Tracing that Elusive Slaveholder – Part 2

This blog is the second part of the series entitled tracing that elusive slaveholder. In this writing, I will go into depth as best I can about Arthur Smith Hogan, our family’s slaveholder, and how his journey affected our ancestors. Just make sure you read part one before reading this blog.

Before we launch into Arthur Hogan, let’s establish his connection to your ancestors. After all, if you reached this page from the AncestryDNA messaging system, you might be confused. Give me two minutes of your time to talk DNA, then we will launch into history.

Validation Through DNA

If you are a DNA match, you will notice a commonality for the birthplaces of an Ancestor born in the early 1800s. The fact is especially true for distant cousins. Most likely, those states will be Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, with the majority being from Mississippi, followed by Alabama. You cant always depend on the last names in your tree as they will sometimes differ. The reason for this is that emancipated slaves chose their own surnames upon being granted freedom. For this reason, you have to rely on geography. Of course, the DNA matches from closer generations will find that we’re from Texas since 1860.

For this reason, I always recommend AncestryDNA. Its database is the largest for African Americans, you can identify your DNA by their trees, and if you go back far enough in your tree, Thrulines will show you how you connect.

This blog is about tracing that elusive slaveholder, and if you are a DNA match to us on the Winters or Scales side, I’ve already laid the groundwork for that, but you will need to do your own due diligence. In a moment, we will look at the list of slaves that Arthur Hogan owned, then you can look for that name or names in your tree.

Here are the crucial steps.

1. View your AncestryDNA matches. 
2. Look for my name, Leonard Mixon, Anita Thomas Williams, or Edward Spiller and select it. (DNA matches may vary)
3. Select Shared Matches
4. Create a group and give it a name. (I have groups for Winters, Scales, Spillers, etc.)
5. Add all shared matches to that group.
6. These will be all the DNA matches that share a common ancestor.
7. Starting with your closest matches, do the same for as many matches as you can. 

Note that the threshold for Shared Matches is 20cM and above. Anyone sharing cMs lower than that, such as 15cM, might not show up. The further the relationship is, the lower the cMs will be. Unfortunately, Ancestry decided to remove all shared matches below 8cMs. This is precisely the range where your distant relatives would match for relatives back in the early 1800s. In that case, find the oldest living relative you can and have them tested. For more on AncestryDNA Shared Matches, you can read more on what Shared Matches are here and how to successfully group and filter them here.  

Lemuel Hogan, Father of Arthur Smith Hogan

What I didn’t cover in part one of this blog is WHY Arthur moved from Halifax North Carolina to Tennessee. Take a look at the timeline from that post, which I will include here as a reference.

We don’t have to speculate his reasons for the move, thanks to the 1809 Last will and Testament that I found from his father, Lemuel Hogan. The answer to this question is that he inherited 2000 acres of land and another 8 Negroes slaves, consisting of Joe, Daniel, Bob, Gary, Cate, Amos, Redick, and Castle. I don’t see Daniel, Bob, or Amos in his son Arthur Hogan’s 1849 Last Will and Testament, but I do see Abraham, Joe, Reuben, Ogy, Redick & Castle, the latter being uncommon names.

I really did not want to transcribe Lemuel’s will, as in all honesty, it is an excruciatingly painful task thanks to its cursive writing. In fact, At his point, I don’t even know if these 8 slaves given to Arthur are our relatives. After all, we’ve already traced Charlotte Smith’s lineage. However, could these be Julius Scales’ (born 1814) or James Winters’ relatives? This is where genealogists have to make a choice. Do I go down the rabbit hole or not? When I first came upon Arthur Hogans Will in 2019, I wasn’t sure the slaves listed were even family. It was only AFTER I transcribed his will, did I see the familiar names of Senora, Charlotte, Charity, and others.

So with that, I’m providing Lemuel Hogan’s full will, with Arthur’s inherited land and slaves highlighted in bold (actually, I highlighted all slave references in bold). In truth, I just recently discovered it as I was writing this blog, and have not had the time to dissect it. When I could not make out a word, I inserted the phrase [illegible] in its place. Also, I could be inaccurate on the names of the slaves, especially for ones that are not common names. One thing is for sure, the Hogans had money. I also want to point out that sometimes siblings gift deeded their slaves to each other over time which was the case for William Hogan to his sister Amanda’s children. On a side note, don’t forget, if you subscribe to this site, you will be notified of future released blogs.

