Re: Slave Markets, Virginia, ca 1830
singhals
singhals wrote:
> I was asked my opinion of a family story. I remembered several of
> you do AA research and wondered if you'd weigh in with your opinions
> as well.
>
> Story is: Our ancestor was a slave owned by this family, down on
> the VA-NC border, around Lunenberg co. Sometime around 1830, the
> owner took all but 6 of his slaves to the slave-market in Richmond;
> a man from the county just west of Lunenberg bought most of them,
> but some were bought by a man in the county just north of Lunenberg.
> The new owners took the slaves back to their homes, where everyone
> lived a few years, but by 1840, the original owner, the new owners,
> and the slaves moved to the TX-ARK border region. From there forward
> these people are trackable. End of family story.
>
> I'll stipulate it's possible. The issue I have is -- is it probable
> given the distances and the sheer numbers (looks like a couple
> hundred, judging on the 1850 values)?
LET ME CLARIFY that! Apparently, I did more editing than I thought --
The part I question is the trek from South-Central VA to Richmond
and back again.
Cheryl
singhals <sing...@erols.com>
Huntersglenn
Ah, I still stand by what I wrote in my other reply. I can't really
see someone going all the way to Richmond when there were markets
either in their own county or closer (the other night, on "Who Do
You Think You Are?", it was mentioned that there were slave auctions
held in Boydton, which is in the county just below Lunenburg).
The only reason I could see it happening in Richmond - depending on
where they lived in Lunenburg, it isn't all that far to Richmond -
just a few counties over - would be if there was other business that
needed to be seen to in Richmond, or reasons why the sales could not
be made in Lunenburg. If it was a case of someone wanting to get
rid of evidence of unfaithfulness, then he might want to sell the
slaves as far away as possible. If there's a family story of them
being descended from the slave owner, then that would be a valid
possibility. If there's no family story of anything like that, then
I wouldn't put too much on the family story - especially as it
really doesn't make much difference when it comes to tracing the
family tree. The Lunenburg owner is known, as are the new owners
who took them out of state. The only reason why the Richmond
connection might be important is if there were slaves who were
purchased by people you haven't yet discovered, and those people
were in the Richmond area, and the descendants of those slaves still
living there.
And I got it wrong that Brunswick was to the west - it's Charlotte
County to the west of Lunenburg. But, if the question is whether or
not it was viable for the owner to take that many slaves to
Richmond, then knowing where the deeds of sale were filed wouldn't
be of help, since they wouldn't mention Richmond.
Take care,
Cathy
Huntersglenn <hunter...@cox.net>
Keith Nuttle
I did a quick search for roads in Virginia but did not find what I
was looking for but by 1830 travel through our south east Virginia
could not have been that difficult. Through out that area there is
a good river system that was used for travel.
Lunenberg Co is not as far from Richmond as Patrick Henry's house in
Brookneal, VA. Patrick Henry served in the Virginia General
Assembly and frequently made the trip to Richmond as part of that
service. When Patrick Henry die he was planning to travel form
Charlotte Court House Virginia to Richmond in 1779. The point is he
seems to have freely traveled from that area of Virginia to
Richmond, 30 years before your ancestor made the journey so the fact
that your ancestor made the journey out of the question. It is only
about a 60 mile trip.
Keith Nuttle <keith_...@sbcglobal.net>
bob gillis
Cheryl Singhals wrote:
> I was asked my opinion of a family story. I remembered several of
> you do AA research and wondered if you'd weigh in with your opinions
> as well.
>
> Story is: Our ancestor was a slave owned by this family, down on
> the VA-NC border, around Lunenberg co. Sometime around 1830, the
> owner took all but 6 of his slaves to the slave-market in Richmond;
> a man from the county just west of Lunenberg bought most of them,
> but some were bought by a man in the county just north of Lunenberg.
> The new owners took the slaves back to their homes, where everyone
> lived a few years, but by 1840, the original owner, the new owners,
> and the slaves moved to the TX-ARK border region. From there forward
> these people are trackable. End of family story.
>
> I'll stipulate it's possible. The issue I have is -- is it probable
> given the distances and the sheer numbers (looks like a couple
> hundred, judging on the 1850 values)?
I am not an African-American researcher: These are my thoughts on
this question:
Lunenburg County is about 70 miles from Richmond. Charlotte County
is about 20 miles west of Lunenburg , county seat to county seat,
and Nottoway and Prince Edward also about 20-30 miles north
Lunenburg.
There may have been a larger market with better prices and selection
in Richmond than in local towns. Perhaps these families knew each
other or were related and were planning to migrate west and needed
to buy more slaves than they had or were available in local markets.
The families may also have had legal or other business in
Richmond. There was a constitutional convention in late 1829
What values do you see in the 1850 Census, Personal Property Values?
The 1830 Census counts slaves. Without knowing the numbers of males
and females in 1830 and the difference in values between 1830
Virginia and 1850 Texas/Arkansas, I do not think you can calculate
the number of slaves.
> No, Bob, I didn't put in names, because far's I can see WHO may have
> done it is far less important than DID they do it
You could have given the county and town names.
However with the names of families and the towns where these families
lived, someone may be able to use the Census to quickly confirm or
refute the family story.
And she wrote:
> LET ME CLARIFY that! Apparently, I did more editing than I thought --
> The part I question is the trek from South-Central VA to Richmond
> and back again.
You may get a better answer on SLAVE-OWNERS or US-SLAVE-TRADE OR
VIRGINIA.
bob gillis
bob gillis <robert...@verizon.net>
Lisa Lepore
> LET ME CLARIFY that! Apparently, I did more editing than I thought --
> The part I question is the trek from South-Central VA to Richmond
> and back again.
>
Maybe the slave owner had other business in Richmond that made it
worthwhile for him to go there. Maybe the auctions brought in more
money in Richmond. Maybe he wanted to meet with the other 2 slave
owners to discuss their future move to ARK-TX and they decided to
meet at the auction in Richmond.
Are there newspapers on line that could shed some light on what was
going on there at the time? Some political event, or the county
fair or???
I would look at what was going on in Richmond at this time to compel
him to go there.
Lisa
"Lisa Lepore" <lle...@comcast.net>