William Green was the husband of my great-great-grand-aunt Charity Gibson. Charity was the daughter of my third great-grandfather Robert ‘Bob’ Gibson. Robert ‘Bob’ and his mother Amie were purchased by John Palfrey from Relf and Chew in New Orleans on March 13, 1811. William’s married daughter Ellen Betts was interviewed by the WPA as a part of the Texas Slave Narratives.
William was born about 1810 in South Carolina. His oldest child for whom I have documentation was Sidney Green, who was born in 1842. William and Charity Green had eleven children: Sidney, Sarah, Ellen, Washington, Alice, Permilla, Mary, Cornelius, Nettie, Elliott and Henry.
Information about William was written in William Taylor Palfrey’s plantation journal. Palfrey wrote about William ‘Bill’ Green running away on Dec. 1, 1849 and returning on his own accord. Bill was referenced by his full name, Bill Green. Why Bill ran was not recorded in the journal, but when I read about this, I thought that it perhaps provided a clue to Bill’s personality. I recently found a Freedmen’s Bureau complaint that provided more information on William. Wm Hughes filed a complaint that Bill was in violation of his contract to work at the Burris Plantation, Bayou Boeuf Station.
Hughes wrote, “I have a Freedman here that will not do what I tell him, he says he will work when he pleases and quit when he pleases. I want you if you please to take him off this place or let me know if I can have him removed by a civil officer. He goes off when he pleases attending to other people’s business instead of helping the other hands to get the grass out of the cotton.”
Freedmen’s Bureau, Franklin, Court Roll #77, page 23B, image #96, August 4, 1866
William’s name appeared again in Freedmen’s Bureau records. William, Daniel Fisher and Isaac Sutton as heads of households filed a request for assistance on May 16, 1867. Their application read:
…4 men, 3 women, 3 children of Brashear City; County of St Mary, and State of Louisiana do solemnly declare, and upon our word of honor, certity, I (or we) are in absolute in need of food, “to prevent starvation and extreme want,” rendered so by the circumstances: having been driven from our homes, by the high water and lost all of crops.
Freedmen’s Bureau, Record of Field Offices, Roll M1905, 078
The application was received by Sgt. J.W. Keller. Fifty pounds of pork and 289 pounds of corn meal was approved for distribution by the Joint Resolution of Congress, approved March 30, 1867. The ration was issued to cover a 20-day period. A note at the bottom of the page indicated that a legal bushel of corn was fifty-six pounds.
After returning from his service in the Louisiana State Senate, William T Palfrey wrote in his plantation journal on April 27, 1867,
“the water from the Mississippi has reached an alarming height. It is now about 4 inches only below the mark of 1865 and 14 inches below the 1828.” He wrote that the water rose 1 3/4 inches the next day, followed by 2 inches on the next 2 successive days and 4 inches on the fourth day. Palfrey continued to note the rising waters and wrote about a neighbor leaving the land “as fast as they can.” He then prayed that, “God give them a safe deliverance.” He continued writing, “I look upon this flood of water as nothing compared to the political flood of fanaticism & anarchy, now sweeping out & desolating the land.”
The New York Times ran a story on April 4, 1867 about the March 28, New Orleans floods, the failing levees and the loss of people and land. The Times also compared the decaying levee system to the changing times and the change in relations between land-owners and previous enslaved workers of the land.
I began my genealogy research in 2000 at a time when very little content was available digitally or online. Microfilm and microfiche readers were the staple tool for viewing birth, death, immigration, probate and deed records. As genealogy research has become more widespread, so has the access to and transcription of important records. Freedmen Bureau letters, complaints and work contracts once available only as images that you had to scroll through to find names and places of interest are now widely accessible on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org via keyword searches.
People and organizations have been very busy providing information to help unlock the ancestral roots of once enslaved Black peoples. I recently attended a panel discussion at Prairie View A&M University’s Ruth J Simmons, Center for Race and Justice. Rice University Professor Domingues gave a presentation on the SlaveVoyages.org database. A database that has been around for quite a while that was available initially via CD-ROM access only but is now a robust digital tool. SlaveVoyages ‘explores the origins and forced relocations of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic world.’
Today, I stumbled upon a true treasure-chest–the ‘Lost Friends’ database. Included in this database are over 2,500 letters or ads in which Black families separated by slavery or separated after emancipation attempted to locate family members. The ads ran in the New Orleans Southwestern Christian Advocate newspaper November 1879 – December 1900. Content was provided by Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University Libraries (1879–1896) and the Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University.
I have already found ads for families that lived in Jeanerette and Franklin, Louisiana as well as those in Double Bayou, Matagorda and Bremond, Texas.
It is hard to keep my focus when such great research tools keep popping up. You can search by lastname, year or location. I have found that wide searches on parish names or county names is not as successful as searching specifically by city names. So a search for Jeanerette may produce records while a search on Iberia Parish, may not.
So, check out ‘Lost Friends’ and see what you can uncover.
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.
Bridget Guy and her union with the mysteriously invisible Robert aka ‘Little Bob’ Jenkins
He was referenced as ‘Little Bob’ because there was an older man on the Weeks’s plantation named Bob. I haven’t found any description of Bob to otherwise explain the diminutive.
In fact, I have not found Robert Jenkins alive on any census. He was listed on David Weeks’ 1835 probate as Bob, twenty years old. On the following line was Hannah, 18, wife of Bob. Twelve-year-old Bridget was included in that same probate.
A thirty-one year old Bob was listed in the partition of slaves allotted to Alfred Weeks in the 1846 finalization of David Week’s probate. Included in that partition is Bridget 23, and children Nancy, 7; Emily, 4; and Isaac, 1.
Hannah, previously listed as Bob’s nineteen-year-old wife may be the Hannah in the allotment given to William F Weeks. That Hannah is 29 and has a 6-month-old child named Nimrod.
