The emancipated slaves celebrated joyously (if Whites allowed it), but then they had to find out just what freedom meant. 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. The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. [2] Estevanico, Dorantes, and Alonso Castillo Maldonado, the only survivors, spent several months living on a barrier island (now believed to be Galveston Island) before making their way in April 1529 to the mainland. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), Constitution of the State of Coahuila and Texas, http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If I can figure out where an earlier County Coordinator found this I will properly reference it. The following information is included: The records are categorized by county. Eliza Denwoo Henry David Rhodes, planter, was born in Alabama about 1819. P Denwood was a Quaker and in early days often was in trouble with the court as he was suspected of harboring Quakers on their way up to Maryland. [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. Few battles took place in Texas, which acted as a supply state to the Confederacy. Most Whites thought that Blacks were inferior and wanted to be sure that they remained in an inferior social position. On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional,[55] a ruling which was shortly followed the implementation of Voter i.d. Sources Taken from Szucs, Loretto Dennis, "Research in Census Records." Other FamilySearch collections not included: More collections are available in the FamilySearch Catalog. Randolph B. After, ORourke shared his reaction on the blog site Medium. Most lived with a certain amount of fear of their supposedly happy servants, for the slightest threat of a slave rebellion could touch off a violent reaction. 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. "[citation needed], As the Texas Revolution began in 1835, some enslaved people sided with Mexico, which provided for freedom. The greatest concentration of large slave plantations was along the lower Brazos and Colorado rivers in Brazoria, Matagorda, Fort Bend, and Wharton counties. In 1751, after three Frenchmen were found to have settled along the Trinity River to trade with the American Indians, the Spanish arrested and expelled them from the colony. Between 1816 and 1821, Louis-Michel Aury and Jean Lafitte smuggled enslaved people into the United States through Galveston Island. Almost certainly, however, many came to believe that they would be free if the South lost. Like Georgia, the Texas Democratic Party adopted a whites-only primary. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Levi Anderson 1 13. Cannibalism, Interspecies War: A Novel About Neanderthals And Early Modern Humans, In a Central Texas county, high schoolers are jailed on felony charges for vaping what could be legal hemp, As Texas STAAR test goes fully online, teachers feel defeated, Texas Education Agency projects confidence. Voter's registrations are among the few records which document African American males prior to 1870. 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. 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. Slave plantations were concentrated along the low-lying farmlands of East Texas. Alwyn Barr. Angelina County, Texas, Slave Owners. Jerrett Brown of Sumter, Alabama: 540 slaves. Millions of Texans have rare diseases. Every dollar helps. Questions concerning its profitability are complex and always open to debate. West Feliciana: 127 slaves. By 1840 there were 11,323 enslaved people in Texas. If they died, the boss did not suffer a monetary loss. Many worked in other parts of the state as cowboys herding cattle or migrated for better opportunities in the Midwest, California, or southward to Mexico. Married Margaret French Strother 1778. Texas slaves had a family-centered social life and culture that flourished in the slave quarters, where slaves were largely on their own, at least from sundown to sunup. Slave owners and male 5 Resources. [9] Of these, only 15 were enslaved, 4males and 11females. [13], The United States outlawed the importation of enslaved people in 1808, but domestic trade flourished, especially in New Orleans during the antebellum decades. Ninety percent of the runaways were men, most between ages 20 and 40, because they were best equipped to deal with the long, difficult journey. [22], By the 1800s, most enslaved people in Texas had been brought by slaveholders from the United States. For the first time, free persons were listed individually instead of by family. Texas 1867 Special Voter's Registration: includes information for 1867 - 1869. [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. Early books sometimes contained the name of the former master or mistress and the name of the plantation. [19] In 1832, the state passed legislation prohibiting worker contracts from lasting more than tenyears. They could be bought and sold, mortgaged, and hired out. 7 rolls, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, New England Historic Genealogical Society, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Colonial Williamsburg, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Libraries, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, Natchitoches Genealogical and Historical Association, https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=African_American_Resources_for_Texas&oldid=5253354. Sugar. For a time, many enslaved ran away to Texas. The slaves themselves, however, also insisted on family ties. WebAfrican American Resources for Texas. 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. 4 Cotton plantations. Instead, place individual profiles into the category corresponding to the county of Texas where they held enslaved persons. We'll send you a couple of emails per month, filled with fascinating history facts that you can share with your friends. Slavery guaranteed that. D. F. Kenner, Ascension, Louisiana: 473 slaves. William Mills 20 2. Residents of Texas, 1782-1836. On the other hand, there was little comfort and no luxury. [32] Some enslaved people lived among the cattlemen along the southern Gulf Coast and helped herd sheep and cattle. The slaves were owned by Julien Devereux and used to work an almost 11,000-acre plantation. WebThe British newspaper The Guardian reported this week that Democratic presidential candidate, and former Texas Congressman Beto ORourke, and his wife Amy, are The central part of the state was dominated by subsistence farmers. The slavery categories exist to help with tracking the genealogy and family history of pre-Civil War era slaves. Texas was a colonial territory, then part of Mexico, later Republic in 1836, and U.S. state in 1845. [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. 