names of families that owned slaves in texas

Favorable conditions for free blacks continued into the 1830s. Were there slaves in Dallas? Curious Texas investigates Slaves, however, tended to hear the message of individual equality before God and salvation for all. See the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information on how to document slaves and slave owners. African American Museum, Dallas During the late 1850s, prime male field hands aged eighteen to thirty cost on the average $1,200, and skilled slaves such as blacksmiths often were valued at more than $2,000. Blacks, however, could not testify against Whites in court, a prohibition that largely negated their constitutional protection. ILester G. BugbeePolitical Science QuarterlyVol. In 1854, citizens in Austin and other towns drove many poor Mexicans from the area in fear that they might assist in revolts. 2) THIS PATRIOT HAD TWO DAUGHTERS NAMED MARY, ONE BY EACH WIFE; Daniel French Slaughter (October 15, 1799 October 13, 1882) was Virginia planter and politician from two distinguished families of politicians and soldiers. In 1860, the biggest slaveholders were Robert and D.G. John Robinson of Madison, Mississippi: 550 slaves. 10 Databases for Researching Enslaved Ancestors - ThoughtCo The civil rights movement led to the U.S. Congress and President Lyndon Johnson passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protected the rights of all citizens to integrated public facilities and enforcement of voting rights. It was Sarah Devereux that kept the plantation producing after Julien's death. Early books sometimes contained the name of the former master or mistress and the name of the plantation. In 1860, mass hysteria ensued after a series of fires erupted throughout the state. The payrolls for that slave In 1876 Texas adopted a new constitution requiring segregated schools and imposing a poll tax, which decreased the number of poor voters both black and white. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke holds a rally at Scholz Garten in Austin. 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. The Comanche sold any captured enslaved people to the Cherokee and Creek in Indian Territory, as they were both slaveholding tribes. The last frontier of slavery was by no means closed on the eve of the Civil War. Stephen F. Austin made this clear in 1824: The principal product that will elevate us from poverty is cotton, he wrote, and we cannot do this without the help of slaves. (see BLACKS IN COLONIAL SPANISH TEXAS andANGLO-AMERICAN COLONIZATION). 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?. A project of the University of Virginia, this database includes a sampling of some of the 2,300+ interviews 4 History. Socially, slaveholders, at least the large planters, embodied an ideal to most Texans. This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 11:16. Many enslaved people ran away. WebSouth Carolina's slave population in 1790 was 107,094, around 43 percent of the state population; by 1860 it was 402,406, around 57 percent of the total population. Jubilee - The end of slavery in America! Find Descendants of My Ancestors Slaves Most lived with a certain amount of fear of their supposedly happy servants, for the slightest threat of a slave rebellion could touch off a violent reaction. Texas Truly 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 resembled that of the Old South's famed Black Belt. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. [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. [32] Some enslaved people lived among the cattlemen along the southern Gulf Coast and helped herd sheep and cattle. In Texas, like other southern states, the treatment of slaves varied from plantation to plantation, from master to master. The system of school support was inadequate, and schools for racial minorities were seriously underfunded. Slavery was present in Spanish America and Mexico prior to the arrival of American settlers, but it was not highly developed, and the Spanish did not rely on it for labor during their years in Spanish Texas. Copies of death certificates were sometimes attached to the entries. 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. John Butler of McIntosh, Georgia: 505 slaves. Angelina County, Texas, Slave Owners. Documenting Slavery in East Texas: Transcripts from Monte Verdi With reparations legislation on the table, Berry says conversations about slavery in history is fundamental. It contains a very significant number of Texas' African-American population. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Included are land grant requests, wills, and testaments, letters of freedom and contracts of the sale of slaves. [34], Plantation enslaved people generally lived in one or two-room log cabins. R. R. Barrow, Lafourche, Louisiana: 74 slaves; Terrebonne: 399 slaves. And when they declared independence and wrote a constitution for their new republic, they made every effort, in the words of a later Texas Supreme Court justice, to "remove all doubt and uneasiness among the citizens of Texas in regard to the tenure by which they held dominion over their slaves." In fact, at the turn of the 18 th century, Marie Therese was one of the richest ladies in Louisiana. 3536 Grand Avenue Joseph Henry 8 3. WebIn 1845, there were about 30,000 enslaved people in Texas. For example, Jared Groce arrived from Alabama in 1822 with ninety slaves and set up a cotton plantation on the Brazos River. Slave owners and male Signup today for our free newsletter, Especially Texan. Through organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), African Americans continued to work to regain their ability to exercise their civil and voting rights as citizens. Through wills and census reports found during family research, I have discovered a couple sets of ancestors who owned slaves. https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slavery. Many slave families, however, were disrupted. Houston, Texas 77004, African American Genealogical Interest Group Levi Anderson 1 13. The first census in Austin's colony in 1825 showed 443 slaves in a total population of 1,800. Slavery in the Lower South [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. It was a decision that increased tensions with slave-holders among the Anglo-Americans. Marr. A. Anderson County, Texas, Slave Owners. [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. A large supply of cheap Mexican labor in the area made the purchase and care of a slave too expensive. The following information is included: The records are categorized by county. There is at least one positive outcome that could come from reckoning with slave-owning family members of the past. . 