Shared Legacies
This is the beginning of a forum where you can communicate with others and benefit from shared research and resources.
We are working on a tech-friendly database of surnames and locations relevant to African American researchers, along with a way to connect people of similar interests.
Until we get to that point, here are announcements by descendants of slaveholding families who are looking for descendants of the people their ancestors enslaved. Feel free to initiate direct contact if you or someone you know is connected.
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So far, I've been able to identify 40 people by name who were enslaved by my ancestors from the 17th century onward. I would like to find descendants of them and need help.
Jude, Sam (also called Toby), Sam and Claudia, all enslaved by Benjamin Powell of unknown dates but probably late 18th century to mid 19th.
Sarah Powell, Martin Powell and Melinda Powell, all enslaved by George Cader Powell (1813-1881), the son of Benjamin.
Mary Jones (c.1860-1961), believed to be enslaved by John Venable Hardwicke (1810-1885).
I haven't been able to find out much about Benjamin Powell. I believe him to have lived mostly in Georgia. George Cader Powell, though, lived in various places in GA and Brooksville, FL. I don’t know when he moved to FL, but I believe that he was there through most of the Civil War. John Hardwicke lived all his life in VA, mostly in Richmond, though toward the end of his life, he may have lived in Lynchburgh, VA.
I'm looking for slaves my gggrandfather kept. His name is Theodore Drayton Grimke. He is listed in the 1860 Slave Schedule for Charleston County, Charleston, SC, as having 45 slaves. He is the brother of Rev.John Drayton Grimke-Drayton who owned Magnolia Gardens. I suspect that my ancestor shared the ownership of that plantation, which is about 12 miles outside Charleston.
My ancestor left Charleston before the Civil War. He had met and married an English lady - Emma nee Evans - whose father gave him a position in his coal-mining company near Liverpool. As you may know, Liverpool had close links with the Confederate States. Many of the ships were built in Liverpool - e.g. the CSS Alabama. Liverpool was a trading partner for Charleston in receiving cotton for the mills in Manchester. I spoke with one of my cousins here in the UK who told me that Theodore broke through the northern blockade of Charleston at least twice. He eventually applied for British citizenship in 1867.