White Texans were fearful about revolts, and as in other southern states, rumors of uprisings took hold rapidly, often in times of economic and social tension. 509 0 obj <> endobj [30] As planters increased cotton production, they rapidly increased the purchase and transport of enslaved workers. [9] Of these, only 15 were enslaved, 4males and 11females. WebLand Records Names & Surnames Slavery & Servitude Claim Listing Sankofagen Wiki run by Karmella Haynes has a list of Arkansas Plantations and Slave Names listed by county, for counties formed prior to 1865. D. F. Kenner, Ascension, Louisiana: 473 slaves. This company was created to assist African American soldiers of the Civil War and freed slaves. WebList of members of the United States Congress who owned slaves A James Abercrombie (congressman) Adelicia Acklen Joseph Alexander Smith Acklen Joseph H. Acklen George Madison Adams Green Adams James Uriah Adams Joel Adams Samuel Adams (Arkansas politician) William Wirt Adams Henry Addison (mayor) Thomas Affleck (planter) D. Wyatt The customs officers offered the enslaved people for auction, and Bowie would buy them back. Profiles are placed in this category with this text [[Category:Texas, Slave Owners]] . https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slavery. [22], By the 1800s, most enslaved people in Texas had been brought by slaveholders from the United States. WebWhat percentage of Texas families owned slaves? Economically, slave owners had a disproportionately large share of the state's wealth and produced virtually all of the cash crops. 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." WebTexas Slave Codes 1821. 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. [21] Enslaved people often fought against the Comanche tribe, however. For a time, many enslaved ran away to Texas. 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. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. 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. 13, No. [citation needed]. Sugar. Gleaning Information about Enslaved Ancestors from Probate Files NGS Magazine 48 #2 (April-June 2022): 2327. Slaves, however, tended to hear the message of individual equality before God and salvation for all. Planters, for example, being generally satisfied with their lives as slaveholders, were largely unwilling to involve themselves in commerce and industry, even if there was a chance for greater profits. WebCategory: Texas, Slave Owners. Berry says McConnells refusal to acknowledge his history was interesting. She says the senators family history may have come to light because of his opposition to legislation related to reparations for descendants of enslaved people. While settled chiefly by Anglo-Southerners after the war; with the history of ranching, some of these parts have been more associated with the Southwest than the South. The whites, however, could hope to improve their lives with their own hard work, while the enslaved people could have no such hope or expectation as, of course, their work belonged by law to their owners and not to them. At the start of the Civil War, _____ was the commander of Union troops in Texas. Andrew J. Torget, Seeds of Empire: Cotton, Slavery, and the Transformation of the Texas Borderlands, 1800-1850 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015). Eliza Denwoo Henry David Rhodes, planter, was born in Alabama about 1819. [46], Unlike in other Southern states, only a small number of enslaved Texans, estimated at 47, joined the Union Army. DAR# A105070 1. One way or another they had to endure. Slave Owners 1800-1820, 1850-1860 The Comanche indiscriminately killed enslaved people and their white owners during raids. 4807 Caroline Section 107 related to Copyright and Fair Use for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. But his response to me opens up a door for families generations of descendants of slaveholders and descendants of slave people to have open dialogue of this institution.. The following information is included: The records are categorized by county. Samuel Murray 3 9. Most of the early slaveholders owned only a few enslaved people, but a few brought enough to build plantations immediately. Many slave families, however, were disrupted. By 1860, that number had increased to 182,566. [22] From 1849 until 1860, Texas tried to convince the United States government to negotiate a treaty with Mexico to permit extradition of runaways, but it did not succeed. Slavery in Texas was not a matter of content, well-cared for servants as idealized in some views of the Old South. [7] The 1783 census for all of Texas listed a total of 36enslaved people. There was an auction block next to the Menger Hotel and near the Alamo. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and over 2,000 federal troops arrived at Galveston Island to take possession of the state and enforce the two-year-old Emancipation Proclamation. About Slave Owners in Texas - Synonym In 1860, mass hysteria ensued after a series of fires erupted throughout the state. And a rich woman with slaves of her own to boot. [23] By 1836, there were approximately 5,000 enslaved people in Texas. Vol 3 contains contains mostly translated summaries documenting the Black experience in Texas. [54] The drop in proportion of population reflected greatly-increased European immigration to the state in the 19th century, as well as population growth. For example, slaves worked hard, sometimes at their own pace, and offered many forms of nonviolent resistance if pushed too hard. The payrolls for that slave Free and runaway blacks had great difficulty finding jobs in Texas. All slaves had to live with the knowledge that their families could be broken up, and yet the basic social unit survived. 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. Section 9 of Constitution of the Republic of Texas read in part as follows: All persons of color who were slaves for life previous to their emigration to Texas, and who are now held in bondage, shall remain in the like state of servitude Congress shall pass no laws to prohibit emigrants from bringing their slaves into the republic with them, and holding them by the same tenure by which such slaves were held in the United States; nor shall congress have the power to emancipate slaves; nor shall any slave holder be allowed to emancipate his or her slave without the consent of congress, unless he or she shall send his or her slave or slaves without the limits of the republic. Socially, slaveholders, at least the large planters, embodied an ideal to most Texans. Abraham Kuykendall 5 5. Online collections of Freedman's Bank records: The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was created by the US government in 1865 until 1872 to assist former slaves in the southern United States. WebAfrican American Resources for Texas. AngloAmerican settlers were very alarmed, but within a year the State Congress of Coahuila and Texas, some of its Tejano leaders impressed by the pleas of Austin's colonists concerning the need for labor and others distracted by debates over different issues, passed a law that used the familiar practice of indentured servitude to permit the bringing in of slaves under a different name. Sean M. Kelley, Los Brazos de Dios: A Plantation Society in the Texas Borderlands, 1821- 1865 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010). Others hated their masters and their situation and rebelled by running away or using violence. Later they were joined by lvar Nez Cabeza de Vaca. Texan forces executed one runaway taken prisoner and resold another into slavery. [44] Texas ranked 10th in total enslaved population and 9th in percentage enslaved (30 percent of all residents). Slavery in the Lower South WebOne in four families owned slaves. Federal Records that Help Identify Former Enslaved People Texas did not, however, employ techniques common in other Southern states such as complex voter registration rules and literacy tests; even the "white primary" was not implemented statewide until 1923.[53]. White society as a whole in antebellum Texas was dominated by its slaveholding minority. Several confessed to a plot by white abolitionists to avenge John Brown's execution by burning food supplies and poisoning slaveowners. [18] Slaveholders trying to enter Mexico would force the people they enslaved to sign contracts claiming that they owed money and would work to pay the debt. The motivation for bringing slaves to Texas was primarily economic using their labor to grow cotton, which was by 1820 the most valuable commodity in the Atlantic world. 3536 Grand Avenue The slaveholder hired William Barret Travis, a local lawyer, in an attempt to retrieve the men. Elijah Williamson 3 10. A slave had a right to trial by jury and a court-appointed attorney when charged with a crime greater than petty larceny. 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- [20], Many enslaved people who escaped from slaveholders in Texas or in the United States joined various East Texas Indian tribes. 2 Online Resources. 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. [21] By 1850, an estimated 3,000enslaved people had successfully escaped to Mexico, and an additional 1,000 crossed into Mexico between 1851 and 1855. Many of the fires had coincided with a summer drought, and new matches were susceptible to spontaneous combustion. [37] Urban enslaved people often had greater freedoms and opportunity. [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. American Slave Owners - geni family tree Most slaves in Texas worked: On plantations and farms. Randolph B. Several enslaved people ran away to serve with Mexican forces. [40] As early as 1836, Texas slaveholders sent representatives to Matamoros to try to reclaim their runaways, but Mexico refused. %PDF-1.6 % 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. One result was the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, which were an explanation of the grievances that had led to the disturbances. Officials and Employees Elisha Worthington of Chicot, Arkansas: 529 slaves. A large supply of cheap Mexican labor in the area made the purchase and care of a slave too expensive. Slavery was thus a constant source of tension in the lives of slaveholders. [51], The long-term effects of slavery can be seen to this day in the state's demographics. [9] When