My Hardy and Gee ancestors in Lunenburg County, Virginia counted among their property those people they enslaved. Thanks to Schalene Jennings Dagutis and her “Slave Name Roll Project,” genealogists are “releasing” the names of those enslaved by our ancestors who were mentioned in their probate records and other documents. As I come across these records from searches into my family history, I will make those names public.
Why? The federal census records listed only heads of households up through 1840 with tickmarks indicating other household members, free and enslaved, by age and gender. The 1850 and 1860 censuses listed names of all the free people, regardless of age, but the slaves were listed on separate schedules under their enslavers name, and these lists showed only their gender and age of the slaves. By 1870 after the Emancipation Proclamation, those newly freed people were listed by name. Often they used the surname of their previous “owners.” In order to help the descendants of those formerly enslaved, it is incumbent on genealogists to make available the names of those people enslaved by our ancestors. Today I list the names mentioned in the will of my 3rd Great Grandfather, Charles Hardy, born 7 April 1772 at Whitehall Plantation, Lunenburg, Virginia. Charles was married first to Dorothy Bruce on 27 December 1792. They had four children: William Buford, John Covington, Elizabeth Catherine, and Amelia Hardy. After Dorothy’s death, Charles married Sally Jordan Green, and together they had 13 children, including my great-great grandfather, Henry Green Hardy, who was executor of the will of Charles Hardy after his death 25 January 1830.[1] Below is the list of names of the enslaved persons mentioned in the will of Charles Hardy, dated 14 May 1827::[2] “…I also lend unto my aforesaid wife Sally J Hardy during her natural life the following Seven negroes, to wit: Tom, Brister, Scippio, Ellick, Jenny, Matildy and Fanny.” “Thirdly, I give & bequeath to my son William B Hardy, the sum of forty dollars, and to my son John C Hardy the sum of forty dollars, and to my daughter Elizabeth C Hardy one negro boy named Peter & thirty dollars, and to my daughter Amelia Hardy one negro boy named Bob and thirty dollars, to them and their heirs forever.” “ Fourthly, I also lend unto my wife Sally J Hardy until my son Madison Hardy arrives to the age of twenty one years, the remaining part of my negroes, to wit Archer, Edmund, Patience, Jordan, Harrison, Andrew, Nancy, Daniel, Spencer, Jane and Abram, which said negroes as soon as convenient thereafter. I wish to be publickly sold on the usual credit…” I have listed the names as they were written. My cousins visited Lunenburg County in the summer of 2016 and copied some probate papers. I don’t have a precise citation on them, but it appears to come from probate file 3746 for Charles Hardy and is headed: “A list of property sold this 22d of December 1831. By Henry G. Hardy Exr. Of Charles Hardy.” Daniel Petty 1 Bay Colt $ 10.50 Henry G. Hardy Spencer 250.00 Elisha Hardy Edmund 426.00 Ditto Ditto Jordan 375.00 Ditto Ditto Harrison 436.50 Ditto Ditto Isaac 195.00 Coleman G. Goodwaint Patience 371.00 Elisha Hardy Daniel 290.00 Ann Hardy Nancy 221.00 Elisha Hardy Andrew 5.00 John M Pollock 1 Bay Mare 26.50 H G Hardy 1 Cow White 5.00 ditto ditto 1 Red cow 5.00 [3] One name sticks out to me, Andrew. Who was Andrew? Why was his value so much less than any of the others? Was he old? Was he disabled? And what became of the names from the will not shown on the list of sold property - Archer, Daniel, Jane and Abram? Did they pass away between the time Charles Hardy signed his will and this list was created? There may be more documents worth looking at in the probate file of Charles Hardy. Additional notes for other researchers: : Elizabeth C. Hardy, daughter of Charles Hardy and Dorothy Bruce, married John Barrow of Brunswick County, Virginia.[4] Elisha Hardy, mentioned in several of the property sales, may be the son of Charles Hardy’s brother, John Covington Hardy. Elisha was born 24 Sep 1803, and in 1831 may have been acquiring slaves to work on his own plantation.[5] I hope that my research into the Hardy family may help the descendants of those enslaved by my ancestors find more information on their ancestors. For another blog post I wrote about people enslaved by my ancestors, see “Who Was Rilla?” [1] Bell, Landon C. The Old Free State Vol. II (Richmond, Virginia: The William Byrd Press Inc., 1927), 224-224. [2] Lunenburg, Virginia, “Mixed Records, Vols. 9-11, 1826-1841,” vol 10: p. 40-41, Charles Hardy will, probated 8 March 1831; Virginia Circuit Court, Lunenburg. FHL microfilm 32383, item 3. [3] Papers from probate file #3746 for Charles Hardy found in the Lunenburg County Courthouse, Lunenburg, Virginia [4] Bell, “The Old Free State Vol II,” 223 [5] Wikitree - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Betts-84 accessed 2 April 2017
16 Comments
Thank you so much for your contribution to The Slave Name Roll Project. I have recently discovered a few ancestors from Brunswick Co., VA. I'd previously only known them to reside in Warren County, NC (just across the state line), and then in Norfolk, VA.