Was thirty-one-year-old Bob, Robert Jenkins? I have not found any solid proof that he was. Alfred Weeks left with his slaves in 1862 for Texas during the Civil War. His journal listed the names of slaves that went with him. That journal listing pretty closely reflected names on the 1846 partition: Isaac, Spencer, Sheppard, Johnson, Bob, Somerset, Nancy and Violet to name a few. But missing from that list taken to Texas was Bridget. New names to Alfred Weeks’ partition were Stephen and Lewis. I theorize that Stephen and Lewis are Bridget’s sons.
Alfred Weeks died in in 1864. Most of the slaves that he brought to Texas were accounted for and back in Iberia Parish for the 1870 census. I found Bridget’s son Isaac living in Fort Bend County, Texas in 1870 and after when the others returned to Texas.
In 1870, I found Louis Jenkins on Iberia Parish census where I expected him. I also found a Stephen Hanking who I theorized was Stephen Jenkins. Bridget’s daughter Nancy was listed on the 1870 St Martin Parish Census with husband Martin Joseph. I have been unable to find with Emily with any certainty after she was listed on the 1846 probate. But I did not Bridget or Robert Jenkins. So, where was Bridget if she did not go to Texas with Alfred Weeks? And why wasn’t she in Iberia Parish in 1870 with Louis and Stephen?
I first found Bridget and daughters Dora and Caroline and their children on the 1880 Iberia Parish census in Patoutville, LA. I had scoured the Iberia and neighboring St Mary and St Martin Parishes for Bridget and children in 1870 but had been unable to find them. I knew that Bridget was also the mother of Louis and Stephen Jenkins. Their death certificates listed Robert Jenkins as their father and Bridget as their mother. Although in Stephen Jenkins’ case, someone started writing Bridget and then crossed it out.
I widened my search for Bridget, Dora, Caroline and Henry. I looked for a Bridget anywhere in Louisiana with a child name Dora and then a Bridget in Louisiana with a child named Caroline. And then I found a Bridget that had children with all the correct names, even though their ages did not quite match. I found Bridget on the 1870 St Charles Parish census in Boutte Station. In the household was Gabriel Thomas. Thomas was the last name for everyone in the household. Could there be another different Black woman named Bridget with children with the same names, Dora, Caroline and Henry? I am not a numbers person, so I am betting that the Bridget in St Charles Parish in 1870 is my Bridget.
Was Bridget in Iberia Parish when Bob returned? Did she and Robert Gibson head for New Orleans and he died along the way. Did Bridget meet Gabriel Thomas along the way? Who was Gabriel Thomas? And why was Bridget with him in 1870? Perhaps she followed the Union troops as they marched through Iberia and St Mary Parish and ended up in Boutte Station! But if she left in 1862, would she still be away from home in 1870?
Bridget’s youngest child Henry is the Guy/Jenkins branch from which I belong. In 1870, Henry’s age is listed as 2, but on later censuses his birth year is given as 1860 or 1862.
Until I find out something to the contrary, I am sticking with this telling of Bridget’s story! Bridget was in St Charles Parish at the time of the 1870 US census for some reason that I have yet to discover.
Bridget was born about 1821. I last found her on the 1900 Iberia Parish census, where she was recorded twice. The family owned a piece of property in Patoutville on the corner of Patoutville Road and Patout Road. Saint Matthew Baptist Church once stood on this property. The church has since burned down, but the cemetery is still is use. Bridget is most likely buried there.
Henry Jenkins, Where Was He in 1880 & How Many Wives Did He Have?
By 1880 when I find Bridget and daughters in Iberia Parish, Henry is not with them. I did a broad search for him and have not found him listed 1880 census anywhere.
Where was Henry Jenkins in 1880? Additionally, where were his 2 oldest sons Simon Felix and Oliver Jenkins as both were born about 1876 and 1878? Where was the woman reported to have been their mother Elsie Edwards? Where were her parents Handy aka Henry Edwards and wife Versy aka Octavia? And were Elsie’s siblings Lyman, Octavia and Florestine?
The Edwards family had been listed on the 1870 Iberia Parish census, and then totally missing on the 1880 census, only to be partially listed on the 1900 Iberia Parish census. The 1870 Edwards household included Handy 48, Versy 39, Octavia 18, Alcee 14, Florestin 9, Lyman 5, Cornelius 3, Elizabeth 4/12. Handy and Versy’s birthplace was recorded as Arkansas. All of the children were born in Louisiana. Fourteen-year-old Alcee was Elsie Edwards.
Nancy Jenkins was born about 1841 at Weeks Island, Iberia Parish. She was the first child born to Bridget and Robert Jenkins. She was listed on the 1846 final probate of David Weeks along with Emily and Isaac.
I next found Nancy on the 1870 US census living in St Martin Parish with husband Martin Joseph and children Vina 9 and Lloyd 5. Recorded on the same page with them is the manager of one of the Weeks’ family plantation, William Lourd as well as other newly freed Weeks slaves: Rachel Davis and family, Lewis Butler and family and Katy Butler.
By 1880, Nancy and Martin Joseph were living in Iberia Parish with children: William 7, Martin Jr. 5, Briddy (Bridget) 3 and 7-month-old King. They wer now surrounded by Nancy’s family members: aunt Amanda Guy and husband Jacob Williamson; first cousin Cina (Sinah Seaberry) and husband Phillip Joseph; second cousin Abraham Guy and family; second cousin Louisa Guy; uncle Louis Jenkins; and first cousin Mary Ann Seaberry and husband Isaac Rose.
By 1900, Nancy and Martin were living in a home that they owned with sons King and Jefferson. According to census data, Nancy and Martin had been married for twenty-nine years and neither could read or write. Nancy was reported to have given birth to fifteen children of which 9 were still living. Recorded in neighboring houses was daughter Bridget, husband Henry Anderson and their 3 sons; Julius, Houston and Henry; and son Martin Joseph Jr and wife Sindy.