Lemuel Hogan’s Last Will & Testament – Feb 3, 1809

“In the name of God Amen. I Lemuel Hogan of Halifax county and state of North Carolina being sick and weak in body but of sound and perfect mind and memory, thanks be given to almighty God. Therefore calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will & testament. That is to say principally and first of all, I give and remand my soul unto the hands of the almighty God that givest and my body I commend to the earth to be buried in a decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executor and as touching all such worldly estate when with [Illegible].

Item, I give to my son James Hogan the land and plantation whereon I now live. Also eight negroes to wit: Lewis, Solomon, George, Jose, Dice, [illegible], Love, & [illegible] to that he is already in possession, to him and his heirs forever. But if my son James Hogan should die without lawful heir of his body, then it is my will and desire that this part of my estate should return into my estate again and the land should be sold as public sale and the money and the above-mentioned negroes should be equally divided between my son Smith Hogan, Elizabeth Hogan, Minny Hogan and Polly Hogan, all share equally alike.

Then I give to my son Arthur Hogan two thousand acres of land lying in the state of Tennessee that he has already in possession. Also, eight negroes to wit: Joe, Daniel, Bob, Gary, Cate, Amos, Redick, Castle, which he has already in possession, to him and his heirs forever.

Item, I give to my Son William Hogan that part of my land lying over the little swamp. Also one hundred acres lying on the side of said swamp. Bounded by Kerner Joyner line including the place called Harris Taylor to be in his possession after the death of my wife Mary Hogan. Also, one thousand acres of land lying in the state of Tennessee and seven negroes to wit. Abraham, Tom, Clony, Lucy, Baldwin, Ammy, and James, which said land and negroes he is now in possession of to him, his heirs forever.

Item, I give to my son John Hogan a piece of land lying over Branch called Thomas Taylor place beginning on the creek at the mouth of said Branch thence running up various courses of said Branch to the head then of there a [illegible] to the backline to as to corner in said line to one where Benjamin James now lives including that part of my land within the above lines and the running creek to be in his possession after the death of my wife mary Hogan. Also, one hundred acres of land lying in the state of Tennessee and six negroes to wit: Jerry, Lyunney, Jenny, Tom, Jineen & Creary, which said land and negroes he is already in possession of to him and his heirs forever.

Item, I give to my daughter Nancy Hawkins, seven negroes that she has already in her possession to wit: Ludy, Cealy, Jean, Reuben, Ogge, Hail & Rudy to her heirs forever.

Item, I give to my three daughters, Elizabeth Hogan, Winny Hogan, and Polly twenty-four negroes which shall be divided equally unto these, each to be valued and the valuation of each lot to be in proportion (or to the full value) of the lot of negroes. That I have given already to my son James Hogan, each of my three said daughters to share equally alike. Also, each of them to have a feather bed and furniture to them and their heirs forever.

Item, I give to my son Smith Hogan my Land and plantation that is above the land that is between where I now live and the quarter beginning on the creek opposite to the mouth of the land and running the direct course of the land, across to the great [illegible] beginning and including that part of land that lies between the aforesaid line. And that I have given to my son John Hogan to be part in possession after he arrives to the age of twenty-one. Also all the negroes of my land and plantation whereon I now reside that I have given away to my before mentioned sons to be his after the death of my wife Mary Hogan. Also eight negroes to be of the same value or equally as good as same of the lot given to my aforesaid daughter. Also one feather bed and furniture and two shotguns to him and his heirs forever.

Item, I give to my granddaughter, Mary Haskins one negro girl by the name of Susanna. Also two hundred dollars to her and her heirs forever. But if my granddaughter Mary Haskins should die without lawful heir of her body, then it is my will and desire that her part of my estate should fall to her brother William Hawkins.

Item, I give to my grandson William Haskins, five hundred acres of land lying in the state of Tennessee. Also, two hundred dollars in money. But if my grandson William Haskins should die without lawful heir of his body, then it is my will and desire that his part of my estate shall fall to his sister Mary Haskins. If it should so happen that both of my aforesaid grandchildren should die without lawful heirs of their body, then it is my will and desire that their part of my estate should return back hereto and be equally divided amongst all my children.

