstead Johnson 26 BM, Parmilla 26 BF, Dick Johnson 3
7/12/1848 Anderson 4/25/1850 Charlotte 7/8/1852 Lucretia died 10/11/1853 Rhody 10/10/1856 General died 10/15/1856 Patsy 6/6/1858 Newman 7/17/1859 Isiah died
Ruth Ruth Ruth Ruth Ruth Ruth Ruth Ruth
April 16, 1833 John Palfrey letter “Polly & Mary are now well but rather too weak to work as yet, so that the hoe hands are much reduced in number – 4 women & Edmond who is ploughing in the plant cane, which will be finished tomorrow or the next day early;”
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 2 Page 474A Louisa Sigur 38 WF, Joseph Sigur 16 WM Edmond Marshall 59 BM overseeing, Ruth 40 BF born MD, Patsy 13, Joseph 8, Alfred Nelson 17 MuM
Edmond Wiggleton 59 MuM Blacksmith, Patsy 39 BF
Jacob Marshall FamilY
DOB Child’s Name
Mother
5/18/1852 Jacob 8/15/1856 Richard 4/21/1858 John
Jane #1 Jane #1 Jane #1
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary 1842-1859 2/14/1846, Negro man Jacob (Jacob Marshall) was caught in the cane carrier of the mill…as far his shoulder and escaped with no other injury than having his upper collar bone dislocated with some bruising about the head
12/11/1855, My Negro man Richard had his left hand lacerated by the engine on the 5thinst, he lost his forefinger
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 2 Page 476A Jacob Marshall 39 BM born LA, Jane 30 BF born LA, Jacob 17, Richard 13, John 12
9/8/1852 Amos 3/21/1854 Moses 9/5/1855 Clara 1/20/1857 Isaac 9/9/1858 Sarah died 3/27/1863 Addison died 11/22/1864 Ellen
Jane #2 Jane #2 Jane #2 Jane #2 Jane #2 Jane #2 Jerry’s wife Mulatress Jane (Jerry’s wife)
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary #2 2/13/1863, Four carts came from Cypremort-drivers- Jerry,Ambrose, Perry & Willis
1866 Freedmen’s Contract with W. T. Palfrey Done at Cypremort in said Parish on this 20th day of May, 1867, in presence of Paul Corner & Gustave Callery, witnesses. Henry x his mark Marshall Elsie, widow of Abram Guy Edmond x his mark Marshall Dave his mark Gibson Dan X his mark Jefferson Elisa x her mark Jenkins Melinda x her mark Franky x her mark Marshall Martha (Henry’s wife) by Henry x his mark Marshall her husband
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 2 Page 479B Thomas Gibson 34 BM, Jane Gibson 40 MuF, John Blackman, Amos Marshall 19, Moses 17, Clay 15, Isaac 12, Aaron 8, Elen 6, Jerry 4 Polly 3
3/9/1811 Relf & Chew New Orleans Slave Purchase<top> Jim
John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Probate Jim 36 male, b1807 Sally 37, b1806 and 3 children Mimy 6, b1837 Haley 3, b1840 Phoebe 1, b1842
Jake 13, b 1828 George 13, b1831 Ambrose 11, b1833
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary 1842-1859 8/17/1850, Negro man George died 9/21/1850, Negress Sally absconded 9/22/1850, Negress Sally returned of her own accord 4/2/1864 Negress Sally died last night at Cypremort 4/17/1864, Negress Mahaley daughter of Sally died at Franklin 5/27/1864, Negress Phoebe died at Cypremort
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary #2 11/9/1863, A squad of federal soldiers this day rushed suddenly into my cane field at Cypremort where the hands were gathering corn & forced off without the opportunity of taking leave of their families, thirteen of the Negro men, vis: Wright, Jacob, Bill Green, Paul, Charley, George, Sam, Richard, Perry, Henry Harner, Ambrose, Tom Granvil?, Tom Gibson & Newman. They afterwards released the three first name as too old for conscription.
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary #2 2/10/1868, I have engaged sundry freedmen on I have to work in the crop of my Home Plantation for the year 1868…namely: Jesse Hurst Jan 2, Willis Pratt Jan 1, Harry Bonham Jan. 1, Charley Bonham Jan 1, Jim Morgan Jan. 24…
Ambrose Morgan family
DOB Child’s Name
Mother
1/21/1855 Charity died 3/24/1857 Carey 5/14/1859 Eveline died 12/6/1860 Sally
3/9/1811 Relf & Chew New Orleans Slave Purchase Aime 35 and 5 children Tom Bob Joe Ben Fanny
William T & GD Palfrey Account books 13 vols Vol. 1 (1832-1837)
Parish of St Martin 1832
Inventory of my slaves John $600 Jim $850 Peter $850 Anderson $850 Sarah $600 Roy $500 Amy $300 Charity $300 David $300 Nancy $250 Kizzy & her child Elisa $650 Sinah $500 Jesse $500 Harriet (maybe Joe’s wife) & her child Anthony $650
Ages of William T Palfrey’s young Negroes Amy born Oct 3, 1821 Charity born August 2, 1824 David born Sept 16, 1826 Nancy born Oct 10, 1827 Elisa born Nov 23, 1830 Anthony born Sep 6, 1831 Cyrus born May 11, 1833 Fanny
4/26/1833 June 4, 1833 Letter from John Palfrey “Bob desires me to inform you that Joe has sent no money to Harriet since she was here”
June 4, 1833 Letter from John Palfrey to son, William T Palfrey “Fanny died on a Sunday, “a little before noon, …about twelve hours from her first attack.” “Aimy is the picture of woe & a damp appears to be come on the spirits of all.””
