This is the third in a series of articles focused on documenting genealogical data of people enslaved by the estate of James L. McDavid Sr. (b. 1795 in South Carolina — d. 1842 in Alabama).
They weren’t slaves. They were human beings who were enslaved.
The research aims to reveal the humanity of the men, women, and children enslaved by heirs of McDavid’s estate through evidential documentation. At least three generations of my direct ancestors are among the enslaved documented here. I hope this report illuminates many more familial branches of fellow descendants of these Souls.
This is Part Three of Three
- Part one chronicles the discovery of my third great-grandmother, Cornelia McDavid Taylor, and fourth great-grandmother, Maria McDavid, through genetic genealogy.
- Part two identifies the names and approximate birthdates of 70+ people documented as enslaved by the McDavids of Hazel Green, Madison, Alabama (1840s – 1850s), including my 5th Great Grandmother, Nancy McDavid, and her children and grandchildren born under the ownership of McDavid heirs.
- Part three (this article) extracts data from wills and probate records to reveal the biological family groups of enslaved McDavids and explores familial impacts as they were shared, inherited, bought, and sold by McDavid heirs through 1862.
Geographical Areas of Interest
- Madison County, Alabama
- Noxubee County, Mississippi
- Pickens County, Alabama
How enslaved families were divided through the distribution of assets among McDavid heirs.
An accounting of assets held by the estate of James L. McDavid Sr. occurred in 1854 – 1856 to determine how to divide people and property among the remaining McDavid heirs after the death of the Matriarch, Nancy Clayton McDavid in 1852 and her son James L. McDavid Jr. in 1855.
The Monetary Value of an Enslaved American Human Being in 1854: “Value of Negroes to Each Child”
As stated in James L. McDavid Sr.’s will, the enslaved were kept with the McDavid family, though their individual family units were divided.
Among the doodles, a determination that each McDavid heir would receive $3762.50 worth of human capital is documented in 1853. That’s the equivalent of about $115,866.19 in (March) 2020.[1]
The Division of Enslaved Families Among McDavid Heirs
Those enslaved by the McDavids were individually evaluated and grouped into “lots”. Each lot of enslaved people represented a value of $3762.50.
Many older children of childbearing age and young adults, particularly males, are separated from their mothers (and fathers).
What About The Fathers?
While the McDavid estate records documented mothers of enslaved children, paternal connections weren’t recorded. There’s a high probability that a Grandfather (or two) of mine may be among the men documented as enslaved. The allocation of men to the groups (or lots) of people distributed among McDavid heirs may provide clues about paternity but don’t provide evidence.
In the next phases of my research, I’ll incorporate genetic genealogical analyses of fellow descendants to explore and establish paternal connections within these families.
Recorded Parentage, Births, and Deaths of the Enslaved Between 1842 and 1854
Discovering Nancy McDavid
I truly value the following two documents as they provide evidence that reveals the identity of my 5th Great-Grandmother, Nancy (Nanna) McDavid, and three aunts and two uncles.
This documentation solidified connections to many DNA matches who descend from my aunts and uncles. Further research of DNA matches and related genealogies may reveal the Grandfathers who weren’t documented in McDavid estate records.
In 1854, Nancy had lost one child and given birth to six: Creesy, Easter, Lida, Kit, Gilbert, and my fourth Great-Grandmother, Maria (aka Mariah). My third Great-Grandmother, Cornelia, is documented as Maria’s child.
Annotations by Kimberly Virdure.
The genealogies and vital records of other Souls revealed in this record, including Vina, Andrew, Laura, Anna, Allen, John, Rachel, Tom, Gabe, Harriet, Mary, Liza, Lija, Clay, Margaret, Green, Evaline, Cela, Sam, Felix, and Alabama are further documented in the sections below.
The Heirs’ Account of Enslaved People Received from the Estate of James L. McDavid from 1842 – 1854
The following documents were analyzed with a primary focus on my biological relatives; however, the McDavid estate records provide evidence of many additional transactions related to the purchase, sale, hiring out, and inheritance of enslaved people.
If you’re researching McDavid ancestors of African descent documented in this article, you can tap here to see a list of research resources to support your research.
Amy
September 1847: William Connor and Martha Jane (McDavid) Connor document Amy as their property and part of their inheritance. Amy was valued at $450.