Item, I give to my loving wife, Mary Hogan all my land and plantation whereon I now live during her natural life. Except that part that I have allotted to my son Smith Hogan which is his to have in possession after he comes to the age of twenty-one years. Also, eight of the choice of negroes [illegible] that the [illegible] …he may think most proper to take. Also eight sows and pigs and twenty [illegible] and all my stock of sheep, six cows and calves, four heads of the choice of my horses one rocking chair, and one half of my household furniture and plantation during her natural life and after her death to be sold and the money equally divided amongst all my children. Also that part of my estate that is now deed me by bond, [illegible] or otherwise or that may hereafter become due to be collected by my executor and after discharging of my part the balance to be divided in the following manner. To wit my wife Mary Hogan, Smith Hogan, Nancy Haskins, Elizabeth Hogan, Winny Hogan, Polly Hogan to those two hundred dollars each of said money extraordinary then the balance to be equally amongst all my children hereafter, James Hogan, Arthur Hogan, William Hogan, John Hogan, Smith Hogan, nance Haskins, Elizabeth Hogan, WinnyHogan, Polly Hogan, to them,  their heirs forever. Herby, I contract and appoint my brother-in-law William R Smith, Willy Powell, James Hogan & John Hogan my executors of this my last will & Testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 2nd day of February in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and nine.

Lemuel Hogan

Be it known unto all men by these present that I Lemuel Hogan of Halifax County & state of North Carolina have made and declared my last will and testament in writing baring date 2^nd of February 1809. I said Lemuel Hogan by this present codicil do ratify and confirm my said last will and testament and further make the following alterations.  In said will that is to say I give my son Smith Hogan One thousand of land lying in the state of Tennessee. Also one negro named Henry to be included in the lot of those I have already given him though his lot is not to exceed eight negroes. Also the lot of negroes that I have given to my son William Hogan and John Hogan and Mary Hogan, shall also be made equal or in proportion to the lot that I have given to my other children. And also my yoke of oxen and cart, I give to my wife Mary Hogan and my will and meaning so that this codicil be as judged to be a part and [illegible] of my last will and & testament and that all things herein mentioned are constrained be faithfully and truly performed in every aspect as if the same was declared and set down in my last will & testament. Witness my hand this 3^rd of February 1809.”

Lemuel Hogan

Prepared for the Journey

A quick break for my blog to explain why this website is, and why I do what I do. Here is why I do things like create this site and transcribe those ridiculously difficult to read 1700’s and 1800’s cursive documents.

I went to a church service on one Saturday evening. I didn’t even want to go, but my son, Jerell kept asking, so I went. During the service, the pastor looked at me and prophesied that I was a scribe. Among other things, he told me to write down everything that God reveals to me. My son, sitting next to me was puzzled at that. “A scribe?”, he asked me later? He’s known me all of his life and knew much about me. But a scribe?

What he didn’t know was that early on that same Saturday morning, and probably for the first, and only time in my life, I decided to go on a hike. I had no idea why I felt like doing that. The hiking area was called Rattlesnake Ridge, with a trail that goes up to 2078 ft above sea level. The name itself should have been a clue, as it was quite the climb! I’m not sure what I was thinking, (obviously, I wasn’t) but I was remarkably unprepared for the journey. I was wearing jeans, had a heavy jacket, huge earphones and most importantly, I forgot to eat, hydrate and had brought no water. As out of shape as I was, I soon became exhausted, weary, thirsty, and hungry. To add to this, the jacket and huge headphones became heavy.

At that point, I realized that I was surrounded by dense steep forest, and if I was to pass out, there would be no place a helicopter could land. If I passed out and fell over the side, no one would find me for weeks. I had no choice but to forge ahead. It was during this time, that I remembered all of the dreams and visions that God had given me over the years. Essentially, I was on an unintentional fast, with no food or drink, and that seems to be the best time when we can hear God. With my flesh out of the way, I was then told to write down those dreams and document them, which I subsequently did.