April 27, 1838 Folio 178, Entry 4400 WT Palfrey & Wife Land & Slaves Be it remembered that on this twenty-eight day of April, the year of eight hundred thirty-eight. Before one John Moore, parish judge and ex-officio Notary Public ?? for parish of St Mary. Personally appeared William T Palfrey for the said Parish of St Mary. Sidney A Conrad wife of the said William T Palfrey being of age of majority by this duly attained … release their solicitor and write their obligation in favor of the President’s Directors Corporation of the New Orleans Gas and Light Banking Co for the sum of five thousand five hundred dollars payable on the eight twenty of April 1839 being for a loan of money granted by said Corporation to those appraisers which sum they did acknowledged to have received and by which obligation is identified by these present.
The undivided half of sugar plantation and tract of land situated in the west side of the Bayou Teche having twenty-five arpents…said William T Palfrey and the other with all the buildings and improvements therein also the following named and described slaves belonging to the said appraisers to wit: Bob age 35, Peter aged 30, Anderson age 26, Isaac age 26, Squire age 22, Henry 15, Roy age 18, Jesse age 18, Sarah age 35, Dave age 12, Aimy age 16, Nancy age 9, Big Ann 22 with her daughter Caroline age 2, Malinda age 22, Kizzy age 30, Eliza age 7 and Cyrus age 4.
April, 4, 1839 Letter from John Palfrey “Poor good old Aimy died on the 5th inst (March 5)…”
John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Probate Joe 40 Ben 38 Tom 14 Rose Elsey 19 and 2 children: Joseph 2, Fanny 6 months
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary 1842-1859 5/12/1848 Negress Sarah ^ Weeks having run away a few days ago, returned on her own accord
10/30/1848 Nancy (Bob’s daughter) delivered a boy
12/11/1851 Negress Sarah died – age about 55 years
3/24/1861 Negress Caroline (Bob’s wife) delivered a girl
6/12/1859 Negro Man Ben died–a good fellow
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Journal #2 10/10/1861 Negress Sinah died, aged about 87-88 years- bought by me in 1818, blind & bed ridden for a long time
4/6/1863, Sent Negress Charity & daughter Sidney to Cypremort in a cart driven by Bob
5/1/1864 Caroline (Bob’s wife) delivered a boy at Cypremort
Robert ‘Bob’ Gibson Family
William T Palfrey Slave Birth Registry 1843-1865
DOB Child’s Name
Mother
10/5/1853 infant died 6/27/1855 Letty 1/18/1858 male infant 2/10/1860 female died 3/24/1861 Anna died 5/1/1864 Lewis
2/25/1844 Sarah 10/25/1845 Sidney a girl 9/17/1849 Washington 8/29/1851 Alice 10/8/1853 Elizabeth 7/26/1855 infant died 12/30/1856 Mary 2/2/1861 Elliott 8/26/1863 Netty Ann 4/7/1863 Harriet Sarah 4/26/1863 Major Sidney
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary 1842-1859 12/1/1849, Negro man Bill Green absconded yesterday 12/4/1849 Negro man Bill Green returned of his own accord 12/2/1853, William Green sent with cooper Henry Lloyd to make sugar
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Journal #2 4/6/1863, Sent Negress Charity & daughter Sidney to Cypremort in a cart driven by Bob
11/9/1863, A squad of federal soldiers this day rushed suddenly into my cane field at Cypremort where the hands were gathering corn & forced off without the opportunity of taking leave of their families, thirteen of the Negro men, vis: Wright, Jacob, Bill Green, Paul, Charley, George, Sam, Richard, Perry, Henry Harner, Ambrose, Tom Granvil?, Tom Gibson & Newman. They afterwards released the three first name as too old for conscription
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 4 Census page 580A William Green 60 BM born SC, Charity Green 50 BM born SC, Sarah 30, Sidney 28 BM, Ellen 24, Washington 25, Alice 23, Mary 15, Cornelius 12, Elliot 11, Netty A 9, Henry 3, Emma Schisel 3 BM, Sidney Green 10 BM
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 3, Page 527A Abraham Kinchen 35 BM, Sarah 24 BF, Henrietta, Washington 12, Stanton 8, Hamilton 5/12 Walter Kinchen 23, Alice 22
7/10/1844 Bob 7/2/1846 Fairfax 10/20/1848 Alfred, died 12/20/1850 Lewis 1/9/1853 Ellen 1/5/1855 infant died 2/10/1856 Maria 7.27/1860 Givvin 1/9/1858 Missouri 7/8/1862 Willis
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary 1842-1859 10/30/1848, Nancy (Bob’s daughter) was delivered of a boy
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary #2 2/13/1863, Four carts came from Cypremort-drivers- Jerry, Ambrose, Perry & Willis
