Enslaved Afro-American Immigrants to Natchez in the Forman Pioneer Party, April 1790 (Exclusive on Ill-FatedFrontier.com. Does not appear in Ill-Fated Frontier the book)
Table 1.– by Name, Family, Sex, Age, Descriptors, Plantation Residence, and 1795 Appraised Value
| Name | Family Group |
Sex | Age on Arrival April 1790 |
Age at Inventory June 1795 |
Description | Residence | Value in Spanish Dollars |
Notes |
| Kate | F | 64-65 | 70 | “Negroe Wench” | St. Cath. | $70 | Unattached | |
| Henny | A | F | 14-15 | 19 | “Negroe Wench” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| Isaac | A | M | 2.5 | “Boy…her son” | St. Cath. | $100 | ||
| Hessy | A | F | 1 | “Girl…her daugr.” | St. Cath. | $50 | ||
| Sophy | B | F | 17 | 23 | “Wench” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| Louis | B | M | 3 | “Negroe Boy” | St. Cath. | $100 | ||
| [Unnamed] | B | F | Infant | “Negroe Girl” | St. Cath. | $50 | ||
| Moses | M | 14-15 | 20 | “Negroe Man” | St. Cath. | $450 | Unattached | |
| Jess | C | M | 32-33 | 38 | “Negroe Man” | St. Cath. | $450 | |
| Jessy | C | F | 44-45 | 50 | “Negroe Wench his wife” | St. Cath. | $200 | “Mammy Ginnie,” Jenny, or Janie in ms variants |
| Tamer | D | F | 39-40 | 45 | “Negroe wench” | St. Cath. | $220 | |
| [ –]r | D | F | 4 | “Negroe Girl her child” | St. Cath. | $100 | ||
| Jinta | E | F | 16-17 | 22 | “Negroe Wench” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| Risden | E | M | 5 | “Negroe Boy” | St. Cath. | $120 | ||
| Sal | E | F | 1 | “Negroe Girl” | St. Cath. | $80 | ||
| Phil | F | M | 20-21 | 26 | “Negroe Man” | St. Cath. | $400 | Possibly the coachman |
| Moll | F | F | 16-17 | 22 | “Wench” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| Maria | F | F | 4 | “Girl her daughter” | St. Cath. | $120 | ||
| Ned | F | M | 1.5 | “Boy her son” | St. Cath. | $80 | ||
| Cato | G | M | 54-55 | 60 | “Negroe Man” | St. Cath. | $200 | |
| Dinah | G | F | 39-40 | 45 | “Negroe Wench” | St. Cath. | $200 | |
| Cato | G | M | 13-14 | 19 | “Negroe Man her son” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| Jim | G | M | 8 | 13 | “Negroe Boy her son” | St. Cath. | $280 | |
| Darky | G | F | 5 | 10 | “Negroe Girl her daughter” | St. Cath. | $200 | |
| Dick | G | M | 4 | 9 | “Negroe Boy…her son” | St. Cath. | $160 | |
| Lidia | G | F | 5 | “Negroe Girl her daughter” | St. Cath. | $130 | ||
| Crece | G | F | 2 | “Negroe Girl her daughter” | St. Cath. | $110 | Family unit G is second largest and highest valued at $1630 for 8 members | |
| Tom Lloyd | H | M | 29-30 | 35 | “Negroe Man” | St. Cath. | $400 | Unusual to have a listed surname |
| Patt | H | F | 24-25 | 30 | “Mullattotress his wife” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| [Unnamed] | H | ? | Infant | St. Cath. | $0 | Infant not separately listed from mother | ||
| Alia | H | F | 5 | 10 | “Mullatto girl her daughter” | St. Cath. | $200 | |
| Peggy | H | F | 3 | 9 | “Do“ | St. Cath. | $180 | |
| Eliza | H | F | 5 | “Do“ | St. Cath. | $130 | ||
| Sabra | H | F | 2 | “Do“ | St. Cath. | $110 | ||
| Scipio | I | M | 49-50 | 50 | “Negroe” | St. Cath. | $200 | |
| Beke | I | F | 29-30 | 30 | “Negroe Wench his wife” | St. Cath. | $300 | |
| Frank | I | M | 7 | 12 | “Negroe Boy her son” | St. Cath. | $280 | |
| Charles | I | M | 2 | 7 | “Negroe Boy her Son” | St. Cath. | $180 | |
