The Natchez Database of Free People of Color (NDFPC) contains information on free Black people wh... more The Natchez Database of Free People of Color (NDFPC) contains information on free Black people who resided in Natchez, Mississippi between the years 1779-1865. At the time of publication, the dataset contains 1,018 people who were recorded as living in the city of Natchez or surrounding Adams County at any time during that era. Some individuals and their families
free woman of color, property owner, and businesswoman in Natchez, Mississippi, was born into sla... more free woman of color, property owner, and businesswoman in Natchez, Mississippi, was born into slavery. Little is known of her parents or early life. She was emancipated in 1814 at age thirty by her white owner, William Johnson, who was the likely father of her two young children, Adelia and William. He stated in the emancipation document executed in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, that in consideration of five dollars he had liberated Amy, who would be "able to work and gain a Sufficient Livilihood and maintenance" (Davis and Hogan, Barber, 15). Amy was listed as a free Negro head of household in the Natchez, Mississippi, censuses of 1816, 1818, and 1820. Her children were also freed by William Johnson beginning with Adelia at age thirteen in
The exact date of her birth is not now known. She was born to an enslaved woman, Hannah Frey, and... more The exact date of her birth is not now known. She was born to an enslaved woman, Hannah Frey, and to J. S. Miller, a white planter who lived outside of Natchez near the small town of Washington. Mrs. Margaret Overaker, a white woman, and her husband, George, owned Leiper and her mother. While Leiper was still a young girl, her mother was manumitted, but Leiper herself remained enslaved.
At first glance the title, Finding Charity’s Folk, suggests that the monograph will focus on reun... more At first glance the title, Finding Charity’s Folk, suggests that the monograph will focus on reuniting the loved ones of an enslaved woman, Charity, born in Maryland circa 1759. However, the deeply researched study is more generally about the historical location and position of black women, or “folk,” whose legal savvy and assistance from others helped them navigate from slavery to freedom before the Civil War. Jessica Millward channels the narrative through a prism pointed at Charity Folks, who along with her five children and their children made the transition from slavery to freedom while she acquired real and personal property in Annapolis that did much to secure their freedom and legacy. Finding Charity’s Folk is a slim fourchapter volume of less than seventyfive pages of text, excluding the acknowledgments, prologue, and epilogue. Rather than a biography, it is a social history resulting from more than a decade of research involving the examination of over one thousand manuscripts archived in the United States, England, and Africa. When describing her own work, Millward writes:
There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the... more There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the rewards that strong emotional ties conferred upon men and women living in bondage. However, much less has been paid to the bonds of friendship between free people of color, the tangible benefits these relationships provided, as well as their effect on the psychological wellbeing of men, women, and children. This article examines practices of friendship among property-owning free people of color in Natchez, Mississippi in the nineteenth century. It argues that free blacks formed friendships for the usual reasons of providing companionship and emotional support. Further, though, property-holding free men and women of color had to be particularly strategic in their choices of friends. They often limited their circles to other free people-family members especially-and to key white individuals, because friendship could be the difference between enslavement and freedom and the maintenance of their property in a society that continued to constrict the liberties of free blacks up to the Civil War. When seventeen-year-old Octavia Miller of New Orleans declared in a letter to her aunt, free woman of color Ann Johnson, that, "you and grandmother is the only friends I have," she most likely was not speaking figuratively. 2 In the nineteenth century up to the Civil War, property-owning free people of color living in the town of Natchez, Mississippi made up a tightly-knit community that maintained a small but visible presence in one of the wealthiest slave societies in the United States. In 1860, Mississippi had one of the largest enslaved populations in the U.S. at 436,631, but only 775 free people of color, one of the smallest populations of all southern states. Natchez distinguished itself within Mississippi for having the largest community of free people of color-the number, though, was a mere 225 free people of color compared to 14,292 enslaved African Americans in surrounding Adams County. The number of property owning free blacks was even smaller. A largely biracial population, they occupied a tenuous position: technically not enslaved but lacking white privilege. They grappled with a limited liberty that restricted them in multiple arenas, including occupations, education, and voting rights. Additionally, they faced a constant threat of deportation from the state or re-enslavement
