(re: Insurrection Scare in East Texas) "Smith County and Its Neighgors During the Slave Insurrection Panic of 1860," by Donald Eugene Reynolds, PhD (born 1931), Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies, outlawed the importation of enslaved people, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, History of African Americans in Dallas-Ft. Worth, History of African Americans in San Antonio, "Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States", "U.S. appeals court allows Texas to implement voter ID law", "Updated: Texas voter ID law allows gun licenses, not Student ID's", "Someone did not do their due diligence: How an attempt to review Texas' voter rolls turned into a debacle", Texas Terror: the Slave Insurrection Panic of 1860 and the Secession of the Lower South, San Antonio de Bexar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier, Lester G. Bugbee, "Slavery in early Texas", Foreign relations of the Republic of Texas, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_slavery_in_Texas&oldid=1132265581, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, Articles with failed verification from June 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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. They had no legally prescribed way to gain freedom. [29], The following year all those who had been living in Texas at the time of independence were allowed to remain. Phone: (214) 565-9026, African American Community Archives Program, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.Willie Lee Gay - H-Town Chapter11100 Braesridge, Suite 2202Houston, Texas 77071aahgshtown@yahoo.com, Houston Museum of African American Culture [18] A small number of enslaved were imported illegally from the West Indies or Africa. Sugar. As in other southern states, however, the enslaved people made Christianity their own and they developed strong religious faith. [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. And a rich woman with slaves of her own to boot. 2021 Texas Standard. Join Geni to explore your genealogy and family history in the World's Largest Family Tree. In 1792 there were 34 blacks and [46], Unlike in other Southern states, only a small number of enslaved Texans, estimated at 47, joined the Union Army. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and over 2,000 federal troops arrived at Galveston Island to take possession of the state and enforce the two-year-old Emancipation Proclamation. 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. Sugar plantations. Slavery thus linked Texas inextricably with the Old South. These tensions came to a head in the Anahuac Disturbances. Amid talk of reparations, political figures contend with their slave-owning ancestors. This page has been viewed 87,667 times (5,509 via redirect). Some slaveowners did not free their enslaved people until late in 1865. 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. Disputes over slavery did not constitute an immediate cause of the Texas Revolution, but the institution was always in the background as what the noted Texas historian Eugene C. Barker called a "dull, organic ache." Houston, Texas 77004, African American Genealogical Interest Group Alwyn Barr. FS Library976.4 D2rte Vol 1-3. [9] When some French and Spanish slaveholders moved to Texas, they were allowed to retain their enslaved people. LEVI JORDAN HISTORY Levi Jordan arrived in Texas in 1848. Many of the fires had coincided with a summer drought, and new matches were susceptible to spontaneous combustion. Samuel Murray 3 9. [50], Slavery was officially abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment which took effect on December 18, 1865. During the late 1850s, prime male field hands aged eighteen to thirty cost on the average $1,200, and skilled slaves such as blacksmiths often were valued at more than $2,000. https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/slavery. [11] Anglo-American immigration to the province slowed at this point, with settlers angry about the changing rules. Arkansas Plantations and Slave Names Although no major rebellions occurred, individual acts of violence against owners were carried out. Slavery was a complex institution that varied according to time and place. And when they declared independence and wrote a constitution for their new republic, they made every effort, in the words of a later Texas Supreme Court justice, to "remove all doubt and uneasiness among the citizens of Texas in regard to the tenure by which they held dominion over their slaves." Manifests - Alphabetical by Slave Names | National Archives Although slave marriages and families had no legal protections, the majority of slaves were reared and lived day to day in a family setting. Although the law contained some recognition of their humanity, slaves in Texas had the legal status of personal property. [14][15], In 1821 at the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence, Texas was included in the new nation. Texas did not, however, employ techniques common in other Southern states such as complex voter registration rules and literacy tests; even the "white primary" was not implemented statewide until 1923.[53]. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was confronted with similar information about his ancestors this month, but had a different reaction. In 1860 there were 3,017 slaves in Marion county 1,406 males, 1,611 females. Texas was the last frontier of chattel slavery in the United States. WebUnited States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 Name index and images of slave schedules listing slave owners and only age, gender and color data of the slaves in cesus states or Economically, slave owners had a disproportionately large share of the state's wealth and produced virtually all of the cash crops. Slavery, Most Whites thought that Blacks were inferior and wanted to be sure that they remained in an inferior social position. 