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 4 Census page 565A Willis Pratt 55 BM born DC, Nancy 50 BF born LA, Ellen 18, Maria 15, Missiouri 13, GIvins 10, Willis 9, Ben Smith 6, Buel Pratt 3, Kitty Strawdy, Charles Pratt 1, Margaret 9/12
Lewis Pratt 21, Lizzie 1
Ellen Pratt married John Lovely Maria Pratt married Joseph Strawder
William Marshall Family
William T Palfrey Slave Birth Registry 1843-1865
DOB Child’s Name
Mother
10/15/1851 Pamela 9/20/1853 Peggy or Amelia 11/17/1857 Phoebe 10/8/1858 Frederick 6/14/1859 Polly 9/27/1861 William 6/12/1864 Edmond
William T & GD Palfrey Account books 13 vols Vol. 1 (1832-1837)
Parish of St Martin 1832
Inventory of my slaves Manuel about 2 years old when he came here Jesse, born August 19, 1819
MANUEL HURST FAMILY
William T Palfrey Slave Birth Registry 1843-1865
DOB Name
Mother
1/27/1855 George 1859-Zachary 1861 Elsy 12/26/1864 Sinah 12/2/1856 Peter & Nicy twins 1862 Jesse 1867 Marie 1865 Amanda
Maria #2 aka Maria Phillips Maria #2 aka Maria Phillips Maria #2 aka Maria Phillips Maria #2 aka Maria Phillips Maria #2 aka Maria Phillips Maria #2 aka MariaPhillips Maria #2 aka MariaPhillips Maria #2 aka MariaPhillips
April 16, 1833 John Palfrey letter to William T Palfrey “I shall leave Robert (John’s nephew, Robert Palfrey) behind to take care of the house & shall take Jesse with me; if you can make it convenient to let me have Manuel instead of Jesse for the trip you will much oblige me as he would be much more useful & for less trouble that Jesse.”
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 4 Census page 580A Manuel Hurse (Hurst_ 49 BM born VA, Maria 36 born VA, George 14, Niecy 13, Zack 11, Elsy 9, Jessy 7, Syner 5, Amanda 1
Jesse Hurst Family
William T Palfrey Slave Birth Registry 1843-1865
DOB Name
Mother
8/18/1855 Infant died 4/25/1856 Leah
Mimy (Mima Morgan) Mimy (Mina Morgan)
April 16, 1833 John Palfrey letter to William T Palfrey “I shall leave Robert (John’s nephew, Robert Palfrey) behind to take care of the house & shall take Jesse with me; if you can make it convenient to let me have Manuel instead of Jesse for the trip you will much oblige me as he would be much more useful & for less trouble that Jesse.”
1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 4 Page 481B Jessy Hurse 49 BM born LA, Mima 31 BF, Leah 13, Mary 1
3/9/1811 Relf & Chew New Orleans Slave Purchase Sam, 31 and wife Mima 25 and children Anna Sally
John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Parish Probate Sam 65 Little Sam 27 Sally 37 and 3 children: Mimy 6, Haley 3 and Phoebe 1
Anna 36 and 4 children: Moses 9, Charly 6, Caroline 4 and William 2
Sarah 11 Betsy 31 and child Ralph5 Franky 11
Mary 24 with 2 children: Martha 3, Simon 1
Maria 22 and child Emily 2
Margery 20 and child
1850 Fausse Point, St Martin Parish Census Sam Riggs 70 BM
1850 Farmington, Ontario, NY Margaret Hathaway 90 Isaac Hathaway 65 Lorenzo Hathaway 41 Phebe Hathaway 30 Caroline McOmber 28 James Brooks 23 John Durkin 22 Moses Woodlin 15 BM born LA
1850 Ridgeway, Orleans County, NY E Hedley 34 WM Lumber man Hannah Hedley 29 WF David Hedley 3 WM James Hedley 0 WM Caroline Woodland10 BF born LA
1855 Mendon, Monroe, New York, USA Daniel Sherwood 25 bprn Ulster Harriet Ann Sherwood25 Charles P Woodline 18 BM born LA hired Man Willifred Mulligan 17 WM Ireland hired
1865 Union Springs, Cayuga, New York, USA Ednah D Thomas 71 WF born MASS Charlotte Poulton 34 WF born England adopted Wm P Woodlin29 BM born LA adopted son Catharine Fedijun WF born Ireland servant
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Journal #2 4/8/1862, Negro man Sam (free) died 4/2/1864, Negress Sally died last night at Cypremort 4/17/1864, Negress Mahaley daughter of Sally died at Franklin
William T Palfrey Slave Birth Registry 1843-1865<top>
DOB Child’s Name
Mother
9/1/1845 Rose 10/28/1849 Elizabeth 1/30/1852 Amanda died 4/17/1853 Rebecca 8/27/1854 Abram 2/10/1856 Minerva 7/11/1858 Melisa 7/31/1860 Ben 5/29/1863 John
Henry Wilson married Elsy Guy Aug. 14, 1867, St Mary Parish
1870 St Mary Parish Ward 2 Page 475A John Jenkins 23 BM Henry Wilson 42 BM, Elsey 44 MuF, Abram 15, Manerva 13, Ben 8, Mayer Green Wilson 12, Christiana Wilson 11, Arena 4 , Kearner 1
1880 St Mary Parish ED 166 Page 210 Abram Guy 26 MuM Francis 22 Wife Ben Guy 19 MuM Brother John Guy 17 MuM Brother
1880 St Mary ED 166 Page 210 Abram Guy 26 MuM Francis 22 Wife BF Ben Guy 19 Brother MuM John Guy 17 Brother MuM
