Slaves of Elijah P. Gorman, Mississippi

Date: 23 Aug 1841 [unknown]
Location: Noxubee, Mississippi, United States
Surname/tag: Gorman

Introduction

The 1840 census lists Elijah as owning only five enslaved persons, two boys and three girls, all under age 20 (count only, no names listed in the census record).^[1] This is in stark contrast to the number listed in his will just a year later.

The will^[2] of Elijah P. Gorman of Noxubee County, Mississippi named at least 28 enslaved persons (with some duplicates, see below) whom he owned at the time of his death on 23 August 1841, as well as the persons he bequeathed them to.

Bequeathed to his wife Mary Gorman

• Harry
  • Charity (wife)
    • Amanda (daughter)
    • Billy (son)
• Billy
  • Ritta (wife)
    • Lotty (daughter)
    • Emily (daughter)
    • Charles (son)
• Joseph
  • Harriet (wife)
• Jerry
• Jefferson
• Harriet
• Aaron
• William
• Linda

Bequeathed to his son Terrell Gorman

• Samuel
  • Louisa (wife)
    • Cristiana (daughter)

Bequeathed to his daughter Artemecy Harrison

• Celia
  • Ann (daughter)
  • George (son)

Bequeathed to his son Oliver Gorman

• Aaron
• Caroline

Bequeathed to his widowed daughter Mary Clemment

• Moses
  • Nancy (wife)

Bequeathed to his daughter Elizabeth Harper

• Susy
• Linda

Bequeathed to his son Felix Gorman

(Note, three enslaved men of the same names were bequeathed to his wife, so it is unclear whether this was an error or if there were multiple enslaved men with the same names. The bequest to Sarah, which follows, suggests that he indeed err and leave the same enslaved people to both his wife and his children.)

• Joseph
• Jerry
• Jefferson

Bequeathed to his daughter Sarah Gorman

(Again, duplicates of the ones he bequeathed to his wife.)

• Billy
  • Ritta (his wife)
    • Emilia (his daughter)
    • Charles (his son)

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTX-K7S : 8 December 2020), E Gorman, Noxubee, Mississippi, United States; citing p. 103, NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm .
2. ↑ Smith, Alvy Ray, FASG. The Elijah P. Gorman Family, 1774-1993, version 8.8, http://alvyray.com/Smith/ElijahGorman_v8.9.pdf Berkeley, Ars Longa 2015.

• Will, Noxubee County, Mississippi, Wills, Vol A, page 124 https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/30160434?h=e71722 and page 125 https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/30160497?h=229fee and page 126 https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/30165599?h=45ea94