Early and family life Up to 80enslaved people and 37whites may have been executed as a result of the supposed plot. The issue of slavery became a source of contention between the Anglo-American settlers and Spanish governors. Texas was a colonial territory, then part of Mexico, later Republic in 1836, and U.S. state in 1845. 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. 3" on the balcony of Ashton Villa: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. Sam Houston made illegal importation from Mexico a crime in 1836. Some enslaved people became ministers, but their masters often tried to instruct them in what they were supposed to preach. 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. Andrew Lyda 3 8. Although Estevanico was still enslaved, after these events the Spaniards treated him more as an equal. 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. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. Favorable conditions for free blacks continued into the 1830s. Amid talk of reparations, political figures contend with their slave-owning ancestors. [11] Under Austin's development scheme, each settler was allowed to purchase an additional 50 acres (20ha) of land for each enslaved person he brought to the territory. Charles Heyward of Colleton, South Carolina: 491 slaves. Black Slaveowners That Will Tear Apart Historical Perception One result was the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, which were an explanation of the grievances that had led to the disturbances. It contains a very significant number of Texas' African-American population. 3 Research Strategy. On the other hand, there was little comfort and no luxury. Slavery expanded rapidly during the period of the republic. 5.5 Emancipation Records. MP for Horsham in 1808 and Sandwich (18121824). In 1900, African Americans comprised 20% of the state's population of 3,048,710. Angelina County, Texas, Slave Owners. Categories: Texas, Slavery | United States of America, Slave Owners. [20], Many enslaved people who escaped from slaveholders in Texas or in the United States joined various East Texas Indian tribes. Although the law contained some recognition of their humanity, slaves in Texas had the legal status of personal property. The Neal family owned a plantation in Louisburg, Franklin County, N.C. Family members who went west all trafficked enslaved people with them and had the cash to buy good farm land. Slave owners and male [citation needed]. Texas, Special Voter Registration, 1867-1869. WebSouth Carolina's slave population in 1790 was 107,094, around 43 percent of the state population; by 1860 it was 402,406, around 57 percent of the total population. In 1792 there were 34 blacks and 1 Introduction. Many owners encouraged worship, primarily on the grounds that it would teach proper subjection and good behavior. Many enslaved people ran away. Houston, Texas 77004, African American Genealogical Interest Group [7] The 1783 census for all of Texas listed a total of 36enslaved people. [46], Unlike in other Southern states, only a small number of enslaved Texans, estimated at 47, joined the Union Army. 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. In 1850 the number was 2,852. The census for 1840 in Henderson County included 4,662 whites, 466 slaves, 35 free blacks. 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. In 1876 Texas adopted a new constitution requiring segregated schools and imposing a poll tax, which decreased the number of poor voters both black and white. By Laura RiceJuly 17, 20191:49 pmArts & Culture, History, Race & Identity. WebThe Confederate gov ernment required many slave holders to provide slaves to work at military fortifications and other facilities throughout the South. [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. The Bureau created a wide variety of records extremely valuable to genealogists. By the end of 1845, when Texas joined the United States, the state was home to at least 30,000 enslaved people. The Gregory School Historical collections at The Gregory School include: Access to Houston Public Library databases and indexes Books Pamphlets Periodicals Photographs Oral history recordings Manuscripts Newspapers and clippings Personal family archives and Ephemera documenting Houstons African American History and culture. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: a history of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfanchisement. Elijah Williamson 3 10. The white primary was another way to exclude African Americans from making electoral decisions, and it was not overturned by the Supreme Court until 1944 in Smith v. Allwright. Slave owners had broad powers of discipline subject only to constitutional provisions that slaves be treated "with humanity" and that punishment not extend to the taking of life and limb. 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. In comparison, good Texas cotton land could be bought for as little as six dollars an acre. The slaveholder hired William Barret Travis, a local lawyer, in an attempt to retrieve the men. Masters disciplined their slaves to get the labor they wanted, and yet had to avoid many problems of resistance such as running away and feigning illness. [29], The following year all those who had been living in Texas at the time of independence were allowed to remain. On the other hand, the legislature created political segregation; it classified free residents with at least 1/8 African heritage (the equivalent to one great-grandparent) as a separate category, and abrogated their citizens' rights, prohibiting them from voting, owning property, testifying against whites in court, or intermarrying with whites. William Fletcher 4 6. This page has been viewed 87,667 times (5,509 via redirect). Samuel Murray 3 9. Many of the fires had coincided with a summer drought, and new matches were susceptible to spontaneous combustion. This was in the slave owners' self-interest, for marriage encouraged reproduction under socially acceptable conditions, and slave children were valuable. WebJoseph Marryat (17571824), owned slaves in Grenada, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Jamaica. Slavery was a complex institution that varied according to time and place. The province continued to attract free blacks and escaped enslaved people from the Southern United States. 