Therefore when in the church service, unbeknown to my son, I was already told earlier to be a “scribe”. A scribe is simply a person who writes things down, for history or record-keeping purposes; hence this website.

2 Corinthians 13: In the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established,

I haven’t divulged my dreams publically in any blog as of yet, although I have written some in the 2nd edition of the unreleased Winters book. I gave my life to God at the age of 14, and was brought up in the Church, with a good foundation. I love to spread the gospel, and interact in people’s lives, especially as far as God is concerned. Sometimes, God has a message for an individual, that I need to share with them. However, we have to be tactful. In one particular situation, there was a guy at work, who I knew I needed to share about God. But how was I to approach him? I prayed about it.

Then one day, to my surprise, out of the blue, this guy approached ME! He told me that he had a dream. This was in the 1990s before cell phones were a thing. He told me that in his dream, he looked, and he had a pager, which is another name for a beeper. (For the young folks reading this, check out this link to see what a pager is.) When a pager goes off, it displays the phone number of the person trying to reach you. However, in his dream, he said it was strange. He looked and he saw that the pager was signifying that there was a message waiting for him. But when he looked at it, there was no number at all. He said at that point, a giant pulsating arrow appeared and it was pointing toward me! My prayers were answered.

Now back to my task at hand, Arthur Hogan’s will.

The Arthur Smith Hogan Enslaved List

Arthur Smith Hogan was born in North Carolina around the year 1877. In part one of this blog, we learned that he moved from North Carolina to Tennessee around 1798 and then Alabama in the early 1800s. However, he also owned land in Lowndes County, Mississippi, as shown in the Mississippi probate records. Fortunately for us, he is not that hard to trace because he seemed prone to interaction with the government as he would have, not one, not two, but three supreme court cases involving him or his estate. One even postmortem.

Arthur Smith Hogan wrote his will on Jan 22, 1849, and passed on Aug 1849. This document was hand-copied multiple times, and one of those copies was stored in Washington, Texas. That’s how I came upon it. Since I repeatedly give reference to it in part one of this blog, I decided that I would post it in its entirety in part two. The original is difficult to read, so early on, I transcribed it into a word document. Subsequently, I found that it had already been transcribed for the 1895 Alabama Supreme court case. Campbell v Noble, which worked out because it allowed me to validate the names of the enslaved. The court case was due to Arthur’s descendants’ dispute over the land willed to them.  

In particular, it was due to Sarah Hogan and her husband Thacker Winter selling the land they inherited from Arthur and moving to Washington, Texas in the early 1860s. That story needs an entirely separate blog.

I created a separate Ancestry.com tree for all of Arthur Hogan’s family relevant to our family history using all of the documents I found. That tree currently consists of 210 individuals. It was extremely time-consuming, but I needed to trace the path of each of Arthur’s children, along with their spouses. See? This site really is about tracing lineage. I attempted to attach every relevant document and internet link to their respective persons. After you read this blog, feel free to check out that tree I built here.

So here, in its entirety, is Arthur’s will. The spellings and archaic words used are from the 1800’s time period so don’t be shocked when you read words such as ” Witnifies”. And don’t worry. We’ll discuss its details afterward.

Arthur Smith Hogan’s 1849 Last Will & Testament

Obtained: 1860

Record No: 198

Last Will and Testament of Arthur Smith Hogan – Jan 22, 1849

Considering the certainty of this mortal life being of sound mind,  I thank my God for the same. I make this my last will and testament.

Item the 1^st :I have given and delivered to my daughter Matilda wife of James Ruck now deceased, five negroes and three thousand dollars in money. I have given and delivered to my four grandchildren Arthur, James and Henry Rucks, and Malvina now wife of William Yeager the following named negroes to wit: Petre, Castle, Ogy, Phillis, Reuben, Polly, Willis, Abraham, Monroe, Louisa, and Gilford, one horse and two mules, one hundred dollars to William Yeager, and seventy-three dollars in money to each of said grandchildren.

