Showing posts with label bill of sale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bill of sale. Show all posts

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.