Richard Lang: #8 - Enslaved People Associated with Richard and His Family
The Life and Times of Richard Lang (1744-1817), His Family and Other Related Matters
This post is the eighth in a series of posts prompted by my research into the life and times of Richard Lang, his family and other related matters. It looks at the evidence I have gathered, so far, about the enslaved people associated with Richard Lang and his family.
Parts #1-#7 of this series predominantly focused on Richard Lang himself, his background and his family. You can find Part #1 here:
The information I have gathered so far about the enslaved persons associated with Richard Lang and his family is limited but I have made a start in pulling it together. There is a lot more research to do, particularly in terms of researching slave schedules, Wills etc.
It was common for enslaved people to be bequeathed to family in Wills, so a good starting place in reviewing what I know so far is to start with Richard Lang’s parents, Robert Lang and Millicent Myrick. They were slaveholders.
Will of Robert Lang
Robert’s Will, written 13 August 1762, proved 22 July 17631, mentions 'one negro man' and '1 negro girl'. They were bequeathed to 'my dearly beloved wife Millicent' and, after her death, to 'the Eldest of my sons to help and maintain the younger children'. Richard was Robert’s eldest son.
From the Will itself, it isn’t clear what the rest of the Estate comprised. However, the Will required it to be equally divided amongst all Robert’s children except 100 acres bequeathed 'to Thomas Largen my Son in Law'. Millicent (wife) and Richard Lang (eldest son) were appointed as executors. Witnesses were Andrew Brown, Daniel Burnet, Henry Foster.
In order to equally divide the balance of the estate, it would have been necessary for the Executors to oversee the sale of its contents. From 1 October to 8 October 1763, Millicent ran an advertisement in the South Carolina Gazette2 to advise that she was selling part of the:
‘personal estate of Robert Lang, late of Saludy, deceased; consisting of two negroes, some horses, cattle, and other articles’.
The sale was to be held at a public venue:
‘for ready money’ … [on the] … ‘5th day of November next, if fair, if not on the next day after, at Mr David Webb’s in Saxe-Gotha’.
As yet, I don’t know when Millicent died. Nor have I found any associated evidence such as a Will. She was still living on 29 May 1771. On that date she acquired 100 acres of land in Craven County on the North side of the Saluda River3.
Richard Lang and His Son, Isaac
1787
The earliest mention of an enslaved person directly associated with Richard Lang that I have been able to find is in the 1787 Spanish Census of Householders of Amelia Island, Spanish East Florida. This makes mention of ‘one negro’ in Richard’s household4.
1789
By the time of the December 1789 Spanish Census of Householders of St Marys River, Spanish East Florida there were no enslaved people in Richard’s household5. This same census shows ‘one negro’ in the household of Richard’s son, Isaac6.
1793
Four years later, in the 1793 Householders Census of St. Augustine, Richard is again recorded as having ‘1 male slave’7.
The lack of names makes it very difficult to trace people. For example, it is possible the enslaved person in Richard’s household in 1787 is the same person as the one in Isaac’s household in 1789, and again in Richard’s household in 1793. We can’t know for certain whether these references to enslaved people are indicative of one person, two or three.
Similarly, could any of these references relate to the two people (1 male, 1 female) identified in Richard’s father’s Will, as referred to above? They were bequeathed to Richard’s mother, Millicent, and after her death, to Richard. Again, there is no way to know this. Finding Millicent’s death record and Will would be helpful to exploring this further. In the meantime, each of these references to enslaved people is recorded as a separate entry in my notes.
1815
When Richard's son, Isaac, died in 18158 in Camden County, Georgia, there were a number of enslaved people associated with his estate which may or may not have included the enslaved person who was in his household in 1797. To date, I have been unable to find his Will. He may have died intestate as he was only 47 years old when he died. From the evidence I have found so far, it isn’t clear how he died.
After Isaac Lang’s death, a number of sales of enslaved people occurred in relation to his Estate, as follows9:
· K 178-179: 19 May 1818. Deed of negro slave. William Lang for estate of Isaac Lang, grantor to Francis Starling, grantee. For in consideration of $300.00 for slave girl Haner. Signed by William Lang, Isaac Lang, Elizabeth Bailey, Eady Brown, Lydia Summerlin, Jno. Gorman and David Lang. Witnessed by Isaac Bailey. Recorded by John Bailey on 22 July 1819.
· K 179: 19 May 1818. Deed of negro slaves. William Lang, for estate of Isaac Lang, grantor to Elizabeth Bailey, grantee. For in consideration of $600.00 for slaves Fanny and her daughter Turedcey (?). Signed by William Lang for heirs of Isaac Lang, Lydia Summerlin, Eady Brown, Jno. Gorman, David Lang and Francis Starling. Witnessed by Isaac Bailey. Recorded by John Bailey on 22 July 1819.
· K 180: 19 May 1818. Deed of negro slave. William Lang, for estate of Isaac Lang, grantor to Catharine Lang, grantee. For in consideration of $500.00 for a male slave Fortin. Signed by William Lang for heirs of Isaac Lang, Lydia Summerlin, Eady Brown, Jno. Gorman, David Lang and Francis Starling. Witnessed by Isaac Bailey. Recorded by John Bailey on 22 July 1819.
