The stories in the law book
There are always stories to be found in those dusty old law books.
Sometimes the most powerful and compelling stories of all.
And all we need to do is look for them.
Case in point: a set of pages in the back of a volume entitled The Revised Code of the Laws of Mississippi, a book of laws in effect in that State as of the end of the year 1823,1 in which The Legal Genealogist was poking around in anticipation of this Saturday’s seminar at the Mississippi Genealogical Society in Pearl.
Starting at page 558 and running through to page 650 is what the compilers of these laws referred to as a Summary of Private and Local Acts. These were the statutes passed not to affect all of the citizens of Mississippi generally, but rather for the benefit of some individual or individuals, or for some local purpose like setting an election.
The laws begin with a group authorizing the sales of real estate by executors, administrators and guardians. There, you can find, for example, that the executors of Hannah Curtis were allowed to sell lands that she owned when she died, including “an undivided share of a tract of land which she claimed, (as one of the heirs or legatees) of her deceased father, Samuel Sweezey.”2 Not a bad find, for a few lines of text: the existence of a will, likely of a widow, and the name of her father.
You can learn, in those same real estate sale pages, that Amy Blanchard was the widow of Thomas Blanchard of Adams County, that Jane Green was the widow of Henry Green of Jefferson County,3 that Eliza Darrach was the widow of James Darrach of Claiborne County,4 and that Nancy Carrill was the widow of William Carrill of Adams County, and that William left children including Thomas, Manoria, Charity, Eliza Ann and Polly.5
Reading on, you can find that freedom was granted to many of the residents of early Mississippi in the form of divorces:
• Elizabeth Hutchins was divorced from John Hutchins, and allowed to sue him to “recover the property which of right belongs to her, and which was given for advancement in marriage.”6
• Elizabeth Whittle was divorced from Richard Whittle, and Richard had “no right to any real or personal estate acquired by said Elizabeth, since the year 1787, nor to any estate real or personal, given her in marriage.”7
• John Peake was divorced from his wife Phebe.8
• Elizabeth Roach was divorced from Benjamin Roach, and her name changed to Elizabeth Greenfield.9
And that’s not all. Read on, and you find that freedom from the sting of illegitimacy was granted to other residents of the state:
• Sarah, John and Peggy Irons and Crawford, Polly and James McGalgin Davis all had their last names changed to Sprowl as they were recognized as the natural children and legitimate heirs of John Sprowl.10
• William Murfee’s name was changed to William Knowland and he was recognized as the legitimate child of Pharoah Knowland.11
• Catherine Lewis Hartley was recognized as a natural child and lawful heir of William Lewis.12
At the same time, “Alexander Foster, Elizabeth Jacobs, Peggy Jeffres, Rebecca Foster, Moses Foster, William Foster, Hugh Foster, James Foster, and Mary Foster, children of Moses Foster, by a Choctaw woman, are declared to be released from their civil disabilities, so far as to enable them to inherit real and personal property, according to law, sue and be sued, give testimony in courts of law and equity, and the males to vote at elections and serve in the militia as other citizens of the state: Provided, that the said Alexander, Elizabeth, Peggy, Rebecca, Moses, William, Hugh, James, and Mary, shall, as soon as they arrive at the age of twenty one years, go into the county court of Claiborne county, and there, by some proper instrument of writing, signed by each of their names, discharge themselves from all their Indian privileges, and signify their assent to the provisions of this act….”13
Even more powerful stories appear in the pages under the heading “Persons Emancipated”:
• William Barland of Adams County was allowed to set free “a female, named Elizabeth, and her twelve children” all of whom were acknowledged to be William’s children: Andrew Barland, Elizabeth Barland alias Elizabeth Germain, Margaret Barland alias Margaret Henderson, James Barland, William Barland Jr., Adam Barland, David Barland, George Barland, Alexander Barland, John Barland, Agnes alias Anna Barland, and Susanna Barland.14
• Mary, late the slave and wife, now widow, of Ben Vousden of Adams County, a free person of color, and their five children Louisa, Rachel, Sandy, Mary Ann and Benjamin, were all freed, but the children were subject to being bound out until age 21 for the son and 18 for the daughters “to be treated and provided for in all respects as apprentices” and recognized as heirs to Ben’s estate.15
• A mulatto girl Isabella, daughter of John Baptiste Nicaisse was freed as long as her father posted a bond that she would not become a public charge.16
• And perhaps the most remarkable of all: John Hopkins, Esq., of Jefferson County, was allowed to set free a girl named Lucinda Jefferson, and the girl was “invested with all the rights, privileges and immunities of any other free white female in this state.” The statute reported that Hopkins “did, some years ago, purchase the said girl as a slave, whom he then believed and still believed to be the offspring of free white parents, who had, by fraud, been made to pass as a slave; And the said John Hopkins having represented to the general assembly, that it is his wish that the said girl be restored to her natural and civil rights.”17
Yes, indeed, there are always stories to be found in those dusty old law books.
