"Friend of Friends": Fariss slave record, Catahoula Parish

"A friend of friends" was a password used on the Underground Railroad.  My "Friend of Friends" series was inspired by the essay posted by Sandra Taliaferro here.  I am posting slave records occasionally as I come across them, in the hope that it might help other researchers find their ancestors.  Wouldn't it be great if more people joined a "Friend of Friends" Friday (or any day) meme?

[UPDATE: Search Geneabloggers for more "Friend of Friends Friday" posts from other bloggers. And now Sandra of the essay linked above and Luckie Daniels of Our Georgia Roots and the first Carnival of African-American Genealogy (who previously issued an impassioned plea for sharing info about slaves in order to help African-Americans trace their ancestry) have created the website A Friend of Friends, a place to post slavery records publicly or anonymously and/or find ancestors.]

These are transcriptions from the probate records of David Fariss (Farris, Faress, etc.) of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana (my great-great-great-grandfather).  I have some notes and transcriptions from files given to my mom and I by a genealogist cousin, Zola Scott Hardy, before her death. These records from the Fariss probate concern the 1841 sale of a slave named Alexander, a.k.a. "Elick" (Alec) described as a "negro boy" of "dark complexion."  His age is apparently on one document (see the third image below) but Zola could not read it.

Note: In Louisiana, the term "succession" is used for probate or estate records.  A "conveyance" is a deed.  The first two pages concern an August 1841 family meeting to discuss selling property, including Alexander.    (Click to enlarge each image below.)

 

My first thought is that if Alexander is a "boy," where is his mother?  Was he sold away from her, or is he being sold away from her? Is he the only slave of David and Lucy (Davis) Farris?  Inventory notes refer to two tracts of land and "negroes" [plural], but I see no other mention of slaves in the notes and transcriptions I have.  Anyone researching the Farris slave(s) should check for microfilm, if any, of the original records.

My second thought is that the document explains the reasons for the sale of Alexander and other "property."  Is this usual?  Can other researchers out there tell me? 

(The names cut off at the bottom of p. 2 are the same ones mentioned in p. 1.  My scanner is being cantankerous.)

Edom L. Fariss (he may be E.E. or Elem Earle Fariss in some records), David's son and administrator of the estate, bought Alexander at auction for $456 (his value was appraised at $400) in September 1841 (below).  The probate file is still open in 1847 when a new administrator is sought after Edom's death.  Alex's fate may be found in Edom's probate file, dated 31 Dec. 1844 (probably in Catahoula Parish).  Edom married Nancy Nettles.  After Edom's death, she married James P. Bambrick.

This is one complicated probate packet.  It spans at least seven years.  David Fariss or Farris was married first to Elizabeth Love and then to Lucy Davis.  Elizabeth's children, or their "tutors" (legal representatives for minors), seem to be disputing things with Lucy and her child (my great-great-grandmother).  Throw in land which is not selling, an administrator who dies, children who die, minors who become adults, a child or two who married their "tutor," and it gets rather convoluted.  If I can understand it all better, perhaps I'll post the rest of the probate packet in a series of posts.

For more research: The Family History Library catalog includes successions (probate records) of Catahoula Parish from 1846-1890 on microfilm.  The David Fariss packet is dated 7 Apr. 1841; I don't know if the later proceedings are included on that microfilm.  Conveyance (deed) records are available from 1807-1887.

"Friend of Friends" Friday: Slave records

Note: My "Friend of Friends Friday" theme was inspired by the essay posted by Sandra Taliaferro here.

My U.S. roots are mostly Southern.  And some of my ancestors were slave owners.  It's not a pretty fact, but it's true. While I can't change history, I can help descendants of slaves find their roots by posting the information I have. 

Thanks to recent blog posts by Sandra of "I Never Knew My Father" and Luckie at "Our Georgia Roots", I feel I should go ahead and post whatever small amounts of info I might find--whether beautifully researched and explained or not--especially info from primary sources.  I hope this might someday reunite a seeking descendant with their ancestor(s).

So, here's what I have so far:

DAVIS in Louisiana:
The probate record of Mary Ratcliff (Ratliff) Davis, wife of John Davis (my 4th-great grandparents), dated 19 Oct. 1836 in Catahoula Parish, La., lists the following slaves:

"1 negro man--Jack, one woman--Hannah, children Marie, Walker, Betsy"

These notes come via my mom and don't include the whole probate file, so I don't know at this point what happened to Jack, Hannah, and the children, but I may have more notes in files inherited from a cousin.  I have not really worked the Davis family yet.  (I'm still working on organizing some files I have and will post if I come across more info.)

