I am in need of assistance in evaluating the estate of
a free black woman in Norfolk in 1831.  I visted the
website, but didn't find any sources that could help
me place this inventory in its proper context.  If
anyone can comment on it or offer suggestions on
sources or contacts, I'd appreciate it. 

Below is what I have:

Inventory and appraisement of the estate of Rose
Reynolds decd a free woman of colour

Edward negro man 45 yrs of age           200.
negro woman and three children           400.
1 side board                    5.
1 old sofa                      3.
Dining table                    8.
Candle etc                      2.........18.
2 looking glasses               3.
1 doz windsor chairs            4.
1 small tea table               2.
1 cupboard                      3.........12.
3 beds                        25.
2 ( illegible)bedsteads        5.
1 old dining table             1.
Hand irons & shovels tongs     3..........34.
22 wooden trays                 .50
Candle stick and Tea trays     1.
Sag? Irons & kitchen 
     furniture                10.
Tubs & c                       1..........12.50
1/2 doz table & 
 1/2 doz tea spoons (silver)  10.
Old drawers                    3.
Bed furniture                  5..........18.

Total                                   $694.50

Where would she have stood economically within the
community at that time?  

One historian, Tommy Bogger, thinks she operated an
eating house, but I've not found evidence of her ever
receiving a license or permission to do so.  

I don't know if she ever married, but she had mulatto
four children.  She was listed as mulatto in several
records.  Her children were educated in Baltimore,
Maryland and were unable to return to the state by
law.  The male slave above operated a vegetable cart,
the proceeds of which went to her estate, but there is
no evidence that he was her husband.  I've not found
evidence that he ever gained his freedom in Norfolk.

Four slaves were sold in Norfolk to slave trader
Charles Hatcher.  I've not been able to locate any
business papers for him, nor deeds or bills of sale
for these slaves. I did however, find him paying taxes
on 4 slaves in 1836.   

Finally, Rose Reynolds paid taxes on only one slave
from 1820-1824. Then her sister Mary A. Roberston paid
tax on a single slave from 1825-1829.  When Rose's
estate was probated, her brother-in-law, James
Robertson paid the tax on a single slave in 1830. 
After 1830, different members of the family continued
to pay taxes on the single slave until 1839.

By the 1850's, Rose's children had moved from
Baltimore to St. Louis and joined the African American
community.  Author Cyprian Clamorgan identified her
descendants as being amongst the "colored aristocracy"
in that city.  One branch of the family intermarried
with whites to the extent of no longer being
considered African American.  I've not been able to
find any of her living African American descendants. 

Hollis L. Gentry
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