 A cousin recently sent me some probate records from Lunenburg County, Virginia. Included among them were some wills and inventories. One was the inventory of the personal property of my third-greatgrandfather, Jeremiah Gee who died 8 December 1857.
“Inventory, [illegible] & appraisement of the personal property & Estate of Jeremiah Gee decd made this the 28th day of December 1857: Paul 800.00 Charles 850.00 George 1,000.00 Richmond 850.00 $3500.00 Ann & child Henry 900.00 Liza & child Louisa 850.00 Claiborn 850.00 Will 750.00 $3350.00 Rosella 850.00 Miranda & child John 800.00 Elvira 500.00 Mary Jane 300.00 Mary 250.00 Rilla worth nothing more than a maintenance 000.00 $2700.00”[i] Who was Rilla? According to this inventory she was worth nothing. Less than an ox cart, valued at $8. Less than one of his sheep valued at $1.50 each. Less even than one of the 27 hogs valued at $1 each. I know nothing about Rilla, other than her name from this inventory. Did she have children and grandchildren? When she held them in her lap, when she sang to them, when she touched them - did they see her as worth nothing? I hope to do some more research to find out more about Rilla. I struggle with the history of my family and the history of a culture that saw human beings as items of property worth $1,000 or $850 or $250. I struggle even more with the idea that one of them was worth nothing. I can only strive to do my part to make the world a more equal and just place. I do this in the name of Rilla. [i] “Inventory of Jeremiah Gee,” Virginia Circuit Court, Lunenburg County, Virginia. Inventories book F2, page 315
11 Comments
Annette
10/3/2016 10:41:30 am
As a black American, thank you for being willing to explore a difficult subject. You are assisting to knock down the brick wall of 1870 that so many of us cannot breach. Regarding Rilla, it is possible that she was an older slave unable to work or disabled in some way, causing her monetary value to be $0. I look forward to hearing about what you discover. 10/3/2016 05:41:08 pm
Thank you Annette. I have other names on that list that I hope to be able to bring forward to 1870 and beyond. There are a couple of scenarios that I can imagine that would cause an appraiser to say that Rilla was worth nothing. Still, hard to read, and hard to grapple with.
James Morgan
10/3/2016 11:45:14 am
My fathers family traces back to Lunenberg as well. Being descended from a formerly enslaved woman named Violet Harris I particularly feel an affinity when I look at these names as well. As I read them I wondered if they could be my family members or if they at least knew my ancestors back then since they lived in such close proximity? That woman wasn't nothing, she was in fact everything even if nobody ever told her so. 10/3/2016 06:24:12 pm
Thanks for your comments, James. I would imagine that my ancestors might have known your ancestors. Yes, I believe Rilla had value. Not to an appraiser, but definitely to those who loved her and whom she loved. 10/10/2016 04:29:02 am
Thank you for contributing this post to the Slave Name Roll Project. I have added a link to the post to the page.
Chris
3/31/2018 06:01:41 pm
I believe these are my family members through my Great Great Grandmother, I'd love to talk to you!
Christopher B Harris
3/31/2018 06:13:07 pm
I actually have the DNA proof in my connection to Claiborne Gee.
Mary Kircher Roddy
3/31/2018 06:46:32 pm
Chris, I would LOVE to talk to you. Please email me!!!! [email protected] and we can set up a time to talk.
Tony
12/31/2018 04:38:23 pm
Mary, Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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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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