Slaves Found in My Family History Research

Schalene Dagutis had a great idea in coming up with the Slave Name Roll Project. The idea is to post the names of slaves found in your family history research to help those looking for their slave ancestors. I will be adding to this post as I discover others.

James Hopkinson's Plantation. Planting sweet potatoes. ca. 1862/63 Henry P. Moore - Library of Congress

Slaves of William Cornelius (from his will, Blount, Alabama 1840)
I give and have given to my eldest daughter Amy Cargill, the wife of Cornelius Cargill, one Negro girl named Charlotte and her child Lucy.

I give and have given to my eldest son Jesse Cornelius, on Negro boy named Isaiah.

I have given to my son Aaron Cornelius one Negro girl named Leah and her two children, one girl named Harlot, {Hariot or Harriett?} and one boy named Lewis.

I give and have given to my son William Cornelius two Negro boys (brothers), one named Jacob in his possession and the other named Andrew.

I have given to my son Champion Cornelius one Negro girl named Ann and her two children, one named Ransom and the other name Metilda. {Matilda}

I have given to my son Beverly Cornelius two Negro girls, one named Ester {Esther} and the other named Tener.

I have given to my daughter Lettice Cooks children, on Negro girl named Marah.

I have given to my daughter Tabitha Hays one Negro girls named Elinar. {Eleanor}

I have given and bequeath to my son Abner Cornelius on Negro boy named Stuard. {Stewart Steward}

Slaves of Augustus Wheat  (Atlanta, DeKalb County, Campbellton, Campbell County, Douglas County Georgia)

1850, Atlanta, DeKalb, Georgia
22 year old female

1860 Campbellton, Campbell, Georgia
a 45 year old female and two children, both 7 years old, male and female

Indentured former slave children
1866 Campbellton, Campbell, Georgia

Thompson Wheat* boy twelve years old, Mary Wheat a girl seven years old, Edwin Wheat** a boy five years old and Nancy Wheat*** a girl three years old.
*Married 30 Sep 1873 Campbell, Georgia to Elizzie Smith

** born August 1859, died 7 August 1921. Married Laura Ellison 23 December 1888 in Douglas, Georgia..

April 1867

Augustus Wheat 15 years old

22 June 1867
Robert Edmondson 16 years old

1880 GA Douglas Co., District 1273,Roll T9_144; FHF 1254144, Pg 185.1000, ED50, dwell 127, lines 12-16, June ??
Wheate, Mary 56, widow, white, GA, GA, GA, keeping house, can read & write
Wheate, Gilbert, son, 18, white, GA, GA, GA, farm labor, can read & write
Wheate, Alzira, dau., 14, white, GA, GA, GA, at home, can read & write
Wheate, Ed, son**,18, black, GA, GA, GA, farm labor, cannot read or write
Wheate, Nancy, dau.***, 15, black, GA, GA, GA, farm labor, cannot read or write

Slaves of Moses Kirkland (will dated March 7, 1847, Henry County, Alabama)

...unto my daughter Ailcey Bracken, a negro boy named Abram, also a negro girl named Eveline...said negroes are now in her possession... her husband Mathew Brackin.
...unto my daughter Ruth Kirkland, two negroes, a girl named Hannah and a boy named Alex already in her possession...her said husband William S. Kirkland.
...unto my son, Benjamin Kirkland a negro boy named Alford and one named Service already in his possession.
...unto my son Willis Kirkland, a negro boy named Green and one named Jacob already in his possession.
...unto my son Josiah Kirkland one negro boy named Melvin and one named Daniel already in his possession.

Slaves of William Crabtree (will dated November 4, 1747, Baltimore, Maryland)
...unto my loving wife Jane Crabtree one Irish servant lad called Alexander Anderson, during her widowhood, then to go to my son William Crabtree.
...to my son Thomas Crabtree one servant man that Samuel Webb owes me...
...to my son John Crabtree one Negro boy called Duke...

