names of families that owned slaves in texas names of families that owned slaves in texas

Texas was the last frontier of chattel slavery in the United States. [citation needed], In the 1870s, a system of legalized racial segregation and white supremacy was enforced. Marie Therese Metoyer. Texas, Special Voter Registration, 1867-1869. The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. During the pre-Civil War statehood period, a majority of Texans were. Politically, slaveholders dominated public office holding at all levels. Socially, slaveholders, at least the large planters, embodied an ideal to most Texans. [38] Unlike most southern states, Texas did not explicitly ban education of enslaved people, but most slaveholders did not allow the practice. Theirs was apparently a favored position, at least in this regard. is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, and says addressing ones lineage of slavery is difficult, but ORourkes response helped bring the issue out into the open. Most field hands received two sets of clothing twice each year, with a hat and coat for winter. A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin | Contact us, this week that Democratic presidential candidate, and former Texas Congressman. Charles Heyward of Colleton, South Carolina: 491 slaves. In comparison, good Texas cotton land could be bought for as little as six dollars an acre. 509 0 obj <> endobj However, the north central region held much excellent cotton land, and slavery would probably have developed rapidly there once rail transportation was built. Due to the state laws, he would receive half of the price he had paid. Texas ranked 10th in total enslaved population and 9th in percentage enslaved (30 percent of all residents). This did not mean that the majority of slaves were content with their status. Texan forces executed one runaway taken prisoner and resold another into slavery. A list of resources for African American research of ancestors who lived in Texas. Slaves in general did not lash out constantly against all the limits placed on them that would have brought intolerable punishment but they did not surrender totally to the system, either. [48], On some plantations, many enslaved people left immediately after hearing of the emancipation, even if their former owners offered to pay them wages. There is at least one positive outcome that could come from reckoning with slave-owning family members of the past. On the other hand, the institution may well have contributed in several ways to retarding commercialization and industrialization. John J. Middleton of Beaufort, South Carolina: 530 slaves. One of the resolutions challenged Bradburn for "advising and procuring servants to quit the service of their masters, and offering them protection; causing them to labor for his benefits, and refusing to compensate them for the same. East Texas Research Center. 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. [24], In 1845 the state legislature passed legislation further restricting the rights of free blacks. By 1840 there were 11,323 enslaved people in Texas. They survived with the help of Castillo's faith healing among the Indians. It is a tough history and its a hard history and its a history that many Americans are not comfortable with, Berry says. On June 19, 1865 word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved African Meals often consisted of bread, molasses, sweet potatoes, hominy, and beef, chicken, and pork. Texans worried constantly that the Mexicans were going to free their slaves or at least cause servile insurrection. In 1854, citizens in Austin and other towns drove many poor Mexicans from the area in fear that they might assist in revolts. 535 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<511162D97422004CA0FA8843222F25B6>]/Index[509 45]/Info 508 0 R/Length 121/Prev 271316/Root 510 0 R/Size 554/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream [46] Anyone convicted of providing arms to enslaved people during the war was sentenced to between two and five years of hard labor. The greatest concentration of large slave plantations was along the lower Brazos and Colorado rivers in Brazoria, Matagorda, Fort Bend, and Wharton counties. , and his wife Amy, are descendants of slave owners. Slavery in the Lower South [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. Slaves increased their minimal self-determination by taking what they could get from their owners and then pressing for additional latitude. I look at this and many of these opportunities as a place to teach and educate our country on our history because this is a part of our history that weve often sort of tucked under the rug or didnt give the details of that history, Berry says. Most worked as house servants or on farms on the edges of towns, but others served as cooks and waiters in hotels, as teamsters or boatmen, or as coachmen and skilled artisans, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and barbers. Most of the early slaveholders owned only a few enslaved people, but a few brought enough to build plantations immediately. American Slave Owners - geni family tree The African American Library at the Gregory SchoolHouston's first colored public school, located in historic Freedmen's Town, serves as a resource and repository to preserve, promote and celebrate the rich history and culture of African Americans in Houston, the surrounding region and the African Diaspora. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. Slavery in Texas was not a matter of content, well-cared for servants as idealized in some views of the Old South. [30] As planters increased cotton production, they rapidly increased the purchase and transport of enslaved workers. After slavery, African Americans went on to establish towns in Texas. Since they politically dominated the state for decades after 1900, the only contest for office was at the primary level. Sizable numbers, however, came through the domestic slave trade. The last frontier of slavery was by no means closed on the eve of the Civil War. Once established as an economic institution, slavery became a key social institution as well. In cases where African Americans registered, their race is specified as "colored." In general, Texas slaves continued to work and live as they had before the war. Andrew Lyda 3 8. Thus, slavery was not the immediate cause of the revolution, but the institution was always there as an issue, and the revolution made it more secure than ever in Texas. endstream endobj 510 0 obj <. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. University of Texas (San Antonio). TSHA | Slavery - Handbook of Texas When Family History Includes Ownership Of Slaves | Texas Standard Instead, place individual profiles into the category corresponding to the county of Texas where they held enslaved persons. Institute of Texas Cultures. Later he was given leadership of a Spanish expedition. [24], Exportation in the slave-owning areas of the state surpassed that of the non-slave-owning areas. Cotton. These films do not appear to contain the names of former slaves. Before The Guardian interviewed him for the story, he said neither he nor Amy knew that side of their heritage. [19] In 1832, the state passed legislation prohibiting worker contracts from lasting more than tenyears. Slavery was also vital socially because it reflected basic racial views. Alwyn Barr. Slavery in Early Texas. 4 History. To Berry, having slave-owning ancestors shouldnt disqualify someone form holding office. 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. A slave had a right to trial by jury and a court-appointed attorney when charged with a crime greater than petty larceny. In part due to the trade in enslaved people, New Orleans was the fourth largest city in the US in 1840 and one of the wealthiest. P.O. Residents of Texas, 1782-1836. [6] Beginning in the 1740s in the Southwest, when Spanish settlers captured American Indian children, they often had them baptized and "adopted" into the homes of townspeople. Slavery guaranteed that. "The Texas Slave Insurrection of 1860," by William White. A small minority (about 6 percent) of the slaves in Texas did not belong to farmers or planters but lived instead in the state's towns, working as domestic servants, day laborers, and mechanics (see SLAVERY, URBAN). 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. Through organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), African Americans continued to work to regain their ability to exercise their civil and voting rights as citizens. Some hid in the bayous for a time, while others lived among the Indians, and a few managed to board ships bound for northern or foreign ports. 3 Vol. William Fletcher 4 6. Slavery in Texas | blackwallstreet.org The eastern quarter of the state, where cotton production depended on thousands of slaves, is considered the westernmost extension of the Deep South. Sam Houston made illegal importation from Mexico a crime in 1836. There was an auction block next to the Menger Hotel and near the Alamo. Texas 1867 Special Voter's Registration: includes information for 1867 - 1869. In 1836 Texas had approximately 5,000 enslaved persons in a total population estimated at 38,470. [17] Most of the settlers Austin recruited came from the southern slave-owning portions of the United States. Profiles are placed in this category with this text [[Category:Texas, Slave Owners]] . accessed March 05, 2023, Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Daina Ramey Berry is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, and says addressing ones lineage of slavery is difficult, but ORourkes response helped bring the issue out into the open. Despite the fact that Texas was a slave state, however, most Texans did not own slaves. [56] Those against this decision typically argue that it unfairly targets key Democratic constituencies such as minority groups and the elderly,[57] while proponents argue that the law's intention is to prevent voting by illegal immigrants. 0 The history of slavery in Texas began slowly at first during the first few phases in Texas' history. [3] American Indians captured and enslaved the party, putting them to work as laborers. [44] 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. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The province continued to attract free blacks and escaped enslaved people from the Southern United States. The promise of ultimate deliverance helped many to resist the psychological assault of slavery. If they died, the boss did not suffer a monetary loss. 3536 Grand Avenue IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. Family ties were a source of strength for people enduring bondage and a mark of their humanity, too. [10], In 1823, Mexico forbade the sale or purchase of people, and required that the children of the enslaved be freed when they reached age fourteen. They could be bought and sold, mortgaged, and hired out. Randolph B. It gives the county and location, a description of the house, the number of acres owned, and the number of cabins of former slaves. Email: info@aamdallas.org Because of their economic success, these planters represented the social ideal for many other Texans. Most slaves, however, were neither loyal servants nor rebels. [7], Importation of enslaved Africans was not widespread in Spanish Texas. Through wills and census reports found during family research, I have discovered a couple sets of ancestors who owned slaves. Many of the fires had coincided with a summer drought, and new matches were susceptible to spontaneous combustion. To find Freedmen's Bureau records: Visit the African American Freedmen's Bureau Records page to learn more about utilizing these records. 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. Brewer, John Mason. 2) THIS PATRIOT HAD TWO DAUGHTERS NAMED MARY, ONE BY EACH WIFE; Daniel French Slaughter (October 15, 1799 October 13, 1882) was Virginia planter and politician from two distinguished families of politicians and soldiers. Early books sometimes contained the name of the former master or mistress and the name of the plantation. Many former enslaved people fought with the Cherokee against the Texan army that drove the tribe from East Texas in 1838. [22], By the 1800s, most enslaved people in Texas had been brought by slaveholders from the United States. It was a decision that increased tensions with slave-holders among the Anglo-Americans. O. J. Morgan, Carroll, Louisiana: 500+ slaves. Elijah Williamson 3 10. WebList of the largest American slave owners The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. They may be related. WebAnd for greater certainty I here give the names of the slaves mentioned and intended to pass to said children by this my 5th bequeath to the best of my resolution, to wit, 1 Scott 2 Slave labor produced cotton (and sugar on the lower Brazos River) for profit and also cultivated the foodstuffs necessary for self-sufficiency. A Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Dallas Genealogical Society States that had used it adopted other means to keep most African Americans from voting. Up to 80enslaved people and 37whites may have been executed as a result of the supposed plot. Arthur Blake of Charleston, South Carolina: 538 slaves. People of color who had been servants for life under Mexican law would become property. 