There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the... more There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the rewards that strong emotional ties conferred upon men and women living in bondage. However, much less has been paid to the bonds of friendship between free people of color, the tangible benefits these relationships provided, as well as their effect on the psychological wellbeing of men, women, and children. This article examines practices of friendship among property-owning free people of color in Natchez, Mississippi in the nineteenth century. It argues that free blacks formed friendships for the usual reasons of providing companionship and emotional support. Further, though, property-holding free men and women of color had to be particularly strategic in their choices of friends. They often limited their circles to other free people-family members especially-and to key white individuals, because friendship could be the difference between enslavement and freedom and the maintenance of their property in a society that continued to constrict the liberties of free blacks up to the Civil War. When seventeen-year-old Octavia Miller of New Orleans declared in a letter to her aunt, free woman of color Ann Johnson, that, "you and grandmother is the only friends I have," she most likely was not speaking figuratively. 2 In the nineteenth century up to the Civil War, property-owning free people of color living in the town of Natchez, Mississippi made up a tightly-knit community that maintained a small but visible presence in one of the wealthiest slave societies in the United States. In 1860, Mississippi had one of the largest enslaved populations in the U.S. at 436,631, but only 775 free people of color, one of the smallest populations of all southern states. Natchez distinguished itself within Mississippi for having the largest community of free people of color-the number, though, was a mere 225 free people of color compared to 14,292 enslaved African Americans in surrounding Adams County. The number of property owning free blacks was even smaller. A largely biracial population, they occupied a tenuous position: technically not enslaved but lacking white privilege. They grappled with a limited liberty that restricted them in multiple arenas, including occupations, education, and voting rights. Additionally, they faced a constant threat of deportation from the state or re-enslavement
The Natchez Database of Free People of Color (NDFPC) contains information on free Black people wh... more The Natchez Database of Free People of Color (NDFPC) contains information on free Black people who resided in Natchez, Mississippi between the years 1779-1865. At the time of publication, the dataset contains 1,018 people who were recorded as living in the city of Natchez or surrounding Adams County at any time during that era. Some individuals and their families
free woman of color, property owner, and businesswoman in Natchez, Mississippi, was born into sla... more free woman of color, property owner, and businesswoman in Natchez, Mississippi, was born into slavery. Little is known of her parents or early life. She was emancipated in 1814 at age thirty by her white owner, William Johnson, who was the likely father of her two young children, Adelia and William. He stated in the emancipation document executed in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, that in consideration of five dollars he had liberated Amy, who would be "able to work and gain a Sufficient Livilihood and maintenance" (Davis and Hogan, Barber, 15). Amy was listed as a free Negro head of household in the Natchez, Mississippi, censuses of 1816, 1818, and 1820. Her children were also freed by William Johnson beginning with Adelia at age thirteen in
The exact date of her birth is not now known. She was born to an enslaved woman, Hannah Frey, and... more The exact date of her birth is not now known. She was born to an enslaved woman, Hannah Frey, and to J. S. Miller, a white planter who lived outside of Natchez near the small town of Washington. Mrs. Margaret Overaker, a white woman, and her husband, George, owned Leiper and her mother. While Leiper was still a young girl, her mother was manumitted, but Leiper herself remained enslaved.
