I love watching Genealogy TV.
Not only is it fun, but there are documents and methodology to learn shown in the episodes. Sometimes, you discover a connection between the ancestors found and you.
On the second episode of season 5 of Finding Your Roots, my interest peaked when the guest Michael K. William was told he had ancestors in Williamsburg County, South Carolina.
So do I and I listened for a connection. And, there was.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the type of connection one would want, but it is a reality when you are from the south.
Michael's ancestors were enslaved on a plantation owned by William J. R. Cantey. Hearing the Cantey name and knowing my paternal lines included a line with the same surname, I quickly looked for a link.
It is a distant one. William J.R.Cantey is my 4th Cousin 6 times removed.
Looking at his probate record I was able to find the evidence of his owning slaves.
There were many. They are documented on the following pages of an inventory of his property upon his death.
The names on this page are:
John
Elsie
Caroline
Celina
Stephen
Joe
Baccus
Eliza
William
Henny
Linder
William
Nelly
Martha
Mullett
Edwin
Wallace
Peter
Susanna
Job
Peter
John
Judy
Prissa
Pomphery
Prissy
Lewis
Clara
Margaret
Shiloh
Evaline
Sumter County, South Carolina, “South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980”, database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 23 Jan.2019), image for William J.R. Cantey,10 August 1846, pg2, Bundle 122, Packet 9, citing “Estate Records, Bundles 133-134, 1784-1960”
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The next page names:
Thomas
Caroline
Sumter
Young Peter
Gabriella
Suckey
Hester
Thesdon
Rachel
Binah
Simon
Cinder
Cilla
Betty
Amos
Moley
Quash
Quilla
Old Jonny
Isaac
Sammy
Old Simon
Brewington
March
Emaline
Julia
Eliza
And they continued on to name on this page:
Binah
Mosely
Billy
Juber
Little Clara
Morris
Robert
Polly
Amy
Tener
Susana
Maldina
Little Joseph
Little James
Hetty
Prissa
James
Rachel
Maryann
Margaret
Harriet
Little Lewis
Laura
Ella
Quilla
Felix
Careless
John
Cinder
Peggy
Milly
Durant
Disturbing to see prices next to all these names and the inventory continuing on with the household goods like tables, crockery, and silver.
Releasing their names- all 90 of them- in hopes their descendants will discover them and connect them to their families. This post will be added to the Slave Name Roll Project.
Please take the time to extract names of the enslaved you may find while researching your family history. Their names need to be said again, they need to be remembered and helped back home.
Releasing the names of the enslaved of William Cantey.
90 names. 90 people. May their families find them.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,
Thank you for releasing their names. Although I have no Ancestors on this list, it has been very emotional for me to find mine's names on various probate records and in Wills.
ReplyDeleteKristen, It is an emotional find. I appreciate your comment. I will continue to release names as I find them.
DeleteThank you. I hope this will help someone in their research.
ReplyDeleteRenate
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteRenate,
DeleteI hope so too!
Thank you for your work!
ReplyDelete