Unlikely to Pay?

While going through the Crawford County probate records, I found this entry on the inventory of the estate of Daniel Hicks.  His estate, one of the wealthiest in the county, showed a number of accounts owed to him, including this one:

Since those doing the estate inventory were presumably copying from Hick's records, this is apparently what he wrote.  So unless someone used this as a nickname, it looks like Hicks didn't actually expect to get his money back. 

Friend of Friends Friday, Crawford County GA part 4

As before, these are from the Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990, Crawford County, Inventories and appraisements 1833-1913, familysearch.org

Image 67, page 122
An inventory of the goods and chattels of Alexander B. Taylor, 8 Nov 1834
Negro man John $600
Negro woman Silvy $450
Negro woman Dorcas $450
Negro boy Isaac $350
Negro boy Aaron $275
Negro boy Doctor $250
Negro boy Charles $200

Image 69, page 126
December 1834, auction of the goods of Alexander Taylor

Lewis Mobley - negro John
James Roberts - negro woman Dorcas
Mary Taylor [wife] - negro woman Silvy
James M. Taylor - negro Isaac
Wm McMurray - negro Aaron
[Doctor and Charles are not mentioned in the sales records]

Image 73, page 134
Jasper County, Georgia, 30 Dec 1825 (No reason given for it being recorded in Crawford County 10 years later)

Valuation and partition of the negros of Jonathon McLendon
Lot nr one was assigned to Edna McClendon, widow of said deceased negros Viny, Betsy and Reuben valued at $950
Lot nr two was drawn by Elitha Ann McClendon one of the minors of said dec'd, negroes Ben, Haritta and Jinny valued at $825
Lot nr 3 was drawn by Jonathon McClendon the other minor of said deceased negros Billy, Milly and Anderson, valued at $900.

Image 74, page 135
1826
The negros belonging to the orphans of Jonathan McClendon hired on 30 Dec 1826 to the highest bidder
viz Bill a negro man to Wm Cleavland  $77
Jenny and child Harriett $25
Milla a girl $30
Ben a boy $17
Anderson a boy $1
[signed] Wm C Cleavland guardian in right of his wife

Image 74, page 136
1828
Hire of negros of said deceased for 1828
Bill a man hired to Wm C Cleavland for $50
Jinny and Haratt         "               "     for $35.50
Milly a woman to Allen McClendon for $25.50
Ben a boy to Wm C Cleavland for $41
Anderson a boy to T Hood $5

Image 75, page 137
(McClendon estate continued)
For the hire of negros for 1829
Bill a man to Lewellin Morgan $50
Ben a boy to Thophilus Truman (or Freeman) $26
Anderson a boy to Allen McClendon $5
Milly a girl to          "            "      $22
Jenny a woman to   "            "      $35
Harett a girl to Wm C Cleavland for victuals and clothes

The hiring of the property belonging to the minors of Jonathan McClendon, 28 Dec 1829
Billy a man [to] Allen McClendon $40
Jenny a woman    "          "            $21
Milly a girl         "           "            $25
Anderson a boy  "          "            $8.56
Benjamin a boy to Wm C Cleavland $37.25
Harett a girl to Isaac George    $5.56

Account of the sale of the negros belonging to the minors and orphans of  Jonathan McClendon sold 3 Jan 1832 and 25 Dec 1832
Negro man Bill to Allen McClendon $219
Negro woman named Jenny to "    $306
   "           "      Milly and child to A. McClendon $427
Negro boy named Ben to Henry Sills $577

Image 75, page 138
(continued from previous page)
Anderson [to] Jeremiah McClendon  $365
girl Harett to W.C. Cleavland $350

[Note that this is earlier than the previous sale record] The hiring of the negros belonging to the orphans of Jonathan McClendon for the year 1831

Bill a man to Allen McClendon $55
Jinny a woman to Hiram B. Jones $40
Milly a woman to Cleavland $20
Ben a boy to John True $35
Anderson a boy to [unreadable] McGhee  $24
Harat a girl to Elijah Williams $12

Another Lesson learned

Yesterday I posted about the Sullivan/Daniel deed selling land to the Perrys.  I started doing some research on the people involved to determine what, if any, connection there was between the families.  I found information which indicated that Mary Sullivan was originally Mary Shanley/Shunley/Shurley possibly the daughter of Aaron.  Went back and looked at the deeds and sure enough, the one before the sale to M.F. Perry is a deed between Berry Sullivan and Aaron Shurley.  However, since at the time I was photographing these I was only interested in the Perry ones, it never occurred to me to look at the deeds around them.  Therefore, I only have the very end of the previous deed and will need to go back to Crawford County to see the rest. 