| Milky | I | F | 0-1 | 6 | “Negroe Girl her daughter” | St. Cath. | $130 | |
| Nanny | I | F | 1 | “Mullatto Girl her daughter” | St. Cath. | $100 | ||
| Doll | J | F | 29-30 | 35 | “Negroe Wench” | St. Cath. | $325 | |
| Rose | J | F | 5 | 10 | “Negroe Girl her Daughter” | St. Cath. | $250 | |
| Rany | J | F | 2 | 7 | “Negroe Girl her Daughter” | St. Cath. | $140 | |
| Jenny | J | F | 4 | “Negroe Girl her Daughter” | St. Cath. | $120 | ||
| Joe | J | M | 6.5 | 11.5 | “Negroe Boy son of Do“ | St. Cath. | $280 | |
| Tom | K | M | 59-60 | 65 | “Negro Man” | St. Cath. | $100 | |
| Daphne | K | F | 54-55 | 60 | “Negro Woman his wife” | St. Cath. | $75 | |
| Pen | K | F | 13 | 18 | “Negroe Girl her Daughter” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| George | M | 64-65 | 70 | “Negro Man” | St. Cath. | $100 | Unattached | |
| Peter | M | 19-20 | 25 | “Negro Man” | St. Cath. | $450 | Unattached | |
| Point Jack | M | 12 | 17 | “Negro Boy” | St. Cath. | $400 | Unattached | |
| Apollo | M | 11 | 16 | “Negro Boy” | St. Cath. | $400 | Unattached | |
| Cate | F | 14 | 19 | “Negro Woman” | St. Cath. | $350 | Unattached | |
| Abram | M | 11 | 16 | “Negro Boy” | St. Cath. | $400 | Unattached | |
| Ben | M | M | 29-30 | 35 | “Negro Man” | Sec Creek | $420 | |
| Lucy | M | F | 5 | 10 | “Negroe Girl his daughter” | Sec Creek | $200 | |
| Betty | M | F | 3 | 8 | “Negroe girl his daughter” | Sec Creek | $80 | |
| Sam | M | M | 4 | “Negroe Boy his son” | Sec Creek | $120 | ||
| York | M | M | 1 | “Negroe child his son” | Sec Creek | $50 | ||
| Toddy | L | M | 25 | 25 | “Negro Man” | Sec Creek | $450 | Family unit L was largest and highest valued at $2610 for 9 members; 2 members at St. Catherine’s (Wilderness Plantation); others at Second Creek |
| Nanny | L | F | 30 | 35 | “Negro Woman his wife” | Sec Creek | $350 | |
| [unnamed] | L | ? | 8 days | “…with an Infant of 8 days” | Sec Creek | $0 | ||
| Wiring Jacks | L | M | 12 | 17 | “Negroe Boy son of Nanny” | St. Cath. | $450 | |
| Ben | L | M | 11 | 16 | “Negroe Boy her Son” | Sec Creek | $400 | |
| Kate | L | F | 10 | 15 | “Negroe Girl her daughter” | Sec Creek | $350 | |
| Alley | L | F | 8 | 13 | “Negroe Girl / Daughter of Nanny” | St. Cath. | $350 | |
| Henny | L | F | 4 | 9 | “Negroe Girl…her daughter” | Sec Creek | $200 | |
| Frank | L | M | 2 | “Negroe Boy her Son” | Sec Creek | $110 | ||
| Harry | N | M | 30-31 | 36 | “Negro Man” | Sec Creek | $350 | |
| Candis | N | F | 24-25 | 30 | “Negroe Wench” | Sec Creek | $300 | |
| Harry | N | M | 7 | 12 | “Negroe Boy her Son” | Sec Creek | $280 | |
| Liz | N | F | 5 | 10 | “Negroe Girl her Daughter” | Sec Creek | $200 | |
| Hanna | N | F | 3 | 8 | “Negroe Girl her Daughter” | Sec Creek | $150 | |
| Christopher | N | M | 5 | “Negroe Boy her Son” | Sec Creek | $130 | ||
| Andrew | N | M | 3 | “Negroe Boy her Son” | Sec Creek | $110 | ||
| Ephraim | O | M | 19-20 | 25 | “Negro Man” | Sec Creek | $450 | |
| Else | O | F | 14-15 | 20 | “Negro woman his wife” | Sec Creek | $350 | |
| Spencer | O | M | 5 months | “an Infant five months old” | Sec Creek | $0 | ||
| Judea | O | F | 5 | “Negroe Girl…her daughter” | Sec Creek | $120 | ||
| Dimbo | P | M | 39-40 | 45 | “Negroe Man” | Sec Creek | $200 | |
| Catt | P | F | 14-15 | 20 | “Negroe Wench his wife” | Sec Creek | $350 | |
