Slaves named in 1862 Guardian's Record - A Friend of Friends Friday

Last summer, while researching at the Library of Virginia, I copied several documents reporting financial accounting by guardians to various county courts. The documents recorded details about expenses paid for the orphans, including medical care, clothing and education, that were of interest. The documents also included income statements.

For some children their primary income came from renting out slaves inherited from their parent(s). This was the case for my husband's great-grandmother, Maria Lee Palmer and her brother, John T. A. Palmer. The following list of slaves, together with the names of the Northumberland and Lancaster County, Virginia men or women who paid for their services in 1862, is from an accounting dated 15 November 1862 and recorded in the Northumberland County Court on 9 February 1863.

[in left margin] 1862, July 1st ~ Nov. 15
                                                                                             Principal
By balance brought Forward                                           $2940.03
By rent of Clifton 2/3 for 1892  to  Jas Hurst     $300.00
 "  Hire of Negroes for 1862 viz:
       Spencer          to E O Robinson                4500
       B___ick          to J B James                      5500
       Nancy             to R Rose                            1200
       Vilette             to Wm C Currell                4000
       Warren            to Thos Borum                  6000
       Mary               to R E Beane                      2500
       Dick                 to A L Carter                     2000
       Paulina           to P Towles                         4000
       Jed                   to Tho B Payne                  6000
       Letty                to A L Carter                      3000
       Winnie             to Mrs Meredith               0000
       Daniel              to Mrs Wilder                   1500
       Rachael           to Wm L Stakes                 4000          
       Polly                 to C C Flowers                 2000
       Anna                to C C Dunton                   1000  
       Gary               to Mrs. Shearman               0000
                                                                          772 00
Maria L entitled to half                                     386 00         386.00
By Interest on $2940.03 due July 1st 1862 to }
this time Nov 15 1862                                       }                        66.15
By Excess of Income over Expenses per contra}
                                          brought here                }  244.70            
                                                                                $3184.73  $452.15
[in left margin] 1862, Nov. 15th
By Balance due Ward per contra                     $3184.73

State of Virginia
                  Returned into Northumberland County Court
the 9th day of February 1863 and ordered to be recorded.
                                             Teste.
                                                      M. B. Cralle cc
                                         

Notes
Further details about the men and women named in this record can be found on my WeRelate page Slaves Referenced in Family Research. The information there is derived from Chancery Court records in 1848/49 following the death of James Palmer, father of Maria Lee and John T. A. Palmer.

While I have not searched for each of these men and women in the 1870 census, I have checked for some. A Warren Davenport, black male, born 1820, is enumerated living at Burgess Store (Fairfield, Northumberland, VA) with a household. The 1848/49 records show a high valuation, suggesting he was an adult male at that time. This document shows he (and one other man) earned the highest income for the Palmer children of all their slaves, again suggesting he was still a strong adult male.

Sources
Northumberland, Virginia, Fiduciary Records: Guardianship Accounts Book 4, 480, John T. A. Palmer account, 9 Feb 1863; Northumberland County Courts, Heathsville; Library of Virginia Northumberland Reel No. 45.

1870 U.S. census, population schedule, Fairfield, Northumberland, Virginia, p. 19A, dwelling 265, family 268, Warren Davenport; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Jan 2012); citing NARA microfilm M593, roll 1669.

Nargalsharezzer Palmer (really) Deed - Amanuensis Monday

This deed introduces the leader of our family "all-name" team - my husband's 5th great-grandfather Nargalsharezzer Palmer. His is one name that has not been passed down through the generations!

I do not know who Nargal's parents were, or who his wife or wives were beyond his widow Jane. She was named in his 1769 will. Also mentioned in his will is this land which he describes as "beginning at the head of the middle cove running up the branch to a large persimmon, a corner to Robert Palmer". He is closely associated with the Palmers on the adjoining properties and is first named in the 1748 will of Isaac Palmer, who refers to him as his cousin, leaves him half his estate, and appoints him executor. William James, who's land adjoins this piece of property, named a daughter Winifred Palmer in his 1758 will. At least two of Nargal's sons named daughters Winnie or Winnefred James Palmer. Robert Palmer, who's land is also mentioned was married to another of William James' daughters.