Slaves of James Warnock (will dated January 16, 1804,  Wilson County, Tennessee)
...to my beloved wife Rhoda a negro wench named Rachel so long as she lives on said land but if she moves of sd land then said wench to return to my proper heirs and if sd wench should have any more children during the time that she has he in possession, such child or children shall be taken away at eighteen months old...
... to my daughter Ann a negro boy named Abram...
...to my daughter Elenor a negro boy named Lige...

Slaves of Robert Dowdle, Sr (will dated September 2, 1819,  Anderson, Anderson, South Carolina)
...unto my Beloved wife Mary...My Negro wench Sally to her...together with my Negro fellow Maurice... My Negro wench Betty to be under the care of my said wife during her life and at her Death to be provided for by my Son Samuel and his heirs. It is further my will that at the Death of my said wife, the aforementioned Negro Fellow Maurice be manumitted from Servitude for Life.
...give and bequeath to my Son Samuel, at the death of my wife Mary, the Negro boy, by name Nathan and at the Death of my Son, this Boy to be left to my Son Samuells Son James...Also I give and bequeath to my Son Samuel the Negro Girl Lucy and her Increase to him, his heirs and assigns forever.
I give and bequeath to my Grand Son Robert Barr, son of my Son Samuel, a Negro Boy by name Cato...
I will and bequeath to my Son James, his heirs and assigns, the Negro Fellow by name Tom.
To my Daughter Margaret Pickens a Negro Boy by name Sambo.
Also to my Son John Dowdle a Negro girl by name Susan with her Increase.

Slaves of Eli Wheat (will dated December 13, 1809, Columbia County, Georgia)

...one negro man named Will, one other negro man named Hannibel, also one negro woman named Polley and her Child called Presby and their increase... I will to my Father and Mother, during their natural lives - but when my Father dies my will then is that the negro man Will as above named may go to my Brother Wesley Wheat...

...after the death of my Father and Mother, the negros Hanibel, Polley and Presby and their increase if any may go to my Brother Harvey Wheat...

Slaves of William H Richardson (Inventory December 23, 1864, Greene County, Alabama)

Ransom
King
Lucinda
Charles
Lucy
Kitty
Jack
Fanny

Sale from Isaiah Phillips to Joel Phillips, Sr December 12, 1791 Wilkes, Georgia

12 Dec 1791 Bill of Sale for a negro wench named Bett, about 21 years old, and a child named Rose, 3 years old. From Isaiah Phillips to Joel Phillips, Senr, for £75. Proved by William Ramey who saw Isaiah Phillips, son of Joel Phillips, sign bill of sale. Recorded 16 Apr 1792 in Wilkes Co Deed Book GG, Page 456

If you have any additional information on anyone listed here, I will be happy to add it.

Augustus Walter Wheat- the One-eyed Merchant of Marthasville-Atlanta

Augustus Walter Wheat was born about 1821 in Georgia. He was the son of Wesley and Frances Walton Wheat. The oldest record I have found for him would be in the 895th District, 1840 Census for Cobb, Georgia. In 1845 he married Mary Gray Danforth, daughter of William and Mary Egerton Danforth.

Per an article in the Atlanta Constitution Sunday,March 17,1912, Atlanta,Georgia: Wheat street, which was changed to Auburn Avenue (in 1893), was named for Gus Wheat, who was known as the "one-eyed merchant of Marthasville." I haven't found any other references to "one-eye", but still looking. Wheat Street (now Auburn Avenue) is the historic district for Martin Luther King, Jr., and the location of Wheat Street Baptist Church. Atlanta was known as Marthasville until 1845.

Augustus owned a large grocery, warehouse, and livery business in downtown Atlanta/Marthasville. From an advertisement in Atlanta and Environs Vol 1:

December 4, 1847
A. W. Wheat
Grocer, Warehouse and Commission Merchant, Atlanta, Georgia

Has on hand, and is receiving, a large assortment of Groceries, consisting of Bagging, Rope and Twine, Coffe, Sugar, Salt, Molasses, Rice, Iron &c., which he will sell LOW FOR CASH, or exchange for country produce.

