Slaves of John Ward Jr., Virginia

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States
Surnames/tags: slavery black_heritage

This page's purpose is to record the enslaved people owned by John Ward Jr. (abt.1747-abt.1826), and attempt to connect them to their families.'

Note: The US Black Heritage Project's Ohio Team is working on documenting the enslaved people Ward freed in his will during September 2023. Preliminary research indicates that many of them were settled in Ohio in Lawrence County, Clinton County, and Gallia County. More info and links to profiles will be added to this page at the end of our work on this group. If you'd like to help with this project, please contact the team leaders so we can coordinate our efforts.

Ward's Will

John Ward's will,^[1] signed 30 Jul 1826 and probated 20 Nov 1826, freed all of his slaves, though it did not name most of them. All slaves over 15 years of age were bequeathed $20 each. Special provisions were made for two groups of slaves, which were named:

1. "It is my wish and particular desire, that in consideration of the general good conduct of my slaves, Davy and his sister Nancy, (of which I hereby testimony) that they should be permitted together, with the children of said Nancy, to remain in the State of Virginia, hereby meaning Davy and Nancy, the children of Old Molly." They were also bequeathed $150, a 300 acre tract of land that Ward had bought from Henry Pickral, a horse worth $40 for each and two cows each.
2. "I give to four old slaves, Will, Sam, Ned and Ben the land I bought of Cook’s Executors."

Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Register of Free Negroes

Pittsylvania County, Virginia kept a register of free African Americans residing or manumitted in the county. The manumission of each of Ward's slaves were recorded, with these records being Registers No. 70 through No. 203. These records give a physical description of each person and list family relationships with other people in the group of freed slaves. These manumissions were recorded over a period of a few months from 5 Jan 1827-20 Apr 1827.^[2]