Nancy and Martin were counted on the 1910-1920 census living near family or as extended family units. Nancy died May 9, 1921 at the age of 76. Her death certificate listed her place of birth as Weeks Island.
Nancy’s son Martin Joseph, Jr. and second wife Carrie Antoine were listed on the 1920 Iberia Parish census living on Henkle Street with children: King, Oliver, Clifford, Stephen, Leola and Neoma in a home that they owned. The family grew to include children: Frances, Lloyd, Leothel and Ning.
Nancy’s son Jefferson Joseph and wife Rose Coleman were listed on the 1910 and 1920 census with children: Sylvinia, Hilda, Warren, Flossie, Sarah and Jefferson Jr. He registered for the WWI draft and was described as medium height and weight. Jefferson had died by the time of the 1930 census, because his wife Rose is recorded as a forty-year-old widow living with children and grandchildren. Rose was employed as a washerwoman for a private family. Her 4 oldest children were all employed by a private family as cooks or as a yard boy or a house-girl.
Nancy’s son King Joseph married Jessie Miller in 1908. I could not find King on the 1910 census but did find him on the 1920 census living on Henkle Street in a home that he owned free of any mortgate. In his household were 2 children that were listed as orphans. One child was Helen Joseph whom he raised as his daughter. King’s occupation varied from saw mill laborer to gardener for a private family. He died in Dec. 29, 1950.
Emily Jenkins
The second child born to Bridget and Robert was Emily. I know the least about her. She was born about 1842 and I have not been able to find her on any census listings. I did find a marriage of an Emily Jenkins to Paul Davis in April 1895. The wedding was officiated by J.A. Rushaw at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Patoutville. I can’t confirm that this was Bridget’s daughter. I found Paul Davis on the 1900 Iberia Parish census, but he was recorded as a widower.
Isaac Jenkins
Isaac Jenkins was the third child of Bridget Guy and Robert Jenkins. He was born about 1845 In St Mary Parish. He was listed on David Weeks’ 1846 succession inventory and was in the partition provided to Alfred Weeks, son of David Weeks and Mary Clara Conrad. One year-old Isaac was listed with his mother Bridget, 23; and sisters Nancy, 7; and Emily, 4.
The next documentation of Isaac is in Alfred Weeks’ journal of slaves that he took with him to Texas in 1862 as the Civil War came to southern Louisiana. Included on the list of slaves with Isaac were Stephen and Lewis, his younger brothers. The list recorded only the first names of each slave.
I found Louis, Stephen, Emily and Nancy all in Iberia Parish, living in are near Patoutville in 1870, 1880 or 1900. I searched the 1870 census and found twenty-three-year-old Isaac Jenkins living in Fort Bend County, Texas. He was recorded on page 531A and described as working on shares. On page 531B was David Joe and wife Rachel as well as Orange, Hetta and Eliza Weeks. David, Orange, Hetta and Eliza had been listed in the 1846 probate allotment of Harriet Weeks, sister of Alfred Weeks.
Isaac Jenkins paid a state poll tax of $1 and a county poll tax of $.50 in 1867 and 1868 which means he registered to vote. He married Sylvia Williams on Jan. 31, 1871 in nearby Harris County. Per the 1879 Fort Bend Tax schedule, Isaac owned: 2 carts, wagons or buggies worth $45; 2 horses or mules valued at $30; and 4 cattle, valued at $20; and 6 hogs. His estimated property valuation was $116. I last found Isaac on the 1910 Fort Bend census. I have not yet found a death certificate for him.
Isaac’s children with Sylvia were:
George Jenkins Sept 7, 1874-1935 TX; and Roberta Carpenter
Josephine Jenkins born 1877 and wife of Jesse Peters
Emily ‘Emma’ Jenkins and James Lemons
Andrew Jenkins born 1871, last found on the 1900 Harris County, TX census
Dora Jenkins
Dora was born about 1854 and was the 7th child of the family. I found Dora Jenkins, husband Richard Robertson and 9-month-old son George on the 1880 Iberia Parish census. In neighboring houses were her sister Caroline Jenkins and family and their mother Bridget (Brigit) Jenkins. Dora had most likely died around 1890 because the 1900 Iberia Parish census data indicated that Richard Robertson had been married 4 years to wife Alice. The 2 youngest children in the household were Sealy (Celia) born 1889 and Ernest, 2, born 1897. Other children listed in Richard’s 1900 household were: Isaac, Stephen and Alex.
Dora Jenkins & Richard Robertson Descendants
George Robertson 1879-1951 Iberia Parish, LA & Odelia Alexander
Isaac Robertson born 5/25/1880
Stephen Robertson b 1882-1949 Iberia Parish, LA & Gertrude Frelow
Alexander Robertson 1885 LA-1952 Detroit, Michigan & Alzina Alexander 1888 LA – 1971 Michigan ->Anna May Robertson born 1914 ->Lee Alma Robertson 1915-2000 ->Aexander Robertson Jr b1916 ->Oscar George Robertson 1918-1997 ->Myle Robertson b1920
Celia Robertson 1889-1941 & Cornelius Hector
Caroline Jenkins
Caroline was born about 1851, the 5th child, to Bridget and Robert. Caroline Jenkins, husband George Epps, 1-month-old daughter Mary Epps were listed on the 1880 Iberia Parish census. Also in Caroline’s household was 5-year-old daughter Lina Robertson and 3-year-old Mandy Sutton.
Caroline was next listed on the 1900 Iberia Parish census with husband Louis Wingfield and 2 nephews Man Robertson 13 and Sidney Young 15. 2 households away was Bridget Jenkins 70 and Caroline’s daughters: Mary Epps 19 and Martha Epps 15. Caroline’s brother Louis Jenkins lived in the household following Bridget’s. Bridget was recorded as a seventy-year-old widow who had given birth twelve children of which 6 were still living.