His large and commodius WAREHOUSE is ready for the reception of 2000 bales of cotton, at charges 20 per cent less than the usual warehouse rates of Augusta and Macon; he has also plenty of room in his Storehouses for Bacon, Flour &c., on consignment.
Gus is mentioned in the book Pioneer Citizens' History of Atlanta, 1833-1902 (free Google Book):

The first building erected as a house of worship in early times was Wesley Chapel, on what is now North Pryor and the junction of Peachtree street. But previous to that a small log house was built by private subscription, which was used for union services. This was in 1843, A day school was taught there also. Before this event, however, services were occasionally held in the roundhouse of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, situated on Loyd.street, about the southwest corner of the present union passenger depot. Following this services were held in the Wheat warehouse, which was situated on the southeast corner of what is now North Pryor street and Auburn avenue. 
The store address is square in the middle of Underground Atlanta....now there is a Subway and Footlocker  shoe store along with a host of junk tourist shops...my cousin Doug Justice checked with one of the curators of  Underground and they confirmed the original location as underground as the top is now a viaduct overpass. The location of the cotton warehouse would be about where the SunTrust HQ is located, North Pryor and Auburn Avenue.

By Atlantajpegs (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In the section by John C. Hendrix: My first visit to Atlanta was in 1847. I was a boy twelve years old. My father and brothers had a wagon each, loaded with things from our farm in Lumpkin county. We sold some corn to Jonathan Norcross, at the old Norcross corner, at 50 cents a bushel. We sold some potatoes to a man named Prater, who had a little planked up store on Loyd street near the Southwest corner of Alabama street. There was a branch running across (now) Alabama street, near Pryor. So we could not go that way, owing to the mud and water. Norcross had a big, plain plank store house fronting on Marietta, the street being paved with pine slabs put down the round side up. About where the First Methodist Church now stands (Peachtree and Pryor streets) they were cutting cord wood. A little school house stood about the junction of Peachtree and Houston streets (which were then old country roads).
A man named Gus Wheat, from my old county, (Lumpkin County, Georgia) had a store somewhere, as I remember going there to see him. It did not look to me then that Atlanta would ever be a city. I came here several times each year until 1859, when I moved here.

The Atlanta Masonic Lodge Number 59 was chartered in 1847. A. W. Wheat was listed as an Entered Apprentice.

The first library in Atlanta founded 1848, at the intersection of Peachtree, Pryor, and Houston streets. A W Wheat was among the subscribers.

1850 GA Dekalb Co., Atlanta, Roll M432_67, Pg 215, dwell 261, lines 5-12, Nov 11th
Wheat, Augustus, 35 (1815), Merchant, no value listed, GA
Wheat, Mary, 25, GA
Wheat, Frances M., 4, GA
Wheat, Henry C., 2, GA
Wheat, John C., 1, GA
Crayton, Garack, 40, GA
Danforth, James, 40 (1828), GA (Mary's brother)
Adduholt, Wm., 22, ?? B(aptist) Clergyman, GA (Aderhold, married Mary's sister Alzira)
1 slave a 22 year old female

Disaster struck April 15 1850. From Atlanta and Environs Vol 1:
The City of Atlanta was fortunate in that, until April 15, 1850, it experienced no serious conflagration, and while the fire of that date claimed no human lives, it did cause considerable property loss. It was also the primary reason for the removal from the city of one of it's useful pioneer citizens.
This first fire is what might be called a "planned fire", in that it was of incendiary origin, having been set by one or more robbers for the purpose of diverting attention while they cleaned out the money drawer in the office of the Georgia Railroad freight depot. Victim of the fire was Augustus W. Wheat, who lost his store, warehouse, livery stable, and several horses. These buildings were located on the south side of Alabama Street between Pryor and Loyd (Central Avenue). It is said that Mr. Wheat was insured in the Southern Mutual, at Athens, but for some reason the company refused to pay the loss until compelled by law to do so. At any rate the old familiar store sign
"GOOD AS WHEAT"
was seen in Atlanta no more, for shortly after the fire Gus Wheat moved to Old Campbell county where he devoted the remainder of his life to farming. He died late in the year 1868. His estate was appraised by John Watson, John McClure, Jackson Moates and Belford Luck, all well known citizens of old Campbell."