| Phillis | P | F | 2 | “Negroe Girl her Daughter” | Sec Creek | $110 | ||
| Stephen | P | M | 1 | “Negroe Boy her Son” | Sec Creek | $50 | ||
| Rachael | Q | F | 11 | 16 | “Negro Girl” | Sec Creek | $350 | |
| Charity | Q | F | 9 months | “Negro Girl her Daughter” | Sec Creek | $50 | ||
| Flora | F | 11 | 16 | “Negro Wench” | Sec Creek | $350 |
Unattached |
|
| Tom | M | 14 | 20 | “Negro man” | Sec Creek | $450 |
Unattached |
|
| TOTALS |
60 |
87 |
$ 19,800 |
Source: Estate Inventory of Ezekiel Forman, June 1795, Records of the Spanish Administration, Chancery Archive, Natchez: Adams County Courthouse; and Spanish Colonial Records, MDAH Reel 17798, Vol. 32, pp. 83-107. Family units were grouped and singletons noted at the time of document creation. The current author assigned letters A thru Q to families for the purpose of identification and discussion, as well as ‘Notes’ in the right-hand column. ‘Age on Arrival April 1790’ is an approximation derived from the ‘Age at Inventory June 1795’ minus 5 years. Wilderness Plantation on St. Catherine’s Creek was the seat of the Forman plantation enterprise. Therefore, individuals resident there likely include the ‘big house’ servants.
Departing Monmouth, New Jersey, on November 29, 1789; the party of 60 arrived at Natchez, Spanish West Florida on April 22, 1790. They traveled in concert with Ezekiel Forman, in the role of owner David Forman’s agent, Ezekiel’s spouse Mrs. Margaret Neilson Forman and four children, Margaret Forman’s assitant Mrs. Church, and overseer Benajah Osman.
The number sixty is consonant with the arrivals at the Port of Entry Natchez and General Forman’s own description of his claim. Some later versions of Samuel S. Forman’s autobiographical writings place the number of immigrants on arrival slightly higher than sixty. Possibly several live births occurred during the five-month trip, such that a greater number arrived at Natchez than had departed from New Jersey.
The nature of General David Forman’s litigation involving his brother Ezekiel’s estate was to assert total ownership over the enslaved black immigrants to Natchez. Thus, the estate inventory yields a rare listing, by name and family grouping, of the entire immigrant group that arrived in April 1790, as well as their offspring born within the first five years of arrival.
The nature of the contested litigation, and the meticulous Spanish records associated with it, would lead one to expect documentation of enslaved blacks’ purchase, sale, or deaths, should they have occurred. Additional blacks acquired by purchase in Natchez would have been separately identified subsequent to the immigrants’ arrival. No such purchase and sale records are recorded in Spanish records for Natchez District. No deaths among the immigrant group were noted for the first five years of settlement, nor were children noted as born after arriving in Natchez but dying prior to the June 1795 date of the inventory. I cannot be certain if there were no such deaths, or if they had occurred but were not recorded in the cross-sectional estate inventory.
Qualitative Statistics
Black immigrants on arrival: 60 total; adult men aged 16 or over – 13 (21.7%); adult women aged 16 or over – 13 (21.7); male children below age 16 – 12 (23.3); female children below age 16 20 (33.3).