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. Abraham Kuykendall 5 5. Few battles took place in Texas, which acted as a supply state to the Confederacy. [58][failed verification]. See the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information on how to document slaves and slave owners. There were a few slaves in Texas while it was a Spanish province, but slavery did not really become an institution of significance in the region until the arrival of AngloAmerican settlers. Although Mexican governments did not adopt any consistent or effective policy to prevent slavery in Texas, their threats worried slaveholders and possibly retarded the immigration of planters from the Old South. In 1792 there were 34 blacks and 414 mulattos in Spanish Texas, some of whom were free men and women. The emancipated slaves celebrated joyously (if Whites allowed it), but then they had to find out just what freedom meant. Copies of death certificates were sometimes attached to the entries. This is a mid-level category and should not have individual profiles added to it. WebReturn to Slave Manifests main page Click on each Slave name to view information on that voyage. American slavery was preeminently an economic institutiona system of unfree labor used to produce cash crops for profit. 4 Cotton plantations. A. Anderson County, Texas, Slave Owners. After statehood, in antebellum Texas, slavery grew even more rapidly. Voter's registrations are among the few records which document African American males prior to 1870. [34], Plantation enslaved people generally lived in one or two-room log cabins. Instead, the majority recognized all the controls such as slave patrols that existed to keep them in bondage and saw also that runaways and rebels generally paid heavy prices for overt resistance. Most runaways attempted to go to Mexico. Alfred V. Davis, Concordia, Louisiana: 500+ slaves. 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. 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]. 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. Between 1816 and 1821, Louis-Michel Aury and Jean Lafitte smuggled enslaved people into the United States through Galveston Island. WebAmerican Slave Narratives - An Online Anthology. Marie Therese Metoyer was born into slavery but died a rich woman. WebThe 1783 census for all of Texas listed a total of 36 enslaved people. Music and song served to set a pace for work and to express sorrow and hope (see AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHURCHES). Slave plantations were concentrated along the low-lying farmlands of East Texas. Black Slaveowners That Will Tear Apart Historical Perception [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. Currently, there are only plantations listed for Chicot County, Jefferson County, Ouachita County, and Phillips County. The census in The low wages the enslaved person would receive made repayment impossible, and the debt would be inherited, even though no enslaved person would receive wages until age eighteen. Federal Records that Help Identify Former Enslaved People 2 Online Resources. All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Although Estevanico was still enslaved, after these events the Spaniards treated him more as an equal. WebThe slaves who remained on properties in South Carolina are counted on the South Carolina reports. [47] The last battle of the war was fought at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, in 1865. As Texas was much more distant from the Union Army lines for much of the war, enslaved people were unable to reach them. [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. Nevertheless, slavery was a curse to Texans, Black and White alike, until 1865 and beyond. Favorable conditions for free blacks continued into the 1830s. Over 30 of the fugitives made it safely to freedom in Mexico. Slaves ate primarily corn and pork, foods that contained enough calories to provide adequate energy but were limited in essential vitamins and minerals. Slaves freed in America before the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. At first, the practice involved primarily Apaches; eventually Comanche children were likewise "adopted" as servants. There were two questionnaires: one for free inhabitants and one for slaves. Slaves who did not work satisfactorily or otherwise displeased their owners were commonly punished by whipping. At the start of the Civil War, _____ was the commander of Union troops in Texas. Enslaved African Americans had maintained human strength and dignity even in bondage, and Texas could not have grown as it had before 1865 without the slaves' contributions. The men sold enslaved people to James Bowie and others, who brought them directly to a customhouse and informed on themselves. In part this limited autonomy was given by the masters, and was taken by slaves in the slave quarters which provided them resilience to assert self-determination within the confine of bondage. Category:American slave owners Most slaves, however, supplemented their basic diet with sweet potatoes, garden vegetables, wild game, and fish and were thus adequately fed. Americans of European extraction and enslaved people contributed greatly to the population growth in the Republic and State of Texas. [33], Many churches in Texas accepted enslaved people as members. [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. The news organization used documents from Ancestry.com to confirm the connection. Leaders of the Mexican nation tended to oppose slavery, in part from revolutionary idealism and in part because slavery was not essential to the new nations economy, and therefore regularly threatened to limit or abolish the institution.