This deed, found during my recent stint at the Library of Virginia, does not solve any of the Nargal mysteries (including why he was given such a dreadful name). But it does place him squarely in the midst of many of the families he is believed to have been closely related to. It is also one of the most densely written deeds I've worked with - almost unreadable in terms of verbage. I have chosen to share it in smaller print fully expecting that few will read it unless it directly relates to their research. Names and significant points have been indicated with font changes. I have attempted to match the original spelling.

One final point of interest - the indenture specifies the purchase price for the land as 125 pounds, but the memorandum at the end records a payment of 115 pounds.

Lunsford }
to            } Deed
Palmer   }
This Indenture made the Seventh Day of November in the Twenty third year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King Defender of the faith and in the year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred and fifty  Between Moses Lunsford of Wicomoco Parish in Northumberland County and Colony of Virginia of the one Part and Nargalsharezzer Palmer of the same Parish and County and Colony of the other Part Witnesseth that the said Moses Lunsford for and in Consideration of one hundred and Twenty five pounds Currant Money in hand Paid the Receipt where of the said Moses Lunsford doth Acknowledge Hath demised granted Sold promised released Enfeossed (sp?) and Confirmed and by these Presents doeth Demise Grant Bargain Sell Remise Release Enfeosse (sp?) and Confirm unto Nargalsharezzer Palmer his Heirs Executors Administrators or assigns one hundred and Eighty Six acres of Land Situate Lying and being on Great Wicomoco River side in the aforesaid Parish County and Colony and is Bounded as followeth beginning for the bounds of the Said Land at a Water Oak on the Bank by the River Side -- Joyning Mr George Paynes Land thence Southerly along a line of marked trees to a Cedar Post Joyning Mr. George Paynes and William Jameses Land thence along a line of Marked trees Joyning William Jameses Southwest to a Dogwood at the head of the Cool Spring Branch Joyning William Palmers Land a Corner tree thence along a line of marked Trees Northerly to a Corner Post by the -- Road Joyning the above Said William Palmer and Robert Palmers Land thence Northeastily down along a path to a Pissimin tree Joyning Robert Palmers Land thence along a line of Marked trees Northeast to a Corner Ash in Robert

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Palmers Spring Branch Joyning the said Moses Lunsfords Land thence down the Branch to the Creek thence down the Creek to the River thence down the Above said River to the Place begun Including by Estimation one hundred and Eighty Six acres of Land with all woods Underwoods trees timber trees waters Meadows Pastures feedings Marshes as also fensing houses orchards Gardens and backsides to the Said one hundred and Eighty Six acres of Land --
Belonging or any wayes Appertaining or therewith used occupied or enjoyed together with all Right Priviledges advantages appertinances to the Same or any wise appertaining and the Reversion and Reversions remainder or Remainders Rents Issues Profitts thereof To have and to hold the said one hundred and Eighty Six acres of Land be the Same more or Less and Premises and Every Part and Parcell of them hereby Granted Bargained and Sold or Mentioned or -- intended  to be Bargained Granted and Sold and Every Part and Parcell thereof with the appurtances unto the said Nargalshrezzer Palmer his heirs Executors Administrators and Assigns for Ever to the only Proper use and behooss (sp?) of him the said Nargalsharezzer Palmer his heirs Executors Administrators and assigns for Ever and _____ and Paying the Quitrents for the Same of right Accustomed and the Said Moses Lunsford for him Self his heirs Executors and Administrators that at thte time of the Ensealing and Delivery of these Presents hath on him Self good Right - and Lawfull Power and authority to Grant and Convey the said one hundred and Eighty Six acres of Land and Premisses in manner and form aforesaid and that the said Nargalsharezzer Palmer his heirs Executors Administrators or assigns shall or may from time to time and at all times hereafter hold occupy Possess and Enjoy the Same and Every Part thereof without the Least hindrance and Missistation (sp?) of him the Said Moses Lunsford or his heirs Executors Administrators or any other Person or Persons whatsover Claming from or by under him free and Clear and freely and Clearly Acquitted Exonorated and Discharged of and from and from all manner of Joynheres Dowers Gifts Grants Bargains

