Elizabeth Bernardey (abt. 1815 - abt. 1890)

Born about 1815 in Georgia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1890 at about age 75 in Georgia [uncertain]

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Biography

According to some, Zabette was the daughter of Pierre Bernardey and a free woman of color from Martinique, Marie-Jeanne. Bullard is not willing to state this as fact, but instead, calls her "some sort of dependent of the French-speaking Bernardeys." ^[1] Apparently, the Bernardeys neglected to register her as a free person of color. In the 1840s Georgia's laws ordered that all unregistered free persons of color were to leave the state. The same applied to any manumitted slaves. In 1841, Zabette and her daughter, Mary, were gifted by deed to the child's father, Robert Stafford. ^[2] Stafford was a neighboring plantation owner and has assisted Marguerite, mother of Pierre, with the plantation and other business affairs after Pierre's death. ^[3] This act assisted Zabette and her daughter from deportation. ^[4] It also seems that she was a "slave in name only" since she lived with Robert Stafford as a common-law wife, but such a contract was illegal given her slave status. She was also now forbidden to leave the state of Georgia. ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Bullard, pg. 290.
2. ↑ Bullard, pg. 289.
3. ↑ Bullard, pg. 290.
4. ↑ Bullard, pg. 290.
5. ↑ Bullard, pg. 291.

• June Hall McCash, Jekyll Island's Early Years: From Prehistory through Reconstruction (University of Georgia Press), pg. 116. Cit. Date: 22 Jun 2016.
• Bullard, Mary R. "Deconstructing a Manumission Document: Mary Stafford's Free Paper." The Georgia Historical Quarterly 89, no. 3 (2005): 285-317 (https:www.jstor.org/stable/40584841 : accessed July 25, 2020).
• National Archives and Records Administration, 1870 U.S. census, population schedules, NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Ancestry.com. (1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.), Year: 1870; Census Place: Camden, Georgia; Roll: M593_139; Page: 628A; Image: 369148; Family History Library Film: 545638. Cit. Date: 23 Jun 2016.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 12 July 2020), memorial page for Elisabeth “Zabette” Bernardey (1821–1890), Find A Grave: Memorial #182750851, ; Maintained by Anonymous (contributor 47291336) Unknown.