Questions about some land

In April 1884, Mary Sullivan, widow of L. B. [Little Berry] Sullivan and her daughter Almyra Sullivan Daniel sold 101 1/4 acres of land in Crawford County, Georgia to Mattie Hatcher and Sallie B. Perry, for $300.  Mary and Almyra were described as the only heirs to the estate of  L. B. Sullivan, of Webster county, while Mattie and Sallie were described as the daughters of M.F. [Mark Franklin] Perry.   The deed was witnessed by John Daniel and Almyra's husband Alex Daniel.   There are several points of interest here.  First, M.F. Perry and his wife were still living, so it seems unusual that the property was sold to their daughters.  Secondly, Mattie was grown and married, age 22, but Sallie was only 13.  Mattie's husband was not mentioned.   Also, 1890 tax records duly show Mrs. Mattie Hatcher and Miss Blanch Perry paying taxes on 50 acres of land each, but also show their mother Mrs. Sarah Perry as having 200 acres in that same section.   M.F. Perry does not pay taxes on any real estate although he shows some personal property. 

Three years later, Mary Sullivan and Almyra Daniel sold a nearby lot to M.F. Perry.  In this deed they are again described as the sole heirs of L.B. Sullivan and the land being sold is described as "the land formerly owned by L.B. Sullivan in Crawford County".  Alex Daniel again witnesses the transaction. M.F. Perry promptly took out a mortgage on the land, which he paid off a few years later.

Finally, in 1893, S. Blanch Perry (Sallie) sold her 50 acres of the land above to her sister Martha Hatcher for $100.

Mary Johns and the Mathews

In 1840, Mary E. Johns of Washington County, Georgia signed a deed with James Mathews of Crawford County, Georgia and John Mathews of Sumter County, Alabama in which she gave two slaves to her daughter Amanda E. Mathews.  The two slaves were Buck, a man of about 38 years of age, and Harriet, a girl about 20 years old.   As long as Amanda resided in Georgia, the slaves were to be managed by James Mathews.  If Amanda chose to move to Alabama, the slaves would be managed by John Mathews.  In either case, the slaves were to be subject to Amanda's control and could be disposed of by her by hire, sale or exchange for land.   Mary apparently signed the deed herself and it was witnessed by H.P. Harman and J.A. McNair.  There is a copy of the deed in Crawford county.   Amanda's location was not given other than "Georgia".   There was no provision for what would happen to these slaves if Amanda married. 

 A Mary E. Johns appears in the 1840 Washington County census as a head of household, age 30-39.  If this is the correct Mary Johns, a question arises as to why she is gifting slaves to Amanda only, when there are 8 other children (not necessarily hers) in the census.   She does own a number of slaves, so giving some away is plausible.  There is also a Mary E. Johns head of household in Jefferson County in 1830.  The ages and number of the children are close enough that this might be the same Mary.  However, she is also 30-40 in 1830, meaning she is either exactly 30 in the first (40 in the second) or she fudged her age in the second one.  Again, she has a significant number of slaves.  In 1832, an Amanda E. Johns in Jefferson County married Daniel Matthews. 

There is a John Mathews in Sumter County, AL in 1840 with 3 adult males in the household, two who are 20-30 and one who is 40-50, probably but not necessarily the head of household.  In 1850, the only John Mathews in the county is age 58, married to Keziah, born in South Carolina, which is where many of the Mathews in Crawford County are also from.  In 1840, there are two James Mathews heading households in Crawford County, one age 40-50 and one age 50-60.    In 1850, the only James Mathews who might have been an adult in 1840 is one born in 1794 in South Carolina.  John born in 1792 and James born in 1794, both in South Carolina, are tempting to look at as brothers, but more information would be needed.  Amanda does not appear in 1840.  There is no Amanda Mathews in 1850.  There was an Amanda Mathis who married Hopewell Adams in Washington county, Georgia in 1843.  Mathis is the common pronunciation in Georgia of the name Mathews, but her family appears to have been literate and so less likely to use this phonetic spelling.  If this is the correct Amanda, she was born about 1825 making it impossible for her to be the Amanda who married Daniel in 1832.  
So, this leads to questions about the relationships between these people.  The only one that is certain is that Mary E. Johns is the mother of Amanda E. Mathews. 
  Possible scenarios:

A.  Amanda Johns the daughter of Mary E. Johns married Daniel Mathews and therefore the John and James Mathews are her in-laws.  With this scenario, I would assume Daniel is dead although I have not yet found an estate settlement or will for him.  If he were alive but had deserted Amanda, it is less likely that his family would be given management of her assets.  If he were alive and still married to Amanda, it would have made more sense to give him control rather than his relatives, if Mary wanted a man to be managing the slaves.  This scenario also does not take into account what happens if Amanda remarries, but perhaps that was just an oversight on Mary's part.   This also assumes that the two Mary E. Johns in the census are the same person.