The 1910 census recorded a forty-six-year-old widowed Caroline living on Rose Town Road. Her daughter Lena was living next door with her husband John Charles and their children: Willy, Theodore, Phillip, John, Caroline and Richard. On the same page was Caroline’s daughter Amanda, 31; husband Jonas Murray and son Allen Murray, 12.
Caroline and daughter Lena Sutton Charles and family were still living next door to one another for the 1920 through the 1940 census. Caroline was now recorded as Carolina Hopes as she was the widow of Riley Hopes. Her daughter Amanda Murray, son-in-law Jonas and granddaughter Gracie were enumerated on the same page.
I last found Caroline’s daughter Mary Epps listed on the 1910 Iberia Parish census with her husband Joseph Brown and son Oliver. I could not find Mary after the 1910 census, but I did find Joe Brown and family on the 1920 census. Most likely Mary had died. In the household with Caroline Hopes is a young boy named Oliver Hines or Hinds. He is recorded as an orphan, but not as Caroline’s grandson. I was not able to find Martha Epps after the 1910 census, but I did find a 1951 death record for her that listed her last name as Smith.
Caroline died April 21, 1949 and was buried in Jerusalem Cemetery.
Louis Jenkins and Mary Toliver
Louis Jenkins was 6th child born to Bridget Guy and Robert Jenkins. He and Mary Toliver had the following children: Robert, Northern, Prophet, Roselia, Campbell, Clinton, Aurelia, Horace and Ezekil. Louis Jenkins and great nephew Abraham Guy were trustees of First Jerusalem Baptist Church in 1902.
Louis was last found on the 1930 Harris County census living at 2411 McKinney Street in Houston with his son Robert and Robert’s wife Sophie. Also recorded in the household was Louis’ son Horace Jenkins who was listed as a single man who worked as a cook at a country club. Robert Jenkins‘ occupation was proprietor of a barber shop.
Louis Jenkins died Aug. 5, 1931 in Houston at the age of seventy-nine. His death certificate recorded his parents as Robert Jenkins and Bridget. Louis was buried in Jeanerette, Louisiana.
Robert Jenkins was last recorded on the 1940 census. He owned a barber shop at 2411 McKinney. His wife Sophia’s occupation was recorded as caterer. Robert died at the age of 65 in 1943 and was buried back in his hometown of Jeanerette, Louisiana. Sophia survived Robert and died in 1958 in Houston. Robert’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Geneva, died of cholera while a student at Wiley College.
Horace Jenkins, wife Leola and niece Ernestine all worked at his cafe. Horace lived at 2407 McKinney. He died April 24, 1957 and was buried in Paradise Cemetery. His death certificate details that he lived at 1117 Sampson Street and was proprietor of a rooming house.
Ezekil Lawrence Jenkins lived in Chicago with wife Aurelia Alexander. He worked as a cab driver and lived at 526 Browning Ave. in 1930. He registered for the WWII draft at the age of 47 and was described as 5′ 9″ with gray hair. Per the draft registration form, he worked for Lakeview Dairy. Ezekil and Aurelia were still living in Chicago in 1950. Ezekil died 1960 in Lafayette, Louisiana. I don’t know that Ezekil had any children.
Northern and Prophet Jenkins were both counted on the 1910 Omaha, Nebraska census. Prophet’s occupation was listed as barber. I found Chicago Defender newspaper articles that highlighted Prophet’s rise in the Omaha police ranks from patrolman to become the first Black detective in Nebraska.
Prophet registered for the WWII draft. He was described as 5′ 11′ with gray hair. He and Amanda had 2 daughters; Leola and Verdia. He and wife Amanda (nee Johnson) were last recorded on the 1950 census when he was described as a sixty-six-year-old retired policeman. Prophet died May, 1956 and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Northern Jenkins registered for the WWI draft in Omaha. Mrs. Ella Jenkins was listed as his nearest relative and his employer was Porter Bros. I found an obituary in the Chicago Defender for Northern. Northern died Oct. 23, 1935 and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Clinton Jenkins seemed to have always been on the move. I found a marriage record for 1907 between Clinton Jenkins and Pearl McDay in Iberia Parish but was unable to find the 2 on any census record. I did find a man named Clint Jenkins living in Dallas, TX at the time of the 1920 census. He was employed as a yardman by Leslie Waggoner and lived at Putnam Ave. Clinton married Susie Quick in 1923 in Vancouver, Washington. Per the 1930 census, Clinton and Susie were living in San Diego, CA. He died Nov. 10, 1939 and was buried in Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery. He served in the US Navy Reserve and received an honorable discharge in 1921.
Louis’s daughter Aurelia Jenkins married Louis Conway. Aurelia, Louis and 2 daughters: Mary and Maud were counted on the 1910 Iberia Parish census in her father’s home. I believe that Aurelia and daughters may have died of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic. I did not find a death record for her, but I found her husband Louis Conway and daughters Scelestine and Thelma on the 1920 Dallas, Texas census. Aurelia’s son Joseph Eugene Conway was recorded in the household of his grandfather Louis Jenkins for the 1920.
Aurelia’s children Scelestine, Thelma and Joseph were listed on the 1930 US census with their father in Amarillo, Texas. By 1940, Scelestine was married and living in Amarillo with her husband and children. Scelestine and family later moved to San Francisco. I found several inspirational articles written about Scelestine and family regarding their commitment to community and civic organizations. I even found a photo of Scelestine manning a phone bank during the campaign of presidential candidate Barak Obama as well as a news article in celebration of her 100th birthday!!
Louis’s son Campbell Jenkins and Cecilia Johnson had sons; Louis, Albert and Joseph and 3 daughters; Ernestine, Mary and Aurelia. Campbell died Sept. 23, 1950 in Jeanerette, LA.
Campbell’s son Louis Jenkins served in the military during WWII–he enlisted on May 11, 1942 and was discharged June 25, 1945. Louis owned a home on Akers Street. He died August 1975 in Jeanerette, LA.
