In Praise of Southern Women Writers

My research on the history of slavery began in the early 1990s when I read two books by women authors:  A Diary from Dixie by Mary Boykin Chesnut and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.  I recommend that you obtain copies of these books for the shelves of your library but if you are a modern reader, you will find each of these titles is hyperlinked to free online versions.

Both of these books are filled with insightful analysis of the elephant in the room of American history: slavery.  A Diary from Dixie  contains Mrs. Chesnut's observations in her diary from February 1861 through August 1865. In the beginning of Mrs. Chesnut's diary, she had the overview of the landscape that was afforded while riding the elephant.  Mary Boykin Chesnut was the wife of James Chesnut, Jr., United States Senator from South Carolina, 1859-1861. Senator Chesnut also worked as an aide to Jefferson Davis and was a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army. Four long years of war took their toll on Mrs. Chesnut.  On July 26, 1865 she wrote:

"I do not write often now, not for want of something to say but from loathing of all I see and hear."

Mrs. Jacobs had the graphic view of those that are forced to endure the crushing weight of the elephant in the ante-bellum period. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was published in 1861 and begins with her recollections of childhood, the trials of girlhood and the jealous mistress.  She continues with observations on the fear of insurrection, the church and slavery and continued persecutions among many others.  Her last chapter is "Free at Last."

"Trials of Girlhood" was the Victorian style of titling what slave girls had to endure:

"But I now entered on my fifteenth year - a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl.  My master began to whisper foul words in my ear.  Young as I was, I could not remain ignorant of their import."

Mrs. Chesnut also offers her opinion on the morality of the Southern male:

 "August 27, 1861...I hate slavery. I hate a man who - You say there are no more fallen women on a plantation than in London in proportion to numbers. But what do you say to this - to a magnate who runs a hideous black harem, with its consequences, under the same roof with his lovely white wife and his beautiful and accomplished daughters? He holds his head high and poses as the model of all human virtues to these poor women whom God and the laws have given him. From the height of his awful majesty he scolds and thunders at them as if he never did wrong in his life. Fancy such a man finding his daughter reading Don Juan. 'You with that immoral book!' he would say, and then he would order her out of his sight. You see Mrs. Stowe did not hit the sorest spot. She makes Legree a bachelor."

Keep in mind if you read the online edition of Mrs. Chesnut's diary that it is an edited version published in 1905 which is subject to several deletions by the editors of that day.  Fortunately, they left the preceding paragraph intact.

The 1905 edition contained about 150,000 words while the manuscript copy of the complete diary contains closer to 400,000 words.  Some of the 1905 deletions might have been to avoid offending persons then living. However, some of Mrs. Chesnut's frank views of slavery were also excluded from the 1905 edition and have since been included in versions published in the last quarter of the 20th century.  The copy that I have on my shelf was edited by Ben Ames Williams and originally published in 1980.

As genealogists, we seek to understand the trials and travails of our ancestors.  These two books are crucial to an understanding of our shared American family history.  The family historian must have historical context when evaluating historical records of genealogical value such as the U.S. census.

For example, I am currently working with a client whose family has historically identified as white but has oral history about African ancestry.  We have been able to find several records that substantiate the stories of African ancestry.  In addition, DNA analysis has also confirmed the African ancestry.  The research has lead us to a mulatto woman, named Evaline Brenham, in the 1880 census of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.  She was also found in the 1870 census in the same parish but she was listed as white.  The head of household in both of these censuses is a white man named George H. Richardson.   The theory is that George Richardson may be the father of Evaline Brenham.  In 1860, we find Mr. Richardson in Concordia Parish working as an overseer and listed between two major landowners, Farrar B. Conner and Henry Chotard.

The goal is to find the mother of Evaline Brenham and to connect George H. Richardson as an employee of one these major landowners.  The next step in this research project will be to begin reviewing microfilm from the Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations that are available at many university and public libraries.  We will begin with the records of the Conner and McMurran families that owned the Killarney plantation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana.  The collection includes many business records and letters related to the operation of the Killarney plantation and many others in the Natchez district.  Many of these letters were written by women.

The early life of Evaline Brenham and the name of her mother is currently shrouded in mystery.  We may never know their precise identity, but reading books and letters such as those described above will give us a better idea what life was like for their contemporaries.