5.4 Church Records. [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. After the Texas Revolution ended in 1836, the Constitution of the Republic of Texas made slavery legal. States that had used it adopted other means to keep most African Americans from voting. [21] Enslaved people often fought against the Comanche tribe, however. Marie Therese Metoyer was born into slavery but died a rich woman. Slavery | TSLAC - Texas State Library and Archives Commission [2] Estevanico, Dorantes, and Alonso Castillo Maldonado, the only survivors, spent several months living on a barrier island (now believed to be Galveston Island) before making their way in April 1529 to the mainland. Greg Abbott says if these corporate tax breaks return, renewable energy should be excluded, At these old-school restaurants in Texas, you feel like its an extension of your home, Gulf of Mexico warming at faster rate than global ocean, study finds. As news of emancipation spread across the state, a few owners angrily told their slaves to leave immediately, but most asked the freedmen, as they soon became known, to stay and work for wages. Marie Therese Metoyer. [44] The evidence is strong, however, that in Texas slaves were generally profitable as a business investment for individual slaveholders. Almost certainly, however, many came to believe that they would be free if the South lost. These films do not appear to contain the names of former slaves. 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. This did not mean that the majority of slaves were content with their status. The emancipated slaves celebrated joyously (if Whites allowed it), but then they had to find out just what freedom meant. American slave owners or slaveholders were owners of slaves in the United States which typically worked either as agriculture laborers or house servants. 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Before The Guardian interviewed him for the story, he said neither he nor Amy knew that side of their heritage. To Anglo-American slave owners slavery was a practical necessity in Texas the only way to grow cotton profitably on its vast areas of fertile land. The Federal Constitution of 1824 did not mention slavery, but the 1827 Constitution of the State of Coahuila and Texas prohibited the further introduction of slaves and declared all children born thereafter to slaves already in the state to be free at birth. J. C. Jenkins of Wilkinson, Mississippi: 523 slaves. For a complete list, please see: American slave owners Project Profiles. Category: Texas, Slave Owners - WikiTree [48], On some plantations, many enslaved people left immediately after hearing of the emancipation, even if their former owners offered to pay them wages. (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] By 1825, however, a census of Austin's Colony showed 1,347 Anglo-Americans and 443people of African descent, including a small number of free blacks. WebList of the largest American slave owners The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. They knew that they controlled their own bodies and therefore were free to move about as they chose and not be forced to labor for others. Handbook of Texas Online, A Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Dallas Genealogical Society After that, he could legally transport the enslaved people and sell them in New Orleans or areas further up the Mississippi River. [54] The drop in proportion of population reflected greatly-increased European immigration to the state in the 19th century, as well as population growth. United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 FamilySearch On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional,[55] a ruling which was shortly followed the implementation of Voter i.d. Slavery in Texas was not a matter of content, well-cared for servants as idealized in some views of the Old South. [8] There was intermarriage among blacks, Indians and Europeans. [8] There was intermarriage among blacks, Indians and Europeans. In 1792 there were 34 blacks and 414 mulattos in Spanish Texas, some of whom were free men and women. [9] Of these, only 15 were enslaved, 4males and 11females. Africans and the descendants of Africans and Indians were excluded from the class of 'persons' having rights. 0 Texas slaves had a family-centered social life and culture that flourished in the slave quarters, where slaves were largely on their own, at least from sundown to sunup. By 1860, that number had increased to 182,566. 2021 Texas Standard. Box 12446 [43] Later newspaper accounts revealed that most of what was confessed under torture appeared to be false. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: a history of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfanchisement. [citation needed]. For a time, many enslaved ran away to Texas. Andrew Lyda 3 8. Many owners encouraged worship, primarily on the grounds that it would teach proper subjection and good behavior. In comparison, good Texas cotton land could be bought for as little as six dollars an acre. [34] Unlike in most southern cities, the number of urban enslaved people in Texas grew throughout the 1850s. is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, and says addressing ones lineage of slavery is difficult, but ORourkes response helped bring the issue out into the open. To circumvent the law, numerous Anglo-American colonists converted their enslaved people to indentured servants, but with life terms. Slavery, [11] Anglo-American immigration to the province slowed at this point, with settlers angry about the changing rules. Mrs. Mary C. Stirling/Sterling, Pointe Coupee (2), Louisiana: 338 slaves. They survived with the help of Castillo's faith healing among the Indians. An excellent source is the Freedmans Savings and Trust Company (visit the African American Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Records page to learn more). The Gregory School Historical collections at The Gregory School include: Access to Houston Public Library databases and indexes Books Pamphlets Periodicals Photographs Oral history recordings Manuscripts Newspapers and clippings Personal family archives and Ephemera documenting Houstons African American History and culture. It replaced the pro-Union governor, Sam Houston, in the process. 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- 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. Slave owners had broad powers of discipline subject only to constitutional provisions that slaves be treated "with humanity" and that punishment not extend to the taking of life and limb. 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. Religion and music were also key elements of slave culture. Slaves who did not work satisfactorily or otherwise displeased their owners were commonly punished by whipping. AAGIG@dallasgenealogy.org, "African American Records: Freedmen's Bureau," "African American Heritage,", African American Online Genealogy Records, George Washington Carver Museum and Genealogy Center, Texas State Historical Association: African Americans, The McGowan Funeral Home Records, 1956-1995, The Southern Migration of the Keeton and Chafer Family, Slavery Statutes - Texas: ca. Eliza Denwoo Henry David Rhodes, planter, was born in Alabama about 1819. Married Margaret French Strother 1778. Three enslaved people were known to be at the Battle of the Alamo; a boy named John was killed, while William B. Travis's enslaved person, Joe, and James Bowie's enslaved person, Sam, survived to be freed by the Mexican Army. Dallas, Texas 75225-0446 The governors feared the growth in the Anglo-American population in Texas, and for various reasons, by the early 19th century, they and their superiors in Mexico City disapproved of expanding slavery. A group of enslaved people killed the sheriff of Gonzales when he attempted to stop their going to Matamoros. Later they were joined by lvar Nez Cabeza de Vaca. Early and family life This was 15 percent of the total 2,992 people living in Spanish Texas. Married Elizabeth Towles 1803. Trying to get around the Gulf Coast, they built five barges, but in November 1528 these went aground off the coast of Texas. [25] The department of Texas, which included the eastern settlements, expected to export 2,000 bales of cotton and 5,000 head of cattle. The eastern quarter of the state, where cotton production depended on thousands of slaves, is considered the westernmost extension of the Deep South. There were a few slaves in Texas while it was a Spanish province, but slavery did not really become an institution of significance in the region until the arrival of AngloAmerican settlers. The white primary was another way to exclude African Americans from making electoral decisions, and it was not overturned by the Supreme Court until 1944 in Smith v. Allwright. WebThe 1860 slave schedule was used in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Territory and Virginia. A slave had a right to trial by jury and a court-appointed attorney when charged with a crime greater than petty larceny. The promise of ultimate deliverance helped many to resist the psychological assault of slavery. Economically, slave owners had a disproportionately large share of the state's wealth and produced virtually all of the cash crops. 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. For the time being, we are using this as the Slavery Plantation umbrella or portal. , and his wife Amy, are descendants of slave owners. Rarely, an enslaved person also broke horses, but generally only white men were used for that dangerous task. Some slaveowners did not free their enslaved people until late in 1865. We'll send you a couple of emails per month, filled with fascinating history facts that you can share with your friends. There was an auction block next to the Menger Hotel and near the Alamo. West Feliciana: 127 slaves. [3] Five years later, in September 1534, they escaped to the interior. Texas was the last frontier of chattel slavery in the United States. At first, the practice involved primarily Apaches; eventually Comanche children were likewise "adopted" as servants. Millions of Texans have rare diseases. If they died, the boss did not suffer a monetary loss. 1836-1864 (10 fiche) FS Library 6118915, Oral Histories Recorded at the Gregory School, African American Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Records, United States, Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874, U.S., Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1871 ($), United States, Freedmen's Bureau Claim Records,1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau Hospital and Medical Records, 1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contracts, Indenture and Apprenticeship Records, 1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau Ration Records,1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau Records of Persons and Articles Hired, 1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Freedmen's Court Records, 1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Land and Property Records, 1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen's Complaints, 1865-1872, United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education, 1865-1872, United States Freedmen's Bureau Miscellaneous Records,1865-1872, United States Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen, 1865-1872, African American Freedmen's Bureau Records. 