My 3rd great-grandfather, John James (1790-1875), was a slave holder in southwestern Virginia in the decades leading up to the Civil War. He is enumerated with enslaved people in each census from 1830 to 1860.
In 1840 he was enumerated with 6 enslaved people.[ii]
In 1850 he was enumerated with 8 enslaved people.[iii]
In 1860 he was enumerated with 15 enslaved people.[iv]
Eight children were born to women he enslaved in Smyth County during the years 1853-1866 when slave birth information was collected.
·
Jane was born 28 May 1853.
·
Ballard was born 22 Jul 1853.
·
Sanders was born to Eliza 16 Apr 1855
·
Emeline was born to Hannah 15 Sep 1855.
·
Rose was born 20 Mar 1857.
·
Beverly R. was born to Hanner 26 Oct 1858.
·
Thomas was born to Hannah 16 Aug 1860.
·
Charly was born to Eliza 15 April 1862.
·
Stephen was born to Hanner 2 Nov 1862.
After emancipation it is possible to identify some of the people and family groups enslaved by John James. The 1870 census shows a Saunders L. Bolden enumerated in 1870 living with Allen and Eliza Bolden in St. Clair, Smyth, Virginia. Both appear in the 1866 Smyth County Cohabitation List where Eliza names her last owner as John James.
The children born to Hannah or Hanner are all named by Hannah Wadkins in the Cohabitation Lists. She does not appear to have a living partner, but names all her children and John James as the last man to own her. While Eliza Bolden and Lewis Madison appear in the 1870 census, I have not found Hannah. Nor her children. Yet.
Lewis Madison appears in the Cohabitation List, also naming John James as his last owner. His wife, Ada, named Levi Williams, another of my 3rd great-grandfathers, as her last owner. Their children were most likely owned by Levi. Another post.
Census Correlation
|
1830
Census |
1840
Census |
1850
Slave Schedule |
1860
Slave Schedule |
Possible
Identity |
|
|
|
|
Male, 2 mos.
old |
Thomas
Wadkins, born 16 Aug 1860[v] |
|
|
|
|
Male, 9 mos.
old |
|
|
|
|
|
Male, 2 years
old |
Beverly
Wadkins, born 26 Oct 1858[vi] |
|
|
|
|
Male, 5 years
old |
Sanders
Bolden, born 16 Apr 1855[vii] |
|
|
|
|
Male, 7 years
old |
Ballard, born
22 Jul 1853[viii] |
|
|
|
|
Male, 8 years
old |
|
|
|
|
|
Male, 10
years old |
|
|
|
|
Male, 2 years
old |
Male, 12
years old |
|
|
|
Male, under 10 |
Male, 7 years
old |
|
|
|
Male, under
10 |
Male 10-23 |
Male, 20
years old |
|
|
|
Male, under
10 |
Male 10-23 |
Male, 34
years old |
Male, 45
years old |
Lewis Madison[ix] |
|
Male, 24-35 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Female, 4
years old |
Rose, born 20
Mar 1857[x] |
|
|
|
|
Female, 5
years old |
|
|
|
Female, under 10 |
Female, 16
years old |
Female, 22
years old |
Eliza Bolden[xi] |
|
Female, under
10 |
Female, 10-23 |
Female, 24
years old |
Female, 32
years old |
Hannah
Wadkins[xii] |
|
Female, under
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
Female, under
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
Female, under
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
Female, 10-23 |
Female, 24-35 |
|
|
|
|
Female, 10-23 |
|
|
|
|
|
Female, 24-35 |
|
Female, 50
years old |
Female 60
years old |
|
|
Female, 24-35 |
|
Female, 60
years old |
Female, 70
years old |
|
|
11 People
Enslaved |
6 People Enslaved |
8 People
Enslaved |
15 People
Enslaved |
|
[i]
1830 U.S. census, Wythe County, Virginia, population schedule, page 336, John
James; imaged in “1830 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (1830
United States Federal Census - Ancestry.com : accessed 12 August 2026).
[ii]
1840 U.S census, Smyth County, Virginia, population schedule, page 396, John
James; imaged in “1840 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (Ancestry.com
- 1840 United States Federal Census : accessed 12 August 2026).
[iii]
1850 U.S. census, Smyth County, Virginia, slave schedule, page 370, line 31, John
James; imaged in “1850 United States Federal Census – Slave Schedules,”
Ancestry (Ancestry.com
- 1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules : accessed 12 August 2026).
[iv]
1860 U.S. census, Smyth County, Virginia, slave schedule, stamped page 258,
line 11, John James; imaged in “1860 United States Federal Census – Slave Schedules,”
Ancestry (Ancestry.com
- 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules : accessed 12 August 2026).
[v]
Smyth County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons Cohabiting Together as Husband
and Wife, 1866 Feb. 27, register page 1, Hannah Wadkins; imaged in “Cohabitation
Registers Digital Collection,” Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA (Smyth
County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons cohabiting together as Husband and
Wife, 1866 Feb. 27 : accessed 12 August 2026. See also Slave Index to
Births, 1853-1866, State of Virginia: Virginia. Birth Record Indexes 1853–1866:
"Index to Births, 1853-1866, State of Virginia: Virginia. Birth Record
Indexes 1853–1866", Image path: #008249760 > Item 1 > image 118 of
546, FamilySearch
Image (accessed 12 August 2026).
[vi]
Smyth County (Va.) Cohabitation Registers [register page 1, Hannah Wadkins].
See also Slave Index to Births, 1853-1866, image 118 of 546.
[vii] 1870
U.S. census, Smyth County, Virginia, population schedule, page 95B, dwelling
10, Eliza Bolden and Saunders L. Bolden; imaged in “1870 United States Federal
Census,” Ancestry (1870
United States Federal Census - Ancestry.com : accessed 12 August 2026).
[viii]
[ix]
Smyth County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons Cohabiting Together as Husband
and Wife, 1866 Feb. 27, [register page 2, Lewis Madison].
[x]
[xi] Smyth County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons Cohabiting Together as Husband and Wife, 1866 Feb. 27, [register page 2, Eliza Bolin]. See also 1870 U.S. census, Smyth County, Virginia, population schedule, page 95B, dwelling 10, Eliza Bolden and Saunders L. Bolden and Slave Index to Births, 1853-1866, image 118 of 546. Eliza Bolin’s children listed in the Cohabitation Register are Lloyd (b. abt 1853), Sanders (b. abt 1856), Jackson, (b.abt 1859), and Sarah, (b. abt 1861).
[xii]
Smyth County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons Cohabiting Together as Husband
and Wife, 1866 Feb. 27, [register page 1, Hannah Wadkins]. See also Slave Index to Births, 1853-1866, image 118 of 546. In addition to the children named in
the Birth Index, Hannah Wadkins also names children Lee (b.abt 1845), Allen (b.
abt 1847), Martin (b. abt. 1848), Daniel (b. abt 1849) and Jane (b. abt 1854).