 B.  James, John and Amanda are siblings, all Mary's children from a marriage before Johns.  This  explains Amanda's relative autonomy (she gets to decide what happens to the slaves and whether she lives in Alabama or Georgia) while still coming under some nominal male control.   In this scenario, based on the ages of the only James and Johns available, Amanda would probably be somewhat older and therefore unlikely to marry, explaining the lack of a provision for this contingency.  This scenario eliminates both Daniel's wife and Amanda Mathis Adams as the correct Amanda.  This also means that both Mary Johns from the censuses are not their mother but rather that she is in someone else's household. 

  C. James and John are Mary's brothers and Amanda was an illigitimate daughter born before her marriage to Johns.  Close second to the above theory with the same considerations as to why these men would have say over Amanda's life.   In this case, though, Amanda would probably be somewhat younger, so unless she had some handicap that made marriage unlikely, this option would not explain the apparent assumption that she will not marry.  This would, however, make the Amanda Adams born in 1825, possible as Mary's daughter. 

Friend of Friends Friday, Crawford County, Georgia part 3

As before, these are from the Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990, Crawford County, Inventories and appraisements 1833-1913, familysearch.org

Page 93, Image 53
Property of Chesley B. Marshall, dec'd, sold 2 Dec 1834:
Andrew McVeal - one negro man named Davy
John Mathews - one negro man named Billy

Page 96, Image 55
Samuel Wilson, Admr of the estate of J.M. Williams
 The hire of Allen, 1 month $10.00
 The hire of Caroline, 1 month $6.00
 Hire of Allen 10 months for widow $60.00
 Hire of George 10 months J.D. Wilson - $90.00
 Hire of Caroline 10 months John Ross - $70.00
 Aggy, Nelson, Pompey, Mary and Henry - 10 months victuals and clothing (no amount listed)

Page 102, image 58
Division of the slaves belonging to the estate of J.D. Williams, 1835
Asa Mann, as his wife's share, was allotted Allen, valued at 650 dollars, Caroline valued at 500 dollars, Pompey valued at 250 dollars, and Mary valued at 225 dollars.  The remaining slaves were assessed a value but it did not state to whom they would be going.  Those slaves were George valued at 675 dollars, Aggy valued at 400 dollars, Nelson valued at 350 dollars, and Henry 175 dollars.

Page 104, image 59
Rebecca Northern, to the estate of William Northern
To the hire of negroes:
  Rebecca Northern hired Dave $130
           Mariah and children $39
           girl China $20
  Nathaniel Bradford hired Cyrus $120
 Stephen Wright hired boy Lewis $14
  Geo W. Clayton hired girl Mime $13.75
  Henry Crowd hired a woman [not named] and children $33
  To hire of negro girl Sally $6

Page 106, image 60
The orphans of R. B. Mason to John Ricks, guardian, 1835:
Hire of a negro man Abram to T. Garrett $75
Hire of a negro man Philip to S. Barden $35
The hire of two boys Redic and Peter to Wm Faircloth at $30 each
One negro woman and three children to Wm Faircloth for their victuals and clothes.

Page 107, image 60
An inventory of the estate of Daniel Hicks
Lettice a negro woman valued at $250
Brister a negro man $500
Morris a negro man $600
Rachel $350
Dennis $600
Luke $650
Clary $400
Jinny $450
Cate $400
Ann $450
Simon $650
Tilmon $500
Virgil $500
Jerry $450
Rhody $300
Charlotte $375
Pris $275
Crawford $300
Jorden $200
Clinton $175
Agnes $150
Mary $150
Caroline $150
Ned $150
Morgan $100
Prince $100
Winney $75

Could this be my Carl?

Today in one of the lectures at the NGS conference in Richmond, the speaker referred to an early indentured servant in Virginia, one Carl Christopherson Springer.   This interesting man was Swedish but was kidnapped in London and brought to Virginia where he was sold.  After some years, he was able to make his way up to the small Swedish colony in Delaware where he remained the rest of his life and where his fluency in both English and Swedish stood him in good stead in the local community.  He caught my attention because that is the name of one of my ancestors, who indeed lived in Delaware about the correct time frame.  It's such a fascinating sequence of events that I would love for him to actually be my ancestor.  However, wishing doesn't make it true and some real research will need to be done to see if this Carl and my ancestor are two different men or not.