Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series that excerpts a 1799 paper that was written by George Washington, the first President of the United States. That paper lists enslaved Black people who were owned by or otherwise controlled by George Washington.
Part II of this series presents additional names from a paper listing George Washington's slaves that he wrote in June 1799. which is said to have been written by George Washington around 1799. [These lists are divided into Part I and Part II only because of blog space considerations.]
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/names-of-enslaved-black-people-on.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I of this series presents some of the names from a paper listing George Washington's slaves that he wrote in June 1799. [These lists are divided into Part I and Part II only because of blog space considerations.]
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/africanarabic-names-other-non-standard.html for Part III of this series. Part III of this series highlights the names or nicknames from George Washington's 1799 of slaves that I believe are of African or Arabic origin.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/africanarabic-names-other-non-standard.html for Part III of this series. Part III of this series highlights the names or nicknames from George Washington's 1799 of slaves that I believe are from some traditional West African languages and from the Arabic language.
Part III of this series highlights other names (or nicknames) from that entire George Washington's 1799 paper of enslaved people that might have been considered unusual in 18th century United States.
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The content of this post is presented for historical and onomastic purposes.
I'm most interested in documenting the types of names and nicknames that were used by these Black enslaved people, i.e. names that would be considered "standard" in the United States at that time, and names/nicknames that would be considered unusual during that time, including names that can be traced to West African languages or Arabic.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the government archives for sharing this information online.
RIP all those who are named in these lists.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/02/list-of-usa-presidents-who-owned-slaves.htmlfor this closely related pancocojams post entitled "List Of USA Presidents Who Owned Slaves & Names I Was Surprised To Find In A 1799 Paper Listing The Names Of George Washington's Slaves."
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR’S NOTES:
The information from this paper is reformatted to only include the people’s name, age [when given], marital status (when given for adults), and gender/mother’s name [when given].
In addition to that information, these paper includes notation about the people’s occupation [given as “Labour”], their disabilities, whether people [such as older people] were able to work, and where their spouse lived if they weren’t on the same farm/had the same owner. Some of that information is given under the heading of “Remarks” which I’ve left out of this reformatted list. This excerpt also doesn't include the notes at the end of this government archived paper.
George Washington used the word “Ditto” instead of written the same words that were used in that list before that name. For instance, “His wife” is given as “Ditto” if the words “His wife” were given before that name. Sometimes GW didn’t write either “His wife” or Ditto, but merely wrote the name of the wife.] For both of these entries, I’m writing “His wife” in brackets [Example: “George [His wife] Lydia”].
George Washington included the notation ""passed labr" which probably means "no longer able to work"
This pancocojams excerpt also doesn't include the information that was given about where the marital partners lived (when they lived away from the particular farm that is being enumerated on that list).
I added a hyphen to separate the name from the marital information/name or the mother's name.
When there wasn’t a space, I also added a space between the words “His wife” and the wife’s name.
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Note that the name "Betty D[avis] (listed in Part I of this series) is written this way in that list. It's a coincidence that a White woman who is known as "Bette Davis" became a famous actress in the United States and that same White woman is also known because of the Kim Carnes song "Betty Davis Eyes". Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Davis for information about the actress "Bette Davis".
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It’s interesting to note how many of George Washington’s enslaved people were married (since the USA history that I remembering learning in school/college indicated that enslaved Black people in the USA couldn’t be married). It’s also interesting to read how many of the married couples that are listed in this paper had to live apart from each other on another farm and/or with another owner.
It's also interesting to note that most of the names of enslaved Black people in this 1799 paper were considered to be "standard" American names in the late 18th century, and most of those names are still standard American names now (in 2020).
These personal names could have been given to these enslaved people by their mothers or by other Black people, or by White people. These names could also have been self-selected by the people themselves.
I was interested to note that a few of these enslaved Black people in this 1799 paper had surnames (family names). For instance: "Alce- 26-[Husband] Lears John" and "Betty- 20- [Husband] Lears Reuben."
