Suzanne Lebscok's /The Free Women of Petersburg: Status and Culture in a 
Southern Town, 1784--1860/ might provide some comparative data.

Barbara Vines Little, CG

Dominion Research Services
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Orange, VA 22960

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Hollis Gentry wrote:
> 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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