Recently while looking through my tree for the Jackson Family of Autauga County, Alabama, which I have long suspected of being the slave holders for my maternal grandfather Mershell Graham’s family, I found the will and estate file for Crawford Motley Jackson who died in 1860. In the file I found my grandfather’s mother Mary Jackson listed along with her mother Prissy Jackson in the list of enslaved people.
The list was arranged in family groups, with the names, ages and appraisement values. This is the full list of 135 people enslaved by C. M. Jackson at his death. The underlined names signal a new family group.
A list of negroes (sic) belonging to C. M Jackson deceased presented to undersigned, George Rives, John D. Graves and Philip Fitzpatrick appointed appraisers of said estate by Probate Court of Autauga County Alabama on the 15th of March 1860 by Absalom Jackson administrator of said estate with appraised value of same made by us opposite their names.
Name Age Birth Valued
- Ned 57 1803 $215
- Clem 57 1803 60 (unsound)
- Richard 25 1835 60 (unsound)
- Rachel & 19 1841 1400
- Child
- Giles 50 1810 1330
- Ester & 35 1825 750 (unsound)
- Child
- Catherin 11 1849 800
- Eliza 9 1851 550
- Giles Jr 15 1845 1100
- Daniel 3 1857 300
- Edmund 33 1828 1530
- Belinda 35 1825 1000
- Ben 15 1845 1130
- Coosa 13 1847 1065
- Oran 12 1848 930
- Dorcus 10 1850 700
- Mark 8 1852 530
- Texas 6 1854 500
- Labun 3 1857 300
- Peggy 2 1858 250
- Mathew 31 1826 1400
- Julia & 26 1834 1400
- Child
- Lud 10 1850 800
- Naomi 8 1852 550
- Rush 6 1854 400
- Jenny Lind 5 1855 275
- Anna 2 1858 200
- Clark 30 1830 1300
- Amanda & 18 1842 1400
- Child
- Winter 8 1852 500
- Katy & 28 1832 1400
- Child
- Jim Polk 6 1854 450
- Maria 8 1852 550
- Archy 4 1856 300
- Peggy 27 1833 1200
- Rocksy 7 1853 600
- Jim 24 1836 1530
- Harriett & 18 1842 1400
- Child George
- William 48 1812 1100
- Vina 47 1813 850
- Denis 18 1842 1500
- Charlotte 16 1844 1400
- Sam 13 1847 1150
- Nelson 11 1849 1020
- Rebecca 4 1856 400
- Nancy 3 1857 300
- Jacob 30 1830 1200
- Martha & 27 1833 1430
- Child
- Eliza 9 1851 700
- Frank 7 1853 750
- Henry 3 1857 300
- Henry 25 1835 1500
- Cloe 19 1841 1500
- Abram 12 1848 1300
- Jackson 21 1839 1500
- Silva & 24 1836 1500
- Child Winnie
- Franky 6 1854 450
- Laura 3 1857 325
- Laban 37 1823 1100
- Aggie 21 1839 1300
- Billy 2 1858 275
- Mary & 37 1823 1150
- Child
- Ellenboro 38 1822 1200
- Davy 18 1842 1300
- Fanny 15 1845 1500
- Lucy 13 1847 1030
- Solly 9 1851 900
- Isabell 6 1853 600
- Lewis 4 1856 400
- Prissy & 35 1825 1200 my 2X great grandmother.
- Child Lizza 2 1858
- Ibi 12 1848 1000
- Harjo 9 1851 900
- Griffin 8 1852 900
- Frank Pierce 6 1854 600
- Mary 4 1856 450 my great grandmother
- Allen 40 1820 900
- Disy & 33 1827 1100
- Child
- Noah 13 1947 1100
- Phillis 11 1849 1000
- Allen 8 1852 700
- Sopha 5 1855 500
- Edna 4 1846 325
- General August 3 1857 200
- B. Mary 41 1819 800
- Jessy 17 1843 1400
- Dallas 15 1845 1300
- Betty 12 1848 1100
- Vina 11 1849 1000
- Louisa & 24 1836 1500
- Child
- Jane 5 1865 400
- Josephine 3 1857 275
- Little Aaron 30 1860 1300
- Amanda & 22 1838 1400
- Child
- Harrison 3 1857 250
- Pamela 2 1858 200
- Old Sy 78 1782 no valuation assessed
- D? George 42 1838 800
- Robert 36 1824 1300
- Cyrus 28 1832 1450
- Joe 26 1834 1500
- George 56 1804 300
- Milly 46 1814 400
- Charles 16 1844 1500
- John 12 1848 1250
- Menerva 10 1850 975
- Georgiana 5 1855 425
- Nick 45 1815 1100_________\
- Violet & 41 1809 900
- Child Richard 1 1859
- Sarah & 21 1839 1000
- Child Mrs. Tempe Jackson
- Brown 19 1841 1100 has a lifetime estate
- Peter 14 1842 1300 in these negroes at…
- Hanna 12 1848 1000 Can’t read the rest.