Minerva, Bida, Charity, William, Catherine, and Silla
May 14, 1852: “Received the year 1837 of James McDavid decsd one girl Minerva in 1840 Bida and her family (viz) Charity, Willliam, Catharine and Silla…” Submitted by Gabriel Shelton Davie.
Maria, Tillman, Cornelia, Lydia, Daniel, Gilbert, and Louis (My Family)
December 28, 1854: James L. McDavid Jr. declares Maria, Tillman, Cornelia, Lydia, Daniel, Gilbert, and Louis (aka Lewis) as his inherited property. With the exception of Daniel and Louis, evidence points to these Souls being my biological relatives.
Though the fathers of enslaved children weren’t documented in the McDavid files, this grouping of individuals allotted to James Jr. may provide clues.
- Daniel (b. about 1808) may be Maria’s father.
- Louis (b. about 1823) may be Maria’s partner and father of one or both of her children (Cornelia and Tillman).
Continued analysis of genetic and genealogical data is needed to prove these theories.
James McDavid Jr. died just 8 months later at the age of 24. Consequently, these Souls were sold at auction on March 8, 1856. Their story and supporting documentation are detailed here —>Discovering My Grandmother Cornelia McDavid Taylor.
Charles, Esther, Charey, Laura, Felix, Margaret, and Nana (Nancy)
December 29, 1854. G.S. Davie, the guardian for his daughter Brancie Ann Davie (granddaughter of James McDavid Sr.), documents Charles, Esther, Charey (possibly Charity), Laura, Felix, Margaret, and my Grandmother, Nancy (documented as Nana) as Brancie’s inherited property.
Vina (Viney), Lirse, Abigail, Allen, Jim, and Lewis
December 29, 1854. Lunsford McDavid, the guardian for his sister Nancy America McDavid (14 years old at the time), accounts for ownership of Vina, Lirse, Abigail, Allen, Jim, and Lewis.
Becky, Brice, Elijah, Kit, Green, and Evaline
January 15, 1855. William Conner and Martha Jane McDavid Conner acknowledge the inheritance of Becky, Brice, Elija, Kit, Green, and Evaline from James L. McDavid Sr.’s estate.
Most of the Enslaved McDavids Relocated to Noxubee County, Mississippi
The documents above were probated in Huntsville, Alabama – near Hazel Green, where James Sr. and Nancy lived at the time of their deaths. From 1854 through Emancipation, many of these enslaved Souls continued to be sold and traded by several McDavid heirs.
A few of them died before Emancipation. Most of them ended up on McDavid, Davie, and Connor plantations in Mississippi, as documented in the table below. You can find many of these Souls and their families enumerated in the 1870 US Census in and around Noxubee County, Mississippi.
Biological Family Groups of People Enslaved by the McDavids
This table documents biological family groups of the enslaved and how family units were divided among McDavid heirs through 1862. All data were extracted from the evidence documented above and in Part Two of this series of articles.
If you’re on a mobile device, you can click here to see the tables.
Citations
- “$3,762.50 in 1854 → 2020 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 26 Mar. 2020, https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1854?amount=3762.50.
- “Value of Negroes to Each Child.”. “Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999”, “Loose Records, McDavid, James-McDavid, James L”, “Original Data: Alabama County, District, and Probate Courts.”, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/: accessed March 23, 2020), page 144.
- Estate of James L. McDavid Sr.: Division of the Enslaved with Valuations (1854). Original Data: Alabama County, District, and Probate Courts. “Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999”, “Loose Records, McDavid, James-McDavid, James L”, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/: accessed March 23, 2020), page 132.
- Accounting of births and deaths of people enslaved by the McDavids between 1842 and 1854. Original Data: Alabama County, District, and Probate Courts. Alabama County, District, and Probate Courts.“ Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999”, “Loose Records, McDavid, James-McDavid, James L”, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/: accessed March 3, 2020), page 137.
- Accounting of enslaved mothers and their living children (according to McDavid heirs in 1854). Original Data: Alabama County, District, and Probate Courts. Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999”, “Loose Records, McDavid, James-McDavid, James L”, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/: accessed March 3, 2020), page 138.
How to Cite this Article
Kimberly Virdure, “The Genealogies of People Enslaved by the Estate of James McDavid Sr.”, kimberlyvirdure.com, https://www.kimberlyvirdure.com/the-genealogies-of-people-enslaved-by-the-estate-of-james-mcdavid-sr: May 2020
