names of families that owned slaves in texas

Theirs was apparently a favored position, at least in this regard. This company was created to assist African American soldiers of the Civil War and freed slaves. In general, Texas slaves continued to work and live as they had before the war. 2021 Texas Standard. WebThe U.S. census tracked the growth that followed, reporting 207 enslaved people in 1850 who made up 8% of the countys population and 1,074 enslaved people owned by 228 For a time, many enslaved ran away to Texas. Dirt floors were common, and beds attached to the walls were the only standard furnishings. Free persons of African descent were required to petition the. Settlements grew and developed more land under cultivation in cotton and other commodities. Once established as an economic institution, slavery became a key social institution as well. Religion and music were also key elements of slave culture. Thus, slavery was not the immediate cause of the revolution, but the institution was always there as an issue, and the revolution made it more secure than ever in Texas. , and his wife Amy, are descendants of slave owners. The news organization used documents from, to confirm the connection. In comparison, good Texas cotton land could be bought for as little as six dollars an acre. John Burneside of Ascension, Louisiana: 753 slaves; Saint James: 187 slaves. Through wills and census reports found during family research, I have discovered a couple sets of ancestors who owned slaves. The customs officers offered the enslaved people for auction, and Bowie would buy them back. The number of enslaved people in the state increased dramatically as the Union Army occupied parts of Arkansas and Louisiana. The news organization used documents from Ancestry.com to confirm the connection. Congress shall not have the power to emancipate enslaved people. Between 1816 and 1821, Louis-Michel Aury and Jean Lafitte smuggled enslaved people into the United States through Galveston Island. Planters had hundreds of enslaved people arrested and questioned forcefully. 0 P.O. Every penny counts! [24], Forty percent of Texas enslaved people lived on plantations along the Gulf Coast and in the East Texas river valleys, where they cultivated cotton, corn, and some sugar. [11], In 1829, Mexico abolished slavery, but it granted an exception until 1830 to Texas. [45][i][ii][iii], Texas seceded from the United States in 1861 and joined the Confederate States of America on the eve of the American Civil War. They fought bitterly against the disruption of their families by sale or migration and at times virtually forced masters to respect family ties. Although slave marriages and families had no legal protections, the majority of slaves were reared and lived day to day in a family setting. The first census in Austin's colony in 1825 showed 443 slaves in a total population of 1,800. Slavery spread over the eastern two-fifths of Texas by 1860 but flourished most vigorously along the rivers that provided rich soil and relatively inexpensive transportation. By Laura RiceJuly 17, 20191:49 pmArts & Culture, History, Race & Identity. [14][15], In 1821 at the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence, Texas was included in the new nation. A survey of Texas in 1834 found that the department of Bexar, which was mostly made up of Tejanos, had exported no goods. The use of slavery expanded in the mid-nineteenth century as White American settlers, primarily from the Southeastern United States, crossed the Sabine River and brought enslaved people with them. Family ties were a source of strength for people enduring bondage and a mark of their humanity, too. The Comanche indiscriminately killed enslaved people and their white owners during raids. They had no legally prescribed way to gain freedom. A group of enslaved people killed the sheriff of Gonzales when he attempted to stop their going to Matamoros. 42 (June, 1948): 510, 511-12. [11] Under Austin's development scheme, each settler was allowed to purchase an additional 50 acres (20ha) of land for each enslaved person he brought to the territory. Such documents include censuses, marriage records, and medical records. He and his wife Mary moved there themselves and he died Update 12/7/2016(CLM): I have found various references of military rank from Captain to Brigadier General. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law. Some slaveowners did not free their enslaved people until late in 1865. The census for 1840 in Henderson County included 4,662 whites, 466 slaves, 35 free blacks. Was Section 1325 Of The US Immigration Code Sponsored By A Segregationist Lawmaker? Length of residence (in state, in county, in precinct), General Remarks--race is noted when the registrant was "colored". Dennis. Freedmen Towns [11] In 1809, the Commandant General of the Interior Provinces, Nemesio Salcedo, ordered the Texas-Louisiana border to be closed to everyone, regardless of ethnic background. [33] Enslaved people were not held between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. This entry belongs to the following Handbook Special Projects: We are a community-supported, non-profit organization and we humbly ask for your support because the careful and accurate recording of our history has never been more important. Samuel King 3 7. Sizable numbers, however, came through the domestic slave trade. The average price of a slave, regardless of age, sex, or condition, rose from approximately $400 in 1850 to nearly $800 by 1860. Abraham Kuykendall 5 5. The disturbances were resolved through a combination of arms and political maneuvering. 