1880 St Mary ED 164 Page 177A Irena Wilson 17 BF Christina Wilson sister 20 BF
1880 St Mary ED 164 Page 177B Henry Wilson 53 BM Elsey 51 wife BF Arnold 8 BM son
Braxton Bowlin (Bolden) 28 BM minister Minerva wife 21 BF, Braxton son 5 BM
John Palfrey’s 1843 St Martin Probate Polly 30 and 5 children Perry 8 Clara 6 Edward Ben Smith 2
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Journal #2 2/13/1863, Four carts came from Cypremort-drivers- Jerry,Ambrose, Perry & Willis
3/8/1863, Negress Polly Marshall died at Cypremort
1870 St Mary Parish Ward 2 Page 475A Perry Smith 25 BM, Laura 22 Smith BF, Rhoda Smith (Marshall) 20 BF, Timothy Gates 22, John Smith 4, Polly 2, Heartless Jenkins (son of Rhoda and Dan Jenkins)
1870 St Mary Parish Ward 2 Page 477A Edward Smith 37 BM, Susan 32, Thomas 14, Edward 5/12, Jerry Gains 22
1870 St Mary Ward 3 Page 502A Ben Smith 40, Julia Smith 26, Ben Smith 25, Nancy Smith 15, Mary Smith 6
1/14/1854 Alfred 12/15/1855 John 3/19/1857 Wilson died 10/17/1858 H Clay 7/7/1861 Elizabeth 11/22/1862 Mary 12/23/1864 Charles
Maria #1 Maria #1 Maria #1 Maria #1 Maria #1 Maria #1 Maria #1
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary 1842-1859 1/20/1854, Negro men; John Taylor, Henry Cole, Grandison Lewis, Henry Mahany?? & a boy Tom, new purchases arrived per Steamer Delta from New Orleans
3/29/1857, Negro men Henry Cole, Grandison and boy Tom Gibson absconded yesterday
5/18/1857, WLP returned, brought home runaway Negro man Grandison, taken from the jail of Parish of St Charles
5/19/1857, Negro man Grandison absconded again last night
4/12/1859, Negro man Grandison ran away
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Diary #2 11/9/1863, A squad of federal soldiers this day rushed suddenly into my cane field at Cypremort where the hands were gathering corn & forced off without the opportunity of taking leave of their families, thirteen of the Negro men, vis: Wright, Jacob, Bill Green, Paul, Charley, George, Sam, Richard, Perry, Henry Harner, Ambrose, Tom Granvil?, Tom Gibson & Newman. They afterwards released the three first name as too old for conscription
11/11/1863, Another squad came today & took away in the same manner three more vis: Grandison, Little Edward & Ben. The first name is said to have his escape. (Perhaps Grandison ray away from the Army he was taken away without being able to see to his family and because his wife, Maria, was due very soon? He did in fact join the enlist, serve and applied for his military pension.)
12/3/1863, Maria No 1 delivered a girl
3/22/1864, A very great number of Negroes not connected with the army went with them from this town & the surrounding county. My man Grandison & three men belonging to Capt Gates among the number.
1870 St Mary Parish Page 524A-542B Elize Morgan 40 born SC, Eliza Morgan 10, Chas Morgan 5 Grandison Sims 35 born MD, Maria Sims 45 born VA, Betty Sims 13, Charley Sims 8, Becky Sims 4
William T Palfrey’s Plantation Journal#2 5/25/1867 Freed boy Alfred Smith, son of Maria, having been extremely indolent to my little sons, I sent him off to …
1870 St Mary Parish Ward 2 Page 475A Edward Wiggleton 59 , Patsy 39, Caroline Payton 40, Hanson Payton 17, Matilda 12, Victoria 6
William T & GD Palfrey Account books 13 vols Vol. 1 (1832-1837)
Ages of Wm T Palfrey’s young Negroes
Manuel about 2 years old when he came here LeRoy about 3 months Jesse, born August 19, 1819 Emily born October 3, 1821 Charity born August 2, 1824 David born Sept 16, 1826 Elsie born November 23, 1830 Anthony born September 6, 1831 Cyrus born May 11, 1833 Fanny
Parish of St Martin 1832
Inventory of my Property vis Slaves:
John $600 Jim $850 Peter $850 Anderson $850 Sarah $600 Roy $500 Amy $300 Charity $300 David $300 Nancy $250 Kizzy & her child Elisa $650 Manuel $500 Harriet & her child Anthony $65
Robert ‘Bob’ Gibson was my 3rd great grandfather. His name appeared often in the letters and journal entries of John and his son William Taylor Palfrey. Below are some of the things written about him.
John Palfrey wrote to his son on Jan 23, 1833 about problems he was experiencing with overseers for his Forlorn Hope Plantation. He wrote, “Mr Deroin has not yet made his appearance I suppose he must have engaged himself somewhere else. Mr Rdeman is gone & I am let alone, perhaps we shall be able to make out with Sam & Bob until a good overseer can be procured. I believe they are as good as the most of them.” The Sam mentioned was Sam Riggs, my 4th great grandfather.
