Slaves of Cornelia (Greene) Skipwith Littlefield, Georgia

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Camden, Georgia, United States
Surnames/tags: slavery black_heritage Littlefield

This page's purpose is to record the enslaved people owned by Cornelia (Greene) Shipwith Littlefield, and attempt to connect them to their families.

Inheritance

In 1810 the property of General Nathanael Greene was divided according to his will. His daughter, Cornelia inherited the Littlefield Plantation and it's slaves:^[1]Andrew, Alba, Sacky, Cella, Margaret, Wig, Ned, Elsy, Nancy and her child (not named), Samson, Jack, Christiana, Judy, Isaac, Billy, Jenny, Sike, Charity, Abigail, Old Lucy, Sue, Bob, Lucy, Clarinda, Mingo, Sally, George, Stepny and John.

In December of 1811 Henry E Turner, husband of Martha Greene Nightingale,^[2] and Edward B Littlefield, husband of Cornelia L Skipwith,^[3] released their wives' portion of the slaves back to Catherine.

According to one history, Cornelia sold the Littlefield Plantation to Robert Stafford in 1813.^[4] While Ned and Cornelia were secretly planning to emigrate to Tennessee, taking along Cornelia's share of the slaves in violation of the 1810 agreement. Supposedly Catharine called the sheriff and had her daughter arrested and required her to sign bonds guaranteeing payment for the slaves they had handpicked to take to Tennessee. (There was at least one factual mistake in this paragraph in the history book regarding Cornelia and Catharine so the facts here should be proved with other documentation.)

Ned dies in Tennessee but his will does not name any of the slaves.

Cornelia dies in Mississippi. Her will was written in 1856 but not probated until 1866. In it she names the following slaves:

Mary Ann & her children

Cretia & her children

Fanny & her children (one is named Robert)

Samuel

Sources

1. ↑ Camden County Deed Book H page 184-187 Human Bondage: The Buying and Selling of Africans in Camden County, Georgia. 1787-1865. A collection of slave deed abstracts Compiled by TARA D. FIELDS, pp 31
2. ↑ Camden County Deed Book H page 469 Human Bondage: The Buying and Selling of Africans in Camden County, Georgia. 1787-1865. A collection of slave deed abstracts Compiled by TARA D. FIELDS
3. ↑ Camden County Deed Book H page 470-472 Human Bondage: The Buying and Selling of Africans in Camden County, Georgia. 1787-1865. A collection of slave deed abstracts Compiled by TARA D. FIELDS
4. ↑ Bullard, Mary R.. Cumberland Island: A History. Greece, University of Georgia Press, 2005. page 133 Google Books Link

• Catharine's Will, Camden County, Georgia, Will Book A, page 122, "Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893L-PW7H?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-BZ3%3A267650901%2C267708701 : 20 May 2014), Camden > Wills 1795-1932 vol A-D > image 108 of 510; citing Houston County Probate Court Judge, Georgia.
• Cornelia's Will, Desoto County, Mississippi, "Mississippi Probate Records, 1781-1930," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99Q8-X96H-V?cc=2036959&wc=M7MF-6TP%3A344534201%2C344541701 : 21 May 2014), DeSoto > Wills 1851-1870 vol , page 405-407 > image 227 of 264; county courthouses and public libraries, Mississippi.