Campbell’s daughter Ernestine was recorded on the 1940 Houston, Harris County, TX census in the home of her uncle Horace Jenkins with his wife Leola. Horace’s occupation was cafe owner/waiter. Ernestine died 1986 in Houston.
Campbell’s son Albert Jenkins registered for the WWII draft while in Orange, Texas. He is described as 6′ tall, with high cheekbones and slightly bald. I’ve seen many military registrations and have never seen another that mentioned anything like high cheek bones! Albert’s nearest relative was wife, Charlotte. He worked at the Texas Creosoting Company. Albert was counted on the 1950 US census living in Orange, Texas were he was employed as a railroad section hand. Albert died 1952 in Tyler, Texas of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Stephen Jenkins & Mary Jane Logan
Stephen Jenkins purchased 27 1/2 arpents of land designated as Isle Piquant from Mary McGuire in 1878. His land was bounded by that of Appoline Patout, Lassoline Bonin, Mrs. Derneville Minguez and Joseph Gary.
Stephen Jenkins and Mary Jane Logan had the following children: Mary Jane, Lizzie, Reverta, Stephen Jr, Prince, Miles, Dora and Laura.
Stephen died June 1924 at the age of 61 from acute dysentary. He was buried in Patoutville.
Stephen’s children were:
Mary Jane Jenkins & Stewart Wagner
Reverta Jenkins & Phillip Wagner
Lizzie Jenkins born 1881
Stephen Jenkins Jr. & Carrie Sophus
Prince Jenkins, lived in South Dakota in 1905 and registered for WWI in Minnesota
Mima or Mimy was the mother of Sally Riggs, my fourth great grandmother; the grandmother of Ambrose Morgan, my third great grandfather; the great grandmother of Martha Morgan, my second great grandmother; and my mother’s great great-grandmother.
Mima or Mimy as she was most often called was born about 1796. She was recorded on the March 9, 1811 slave purchase by John Palfrey with husband Sam and daughters Anna and Sally. A young girl named Maria was included in that sale and identified as Mima’s niece. Maria was most likely among the slaves returned to Relf & Chew in 1816 when Palfrey experienced financial problems. I have often wondered how Maria came to be separated from her parents. I sometimes think about how she and Mima may have felt when they are sold away but purchased together in 1811. Maria was then separated again in 1816 from what family she had and sold again. I have not been able to trace Maria in her next journey to Isaac Baldwin’s plantation.
I wonder what thoughts filled Mima’s mind about the family she may have left behind and of Maria? Mima apparently did not have long to think on these things because she was mentioned in John Palfrey’s Nov. 4, 1812 letter to his son Henry. Palfrey wrote that “Attakapas has been uncommonly sickly … my people have generally good health… Mimy had a child three weeks since, a girl.”
Mima’s birth of a daughter was mentioned in Pafrey’s letter. Although he does not provide the child’s name in the letter, there was only one female born in 1812 that was listed on Palfrey’s 1843 probate. A thirty-one-year-old Betsy was listed along with her five-year-old son, Ralph. Betsy and Ralph were among the slaves in the allotment given to Palfrey’s son John Gorham who lived in Boston. Betsy and Ralph were supposedly freed and shipped to Boston. I have found other slaves that were also freed by John Gorham Palfrey living in Boston and in New York in 1850, 1860 and beyond, but I can not say definitively that I’ve found Betsy and Ralph yet.
Mima or Mimy was next mentioned in his letter of June 12, 1833. He wrote that she was “taken unwell about day light, she at that time had considerable fever with pain about her back, shoulders & stomach. Dr. Thomas is with her & thinks it to be a case of rheumatic fever & does not consider her dangerous, the last alarm now affects me very much.”
Mima’s condition does not seemed to have improved much at the time of Palfrey’s June 19, 1833 letter. By January 18, 1834, Sam and Mima both were on the sick list. Palfrey mentioned that the severe cold weather may been the cause for what he suspected were rheumatic symptoms.
Mima was again on the sick list at the time of Aimy’s death on April 14, 1839, but she was reportedly doing better.
Palfrey’s will is probated Nov. 1, 1843 and Mima’s name was not included. But her 65-year-old husband Sam, 27-year-old son Sam, daughters; 37-year-old daughter Sally, 36-year-old Anna and 31-year-old Betsy were listed on the probate.
Mima’s daughter Anna and grandchildren: Moses, 9; Charley, 6; Caroline, 4; and William, 2 were among those slaves that were emancipated by John Gorham Palfrey. Anna was reported to have been in bad health at the time. I have been able to find her children living in Rochester, New York and Ontario County, NY in the 1850s-1860s and later living in Michigan with the last name of Woodlin. I have not been able to determine if Anna was also shipped East or if she stayed in Louisiana.
Sally Riggs was my fourth great grandmother; the grandmother of Ambrose Morgan, my third great grandfather; the great grandmother of Martha Morgan, my second great grandmother; and my mother’s great great-grandmother.
She was named on the March 11, 1811 Relf & Chew sale of slaves, but her age was not given. Sally was the daughter of Sam and Mima (Mimy) and the sister of Anna.
Our next glimpse at Sally was Palfrey’s 1843 probate. She was recorded as being 37 years old, with three children Mimy, 6 years old; Haley, 3 years old; and Phoebe, 1 years old. Sally’s oldest daughter was named for her mother. The probate seems to be arranged in a sequential, family group order. The person listed immediately before Sally and children was Jim, age 36. And the names following Sally were Jack, age 16; George, age 13; and Ambrose, age 11. Ambrose Morgan appeared in the household with his father, Jim Morgan, on the 1880 census. So, I theorized that Jack and George were also children of Jim and Sally. I have not found Jack or George since seeing their names of the 1843 probate.