 

Excerpt of photocopied estate inventory listing slaves owned by Paul Légère, Sept. 1822, Opelousas District, St. Landry Parish, La.  Photocopy owned by Liz Hall Morgan.

LEGERE in Louisiana:
Paul Légère (Legere, Leger) (my great-great-great grandfather), had no slaves in the 1796 census for Opelousas District in Louisiana (according to the Acadian Memorial and Acadians in Gray web sites), but his estate inventory of Sept. 1822 in St. Landry Parish, La., lists the following slaves:

"a negro man named Sam aged about twenty two years"
"a mulato [sic] woman named Mary aged about twenty one years with her child a girl named Susanne about eighteen months old"

Paul's widow, Marie Constance Potier (Potie) Légère, bought the slaves from her husband's estate.  She died in Jan. 1844 in the same parish.  I don't have her estate record, so I don't [yet] know what happened to Sam, Mary and Susanne.  Southwest Louisiana Records by Rev. Donald Hebert could also have records of them in a volume (vol. 33) partially devoted to Catholic church records for slaves.

CARRIERE, LANGLOIS in New Orleans, LA and Mobile, AL:
I also have assorted notes on the Carrière (Carriere, Carrier--Joseph and daughter Françoise) and Langlois (Augustin and son Antoine, who married Françoise Carrière) families of colonial Mobile and New Orleans (early 1700s), but I am trying to organize that info, and will post it in a coherent form in the future. Most of it is from secondary sources, with some estate info that was posted on a now-defunct web site.

Meanwhile, I hope these tidbits will be of help to someone.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Cotter & Fariss/Farris/Faress portraits

Note: "Treasure Chest Thursday" is a theme used by some genealogy bloggers. It's sort of a fun weekly "Show & Tell" for grownups.

Here are my oldest treasures: portraits done between 1856 & 1870 of my great-great grandparents William Hadden COTTER and Queen Ann Elizabeth "Lizzie" FARISS (a.k.a. Elizabeth Ann FARISS, FARESS, or FARRIS) of Ringgold, Louisiana, in Bienville Parish, the northern part of the state. (Cousins: this is my mom's side of the tree.)


Portrait of William Hadden Cotter, unknown medium on stiff paper board of unknown type, c. 1856-1870, Ringgold, LA, privately held by the blog author.


Digitally edited photo of the portrait above, by the blog author.


Portrait of Queen Ann Elizabeth Fariss Cotter [a.k.a. Elizabeth Ann Faress, Farris or Fariss], unknown medium on stiff paper board of unknown type, c. 1856-1870, Ringgold, LA, privately held by the blog author.


Digitally edited photo of the portrait above, by the blog author.

My dear departed cousin and an early genealogy cheerleader of mine, Zola Scott Hardy, a respected genealogist herself, gave the portraits to me before she died. I am truly honored that she entrusted the portraits to me. (She would love all this newfangled blog stuff and how easy it is to find cousins now on the Internet!) I recently took them out from storage and digitally photographed them and they have been holding up fairly well for 150+ years. I had been pondering how archivally to frame them without breaking the bank, but now I think perhaps I should just frame the digital photos and keep the original portraits in flat archival boxes. Advice?

William Hadden COTTER was born 26 Aug. 1825 in Jefferson County, GA to David COTTER & Mary HADDEN. He married Elizabeth Ann FARISS 19 June 1856 in Bienville Parish, LA, and died 23 June 1901 near Ringgold, Bienville, LA.

Elizabeth Ann FARISS (FARESS, FARRIS, etc.), or Queen Ann Elizabeth (on her probate record), or "Lizzie," as she was variously called, was from Catahoula Parish, LA, born 5 Mar 1837 (perhaps in that parish, but it's unclear), to David FARRIS and Lucy DAVIS, and died 22 Feb 1870, near Ringgold, Bienville, LA.

Both are buried in Providence Cemetery, in Ringgold, Bienville, LA.

Sources & copies of the photos for noncommercial use are available, but as this week's TCT is rapidly turning into TCF[riday], though, I'll stop for now. Contact me for more info. --Liz

Text/images copyright 2010 by the blog author.