25 percent. Samuel Edney 1 The Comanche sold any captured enslaved people to the Cherokee and Creek in Indian Territory, as they were both slaveholding tribes. FS Library976.4 D2rte Vol 1-3. Signup today for our free newsletter, Especially Texan. Texas ranked 10th in total enslaved population and 9th in percentage enslaved (30 percent of all residents). At first, the practice involved primarily Apaches; eventually Comanche children were likewise "adopted" as servants. The issue of slavery became a source of contention between the Anglo-American settlers and Spanish governors. Categories: Texas, Slavery | United States of America, Slave Owners. PARENTAGE OF MARGARET FRENCH SLAUGHTER IN QUESTION. There were two questionnaires: one for free inhabitants and one for slaves. This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 11:16. The Bureau created a wide variety of records extremely valuable to genealogists. Some slave hunters illegally traveled to Mexico and captured runaways. Others hated their masters and their situation and rebelled by running away or using violence. WebReturn to Slave Manifests main page Click on each Slave name to view information on that voyage. 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). [20], Many enslaved people who escaped from slaveholders in Texas or in the United States joined various East Texas Indian tribes. [11], In 1829, Mexico abolished slavery, but it granted an exception until 1830 to Texas. Profiles are placed in this category with this text [[Category:Texas, Slave Owners]] . They were not, and even the best-treated slaves dreamed of freedom. 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. [35] Enslaved people often lived similarly to poor whites in Texas, especially those new to the territory and just getting started. In 1854, citizens in Austin and other towns drove many poor Mexicans from the area in fear that they might assist in revolts. They survived with the help of Castillo's faith healing among the Indians. Meals often consisted of bread, molasses, sweet potatoes, hominy, and beef, chicken, and pork. Music and song served to set a pace for work and to express sorrow and hope (see AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHURCHES). This was 15 percent of the total 2,992 people living in Spanish Texas. A. Anderson County, Texas, Slave Owners. . Alfred V. Davis, Concordia, Louisiana: 500+ slaves. The disturbances were resolved through a combination of arms and political maneuvering. Length of residence (in state, in county, in precinct), General Remarks--race is noted when the registrant was "colored". States that had used it adopted other means to keep most African Americans from voting. Donald S. Strong, "The Rise of Negro Voting in Texas," American Political Science Review Vol. For example, slaves worked hard, sometimes at their own pace, and offered many forms of nonviolent resistance if pushed too hard. [33] Enslaved people were not held between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. 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. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slavery. In 1860, the biggest slaveholders were Robert and D.G. Congress shall not have the power to emancipate enslaved people. As a free lady, she was an astute entrepreneur as well as a social climber. 1 Introduction. Voters' Registrations of 1867 are available on microfilm at the Texas State Archives. In Texas, like other southern states, the treatment of slaves varied from plantation to plantation, from master to master. P.O. 4807 Caroline Others simply called their enslaved people indentured servants without legally changing their status. Most of the early slaveholders owned only a few enslaved people, but a few brought enough to build plantations immediately. Later he was given leadership of a Spanish expedition. By Laura RiceJuly 17, 20191:49 pmArts & Culture, History, Race & Identity. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the older slave states. Mention is made of Henry being a judge.The following is from Rootsweb: Meredith Calhoun of Rapides, Louisiana: 709 slaves. Most slaves in Texas worked: On plantations and farms. This page has been viewed 87,667 times (5,509 via redirect). I think thats what was interesting about his response, is that he didnt acknowledge that there was a history there, and that was brought out, and we know a lot more about his family history and about the enslaved people his family owned, Berry says. 3 Vol. Basically if we did that then wed have to rewrite American history because most public officers particularly, our first president, George Washington, owned enslaved people, Berry says. In 1792 there were 34 blacks and Tyler, Ronnie C. and Lawrence R. Murphy. Slaveowners may not free their enslaved servants without Congressional approval unless the freed people leave Texas. The original empresario commission given Moses Austin by Spanish authorities in 1821 did not mention slaves, but when Stephen F. Austin was recognized as heir to his father's contract later that year, it was agreed that settlers could receive eighty acres of land for each enslaved person they brought to the colony. Amid talk of reparations, political figures contend with their slave-owning ancestors. Politically, slaveholders dominated public office holding at all levels. The news organization used documents from Ancestry.com to confirm the connection. WebWhat percentage of Texas families owned slaves? The number of enslaved people in the state increased dramatically as the Union Army occupied parts of Arkansas and Louisiana. Although Estevanico was still enslaved, after these events the Spaniards treated him more as an equal. 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. [37] Urban enslaved people often had greater freedoms and opportunity. 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. Free persons of African descent were required to petition the. Since they politically dominated the state for decades after 1900, the only contest for office was at the primary level. The Slave Narratives of Texas. 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. Madison (1), 236 slaves. Marie Therese Metoyer. 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). After Jos Mara Jess Carvajal promised to return all escapees, more than 400Texans joined his revolt of 1851. Slaves adjusted their behavior to the conditions of servitude in a variety of ways. At the start of the Civil War, _____ was the commander of Union troops in Texas. [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. They fought bitterly against the disruption of their families by sale or migration and at times virtually forced masters to respect family ties. Currently, there are only plantations listed for Chicot County, Jefferson County, Ouachita County, and Phillips County. 