Most of these surnames appear to be tied to what labor the person did- for example "Sall Twine- 38- [husband] Gardr George" and "Grace- 35- [Husband] Cartr Jack". ("Sall Twine" may indicate that Sall was a twin). Notice that these last names appear most often [only?) for the men on that list.
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[PART II OF THIS PANCOCOJAMS BLOG SERIES]
WASHINGTON'S SLAVE LIST, JUNE 1799
[extracted from] “Washington’s Slave List, June 1799,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed September 29, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0405 [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 4, 20 April 1799 – 13 December 1799, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 527–542.]
[...]
"DOWER RIVER FARM
Names age
Ben -70- [Wife] Peg
Breechy -60- Ruth his wife
Johny- 39- Wife Esther
Richmond- 20- No Wife
Ned- 20
Heuky- 17- Son to Agnes
Joe- 22
Esther -40- Husbd Johny
Doll -58- Husbd Natt
Lydia -50 -[Husband] Smith Geo
Agnes -36- [Husband] Sambo
Alce- 26-[Husband] Lears John
Fanny- 30-[Husband] Alexanders
Betty- 20- [Husband] Lears Reuben
Doll -16 -No husbd -Daugh. to Doll
Cecelia -14 -No husbd - [Daughter to Agnes]
Jack -12- Son to Doll
Anderson- 11- [Son] to Agnes
Lydia- 11 -Daughr to Lydia
Children
Ralph- 9- Son to Sall
Charity- 2- Daughr [to Sall]
Charles -1 -Son [to Sall]
Davy
6 }
4 Cornelia’s Childn dece[ase].
2
Lewis
Alce
Suckey- 4 -Daughtr to Alce
Jude- 1- [Daughter to Alce]
Milley- 1- Daughr to Betty
Peter -9 -Son to Doll
Hannah -Husbd Ned
Workers 19
Children 10
Cook 1 making 30
Altogether at this Farm 57.
GW DOGUE RUN FARM
Names age
Ben- 57- Wife- Peg
Long Jack- 60- Wife Molly
Dick -46- [Wife] Charity
Carter Jack- 40- Grace
Simon -20 -No Wife
Lawrence- 14 -Son to Matilda GW
Judy- 50 -Husbd Gabriel
Molly— 45- [Husband] long Jack
Charity- 42 [Husband] Dick
Priscilla -36-[Husband] Slamin Joe
Linney- 27- No husband
Agnes -25- Husbd Will Mann
Sarah- 20- No Husband
Betty -16- [No husband]
Sophia -14-Siller’s daughr
Savary -13- daughr to Siller
Children
Penny- 11 [daughter to Siller]
Israel- 10- Son [to Siller]
Isrias- 3-[Son to Siller]
Christopher- 1- Son [to Siller]
Fomison- 11- Daughr to Charity
Dick -3- [Daughter to Charity] [GW may have mistakenly indicated "Ditto" for this entry as "Dick" is a male name.]
Bartley -6- [Daughter] to Linney
Matilda- 1- Daughr [to Linney]
Lucy -2- [Daughter] to Sarah
Guy -2- Son to Agnes
Hannah -60- No Husbd
Workers 16
Children 10
Pass’d labr 1 together 27
DOWER DOGUE RUN FARM
Names age
Lucy- 50 Husbd- Smith Natt
Sall Twine- 38- [husband] Gardr George
Grace- 35- [Husband] Cartr Jack
Peg -30- [Husband] Ben
Kate -18- [Husband] a Negro of Moreton’s
Ned -14- Son to Lucy
Children
Teney- 10- Daughr to Lucy
Barbary- 11- Daughr to Sall T.
Abbay- 10- [Daughter to Sall T.
Hannah -4 -[Daughter to Sall T.]
George- 1- Son [to Sall T.]