I think the William Lang referred to in these records is most likely the deceased Isaac’s oldest son (rather than his brother). Francis Starling (Sterling) is his brother-in-law (married to his sister, Mary). Elizabeth Bailey, Eady Brown and Lydia Summerlin are his sisters. John Gorman is his brother-in-law married to his sister, Rebecca) and David Lang is his brother. Catharine Lang is his widow.
1796 - 1815
To date, I have found 4 other mentions10 of Richard Lang as either grantor or grantee of a slave deed. These are as follows:
BC 242: 29 July 1796. Deed of negro slave. William Mills, grantor, of East Florida to Richard Lang, grantee, of Georgia (St. Marys River, Camden County). No amount listed. Slave man Toney, who had run away from Mills two weeks previously with another slave, Sam. Sam was sold to Lang separately. Signed by William Mills. Witnessed by James Seagrove. Recorded by R. McD. J. Elliott on 18 August 1796.
G 434-435: 15 August 1807. Deed of negro slave. Thomas Rogers, grantor to Richard Lang, grantee. For in consideration of $190.00 for slave Ellen. Signed by Thomas Rogers. Witnessed by Abraham Bessent and Jos. Crews. Recorded by Isaac Crews on 23 July 1808.
G 398-399: 11 February 1808. Deed of negro slaves. James Seagrove, grantor, of Camden County, Georgia to Richard Lang, grantee, of Camden County, Georgia. For in consideration of $650.00 for slaves Janny and her children Lucy and Samson. Signed by James Seagrove. Witnessed by Charles Magill, Jr. and William Marcum. Recorded by Isaac Crews on 20 June 1808.
I 194: 29 August 1813. Deed of gift of negro slave. Richard Lang, grantor to Lidia Lang, grantee. For slave Sealey. Signed by Richard Lang. Witnessed by David Lang and R. McGillis. Recorded by Isaac Crews on 03 January 1815
Clearly, there is more research to do.
Recording My Findings
The Lang family aren’t my only slaveholder relatives. The more I research my paternal biological heritage, the more of them I have found. My paternal family history is rooted in the southern states of the USA. It’s not surprising, therefore, that I have a number of African American DNA matches whose connection to me I would very much like to work out. Trying to figure out the passage of people through families via inheritance or sale is important to that. I haven’t made a lot of progress so far. Too often people are described as un-named entities.
Initially, I used the notes space for the slaveholder ancestor in my Ancestry tree to record my findings. However, this was not necessarily very effective, especially as my Ancestry tree is a private research tree predominantly used for figuring out DNA match connections. It didn’t help to highlight how enslaved persons moved within, or between, families. Nor did it encourage collaborative activity with the matches I wanted to make a connection to.
Then, several years ago now, I came across The Beyond Kin Project and its methodology for recording enslaved persons.
This project was conceived by Donna Cox Baker and Frazine K. Taylor in 2016 as:
“a way to encourage and facilitate the documentation of enslaved populations, particularly by recruiting the resources and efforts of the descendants of slaveholders”.
It provides a methodology for documenting slaveholder/enslaved person connections using existing software tools, such as Ancestry family trees, along with the ability to share data. Technically, it should make it easier to identify patterns in available information. I do have the beginnings of a ‘Beyond Kin’ Tree on Ancestry using this methodology but its a little cumbersome to both record and view relevant information in that format. In addition, I do seem to have one too many projects on the go at the moment. However, it is something I want to get back to.
Another important feature to mention is the Beyond Kin Enslaved Population Research Directory where findings can be recorded and searched. I haven’t added a lot yet:
Coming Up
At the beginning of this series, I talked about how I first became interested in Richard because he was continually turning up as my 4th great grandfather in other people's family trees, including the trees of my DNA matches. However, nowhere have I found documentary evidence sufficient to confirm that he is my 4th great grandfather. So what does the DNA say? More on the final part of this series, Part #9 …
This post draws information from my family history archive on the weare.xyz platform.
Notes
Proved 22 July 1763. Recorded in Will Book 1767-71 (p.64) - Wills, Vol 11-13, 1767-1771 via Ancestry.com. South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Accessed 8 March 2020 - Ancestry.com
Unfortunately, I have been unable to access the actual advertisement. This information is taken from a transcript found at Ancestry.com; originally shared by Ralan64 on 4 May 2013.
Originally shared to Ancestry.com by myoldjed on 21 Feb 2013 - Accessed 3 March 2020.
Mills, D.R., (1992) Florida’s First Families - Translated Abstracts of Pre-1821 Spanish Censuses, Mills historical press Tuscaloosa, Alabama & Naples, Florida (p.64) - originally shared by Ralan64 on 10 June 2013 via Ancestry.com. Accessed 10 March 2020.
Mills, D.R., (1992) (p.115) See Note 4.
Mills, D.R., (1992) (p.114) See Note 4.
Message from Karen Packard Rhodes via Substack citing East Florida Papers (microfilm), Reel 148, Censuses 1783-1814, Bundle 323A.
Lang Family Bible – originally shared on Ancestry.com by Martha2474 on 18 Sep 2012, Accessed 20 February 2020 Ancestry.com
Fields, T. D. (2008) Camden County, Georgia Slave Deed Abstracts. Compiled by Tara D. Fields 2004-2008. Accessed 7 Feb 2020
Fields, T. D. (2008) - See Note 8.
I hadn't heard of the Beyond Kin Project! What a great resource. I really need to pay more attention to the wills beyond the names of children.
Nice work, interesting angle.