At first glance the title, Finding Charity’s Folk, suggests that the monograph will focus on reun... more At first glance the title, Finding Charity’s Folk, suggests that the monograph will focus on reuniting the loved ones of an enslaved woman, Charity, born in Maryland circa 1759. However, the deeply researched study is more generally about the historical location and position of black women, or “folk,” whose legal savvy and assistance from others helped them navigate from slavery to freedom before the Civil War. Jessica Millward channels the narrative through a prism pointed at Charity Folks, who along with her five children and their children made the transition from slavery to freedom while she acquired real and personal property in Annapolis that did much to secure their freedom and legacy. Finding Charity’s Folk is a slim fourchapter volume of less than seventyfive pages of text, excluding the acknowledgments, prologue, and epilogue. Rather than a biography, it is a social history resulting from more than a decade of research involving the examination of over one thousand manuscripts archived in the United States, England, and Africa. When describing her own work, Millward writes:
There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the... more There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the rewards that strong emotional ties conferred upon men and women living in bondage. However, much less has been paid to the bonds of friendship between free people of color, the tangible benefits these relationships provided, as well as their effect on the psychological wellbeing of men, women, and children. This article examines practices of friendship among property-owning free people of color in Natchez, Mississippi in the nineteenth century. It argues that free blacks formed friendships for the usual reasons of providing companionship and emotional support. Further, though, property-holding free men and women of color had to be particularly strategic in their choices of friends. They often limited their circles to other free people-family members especially-and to key white individuals, because friendship could be the difference between enslavement and freedom and the maintenance of their property in a society that continued to constrict the liberties of free blacks up to the Civil War. When seventeen-year-old Octavia Miller of New Orleans declared in a letter to her aunt, free woman of color Ann Johnson, that, "you and grandmother is the only friends I have," she most likely was not speaking figuratively. 2 In the nineteenth century up to the Civil War, property-owning free people of color living in the town of Natchez, Mississippi made up a tightly-knit community that maintained a small but visible presence in one of the wealthiest slave societies in the United States. In 1860, Mississippi had one of the largest enslaved populations in the U.S. at 436,631, but only 775 free people of color, one of the smallest populations of all southern states. Natchez distinguished itself within Mississippi for having the largest community of free people of color-the number, though, was a mere 225 free people of color compared to 14,292 enslaved African Americans in surrounding Adams County. The number of property owning free blacks was even smaller. A largely biracial population, they occupied a tenuous position: technically not enslaved but lacking white privilege. They grappled with a limited liberty that restricted them in multiple arenas, including occupations, education, and voting rights. Additionally, they faced a constant threat of deportation from the state or re-enslavement
There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the... more There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the rewards that strong emotional ties conferred upon men and women living in bondage. However, much less has been paid to the bonds of friendship between free people of color, the tangible benefits these relationships provided, as well as their effect on the psychological wellbeing of men, women, and children. This article examines practices of friendship among property-owning free people of color in Natchez, Mississippi in the nineteenth century. It argues that free blacks formed friendships for the usual reasons of providing companionship and emotional support. Further, though, property-holding free men and women of color had to be particularly strategic in their choices of friends. They often limited their circles to other free people-family members especially-and to key white individuals, because friendship could be the difference between enslavement and freedom and the maintenance of their property in a society that continued to constrict the liberties of free blacks up to the Civil War. When seventeen-year-old Octavia Miller of New Orleans declared in a letter to her aunt, free woman of color Ann Johnson, that, "you and grandmother is the only friends I have," she most likely was not speaking figuratively. 2 In the nineteenth century up to the Civil War, property-owning free people of color living in the town of Natchez, Mississippi made up a tightly-knit community that maintained a small but visible presence in one of the wealthiest slave societies in the United States. In 1860, Mississippi had one of the largest enslaved populations in the U.S. at 436,631, but only 775 free people of color, one of the smallest populations of all southern states. Natchez distinguished itself within Mississippi for having the largest community of free people of color-the number, though, was a mere 225 free people of color compared to 14,292 enslaved African Americans in surrounding Adams County. The number of property owning free blacks was even smaller. A largely biracial population, they occupied a tenuous position: technically not enslaved but lacking white privilege. They grappled with a limited liberty that restricted them in multiple arenas, including occupations, education, and voting rights. Additionally, they faced a constant threat of deportation from the state or re-enslavement
The Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation, 2023
The Natchez Database of Free People of Color (NDFPC) contains information on free Black people wh... more The Natchez Database of Free People of Color (NDFPC) contains information on free Black people who resided in Natchez, Mississippi between the years 1779-1865. At the time of publication, the dataset contains 1,018 people who were recorded as living in the city of Natchez or surrounding Adams County at any time during that era. Some individuals and their families
There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the... more There is a considerable body of work about friendships between enslaved African Americans and the rewards that strong emotional ties conferred upon men and women living in bondage. However, much less has been paid to the bonds of friendship between free people of color, the tangible benefits these relationships provided, as well as their effect on the psychological well-being of men, women, and children. This article examines practices of friendship among property-owning free people of color in Natchez, Mississippi in the nineteenth century. It argues that free blacks formed friendships for the usual reasons of providing companionship and emotional support. Further, though, property-holding free men and women of color had to be particularly strategic in their choice of friends. They often limited their circles to other free people—family members especially— and to powerful whites because a well-chosen friend was often the key to maintaining one's freedom and property in a society that continued to constrict the liberties of free blacks up to the Civil War.
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