4807 Caroline [24], In 1845 the state legislature passed legislation further restricting the rights of free blacks. Blacks, however, could not testify against Whites in court, a prohibition that largely negated their constitutional protection. African Americans immediately started raising legal challenges to disfranchisement, but early Supreme Court cases, such as Giles v. Harris (1903), upheld the states. See also AGRICULTURE, AFRICAN AMERICANS, CIVIL WAR, RECONSTRUCTION, and SLAVE INSURRECTIONS. All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 FamilySearch There is at least one positive outcome that could come from reckoning with slave-owning family members of the past. The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry. 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. Lists of Slave owners with names of slaves 781 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). See the Heritage Exchange Portal for more information on how to document slaves and slave owners. Voters' Registrations of 1867 are available on microfilm at the Texas State Archives. 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. Welcome to Geni, home of the world's largest family tree. [1] For 1865 and 1866, the section on abandoned and confiscated lands includes the names of the owners of the plantations or homes that were abandoned, confiscated, or leased. Slavery was a labor system and although slaves obviously freed their owners from the drudgery of manual labor and daily chores, they were a troublesome property in many ways. Married Margaret French Strother 1778. The men sold enslaved people to James Bowie and others, who brought them directly to a customhouse and informed on themselves. [44] Most runaways attempted to go to Mexico. Freedmans Savings and Trust Company signature cards or registers from 3 March 1865 to 25 July 1874 may list the name of the depositor, date of entry, age, birthplace, residence, complexion, name of employer or occupation, wife or husbands name, death information, childrens names, name of father and mother, brothers and sisters names, remarks, and signature. 509 0 obj <> endobj In 1900, African Americans comprised 20% of the state's population of 3,048,710. In 1854, citizens in Austin and other towns drove many poor Mexicans from the area in fear that they might assist in revolts. Because of their economic success, these planters represented the social ideal for many other Texans. Early books sometimes contained the name of the former master or mistress and the name of the plantation. They may be related. By Laura RiceJuly 17, 20191:49 pmArts & Culture, History, Race & Identity. Slavery in Early Texas. The first census in Austin's colony in 1825 showed 443 slaves in a total population of 1,800. Most slaves, however, were neither loyal servants nor rebels. "Mike" Campbell, [26], The abolition of slavery created tensions between the Mexican government and slave-holding settlers from the United States. He tried to create a Republic of Sierra Madre in Northern Mexico but was defeated by the Mexican Army.[41]. Andrew Lyda 3 8. History of slavery in Texas - Wikipedia American slavery was preeminently an economic institutiona system of unfree labor used to produce cash crops for profit. Andrew J. Torget, Seeds of Empire: Cotton, Slavery, and the Transformation of the Texas Borderlands, 1800-1850 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015). They could be bought and sold, mortgaged, and hired out. Col. Joshua John Ward of Georgetown, South Carolina: Abraham Kuykendall 5 5. Many former enslaved people fought with the Cherokee against the Texan army that drove the tribe from East Texas in 1838. 13, No. In August 1831, Juan Davis Bradburn, the military commander of the custom station on Upper Galveston Bay, gave asylum to two men who had escaped from slavery in Louisiana. Sam Houston made illegal importation from Mexico a crime in 1836. Most slaves in Texas worked: On plantations and farms. In 1860, the biggest slaveholders were Robert and D.G. In other words, it was an underlying cause of the struggle in 18351836. In Texas, like other southern states, the treatment of slaves varied from plantation to plantation, from master to master. Slaves who did not work satisfactorily or otherwise displeased their owners were commonly punished by whipping. For the first time, free persons were listed individually instead of by family. J. C. Jenkins of Wilkinson, Mississippi: 523 slaves. Almost certainly, however, many came to believe that they would be free if the South lost. Dennis. WebThe Neals, Foxes, and Timberlakes were all white families of at least moderate wealth that was dependent upon the forced labor of enslaved people. [22], By the 1800s, most enslaved people in Texas had been brought by slaveholders from the United States. The supposed "poison" found in enslaved quarters was baby powder. WebThe slaves who remained on properties in South Carolina are counted on the South Carolina reports. 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). Texas 1867 Special Voter's Registration: includes information for 1867 - 1869. There were two questionnaires: one for free inhabitants and one for slaves. The collection is organized alphabetically by state, then city where the bank was located, then date the account was established, then account number. 