Purchased Lives & Lost Friends- The Legacy of Slavery in New Orleans

The Historic New Orleans Collection recently hosted an exhibit entitled: Purchased Lives - New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 1808-1865.  This museum exhibit examined the lives of the human beings that were traded as property and considers New Orleans role as antebellum America's largest slave market.  We had the good fortune of visiting this exhibit twice last week before its conclusion on July 18.  To view a brief summary of the exhibit go to the website of the Historic New Orleans collection: Purchased Lives Exhibit

Slave Auction; ca. 1831; ink and watercolor; The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1941.3

In the six decades before the Civil War, approximately one million enslaved people were forced to leave behind their homes and families and were sent to labor in the sugar cane and cotton fields of the Deep South.  They traveled by steamboats and sailing ships, wagons and railcars but most came on foot. When they arrived in New Orleans, the traders would advertise the sales of enslaved men and women in the local newspapers.  The newspapers were also regularly used to post rewards for the return of runaway slaves.  The exhibit presented many of these advertisements in a booklet which was a very thorough compilation of images and text of the exhibit.  The booklet is not currently available as a PDF but I have made a request with the Historic New Orleans Collection that the guide be published online.

One feature of the exhibit that has been placed online is the Lost Friends database.  The contents of the database are described here:

• Two dollars in 1880 bought a yearlong subscription to the Southwestern Christian Advocate, a newspaper published in New Orleans by the Methodist Book Concern and distributed to nearly five hundred preachers, eight hundred post offices, and more than four thousand subscribers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The "Lost Friends" column, which ran from the paper's 1877 inception well into the first decade of the twentieth century, featured messages from individuals searching for loved ones lost in slavery.

• This searchable database provides access to more than 330 advertisements that appeared in the Southwestern Christian Advocate between November 1879 and December 1880. Digital reproductions of the Lost Friends ads are courtesy of Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University Libraries.

I performed a few searches for surnames of my client, Gesenia Sloan Pena to see if any of her family names were listed.  I only found two matches for the surname "Sloan."

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on March 11, 1880.

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on May 13, 1880.

After reviewing the description again, it became clear that the online database only includes one year of the advertisements that were published for over forty years by the Southwestern Christian Advocate newspaper.  It is also clear that the contents of these ads are a treasure trove for African American family history researchers.  The first ad directs pastors to read the requests from their pulpits and to report any cases of reunions which were facilitated by means of the letters published in the Southwestern.  I would certainly like to read one of those reports.

The Lost Friends database can be searched by first name, last name or full name or they can be searched by state, county or city.  The advertisements also can be browsed.  Perusal of these advertisements tell many stories of lost family and friends.  The names of slave owners are listed along with names of parents, spouses, children and other family members.

Here is an article that I found with a search of Brenham, Washington County, Texas:

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on November 13, 1879.

This next article shows how names that were used during slavery often changed after emancipation.  The Rev. B.M. Taylor used the surname of his slave owner, Louis Taylor.  Presumably his brothers, Sam, Peter and Jeff and sister Amy also went by Taylor.  However, their lost sister, Darkens Taylor changed her name to Maria Walker.

Published in the Southwestern Christian Advocate on March 25, 1880.

Perhaps if we contact the Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC), we can encourage them to publish the rest of this wonderful Lost Friends collection in their database.  Also please contact HNOC if you would like a PDF copy of their Purchased Lives exhibit brochure.  The Historic New Orleans Collection can be reached at (504) 523-4662, www.hnoc.org

Since the letter from Rev. B.M. Taylor mentions Huntsville, Texas, it would seem an appropriate time to remind you that I will be making a presentation on Immigration and Emigration Records on July 31, from 8:30 to 12:30.  Here are the details for the event which runs on both Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1, 2015:

Frances Sprott Goforth Memorial Genealogy Weekend
Cost: Free
Location: Huntsville Public Library, 1219 13th Street, Huntsville, Texas 77340

The Weekend is hosted by Huntsville Public Library & Walker County Genealogical Society. The Huntsville Public Library is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library.

Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. For more information go to www.myhuntsvillelibrary.com or contact: Mary Kokot, Adult Services Coordinator at 936-291-5471.

Book Review: From Slave to Statesman - Joshua Houston, Servant to Sam Houston

Not many books about Texas history are written from the vantage point of a former slave.  Joshua Houston was an enslaved servant to Sam Houston, one of the most iconic figures in Texas history.

"From Slave to Statesman" was written in 1993.  It includes an introduction by Dan Rather: "We have always been equal; we must study the times that we didn't know it."

 This book paints Sam Houston as a benevolent slave owner who provided his slave, Joshua Houston, with the advantage of literacy and responsibility for the care of the family of the first President of the Republic of Texas and the first U.S. Senator and the seventh governor of the State of Texas.  Joshua Houston was able to parlay his skills and advantages into prosperity both during and after slavery which created one of the most enduring legacies in Texas history.

