Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Holy Grail

I am so excited! I received an email from someone who had the actual receipt naming my great-great-great grandfather.

Now that may sound strange to someone who is mired in guilt or shame or anger. Slavery is a fact of my history just like the fact that some of my ancestors were slave owners. It happened. I am here. Now I just want to learn as much as I can about all of my ancestors.

I was thrilled to see the actual document. It states:

"Received of Isaac Koonce five hundred and thirty one dollars for boy Solomon purchased from Nunn’s estate & I am to give a bill of sale for ____ boy.

January 6, 18?? Sheppard M. Ashe "

The date is marked over. It looks like it was first written 1839 and then changed to 40. After looking at abstracts from the 1840's, I determined the date to be 1840. This is mostly due to finding Sheppard M. Ashe on these other abstracts and that it fits Solomon's oral history.

I've been pouring over other data online and off. Years ago, a fellow genealogy hobbyist and distant relative of Isaac Koonce gifted me with a family history book named "Nunns of the South." It was written decades ago and is very hard to follow but it does mention Isaac Koonce and David Nunn several times. I was hoping to find the Nunn whose estate Solomon came from. No luck so far.

And in addition to this bill of sale, the wonderful lady also has bills of receipt for other slaves of Isaac. They are:

"Negro boy, Ben, age 14, sold to John Koonce by Abner Green - Jones Co, North Carolina , January 1814

Negro woman, Betty age 20 from George Mitchell to John Koonce - March 1808, North Carolina

Gorge and Hanah from John Koonce to son Isaac Koonce, Jones Co, NC December 1822

Elijah, age 20, sold to Isaac Koonce in Haywood Co TN (not Transcribed) 1829

Mariah, age 12 – to Isaac Koonce from Alfred Kennedy, Haywood Co, TN - August 1832."

I tried very hard to save the document as a gif or jpg so I could upload it but my computer wouldn't let me. As soon as I can (printer issues), I am going to scan the documents and put it on my blog as well as on my family history page, Say My Name.

I received all of this late Friday. Some of my giddiness has died down, but not much. It has inspired me to keep on searching.

4 comments:

GeneaDiva said...

Hi,

I was reading your blog with interest and wondered if you have seen the book: ABSTRACTS OF THE RECORDS OF JONES COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA 1779-1868? It is by Zae Hargett Gwynn and covers deeds, taxes, land records, estates, will, etc. It is a wonderful book and would probably provide much additional insight into your Koonce family. I also recognize the Koonce name from adjacent county of Onslow County, North Carolina.

I have been trying to find Ms. Gwynn's books on Jones and Onslow Counties. When I have been able to find at a library I am always amazed at the information she covers.

Good Luck with your search

Anonymous said...

I have enjoyed reading your blog. I took a photo of a tombstone of an Isaac Koonce born in 1834 when researching the Eubanks family in Jones County, NC. It is located at http://www.rrphillips.com. Click on the cemetery link and then click on Eubanks Cemetery on Plantation Rd.

Good Luck
Richard

BrooklynzFynest said...

I wonder if we may be related...I have begun my own search for my ancestry, and I found out that my great grandmother, Lucy Koonce, had a father named John Isaac Koonce from Jones County. if you find anything more please let me know...my email is so_rhetotical83@yahoo.com. Thanks!!

victori7 said...

Thanks for sharing the"other" info as well as your own. I am a DNA cousin of Taneya Koonce and her father and there was an Abner Green who traded slaves in Lousiana. Somehow her and my connection are in these transactions too.