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Thea Hardy
4/30/2017 06:54:18 pm
Thank you for this information. I recently moved to Va. I had researched my Hardy ancestors not too long ago and forgot that some resided here. I had only remembered the ones that were in Alabama, South Carolina and Louisiana. I plan to go to Lunenburg in the next month or so. Im having difficulty via the web findind the location of Whitehall. John Hardy 1613-1670 is my 8x great grandfather. One of the owners of Hardy Mill and brother to George.
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Natalia (Hardy) Blonzac
8/8/2018 11:53:29 am
Thank you so much for posting your comment, as I believe that it is helping myself, and thus my family find our roots. As stated above, Elisha Hardy may have been the son of John Hardy, the brother of Charles Hardy. Do you have any more information on John or even perhaps Elisha? My great-grandfather's name is Elisha Hardy and my family still lives near that region of Virginia. I have great reason to believe that we may be related. Thank you again for your post, and I look forward to hearing from you.
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Mark F Hardy
8/8/2018 04:07:55 pm
Email me and I will send you an image of WHITEHALL in a local newspaper circa 1970.
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Natalia Blonzac
8/8/2018 05:02:03 pm
Hey Mark. My email is Nataliahardy87@gmail.com. Any information that you can provide will be much appreciated. Thanks for your help.
ginger
4/18/2022 10:42:53 am
One of my grandmothers name was Ruby Tisdale Hardy(1896-1977)
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Mark Hardy
4/18/2022 04:06:02 pm
I'll Google her on Ancestry sin e I have a subscription. 12/1/2017 06:42:20 pm
Thanks for this research. I am descended twice from Covington Hardy ie Henry Hardy and also Lucy Letitia whom married Dr Asa Barnes. Henry's son was Charles Betts Hardy. Probably he was named after his uncle Charles, your ancestor.
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12/1/2017 06:45:30 pm
I just checked out Elisha Hardy's parents. His mother was sister to Permelia Betts, my Charles Betts Hardy. So, Elisha and Charles would have been double 1st cousins; genetically siblings.
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Melody Bell
10/21/2020 11:01:32 am
Hello! Do you have any info on the "Bell" family? My family is from Meherrin, Victoria, Blackstone etc etc
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nic
11/23/2020 11:08:25 am
I just purchased a property in Lunenburg County with a Chris Hardy gravestone in the woods. We were told the property and neighboring property was owned by a Hardy family.
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Mark Hardy
11/23/2020 04:57:43 pm
Many Hardy's in the area. Feel free to send pic to my email address hardymarkf@yahoo.com.
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Selina Howard
6/7/2021 06:40:08 pm
Hi Scippio Hardy is my fourth great grandfather. If you have any further information on him I would greatly appreciate it, my email is selinahoward06@gmail.com
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Shuriel Hardy
6/8/2021 11:24:01 pm
I am in search of records that possibly would list my ancestors, former slaves and not sure of the plantation, this is my first time seeing this information,my grand father, Booker T Hardy, his father Green Hardy and his mother Sally Murphy Hardy , I do think Green father was named John Hardy maybe from Virginia or South Carolina and migrated down to Arkansas. To see the information above gives me hope.
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Brodrick Hardy
10/24/2022 06:56:50 pm
Hello everyone I'm curious on how to look up the genealogy My family was cut off from our Hardy ancestors from my grandmother just curious on where to start
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AuthorMary Kircher Roddy is a genealogist, writer and lecturer, always looking for the story. Her blog is a combination of the stories she has found and the tools she used to find them. Archives
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