Sally was next mentioned in Palfrey’s son’s plantation journal. She gave birth to a daughter on July 24, 1849. That child died. According to the plantation journal, Sally ran away on Sept. 21, 1850 and returned the following day.
The journal also recorded that a slave named Anna died on Sept. 5, 1850. I have not been able to find out if this was Sally’s sister Anna, who was reportedly freed by John Gorham Palfrey in 1843. I wondered if perhaps this Anna was Sally’s sister and if her death was the catalyst or the last straw in Sally’s decision to run. I have not found mentions of previous attempts of Sally to run away. But something shifted and Sally ran in 1850.
Sally’s father was freed in 1843 by John Gorham Palfrey. I found him on the 1850 St. Martin census listed as Sam Riggs, 70, in the household of Henry Dorsey. Sam’s death was also recorded in Palfrey’s journal. He wrote, “Negro man Sam (free) died.” April 8, 1862.
Several Civil War skirmishes occurred around Palfrey’s Cypremort plantation. His journal detailed gunner boats traveling up the Teche and cannon balls landing in his cane fields. On Nov. 8, 1863, Palfrey wrote that Union soldiers appeared in his fields and took away 13 men including George and Ambrose, both sons of Sally. He also recorded that troops camped on his plantation, “plundering me & my Negro cabins.” On March 22, 1864, Palfrey wrote that a very large number of Negroes ‘absconded’ from neighboring plantations and followed the Union army. He wrote repeatedly about carts being loaded with foodstuff and driven by Bob, Ambrose, Perry, Willis, Grandison and Jacob to his Cypremort plantation.
Palfrey wrote January 10, 1863 that “the measles had broken out badly among my Negroes in Cypremort.” Sally died April 2, 1864 at the age of fifty-eight. Fifteen days later her 24-year-old daughter Mahaley died in Franklin, LA. Sally’s 21-year-old daughter Phoebe died on the Cypremort plantation on May 27, 1864. Undoubtedly, Sally and others undoubtedly experienced many emotions as they found themselves on the brink of great change while at the same time standing in the midst of chaos, fear and upheaval.
I began my genealogy work in 2000 on Texas slaves and with the exception of one or two instances did I find more than the who begat who type of information.
While on the trail of a man who I thought was my mother-in-law’s great-grandfather, I found an intriguing story. The story included his life on a plantation in Kentucky, about him crossing into Tennessee so that he could join the Union army and serve in the Civil War, about him traveling to Texas and then losing his wife and children in the 1900 Galveston hurricane, about his survival and about his remarriage and life in Houston to a woman with whom he lived for 30 years. But on each census their marital status was recorded as single, divorced and then married, although they were indeed married for the entire time. I obtained his Civil War veteran’s application and read accounts about his life in his own words and in the words of his friends and neighbors who had known him and vouched for him. The final items in his pension application were letters from his daughter appealing to President Franklin Roosevelt for access to her deceased father’s pension. Her letters revealed very much about her life and were deeply moving. I’d found a story so full of detail, pathos and joy. But then I found out that Jacob was not my mother-in-law’s great grandfather. And to me deep sorrow, there was no one from Jacob lineage that survived him with whom I could share what I’d found.
I only recently began to take a deep look into my own Louisiana roots. And I hoped to find something significant along the branches of my own family tree. After looking for 4 years, in 2021, I stumbled across a treasure-trove of information about the lives of my Morgan, Riggs and Gibson ancestors who were slaves on various plantations in St Martin and St Mary Parishes. Interspersed in the letters between John Palfrey father and son about family travels, travails and community gossip, were mentions of Bob, Aimy, Fannie, Mimy, Sam, Jim and other slaves. Words about how they lived, worked, brought forth new life, fought to live and died on the father’s St Martin Ricohoc Plantation. I was often left without words after reading some of the letters and journal entries.
In those letters and journal entries, much was written about the work performed by men. Women were mentioned sometimes in work related tasks or accomplishments. But it was the less tangible things that were written about them that pierced my spirit and spoke volumes about their existence. And so, I want to pull out a few threads about those women; Aimy, Mimy, Sally, Elsey No.2 and Clara. Clara was not a DNA ancestor–her lineage is the Marshall family of St. Mary Parish and Brooklyn, New York. I feel that Clara was something else and I’ll write about her last.
Aimy
Aimy was the mother of Robert aka ‘Bob’ Gibson, my fourth great grandfather; the grandmother of Elsie Gibson, my third great grandmother; the great grandmother of Martha Morgan, my second great grandmother; and my mother’s great great-grandmother.
The first words written about her appear on the March 9, 1811 sale of Relf & Chew to John Palfrey of twenty-one slaves. Aimy, thirty-five and her five children: Tom, Bob, Joe, Ben and Fanny were named. In subsequent letters, John Palfrey returns 8 slaves back to Relf & Chew who in turn sells them to Isaac Baldwin. But seemingly, the family unit of Aimy and her five children stay intact.
The next mention of Aimy comes on June 4, 1833 when she would have been fifty-seven years old. Aimy is mentioned when her only daughter, Fanny, dies. Palfrey’s letter to his son details how Fanny had been somewhat unwell for 2-3 months and was thought to have been suffering from and been treated for cholera. Palfrey writes that the day had been ‘quite warm’ and that it is believed that Fanny who was pregnant may have been more overheated than usual. He wrote that she may have bathed in a clay watering hole in an effort to cool down. Fanny died on a Sunday, “a little before noon, …about twelve hours from her first attack.”
He wrote about Aimy, “Aimy is the picture of woe & a damp appears to be come on the spirits of all…I was afraid that poor old Aimy would lose what little sense she possesses, she came to me shortly after Fanny expired & asked me for a sheet to wrap up her poor baby. With that under her arm she then went & fed the chickens as tho unconscious of what had happened.” He further writes, “I said nothing to her as it was best to let her go on in her own way, she is now much more composed & attends to her usual regimen of work which keeps her mind from being altogether engrossed by her loss, time will I hope alleviate her distress, she sheds tears often which is no doubt is a service to her.”