John next mentioned Bob in his April 13, 1833 letter to his son William. Palfrey wrote, “Bob desires me to inform you that Joe has sent no money to Harriet since she was here.” Bob’s brothers Tom, Joe and Ben lived on William’s plantation. It appears that Bob was both telling his brother Joe that he needed to send money to Harriet and alerting William Palfrey that perhaps he should see to it that Joe complied with the request. I guess that Harriet was Joe’s wife.
Bob was not explicitly mentioned in Palfrey June 4, 1833 letter that mentioned the death of Fanny to cholera. Fanny was Bob’s sister and Aimy’s only daughter. But I get a sense that Bob’s grief was included in Palfrey’s statement regarding Aimy’s reaction to Fanny’s death. He wrote, “Poor old Aimy is the picture of woe & a damp appears to be come on the spirits of all.” Four days later Palfrey wrote that though his slaves were experiencing moderately good health, they were gloomy and moving about more despondently. He said that Bob complained of being sick and that he “adopted the cholera process with him, he is now wake but weak. “I believe his was his old complaint, – these however as they are deemed by the Negroes have tended is some degree to alleviate their depression & spirits.”
Bob is next mentioned in Palfrey’s Oct. 12, 1833 letter in which he wrote about not being able to plant his crops for another 9 days because, “Amos & Bob have been employed with the cooper & carpenter has prevented them doing a number of small jobs, which none of the rest could or will do.” He then added, “Mr. Connally left here on Thursday so that I now have Bob.” He continued in the letter to speak about another slave who lost his horses and then got lost himself. Palfrey seemed to have found Bob quite indispensable.
Palfrey’s wrote in his Jan 18, 1834 letter about the severely cold weather and its affect on him and slaves, Sam, Mima and Bob. He summed Sam and Mima’s symptoms to be rheumatic and added that “Bob appears to be of such a lingering nature that I am as a loss what to do for him.”
Bob was mentioned in 1837 in the sale or swap of Bob for Jim between father and son. Both of my 3rd great grandfathers, Bob Gibson and Jim Morgan, were slaves on Palfrey plantations. Palfrey was in fact swapping one of my 3rd grandfathers for the other. See the sale below:
April 25, 1837 – Page 80 of 126 State of Louisiana Parish of St Martin Be it remembered that on this twenty fifth day of April anno domini one thousand eight hundred and thirty seven, John Palfrey, of the Parish of St Martin, of the one part, and William T Palfrey of the Parish of St Mary, of the other Part, have covenanted and agreed as follows: the said John Palfrey hereby sells, assigns, transfers and sets over to the said William T Palfrey, who accepts the same, a certain Negro man slave named Bob, now in the possession of the said Vendee, to the said William T Palfrey sole use and behoof, with full guarantee against the claim or claims of any person whatsoever, for the following consideration: to wit: the said William T Palfrey in consideration of the promises hereby sells, assigns, transfers and sets over to the said John Palfrey, who accepts the same in full right of property a Negro man slave named Jim, now in the possession the said John Palfrey, to this the said John Palfrey’s sole use and behoof, with a full guarantee against the claim or claims of any person whatsoever;
John Palfrey died in 1843 and both Jim and Bob were slaves on his son William’s plantation. William Palfrey kept a detailed plantation journal, including the birth of every slave. In almost every instance, he wrote the date of birth, the mother’s name and the name of the child. When there were several women with the same name, he wrote #1 0r #2 or ‘Big’ or ‘Little’ next to the first name. In a few instances, he wrote the mother’s first and last name: Caroline Honest and Maria Phillips. He always uniquely identified Bob as the father when his wife Caroline gave birth. I first thought that he named Bob as the father because Bob did not live on his plantation. I am not sure of the true reason as I believe that Bob did live on one of Palfrey’s plantations.
Bob was written about in a footnote to Palfrey plantation journal that spanned 1843-1859. The note listed slave couples that mosquito netting had been given to for their cabins. Bob was grouped with Sinah. Bob had 5 children before Palfrey began keeping his journal. Those children were: Charity, born 1824; David, born 1825; Nancy, born 1826; Fannie, born 1835; and Elsie (my 2nd great grandmother), born 1840. Does the grouping of Bob & Sinah make her the mother of Bob’s 5 children and my 3rd great grandmother? Sinah was mentioned in John Palfrey’s letter dated April 16, 1832. She’d cut her foot and was unable to work. The next mention of Sinah was the footnote in the journal and she is last mentioned on Oct. 10, 1861 when she died. William Palfrey wrote, “Negress Sinah died, aged about 87-88 years- bought by me in 1818, blind & bed ridden for a long time.”
I have not found a single record of any kind that provided the mother’s name to any of the children Bob had before 1843. But in 2024 I found a St Mary Parish deed record dated April 27, 1838 for WT Palfry & Wife, Folio 178, Entry 4400 in which Bob, age 35 is listed with a number of slaves including Sarah 35 and children: Dave 12, Aimy 16, Nancy 9.