Same black immigrants and their progeny 5 years later, June 1795: 87 total; adult men aged 16 or over – 20 (23.0%); adult women aged 16 or over – 21 (24.1); male children below age 16 – 17 (19.6); female children below age 16 – 27 (31.0); children unspecified gender – 2 (2.3).
Appendix II, Figure 2. Derived statistics – Birth Rate estimates by year:
|
Year |
Live Births |
Mid-year Population estimate |
Crude Birth Rate per 1000 per year |
|
1790 |
4 |
62 |
65 |
|
1791 |
5 |
67 |
75 |
|
1792 |
2 |
69 |
30 |
|
1793 |
5 |
74 |
68 |
|
1794 |
7 |
81 |
87 |
|
1795 |
4 |
85 |
94 extrapolated from first 6 months |
During the first five years of settlement in the Natchez District of Spanish West Florida, the crude birth rate among the initial group of sixty enslaved black immigrants in the Forman party averaged higher than that of the United States at the end of the colonial period, 40-45/1000 total population, and 55.0/1000 in 1800. No comparable figures are available for the Caucasian population of Natchez, but qualitatively, it would have been much lower. The white population was plagued by an appalling mortality rate from febrile diseases, an experience apparently not afflicting the African Americans to the same degree.
Caution must be exercised in interpreting small numbers of Forman enslaved immigrants. There is uncertainty in the initial number at arrival, the assignment of births to birth year, and the potential omissions of infant mortality of live births. Net impact of the latter three factors could drive the calculated crude birth rate in either direction. Nevertheless, the trend of the enslaved Forman party’s relative fecundity is striking. It contrasts to the dismal mortality experience of antebellum slaves of later decades. See Haines, M.R. and Steckel, R.H. A Population History of North America and Klein, H. A Population History of the United States.
By comparison, the U.S. crude birth rate was 12.4/1000/year in 2015.
Genealogical Information Inferred from the Inventory:
Nanny and Toddy added Frank in 1793 and an infant whose name is unrecorded in 1795; Candis and Harry had Christopher in 1790 and Andrew in 1792; Else and Ephraim had Judea in 1791 and Spencer in 1795; Catt and Dimbo had Phillis in 1793 followed in short order by Stephen in 1794; Beke and Scipio welcomed Nanny in 1794. Nanny was described as a mulatto while her parents were not of mixed race, a circumstance implying a different father, possibly under coerced or other circumstances. Dinah and Cato added Lidia in 1790 and Crece in 1793 to their brood; Patt and Tom Lloyd added Eliza in 1790, Sabra in 1793, and an infant whose name was not recorded in 1795. Patt and all her children were described as mixed-race mulattos, while her husband Tom Lloyd apparently was black. Mr. Lloyd was the only slave is listed as a having a surname. Moll and Phil started their family with Maria in 1791 and Ned in 1794. Single mothers Henny had Isaac in 1793 when she was 16 years old, and Hessy the following year. Doll gave birth to Jenny in 1791. Lewis was born to Sophy in 1792 and welcomed another infant in early 1795. At age 41 Tamer had a daughter in 1791, whose name was not recorded. Jinta at age 17 gave birth to Risden in 1790 and then bore Sal during 1794. Rachel brought Charity into the world in 1794.
Father Ben’s children included Sam, born in 1791 and York in 1794. No spouse was noted for Ben the following year, perhaps implying that his unnamed spouse had succumbed in child birth, to one of the infectious fevers that seemed to disproportionately claim the Caucasian owners and their families. Other explanations for Ben being a widower with young children by mid-1795 are plausible but less likely – his spouse had been sold, ran away, divorced without custody, committed suicide, or had died by trauma or non-infectious disease. Due to General David Forman’s contesting of the slaves’ ownership so vigorously, and the detailed court records of Ezekiel Forman’s probated estate, the sale of an enslaved mother, rending a family unit asunder, likely would have been recorded in some manner during the course of legal proceedings.
Enslaved African Americans Named or Described in Samuel S. Forman’s Writings
Daddy French. A young Samuel S. Forman got “finely dressed up by request of Daddy French” for the purpose of collecting sweets and spreading Christmas cheer in Freehold, New Jersey. He was a “tall, lean, eccentric” old, enslaved Afro-American. Ref. Forman autobiographical manuscript in the author’s possession, p. 38. Daddy French did not travel to Natchez.
