Mary Johnson Enslaved part 4

 Delia and Felix Stovall

Walter L. Campbell  Sale  of Mary Johnson to  Delia E. Stovall  of Pike County, Mississippi December 6, 1852

Transcribed Bill of Sale

 Delia Stovall born in 1838 in North Carolina was married to Felix Crawford Stovall born in 1822 in Mississippi. This is information was obtained from the Federal census records. In the 1850 and 1860 Federal censuses, there were two population schedules those individuals who were free and the enslaved.  Felix Stovall in the 1850 census is enumerated as a 28-year-old farmer with inferred parents Drury Stovall 79 and Lucy Stovall 69 years old. 

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4LD-28V : 22 December 2020), Felix Stovall in household of Drury Stovall, Marion, Mississippi, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). 1850 Census Transcribed

Name	Age	Sex	Value of Real Estate Owned	Place of Birth
Drury Stovall	79	M	1500	N. C.
Lucy Stovall	69	F		Va.
Felix Stovall	28	M		Ms.

 Name

 Age

 Sex

Value of Real Estate Owned 

 Place of Birth

 Drury Stovall

 79

 M

 1500

 N. C.

 Lucy Stovall

 69

 F

 

 Va.

 Felix Stovall

 28

 M

 

 Ms.

The enslaved record gave the name of the slave owner, the number of people owned, their age, sex and sometimes skin color. The names of the enslaved were rarely given. Felix Stovall was also the owner of four enslaved people enumerated in the 1850 slave census.

The National Archive in Washington DC; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census Of The United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29

Felix Stovall 1850 Slave Census  Transcribed

Male	28
Male	9
Male	5
Female	24

 Delia Stovall purchased Mary Johnson on December 6, 1852.

 Felix Stovall received his first homestead land patent for 40 acres of land in Pike County, Mississippi on August 1, 1853. By 1859, Stovall held homestead land patents for over 300 acres of land. In the 1860 Federal census, Felix Stovall is identified as F C Stoval along with his family. The value of his real estate was $3000   and value of his personal estate $ 7,000 which in 2022 would be  $107,715.18 and  $251,355.42 respectively.

The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Pike, Mississippi; Roll: M653_589; Page: 384; Family History Library Film: 803589

Felix Stovall 1860 Census Transcribed

Name	Age	Sex
F C Stoval	38	M
D E	27	F
G W	6	M
E S	5	F
N R	3	M

 In the 1860 slave schedule, Felix Stovall as a slave owner enumerated seven enslaved people.  Enslaved people were sometimes hired to work for other farmers. This was a source of income for the owner. The slave schedule may not identify a slave owner from an employer.   A female age 25 which was possibly Mary Johnson is identified on the schedule. It is noted that there is one slave house. 

"United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860", database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WKLR-KRZM : 16 October 2019), Felix C Stovall, 1860

Felix Stovall 1860 Slave Census Transcribed

 Gender                           Age

Female	25
Male	18
Male	15
Female	5
Female	4
Female	3
Female	1

The timeline that followed during the enslavement of Mary Johnson.

• April 12, 1861 Civil War started with the Confederate Troops firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina.        
•  April 16, 1862  Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in Washington D.C.
•  January 1, 1863  Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in states that seceded from the United States with the Emancipation Proclamation.
•  April 9, 1865 Civil War ended  R. E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House to U. S. Grant.
•   December 13, 1865 The 13^th Amendment was ratified by 27 of the 36 states by the Constitution of the United States.  It abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.

Mary Johnson at approximately 31 years old  was no longer a slave.

More information to come.

--- The Tree Gardener

Mary Johnson Enslaved Part 1

 

The port city of New Orleans, Louisiana was a vibrant slave destination since the early 1700s. Slavery in Louisiana was first established by the French, followed by the Spanish and English.  The development of the Cotton Gin in 1793 and the Louisiana Purchase by the United States in 1803 stimulated the agricultural slave economy. The distance between Pike County, Mississippi to the city of New Orleans is slightly over a hundred miles.  Because of the close geographic proximity, my assumption was most of my enslaved ancestors from Africa arrived in New Orleans and then were transported to Mississippi. The assumption may only be partially true. 

The Act of Prohibiting Importation of Slaves a United States federal law and Abolition of The Slave Trade Act passed by the British Parliament banned the import of slaves in the British Empire in 1807. This stimulated the domestic slave trade. The enslaved were also illegally imported into the United States from geographic areas that were not part of the United States after 1807. 

 The ship Amistad is a famous example of the illegal slave trade. The Portuguese ship Amistad in 1839 which held 53 African enslaved people initial route was Havana, Cuba. The Africans seized the ship and killed the captain and cook and tried to return to Africa. The ship was seized in New York and all on board were taken to Connecticut. The plantation owners were freed and the Africans were charged with murder. The murder charges were later dismissed. The plantation owners, the Spanish government and the captain of the ship Washington claimed the African people as property. The case was eventually adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court in 1841 with the Africans represented by former President John Q. Adams. The Supreme Court decided in favor of the Africans and they were released. Thirty-four Africans survived and with the financial help of abolitionists, they returned to Africa. 

It is from this historical background, that I have continued to look for my enslaved ancestors from the early transport before 1807 and the domestic slave trade. From the domestic slave trade, I have received from a cousin the documentation of the enslavement of Mary Johnson.

Walter L. Campbell  Sale  of Mary Johnson to  Delia E. Stovall  of Pike County, Mississippi December 6, 1852

Transcribed Bill of Sale

Walter L. Campbell a well-established slave trader in New Orleans, Louisiana sold Mary Johnson age estimated 18 years old on December 6,1852 to Delia E. Stovall of Pike County, Mississippi for $925.00 the equivalent of $35,655.51 in 2022.

More information to come.

---The Tree Gardener