There was a lot more than farming going on from 1850 to 1868. I guess the insurance from the fire finally paid.

Atlanta Weekly Intelligencer, Nov. 25, 1858 lists A W Wheat, of Campbellton, as a stockholder of one share of the Bank of Fulton, valued at $100.

1860 Series: M653 Roll: 113 Page: 341 CAMPBELL CAMPBELLTON P O
Wheat, Augustus W 39 M W GA
Occupation Atty at Law Property 12000, Personal 7000
Mary G 35 F
Frances M 14 F
Henry C J 13 M
John C 11 M
Artemissa 6 F (Artemesia Elizabeth, known as Artie, married Thomas Kendrell Carter)
Harry W 2 M (Harvey, married Julia Morris)
3 slaves...a 45 year old female and two children, both 7 years old, male and female

June 17 1861, Augustus sold 15 Army tents to the CSA @$15.00 each for a total of $225.00
August 28 1861 Enlisted at Camp Walker, Campbellton by Captain Rhodes. On muster rolls for Company D, 1st Battallion Villepigue's.
February 20 1862 "furnished" 15 tents to Co A 15th GA Regiment @$15.00 each.
Aug 27 1863 sold 10 tents for $150.00.

Augustus served in 1st Confederate Infantry and 36th Regiment GA Infantry (Villepigue's)
Sherman's march to the sea came right through Campbellton in the summer of 1864. On July 27, Union cavalry commanded by General Edward McCook tried to cross the Chattahootchee river at Campbellton, but were pushed back by Confederate forces. Skirmishes broke out along the northern section of Campbellton Road between Confederate and Union cavalry as McCook went southeast to Palmetto to destroy the railroad. Union forces occupied some of the homes in Campbellton. Many of the buildings were destroyed in the fighting. Of the 200 men that formed the Campbellton Blues regiment, only 30 returned from the war.

Ordered by the court of Campbell County, GA to make whiskey for "medicine purposes"

February 7, 1865 Agreed and ordered by the court A. W. Wheat, a citizen of said county, but a refugee in Meriwether Co. Ga, make and distill 300 gallons of good proof whisky in Meriwether County to be distributed in Campbellton for medicinal purposes at $10 per gallon.
Augustus W Wheat took oath as judge of the county court of Campbell County, GA signed June 5, 1866. I've got to wonder if the whiskey had anything to do with that.

Old Campbell Courthouse from Library of Congress

The following I have mixed feelings about...is it a way to get around owning slaves? Are they his former slaves with no other recourse? Did Augustus take them in out of kindness?

For answers to these questions I turned to +Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist. She responded on her blog post The apprentices, Apprenticing freed children .

Campbell Bond Book B p247
2 of 7
State of Georgia
Campbell County

This Indenture made and entered into this the 6th day of November 1866 between Reuben C Beavers Ordinary of said County & Augustus W Wheat of the same place of the other part witnesseth that the said R C Beavers Ordinary as aforesaid binds as apprentices unto the said A W Wheat the following minor orphan Children Freedmen having no parents living that are known & having property. Viz. Thompson Wheat boy twelve years old Mary Wheat a girl seven years old Edwin Wheat a boy five years old and Nancy Wheat – a girl three years old. All of said children to be & remain apprentices to the said A W Wheat according to the Laws of the State of Georgia until they each arrive to the age of twenty one years. And the said A. W. Wheat master as aforesaid binds himself to teach the said apprentices the businesses of house service husbandry and farming shall furnish them with sufficient wholesome food suitable clothing and necessary medicine and medical attention shall teach them habits of industry honesty & morality & shall cause them to be taught to read English & shall govern them with humanity using only the same degree of force to compel obedience as a father may use with his minor children.

