There have been only a few times in the 18 years of my research that have truly taken my breath away. I just had another one. John Campbell Henry’s Inventory I was researching the possible owners of a group of former slaves from Dorchester County, Maryland. John Campbell Henry died in 1857. A former governor […]
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Tag: Maryland
Martha Simpson: Right Under My Nose
I am in a state of genealogic shock. I’ve found another family line of free blacks that no one knew about in our family. My ancestor Martha Simpson was the wife of Levi Prather. I’ve been working hard to unravel the complicated slave relationships in the Prather family of Montgomery County, Maryland. So, I hadn’t yet […]
Tracing Enslaved Ancestors Through Proba...
For those of us descended from enslaved ancestors, we are taught to research probate records early in the process. They can be used to verify slaveownership. If the slaveowner died before 1865, we may find our ancestors named in their will or listed in their inventories. As we advance in our skills, however, we need […]