I also found William T Palfrey’s 1832, 5 page account book. One page was entitled Ages of Wm T Palfrey’s Young Negroes. In that list were the names Jim, Aimy, Charity, David, Nancy and Fanny. The following page included a list of slaves on the plantation. Among those names were Sarah, Roy, Amy, Charity, David, Nancy, Kizzy & her child Elisa, Sinah, Manuel, Jessee, Harriet and her child Anthony.
The similarities between the 1832 account book list of slaves and the 1838 deed list of slaves suggests to me that Sarah is perhaps the mother of Bob’s children Charity, Amy, Dave and Nancy. Bob was not listed on William T Palfrey’s 1832 account book because at that time, Bob was still enslaved on William’s father John Palfrey’s plantation. Jim (James Morgan) and Bob would be exchanged by William and his father in 1835. Bob’s daughters Charity and Nancy were missing from the 1838 deed. I don’t know the significance of the omission of their names. Bob’s daughter Elsie Gibson, my 3rd great grandmother was not born until 1839 or later and so her name would not have been listed on either document.
I found a St Mary Parish marriage record for Robert Gibson and Caroline Watson dated March 21, 1868. The children listed in Palfrey’s journal that were born to Caroline were: Letty born Nov. 27. 1854 and Lewis born May 1, 1864. According to Palfrey’s journal, Caroline gave birth to 2 stillborn children and lost 1 infant child.
Bob was last written about in the journal after Civil War skirmishes began in St Mary Parish. Bob and other men were used to carry items as well as people to and from Palfrey’s various plantations to the Cypremort plantation.
Robert ‘Bob’ Gibson & Caroline Watson Descendants
Bob and Caroline were recorded on the 1870 St. Mary Parish census. Bob was listed as eighty years old and Caroline as thirty-five. They both worked as field hands. In their household were Lettie, 16; Louis, 5; and Bob, 4. The birthplace for everyone was Louisiana. No one in the household could read or write.
Bob was listed as Robert, a seventy-year-0ld widower on the 1880 St Mary Parish census. I think Bob’s was most likely born about 1803 because he had 3 siblings younger than him when his family was purchased by John Palfrey in 1811. Bob and his sons: Louis, 16 and Bob, 12 were all listed as laborers. Bob’s recorded birthplace was Virginia as was the birthplace for his parents.
Bob was last listed on the 1880 census. His daughter Lettie was listed on the 1880 census with husband Alfred Watson and their 2 children, Libby or Likie, 4 and Henry, 2. Lettie died in 1896.
I found a death record for Rosa Miller. Rosa’s parents were listed as Lethe Gibson and Alfred Watson. Rosa was born 1896 in Calumet, St Mary Parish and died at the age of 33 on Dec. 19, 1929. Her husband was Isaiah Miller. Rosa, husband Isaiah and Harry were last listed together of the 1920 St Mary Parish census living in Patterson. Rosa’s son Harry was born June 15, 1909 and died Nov. 30, 2004
I found Lettie’s son Henry on the 1900 St Mary Parish census as a single man boarding with George Davis and family. I have not been able to find Henry on the 1910 census. For the 1920 census, Henry was thirty-seven years and lived in Patterson on Cherry Street with his wife Eva (nee Lewis), 25 and sons, Herbert, 17 and Joseph, 3. It is obvious that Eva at 25 could not be Herbert’s mother. I found information that Henry’s first wife and mother of Herbert was Lottie Green but I have not been able to trace her.
Henry was listed on the 1930 census with wife Eva and son Joseph still living in the town of Patterson. Their next-door neighbor was his widowed brother-in-law Isiah Miller and nephew Harry. Henry and Isiah both worked at a sawmill. Henry died Feb. 6, 1938. His son Willie J Watson died Sept. 14, 1938.
I found Henry’s son Herbert and wife Esther May last on the 1940 Calcasieu Parish census living in Lake Charles.
Bob’s son Louis Gibson was born May 1, 1864. He was a single man on the 1900 census. For the 1910 census, he was living in Patterson with his twenty-two-year-old wife Dollie (nee Rylander), daughter Caroline, 18; and sons Lewis (Louis),5; and Harris, 3. I found his daughter Caroline on the 1900 census in her grandmother Betty Railey.
Louis was a widower in 1920 and was listed on the census with his children: Louis, 15; Victoria 9; George, 4; and Bobbie 3. Louis Sr. worked as a cane and corn farmer laborer. He could read, but not write. Louis died Jan. 10, 1925.