Signed Sealed & Delivered
in Presents of
W. P. Strickland
J. H. Alexander J. P.

Augustus W. Wheat J. P.
R. C. Beavers (Seal) Ordy
-----.

and another:

Campbell GA Estate Bond Book B pg 256-257
256
State of Georgia
Campbell County

This Indenture made & Entered into this 15th day of April 1867 between Reuben C. Beavers Ordinary of Said county of the one part and Augustus W. Wheat of the same place of the other part. Witnesseth that the said R. C. Beavers ordinary as aforesaid binds as an apprentice unto the Said A. W. Wheat – Augustus Wheat (colored) having no parents living in the county, or state that are known & having no property (The Said Boy having Chosen and Selected the Said A. W. Wheat for his Master) The boy aged fifteen years & to be & remain apprentice unto the said A. W. Wheat according to the laws of Georgia until he is twenty one years of old. And the Said A. W. Wheat master as aforesaid
257
binds himself to teach the said apprentice the business of farming, Shall furnish him with sufficient wholesome food, suitable clothing, and necessary medicine & medical attention shall teach him habits of industry honesty and morality & shall cause him to be taught to read English & shall govern him with humanity only using the same degree of force to compel obedience as a father may use with his minor children agreeable to an act of the Legislature past March 17th 1866

Signed Sealed & Delivered into the presence of
John N?. Austin
Wm. NM. Bastlett JH

R. C. Beavers as Ord (seal)
A. W. Wheat (seal)
.

Augustus Wheat died sometime between September and December 1868. He would have been about 47.
He requested "to be buried in a common coffin & in my common or every day cloths"
Will probated Campbell Co 1868. Wife Mary Gray Wheat.

Mary still had children to raise. Here is the family in 1870:
1870 GA Campbell Co., Campbellton, PO Powder Springs, Roll M593_139, Pg 33, dwell 1101, lines 20-26, July 24th
Wheate, Mary, 56, keeping house, $1000, $200, GA, cannot read or write
Wheate, John, 21, farm labor, can read & write
Wheate, Olta?, 18, female, domestic servant, GA, cannot read or write (possibly Artie)
Wheate, Harvey?, 12, farm labor, GA
Wheate, Gilbert, 11, GA (Augustus Gilbert, actually 8, married Carzolia Lee 'Lela' Richardson)
Wheate, Anna, 8, GA (actually 11, married a Hammond, and then Joe Privett)
Wheate, Alza, 4, female, GA (married William Henry Bice)

I did find it interesting that after Augustus died, his wife Mary is listed in the 1880 census as having two black children. They appear to be the youngest two of the indentured servants:
1880 GA Douglas Co., District 1273,Roll T9_144; FHF 1254144, Pg 185.1000, ED50, dwell 127, lines 12-16, June ??
Wheate, Mary 56, widow, white, GA, GA, GA, keeping house, can read & write
Wheate, Gilbert, son, 18, white, GA, GA, GA, farm labor, can read & write
Wheate, Alzira, dau., 14, white, GA, GA, GA, at home, can read & write
Wheate, Edward, son,18, black, GA, GA, GA, farm labor, cannot read or write
Wheate, Nancy, dau., 15, black, GA, GA, GA, farm labor, cannot read or write
(The northwestern part of Campbell County became Douglas in 1870.)

I was able to "prove" Augustus Wheat's parents through DNA testing. There is some circumstantial evidence also. Wesley Wheat was in the area and had sons of Augustus' age. Augustus named one of his sons Wesley. He named a daughter Frances (his possible mother's name), and another Artemesia (who is his possible aunt). His wife Mary was in Campbell county in 1830 with her family, as was Wesley's. Wesley was in Hall county in 1820, which was one of the counties Lumpkin county was carved out of.

If you have any info on this family, I would love to hear from you.