Monday, January 30, 2012

Madness Monday


Revisiting Ancestral Neighborhoods, Cluster Research, and Continuing the Hunt for a Slave Owner

Back in 2010,  I wrote about why I thought Jesse Pierce was the last slave owner of my 2nd great grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce (Part IPart II). All I needed was the documentation / evidence to support my hypothesis.

In trying to regroup and revise my strategy for determining the last slave owner of my Pierce ancestors, one the first things I decided to do was revisit both the 1870 and 1880 census with a fresh set of eyes as well as mindset. I also decided to set up a spreadsheet containing information from both censuses in order to better visualize and evaluate each neighborhood on it’s own as well as in comparison to the other, highlighting the names of persons that appeared on both censuses.

When I performed that initial cursory look, I declared that many of the names were the same between the two censuses, especially the African Americans surrounding Jesse Pierce / Pearce. However, as I really looked at both censuses it appears that my cursory assessment might have been a bit off track.

1870
County:
Greene


Enumeration District:



Inhabitants In:
Militia District 144

Post Office
Penfield






Page 90







Head of Households



Name
Age
Race
Sex




Alex Mumford
42
W
M
Jackson Mumford
60
B
M
Thomas Criddle
28
B
M
Joshua Laurence
23
B
M
William Coleman
39
W
M
Wyley Bryant
35
B
M
Elijah Anderson
27
B
M
Jas Bruce
24
W
M
Siney Criddle
76
W
F
Jesse Pearce
64
W
M
Lucinda Fig
46
W
F
King Pearce
58
B
M
Jefferson Pearce
21
B
M
Bird Pearce
26
M
M
Chas Pearce
34
B
M
Alfred Pearce
28
B
M
Anderson Jones
22
B
M
Mason Jones
60
B
M
Alonzo Pearce
18
B
M
Seaborn Pearce
34
B
M
Delila Pearce
27
B
F
Aggie Jasel
20
B
F
Theopelus Pearce
63
W
M
Seaborn Jordon
50
W
M
Daniel Grant
56
W
M
John Grant
44
W
M
Archibald Rhodes
55
W
M


1880
County:
Greene


Enumeration District:
35


Inhabitants In:
144 DC G.M.










Page 252







Head of Households



Name
Age
Race
Sex




















Thomas Newsome
50
W
M
Archibald Mapp
31
W
M
Kato Lewis
60
B
M
Nilson Lewis
80
B
M
Archibold P Peek
42
W
M
Jesse F. Pierce
74
W
M
James Figs
26
W
M
Siberenie Pierce
45
W (B)
B
Martha Jackson
42
B
F
Miles Pierce
46
B
M
Jasper Pierce
30
Mu
M
Greene Pierce
48
B
M
King Pierce
69
B
M
Charles Pierce
44
Mu
M
Joseph Chester
22
B
M
Patsey Lundy
16
B
F
Henry Moore
48
B
M
Joseph S Anderson
27
W
M
Elisha Irby
65
W
M
Josiah Caldwell
74
W
M
Robbert Philips
21
W
M
George Moland
21
B
M
James Alfred
55
B
M


On the 1870 Census, there are 8 African-American enumerations for Pierce / Pearce households surrounding Jesse Pearce / Pierce. The 1880 Census contains five such enumerations, one of which is my 2nd great grandfather, Jasper Pierce.

After looking closer at both censuses, it appears three families of African American Pierces appear on both census, that of King Pierce / Pearce; Chas / Charles Pierce; amd Seaborn / Siberenie Pearce / Pierce. It should be noted that on the 1880 census Seaborn / Siebernie is indicated as being white but the other information, age, contained on the census leads me to believe that this is the same person.

My question is where did the other families from the 1870 census go and where did the new families on the 1880 census come from?

As I continue the hunt to try to determine the last slave owner of my Pierce ancestors, I will try to answer these questions and hope that it leads to some breakthrough answers.

*****

To find out more about cluster research, I recommend reading some of Michael Hait's articles on this research technique.