Descendants of Robert ‘Bob’ Gibson & Sarah Weeks (updated , previously named as Sinah
David Gibson & Louise Shelton ->Josephine born 1859 ->Charley born 1860 ->O.B born 1865 ->Aime born 1868 ->Harriet born 1870 ->James born 1873 ->John born 1880
Nancy Gibson & Willis Pratt ->Bob Pratt born 1843 ->Fairfax Pratt born 1846 ->Louis Pratt 1850-1925 & Lizzie Brown ->Maria Pratt 1855-1917 & George Strawder ->Ellen Pratt born 1856 & John Lovely ->Missouri Pratt born 1857 & Reuben Smith ->Givins 1859-1936 & Fannie Braden ->Willis Pratt 1862-1929 & Melinda ->Buel Pratt 1864-1933 & Ella ->Charles Pratt born 1868 & Matilda
Fannie Gibson & William Marshall ->Amelia Marshall born 1853 & Samuel Ellis ->Frederick Marshall born 1855 ->Polly Marshall 1859-1926 & John Johnson 1860-1904 ->William Marshall born 1861 & Virginia Burrell ->Edmond Marshall born 1864 & Odile George ->Louisa Marshall born 1867 ->Jacob Marshall born 1869 ->Alice Marshall 1878-1925 ->Sheppard Marshall
Elsie Gibson & Ambrose Morgan (my ancestors) ->Cary Morgan & Ceasar Harris ->Sally Morgan born 1858 & Jules Ben ->Phoebe Morgan 1864-1952 & John Diggs ->Charles Morgan 1874-1950 & ->Josephine Mahaly Morgan 1875-1969 & James Breaux & Jim Crowder ->Abrahan Morgan 1877-1938 & Ida ->Martha Morgan 1878-1971 & Henry Hill 1872-1939 (my ancestors) ->David Morgan born 1892
James ‘Jim’ Morgan was my 3rd great grandfather. I found a 1811 purchase of a single boy named Jim by John Palfrey. The purchase was recorded in the Afro Louisiana Genealogy & History database (search on Relf and look for Jim). The database information suggested that Jim was sold along with his thirty-five-year-old mother. But the Palfrey 1811 slave purchase included in the family papers did not include a child named Jim. The 1811 purchase of slaves from Relf & Chew included my Gibson family: Aimy and her children: Tom, Bob, Joe, Ben & Fanny as well as Amos and Clara Marshall and Sam and Mima Riggs and their daughters: Anna and Sally.
Jim originally lived on John Palfrey’s Forlorn Hope Plantation but was swapped for Robert ‘Bob’ Gibson by John and William Palfrey in 1837. James’ wife was Sally Riggs. James and Sally’s children were:
Jack Morgan born 1828
Mima Morgan born 1839 & Jesse Hurst
Haley Morgan 1840-1864
Ambrose Morgan born 1840 & Elsie Gibson
Phoebe Morgan 1834-1864
Hortense Mary Fortune Morgan 1847-1927 & Cato King & Nelson Dangerfield
James Morgan was listed on the 1870 census in the household with his son Ambrose, 30 and his wife Elsie, 28 and their children: Carey, 13; Sally, 12; Phoebe, 6. James’ daughter Fortune was also in the household.
James was living with his daughter Mima and her husband Jesse Hurst for the 1880 St Mary Parish census. In their household were Mary, 12; Jimmy, 8; and Manuel 8.
I was able to determine the name of James Morgan’s wife because it was included on the death certificate of his daughter, Fortune Morgan. Mary Hortense Fortune Dangerfield died Nov. 30, 1927 in Calumet, St Mary Parish, LA. Her death certificate was the only one that I’ve found that had a name for James’ wife. In addition to the name Sally, was another clue. Sally was supposedly born in North Carolina!!
And so I am off on another genealogy ramble to see if I can find Sam, Mima, Anna, Sally and niece Maria arriving in New Orleans from the Carolinas or if there is a probate listing those names!!
Best,
P.S. The definition for ‘ramble‘ is: a walk for pleasure, typically without a definite route.
Ellen Betts
Ellen Betts was interviewed in the 1930s as part of the WPA (Work Progess Administration) Federal Writers’ Project. Her story is one of the ‘Slave Narratives’. Per her narrative, she lived at 118 N. Live Oak Street in Houston, TX. I recently discovered that Ellen Betts was my 4th cousin, once removed. How about that!
Ellen Betts was interviewed in the 1930s as part of the WPA (Work Progess Administration) Federal Writers’ Project. Her story is one of the ‘Slave Narratives’. Per her narrative, she lived at 118 N. Live Oak Street at the time of her interview. Some of the narratives included photos, but Ellen’s sadly did not.
I read Ellen’s narrative in 2003 when I began my research on former Texas slaves while documenting my husband’s Texas roots. Her story was included among the Texas Slave Narratives. I took special note of it and added it to my collection of interesting, but not immediately pertinent, stories because it mentioned St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.
I began to research my Louisiana family in 2015, but it wasn’t until 2022 while pouring over Palfrey’s journal and adding leaves to my Gibson and Morgan family tree that I saw the names Charity and William Green and their daughter Ellen that something clicked in my memory. I pulled out Ellen’s story and reread it. She said that she was born on Bayou Teche, Tolas Parson’s place. Ellen said that she was sold to Tolas’s brother William Tolas after Tolas Parson’s death. She mentioned Patterson and Centerville, Louisiana and Marse William and his wife Sidney. Ellen also spoke about Miss Sidney’s death and about William’s marriage to Miss Cornelia. All of these events and first names seemed very familiar to me, because I’d read John Palfrey’s letter to his son William. I knew that William Palfrey’s first wife was Sidney Conrad and that he later married Cornelia Gates. I don’t know why she referred to each by the last name of Tolas instead of Palfrey. But it became clear to me that Ellen Betts was indeed relating stories about John Palfrey and his son William T Palfrey and life on their plantations. Ellen talked about her mother being a good seamstress and how her ‘pa’ was a fiddler “and we’d cut de pigeon wing and cut de buck and every other kind of dance. Sometime pa git tired and say he ain’t gwineter play no more and us gals git busy and pop him corn and make candy, so to ‘tice him to play more.” Read More of Ellen’s ‘Slave Narrative’.