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Sales Leases Morgages Judgements Executions and Ext__ts and from all other Troubles whatsoever Committed and done by him the Said Moses Lunsford his heirs Executors Administrators or any other Person or Persons Claiming from or under him and Shall and will warrent and forever Defend the said Promises unto him the Said Nargalsharezzer Palmer his heir Executors Administrators or assigns for Ever and will from time to time and at all times hereafter at and upon the Reasonable request Cost and Charge of him the Said Nargalsharezzer Palmer his heirs Executors Administrators or assigns delivery Suffor and acknowledge or couse to be made done Served and acknowledged all or any other Deed Conveyance or Conveyances assurance or assurances in the Law Whatsoever for the more Perfect and Sure making of the Said Premisses unto the Said Nargalsharezzer Palmer his heirs Executors Administrators or assigns as his Councill in the Law Shall be in that behalf reasoned devised Advised tendered and Required In Witness whereof the Part first Mentioned above to this Present Indenture hath set his hand and fixed his Seale the Day and year first above Writton.
Signed Sealed an' Delivered }
    In the Presence of             }                  Moses Lunsford {L:S}
Moses Oldham --}  Rodam Lunsford}
Wm Coppedge --}  Thomas James --}
William Harding}   John Palmer ---- }
                                William Palmer }
December the 10th 1750
Memorandum That Quiet and Peaceable Possession and Seizeon of the within Mentioned one hundred and Eighty Six acres of land and Premisses was this Day Given and Delivered by the Within named Moses Lunsford first Part of this Indenture unto Nargalsarezzer Palmer of the other Partie to this Indenture by the Delivery of  ___ and ___ upon the said Land in the Presence of Thomas James, John Palmer and William Palmer
Then Received of Nargalsharezzer Palmer one hundred and fifteen Pounds Current Money being full satisfaction for the Within mentioned Land and Premises as Witness my hand this 12 Day of November 1750,
Thomas James - }                               Moses Lunsford
William Palmer}  John Palmer
At a Court held for Northumberland County the 10th Day of December 1750
This Deed from Moses Lunsford to Nargalsharezzer Palmer and Livery and Seisen and Receipt Endorsed was acknowledged by the said Lunsford and ordered to be Recorded,
                                                           Teste, Thos Jones Junr C C

Source: Northumberland, VA, Record Books, No. 1:183, Lunsford to Palmer Deed, 7 Nov 1750; Library of Virginia Reel #6.                      

Abstract thoughts

I've relied for many years on published abstracts of wills, marriages and deeds in my research. I don't live anywhere near the places I've needed to research and it's only in the last few years that original documents have become more available online. As I worked through the thousands of names in the family trees I inherited, validating the information and adding rudimentary sources, the abstracts were heaven sent.

I'm now in Virginia - ground zero for much of my family and my husband's. I'm visiting houses, cousins, graveyards and my personal Mecca, the Library of Virginia. Four days there doesn't seem nearly enough time, but I shall make the most of it. 

Saturday I plowed through Lancaster and Northumberland records, looking for the wills I've been citing, looking for estate settlements, inventories, other deeds and indentures. And I found them. Dozens and dozens of them. I haven't dared count how many pages I'm going to copy to my flash drive on Monday.  

And I saw what I'd known in the abstract - the names that are missing from those lovely, easy abstracts. There are dozens and dozens of them, as well. Names like Sam, 42 year old male. Annie, 16 year old female. Stepto, 27 year old male. (These aren't specific people - just examples.) I looked away several times. I was more exhausted than I've been the entire trip. I can't possible copy them all. But I will copy everyone of "ours" that I can get to. And over the next months I will transcribe every name and publish them all. 

In the meantime, if you're seeking enslaved ancestors from the Northern Neck and believe they might have been owned by the following families please contact me after August 1st. I'll be glad to send you copies of anything I've found. 

Slave Owners naming Slaves in 18th & 19th c. Northern Neck Records

Corbin

Currell

Gibson

Lawson

Lee

McTyre

Meredith

Palmer

Yerby

These other families may also have left records naming slaves, but I have not seen them so far. I will, however, be copying records so may have information on them later.

