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 PO Box 1273 Orange, VA 22960 540-832-3473 (7-10 p.m.; all day Sunday) [log in to unmask] CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. 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 > [log in to unmask] > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html