some French and Spanish slaveholders moved to Texas, they were allowed to retain their enslaved people. WebSince there were no major battles during the war in Texas, slave life in the state continued relatively unaffected, other than the influx of refugee slaves. Through wills and census reports found during family research, I have discovered a couple sets of ancestors who owned slaves. Legally slaves were categorized as chattel (moveable property), but they were men, women and children who clearly despised their condition of servitude. For the time being, we are using this as the Slavery Plantation umbrella or portal. African Americans immediately started raising legal challenges to disfranchisement, but early Supreme Court cases, such as Giles v. Harris (1903), upheld the states. Free blacks also emigrated to Texas. 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. In short, from 1821 to 1836, the national government in Mexico City and the state government of Coahuila and Texas often threatened to restrict or destroy African American servitude, but always allowed settlers in Texas a loophole or an exemption. Favorable conditions for free blacks continued into the 1830s. Slaves who did not work satisfactorily or otherwise displeased their owners were commonly punished by whipping. To Berry, having slave-owning ancestors shouldnt disqualify someone form holding office. [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. R. R. Barrow, Lafourche, Louisiana: 74 slaves; Terrebonne: 399 slaves. Farmers. Category:American slave owners accessed March 05, 2023, [citation needed], In the 1870s, a system of legalized racial segregation and white supremacy was enforced. The son of Capt. John Robinson of Madison, Mississippi: 550 slaves. Cotton. The number of enslaved people in the state increased dramatically as the Union Army occupied parts of Arkansas and Louisiana. Slavery 5.2 Cemeteries. The census in Questions concerning its profitability are complex and always open to debate. Texas was a colonial territory, then part of Mexico, later Republic in 1836, and U.S. state in 1845. [24], Forty percent of Texas enslaved people lived on plantations along the Gulf Coast and in the East Texas river valleys, where they cultivated cotton, corn, and some sugar. endstream endobj startxref , and his wife Amy, are descendants of slave owners. WebUnited States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 Name index and images of slave schedules listing slave owners and only age, gender and color data of the slaves in cesus states or WebThe enslavement of African Americans was the curse of early American life, and Texas was no exception. In 1854, citizens in Austin and other towns drove many poor Mexicans from the area in fear that they might assist in revolts. 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). Only one in every four families in antebellum Texas owned slaves, but these slaveholders, especially the planters who held twenty or more slaves, generally constituted the state's wealthiest class. Nevertheless, slavery was a curse to Texans, Black and White alike, until 1865 and beyond. Most slaves, however, were neither loyal servants nor rebels. But Texas was once the site of an illegal racket led by pirates who brought slaves into the state and sold them throughout the United Both the Baptist and Methodist churches appointed missionaries to the enslaved people and allowed active participation by them. Slaves freed in America before the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Slaves ate primarily corn and pork, foods that contained enough calories to provide adequate energy but were limited in essential vitamins and minerals. Up to 80enslaved people and 37whites may have been executed as a result of the supposed plot. Family ties were a source of strength for people enduring bondage and a mark of their humanity, too. Levi Anderson 1 13. After statehood, in antebellum Texas, slavery grew even more rapidly. [16] That year, the American Stephen F. Austin was granted permission by Mexican authorities to bring Anglo settlers into Texas. 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. Slavery | TSLAC - Texas State Library and Archives Commission 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. William Brittain 1 14. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. WebIn 1845, there were about 30,000 enslaved people in Texas. 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. WebList of the largest American slave owners The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. The Bureau created a wide variety of records extremely valuable to genealogists. Almost certainly, however, many came to believe that they would be free if the South lost. In 1865, 95% of the enslaved were illiterate.