Conway (Northern Virginia)

Dobyns (Northern Virginia)

Doggett (Northern Virginia)

Holt (Amelia and Campbell Counties)

James (Wythe and Smyth Counties)

Mason (Campbell County)

Porter (Fauquier County)

Turner (Northern Virginia)

Williams (Wythe, Grayson, Smyth Counties)

Jim Sanders - Friend of Friends Friday

I am in the process of researching the will of Thomas Meredith, a Baltimore merchant and banker who died in 1853. Included in the will is one bequest of a slave to his wife, Maria Meredith.

from FamilySearch

I give and bequeath to my beloved Wife, Maria M. Meredith, her executors, administrators and assigns ... my negro man Jim or Jim Sanders, as he calls himself, now hired to James Kelly, Esquire, of Kilmarnock, Virginia, also, all and entire of my furniture.... 

This is almost certainly the slave Jim referred to in Meredith's papers at the Maryland Historical Society as having been leased to James Kelly in 1840 for $40 per year. I have not found an 1840 census record for Meredith, but his papers and city directories indicate he lived in the city of Baltimore at the time. In 1850 he and his wife are enumerated in Baltimore, but he does not appear as a slave owner in the 1850 Slave Census. Jim Sanders may have been listed in Virginia as owned by James Kelly. Kelly lists 36 slaves in the census. Ten are men aged 24 to 54, old enough to have been leased to Kelly in 1840.

I suspect that Jim Sanders was born and spent his entire life to 1853 near Kilmarnock, Virginia. Meredith was born nearby and much of his family remained there. Meredith himself lived his entire adult life in Baltimore working as a merchant and banker and living at the Eutaw House hotel for at least 20 years. His will makes mention of the hotel staff that served him. The only slaves he owned appear to have been bequests from his family. Sanders was the only slave Meredith owned at his death and all evidence suggests he was leased for income rather than used as a personal servant.

Sources

      1850 U.S. census, Baltimore County, MD, population schedule, Baltimore Ward 14, p. 469A, dwelling 973, family 1141, Thomas Meredith; digital image, Ancestry.com (www. Ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 285. 

      1850 U.S. census, Northumberland County, VA, slave schedule, District 7, James Kelly; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432.

      James Kelly (Kilmarnock, VA) to Thomas Meredith, Letter, 10 Oct 1840; privately held by Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD.

The letter is part of the Thomas Meredith Papers (MHS1795) and is found in Box 2, Folder 1. 
      "Maryland Probate Records", digital images, FamilySearch, (www.familysearch.org: accessed 9 May 2011), Thomas Meredith will dated 16 Aug 1853, Baltimore Will books, Nov 1853 to Nov 1883, Liber N.H. 26, pp 57-61.

Church Record Sunday: The Morning Star & Catholic Messenger (New Orleans)

Though technically not a church record, this Catholic newspaper published in New Orleans from 1868 to 1881 includes a great deal of information of interest to genealogists, especially those researching family members who were priests or nuns. Catering to the English speaking population in New Orleans it covered a broad range of topics including Irish news and history, news items from around the country relating to Catholic religious orders, priests or nuns and local topics of interest.


The first issue included a rather lurid and improving story, a directory of Catholic parishes and staff in the New Orleans, information on several regional Catholic colleges, news relating to Reconstruction, advertisements from New Orleans merchants, obituaries of Catholic religious from around the country as well as prominent New Orleans Catholic laity, a report on a recent yellow fever epidemic and the following news item:

Frozen in the Confessional

The Rev. Father B. Sn_____ock, of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has lately suffered the amputation of a finger, which had been frozen while the Rev. Father was sitting in the confessional!

The newspaper is part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America Project. Issues are available from 1868-1879. I first searched it looking for information on two family members, a priest and a nun, who were working in New Orleans after the Civil War. I found multiple references to the priest, including considerable information about him from St. Louis, MO where he worked for 10 years. 




Source: The Morning star and Catholic messenger. (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, February 09, 1868, Morning, page 1.

Orphaned and Widowed, Part II

Continuing the story of Margaret Meredith Palmer (abt. 1823-1889) who was born in Lancaster County, Virginia and lost her mother, father, step-mother, and the aunt who raised her, all before she was 16 years old.