Sometimes the most powerful and compelling stories of all.
As long as we take the time and look for them.
SOURCES
- The Revised Code of the Laws of Mississippi… 1823 (Natchez: Francis Baker, 1824), 418; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 27 Jan 2016). ↩
- Ibid., 558. ↩
- Ibid., at 559. ↩
- Ibid., at 563. ↩
- Ibid., at 568-569. ↩
- Ibid. at 571. ↩
- Ibid. ↩
- Ibid., at 573. ↩
- Ibid., at 575. ↩
- Ibid., at 576. ↩
- Ibid. ↩
- Ibid. at 577. ↩
- Ibid., at 577. ↩
- Ibid., at 578. ↩
- Ibid. ↩
- Ibid. at 579. ↩
- Ibid., at 580-581. ↩
I was thrilled to discover in an ancient case the name and surname of my 4G grandmother (previously known as “first wife”). IT was a Case in Chancery in Bergen NJ – Adams vs Ryerson – Turns out my 4G grandmothers brother was an alcoholic. The man who supplied him the booze had him sign over the family lands one night when he was drunk. The family (all sisters named and husbands named and many offspring named as well)= who had been willed the lands took the supplier to court – and won. I “found” the case by googling the names of the offspring of my 4G’s daughter’s husbands.All appeared to be there so I launched a search for the original document (now on google books but it wasn’t then). It does happen sometimes!
Doing an online search for every key name in our families is an awfully good idea… one to be repeated every so often as new materials come online.
I am searching for the repository for Alabama’s state legislative archive for private laws in the 1820s. The House and Senate journals are in our law library so that is not a problem. What I need now are the petitions and other supporting evidence used to originate the private laws. They may be in the State Supreme Court law library or the State Archives (who doesn’t seem to know what I am talking about). I plan to visit the State Law Library and State Library in Montgomery to search and also look up some of Bruce Howard’s publications of people mentioned in state laws.
We have found these legislative papers for Tennessee and Texas but no luck for Alabama.
Any ideas would be welcomed.
I have tracked relatives to 4 State Supreme Court cases, 2 private laws in the House and Senate archives at NARA, and over a dozen private laws at the state level. These sources are also needed if you have ancestors in the Louisiana and Florida colonies before the United States took over. Spanish West Florida is one of the biggest headaches to research.
A group of us are tracking the murder case of Arthur Lott in 1812 on the Creek nation through depositions found in Letters Received by the Secretary of War. Many of our ancestors show up in these “Letters Received by” federal, confederate, and state government departments. They are difficult to use but have data not found elsewhere.
A useful guide to the American State Papers with links in Internet Archive. Very useful for research on ancestors found in records of Congress and the government 1770-1830.
https://archive.org/details/americanstatepap_c11unit
Doug Bell
Seems to me they’d be in the Alabama Legislature bills and resolutions, 1821-2015 collection at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The collection description says it includes “bills and resolutions, along with amendments and substitutions, journal approvals, messages and appointments from the Governor, messages from the Governor, House or Senate, motions in writing, notices in writing, petitions, reports from legislative committees, and Supreme Court opinions.”
Thank you for the reference. A staff member at the Archives told me that collection only included the bills, resolutions, and journals of the legislature. Obviously there is more in that collection and I need to find another staff member to help with it.
This case involves a will probated in 1819 and contested in 1885. It includes a sole heir who was a mentally incompetent minor and lived to age 83, a plantation worth half a million, great grandchildren fighting over the property, and a State Supreme Court case. It resembles Charles Dickens’ Bleak House.
Two of the three courthouses in this case suffered severe fires and the Alabama State Capitol burned in 1849. It is a wonder any records survive. I still have many documents to collect but this will help. Thank you.
Just because the collection description says it has petitions doesn’t mean it’ll have the one you need, Doug — but at least this gives you a place to start looking.
This is an amazing find. I knew about William Barland’s actions to free his negro woman Elizabeth of 30 years and 12 children after petitioning the “General Assembly.” Unfortunately, have not found which General Assembly since Mississippi was not a state until 1817. Mr. Barland’s action happened before statehood.
I would be looking for any earlier manumission documents in the county court records. The legislative action in 1823 would likely have been validating an earlier local action.