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 2^nd great grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce (Part I, Part 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 2^nd 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.