Ellen Green was born May 15, 1847 to Charity Gibson and William Green. Her mother Charity Gibson, was the daughter of Robert ‘Bob’ Gibson and Sinah. Charity was born about 1824 in St Mary Parish. Robert and Sinah are my 3rd great grandparents. Ellen’s father William Green was born 1810 in South Carolina. Palfrey wrote that ‘Bill Green‘ ran away on Dec. 1, 1849 and returned three days later. I think it is significant that Ellen’s father was referenced by 2 names as early as 1849 as it indicates that enslaved persons were often known to have family names. Palfrey wrote in April 1863 of Charity and her daughter Sidney being taken in a cart by ‘Bob’ to Cypremort from one of his other plantations. The Bob mentioned was my 4th great grandfather, Robert Gibson.
Ellen’s birth was recorded in William Taylor Palfrey’s plantation journal. She was the third child of 11. Her siblings were: Sidney, born 1842; Sarah, 1844-1934; Washington, born 1849; Alice, born 1851; Mary, born 1855; Cornelius, born 1859; Elliot, born 1861; Nettie, born 1864; and Henry, born 1868. Henry was born after Palfrey’s death and was not recorded in the journal. Per Palfrey’s journal Charity gave birth to a child in 1855 that died.
Ellen was recorded on the 1870 St Mary Parish, Ward 4 census in the home with her parents Charity and William Green and her 10 siblings. A seventy-five-year-old woman named Rachel Gibson lived in the household immediately before Ellen’s. Ellen was also listed on the 1870 census in Ward 3 with her first husband Vincent Wallace and their son William. The next household on the page included Sidney Green, 25 and Major, 3. Two households away was Spencer Betts, who was later to be Ellen’s second husband.
Ellen and Vincent were still living in St. Mary Parish for he 1880 census. Their household had grown to include children: Felice (Phyllis), Listen and Elliot.
Her parents were also still living in St. Mary Parish. Their household included sons: Washington 29, who was listed as a widow; Cornelius 22, who was listed as married; Henry 12; and 2 daughters: Nettie 16 and Mary Crump 25. Mary was recorded to have pleurisy. Mary’s daughter Rosa also was recorded in the household. Interestingly, there is a record of William Green’s death in 1870, St Mary Parish, Ward 4, at the age of sixty from chronic rheumatism. He was recorded as haven been born in South Carolina and been a widower. I don’t know the explanation of how William could be widower and deceased in 1870 and yet he and wife Charity still be listed on the 1880 census!
By 1900, Ellen was no longer living in Louisiana. She and second husband Spencer Betts were listed on the 1900 Harris County census living in Ward 8. They lived in Harris County, but not in Houston. Spencer worked as a farm laborer. Many of their neighbors were German immigrants. Living with them were her children: Gorum and Harry Wallace (they were listed with the last name of Bets).
Ellen and Spencer were counted on the 1910 Harris County census, still in Ward 8. Gorum Wallace and wife Martha (nee Martin) lived with Ellen. Also, in the home was Ellen’s grandson Charley Carlisle, 15. Charlie was the son of Ellen’s daughter Phillis and Charles Carlisle Sr.
Ellen’s grandson Charley was counted twice on the 1910 census, once in Houston with his grandmother and again in Fort Bend County, Texas in the household with his mother Phillis 32, father, Charles 34 and siblings: Lillie, 13; Ernest, 8; Celena, 6; Henry, 5; Ed, 1. The family lived on Pryor Plantation in Hodges Bend.
Ellen was widowed and living in Fort Bend County, TX for the 1920 census. She lived with her daughter Phillis and her husband Charles Callos (Carlisle) and their children: Charlie, Elena, Henry, Ed and Salena. Charles Sr. worked on a cotton farm which he owned. Neither he or Phillis could read or write but all of their children were literate.
Ellen was last listed on the 1930 Harris County census living on Addicks-Howell Road, which is near the Fort Bend and Harris County, border. She lived with her widowed daughter-in-law Martha and grandchildren: Henry, Gorum Jr., Mary and Willie.
Ellen’s son Willie Wallace and wife Clara Como were recorded on the 1900 St. Mary Parish census. Willie worked as a farm laborer and could read, but not write–his wife could do both. Willie and family were again listed on the 1910 St. Mary Parish census. In their household were Willie, 21 and James Wallace, 19.
Ellen’s son Harry Wallace and wife Nora (Elnora Redicks) were living in Houston for the 1920 census. They lived 1100 Dennis Street in Third Ward. Harry worked as laborer for a contractor and Nora as a laundress. Living with them was Ellen’s son forty-year-old son Elliot whose marital status was recorded as married. He also worked as a laborer for a contractor.
The last recorded sentence in Ellen’s narrative was, “Law, times ain’t like dey was in slave days. All my ten chillen is dead and my old man gone, and now I reckon my time ’bout ‘rive. All I got to do now am pray de Lawd to keep me straight, den when de great day come, I can march de road to glory.” Ellen died in 1939 and was buried in Paradise North Cemetery.
My Maryland-Louisiana Roots 