[39]. [36], Many local communities adopted laws forbidding enslaved people from having liquor or weapons, from selling agricultural products, hiring their own time, or being hired by free blacks. Because of their economic success, these planters represented the social ideal for many other Texans. See the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information on how to document slaves and slave owners. States that had used it adopted other means to keep most African Americans from voting. Moreover, once the revolution came, slavery was very much on the minds of those involved. Alfred V. Davis, Concordia, Louisiana: 500+ slaves. [28], The Section 9 of the General Provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Texas, ratified in 1836, made slavery legal again in Texas and defined the status of the enslaved and people of color in the Republic of Texas. Freedmen Towns By 1840 there were 11,323 enslaved people in Texas. LEVI JORDAN HISTORY Levi Jordan arrived in Texas in 1848. Rarely, an enslaved person also broke horses, but generally only white men were used for that dangerous task. Manifests - Alphabetical by Slave Names | National Archives In 1860, the biggest slaveholders were Robert and D.G. Mention is made of Henry being a judge.The following is from Rootsweb: Advocates are pushing for legislation to help them. The cotton industry flourished in East Texas, where enslaved labor became most widely used. The issue of slavery became a source of contention between the Anglo-American settlers and Spanish governors. In the fewer than fifty years between 1821 and 1865, the "Peculiar Institution," as Southerners called it, spread over the eastern two-fifths of the state, an area nearly as large as Alabama and Mississippi combined. FS Library 973 D25ngs. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slavery. 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. 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. Some felt well-treated by their owners and generally behaved as loyal servants. The Comanche sold any captured enslaved people to the Cherokee and Creek in Indian Territory, as they were both slaveholding tribes. WebThe U.S. census tracked the growth that followed, reporting 207 enslaved people in 1850 who made up 8% of the countys population and 1,074 enslaved people owned by 228 The Brazos department, including Austin's colonies and those of Green DeWitt, had exported 600,000 pesos worth of goods, including 5,000 bales of cotton. William Fletcher 4 6. "Mike" Campbell, The progress of the Civil War did not drastically affect slavery in Texas because no major slaveholding area was invaded. The census for 1840 in Henderson County included 4,662 whites, 466 slaves, 35 free blacks. "The Texas Slave Insurrection of 1860," by William White. It is a tough history and its a hard history and its a history that many Americans are not comfortable with, Berry says. Lambert Clayton 1 15. During the war, slavery in Texas was little affected, and prices for enslaved people remained high until the last few months of the war. Donald S. Strong, "The Rise of Negro Voting in Texas," American Political Science Review Vol. The General Provisions of the Constitution forbade any owner of enslaved people from freeing them without the consent of Congress and forbade Congress from making any law that restricted the slave trade or emancipated slaves. Slave Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, 2nd Edition). 4 History. Later he was given leadership of a Spanish expedition. In fact, at the turn of the 18 th century, Marie Therese was one of the richest ladies in Louisiana. American slavery was preeminently an economic institutiona system of unfree labor used to produce cash crops for profit. 3 (Sep., 1898) (pp. It gives the county and location, a description of the house, the number of acres owned, and the number of cabins of former slaves. 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. Categories: Texas, Slavery | United States of America, Slave Owners. He Although Estevanico was still enslaved, after these events the Spaniards treated him more as an equal. Black Slaveowners That Will Tear Apart Historical Perception Freedmans Savings and Trust Company signature cards or registers from 3 March 1865 to 25 July 1874 may list the name of the depositor, date of entry, age, birthplace, residence, complexion, name of employer or occupation, wife or husbands name, death information, childrens names, name of father and mother, brothers and sisters names, remarks, and signature. After slavery, African Americans went on to establish towns in Texas. P.O. The slavery categories exist to help with tracking the genealogy and family history of pre-Civil War era slaves. John Burneside of Ascension, Louisiana: 753 slaves; Saint James: 187 slaves. [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. Arthur Blake of Charleston, South Carolina: 538 slaves. Between 1816 and 1821, Louis-Michel Aury and Jean Lafitte smuggled enslaved people into the United States through Galveston Island. Settlements grew and developed more land under cultivation in cotton and other commodities. A. Anderson County, Texas, Slave Owners. They could be bought and sold, mortgaged, and hired out. Many owners wished to appear as benevolent fathers, and yet most knew that there would be times when they would treat members of their families as property pure and simple. Monte Verdi Plantation family slaves honored in [3] Five years later, in September 1534, they escaped to the interior.
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