Items the 2^nd: I have given and delivered to my daughter Harriett Goodall, now widow, one negro woman named Milly also five thousand one hundred and seventy dollars in money. I have loaned and delivered unto my said daughter Harriet the following named negroes to wit: George, Jerry, Harry, Caroline, Drew, Whitwell, Bowling, Susan, Julius, Pleasant, and Charlotte during her lifetime. Also, the plantation on which she now resides in Smith county, State of Tennessee including the island in the Cumberland river together with the north bank of the said river at Carthage for a ferry landing. After her death, I give all to my two grandchildren, Rachel and Lucy, and their heirs forever.

Item the 3^rd. I have given and delivered to my son William B Hogan, nine negroes and twenty-five hundred and fifty dollars in money. I leave to my said son for the benefit of his wife and children and all that they may hereafter have, the plantation where he now resides containing one section; also the following named negroes to wit: Timson, Huger, Joe, Cintha, Neb, Elizabeth, Jack, Ann, Redick, and James to be equally divided between all of his heirs after his death.

Hems the 4^th My son Lemuel died without heirs.

Item the 5^th My granddaughter Elizabeth Winter whenever she shall marry she shall take into possession one half of the plantation, one half of the brick house, lying in Franklin County, State of Alabama, also eighty acres of land lying at the foot of the mountain, one-half of the negroes named in the item next below. If the said Elizabeth shall have heirs or heiress – in that case after the death of her father and mother, she shall have the whole of the plantation and house and lot in the town of Tuscumbia, together with the balance of the negroes, she having first to set apart or provide for the genteel support of her sister Josephine during her life.  If the said Elizabeth die and leave no heir or heirs of her body, my will is that all of the property she may acquire by this will, shall be equally divided between all of my children living and such of my grandchildren whose parents may have died; and if she should die and leave an heir or heiress, I give it to them forever.

Item the 6^th ; I had given four negroes to Sally Ann, now wife of T. (Thacker) W. Winter. I now loan to my said daughter the plantation on which she now resides on in the county of Franklin, state of Alabama, also eighty acres of land lying at the foot of the mountain, a house and lot in the town of Tuscumbia, and the flowing named negroes to wit: Nina, Harry [Henry], George, Charity, Anderson, Dempsey, Traser,  Hannah, Edy, Sarah, Wilson, Malvina, Lunsford, Simon, Austin, Maria, Violet, Francis, and two mules, when his daughter Elizabeth marries, the one-half of the above-named negroes shall be delivered to her and one half of the plantation, and one half of the brick house on said plantation. I do hereby appoint T. (Thacker) W. Winter guardian and agent for his wife and her daughter during her life.

Item the 7^th ; I loan unto my daughter Amanda M, wife of W.E. Walker the plantation on which I now reside containing one section; also the following named negroes to wit: Hannah, Buck, Eliza, Phillissia,  Madora, Louisa, Charlotte, Senora,  Charles, Isaac, Jane, Jack, Jim, Nancy, Mary, Victoria, Milly, Anthony, Margarett, John George, Lucy, Caty, Juny, Charles, Attamont, Sandy, Trar, Lenry,  together with their increase, one mare, five mules, same cattle and household furniture.  I do hereby appoint W.E. Walker guardian, and agent for his wife and children, during his life. After his death and the death of his wife, the above-named property to be divided equally between all of his heirs. It is understood that W.E. Walker is acting as my agent at the present time and all the crops are to go to the use and benefit of his wife and children.

Item the 8^th ; My children all know that my woman Edy came into my family by their stepmother, who, at her death, requested me to fix it so that the said woman, Edy, might have her time and labor at my death, and I promised her I would do so. Should the said woman Edy have a child or children, I give all of her increase to my grandson Preston Hogan. I leave to the said woman Edy, her time and labor during her life. I give to the said woman, Edy, one mare and cow, and calf, one sow and pigs, and fifty dollars in cash, during her life.

I appoint my son William B. Hogan my sole executor. Given under my hand and seal this twenty-second of January, eighteen hundred and forty-nine. No security to be required. 

Witnifies to the above wise.