Ginnie (aka Mammie Ginny, Jenny, Janie; Jessie on the estate inventory). A 40-year-old woman married to Jess at the time of departure from Monmouth, NJ. The couple immigrated without children or other close family members. Wrote Samuel S. Forman about traversing Pennsylvania in a wild stretch, “…my bed before the fire and the [enslaved black] people all next to us, old Ginnie next to me, to protect me if anything bad occurred.” I name the woman Ginnie throughout this book and in direct quotes mentioning her. Samuel S. referred to her as “Mammy Ginny” in one manuscript version, which suggests he might have used the stereotypical nickname Mammy in recognition of her role as chief of the enslaved domestics back in Monmouth on General David Forman’s plantation. None of the other adult women enslaved by General David Forman bore the name Ginnie, any of its variants, or any similarly sounding names.
Ginnie strikes me as identifying closely with the master’s representatives. I implicate her as a possible informant foiling the proto-abolitionist ladies of Lancaster and an armed revolt in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Other adult slaves could have asserted this role. Refer to Ibid, p. 54.
“Two dis-affected fellows” or “two suspicious fellows.” They remain unknown in all manuscript variants. During the winter of 1790 they had led an abortive armed insurrection in concert with allies encountered in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Their fate remains a tantalizing mystery. If anyone would have been sold ‘down river,’ I speculate that these two seekers of freedom would have been prime candidates from the master’s perspective. As previously mentioned, there are no records of slave sales, deaths, or runaways during the pioneer trek and the first five years of settlement between arrival and the Ezekiel Forman estate inventory. I took this to mean that the “two dis-affected fellows” remained enslaved on the Forman plantations at least through the Ezekiel Forman estate inventory of June 1795.
Moses or Philip the coachman. In one of the manuscript variants the coachman is named as Phil and in another as Moses. Phil was an adult enslaved male appearing on the 1795 estate inventory, who would have been among the 1790 immigrants from New Jersey. The names Moses and Phil are not necessarily inconsistent in that Moses could have been Samuel S. Forman’s generic label for an experienced, mature, and reliable slave, comparable in usage to Mammy being the head of domestics in the household. Aside from the generic names being synonymous with specific roles, there really were enslaved Afro-American men named Moses, and women named Mammy, Maimie, Mame, or some variant. The Ezekiel Forman estate inventory lists a young Moses, who would have been a teen at the time of the 1790 forced migration. I doubt that this Moses would have been entrusted as family coachman with prestige possessions, family safety, and travel off the plantation and across the Natchez district.
Circumstantial evidence places Phil among the enslaved emigrants as an exceptional coachman, whose experience would have included ferry crossings. He is named as Moses in one of Samuel S. Forman’s manuscript variants. Another source states that David and Ann Marsh Forman made an annual coach trip in the General’s formal carriage between their farms in Monmouth, New Jersey, and Maryland. One or more ferry trips would have been involved. I am inferring that the General’s coachman would have overseen and executed those long-distance coach trips. It remains possible that Samuel S. Forman misremembered the coachman’s name; that Moses and Phillip were actually two different people, and that Moses did not immigrate to Natchez.
“Faithful old colored woman” Refer to Ibid, p. 54. This is the woman who denounced the Westmoreland County plotters, “This information came from a faithful old woman who had lived in our family some time.” None of the manuscript variants name her. Ginnie is a suspect. So is 65-year-old Kate and perhaps other of the adult enslaved women. All these people knew one another and had prior hierarchical relationships back in New Jersey on the General’s plantation.
Samuel S. Forman referred to Benajah Osman as “old,” though he was probably in his mid-30’s during the emigration. So, he may have labeled Ginnie and Moses as “old” at more youthful ages than would a modern observer. He used the adjective liberally, sometimes as a literal descriptor, in other instances as an honorific. Samuel S. also may have used the term “old” to denote a woman he did not consider sexually attractive or active, as he may have self-censored accounts of his travels meant for the eyes of his only child Mary Euphonia.