The co-authors, Patricia Smith Prather and Jane Clements Monday have created an intriguing story told in 276 well illustrated and documented pages.  The dust jacket includes a quotation from Barbara Jordan, another iconic figure in Texas history: "The book will make a lasting contribution to those who wish to put a human face on slavery.  I congratulate you on taking the institution of slavery out of the remote rhetorical and giving names, faces, identities and feelings to those who served."

Sam Houston acquired Joshua through his marriage to Margaret Lea of Alabama on May 9, 1840.  Joshua was 18 years old at the time of the marriage and the move to Texas.  Margaret Lea had acquired Joshua through the bequest of her father, Temple Lea.  In later life, Joshua Houston loved to tell the story of how the gallant hero of the Battle of San Jacinto came courting his mistress in Marion, Alabama.

Joshua Houston was a trusted servant who helped to raise money for his owners by being hired out as a blacksmith.  He was also skilled in carpentry and agriculture as well as serving as the driver and confidant to Sam Houston on the campaign trail throughout Texas from 1840 to 1863.  In the fall of 1862, in anticipation of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, Sam Houston had declared all of his slaves free.  It was illegal to free his slaves under the Texas Confederate constitution but Sam did offer his slaves their freedom and offer to pay them as long as he could.  Joshua Houston offered to continue working for the Houston family and did until the general's death in 1863.

At the time of Sam Houston's death, his family was in desperate straits.  Out of loyalty to Margaret Lea Houston, Joshua offered her $2,000 in gold that he had saved during slavery.  His owners had allowed him to keep a portion of the money that he had earned.  The following timeline includes a list of accomplishments for Joshua Houston that proves that he was a remarkable man whose legacy will endure in Texas history.

The life story of Joshua Houston is excellent reading for anyone interested in southern social history before, during and after the Civil War. The source material includes slave autobiographies and biographies, Houston family letters; oral histories of descendants  of both Houston families; birth, marriage and death records; land records and deeds; and church and school records.  The source notes are an excellent overview of the wealth of material available to genealogists and historians of African American families.

Memorial to William R. Hill 1834-1863, A Casualty of War

My wife, Robin and I have been searching our family history to find a direct ancestor that died in the service of our country.  Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America.  This blog will illustrate a technique for analysis of a Civil War Pension file and serve as a tribute to an ancestor who died at the age of 29 while in service to the USA.

Soldiers and sailors who die while serving in the military are usually young and single and often do not have any descendants.  My wife does have a direct ancestor that died while serving the Union in the Civil War.  His name is William Roland Hill and he died on the 23rd of May 1863 while on furlough from his service with Company A, 103rd Illinois Infantry regiment. He was married to Mary Hedge on 22 October 1857 in Fulton County, Illinois.  They had two daughters: Flora Ann Hill born 3 Dec 1860 and Laura Hill born 20 July 1863.

One of my goals is to digitize all of the documents that I have accumulated about our ancestors and attach them to our family trees at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.  In December of 1992, I submitted the "Order for Copies of Veterans Records" to the National Archives for William Roland Hill.  I was able to glean several facts from those records 23 years ago.  I found it especially revealing to give those documents another review so let me tell you about my technique for analysis.

First, I used my Fujitsu Scan Snap s1500 Sheet Feed Scanner to make a PDF file of the copies received from the National Archives.  The sheet feed feature is very handy as it speeds the process of scanning.  Using my Adobe PDF software I was able to save the entire file of 17 pages as individual JPG image files.  I find that JPG files are much easier to use when analyzing and transcribing original records.  The JPGs are easier to zoom in and out and move around than the PDFs.  A technique that I recommend is to look at each page of a pension file and give each page a file name that describes the date and the content of the document page.  For example here is a chronological list of all of the documents that were contained in the Pension File:

1857-10-19 Hill-Wm Marriage Cert 1
1857-10-19 Hill-Wm Marriage Cert 2
1860-12-03 Hill-Flora Birth Cert
1862-08-12 Hill-Wm Enrollment Co A 103 IL Inf
1863-05-15 Hill-Wm Officer's Cert to Disability
1863-05-23 Hill-Wm Army Death Report
1863-05-23 Hill-Wm Death Cert by Doctor
1863-05-23 Hill-Wm Medical Record
1863-08-13 Hedge-Mary Widow's Declaration
1864-12-01 Hedge-Mary Marriage to Henry Woods
1865-07-01 Hedge-Mary Letter of Guardianship 1
1865-07-01 Hedge-Mary Letter of Guardianship 2
1865-11-17 Hedge-Mary Guardian's Declaration for Pension
1910-03-19 Hedge-Mary Neighbor Declaration
1917-01-27 Hedge-Mary Increase of Pension