Roger- 10 -[Son] to Grace
Molly -6- Daugr [to Grace]
Jenny -3- [Daughter to Grace]
Billy- 6- Son to Peg
Fendal- 2- {Son to Peg]
Peg -8 Mo.- Daughr [to Peg]
Passed Labour
Sue -70- No Husband
Workers 6
Children 11
Pass’d labr 1 Making 18
Whole amt at this Farm 45
GW UNION FARM
Names age
London- 64- No wife
Joe- 24
Edy- 26- Husbd Davy
Children
Sarah- 6- Daughr to Edy
Nancy- 1- {Daughter to Edy]
Passed labr
Flora- 64- No Husband
Workers 3
Children 2
Pass’d labr 1 Making 6
DOWER UNION FARM
Names age
Sam Kitt- 78 -Wife [no name given, different location]
Cæsar- 50- No Wife
Paul- 36- [No wife]
John -16- Son to Betty
Betty- 62- No husbd
Lucy -50 -Husbd at [no name given, different location]
Fanny -36- [Husband] Charles
Jenny -34-[Husband] Mrs Washns George
Rachell- 34- No Husband
Milly- 22- [No husband]
Lucretia- 20- [No husband]
Gideon- 13- Son to Betty
Jamie- 11-[Son] to Fanny
Ephraim- 11- [Son] to Rachel
Children
Davy- 8- [Son to Rachel]
Guss- 3-[Son to Rachel]
Beck- 4- Daughr [to Rachel]
Eneas- 1- Son [to Rachel]
Elizabeth- 9- Daughr to Doll
Suckey- 11-[Daughter] to Doll at Mrs W.
Elias- 2 Mo.- [Son] to Doll at Mrs W
Daphne -5- Daughr to Fanny
Charles- 1- Son [to Fanny]
Felicia -7 -Daughr to Jenny
Jonathan -3- Son to [Jenny]
Hellam- 1-{Son to Jenny]
Diana- 1- Daughr to Milly
Jesse -6- Son to Patt dead
Passed labour
Daphne- 70- No Husband
Doll -52 Lame & pretds to be so
Workers 14
Children 14
Non-Workrs 2 Making 30
Whole amount at this Farm exclusive of French’s Neg[roe]s 36
[Pancocojams Editor's Note: The RECAPITULATION section isn’t included in this pancocojams post.]
A LIST OF NEGROS HIRED FROM MRS FRENCH
Names Ages
Will
Abram [Wife] Nancy
Paschall - No wife lately lost Cornelia
Tom -No wife
Isaac
Moses -[No wife]
James- 24-
Julius- 23
Spencer -20
Sabine -60 -Husband [no name given]
Lucy- 55-[Husband] McCarty’s George
Daphne- 40 [Husband] [no name given]
Delia- 35- No Husband
Grace- 28- Husband Mrs Washns Davy
Siss -25-[Husband] Jack Ditto
Milly- 18- No Husband
Nancy- 16- [No husband]
Hannah- 14- [No husband]
Daniel- 16- Son of Delia’s
Isaac- 14 - [Son] of Rose deceased
Matilda -13- Daughr of Daphne
Betty- 13- [Daughter of] Delia
Briney- 12- {Daughter of] Lucy
Grace- 12- [daughter of] Rose deceased
Children
Stately- 10- Son of Lucy’s
Renney- 6- Daughr [of Lucy]
Raison -3-[Daughter of Lucy]
Morgan -2 - Son [of Lucy]
Phœnix -1- [Son of Lucy]
Polly -9 -Daughr of Daphne’s
Maria -2 - [Daughter of Daphne]
Jack -7- Son of Delia
Julia -4- Daugh [of Delia]
Nelly -2- [Daughter of Delia]
Ambrose- 1- Son [of Delia]
Bob -10- [Son] of Grace
Sall -8- Daugh.[of Grace]
Judy -4 -[Daughter of Grace]
Augusta- 1 [Daughter of Grace]
Nancy- 10- [Daughter] of Sabine
Men 9
Women 9
Workg Boy’s & Girls 6
Children 16 In all 40"
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This concludes Part II of this three part pancocojams series.
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