Aimy’s grief is palpable, even in the words of the letter. She mourns for her lost child, weeps, seeks to care for her burial and then feeds the chickens. No words!
Aimy is next mentioned in Palfrey’s March 17, 1835 letter. He wrote that she had fallen down the corn mill stairs and was injured and was most likely knocked unconscious. Aimy is then bled and confined to bed. Bled! Why! Was she bled to prevent blood clotting problems? In spite of being bled or maybe because she was bled, Aimy survived. Palfrey wrote that she complained of problems with her neck.
Aimy is next written about in Palfrey’s April 14, 1839 letter in which he wrote of his own grief in the loss of his daughter-in-law. He wrote that, “Poor good old Aimy died on the 5th instant (March 5) in less than half an hour after she was attacked, she had been as well as usual for some time past, came down in the morning, attended to her ?? said duties, went to the well brought a bucket of water as far as the kitchen, was led from thence to her cabin & expired in less than 20 minutes, these losses have cast a gloom on all around & everyone seems dispirited.”
Those were the last mentions on Aimy that I’ve been able to find. I just did the math on when Aimy was born–she was born about 1776. Her age was recorded as 35 on the 1811 sale between Relf & Chew and John Palfrey. I can’t move on just yet, I am letting that sink in. Aimy had been doing as well as usual since her fall down the corn mill stairs in 1835 when she would have been fifty-nine. Through the years from 1811 to 1839, she’d been attending to her duties. I don’t know what words were spoken over Aimy upon her passing, but since learning of her, I periodically speak words over her and to her, thanking her for her resolute strength. I am, because of who Aimy was.
Sam and Mima were named in the March 9, 1811 purchase of slaves from Richard Relf and Beverly Chew by John Palfrey that included my Gibson family (Aime, Tom, Bob, Joe, Ben & Caroline) . An image of that sale is included below:
The transcribed text pertaining to Sam and Mima reads thus: one other male Negro slave named Sam aged about thirty years together with one other female slave named Mima aged abut twenty-five years and two slave children of the said Sam and Mima towit: Sally and Anna and slave Maria niece of Mima.
Sally was my 3rd great-grandmother. She and James Morgan were the parents of Ambrose Morgan, my 2nd great-grandfather. This means that Anna was my great-great aunt, making her children: Moses, Charles, William and Caroline and their descendants my distant cousins!!! I traced the Woodlins out of curiosity without knowing that they were DNA kin. And now I’ve found an Ancestry DNA match that includes those names!
Below is the initial information that was uncovered. As an added bonus, when I added these leaves and branches to my family tree, I discovered a DNA match on Ancestry from my newly found Woodlin family!!!
Listed below and highlighted are the children of Anna Riggs, the great grandchildren of Sam and Mima Riggs (my 4th great grandparents), the nieces and nephews of Sallie Riggs Morgan (my 3rd great grandmother).
I am still following the trail of Anna’s children Moses, Charles, Caroline and William, who were freed on the 1843 death of John Palfrey by his son John Gorham Palfrey and shipped to Boston, MA. John Palfrey arranged a welcoming ceremony for the newly freed persons at King’s Chapel. Most of the freed people remained in Boston, but Anna and children were sent to Canandaigua, NY to live with a Quaker family, the Hathaways. Each of Anna’s children went by the last name of Woodlin/Woodland or a variation. I have not yet found out how or why that name was chosen. So far all I have been able to determine is that a number of Black people who lived in Maryland has the same last name. Perhaps that is an indicator of some sort that will be brought to light later in my research.
****************************************************** I found Moses Woodlin on the 1850 census living in Farmington, Ontario County, New York in the household of Isaac Hathaway. Moses’ age was listed as 15 and his birthplace as Louisiana. By 1860, 23-year-old Moses was living in the household of John S Gould and was recorded as a farm laborer who was born in Louisiana.
Moses was listed on the 1865 Union Springs, Cayuga County, NY census as a 30 Black male. I have not been able to find any record of Moses and family until 1900, when they are listed on the 1900 Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio census. The household includes Moses and wife Alice Hawkins as well as sons Frederick G, 18 and Blaine, 15. Moses was a farmer and owned his home. Everyone in the household could read and write. The last record I found for Moses and Alice was a 1903 Toledo, Ohio city directory that indicated they lived on a rural route.
I was not able to find any information on Moses’ son Frederick G Woodlin after the 1900 census.
Moses’ son Henry was born May 1876 in Ohio and was enumerated in Toledo, Ohio on the 1900 census. Henry married Amy Tyler 1901 in Toledo and lived at 208 E. Bancroft. Henry died in 1905. His widow was listed on the 1910 census living in Atlantic City, NJ.
Moses’ son Blaine boarded with John H Klatz a theatrical agent at the time of the 1910 census. He worked as a janitor in the Flat Building. He married Cora Smith in 1914. The 2 were listed on the 1920 Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio census along with her mother and her children. Blaine registered for the draft in both WWI and WWII. He was described as 5′ 4 1/2″. He died June 28, 1951 at the age of 66 and was buried in Ravine Cemetery.
I first found Charles P Woodline on the 1855 Monroe County, NY state census living in Mendon. He was 18 years old and recorded in the household of Daniel Sherwood from Ulster, Ireland. Charles’ birthplace was Louisiana.
He was next listed on the 1880 census in Mendon, Monroe County, NY in the household of his father-in-law Isaac Varnum. Charles was recorded as a 43 year old Black male born in Louisiana with his wife Caroline and children Hannah, 12 and Charles, 1. His infant son, Charles Isaac Woodlin, died at the age of 2, December 18, 1880 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Charles and family moved to Battle Creek, Michigan sometime after 1880, because he died September 12, 1882 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lot 377, RT 9, Battle Creek, Michigan. Charles’ probate listed land valued at $600 in Lot No 9 in the Manchester Addition near Battle Creek, Michigan.
