John Lee, my paternal 4th GGrandfather, was born in Harford, Maryland in 1772. He next appears in Montgomery County, Tennessee where he married Sarah Morgan in 1808. He moves once more to Stewart County, Tennessee, where he remained until his death in 1852.
Before the 1850 Federal Census, only names of heads of household were given on census pages. But age and gender were requested of residents within each household.
The 1840 census records John and Sarah Lee's household as:
White males aged: 10 thru 14: 3. Aged: 15 thru 19: 1 20 thru 29: 3, 70 thru 79: 1.
White females aged: 5 thru 9: 1, 15 thru 19: 2, 20 thru 29: 1, 50 thru 59: 1.
Males enslaved aged 10 thru 23: 2.
Female enslaved aged 10 thru 23: 1, 24 thru 35: 1, and 36 thru 54: 1.
Ancestry has John's Will. In this gallery I first placed the whole page, and then cropped two more so readers can better view the fine print:
Among the property John listed be left to his daughters and sons are the names of five humans. Five people who were enslaved. One man, two young boys, and two women uprooted from their home and moved elsewhere after John's probate was settled.
At the time John's Will was prepared in February of 1852 in Stewart County, Tennessee, their ages and names were given as:
Frank, aged 25 years,
Cicero, aged 8 years,
Harry, aged 5 years,
Nancy, aged 22 years, and
Jane, aged 38 years.
I have stared at those five names wondering if Jane wasn't the mother of Nancy and/or the mother of Cicero and Harry. I looked for Cicero and Nancy in the 1870 census in and around Stewart County. I found several Harrys. I had hoped to find people with these same names/ages living together or near one another. That might indicate a familial relation, stemming from their days on the Lee farm. That's a lot of "mights."
Considerable effort is made by historians of enslaved culture to compile lists of people once owned by others. Why? Descendants seek names of ancestors. DNA test results coupled with records naming enslaved African-Americans are especially helpful to genealogists.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/
I hope their descendants can trace back to these five people. #TheyHadNames
Source: Settlements and Bonds, 1812-1968; Author: Tennessee County Court (Stewart County); Probate Place: Stewart, Tennessee via Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008, Provo, UT, USA
Note to cousins: Sarah and John's son, Josiah, was a dad to my grandmother Esther's maternal grandmother, Anna Lee. Got that?