509 0 obj <> endobj The news organization used documents from, to confirm the connection. Dallas, TX We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. House servants and craftsmen worked long hours, too, but their labor was not so burdensome physically. [3] American Indians captured and enslaved the party, putting them to work as laborers. Legally slaves were categorized as chattel (moveable property), but they were men, women and children who clearly despised their condition of servitude. Most escapees joined friendly American Indian tribes, but others settled in the East Texas forests. WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. And a rich woman with slaves of her own to boot. American Slave Owners - geni family tree IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. Up to 80enslaved people and 37whites may have been executed as a result of the supposed plot. [24], In 1845 the state legislature passed legislation further restricting the rights of free blacks. Slavery in Early Texas. The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. Ninety percent of the runaways were men, most between ages 20 and 40, because they were best equipped to deal with the long, difficult journey. Because of their economic success, these planters represented the social ideal for many other Texans. 7 rolls, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, New England Historic Genealogical Society, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Colonial Williamsburg, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Libraries, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, Natchitoches Genealogical and Historical Association, https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=African_American_Resources_for_Texas&oldid=5253354. Sugar and cotton plantations. Every dollar helps. 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. Mention is made of Henry being a judge.The following is from Rootsweb: On June 19, 1865 word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved African Several confessed to a plot by white abolitionists to avenge John Brown's execution by burning food supplies and poisoning slaveowners. One result was the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, which were an explanation of the grievances that had led to the disturbances. Even as Austins colonists began to establish slavery on the lower Brazos and Colorado rivers, the independence of Mexico cast doubt on the future of the institution in Texas. [17] At the same time, however, Mexico offered full citizenship to free blacks, including land ownership and other privileges. Profiles are placed in this category with this text [[Category:Texas, Slave Owners]] . Most runaways attempted to go to Mexico. P Denwood was a Quaker and in early days often was in trouble with the court as he was suspected of harboring Quakers on their way up to Maryland. Such documents include censuses, marriage records, and medical records. Slavery certainly promoted development of the agricultural economy; it provided the labor for a 600 percent increase in cotton production during the 1850s. Although not considered equals in the tribes, they were generally treated well. Few battles took place in Texas, which acted as a supply state to the Confederacy. Samuel Edney 1 Levin R. Marshall, Concordia (2), Louisiana: 248 slaves. The customs officers offered the enslaved people for auction, and Bowie would buy them back. 2 Online Resources. 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. Although slave marriages and families had no legal protections, the majority of slaves were reared and lived day to day in a family setting. Cotton. Slavery in Texas - Texas Institute for the Preservation of History See also AGRICULTURE, AFRICAN AMERICANS, CIVIL WAR, RECONSTRUCTION, and SLAVE INSURRECTIONS. The cotton industry flourished in East Texas, where enslaved labor became most widely used. Most slaves, however, were neither loyal servants nor rebels. [citation needed], In the 1870s, a system of legalized racial segregation and white supremacy was enforced. But how would they make their way in the world after 1865? [18] A small number of enslaved were imported illegally from the West Indies or Africa. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slavery. In 1860 there were 3,017 slaves in Marion county 1,406 males, 1,611 females. After statehood, in antebellum Texas, slavery grew even more rapidly. 5.3 Census Records. Americans of European extraction and enslaved people contributed greatly to the population growth in the Republic and State of Texas. Monte Verdi Plantation family slaves honored in Slavery formally ended in Texas after June 19, 1865 (Juneteenth), when Gen. Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston with occupying federal forces and announced emancipation. Dennis. That year, Mexico made the importation of enslaved people illegal. Most slaves, however, supplemented their basic diet with sweet potatoes, garden vegetables, wild game, and fish and were thus adequately fed. William Fletcher 4 6. [47] The last battle of the war was fought at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, in 1865. Web1800 Slave Owners 1. The province continued to attract free blacks and escaped enslaved people from the Southern United States. [42] Two years later, Colorado County hanged several enslaved people and drove one white man and several Mexicans from the area after uncovering a plot to equip 200enslaved people with pistols and knives to escape into Mexico. Shortly before 1858 he moved from Mississippi to Texas with his wife, Mary, and five children. O. J. Morgan, Carroll, Louisiana: 500+ slaves. WebTexas's enslaved population grew rapidly: while there were 30,000 enslaved people in Texas in 1845, the census lists 58,161 enslaved African Americans in 1850. Some enslaved people became ministers, but their masters often tried to instruct them in what they were supposed to preach. The central part of the state was dominated by subsistence farmers. Sugar. Many slaves may have escaped such punishment, but every slave lived with the knowledge that he or she could be whipped at his owner's discretion.

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