WT ID	Register #	First Name	Surname	Age	Est. Birth Year
	70	Richard	Lynch	24	1803
	71	Dorcas	[Lynch]	22	1805
	72	Rhoda	Lynch	3 mos	1826
	73	Betsy	Roberts	17	1810
	74	Elvy	Roberts	16	1811
	75	Paulina	Roberts	14	1813
	76	Laura	Roberts	13	1814
	77	Penelope	Roberts	10	1817
	78	Charles	Roberts	8	1819
	79	John	Roberts	3	1824
	80	Pleasant	Roberts	38	1789
	81	Hannah	Roberts	33	1794
	82	Peter	Lynch	23	1804
	83	Daniel	Ward	21	1806
	84	Benjamin	Johnson	58	1769
	85	Benjamin	Johnson	25	1802
	86	Jerry	Johnson	18	1809
	87	Harry	Ward	Between 30 and 40	1792
	88	Lydia	Ward	45	1782
	89	Sary	Ward	12	1815
	90	Bob	Ward	9	1818
	91	Anderson	Ward	7	1820
	92	Judith	Ward	3	1824
	93	Lewis	Craddock	75	1752
Craddick-24	94	Winney	Craddock	45	1782
	95	Jefferson	Craddock		1827
Craddock-1684	96	Lucy	Craddock	16	1811
	97	Martha	Craddock	10	1817
	98	John	Craddock	12	1815
Craddick-23	99	Cory Ann	Craddock	8	1819
	100	Permelia	Craddock	5	1822
	101	Mourning	Craddock	3	1824
	102	Mary	Craddock	3 mos	1826
	103	John	Greenhill	75	1752
	104	Sylva	Greenhill	60	1767
	105	Gilbert	Randolph	55	1772
	106	Biddy	Randolph	65 or 70	1760
	107	Christopher	Tolbert	65	1762
	108	James	Farmer	40	1787
	109	Holliday	Brooks	40	1787
	110	Jackson	Williams	40	1787
	111	William	Tantarobogus	55	1772
Ward-37942	112	Samuel	Ward	60	1767
Ward-37943	113	Lucy	Ward	56	1771
Ward-37982	114	Aaron	Ward	34	1793
Ward-37989	115	Handy	Ward	20	1807
Ward-37991	116	Charles	Ward	12	1815
Ward-37988	117	Mary	Ward	22	1805
Ward-37990	118	Rachel	Ward	17	1810
	119	Patsy	Ward	10	1817
Ward-32788	120	Hannah	Ward	26	1801
Ward-32790	121	Charles	[Ward]	12 mos	1826
	122	John	Ward	11	1816
	123	Harrison	Ward	8	1819
	124	Lindy/Lindey	Ward	8	1819
Ward-32789	125	Simon	Ward	4	1823
Ward-37984	126	Jack	Ward	30	1797
	127	Christian	[Ward]	20	1807
	128	Lynch	Ward	2	1825
Ward-37986	129	James	Ward	25	1802
	130	Jack	Callaway	48	1779
	131	Letty	[Callaway]	45	1782
	132	Polly	Callaway	9	1818
	133	Caezar	Allen	37	1790
Ward-37937	134	David	Ward	30	1797
Ward-37939	135	Nancy	Ward	28	1799
	136	George	Ward	16	1811
	137	Joseph	Ward	12	1815
Ward-37938	138	Molley	Ward	60	1767
	139	Amanda	Ward	4	1823
	140	Phil	Lynch	15	1812
	141	Chany	Lynch	12	1815
	142	Joseph	Mundal	45	1782
	143	Critty	Mundal	35	1792
	144	Peter	[Mundal]	4 mos	1826
	145	Eliza	Mundal	12	1815
	146	Thomas	Mundal	9	1818
	147	Betsy	Mundal	6	1821
	148	Laurenzo	Mundal	5	1822
	149	Woodson	Mundal	4	1823
	150	William	Mundal	3	1824
Mundal-18	151	Doctor	Mundal	2	1825
	152	Joseph	Mundal	18 mos	1825
	153	Rowland	West	25	1802
	154	Clary	West	23	1804
	155	Otey	[West]	5 mos	1826
	156	Nancy	West	7	1820
	157	Walker	West	5	1822
	158	Jincey	West	2	1825
	159	Rachel	Johnson	26	1801
	160	Sophia	[Johnson]	18 mos	1825
	161	George	Johnson	10	1817
	162	Annaca	Johnson	8	1819
	163	Isbel	Ward	45	1782
	164	Peggy	Ward	21	1806
	165	Viney	Ward	12	1815
	166	Peter	Ward	8	1819
	167	Patsey	Henry	75	1752
	168	Charles	Johnson	28	1799
	169	Simon	Ward	26	1801
	170	Samuel	Ward Jr	23	1804
	171	Henry	Dudley	Between 35 and 40	1790
	172	David	Adams	50	1777
	173	Sally	Dudley	33	1794
	174	Milly	Adams	48	1779
	175	James	[Adams]	10	1817
	176	Mary	Adams	6	1821
	177	Milley	Adams	4	1823
	178	Sally	Adams	2	1825
	179	Thomas	Jordan	12	1815
	180	Annica	Dudley	19	1808
	181	Lusey	Dudley	17	1810
	182	Aaron	Dudley	16	1811
	183	George	Dudley	13	1814
	184	Mary	Dudley	10	1817
	185	Sam	Dudley	8	1819
	186	John	Dudley	6	1821
	187	Hundley	Dudley	4	1823
	188	Henry	Dudley	2	1825
	189	William Green	Dudley	2	1825
	190	William	Powell	70	1757
	191	Ned	Hodges	70	1757
	192	Saul	Ward	25	1802
	193	George	Bobbitt	40	1787
	194	Buck	Shelton	30	1797
	195	Matilda	Johnson	31	1796
	196	Nancy	[Johnson]	6 weeks	1827
	197	Charlotte	Johnson	16	1811
	198	Dorcas	Johnson	14	1813
	199	Moses	Johnson	10	1817
	200	Sucky	Johnson	6	1821
	201	Gib	Johnson	2	1825
	202	Molly	Roberts	70 or 75	1755
	203	Milly	Tucker	55	1772

Sources

1. ↑ Virginia, Pittsylvania County, Will Records volume 1, pages 109-112, John Ward Senr. will, signed 21 Jul 1826, probated 20 Nov 1826; "Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900," database with images, Ancestry Record 62347 #1744994.
2. ↑ Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Register of Free Negroes and Related Documentation, (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 2001), Alva H. Griffith, transcriber and compiler, pages 20-64, manumission records #70-203; citing pages 29-96 in the original register at the Pittsylvania County Courthouse in Chatham, Virginia; see WorldCat to find a copy.