- Tennessee 10 1850 850
- Pauline 8 1852 700
- Jennetta 5 1855 500__________ /
- Old Aaron 58 1802 250
- Rose 56 1804 225
- Joe Beck 27 1833 1250
- Jim 23 1837 1500
- Washington 19 1841 1000
State of Alabama } Personally appeared before me John Zeigler acting justice of the Autauga County }peace in and for said county George Rives &, John D. Graves & Phillip Fitzpatrick appraisers of the Estate of Crawford M. Jackson deceased and being duly sworn , depose and say that the foregoing appraisement as agreed upon by them is just according to their knowledge and brief.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this the 5th day of April M. D. 1860
John J Zeigler J. P.
Whew, it’s appalling to see a list like this, yet at the same time, it is such clear documentation terrible way things were back then.
And I am always glad to find documentation of my ancestors before freedom. This line was particularly difficult for me.
What an incredible list. Now I need to go into my ancestors who lived in the south in the 1850s-60s and see if there are slave lists…I know there were slave census records in some places. My only hopeful thought is that in 5 years all those people would have been freed.
If any of them died and have a probate record there would be lists. There would be lists before 1850 because they are only turning up in estate probate records. The slave censuses of 1850 and 1860 didn’t include names or family groups or “valuations”
Those that didn’t die before freedom would be. Next I will see who I can find in post freedom records – voter lists, 1870 census, etc.
I have wanted to comment on several of your posts but I don’t even have the correct words. I’m a 62 year old white woman and I have no idea if my relatives owned slaves or not BUT I am horrified as I read this list of names –these are not just names on paper but people. My heart physically hurts as I see a “price” beside each of those people . . .some were tiny children such as your great grandmother. Please know that your writing serves as education for many people – an education much needed. Please keep writing.
If they lived in the south and had money, probably so. You could find out if you were on ancestry.com. There are also some free records online.
My feelings about these records are more muted now. The first time I found family in someone’s will, I felt so angry. I may be angry about it all the time and so don’t get the rush of anger I did at the first. Now I mainly feel relieved to have found my family in some records during slavery. Every slave holder didn’t die so conveniently before the end of slavery and leave detailed estate records with lists like this one.
I am glad you are learning something from my posts. My main reasons for posting them are to write them up, to share with other family members (both mine and those of others on the lists) and to inspire other African American family historians to keep looking.
Such a heartbreaking list to read, and doubly heartbreaking that you had to search such a list to find your ancestors. No wonder you were angry! Justifiably so. Perhaps your ancestors were included in the Freedmen’s Bureau records compiled after the war. That would be a more heartening find.
I haven’t found any of my family in the Freedmen’s Bureau records, but I have found them on voter registration lists, agricultural censuses, the 1870 and later censuses, land transaction records, marriage records and United States Colored Troops records and pension files. Oh and not to forget, sometimes newspaper articles. Yes, that is more heartening, however If I don’t find them in plantation records, their known story stops at the civil war.
135 Humans – 20+ Family Units – Free Labor to Prosper the Slave Owning Family – America
This method of grouping into family units is one I find most favorable to slave research. Some slave owners grouped by gender, age, value.
Exactly!!
Great work Kristin. Hopefully, over time, other people who were descendants of these plantation families will be able to find their ancestors on this list you have provided.
This list, its length and especially that last column, turned my heart and brain inside out!
But that apart, your research, organisation, the painstaking, persistent documentation stuns me as well, in the exact opposite way. You’re adding so much value for other people seeking their roots. Kudos!
Thank you Nilanjana.
Great work, Kristin!
Did you already know the names of all your great-grandmother’s siblings before finding this?
Renate
I did because they were all together in the 1870 census. Then I DNA matched some of the descendants of the siblings.