His daughter Hannah married William H Tucker on July 17, 1889 in Calhoun County, Michigan. Hannah and family were listed on the 1910 Calhoun County census, living at 403 Champion Street in a home that they owned. Hannah was recorded to be employed in general office work, William as a deliveryman and 19 year-old daughter Louise as a music teacher. Hannah’s 14 year-old daughter Ethel was attending school. Everyone in the household could read and write.
Caroline Woodlin was shipped east as were her brothers, Amos Marshall and the other freed slaves. I found 10-year-old Caroline listed in the household of English lumber man Ed Hedley on the 1850 Ridgeway, Orleans County, New York. Who knew there was an Orleans County in New York?
She was next found in Rochester, Monroe County, NY on the 1860 state census. Caroline and her 1 year, eighteen-month-old daughter Eliza appeared on the 1865 New York state census in Rochester. Their last name was recorded as Kane. By 1870, Caroline and Eliza Kane were living in Battlecreek, Michigan. Per the 1870 census, they lived in the household of John Nichols a threshing machine manufacturer from New York. Caroline was listed as a domestic servant.
By 1880 Caroline was married to Amos Swanagan of Arkansas and had 2 children Ettie M 6 and Freddie C 3. Amos, Caroline, their 2 children, his children from a prior marriage; Jennie and Bell, as well as Eliza Kane and lived in Battle Creek. Amos worked as a drayman and could not write. Eliza and all of the school-aged children were recorded as attending school. Caroline died March 30, 1881 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lot 512, Rt 7. Her brief obit read: “Called Home: Mrs. Amos Wanigan died of dropsy at her residence on Warren Street, yesterday afternoon, at two o’clock.” Caroline’s daughter Eliza married Rufus Johnson and had 1 child, Muriel. Eliza died December 31, 1925. Her obit read, “Mrs. Eliza Avery Passes–Mrs. Eliza Johnson Avery, 21 Somerset Avenue, passed away at the Calhoun Tuberculosis hospital this morning at 5:15. She was sixty years old and is survived by one daughter, Miss Muriel Johnson, 25 Vineyard Avenue.” Eliza was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Section S, Lot 68, Rt. 5.
Caroline’s son Fred Clinton Swanagan registered for WWI in 1918 while living in Columbus, Ohio. While in Columbus, he worked as a laborer at the Carnegie Steel Company. He married Ethel Clark on June 26, 1920 in Calhoun County, Michigan. Fred later worked as a grinder for Advance Rumely Co and lived at 80 Warren. He died February, 1929 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Lot 512, Rt 1. His services were officiated by Rev. A. J Irvine. ********************************************************
William P Woodlin enlisted in the Pennsylvania Colored Troops on August 26, 1863. His military record described him as 5′ 10″ tall. He served in the USC 8th Infantry, Company G. He mustered out on November 10, 1865. He applied for a military pension July 30, 1888 while living in Michigan. His pension file is on NARA, M589, roll 97. He is included on Plaque A-20 as part of the African American Civil War Memorial.
William was listed on the 1865 New York state census living in Union Springs in Cayuga County, NY. He was recorded as the adopted son of Edna B Thomas, a seventy-one-year-old White woman. He was 23 years old Black male who was born in Louisiana. His employer was the Army.
By 1867, William had moved to Battle Creek, Michigan. William and family were living in the township of Baltimore, Barry County, Michigan in 1870. Included in the 1870 household was 30-year-old William, whose birthplace was recorded as Maryland and wife Julie, 25, born in New York as well as children Alice, 3 and William 1. His real estate was valued at $1000. It is unclear why William’s place of birth was listed as Maryland.
The family was counted on the 1880 Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan census. Included was William, wife Eveline Julia (nee Freeman) and children: Alice M, 13; Willie J, 1; John P, 9; Edward G, 7 and Charles R, 2. The 1880 census was the last record for William’s son Charles R Woodlin.
At the time of the 1900 census, William was 58 years old, widowed and living in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky. His occupation was recorded as a missionary. William could read and write. He was enumerated in the home of a Black physician, Dr. Leonides Webb.
William’s s son Edward died June 25, 1897 in Battle Creek, Michigan at the age of 28. His death record did not indicate his marital status.
William’s son John Paul Woodlin married Lucretia Clark in 1898. An announcement of the marriage appeared in the Daily Chronicle of Washington, Michigan. Lucretia died 1 year after their marriage. John was listed on the 1900 Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan census as a 28-year-old widowed cook, rooming with Louis Devers at 279 St Antoine Street. He died March 18, 1909 of pneumonia in Detroit. Death records indicate that he was unmarried. The informant on his death certificate was Dr. W. J Woodlin.
William’s son, William Jeremiah Woodlin was recorded on the 1900 Ashland, Boyd County, Kentucky census as a 30-year-old physician. His 23- year-old sister Alice May lived with him at 417 Winchester Ave. I have not been able to determine which medical school William attended, but a likely candidate is Louisville National College of Medicine. He married Charlotte Myers 1906 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. I last found William and Charlotte on the 1930 Franklin County, Ohio census. Charlotte died in 1931 and William died February 9, 1932. He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery.
Alice May Woodlin married Daniel L Vaughn September 5, 1900 in Kentucky. Daniel died shortly after their marriage and by 1910 she was a widowed dressmaker living in Columbus, Ohio. Alice died in 1913 and was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery.
Charles and William Woodlin both had the middle initial of ‘P’. Many Blacks born in the 1850s did not have middle names, so I find it interesting that both men were referenced with a middle initial. My overactive, creative side wants to say that the ‘P’ stood for Palfrey as perhaps a reminder of where they came from or to honor the Palfrey who freed them or perhaps as a way to reconnect with the family they left behind in Louisiana. In any case, I will try to find out the name connected to the middle initial ‘P’.
My Maryland-Louisiana Roots 