It's not really surprising but it does frustrate me that so many people do not know, have not tried to learn or just refuse to acknowledge the good stories of former slaves and the people who 'owned' them. No one advocates slavery but we have to understand the 'reality' of it. The white owner was responsible for the feeding, clothing and the health of those in their care. Some of the 'brains who write books' say it was because they were looking out for their investment. Well, yes, to a point but there were many bonds of respect and loyalty going both ways too. You've possibly read my post on my Granddaddy (from Elbert County, Ga.) running into a black man in the Naval Hospital here during WWII with the same name as my Granddaddy (first, middle and last) and my Daddy (a Jr. ). The patient (the black guy) was the Grandson of slaves who were owned by Granddaddy's family. They took the family surname and they used a lot of the first names for their own children. They didn't leave the area when they were freed, they stayed and worked for others and some had their own farms. Some of the men worked in the granite quarries, but they were also working beside white men.

In this line, as far as I can tell, through the census, wills and slave schedules I've been able to find, the slaves were inherited for the most part from the Hamilton line from Virginia. Some were freed over the years before the CW but those who weren't were generations from the same family growing up with and staying with the same white family.

Pam