Seeking Our Families in White folks' wills & slavery records

Below, in sharp relief, are details of the constant, intimate and deeply disturbing interaction of U.S. "business" and "commerce" with Black American genealogy and history, and our ongoing attempts to save, locate, help and protect ourselves and each other (including family formation). It is illustrative of Afrodescendant history throughout the Americas and in the eight key western European slave trafficking, slaveholding countries. Dare I utter that you won't find Barack Obama's family here, at least not among the enslaved.

To measure the full scale of Black enslavement in the US & the Americas, details including those below must be multiplied by tens of millions. My thanks to Wanda for transcribing parts of the Nelson County, Kentucky (USA) Will Book #2. Originally, Kentucky, too, was part of Britain's first colony, i.e., Virginia.

Kentucky: NELSON COUNTY Will Book "2"

PAGE 257 (Excerpt) (Name of slaveholder followed by information about the enslaved person or persons)

JOSHUA HOBBS-1 NEGRO DINAH $450
POLLY LOWBER-MAN THOM $750
PEGGY HUMPHREY-ONE NEGRO JACK $700
WM. HOBBS-WOMAN JAMES (?) $750
SALLY HUMPHREY-A BOY CHARLES $500
SAMUEL HOBBS-MAN....$750
SUSAN MURPHY (?) RACHEL & GIRL $425
ELIZABETH-MAN....$625
THE DIVISION OF LAND AND SLAVES WAS RETURNED TO COURT AND RECORDED 11 DEC 1837.

PAGE 278

12 FEB 1838. WILL OF THOMAS HUMPHREY, WRITTEN 27 NOV 1837, MENTIONS
WIFE LOUISINA, CH: SONS ROLLEY, STROTHER, GEORGE, DAVID, WILLIAM,
DAU'S. REBECCA HADEN, MARY HAMILTON.  IT IS A LONG WILL & MENTIONS
MANY SLAVES, INCL. THE FREEING OF NEGRO JOSEPH AFTER 2 YEARS IS[F] HE
BEHAVES HIMSELF.  WIT: ISAAC MARKS & JAMES PROCTOR.  EXECUTORS GEORGE
HUMPHREY AND FRIEND WM. M. FOSTER.  PRODUCED & RECORDED 12 FEB 1838.

PAGE 282

10 JAN 1838. LIST OF SALES OF BASIL HAYDEN, DEC'D., TOTAL $6,624.00.
HENRY GORE ADM. WIFE HENRIETTA HAYDEN INHERITS IN WILL A NEGRO BOY
NAMED JOHN WHO HAS A DEFORMED HAND FROM A BURN AND HAS A BE[A]D
DISPOSITION. SHE WISHES THE BOY JOHN TO BE APPRAISED AT A FAIR PRICE
AND SOLD WITH REST OF THE ESTATE. APPRAISERS LOIS HAYDEN, STANISLAUS
HAYDEN, WM. HAYDEN, HENRY MOORE AND EDWARD C. HAYDON.

PAGE 319

14 MAY 1838.  SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE OF MICHAEL TEWELL, DEC'D., APRIL
COUNTY COURT 1838. SALE OF SLAVES OF MICHAEL TEWELL, DEC'D., AMOUNT
$1,681.00. HEIRS: PATRICK TEWELL, CHARLES TEWELL, PHILIP TEWELL,
MARGARET TEWELL (INFANT WARD OF PATRICK TEWELL), THOMAS WELSH. EACH
RECEIVED $336.00. RETURNED AND RECORDED.

PAGE 323

11 JULY 1837.  DIVISION OF LAND AND SLAVES OF ESTATE OF ISAAC RUBLE,
DEC'D., BY COMMISSIONERS STEPHEN MAY, ISAAC WILSON AND HENRY RUSSEL.
ISAAC RUBLE OWNED LAND ON CANEY FORK OF SIMPSON CREEK AND SALE OF
SLAVES WAS $2,339.00.  HEIRS MENTIONED WERE CATY NORRIS, BETSY DUGAN,
SILAS TITCHENOR, ROBERT BATSEL, LYDIA BATSEL, ELIZABETH DUGAN,
JONATHAN COTTON, SARAH COTTON, CATHERINE BATSEL, ANN PENCE, JACOB
PENCE, ELHANNAH (?) BRYANT, HANNAH BRYANT AND SUSANNAH TITCHENOR.
RETURNED AND RECORDED 14 MAY 1838.