Agur T Morse |           Art S. Hogan

Jas H Curtis

H.G. Robertson

Codicil

I Art S. Hogan in this will above have disposed of the most of my estate do make this codicil and dispose of the balance of his estate as follows; The two negro boys Williams and Jerry, I give to my four grandchildren, and to be equally divided between them as in item the first in the will. I add nine hundred dollars to item the second in my will to Harriett Goodall, which will fall to me from the estate of my brother James Hogan. This sum is to be paid out in buying land adjoining her down the river if it can be bought at twelve dollars per acres; If not, to be laid with in negroes, and in either case to descend as the property in the aforesaid will in the item the second. To item three in my will, I add one negro boy Hampton and five hundred dollars to my son W.B. Hogan. To the item in the sixth in my will, I add my large catholic bible, to my daughter Sally Ann Winter, she being already well provided for. To item the seventh in my will, the woman Tennessee to be added to my daughter Amanda M Walker, and to be under the same restrictions as is provided in said item: also one sorrel mare.

I loan to my woman Edy, as named in my will, one house and lot in the old town of Aberdeen, No twenty. She is to have complete control of the house and lot during her life. After her death, I give the house and lot to my grandson Preston Hogan forever. W.B. Hogan is to have the house built and is to have one hundred and ninety-seven dollars paid him out of any money belonging to my estate. W.B. Hogan, my executor, is to have full power at all times to prevent the negroes from being carried out of the state of Alabama. I mean the negroes that is named in my will as loaned to T.(Thacker) W. Winter and my daughter Sally Ann Winter, his wife. The balance of all the moneys that may belong to my estate to be divided between W. B. Hogan and W.E. Walker.

Hogan’s Will in Chart Form

I’ve used the information from the will to create an excel file. It is much easier to see who went where. I subsequently separated each section into its own graphic as indicated below.

Arthur Smith Hogan in 1840

From Arthur’s 1849 will, there were about 84 slaves in all. But then, I looked over his census record for 1840.

According to this, there were two free white persons living in the Franklin County, Alabama household, and the slave total was 51. That’s a difference of 33 from the 1849 Will. Well, for one, James and Senora were both born AFTER 1840, and I’m sure there were more along with them. Also, some of the slaves such as the 12 with Harriett Hogan living in Smith County, Tennessee were assigned out of state. Matilda’s family was most likely in Mississippi at that time and she had 13 slaves.

With Lewis Smith being born in 1790, and Julius Scales in 1814, seeing that there are 3 male slaves listed in the census between 55-99 makes sense. The female Milly who was loaned to Harriett Hogan would have also been in this age range. However, per the will, she resided in Smith County Tennessee in 1849. That’s a difference of 9 years, so with the current evidence that we have, we can only speculate where Milly was in 1840.

In addition to the US Census records which occurred every ten years, there were also state censuses that took place in between and varied from state to state. As such Arthur Hogan is listed in the 1841 Mississippi census as living in Monroe, Mississippi. He most likely didn’t live there but owned the land. Of interest is that my 2nd great grandparents James Winters born ~1843 and Senora Scales born in 1845 stated in the census records that they were both born in Mississippi. We consider this as being the paper trail validation.

The only one of Arthur’s children that I can place in Mississippi is Amanda Hogan. Keep in mind that Senora’s parents Julius Scales and Charlotte state that they were born in Alabama. This meant that they were both loaned to one of Arthur’s children to work his plantation in Mississippi where Senora Scales and even James Winters were conceived.

Amanda Hogan

Arthur seemed to primarily live in Franklin County, Alabama. However, his estate in Lowndes County, Mississippi, is reported in the record below. The record indicates the date was Monday, Oct 1, 1849, as recorded in the Mississippi Probate Records, 1781-1930, three months after his death.

The transcribed version is as follows.

“The Estate of Arthur S. Hogan, dec’d (deceased). A writing purporting to be the Last Will & Testament of Arthur S Hogan deceased,  together with the affidavit (?) of James H Curtis & Ornan Pollard, two of the subscribing witnesses thereto, which was examined by the Court and together with the proof annexed, therefore, to be recorded and filed, subject to such farther addition and amendments and such (?) as shall hereafter seem right of property.”

With that, the next step was to find the probate documents and compare them with the 1849 Last Will and Testament of Arthur Hogan. I’m not going to lie; this was another excruciatingly painful and frustrating process. Finally, after looking at multiple films, I reviewed one that was a mere 734 pages long. These aren’t indexed, so the process requires you to look. Through. Every. Single. Page. I’m sharing this information with the world, so nobody has to ever go through that again. The record is located on Family Search and can be found here.  It is 1/6^th of the page, but I have enlarged it for your sanity.

