Part 6. Natchez Black Families Arrive on Edgefield
Throughout the early plantation period, the Black Families remained intact and stayed on and worked the Percy plantations even though the ownership of the Estates often changed. The plantations were stable and profitable to the slaveholders, and the families stayed together and kept growing and growing.
John Ellis’ father, Richard Ellis, like Charles Percy, fought on the side of the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. Richard Ellis, and his brother John, traveled from Virginia into the Natchez Region and received 20,000 acres of land (Natchez folk know about Ellis Cliffs). Richard Ellis died in 1794 and willed his son John Ellis, who was born in 1760 in Amelia, Virginia, a portion of his land and enslaved people – a total of “32 negroes with their increase.”
When John Ellis married Sarah Percy in 1799, he became the legal owner of her property. After his death in 1808, the combined property, which included 159 enslaved people, went to the Adams County Mississippi Orphans Court for division in 3 parts: 1/3 to Sarah Percy, and the remaining 2/3 to their 2 minor children. The final division of the Estate was recorded on December 7, 1815. By then, Sarah Ellis had already remarried, to Nathaniel A. Ware of Woodville.
In pursuance of the annexed order of the Orphans Court of Adams County. The unassigned Commissioners therein named; being duly sworn; have designated and assigned to Mrs. Sarah Ware, relict of Col John Ellis Deceased; the following schedule of property as her third part of the Real and personal Estate of the said Colonel John Ellis Deceased; (that is to say)
The Negroes;
- Dick, Harriett his wife, and Sall, Rose, Celest, and Jane, their children
- Reubin, Louisa his wife, and Phebe their child
- Sampson, Cressy his wife, and Nim and George their children
- Hector, Charlotte his wife, and Gabriel and Christmas their children
- Congo, and Sall his wife, and Billy, Nancy, Jim, Ritta, Ben, and Affee children of said Sall
- Elisha, and Clarissa his wife, and Davy, Daniel, Eliza and Maria children of said Clarissa
- Nat, and Molly his wife, and Prince, Francois, Diana, Rachel, Esther, Frank, Winny, Henry, and Polydore, their family
- Jo, and Rachel his wife, and Lucy and Anne their children
- Sally and Phyllis, children of old Phebe
- Nim and George, children of Isabel
being fifty souls and one third part of the said Estate in quantity and value. …
Households of Enslaved Families
Following the purchase and arrival of the Africans into Woodville, these families are now congealed into nuclear families. What choices did they have in choosing mates, especially if there was not a large enough selection of available partners? Most interesting in this 1815 document is the designation of members of the household as husband, wife, and their children. It is unclear how many “Negro Cabins” were available, and how many families or individuals were assigned to a cabin. How much African culture was still practiced by these young families at night, inside these cabins? Forged together into new families after being captured and shipped from different shores of Africa, what new community relationships did they create to survive and make sense of slavery in Mississippi?
Most of these families are recognizable from the Division of the Percy Estate to Sarah Ellis discussed in Part V. But others are newly added Natchez families from the division of the John Ellis Estate. Once the young women reach the age of around 17, they have spouses, some from other Percy plantation families and some from the Natchez families. They start families of their own, with children arriving in a consistent 18-month to 2-year birth patterns.
The plantation is being passed to different owners repeatedly. And each time there is a record of the black families. These are valuable records, especially because they list the names in family groups and include the ages. Another inventory was taken in 1819 that shows the rapid growth of the families.
I would like to acknowledge the names of 3 of the Black women who can be identified as having died before the Division of the Estate was completed in 1815. They were the mothers of large families on the early Edgefield Plantation.
- Kate was born around 1769 and died before the 1815 inventory at around 46 years old. Her first husband Cato died before 1804 at age of 49. In the 1804 inventory her new husband Nat is a 22-year-old. After her death, Nat, and his new wife, Molly, have all the children from Cato & Kate, Nat & Kate, and Nat & Molly in their household. The children, by different relationships, are listed as “their family.”
- Phebe [pronounced feebee] was born around 1764 and died before the 1815 inventory at around 51 years old. Her husband Christmas died around 1804. Their son Hector named his oldest son Christmas. Their daughter Mary Louise named her oldest daughter Phebe.
- Sylvia was born around 1764 and died before the 1815 inventory at around 51 years old. She was an early arrival on the plantation but never was listed with a husband. Her children, listed as mulatto, were given to the children of John Ellis after the division of his estate.
After the death of John Ellis in 1808, Sarah Percy Ellis married Nathaniel A. Ware, a lawyer who moved to Woodville in around 1813. He would become the new owner of the plantations and reveal through his writings, details of the life of Black families enslaved on Woodville plantations.
Next: Sold Again
Was the ages purposely changed or was this just an error on the part of the enumerator? Seeing that the ages are off for a lot of them one would guess that it was either intentional or they had no accurate way to tell age.
In his autobiography, Frederick Douglass lamented on not knowing the date of his birth. He said “the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs.” This was part of the dehumanization process of turning human beings into property. Also, remember that the inventories were taken by family members or neighbors of the deceased person. So, you are correct – they had no accurate way to tell.
I haven’t commented on each post, but want to tell you this is fantastic. My mind is blown at the records that were kept and still exist today. Your graphics add so much! Simply excellent and I’ll be following from now on. Thanks for giving me the link.
Thanks for reading Sue. The records are there because human beings were being treated like livestock. The most important thing for me is that all the records support the stories that were passed down to me through family oral history. That makes it very special.
Thank you for the painstaking efforts you have put forth to provide these detailed, informative blog posts. The spreadsheet listing of names provides an easy-to-understand compilation. THANK YOU!
Thanks for reading Deborah. Good to hear that the spreadsheet is understandable.