There is something magical about putting genealogical information in chronological order.  I find that chronological order helps to show the sequence of events as a process with a purpose.  You can see that I used the four digit year, two digit month and two digit day as the first elements of my file name.  This puts the JPGs in chronological order so that I can browse them in succession.  I used the surname followed by the given name as the next elements of the file name.  I used the maiden name Mary Hedge rather than Mary Hill or Mary Woods to keep the name consistent.  I then created a description of the document title.  Sometimes that was easy because the document already had a title.  In the other cases, I created a document description based on the event being described.

Now let's take a look at the actual documents to see why they were needed for Mary Hedge Hill Woods to receive a Widow's Pension.

Mary Hedge needed to prove  her relationship to William Hill by providing evidence of their marriage.  The County Clerk of Fulton County, Illinois provided a transcript of his Registry of Marriages which attested as follows:

• Date of License: 19 October 1857
• Registry Number: 258
• Names of Parties: William Hill to Mary Hedge
• By Whom Married: O.L. Lillie, J.P.
• Date of marriage: 22 October 1857
• Certification date: 13 August 1865

1857-10-19 Hill-Wm Marriage Certificate 1

1857-10-19 Hill-Wm Marriage Certificate 2

 Mary also obtained a certification from Dr. Thaddeus Nott for the birth of her daughter, Flora on 3 December 1860 in Fulton County, Illinois.

1860-12-03 Hill-Flora Birth Certificate

 The Adjutant General's Office provided a proof of the enrollment of William Hill in Company A, 103rd Illinois Infantry.  The key facts in this document are:
Enrollment Date: 12 August 1862
Enrollment Place: Lewistown, Illinois
Unit: Company A, 103rd Regiment of Illinois Infantry Volunteers
Length of Enlistment: 3 years
Mustered into service as a Private on the 2nd day of October 1862 at Peoria, Ill.
On the Muster Rolls of Co. A of that Regiment for the months of May and June 1863, he is reported "Died of disease, while at home on furlough on the 23rd of May 1863, a private.

1862-08-12 Hill-Wm Enrollment Company A 103 Illinois Infantry

 The Officer's Certificate to Disability of Soldier was written by Howard Willison, 2nd Lieutenant of Company A, 103rd Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry from Scottsboro, Alabama on April 11, 1864.  Lieutenant Willison certified that he was acquainted with William Hill who was a member of his company.  When he enlisted in the service of the United States he was in good health.  "To my knowledge he was disabled while in the service of the United States and in the line of duty at LaGrange, Tennessee on or about the 15th day  of May 1863 by General Debility caused by cold and exposure.

1863-05-15 Hill-Wm Officer's Certificate to Disability of Soldier

 A second copy of the Adjutant General's Report of Service was included which was a virtual duplicate of the first copy except for the this additional phrase: "Cause of death not stated."

1863-05-23 Hill-Wm Army Death Report

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT: State of New York, Oswego County

George D. McManus being duly sworn says that he is a practicing physician now in the City of Oswego, Oswego Co., State of New York, but for several years and during the last sickness of William Hill, Private of Co. A. 103d Reg. Illinois Volunteers, I was a resident of Lewistown, Fulton County, Illinois and further that I attended the aforesaid William Hill in his last sickness at his residence in the town of Liverpool, Co. of Fulton, state of Illinois, and that he William Hill, died on the 23d day of May A.D. 1863- of Phthisis Pulmonalis } George D. McManus.

Subscribed and sworn before me this 16th day of May in the year 1864 and I hereby certify that the said George D. Mc Manus is a physician in good standing in his profession of good credit and entitled to full credit as a witness and that I have no interest whatsoever in the prosecution of this claim. } Robt. H. Martin, Notary Public

NOTE: Phthisis Pulmonalis is an old name for Tuberculosis.

1863-05-23 Hill-Wm Death Certificate by Doctor

1863-05-23 Hill-Wm Medical Record

1863-08-13 Hedge-Mary Widow's Declaration- Army Pension

1864-12-01 Hedge-Mary Marriage to Henry Woods

1865-07-01 Hedge-Mary Letter of Guardianship 1

1865-07-01 Hedge-Mary Letter of Guardianship 2

1865-11-17 Hedge-Mary Guardian's Declaration for Pension

1910-03-19 Hedge-Mary Neighbor Declaration

1917-01-27 Hedge-Mary Increase of Pension