5.2 Cemeteries. J. C. Jenkins of Wilkinson, Mississippi: 523 slaves. MP for Horsham in 1808 and Sandwich (18121824). This did not mean that the majority of slaves were content with their status. On the other hand, there was little comfort and no luxury. The census in On the other hand, western parts of Texas were still a frontier during the American Civil War. Africans and the descendants of Africans and Indians were excluded from the class of 'persons' having rights. WebList of the largest American slave owners The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. But Texas was once the site of an illegal racket led by pirates who brought slaves into the state and sold them throughout the United Politically, slaveholders dominated public office holding at all levels. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: a history of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfanchisement. At first, the practice involved primarily Apaches; eventually Comanche children were likewise "adopted" as servants. Geni requires JavaScript! DAR# A105070 1. Slave plantations were concentrated along the low-lying farmlands of East Texas. Only one in every four families in antebellum Texas owned slaves, but these slaveholders, especially the planters who held twenty or more slaves, generally constituted the state's wealthiest class. [49] Throughout the summer, many East Texas newspapers continued to recommend that slaveholders oppose ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, in the hopes that emancipation could be gradually implemented. They could be bought and sold, mortgaged, and hired out. Whites in the area defeated and severely punished them. WebLand Records Names & Surnames Slavery & Servitude Claim Listing Sankofagen Wiki run by Karmella Haynes has a list of Arkansas Plantations and Slave Names listed by county, for counties formed prior to 1865. Some slave hunters illegally traveled to Mexico and captured runaways. The Comanche sold any captured enslaved people to the Cherokee and Creek in Indian Territory, as they were both slaveholding tribes. Berry says McConnells refusal to acknowledge his history was interesting. She says the senators family history may have come to light because of his opposition to legislation related to reparations for descendants of enslaved people. Houston, Texas 77004, African American Genealogical Interest Group Lambert Clayton 1 15. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the older slave states. It could happen in public spaces with town halls and forums, it could happen in our own homes at our dining room tables and have a conversation about what does it mean to be part of this lineage?. After that, he could legally transport the enslaved people and sell them in New Orleans or areas further up the Mississippi River. [22], By the 1800s, most enslaved people in Texas had been brought by slaveholders from the United States. This was 15 percent of the total 2,992 people living in Spanish Texas. Instead, slaves exercised a degree of agency in their lives by maximizing the time available within the system to maintain physical, psychological and spiritual strength. This page has been viewed 87,667 times (5,509 via redirect). By 1840 there were 11,323 enslaved people in Texas. Masters disciplined their slaves to get the labor they wanted, and yet had to avoid many problems of resistance such as running away and feigning illness. O. J. Morgan, Carroll, Louisiana: 500+ slaves. [17] At the same time, however, Mexico offered full citizenship to free blacks, including land ownership and other privileges. Slaves who did not work satisfactorily or otherwise displeased their owners were commonly punished by whipping. Farmers. As in other southern states, however, the enslaved people made Christianity their own and they developed strong religious faith. Before being brought to Texas, enslaved persons signed contracts with their masters by which they technically became free but, in return for their "freedom," agreed that they and their children would, in effect, be indentured to the master for life. A Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Dallas Genealogical Society Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, 2nd Edition). Legally slaves were categorized as chattel (moveable property), but they were men, women and children who clearly despised their condition of servitude. Shortly before 1858 he moved from Mississippi to Texas with his wife, Mary, and five children. Instead, place individual profiles into the category corresponding to the county of Texas where they held enslaved persons. [9] Of these, only 15 were enslaved, 4males and 11females. [12] His nephew, governor of Texas Manuel Mara de Salcedo, interpreted the order as allowing slaveholders from the United States to enter Texas to reclaim runaways. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Almost certainly, however, many came to believe that they would be free if the South lost. Slaves adjusted their behavior to the conditions of servitude in a variety of ways. Madison (1), 236 slaves. WebThe enslavement of African Americans was the curse of early American life, and Texas was no exception. [18] A small number of enslaved were imported illegally from the West Indies or Africa. See also AGRICULTURE, AFRICAN AMERICANS, CIVIL WAR, RECONSTRUCTION, and SLAVE INSURRECTIONS. Other FamilySearch collections not included: More collections are available in the FamilySearch Catalog. Nevertheless, slavery was a curse to Texans, Black and White alike, until 1865 and beyond. Many slave families, however, were disrupted. For the time being, we are using this as the Slavery Plantation umbrella or portal. For a complete list, please see: American slave owners Project Profiles. That year, Mexico made the importation of enslaved people illegal. Blacks, however, could not testify against Whites in court, a prohibition that largely negated their constitutional protection. [43] Later newspaper accounts revealed that most of what was confessed under torture appeared to be false. In part due to the trade in enslaved people, New Orleans was the fourth largest city in the US in 1840 and one of the wealthiest. In short, from 1821 to 1836, the national government in Mexico City and the state government of Coahuila and Texas often threatened to restrict or destroy African American servitude, but always allowed settlers in Texas a loophole or an exemption. [16] That year, the American Stephen F. Austin was granted permission by Mexican authorities to bring Anglo settlers into Texas. Slaves freed in America before the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Slavery in Early Texas. WebLists of Slave owners with names of slaves 781-----Edward, 660 Michael, 735 Adam, Andrew George, 425, 498, 533, 621 Guy, 498 Jack, 729 Lucy, 729 Peter, 533 Sam, 621 Others hated their masters and their situation and rebelled by running away or using violence. On June 19, 1865 word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved African In 1751, after three Frenchmen were found to have settled along the Trinity River to trade with the American Indians, the Spanish arrested and expelled them from the colony. Charles Heyward of Colleton, South Carolina: 491 slaves. Marie Therese Metoyer was born into slavery but died a rich woman. The Neal family owned a plantation in Louisburg, Franklin County, N.C. Family members who went west all trafficked enslaved people with them and had the cash to buy good farm land. For example, it subjected them to punishments, such as working on road gangs if convicted of crimes, similar to those of enslaved rather than free men. [34] Unlike in most southern cities, the number of urban enslaved people in Texas grew throughout the 1850s. By 1865 there were an estimated 250,000enslaved people in Texas. Slave houses were usually small log cabins with fireplaces for cooking. Copies of death certificates were sometimes attached to the entries. [23] By 1836, there were approximately 5,000 enslaved people in Texas. WebAn 1857 notice advertised the sale of two likely negroesa man named Strut and a woman named Rachel to be held at the courthouse door in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas, to settle an estate. 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. Slaves in general did not lash out constantly against all the limits placed on them that would have brought intolerable punishment but they did not surrender totally to the system, either. hb```f`` a B,@Q 2;8V31o``89N[5Qly$%Np s6,?d4/(qMT%GY &@J@LF!b.n;30g@, g`fgdE:%D,,,?Tgnvcz.8USc`~XL8;0hT]"t AMJ- Gleaning Information about Enslaved Ancestors from Probate Files NGS Magazine 48 #2 (April-June 2022): 2327. These records often include full names, former masters and plantations, and current residences. Online collections of Freedman's Bank records: The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was created by the US government in 1865 until 1872 to assist former slaves in the southern United States. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. In 1860 there were 3,017 slaves in Marion county 1,406 males, 1,611 females. The number Austin County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 0, 1) B. Bandera They therefore followed a basic human instinct and sought to survive on the best terms possible. A. Anderson County, Texas, Slave Owners. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The slave population of Texas from 1850 to 1860 increased from 58,161 to 182,566, bringing the slave population from 27 percent to 30 percent of the state total. [52] By the late 19th century, Texas passed other Jim Crow laws. Slaveholders in those areas often moved their enslaved to Texas to avoid having them freed. endstream endobj startxref Yet, they did not live every day in helpless rage. The whites, however, could hope to improve their lives with their own hard work, while the enslaved people could have no such hope or expectation as, of course, their work belonged by law to their owners and not to them. [17] Most of the settlers Austin recruited came from the southern slave-owning portions of the United States. Web1800 Slave Owners 1. Schedule No. (F. Lewis/Archive Photos via Getty Images) W hen Americans think of the slave trade, they usually imagine ships pulling into East Coast harbors not Texan ones. [11] To encourage citizens to report unlawful activity, most southern states allowed anyone who informed on a slave trader to receive half of what the imported enslaved people would earn at auction. WebTruly giant slaveholders such as Robert and D. G. Mills, who owned more than 300 slaves in 1860 (the largest holding in Texas), had plantations in this area, and the population [29], The following year all those who had been living in Texas at the time of independence were allowed to remain. Basically if we did that then wed have to rewrite American history because most public officers particularly, our first president, George Washington, owned enslaved people, Berry says. Email: info@aamdallas.org However, the north central region held much excellent cotton land, and slavery would probably have developed rapidly there once rail transportation was built. Sugar plantations. Texas was the last frontier of chattel slavery in the United States.