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. "The Texas Slave Insurrection of 1860," by William White. White society as a whole in antebellum Texas was dominated by its slaveholding minority. [23] By 1836, there were approximately 5,000 enslaved people in Texas. When Family History Includes Ownership Of Slaves | Texas Standard WebTruly giant slaveholders such as Robert and D. G. Mills, who owned more than 300 slaves in 1860 (the largest holding in Texas), had plantations in this area, and the population https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slavery. The evidence is strong, however, that in Texas slaves were generally profitable as a business investment for individual slaveholders. Meredith Calhoun of Rapides, Louisiana: 709 slaves. New Orleans was the center of this trade in the Deep South, but there were slave dealers in Galveston and Houston, too. The number likely would have been larger but for the attitude of the Mexican federal and state governments. Field hands generally labored "from sun to sun" five days a week and half a day on Saturday. . Several confessed to a plot by white abolitionists to avenge John Brown's execution by burning food supplies and poisoning slaveowners. [25] The department of Texas, which included the eastern settlements, expected to export 2,000 bales of cotton and 5,000 head of cattle. John Marshall (17551835), 4th Profiles are placed in this category with this text [[Category:Texas, Slave Owners]] . Eliza Denwoo Henry David Rhodes, planter, was born in Alabama about 1819. Whites in the area defeated and severely punished them. [54] The drop in proportion of population reflected greatly-increased European immigration to the state in the 19th century, as well as population growth. Some felt well-treated by their owners and generally behaved as loyal servants. 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. WebReturn to Slave Manifests main page Click on each Slave name to view information on that voyage. The progress of the Civil War did not drastically affect slavery in Texas because no major slaveholding area was invaded. The census of 1850 reported 58,161 slaves, 27.4 percent of the 212,592 people in Texas, and the census of 1860 enumerated 182,566 slaves, 30.2 percent of the total population. Anderson County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Austin County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 0, 1), Bastrop County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 0, 1), Bell County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 0), Bexar County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Bosque County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Brazos County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Burleson County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Caldwell County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 12, 2), Cass County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 0), Chambers County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Cherokee County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 0), Collin County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Cooke County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Dallas County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), DeWitt County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Ellis County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Falls County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Fannin County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Fayette County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 0, 1), Fort Bend County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Freestone County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Galveston County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Gonzales County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 1), Grayson County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 0), Guadalupe County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 1), Harris County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 4, 0), Harrison County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 6, 1), Hays County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 0, 1), Hill County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Hopkins County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Houston County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Johnson County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 1), Kaufman County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Lavaca County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Leon County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Madison County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Marion County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Matagorda County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), McLennan County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Milam County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 0), Montgomery County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 5, 0), Nacogdoches County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Navarro County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Nueces County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Panola County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 12, 2), Polk County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Red River County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 4, 0), Rusk County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Sabine County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), San Augustine County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Shelby County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 9, 3), Smith County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 0), Tarrant County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Titus County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Travis County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Tyler County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 3, 0), Upshur County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 0), Walker County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0), Washington County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 1, 1), Wharton County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 2, 0). There were two questionnaires: one for free inhabitants and one for slaves. [32] Some enslaved people lived among the cattlemen along the southern Gulf Coast and helped herd sheep and cattle. WebIn 1845, there were about 30,000 enslaved people in Texas. [citation needed], In the 1870s, a system of legalized racial segregation and white supremacy was enforced. As a free lady, she was an astute entrepreneur as well as a social climber. FS Library 976.4 D3sl, Garrett-Nelson, LaBrenda. [35] Enslaved people often lived similarly to poor whites in Texas, especially those new to the territory and just getting started. African Americans immediately started raising legal challenges to disfranchisement, but early Supreme Court cases, such as Giles v. Harris (1903), upheld the states. Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, 2nd Edition). Madison (1), 236 slaves. Length of residence (in state, in county, in precinct), General Remarks--race is noted when the registrant was "colored". In 1860 there were 3,017 slaves in Marion county 1,406 males, 1,611 females. Almost certainly, however, many came to believe that they would be free if the South lost. These tensions came to a head in the Anahuac Disturbances. Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke holds a rally at Scholz Garten in Austin. Most of the early slaveholders owned only a few enslaved people, but a few brought enough to build plantations immediately. He and his wife Mary moved there themselves and he died Update 12/7/2016(CLM): I have found various references of military rank from Captain to Brigadier General. Web1800 Slave Owners 1. 4 Cotton plantations. Other FamilySearch collections not included: More collections are available in the FamilySearch Catalog. West Feliciana: 127 slaves. American slavery was preeminently an economic institutiona system of unfree labor used to produce cash crops for profit. Dirt floors were common, and beds attached to the walls were the only standard furnishings. In the 1830s, the British consul estimated that approximately 500enslaved people had been illegally imported into Texas. They therefore followed a basic human instinct and sought to survive on the best terms possible. About Slave Owners in Texas - Synonym 3 Vol. There they were raised to be servants. In 1854, citizens in Austin and other towns drove many poor Mexicans from the area in fear that they might assist in revolts. D. F. Kenner, Ascension, Louisiana: 473 slaves. Slave prices inflated rapidly as the institution expanded in Texas. This entry belongs to the following Handbook Special Projects: We are a community-supported, non-profit organization and we humbly ask for your support because the careful and accurate recording of our history has never been more important. We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. Sugar plantations. Slavery was also vital socially because it reflected basic racial views. Advocates are pushing for legislation to help them. A list of resources for African American research of ancestors who lived in Texas. Before being brought to Texas, enslaved persons signed contracts with their masters by which they technically became free but, in return for their "freedom," agreed that they and their children would, in effect, be indentured to the master for life. 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 Samuel King 3 7. 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. Married Margaret French Strother 1778. There was an auction block next to the Menger Hotel and near the Alamo. [33], Although most enslaved people lived in rural areas, more than 1000 resided in both Galveston and Houston by 1860, with several hundred in other large towns. They may be related. 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. Many planters, however, lost part of their workforce temporarily to the Confederate Army, which impressed one-quarter of the enslaved on each plantation to construct defensive earthworks for the Texas coast and to drive military supply wagons. One way or another they had to endure. (re: Insurrection Scare in East Texas) "Smith County and Its Neighgors During the Slave Insurrection Panic of 1860," by Donald Eugene Reynolds, PhD (born 1931), Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies, outlawed the importation of enslaved people, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, History of African Americans in Dallas-Ft. Worth, History of African Americans in San Antonio, "Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States", "U.S. appeals court allows Texas to implement voter ID law", "Updated: Texas voter ID law allows gun licenses, not Student ID's", "Someone did not do their due diligence: How an attempt to review Texas' voter rolls turned into a debacle", Texas Terror: the Slave Insurrection Panic of 1860 and the Secession of the Lower South, San Antonio de Bexar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier, Lester G. Bugbee, "Slavery in early Texas", Foreign relations of the Republic of Texas, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_slavery_in_Texas&oldid=1132265581, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, Articles with failed verification from June 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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 I think [the conversation] happens in a number of spaces, Berry says. FS Library 973 D25ngs. Find Descendants of My Ancestors Slaves [11], In 1829, Mexico abolished slavery, but it granted an exception until 1830 to Texas. This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 11:16. [17] In 1827, the legislature of Coahuila y Tejas outlawed the introduction of additional enslaved people and granted freedom at birth to all children born to an enslaved person. Later they were joined by lvar Nez Cabeza de Vaca. 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. They could be bought and sold, mortgaged, and hired out. Slavery in Texas - Texas Institute for the Preservation of History Levin R. Marshall, Concordia (2), Louisiana: 248 slaves. 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. [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. Slaveholders in those areas often moved their enslaved to Texas to avoid having them freed. R. R. Barrow, Lafourche, Louisiana: 74 slaves; Terrebonne: 399 slaves. Elisha Worthington of Chicot, Arkansas: 529 slaves. 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. 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. Slavery had been theoretically abolished by President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation which proclaimed, in 1863, that only those enslaved in territories that were in rebellion from the United States were free. Joseph Henry 8 3. Others hated their masters and their situation and rebelled by running away or using violence. Welcome to Geni, home of the world's largest family tree. Since they politically dominated the state for decades after 1900, the only contest for office was at the primary level. Lists of Slave owners with names of slaves 781 Blacks, however, could not testify against Whites in court, a prohibition that largely negated their constitutional protection. A Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Dallas Genealogical Society Marr. This fact is not a tribute to the benevolence of slavery, but a testimony to the human spirit of the enslaved African Americans. Millions of Texans have rare diseases. The slave population of Texas from 1850 to 1860 increased from 58,161 to 182,566, bringing the slave population from 27 percent to 30 percent of the state total. Married Elizabeth Towles 1803. WebCategory: Texas, Slave Owners. Officials and Employees Samuel Allen 1 12. The 1867 Voter Registration includes names of voters who registered in the period between 1867 and 1869. WebList of the largest American slave owners The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. Austin County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 0, 1) B. Bandera The effect of the institution on the state's general economic development is less clear. All slaves had to live with the knowledge that their families could be broken up, and yet the basic social unit survived. The first non-Native slave in Texas was Estevanico, a Moor from North Africa who had been captured and enslaved by the Spanish when he was a child. After, ORourke shared his reaction on the blog site. 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.