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. Freedmen Towns After, ORourke shared his reaction on the blog site. [34], Plantation enslaved people generally lived in one or two-room log cabins. 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. [47] The last battle of the war was fought at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, in 1865. WebThe U.S. census tracked the growth that followed, reporting 207 enslaved people in 1850 who made up 8% of the countys population and 1,074 enslaved people owned by 228 The census in But how would they make their way in the world after 1865? [3] Five years later, in September 1534, they escaped to the interior. The last frontier of slavery was by no means closed on the eve of the Civil War. In 1876 Texas adopted a new constitution requiring segregated schools and imposing a poll tax, which decreased the number of poor voters both black and white. Eliza Denwoo Henry David Rhodes, planter, was born in Alabama about 1819. African-, Afro-Americans throughout the Americas / Black History - Master Project, Black Washingtons of Pope's Creek Plantation, Virginia, Somerset Place Plantation, North Carolina, 9 of the Biggest Slave Owners in American History, Standing in Way of Alabama Walmart: Slave Graves. He This is a mid-level category and should not have individual profiles added to it. After the Texas Revolution ended in 1836, the Constitution of the Republic of Texas made slavery legal. 5.5 Emancipation Records. [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. As is apparent from the attached list of slave owners on this web site, many people in the county who owned slaves only had one or two. He and his wife Mary moved there themselves and he died Update 12/7/2016(CLM): I have found various references of military rank from Captain to Brigadier General. Many enslaved people ran away. The African American Story | Texas State History Museum [33], Although most enslaved people lived in rural areas, more than 1000 resided in both Galveston and Houston by 1860, with several hundred in other large towns. The Federal Constitution of 1824 did not mention slavery, but the 1827 Constitution of the State of Coahuila and Texas prohibited the further introduction of slaves and declared all children born thereafter to slaves already in the state to be free at birth. In cases where African Americans registered, their race is specified as "colored." , and his wife Amy, are descendants of slave owners. University of Texas (San Antonio). Brewer, John Mason. States that had used it adopted other means to keep most African Americans from voting. [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. A large supply of cheap Mexican labor in the area made the purchase and care of a slave too expensive. The evidence is strong, however, that in Texas slaves were generally profitable as a business investment for individual slaveholders. For the time being, we are using this as the Slavery Plantation umbrella or portal. Berry says McConnells refusal to acknowledge his history was interesting. She says the senators family history may have come to light because of his opposition to legislation related to reparations for descendants of enslaved people. [10], When the United States purchased Louisiana in 1803, Spain declared that any enslaved person who crossed the Sabine River into Texas would be automatically freed. 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. In general, Texas slaves continued to work and live as they had before the war. WebThe 1783 census for all of Texas listed a total of 36 enslaved people. WebThe 1860 slave schedule was used in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Territory and Virginia. 3536 Grand Avenue [citation needed], June 19, the day of the Emancipation announcement, has been celebrated annually in Texas and other states as Juneteenth. I think [the conversation] happens in a number of spaces, Berry says. A relatively few slaves, perhaps as many as 2,000 between 1835 and 1865, came through the illegal African trade. DAR# A105070 1. slavery Slavery was present in Spanish America and Mexico prior to the arrival of American settlers, but it was not highly developed, and the Spanish did not rely on it for labor during their years in Spanish Texas. The slavery categories exist to help with tracking the genealogy and family history of pre-Civil War era slaves. [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. At the start of the Civil War, _____ was the commander of Union troops in Texas. Slave prices inflated rapidly as the institution expanded in Texas. Field hands generally labored "from sun to sun" five days a week and half a day on Saturday. In 1860, mass hysteria ensued after a series of fires erupted throughout the state. Slaves ate primarily corn and pork, foods that contained enough calories to provide adequate energy but were limited in essential vitamins and minerals. They knew that they controlled their own bodies and therefore were free to move about as they chose and not be forced to labor for others. Although Estevanico was still enslaved, after these events the Spaniards treated him more as an equal. The white primary was another way to exclude African Americans from making electoral decisions, and it was not overturned by the Supreme Court until 1944 in Smith v. Allwright. This did not mean that the majority of slaves were content with their status. [13], The United States outlawed the importation of enslaved people in 1808, but domestic trade flourished, especially in New Orleans during the antebellum decades. Due to the state laws, he would receive half of the price he had paid.