This the 3rd 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 purpose of the research is to reveal the humanity of the men, women, and children enslaved by heirs of McDavid’s estate through evidential documentation. At least 3 generations of my direct ancestors are among the enslaved documented here. My hope is that this report helps illuminate many more familial branches of fellow descendants of these Souls.
- Part one chronicles the discovery of my 3rd Great Grandmother, Cornelia McDavid Taylor, and 4th Great Grandmother, Maria McDavid, who were both owned by James L. McDavid Jr.
- 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) further explores and documents the biological ties among the enslaved, and the impacts of changes in ownership among McDavid heirs that physically divided their families through 1862.
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 families 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 mothers of enslaved children were documented in the McDavid estate records, 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 research, I’ll be incorporating 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
The following 2 documents are truly valued by me as they provide evidence that reveals the identity of my 5th Great Grandmother, Nancy (Nanna) McDavid, as well as 3 aunts and 2 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.
The Heirs’ Account of Slaves Received from the Estate of James L. McDavid from 1842 – 1854
The following documents were gathered with a primary focus on my biological relatives. If you’re researching other people documented in this article see the list of sources for continued research. The McDavid estate records provide evidence of many additional transactions related to the purchase, sale, hiring out, and inheritance of enslaved people.
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 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 Were 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 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 in this series of articles.
If you’re on a mobile device, click here to view 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
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