The transcribed version is as follows.

“Schedule of the Property of Amanda M Walker wife of W.E. Walker Given by Art S. Hogan. to Wit, Thirty head of sheep, sixty head hogs, three head of horses, one set of blacksmith tools, plantation with [unknown], kitchen furniture, one piano, (unknown), one dressing table, and one set [unknown], one dozen chairs, three [unknown], one bookcase, one lot cookery ware. Also, property claimed under and by virtue of the last will and testament of Arthur S. Hogan, dec’d, the plantation on which said Hogan resided at the time of his death and on which sid Amanda now resides being one section of land. Also, the following negroes to wit: Hannah, Buck, Elisa, Phillessia, Madora, Louisa, Charlott, Seniora, Charles, Isaac, Jane, Jack, Jim, Nancy, Mary, Victoria, Milly, Anthony, Margaret,  John, George, Lucy, Caty, Jinny, Charles, Altamont, Lundy (?), Trecer, Lewey, Tennessee.. one mare, five mules [unknown], & household furniture.”

The property deed occurs on Oct 24, 1849, twenty-three days after the Mississippi Probate judgment.”

Amanda Margaret Walker’s 2^nd marriage was to Richard Swearingen on June 12, 1859, in Noxubee County, Mississippi. Noxubee is directly below Lowndes County, where the Probate Court occurred, so it’s safe to say that she lived in Mississippi. As I stated before, this has to be the reason our James Winters and Senora Scales state that they were born in Mississippi. Also, of all five of Arthur’s children, only Amanda’s Schedule of Property appears in Lowndes County Mississippi records. Amanda relocates to Washington County along with Sarah Hogan-Winter and her husband Thacker Winter. In May 1863, as recorded in the county of Washington, Amanda gives a gift deed to her children, including her Washington County Texas land and her negroes. I can’t find her in the 1870 Washington County census. Perhaps this is because she passed shortly after that gift deed. What I do see is her daughter Sarah Walker living with Sarah Winter in the 1870 Census

Sarah Hogan-Winter (married to Thacker Winter) is listed first. Then we see her son-in-law, “Bell, R.E” who is Robert E. Bell. He is married to Sarah’s daughter Elizabeth who is identified as “Bell, E.B”. They had a child, but it died shortly after birth, which left Sarah with “No heir of her body” which was the complaint in the Bell vs Noble Alabama 1895 Supreme court case. We also see that her niece, S.E Walker, the daughter of Amanda Hogan living with her. Sarah Hogan-Winter, her daughter, and niece are all shown as being born in Tennessee.

On a side note, I noticed that there is an Alex Michael who is a farm laborer. It states that he was born 45 years ago and is from Scotland. This catches my eye because our DNA states that we are from Scotland. At least on the Winters side.

I’ll also note that these five individuals, plus two others are the only white persons listed on that census page. All the other residents are black and bear the same names as those from Arthur’s 1849 will, now living in glorious freedom! Take a look at the census record and draw your own conclusion. Keep in mind that those listed would have to be at least 21 years of age to have been listed on the Will. This is Census page 52, and the names are spread out on the pages before and after this page. My great-great-grandparents show up on page 57

Final Thoughts

A question that remains is our families’ last name of Winters. Why did James Winters, his brother Alex Winters (father of Francis Winter born in 1892 in Mississippi), and Annette Winters (born in 1856) all use the same surname? Yes, previously enslaved sometimes took the last name of their owners, but per the paper records, neither brother was owned by Sarah Hogan & Thacker Winter, they should have been owned by Amanda. We can’t say that they collaborated on Juneteenth to use the same name because they were separated by almost 500 miles. My theory is that Thacker Winter was the father. James even named a son after him. Thacker is not a very common name.

We do have DNA matches to white Winters dating back to the 1700s and 1800s, but they are distant which makes sense. The white Winter family, spelled with no “S” has an extremely strong presence in Attala, Mississippi. Even Ophrah Winfrey’s great-grandmother, Amanda Winters was from Mississippi and is descended from the surname Winters.