It's not clear where Margaret lived after her aunt's death, but in 1842 she married James Palmer at her uncle Thomas Meredith's home in Baltimore.  She and her husband settled onto Clifton, a plantation just outside Kilmarnock, Virginia.  In 1847, only five years after her marriage, Margaret was widowed and left with a toddler daughter and infant son.  She was no more than 25 years old.  Once again she turned to her family for support.  Her brothers Thomas and William each moved in for periods of time over the next 3 years.   That she leaned heavily on them and her uncle is evident from a series of letters she wrote in 1848 and 1849.

Let me be clear about Margaret's life at Clifton.  She was not cooking or scrubbing or working the farm.  There were 28 slaves on the plantation when her husband died.  But neither was her life the social whirl of southern lore.  Her letters to her uncle included the most prosaic details of life - the children's sniffles, getting groceries shipped from Baltimore,  new seeds for the vegetable garden, the price she might fetch for her crop of corn, a request for a black wool hat.  She sent orders for molasses (her young son had a penchant for "beating away" on the jugs with a stick - with predictable and sticky results), a good corn broom and $1 worth of cranberries.

Of far more concern to the young widow were the complicated legal and financial matters resulting from her husband's death.  She agonized over whether she was capable of serving as legal guardian for the children, and who should serve if she could not.  She and the children now owned Clifton jointly and all decisions had to be justified as in the best financial interest of her young children.  Acting as guardian herself might force her to rent out their share of the farm and slaves for the highest income.  A guardian could forbid their Catholic education, which was far more expensive than local schooling, when they were older.  She struggled to raise the $8000 guardianship bond, applying to her brothers and uncle to act as security for portions of the bond.  She dreaded going to court, asking "(m)ust I do it (take an oath) and on a Protestant bible?"  Almost a year after her husband's death and very much at wit's end she wrote her uncle, "I know not what to do(.)  I have recommended it in my prayers and wish the will of God to be done.  Most gladly will I take any advice that your kindness will impart.  Do dear Uncle pray for me and my dear children."

Beyond the details of the farm, her legal and financial concerns, Margaret's letters to her uncle showed  deep faith and longing for greater access to the Catholic Church.  There were no Catholic churches in Lancaster or Northumberland counties.  She was "anxious to go to Baltimore this spring to make my Easter" and asked that he let her know what would be most convenient.  She wrote she "will be very glad to attend a retreat if it is the will of Almighty God and shall be glad if dear Aunty (her uncle's wife) will write if she hears" of one in time enough for Margaret to attend.  One letter written during Lent in 1849 closed with a request, "Pray for me kind Uncle and for him to whom you were so kind while living during this holy season of fasting and prayer."  

I've known the facts outlining Margaret's life for many years but had not considered the emotional toll of such loss.  Certainly she was not unique.   Disease was common, medical care primitive and death a constant.  Many of the letters refer to disease or deaths in the county.  But these letters, some of them almost two centuries old, have illuminated her life and the lives of her Meredith kin beyond the details.  They've brought her to life - more than a century after her death.

The years her children grew up were challenging.  Her uncle Thomas died in 1853,  her brother James in 1855 and brother Thomas in 1859.  Mr. Gresham was appointed guardian for the children and helped her manage Clifton.  Ultimately she did rent out the farm and many of the slaves, using the income to pay for the Catholic schools she so valued.  It's not clear where she lived while they were in school in Maryland.  The Palmer slaves were enumerated on her cousin's nearby plantation in 1860.  She and the children returned to Virginia during summers until the Civil War.  Following the war, her daughter settled in Frederick, Maryland and her son took over Clifton.  Each married, had  large families, and surely to her joy, were devout Catholics.  Her son donated the land for the first Catholic Church built in Lancaster or Northumberland counties in 1885.  Margaret spent time with both of them, but lived her last years with her daughter.  She never remarried.  She died on a visit to Northumberland County in 1889.

Sources:  Letters from M. M. Palmer to Thomas Meredith, 1848-49. The letters are part of the Thomas Meredith Papers (MS1795) at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland.  They are contained in Box 2, Folder 3.