Saturday, December 1, 2012

A Proverbial Clue?



 In this newspaper ad, a New Orleans merchant proudly boasted that he was selling fruit from John Hebron's orchards at Vicksburg, Mississippi. New Orleans Daily Creole, July 31, 1856

Who was the last slave-owner of my great-great-great-grandmother, Caroline Morris, and her children?  Last year, I finally solved that big, long-time mystery.  She was born around 1815 in Virginia and brought to Warren County, Mississippi during slavery.  To read how that mystery was solved by paying attention to clues, see this blog post, “Boom! The Brick Wall Came Crumbling Down!”  This new blog post “A Proverbial Clue?” is a follow-up.

In a nutshell, I had masterfully determined and proven that Grandma Caroline Morris was last enslaved on LaGrange Plantation near Vicksburg, Mississippi. The owner was named John Hebron, who had died in 1862.  I then learned that John Hebron and his wife, Julia Sills, had relocated to Warren County, Mississippi from Greensville County, Virginia in 1834.  It was very important to know the maiden name of the last slave-owner’s wife. 

Additionally, the following statement about John Hebron, which served as another clue, was found in the book entitled The Lost Mansions of Mississippi by Mary C. Miller: Rural Warren County was home to dozens of prosperous antebellum plantations…..John Hebron, using his wife’s inheritance to establish himself in Mississippi in 1834, acquired land east of Vicksburg and cultivated it with the usual cotton.

Well, who was Julia Sills Hebron’s father? What did she and John Hebron inherit from her father? When did they inherit this? Did the inheritance contain slaves?  If so, was Grandma Caroline Morris among that inheritance?  I immediately pondered these questions.  Luckily, I was able to determine from online Sills family trees that Julia was the daughter of John Sills, who had died on August 8, 1827 in Greensville County, Virginia. Grandma Caroline would have been around 12 years old.  The 1820 census verified that John Sills owned 10 slaves that year.  Were some of them my ancestors?

To answer these questions, I knew that I had to dig into Virginia records.  A trip to Richmond, Virginia or Emporia, Virginia, the county seat of Greensville County, may be in order.  However, after browsing the Library of Virginia’s website, I opted to order a copy of John Sills’ estate record instead. The service fee was $30.00. Yes, genealogy research can be expensive!  The Library of Virginia sent me a copy in a week.  Luckily, the following slave inventory was in the estate record:


 The slave inventory from the estate of John Sills,
November 17, 1827, Greensville County, Virginia

As you can see, Grandma Caroline was not on the inventory.  However, the name of one of the Sills slaves leaped out at me. ANGELINE. This name was given to my great-grandmother, Angeline Bass Belton, who was Grandma Caroline’s granddaughter.  In fact, Grandma Caroline was living with her son-in-law and daughter, Jack & Frances Bass (Angeline’s parents), in 1880, the year Angeline was born.  Why did they name her “Angeline”? 

The other missing part in this research is the name of Frances’ father – the man who fathered some or all of Grandma Caroline’s children. Unfortunately, I have not been able to determine my great-great-great-grandfather’s name.  One thing that I know is that he was likely born in Virginia, since Virginia is noted as the birthplace of Frances’ father in the 1880 census.  Another thing that I ascertained is that he may have chosen “Morris” as his surname during slavery.  In the 1880 census, Grandma Caroline was noted as being widowed, and she was the head of her household in 1870.  Could it be that one of the slaves on the Sills inventory above was my great-great-great-grandfather?  Perhaps, great-grandma Angeline Bass was named after “Angeline” on the Sill’s inventory?  Perhaps, “Angeline” was her paternal relative – aunt or grandmother?  Could this be a proverbial clue? Hmmmm…..

As you can see, I have more research to do in Virginia.  Stay tuned…

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for this post. I am going through something similar to you with slave inventory lists and clearly identifying one ancestor is the same as the one in the inventory list. Dates have a tendency to be off. Identifying paternal relationships have bee a little difficult also. I love your work and look forward to Part #2

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  2. Could this be a clue? Yes, I think you're probably on to something. I will be staying tuned. :)

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  3. Yes, Melvin I'm looking forward to Part 2.

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  4. I especially like the part where you find the estate records, even if it cost $30. I hear that the search for first names of slaves can be seriously difficult -- and now you have names and "prices." You are asking the right questions, it seems to me, and I'll be interested to see what you find! Researchers can ferret out the truth.

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  5. Love reading your blogs. Can't wait to Part 2!

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  6. Hi Melvin. My great great great grandfather is John Hebron. The ex-owner of your family member. I'm happy to have found this article. Can't wait to hear the rest

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  7. I am a descendant of the Hebron clan as one of the sons John is my great great great grandfather. He chose to defy his father and run off with my great great grandmother ( a slave) which resulted in being taken our of the will.they went to California then back to Mississippi to raise the children. The clan then went to St. Louis where many my Hebron family live to this day.

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  8. Hello. My name is Patrick and my ancestors were enslaved by Col John Hebron on this very plantation as well. We are the Amos clan who come from William (Bill) and Elvy (or Elva) Amos, both of whom along with my great-great grandfather Ben and his sister Mariah can be found on a will/slave inventory following John
    Hebron's death. I'm not sure how my family got the surname "Amos" since they were owned by the Hebrons.

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  9. Wow this is some cool information. I am a Hebron. John is my 4th great grandfather. I am learning this info and trying to create a linkage and map of it all. I’ve recently done an Ancestry test in hopes of finding my family.... boy did I, most in Missouri and many spread out.... thanks for sharing. My name is Shakarri Hebron

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