She was a slave on Gholson plantation in Halifax Co. Va. Until Anthony Gholson’s death, then her ownership passed to Sarah Powell daughter of Gholson.
She followed a wagon into the frontier in Mercier Co. KY. In about 1790, there she gave birth to 3 children namely Lid a female child, Tom and Tony males.
We know very little about this woman except her name was Dorah. Lid was 27 years old in 1807 and perhaps was the first child she births after she became the property of Sarah Powell. .
No doubt she cleared the land that Charles and Sarah owned in KY her job also probably included caring for Sarah’s children, cooking and what ever task Sarah laid on her shoulders.
Was she dark skinned? We don’t know, she could have the product of mixed races for several generations. She may have been related by blood to the Gholson’s. Those questions can never be answered .
We do believe that a least some of her children were fathered by Charles Powell and what about her grand children, Lid’s children. Lid grew up surrounded by Charles Powell’s sons and her children could have been fathered by some of the Powell sons on the frontier, I choose not to believe that Charles fathered children by his own daughter slave or not.
In 1807 Sarah left Charles and the 7 slaves of Charles Powell were divided. Charles retained owner ship of Dorah and Tom. Tony, Lid and her 3 children were sold to a Jeremiah Briscoe the money to be paid in installments to Sarah, when Sarah died in 1834 over 1000 dollars was still not paid.
In 1810 Charles Powell died and Dorah received her freedom along with Tom, She no doubt was broken down with age and hard work, she was free to do what ever she wished for the years remaining to her.
What could she do, could she hire her self out for wages? Perhaps Tom was young and strong enough to support her .
When you look at the Charles Powell inventory he had many crops in the ground when he died so no doubt Dorah and Tom did this work because Charles was a sick old man.
We can never know the hardships she suffered at the hands of our fore fathers but I grieve for her today and the many sins inflective on her by my ancestors.
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6 comments:
Patsy, this is such a moving post. Some of my ancestors were slave owners, too, and I feel about it exactly the same way you do.
Have you ever read "Cane River" by Lalita Tademy? It's my very favorite book. The author is a genealogist who happened to be black, and it's the story of several generations of women who were her ancestors. I've read it several times and each time is as good as the last.
no i have not read it but will look for it at the libary.
I read a book by an old lady
who lived near Hot Springs Ar...she wrote it when she was very old. She said they fed the young slaves in toughs in the yard.
the toughs were wooden. They fed them a mush like subtance. They were fed like we fed our hogs.
Such saddness.
I do believe the slaves name was Doras instead or Dora, but I could be mistaken. Didn't Charles set them free?
Hello Patsy,
That's a very interesting story, such tragic times and yet it is not so long ago. It is hard to believe we treated people worse than animals.
Thank you for stopping by my blog
hope you will come again, btw Ilove "Dances with Wolves " too.
Sandy
I too feel so sad about the slave trade and thank goodness it was abolished. NO person should have the right to own and/or buy and sell people.
But that was what happened in those days, and we can't turn back the clock, but it would be nice to do so.
looked it up her name was dorah
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