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. 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. 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. 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. Sam Houston made illegal importation from Mexico a crime in 1836. University of Virginia. [31], By 1850, the enslaved population in Texas had increased to 58,161; in 1860 there were 182,566 enslaved, 30 percent of the total population. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. See the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information on how to document slaves and slave owners. Arthur Blake of Charleston, South Carolina: 538 slaves. 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. Americans of European extraction and enslaved people contributed greatly to the population growth in the Republic and State of Texas. WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. Austin: Encino Press, 1974. The supposed "poison" found in enslaved quarters was baby powder. 3536 Grand Avenue East Texas Research Center. William Brittain 1 14. Since the U.S. government was not in effective control of many of these territories until later in the war, many of these people proclaimed to be free by the Emancipation Proclamation were still held in servitude until those areas came back under Union control. Joseph Henry 8 3. He tried to create a Republic of Sierra Madre in Northern Mexico but was defeated by the Mexican Army.[41]. Austin County, Texas, Slave Owners (0, 0, 1) B. Bandera 5.2 Cemeteries. 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. The eastern quarter of the state, where cotton production depended on thousands of slaves, is considered the westernmost extension of the Deep South. The cotton industry flourished in East Texas, where enslaved labor became most widely used. In 1900, African Americans comprised 20% of the state's population of 3,048,710. They listened as best they could for any war news and passed it around among themselves, and no doubt many heard of Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that all slaves behind Confederate lines on January 1, 1863, would be freed. New Orleans was the center of this trade in the Deep South, but there were slave dealers in Galveston and Houston, too. [14][15], In 1821 at the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence, Texas was included in the new nation. Several confessed to a plot by white abolitionists to avenge John Brown's execution by burning food supplies and poisoning slaveowners. In general, Texas slaves continued to work and live as they had before the war. Brewer, John Mason. [11] Anglo-American immigration to the province slowed at this point, with settlers angry about the changing rules. A project of the University of Virginia, this database includes a sampling of some of the 2,300+ interviews WebAmerican Slave Narratives - An Online Anthology. The first census in Austin's colony in 1825 showed 443 slaves in a total population of 1,800. 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. 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. They often made matches with slaves on neighboring farms and spent as much time as possible together, even if one owner or the other could not be persuaded to arrange for husband and wife to live on the same place. In 1860 there were 3,017 slaves in Marion county 1,406 males, 1,611 females. The system of school support was inadequate, and schools for racial minorities were seriously underfunded. [51], The long-term effects of slavery can be seen to this day in the state's demographics. The average price of a slave, regardless of age, sex, or condition, rose from approximately $400 in 1850 to nearly $800 by 1860. Such documents include censuses, marriage records, and medical records. 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. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants: a history of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfanchisement. Many enslaved people ran away. The material conditions of slave life in Texas could probably best be described as subsistence, in that most slaves had the food, shelter, and clothing necessary to live and work effectively. 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. 4 Cotton plantations. Slavery in Waco. [45][i][ii][iii], Texas seceded from the United States in 1861 and joined the Confederate States of America on the eve of the American Civil War. [16] That year, the American Stephen F. Austin was granted permission by Mexican authorities to bring Anglo settlers into Texas. Elijah Williamson 3 10. Early and family life A large supply of cheap Mexican labor in the area made the purchase and care of a slave too expensive. 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. WebList of the largest American slave owners The list below is compiled from the 1860 United States Slave Census Schedule. In 1860, the Methodists claimed 7,541enslaved people among their members in Texas. Handbook of Texas Online, The payrolls for that slave The census for 1840 in Henderson County included 4,662 whites, 466 slaves, 35 free blacks. 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. Cotton. American slavery was preeminently an economic institutiona system of unfree labor used to produce cash crops for profit. Gleaning Information about Enslaved Ancestors from Probate Files NGS Magazine 48 #2 (April-June 2022): 2327. In comparison, good Texas cotton land could be bought for as little as six dollars an acre. A survey of Texas in 1834 found that the department of Bexar, which was mostly made up of Tejanos, had exported no goods. Salas. [21] Enslaved people often fought against the Comanche tribe, however. WebI believe it to be written in the late 19th to early 20th century and I provide it here as a historical article on slavery. MP for Horsham in 1808 and Sandwich (18121824). Socially, slaveholders, at least the large planters, embodied an ideal to most Texans. WebThe Confederate gov ernment required many slave holders to provide slaves to work at military fortifications and other facilities throughout the South. "The Texas Slave Insurrection of 1860," by William White. Slaves freed in America before the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. [8] A 1777 census of San Antonio showed a total of 2,060people, with 151 of African descent. African American Museum, Dallas